Famous UT Austin alumni
29 famous Longhorns, by field
Government, business, film and TV, science and sports. Search by name or field.
No one on this list matches that. Try a last name or a field, like science.
- Greg Abbott · Government · 48th Governor of TexasBBA 1981
- Laura Bush · Government · Former first lady of the United StatesMLS 1973
- Bill McRaven · Government · Distinguished Alumnus Award 2012: UT System chancellor and commander of U.S. Special Operations CommandBJ 1977
- Don Evans · Government · Distinguished Alumnus Award 2002: U.S. Secretary of CommerceBS 1969, MBA 1973
- Pete Geren · Government · Former U.S. Secretary of the Army and U.S. House memberBA 1975, JD 1978
- Ron Kirk · Government · Former mayor of DallasJD 1979
- Wallace Jefferson · Government · First African-American chief justice of the Supreme Court of TexasJD 1988
- Jeannie Leavitt · Government · Retired U.S. Air Force major generalBS 1990
- Michael Dell · Business · Chairman of the Board of Dell Inc.1983 (no degree listed)
- Rex Tillerson · Business · Distinguished Alumnus Award 2007: CEO of Exxon MobilBS 1975
- Gary Kelly · Business · Distinguished Alumnus Award 2010: Chairman, president and CEO of Southwest AirlinesBBA 1977
- Bill Gurley · Business · General partner at Benchmark CapitalMBA 1993
- Jeff Hildebrand · Business · Founder of Hilcorp Energy CompanyBS 1981, MS 1985
- Matthew McConaughey · Film, TV and writing · Academy Award-winning actorBS 1993
- Marcia Harden · Film, TV and writing · Academy Award-winning actorBA 1980
- Robert Rodriguez · Film, TV and writing · Filmmaker and founder of the El Rey NetworkBS 2008
- Paul Begala · Film, TV and writing · Political analyst at CNNBA 1983, JD 1990
- Arthel Neville · Film, TV and writing · Weekend anchor at Fox News ChannelBJ 1986
- Robert Schenkkan · Film, TV and writing · Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning authorBA 1975
- Elmer Kelton · Film, TV and writing · Author and agricultural journalistBJ 1948
- James Allison · Science · 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for a new way to attack cancerBA 1969, PhD 1973
- Michael W. Young · Science · 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for how living things keep their body clocksBA 1971, PhD 1975
- J.M. Coetzee · Science · 2003 Nobel Prize in LiteraturePhD 1969
- E. Donnall Thomas · Science · 1990 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine; the father of bone marrow transplantationBA 1941, MA 1943
- Stephanie Wilson · Science · NASA astronautMS 1992
- Karen Nyberg · Science · NASA astronautMS 1996, PhD 1998
- Earl Campbell · Sports · Heisman Trophy winner in 1977 and NFL running backBS 1979
- Ricky Williams · Sports · Retired NFL running backBS 2016
- Fran Harris · Sports · WNBA champion and broadcasterBJ 1987, MA 1991, MSTC 2018
Which famous people went to UT Austin?Abbott, McConaughey, Campbell and four Nobel winners.
Greg Abbott, Matthew McConaughey, Earl Campbell and four Nobel winners are on the list. Texas Exes has given its Distinguished Alumnus Award since 1958, and it honors as many as six alumni a year. Every name above except Nobel winner E. Donnall Thomas comes from that award’s page.
How many UT alumni have won a Nobel Prize?Four, in UT News’ 2019 count.
UT News counted eight Nobel winners among UT professors and alumni in December 2019. Four were alumni and the rest were professors.
Why isn’t a famous Longhorn on this list?We only list people an official UT page names as alumni.
We list someone only if UT News or the Texas Exes names them as an alum. A person who attended without a degree, or whose official page we couldn’t find, isn’t here.
Texas Exes doesn’t post one list of famous alumni. For a name that isn’t on its award page, ask Texas Exes at texasexes.org.
Where can I see more past winners?Texas Exes lists winners back to 2000.
The award page has each year’s winners from 2000 on, with degree, year and job title. It also lists the 2026 winners.
SourcesTexas Exes and UT News
Checked November 12, 2026. Names, degrees and years come from the Texas Exes Distinguished Alumnus Award page and UT News. Jobs are the titles those pages gave when they honored each person.