This is a list of people from Topeka, Kansas.
Academia
Warren Faidley (1957- ), meteorologist, storm chaser
Riley Gardner (1921-2007), psychologist
Wes Jackson (1936- ), environmentalist, The Land Institute
Sokoni Karanja (1940- ), child development expert
G. Warren Nutter (1923-1979), economist
Ruth Patrick (1907-2013), botanist, limnologist
Julius Rebek (1944- ), chemist
Walton T. Roth (1939- ), psychiatrist and psychophysiological researcher
David Curtis Skaggs, Jr. (1937- ), historian
John Brooks Slaughter (1934- ), electrical engineer, National Science Foundation director
Arts and entertainment
Film, television, and theatre
Brandon Adams (1979- ), actor
Annette Bening (1958- ), actress
Gregg Binkley (1963- ), actor
Roscoe Born (1950-2020), actor
Alicia Cabrera (1978- ), actress, Miss Kansas USA 2003
Jack Colvin (1934-2005), actor
Samuel M. Comer (1893-1974), set decorator
George Dickerson (1933-2015), actor, poet, writer
Jayne Houdyshell (1953- ), actress
Jeff Kready, Broadway actor
Ted North (1916-1975), actor
Sheila Ryan (1921-1975), actress
Travis Schuldt (1974- ), actor
Lois Smith (1930- ), actress
Fay Tincher (1884-1983), actress
Journalism
Elizabeth Farnsworth (1943- ), broadcaster, filmmaker
Donald C. Thompson (1885-1947), war photographer, director, producer
Literature
Thomas Fox Averill (1949- ), novelist
Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000), poet
Irene Bennett Brown, American author of children's, young adult and adult fiction Jeannette Eyerly (1908-2008), novelist, columnist Janet Fox (1940-2009), fantasy and horror writer, poet Jane Heap (1883-1964), editor, publisher Ben Lerner (1979- ), poet Karen Salyer McElmurray (1956- ), essayist, novelist Eric McHenry (1972- ), poet Frances Clarke Sayers (1897-1989), author, lecturer, librarian Ed Skoog (1971- ), poet Linda Spalding (1943- ), novelist, editor Rex Stout (1886-1975), novelist Max Yoho (1934-2017), author Kevin Young (1970/1971- ), poet, author, Director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture
Music
Phil Ehart (1950-), drummer, founding member of the band Kansas
Streamline Ewing (1917-2002), jazz trombonist
Aulsondro "Emcee N.I.C.E." Hamilton, musician, member of KansasCali, known for Crash soundtrack Coleman Hawkins (1904-1969), jazz saxophonist Dave Hope (1949- ), bass guitarist, former member of Kansas Josh Kulick, former heavy metal drummer for Through The Eyes Of The Dead Katrina Leskanich (1960- ), singer (Katrina and the Waves) Kerry Livgren (1949- ), founding member of the bands Kansas and AD Andy McKee (1979- ), musician Kirke Mechem (1925- ), composer Origin, metal band Kliph Scurlock (1973- ), drummer Jamshied Sharifi (1960- ), composer, musician Kenny Starr (1952- ), country singer Rich Williams (1950- ), guitarist, member of Kansas
Other visual arts
James Pringle Cook (1947- ), Western landscape painter
Aaron Douglas (1899-1979), Harlem Renaissance artist
Georgia Louise Harris Brown (1918-1999), architect
Peter Max Lawrence (1977- ), contemporary media artist
Business
Brad Garlinghouse (1971- ), business executive, investor
Cyrus K. Holliday (1826-1900), first president of Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad; founder of Topeka township John F. Kilmartin (1921-2004), retail executive