Meet 109 Scouts who became famous (just in time for the BSA’s 109th birthday!)

The Boy Scouts of America turns 109 years old on Feb. 8, 2019.

​What do you get the youth movement that has everything? A list of 109 Scouts who became famous.  The list includes presidents and Pulitzer Prize recipients, astronauts and athletes, celebrities and CEOs.

Astronauts, doctors, explorers and inventors

• Peter Agre, biologist who received 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (Eagle Scout, Class of 1964)
• Buzz Aldrin, second man to walk on the moon
• Dr. James Andrews, surgeon who has treated many high-profile athletes, including Drew Brees and Charles Barkley (Eagle Scout)
• Neil Armstrong, astronaut and first man to walk on the moon (Eagle Scout, Class of 1947)
• Lee Berger, National Geographic explorer and paleoanthropologist (Eagle Scout, Class of 1983)
• Guion Bluford, first African-American in space (Eagle Scout)
• Thomas Cech, chemist who received 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (Eagle Scout, Class of 1962)
• Roger Chaffee, astronaut who was killed in the Apollo 1 mission (Eagle Scout, Class of 1951)
• Charles Duke, astronaut and 10th man to walk on the moon (Eagle Scout, Class of 1946)
• Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor of the modern television (Eagle Scout, Class of 1932)
• Steve Fossett, record-setting aviator (Eagle Scout, Class of 1957)
• Jim Lovell, astronaut who was commander of Apollo 13 mission (Eagle Scout, Class of 1943)
• William Moerner, physicist who received 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (Eagle Scout, Class of 1967)
• Ellison Onizuka, astronaut who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion (Eagle Scout, Class of 1964)
• Paul Siple, Antarctic explorer who coined the term “wind chill” (Eagle Scout, Class of 1924)
• E. O. Wilson, researcher, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and the world’s top ant expert (Eagle Scout, Class of 1944)

Athletes, coaches and sports executives

• Hank Aaron, baseball Hall of Famer
• Willie Banks, Olympian and former world record-holder (Eagle Scout, Class of 1971)
• Bill Bradley, former basketball player for the New York Knicks and Hall of Famer (Eagle Scout, Class of 1957)
• Chan Gailey, former head coach of the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills (Eagle Scout, Class of 1966)
• Don Garlits, engineer who is considered the father of drag racing (Eagle Scout, Class of 1946)
• Pat Gillick, retired professional baseball executive and Hall of Famer (Eagle Scout, Class of 1951)
• Josh Hart, basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers (Eagle Scout, Class of 2013)
• Steven Holcomb, gold medalist in bobsled at 2010 Winter Olympics (Eagle Scout, Class of 1995)
• Michael Jordan, former NBA player and current NBA team owner
• Tommy Lasorda, former baseball manager and Hall of Famer
• Ewing Kauffman, former owner of the Kansas City Royals and the man after whom their stadium is named (Eagle Scout, Class of 1931)
• Ray Malavasi, former head coach of the Denver Broncos and the Los Angeles Rams (Eagle Scout, Class of 1944)
• Peter McLoughlin, president of the Seattle Seahawks (Eagle Scout, Class of 1971)
• Emery Moorehead, former tight end who won Super Bowl XX with the Chicago Bears (Eagle Scout, Class of 1969)
• Jim Mora, former head coach of the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts (Eagle Scout, Class of 1950)
• Nolan Ryan, former MLB pitcher and current Houston Astros executive
• Alberto Salazar, three-time winner of the New York City Marathon
• Mark Spitz, gold medal-winning Olympic swimmer
• Joe Theismann, former NFL quarterback
• Shane Victorino, former pro baseball outfielder who won three Gold Gloves (Eagle Scout, Class of 1996)
• Ken Whisenhunt, offensive coordinator for Los Angeles Chargers and former head coach of Arizona Cardinals and Tennessee Titans (Eagle Scout, Class of 1976)
• Steve Young, former NFL quarterback and sports broadcaster

Authors and journalists

• Walter Cronkite, journalist, CBS Evening News anchor
• Clive Cussler, best-selling adventure novelist (Eagle Scout, Class of 1946)
• Brandon Mull, author of the children’s fantasy series Fablehaven (Eagle Scout, Class of 1993)
• Harrison Salisbury, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who covered the civil rights movement, Kennedy assassination and Vietnam War (Eagle Scout, Class of 1924)

Civil rights leaders

• Ernest Green, civil rights activist and member of the Little Rock Nine (Eagle Scout, Class of 1956)
• Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights icon
• Percy Sutton, civil rights leader, Tuskegee Airmen pilot, entrepreneur who revitalized the Apollo Theater in New York (Eagle Scout, Class of 1936)

