List of Emporia State University people

Academics

• H. Edward Flentje – professor at Wichita State University; interim president of Emporia State University
• Ken Hush – Emporia State's 18th president; held multiple executive positions at Koch Minerals and Carbon
• Harry Levinson – chairman emeritus and founder of the Levinson Institute; clinical professor of psychology (emeritus) at Harvard Medical School
• Barbara Kiefer Lewalski – Guggenheim Fellow in 1967; William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of History and Literature and of English, emeritus at Harvard University
• W. Ann Reynolds – chancellor of the California State University and City University of New York
• Jackie Vietti – president of Butler Community College for 17 years; interim president of Emporia State University in 2015
• Lloyd P. Young, president of what is now Keene State College^[3]

Art

• James Pringle Cook – Western landscape painter
• Barry Johnson – artist
• Evan Lindquist – artist given Lifetime Achievement Award by the Society of American Graphic Artists (SAGA) in 2010

Business

• Dan Busby – president of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability^[4]
• William Coffin Coleman – founder of Coleman Company; taught at Ottawa University for a year before serving as principal of Blue Rapids schools for a year; mayor of Wichita in 1923 and 1924

Entertainment

• Kay Alden – five-time Emmy award-winning television writer
• Curt Dawson (1960) – stage and television actor^[5]
• Katie A. Keane – theatrical/television actress

Law

• Dale Emerson Saffels – United States District Court for the District of Kansas; member of the Kansas House of Representatives
• Harold See – associate justice of the Alabama Supreme Court
• Sam V. Stewart – Montana Supreme Court justice

Military

• Roscoe Cartwright – first black field artilleryman promoted to brigadier general
• Grant F. Timmerman – awarded Medal of Honor posthumously for heroism during Battle of Saipan

Politics and government

• Jim Barnett – physician and former Kansas senator; Republican nominee for governor in 2006
• Stephanie Clayton – member of the Kansas House of Representatives
• William J. Durham – attorney and leader in the civil rights movement
• Thompson Benton Ferguson – governor of Oklahoma Territory (1901–1906)
• Stan Frownfelter – member of the Kansas House of Representatives
• L. M. Gensman – former U.S. representative from Oklahoma
• Lea Giménez – Minister of Finance (Paraguay)
• Jim Kelly – member of the Kansas House of Representatives
• Jeff Longbine – member of the Kansas Senate
• John Conover Nichols – former U.S. rep. from Oklahoma
• Roy Wilford Riegle – Kansas Senate member
• Mark Schreiber – member of the Kansas House of Representatives
• Jack Sinagra – mayor, state senator, chair of Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

• Vern Swanson – Kansas House of Representatives House District 64
• Annie Tietze – Kansas House of Representatives House District 53
• Mark Treaster – former member of Kansas House of Representatives
• Ed Trimmer – Kansas House of Representatives House District 79
• Bob Whittaker – United States House of Representatives

Literature

• Louis F. Burns – Osage Nation/Osage Indian historian and author
• Hattie Horner Louthan – author of five books and contributor to newspapers and magazines
• Deborah Raney – women's fiction writer
• Randall J. Stephens – author and historian

Science and technology

• William T. Frankenberger – soil scientist
• Panos Zavos – reproduction specialist

Sports

• Frank Anderson – former head baseball coach for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, now an assistant for the University of Tennessee
• Ross Bjork – two-year starter at fullback on ESU Hornet football team, former athletic director at University of Mississippi; former athletic director at Texas A&M University; current athletic director at Ohio State University
• Dale Burnett – former NFL player; played for the New York Giants and was on 1932 World Championship team
• Glenn Campbell – NFL player for New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Pirates
• Jory Collins – 6th head women's basketball coach at Emporia State 2010–2018^[6]
• Eldon Danenhauer – NFL player for Denver Broncos
• John Davis – NFL player for Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears
• Don Dennis – pitched for St. Louis Cardinals in 1965 and 1966
• Al Feuerbach – former Olympian and world record holder in the shot put
• Bob Fornelli – head baseball coach at Emporia State (2004–2018)
• Kelly Goodburn – NFL player for Kansas City Chiefs and Washington Redskins; played in XXIV Super Bowl when Washington won World Championship

• Homer Woodson Hargiss – head football coach for 12 years and compiled a 62-23-11 record; his 1926 squad produced a 7-0-0 record, the only perfect season in ESU history
• Steve Henry – drafted by the NFL St. Louis Cardinals in 1979; played one year each for the Cardinals, the New York Giants, and the Baltimore Colts
• Garin Higgins – current head football coach at Emporia State^[7]
• Brad Hill – head baseball coach at Kansas State University (2004–2018)
• Gene Johnson – head basketball coach at Wichita State University and Kansas Wesleyan University, won two AAU national titles and was assistant coach for the 1936 gold medal Olympic basketball team; credited with inventing the full-court zone press
• Fred Kipp – played baseball for the New York Yankees, Brooklyn Dodgers, and Los Angeles Dodgers
• Ryan Kohlmeier – played on various Major League Baseball teams, as well as Minor League Baseball teams; current dentist in Emporia, KS
• John Kuck – gold medal winner in the shot put at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam
• Bob Leahy – played in the NFL for the Pittsburgh Steelers and also coached in the NFL
• Leon Lett – helped Hornets to the NAIA National Championship game in 1989; played for Dallas Cowboys in 3 Super Bowls
• John Lohmeyer – defensive end for Emporia State and former Kansas City Chiefs player; currently Director of Development for the Emporia State University foundation^[8]
• George Munday – NFL player for Cleveland Indians, New York Giants, Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Gunners
• Archie San Romani – won the national collegiate mile in 1935 and the 1,500-meter run in 1936; anchored distance medley relay that set world record in 1936; was fourth in the 1,500-meter run at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin; set a world record in the 2,000-meter run in 1937 that stood for 25 years
• Brian Shay – running back for ESU; won the 1998 Harlon Hill Trophy; broke 17 NCAA Division II records; played for the Berlin Thunder and Orlando Rage; was a member of the 1999 Kansas City Chiefs practice squad
• Steve Shifflett – major league baseball player for Kansas City Royals
• Harry Short – baseball player and manager^[9]
• Bill Tidwell – four-time NAIA national cross country champion; Emporia State athletics director 1971–1979, cross country and track & field coach 1979–1984
• Fran Welch – quarterbacked ESU football team to a 24-1-2 record; in 24 years as a football coach, compiled a 116-81-15 mark; his track and cross country teams claimed 18 league crowns, four NAIA cross country championships, one NAIA track title, and one NCAA small college cross country title
• Austin Willis – football player