Guion S. Bluford Jr. ’64

Some famous Penn Staters, like Gene Kelly ’33, are names known far and wide. Others, like T. Ming Chu ’67g (the scientist who developed the first prostate cancer detection test) may require an introduction but are no less impressive. Here’s a quick sampling:

• Duane Alexander ’62 — Director, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
• Guion S. Bluford Jr. ’64 — Became the first African American in space when he served as mission specialist aboard the space shuttle Challenger
• Fletcher Byrom ’40 — Retired CEO of Koppers Co. and a civic leader who directed some of the nation’s foremost intellectual organizations including the Institute for Advanced Study, the Hudson Institute, and the Conference Board
• Margaret Carlson ’66 — First female columnist for Time magazine; appears regularly on CNN's Inside Politics and The Capital Gang; now a columnist for Bloomberg News
• Alan S. Furst ’67g — Novelist and author known for historical espionage novels including Night Soldiers, Dark Voyage, and The Foreign Correspondent
• Keegan Michael Key ’96 — Host of Animal Planet’s Planet’s Funniest Animals; known for roles on MADtv
• Albert Kligman M.D. ’39 — Inventor of the anti-wrinkle compound Retin A

• Valerie Plame Wilson ’85

  Albert L. Lord ’67 — Chairman of Sallie Mae Corporation, the nation’s leading source of funding and financial services for higher education
• Valerie Plame Wilson ’85 — U.S. CIA Officer; identified and outed by syndicated columnist Robert Novak in 2003, which caused a political controversy

To view the entire list or to recommend an addition to the Alumni Association’s Incomplete List of Famous Penn Staters, please visit www.alumni.psu.edu/about_us/famous.