List of Wayne State University people
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following is a list of notable people related to Wayne State University.
Academia
- Sandra Arlinghaus, professor at University of Michigan Ann Arbor
- Rudine Sims Bishop, educator and "mother of" multicultural children's literature[1]
- Claire-Marie Brisson, preceptor in French at Harvard University
- Arthur Danto, Emeritus Johnsonian Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University
- Wayne Dyer, self-help author and motivational speaker
- Paul M. Fleiss, pediatrician, father of Heidi Fleiss
- Joseph Francisco, professor of Chemistry, former president of the American Chemical Society
- David J. Jackson, political science professor at Bowling Green State University
- William J. Kaiser, professor and former department chair of Electrical Engineering at UCLA[2][3]
- Abdi Kusow, professor of sociology and anthropology at Oakland University
- Emmett Leith, Schlumberger Professor of Engineering at the University of Michigan and recipient of the National Medal of Science
- Douglas McGregor, management professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and president of Antioch College (1948–1954)
- Nancy Milio, originated the notion of healthy public policy,[citation needed] Professor Emeritus of Nursing and Professor Emeritus of Health Policy and Administration, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Godfrey Mwakikagile, Tanzanian scholar, author, Africanist, academic and political theorist
- Saul K. Padover, historian and political scientist at The New School of Social Research in New York City
- Sidney Ribeau, former president of Bowling Green State University, President of Howard University[when?]
- Rita Richey, first woman to earn a Ph.D. in instructional technology[4]
- Michael Schwartz (attended),[citation needed] president of Cleveland State University, former President Emeritus of Kent State University
- Jacquelyn Taylor, Helen F. Pettit Professor of Nursing; founder and executive director, Center for Research on People of Color at Columbia University
- Dennis Chima Ugwuegbu, Nigeria's first professor of psychology
- Stanley E. Zin, Richard M. Cyert and Morris H. DeGroot Professor of Economics and Statistics, Carnegie Mellon University; Frisch Medal winner
Broadcasting and journalism
- Tony Brown, journalist, comedian, and businessman
- Rachelle Consiglio, executive producer, The Jerry Springer Show and The Steve Wilkos Show; wife of Steve Wilkos
- Hugh Downs, news anchor for ABC's 20/20
- Wayne Dyer, author, self-help advocate
- Sonny Eliot, weatherman, actor, and comedian
- Mark Fritz, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter
- Bob Giles, retired 40-year Detroit broadcast news manager for WWJ-TV News, WDIV-TV News, and WXYZ-TV Action News; inducted into Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame in 2012
- Darren M. Haynes, SportsCenter anchor at ESPN in Bristol, Connecticut
- Jerry Hodak, former chief meteorologist for WXYZ-TV Detroit
- Casey Kasem, radio host
- Carol Martin, news anchor and journalist
- Elvis Mitchell, New York Times film critic (1999–2004), entertainment critic for NPR's Weekend Edition, host of The Treatment on KCRW; programmer of the LACMA Film Screening Program
- Mike O'Hara, sportswriter for The Detroit News 1967–2008; in the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame[5]
- Helen Thomas, former White House correspondent; "First Lady of the Washington press corps"
Business
- Tom Athans, co-founder and former CEO of the liberal-progressive Democracy Radio
- Mark Bertolini, CEO of Aetna
- Howard Birndorf, biotechnology entrepreneur, founding director of Neurocrine Biosciences
- Larry Brilliant, executive director of Google.org
- Bill Davidson, industrialist, billionaire, majority owner of the Detroit Pistons
- Yousif Ghafari, founder and chairman of Ghafari, Inc., philanthropist, and U.S. ambassador[6][7]
- Dan Gilbert, president and founder of Rock Financial and Quicken Loans, majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers
- Peter Karmanos, Jr., founder and CEO of Compuware Corporation; owner of the Carolina Hurricanes, Plymouth Whalers, and Florida Everblades hockey franchises
- Madhusudhan Rao Lagadapati, chairman and CEO of Lanco Infratech; ranked 29th richest person in India with US$2.3 billion in 2010 by Forbes
- David M. Overton, founder and CEO of The Cheesecake Factory, Inc.
- Dhiraj Rajaram, founder and chairman of Mu Sigma, Inc.
