This page lists notable alumni and former students, faculty, and administrators of Wabash College.
This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.Alumni
Academia
- George J. Graham, Jr., political theorist
- John S. Hougham, natural scientist and President, Purdue University, 1876
- William Parker McKee, President, Shimer College
- Stephen G. Miller, archaeologist
- Tom Ostrom, social psychologist
- Stephen H. Webb, theologian and philosopher of religion
Business
- Robert Allen, former AT&T CEO
- David Broecker (born 1961), CEO of Alkermes and Indiana Biosciences Research Institute
- James Bert Garner, Head of the Chemistry Department, 1901–14; inventor of the gas mask used in World War I
- Brad Gerstner, founder of Altimeter Capital
- W. Paul Tippett Jr., former president of American Motors, Springs Industries, and STP
Law
- Edward Daniels, co-founder of Baker & Daniels (now Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath)
- David E. Kendall, President Bill Clinton's attorney, known for a number of anti-death penalty cases
Media and the arts
- Richard Elwell (R.E.) Banta - writer, rare book dealer, publisher and humorist
- Eric Daman, Emmy-winning costumer and fashion designer
- Silky Nutmeg Ganache, drag queen and competitor on RuPaul's Drag Race season 11 and All Stars
- Dean Jagger, Oscar-winning motion picture actor
- Kenyon Nicholson, Broadway playwright, screenwriter
- Byron Price, winner of a Pulitzer Prize in Journalism (1944), director of the Office of Censorship
- Frank Reynolds, ABC World News Tonight anchor
- Lawrence Sanders, novelist
- Allen Saunders, cartoonist
- Dan Simmons, science fiction author, dedicated his novel Ilium to the college
- Lee Orean Smith (1874–1942), composer, arranger, music editor, publisher, music teacher, multi-instrumentalist, and conductor
- Sheldon Vanauken, author, confidante of C. S. Lewis
Medicine
- Robert G. Roeder, Arnold and Mabel Beckman Professor, Head of the Laboratory of Biochemical and Molecular Biology at The Rockefeller University
- Emery Andrew Rovenstine, co-founder of the American Society of Anesthesiologists
Military
- Major General Edward Canby, only United States general killed during the Indian Wars
- Major General Oscar R. Cauldwell, Marine Corps officer during World War II
- Brigadier General John Coburn, Civil War officer; accepted the surrender of Atlanta
- General Charles Cruft, Civil War officer
- Brigadier General Speed S. Fry, Civil War officer
- Lt. Gen. Charles D. Herron, United States Army
- Major General Lew Wallace, Civil War officer, statesman, and author of Ben-Hur
Politics
- Jeremy Bird, National Field Organizer for Barack Obama's 2012 Campaign
- John C. Black, US Representative and Medal of Honor recipient
- Mike Braun, Governor of Indiana; United States Senator; former Indiana State Representative, District 63
- Kevin P. Chavous, Council of the District of Columbia Representative
- John Coburn, United States Representative from Indiana, Civil War Brigadier General
- Hiram Orlando Fairchild, speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly
- Cleon H. Foust, Indiana Attorney General
- Stephen Goldsmith, Mayor of Indianapolis, Deputy Mayor of New York City
- Dwight Green, Governor of Illinois and Capone prosecutor
- Andrew Hamilton, United States Representative
- Bayless W. Hanna, Indiana Attorney General, United States Ambassador to Iran and United States Ambassador to Argentina
- Will Hays, postmaster general and film censor czar
- Randall Head, Indiana State Senator, District 18
- William A. Ketcham, Indiana Attorney General, Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic
- Thomas Riley Marshall, twenty-eighth Vice-President of the United States (under Woodrow Wilson)
- Joseph E. McDonald, United States Representative and Senator
- Reginald Meeks, Kentucky State Representative
- Luke Messer, United States Representative
- Thomas MacDonald Patterson, United States Representative and Senator
- William Pittenger, United States Representative
- John Pope, Chicago alderman (10th ward)
- Todd Rokita, United States Representative, 44th Attorney General of Indiana
- Richard J. Stephenson, financier of conservative causes
- Reginald H. Sullivan, Mayor of Indianapolis
- Brent Waltz, Indiana State Senator, District 36
- Charles P. White, Indiana Secretary of State
- Raymond E. Willis, United States Senator
- Henry Lane Wilson, United States Ambassador to Mexico
- James Wilson, United States Representative from Indiana
- John L. Wilson, United States Representative and Senator
- William Allen Woods, federal judge and Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court
Science
- Geoffrey W. Coates, polymer chemist
- Robert Dirks, computational chemist
- Watson McMillan "Mac" Laetsch, plant biologist
Sports
- Knute Cauldwell, NFL player
- Bert Inks, coached the Wabash College Presbyterians in 1905
- Ward Lambert, college basketball coach
- Don Leppert, Major League Baseball player, homered in first at-bat, first position player All-Star in Washington-Texas franchise history
- Ward Meese, National Football League player
- Pete Metzelaars, National Football League all-time leader in games played by a tight end and four-time AFC champion
- Century Milstead, college football Hall of Famer
- William H. Spaulding, football head coach, University of Minnesota and UCLA
- Ed Summers, Major League Baseball player, pitched in Games 1 and 4 of 1908 World Series
Faculty
- Andrea Chapdelaine, was on the faculty from 1993 to 1995. In 2024, she became president of Connecticut College.
- Garfield V. Cox, established the college's Department of Public Speaking in 1917
- Jeremy Hartnett, Anne and Andrew T. Ford Professor of the Liberal Arts
- William Placher, postliberal theologian, LaFollette Distinguished Professor in the Humanities
- Ezra Pound (1885–1972), poet and critic; appointed chair of the Department of Romance Languages for the 1907–1908 academic year, but left in February after alleged sexual impropriety
- Benjamin Rogge, economist; taught at Wabash 1949–1980; dean of the college 1955–1964
References
- Rehrig, William H.; Bierley, Paul E. (1991). "Lee Orean Smith". The Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music: Composers and Their Music, Volume II. Integrity Press. ISBN 9780918048080.
- Asimov, Nanette (February 1, 2020). "Watson McMillan 'Mac' Laetsch, UC Berkeley botanical expert, dies". San Francisco Chronicle.
- Gagnon, Cappy (2 September 2023). Notre Dame Baseball Greats: From Anson to Yaz. Arcadia. ISBN 9780738532622.
- "Garfield Cox Dies; Former U.C. Edducator". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. February 10, 1970. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
- West, Evan (February 2008). "Poetic Injustice". Indianapolis Monthly. Emmis Communications: 60–68. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
- College, Wabash. "New Residence Hall to Honor Rogge". Wabash College. Retrieved 2023-11-29.