University of Denver

The University of Denver (DU), founded in 1864, is the oldest private university in the Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. The University of Denver is a coeducational, four-year university in Denver, Colorado. DU currently enrolls approximately 5,000 undergraduate students and 6,000 graduate students. The 125 acre main campus is a designated arboretum and is located primarily in the University Neighborhood, about seven miles (11 km) south of downtown Denver.

History
The university was founded in March 3, 1864 as the Colorado Seminary by John Evans, the former Governor of Colorado Territory, who had been appointed by President Abraham Lincoln. John Evans, who also founded Northwestern University prior to founding DU, is the namesake of the town in Illinois named Evanston (the site of the Northwestern campus) as well as Mount Evans, a 14,264 foot mountain visible from the DU campus.

Evans founded the school to help civilize the newly-created (1858) City of Denver, which was little more than a mining camp at that time.

As a co-educational institution, according to College Board, under a competitive standard, the average admitted applicant is at his or her top 25% of their graduating class.

The reverse initials "DU" are used as the university's shorthand moniker (rather than the more intuitive "UD") as part of a Rocky Mountain and midwestern tradition of initial reversal, similar to the University of Colorado's "CU", the University of Tulsa's "TU", the University of Oklahoma's "OU", the University of Nebraska's "NU", the University of Missouri's "MU", and the University of Kansas' "KU."

The 'Colorado Seminary' was founded as a Methodist institution and struggled in the early years of its existence. By 1880, the Colorado Seminary had been renamed the University of Denver. Although doing business as the University of Denver, DU is still legally named Colorado Seminary. The first buildings of the university were located in downtown Denver in the 1860s and 1870s, but concerns that Denver's rough-and-tumble frontier town atmosphere was not conducive to education prompted a new campus (today's campus) to be built on the donated land of potato farmer Rufus Clark, some seven miles (11 km) south of the downtown core. The university grew and prospered alongside the city's growth, appealing primarily to a regional student body prior to World War II. After the war, the large surge in GI bill students pushed DU's enrollment to over 13,000 students, the largest the university has ever been, and helped to spread the university's reputation to a national audience.

Demographics
The University of Denver has 11,911 students in 2010. Of the 11,911 students, 5,502 are undergraduates. The ratio of undergraduate women to men is 53.8 : 46.2. Of the class of 2008, 67.0% are White, 2% are Black, 6.8% are Hispanic, 5.2% are Asian or Pacific Islander, 1.7% are American Indian, 8% are international, and 9.1% are race/ethnicity unknown. Around 60 percent of the student body is from outside the state of Colorado. For 2011 the average accepted high school student obtained a 3.71 GPA, SAT range of 1220 to 1500 and, an ACT of 28. Roughly 50% of the incoming freshman class for 2011 was in the top 10% of their graduating high school class.

Rankings
The University of Denver is currently ranked 82nd among all public and private "National Universities" by U.S. News & World Report in the 2012 rankings.

The undergraduate business program, The Daniels College of Business, was ranked 67th best in 2008 by BusinessWeek, and it was ranked the 71st best program by U.S. News in a 2008 ranking. It was ranked 74th in 2010 by Bloomberg Businessweek. In 2011, The University of Denver's Daniels College of Business was ranked 64th in the Bloomberg Businessweek Undergrad Business School Rankings, as well being ranked 2nd in the nation for its ethics programs among 111 undergraduate business schools by Bloomberg Businessweek.

The Sturm College of Law is currently ranked the 77th best Graduate Law School by U.S News in a 2011 ranking, and 13th for its part-time law program.

The Graduate School of Social Work is consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report in the top 30 to 40 of all Social Work graduate schools in the nation.

The Financial Times has ranked the Daniels College of Business Executive MBA program in the top 100 programs in the World in a 2011-2012 ranking.

