This is a list of notable people who were born or lived in the American state of Indiana.
Military
Marion T. Anderson, Medal of Honor recipient in American Civil War (Decatur County) Martha Baker, nurse in the American Civil War (Concord) Jeremy Michael Boorda, admiral, Chief of Naval Operations (South Bend) Ambrose Burnside, general in the Civil War, sideburns are named after him (Liberty) John Howard Cassady, U.S. Navy admiral, commander in chief, Naval Forces Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean (Spencer) George Rogers Clark, man who conquered Indiana for the United States (Clarksville) Sammy L. Davis, Medal of Honor recipient from Vietnam War, U.S. Army (Freedom) Jonathan D. George, retired Air Force brigadier general, 9th District congressional candidate (Bedford) William Grose, Civil War general (New Castle) Scott S. Haraburda, colonel, U.S. Army; president of the Indiana Society of Professional Engineers (Spencer) Horace Meek Hickam, lieutenant colonel, U.S. Army Air Corps; aviation pioneer; Hickam AFB named in his honor (Spencer) Jonas Ingram, Medal of Honor recipient, Atlantic Fleet commander in World War II (Jeffersonville) Opha May Johnson, first woman known to have enlisted in the United States Marine Corps (Kokomo) Henry Maston Mullinnix, rear admiral, U.S. Navy; was named in his honor (Spencer) John Poindexter, vice admiral, U.S. Navy, National Security Adviser to President Ronald Reagan, figure in the Iran-Contra affair (Odon) David M. Shoup, Medal of Honor recipient, 22nd commandant of the Marine Corps (Battle Ground) Walter Bedell Smith, general, U.S. Army, chief of staff to General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Indianapolis) Raymond Ames Spruance, admiral, U.S. Navy, Flagship Commander USS Indianapolis (Indianapolis) Lew Wallace, general in the Civil War (Crawfordsville) "Mad" Anthony Wayne, 18th-century United States general and namesake to Fort Wayne Samuel Woodfill, most decorated American soldier in World War I (Jefferson County)
Politicians and activists
Gardner Ackley, chairman of Council of Economic Advisers under Lyndon B. Johnson (Indianapolis) Frank J. Anderson, Marion County sheriff (Indianapolis) Amy Coney Barrett, U.S. Supreme Court justice (South Bend) Birch Bayh, former U.S. senator and presidential candidate (Terre Haute) Evan Bayh, U.S. senator and former governor of Indiana (Shirkieville) Albert J. Beveridge, U.S. senator of Indiana (Indianapolis) Otis R. Bowen, governor of Indiana and U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services Roger D. Branigin, governor of Indiana and 1968 candidate for president (Franklin) Jesse D. Bright, U.S. senator and president pro tempore of the Senate (Madison) George Washington Buckner, U.S. minister to Liberia, 1913–1915 (Evansville) Pete Buttigieg, U.S. secretary of transportation, mayor of South Bend, and candidate in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries Earl Butz, U.S. secretary of agriculture (Albion) Maria Cantwell, U.S. congresswoman and U.S. senator (Indianapolis) Homer E. Capehart, businessman and U.S. senator (Algiers) Joseph Clancy, director of the United States Secret Service under President Barack Obama (Elwood) James Clapper, director of National Intelligence under President Barack Obama (Fort Wayne) Benjamin V. Cohen, a key figure in the administrations of presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman (Muncie) Schuyler Colfax, U.S. congressman and speaker of the House of Representatives, U.S. vice president (South Bend) George N. Craig, governor of Indiana, national commander of American Legion (Brazil) Gonzalo P. Curiel, U.S. district judge (East Chicago) John Wesley Davis, U.S. congressman and speaker of the House of Representatives (Carlisle) Eugene V. Debs, labor and political leader (Terre Haute) William Hayden English, U.S. congressman and vice presidential candidate (Lexington) Charles W. Fairbanks, U.S. senator and vice