This is a list of the people born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with the city of Dubuque, Iowa, United States, and its surrounding metropolitan area.
General Austin Adams, judge, Iowa state supreme court chief justice (1880–87) Don Ameche, actor, Loras College, buried in nearby Asbury, Iowa Francis Beckman, bishop, an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, served as Bishop of Lincoln (1924–30) and as Archbishop of Dubuque (1930–46) Alfred S. Bennett, judge, educator, attorney in Oregon, 49th Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court (1919–1920) Leo Binz, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Dubuque Richard Pike Bissell, author Gottfried Blocklinger, rear admiral in US Navy; in 1879, as a lieutenant, he commanded survey of Madeira river in the Amazon; lieutenant on board USS Baltimore (C-3) during Baltimore Crisis of 1891; executive officer on board USS Charleston (C-2) during the Capture of Guam during Spanish–American War in 1898 Donald G. Bloesch, theologian Charles H. Bradley Jr., businessman James Byrne, Archbishop of Dubuque, died in Dubuque Robert Byrne, author, billiards player, Hall of Fame instructor of pool and billiards LeRoy E. Cain, flight director during the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster Sabin Carr, pole vault gold medalist at 1928 Summer Olympics John Patrick Carroll, bishop Saint Cessianus, whose remains are kept inside the altar at St. Raphael's Cathedral Mark Chamberlain, photographic, environmental, and installation artist, curator, educator Tom Churchill, TV and radio meteorologist for ABC, NBC, PBS Andrew Clemens, sand artist Mary Clement, Luxembourgish-American serial killer who poisoned several family members Ada Langworthy Collier (1843–1919), poet, writer Ira Davenport, 1912 Olympic bronze medalist and Dubuque coach Julien Dubuque, explorer, first white settler in Dubuque Peter H. Engle, first Speaker of the House of Wisconsin Territory, which at that time included all of what is now Iowa (and Minnesota, and parts of the Dakotas) David Farley, author and journalist, writing about travel, food, and culture for the New York Times, Washington Post, Condé Nast Traveler, and World Hum Victor Feguer, convicted murderer, last federal inmate executed in the United States before the moratorium on the death penalty following Furman v. Georgia, last person put to death in Iowa Margaret Feldner, nun, educator; served as Quincy University's 21st president, assumed the post January 1, 2004; first woman president appointed to the role at Quincy University; excused in 2006 William Arthur Ganfield, educator, figure in higher education, president of Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, 1915–1921; later president of Carroll College from 1921 until his retirement in 1939; supported athletic programs at both schools Thomas Gifford, author, best-selling author of thriller novels John Graas, musician, known primarily as one of the first and best French horn players in jazz Carl L. Hamilton, named partner in the Booz Allen Hamilton management and information technology consulting firm Jerome Hanus, archbishop of the Catholic Church; Bishop of Saint Cloud, Minnesota, 1987–1994; former archbishop of Dubuque James H. Hawley, ninth Governor of Idaho; born in Dubuque Geoff Herbach, novelist Fridolin Heer, architect, he and his son set up practice in Dubuque in 1864; buildings by Fridolin Heer and Son include the Dubuque County Courthouse, 1891–1893 Gwen Hennessey, activist, religious sister; known for protests at Fort Benning, Georgia, home of the Army's School of the Americas, a facility for training Latin American soldiers John Hennessey, bishop of the Diocese of Dubuque 1866–1893, then named the first archbishop of Dubuque Jack Hicks, sculptor Henry J. Messing (1847–1913), rabbi Kelly Ortberg, engineer, current CEO of Boeing Doron Jensen, founder of Timber Lodge Steakhouse Richard A. Jensen, theologian and Carlson Professor of Homiletics at Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago Frederick William Kaltenbach, American who served Nazis as wartime radio broadcaster known as "Lord Hee-Haw" Frank Keenan, actor, stage director and manager during silent film era; among first stage actors to star in Hollywood, pursued work in feature films Dallas Kinney, photojournalist who won the 1970 Pulitzer Prize in photography for his pictures of Florida migrant workers Kevin Kunnert, NBA Basketball Player, First Team All American at the University of Iowa Kay Kurt, New Realist painter known for her large-scale candy paintings Anna B. Lawther, leader in the women's suffrage movement Mathias Clement Lenihan, 20th-century archbishop in the Catholic Church; bishop of the Diocese of Great Falls, Montana 1904–30 Alexander Levi, French Jew of Sephardic origin; first foreigner to be naturalized in Iowa; a grocer, miner, mine provisioner and department store owner; founded the first two Jewish congregations in the city Margaret Lindsay, actress, noted for her supporting work in successful films of the 1930s and 1940s such as Jezebel (1938) and Scarlet Street (1945) and for leading roles in lower-budgeted B-movies such as the Ellery Queen series at Columbia in the early 1940s Bill Lipinski, politician; attended Loras College; U.S. Representative for Illinois' 3rd and 5th districts (1983–2005) Francis MacNutt, religious author; a leading member of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Dennis Mahony, journalist, a founder of the Telegraph Herald ShaChelle Devlin Manning, businesswoman, change agent for nanotechnology, attempting to pave the way for nanotechnology's commercialization at the university, company, state, federal, and international level Robert Martin, original Tuskegee Airmen and war hero who flew in World War II Michael Joseph Melloy, judge of the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Kate Mulgrew, actress, Star Trek: Voyager, Mrs. Columbo and Orange is the New Black