University of Michigan

Famous Detroiters

Famous people tied to this place 51

Lexicon entries for the people who lived, worked, performed or liked to spend time here.

• Madonna born 1958 · singer, songwriter, producer, actress

  Studied here

  She studied dance here on a scholarship before leaving for New York in 1978.

• Samuel C. C. Ting born 1936 · particle physicist

  Studied here

  He earned his undergraduate degrees and his 1962 physics doctorate here, twenty years after being born in the university hospital.

• Thomas Huckle Weller 1915–2008 · virologist, physician

  Studied here

  He studied medical zoology here, where his father taught pathology.

• Gilda Radner 1946–1989 · comedian, actress

  Studied here

  Radner enrolled here after Liggett before leaving for Toronto.

• Charles Horton Cooley 1864–1929 · sociologist

  Worked here

  He studied here and taught economics and then sociology for more than three decades.

• Kazimierz Fajans 1887–1975 · physical chemist

  Worked here

  He taught and researched chemistry here after leaving Munich.

• Lawrence Kasdan born 1949 · screenwriter, film director, producer

  Studied here

  Kasdan won four Hopwood Awards here (1968–1970) and earned a master's in education in 1971; he gave his archives to the university in 2025.

• Chris Webber born 1973 · basketball player, broadcaster

  Studied here

  Where he led the "Fab Five" to two NCAA championship game appearances.

• Rudolf Arnheim 1904–2007 · art and film theorist, psychologist

  Worked here

  He taught here as a visiting professor for about a decade after retiring to Ann Arbor.

• David Burtka born 1975 · actor, chef

  Studied here

  Burtka earned his BFA in theater here.

• Lin Shaye born 1943 · actress

  Studied here

  Shaye studied art history here before moving to New York.

• Marie Tharp 1920–2006 · geologist, oceanographic cartographer

  Studied here

  She earned her master's in petroleum geology here when the wartime program first admitted women.

• Natalie Zemon Davis 1928–2023 · historian

  Studied here

  She completed her doctorate in history here in 1959.

• Jessica Cauffiel born 1976 · actress, singer

  Studied here

  Cauffiel earned her BFA at the School of Music here.

• Rima Fakih born 1985 · beauty queen, TV personality

  Studied here

  Dearborn campus of the University of Michigan, where Fakih earned her degrees.

• John Henry Holland 1929–2015 · computer scientist, complexity theorist

  Worked here

  He took his graduate degrees here and taught psychology and computer science for more than fifty years.

• Robert McKee born 1941 · screenwriting teacher, author, story consultant

  Studied here

  McKee earned a BA in English and an MA in theatre arts here, attended its cinema school and began the doctoral project that became his seminar.

• Tiffany Porter born 1987 · track and field athlete, hurdler

  Studied here

  Where she won five NCAA titles and later earned a PhD in pharmacology.

• Don Was born 1952 · bassist, record producer, label executive

  Studied here

  He spent a year here before dropping out to pursue music.

• Dave Coulier born 1959 · comedian, actor, voice actor

  Studied here

  Coulier spent his freshman year here before leaving for comedy.

• Matt Letscher born 1970 · actor, playwright, director

  Studied here

  Letscher was a drama major here.

• Evan Bates born 1989 · ice dancer

  Studied here

  Bates earned a degree in organizational studies here in 2013 while competing.

• Kyle Connor born 1996 · ice hockey forward

  Studied here

  Where he set freshman scoring records for the Wolverines before turning pro.

• Ellen Sandweiss born 1958 · actress, singer

  Studied here

  Sandweiss earned her degree here.

• Peter Vanderkaay born 1984 · competition swimmer

  Studied here

  Where he swam for the Wolverines and won five NCAA titles.

• Elizabeth Armstrong born 1983 · water polo goalkeeper, coach

  Studied here

  Where she played goalkeeper and later coached; she still holds the program's all-time save record.

• Robert Ashley 1930–2014 · composer

  Studied here

  He studied music here and later worked at the university's Speech Research Laboratories.

• Dick Costolo born 1963 · technology executive, former CEO of Twitter

  Studied here

  He studied computer and communication sciences here and returned as commencement speaker in 2013.

• Don Harvey born 1960 · actor

  Studied here

  Harvey graduated with a BA in 1982.

• Mike Kelley 1954–2012 · artist, musician

  Studied here

  Where he studied art, graduating in 1976, and formed Destroy All Monsters.

• Max Gail born 1943 · actor

  Studied here

  Gail earned his MBA here.

• Alexander H. Smith 1904–1986 · mycologist

  Worked here

  He did his graduate work here and spent his whole career at the University of Michigan Herbarium.

• Thomas Knoll born 1960 · software engineer

  Studied here

  He studied here and wrote the first version of Photoshop while a doctoral student in computer vision.

• Eric Namesnik 1970–2006 · competition swimmer, coach

  Studied here

  Where he swam and later coached for nearly two decades.

• William Talman 1915–1968 · actor

  Studied here

  Talman acted in theater here after Dartmouth.

• Emmett Leith 1927–2005 · electrical engineer, physicist

  Worked here

  He spent his whole career with the university, first at Willow Run Laboratories and then as a professor of electrical engineering.

• Maejor born 1988 · record producer, singer, rapper

  Studied here

  He produced his first gold record while a student here.

• Denise Nicholas born 1944 · actress, writer

  Studied here

  Nicholas entered the university as a pre-law student before leaving for the civil rights theater movement.

• Matthew Dear born 1979 · electronic producer, DJ, singer

  Studied here

  Where he met Sam Valenti IV and started Ghostly International.

• Lynn Goldsmith born 1948 · photographer, recording artist, film director

  Studied here

  She graduated here in three years, magna cum laude, in English and psychology.

• Werner Emmanuel Bachmann 1901–1951 · organic chemist

  Worked here

  He took his doctorate under Moses Gomberg here and taught at the university for the rest of his career.

• Abdullah Hammoud born 1990 · politician, mayor of Dearborn

  Studied here

  Where Hammoud earned his biology degree.

• Nicholas Nixon born 1947 · photographer

  Studied here

  Where he studied American literature and discovered photography.

• Rob Cantor born 1983 · singer-songwriter, guitarist, video creator

  Studied here

  He formed Tally Hall here with fellow students in 2002.

• Bernie Krause born 1938 · musician, synthesizer pioneer, soundscape ecologist

  Studied here

  He studied here as an undergraduate while working as a recording engineer in Ann Arbor.

• Kenneth Jay Lane 1932–2017 · costume jewelry designer

  Studied here

  Where he studied before transferring to the Rhode Island School of Design.

• Niagara born 1955 · singer, painter

  Studied here

  She met her Destroy All Monsters bandmates here as an art student.

• Bill Kirchen born 1948 · guitarist, singer, songwriter

  Studied here

  As a student here he formed the bands that led to Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen.

• The Electrifying Mojo · radio DJ and broadcaster

  Studied here

  He studied here after Air Force service and began broadcasting on the university station.

• George Frayne 1944–2021 · pianist, singer, bandleader, painter

  Studied here

  He earned his design degree and a master's in sculpture and painting here and briefly taught at the university.

• Sam Valenti IV · record label founder

  Studied here

  Where he met Matthew Dear and founded Ghostly International in 1999.