List of people from Topeka, Kansas

This is a list of people from Topeka, Kansas.

Academia

 * Warren Faidley (1957- ), meteorologist, storm chaser
 * Riley Gardner (1921-2007), psychologist
 * Wes Jackson (1936- ), environmentalist, The Land Institute
 * Sokoni Karanja (1940- ), child development expert
 * G. Warren Nutter (1923-1979), economist
 * Ruth Patrick (1907-2013), botanist, limnologist
 * Walton T. Roth (1939- ), psychiatrist and psychophysiological researcher
 * David Curtis Skaggs, Jr. (1937- ), historian
 * John Brooks Slaughter (1934-2023), electrical engineer, National Science Foundation director

Film, television, and theatre

 * Brandon Adams (1979- ), actor
 * Annette Bening (1958- ), actress
 * Gregg Binkley (1963- ), actor
 * Roscoe Born (1950-2020), actor
 * Jack Colvin (1934-2005), actor
 * Samuel M. Comer (1893-1974), set decorator
 * George Dickerson (1933-2015), actor, poet, writer
 * Jayne Houdyshell (1953- ), actress
 * Jeff Kready, Broadway actor
 * Ted North (1916-1975), actor
 * Sheila Ryan (1921-1975), actress
 * Travis Schuldt (1974- ), actor
 * Lois Smith (1930- ), actress
 * Fay Tincher (1884-1983), actress

Journalism

 * Elizabeth Farnsworth (1943- ), broadcaster, filmmaker
 * Donald C. Thompson (1885-1947), war photographer, director, producer

Literature

 * Thomas Fox Averill (1949- ), novelist
 * Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000), poet
 * Irene Bennett Brown, American author of children's, young adult and adult fiction
 * Jeannette Eyerly (1908-2008), novelist, columnist
 * Janet Fox (1940-2009), fantasy and horror writer, poet
 * Jane Heap (1883-1964), editor, publisher
 * Ben Lerner (1979- ), poet
 * Karen Salyer McElmurray (1956- ), essayist, novelist
 * Eric McHenry (1972- ), poet
 * Frances Clarke Sayers (1897-1989), author, lecturer, librarian
 * Ed Skoog (1971- ), poet
 * Linda Spalding (1943- ), novelist, editor
 * Rex Stout (1886-1975), novelist
 * Max Yoho (1934-2017), author
 * Kevin Young (1970/1971- ), poet, author, Director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture

Music

 * Phil Ehart (1950-), drummer, founding member of the band Kansas
 * Streamline Ewing (1917-2002), jazz trombonist
 * Aulsondro "Emcee N.I.C.E." Hamilton, musician, member of KansasCali, known for Crash soundtrack
 * Coleman Hawkins (1904-1969), jazz saxophonist
 * Dave Hope (1949- ), bass guitarist, former member of Kansas
 * Josh Kulick, former heavy metal drummer for Through The Eyes Of The Dead
 * Katrina Leskanich (1960- ), singer (Katrina and the Waves)
 * Kerry Livgren (1949- ), founding member of the bands Kansas and AD
 * Andy McKee (1979- ), musician
 * Kirke Mechem (1925- ), composer
 * Origin, metal band
 * Kliph Scurlock (1973- ), drummer
 * Jamshied Sharifi (1960- ), composer, musician
 * Kenny Starr (1952- ), country singer
 * Rich Williams (1950- ), guitarist, member of Kansas

Other visual arts

 * James Pringle Cook (1947- ), Western landscape painter
 * Aaron Douglas (1899-1979), Harlem Renaissance artist
 * Georgia Louise Harris Brown (1918-1999), architect
 * Peter Max Lawrence (1977- ), contemporary media artist

Business

 * Brad Garlinghouse (1971- ), business executive, investor
 * Cyrus K. Holliday (1826-1900), first president of Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad; founder of Topeka township
 * John F. Kilmartin (1921-2004), retail executive

