Emporia State University is a public university in Emporia, Kansas, United States, east of the Flint Hills. Established in March 1863 and originally known as the Kansas State Normal School, Emporia State is the third oldest public university in the state of Kansas. Emporia State is one of six public universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents.
Politics and government
Jim Barnett – physician and former Kansas Senator; Republican nominee for governor in 2006
James L. Cathey, Jr. – Mayor of Bossier City, Louisiana, 1973 to 1977
Stephanie Clayton – Kansas House of Representatives House District 19
William J. Durham – African-American attorney and leader in the civil rights movement
Stan Frownfelter – Kansas House of Representatives House District 37
L. M. Gensman – former U.S. Representative from Oklahoma
Dan Hawkins – Kansas House of Representatives House District 100
Jim Kelly – Kansas House of Representatives House District 11
Jeff Longbine – Kansas Senate District 17
John Conover Nichols – former U.S. Rep. from Oklahoma; vice president of Transcontinental and Western Airlines
Roy Wilford Riegle – probate judge, teacher, Kansas Senate member, Knights Templar Grand Master
Dale Emerson Saffels – Kansas House of Representatives; nominated by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 to the United States District Court for the District of Kansas
Harold See – Associate Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court
Jack Sinagra– mayor, state senator, chair of Port Authority in New Jersey
Sam V. Stewart – Montana Supreme Court Justice
Vern Swanson – Kansas House of Representatives House District 64
Annie Tietze – Kansas House of Representatives House District 53
Grant F. Timmerman – awarded Medal of Honor posthumously for heroism during Battle of Saipan
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
Kay Alden – five-time Emmy award-winning television writer
Louis F. Burns – Osage Nation/Osage Indian historian and author
Katie A. Keane – theatrical/television actress
Evan Lindquist – artist given Lifetime Achievement Award by the Society of American Graphic Artists (SAGA) in 2010
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
Panos Zavos – reproduction specialist
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
H. Edward Flentje – professor at Wichita State University; interim president of ESU in 2011
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
W. Ann Reynolds – chancellor of the California State University and City University of New York
Jacqueline Vietti – President of Butler Community College for 17 years; Interim President of ESU in 2015
Athletes and coaches
Frank Anderson – former head baseball coach for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, now an assistant for the University of Houston
Dale Burnett – former NFL player; played for the New York Giants and was on 1932 World Championship team
Jory Collins – current head women's basketball coach at Emporia State
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 – current head baseball coach at Emporia State
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
Brad Hill – head baseball coach at Kansas State University
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
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
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
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
Bill Tidwell – four-time NAIA national cross country champion; Emporia State Athletics Director from 1971–1979, cross country and track & field coach from 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, currently free agent in NFL
These persons have served as presidents or interim presidents of Kansas State Normal School (1863–1923), Kansas State Teachers College (1923–1974), Emporia Kansas State College (1974–1977), and Emporia State University (1977–present).
