List of people from Albuquerque, New Mexico

This is a list of notable people who were either born in, lived for a significant period of time in, or are otherwise closely associated with Albuquerque, New Mexico. The “Blue Sky” capital had 559,374 citizens as of (2019). They are referred to by the demonym "Albuquerquean", and by the colloquial "burqueño" or "burqueña".

Academia and science

Person	Lifespan	Notability	Connection	Ref.
Nina Leopold Bradley	1917–2011	Conservationist	Born
Bainbridge Bunting	1913–1981	Architectural historian	Resident
Alfred A. Cave	1935–2019	Historian	Born
Juan Cole	1952–	Historian	Born
Brian Conrey	1955–	Mathematician	Raised
Marie Cowan	1938–2008	Nurse and academic	Born
David Eagleman	1971–	Neuroscientist and science communicator	Born and raised
Patrick D. Gallagher	1963–	Physicist, University of Pittsburgh Chancellor, and NIST Director	Born and raised
Laura E. Gómez	1964–	Law professor	Raised; resident
Helen S. Lang	1947–2016	Philosophy professor	Raised
A. Carl Leopold	1919–2009	Plant physiologist	Born
Luna Leopold	1915–2006	Geomorphologist and hydrologist	Born
William Randolph Lovelace II	1907–1965	Physician and aerospace medicine researcher	Resident
William Nordhaus	c. 1941–	Economist	Born and raised
Raymond Rogers	1927–2005	Chemist	Born
Clayton Sam White	1912–2004	Physician and biomedical researcher	Resident
Floy Agnes Lee	1922–2018	Hematology technician and biologist	Born and raised

Acting and filmmaking

Person	Lifespan	Notability	Connection	Ref.
Seth Adkins	1989–	Actor	Born and raised
Don Alvarado	1904–1967	Actor	Born and raised
Ari Aster	1986–	Director, Filmmaker	Raised
Leah Clark	1979–	Voice actor for Funimation	Born
Edmund Cobb	1892–1974	Actor	Born and raised
Bill Daily	1927–2018	Actor, comedian	Resident
Shari Eubank	1947–	Actor	Born
Jesse Tyler Ferguson	1975–	Actor	Raised
Annabeth Gish	1971–	Actor	Born
Forrest Goodluck	1998–	Actor	Born
Neil Patrick Harris	1973–	Actor	Born
Mike Judge	1962–	Animator, actor, writer, creator of Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill	Raised
Isaac Kappy	1977–2019	Actor	Born
Minka Kelly	1980–	Actor	Raised
Benito Martinez	1971–	Actor	Born and raised
Patrice Martinez	1963–2018	Actor	Born and raised
Carroll McComas	1886–1962	Actor	Born
Freddie Prinze Jr.	1976–	Actor	Raised
Steven Michael Quezada	1963–	Actor	Born and raised; resident
Tracy Reiner	1964–	Actor	Born
Jay Roach	1957–	Director, producer	Born and raised
Bernardo Saracino		Actor	Born and raised
Willow Shields	2000–	Actor	Born and raised
Madolyn Smith	1957–	Actor	Born
French Stewart	1964–	Actor	Born and raised
Slim Summerville	1892–1946	Actor	Born
Lisandra Tena	1987–	Actor	Born and raised
Vivian Vance	1909–1979	Actor, singer	Resident
Tony Vincent	1973–	Actor, singer	Born and raised

