| Name | Degree/year | Comments | Reference |
| Debra D. Austin | B.A. | former chancellor, State University System of Florida | |
| William Chandler Bagley | B.S. 1895 | educator, pedagogy reformer championing essentialism ; founder, School and Society; editor in chief, Journal of the National Education Association, 1920–25 | |
| Charles Fuller Baker | B.S. 1892 | professor of biology, botany | |
| Hugh P. Baker | B.S. 1901 | President, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Dean, New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University | |
| Christine L. Borgman | B.A. 1973 | Presidential Chair in Information Studies, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, UCLA | |
| Warren W. Brandt | B.S. 1944 | first president of Virginia Commonwealth University | |
| Edgar A. Burnett | B.S. 1887 | chancellor, University of Nebraska, 1927–1938 | |
| Kenyon Butterfield | B.S. 1891 | President of University of Rhode Island, UMass, and Michigan State University, appointed to the Country Life Commission by President Theodore Roosevelt | |
| Charles Butterworth | B.A. 1959 | political philosophy scholar focusing on the Greek, medieval Islamic, and Enlightenment periods | |
| Louis George Carpenter | B.S. 1879, M.S. 1883 | pioneer, expert on irrigation engineering | |
| Oscar Clute | B.S. 1862 | president, Michigan State, Florida Agricultural College, ordained minister | |
| Raymond W. Cross | Ph.D. 1991 | President of the University of Wisconsin System | |
| William H. Cunningham | B.B.A. 1966, M.B.A. 1967 | former Chancellor, University of Texas System | |
| Paul D'Anieri | B.A. 1986 | vice president and provost, University of California, Riverside | |
| Eugene Davenport | B.S. 1878, M.S. 1884 | agriculture educator; invited in 1891 by government of Brazil to duplicate Michigan State with "Little Lansings"; dean of University of Illinois, College of Agriculture | |
| Scott DeRue | Ph.D. | Dean of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan | - |
| Grover C. Dillman | B.S. 1913 | president, Michigan Tech University, 1935–1956 | |
| Jeffrey Docking | B.A. 1983 | President, Adrian College | |
| Paul Dressel | M.A. 1934 | founding director of MSU's Counseling Center | |
| Michael Driscoll | Ph.D. 1988, M.S. 1985, B.S. 1983 | President of Indiana University of Pennsylvania; former executive vice chancellor and provost of the University of Alaska Anchorage | |
| Karen Brown Dunlap | B.A. | former President and managing director, The Poynter Institute | |
| Michael R. Ferrari | B.A., M.A., D.B.A. | Senior VP, EFL Associates, a consulting firm focusing on higher education; former chancellor of Texas Christian University; former president of Drake University | |
| Charles Christian Georgeson | B.S. 1877 | founding director of Alaska Agricultural Experiment Station, namesake of Georgeson Botanical Garden at University of Alaska | |
| Glenn Goerke | Ph.D. 1962 | former president/chancellor of the University of Houston, University of Houston–Clear Lake, University of Houston–Victoria, and Indiana University East | |
| Lloyd Vincent Hackley | B.A. | former chancellor, Fayetteville State University | |
| Byron Halsted | B.S. 1871 | botany educator, former president of the Botanical Society of America | |
| Stanley O. Ikenberry | M.A. 1957, Ph.D. 1960 | former president, University of Illinois | |
| Charles L. Ingersoll | B.S. | second president, Colorado State University, credited with broadening and liberalizing the school's formerly narrow, vocational curriculum | |
| Charles Kiesler | B.A. 1958 | former chancellor, University of Missouri | |
| Ezra J. Kraus | B.S. 1907 | former chair of Botany Department, University of Chicago | |
| William Edward Lavery | B.A. 1953 | former President, Virginia Tech | |
| Eduard C. Lindeman | B.A. 1911 | pioneer and champion of adult education | |
| Charles McKenny | B.S. 1881 | served as president of Central Michigan University, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and Eastern Michigan University | |
| John Thomas Mentzer | M.B.A and Ph.D. | Chancellor's Professor and Vivienne R. Bruce Chair of Excellence in Business, University of Tennessee | |
| W.J.T. Mitchell | B.A. 1963 | Gaylord Donnelley Distinguished Service Professor of English and Art History, University of Chicago, Guggenheim Fellow | |
| Myrtle Craig Mowbray | B.S. 1907 | first African American woman to graduate from MSU; professor at historically black colleges and universities in Kansas and Missouri | |
| Henry J. Oosting | M.S. 1927 | ecologist at Duke University | |
| Roy Pea | B.A. 1974 | education scholar, Rhodes Scholar | |
| Adrian Ponce | B.S. 1993 | chair, Chemical Safety Committee, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech | |
| George E. Ross | B.A., M.B.A. | former president, Alcorn State University, Central Michigan University | |
| Barbara Ross-Lee | D.O. 1969 | first African-American woman dean of a U.S. medical school: New York College of Osteopathic Medicine | |
| William H. Sewell | B.A 1933, M.A. 1934 | former chancellor, University of Wisconsin–Madison | |
| Theda Skocpol | B.A. 1969 | former dean, Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences; appointed senior adviser in the social sciences to Harvard's Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study | |
| Albert Sobey | B.S. 1909 | founder and first president, Kettering University | |
| James D. Spaniolo | B.A. 1968 | former president, University of Texas at Arlington | |
| Douglas V. Steere | B.S. 1923 | Quaker philosopher, religious leader, Rhodes Scholar | |
| Marilyn Stokstad | M.A. | art historian, author of several art history textbooks | |
| Teresa A. Sullivan | B.A. 1970 | former president, University of Virginia | |
| Marta Tienda | B.A. | director, Graduate Studies; former director, Office of Population Research, Princeton University; TIAA Trustee since 2005 | |
| Boyce Courtney Williams | M.A., Ph.D. | Vice President at the NCATE | |
| Marcellette G. Williams | B.A., M.A., Ph.D. | former Chancellor, University of Massachusetts Amherst | |
| John D. Wilson | B.A. 1952 | former president, Washington and Lee University, Wells College | |
| Richard Yarborough | B.A. 1973 | professor of English and African American literature; Faculty Research Associate; former interim director, Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies, UCLA | |
| Name | Degree/year | Comments | Reference |
| Edgar Anderson | B.S. 1918 | botanical genetisist | |
| John G. Anderson | B.S. Physics, 1970 | seismologist | |
| Richard N. Aslin | B.A., 1971 | psychologist, focusing on speech perception | |
| Susan Avery | B.S. 1972 | first woman president and director, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution | |
| Liberty Hyde Bailey | B.S. 1882 | botanist, horticulturist, the "father of modern horticulture", author, philosopher | |
| Charles E. Bessey | B.S. 1869 | pioneer 19th-century botany educator; former president, American Association for the Advancement of Science | |
| Lyman J. Briggs | B.S. 1893 | physicist; Director of the National Bureau of Standards; chaired the Uranium Committee | |
| Rolla C. Carpenter | B.S. 1873, M.S. 1876 | pioneer in heating and ventilating buildings as an engineering professor at Michigan State and Cornell; co-planned "Collegeville", the first subdivision in what later became East Lansing | |
| Robert L. Carroll | B.S. 1959 | vertebrate paleontologist, former director of Redpath Museum, McGill University | |
| Gregory Charvat | B.S. 2002, M.S. 2003, Ph.D. 2007 | led an MIT research team to develop radar that can penetrate walls and display real-time video of the activity on the other side | |
| William James Clench | B.S. 1921 | former curator of the mollusk collection, Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology | |
| Albert John Cook | B.S. 1862 | zoology, entomology educator; chairman, California State Commission of Horticulture | |
| Lloyd Groff Copeman | B.S. 1903 | invented first electric stove | |