In a 2009 survey performed by the College of William and Mary and published by Foreign Policy Magazine, the Josef Korbel School of International Studies ranked 10th in the world for its graduate masters program, ahead of such schools as Syracuse, University of Chicago, Yale, Stanford, University of California-Berkeley, and MIT.

In 2006, Men's Fitness magazine ranked DU in the top-25 fittest colleges in America because the university actively promotes a healthy lifestyle for its students. The Coors Fitness Center has top-of-the-line equipment, personal trainers, nutritionists and fitness classes. Students also can play in 30 club and 22 intramural sports, and DU is located near some of the city's best recreational opportunities and the great outdoors.

The Aspen Institute’s 2011-2012 edition of Beyond Grey Pinstripes, a biennial survey and alternative ranking of business schools, recently ranked The Daniels College of Business the 15th best MBA program in the World. The survey puts emphasis on how well schools are preparing their students for the environmental, social, and ethical complexities of modern-day business.



Academic Programs
In addition to traditional undergraduate programs, the University of Denver is home to the following graduate entities:

Divisions: Colleges:
 * Division of Natural Sciences & Mathematics
 * Divisions of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
 * Daniels College of Business
 * Sturm College of Law
 * The Women's College of the University of Denver
 * University College University of Denver
 * Morgridge College of Education

Schools: Institutes and Centers:
 * Graduate School of Professional Psychology
 * Graduate School of Social Work
 * Josef Korbel School of International Studies
 * Lamont School of Music
 * School of Engineering and Computer Science
 * Media, Film, and Journalism Studies
 * Conflict Resolution Institute
 * Intermodal Transportation Institute
 * Institute for Public Policy Studies
 * Center for Judaic Studies
 * Edward W. & Charlotte A. Estlow International Center for Journalism and New Media

Programs:
 * Graduate Tax Program
 * DU-Iliff Joint Program
 * Graduate School of Social Work Doctoral Program
 * Josef Korbel School of International Studies-Sturm College of Law Joint Program
 * Daniels College of Business-Sturm College of Law Joint Program

Interdisciplinary Programs:
 * Cognitive Neuroscience - (Psychology and Biology)
 * Video Game Design - (Computer Science and Digital Media Studies)

Students in the graduate programs represent over half of the total enrollment of the school.

Aside from the Sturm College of Law, the university operates on a quarter system, sometimes known as trimester academic calendar, in which an academic year is divided into three academic quarters lasting 10 weeks per each quarter. This academic system allows students to take more classes each year than students in a more traditional 15-week semester system.

Offering students a learning experience abroad, the Cherrington Global Scholars program offers every undergraduate the chance to study abroad at no cost above the normal university tuition, room and board. The University of Denver has almost 70 percent of its undergraduate student body study abroad before graduation, placing it first in the nation among all doctoral and research institutions in percentage of undergraduate students participating in study abroad programs.

The art and music scene of DU is currently on the rise due to the recent construction of the Robert and Judi Newman Center for Performing Arts. This building houses the Lamont School of Music, the University of Denver Department of Theater, and the University's Newman Center Presents performing arts series. The Lamont School of Music is a structured conservatory setting which allows students to focus on their talents in a competitive manner. The theatre department, reestablished in 1985, is currently being transformed into a nationally competitive theatre school. Recently, their show "Henry the VI part iii" was selected as one of the best in the region was considered for national recognition. For the second straight year, a DU show has been held for regional honors.

With the recent addition of more faculty members and renovation beginning on Margery Reed Hall, the Theatre Department has become a magnet for theatre students in the region. Much of the faculty have many professional connections with local theatre companies (Curious, DCPA), as well as contacts in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and many other regions, providing students with many available options for internships and quick job placement.

The university was the first in the country to establish what has continued to be an innovative and internationally recognized Digital Media Studies program, organized as a joint venture between the departments of Mass Communications and Journalism Studies, Art, and Computer Science. DMS faculty and students are currently working on an NSF-funded video game design and development initiative aimed at increasing interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in select Denver high schools. Recently, the University of Denver Sturm College of Law has also undergone an internal renaissance. In 2003, the University of Denver ATLA trial team won the national championship in New Orleans, taking Harvard's title from the previous year.

