List of University of North Dakota people

This is a list of notable people associated with the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, North Dakota. This list includes both alumni and faculty members.

Pulitzer Prize winners

 * Maxwell Anderson – Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, author, poet, reporter, and lyricist
 * Mel Ruder – editor of the Hungry Horse News in Columbia Falls, Montana; 1965 Pulitzer Prize winner in Journalism for spot news covering a 1964 flood in Montana

Rhodes scholars

 * Thomas McGrath – distinguished poet and Rhodes scholar

Academia

 * Twyla Baker (October 4, 1976-) – academic administrator and president of Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College
 * Tomi Kay Phillips – academic administrator and president of Sitting Bull College
 * Laurel Vermillion – academic administrator and president of Sitting Bull College

Arts and entertainment

 * Sam Anderson – actor
 * Srinivas Avasarala – film director and actor
 * Michael Halstenson – musician and composer
 * Nicole Linkletter – winner of reality show America's Next Top Model fifth season
 * Shadoe Stevens – announcer on Hollywood Squares

Athletics
• Murray Baron – former NHL defenseman

• Ryan Bayda – former player in the NHL Carolina Hurricanes

• Ed Belfour – former NHL goaltender and member of the Hockey Hall of Fame

• Jason Blake – former NHL player

• Brock Boeser – current NHL player with the Vancouver Canucks

• Drake Caggiula – current NHL player with the Chicago Blackhawks

• Taylor Chorney – former NHL player

• Dave Christian – member of the 1980 Olympic ice hockey team that beat the USSR in the "Miracle on Ice" game

• Mike Commodore – former NHL player

• Geno Crandall – basketball player with Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the Israeli Basketball Premier League

• Aaron Dell – current NHL player with the San Jose Sharks

• Ryan Duncan – winner of the 2007 Hobey Baker Award

• Derek Forbort – current NHL player with the Los Angeles Kings

• Rhett Gardner – current NHL player with the Dallas Stars

• Pablo Garza – basketball player; professional mixed martial artist; former UFC Featherweight

• Matt Greene – former NHL player

• Rocco Grimaldi – current NHL player with the Nashville Predators

• Dave Hakstol – current head coach of the Seattle Kraken

• David Hale – former Phoenix Coyotes player in the NHL

• Quinton Hooker (born 1995) – basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League

• Tony Hrkac – former NHL player and 1987 Hobey Baker Award winner

• Phil Jackson – former NBA player and coach

• Ben Jacobson – head men's basketball coach at the University of Northern Iowa

• Greg Johnson – former player in the NHL

• Luke Johnson – current NHL player with the Chicago Blackhawks

• Ryan Johnson – former player in the NHL

• Milson Jones – former CFL running back

• Tyson Jost – current NHL player with the Colorado Avalanche

• Jim Kleinsasser – former Minnesota Vikings NFL player

• Chris Kuper – former Denver Broncos NFL player and current coach

• Paul LaDue – current NHL player with the Los Angeles Kings

• Jocelyne Lamoureux – women's hockey gold medalist at the 2018 Winter Olympics

• Monique Lamoureux – women's hockey gold medalist at the 2018 Winter Olympics

• Jim LeClair – former Cincinnati Bengals NFL player

• Brian Lee – former Ottawa Senators player in the NHL

• Brad Malone – current NHL player with the Edmonton Oilers

• Errol Mann – former Detroit Lions NFL player

• Gene Murphy – North Dakota football player and head coach

• Chad Mustard – former Denver Broncos NFL player

• Brock Nelson – current NHL player for the New York Islanders

• Travis O'Neel – UND football captain of 2001 National Championship Team

• Dave Osborn – former Minnesota Vikings NFL player

• T. J. Oshie – current Washington Capitals player in the NHL

• Zach Parise – current New York Islanders player in the NHL

• Joe Polo – Olympic gold medalist in curling at the 2018 Winter Olympics

• Tucker Poolman – current NHL player with the Winnipeg Jets

• Pete Retzlaff – former Philadelphia Eagles NFL player

• Nick Schmaltz – current NHL player with the Arizona Coyotes

• Lawrie Skolrood – former CFL player

• Craig Smith – men's basketball coach at Utah State Aggies men's basketball

• Monte Smith – former Denver Broncos NFL player

• Drew Stafford – current New Jersey Devils player in the NHL

• Troy Stecher – current NHL player with the Vancouver Canucks

• Dave Tippett – former NHL player; current head coach of the Arizona Coyotes

• Jonathan Toews – current Chicago Blackhawks player in the NHL

• Landon Wilson – former Dallas Stars player in the NHL

• Travis Zajac – former New York Islanders player in the NHL

Business
• Thomas Barger – geologist and former CEO of Aramco

• Thomas D. Campbell – agriculturalist and corporate farmer

• Mark Chipman – NHL executive, owner of the Winnipeg Jets

• Elmer Ellis – former president of the University of Missouri (1955–63)

