List of people from Madison, Wisconsin

The following notable people are or have been associated with Madison, Wisconsin.

Artists and architects

 * Ruth Ball, sculptor
 * Homer Fieldhouse, landscape architect
 * Georgia O'Keeffe, artist; born in the suburb of Sun Prairie, she attended high school in Madison at Sacred Heart Academy, now Edgewood High School of the Sacred Heart
 * Vinnie Ream, sculptor of the statue of Lincoln in the U.S. Capitol rotunda
 * Steve Rude, comic book artist
 * Maria Schneider, illustrator
 * Simon Sparrow, mixed media artist
 * Michael Velliquette, artist
 * Frank Lloyd Wright, architect

Athletes and sports figures

 * Frank Baker, NFL player
 * Jim Bakken, NFL player
 * Peter Barrett, Olympic gold medalist
 * Ed Barry, MLB player
 * Sam Barry, head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team and USC Trojans men's basketball, baseball, and football teams; member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
 * Les Bartholomew, MLB player
 * Marc Behrend, NHL player
 * Henry Benn, baseball player
 * Dave Besteman, Olympic athlete
 * Sandy Botham, head coach of the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Panthers women's basketball team
 * Gene Brabender, MLB player for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Baltimore Orioles and the Seattle Pilots/Milwaukee Brewers
 * Art Bramhall, MLB player
 * Tyrone Braxton, NFL player
 * Alex Brooks, NHL player
 * Craig Brown, national champion curler
 * Erika Brown, national champion curler
 * Bob Bruer, NFL player
 * Roman Brumm, NFL player
 * Adam Burish, NHL player
 * John Byce, NHL player
 * Gabe Carimi, All-American football player
 * Connie Carpenter-Phinney, road cyclist and ice speed skater; winner of first-ever women's Olympic road race (1984)
 * Charlie Chech, MLB player
 * Bruce Christensen, MLB player
 * Geep Chryst, quarterbacks coach of the San Francisco 49ers
 * Paul Chryst, former head coach of the University of Wisconsin football team
 * Rick Chryst, commissioner of the Mid-American Conference, 1999–2009
 * John Coatta, NFL scout
 * Eddie Cochems, "father of the forward pass"
 * Bill Cofield, head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team; first African American head coach of a major sport in the Big Ten Conference; 1976–1982
 * Casey Cramer, NFL player
 * Annabelle Cripps, Olympic athlete
 * Kevin Dean, NHL player
 * Dorcas Denhartog, Olympic athlete
 * Mary Docter, Olympic athlete
 * Sarah Docter, Olympic athlete
 * Clarence Esser, NFL player
 * Paul Feldhausen, professional football player
 * Casey FitzRandolph, Olympic gold medalist
 * Mary Froning, AAGPBL player
 * Steve Furniss, Olympic medalist, Pan American Games gold medalist
 * Reece Gaines, NBA player for the Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets, and the Milwaukee Bucks
 * Vern Geishert, MLB player
 * Gale Gillingham, NFL player
 * Mike Gosling, professional baseball player
 * Carie Graves, Olympic gold medalist, head coach of the Harvard Crimson and Texas Longhorns women's crew teams
 * Steve Green, NBA player
 * Paul Gruber, NFL player
 * Megan Gustafson, WNBA player for the Las Vegas Aces
 * Dale Hackbart, NFL player for the Green Bay Packers, Washington Redskins, Minnesota Vikings, St. Louis Cardinals, and the Denver Broncos
 * Donald Hayes, NFL player
 * Beth Heiden, Olympic speedskater
 * Eric Heiden, Olympic speedskater
 * Russell Hellickson, Olympic wrestler
 * Phil Hellmuth, professional poker player
 * Jack Ikegwuonu, NFL player
 * Dan Immerfall, Olympic medalist, head referee for the International Skating Union, member of National Speedskating Hall of Fame
