Oregon State University is located in Corvallis, Oregon in the United States. It traces its roots to 1856, when Corvallis Academy was founded. It was not formally incorporated until 1858 when the name was changed to Corvallis College, and was not chartered until 1868. In 1890 the school became known as Oregon Agricultural College, then in 1927 as Oregon State Agricultural College. Its current name was adopted in 1961. Alumni from each of these eras may be included on the list. More than 200,000 people have attended the university since its founding.
Activism Name Attended Notability Reference Bobby Henderson 1999–2003 Activist and creator of Pastafarianism Bruce W. Klunder?–1958Civil rights activist and Presbyterian minister Katherine Ann Power ?—2001 Anti-war activist, convicted of armed robbery and manslaughter who spent fourteen years on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives listAda-Rhodes Short?—2018Transgender rights activist and mechatronic design engineer
Art and architecture Name Attended Notability ReferenceJohn Clem ClarkePainterFlorence Holmes Gerke1896–1964Landscape architect of the International Rose Test Garden Tala Madani 1999–2004 Artist, painter featured in the 2017 Whitney BiennialLee Arden ThomasArchitect who designed the OSU Memorial UnionKaren Carson1966 BFAFeminist artist, painting
Business Name Attended Notability Reference Thomas J. Autzen 1905–1909 Plywood manufacturing pioneer Mercedes Alison Bates ?–1936 Former vice president of General Mills' Betty Crocker Cooking division; first female officer of General Mills Austen S. Cargill II ? Heir and major shareholder of Cargill, received a PhD from Oregon State University Peggy Cherng 1969–1971 CEO of Panda Express Randy Conrads ?–1972 Founder of Classmates.com Peter Gassner1983–1989Co-founder and CEO of Veeva Systems Jen-Hsun Huang 1980–1984 Co-founder and CEO of NVIDIA Timothy S. Leatherman ?–1970 Inventor of the Leatherman tool Brian McMenamin ?–1980 Co-founder of the McMenamins chain Mike McMenamin ?–1974 Co-founder of the McMenamins chain Bernie Newcomb ?–1965 Co-founder of E*TRADEHüsnü ÖzyeğinTurkish billionaire businessman, philanthropist Don Robert CEO of Experian Leonard Shoen Founder of U-Haul John A. Young ?–1953 Former president and CEO of Hewlett-Packard
Education
Name Attended Notability ReferenceHolly Barnard?–2009Professor of Geography at University of Colorado Boulder and founder of the Critical Zone LaboratorySara HarrisClimate scientist and 3M National Teaching Fellow at the University of British ColumbiaWayne L. Hubbell ?–1965Jules Stein Professor of Ophthalmology at UCLAOctave Levenspiel ?–1991Emeritus professor of chemical engineering at Oregon State UniversityStaci SimonichDean of the College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State UniversityAnn StreissguthEndowed professor emeritus and founding director of the Fetal Alcohol Drug Unit at the University of Washington School of Medicine Carrie Halsell Ward 1922–1926 College lecturer and first Black student to graduate from OSUMichael Watermanearly 70sComputational biologist; professor of biological science, mathematics, and computer science at the University of Southern California
Entertainment
Name Attended Notability ReferenceTrevor BardetteActor John Brotherton Soap opera actor George Bruns ?–1936 Composer Meghna Chakrabarti 1994–1998 Journalist, radio producer, and host of the NPR program On Point Pinto Colvig ?–1911 Voice actor; the original Bozo the Clown Kevin Hagen Actor Harley Jessup ?–1976 1987 Best Visual Effects Oscar winner for the film InnerspaceCathy MarshallNews anchorBeau Mirchoff ?–2024ActorRoger NicholsRecording engineer for Steely DanJodi Ann Paterson ?–19982000 Playboy Playmate of the Year and model Meredith Phillips Star of ABC reality television show The Bachelorette Mike Rich Screenwriter Laurie Roth Syndicated radio talk-show hostTravis RushCountry music singerLaura Faye Smith Voice actressKendra Sunderland Model and pornographic actress; expelled from the university for public indecencySara Jean Underwood2002–2007July 2006 Playboy Playmate of the Month, 2007 Playmate of the Year, actress, and model
Literature and journalism
Name Attended Notability ReferencePamela CytrynbaumJournalist and restorative justice practitionerGeffrey DavisPoetWebley Edwards ?–1927World War II news correspondentChristopher HowellPoetChris Johns1971–1974 Editor-in-chief of National Geographic magazineGeorge OppenPoet and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for PoetryMary OppenPoetBert Sperling1968–1972Author and researcher
Military
Name Attended Notability Reference Edward C. Allworth ?–1916 Recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor Rex T. Barber ?–1940 World War II pilot credited with killing Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto Marion Eugene Carl ?–1938 World War II flying ace; record-setting test pilot; United States Marine Corps (USMC) major generalElmer E. HallWorld War II brigadier general, USMC John Noble Holcomb 1967 Recipient of the Congressional Medal of HonorUlysses G. McAlexanderCommander of Army ROTC; earned the nickname "Rock of the Marne" during World War I Anthony E. Van Dyke ?–1978 USMC colonel and current commander of Marine forces at Henderson Hall
Politics
Name Attended Notability Reference Cecil D. Andrus 1952 Governor of Idaho (1971–1977, 1987–1995) and U.S. secretary of the interior (1977–1981) Earl I. Anzai ?–1964 Attorney general of Hawaii (1999–2002) Brad Avakian ?–1984 Commissioner of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (2008–2019) Rod Chandler ?–1968 U.S. representative of Washington (1983–1993) Charles Crookham 1941–1943 Attorney general of Oregon (1992–1993) John Ensign ?–1981 U.S. representative of Nevada (1995–1999); Nevada U.S. senator (2001–2011) John Hubert Hall ?–1923 Governor of Oregon (1947–1949); member of the Oregon House of Representatives (1936–1947) Julia Butler Hansen 1924–1926 U.S. representative of Washington (1960–1974) Darlene Hooley ?–1961 U.S. representative of Oregon (1997–2009) Elaine Hopson 1960 Oregon state representative Hector Macpherson, Jr. 1936–1940 Oregon state senator (1971–1974)"Hector Macpherson, Jr. -- A Service of Remembrance, April 9, 2015." Shedd, OR: Oakville Presbyterian Church, 2015, pg. 4. Rich McCormick 1976–1980 Member of the US House of Representatives from Georgia (2023-present) Douglas McKay ?–1917 Governor of Oregon (1949–1952) and U.S. secretary of the interior (1953–1956) Paul Peek ?–? California secretary of state (1940–1943); speaker of the California State Assembly (1939) Pou Sohtireak ?–1980s Cambodian Minister for Industry, Mines and EnergyPou Sohtireak Norris Poulson 1923 U.S. representative of California (1943–1945, 1947–1955); mayor of Los Angeles, California (1953–1961)Hedy Rijken?Oregon state representative (1989-1995) Frederick Steiwer ?–1902 Oregon U.S. senator (1927–1937) Lowell Stockman ?–1922 U.S. representative of Oregon (1943–1953) Jolene Unsoeld 1949–1951 U.S. representative of Washington (1989–1995) Robert M. Veatch 1868–1871 Oregon representative (1883–1886), senator (1887–1892), and mayor of Cottage Grove, Oregon"Robert M. Veatch," in History of Oregon: Volume II. Chicago, IL: Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, 1922; pp. 234-237. James K. Weatherford 1868–1872 Oregon representative, Speaker of the House (1876), senator, and mayor of Albany, Oregon"Hon. James K. Weatherford," in History of Oregon: Illustrated: Volume II. Chicago: Pioneer Historical Publishing Co., 1922; pg. 154. Mary Carlin Yates ?–1968 U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Burundi and U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Ghana Irwandi Yusuf 1993 Governor of Indonesian province of Aceh
Religion Name Attended Notability Reference Bobby Henderson ?–2003 Activist and creator of Pastafarianism Katharine Jefferts Schori ?–1983 Presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church and oceanographer
Science and engineering Name Attended Notability ReferenceCharity Dean1995–2000Epidemiologist, assistant director of the California Department of Public Health, and co-founder and CEO of the Public Health Company Paul H. Emmett 1917–1922 Manhattan Project research staff member and member of the United States National Academy of Sciences Milton Harris 1924–1926 Founded the Harris Research Laboratories, which later merged with Gillette Donald M. Kerr ?–1969 Wildlife biologist and founder of the High Desert Museum Ann Kiessling?–1971 Reproductive biologist and leading stem cell researcherGlenn Odekirk 1923–1927 Hughes Aircraft aerospace engineer, helped design the H-4 HerculesGlenn OdekirkWilliam Oefelein ?–1988NASA astronaut Linus Pauling 1917–1922 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and 1962 Nobel Peace Prize recipientDonald Pettit ?–1978NASA astronautStephen O. RicePioneer in the related fields of information theory, communications theory, and telecommunicationsJ. Michael Scott ?–1973Ornithologist, research scientist, Peace Corps volunteerErnest H. TavesPsychiatrist, author, and UFO skepticWilliam Tebeau1948Chemical engineer and first African-American male graduateEarl A. ThompsonInventor of the manual transmission synchronizer in 1923 and leader of the team at General Motors Corporation that developed the first Hydramatic automatic transmission in 1940Marta Torres?–1988Marine geologist known for her work on the geochemistry of cold seeps and methane hydratesWarren Washington1954?–1958Atmospheric scientist
Sports
Technology
Name Attended Notability ReferencePhilip Emeagwali1974–19771989 Gordon Bell Prize winnerDouglas Engelbart ?–1948Inventor of the computer mouse and winner of the National Medal of Technology|-Jensen Huang1980–1984Founder of Nvidia
See also List of Oregon State University athletes List of Oregon State University faculty and staff List of people from Oregon
References