- Stephen M. Ross, law school graduate; real estate developer; provided $100 million naming gift for Ross School of Business; Forbes 400 rank: #68 at $4.5 billion[when?]
- David Salzman (1969), television producer and businessman
Computers, engineering, and technology
- Neal Vernon Loving (aeronautical engineering), turbulence specialist
- Harold Mertz (mechanical engineering), created the standard crash test dummy (Hybrid III)
- Ali Nasle (electrical engineering), founder of EDSA Micro Corporation; wrote the world's first digital short circuit program
- Lawrence Patrick (mechanical and aeronautical engineering), researcher in the area of automotive passenger safety; vice president for research and development of Libbey Owens Ford Company, the original manufacturer of laminated safety glass
- John Sawruk (mechanical engineering), engineer and executive with GM
- Ece Yaprak (computer engineer), computer engineer and engineering educator
Art and design
- Susan Aaron-Taylor, mixed media sculptor, professor (retired) at Cranbrook Academy of Art
- Edith Altman, artist
- Diane Carr, artist
- Niels Diffrient, industrial designer
- Garth Fagan, dancer and choreographer
- Tyree Guyton, artist, created the Heidelberg Project
- Carole Harris, interior designer, textile artist
- Ian Hornak, founding artist of the hyperrealist and photorealist fine art movements[8][9]
- Leonard D. Jungwirth, sculptor
- Emeline King, industrial designer[10]
- Stanley Lechtzin, jewelry and metal artist, founding member of the Society of North American Goldsmiths
- Hughie Lee-Smith, painter
- Oxana Narozniak, Ukrainian-Brazilian sculptor
- Arthur Seigel, photojournalist, educator and artist
- Darryl DeAngelo Terrell, photographer, curator[11]
- Timothy Van Laar, artist
- R. John Wright, doll designer and maker
Government and politics
- John D. Altenburg, Army Major General, authority for military commissions covering detainees at Guantanamo
- Christine Beatty, former Detroit Chief of Staff; involved in the Kilpatrick and Beatty text-messaging scandal
- Scott Boman, Michigan politician
- Louvenia Bright, first African American woman to serve in the Vermont General Assembly
- Cora Brown, first African American woman to be elected to a state senate (D-Michigan)
- Chen Pi-Chao, former Vice Minister of National Defense for Taiwan, 2000–2002[12]
- Ken Cockrel Jr., former mayor of Detroit
- John Conyers, former member of the United States House of Representatives (D-Michigan)
- Keith Ellison, first Muslim elected to the United States Congress, currently the Attorney General of Minnesota (D-Minnesota)
- William D. Ford, former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (D-Michigan)
- Yousif Ghafari, former US ambassador to Slovenia
- Amer Ghalib, mayor of Hamtramck
- Mitch Greenlick, former member of the Oregon House of Representatives
- Jenean Hampton, former lieutenant governor of Kentucky
- Lawrence Kestenbaum, creator and webmaster of The Political Graveyard
- Nancy Lenoil, state archivist of California
- Andrew Marshall, founding director of the Office of Net Assessment at the U.S. Defense Department
- Fuat Oktay, first vice president of Turkey
- Bruce Patterson, former member of the Michigan Senate; former Wayne County Commissioner
- Gary Peters, member of the United States Senate (D-Michigan)
- Teresa Stanek Rea, former acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and former acting Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
- Lynn N. Rivers, former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (D-Michigan)
- Mary Sheffield, mayor of the city of Detroit
- Alma G. Stallworth, former member of the Michigan House of Representatives
- Ulana Suprun, former acting Minister of Healthcare of Ukraine
- Rashida Tlaib, one of the first two Muslim women elected to the U.S. Congress (D-Michigan)
- John Townsend, member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
Law
- Shereef Akeel, lawyer, notable for pursuing human rights and civil liberties cases on the behalf of Arab Americans and Muslim Americans
- Sam Bernstein, attorney, founded high-profile firm The Law Offices of Sam Bernstein
- Patricia Boyle, former U.S. federal judge
- Irma Clark-Coleman, member of the Michigan Senate, former member of the Michigan House of Representatives
