List of Linfield University people

This is a table of notable people affiliated with Linfield University, formerly Linfield College, McMinnville College, and Baptist College at McMinnville. Some noted people are also listed in the main college article. Individuals are sorted by affiliation and alphabetized.

Alumni and former students

Art and entertainment

Reid Blackburn, photographer killed in the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington
Aparna Brielle, actress
Laura Gibson, musician
Homer Groening, Canadian-American filmmaker, advertiser, writer, and cartoonist; father of Matt Groening and inspired the name of Homer Simpson
Abigail Heringer, contestant on the 25th season of The Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise; the first hearing-impaired contestant on the show
Shane McRae, poet; received the Whiting Award in 2011; current poetry editor of Image
Patrick Nickell, sculptor and visual artist
Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club, The Bonesetter's Daughter, and The Kitchen God's Wife

Politics

Joe Medicine Crow, Crow historian, last surviving Plains Indian war chief, and WWII veteran who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Jan L. Lee, politician who served in the Oregon House of Representatives 2001–2003
Grant Sawyer, 21st governor of Nevada (1959–1967)

Sports

Roger Baker, member of the U.S. Olympic handball team in 1972 and 1976
Scott David Brosius, former Major League Baseball third baseman for the Oakland Athletics (1991–1997) and New York Yankees (1998–2001); 1998 World Series MVP
Paul Dombroski, former National Football League defensive back; one of the few people of Okinawan descent to play in the NFL
Mark Few, basketball coach at Gonzaga University, assistant 1989–1999 and head coach since 1999; attended Linfield before transferring to the University of Oregon, where he eventually earned his degree
Craig Howard, head football coach of Southern Oregon University (2011–2016); led SOU to school's first NAIA National Championship; inducted into the SOU Sports Hall of Fame in 2024
Randy Mueller, former general manager for the Miami Dolphins and New Orleans Saints, with over two decades of NFL front office experience; former sports analyst for ESPN
Ad Rutschman, head football coach, baseball coach (1971–1983), and athletic director (1973–1996) of Linfield College; the only college coach at any level to have won national titles in both football and baseball; current kick-off return coach for the Linfield football team
Sharon Shepherd, shot put and discus thrower who served as an alternate for the U.S. track and field team in the 1960 Rome and 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games
Fred von Appen, retired football coach known for his head coaching stint with the University of Hawaii at Mānoa 1996–1998; served as an assistant coach on a number of NFL and college coaching staffs

Business and law

Augustus C. Kinney, longtime physician in Astoria, Oregon, and noted expert on tuberculosis at the turn of the 20th century
Thomas Allen McBride, 20th chief justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, serving three times as chief between 1913 and 1927; overall, served on Oregon's highest court from 1909 until his death in 1930
William Marion Ramsey, 43rd associate justice of the Oregon Supreme Court 1913–1915; first dean of Willamette University College of Law; mayor of Salem, Oregon, and McMinnville, Oregon

Medicine and science

Jessica (Saling) Gill, leading researcher on traumatic brain injuries and professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; elected to the National Academy of Medicine in October 2021
Jerilynn Prior, endocrinologist and leader in understanding and treating perimenopause and menopause

Science and technology

Jane Claire Dirks-Edmunds, ecologist, biologist, and author of Not Just Trees; studied the Saddleback Mountain research site 1935–1969
Donald Firesmith, software engineer, consultant, and trainer at the Software Engineering Institute
Landon Curt Noll, computer scientist, co-discoverer of the 25th Mersenne prime and discoverer of the 26th
Marian Pettibone, curator at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History invertebrate zoology department 1963–1978; has 33 species and 3 genera named after her
Raemer Schreiber, experimental physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project and helped develop the atom and hydrogen bombs

Education

Raymond Culver, fourth president of Shimer College
Peter Ellefson, trombonist and professor of music at Indiana University Bloomington
Lorie A. Fridell, criminologist known for her research on police and racial profiling and associate professor at the University of South Florida
Susan Hyde, professor of political science at the University of California, Berkeley
Shanto Iyengar, professor of political science at Stanford University
Kenneth Scott Latourette, professor emeritus at Yale University and eminent scholar of Christianity and Chinese history
Daniel O'Leary, organic chemist at Pomona College
Rob Saxton, educational administrator; served 2012–2015 as Oregon's first executive deputy superintendent of public instruction, the chief administrator of the Oregon Department of Education
Muneo Yoshikawa, Japanese professor, author, researcher and consultant known for intercultural communication work, including the double-swing model

Faculty

Current

Steve Simmons, soccer coach, MLS professional match evaluator and MLS grassroots instructor
Joseph Smith, football coach and former player

Former

John Wesley Johnson, professor at McMinnville 1863–1867; later president of the University of Oregon
Curtis P. Coe, professor at McMinnville and Dean of commerce department 1908–1920

Other notable people

Edith Green, U.S. representative; served 10 terms 1955–1974; authored Title IX; served on the Linfield College Board of Trustees and received an honorary degree in 1964
Albin Walter Norblad Jr., served in the Oregon Legislative Assembly as a representative for one term (1935–1937); member of the board of trustees of Linfield College
Fred Rogers, better known as Mister Rogers, television host; received an honorary degree in 1982

College and university presidents (1857–present)

