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

September 5, 2022

278 7 minutes read

Famous people who are eagle scouts

Video Famous people who are eagle scouts

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)