•
Edgar Addison Bancroft — lawyer and diplomat, served as United States Ambassador to Japan 1924–1925 •
Barry Bearak 1971 — journalist •
Matt Berg 2000 — CEO of Ona, former director of ICT for Millennium Villages Project at
Columbia University's
Earth Institute; named in 2010 as one of the
Time 100 Most Influential People of the World •
James B. Bradwell, attorney, judge, newspaper publisher, suffragist •
Michael J. Budds, musicologist •
Earnest Elmo Calkins 1891 — founder of first modern advertising agency •
Amy Carlson 1990 — actress, known for
NBC television series
Third Watch, the
CBS series
Blue Bloods, and
Law & Order: Trial by Jury •
Edgar D. Coolidge — dentist and endodontist •
Job Adams Cooper 1867 —
Sixth Governor of
State of Colorado, 1889–1891 •
Vir Das 2004 — comedian,
Bollywood actor •
Charles Eastman — Native American physician, activist and Boy Scout official •
Ethyl Eichelberger — a famous
drag queen, playwright and actor, for whom a prize was founded by downtown Manhattan theatre institution
P.S. 122 •
Chad Eisele — coach and current athletic administrator •
Bill Essick — former pitcher for
Cincinnati Reds, baseball executive and scout •
Fred Ewing 1913 — physician, sixth head football coach of
University of Oklahoma and first to require academically eligible players •
Eugene Field — poet, journalist, and author •
John Huston Finley 1887 — president of
City College of New York, associate editor of
The New York Times •
Jack Finney 1934 — science-fiction author, works include
The Body Snatchers and
Time and Again •
George Fitch 1897 — author and humorist •
David P. Fridovich 1974 — retired
lieutenant general and
Green Beret in
U.S. Army, former Deputy Commander of U.S. military's
United States Special Operations Command •
Hobart R. Gay 1917 —
U.S. Army general, served under General
George S. Patton •
Robert Hanssen 1966 —
FBI agent convicted of spying for
Soviet Union and Russia in 2001, subject of film
Breach (2007) •
Otto Harbach 1895 — songwriter for whom Knox's Harbach Theater is named •
Don Harmon 1988 — Illinois State Senator (Democrat) and 39th
President of the Illinois Senate •
Loyal M. Haynes 1918 —
Brigadier General in
U.S. Army, commanding general of second Division Artillery Unit in Korean War and survivor of the
1946 C-53 Skytrooper crash on the Gauli Glacier •
B. J. Hollars 2007 — professor of English at
University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire •
Bob Jamieson —
ABC news correspondent •
Frank J. Jirka Jr. 1944 — former president of
American Medical Association •
Whitcomb L. Judson — inventor of the
zipper •
James M. Kilts 1970 — former
CEO of
Gillette •
Ismat T. Kittani 1951 — former Iraqi Ambassador to the
United Nations and
President of the United Nations General Assembly; helped start Knox's Honor System •
David A. Kolb 1939 — educational theorist whose interests and publications focus on
experiential learning, the individual and social change, career development, and executive and professional education. •
Alexander Kuo 1961 — Distinguished Affiliated Scholar at Knox, author, winner of 2002
American Book Award •
Thomas E. Kurtz 1950 — co-inventor of
BASIC computer language •
Charles Wesley Leffingwell 1862 — editor of
The Living Church magazine •
Lorenzo D. Lewelling —
12th Governor of Kansas •
Don Marquis — author and journalist •
Edgar Lee Masters — poet and novelist, best known as author of
Spoon River Anthology (1915) •
S. S. McClure 1881 —
muckraking journalism pioneer, founder of ''
McClure's Magazine'' •
Todd Monken 1989 — Head Coach of the NFL's
Cleveland Browns •
Ander Monson 1997 — novelist and poet, author of
Other Electricities, and
Vacationland, a collection of poems •
John Podesta 1971 —
Chief of Staff for President
Bill Clinton •
Rose Polenzani — independent
folk musician •
Gene Rayburn — announcer for
The Tonight Show; host of
The Match Game and other
game shows •
Hiram R. Revels — AME and Methodist Episcopal minister, and first black
U.S. Senator (1870–1871) •
Barnabas Root 1870 — one of the first black men to receive a college degree in
Illinois •
Ezekiel S. Sampson —
U.S. Representative and lawyer from
Iowa •
Don Samuelson —
25th governor of
Idaho (1967–1971) •
Ellen Browning Scripps 1859 — newspaper magnate, philanthropist; helped found
Scripps College and
Scripps Institution of Oceanography •
Robert Seibert 1963 — Professor Emeritus at Knox College and author of
Politics and Change in the Middle East •
Joseph J. Sisco 1941 — diplomat under
Henry Kissinger; president of
American University (1976–1980) •
Zack Stephenson 2006 — Minnesota State Representative (2019–present) •
Dorothea Tanning 1932 — surrealist painter; wife of surrealist painter
Max Ernst •
Kathryn Tanquary 2010 — author of juvenile fiction novel
The Night Parade •
Mary Allen West 1855 — journalist and temperance worker •
Allan Arthur Willman 1928 — classical pianist, 20th-century composer, chair of
University of Wyoming music department •
John Wozniak 1999 — Running back coach at
Oklahoma State University ==References==