 * Mark Johnson, 1980 Miracle on Ice USA Olympic hockey team gold medalist, NHL player
 * Nicole Joraanstad, national champion curler
 * Tim Jordan, NFL player
 * Jerry Kelly, professional golfer
 * Amanda Kessel, Olympic gold medalist in women's ice hockey and NWHL player for the Metropolitan Riveters
 * Phil Kessel, NHL player for the Vegas Golden Knights
 * Gordon King, NFL player
 * George Kittle, NFL player for the San Francisco 49ers
 * Phyllis Koehn, AAGPBL player
 * Scott Kooistra, NFL player
 * Joe Kurth, NFL player
 * Dan Lanphear, professional football player
 * Debi Laszewski, IFBB professional bodybuilder
 * Mike London, professional football player
 * Helene Madison, won three gold medals at the 1932 Olympics in swimming
 * Wesley Matthews, basketball player
 * Greg Mattison, NFL coach
 * Jeronne Maymon (born 1991), basketball player for Hapoel Eilat B.C. of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
 * Dave McClain, head coach of the Ball State Cardinals and Wisconsin Badgers football teams
 * Debbie McCormick, world champion curler, Olympic athlete
 * Milton McPike, NFL player
 * Walter Meanwell, former head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team, member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
 * Bob Mionske, Olympic athlete
 * Jim Montgomery, world champion swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame
 * Eric Morel, boxer, former WBA Flyweight champion.
 * Peter Mueller, Olympic speed skater
 * Pat Neshek, MLB player
 * Rick Neuheisel, NFL player, former head coach of the UCLA Bruins football team
 * Kid Nichols, member of the Baseball Hall of Fame
 * Andy North, professional golfer
 * Jay Norvell, NFL player, head coach of the Nevada Wolf Pack football team
 * Jeff Nygaard, Olympic athlete
 * Karl Pagel, MLB player
 * Bill Reay, NHL player and head coach
 * Rick Reichardt, MLB player
 * Andrew Rein, Olympic wrestler, winner of a silver medal
 * Barry Richter, hockey player
 * Pat Richter, NFL player, member of the College Football Hall of Fame, athletic director of the University of Wisconsin–Madison
 * Libby Riddles, first woman to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
 * Michelle Rohl, Olympic athlete, Pan American Games medalist
 * Dan Schachte, former NHL official
 * Nick Schmaltz, NHL player
 * Pete Schmitt, NFL player
 * Jack Skille, right winger for the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL
 * Shaka Smart, head coach of the Texas Longhorns men's basketball team
 * Craig Smith, NHL player
 * Zane Smith, MLB player
 * Chris Solinsky, professional runner
 * Bill Southworth, MLB player
 * Dave Stalls, NFL player
 * Derek Stanley, NFL player
 * Ken Starch, NFL player
 * Sherri Steinhauer, LPGA player
 * Lisa Stone, head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers women's basketball team
 * Tim Stracka, NFL player
 * Steve Stricker, professional golfer
 * Eric Studesville, head coach of the Denver Broncos in the NFL
 * Bob Suter, 1980 Miracle on Ice USA Olympic hockey team gold medalist
 * Gary Suter, retired NHL player
 * Ryan Suter, NHL player
 * Lindsay Tarpley, WPS player
 * Matt Tegenkamp, professional distance runner
 * Donnel Thompson, NFL player
 * Al Toon, former professional football player
 * Stu Voigt, NFL player
 * Jack Waite, professional tennis player
 * Pete Waite, head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers women's volleyball team
 * Lisa Wang, national champion rhythmic gymnast
 * Henry Willegale, NFL player
 * Brad Winchester, NHL player
 * Ari Wolfe, sports announcer
 * Tony Yelk, NFL player
 * Jackie Zoch, Olympic medalist

