List of people from Topeka, Kansas

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

This article is a list of notable individuals who were born in and/or have lived in Topeka, Kansas.

Academia

See also: List of Washburn University alumni

• Warren Faidley (1957- ), meteorologist, storm chaser
• Riley Gardner (1921-2007), psychologist
• Wes Jackson (1936- ), environmentalist, The Land Institute
• Sokoni Karanja (1940- ), child development expert
• G. Warren Nutter (1923-1979), economist
• Ruth Patrick (1907-2013), botanist, limnologist
• Julius Rebek (1944- ), chemist
• David Curtis Skaggs, Jr. (1937- ), historian
• John Brooks Slaughter (1934- ), electrical engineer, National Science Foundation director

Arts and entertainment

Film, television, and theatre

• Brandon Adams (1979- ), actor
• Annette Bening (1958- ), actress
• Gregg Binkley (1963- ), actor
• Roscoe Born (1950- ), actor
• Alicia Cabrera (1978- ), actress, Miss Kansas USA 2003
• Jack Colvin (1934-2005), actor
• Samuel M. Comer (1893-1974), set decorator
• George Dickerson (1933-2015), actor, poet, writer
• Jayne Houdyshell (1953- ), actress
• Jeff Kready, Broadway actor
• Thomas Lloyd (1967- ), pornographic actor
• Sheila Ryan (1921-1975), actress
• Travis Schuldt (1974- ), actor
• Lois Smith (1930- ), actress
• Fay Tincher (1884-1983), actress

Journalism

• Elizabeth Farnsworth (1943- ), broadcaster, filmmaker
• Bill Kurtis (1940- ), news anchor, producer

Literature

• Thomas Fox Averill (1949- ), novelist
• Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000), poet
• Jeannette Eyerly (1908-2008), novelist, columnist
• Janet Fox (1940-2009), fantasy and horror writer, poet
• Jane Heap (1883-1964), editor, publisher
• Ben Lerner (1979- ), poet
• Karen Salyer McElmurray (1956- ), essayist, novelist
• Eric McHenry (1972- ), poet
• Frances Clarke Sayers (1897-1989), author, lecturer, librarian
• Ed Skoog (1971- ), poet
• Linda Spalding (1943- ), novelist, editor
• Rex Stout (1886-1975), novelist
• Max Yoho (1934- ), author

Music

• Streamline Ewing (1917-2002), jazz trombonist
• Aulsondro "Emcee N.I.C.E." Hamilton, musician, member of KansasCali, known for Crash soundtrack
• Coleman Hawkins (1904-1969), jazz saxophonist
• Dave Hope (1949- ), bass guitarist
• Kansas, rock band
• Josh Kulick, former heavy metal drummer for Through The Eyes Of The Dead
• Katrina Leskanich (1960- ), singer (Katrina and the Waves)
• Kerry Livgren (1949- ), founding member of the bands Kansas (band) and AD (band)
• Andy McKee (1979- ), musician
• Kirke Mechem (1925- ), composer
• Origin, metal band
• Kliph Scurlock (1973- ), drummer
• Jamshied Sharifi (1960- ), composer, musician
• Kenny Starr (1952- ), country singer
• Rich Williams (1950- ), guitarist

Other visual arts

• Aaron Douglas (1899-1979), Harlem Renaissance artist
• Georgia Louise Harris Brown (1918-1999), architect
• Peter Max Lawrence (1977- ), contemporary media artist

Business

• Brad Garlinghouse (1971- ), business executive, investor
• John F. Kilmartin (1921-2004), retail executive

Crime

• Alvin Karpis (1907-1979), kidnapper, murderer, robber
• Amy Watkins (1973-1999), murder victim

Medicine

• Karl Bowman (1888-1973), psychiatrist
• Harriet Lerner (1944- ), clinical psychologist and author
• Karl Menninger (1893-1990), psychiatrist
• Roy W. Menninger (1926- ), psychiatrist
• William C. Menninger (1899-1966), psychiatrist
• W. Walter Menninger (1931- ), psychiatrist
• Ella Schuler (1897-2011), supercentenarian
• Karl Targownik (1915-1996), psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor

Military

• Wilder D. Baker (1890-1975), United States Navy Vice Admiral during World War II
• Ronald Evans (1933-1990), astronaut
• Harry D. Felt (1902-1992), U.S. Navy Admiral
• Donald Hudson (1895-1967), World War I flying ace
• Philip Johnston (1892-1978), U.S. Marine Corps code-talker
• Frank E. Petersen (1932-2015), U.S. Marine Corps Lt. General