Thomas C. Power, 19th-century senator of Montana Louie Psihoyos, documentary film director; in 2009 he directed and appeared in the feature-length documentary The Cove, which won an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature David Rabe, playwright; won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1972 (Sticks and Bones); received Tony award nominations for Best Play in 1974 (In the Boom Boom Room), 1977 (Streamers) and 1985 (Hurlyburly) John F. Rague (1799–1877), architect who designed and built the 1837 Old Capitol of Illinois and the 1840 Territorial Capitol of Iowa, the Dubuque city hall, central market house, and jailThe Wisconsin Magazine of History Vol. 10, No. 2, Dec., 1926. Anna M. Morrison Reed, poet, lecturer, suffragist, editor/publisher of a newspaper and a magazine Robert Reuland, novelist Raymond Roseliep, poet and haiku writer, Loras College Alexander Rummler, painter Albert Sale, soldier in the U.S. Army who served with 8th U.S. Cavalry in the Arizona Territory during the Apache Wars; was awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry against a hostile band of Apache Indians Debra Saylor, pianist and singer John P. Schlegel, educator, 23rd President of Creighton University, 26th President of the University of San Francisco (1991–2000) Dennis Schmitz, contemporary poet William A. Shanklin, educator, president of Upper Iowa University in 1905–09 and thereafter president of Wesleyan University George Shiras Jr., Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; practiced law in Dubuque 1855–1858 Oliver Perry Shiras, first federal judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa Hilda Siller (1861-1945), poet and short story writer J. R. Simplot, entrepreneur and formerly world's oldest billionaire Laurel Sprengelmeyer, musician better known as Little Scream Mark Steines, TV anchor and reporter on Entertainment Tonight James Huff Stout, Wisconsin politician and businessman, founded Stout Manual Institute (now University of Wisconsin-Stout) Jessie Taft, early authority on child placement and therapeutic adoption; best remembered for her work as the translator and biographer of Otto Rank, an outcast disciple of Sigmund Freud John Tomkins, criminal, arrested and charged with sending several threatening letters and bomb-like devices to financial firms in the Midwestern United States under the pseudonym The Bishop William Vandever, U.S. Representative for Iowa's 2nd district (1859–61) and California's 6th district (1887–91) James F. Watson, 25th Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, 1876–1878; previously in state legislature and later served as United States Attorney for the District of Oregon Loras Joseph Watters, Roman Catholic bishop Westel W. Willoughby, educator
Politicians John T. Adams, businessman; former chairman of the Republican National Committee (1921–24) William B. Allison, U.S. Senator, representative from Iowa Mike Blouin, United States Representative representing Iowa's 2nd district (1975–79) David Bly, Minnesota House of Representatives (2007–11) Rod Blum, U.S. representative William W. Chapman, politician and lawyer in Oregon and Iowa; served as a United States Attorney in Iowa when it was part of the Michigan and Wisconsin territories; represented the Iowa Territory in the United States House of Representatives (1838–40); later immigrated to the Oregon Country, where he served in the Oregon Territorial Legislature (1848–49) Lincoln Clark, US Representative from Iowa (1851–53) Maurice Connolly, elected in 1912 to a single term as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 3rd congressional district; gave up his House seat in an unsuccessful bid for election to the U.S. Senate in 1914; then served as an aviation officer in World War I and died in a plane crash in 1921 Mike Connolly, Iowa state senator (1990–2008) Clarence A. Darrow, Illinois state legislator and lawyer Timothy Davis, United States Representative from Iowa (1857–59); only Iowa Representative born before 1800; first Republican representative from Iowa Carl DeMaio, San Diego city councilman (2008–2012) Thomas O. Edwards; elected as a Whig from Ohio to the Thirtieth Congress (March 4, 1847 – March 3, 1849); attended former President John Quincy Adams, who was then a Congressman, when he suffered a fatal stroke in the Hall of the House of Representatives; inspector of marine hospitals; during the Civil War served as surgeon in the Third Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry James H. Hawley, ninth Governor of Idaho, 1911–1913; mayor of Boise, 1903–1905 David B. Henderson, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Pam Jochum, member of both the Iowa state house and senate George Wallace Jones, one of the first two United States Senators to represent the state of Iowa after it was admitted to the Union in 1846 Barbara Larkin, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs, 1996–2001 John Hooker Leavitt, early banker and Iowa state senator Algernon Lee, Socialist Party of America leader Shannon Lundgren, member of the Iowa House of Representatives Thomas McKnight, businessman, member of Wisconsin Territorial Council'The History of Dubuque County,' Western Historical, 1880, Biographical Sketch of Thomas McKnight, pg. 975 James Henry Mays, politician; insurance agent in Dubuque in the 1890s; United States representative from Utah (1915–21) Thomas John Miller, politician and lawyer; 31st and 33rd Attorney General of the state of Iowa (1979–91; 1995–present) Dan Mozena, U.S. Foreign Service Officer; member of the Senior Foreign Service; United States Ambassador to Angola, 2007–2010; on May 16, 2011, President Obama nominated Mozena to be the next U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh Pat Murphy, politician, Iowa state representative (1989–2015) Richard L. Murphy, senator from Iowa (1933–36); Louis Murphy Park is named after him Mike Obermueller, former member of Minnesota House of Representatives (2009–11)