- John Conyers, U.S. representative since 1964
- George Cushingberry, Jr., member of the Michigan House of Representatives, youngest ever elected
- Nancy Garlock Edmunds, senior U.S. federal judge
- Tod Ensign, veterans' rights lawyer, founder of the advocacy group Citizen Soldier
- Richard Alan Enslen, United States District Court judge
- Elizabeth L. Gleicher, judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals[13]
- Denise R. Johnson, first woman appointed to the Vermont Supreme Court
- Damon Keith, senior judge for the United States Court of Appeals
- Marilyn Jean Kelly, former chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court
- Joan Mahoney, law scholar, former professor and dean of the Wayne State University Law School
- Dorothy Comstock Riley, former justice of the Michigan Supreme Court; first woman to serve on the Michigan Court of Appeals
- Henry Saad, jurist, Michigan Court of Appeals
- John Weisenberger, former attorney general of Guam
Literature
- Charles Baxter, writer and educator
- Albert Cleage, author, founder of the Black Christian National Movement
- Dorothy Marie Donnelly, poet
- Paula Gosling, mystery novelist
- Mariela Griffor, poet and novelist, journalist
- Robert Hayden, poet, Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress
- Philip Levine, United States Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner
- Thomas Ligotti, horror story writer
- Raynetta Mañees, romance novelist
- Jonell Nash, cookbook writer and magazine editor
- Dudley Randall, poet and publisher
- Warren Rovetch, travel writer
- Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, writer and educator
Magic
- Al Schneider, author and magician known for developing the Matrix magic trick
Military
- Christopher W. Lentz, United States Air Force brigadier general
- Adolph McQueen, United States Army major general; first commander of the Joint Detention Group at Joint Task Force Guantanamo; Deputy Commander of United States Army North
Motion pictures
- Deva Katta, director, screenwriter
Performing arts
- Al Aarons, jazz trumpeter
- Pepper Adams (attended), jazz baritone saxophonist and composer
- Patricia Alice Albrecht, actress, voice over actress, and writer, voice of Pizzazz in Jem[14]
- Dorothy Ashby, jazz harpist and composer
- Madelon Baker (attended), actress, singer, record producer, music publisher[15]
- Anita Barone, actress, The War at Home
- Cherie Bennett, novelist, actress, director, playwright, newspaper columnist, singer, and television writer for The Young and the Restless
- Bob Birch, bassist for the Elton John Band
- Ben Blackwell (attended), musician
- Kenny Burrell, jazz guitarist
- Donald Byrd, trumpeter
- Larry Joe Campbell, actor and comedian, cast member of According to Jim
- Council Cargle, theater and film actor[16]
- Toi Derricotte, poet
- Chad Everett, actor, star of Medical Center and Mulholland Drive
- Garth Fagan choreographer, won Tony Award for The Lion King
- Chris Fehn, custom percussionist for the metal band Slipknot
- Artie Fields (attended), bandleader, songwriter, record producer and jazz trumpeter[17]
- Jeff Frankenstein (attended), keyboardist for Christian pop/rock band Newsboys, dropped out in 1994 to pursue his career with the band[18]
- Curtis Fuller, trombonist
- Frank Gillis, jazz pianist, ethnomusicologist
- Joe Henderson (attended), jazz musician
- Sean Hickey, composer
- Ernie Hudson, actor, Oz, Ghostbusters
- Art James, TV game-show host
- Thorsten Kaye, actor, All My Children, One Life to Live, Port Charles
- Yusef Lateef (attended), jazz musician
- Lazarus, physician, rapper and songwriter from Detroit
- James Lentini, composer and guitarist
- Philip Levine, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet; Distinguished Poet in Residence for the Creative Writing Program at New York University
- Joseph LoDuca, Emmy Award-winning composer
- Dave Marsh (attended), music writer, co-founder of Creem magazine
- Tim Meadows, actor, Saturday Night Live, Mean Girls
- Barbara Meek, actress, Archie Bunker's Place
- S. Epatha Merkerson, actress, Law & Order, Lackawanna Blues
- Kenya Moore,[19] Miss USA 1993 and Miss Michigan USA 1993
- Martin Pakledinaz, costume designer, won Tony Awards for Thoroughly Modern Millie and the 2000 revival of Kiss Me, Kate
