The following is a list of notable people associated with Grand Rapids, Michigan. These people were born, lived, or worked in and around Grand Rapids.

Contents 1 Artists and artisans 2 Business, industry, academic and labor figures 3 Entertainment figures 4 Government officials, politicians and activists 5 Military figures 6 Musicians and bands 7 Religious figures 8 Sports figures 9 Writers, novelists, and poets

[edit] Artists and artisans

• Mathias Alten – impressionist painter
• Jeffrey Brown – comic book artist
• Frederick Stuart Church – illustrator
• Paul Collins – painter
• Dirk Gringhuis – illustrator
• Daniel Vosovic – clothing designer

[edit] Business, industry, academic and labor figures

• Clayton Allen – entrepreneur
• Steve Belkin – founder and chairman of Trans National Group
• Hattie Beverly – teacher
• Owen Bieber – president of the United Auto Workers
• Anna Sutherland Bissell – chief executive officer of Bissell
• Dick DeVos – chief executive officer of Amway
• Richard DeVos – co-founder of Amway
• Keith DeVries – archaeologist
• Mary de Young – professor of sociology and author
• Anthony Diekema – president of Calvin College
• Gerald Rudolff Ford – businessman and chairman of the Kent County Republican Committee
• Arnold Gingrich – founder of Esquire Magazine
• John A. Hannah – president of Michigan State College
• H. Wayne Huizenga – entrepreneur
• Hugh Newell Jacobsen – Modernist architect
• Jack Loeks – movie theater entrepreneur
• M. Peter McPherson – president of Michigan State University and chairman of Dow Jones
• Frank Edward McGurrin – inventor of touch typing
• John Pease – professor of sociology
• Marshall Purnell – president of the American Institute of Architects
• John Herman Randall, Jr. – professor of philosophy
• Henry F. Schaefer, III – professor of chemistry
• L. William Seidman – economist and financial commentator
• Ossian Cole Simonds – landscape designer
• Mel Trotter – rescue mission director
• Jay Van Andel – co-founder of Amway
• Roger Wilkins – civil rights leader and professor
• Charles Sumner Burch – editor of the Grand Rapids' Evening Press

[edit] Entertainment figures

[edit] Government officials, politicians and activists

• Russell A. Alger – governor of Michigan and U.S. Secretary of War
• John Ball – pioneer and member of the Michigan State Legislature
• Charles E. Belknap – Union Army Captain and U.S. Congressman
• Harvey Hollister Bundy – Special Assistant to the U.S. Secretary of War
• Charles C. Comstock – U.S. Congressman from Michigan and mayor of Grand Rapids
• Vern Ehlers – U.S. Congressman from Michigan
• Gerald R. Ford – 38th President of the United States
• Betty Ford – 37th First Lady of the United States
• Wilder D. Foster – U.S. Congressman from Michigan and mayor of Grand Rapids
• Rick Hill – U.S. Congressman from Montana
• Julius Houseman – U.S. Congressman from Michigan and mayor of Grand Rapids
• Bartel J. Jonkman – U.S. Congressman from Michigan
• Frank Knox – U.S. Secretary of the Navy
• Terri Lynn Land – Michigan Secretary of State
• John H. Logie – mayor of Grand Rapids
• Frederick Henry Mueller – U.S. Secretary of Commerce
• Agnes Nestor – women's suffrage and workers' rights activist
• Michael Sak – Michigan State Representative
• William Alden Smith – U.S. Senator from Michigan
• K. William Stinson – U.S. Congressman from Washington
• Edwin F. Sweet – U.S. Congressman from Michigan and mayor of Grand Rapids
• Jerald terHorst – press secretary under President Gerald Ford
• Edwin F. Uhl – U.S. Assistant Secretary of State and mayor of Grand Rapids
• Arthur H. Vandenberg – 88th President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate
• Guy Vander Jagt – U.S. Congressman from Michigan
• Richard VanderVeen – U.S. Congressman from Michigan
• Martha Lee Walters – 98th Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court

[edit] Military figures

• Roger B. Chaffee – NASA astronaut and U.S. Navy lieutenant commander
• Eugene F. George – U.S. Navy sailor and Navy Cross recipient
• Jack Lousma – NASA astronaut and U.S. Marine Corps colonel
• John C. Sjogren – U.S. Army Staff Sergeant and Medal of Honor recipient
• Dirk J. Vlug – U.S. Army Private First Class and Medal of Honor recipient

[edit] Musicians and bands

• Ralston Bowles – folk musician
• Mary Canberg – violinist
• Xavier Davis – jazz pianist
• DeBarge – R&B/soul group
• Al Green – R&B/soul singer
• Bob Hay – member of the Squalls
• Adina Howard – R&B singer
• Maynard James Keenan – lead singer of Tool
• Anthony Kiedis – lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
• La the Darkman – Hip-Hop artist affiliated with Wu-Tang Clan
• Kevin Max – member of dc Talk
• Ken Medema – Christian musician
• John W. Peterson – Christian songwriter
• Mustard Plug – ska punk group
• Marvin Sapp – gospel singer
• Del Shannon – rock & roll musician
• Still Remains – metalcore group
• Leo Sowerby – composer and musician
• Casey Stratton – pop/rock musician
• Sam Stryke – composer and pianist
• Whirlwind Heat – alternative rock group
• Jason Wood – lead singer of It Dies Today

[edit] Religious figures

• Rob Bell – founding pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church and author
• Martin H. Carmody – Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus
• Robert C. Gage – pastor of Wealthy Street Baptist Church and author
• Michael Gallagher – Bishop of Grand Rapids
• Francis J. Haas – Bishop of Grand Rapids
• Edward D. Kelly – Bishop of Grand Rapids
• Isaac McCoy – Baptist missionary
• Joseph G. Pinten – Bishop of Grand Rapids
• Edmund Szoka – President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State

[edit] Sports figures

[edit] Writers, novelists, and poets

• Max Apple – short story writer, novelist and screenwriter
• Andrew Britton – novelist
• Robert Forrest Burgess – outdoors writer and photographer
• Peter De Vries – editor and novelist
• Lloyd Kropp – novelist, composer and educator
• Patrick Maher – novelist
• Ander Monson – novelist and poet
• Mary Jo Salter – poet
• Michael Talbot – science writer
• Chris Van Allsburg – children's author and illustrator
• Stewart Edward White – author