# The 15 Most Famous BYU Alumni

> Quarterbacks, novelists, a game-show record holder and a TV pioneer went through the same Provo campus. Choose the name that carries furthest.

*By YPB Team · Published October 3, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-15-most-famous-byu-alumni*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Steve Young** — score 1000/1000
   Hall of Fame 49ers quarterback and Super Bowl XXIX MVP who starred at BYU.
2. **Ty Detmer** — score 927/1000
   BYU's 1990 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback.
3. **Mark Rober** — score 877/1000
   BYU mechanical engineering graduate who went to NASA's JPL and then to YouTube stardom.
4. **Jon Heder** — score 709/1000
   Napoleon Dynamite himself, a film made by fellow BYU students.
5. **Mitt Romney** — score 709/1000
   BYU valedictorian who became Massachusetts governor, a presidential nominee and a Utah senator.
6. **Danny Ainge** — score 600/1000
   Two-time NBA champion with the Celtics and later their president of basketball operations.
7. **Dan Reynolds** — score 600/1000
   Imagine Dragons frontman, who attended BYU before the band broke through.
8. **Aaron Eckhart** — score 600/1000
   Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight, who earned his film degree at BYU.
9. **Jim McMahon** — score 466/1000
   Record-setting BYU passer who won Super Bowl XX with the 1985 Chicago Bears.
10. **Brandon Sanderson** — score 466/1000
   Fantasy author of Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive, who also teaches writing at BYU.
11. **Ken Jennings** — score 0/1000
   Jeopardy! champion of 74 straight games and later the show's host.
12. **Philo Farnsworth** — score 0/1000
   Inventor of the first fully electronic television system, who studied at BYU in the 1920s.
13. **Jimmer Fredette** — score 0/1000
   2011 national player of the year whose deep threes started 'Jimmermania'.
14. **Stephenie Meyer** — score 0/1000
   Author of the Twilight saga, a BYU English graduate.
15. **Taysom Hill** — score 0/1000
   The New Orleans Saints' do-everything quarterback, tight end and special-teamer.

Tags: celebrities, college, byu, alumni