Politics

National

• Oliver Brown (1918-1961), plaintiff in Brown v. Board of Education
• Arthur Capper (1865-1951), U.S. Senator from Kansas, 20th Governor of Kansas
• Helen Chenoweth-Hage (1938-2006), U.S. Representative from Idaho
• Albert M. Cole (1901-1994), U.S. Representative from Kansas
• Charles Curtis (1860-1936), 31st Vice President of the United States
• Harry W. Fraser (1884-1950), labor leader
• David Archibald Harvey (1845-1916), U.S. House Delegate from Oklahoma Territory
• Donald R. Heath (1894-1981), U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia, Laos, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam
• Zelma Henderson (1920-2008), plaintiff in Brown v. Board of Education
• Nancy Kassebaum (1932- ), U.S. Senator from Kansas
• Alf Landon (1887-1987), 26th Governor of Kansas, 1936 Republican candidate for U.S. President
• John Thomas Marten (1951- ), U.S. federal judge
• John Martin (1833-1913), U.S. Senator from Kansas
• Isabell Masters (1913-2011), perennial third-party candidate for U.S. President
• Noah C. McFarland (1822-1897), Commissioner of the General Land Office
• John G. Otis (1838-1916), U.S. Representative from Kansas
• Nathan Phelps (1958- ), LGBT rights activist
• Shirley Phelps-Roper (1957- ), lawyer, anti-LGBT political activist
• John Ritchie (1817-1887), abolitionist
• Pat Roberts (1936- ), U.S. Senator from Kansas
• William R. Roy (1926-2014), U.S. Representative from Kansas
• Thomas Ryan (1837-1914), U.S. Representative from Kansas and Ambassador to Mexico
• John States Seybold (1897-1982), Governor of Panama Canal Zone
• Jim Slattery (1948- ), U.S. Representative from Kansas
• John L. Waller (1850-1907), U.S. Consul to Madagascar

State

See also: List of Governors of Kansas, List of Justices of the Kansas Supreme Court, List of current Kansas state representatives, and List of current Kansas state senators

• John Alcala (1959- ), Kansas state legislator
• Carol A. Beier (1958- ), Kansas Supreme Court Justice
• Robert Coldsnow (1924-2014), Kansas state legislator
• Robert E. Davis (1939-2010), Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice
• Ron Estes (1956- ), 39th Treasurer of Kansas
• Joan Finney (1925-2001), 42nd Governor of Kansas
• Shanti Gandhi (1940- ), physician and legislator
• A. C. Hamlin (1881-1912), Oklahoma state legislator
• Alexander Miller Harvey (1867-1928), 15th Lieutenant Governor of Kansas
• Anthony Hensley (1953- ), Kansas state legislator
• Marla Luckert (1955- ), Kansas Supreme Court justice
• Lutie Lytle (1875-1950), lawyer, 1st African-American woman admitted to Kansas bar
• Kay McFarland (1935-2015), Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice
• Eric Rosen (1953- ), Kansas Supreme Court Justice
• Caleb Stegall (1971- ), Kansas Supreme Court Justice
• Jeff Stone (1961- ), Wisconsin state legislator
• Clifford W. Trow (1929- ), Oregon state legislator
• William C. Webb (1824-1898), Wisconsin and Kansas legislator

Local

See also: List of mayors of Topeka, Kansas

• Jacob Alan Dickinson (1911-1971), Topeka Board of Education president, desegregation supporter

Religion

• Fred Phelps (1929-2014), leader of the Westboro Baptist Church
• Charles Sheldon (1857-1946), minister, author

Sports

American football

See also: List of Washburn Ichabods head football coaches

• Chris Beatty (1973- ), coach
• Tom Dinkel (1956- ), linebacker
• Forrestal Hickman (1993- ), offensive tackle
• Mike Lemon (1951- ), linebacker
• Trey Lewis (1985- ), defensive tackle
• Lamar Mady (1990- ), center
• Larry McGinnis (1899-1948), guard
• Jack Nason (1899-1977), tackle, wingback
• John H. Outland (1871-1947), college football coach and namesake of Outland Trophy
• John Parrella (1969- ), defensive tackle
• Ryan Torain (1986- ), running back
• Chuck Washington (1964- ), defensive back
• Troy Wilson (1970- ), defensive end

Baseball

• Aaron Crow (1986- ), pitcher
• Rick DeHart (1970- ), pitcher
• Bingo DeMoss (1889-1965), 2nd baseman, manager
• Art Griggs (1884-1938), 1st baseman
• Ross Grimsley (1950- ), pitcher
• Clarence Heise (1907-1999), pitcher
• Larry Miller (1937- ), pitcher
• Dink Mothell (1897-1980), pitcher, utility player
• Don O'Riley (1945-1997), pitcher
• Scott Taylor (1966- ), pitcher
• Mike Torrez (1946- ), pitcher

Basketball

• Leo Lyons (1987- ), power forward
• Fred Slaughter (1941- ), center, sports agent
• Dean Smith (1931-2015), former University of North Carolina basketball coach
• Mark Turgeon (1965- ), head basketball coach at University of Maryland; formerly coach at Texas A&M University
• Kyle Weems (1989- ), small forward

Golf

• Marilynn Smith (1929- ), pro golfer and LPGA co-founder, member of World Golf Hall of Fame
• Gary Woodland (1984- ), golfer

Racing

• Fred Comer (1893-1928), race car driver
• Louis Durant (1910-1972), race car driver
• Bruce Hill (1949- ), race car driver

Other

• Bob Benoit (1954- ), pro bowler
• Casey Converse (1957- ), U.S. Olympic swimmer, coach
• Art Crews (1959- ), pro wrestler
• Bob Davis (1945- ), sportscaster
• Bill Disney (1932-2009), U.S. Olympic speed skater
• Jack Disney (1930- ), U.S. Olympic cyclist
• Melvin Douglas, Olympic wrestler (1996 & 2000) and World Championship gold medalist
• Max Falkenstien (1924- ), radio broadcaster
• Raúl Jorge Muñoz (1976- ), boxer
• Margaret Thompson Murdock (1942- ), member of the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame, and first woman to win a medal in shooting at the Summer Olympics
• Charles Nelson (1933- ), U.S. Olympic volleyball player
• Anna Seaton (1964- ), U.S. Olympic rower

See also

• List of lists of people from Kansas