Crime

 * Alvin "Creepy" Karpis (1907-1979), kidnapper, murderer, robber
 * Amy Watkins (1973-1999), murder victim

Medicine

 * Karl Bowman (1888-1973), psychiatrist
 * Harriet Lerner (1944- ), clinical psychologist and author
 * Karl Menninger (1893-1990), psychiatrist
 * Roy W. Menninger (1926- ), psychiatrist
 * William C. Menninger (1899-1966), psychiatrist
 * W. Walter Menninger (1931- ), psychiatrist
 * Karl Targownik (1915-1996), psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor

Military

 * Wilder D. Baker (1890-1975), U.S. Navy Vice Admiral during World War II
 * Ronald Evans (1933-1990), astronaut
 * Harry D. Felt (1902-1992), U.S. Navy Admiral
 * Donald Hudson (1895-1967), World War I flying ace
 * Philip Johnston (1892-1978), U.S. Marine Corps code-talker
 * Frank E. Petersen (1932-2015), U.S. Marine Corps Lt. General

National

 * Linda Carol Brown (1943-2018), plaintiff in Brown v. Board of Education
 * Oliver Brown (1918-1961), plaintiff in Brown v. Board of Education
 * Arthur Capper (1865-1951), U.S. Senator from Kansas, 20th Governor of Kansas
 * Helen Chenoweth-Hage (1938-2006), U.S. Representative from Idaho
 * Albert M. Cole (1901-1994), U.S. Representative from Kansas
 * Sam A. Crow (1926-2022), U.S. federal judge
 * Charles Curtis (1860-1936), 31st Vice President of the United States
 * Harry W. Fraser (1884-1950), labor leader
 * David Archibald Harvey (1845-1916), U.S. House Delegate from Oklahoma Territory
 * Donald R. Heath (1894-1981), U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia, Laos, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam
 * Zelma Henderson (1920-2008), plaintiff in Brown v. Board of Education
 * Nancy Kassebaum (1932- ), U.S. Senator from Kansas
 * Alf Landon (1887-1987), 26th Governor of Kansas, 1936 Republican candidate for U.S. President
 * John Thomas Marten (1951- ), U.S. federal judge
 * John Martin (1833-1913), U.S. Senator from Kansas
 * Isabell Masters (1913-2011), perennial third-party candidate for U.S. president
 * Noah C. McFarland (1822-1897), Commissioner of the United States General Land Office
 * John G. Otis (1838-1916), U.S. Representative from Kansas
 * Brad Parscale (1976- ), campaign manager for Donald Trump
 * Nathan Phelps (1958- ), LGBT rights activist
 * Shirley Phelps-Roper (1957- ), lawyer, anti-LGBT political activist
 * John Ritchie (1817-1887), abolitionist
 * Pat Roberts (1936- ), U.S. Senator from Kansas
 * William R. Roy (1926-2014), U.S. Representative from Kansas
 * Thomas Ryan (1837-1914), U.S. Representative from Kansas and Ambassador to Mexico
 * John States Seybold (1897-1982), Governor of Panama Canal Zone
 * Jim Slattery (1948- ), U.S. Representative from Kansas
 * John L. Waller (1850-1907), U.S. Consul to Madagascar

State

 * John Alcala (1959- ), Kansas state legislator
 * Carol A. Beier (1958- ), Kansas Supreme Court Justice
 * Robert Coldsnow (1924-2014), Kansas state legislator
 * Robert E. Davis (1939-2010), Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice
 * Ron Estes (1956- ), 39th Treasurer of Kansas and 4th Congressional District Representative, elected 2017.
 * Joan Finney (1925-2001), 42nd Governor of Kansas
 * Shanti Gandhi (1940- ), physician and legislator
 * A. C. Hamlin (1881-1912), Oklahoma state legislator
 * Alexander Miller Harvey (1867-1928), 15th Lieutenant Governor of Kansas
 * Anthony Hensley (1953- ), Kansas state legislator
 * Marla Luckert (1955- ), Kansas Supreme Court justice
 * Lutie Lytle (1875-1950), lawyer, 1st African-American woman admitted to Kansas bar
 * Kay McFarland (1935-2015), Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice
 * Eric Rosen (1953- ), Kansas Supreme Court Justice
 * Caleb Stegall (1971- ), Kansas Supreme Court Justice
 * Jeff Stone (1961- ), Wisconsin state legislator
 * Clifford W. Trow (1929- ), Oregon state legislator
 * William C. Webb (1824-1898), Wisconsin and Kansas legislator
 * Jackie Winters (1937-2019), Oregon state legislator

