University of Texas at Austin

The University of Texas at Austin, often called UT or Texas, is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. US News consistently ranks Texas the best public university in the state and, in its 2006 rankings places it 17th among all public research universities in the U.S.http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/premium/natudoc/natudoc_pub.php. It is considered one of eight Public Ivies. The university is one of the largest single-campuses in the nation by enrollment, with nearly 50,000 undergraduates and graduate students attending.

Notable alumni

Athletics

• Earl Campbell, NFL Hall-of-Fame Running Back
• Roger Clemens, MLB pitcher
• Ben Crenshaw, Professional Golfer
• T.J. Ford, NCAA Basketball National Player of the Year, 2003
• Casey Hampton, NFL Nose Tackle
• Priest Holmes, NFL Running Back
• Tom Kite, Professional Golfer
• Tom Landry, former NFL head coach
• Spike Owen, MLB shortstop
• Ricky Williams, NFL Running Back
• Ron Gardenhire , Minnesota Twins manager

Arts and media

• Wes Anderson, filmmaker
• Steve Barton, actor
• Paul Begala, Crossfire co-host and former Clinton advisor
• Berkeley Breathed, cartoonist, creator of Bloom County
• J.M. Coetzee, Nobel Laureate for Literature
• Walter Cronkite, WWII war correspondent and CBS news anchor
• Kinky Friedman, author, candidate for Governor
• Richard Garriott, creator of the video game series, Ultima
• Peri Gilpin, actress, most notably on Frasier
• Marcia Gay Harden, Oscar-winning actress
• Janis Joplin, musician
• Alan Lomax, musicologist and folklorist, son of John Avery Lomax.
• John Avery Lomax, pioneering musicologist and folklorist
• Tim McCanlies, filmmaker
• Matthew McConaughey, actor
• Willie Morris, former Harper's Magazine editor and noted author
• Bill Moyers, author, journalist, and press secretary for Lyndon Johnson
• Betty Nguyen, CNN anchor
• Fess Parker, actor, portrayed Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone
• Robert Rodriguez, Mexican American filmmaker
• Thomas Schlamme, television producer
• Michelle Shocked, musician
• Bruce Sterling, science fiction author
• Stephanie Trong, journalist, Jane Magazine Deputy Editor
• Eli Wallach, method actor, the "Ugly" from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
• Owen Wilson, actor
• Renée Zellweger, Oscar-winning actress

Business

• William Frank Buckley, Sr., oilman and father of conservative William F. Buckley, Jr.
• Michael Dell, founder of the computer company Dell, Inc.
• David Geffen, record executive
• Tom Hicks, owner of the Dallas Stars and the Texas Rangers
• Gary Kelly, CEO of Southwest Airlines
• Red McCombs. founder of Clear Channel Communications
• Robert McGehee, CEO of Progress Energy, a Fortune 1000 company
• Thomas Ryan, CEO of Service Corporation International, a Fortune 1000 company
• John Wilder, CEO of TXU Corporation, a Fortune 1000 company

Science & Technology

• Douglas J. Cardinal, architect
• Leonard Eugene Dickson, mathematician
• Beatrice Tinsley, astronomer

Law, Politics, & Government

• Ben Barnes, former Texas Speaker of the House (1965-1969) and Lieutenant Governor (1969-1973)
• Dan Bartlett, White House communications director for George W. Bush
• Lloyd Bentsen, U.S. Representative (1948-1955), U.S. Senator (1970-1992) and Secretary of the Treasury during the Clinton Administration
• Jeb Bush, Governor (1999-present) of Florida
• Jenna Bush, daughter of President George W. Bush
• Laura Bush, First Lady
• Liz Carpenter, press secretary for Lady Bird Johnson
• Tom C. Clark, former U.S. Attorney General
• Lloyd Doggett, member of the U.S. House
• Donald Evans, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce under George W. Bush
• Mike Godwin, first staff lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, now legal director of Public Knowledge
• Charlie Gonzalez, member of the U.S. House
• Jeb Hensarling, member of the U.S. House
• Ruben E. Hinojosa, member of the U.S. House
• Kay Bailey Hutchison, current U.S. Senator from Texas
• Admiral Bobby Inman, former director of the National Security Agency
• Lady Bird Johnson, First Lady
• Barbara Jordan, the first black woman from a Southern state to serve in the U.S. House
• Scott McClellan, White House Press Secretary for George W. Bush
• J.J. "Jake" Pickle, former member of the U.S. House, for whom UT's J.J. Pickle Research Campus in northwest Austin is named.
• Ann Richards, former Governor of Texas
• Woodall Rodgers, former mayor of Dallas
• Ramsey Clark, former US Attorney General
• Fernando Belaunde Terry, former president of Peru
• Jim Turner, member of the U.S. House
• Ralph Yarborough, U.S. Senator from Texas (1957-1971)