Art and architecture

Person	Lifespan	Notability	Connection	Ref.
Miles Brittelle	1894–1970	Architect	Resident
Oskar D'Amico	1923–2003	Painter	Resident
Tony Feher	1956–2016	Sculptor	Born
Max Flatow	1915–2003	Architect	Resident
T. Charles Gaastra	1879–1947	Architect	Resident
Alice Garver	1924–1966	Painter and printmaker	Resident
Douglas Kent Hall	1938–2008	Photographer and writer	Resident
Frederick Hammersley	1919–2009	Painter	Resident
Daniel Kaven	1977–	Architect and Artist	Born and raised
Nancy Kozikowski	1943–	Weaver and artist	Born; resident
Jessamyn Lovell	1977–	Photographer	Resident
Malaquías Montoya	1938–	Visual artist	Born
Brian O'Connor (artist)	1958–	Visual artist	Resident
Hal Olsen	c. 1920–	Nose art painter	Resident
Emi Ozawa	1962–	Sculptor	Resident
Antoine Predock	1936–	Architect	Resident
Bart Prince	c. 1947–	Architect	Born and raised; resident
Connie Samaras		Photographer	Born
Ryan Singer	1973–	Painter	Resident
Mary Tsiongas	1959–	Contemporary artist, academic	Resident
Robert Williams	1943–	Artist	Born and raised
Joel-Peter Witkin	1939–	Photographer	Resident

Aviation and spaceflight

Person	Lifespan	Notability	Connection	Ref.
Ben Abruzzo	1930–1985	Balloonist	Resident
Richard Abruzzo	1963–2010	Balloonist
Maxie Anderson	1934–1983	Balloonist	Resident
Sidney Gutierrez	1951–	Astronaut	Born and raised
Mike Mullane	1945–	Astronaut	Raised

Business

Person	Lifespan	Notability	Connection	Ref.
Jeff Bezos	1964–	Founder and CEO of Amazon.com	Born
Alissa Chavez	c. 1996–	Inventor and entrepreneur	Born and raised
Franz Huning	1827–1905	Businessman and pioneer	Resident
Adrienne Maloof	1961–	Businesswoman and TV personality	Born and raised
George J. Maloof Sr.	1923–1980	Businessman, Houston Rockets owner	Resident
George J. Maloof Jr.	1964–	Businessman, former Sacramento Kings owner	Born and raised
Fannie S. Spitz	1873–1943	Inventor	Resident
Joel Spolsky	1965–	Software engineer and executive	Born and raised

Government, politics, and law

Person	Lifespan	Notability	Connection	Ref.
Clinton Anderson	1895–1975	U.S. Senator from New Mexico	Resident
Thomas Anderson	1933–	New Mexico State Representative	Resident
Deanna Archuleta	1964–	U.S. Department of the Interior official	Resident
Janice Arnold-Jones	1952–	New Mexico State Representative	Resident
Manuel Armijo	c. 1793–1853	Mexican governor of New Mexico	Resident
Norman Bay	1960–	U.S. Attorney and FERC Chairman	Resident
David Bowdich	1969–	FBI Deputy Director	Born and raised
George D. Buffett	1928–2012	New Mexico State Representative	Resident
Jacob Candelaria	c. 1986–	New Mexico State Senator	Born and raised; resident
David Cargo	1929–2013	Governor of New Mexico	Resident
Soledad C. Chacón	1890–1936	New Mexico Secretary of State and State Representative	Born and raised; resident
Dennis Chávez	1888–1962	U.S. Senator from New Mexico	Raised; resident
Levi Chavez		Police officer acquitted of murder	Worked as a police officer
Pete Domenici	1932–2017	U.S. Senator from New Mexico	Born and raised; resident
Harvey Butler Fergusson	1848–1915	U.S. Representative from New Mexico	Resident
Kate Gallego	1981–	Mayor of Phoenix	Born and raised
Martin Heinrich	1971–	U.S. Senator from New Mexico	Resident
Thomas E. Horn	1946–	Attorney, Trustee San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center	Born and raised
Tim Keller	1977–	Mayor of Albuquerque, State Senator, and State Auditor	Born and raised; resident
Petra Jimenez Maes	1947–	New Mexico Supreme Court Chief Justice	Born and raised
Lenton Malry	1931–	Member of the New Mexico House of Representatives (1969–1979)	Resident
Néstor Montoya	1862–1923	U.S. Representative from New Mexico	Born and raised
Janet Napolitano	1957–	U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security and Governor of Arizona	Raised
Rory Ogle	1954–2013	New Mexico State Representative	Resident
Francisco Perea	1830–1913	Congressional delegate from New Mexico Territory	Born; resident
Jane Powdrell-Culbert	1949–	New Mexico State Representative	Born and raised
Bernard Shandon Rodey	1856–1927	Congressional delegate from New Mexico Territory	Resident
Edmund G. Ross	1826–1907	U.S. Senator from Kansas and Governor of New Mexico Territory	Resident
Debra M. Sariñana		New Mexico State Representative	Born; resident
Steven Schiff	1947–1998	U.S. Representative from New Mexico	Resident
Oliver Seth	1915–1996	United States Circuit Judge	Born
Albert G. Simms	1882–1964	U.S. Representative from New Mexico	Resident
Brandt Smith	1959–	Arkansas State Representative	Born
Tina Smith	1958–	U.S. Senator from Minnesota	Born
Melanie Stansbury	1979–	New Mexico State Representative	Raised
Sheryl Williams Stapleton	1957–	New Mexico State Representative and House Majority Leader	Resident
Elias S. Stover	1836–1927	Politician, businessman, and first president of the University of New Mexico	Resident
Harry Stowers	1926–2015	New Mexico Supreme Court Chief Justice	Resident
Clyde Tingley	1882–1960	Governor of New Mexico	Resident
E. S. Johnny Walker	1911–2000	U.S. Representative from New Mexico	Resident
Vicente T. Ximenes	1919–2014	Civil servant and activist	Resident

