Following is a list of notable alumni from Drury University.
Business
Ernest R. Breech, chairman of Ford Motor Company and Trans World Airlines
David Clohessy, director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP)
John Morris, founder and majority owner of Bass Pro Shops
Larry O'Reilly, Rosalie O'Reilly Wooten, & David O'Reilly, founders of O'Reilly Auto Parts
Lester E. Cox, Missouri businessman, Chairman of Ozark Air Lines, namesake of CoxHealth
Education
Douglas W. Arner, Kerry Holdings Professor at the University of Hong Kong
Lacey Eastburn, president of Arizona State College at Flagstaff, now Northern Arizona University, 1947–1957
Frederic Aldin Hall, chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis 1913–1923
J. Paul Leonard (1901–1995), university president, educator
Kim Medley, environmental scientist at Washington University in St. Louis
Aven Nelson, botanist who specialized in plants of the Rocky Mountains and was a founding professor and president of the University of Wyoming
Todd Parnell, banker and former president of Drury University
David E. Sweet, founding president of Metropolitan State University and later president of Rhode Island College
Tom Whitlock, songwriter and lyricist best known for his Academy Award- and Golden Globe-winning song "Take My Breath Away"
Entertainment
Bob Barker, former game show host and executive producer of The Price Is Right
David Crabtree, film critic and celebrity blogger
Robert Cummings, film and television actor
Danny Dark, voiceover for TV commercials as well as the voice of Superman in the Super Friends TV series
Dabbs Greer, actor
David Kershenbaum, iconic platinum record producer and record company executive - Hollywood California
Drew Kifer, actor, Clorox commercials
Leonard Pronko, theatre scholar best known for introducing the Japanese dance drama kabuki to the West
Si Siman, music industry executive
Heidi Strobel, Survivor: The Amazon contestant
Law
William Robert Collinson, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri
Timothy A. Garrison, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri 2018–2021
Jim Hannah, Chief Justice Arkansas Supreme Court
Dean Whipple, Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri
Paul C. Wilson, chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court
Military
William A. Beiderlinden, U.S. Army major general
Charles E. Fritz, captain in the United States Army Air Forces, part of the United States Strategic Bombing Survey, and scientist pioneering disaster research
Politics
Orland K. Armstrong, member of the United States House of Representatives
Edward Barbour, served in the Missouri Senate 1935–1943 and in the Missouri House of Representatives 1923–1925
Charles H. Brown, member of the United States House of Representatives 1957–1961
Paul Busiek, Missouri House of Representatives
Jim Chappell, commissioner of the Kansas City, Missouri Port Authority; and chairman of the Clay County Board of Election Commissioners
Bob Dixon, former member of the Missouri Senate and current Greene County, Missouri Presiding Commissioner
Durward Hall, member of the United States House of Representatives 1961–1973
Susan Montee, State Auditor of Missouri
Cleveland A. Newton, member of the United States House of Representatives
Bill Owen, member of the Missouri House of Representatives
Jeanie Riddle, Republican member of the Missouri Senate
James Edward Ruffin, member of the United States House of Representatives 1933–1935
Jay Wasson, member of the Missouri Senate 2011–2019 and the Missouri House of Representatives 2002–2010
George H. Williams, United States Senator
Karen L. Williams, United States Ambassador to Suriname
Religion
Walter Jacob, reform rabbi and founder of Abraham Geiger College
Marcia Mitchell, founder of Little Light House
Science and medicine
Fred S. Clinton, one of the first medical doctors in Oklahoma, built the first hospital in Tulsa
Dorothy van Dyke Leake, botanist, botanical illustrator, educator, writer and conservationist
Carl Richard Moore, endocrinologist noted for his studies of the reproductive tract of male mammals and the physiology of spermatozoa
Sports
Mike Carter (born 1955), American-Israeli basketball player
Dan Glass, former president of Kansas City Royals
Lauren Holtkamp, NBA referee
Miranda Maverick, MMA Flyweight fighter in the UFC and formerly Invicta Fighting Championships
Ricky Meinhold, professional baseball player with the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Mets, pitching coach for the Appalachian State Mountaineers
Ismael Ortiz, Panamanian swimmer
Trevor Richards, Major League Baseball pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays
Bill Virdon, professional baseball player and manager
John William Yettaw, the Suu Kyi swimmer
Writing and journalism
Mary Ellen Hopkins, quilter and author
Edna Kenton, feminist writer
Michael Mallory, author and journalist
Frank Peters Jr., journalist, won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism