Notable Alumni

K alumni on the quad

From pioneering scientists and award-winning artists to industrious entrepreneurs, K alumni are leaders in their fields.

Thanks to the applicable skills and practical experiences integrated into each student’s K-Plan, our graduates leave K with the confidence and ability to thrive in their respective careers.

Explore our notable alumni across their various fields of excellence:

Academics

Floyd Wilcox, Class of 1910, president of Shimer College from 1930-35
Ken Elzinga ’63, economics professor at University of Virginia
Robert Shiller ’67, Nobel Prize winner and economist

Arts and Entertainment

Fern Ball Persons ’31, actress and radio actress
Paul Eads ’73, Emmy-winning television producer
Vincent Liff ’73, New York casting director
Vic Braden ’77, tennis professional
Holly Hughes ’77, performance artist and GLAAD media award winner
Lisa Kron ’83, Tony award-winning actress and playwright
Julie Mehretu ’92, contemporary artist and recipient of the MacArthur Genius Grant
Selma Blair ’94, actress
Jordan Klepper ’01, actor, comedian and political commentator
Joe Tracz ’04, playwright and screenwriter
Steven Yeun ’05, Oscar-nominated actor
Quincy Isaiah ’17, actor

Writers and Journalists

Rufus Perry, Class of 1861, Baptist minister, journalist and activist
Nagai Kafu, K student from 1904-05, Japanese author
Maynard Owen Williams, Class of 1910, National Geographic correspondent
Diane Seuss ’78, poet, Pulitzer Prize winner and K professor emerita
David France ’81, investigative journalist, author and Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker
Lila Lazarus ’84, Emmy award-winning journalist, producer and motivational speaker
Mark Crilley ’88, artist, author and illustrator of comic books/manga
Teju Cole ’96, Nigerian-American writer, photographer and art historian

Business, Finance and Development

Peter Tippet ’75, developer of the first anti-virus software, now named Norton AntiVirus
Larry Bell ’80, founder of Bell’s Brewery
Jon Stryker ’82, architect, philanthropist and founder of the Arcus Foundation
David Higdon ’83, global head of communications, Esports at Riot Games
Mark Spitznagel ’93, founder, owner and chief investment officer of Universa Investments
Mike McFall ’93, co-founder and co-CEO of Biggby Coffee

Law, Government and Politics

Chokwe Lumumba ’69, lawyer, civil rights activist and mayor of Jackson, Mississippi
Alexander Lipsey ’72, judge, 9th Circuit Court of Michigan, and former Michigan House of Representatives member
Martha Campbell ’72, former U.S. Ambassador to the Marshall Islands
Gerald Rosen ’73, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
Myra Selby ’77, Indiana Supreme Court justice
Carolyn DeWitt ’04, president and executive director at Rock the Vote
Darrin Camilleri ’14, former member of Michigan House of Representatives and current member of Michigan Senate

Public Health and Medicine

John Sarno ’44, doctor known for his book Healing Back Pain
Bruce Benton ’64, Led two onchocerciasis control programs at the World Bank
Harold Phillips ’88, Senior HIV advisor in the U.S. Department of Health
Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian ’99 (MD, MPH FIDSA), epidemiologist and chief executive medical officer for the State of Michigan