| Jennifer Crocker | B.A. 1975 | professor, Ohio Eminent Scholar in Social Psychology at Ohio State; past president, Society for Personality and Social Psychology | |
| Larry Dalton | B.S. 1965 | chemical researcher; recipient of Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship and NIH Research Career Development Award | |
| Michael Donoghue | B.A. 1976 | vice president, Evelyn Hutchinson Professor Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale; former director of the University's Peabody Museum of Natural History; elected to U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2005 | |
| Fang Shimin | Ph.D. 1995 | better known with his penname, Fang Zhouzi, a popular scientific writer in China | |
| Charles E. Ferris | B.S. 1890 | first dean, University of Tennessee engineering school; organized East Tennessee chapter of American Society of Mechanical Engineers | |
| John Park Finley | B.S. 1873 | meteorologist, pioneered tornado forecasting | |
| Ulysses P. Hedrick | B.S. 1893 | botanist, horticulturalist | |
| T. A. Heppenheimer | B.S. 1967
M.S. 1968 | aeronautics and space scholar, researcher and author; researcher associate fellow, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; has held research fellowships at Caltech and the Max Planck Institute | |
| Perry G. Holden | M.S. 1895 | first professor of agronomy in the US | |
| Maurice G. Kains | B.S. 1895 | botanist and horticulturalist, best-selling author on farm management | |
| Donald Keck | B.S. 1962, M.S. 1964 | co-developed low-loss optical fiber; recipient, National Medal of Technology | |
| James H. Kimball | B.S. 1912 | meteorologist who pioneered oceanic weather mapping facilitating early transatlantic aviation | |
| Minakata Kumagusu | did not graduate | naturalist known for study of slime molds in early 20th-century Japan | |
| Verghese Kurien | M.S. 1948 | father of White Revolution in India; Padma Vibhushan recipient | |
| Eugene Parker | B.S. 1948 | astrophysicist, developed concept of supersonic solar wind; Bruce Prize, Kyoto Prize winner | |
| Charles E. St. John | B.S. 1887 | physicist at Mt. Wilson observatory; starred scientist, American Men of Science, 1903–1943 | |
| Gary Starkweather | B.S. 1960 | invented the laser printer | |
| James W. Toumey | B.S. 1889 | botanist, co-founder, early dean of Yale School of Forestry; namesake of the cactus genus Toumeya and New Hampshire's Yale-Toumey Forest | |
| Samuel Mills Tracy | B.S. 1868, M.S. 1871 | botany educator; donator and founder of Tracy Herbarium at Texas A&M | |
| Daniel Wegner | B.S. 1970 | psychologist, introduced ironic process theory | |
| Ellen D. Williams | B.S. 1976 | nanotechnology researcher; member, National Academy of Sciences | |
| Truman G. Yuncker | B.S. 1915 | bacteriologist, botanist; chair of Botany Department, DePauw University; appointed curator of DePauw herbarium, later named the T.G. Yuncker Herbarium | |
| Name | Degree/year | Comments | Reference |
| James Caan | did not graduate | actor, Las Vegas series, The Godfather, Mickey Blue Eyes | |
| Jim Cash | B.A. 1970 | Hollywood writer, Top Gun, Legal Eagles, Dick Tracy | |
| Michael Cimino | B.A. 1959 | Academy Award-winning writer, director; directed, co-wrote The Deer Hunter | |
| Edward S. Feldman | B.A. | film, television producer | |
| Greg Harrison | B.A. 1991 | film director of Groove and November | |
| Anthony Heald | B.A. 1971 | actor, The Silence of the Lambs | |
| Walter Hill | B.A. 1962 | producer, director of Last Man Standing and 48 Hrs. | |
| David Magee | B.A. 1984 | screenwriter, nominated for 2004 Academy Award for Finding Neverland | |
| Bill Mechanic | B.A. 1973 | CEO, Pandemonium Films; former CEO, 20th Century Fox; producer of 82nd Academy Awards | |
| Bob Murawski | B.A. | film editor, winner, 2010 Academy Award for editing The Hurt Locker | |
| Sam Raimi | did not graduate | director, producer, actor | |
| Michealene Risley | B.A. | award-winning writer, director; human rights activist | |