president of the United States (Indianapolis) John W. Foster, U.S. secretary of state (Evansville) Nora Trueblood Gause (1851–1955), humanitarian (Kokomo) Walter Q. Gresham, U.S. secretary of the treasury, postmaster general, secretary of state (Lanesville) Marc L. Griffin, youngest judge, at age 17 (Greenwood) Charles A. Halleck, U.S. congressman (Rensselaer) Lee H. Hamilton, U.S. congressman (Bloomington) Clifford Hardin, U.S. secretary of agriculture (Knightstown) Benjamin Harrison, 23rd president of the United States William Henry Harrison, 9th president of the United States and governor of Indiana Territory Richard Hatcher, Gary mayor (Gary) John Hay, U.S. secretary of state (Salem) Will H. Hays, U.S. postmaster general (Sullivan) Thomas A. Hendricks, U.S. senator and vice president (Indianapolis) Agnes Hitt (1845–1919), national president of the Woman's Relief Corps (Greencastle) Louis McHenry Howe, close political advisor to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Indianapolis) Jonathan Jennings, first congressional representative from the Indiana Territory and early abolitionist (Charlestown) Cleve Jones, gay/human rights activist, created the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt (West Lafayette) Jane L. Kelly, U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (Greencastle) Michael C. Kerr, U.S. congressman and speaker of the House of Representatives (New Albany) Ron Klain, chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden (Indianapolis) Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of the United States, lived in Indiana age 7–21 (Spencer County) Richard Lugar, U.S. senator and former mayor of Indianapolis (Indianapolis) Thomas R. Marshall, U.S. vice president (North Manchester) Mack F. Mattingly, U.S. senator from Georgia, asst. sec genl. NATO, US ambassador Edward Ralph May, only delegate to the Indiana Constitutional Convention of 1850 to support African American suffrage (Angola) Hugh McCulloch, U.S. secretary of the treasury (Fort Wayne) Bob McDonald, U.S. secretary of veterans affairs (Gary) William H.H. Miller, U.S. attorney general (Indianapolis) Sherman Minton, U.S. senator and Supreme Court justice Joy Morrissey, British MP for Beaconsfield Oliver P. Morton, governor of Indiana (Centerville) Harry S. New, U.S. postmaster general (Indianapolis) Mike Pence, former congressman, former governor of Indiana, 2013–2017, and 48th vice president of the United States under Donald Trump (Columbus) Dennis Pennington, state senator and early abolitionist (Central Barren) Bart Peterson, former mayor of Indianapolis (Indianapolis) John Poindexter, national security advisor under President Ronald Reagan (Washington) John Wesley Posey, abolitionist (Petersburg) George H. Proffit, member of the U.S. House of Representatives Indiana's 1st district, United States Ambassador to Brazil (Petersburg) Dan Quayle, former U.S. senator from Indiana (1981–1989) and 44th vice president of the United States under George HW Bush (Huntington and Indianapolis) John Rarick, former U.S. representative from Louisiana Alice Rivlin, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve (Bloomington) John Roberts, U.S. Supreme Court chief justice (Long Beach) William Ruckelshaus, former U.S. director of the F.B.I. and Deputy Attorney General Caleb Blood Smith, U.S. secretary of the interior (Indianapolis) Louis E. Sola, commissioner of the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (Goodland) William L. Springer, U.S. congressman (Sullivan) Ted Stevens, U.S. senator from Alaska (Indianapolis) Richard Fred Suhrheinrich, senior U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (Lincoln City) Benjamin Franklin Trueblood (1847–1916), pacifist who served the American Peace Society for 23 years John Palmer Usher, U.S. secretary of the interior (Terre Haute) Willis Van Devanter, associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, 1911–1937 (Marion) Culla Johnson Vayhinger (1867–1924), temperance reformer, educator, religious and political leader Mark Warner, current U.S. senator for Virginia, former governor of Virginia (Indianapolis) Gary Webb, journalist (Indianapolis) Ryan White, AIDS activist (Kokomo) Claude R. Wickard, U.S. secretary of agriculture (Camden) Wendell Willkie, 1940 Republican presidential nominee (Elwood)