Journalism and broadcasting

Person	Lifespan	Notability	Connection	Ref.
Linda Chavez	1947–	Political commentator	Born
Diane Dimond	1952–	News anchor and reporter	Raised
George Fischbeck	1922–2015	Weather reporter and TV personality	Resident
Howard Morgan	c. 1930–	Weather reporter	Resident
Thomas E. Horn	1946–	Publisher Bay Area Reporter	Born and raised
Ernie Pyle	1900–1945	War correspondent	Resident
Joshua Cooper Ramo	1968–	Journalist and consultant	Raised
Mike Roberts	1933–2016	Sportscaster	Resident
Lauren Sánchez	1969–	News anchor and TV personality	Born and raised

Military

Person	Lifespan	Notability	Connection	Ref.
Manuel Antonio Chaves	1818–1889	Soldier	Born
Harold H. Moon Jr.	1921–1944	U.S. Army soldier and Medal of Honor recipient	Born
Chester Nez	1921–2014	Navajo code talker	Resident
Louis R. Rocco	1938–2002	U.S. Army soldier and Medal of Honor recipient	Born
Carmelita Vigil-Schimmenti	1936–	U.S. Air Force Brigadier General	Born

Music

Individuals

Person	Lifespan	Notability	Connection	Ref.
Claude Albright	1873–1923	Operatic mezzo-soprano	Raised; resident
Rahim AlHaj	c. 1968–	Oud player	Resident
Lorenzo Antonio	1969–	Latin singer	Born and raised; resident
Jeremy Barnes	1976–	Drummer and multi-instrumentalist for Neutral Milk Hotel and A Hawk and a Hacksaw	Born and raised; resident
Randy Castillo	1950–2002	Drummer for Ozzy Osbourne and Mötley Crüe	Born and raised
Raven Chacon	1977–	Pulitzer Prize winning composer	Raised; resident
Zach Condon	1986–	Multi-instrumentalist and frontman for Beirut	Born
Martin Crandall	1975–	Keyboard and bass player for The Shins	Born and raised
Héctor García	1930–	Classical guitarist	Resident
Al Hurricane	1936–2017	New Mexico music singer-songwriter	Raised; resident
Al Hurricane Jr.	1959–	New Mexico music singer-songwriter	Born and raised; resident
Sondra Isaminger	1958–2008	Singer and community leader	Resident
John Lewis	1920–2001	Jazz pianist and founder of the Modern Jazz Quartet	Raised
Demi Lovato	1992–	Singer, songwriter, and actor	Born
Ryan McGarvey	1986–	Blues rock singer, guitarist and songwriter	Born
John Donald Robb	1892–1989	Composer and ethnomusicologist	Resident
Jesse Sandoval	1974–	Drummer for The Shins	Born and raised
Bobby Shew	1941–	Jazz trumpeter	Born and raised
Z. Randall Stroope	1953–	Composer	Born
Heather Trost	1982–	Violinist for A Hawk and a Hacksaw	Born and raised; resident
Xzibit	1974–	Rapper and actor	Raised
Lauren Zhang	2001–	Pianist	Born