| Tom Sizemore | did not graduate | actor, Saving Private Ryan | |
| Bernard White | B.A. | actor, screenwriter and film director | |
| Name | Degree/year | Comments | Reference |
| Ray Stannard Baker | B.S. 1889 | early 20th-century "muckraker" journalist; won 1940 Pulitzer Prize for last two volumes of biography of President Woodrow Wilson | |
| Dick Cooper | B.A. 1969 | won 1972 Pulitzer Prize for Attica Prison riot coverage | |
| Craig Custance | B.A. 1999 | sports journalist, author | |
| M.L. Elrick | B.A. 1990 | 2009 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting, Detroit Free Press | |
| Ryan Field | B.A. 1999 | sports anchor, WABC-TV | |
| Martin Finn | B.A. 2002 | Fox News Channel producer for anchor Shepard Smith | |
| Susan Goldberg | B.A. 1984 | editor-in-chief of National Geographic, editorial director, National Geographic Partners; first woman to hold position in National Geographics history | |
| Don Gonyea | B.A. 1978 | White House correspondent, National Public Radio; won Peabody Award | |
| Chris Hansen | B.A. | Dateline NBC correspondent | |
| Tanya Hart | B.A. | Emmy Award-winning commentator, host of "Hollywood Live with Tanya Hart", syndicated on American Urban Radio Networks; owns Tanya Hart Communications, Inc., a multimedia company | |
| Thom Hartmann | B.A. | broadcaster on Free Speech TV, author | |
| Jemele Hill | B.A. 1997 | columnist, The Atlantic, former television host at ESPN, columnist ESPN Page 2 | |
| Myra MacPherson | B.A. 1956 | Pulitzer Prize nominee, journalist, author | |
| Jim Mitzelfeld | B.A. 1984 | Pulitzer Prize winner, former journalist, federal attorney | |
| James C. Moore | B.A. 1974 | award-winning writer ; New York Times bestseller of | |
| Suzanne Sena | B.A. | Fox News anchor | |
| Robin Sloan | B.A.2002 | media partnerships at Twitter in San Francisco; former strategist at Current TV, a participatory cable and satellite network; blogs with Tim Carmody and Matt Thompson at snarkmarket.com | |
| Fay Gillis Wells | did not graduate | first woman to parachute from an aircraft; White House correspondent for Storer Broadcasting Co. | |
| Name | Degree/year | Comments | Reference |
| Verna Aardema | B.A. 1934 | award-winning author of children's novels using an African motif | |
| Wilton Barnhardt | B.A. 1982 | novelist; director of M.F.A. program in Creative Writing, NC State University; former Sports Illustrated reporter | |
| Tom Bissell | B.A. 1996 | author, journalist | |
| Jan Harold Brunvand | B.A. 1955 | writer, folklorist scholar, popularized the term "urban legend" | |
| Kelly DiPucchio | B.A. 1989 | author of children's books | |
| Carolyn Forché | B.A. 1972 | poet, editor, human rights advocate | |
| Richard Ford | B.A. 1966 | writer of novel Independence Day; first to win both the Pulitzer Prize and PEN/Faulkner Award | |
| R. Barri Flowers | B.A.1977, M.S. 1980 | author of fiction and nonfiction; inducted into MSU Criminal Justice Wall of Fame in 2006 | |
| Peter Gent | B.A.1964 | novelist, athlete, wrote novel-turned-film North Dallas Forty | |
| Dan Gerber | B.A. 1962 | poet, novelist and essayist | |
| Jim Harrison | B.A. 1960
M.A. 1966 | author, Guggenheim Fellowship recipient; novel, Legends of the Fall, basis for Hollywood film of same name | |
| Helen Hull | attended 1905–07 | novelist, early feminist, English professor, Wellesley, Columbia | |
| Cynthia Huntington | B.A. | award-winning poet | |
| Beverly Jenkins | B.A. | award-winning novelist of mainly African-American historical romance, noted as one of the "100 most popular African American authors" | |
| Geoff Johns | B.A. 1995 | award-winning comic book author, New York Times bestselling author | |
| Josh Kilmer-Purcell | B.A. 1991 | New York Times bestselling author of memoirs I Am Not Myself These Days and "The Bucolic Plague, novel Candy Everybody Wants, and The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Cookbook; starred in television reality series The Fabulous Beekman Boys | |