Local

 * Jacob Alan Dickinson (1911-1971), Topeka Board of Education president, desegregation supporter

Religion

 * Lillian M. Mitchner (1862/64-1954), social reformer; President, Kansas State Woman's Christian Temperance Union
 * Fred Phelps (1929-2014), leader of the Westboro Baptist Church
 * Charles Sheldon (1857-1946), minister, author

American football

 * Chris Beatty (1973- ), coach
 * Tom Dinkel (1956- ), linebacker
 * Forrestal Hickman (1993- ), offensive tackle
 * Teven Jenkins (1998- ), offensive tackle
 * Mike Lemon (1951- ), linebacker
 * Trey Lewis (1985- ), defensive tackle
 * Lamar Mady (1990- ), center
 * Larry McGinnis (1899-1948), guard
 * Jack Nason (1899-1977), tackle, wingback
 * John H. Outland (1871-1947), college football coach and namesake of Outland Trophy
 * John Parrella (1969- ), defensive tackle
 * Ryan Torain (1986- ), running back
 * Chuck Washington (1964- ), defensive back
 * Troy Wilson (1970- ), defensive end

Baseball

 * Aaron Crow (1986- ), pitcher
 * Rick DeHart (1970- ), pitcher
 * Bingo DeMoss (1889-1965), 2nd baseman, manager
 * Art Griggs (1884-1938), 1st baseman
 * Ross Grimsley (1950- ), pitcher
 * Clarence Heise (1907-1999), pitcher
 * Bernadine Maxwell (d. 1988), utility player
 * Larry Miller (1937-2018), pitcher
 * Dink Mothell (1897-1980), pitcher, utility player
 * Don O'Riley (1945-1997), pitcher
 * Scott Taylor (1966- ), pitcher
 * Mike Torrez (1946- ), pitcher

Basketball

 * Chris Babb (1990- ), shooting guard in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
 * Leo Lyons (1987- ), power forward
 * Fred Slaughter (1941-2016), center, sports agent
 * Dean Smith (1931-2015), University of North Carolina and Basketball Hall of Fame coach
 * Mark Turgeon (1965- ), head basketball coach at University of Maryland; formerly coach at Texas A&M University
 * Kyle Weems (1989- ), small forward

Golf

 * Marilynn Smith (1929-2019), pro golfer and LPGA co-founder, member of World Golf Hall of Fame
 * Gary Woodland (1984- ), golfer

Racing

 * Fred Comer (1893-1928), race car driver
 * Louis Durant (1910-1972), race car driver
 * Bruce Hill (1949-2017), race car driver

Other

 * Bob Benoit (1954- ), pro bowler
 * Casey Converse (1957- ), U.S. Olympic swimmer, coach
 * Art Crews (1959- ), pro wrestler
 * Bob Davis (1945- ), sportscaster
 * Bill Disney (1932-2009), U.S. Olympic speed skater
 * Jack Disney (1930- ), U.S. Olympic cyclist
 * Melvin Douglas, Olympic wrestler, 1996 and 2000 and World Championship gold medalist
 * Max Falkenstien (1924-2019), radio broadcaster
 * Margaret Thompson Murdock (1942- ), member of the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame, and first woman to win a medal in shooting at the Summer Olympics
 * Charles Nelson (1933- ), U.S. Olympic volleyball player
 * Anna Seaton (1964- ), U.S. Olympic rower