Notable Alumni of the University of Illinois at Chicago

The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) has produced a diverse array of accomplished alumni who have made significant contributions across various fields. This article highlights some of the most prominent graduates, showcasing their achievements in politics, journalism, the arts, sciences, and more.

Introduction

From its early days as a two-year institution at Navy Pier to its current status as a leading research university, UIC has fostered talent and innovation. This article aims to recognize the accomplishments of some of its most distinguished graduates, demonstrating the impact UIC alumni have had on Chicago, the nation, and the world.

Alumni Recognition and Awards

The University of Illinois Alumni Association and the Chicago Illini Club co-sponsor an annual award to honor Chicago-area graduates of the University. Up to three distinguished alumni who live and work in Chicago or a Chicago suburb are recognized each year. This award highlights the significant contributions these individuals have made to their professions and communities.

Recent Honorees

2025 Recipients:
- Maj. Gen. James H. Mukoyama Jr., ’65 LAS, MA’66 LAS: Mukoyama achieved the distinction of being the youngest general officer in the Army in 1987 and, subsequently, the youngest major general three years later. He also holds the distinction of being the youngest in history to command an Army division. Since retiring, he has volunteered with numerous governmental and non-profit charitable organizations and recently published his memoir, Faith, Family & Flag: Memoirs of an Unlikely American Samurai Crusader (Jocko Publishing, 2023).
  
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- Paul Lisnek, ’80 LAS, MA’80 LAS, JD ’83, PHD ’86 LAS: Lisnek is a multi-Emmy, Cablefax, Telly, Communicator, and Beacon Award-winning television host and analyst. He has served as a political and legal analyst for Chicago’s WGN-TV since 2008. With a 35-year career in broadcast journalism, Lisnek has also worked for Comcast Network, CNN, and NBC. During his legal career in the 1980s and ’90s, he was an assistant dean at Loyola Law School Chicago and taught at DePaul, Pepperdine, and the U. of I.

Past Honorees (2010s)

2019: Richard J. Sieracki, '74 ENG; Jill Wine-Banks, '64 MEDIA
2018: Thomas DiSanto, '87 ACES; Dr. Elizabeth Pieroth, '88 LAS; Steven Thayer, '88 LAS
2017: Rebecca A. Snyders Darr, ’90 LAS; Mary Kay Kretch Haben, ’77 BUS; Judge James F. Holderman Jr., ’68 ACES, JD ’71
2016: William T. Barry, ’77 BUS; Phillip C. Goldstick, ’53 BUS; Craig W. Vodnik, ’92 ENG
2015: Dr. Pedro J. Gang, ’86 FAA (Founder and Principal of Studio Gang Architects); Howard T. Griffith, ’91 LAS (Former NFL Player, Lead in-studio analyst for the Big Ten Network and a co-host for ESPN-Radio Chicago)
2014: Carrie J. Bardo, ’90 LAS (College Basketball Analyst, ESPN, Big Ten Network and Fox Sports 1)
2013: Jesse H. Ruiz, ’88 LAS (Partner, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP); Celene Peurye-Hissong, ’74 LAS, MSW ’76 (Principal Focused Philanthropy); Ryan Baker, ’91 MEDIA (Sports Anchor/Director, WBBM-TV/CBS 2 Chicago)
2012: Carol Hillsman Sagers, ’79 MEDIA (Founder and Consultant, CHS Marketing Consultants); Samuel Mendenhall, ’88 CBA (UIC), JD ’91 LAW (Equity Partner Winston & Strawn); The Hon. Timothy C. Evans, ’65 LAS (Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County)
2011: Howard M. Katz, ’82 ACES (Senior Executive Vice President Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises); Mary Frances Fagan, ’76 MEDIA, MA ’83 LAS (Director, Corporate Communications, American Airlines); G. Thomas Castino, ’60 ENG (Retired President and CEO Underwriters Laboratories)
2010: Richard C. Romano, ’54 LAS (Founder & Chairman, Romano Brothers & Co.); Robert D. Bess, ’69 BUS, ’72 MEDIA (President and CEO, Euro RSCG Chicago)

Past Honorees (2000s)

