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24 notable alumni

Notable Alumni of University of Northern Iowa

Notable alumni of University of Northern Iowa include Chuck Grassley (US Senator from Iowa since 1981), Robert James Waller (Author of The Bridges of Madison County) and Phyllis Somerville (Stage, film and television actress).

College data and admissions

Alumni list

Politics and law

  • Chuck Grassley 1933–

    US Senator from Iowa since 1981

    Postgraduate degree, Undergraduate degree · Class of 1956

    Also attended: University of Iowa

  • Roger Jepsen 1928–2020

    Former US Senator and Iowa Lieutenant Governor

    Also attended: Arizona State University-Tempe

  • Gil Gutknecht 1951–

    Former U.S. politician

    Bachelor of Arts · Class of 1973

  • Burton E. Sweet 1867–1957

    Four-term U.S. Representative from Iowa

    Also attended: Cornell College, University of Iowa

  • David R. Nagle 1943–

    Former US Representative from Iowa

    Also attended: University of Iowa

  • Fred C. Gilchrist 1868–1950

    Seven-term Republican US Representative from Iowa

    Also attended: University of Iowa

  • Joan Larsen 1968–

    U.S. Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit

    Bachelor of Arts

    Also attended: Northwestern University

Business

  • Chris Pirillo 1973–

    Entrepreneur; founder of LockerGnome

Science and academia

Arts and media

Sports

  • Nick Nurse 1967–

    NBA coach who led Raptors to 2019 title

  • Joey Woody 1973–

    400m hurdler, 1997 NCAA champion

  • A.J. Green 1999–

    Milwaukee Bucks NBA basketball player

  • Seth Tuttle 1992–

    Former basketball player, Northern Iowa assistant coach

    Attended until 2015

  • Kayla Haneline 1994–

    Volleyball player

  • David Johnson 1991–

    Former NFL running back

  • John Little 1984–

    Phoenix Suns assistant coach and former player

  • Ali Farokhmanesh 1988–

    Former pro basketball player, Colorado State head coach

    Also attended: Kirkwood Community College

Other fields

  • Hasina Jalal 2000–

    Afghan women's rights advocate and exiled scholar

  • Jane Elliott 1933–

    Teacher known for Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes exercise

From Wikidata “educated at” records (including people who attended without graduating), ordered by the number of Wikipedia language editions. Degrees and years follow Wikidata and are left out where it has none.

Alumni network

Colleges that share the most alumni with University of Northern Iowa (people who attended both).