This is a list of famous individuals associated with the Pennsylvania State University, including graduates, former students, and professors.
Alumni
Art/Media
- Donald Bellisario, television producer
- Charles Bierbauer, television journalist
- Julius J. Epstein, screenwriter of Casablanca
- Carmen Finestra, television producer
- Jonathan Frakes, actor and director (Star Trek: The Next Generation series)
- Dave Jones, former national editor for The New York Times
- Mike Reid, country music songwriter
- Matthew Rush (porn star), actor in gay pornography
- Lisa Salters, Reporter for ESPN and former Nittany Lady Lion Basketball Star
- Andrew Kevin Walker, screenwriter of Seven
- Rick Lyon, actor/creator of Broadway show "Avenue Q"
Athletics
- John Amaechi, professional basketball player
- LaVar Arrington, professional football player
- Calvin Booth, professional basketball player
- John Cappelletti, subject of book "Something for Joey"
- Ki-Jana Carter, professional football player
- Kerry Collins, professional football player
- Joe Crispin, professional basketball player
- Roosevelt Grier, former professional football player
- Franco Harris, former professional football player
- Jack Ham, former professional football player
- Bhawoh Jue, NFL safety
- Kelly Mazzante, professional basketball player
- Suzie McConnell Serio, former professional basketball player, current coach
- Russ Van Atta,former Major League Baseball pitcher
Business
- Herman Fisher, co-founder of Fisher-Price toy company
- [[Steven Markowitz], CEO of Allen Organ
- William Schreyer, chairman emeritus and former CEO of Merrill Lynch & Co
Politics
- Charlie Dent, United States Congressman.
- Harold Gehman, Former commander-in-chief of the U.S. Joint Forces Command and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic
- Barbara Hackman Franklin, former US Secretary of Commerce.
- Robert Jubelirer, President Pro Tempore of the Pennsylvania State Senate, Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania.
- William Perry, former Secretary of Defense (Received PhD)
- Rick Santorum, United States Senator.
- Richard Schweiker, United States Senator and Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Science
- Paul Berg, recipient of 1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- Guion Bluford, first African-American in space
- Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream
- Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream
- Erwin Mueller, first person to "see" an atom
- Joel N. Myers, founder of AccuWeather
- Paul J. Weitz, astronaut
- James Pawelczyk, astronaut
- Robert Cenker, astronaut
- Jef Raskin, author and human-computer interface expert best-known for starting the Macintosh project for Apple Computer
Notable professors and coaches
- John Barth, American novelist and short-story author
- Donald Byrne, coach of America's first varsity chess team
- Joseph Heller, author of Catch-22
- Joe Paterno, head football coach since 1966
- Rene Portland, head women's basketball coach since 1980
- C. R. Rao, 2002 National Medal of Science winning statistician
- Theodore Roethke, Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winning poet
- Aleksander Wolszczan, discoverer of first extrasolar planet