This page lists notable students, alumni, and faculty members of Central Washington University.
Sports
Football
Adam Bighill — CFL Linebacker of the BC Lions
Keith Gilbertson — NCAA football coach formerly of the University of Idaho, University of California, Berkeley, University of Washington. Played football for the Wildcats for one season in 1967, later graduating in 1971
Jon Kitna — NFL quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks, Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions, and Dallas Cowboys. Led the team to an NAIA Div. II championship in 1995 Greg Olson — NFL offensive coach, as of February of 2022 for the Los Angeles Rams Mike Reilly — CFL quarterback of the Edmonton Eskimos, Formerly of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers, St. Louis Rams, Seattle Seahawks
Baseball
MLB pitcher Dave Heaverlo — San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners MLB outfielder Billy North — Chicago Cubs, Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants
Basketball
Joe Callero — Head men's basketball coach at California Polytechnic State University and former head coach of Seattle University
Other
Miesha "Cupcake" Tate — former Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion, former Ultimate Fighting Championship Bantamweight Champion Bryan Caraway — UFC bantamweight fighter, ex-boyfriend of Miesha Tate Matt Hume (business) — retired mixed martial artist; founder and head trainer at AMC Pankration in Seattle, V.P. of Operations at ONE Championship Anthony Hamilton — professional MMA fighter in the UFC's Heavyweight Division'
Government or military
Ann Anderson (politician) — member of the Washington State Senate
Staff Sergeant Bryan Christopher Black — US Army Special Forces soldier killed in action during the Tongo Tongo ambush in Niger on October 4, 2017. U.S. Air National Guard Brigadier General John R. Croft — Chief of Staff of the Wisconsin Air National Guard Duane Davidson — Washington State Treasurer U.S. Air National Guard Brigadier General Myron N. Dobashi — Commander of the Hawaii Air National Guard USMC General James N. Mattis — United States Marine Corps. Class of 1972. Commander of the United States Central Command 2010–2013. Secretary of Defense under President Donald Trump. Astronaut Dorothy M. Metcalf-Lindenburger — assigned to the crew of STS-131, her first expedition. United States Coast Guard Signalman First Class Douglas Albert Munro (October 11, 1919 – September 27, 1942) — only member of the United States Coast Guard to have received the Medal of Honor, the U.S. military's highest decoration. Lieutenant Commander Craig Olson, Navy Blue Angels — Demonstration #5 Lead Solo Pilot. A Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet instructor pilot at Naval Air Station Lemoore. Decorations include: Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, three Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, and various personal and unit awards. Ron Sims — Former Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (under President Barack Obama) and former King County Executive. Doug Sutherland — former Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands
Business
Christine M. Day — CEO of athletic sportswear company Lululemon Athletica
Stephen L. Nelson — author of "Quicken for Dummies" and 150 other books in the series, over 5 million copies sold worldwide. Named "most prolific computer book writer" by Wall Street Journal Shelley Powers — computer book author and technology architect Raymond Conner — former vice chairman of The Boeing Company and president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes