University Of Oregon Notable Alumni

Discover the notable alumni of University Of Oregon. The list includes people like Kaitlin Olson, Chuck Palahniuk, Bill Bowerman, Steve Prefontaine & Ben Hogan. This list of notable alumni is loosely sorted by popularity and has people from different domains of life, such as writers, scientists, media personalities, sportspersons and film & theater personalities etc.
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 1 
Sam Elliott
22
Birthdate: August 9, 1944
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Sacramento, California, United States
Veteran actor, Sam Elliott, is best known for his work in movies like Hulk, Ghost Rider, The Big Lebowski and A Star Is Born. With his good looks and deep commanding voice, he became favourite for cowboy roles, like in TV series The Sacketts and movies Tombstone. However, the actor has also played various other characters in his long career.
 2 
John Madden
(Head Coach of the Oakland Raiders)
John Madden
41
Birthdate: April 10, 1936
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Austin, Minnesota, United States
Died: December 28, 2021
Height: 6'4" (193 cm)
 3 
Chael Sonnen
(Retired Mixed Martial Artist and One of the Biggest Trash Talkers in MMA History)
Chael Sonnen
9
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: April 3, 1977
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: West Linn, Oregon, United States

Chael Sonnen is a retired mixed martial artist. He is also a submission grappling promoter and mixed martial arts (MMA) analyst. He began his mixed martial arts career in 1997 and soon became a top contender in both the light heavyweight and middleweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He has also made a few film appearances. 

 4 
Kaitlin Olson
(Actress)
Kaitlin Olson
31
Birthdate: August 18, 1975
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Portland, Oregon, USA

Kaitlin Olson is an actress and comedian. She started her career with the improvisational group The Groundlings and went on to become one of the most popular members of the group. She then established herself in the American TV industry, landing critical roles in series like Flipped. After marrying Rob McElhenney, Olson bought Skinner's Bar, which was renamed Mac's Tavern.

 5 
Phil Knight
(Co-founder of Nike, Inc.)
Phil Knight
63
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: February 24, 1938
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Portland
Business tycoon Phil Knight co-founded Nike, Inc. and also served as its chairman and CEO. Forbes named him the world’s 26th-richest person in 2020. He is a qualified accountant and once owned a running team. He has launched a non-profit and owns a stop-motion production company, too.
 6 
Ty Burrell
(Actor)
Ty Burrell
13
Birthdate: August 22, 1967
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Grants Pass, Oregon, USA
Height: 6'0" (183 cm)
 7 
David Ogden Stiers
(Actor)
David Ogden Stiers
5
Birthdate: October 31, 1942
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Peoria, Illinois, USA
Died: March 3, 2018
Height: 6'4" (193 cm)
 8 
Bol Bol
(Basketball Player)
Bol Bol
8
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: November 16, 1999
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Khartoum, Sudan
Height: 7'2" (218 cm)
 9 
Lindsay Wagner
(American Actress and Acting Coach Best Known for Her Role in the TV Series ‘The Bionic Woman)
Lindsay Wagner
11
Birthdate: June 22, 1949
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, United States
Lindsay Wagner is best known for her Golden Globe-nominated and Emmy-winning role of Jaime Sommers in the sci-fi series The Bionic Woman. She had previously played the same role in the series The Six Million Dollar Man and later reprised it in several TV films, making it a cultural icon.
 10 
Justin Herbert
(American football player)
Justin Herbert
17
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: March 10, 1998
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Eugene, Oregon, United States
Height: 6'6" (198 cm)
 11 
Marcus Mariota
(American Football Player Who Plays as a Quarterback)
Marcus Mariota
18
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: October 30, 1993
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

Marcus Mariota is an American football player. A quarterback, Mariota was an important member of Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL) as he led the Titans to three successive winning seasons. He currently plays for the Las Vegas Raiders. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Mariota serves as an inspiration to many aspiring football players from Hawaii.

 12 
Chuck Palahniuk
(Journalist and Novelist Best Known for His Books: ‘Fight Club’, ‘Choke’, ‘Rant’ and ‘Invisible Monsters’)
Chuck Palahniuk
4
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: February 21, 1962
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Pasco, Washington, United States

Freelance journalist and author Chuck Palahniuk specializes in what he calls transgressional fiction. His popular novel Fight Club was adapted into a film starring Brad Pitt and also won awards such as the Oregon Book Award for Best Novel. Though critics call his books nihilistic, he himself calls them romantic.

 13 
Steve Prefontaine
(American Long-Distance Runner)
Steve Prefontaine
12
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: January 25, 1951
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Coos Bay, Oregon, United States
Died: May 30, 1975

Long-distance runner Steve Prefontaine had competed in only one Olympic, finishing fourth in the 5000m race in Munich. However, he had begun breaking records since high school and excelled in cross-country running. His tragic death in a car accident after attending a party ended his life and his sports dreams.

 14 
Ann Curry
(Journalist)
Ann Curry
7
Birthdate: November 19, 1956
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Hagåtña, Guam

Born to a Japanese mother and an American father, journalist Ann Curry is best known for her extensive war reporting and has covered disturbances from areas such as Syria and Afghanistan. The Emmy Award-winning journalist has had a long stint on NBC. She also supports cancer research.

 15 
Ahmad Rashād
(Sportscaster)
Ahmad Rashād
7
Birthdate: November 19, 1949
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Portland, Oregon, United States
Height: 6'2" (188 cm)
 16 
Daniel Wu
(Flexible and distinctive leading actor in the Chinese language film industry)
Daniel Wu
2
Birthdate: September 30, 1974
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Berkeley, California, United States
Height: 6'0" (183 cm)
 17 
Howard Hesseman
(Actor, Television actor)
Howard Hesseman
4
Birthdate: February 27, 1940
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Lebanon
Height: 6'0" (183 cm)
 18 
Ashton Eaton
(Retired American Decathlete and Two-Time Olympic Gold Medalist)
Ashton Eaton
3
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: January 21, 1988
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Portland, Oregon, United States

Two-time Olympic decathlon champion Ashton Eaton began his international career in 2008, winning his first international medal, a silver, at the 2011 World Championships. In the following year, he won two gold medals, one in Heptathlon at the World Indoor Championships and the other in Decathlon in London Olympic Games, defending his Olympic title four years later in Rio de Janeiro.

 19 
Bill Bowerman
(Co-founder of Nike, Inc.)
Bill Bowerman
12
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: February 19, 1911
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Died: December 24, 1999
 20 
Ken Kesey
(Novelist & Essayist Known for His Novels: ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest’ & ‘Sometimes a Great Notion’)
Ken Kesey
9
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: September 17, 1935
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: La Junta, Colorado, United States
Died: November 10, 2001
Ken Kesey was a prolific American essayist, novelist, and counterculture figure who defined the Psychedelic Era. Renonwed as the hero of the hippie movement in the 1960s, he garnered critical and commercial success for his novels One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and Sometimes a Great Notion. He was imprisoned for five months for marijuana possession. 
 21 
Spencer Paysinger
(Former American Football Linebacker)
Spencer Paysinger
3
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: June 26, 1988
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, United States
Height: 6'2" (188 cm)
 22 
Kyle Long
(American football player)
Kyle Long
3
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: December 5, 1988
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Ivy, Virginia, United States
Height: 6'6" (198 cm)
 23 
Alberto Salazar
(American Former Track Coach and Long-Distance Runner)
Alberto Salazar
1
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: August 7, 1958
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Havana, Cuba

Alberto Salazar is an American former long-distance runner who won the silver medal at the 1982 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Rome, Italy. After his retirement from the sport, Salazar served as the head coach for the Nike Oregon Project and received the 2013 IAAF Coaching Achievement Award in Monaco. He was later banned for doping and sexual offenses.

 24 
Edgar Buchanan
7
Birthdate: March 20, 1903
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Humansville, Missouri, United States
Died: April 4, 1979
Height: 5'11" (180 cm)
 25 
Christopher Judge
(Actor)
Christopher Judge
4
Birthdate: October 13, 1964
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, United States
Height: 6'3" (190 cm)
 26 
Donald Malarkey
(Sergeant)
Donald Malarkey
1
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: July 31, 1921
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Astoria, Oregon, USA
Died: September 30, 2017
 27 
Jordan Bell
(Basketball player)
Jordan Bell
0
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: January 7, 1995
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, United States
Height: 6'8" (203 cm)
 28 
Stephen J. Cannell
(Television producer)
Stephen J. Cannell
4
Birthdate: February 5, 1941
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, United States
Died: September 30, 2010
 29 
Sabrina Ionescu
(Basketball player)
Sabrina Ionescu
5
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: December 6, 1997
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Walnut Creek, California, United States
Height: 5'11" (180 cm)
 30 
Patrick Chung
(Jamaican-American Former Football Safety Who Played in the National Football League (NFL))
Patrick Chung
2
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: August 19, 1987
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Kingston, Jamaica

Patrick Chung is a Jamaican-American retired professional football player best known for his association with the New England Patriots. He played in the NFL for 12 seasons, during which he won three Super Bowls for New England. Patrick Chung also played for the Philadelphia Eagles for a season during his 12-year career.

