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- Richard Anderson, Nobel laureate, is an Urbana University High School alumnus
- John Bardeen, co-inventor of the transistor and won two Nobel prizes (no one else has ever done this), was a faculty member at UIUC
- Bonnie Blair. Speed skater. Born on March 18, 1964, in Cornwall, N.Y. She moved with her parents to Champaign, Ill., when she was 2 and began skating. In 1988 Blair won the gold medal in the 500 meters at the Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alta., and a bronze in the 1,000 meters. She won two gold medals at the 1992 games in Albertville, France, and two at the 1994 games in Lillehammer, Norway, becoming the first American woman to win five gold medals in the Winter Olympics.
- Marlon Brando, actor, is from Evanston, IL
- Dick Butkus played football for UIUC
- Hillary Clinton,
former first lady, is from Maine Township, Cook County,
IL. She is currently the Democratic Senator for New
York.
- Richard Daley, father and son, both mayors of Chicago
- Wyatt Earp - born in Monmouth; many of his relatives are buried at Pioneer Cemetery
- Roger Ebert, film critic, is from Urbana, IL
- George Frampton, former Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, is from Urbana, IL
- Dale Gardner, astronaut, graduated from UIUC
- Benny Goodman (1909-86). Orchestra leader, clarinetist. Born on May 30, 1909, in Chicago, Ill. He founded the Benny Goodman Orchestra in 1934 and presented the first jazz concert at New York's Carnegie hall in 1938. When he hired vibraphonist Lionel Hampton and pianist Teddy Wilson, Goodman became the first major white bandleader to join black and white musicians together. He was known as the King of Swing in the big-band era of the 1930s and 1940s.
- Ulysses S.
Grant - 18th president of the United States
- Patricia Robert Harris (1924-85). Public official. Born on May 31, 1924, in Mattoon, Ill. In 1965 she was appointed ambassador to Luxembourg. She became the first African American woman to hold a cabinet position when she was appointed secretary of Housing and Urban Development in 1977. She served as secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare from 1979 to 1981.
- Edwin Krebs, winner of the 1992 Nobel prize for medicine, is from Urbana, IL
- Abraham Lincoln
- 16th president of the United States
- Joseph Medill McCormick (1877-1925). Journalist, senator. Born on May 16, 1877, in Chicago, Ill. After graduating from Yale in 1900, he returned to Chicago to work for the Chicago Tribune, of which his maternal grandfather was once chief owner and editor. By 1908 he was managing all departments of the newspaper and had also become involved in politics. In 1918 he was elected senator after leaving control of the Tribune to his brother. He served as a senator until his death in 1925.
- Asa Mercer from Princeton,
IL and founder of the University of Washington.
- Linda Metheny, champion Olympic gymnast, is from Tuscola, IL
- Steve Nagel, astronaut, graduated from UIUC
- Ken Norman, former Illini basketball player, now in the NBA
- Ronald Reagan
- 40th president of the United States
- Bob Richards, Olympic pole vaulter, grew up in Champaign, IL
- Alan Ruck, co-star of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," was an acting student at UIUC
- Joe Tanner, astronaut, from Danville and graduated from UIUC
- Nancy Thies, Olympic gymnast, now sports commentator, is from Urbana, IL
- James Tobin, Nobel laureate, is an Urbana University High School alumnus
- Charles Rudolph Walgreen (1873-1939). Drugstore-chain founder. Born on Oct. 9, 1873, near Galesburg, Ill. A registered pharmacist. Walgreen organized C.R. Walgreen and Company in 1909. In 1916 the name was changed to Walgreen Company. Walgreen has been called the father of the modern drugstore. He retired as president of the company in 1934 and was succeeded by his son, Charles Rudolph, Jr. The company was the largest chain of drugstores in the United States.
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