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112 Scouts who became famous (just in time for the BSA&039s 111th birthday)


The Boy Scouts of America turns 112 years young on Feb. 8, 2022.
what do you get from the youth movement that has it all? a list of 112 explorers who became famous.
The list includes presidents and Pulitzer Prize winners, astronauts and athletes, celebrities and CEOs.
two notes before we start:
- With millions of scouting alumni out there, any list this long is going to leave some people out. leave a comment with the most obvious omissions.
- if the famous person is an eagle scout, I have indicated it in parentheses. When available, I have included the Year of the Eagle as listed in the National Association of Eagle Scouts Database.
astronauts, doctors, explorers and inventors
- peter agre, biologist who received the 2003 nobel prize in chemistry (eagle scout, class of 1964)
- buzz aldrin , second man to walk on the moon
- dr. james andrews, surgeon who has treated many high profile athletes including drew brees and charles barkley (eagle scout)
- neil armstrong, astronaut and first man in walk on the moon (eagle scout, class of 1947)
- lee berger, national geographic explorer and paleoanthropologist (eagle scout, class of 1983)
- script bluford, first African-American in space (eagle scout)
- thomas cech, chemist who received the nobel prize for chemistry in 1989 (eagle scout, class of 1962)
- roger chaffee, astronaut who died on the apollo 1 mission (eagle scout, class of 1951)
- charles duke strong >, astronaut and 10th man to walk on the moon (eagle scout, class of 1946)
- philo t. farnsworth, inventor of modern television (eagle scout, class of 1932)
- steve fossett, record-setting aviator (eagle scout, class of 1957)
- jim lovell, astronaut who was commander of the apollo 13 mission (eagle scout, class of 1943)
- william moerner, physicist who received the 2014 nobel prize in chemistry (eagle scout, class of 1967)
- ellison onizuka, astronaut who died in the explosion of the space shuttle challenger (eagle scout, class of 1964)
- gitanjali rao, inventor, stalk explorer and the first kid of the year in 2020
- paul siple, explorer Antarctic who coined the term “wind chill” (eagle scout, class of 1924)
- e. o wilson, researcher, two-time pulitzer prize winner, and the world’s foremost expert on ants (eagle scout, class of 1944)
athletes, coaches and sports executives
- hank aaron, baseball hall of famer
- willie banks, Olympian and former world record holder ( eagle scout, class of 1971)
- bill bradley, former New York Knicks basketball player and hall of famer (eagle scout, class of 1957)
- chan gailey, former head coach of the dallas cowboys and buffalo bills (eagle scout, class of 1966)
- don garlits , engineer considered the father of drag racing (eagle scout, class of 1946)
- pat gillick, retired professional baseball executive and hall of famer (eagle scout , class of 1951)
- josh hart, basketball player for the new orleans pelicans (eagle scout, class of 2013)
- steven holcomb, 2010 winter olympics bobsled gold medalist (eagle scout, class of 1995)
- michael jordan, former NBA player and current NBA team owner
- tommy lasorda, former baseball manager and hall of famer
- ewing kauffman, former owner of the kansas city royals and the man after whom his stadium is named (eagle scout , class of 1931)
- ray malavasi, former head coach of the denver broncos and los angeles rams (eagle scout, class of 1944)
- peter mcloughlin, president of the seattle seahawks (eagle scout, class of 1971)
- emery moorehead, former tight end who won super bowl xx with the chicago bears (eagle scout, class of 1969)
- jim mora, former head coach of the new orleans saints and indianapolis colts (eagle scout, class of 1950)
- nolan ryan, former mlb pitcher and current executive of l The Houston Astros
- Daniel Sorensen, Super Bowl-winning defensive back for the Kansas City Chiefs (Eagle Scout, Class of 2008)
- mark spitz, Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer
- joe theismann, former NFL quarterback
- shane victorino, former professional baseball outfielder who won three gold gloves (eagle scout, class of 1996)
- ken whisenhunt, former arizona head coach cardinals and tennessee titans (eagle scout, class of 1976)
- steve young, former nfl quarterback and sportscaster
authors and journalists
- walter cronkite, journalist, cbs evening news anchor
- clive cussler, best-selling adventure novelist (eagle scout , class of 1946)
- brandon mull, author of the children’s fantasy series fablehaven (eagle scout, class of 1993)
- harrison salisbury , pulitzer prize-winning journalist who covered the civil rights movement, the kennedy assassination, and the vietnam war (eagle scout, class of 1924)
civil rights leaders
- ernest green, civil rights activist and member of the little rock nine (eagle scout, class of 1956)
- martin luther king jr., civil rights icon
- percy sutton, civil rights leader, tuskegee aviator pilot, businessman who revitalized the apollo theater in new york (eagle scout , class of 1936)
animators
- jack black, actor in jumanji: welcome to the jungle, school of rock and the kung fu panda franchise
- frank blair , former host of nbc’s today show (eagle scout, class of 1930)
- jon bon jovi, grammy award-winning singer-songwriter
- jimmy buffett, grammy award-winning musician