The Institute for Public Policy Studies (IPPS) boasts two former Colorado Governors as teaching faculty. Richard Lamm was joined in January 2007 by Bill Owens.

Denver is one of the few schools in the US that personally interviews every undergraduate applicant (with interviews in more than 25 cities per year), demonstrating that the university is very interested in the person, not just the applicant's credentials. The Hyde interview is named after an influential DU professor, Ammi Hyde, and most students describe the process as insightful rather than painful, so the interview should not be considered a deterrent for prospective students who are nervous that they will not perform well.

The university has recently established an Undergraduate Research Center. This Center provides funding for the Partners in Scholarship program, offering students the opportunity to work directly with a faculty member over the course of a quarter or over the summer. The student may design the research project with the faculty member's approval or may work with a faculty member on an existing research project, thus affording students an opportunity for close mentorship and relationship-building that strengthens the student's overall learning experience. Annual conferences on campus highlight student research efforts

The Ricks Center For Gifted Children is a private school on the campus of DU that teaches preschool through eighth grade. Since April 1997, the school has been accredited by The North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCACASI). It was founded and is currently directed by Norma Hafenstien.

Campus
The heart of the campus has a number of historic buildings. The longest-standing building is University Hall, built in the Romanesque Revival style which has served DU since 1890. The cornerstone to this building is exactly one mile high. Just a few blocks off campus also hosts the historic Chamberlin Observatory, built in 1894. It is still a fully operational observatory and is open to the public twice a week as well as one Saturday a month. The central campus area also includes Evans Chapel, an 1870s-vintage small church which was once located in downtown Denver, and was relocated to the DU campus in the early 1960s. Buchtel Tower (1913) is all that remains of the former Buchtel Chapel, which burned in 1983. The administrative offices are located in the Mary Reed Building, a former library built in 1932 in the Collegiate Gothic style. Margery Reed Hall (named for the daughter of Mary Reed) was also built in the collegiate gothic style in the early 1930s.

Under the leadership of former Chancellor Daniel Ritchie (now Chairman of the Denver Center for Performing Arts), about $500 million in capital improvements have taken place in the last decade and the learning inside these new buildings has improved in the same period, as admissions selectivity and rankings have improved dramatically.

In autumn 2003, DU opened a new $63.5 million facility for its College of Law, what was later named the "Sturm College of Law." The building includes a three-story library with personal computers accessible to students. Donald and Susan Sturm, owners of Denver-based American National Bank, had given $20 million to the University of Denver College of Law. The gift is the largest single donation in the 112-year history of the law school and among the largest gifts ever to the university.

The Daniels College of Business was completed in September 1999 at the cost of $25 million dollars. The business school has been nationally recognized by organizations such as Forbes magazine, Business Week, and the Wall Street Journal where it is ranked seventhth in the nation for producing students with high ethical standards.

Additionally, the university also recently opened the $75 million Robert and Judi Newman Center for Performing Arts, which houses the acclaimed Lamont School of Music. The Center includes June Swaner Gates Concert Hall, a 1,000 seat, four-level opera house, the Frederic C. Hamilton Family Recital Hall, a 250-seat recital hall with the largest (3,000 pipes) "tracker" organ in the region, and the Elizabeth Ericksen Byron Theatre, a 300-seat flexible theatre space. The Newman Center serves as home to many professional performing arts groups from the Denver region as well as the University's Newman Center Presents multi-disciplinary performing arts series.

In the last two years, DU has also built and opened a new building for the School of Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management (Fritz Knoebel School of Hospitality Management). Inside the building there are numerous classrooms, a large wine cellar, meeting rooms, and an all-purpose dining room that hosts numerous city and university events, weddings, and formal parties. The school helps DU rank near the top of all hotel schools in the United States. The program had its first graduating class in 1946.