| Michael P. Kube-McDowell | B.A. 1976 | award-winning science fiction writer; author of more than 500 nonfiction articles | |
| Josh Malerman | B.A. | musician, novelist, novel Bird Box basis for Hollywood film | |
| Tom McGuane | B.A., 1962 | novelist | |
| Tyler Oakley | B.A. | author, activist, internet personality | - |
| Daniel O'Malley | B.A. | novelist | |
| Janice Radway | B.A. 1971 | author, literary and cultural studies scholar | |
| Alma Routsong | B.A. 1949 | author, alternative fiction | |
| Sandra Seaton | M.A. 1989 | award-winning playwright and librettist | |
| Elizabeth Sims | B.A. | novelist, crime and mystery writer; Lambda Literary Award winner; contributing editor at Writer's Digest magazine | |
| Vernor Vinge | B.S. | science fiction writer; retired math and computer science professor, San Diego State University | |
| Bob Wood | B.A. 1980 | author of Dodger Dogs to Fenway Franks and Big Ten Country | |
| Timothy Zahn | B.S. 1973 | science fiction writer; winner of Hugo Award for novella Cascade Point; author of New York Times best-selling Star Wars novel Heir to the Empire | |
| Name | Degree/year | Comments | Reference | - |
| Bethany Beardslee | B.A. 1948 | soprano noted for her performances of contemporary classical music | | - |
| Dee Dee Bridgewater | did not graduate | Grammy and Tony Award-winning jazz singer, actress | | - |
| Henry Butler | M.M. 1974 | jazz pianist | | - |
| Dorothy DeLay | B.M. 1936 | master violin teacher; trained superstars Itzhak Perlman, Cho-Liang Lin, Midori, and Sarah Chang | | - |
| Clare Fischer | B.M. 1951 | Grammy Award-winning composer, arranger, and pianist; Latin Jazz motif | | - |
| GRiZ | did not graduate | American DJ and electronic producer | | - |
| Tee Grizzley | did not graduate | American rapper, singer, and songwriter; "First Day Out" | - | - |
| Milt Jackson | did not graduate | jazz vibraphonist; member of the Modern Jazz Quartet | | - |
| Dave Kirchgessner | B.A. | singer, Mustard Plug | | - |
| Angela Lanza | B.A. 2006 | singer, toured overseas with USO | | - |
| Lazarus | medicine | rapper, songwriter | | - |
| Jacques Levy | Doctorate in psychology 1961 | lyricist, librettist and theatrical director whose collaborators included Bob Dylan, Roger McGuinn and Lucy Simon; others who have performed his work include Joe Cocker, Crystal Gayle and Carly Simon | | - |
| Dika Newlin | B.M. 1940 | musicologist, composer, pianist | | - |
| Izler Solomon | B.M. | conductor, led major Midwest city orchestras; founder, Lansing Symphony Orchestra | | - |
| Noel Paul Stookey | did not graduate | "Paul" of 60s folk group Peter, Paul and Mary | | - |
| Ben Williams | B.M. 2007 | jazz bassist, winner of the 2009 Thelonius Monk Award | | - |
| Janet Williams | B.M. 1982 | internationally renowned soprano | | |
| Name | Degree/year | Comments | Reference |
| Thomas H. Bailey | B.A. 1961 | founder and former CEO, Janus Capital Group | |
| Eli Broad | B.B.A. 1954 | billionaire industrialist and philanthropist; former CEO of AIG | |
| Carl English | B.A. 1968 | COO, American Electric Power Company, Inc. | |
| Dan Gilbert | B.B.A. 1982 | chairman and Founder of Quicken Loans; owner, NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers | |
| Tom Gores | B.S. 1986 | global private-equity magnate, billionaire, owner of NBA's Detroit Pistons | |
| Ernest Green | B.A. 1962
M.A. 1964 | Little Rock Nine member; Assistant Labor Secretary ; vice president, manager at Lehman Brothers | |
| Gregory P. Josefowicz | B.A. 1974 | board of directors, Winn-Dixie; former chairman, CEO, Borders, Inc. | |
| M. Peter McPherson | B.A. 1963 | chairman, Dow Jones; president of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges; MSU president 1993–2004 | |
| William Raduchel | B.A. 1966 | independent director, advisor, former Harvard professor | |
| Albert B. Ratner | B.S. | co-chairman of the board, former CEO, Forest City Enterprises | |
