List of University of Northern Iowa people

This list includes notable alumni, faculty, and staff of what is now the University of Northern Iowa.

Alumni
• Bess Streeter Aldrich, novelist

• Terry Allen, former Missouri State head football coach

• Eddie Berlin, former NFL player

• Bruce Charlesworth, filmmaker and photographer

• John R. Dinger, former U.S. Ambassador to Mongolia (2000–2003)

• Paul Emerick, professional rugby player and three-time Rugby World Cup veteran

• Ali Farokhmanesh, former professional basketball player, made famous shot to beat Kansas

• LJ Fort, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker

• Joe Fuller, former NFL player

• Mike Furrey, former NFL player

• Charles Grassley, current U.S. Senator

• Gil Gutknecht, former U.S. Congressman

• Mike Hawker, Alaska State Representative, 2002–present

• Robert John Hibbs, Medal of Honor recipient, 1966, Vietnam War

• Ryan Hannam, former NFL player

• Roger Jepsen, former U.S. Senator

• David Johnson, NFL Running Back for the Arizona Cardinals

• Chris Klieman, head coach of Kansas State University football

• Bonnie Koloc, vocalist, recording artist

• Pamela Levy, American-Israeli artist

• Jason Lewis, nationally syndicated talk host

• Greg McDermott, current Creighton University head men's basketball coach

• C. Edward McVaney, co-founder and former CEO of the JD Edwards Corporation, an enterprise resource planning company purchased by PeopleSoft in 2002

• Brad Meester, former NFL player

• Brian Meyer, member of the Iowa House of Representatives

• Abinadi Meza, performance artist

• Brian Mitchell, arena football drop kick record holder

• Nick Nurse, basketball coach

• Bryce Paup, 1995 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, 4-time Pro Bowler

• Tom Pettit, television news correspondent for NBC

• Chris Pirillo, former host of TechTV's "Call for Help" show, founder of Lockergnome

• Nancy Jo Powell, current United States Ambassador to India. Former U.S. Ambassador to Nepal, Pakistan, Ghana and Uganda

• Steve Proffitt, senior producer, National Public Radio

• Dorothy Jean Ray, anthropologist

• William P. Robinson, president of Whitworth University

• Dean Schwarz, ceramic artist

• Warren Allen Smith, writer

• Mary Ellen Solt, poet

• Jane Elliot, social activist

• Phyllis Somerville film, theatre and television actress

• Mark Steines, co-host of Entertainment Tonight

• Bill Stewart, jazz musician

• Tyree Talton, former NFL player

• Ed Thomas, high school football coach

• Krista Voda, NASCAR on Fox announcer

• Kurt Warner, two-time NFL MVP, MVP of Super Bowl XXXIV

• Will Wilkinson, political writer and policy analyst

• Joey Woody, national champion U.S. hurdler

Notable faculty
• Donna Alvermann, former professor of education, now distinguished professor and researcher in education at the University of Georgia

• Jeremy Beck, composer, Associate Professor of Composition & Theory (1992–1998)

• Herb Hake, television personality

• James Hearst, poet and former professor

• Miguel Franz Pinto, vocal coach, conductor, and pianist

• Loree Rackstraw, literary critic and memoirist

• Leland Sage, former professor

• Norm Stewart, former men's basketball coach who went on to become a coach at the University of Missouri

• Robert James Waller, alumnus, former professor and Dean of College of Businesses Administration, author of The Bridges of Madison County