Native American leaders
Little Turtle, Miami chief, leader of Native American forces in the Battle of the Wabash, the most decisive American Indian victory of the Indian Wars Metea, Potawatomi chief from northeast Indiana Pacanne, influential Miami chief and businessman Leopold Pokagon, Potawatomi chief for whom Pokagon State Park is named Simon Pokagon, Potawatomi chief, author, son of Leopold Young Tobacco, Piankeshaw chief who supported the United States in the American Revolution
Entertainment Film and theatre
Lillian Albertson, actress, producer (Noblesville) Leon Ames, actor (Portland) David Anspaugh, director (Decatur) Arija Bareikis, actress (Bloomington) Rhonda Bates, actress (Evansville) Anne Baxter, actress (Michigan City) Billie Bennett, actress (Evansville) Abraham Benrubi, actor (Bloomington) Richard Bergman, actor (Plymouth) James Best, actor (Corydon) Monte Blue, actor (Indianapolis) Beulah Bondi, actress (Valparaiso) John Bowers, actor (Garrett) Avery Brooks, actor (Evansville) Ezra Buzzington, actor (Muncie) David Canary, actor (Elwood) James Carew, actor (Goshen) Ann Christy, actress (Logansport) Embeth Davidtz, actress (Lafayette) Johnny "Scat" Davis, actor, band leader (Brazil) James Dean, actor (Fairmount) Louise Dresser, actress (Evansville) Adam Driver, actor (Mishawaka) Ger Duany, actor (Bloomington) Irene Dunne, actress (Madison) Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, singer, songwriter, actor, film producer (Indianapolis) Chad Everett, actor (South Bend) Louise Fazenda, actress (Lafayette) Jenna Fischer, actress (Fort Wayne) Rhett Fisher, actor and musician (Indianapolis) Ken Foree, actor (Indianapolis) Vivica A. Fox, actress (Indianapolis) Brendan Fraser, actor (Indianapolis) Dolores Fuller, actress (South Bend) Ron Glass, actor (Evansville) Maude Turner Gordon, actress (Franklin) Sid Grauman, impresario (Indianapolis) Phil Harris, actor (Linton) Heather Headley, actress, singer (Fort Wayne) Ann Hovey, actress (Mt. Vernon) Chase Infiniti, actress (Indianapolis) Doug Jones, actor (Indianapolis) Ken Kercheval, actor (Wolcottville) Anita King, actress (Michigan City) Greg Kinnear, actor (Logansport) Elmo Lincoln, actor (Rochester) Sarah Litzsinger, actress (Indianapolis) Jake Lloyd, actor (Carmel) Carole Lombard, actress (Fort Wayne) Shelley Long, actress (Fort Wayne) Marjorie Main, actress (Acton) Karl Malden, actor (Gary) Strother Martin, actor (Kokomo) John McMartin, actor (Warsaw) Steve McQueen, actor (Beech Grove and Indianapolis) Jack Mercer, voice actor (Worthington) Michael Michele, actress (Evansville) Marilyn Miller, actress, dancer (Evansville) Keith Alan Morris, director, screenwriter (South Bend) Ryan Murphy, writer, director (Indianapolis) Dean Norris, actor (South Bend) Katy O'Brian, actress (Indianapolis) Tommy O'Haver, director, screenwriter (Carmel) Betsy Palmer, actress (East Chicago) James Pierce, actor (Freedom) Angelo Pizzo, screenwriter (Bloomington) Sydney Pollack, actor, producer, director (Lafayette) Victor Potel, actor (Lafayette) James Rebhorn, actor (Anderson) Michael Rosenbaum, actor (Newburgh) Robert Rusler, actor (Fort Wayne) George Seaton, film director (South Bend) Jake Short, actor (Indianapolis) Valeska Suratt, actress (Owensville) Max Terhune, actor (Anderson) Alice Terry, actress (Vincennes) Twyla Tharp, dancer (Portland) Forrest Tucker, actor (Plainfield) William Walker, actor (Pendleton) Clifton Webb, actor (Indianapolis) Dreya Weber, actress (Bloomington) Isiah Whitlock Jr., actor (South Bend) Fred Williamson, actor (Gary) Robert Wise, director (Winchester)