List of people from Grand Forks, North Dakota

The following list includes notable people who were born or have lived in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Arts and entertainment

 * Liz Anderson (1927–2011), country singer; grew up in Grand Forks
 * Lynn Anderson (1947–2015), country singer; born in Grand Forks
 * Maxwell Anderson, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, author, poet, reporter, lyricist
 * Tom Brosseau, singer and songwriter, folk guitarist
 * Tony Fontane, gospel singer
 * Joel Harlow, Academy Award-winning makeup effects artist
 * Kam Heskin, actress
 * Ezra Kire, guitarist for Choking Victim and Leftöver Crack
 * Nicole Linkletter, winner of the 5th Cycle of America's Next Top Model
 * Stuart McDonald, former editorial cartoonist, Grand Forks Herald
 * Dickie Peterson, founding member of heavy metal rock band Blue Cheer ("Summertime Blues")
 * Alan Ritchson, actor, singer, model
 * James Rosenquist, artist
 * Richard St. Clair, classical composer
 * Margaret Strobel, academic
 * Corin Tucker, singer songwriter in Sleator-Kinney
 * Natalie West, actress, Roseanne

Business

 * Greg Brockman, co-founder, chairman, and President of OpenAI
 * Thomas D. Campbell, 1928 Time Magazine "Man of the Year," and largest U.S. farmer at the time
 * Ralph Engelstad, Las Vegas casino owner, philanthropist
 * Andrew Freeman, invented the block heater; manager of Minnkota Power Cooperative
 * Sally J. Smith, president and CEO of Buffalo Wild Wings

Law, politics, and government

 * Rick Clayburgh, North Dakota Tax Commissioner
 * Ronald Davies, federal judge, ordered the integration of Little Rock Central High School
 * Jerry Gaetz, North Dakota state senator
 * Jon Godfread, North Dakota Insurance Commissioner
 * James D. Gronna, North Dakota Secretary of State
 * Gary Johnson, state congressman for Wisconsin
 * Howard A. Knutson, Minnesota state legislator and lawyer
 * Walter Maddock, 15th governor of North Dakota
 * Leonard Peltier, American Indian activist; convicted of murder in the deaths of two FBI agents
 * Dale V. Sandstrom, justice on the North Dakota Supreme Court
 * Arthur G. Sorlie, 14th governor of North Dakota

Literature and journalism

 * James M. Edie, philosopher
 * Marilyn Hagerty, author and writer for the Grand Forks Herald
 * Al McIntosh, newspaper editor, columns were featured in The War
 * Jennie Shortridge, novelist
 * Edward Kramer Thompson, editor of Life
 * Era Bell Thompson, editor of Ebony
 * George H. Walsh, newspaper editor, publisher, founding role with the University of North Dakota
 * Walter Wangerin, Jr., author of religious novels and children's books

Military

 * Charles W. Lindberg, Marine, part of the first raising the flag on Iwo Jima

Science

 * Mancur Olson, economist, social scientist

Sports

 * Brooks Bollinger, American football player
 * T. J. Frier, American football player
 * Andrew Hampsten, champion cyclist
 * Virgil Hill, boxer, Olympic silver medalist (1984)
 * Ken Hunt, Major League Baseball outfielder
 * Tim Johnson, Major League Baseball player and manager
 * Tyler Johnson, basketball player with the NBL's Brisbane Bullets
 * Jocelyne Lamoureux, women's ice hockey Olympic gold medalist
 * Monique Lamoureux, women's ice hockey Olympic gold medalist
 * Roger Maris, right fielder with the New York Yankees, hit record-breaking 61 home runs in 1961
 * Doug McDermott, basketball player with the NBA's San Antonio Spurs
 * Lute Olson, NCAA Champion college basketball coach of Arizona Wildcats
 * Tim Olson, baseball player with the Colorado Rockies
 * Ryan Potulny, assistant coach for the University of Minnesota men's ice hockey
 * Cliff Purpur, first North Dakota native to become an NHL player
 * Andy Schneider, defenseman with the Adler Mannheim
 * Andrew Towne, member of the team that completed the first human-powered transit of the Drake Passage