| Edward W. Scott | B.A., M.A. | businessman, philanthropist | |
| Name | Degree/year | Comments | Reference |
| Montie Brewer | B.B.A. | former president and CEO, Air Canada | |
| Michael Budman | B.A. 1969 | co-founder of Roots Canada athletic wear | |
| Rufus T. Bush | did not graduate | 19th-century oil refining industrialist, yachtsman, New York socialite | |
| Jim Delligatti | B.A. 1964 | creator of the Big Mac sandwich, owner of over 50 McDonald's restaurants | |
| Molly Fletcher | B.A. 1993 | sports agent, president of client representation, Career Sports & Entertainment | |
| Mary Kay Henry | B.A. 1979 | president, Service Employees International Union | |
| James P. Hoffa | B.A. 1963 | president, Teamsters; son of Jimmy Hoffa | |
| Laura M. Labovich | B.A. 1994 | author, national job search expert, speaker, CEO | |
| Michael Lamach | B.S. 1985 | CEO, Ingersoll-Rand Corp. | |
| Craig Menear | B.B.A. 1979 | president, CEO Home Depot | |
| Russell Mawby | B.S., PhD 1959 | philanthropist, 25-year CEO, W.K. Kellogg Foundation | |
| John H. McConnell | B.B.A. 1949 | founder, chairman-emeritus, Worthington Industries; former owner of NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets | |
| Dawn Riley | B.A. 1986 | first woman yachting CEO; America's Cup participant; educator | |
| Reinhold Schmieding | B.A. 1977 | specialized medical tools manufacturer, Forbes 400 billionaire | |
| Rick Sirvaitis | B.A. 1971, M.A. 1976 | president of Storeboard Media LLC. | |
| JR Shaw | B.B.A. 1955 | Canadian communications company founder/owner | |
| Robert C. Stempel | M.B.A. 1970 | former chairman, CEO, General Motors | |
| Paul Waterman | B.S. 1987 | CEO of BP Castrol and Elementis Plc | |
| Kate Williams | | chef and restaurateur, owner of Lady of the House in Detroit | |
| Name | Degree/year | Comments | Reference |
| Spencer Abraham | B.A. 1974 | former U.S. Secretary of Energy and U.S. Senator from Michigan | |
| Sandra E. Adams | B.A.1978 | rear admiral in U.S. Navy | |
| George R. Ariyoshi | B.A. 1949 | third governor of Hawaii | |
| Adnan Badran | M.A. 1961
Ph.D. 1963 | former Prime Minister of Jordan | |
| James Blanchard | B.A. 1964 | former Michigan governor ; former Ambassador to Canada | |
| Augustus Caine | Ph.D. | Secretary of Education of Liberia, 1965–1970 | |
| Albert J. Campbell | attended 1870s | representative, U.S. Congress, Montana 1899–1901 | |
| Linda Chapin | B.A. | first Chairman of the Orange County Commission in Florida; unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000 | |
| Ted Chudleigh | B.S. 1965 | member, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, | |
| Donald G. Cook | B.S. 1969 | Commander, Air Education and Training Command, U.S. Air Force | |
| Richard Cordray | B.A. 1981 | Ohio State Treasurer ; Ohio Attorney General ; inaugural chief, United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau | |
| Nancy E. Dick | B.A. 1951 | former Lieutenant Governor, Colorado, first woman | |
| Tony Earl | B.A. 1958 | former Wisconsin governor, | |
| John Engler | B.S. 1971 | former Michigan governor | |
| Robert A. Ficano | B.A. 1974 | former Wayne County Executive | |
| Penny Harrington | B.A. 1964 | former police chief; first woman to head a major US city police force | |
| Tim Johnson | 1970–1971 | Democratic Senator of South Dakota | |
| Don A. Jones | B.S. 1933 | rear admiral and civil engineer who served as the seventh Director of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey and second Director of the Environmental Science Services Administration Corps | |
| Mussa Kussa | B.A. 1978 | former Foreign Minister of Libya, 2009–2011 | |
| Lee Wan-Koo | M.S. 1984 | Prime Minister of South Korea | |
| Wilson Livingood | B.A. 1961 | former United States House Sergeant at Arms | |
| Chris Magnus | B.A. | Chief of Police of Tucson, Arizona | |
| Harry Moniba | Ph.D. | vice president of Liberia, 1984–90 | |
| Frederick H. Mueller | B.S. 1914 | former United States Secretary of Commerce under President Dwight Eisenhower | |