 31 
Don Simpson
(Producer)
Don Simpson
5
Birthdate: October 29, 1943
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Seattle, Washington, USA
Died: January 19, 1996
 32 
DeForest Buckner
(American football player)
DeForest Buckner
6
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: March 17, 1994
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Waianae, Hawaii, United States
Height: 6'7" (201 cm)
 33 
Kiko Alonso
(American football player)
Kiko Alonso
0
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: August 14, 1990
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Newton, Massachusetts, United States
Height: 6'3" (190 cm)
 34 
Dan Fouts
(American Football Players)
Dan Fouts
1
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: June 10, 1951
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: San Francisco, California, USA
Height: 6'3" (190 cm)
 35 
Galen Rupp
(American Long-Distance Runner)
Galen Rupp
1
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: May 8, 1986
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Portland, Oregon, United States

While he had been a promising soccer player in school, Galen Rupp later discovered track and field and became one of the best long-distance runners of the U.S. He is a three-time Olympian and has two Olympic medals, a silver and a bronze, in his kitty.

 36 
Richie Incognito
(American Football Player)
Richie Incognito
4
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: July 5, 1983
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Englewood, New Jersey, USA
Height: 6'3" (190 cm)
 37 
Payton Pritchard
(Basketball player)
Payton Pritchard
2
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: January 28, 1998
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Tualatin, Oregon, United States
Height: 6'1" (185 cm)
 38 
Tinker Hatfield
(Designer)
Tinker Hatfield
1
Listed In: Fashion
Birthdate: April 30, 1952
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Hillsboro
 39 
Joey Harrington
(American Football Player)
Joey Harrington
2
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: October 21, 1978
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Portland, Oregon, United States
Height: 6'4" (193 cm)
 40 
Douglas Hofstadter
(American Philosopher, Writer and Poet)
Douglas Hofstadter
3
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: February 15, 1945
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: New York, New York, United States
 41 
Norv Turner
(American football coach)
Norv Turner
1
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: May 17, 1952
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, USA
 42 
James Read
(Actor)
James Read
1
Birthdate: July 31, 1953
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, United States
Height: 6'2" (188 cm)
 43 
Miguel McKelvey
(Basketball player)
Miguel McKelvey
2
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: 1974 AD
Birthplace: Eugene, Oregon, United States
 44 
Ryan Zinke
(Politician)
Ryan Zinke
6
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: November 1, 1961
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Bozeman, Montana Bozeman, Montana, U.S.
Height: 6'2" (188 cm)
 45 
Haloti Ngata
(American Football Player)
Haloti Ngata
0
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: January 21, 1984
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Inglewood, California, United States
Height: 6'4" (193 cm)
 46 
Norm Van Brocklin
(American football player)
Norm Van Brocklin
1
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: March 15, 1926
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Parade, South Dakota, United States
Died: May 2, 1983
Height: 6'1" (185 cm)
 47 
De'Anthony Thomas
(American Football Player)
De'Anthony Thomas
1
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: January 5, 1993
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, United States
Height: 5'9" (175 cm)
 48 
Aaron Brooks
(Basketball player - Point guard)
Aaron Brooks
4
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: January 14, 1985
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Seattle, Washington, United States
Height: 6'0" (183 cm)
 49 
Gordon Scott
(Actor)
Gordon Scott
0
Birthdate: August 3, 1926
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Portland, Oregon, United States
Died: April 30, 2007
Height: 6'3" (190 cm)
 50 
Akili Smith
(American football player)
Akili Smith
0
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: August 21, 1975
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: San Diego, California, United States
Height: 6'3" (190 cm)
To graduate from the ‘University of Oregon’ is the dream of every other child in world who wants to make it big in life. The foundation for this beautiful institution was laid in 1876 in Eugene, Oregon over a huge 295-acre of land. With over 316 graduate and undergraduate programs to offer the ‘University of Oregon’ is by far one of the most sought after institutions of the world. Apart from plain education, this university also has a fantastic athletic team who are fondly addressed as the, ‘Oregon Ducks’. With over 18 teams, this lot is the best known for football and the track sport events. This institution is a perfect mix between offering exceptionally excellent form of education along with lots of sports. With just 155 students and 5 faculties this institution has grown by leaps and bounds, to becoming a place that every student aspires to graduate from. This institution has actually had a slow climb from just 5 students graduating in the first year of its inception to thousands in today’s day and age. There are some really notable alumnus of this institution some of them being, businessman Phil Knight, the legendary runner, Steve Prefontaine and the famous television personality, Ann Curry among the many others. These personalities have made sure that they have upheld the name of the institution they have passed out from and make a name for themselves too.