Which famous people went to WWU? See celebrity alumni

From an Oscar-winning actor to TV hosts, several celebrities have called Whatcom County home. Western Washington University has produced its share of high-profile alumni. Famous musicians, writers and more have WWU as an alma mater.

Here’s what to know:

Did any famous musicians go to Western Washington University?

Ben Gibbard

Ben Gibbard is the frontman for indie rock band Death Cab For Cutie. The Grammy Award-nominated band is among the headliners at Seattle’s Bumbershoot music festival in 2026.

Gibbard received a bachelor’s degree in environmental chemistry from Western Washington University in 1999.

Gibbard was a recent WWU graduate in June 1999 when an underground gasoline pipeline exploded in Bellingham, killing three people. The incident inspired him to write the song “Kids in ‘99,” he told RE Sources in 2019.

Clayton Knight and Harrison Mills

Clayton Knight and Harrison Mills are best known as the electronic dance music duo Ozdesa.

The pair forged their musical partnership during their senior year at Western Washington University, according to alumni magazine WWU Windows.

Knight, a Bainbridge Island native, graduated with a degree in physics in 2012, while Mills, who grew up in the Bellevue area, graduated with a graphic design degree in 2012.

Carrie Brownstein

Musician and actor Carrie Brownstein, best known for indie rock band Sleater-Kinney, grew up in the Seattle suburbs and attended Western Washington University, The Oregonian previously reported.

She later transferred to Evergreen State College in Olympia to submerse herself in that city’s music scene.

Which well-know writers went to WWU?

William Dietrich

Originally from Tacoma, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, novelist and nonfiction writer William Dietrich “caught the journalism bug” at Fairhaven College, according to Fresh Fiction.

Dietrich is best known as the author of the best-selling Ethan Gage series of historical thrillers.

In 2006, he taught at WWU and advised the environmental science student publication, The Planet.

Gregg Olsen

Best-selling author Gregg Olsen was born in Seattle. He attended Western Washington University, earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism in the late 1970s.

During his time at WWU, he served as the editor-in-chief of Klipsun magazine.

Olsen has written more than 30 books, including true crime blockbusters “If You Tell” and “The Amish Wife,” according to book review website Bookreporter.

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Dan Erickson

Dan Erickson, creator and lead showrunner of the Emmy Award-winning TV show “Severance,” hails from Olympia.

Erickson got the idea for the dystopian science fiction thriller during his time in Western Washington University, The Bellingham Herald previously reported.

Board game inventor attended WWU

Robert Angel

Ever played the classic board game Pictionary with your friends or family? The game’s inventor went to Western Washington University.

Robert Angel, who graduated from Western in 1981 with a business degree, assembled the first copies of the iconic board game in his Seattle apartment in 1985, according to the university.

Within a few years, Pictionary had become one of the world’s most popular board games.