Imran Ahmad, Associate Professor, School of Computer Science, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario - Canada
Sandra Arlinghaus, professor at University of Michigan Ann Arbor
Dr. Wm. Berry Calder, Provost and Vice-President Academic at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology
Arthur Danto, Emeritus Johnsonian Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University
Paul M. Fleiss, pediatrician, father of Heidi Fleiss
Robert C. Hale, Professor of Marine Science at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, The College of William & Mary. Hale also captained the 1978 Wayne State University Varsity Swim Team
Scott Harris, professor of communications at the University of Kansas; coach of the 2008 National Debate Champion Jayhawks
James S. Jackson, director of the Institute for Social Research; Distinguished Professor of Psychology, The University of Michigan
Michael M. E. Johns, MD, chancellor of Emory University; chairman of Academic Medicine scientific journal; board director of Johnson & Johnson; former CEO of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center at Emory University; dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
William J. Kaiser, professor and former department chair of Electrical Engineering at UCLA
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
William S. Marras, Honda Professor of Industrial Engineering; Director of the Ergonomics Institute at Ohio State University; member of the National Academy of Engineering
Douglas McGregor, management professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and president of Antioch College (1948 to 1954)
Nancy Milio, originated the notion of healthy public policy, Professor Emeritus of Nursing and Professor Emeritus of Health Policy and Administration, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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
Dr. Michael Schwartz (attended), President of Cleveland State University, former President Emeritus of Kent State University
Stanley E. Zin, Richard M. Cyert and Morris H. DeGroot Professor of Economics and Statistics, Carnegie Mellon University; Frisch Medal winner
Dr Wayne Dyer Author of dozens of best selling books and motivational speaker
Broadcasting and journalism
Jonathan Arking, broadcast journalist, News Director for radio station WHMI
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
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
Ken Kal, radio play-by-play announcer for the Detroit Red Wings
Casey Kasem, radio host
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
Erik Smith, news anchor, WXYZ-TV Detroit
Helen Thomas, former White House correspondent; "First Lady of the Washington press corps"
Jim Anderson, president and founder of Urban Science
Tom Athans, co-founder and former CEO of the liberal-progressive Democracy Radio
Howard Birndorf, biotechnology entrepreneur, founding director of Neurocrine Biosciences
Larry Brilliant, Executive Director of Google.org
Salvatore A. Cavaliere, business school graduate; builder and land developer in southeastern Michigan
Bill Davidson, industrialist, billionaire, majority owner of the Detroit Pistons
Yousif Ghafari, founder and chairman of GHAFARI, Inc., philanthropist, and U.S. Ambassador
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
David M. Overton, founder and CEO, The Cheesecake Factory, Inc.
Madhusudhan Rao Lagadapati, Chairman and CEO Lanco Infratech
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
Computers, engineering, and technology
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), award-winning researcher in the area of automotive passenger safety; served as his own test subject to develop and improve safety systems that included airbags, collapsible steering columns, and automotive safety glass; key researcher in the development of the Wayne State Tolerance Curve, still used for prediction of head injury; vice president for research and development of Libbey Owens Ford Company, the original manufacturer of laminated safety glass
Art and design
Niels Diffrient, industrial designer
Tyree Guyton, artist, created the Heidelberg Project
Ian Hornak, painter
Leonard D. Jungwirth, sculptor
Stanley Lechtzin, jewelry and metal artist, founding member of the Society of North American Goldsmiths
Hughie Lee-Smith, painter
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
Cora Brown, first African American woman to be elected to a state senate
Chen Pi-Chao, Vice-Minister of Defense of the Republic of China on Taiwan from 2000 to 2002
Ken Cockrel Jr., Detroit mayor
John Conyers, U.S. Representative (D-Michigan)
Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to the United States Congress (D-Minnesota)
William D. Ford, former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (D-Michigan)
Yousif Ghafari, former U.S. ambassador to Slovenia
Mitch Greenlick, member of the Oregon House of Representatives
Jenean Hampton, 57th and Current Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky
Lawrence Kestenbaum, creator and webmaster of The Political Graveyard
Nancy Lenoil, State Archivist of California
Bruce Patterson, member of the Michigan Senate; former Wayne County Commissioner
Gary Peters, member of the United States Senate (D-Michigan)
Teresa Stanek Rea, Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Acting Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
Lynn N. Rivers, former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (D-Michigan)
Alma G. Stallworth, former Michigan state legislator
John Townsend, Wisconsin State Assembly
Darwin K. Roche Captain, Detroit Police Department
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
Dan Gilbert, chairman and founder of Rock Ventures and Quicken Loans Inc.
