This list of University of Utah people includes notable alumni, non-graduate former students, faculty, staff, and former university presidents. The

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

, located in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, is a flagship

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...

space-grant The space-grant colleges are educational institutions in the United States that comprise a network of fifty-two consortia formed for the purpose of outer space-related research. Each consortium is based in one of the fifty states, the District o ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kn ...

. The school is notable for having been one of the first four nodes of the

ARPANET The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) was the first wide-area packet-switched network with distributed control and one of the first networks to implement the TCP/IP protocol suite. Both technologies became the technical fou ...

and the first node outside of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, as well as forming the first

computer graphics Computer graphics deals with generating images with the aid of computers. Today, computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. A great de ...

research group. The University of Utah offers more than 100 undergraduate majors and more than 92 graduate degree programs, and includes three professional graduate schools: the

University of Utah School of Medicine The University of Utah School of Medicine is located on the upper campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was founded in 1905 and is currently the only MD-granting medical school in the state of Utah. History The school began ...

, the

David Eccles School of Business The David Eccles School of Business is located on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City, Utah. The school was founded as the "School of Commerce & Finance" in 1917 and subsequently changed its name to "School of Business" in 1927, althou ...

, and the S.J. Quinney College of Law. The enrollment for 2016 was 23,789

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...

and 8,071 graduate students, with 1,505 full-time faculty members and 5,230 staff.

Notable alumni

Law and government

Business

Humanities and fine arts

Life and physical sciences

Mathematics

* Richard Eliot Chamberlin – geometric topologist, visiting scholar at the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...

, and

Invited Speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians This is a list of International Congresses of Mathematicians Plenary and Invited Speakers. Being invited to talk at an International Congress of Mathematicians has been called "the equivalent, in this community, of an induction to a hall of fame." ...

Alessio Corti Alessio Corti (born 1965) is a Professor of Mathematics at Imperial College London working in Algebraic Geometry. Corti studied at the University of Pisa and Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, where he gained a diploma (Laurea) in 1987. He o ...

– geometer at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

and winner of the London Mathematical Society

Whitehead Prize The Whitehead Prize is awarded yearly by the London Mathematical Society to multiple mathematicians working in the United Kingdom who are at an early stage of their career. The prize is named in memory of homotopy theory pioneer J. H. C. Whiteh ...

John E. Dennis John Emory Dennis, Jr. (born 1939) is an American mathematician who has made major contributions in mathematical optimization. Dennis is currently a Noah Harding professor emeritus and research professor in the department of computational and app ...

– editor-in-chief and founder of the ''SIAM Journal on Optimization'', pioneered convergence analysis of quasi-Newton methods *

Gordana Matic Gordana Matic is a Croatian-American mathematician who works as a professor at the University of Georgia. Her research concerns low-dimensional topology and contact geometry. Matic earned her doctorate from the University of Utah in 1986, under t ...

– geometric topologist,

C. L. E. Moore instructor The job title of C. L. E. Moore instructor is given by the Math Department at Massachusetts Institute of Technology to recent math Ph.D.s hired for their promise in pure mathematics research. The instructors are expected to do both teaching and rese ...

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

, Fellow of the

American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...

Computer science

Engineering

Medicine

Media

Education

Athletics

* Sharrieff Shah – Husband to

Jen Shah Jennifer Shah ( née Lui; born October 4, 1973) is an American television personality and convicted felon. She is a former cast member of the reality television series ''The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City''. Shah pleaded guilty to a criminal c ...

, American Football Coach

Music and entertainment

– Reality TV star on

The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City ''The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City'' (abbreviated ''RHOSLC'') is an American reality television series that premiered on November 11, 2020, on Bravo. Developed as the tenth installment of ''The Real Housewives'' franchise, it has aired thre ...

Peter Breinholt Peter Breinholtis a recording artist in the Salt Lake City, Utah local music scene. Breinholt spent the first ten years of his life in Devon, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, where his father Robert H. Breinholt taught at the Wharton Sch ...

