What we wish we knew

FILE PHOTO BY RACHEL MEERT | IDS Actress and LGBTQ advocate Laverne Cox speaks Jan. 1, 2015, at the IU Auditorium.

A distinguished campus

Here are some of IU’s famous alumni.

Today, IU boasts more than 600,000 living alumni. Some names and faces of IU alums are more familiar than others. Here are a few, past and present, you might recognize.

Evan Bayh

Evan is the son of former United States Senator Birch Bayh, and he followed in his father’s political footsteps.

After serving as governor of Indiana from 1989 to 1997, the 1978 Kelley School of Business graduate was a U.S. senator from 1999 to 2011.

Laverne Cox

While actress and transgender rights activist Laverne Cox did not graduate from IU, she did attend for two years before transferring to Marymount Manhattan College in New York City. She became the fi rst openly transgender person to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category for her work on the Netfl ix series “Orange is the New Black.”

Hoagy Carmichael

A famous jazz pianist and composer, Carmichael attended IU’s Maurer School of Law and earned his degree in 1926.

Carmichael worked with the likes of Louis Armstrong. His most notable works are “Stardust” and “Georgia On My Mind.” A statue of the musician can be found near the entrance to the IU Cinema.

Ryan Murphy

Murphy has worked on TV shows such as “Nip/Tuck,” “Glee” and “American Horror Story.” While at IU, the Emmy winner wrote for the Indiana Daily Student and was part of the Singing Hoosiers.

Joshua Bell

A Bloomington native, Bell is a Grammy award-winning violinist. In 2007, the Jacobs School of Music alumnus joined the faculty as a senior lecturer.

Mark Spitz

Th is Olympic gold medalist swimmer, who won seven medals in 1972, has only been surpassed by Michael Phelps, who won eight in 2008. While at IU, Spitz trained with legendary Coach James "Doc" Counsilman and won eight individual NCAA titles.