The university has the second highest telescope in the world located at 14,148 feet near the summit of Mount Evans called the Meyer-Womble Observatory. This telescope is most commonly used by the university's Natural Science and Mathematics Department, and more specifically the Department of Physics and Astronomy at DU.

Nagel Residence Hall was completed in the Fall of 2008 to house upperclassman and is one of the most unique buildings on campus, offering a wide collection of art throughout the building donated by the Nagel family. The building is certified Gold in LEED standards to be environmentally friendly and more sustainable. As well as Nagel, Nelson Hall is another LEED residence hall that was built in the last eight years.

In reference to new campus improvements to help DU athletics, DU completed the first ever (Peter S. Barton) lacrosse-only stadium that was specifically designed for the sport in 2005, as well as new Ciber field soccer stadium (2010) on the northern end of campus. Ciber field also contains new studio space for the School of Art adjoining the main grandstand, as well as the Pat Bowlen varsity sports weight training facility underneath the stands.

The environmentally friendly $25 million dollar Morgridge College of Education was opened in June 2010.

The university has five residence halls, Johnson McFarlane Hall (JMac), Centennial Halls, Centennial Towers, Nelson Hall and Nagel Hall. Johnson McFarlane Hall was recently energy star certified as one of the most energy efficient buildings on campus, and is the oldest co-ed dorm in the western United States.

Athletics
DU's athletic teams are known as the Denver Pioneers and the school has been fielding varsity teams since 1867. Denver is a full NCAA Division I member, best known as a major power in winter sports. Ice hockey is DU's flagship spectator sport, with seven NCAA titles including back to back crowns in 2004 and 2005, and regularly selling out the new 6,000 seat Magness Arena on campus, the showpiece of the Ritchie Center for Sports and Wellness. As of August, 2010, The Pioneers' 28 NCAA titles are in the top 8 of all NCAA schools in terms of total titles - behind Southern California (76), UCLA (71), Stanford (60), Oklahoma State (48), Arkansas (43), Michigan (31), and Penn State (30). Skiing is another strong sport at Denver, with 21 NCAA titles (more than any other school in Division 1 history) with the Pioneers dominating the current decade. The Pioneers "three-peated" with NCAA titles in 2010, 2009 and 2008, won it in 2005 and as well as three consecutive titles from 2001 to 2003.



Fight Song
The fight song for the University of Denver is Fairest of Colleges, written in 1916. The lyrics are:


 * D-rah! E-rah! N-rah! VER Boom.
 * Denver, our Denver,
 * We sing to thee,
 * Fairest of colleges,
 * Give her three times three,
 * Rah, rah, rah!
 * Long may we cherish her
 * Faithful and true.
 * University of Denver
 * For me and you.

Mascot

 * Pioneer Pete (1920s to 1968)
 * Denver Boone/Boone the Pioneer (1968 to 1998)
 * Ruckus (1998 to 2008)
 * (Unofficial) Denver Boone/Boone the Pioneer (2009–present)

Recent Mascot Changes
Although the DU community indulged the Department of Athletics and Recreation's 1998 efforts to rebrand itself by creating a more marketable image, replacing "Denver Boone" with "Ruckus" was met with a lukewarm response and never gained much traction. By 2006, a movement to bring back the Walt Disney creation had begun to gain momentum. In 2008, a survey of the DU community showed an overwhelming 87% supported reclaiming Boone. Nonetheless, on October 20, 2008, Chancellor Robert Coombe opposed the will of the overwhelming majority via an email to students, citing that Boone "does not reflect the broad diversity of the DU community". Princeton Review indicates that minorities compose just 7% of the student body. The issue has been covered by the Denver Post, NBC affiliate KUSA, and ABC affiliate KMGH. Editorials by Valerie Richardson in the Washington Times and Mike Rosen in the Rocky Mountain News have been highly critical of the administration.