– folk recording artist *

Matthew Davis Matthew Davis, also professionally known as Matt Davis, is an American actor. He is mostly known for his roles as Warner Huntington III in ''Legally Blonde'', Adam Hillman on the ABC comedy-drama ''What About Brian'' from 2006 to 2007 and Alar ...

– actor noted for roles in ''

Legally Blonde ''Legally Blonde'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Robert Luketic in his feature-length directorial debut, and scripted by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith from Amanda Brown's 2001 novel of the same name. It stars Reese Wit ...

'' and ''

The Vampire Diaries ''The Vampire Diaries'' is an American supernatural teen drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the book series of the same name written by L. J. Smith. The series premiered on The CW on September 10, ...

'' *

Dan Farr Dan Farr (born February 15, 1967) is an entrepreneur, known for co-founding Daz 3D, a 3D content and software company, and for founding Salt Lake Comic Con. Career Dan Farr co-founded Daz 3D Inc. in 2000. Daz 3D is a company that develops and publ ...

– co-founder of

Salt Lake Comic Con FanX Salt Lake (formerly Salt Lake Comic Con) is a semi-annual multi-genre pop culture expo held in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It is produced by Dan Farr and Bryan Brandenburg under Dan Farr Productions and is Utah's most attended c ...

and technology entrepreneur * Denali Foxx, born Cordero Zuckerman – American Drag Performer, contestant on the thirteenth season of ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...

'' *

Kaskade Ryan Gary Raddon (born February 25, 1971), better known by his stage name Kaskade, is an American DJ, record producer and remixer. ''DJ Times'' voted Kaskade "America's Best DJ" in 2011 and 2013. ''DJ Mag'' named Kaskade fifty-first on its 20 ...

, born Ryan Raddon – DJ *

Steven Sharp Nelson Steven Sharp Nelson (born July 5, 1977) is an American cellist. He is best known as "The Cello Guy" of the classical new-age musical group The Piano Guys, with whom he has released eight number-one albums and dozens of music videos. He also has ...

– cellist, member of

The Piano Guys The Piano Guys is an American musical group consisting of pianist Jon Schmidt, cellist Steven Sharp Nelson, videographer Paul Anderson, and music producer Al van der Beek. Originating in Utah, they gained popularity through YouTube, where in ...

* Josh Rosenthal – performing

singer/songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk-acoustic tradition, although this role has transmuted t ...

Religion

Criminals

Ted Bundy Theodore Robert Bundy (Name change, born Cowell; November 24, 1946 – January 24, 1989) was an American serial killer who kidnapped, raped and murdered numerous young women and girls during the 1970s and possibly earlier. After more th ...

– notorious serial killer; briefly attended Utah's law school prior to his 1975 arrest and conviction for kidnapping * Thad Roberts – former

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

intern who stole and attempted to resell the collection of Apollo program moon rocks valued at $21 million * Nadir Soofi – Islamic extremist who attacked officers with gunfire at the entrance to an exhibit featuring cartoon images of Muhammad at the

Curtis Culwell Center The Curtis Culwell Center (formerly the Garland Special Events Center) is a 6,860-fixed seat arena (8,500 full capacity) and conference center in Garland, Texas. It opened in 2005 and was designed by HKS, Inc. and constructed at a cost of $31.5 ...

Garland, Texas Garland is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is located northeast of Dallas and is a part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is located within Dallas County except for small portions located in Collin and Rockwall Counties. At the ...

, on May 3, 2015.

Notable faculty

Humanities and fine arts

Life and physical sciences

Mathematics

Engineering and computer science

Medicine

Economics and political science

Dean Baker Dean Baker (born July 13, 1958) is an American macroeconomist who co-founded the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) with Mark Weisbrot. Baker has been credited as one of the first economists to have identified the 2007–08 United Sta ...