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 and the first woman to serve on the Michigan Court of Appeals
Dean Robb, civil rights attorney and activist
Henry Saad, jurist, Michigan Court of Appeals
John Weisenberger, former attorney general of Guam
Albert Cleage, author, founder of the Black Christian National Movement
Dorothy Marie Donnelly, poet
Paula Gosling, mystery novelist
Mariela Griffor, poet and novelist, journalist
Philip Levine, United States Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner
Thomas Ligotti, horror story writer
Raynetta Mañees, romance novelist
James Sites, writer, novelist
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
Deva Katta, director, screenwriter
Al Aarons, jazz trumpeter
Pepper Adams (attended), jazz baritone saxophonist and composer
Dorothy Ashby, jazz harpist and composer
Anita Barone, actress, The War at Home
Cherie Bennett, novelist, actress, director, playwright, newspaper columnist, singer, and television writer for the 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
Toi Derricotte, poet
Chad Everett, actor, star of Medical Center and Mulholland Drive
Garth Fagan choreographer, won Tony Award for The Lion King
Artie Fields (attended), bandleader, songwriter, record producer and jazz trumpeter.
Chris Fehn, custom percussionist for the metal band Slipknot
Jeff Frankenstein (attended), keyboardist for Christian pop/rock band Newsboys, dropped out in 1994 to pursue his career with the band
Curtis Fuller, trombonist
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
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, Miss USA 1993 and Miss Michigan USA 1983
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
Lazarus, physician, rapper and songwriter from Detroit
Sixto Rodriguez (BA Philosophy, 1981), 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
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
Allan von Schenkel, double bassist, performance artist, music promoter, and composer
Marty Fried (Juris Doctor, cum laude, 1972), drummer and founding member of The Cyrkle.
Ron Sperski Guitarist Whitesnake,Ratt,Mojo Island
Scott Dulchavsky, trauma surgeon and NASA researcher
Gerald May, psychiatrist
Partha Nandi, gastroenterologist and television personality
Robert Provenzano, nephrologist
Wolfram Samlowski, medical oncologist
Robert L. Williams, psychologist
Dario Hunter, first Muslim-born person to be ordained a rabbi
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, wrote a Korean anthem
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
TJ Juckson, starting running backing for the East vs. West bowl 2013
Anthony Bass, starting pitcher for the San Diego Padres; drafted in MLB 5th round in 2008
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, Olympic foil fencer
Ron Berger, former football player for the New England Patriots
Rick Byas, cornerback for the Atlanta Falcons
Ken Doherty, Olympic bronze medalist, decathlon (1928)
Phil Emery, former General Manager for the Chicago Bears
Byron Krieger, 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), 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)
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
Allen Tolmich, track and field athlete; established or tied 11 U.S. track and field records in 1938
Lorenzo Wright, track and field athlete; gold medal winner in the 1948 Olympics (400-meter relay)
Ernie Harwell, sportscaster
Carl Levin, U.S. Senator
James Lipton, actor, television host
Jessye Norman, soprano
Stephen Yokich, former UAW president
- 1933 - 1942: Frank Cody
- 1942 - 1945: Warren E. Bow
- 1945 - 1952: David D. Henry
- 1952 - 1965: Clarence B. Hilberry
- 1965 - 1971: William R. Keast
- 1971 - 1978: George E. Gullen, Jr.
- 1978 - 1982: Thomas Bonner
- 1982 - 1997: David Adamany
- 1997 - 2009: Irvin Reid
- 2009 - 2010: Jay Noren
- 2011 - 2013: Allan Gilmour
- 2013 - present: M. Roy Wilson
The Board of Governors is chosen by Michigan voters; current board members are: Gary S. Pollard (chair), Paul E. Massaron (vice-chair), Diane L. Dunaskiss, Marilyn Kelly, David A. Nicholson, Sandra Hughes O'Brien, Dana Thompson, and Kim Trent.
Norman Allinger, computational chemist, winner of the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry
Jerry Bails, popular culturist; "father of comic book fandom;" former Assistant Professor of Natural Science
Albert T. Bharucha-Reid, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences; Markov chain theorist and statistician
Susan Bies, member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; Assistant Professor of Economics
Cynthia Bir, Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Orthopaedic Surgery, Emmy Award-winning lead engineer on Sports Science (Fox Sports and ESPN)
John Corvino, philosopher and author; Professor of Philosophy
Oliver Cox, sociologist; member of the Chicago School
Joanne V. Creighton, expert on women's education; President of Mount Holyoke College
Julia Donovan Darlow, attorney; first woman president of the State Bar of Michigan; Adjunct Professor of Law
Forest Dodrill, MD, inventor of the Dodrill-GMR; first person to perform a successful open heart surgery
John M. Dorsey, MD, Chairman of Psychiatry; author; first to be awarded title of University Professor
Sorin Draghici, Professor in Computer Science, Robert J. Sokol, MD Endowed Chair in Systems Biology in Reproduction, Director of the James and Patricia Anderson Engineering Ventures Institute, Associate Dean of College of Engineering
Scott Dulchavsky, trauma surgeon; Chief of Surgery at HFHS; NASA Principal Investigator
Joseph W. Eaton, sociologist; anthropologist; listed in Who is Who in the World for his published research and academic career in public and international affairs, social work and public health
Muneer Fareed, Islamic scholar, Secretary General of the Islamic Society of North America
Piero P. Foà, PhD, Professor of Physiology at the WSU School of Medicine; provided the first evidence that glucose stimulates insulin secretion and of the existence of the hormone glucagon
Farshad Fotouhi, Professor of Computer Science; Dean of College of Engineering
Douglas Fraser, Adjunct Professor of Labor Relations; former president of the United Auto Workers
Edmund Gettier, philosopher; published Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?