By this point, DU had essentially shelved Ruckus, and in November 2008, the university announced its intention to identify a new mascot, Boone's departure was far from final. Chancellor Coombe had acknowledged Boone's place in DU's history and stated that "it seems reasonable that students and alumni be allowed to use the image as a celebration of that past, to the extent that they may choose."

Thus, an independent group of alumni resurrected "Denver Boone" on their own as the unofficial mascot of the DU students and alumni community. A costume was privately procured and the initiative was funded entirely by independent alumni contributions.

The new mascot was unveiled by students and alumni at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., as part of the 2009 Frozen Four festivities.

Chancellors
Chancellors of the University of Denver :
 * David Hastings Moore (October 1880-June 1889)
 * William Fraser McDowell (1890-June 1899)
 * Henry Augustus Buchtel (December 1899-September 1920)
 * Heber Reece Harper (November 1922-January 1927)
 * Frederick Maurice Hunter (July 1928-September 1935)
 * David Shaw Duncan (September 1935-March 1941)
 * Caleb Frank Gates (March 1941-November 1943)
 * Ben Mark Cherrington (November 1943-February 1946)
 * Caleb Frank Gates (February 1946-August 1947)
 * James F. Price (April–October 1948)
 * Alfred Clarence Nelson, interim (October 1948-November 1949)
 * Albert Charles Jacobs (November 1949-March 1953)
 * Chester M. Alter (August 1953-July 1966)
 * Maurice Bernard Mitchell (September 1967-March 1978)
 * Ross Pritchard (October 1978-January 1984)
 * Dwight Morrell Smith (January 1984-July 1989)
 * Daniel L. Ritchie (July 1989-June 2005)
 * Robert Coombe (July 2005–present)

Scientists

 * Henry Otley Beyer, father of anthropology and ethnology in the Philippines
 * Asa Grant Hilliard III, renowned egyptologist and professor of educational psychology
 * Arnold Kramish (1923–2010), nuclear physicist on the Manhattan Project who was almost killed in a radioactive explosion.
 * Donald Menzel, former Director, Harvard College Observatory
 * Del Thiessen, noted psychology theorist

Politics, Government and Military

 * George W. Casey, Jr., four-star general and 36th Chief of Staff of the United States Army, former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq
 * Heraldo Muñoz, former Chilean Ambassador to the United Nations
 * Ahmad Ismail, mayor of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
 * Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. Secretary of State under President G.W. Bush
 * Michelle Kwan - Former U.S. Olympic Figure Skater and current State Department employee. U.S. Public Diplomacy Envoy
 * Susan Waltz, Chair, International Executive Committee, Amnesty International, Professor of public policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan
 * Cindy Courville, former U.S. Ambassador to the African Union
 * Ed Schafer, former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture under President G.W. Bush, former Governor of North Dakota
 * Jami Miscik, former Deputy Director for Intelligence at the CIA, Vice-Chairman of Kissinger Associates, Inc. in New York.
 * James Nicholson, former Secretary of Veterans Affairs under President G.W. Bush
 * Gale Norton, former U.S. Secretary of the Interior under President G.W. Bush
 * Current U.S. Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.)
 * Former U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.)
 * Former U.S. Senator Pete Domenici (R-N.M.)
 * Robert Dieter, U.S. Ambassador to Belize
 * Fred Karger, campaign strategist and 2012 Presidential Candidate, first ever openly gay candidate
 * Paul Trivelli, former U.S. Ambassador to Nicaragua
 * Loy Henderson, former U.S. Ambassador to Iran
 * Frank Aguon, Guam Senator
 * Owen Aspinall, 45th Governor of American Samoa
 * Wayne Aspinall, former member, U.S House of Representatives (D-Colo.)
 * Mike McKevitt, former member, U.S, House of Representatives (R-Colo.)
 * William D. Ford former member, U.S. House of Representatives (D-Mich.)
 * Mo Udall, former member, U.S. House of Representatives (D-Ariz)
 * Byron Rogers, former member, U.S. House of Representatives (D-Colo.)
 * John Patrick Williams, former member, U.S. House of Representatives (D-Mont.)
 * Paul Laxalt, former Nevada governor and U.S. Senator (R-Nev.)
 * Charles Brannan former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture under President H. Truman
 * Oscar Chapman former U.S. Secretary of Interior under President H. Truman
 * John Arthur Love, former Gov. of Colorado and Dir. of U.S. Energy Policy under President Nixon.
 * M. Javad Zarif, former Permanent Representative of Iran to the United Nations
 * Mary Cheney, Political activist and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney
 * Alvin Wiederspahn, former member of both houses of the Wyoming legislature and prominent Cheyenne attorney and historical preservationist
 * Peter Groff, President, Colorado Senate
 * Terrance Carroll, Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives
 * Dr.Ibrahim Abdulaziz Al-Assaf, Finance Minister, Saudi Arabia
 * Abu Bakar Abdullah, Director-General of the Malaysian Government's Public Service Department
 * Andrew Romanoff, former Colorado (D) House Speaker and 2010 U.S. Senate Candidate (Colo.)
 * David Malpass, 2010 U.S. Senate Candidate (R-NY), former chief economist, Bear Stearns
 * John V. Garza, member, Texas House of Representatives (R-San Antonio)