• Ralph Engelstad – former Las Vegas casino owner; UND philanthropist

• Dave Fennell – founder of Golden Star Resources

• Andrew Freeman – inventor of the block heater; former manager of Minnkota Power Cooperative

• Eric Hardmeyer – current president and CEO of the Bank of North Dakota

• Hugo Magnuson – founder of Hugo's regional grocery store chain; former Grand Forks mayor

• William C. Marcil – current CEO of Forum Communications

• Peter Nygård – founder and chairman of Nygård International

• Gregory R. Page – current president and CEO of Cargill

• Sally J. Smith – former president and CEO of Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant chain

• Dave St. Peter – president of the Minnesota Twins

• Myron W. Wentz – founder, chairman and former CEO of USANA Health Sciences

Law, politics, and government
• Fred G. Aandahl – former governor of North Dakota and former U.S. Congressman

• Ole Aarsvold – former member of North Dakota House of Representatives

• Dick Armey – former United States House of Representatives Majority Leader

• Vance Badawey – Member of the Canadian House of Commons

• Ken Clouston – member of the Wyoming House of Representatives

• Ronald Davies – former federal judge, ordered the integration of Little Rock Central High School

• John E. Davis – former governor of North Dakota

• Byron Dorgan – former U.S. Senator for North Dakota

• Lynn Frazier – former governor of North Dakota and former U.S. Senator for North Dakota

• H. F. Gierke III – 71st National Commander of The American Legion; Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces

• Heidi Heitkamp – former U.S. Senator for North Dakota

• William Langer – former governor of North Dakota and former U.S. Senator for North Dakota

• John Moses – former governor of North Dakota and former U.S. Senator for North Dakota

• Ragnvald A. Nestos – former governor of North Dakota

• Allen I. Olson – former governor of North Dakota

• Rosanna M. Peterson – professor at Gonzaga University School of Law and current federal judicial nominee to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington

• Mark Pfeifle – former Deputy National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush, architect of the Surge strategic communications, and Communications Director for the 2004 Republican National Convention

• Earl Pomeroy – former U.S. Representative for North Dakota

• Michael Rustad – scholar on intellectual property; author; professor at Suffolk University Law School

• Brent Sanford – Lieutenant Governor-elect of North Dakota

• Ed Schafer – former United States Secretary of Agriculture and Governor of North Dakota

• George F. Shafer – 17th Governor of North Dakota, serving from 1929 to 1933

• Charles Tighe – Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota

• Kurt Zellers – current Minnesota State Representative and former Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives

Literature and journalism
• Maxwell Anderson – Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, author, poet, reporter, and lyricist

• Chandra K. Clarke – author, columnist, and business woman

• Jon Hassler – novelist

• Chuck Klosterman – author and journalist for Spin and Esquire magazines

• Irv Kupcinet – Chicago Sun-Times columnist; national syndicated talk show host; winner of 15 Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award

• Thomas McGrath – distinguished poet and Rhodes scholar

• Edward W. Moser – linguistics teacher

• Edward K. Thompson – former editor of LIFE magazine

• Era Bell Thompson – former editor of Ebony magazine

• Larry Watson – Milkweed National Fiction Prize-winning author

Military

 * Harvey M. Haakenson – former brigadier general in the National Guard of the United States
 * David Charles Jones – former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and former general in the United States Air Force
 * Kevin B. Kuklok – former major general in the United States Marine Corps
 * Joane Mathews – brigadier general in the National Guard of the United States
 * Homer N. Wallin – former vice admiral in the United States Navy

Science

 * Cora Smith Eaton – physician, suffragist and mountaineer
 * Carl Eielson – pioneer aviator
 * Judith Kaur – physician and advocate for Native American health equity
 * Karen L. Nyberg – NASA astronaut
 * Harry Nyquist – important contributor to information theory; recipient of the IEEE Medal of Honor (1960)
 * Vilhjalmur Stefansson – Arctic explorer
 * Esther Tailfeathers, physician

Faculty
• Robert B. Ammons – founder of Psychological Reports and Perceptual and Motor Skills journals

• Rich Davis – former Dean of the UND School of Medicine; founder of KC Masterpiece barbecue sauce

• Michael James Gaffey – planetary scientist

• Robert L. Henry, Jr. – former Dean of the UND School of Law

• Meyer Jacobstein – professor of economics U.S. Representative from New York

• Philip Manuel – pianist, organist, harpsichordist

• Peter A. Munch – professor of sociology

• Mary Elizabeth Perley — French language

• Rodney K. Smith – current President of Southern Virginia University

• Albert H. Taylor – electrical engineer who made important early contributions to the development of radar

• Jack Russell Weinstein – professor of philosophy