| Shahzada Jamal Nazir | B.A. 1999 | former Federal Minister for the ministries of National Health Services, Religious Affairs, National Harmony, National Heritage & Integration, in the government of Pakistan | - |
| Diane Pappas | B.A. | Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives | |
| Peter Rheinstein | B.A., M.S. 1964 | former official of the Food and Drug Administration | |
| Helen Rosenthal | B.A. 1982 | New York City Council member, 6th District | |
| Debbie Stabenow | B.A. 1972
M.A. 1975 | U.S. Senator from Michigan | |
| David A. Stockman | B.A. 1968 | former Director of Office of Management and Budget under President Ronald Reagan | |
| Marta Suplicy | B.A. in Psychology | Mayor of São Paulo, 2001–2004; Senator for São Paulo, 2010–present | |
| Clay Tallman | B.A. 1895 | commissioner, U.S. General Land Office, member Nevada State Senate 1909 to 1913, president pro tempore | |
| Bob Traxler | B.A. 1953 | U.S. Congress, Michigan, 1974–93; Mackinac Island State Park Commission, 1992–present | |
| John P. Walters | B.A. 1974 | former director, Office of National Drug Control Policy | |
| Fred M. Warner | attended in 1880s, did not graduate | Governor of Michigan, 1905–1911 | |
| Gretchen Whitmer | B.A. 1993, J.D. 1998 | 49th Governor of Michigan, second woman to hold the position | |
| Name | Degree/year | Comments | Reference |
| Maurice Ager | | former professional basketball player | |
| Alan Anderson | | professional basketball player with the Brooklyn Nets | |
| Charlie Bell | B.S. 2000 | professional basketball player with CB Breogan of the Liga LEB | |
| Miles Bridges | | professional basketball player with the Charlotte Hornets | |
| Shannon Brown | | professional basketball player with the Miami Heat | |
| Mateen Cleaves | B.S. 2000 | former professional basketball player | |
| Deyonta Davis | | professional basketball player | |
| Paul Davis | | professional basketball player with the BC Khimki of the VTB United League | |
| Draymond Green | B.A. 2012 | professional basketball player with the Golden State Warriors | |
| Johnny Green | | former professional basketball player | |
| Gary Harris | | professional basketball player with the Denver Nuggets | |
| Mark Hollis | B.S. 1985 | former team manager; current athletic director | |
| Jaren Jackson Jr. | | professional basketball player with the Memphis Grizzlies | |
| Earvin "Magic" Johnson | | businessman and former Los Angeles Lakers basketball player | |
| Greg Kelser | | broadcaster and former Detroit Pistons basketball player | |
| Erazem Lorbek | | professional basketball player with the San Antonio Spurs | |
| Matt Mazza | | former professional basketball player | |
| Adreian Payne | B.S. 2014 | professional basketball player with the Atlanta Hawks | |
| Morris Peterson | B.S. 2000 | former professional basketball player | |
| Zach Randolph | | professional basketball player with the Memphis Grizzlies | |
| Shawn Respert | B.S. 1995 | former professional basketball player | |
| Jason Richardson | | professional basketball player with the Philadelphia 76ers | |
| Scott Skiles | B.S. 1986 | former professional basketball player, former coach of the Chicago Bulls | |
| Steve Smith | B.S. 1991 | former professional basketball player; philanthropist | |
| Eric Snow | B.S. 1995 | former professional basketball player | |
| Denzel Valentine | | professional basketball player | |
| Sam Vincent | B.S. 1981 | former professional basketball player | |
| Kevin Willis | B.S. 1984 | former professional basketball player | |
| Name | Degree/year | Comments | Reference |
| Flozell Adams | B.A. 1998 | former offensive tackle, Dallas Cowboys | |
| Herb Adderley | B.S. 1961 | former cornerback, Green Bay Packers; elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980 | |
| Denicos Allen | B.S. 2014 | linebacker, Tampa Bay Buccaneers | |
| Morten Andersen | B.A. 1982 | former placekicker, New Orleans Saints; all-time leading scorer in NFL history | |