Business and industry figures

 * Noah Dietrich, CEO of the majority of enterprises owned by Howard Hughes, including RKO Pictures, Trans World Airlines, and Hughes Aircraft
 * Judith R. Faulkner, CEO and founder of Epic Systems
 * John Geisse, founder of Target Corporation
 * Burton E. Green, one of the developers of Beverly Hills, California
 * Alex Jordan, Jr., businessman, architect
 * Peter Koechley, co-founder of Upworthy and former managing editor of The Onion
 * Jim Lillie, CEO of Jarden Corporation; spent a part of his childhood there and attended the UW in 1983
 * Oscar G. Mayer, Jr., Chairman of Oscar Mayer
 * Oscar G. Mayer, Sr., Chairman of Oscar Mayer
 * Odessa Piper, chef and co-founder of the restaurant L'Etoile
 * Pleasant Rowland, businesswoman, creator of the American Girl product line

Actors, radio personalities, and filmmakers

 * Andrea Anders, actress, comedian
 * Randy Chestnut, comedian, actor, 17-year resident of Madison
 * Michael Cole, actor
 * Tyne Daly, Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress
 * Melvyn Douglas, Academy Award-winning actor
 * Chris Farley, actor, comedian, grew up in Madison
 * John P. Farley, actor and comedian
 * Kevin Farley, actor
 * Michael Feldman, radio personality for Public Radio International
 * Nick Grinde (1893–1979), film director and screenwriter
 * Uta Hagen, actress, recipient of the National Medal of Arts
 * Kurt Johnson, radio personality, director for RKO, CBS, Viacom and others
 * Nietzchka Keene, filmmaker
 * Imran Khan, Bollywood actor
 * Russ Lieber, fictitious character from The Colbert Report with a liberal radio talk show supposedly based in Madison
 * Rob Marshall, Academy Award-nominated director
 * Sandra Nelson, actress
 * Chris Noth, actor, born in Madison
 * Zorba Paster, radio show host
 * Bill Rebane, filmmaker
 * Ann Risley, actress
 * Gena Rowlands, Oscar-nominated, Golden Globe and Emmy-winning actress
 * Matt Sloan, voice actor, comedian
 * Mary Sweeney, film editor and producer, partner of director David Lynch
 * J.D. Walsh, actor
 * Marc Webb, film, television, and music video director
 * Bradley Whitford, actor, born in Madison
 * Gideon Yago, CBS and MTV News correspondent
 * Leigh Zimmerman, actress

Musicians

 * Brother Ali, hip hop musician
 * Lou and Peter Berryman, musicians and songwriters
 * Jeff Conrad, drummer of Phantom Planet
 * CHRISTINE NIELSON DRIER.jpg]]Yung Gravy, hip hop musician
 * Brent Michael Davids, composer for the National Symphony Orchestra
 * Richard Davis, bassist and professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
 * John DeMain, conductor
 * Christine Nielson Dreier, singer
 * Ari Herstand, musician, actor, blogger
 * Nick Hexum, musician, lead vocalist of 311
 * Lee Hoiby, composer
 * Zola Jesus, musician; raised in Merrill and got her start in Madison
 * Jennifer Korbee, member of Hi-5; contestant on American Idol
 * Alicia Lemke, singer, famous for appearing on Matt Harding's Where the Hell is Matt? 2012 video
 * Barbara K. MacDonald, musician
 * Pat MacDonald, musician
 * janewiedlin.jpg]]Joel McNeely, composer
 * Tracy Nelson, singer
 * Otis Redding, musician, died in Madison
 * Art Paul Schlosser, musician
 * Jim Schwall, musician, singer-songwriter
 * Ben Sidran, musician, jazz pianist
 * Catfish Stephenson, blues musician
 * Clyde Stubblefield, musician, died in Madison
 * Butch Vig, alternative music producer and drummer of Garbage; from Viroqua, got his start in Madison
 * Chris Vrenna, musician and producer
 * Jane Wiedlin, musician and actress
 * Glenn Worf, Nashville session bass player
 * Benjamin Foster, lead singer and guitarist of the punk rock band Screeching Weasel.
 * Geoff Palmer musician, singer, and songwriter. Member of The Connection, The Kurt Baker band, and The Queers