- Bobby Pearce, Broadway costume designer
- Bill Prady (attended), television writer and producer
- David Ramsey, actor, Dexter, Blue Bloods, Mother and Child, and Arrow
- Crystal Reed, actress, Teen Wolf
- Della Reese, actress, singer, minister
- Lloyd Richards, stage director, Tony Award for Seven Guitars, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, and A Raisin in the Sun
- Sixto Rodriguez (BA Philosophy, 1981),[20] folk musician, subject of documentary Searching for Sugar Man
- Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Michael Hayes; Tony Award for Seven Guitars
- Kierra Sheard, contemporary gospel singer
- George Shirley, opera singer, 2015 recipient National Medal of Arts
- Darryl Sivad, actor and comedian
- Tom Sizemore, actor, Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down
- Tom Skerritt, Emmy Award-winning actor; has appeared in more than 40 films and 200 television episodes[21]
- Avo Sõmer, musicologist, music theorist, and composer
- Jeffrey Tambor, actor, The Larry Sanders Show, Arrested Development
- Barbara Tarbuck, actress, General Hospital; Fulbright Scholar
- Sonya Tayeh, choreographer on So You Think You Can Dance
- Ron Teachworth, educator, artist, writer, filmmaker (Going Back)
- Lily Tomlin (attended), actress, Nashville, The West Wing, Murphy Brown, Flirting with Disaster, I Heart Huckabees
Medicine
- Scott Dulchavsky, trauma surgeon and NASA researcher
- Flora Hommel (1928–2015), childbirth educator
- Gerald May, psychiatrist
- Robert Provenzano, nephrologist
- Wolfram Samlowski, medical oncologist
- Robert L. Williams, psychologist
Religion
- Charles H. Ellis III, former presiding bishop of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World Inc.
- Dario Hunter, first Muslim-born person to be ordained a rabbi[22]
- John Drew Sheard, Sr., presiding bishop of the Church of God in Christ
Science
- Werner Emmanuel Bachmann, chemist; pioneer in steroid synthesis: carried out the first total synthesis of a steroidal hormone, equilenin; his name is associated with the Gomberg-Bachmann reaction
- Mary Kim Joh, author of a Korean anthem[23]
- Emmett Leith, co-inventor of three-dimensional holography; awarded the National Medal of Science in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter
- Jerry Linenger, astronaut; spent five months living on the Russian space station Mir
- Sultana N. Nahar, physicist, astronomer
- Shirley E. Schwartz (M.S. 1962, Ph.D. 1970), chemist and research scientist at General Motors[24]
Sports
- Anthony Bass, starting pitcher for the San Diego Padres; Major League Baseball draft (MLB) draft selection in 2008 (5th round)
- Tom E. Beer, former linebacker for the Detroit Lions
- Joique Bell, Wayne State all-time leading rusher; former running back for the Detroit Lions
- Gregory Benko (born 1952), Olympic foil fencer
- Ron Berger, former football player for the New England Patriots
- Hunter Brown, 2019 MLB draft selection (5th round) who plays for the Houston Astros
- Rick Byas, cornerback for the Atlanta Falcons
- Ken Doherty, Olympic bronze medalist, decathlon (1928)
- Phil Emery, former General Manager for the Chicago Bears
- Ben Finegold, chess grandmaster
- Kiefer Haffey, college basketball coach
- Byron Krieger (1920–2015), foil, sabre, and épée fencer; NCAA champion; two-time Pan Am gold medalist; two-time Olympian; two-time Maccabiah Games gold medalist
- Allan Kwartler (attended; 1917–1998), sabre and foil fencer; Pan-American sabre champion and three-time gold medal winner; three-time Olympian, and two-time gold medal winner at the Maccabiah Games
- Dan Larson, Major League Baseball pitcher (1976–1982)
- Danny Lewis (born 1970), American-English basketball player
- Stavros Paskaris, former professional ice hockey player
- Fred Snowden, former assistant coach at the University of Michigan; former head coach of the University of Arizona men's basketball teams; first black head coach of a major university's basketball program in America's history
- Otmar Szafnauer, team principal of Alpine F1 Team and former racing driver
- Allen Tolmich, track and field athlete; established or tied 11 U.S. track and field records in 1938, set world hurdling records
- Lorenzo Wright, track and field athlete; gold medal winner in the 1948 Olympics (400-meter relay)