Notable alumni
Academia
Arts
- Larry Crabb (Class of 1965): author, professor and psychologist; founder and director of New Way Ministries
- Jacob G. Francis (Class of 1891): author, historian, Church of the Brethren pastor, founder of Elizabethtown College
- Sam Keen (Class of 1953): author, professor of philosophy and religion, and former contributing editor of Psychology Today
- J.D. Salinger (attended 1937-38): author, most known for The Catcher in the Rye, Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction, Franny and Zooey and Nine Stories, a collection of short stories
- Linda Grace Hoyer Updike, (Class of 1923), author, mother of John Updike
- Wesley Updike, (Class of 1923) teacher, father of John Updike
- Lewis R. Linet, Jr. (Class of 1966): Founder of The Agency Of Ursinus College - Concert Production, Producer of The Philadelphia Folk Festival, Original Manager of Rock Group, KISS.
- Dave Nolan (Class of 1965): Professor of Music, Audio recording, and Music Production, Head Coach of Varsity Volleyball
Athletics
- John W. Anderson (Class of 1953): football coach for Brown Bears football
- Reds Bassman (Class of 1936): football player for the Philadelphia Eagles
- B. J. Callaghan (Class of 2002): soccer coach, United States men's national soccer team
- Steve Donahue (Class of 1984): men's head basketball coach at The University of Pennsylvania
- Raymond G. Gettell (Class of 1904): football coach at Trinity College
- Tom Gormley (Class of 1917): player in American Professional Football League (which became the NFL in 1922) with Canton Bulldogs, Cleveland Tigers, Washington Senators and New York Brickley Giants
- Vonnie Gros (Class of 1958): head coach of the U.S. women's national field hockey team, Olympic bronze medalist.
- Paul Guenther (Class of 1993): defensive coordinator for NFL's Oakland Raiders
- Jing Johnson (Class of 1916): pitched in Major League Baseball for Philadelphia Athletics
- Erma Keyes (1926–1999), All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player
- Ted Kershner (Class of 1960): football coach at Rowan University
- Ronald C. Kichline (Class of 1915): football coach at Juniata College
- James J. Lorimer (Class of 1951): creator of Arnold Sports Festival, member of the International Sports Hall of Fame
- Dorothy McKnight (Class of 1957): executive director of the United States Women's Lacrosse Association and the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport
- Ralph Mitterling (Class of 1914): professional baseball player for the Philadelphia Athletics, baseball coach at University of Pittsburgh
- Joan Moser (Class of 1968): member of the U.S. women's national field hockey team and inaugural inductee into the U.S. Field Hockey Association Hall of Fame
- Dan Mullen (Class of 1994): Currently an analyst for ESPN; former head coach for University of Florida and Mississippi State University football teams.
- Earl Potteiger (Class of 1905): professional football player-coach for the New York Giants
- John Price (Class of 1905): medical doctor, and football and baseball coach at Franklin & Marshall College, Trinity College
- Jay Repko (Class of 1981): professional football player for the Philadelphia Eagles
- Debbie Ryan (Class of 1975): former head coach for women's basketball team at University of Virginia; member of Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
- Bob Shoudt (Class of 1988): professional competitive eater, aka Notorious B.O.B.[1]
- Dean Steward (Class of 1938): professional football player, member of "Steagles", team that resulted from temporary merger between Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers due to league-wide manning shortages in 1943 brought on by World War II
- N. Kerr Thompson (Class of 1912): football coach for Slippery Rock
Business
Government and Public Service
Religion
Science and Medicine
Notable faculty
- Raymond Dodge, experimental psychologist: Appointed Professor of Philosophy in 1896
- Rene Joyeuse, M.D., MS, FACS (17 January 1920 – 12 June 2012) was a Swiss, French and American soldier, physician, researcher, and was a co-founder of the American Trauma Society who distinguished himself as an OSS agent/operator of Allied intelligence in German-occupied France during World War II. Taught French at the college (1941-1942)
- John Mauchly, American physicist who, along with J. Presper Eckert, designed ENIAC, the first general purpose electronic digital computer, as well as EDVAC, BINAC and UNIVAC I, the first commercial computer made in the United States. While Professor of Physics at Ursinus from 1933 to 1941, developed and tested digital electronic calculating devices at Ursinus's science labs in Pfahler Hall, a building which still stands on campus (see Gallery, below)
- Royal Meeker, statistician: Taught at Ursinus from 1906 until his appointment by President Wilson to be Commissioner of Labor Statistics in 1913. He later served (1923–24) as Pennsylvania Secretary of Labor and Industry
- Joseph Melrose, former U.S. Ambassador to Sierra Leone (1998-2001): Ambassador-in-Residence of the school's International Relations Program
- Deborah Poritz, jurist: Attorney General of New Jersey (1994–96), Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court (1996-2006): Taught English literature at Ursinus in the late 1960s