Wallace Givens, mathematician; pioneer in computer science; namesake of the Givens rotation
Martin Glaberman, influential Marxist, Professor Emeritus
Morris Goodman, scientist' editor-in-chief of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution journal, Distinguished Professor at the Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics at Wayne State University School of Medicine
Neil Gordon, Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemistry, founded the Journal of Chemical Education and established the world-renowned Gordon Research Conferences.
David Gorski, associate professor of surgery and oncology; known for his blogs critical of alternative medicine
Margaret Hayes Grazier,librarian, author, associate professor from 1965, professor from 1972 to 1983
Suraj N. Gupta, Professor Emeritus, notable for his contributions to quantum field theory; known for developing the Gupta–Bleuler formalism of field quantization
Carla Harryman, poet; essayist; playwright; Professor of Women's Studies and Creative Writing
Matthew Holden, political scientist
Jerome Horwitz, PhD, Wayne State University School of Medicine Professor of Internal Medicine and Karmanos Cancer Institute researcher; synthesized the first drug approved for the treatment of AIDS and HIV infection, Zidovudine; synthesized Zalcitabine (ddC) and Stavudine (d4T), the third and fourth drugs approved to treat AIDS
Adrian Kantrowitz, MD, performed the world's first pediatric heart transplant, and the first heart transplant in the United States; Chairman of the Department of Surgery
Albert I. King, Ph.D., Founding Chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering; international expert in injury biomechanics (from head to foot); member of the National Academy of Engineering
Ernest Kirkendall, chemist and metallurgist; discovered the Kirkendall effect
Henry E. Kyburg, Jr., expert in probability and logic; known for the Lottery Paradox and for the Kyburgian or epistemological interpretation of probability
Keith Lehrer, philosopher; former Professor of Philosophy
M.L. Liebler, taught English, creative writing, world literature, American studies, and labor studies; authored several books of poetry
Jessica Litman, expert on copyright law, Professor of Law
David L. Mackenzie, educator and founding dean
Maryann Mahaffey, former member of the Detroit City Council, Professor Emerita at the School of Social Work
Forrest McDonald, historian, leading conservative scholar
Ron Milner, author of a Broadway play, professor of creative writing
Boris Mordukhovich, mathematician in the areas of nonlinear analysis, optimization, and control theory; founder of modern variational analysis and generalized differentiation; Distinguished University Professor and Lifetime Scholar of the Academy of Scholars at Wayne State
Frederick Newmeyer, linguist; known for his work on the history of generative syntax and the evolutionary origin of language
Robert Peters, poet, critic, scholar, playwright, editor, and actor; received Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships; won the Alice Fay di Castagnola Award of the Poetry Society of America
Alexey A Petrov, physicist in the area of theoretical particle physics; known for his work in heavy quark phenomenology; received National Science Foundation CAREER Award
Alvin Plantinga, contemporary philosopher; known for his work in epistemology, metaphysics, and the philosophy of religion
Ananda Prasad, biochemist, Distinguished Professor of Medicine
Earl H. Pritchard, Rhodes Scholar; Scholar of China; founder and president of the Association for Asian Studies; first recipient of the Distinguished Civilian Service Medal
Robert Provenzano, MD, Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at the School of Medicine; expert on chronic kidney disease and kidney transplantation; former president of the Renal Physicians Association
Shlomo Sawilowsky, Professor of Educational Statistics and Distinguished Faculty Fellow; founder and editor of the Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods
Marvin Schindler, Professor emeritus of German and Slavic Studies
Steven Shaviro, prominent cultural critic
Melvin Small, historian of US Diplomacy; former President of the Peace History Society; author of several award-winning books
Herbert Soule, Ph.D., developed the MCF-7 human breast cancer cell line, the first breast cancer cells to grow outside the human body, and the standard for cancer research worldwide
Calvin L. Stevens, chemist, professor of Organic Chemistry; known for being the first to synthesize the drug ketamine.
Mary Chase Perry Stratton, ceramic artist; founder of Pewabic Pottery
Emanuel Tanay, forensic psychiatrist
Athan Theoharis, expert on U.S. intelligence agencies, primarily the FBI
William Lay Thompson, Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences, expert on bird vocalizations, past President of the Michigan Audubon Society and past Editor of the Jack Pine Warbler
Brian VanGorder, defensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons; former football head coach
Sergei Voloshin, physicist in the area of heavy ion research; known for his work on event-by-event physics in heavy ion collisions
Barrett Watten, poet; educator; professor of modernism and cultural studies
Joseph Weizenbaum, Professor emeritus of computer science at MIT; created early computer in 1952 at Wayne State University
Frank H. Wu, lawyer and author; former dean of the law school
George Ziegelmueller, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Communication; debate coach; namesake of the George Ziegelmueller Awar for Outstanding Director of Debate by the National Debate Tournament
Robert Zieger, labor historian; recipient of the Taft Labor History Award; professor of history