Government officials, politicians, and activists

 * Stacey Abrams, Georgia State politician
 * Henry Cullen Adams, U.S. Representative
 * Rasmus B. Anderson, U.S. diplomat
 * Dwight Armstrong (1951–2010), perpetrator of the Sterling Hall bombing
 * David Atwood, Mayor of Madison, newspaper publisher/editor, U.S. Representative
 * Tammy Baldwin, U.S. Senator
 * George V. Borchsenius, first clerk of the court of the Nome judicial division of Alaska
 * Dorothy Bradley, Montana state legislator
 * John R. Burke, U.S. diplomat
 * Michael J. Cantwell, Wisconsin State Assemblyman
 * Richard Cates, Wisconsin legislator and lawyer
 * William Charlton, Wisconsin State Assemblyman and farmer
 * Liz Cheney, U.S. Representative from Wyoming
 * Jason Crow, U.S. Representative from Colorado
 * Leo Crowley, head of the Foreign Economic Administration
 * Dexter Curtis, Wisconsin legislator and inventor
 * Joseph E. Davies, U.S. diplomat
 * Abiol Lual Deng, South Sudanese-American political scientist
 * Brian Detter, Navy official, activist
 * Jim Doyle, Governor of Wisconsin 2003–2011
 * Scott Evertz, first openly gay director of the Office of National AIDS Policy
 * William T. Evjue, Wisconsin State Assemblyman; founder of The Capital Times
 * Lucius Fairchild, U.S. diplomat
 * Thomas E. Fairchild, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals
 * Leonard J. Farwell, Governor of Wisconsin
 * Louis E. Gettle, politician
 * John D. Gurnee, Wisconsin State Assembly
 * Everis A. Hayes, U.S. Representative from California
 * Charles N. Herreid, Governor of South Dakota
 * Charles W. Heyl, Wisconsin State Assembly
 * Benjamin F. Hopkins, U.S. Representative
 * Eric Hovde, businessman and politician
 * Burr W. Jones, U.S. Representative
 * Philip Mayer Kaiser, diplomat
 * Scott L. Klug, U.S. Representative 1991-1999
 * Randall S. Knox, lawyer, politician, businessman
 * Kris Kobach, professor, politician
 * Thomas F. Konop, U.S. Representative
 * Clifford Krueger, politician
 * Julius Albert Krug, U.S. Secretary of the Interior
 * Belle Case La Follette, activist
 * Bronson La Follette, Wisconsin Attorney General
 * Doug La Follette, Wisconsin Secretary of State, environmental activist, writer
 * Fola La Follette, activist
 * Philip La Follette, Governor of Wisconsin
 * Robert M. La Follette, Jr., U.S. Senator
 * Robert M. La Follette, Sr., populist, senator, attorney
 * Francis Lamb, politician and lawyer
 * Richard Lamm, Governor of Colorado
 * James B. Loken, Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals
 * Willett Main, Wisconsin State Senator
 * Cheri Maples, Wisconsin lawyer, police officer, and peace activist
 * Ben Masel, original Yippee, hemp and marijuana legalization activist
 * Teresa McGovern, daughter of presidential candidate George McGovern
 * Wayne L. Morse, U.S. Senator from Oregon
 * Earl Mullen, politician and barber
 * Herman Natwick, member of the Dakota Territory legislature
 * Gaylord Nelson, U.S. Senator, founder of Earth Day
 * John M. Nelson, U.S. Representative
 * William Proxmire, U.S. Senator
 * Charles R. Robertson, U.S. Representative from North Dakota
 * Harry Sauthoff, lawyer and politician
 * Albert G. Schmedeman, U.S. diplomat
 * Stuart Nash Scott, U.S. diplomat
 * Ithamar Sloan, U.S. Representative
 * Paul Soglin, Mayor 1973–1979, 1989–1997, 2011–2019
 * John Coit Spooner, U.S. Senator
 * John Mellen Thurston, U.S. Senator from Nebraska; namesake of Thurston County, Nebraska
 * Marjorie R. Turnbull, Florida State Representative
 * William F. Vilas, U.S. Postmaster General and U.S. Secretary of the Interior
 * Floyd E. Wheeler, Wisconsin State Assembly
 * William Wheeler, Wisconsin territorial legislator
 * Frank E. Wheelock, a founder and first mayor of Lubbock, Texas; reared in Madison
 * Rebecca Young, Wisconsin State Assembly

Military figures

 * George E. Bryant, U.S. Army Brigadier General
 * Joseph Cable, Medal of Honor recipient
 * Charles L. Harris, Union Army Brigadier General
 * Frank A. Haskell, Union Army colonel; author of a noted account of the Battle of Gettysburg
 * William Hawley, Union Army Brigadier General
 * John Higgins, U.S. Navy Rear Admiral (Upper Half)
 * Donald S. Jones, U.S. Navy Vice Admiral
 * William Lorenz, Army Distinguished Service Medal recipient
 * John Birdsell Oren, U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral
 * Carson Abel Roberts, U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant General
 * Clayton K. Slack, Medal of Honor recipient
 * Eugene L. Tattini, U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General
 * Albert Taubert, Navy Cross and Distinguished Service Cross recipient
 * Karl G. Taylor, Sr., Medal of Honor recipient
 * Ralph Wise Zwicker, U.S. Army Major General

