The BSA is turning 108! Here’s a list of 108 Scouts who became famous

By Bryan Wendell | February 9, 2018

The Boy Scouts of America turns 108 years young on Feb. 8, 2018.

What do you get the youth movement that has everything? A list of 108 Scouts who became famous.

The list includes presidents and Pulitzer Prize recipients, astronauts and athletes, celebrities and CEOs.

Two notes before we begin:

The list is woefully incomplete. With millions of Scouting alumni out there, any list of this length is going to leave some people off. Please leave a comment with the most glaring omissions.
If the famous person is an Eagle Scout, I’ve indicated that in parentheses. When available, I’ve included the Eagle year as listed in the National Eagle Scout Association database.

Astronauts, explorers and inventors

Peter Agre, biologist who received 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (Eagle Scout, Class of 1964)
Buzz Aldrin, second man to walk on the moon
Neil Armstrong, astronaut and first man to walk on the moon (Eagle Scout, Class of 1947)
Lee Berger, National Geographic explorer and paleoanthropologist (Eagle Scout, Class of 1983)
Guion Bluford, first African-American in space (Eagle Scout)
Thomas Cech, chemist who received 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (Eagle Scout, Class of 1962)
Roger Chaffee, astronaut who was killed in the Apollo 1 mission (Eagle Scout, Class of 1951)
Charles Duke, astronaut and 10th man to walk on the moon (Eagle Scout, Class of 1946)
Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor of the modern television (Eagle Scout, Class of 1932)
Steve Fossett, record-setting aviator (Eagle Scout, Class of 1957)
Jim Lovell, astronaut who was commander of Apollo 13 mission (Eagle Scout, Class of 1943)
William Moerner, physicist who received 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (Eagle Scout, Class of 1967)
Ellison Onizuka, astronaut who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion (Eagle Scout, Class of 1964)
Paul Siple, Antarctic explorer who coined the term “wind chill” (Eagle Scout, Class of 1924)
E. O. Wilson, researcher, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and the world’s top ant expert (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 basketball player for the New York Knicks 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 who is 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 Los Angeles Lakers (Eagle Scout, Class of 2013)
Steven Holcomb, gold medalist in bobsled at 2010 Winter Olympics (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 their stadium is named (Eagle Scout, Class of 1931)
Ray Malavasi, former head coach of the Denver Broncos and the 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 Houston Astros executive
Alberto Salazar, three-time winner of the New York City Marathon
Mark Spitz, gold medal-winning Olympic swimmer
Joe Theismann, former NFL quarterback
Shane Victorino, former pro baseball outfielder who won three Gold Gloves (Eagle Scout, Class of 1996)
Ken Whisenhunt, offensive coordinator for Los Angeles Chargers and former head coach of Arizona Cardinals and Tennessee Titans (Eagle Scout, Class of 1976)
Steve Young, former NFL quarterback and sports broadcaster

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, Kennedy assassination and 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
Wallace Stegner, civil rights leader, Tuskegee Airmen pilot, entrepreneur who revitalized the Apollo Theater in New York (Eagle Scout, Class of 1936)

Entertainers

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)
Jimmy Buffett, Grammy Award-winning musician
Tony Cavalero, actor in School of Rock on Nickelodeon (Eagle Scout, Class of 2001)
Rob Corddry, former correspondent for The Daily Show and actor in Warm Bodies and Childrens 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
Richard Gere, actor in Pretty Woman and Chicago
Andy Griffith, actor in The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock
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 The Tonight Show
Andy Lewis, world champion slackliner who performed in Super Bowl XLVI (Eagle Scout, Class of 2002)
John Lithgow, Tony- and Emmy-winning actor, known for roles in 3rd Rock from the Sun and The Crown
David Lynch, Academy Award-nominated director of The Elephant Man and creator of the murder mystery TV series 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 on CBS (Eagle Scout, Class of 2015)
Mike Rowe, host of Dirty Jobs (Eagle Scout, Class of 1979)
Glen Schofield, one of the creators of the Call of Duty videogame franchise (Eagle Scout, Class of 1977)
Steven Spielberg, Academy Award-winning director of Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan (Eagle Scout, Class of 1961)
Creek Stewart, survivalist and host of SOS: How to Survive on The Weather Channel (Eagle Scout, Class of 1990)
Jimmy Stewart, Academy Award-winning actor in The Philadelphia Story
George Strait, Grammy Award-winning musician
John Tesh, pianist, composer and Emmy-winning TV host (Eagle Scout, Class of 1968)
James Valentine, guitarist of 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 New York City mayor (Eagle Scout, Class of 1954)
James Brady, former White House Press Secretary (Eagle Scout, Class of 1955)
Stephen Breyer, Supreme Court justice (Eagle Scout, Class of 1952)
George W. Bush, 43rd U.S. president
Tom C. Clark, former Supreme Court justice (Eagle Scout, Class of 1914)
Bill Clinton, 42nd U.S. president
Gerald Ford, 38th U.S. president (Eagle Scout, Class of 1927)
Robert Gates, former Secretary of Defense (Eagle Scout, Class of 1958)
Jon Huntsman Jr., U.S. ambassador to Russia (Eagle Scout, Class of 1975)
John F. Kennedy, 35th U.S. 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 construction and civil engineering company in the United States, benefactor of the Summit Bechtel 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 chairman 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 CEO of Kampgrounds of America (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 chairman of David Weekley Homes (Eagle Scout, Class of 1969)

Soldiers and war heroes

Arthur Eldred, first Eagle Scout and Navy veteran (Eagle Scout, Class of 1912)
Thomas Norris, Navy SEAL who received Medal of Honor for his 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)