2009: Avy H. Stein, '77 BUS (Managing partner, Willis Stein & Partners LLC); Cirilo A. McSween, '54 LAS (Owner, Cirilo McSween Insurance Agency, Founder and President, Black McDonald's Operators Association); Gail Veasman Kellogg, '65 LAS (Retired Principal, partner and Consultant, Hewitt Associates)
2008: Paul Schrage, MS ’59 MEDIA (Retired Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, McDonald’s Corp.); Sheldon B. McMillan, ’80 BUS (Chief Executive Officer, Sara Lee Branded Apparel); W. Wood, ’76 LAS (Former Lieutenant Governor of Illinois)
2003: Robert P. Crawford, ‘59 MEDIA (Retired “Dean” of Chicago Broadcast Journalists, more than 40 years with CBS and WBBM); Avis LaVelle, '75 MEDIA (V.P. for Government & Public Affairs, University of Chicago Hospitals, former Press Secretary for Mayor Richard M. Daley)

Notable Alumni by Field

UIC alumni have excelled in a wide range of professions. Here are some notable individuals categorized by their respective fields:

Politics and Government

Carol Moseley Braun: Enrolled in the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1969. An American diplomat, politician, and lawyer who represented Illinois in the United States Senate from 1993 to 1999. Prior to her Senate tenure, Moseley Braun was a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1979 to 1988 and served as Cook County Recorder of Deeds from 1988 to 1992. She was the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992 after defeating Senator Alan J. Dixon in a Democratic primary.
Bobby Rush: Served as a U.S. Representative for Illinois's 1st congressional district for three decades, ending in 2023. A civil rights activist during the 1960s, Rush co-founded the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party.
Jesús G. "Chuy" García: U.S. Representative for Illinois's 4th district since 2019. He previously served on the Cook County Board of Commissioners, in the Illinois Senate, and on the Chicago City Council. He was also a candidate for mayor of Chicago in 2015 and 2023.
Jim McDermott: U.S. Representative for Washington's 7th congressional district from 1989 to 2017.
James R. Thompson: Former Governor of Illinois.
Toshiko Abe: A Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet, since 2005.
Rahm Emanuel: Former Mayor of Chicago who appointed Alejandra “Alex” Garza to serve on the Chicago Board of Education.

Journalism and Media

Paul Lisnek: Multi-Emmy Award-winning television host and analyst for WGN-TV in Chicago, with a 35-year career in broadcast journalism.
Ryan Baker: Sports Anchor/Director, WBBM-TV/CBS 2 Chicago.
Bernard Shaw: Lead news anchor for CNN from 1980 until his retirement in 2001.
Robert P. Crawford: Retired “Dean” of Chicago Broadcast Journalists, with more than 40 years at CBS and WBBM.
John Chancellor: Prominent journalist.
Mary S. Welch: Magazine writer.

Arts and Entertainment

Justin Hartley: An American actor, television producer, and director. He has played Fox Crane on the NBC daytime soap opera Passions (2002-2006), Oliver Queen on the WB/CW television series Smallville (2006-2011), and Adam Newman on the CBS daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless (2014-2016).
Janina Gavankar: An American actress and musician known for roles in The L Word, True Blood, and Sleepy Hollow.
Michael Gross: An American television, film, and stage actor, notable for playing Steven Keaton on the sitcom Family Ties (1982-1989) and survivalist Burt Gummer in the Tremors film franchise.
Sheryl Underwood: An American comedian, actress, and television host, currently one of the hosts on the CBS Daytime talk show The Talk.
Steve Grand: An American singer, songwriter and model from Lemont, Illinois, a Chicago suburb.
Megan Hauserman: An American model, reality television star and actress. She is best known for her appearances on the hit VH1 celebreality series, Rock of Love with Bret Michaels season 2, I Love Money season 1 and Rock of Love: Charm School.
Al Jourgensen: Cuban-American singer, musician and music producer. Closely related with the independent record label Wax Trax! Records, his musical career spans four decades. He is the frontman and lyricist of the industrial metal band Ministry, which he founded in 1981 and of which he remains the only constant member.
Shel Silverstein: Author, poet, songwriter, and cartoonist.
Nancy Cartwright: American philosopher of science. She is a professor of philosophy at the University of California at San Diego and the University of Durham.
Lindsay Grace: Video game designer, artist, and professor.
Tom Friedman: Artist.
Angelina Gualdoni: Artist.
Alexa Viscius: Artist.
Michael Collins: Irish author.
Stuart Kaminsky: Author.
Gerald Nicosia: Author.

