Notable early Elgin High alumni
1876 - Frederick Upham Adams, inventor, novelist, reformer
1883 - Max Adler, concert violinist, vice president of Sears & Roebuck, benefactor of Adler Planetarium
1901 - William LeBaron, playwright, movie producer of Cimarron, Academy Award winning film
1910 - Lou North, Major League Baseball pitcher for Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Braves
1920 - John M. Qualen, character actor in more than 100 films and television
1923 - James M. Roche, CEO of General Motors Corp.
1927 - Paul F. Flory, polymer chemist and recipient of the 1974 Nobel Prize in chemistry
1932 - William M. Brandes, vice president of Elgin National Watch Co.
1935 - William E. Rauschenberger, mayor of Elgin (1971-1975)
1945 - Charles "Chick" Peterson, world class watercolor artist
1946 - Charles E. Swanson, president of Encyclopaedia Britannica
1949 - John "Jack" S. Shales and Marlene "Kane" Shales, philanthropists and civic leaders
1951 - Douglas B. Nash, NASA geologist, California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Division of Space Sciences
1951 - John W. Teets, CEO, Greyhound, Dial and Armour
1960 - Sara Melissa Hart, Miss Elgin 1962, Second City alum and lead in traveling production of "Cabaret," Tony Award-nominated actress
1962 - Tom W. Shales, television critic for Washington Post and 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism
1963 - Brian Oldfield, Olympic shot putter and world record holder
For a comprehensive list of notable alumni, visit u-46.org.