If you’re a die-hard fan of all things IU, there’s a good chance you’ve already heard of …
- Pulitzer Prize recipient Ernie Pyle, LHD Hon’44
- Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom
- Grammy Award winner Booker T. Jones, BME’67, DM Hon’12
- Academy and Tony Award winner Kevin Kline, BA’70, LHD’14, and
- Grammy Award winner Joshua Bell, BFA’89
But there are scores of other IU faculty and alumni who have claimed prizes on the world’s grandest stages. Here are just a few.
John C. Eaton:
Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellowships
Called by Andrew Porter “the most interesting opera composer writing in America today,” Eaton was internationally recognized as a composer and performer of electronic and microtonal music. He even created his own compositional genre called “pocket opera.” Eaton served on the Jacobs School of Music faculty from 1970 to 1992.
Lisel Mueller:
Pulitzer in Poetry and National Book Award
Forced to flee Nazi Germany at age 15, Mueller would go on to become the only German-born poet to win the Pulitzer Prize in poetry. After graduating from the University of Evansville, Mueller took graduate courses at Indiana University.
Melissa Farlow:
Pulitzer in Photography
Photojournalist Farlow, BA’74, served as photo editor of the Indiana Daily Student and editor-in-chief of the Arbutus. She contributed to National Geographic publications for almost 20 years, traveling around the globe to capture images from Africa to Alaska to the Austrian Alps.
David Anspaugh:
Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series
While Anspaugh, BA’70, is best known for directing two iconic sports films (Hoosiers and Rudy), he began his career producing and directing the television show Hill Street Blues, for which he won two Emmy Awards.
Ligaya McGovern:
Fulbright Award
Professor McGovern, from IU Kokomo, researches globalization and women and gender, with a focus on women in developing nations. Her Fulbright Award took her to the Philippines to study the disjuncture between human rights and sustainable development.
Nets Katz:
Guggenheim Fellowship
Katz graduated from college at age 17, earned his PhD three years later, and went on to become a professor of mathematics at IU. Specializing in a field called combinatorics, Katz was named a Guggenheim Fellow in 2012.
This article was originally published in the fall 2020 issue of Imagine magazine.