Groups

Group	Formed	Notability	Ref.
Brokencyde	2006	Crunkcore group
The Eyeliners	1995	Pop punk band
Femme Fatale	1987	Glam metal band
A Hawk and a Hacksaw	2001	Indie folk band
Hazeldine	1996	Alternative country band
The Rondelles	1995	Indie rock band
Scared of Chaka	1993	Pop punk band
The Shins	1997	Indie rock band
Sparx	1982	Latin band
Xit	1967	Native American rock band

Sports

Baseball

Person	Lifespan	Notability	Connection	Ref.
Alex Bregman	1994–	Houston Astros third baseman and shortstop	Born and raised
Corinne Clark	1928–2006	All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player	Resident
Chris Cron	1964–	MLB player and minor league manager	Born
Mitch Garver	1991–	Minnesota Twins catcher	Born and raised
Ken Giles	1990–	Toronto Blue Jays pitcher	Born and raised
Fred Haney	1896–1977	MLB player and manager	Born
Tito Landrum	1954–	MLB outfielder	Raised
Randy McCament	1962–	MLB pitcher	Born
Jordan Pacheco	1986–	MLB infielder and catcher	Born and raised
Christian Parker	1975–	New York Yankees pitcher	Born and raised
James Parr	1986–	Atlanta Braves pitcher	Born and raised
Mike Vento	1978–	MLB outfielder	Born and raised
Kyle Weiland	1986–	MLB pitcher	Born and raised

Basketball

Person	Lifespan	Notability	Connection	Ref.
Scott Bamforth	1989–	Basketball player	Born and raised
James Borrego	1977–	Charlotte Hornets head coach	Born and raised
A. J. Bramlett	1977–	NBA basketball player	Raised
Christian Cunningham	1997–	Israeli Basketball Premier League basketball player	Raised
Michael Holyfield	1992–	Basketball player	Born and raised
T. J. Holyfield	1995–	Basketball player	Born and raised
Cody Toppert	1983–	Basketball player and coach	Born and raised
Gary Suiter	1944-1982	First person from Albuquerque to play in the NBA	Raised

Combat sports

Person	Lifespan	Notability	Connection	Ref.
Ray Borg	1993–	Mixed martial artist	Resident
Brenda Burnside	1963–	Boxer	Born; resident
Victoria Cisneros	1985–	Boxer	Resident
Carlos Condit	1984–	Mixed martial artist	Born and raised
John Dodson	1984–	Mixed martial artist	Born and raised
Jordan Espinosa	1989–	Mixed martial artist	Resident
Jodie Esquibel	1986–	Boxer and mixed martial artist	Born and raised
Bob Foster	1938–2015	Boxer	Raised; resident
Holly Holm	1981–	Boxer and mixed martial artist	Born and raised; resident
Greg Jackson	1974–	Mixed martial arts trainer	Raised; resident
Stephanie Jaramillo	1982–	Boxer	Born and raised; resident
Jon Jones	1987–	Mixed martial artist	Resident
Angelo Leo	1994–	Boxer	Born and raised
Damacio Page	1982–	Mixed martial artist	Born and raised
Danny Romero	1974–	Boxer	Born and raised
Diego Sanchez	1981–	Mixed martial artist	Born and raised
Joby Sanchez	1991–	Mixed martial artist	Born and raised
Johnny Tapia	1967–2012	Boxer	Born and raised; resident