Business and Industry

 * Brad Anderson, former CEO, Best Buy
 * James C. Kennedy, former CEO and current Chairman of Cox Enterprises
 * Peter Morton, founder, Hard Rock Cafe chain
 * Roger Birnbaum, CEO, Spyglass Entertainment (major movie producer)
 * Scott Mitchell Rosenberg - CEO/Chairman Platinum Studios; Founder, Malibu Comics, screenwriter of movies Con Air and Men in Black
 * Peter Coors, Chairman, Molson Coors Brewing Company
 * Andrew C. Taylor, CEO, Enterprise Rent-A-Car
 * Joseph Saunders, Chairman and CEO, Visa Inc.
 * Jim Lentz, President, Toyota USA
 * Tom Marisco, founder and CEO, Marsico Capital Management, served on U.S. Treasury Department’s Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee
 * Richard Hilton, chairman, Hilton and Hyland Real Estate
 * Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman/CEO Emirates Airlines
 * Dale Wolf. CEO, Coventry Health Care
 * Mark Gasta, CHRO and SVP, Vail Resorts
 * Tom O'Brien, CEO, Tom's of Maine
 * Gabriel Flanagan. CEO, Flanagan Mutual, CFO, Committee to Elect President Obama 2012
 * Steve Whisler, former CEO, Phelps Dodge Mining
 * Heidi Ganahl, Founder, Camp Bow Wow chain
 * Pat Grant, former CEO, National Western Stock Show
 * Ted J. Kleisner, President and CEO, Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Company
 * Michael Morton, Co-Founder, N9NE Group
 * Jacob Dubie, CEO Dubie Family Maple
 * Carol Tome - CFO and Executive Vice President, Corporate Services, The Home Depot
 * Marc Schulman, President and CEO, Eli's Cheesecake
 * Tyler Merrill. CEO, "The Dream" Bicycles Inc.
 * James Unruh, former CEO, Unisys
 * Pam Turbeville, CEO, Navistar Financial
 * Sean Menke, President and CEO, Pinnacle Airlines
 * Emily Cinader Scott, Former Chairman, J.Crew
 * Howard P. James, former CEO, Sheraton Hotels
 * Joseph Warrington,President, Waterville USA

Media

 * Lowell Thomas, radio commentator
 * Aaron Huey, photojournalist & contributing editor,Harper's Weekly
 * Andrew Rosenthal, editorial page editor, The New York Times
 * David Von Drehle, editor-at-large for Time magazine
 * James C. Kennedy, Chairman, former CEO, Cox Enterprises
 * Edward W. Estlow, former CEO, E.W. Scripps Company
 * Don Levy, Senior Marketing VP, Sony Pictures Digital
 * Peter Funt, President and host, Candid Camera
 * Marion Edwards President, International Television, Fox
 * Scott Feldman, New York television news anchor
 * Ed Stein, editorial cartoonist, Rocky Mountain News
 * Clarke Canfield, Associated Press reporter and author
 * Mike Rosen, conservative talk radio host
 * James W. "Jim" Case, program director, KRMA-TV

Sports

 * Eric Alexander, scaled Mt. Everest with first blind climber to summit
 * Michelle Kwan, World Champion Figure Skater, Graduated June 2009.
 * Glenn Anderson NHL Hall of Famer and who scored 498 career NHL goals and won six Stanley Cups
 * Jerome Biffle, 1952 Olympic gold medalist in the long jump
 * Vince Boryla 1948 US Olympic Gold medalist, NBA player, head coach and long-time NBA executive
 * Tyler Bozak, hockey forward with Toronto Maple Leafs
 * Nat Borchers, soccer defender with Real Salt Lake (MLS)
 * Chris Butler, hockey defenseman with Calgary Flames
 * Matt Carle, hockey defenseman with Philadelphia Flyers, 2007 NHL all-Rookie team and 2006 Hobey Baker Award winner
 * Suzy Chaffee, former Olympic, World Cup and professional freestyle skier
 * Joe Colborne, hockey forward with Toronto Maple Leafs
 * Kevin Dineen, former NHL all-star player and current coach, Florida Panthers (NHL)
 * Sam Etcheverry, Canadian Football Hall of Fame quarterback
 * Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin Two-time U.S. Olympic medalist Luge Pair
 * Merle Harmon Sports Broadcaster, ABC and NBC TV, plus many MLB and NFL teams
 * Monty Hoyt Olympic Figure Skater, Graduated 1967.
 * Cliff Koroll, former Chicago Blackhawks coach and winger (11 yrs)
 * Floyd Little, Hall of Fame Running Back, Denver Broncos (MS Judicial Admin '75)
 * Keith Magnuson, former Chicago Blackhawks coach and defenseman
 * Peter Mannino, goaltender with Winnipeg Jets organization
 * Bill Masterton, former Minnesota North Star, The NHL's Bill Masterton Trophy is named in his honor
 * Peter McNab, Former NHL hockey player, current color analyst for the Colorado Avalanche
 * Craig Patrick, former Pittsburgh Penguins executive vice president/general manager & Assistant Coach for the US Olympic Hockey Team in 1980
 * Gregg Popovich, Head Coach, NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs
 * Dan Schatzeder, winning pitcher of Game 6 of the 1987 World Series
 * Paul Stastny, forward, Colorado Avalanche, NHL, runner up for 2006–2007 Rookie of the Year
 * Phil Heath, IFBB pro bodybuilder and 2011 Mr. Olympia Winnner
 * Joe Willis. Goalkeeper, DC United, MLS

Arts and Letters

 * Chris Broderick, heavy metal guitarist (Megadeth, Jag Panzer, Nevermore)
 * Hao Jiang Tian, Basso Cantante Opera Singer, Metropolitan Opera
 * Neil Simon, playwright
 * Mark Harris, Author, Bang the Drum Slowly
 * Ted Shackelford, Television Actor, Knots Landing
 * Sinbad, Comedian, (David Adkins)
 * Cedar Walton, Noted Jazz Pianist
 * John Edward Williams, Author and National Book Award Winner
 * Ted Shawn, Modern Dance Pioneer
 * Duane Michals, Noted Art Photographer
 * Paul Sharits, Noted avante-garde/abstract filmmaker