Architecture

Adrian Smith: An American architect who designed the world's tallest structure, Burj Khalifa, as well as the building projected to surpass it, the Jeddah Tower. He founded his own architectural partnership firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture in Chicago in 2006.
Dan Meis: Architect known for sports and entertainment venues.
Michael G. Turnbull: Architect of the Capitol.

Science and Academia

Barbara A. Schaal: Evolutionary biologist and professor at Washington University in St. Louis.
William A. Dembski: An American mathematician, philosopher and theologian. He was a proponent of intelligent design (ID) pseudoscience, specifically the concept of specified complexity, and was a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture (CSC).
Polykarp Kusch: German-American physicist who shared the 1955 Nobel Prize in Physics with Willis Eugene Lamb for his accurate determination that the electron magnetic moment was greater than its theoretical value.
Pratibha Varma Nelson: Professor of Chemistry and founding director of the STEM Education Innovation and Research Institute at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, has been named the 2018 recipient of the George C. Pimentel Award in Chemical Education, sponsored by Cengage Learning with the American Chemical Society (ACS).
Alexander Yarin: Soviet-Israeli-American applied physicist and engineer, from 2006 and currently distinguished professor.
Richard I. Morimoto: Scientist known for his work on heat shock response and aging.
Kevin Desouza: Expert in the fields of business, technology, and policy.
Michele Landis Dauber: Legal scholar.
Anne Allison: Cultural anthropologist.
Nnedi Okorafor: Nigerian American writer of science fiction and fantasy for both children and adults.
Tymoteusz Karpowicz: Poet, playwright, and literary critic.

Business and Entrepreneurship

Avy H. Stein: Managing partner, Willis Stein & Partners LLC.
Marc J. Lane: Business and tax attorney, entrepreneur and founder of the Marc J. Lane & Associates law firm.
Todd Ricketts: American businessman and politician who is a co-owner of the Chicago Cubs, a member of the TD Ameritrade board of directors, and a former Republican National Committee Finance Chairman.
John H. Cox: American businessman, housing developer, and political activist.

Sports

Curtis Granderson: Former professional baseball outfielder who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB).
Jay DeMerit: Former professional soccer player.
Jeff Bzdelik: Basketball coach.
Joanne McCarthy: Basketball player.
Cesar Zambrano: Soccer player.
Monroe Saffold Jr.: Bodybuilder, first place Masters Mr. America.

Activism and Social Change

Jeremy Hammond: American anarchist activist and former computer hacker.
Hemant Mehta: American author, blogger, YouTuber, and atheist activist.
Cynthia Barnes-Boyd: Director of the Office of Community Engagement and Neighborhood Health Partnerships, executive director of the University of Illinois Mile Square Health Center.
Alaa Al Aswany: Egyptian writer, novelist, dentist and a founding member of the political movement Kefaya.

Other Notable Alumni

Joseph Mercola: American alternative medicine proponent, osteopathic physician, and Internet business personality known for marketing largely unproven dietary supplements and medical devices.
Tony Podesta: American lobbyist best known for founding the Podesta Group.
John R. Hodge: American military officer of the United States Army. From 1945 to 1948, Hodge commanded Operation Blacklist Forty as the American military governor of South Korea.
Gertrude Abercrombie: American painter based in Chicago.

The Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) Impact

UIC's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) plays a crucial role in shaping well-rounded individuals who excel in various professions. LAS alumni pursue careers in medicine, business, politics, education, non-profit organizations, law, entrepreneurship, writing, healthcare, filmmaking, and research, demonstrating the versatility and value of a liberal arts education.

Spotlight on LAS Alumni

Dr. Kaufman: A prominent leader in cancer immunology and a world-renowned melanoma specialist who has developed two FDA-approved drugs to treat cancer, Imlygic and Bavencio.

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