Presidents of McMinnville College

1857–1860: George C. Chandler
1864–1867: John W. Johnson
1873: J. D. Robb
1873–1876: Mark Bailey
1876–1877: John E. Magers
1877–1878: Ep Roberts
1878–1881: J. G. Burchett
1881–1887: E.C. Anderson
1887–1896: Truman G. Brownson
1896–1903: Harry L. Boardman
1903–1905: A. M. Brumback
1905–1906: Emanuel Northup, interim
1906–1931: Leonard W. Riley (name changed to Linfield in 1922)

Presidents of Linfield College

1931–1932: William R. Frerichs, interim
1932–1938: Elam J. Anderson
1938–1943: William G. Everson
1943–1968: Harry L. Dillin
1968, 1974: Winthrop W. Dolan, interim
1968–1974: Gordon C. Bjork
1974–1975: Cornelius Siemens, interim
1975–1992: Charles U. Walker
1992–2005: Vivian A. Bull
2005–2006: Marvin Henberg, interim
2006–2018: Thomas L. Hellie
2018–2020: Miles K. Davis (college changed to university in 2020)

Presidents of Linfield University

2020–2023: Miles K. Davis
2024–2025: Rebecca "Becky" Johnson, interim
2025–present: Mark Blegen

Notes

↑ Oregon became a state on February 14, 1859. Thus, at the start of Chandler's presidency, the college was located in the Oregon Territory. At the end of his presidency, it was located in the State of Oregon. Same location, different name.
↑ Robb served February 20, 1873–July 10, 1873, according to the 1938 book Bricks Without Straw: The Story of Linfield College, by Jonas A. Jonasson.

References

Fall 2007 Linfield Magazine

↑ Robinson, Erik (May 15, 2005). "Mount St. Helens: 25th Anniversary - Remembering Reid; Twenty-five years after Columbian photographer Blackburn died in the eruption, his widow revisits the site". Columbian. p. 20. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
↑ Hearon, Sarah (January 4, 2021). "Bachelor's Abigail Heringer Makes History on Season 25: 5 Things to Know". Us Weekly. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
↑ nzen, Robin (March 7, 1996). "Linfield Going Global". The Oregonian.
↑ "Parcells fires Mueller, to meet with Cameron Tuesday". espn.com news services. January 1, 2008. Retrieved January 16, 2008.
↑ "Ad Rutschman: [Fourth Edition]". The Oregonian. December 18, 1991. pp. E01. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
↑ "Carrying the torch". Linfield Magazine. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
↑ "Obituary". Medical Sentinel. 16: 196. 1908.
↑ Corning, Howard M. (1989) Dictionary of Oregon History. Binfords & Mort Publishing. p. 135.
↑ Pace, Eric (December 31, 1998). "R.E. Schreiber, 88, Nuclear Bomb Physicist". The New York Times. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
↑ "Christianity's Chronicler". Time Magazine. November 16, 1962. Archived from the original on February 19, 2011. Retrieved December 6, 2007.
↑ Thompson, Beth Rogers (2005). "Touching Lives in the Classroom". Linfield Magazine. Vol. 1, no. 3. Linfield University. Retrieved August 27, 2021.
↑ Lynn, Capi (August 23, 2020). "Power of 10: These are Oregon's most influential women". Statesman Journal. pp. D5. Retrieved August 2, 2022.

[13] Oregon became a state on February 14, 1859. Thus, at the start of Chandler's presidency, the college was located in the Oregon Territory. At the end of his presidency, it was located in the State of Oregon. Same location, different name.

[14] Robb served February 20, 1873–July 10, 1873, according to the 1938 book Bricks Without Straw: The Story of Linfield College, by Jonas A. Jonasson.

[1] Robinson, Erik (May 15, 2005). "Mount St. Helens: 25th Anniversary - Remembering Reid; Twenty-five years after Columbian photographer Blackburn died in the eruption, his widow revisits the site". Columbian. p. 20. Retrieved August 2, 2022.

[2] Hearon, Sarah (January 4, 2021). "Bachelor's Abigail Heringer Makes History on Season 25: 5 Things to Know". Us Weekly. Retrieved August 2, 2022.

[3] zen, Robin (March 7, 1996). "Linfield Going Global". The Oregonian.

[4] "Parcells fires Mueller, to meet with Cameron Tuesday". espn.com news services. January 1, 2008. Retrieved January 16, 2008.

[5] "Ad Rutschman: [Fourth Edition]". The Oregonian. December 18, 1991. pp. E01. Retrieved August 2, 2022.

[6] "Carrying the torch". Linfield Magazine. Retrieved December 30, 2022.

[7] "Obituary". Medical Sentinel. 16: 196. 1908.

[8] Corning, Howard M. (1989) Dictionary of Oregon History. Binfords & Mort Publishing. p. 135.

[9] Pace, Eric (December 31, 1998). "R.E. Schreiber, 88, Nuclear Bomb Physicist". The New York Times. Retrieved May 8, 2010.

[10] "Christianity's Chronicler". Time Magazine. November 16, 1962. Archived from the original on February 19, 2011. Retrieved December 6, 2007.

[11] Thompson, Beth Rogers (2005). "Touching Lives in the Classroom". Linfield Magazine. Vol. 1, no. 3. Linfield University. Retrieved August 27, 2021.

[12] Lynn, Capi (August 23, 2020). "Power of 10: These are Oregon's most influential women". Statesman Journal. pp. D5. Retrieved August 2, 2022.