- tony cavalero, actor in school of rock at nickelodeon and hbo’s the right gemstones (eagle scout, class of 2001)
- rob corddry, former daily show correspondent and actor on warm bodies and children’s hospital (eagle scout, class of 1988)
- harrison ford , actor in blade runner and the star wars and indiana jones franchises
- zach galifianakis, actor in the hangover trilogy, the lego batman movie and a wrinkle in time (eagle scout, class of 1986)
- nolan gould, actor in abc’s modern family and
- richard gere, actor in pretty woman and chicago
- andy griffith, actor in the andy griffith and matlock show
- william hanna, animator and voice actor who co-founded hanna-barbera (eagle scout, class of 1924)
- jon heder, actor in napoleon dynamite (eagle scout, class of 1994)
- derek hough, actor and dancing with the stars champion
- jay leno , former host of nbc’s tonight show
- andy lewis, world champion slackliner who performed at super bowl xlvi ( eagle scout, class of 2002)
- john lithgow, tony and emmy winning actor, known for his roles in 3rd rock from the sun and the crown
- david lynch, academy award nominated director of the elephant man and creator of the mystery television series river and murder twin peaks (eagle scout, class of 1962)
- ozzie nelson, bandleader and actor who starred in the adventures of ozzie and harriet (eagle scout, class of 1920 )
- jeff orlowski, documentary filmmaker who made chasing ice and chasing coral (eagle scout, class of 2000)
- chris pratt , actor in parks and recreation and guardians of the galaxy
- dan reynolds, lead singer of the band imagine dragons (eagle scout, class of 2004)
- evan roe, actor in madam secretary at cbs (eagle scout, class of 2015)
- mike rowe, host of dirty jobs (eagle scout, promotion of 1979)
- glen schofield, one of the creators of the video game call of duty franchise (eagle scout, class of 1977)
- steven spielberg , academy award winning director of schindler’s list and saving the private ryan (eagle scout, class of 1961)
- creek stewart, survivor and host of sos: how to survive in the weather channel (eagle scout, class of 1990)
- jimmy stewart, academy award-winning actor in philadelphia history
- george strait, grammy award-winning musician
- john tesh, grammy award-winning pianist, composer, and television host (eagle scout, class of 1968)
- james valentine, guitarist for the band maroon 5 (eagle scout, class of 1996)
- john wayne, academy award-winning actor in true grit
politicians and public officials
- michael bloomberg, founder of bloomberg l.p. and former mayor of new york city (eagle scout, class of 1954)
- james brady, former white house press secretary (eagle scout, class of 1955)
- stephen breyer, justice of the supreme court (eagle scout, class of 1952)
- george w. bush, 43rd us. president
- tom c. clark, former supreme court justice (eagle scout, class of 1914)
- bill clinton, 42nd u.s. president
- gerald ford, 38th us. president (eagle scout, class of 1927)
- robert gates, former secretary of defense (eagle scout, class of 1958)
- jon huntsman jr ., usa. uu. Ambassador to Russia (Eagle Scout, Class of 1975)
- John F. kennedy, 35 usa. uu. president
- henry paulson, former secretary of the treasury (eagle scout, class of 1960)
- ross perot, founder of electronic data systems and presidential candidate (eagle scout, class of 1943)
- rick perry, secretary of energy and former governor of texas (eagle scout, class of 1964)
- donald rumsfeld, former secretary of defense (eagle scout, class of 1949)
- jeff sessions, attorney general (eagle scout, class of 1963)
- rex tillerson, secretary of state and former CEO of exxonmobil (eagle scout, class of 1965)
- togo west , former secretary of veterans affairs (eagle scout, class of 1957)
business leaders
- stephen bechtel jr., founder of bechtel corp., the largest civil engineering and construction company in the united states, benefactor of the bechtel summit reserve (eagle scout, class of 1940)
- charles dolan, founder of hbo (eagle scout, class of 1941)
- bill gates, co-founder of microsoft
- william gates sr., philanthropist and father of bill gates (eagle scout, class of 1941)
- howard lincoln, former president of nintendo of america and the seattle mariners (eagle scout, class of 1955)
- bill marriott, executive chairman of marriott international (eagle scout, class of 1947)
- michael mauler, CEO of gamestop (eagle scout, class of 1975)
- jim rogers, former president and director kampgrounds of america executive (eagle scout, class of 1965)
- t. gary rogers, former CEO of dreyer’s ice cream (eagle scout, class of 1956)
- brad tilden, CEO of alaska airlines (eagle scout, class of 1976)
- sam walton, founder of walmart (eagle scout, class of 1934)
- david weekley, founder and president by David Casas Weekley (Eagle Scout, Class of 1969)
soldiers and war heroes
- arthur eldred, first eagle scout and navy veteran (eagle scout, class of 1912)
- charles mcgee, pilot Tuskegee Airman and National Aviation Hall of Famer (Eagle Scout, Class of 1940)
- Thomas Norris, Navy SEAL who received a medal of honor for actions during the vietnam war (eagle scout, class of 1959)
- mitchell paige, Marine who received medal of honor for his actions at the battle of guadalcanal in 1942 (eagle scout, class of 1936)
- leo k. thorsness , air force colonel who received the medal of honor for his actions in the vietnam war (eagle scout, class of 1949)