This is a list of alumni, current and former faculty of, and recipients of honorary degrees from, the University of Delaware.

Alumni

Business Kurt Akeley (b. 1958), computer graphics engineer Barry J. Bentley, co-founder, Bentley Systems Keith A. Bentley, co-founder, Bentley Systems Mary Pat Christie (b. 1963), investment banker John P. Costas (b. 1957), CEO, UBS Investment Bank Michael F. Koehler, chief executive officer, Teradata Michael Mignano, businessperson Adam Osborne (1939–2003), computing pioneer Larry Probst (b. 1950), chairman of the board, Electronic Arts (formerly CEO); chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee and member of the International Olympic Committee Ömer Sabancı (b. 1959), Turkish businessman Carl Truscott, senior vice president, ASERO Worldwide William Wascher, economist Wang Xing (b. 1979), CEO, Meituan-Dianping

Authors Steve Alten (b. 1959), science fiction author Jarret Brachman, terrorism author Siobhan Carroll (b. 1980), professor, scholar, writer Paul Cherry, business author Edward Ezell (1939–1993), author Martha Gandy Fales (1930–2006), art historian, curator Morrison Heckscher (b. 1940), art historian, curator Maureen Johnson (b. 1973), author Thomas Leitch (b. 1951), author, academic Jeff Pearlman (b. 1972), sports author Esther Tuttle Pritchard (1840–1900), minister, editor

Artists Michael Barone, art photographer Craig Cutler, photographer Linda Day Clark, photographer Tim Kreider (b. 1967), cartoonist

Politics Thurman Adams, Jr. (1928–2009), Democratic member of the Delaware Senate L. Heisler Ball (1861–1932), U.S. senator and U.S. congressman Jo Anne B. Barnhart (b. 1950), commissioner of Social Security Jill Biden (b. 1951), educator, 46th First Lady of the United States and former Second Lady of the United States as the wife of Joe Biden, president and former vice president of the United States Joe Biden (b. 1942) (Class of 1965), 45th president of the United States, 47th vice president of the United States, former U.S. senator, former chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee J. Caleb Boggs (1909–1993), U.S. senator, U.S. congressman, governor of Delaware David Brady (1937–2023), member of the Delaware House of Representatives John F. Brady (b. 1959), Delaware politician David P. Buckson (1920–2017), veteran of World War II and a member of the Republican Party, who served as the 15th lieutenant governor of Delaware, for nineteen days the 63rd governor of Delaware and the 37th attorney general of Delaware Eric Buckson, commissioner, Kent County Levy Court Daniel E. Button (1917–2009), U.S. congressman Theophilus C. Callicot (1826–1920), politician John Carney (b. 1956), U.S. congressman, governor of Delaware Thomas R. Carper (b. 1947), U.S. senator, U.S. congressman, and governor of Delaware Christopher Christie (b. 1962), governor of New Jersey Thomas Clayton (1777–1854), U.S. senator, U.S. congressman Carl Danberg (b. 1964), Delaware attorney general and commissioner of the Delaware Department of Correction Reha Denemeç (b. 1961), co-founder and deputy chairman (research and development) of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) in Turkey Kendel Sibiski Ehrlich (b. 1961), First Lady of Maryland Lütfi Elvan (b. 1962), minister of Finance and Treasury, Turkey J. Allen Frear, Jr. (1903–1993), U.S. senator Don B. Hughes (b. 1940), Maryland state delegate Horace G. Knowles (1863–1937), diplomat John G. McCullough (1835–1915), attorney general of California and governor of Vermont Thomas McKean (1734–1817), Founding Father, signer of the Declaration of Independence Louis McLane (1786–1857), veteran of the War of 1812, U.S. senator, U.S. secretary of state, U.S. secretary of the treasury Louise Mushikiwabo (b. 1961), Rwandan foreign minister David Plouffe (b. 1967), campaign manager of the Barack Obama presidential campaign, 2008, political consultant, senior advisor to the president Mike Purzycki (b. 1945), 56th mayor of Wilmington, Delaware George Read (1733–1798), Founding Father, signer of the Declaration of Independence George R. Riddle (1817–1867), U.S. senator, U.S. congressman Janet Rzewnicki (born 1953), Delaware state treasurer Steve Schmidt (b. 1970), campaign manager of the John McCain presidential campaign, 2008, co-founder of The Lincoln Project, graduated in 2013 James Smith (1719–1806), Founding Father, signer of the Declaration of Independence Nick Smith (b. 1934), U.S. Republican congressman from Michigan