Football

Person	Lifespan	Notability	Connection	Ref.
Richard Angulo	1980–	NFL tight end and coach	Born and raised
Alan Branch	1984–	NFL defensive tackle	Born and raised
Erik Cook	1987–	NFL center	Born and raised
Ryan Cook	1983–	NFL center	Born and raised
Carlos Etheredge	1970–	NFL tight end	Born and raised
Jim Everett	1963–	NFL quarterback	Raised
Arian Foster	1986–	NFL running back	Born and raised
Zach Gentry	1996–	NFL tight end	Born and raised
Danny Gonzales	1976–	New Mexico Lobos head football coach	Born and raised
Jake Ingram	1985–	NFL long snapper	Born
Ronnie Lott	1959–	Hall of Fame NFL defensive back	Born
Don Perkins	1938–	NFL running back	Resident
Nick Speegle	1981–	NFL linebacker	Born and raised; resident

Motorsports

Person	Lifespan	Notability	Connection	Ref.
Samuel Fastle	1995–	International motorcycle trials rider	Born and raised
Jamie Galles	1972–	Race car driver	Born and raised
Jim Guthrie	1961–	Race car driver	Resident
Sean Guthrie	1988–	Race car driver	Born and raised
Rachel Hassler	1995–	International motorcycle trials rider	Born and raised
Caitlin Shaw	1989–	Stock car racing driver	Born and raised
Al Unser	1939–2021	Race car driver	Born and raised; resident
Al Unser Jr.	1962–	Race car driver	Born and raised; resident
Bobby Unser	1934–2021	Race car driver	Raised; resident
Robby Unser	1968–	Race car driver	Born and raised

Soccer

Person	Lifespan	Notability	Connection	Ref.
Kyle Altman	1986–	Soccer player	Born and raised
Josh Goss	1994–	Soccer player	Born and raised
Brandon Moss	1984–	MLS soccer player	Born and raised
Ford Parker	1996–	Soccer goalkeeper	Born and raised
Tammy Pearman	1973–	Soccer player	Raised
Sergio Rivas	1997–	Soccer player	Raised
Devon Sandoval	1991–	MLS soccer player	Born and raised

Other sports

Person	Lifespan	Notability	Connection	Ref.
John Baker	1944–1970	Runner	Raised; resident
Dave Barney	1932–	Swimming coach and educator at Albuquerque Academy	Resident
Curtis Beach	1990–	Decathlete	Born and raised
Notah Begay III	1972–	PGA golfer	Born and raised
Brent Bookwalter	1984–	Cyclist	Born
Shelia Burrell	1972–	Olympic heptathlete	Born
Cathy Carr	1954–	Swimmer and Olympic gold medalist	Born and raised
Allen Church	1928–2019	Skiing official	Resident
Beth Coats	1966–	Olympic biathlete	Born and raised
Wil Collins	1978–	PGA golfer	Resident
Trent Dimas	1970–	Gymnast and Olympic gold medalist	Born and raised
Mariah Duran	1996–	Skateboarder	Born and raised
Janet Ely	1953–	Olympic diver	Born and raised
Tim Garcia	1955–	Tennis player	Raised
Carla Garrett	1967–	Olympic discus thrower and weightlifter	Born
Joseph Hagerty	1982–	Gymnast and Olympic bronze medalist	Born and raised
Pat Henry	1951–	Collegiate track and field coach	Born and raised
Mbarak Hussein	1965–	Distance runner	Resident
Kent Jones	1967–	PGA golfer	Resident
Kathrin Keil	1962–	Tennis player	Raised
Gina Kim	2000–	Golfer	Born
David Livingston	1962–	Tennis player	Born and raised
Austin Menaul	1888–1975	Track and field athlete and Olympic pentathlete	Born
Cowboy Jimmy Moore	1910–1999	Pool player	Resident
Buster Quist	1936–	Javelin thrower	Resident
Jarrin Solomon	1986–	Sprinter and Olympic bronze medalist	Born and raised; resident
Willie Tucker	1872–1954	Professional golfer and golf course architect	Resident
Chainey Umphrey	1970–	Olympic gymnast	Born and raised

Writing

Person	Lifespan	Notability	Connection	Ref.
Daniel Abraham	1969–	Science fiction and fantasy writer	Born and raised; resident
Paula Gunn Allen	1939–2008	Writer and poet	Born
Rudolfo Anaya	1937–2020	Writer	Resident
Louis Bayard	1963–	Writer	Born
Suzy McKee Charnas	1939–	Science fiction and fantasy writer	Resident
Robert Crichton	1925–1993	Writer	Born
Mel Dinelli	1912–1991	Screenwriter and playwright	Born and raised
Stephen R. Donaldson	1947–	Science fiction and fantasy writer	Resident
Lois Duncan	1934–2016	Young adult fiction writer	Resident
Max Evans	1924–2020	Western writer	Resident
Erna Fergusson	1888–1964	Writer	Born and raised; resident
Harvey Fergusson	1890–1971	Writer	Born and raised
Kendrick Frazier	1942–	Science writer and editor of Skeptical Inquirer magazine	Resident
Olivia Gatwood	1992–	Poet	Born and raised
Steven Gould	1955–	Science fiction writer	Resident
Joy Harjo	1951–	Writer and U.S. Poet Laureate	Resident
Tony Hillerman	1925–2008	Mystery writer	Resident
Mira Jacob	1973–	Writer	Born and raised
Betsy James		Children's literature writer and illustrator	Resident
Larry Johnson	1960–	Writer and cryonics whistleblower	Born and raised
Susan Krinard		Paranormal romance and fantasy writer	Resident
J.M.G. Le Clézio	1940–	Writer	Resident
Jane Lindskold	1962–	Fantasy and science fiction writer	Resident
Carolyn Meyer	1935–	Young adult fiction writer	Resident
Victor Milán	1954–2018	Science fiction writer	Raised; resident
Laura J. Mixon	1957–	Science fiction writer	Resident
Steven T. Murray	1943–2018	Literary translator	Resident
Tiina Nunnally	1952–	Literary translator	Resident
Simon J. Ortiz	1941–	Writer and poet	Born
Kathryn Ptacek	1952–	Horror writer	Raised
Kirstin Valdez Quade		Writer	Born
Leroy Quintana	1944–	Poet	Born
Lois Ruby	c. 1950–	Writer	Resident
Fred Saberhagen	1930–2007	Science fiction writer	Resident
Leslie Marmon Silko	1948–	Writer	Born
Lauren Tarshis	1963–	Children's literature writer	Born
Alisa Valdes	1969–	Writer and journalist	Born and raised; resident
Robert E. Vardeman	1947–	Science fiction and fantasy writer	Resident
Sage Walker		Science fiction writer	Resident
Harry Willson	1932–2010	Writer	Resident
Jay Wright	1935–	Poet	Born
Rhiana Yazzie		Playwright	Born

Miscellaneous

Person	Lifespan	Notability	Connection	Ref.
Francisco Xavier Chaves	1762-1832	Captured by Comanche near Albuquerque in 1770
Barbara Edwards	1960–	Model, 1984 Playboy Playmate of the Year	Born
Francisco Martin Duran	1968–	Attempted presidential assassin	Born and raised
Alphonse Gallegos	1931–1991	Roman Catholic bishop, Servant of God (viz, being investigated for sainthood in Catholicism)	Born
Daniel G. P. Gutierrez	1964–	Episcopal bishop	Born and raised
Cissy King	1946–	Dancer, featured performer on The Lawrence Welk Show	Raised
Joe Mande	1983–	Comedian and TV writer	Born
Marc Maron	1963–	Comedian and podcaster	Raised
Ishmael Muhammad	1964–	Minister in the Nation of Islam	Born
Mark Rudd	1947–	Activist and Weather Underground member	Resident
Lady Ganga	1966–2012	Humanitarian	Resident