Miscellaneous

 * Tunnel Bob, famous resident
 * Dwight Armstrong, took part in the Sterling Hall bombing in 1970
 * Carlo Peter Caputo, alleged Italian American gangster and businessman
 * Bill Horstmeyer, race car driver
 * Awonder Liang, chess prodigy, 3rd youngest Grandmaster in US chess history
 * Richard Ragsdale, physician who litigated against excessive abortion regulation

Religious figures

 * Alexander Gee Jr
 * Matthew Fox, Episcopal priest
 * Jerome J. Hastrich, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup
 * Hans Gerhard Stub, Bishop of the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America
 * Manfred Swarsensky, rabbi

Scholars and scientists



 * Ann Althouse, law professor, scholar and blogger
 * John Bardeen, Nobel laureate, named one of the 20th century's most influential Americans by Life magazine
 * Arthur Louis Breslich, President of German Wallace College and Baldwin-Wallace College
 * Ernest J. Briskey, creator of the American Meat Science Association
 * W. Wallace Cleland, University of Wisconsin–Madison biochemist; inventor of Cleland's reagent
 * Scott Cutlip, dean of the University of Georgia College of Journalism and Mass Communication
 * Richard Davidson, neuroscientist, director of the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds University of Wisconsin–Madison
 * Hector DeLuca, biochemist and founder and president of Deltanoid Pharmaceuticals
 * Harvey Goldberg, historian and professor
 * Harlan Hanson, Director of the Advanced Placement program from 1965 to 1989
 * Howard Hibbard, art historian, professor at Columbia University
 * John Duer Irving, geologist
 * Henry A. Lardy, biochemist
 * Aldo Leopold, ecologist
 * A. Carl Leopold, Graduate Dean at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
 * A. Starker Leopold, Professor of Zoology and Conservation at the University of California, Berkeley
 * Luna Leopold, Professor of Geology and Geophysics and of Landscape Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley
 * William Shainline Middleton, co-founder and Secretary-Treasurer of American Board of Internal Medicine
 * George Mosse, historian, professor
 * John Muir, Scottish-born American naturalist, author and early advocate of preservation of U.S. wilderness
 * Gerhard Brandt Naeseth, genealogist
 * Lorrie Otto, environmentalist
 * Leon E. Rosenberg, physician-scientist, geneticist, and educator
 * Jay P. Sanford, author of the Sanford Guide to Antimicrobial Therapy
 * Sumner Slichter, economist, professor at Harvard University
 * Kurt Squire, director of the Games, Learning & Society Conference
 * Harry Steenbock, biochemist, researcher of Vitamin D
 * James Thomson, leading stem cell researcher
 * Jan Vansina, historian and anthropologist
 * I. Bernard Weinstein, physician
 * Ira Loren Wiggins, botanist
 * James Wright, President of Dartmouth College

Writers and journalists

 * Carl Thomas Anderson, cartoonist
 * Mike Baron, comic book writer famous for creating Nexus
 * Lowell Bergman, TV news producer
 * Deborah Blum, journalist and professor
 * Barbara Fister, author, blogger and librarian
 * Jason Gastrow, Videogamedunkey, video game reviewer, humorist, YouTube personality
 * Annie Laurie Gaylor, author and activist with Freethought Today
 * Jeff Gillan, journalist
 * Kevin Henkes, children's book author, graduated from UW–Madison and as of 1996 "makes his home in Madison."
 * Ed Janus, journalist
 * Gloria Ladson-Billings, professor and author
 * David Maraniss, journalist and author, recipient of the Pulitzer Prize
 * Karl E. Meyer, journalist
 * Jacquelyn Mitchard, author
 * Lorrie Moore, prize-winning author of short stories
 * Jessica Nelson North, author
 * Alice Hobbins Porter, journalist, editor
 * Richard Quinney, author and photographer
 * Phil Rosenthal (columnist), columnist
 * Patrick Rothfuss, writer of epic fantasy
 * Greg Dean Schmitz, online film journalist, creator of Upcomingmovies.com, columnist for Rotten Tomatoes
 * Alice Sebold, author
 * Scott Stantis, editorial cartoonist for the Chicago Tribune; creator of the comic strips The Buckets and Prickly City
 * John Tuschen, poet
 * Connie Wanek, poet
 * Ella Wheeler Wilcox, poet ("Laugh and the world laughs with you"); grew up in Madison
 * Amos Wilder, poet and theologian
 * Thornton Wilder, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and playwright