Entertainment Susan Barnett (b. 1972), KYW-TV news anchor Colleen Broomall (b. 1983), actress Vincenza Carrieri-Russo (b. 1984), Miss Delaware USA 2008, Miss Delaware United States 2014 Neil Casey (b. 1981), actor, comedian, writer Tommy Conwell (b. 1962), rock musician Amanda Debus (b. 1992), Miss Delaware 2016 Antje Duvekot (b. 1976), singer/songwriter John Faye (b. 1966), rock musician Bryan Gordon, television and film director Suzanne Graff, actress Steve Harris (b. 1965), actor Vicki Hirsch, theater instructor and actress Page Kennedy, actor Amanda Longacre (b. 1989), Miss Delaware 2014 Mark McClafferty, film and television producer, writer Matt O'Donnell (b. 1972), WPVI morning anchorman Marvell Scott (b. 1973), sports reporter for WABC-TV Susan Stroman (b. 1954), Broadway director, choreographer, performer Scott Swift, father of singer/songwriter Taylor Swift, played football for the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens

Education John L. Anderson (b. 1945), president of Illinois Institute of Technology David L. Chicoine, president of South Dakota State University Lawrence A. Cunningham (b. 1962), scholar, author, and the Henry St. George Tucker III Research Professor of Law at George Washington University Charles F. Hummel (b. 1932), curator and deputy director at the Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library Rakesh Jain (b. 1950), professor of tumor biology at Harvard Medical School Dwight Lanmon (b. 1938), director of Corning Museum of Glass and Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library Steven Leath (b. 1957), president of Iowa State University Brian Lukacher, professor of art history at Vassar College Mary Patterson McPherson (c. 1935), former president of Bryn Mawr College Donald Mullett (1929–2013), interim president of Lincoln University (Pennsylvania), Lincoln University (Missouri), and Cheyney University Milo Naeve (1931–2009), art historian and curator at the Art Institute of Chicago Jules Prown (b. 1930), art historian and professor of art history at Yale University John A. H. Sweeney (1930–2007), curator and administrator at the Winterthur Museum James Vrentas (1936–2025), chemical engineer and professor of Pennsylvania State University James W. Wagner (b. 1953), president of Emory University

Judicial William B. Chandler, III, chancellor, Delaware Court of Chancery Hugh M. Morris (1878–1966), judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware Collins J. Seitz, chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, issued the judgment in the Gebhart v. Belton case, which was upheld in Brown v. Board of Education Leonard Stark (b. 1969), judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware Leo E. Strine, Jr. (b. 1964), chancellor, Delaware Court of Chancery John E. Wallace, Jr. (b. 1942), associate justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court

Journalism Rod Beaton (1951–2011), sports journalist for USA Today; Katherine Boehret (b. 1980), journalist Colleen Broomall (b. 1983), journalist Jeff Gluck (b. 1980), motorsports journalist David E. Hoffman, writer. journalist, and Pulitzer Prize winner Jeff Pearlman (b. 1972), journalist

Military Charles Craig Cannon (1914–1992), United States Army officer who served as aide-de-camp to Dwight D. Eisenhower after World War II John M. Custer III, United States Army officer Joseph H. Harper (1901–1990), World War II airborne officer, who later commanded the United States Army Infantry School Robert W. Kirkwood (1756–1791), American Revolutionary War officer; died in 1791 during the battle of St. Clair's Defeat Julian Smith (1885–1975), World War II United States Marine Corps general

Science Rakesh Agrawal, National Medal of Technology and Innovation laureate and professor of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University Brian Atwater (b. 1951), geologist Doreen Bogdan-Martin (b. 1966), secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union Terrell Ward Bynum (b. 1941), director of the Research Center on Computing and Society at Southern Connecticut State University, professor of Philosophy Carole Chaski (b. 1955), forensic linguist Roger Craig (c. 1977), computer scientist and Jeopardy! champion Robert W. Gore (1937–2020), inventor of Gore-Tex fabrics Walter Lafferty (1875–1964), optical physicist Daniel Lau, electrical engineer Holly Michael, hydrogeologist David L. Mills (b. 1938), Internet pioneer Daniel Nathans (1928–1999), biologist and Nobel Prize winner G. Raymond Rettew (1903–1973), chemist and pioneer of mass production of penicillin Siddhartha Roy (b. 1954), structural biologist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate Mohsen Shahinpoor (b. 1943), engineer Peter Thejll (b. 1956), astrophysicist, climate expert John T. Trumble, entomologist Lodewijk van den Berg (b. 1932), astronaut Lynn M. Walker, fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers

Religion Isaiah DeGrasse (1813–1841), minister and first African American alumnus

Sports Mike Adams (b. 1981), professional football player Nasir Adderley (b. 1997), professional football player Robbie Agnone (b. 1985), football player Dawn Aponte (c. 1971), football executive Petar Arsić (b. 1973), basketball player Josh Baker (b. 1986), football player Bryan Barrett (b. 1977), lacrosse player Nate Beasley (1953–2010), football player Urban Bowman (1937–2018), American football and Canadian football coach Cliff Brumbaugh (b. 1974), MLB player Scott Brunner (b. 1957), football player Nick Bucci (1932–2019), football player Michael Byrne (b. 1986), football player Bob Carpenter, Jr. (1915–1990), former owner of the Philadelphia Phillies Brennan Carroll (b. 1979), football coach Larry Catuzzi (c. 1935), football coach Chris Collins (b. 1982), lacrosse player Bill Cubit (b. 1953), football coach Mondoe Davis (b. 1982), football and Canadian football player Richard Dean (1956–2006), fashion and advertising photographer, former player for Canadian Football League Elena Delle Donne (b. 1989), WNBA player with the Washington Mystics; played basketball and volleyball at Delaware Pat Devlin (b. 1988), quarterback for the NFL Miami Dolphins Anthony DiMarzo, lacrosse player Leon Dombrowski (1938–1998), football player Marc Egerson (b. 1986), basketball player Jamin Elliott (b. 1979), football player Joe Flacco (b. 1985), football player Eric Fromm (b. 1958), tennis player Keevin Galbraith (b. 1979), lacrosse player Rich Gannon (b. 1965), football player / NFL analyst CBS Sports Brian Gorman (b. 1959), MLB umpire Gino Gradkowski (b. 1988), football player John Grant, Jr. (b. 1974), lacrosse player Dallas Green (1934–2017), MLB player and manager Scott Green (b. 1951), NFL referee Bob Greene (b. 1958), fitness guru Andy Hall (b. 1980), football player Jordan Hall (b. 1984), lacrosse player Conway Hayman (1949–2020), football player Mickey Heinecken (b. 1939), football coach Tim Jacobs (b. 1970), football player Cindy A. Johnson, basketball player Dennis Johnson (b. 1951), football player Gardy Kahoe (1950–2010), football player K. C. Keeler (b. 1959), football coach Jeff Komlo (1956–2009), football player Mike Koplove (b. 1976), MLB player Chad Kuhl (b. 1992), MLB player Peter Maestrales (b. 1979), baseball player and Olympian (2004) Kęstutis Marčiulionis (b. 1977), basketball player