(born 1958) - macroeconomist * Russell W. Belk – professor of business administration and expert in art consumer and collector behavior * Virginia Cutler – served on the White House Consumer Committee, as technical advisor in home economics education for the US

International Cooperation Administration The International Cooperation Administration (ICA) was a United States government agency operating from June 30, 1955 until September 4, 1961, responsible for foreign assistance and 'nonmilitary security' programs. It was the predecessor of the ...

and the

Point Four Program The Point Four Program was a technical assistance program for "developing countries" announced by United States President Harry S. Truman in his inaugural address on January 20, 1949. It took its name from the fact that it was the fourth foreig ...

; dean of the

home economics Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences, is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and food preparation, as well as texti ...

department; developed the home science program at the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It the oldest and largest of the thirteen Ghanaian national public universities. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the Br ...

* E. K. Hunt – Emeritus Professor of Economics; expert on

political economy Political economy is the study of how economic systems (e.g. markets and national economies) and political systems (e.g. law, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied phenomena within the discipline are systems such as labour ...

; author of ''History of Economic Thought: A Critical Perspective'' * Minqi Li – renowned political economist * Patrick Shea – professor of political science, biology, and lawyer noted for taking on cases related to freedom of the press, represented the

Massachusetts Democratic Party The Massachusetts Democratic Party (MassDems) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is chaired by Gus Bickford. It is currently the dominant party in the state, controlling all nine of Massachusetts' U ...

in seeking to gain enough information to exclude Mitt Romney from running for governor in Massachusetts, was included in Brent Jeffs's legal counsel in the sexual molestation suit against Warren Jeffs, chairman of the

Utah Democratic Party The Utah Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Utah. Its platform focuses on economic security, equal opportunity, the common good, and American leadership. The party also describes itself as a big tent pa ...

, and served as national director of the Bureau of Land Management

Social and behavioral sciences

* Lisa M. Diamond – developmental psychologist noted for her work in

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...

development, sexual identity and bonding *

Ed Diener Edward Francis Diener (July 25, 1946 – April 27, 2021) was an American psychologist, professor, and author. Diener was a professor of psychology at the University of Utah and the University of Virginia, and Joseph R. Smiley Distinguished Profe ...

– social psychologist who pioneered the field of subjective well-being

Sports

* Greg Marsden – current coach of the women's

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

team coach marsden retired 2015 *

Kyle Whittingham Kyle David Whittingham (born November 21, 1959) is an American football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at the University of Utah, a position he has held since 2005, and is the all-time leader in wins at Utah. Prior to bec ...

– current coach of the football team

Other

Maud Babcock Maud May Babcock (May 2, 1867 – December 31, 1954) was the first female member of the University of Utah's faculty. She taught at the university for 46 years, beginning in 1892. While there she established the University Theater, originated the ...

– first female member of the university's faculty * E. Keith Eddington – artist and graphic designer *

Joseph F. Merrill Joseph Francis Merrill (August 24, 1868 – February 3, 1952) was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1931 until his death. Merrill was a key figure in the develo ...

– first native Utahn to receive a PhD, first principal of the

College of Engineering Engineering education is the activity of teaching knowledge and principles to the professional practice of engineering. It includes an initial education ( bachelor's and/or master's degree), and any advanced education and specializations tha ...

, and creator of the LDS Institutes of Religion program * Yehua Dennis Wei - Professor of Geography

University presidents

References

{{University of Utah University of Utah people University of Utah people

Notable alumni

Law and government

Business

Humanities and fine arts

Life and physical sciences

Mathematics

Computer science

Engineering

Medicine

Media

Education

Athletics

Music and entertainment

Religion

Criminals

Notable faculty

Humanities and fine arts

Life and physical sciences

Mathematics

Engineering and computer science

Medicine

Economics and political science

Social and behavioral sciences

Sports

Other

University presidents

See also

References