| Fred Arbanas | B.A. 1961 | former tight end, Kansas City Chiefs | |
| Edwin Baker | B.A. 2013 | running back, New Orleans Saints | |
| Tony Banks | B.A. 1996 | former quarterback, Houston Texans | |
| Le'Veon Bell | | running back, New York Jets | |
| Larry Bethea | B.A. 1977 | defensive end, Dallas Cowboys | |
| Ed Budde | B.S. 1963 | former offensive lineman, Kansas City Chiefs | |
| Max Bullough | B.A. 2014 | linebacker, Houston Texans | |
| Plaxico Burress | B.A. 2000 | former wide receiver, Pittsburgh Steelers | |
| Garrett Celek | B.S. 2011 | tight end, San Francisco 49ers | |
| Connor Cook | B.A. 2014, M.A. 2015 | quarterback, Cincinnati Bengals | |
| Kirk Cousins | B.A. 2011 | quarterback, Minnesota Vikings | |
| Demetrious Cox | 2016 | safety, Carolina Panthers | |
| B.J. Cunningham | B.S. 2012 | wide receiver, Chicago Bears | |
| Kellen Davis | B.A. 2007 | tight end, New York Jets | |
| Joe DeLamielleure | B.A. 1973 | former guard, Buffalo Bills; elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2003 | |
| Darqueze Dennard | B.A. 2014 | cornerback, Cincinnati Bengals | |
| Tony Discenzo | | tackle, Boston Patriots and Buffalo Bills | |
| Kurtis Drummond | B.A. 2015 | safety, Houston Texans | |
| T. J. Duckett | B.A. 2002 | former running back, Seattle Seahawks | |
| Billy Joe DuPree | B.A. 1972 | tight end, Dallas Cowboys | |
| Paul Edinger | B.S. 2000 | former placekicker, Minnesota Vikings | |
| Dixon Edwards | B.A. 1990 | linebacker, Dallas Cowboys | |
| Brandon Fields | B.A. 2007 | punter, Miami Dolphins | |
| Fou Fonoti | B.A. 2014 | offensive tackle, San Francisco 49ers | |
| Wayne Fontes | B.S. 1961 | former coach, Detroit Lions | |
| Bennie Fowler | B.A. 2014 | wide receiver, Denver Broncos | |
| Dan France | B.A. 2014 | offensive tackle, Cincinnati Bengals | |
| William Gholston | | defensive end, Tampa Bay Buccaneers | |
| Joel Heath | | defensive tackle, Houston Texans | |
| Tyler Hoover | B.A. 2014 | defensive end, Indianapolis Colts | |
| Brian Hoyer | B.A. 2008 | quarterback, Houston Texans | |
| Mark Ingram | B.S. 1996 | former wide receiver, Philadelphia Eagles | |
| Taiwan Jones | B.A. 2015 | linebacker, New York Jets | |
| Jeremy Langford | B.A. 2015 | running back, Chicago Bears | |
| Tony Lippett | B.A. 2015 | wide receiver, Miami Dolphins | |
| Keshawn Martin | B.A. 2011 | wide receiver, Houston Texans | |
| Derrick Mason | B.A. 1997 | former wide receiver, Baltimore Ravens | |
| Brandon McKinney | B.A. 2006 | former defensive tackle, Indianapolis Colts | |
| Jim Miller | B.S. 2002 | former quarterback, New York Giants | |
| Earl Morrall | B.A. 1955 | former quarterback, Baltimore Colts | |
| Muhsin Muhammad | B.A. 1996 | former wide receiver, Carolina Panthers | |
| Keith Mumphery | B.A. 2015 | wide receiver, Houston Texans | |
| Domata Peko | | defensive tackle, Cincinnati Bengals | |
| Julian Peterson | B.A. 2000 | former linebacker, Detroit Lions | |
| Javon Ringer | B.S. 2009 | former running back, Tennessee Titans | |
| Andre Rison | B.A. 1989 | former wide receiver, Oakland Raiders | |
| Trenton Robinson | B.A. 2011 | defensive back, Washington Redskins | |
| Charles Rogers | B.S. 2003 | former wide receiver, Detroit Lions | |
| Marcus Rush | B.A. 2015 | linebacker, San Francisco 49ers | |
| George Saimes | B.S. 1963 | former safety, Buffalo Bills | |
| Dion Sims | B.A. 2013 | tight end, Miami Dolphins | |
| Bubba Smith | B.A. 1966 | former defensive end, Baltimore Colts; actor, Police Academy | |
| Jeff Smoker | B.S. 2007 | former quarterback, Arizona Rattlers | |
| Drew Stanton | B.S. 2007 | quarterback, Arizona Cardinals | |
| Kevin Vickerson | B.A. 2005 | defensive tackle, New York Jets | |
| Trae Waynes | | cornerback, Minnesota Vikings | |
| George Webster | B.A. 1966 | former linebacker, Houston Oilers | |
| Tyrone Willingham | B.A. 1977 | former wide receiver; head coach of Stanford, Notre Dame and Washington | |
| Jerel Worthy | B.A. 2012 | defensive tackle, Kansas City Chiefs | |
