List of Wabash College people

This page lists notable alumni and former students, faculty, and administrators of Wabash College.

Alumni

Academia

George J. Graham, Jr., political theorist
John S. Hougham, natural scientist and President, Purdue University, 1876
William Parker McKee, President, Shimer College
Stephen G. Miller, archaeologist
Tom Ostrom, social psychologist
Stephen H. Webb, theologian and philosopher of religion

Business

Robert Allen, former AT&T CEO
David Broecker (born 1961), CEO of Alkermes and Indiana Biosciences Research Institute
James Bert Garner, Head of the Chemistry Department, 1901–14; inventor of the gas mask used in World War I
Brad Gerstner, founder of Altimeter Capital
W. Paul Tippett Jr., former president of American Motors, Springs Industries, and STP

Law

Edward Daniels, co-founder of Baker & Daniels (now Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath)
David E. Kendall, President Bill Clinton's attorney, known for a number of anti-death penalty cases

Media and the arts

Richard Elwell (R.E.) Banta - writer, rare book dealer, publisher and humorist
Eric Daman, Emmy-winning costumer and fashion designer
Silky Nutmeg Ganache, drag queen and competitor on RuPaul's Drag Race season 11 and All Stars
Dean Jagger, Oscar-winning motion picture actor
Kenyon Nicholson, Broadway playwright, screenwriter
Byron Price, winner of a Pulitzer Prize in Journalism (1944), director of the Office of Censorship
Frank Reynolds, ABC World News Tonight anchor
Lawrence Sanders, novelist
Allen Saunders, cartoonist
Dan Simmons, science fiction author, dedicated his novel Ilium to the college
Lee Orean Smith (1874–1942), composer, arranger, music editor, publisher, music teacher, multi-instrumentalist, and conductor^[1]
Sheldon Vanauken, author, confidante of C. S. Lewis

Medicine

Robert G. Roeder, Arnold and Mabel Beckman Professor, Head of the Laboratory of Biochemical and Molecular Biology at The Rockefeller University
Emery Andrew Rovenstine, co-founder of the American Society of Anesthesiologists

Military

Major General Edward Canby, only United States general killed during the Indian Wars
Major General Oscar R. Cauldwell, Marine Corps officer during World War II
Brigadier General John Coburn, Civil War officer; accepted the surrender of Atlanta
General Charles Cruft, Civil War officer
Brigadier General Speed S. Fry, Civil War officer
Lt. Gen. Charles D. Herron, United States Army
Major General Lew Wallace, Civil War officer, statesman, and author of Ben-Hur

Politics

Jeremy Bird, National Field Organizer for Barack Obama's 2012 Campaign
John C. Black, US Representative and Medal of Honor recipient
Mike Braun, United States Senator; former Indiana State Representative, District 63
Kevin P. Chavous, Council of the District of Columbia Representative
John Coburn, United States Representative from Indiana, Civil War Brigadier General
Hiram Orlando Fairchild, speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly
Cleon H. Foust, Indiana Attorney General
Stephen Goldsmith, Mayor of Indianapolis, Deputy Mayor of New York City
Dwight Green, Governor of Illinois and Capone prosecutor
Andrew Hamilton, United States Representative
Bayless W. Hanna, Indiana Attorney General, United States Ambassador to Iran and United States Ambassador to Argentina
Will Hays, postmaster general and film censor czar
Randall Head, Indiana State Senator, District 18
William A. Ketcham, Indiana Attorney General, Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic
Thomas Riley Marshall, twenty-eighth Vice-President of the United States (under Woodrow Wilson)
Joseph E. McDonald, United States Representative and Senator
Reginald Meeks, Kentucky State Representative
Luke Messer, United States Representative
Thomas MacDonald Patterson, United States Representative and Senator
William Pittenger, United States Representative
John Pope, Chicago alderman (10th ward)
Todd Rokita, United States Representative, 44th Attorney General of Indiana
Richard J. Stephenson, financier of conservative causes
Reginald H. Sullivan, Mayor of Indianapolis
Brent Waltz, Indiana State Senator, District 36
Charles P. White, Indiana Secretary of State
Raymond E. Willis, United States Senator
Henry Lane Wilson, United States Ambassador to Mexico
James Wilson, United States Representative from Indiana
John L. Wilson, United States Representative and Senator
William Allen Woods, federal judge and Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court

Science

Geoffrey W. Coates, polymer chemist
Robert Dirks, computational chemist
Watson McMillan "Mac" Laetsch, plant biologist^[2]

Sports

Knute Cauldwell, NFL player
Bert Inks, coached the Wabash College Presbyterians in 1905^[3]
Ward Lambert, college basketball coach
Don Leppert, Major League Baseball player, homered in first at-bat, first position player All-Star in Washington-Texas franchise history
Ward Meese, National Football League player
Pete Metzelaars, National Football League all-time leader in games played by a tight end and four-time AFC champion
Century Milstead, college football Hall of Famer
William H. Spaulding, football head coach, University of Minnesota and UCLA
Ed Summers, Major League Baseball player, pitched in Games 1 and 4 of 1908 World Series

Faculty

Garfield V. Cox, established the college's Department of Public Speaking in 1917^[4]
Jeremy Hartnett, Anne and Andrew T. Ford Professor of the Liberal Arts
William Placher, postliberal theologian, LaFollette Distinguished Professor in the Humanities
Ezra Pound (1885–1972), poet and critic; appointed chair of the Department of Romance Languages for the 1907–1908 academic year, but left in February after alleged sexual impropriety^[5]
Benjamin Rogge, economist; taught at Wabash 1949–1980; dean of the college 1955–1964^[6]

References

^ Rehrig, William H.; Bierley, Paul E. (1991). "Lee Orean Smith". The Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music: Composers and Their Music, Volume II. Integrity Press. ISBN 9780918048080.
^ Asimov, Nanette (February 1, 2020). "Watson McMillan 'Mac' Laetsch, UC Berkeley botanical expert, dies". San Francisco Chronicle.
^ Gagnon, Cappy (2 September 2023). Notre Dame Baseball Greats: From Anson to Yaz. Arcadia. ISBN 9780738532622.
^ "Garfield Cox Dies; Former U.C. Edducator". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. February 10, 1970. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
^ West, Evan (February 2008). "Poetic Injustice". Indianapolis Monthly. Emmis Communications: 60–68. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
^ College, Wabash. "New Residence Hall to Honor Rogge". Wabash College. Retrieved 2023-11-29.

[1] Rehrig, William H.; Bierley, Paul E. (1991). "Lee Orean Smith". The Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music: Composers and Their Music, Volume II. Integrity Press. ISBN 9780918048080.

[2] Asimov, Nanette (February 1, 2020). "Watson McMillan 'Mac' Laetsch, UC Berkeley botanical expert, dies". San Francisco Chronicle.

[3] Gagnon, Cappy (2 September 2023). Notre Dame Baseball Greats: From Anson to Yaz. Arcadia. ISBN 9780738532622.

[4] "Garfield Cox Dies; Former U.C. Edducator". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. February 10, 1970. Retrieved September 11, 2017.

[5] West, Evan (February 2008). "Poetic Injustice". Indianapolis Monthly. Emmis Communications: 60–68. Retrieved 5 September 2017.

[6] College, Wabash. "New Residence Hall to Honor Rogge". Wabash College. Retrieved 2023-11-29.

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