Entertainers

• Jack Black, actor in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, School of Rock and the Kung Fu Panda franchise
• Frank Blair, former host of NBC’s Today show (Eagle Scout, Class of 1930)
• Jimmy Buffett, Grammy Award-winning musician
• Tony Cavalero, actor in School of Rock on Nickelodeon (Eagle Scout, Class of 2001)
• Rob Corddry, former correspondent for The Daily Show and actor in Warm Bodies and Childrens Hospital (Eagle Scout, Class of 1988)
• Harrison Ford, actor in Blade Runner and the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises
• Zach Galifianakis, actor in the Hangover trilogy, The Lego Batman Movie and A Wrinkle in Time (Eagle Scout, Class of 1986)
• Nolan Gould, actor in ABC’s Modern Family
• Richard Gere, actor in Pretty Woman and Chicago
• Andy Griffith, actor in The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock
• William Hanna, animator and voice actor who co-founded Hanna-Barbera (Eagle Scout, Class of 1924)
• Jon Heder, actor in Napoleon Dynamite (Eagle Scout, Class of 1994)
• Derek Hough, actor and Dancing with the Stars champion
• Jay Leno, former host of NBC’s The Tonight Show
• Andy Lewis, world champion slackliner who performed in Super Bowl XLVI (Eagle Scout, Class of 2002)
• John Lithgow, Tony- and Emmy-winning actor, known for roles in 3rd Rock from the Sun and The Crown
• David Lynch, Academy Award-nominated director of The Elephant Man and creator of the murder mystery TV series Twin Peaks (Eagle Scout, Class of 1962)
• Ozzie Nelson, bandleader and actor who starred in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (Eagle Scout, Class of 1920)
• Jeff Orlowski, documentary filmmaker who made Chasing Ice and Chasing Coral (Eagle Scout, Class of 2000)
• Chris Pratt, actor in Parks and Recreation and Guardians of the Galaxy 
• Dan Reynolds, lead singer of the band Imagine Dragons (Eagle Scout, Class of 2004)
• Evan Roe, actor in Madam Secretary on CBS (Eagle Scout, Class of 2015)
• Mike Rowe, host of Dirty Jobs (Eagle Scout, Class of 1979)
• Glen Schofield, one of the creators of the Call of Duty videogame franchise (Eagle Scout, Class of 1977)
• Steven Spielberg, Academy Award-winning director of Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan(Eagle Scout, Class of 1961)
• Creek Stewart, survivalist and host of SOS: How to Survive on The Weather Channel (Eagle Scout, Class of 1990)
• Jimmy Stewart, Academy Award-winning actor in The Philadelphia Story
• George Strait, Grammy Award-winning musician
• John Tesh, pianist, composer and Emmy-winning TV host (Eagle Scout, Class of 1968)
• James Valentine, guitarist of the band Maroon 5 (Eagle Scout, Class of 1996)
• John Wayne, Academy Award-winning actor in True Grit

Politicians and public officials

• Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg L.P. and former New York City mayor (Eagle Scout, Class of 1954)
• James Brady, former White House Press Secretary (Eagle Scout, Class of 1955)
• Stephen Breyer, Supreme Court justice (Eagle Scout, Class of 1952)
• George W. Bush, 43rd U.S. president
• Tom C. Clark, former Supreme Court justice (Eagle Scout, Class of 1914)
• Bill Clinton, 42nd U.S. president
• Gerald Ford, 38th U.S. president (Eagle Scout, Class of 1927)
• Robert Gates, former Secretary of Defense (Eagle Scout, Class of 1958)
• Jon Huntsman Jr., U.S. ambassador to Russia (Eagle Scout, Class of 1975)
• John F. Kennedy, 35th U.S. president
• Henry Paulson, former Secretary of the Treasury (Eagle Scout, Class of 1960)
• Ross Perot, founder of Electronic Data Systems and presidential candidate (Eagle Scout, Class of 1943)
• Rick Perry, Secretary of Energy and former governor of Texas (Eagle Scout, Class of 1964)
• Donald Rumsfeld, former Secretary of Defense (Eagle Scout, Class of 1949)
• Jeff Sessions, Attorney General (Eagle Scout, Class of 1963)
• Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State and former CEO of ExxonMobil (Eagle Scout, Class of 1965)
• Togo West, former Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Eagle Scout, Class of 1957)

Business leaders

• Stephen Bechtel Jr., founder of Bechtel Corp., the largest construction and civil engineering company in the United States, benefactor of the Summit Bechtel Reserve (Eagle Scout, Class of 1940)
• Charles Dolan, founder of HBO (Eagle Scout, Class of 1941)
• Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft
• William Gates Sr., philanthropist and father of Bill Gates (Eagle Scout, Class of 1941)
• Howard Lincoln, former chairman of Nintendo of America and the Seattle Mariners (Eagle Scout, Class of 1955)
• Bill Marriott, executive chairman of Marriott International (Eagle Scout, Class of 1947)
• Michael Mauler, CEO of GameStop (Eagle Scout, Class of 1975)
• Jim Rogers, former president and CEO of Kampgrounds of America (Eagle Scout, Class of 1965)
• T. Gary Rogers, former CEO of Dreyer’s Ice Cream (Eagle Scout, Class of 1956)
• Brad Tilden, CEO of Alaska Airlines (Eagle Scout, Class of 1976)
• Sam Walton, founder of Walmart (Eagle Scout, Class of 1934)
• David Weekley, founder and chairman of David Weekley Homes (Eagle Scout, Class of 1969)

Soldiers and war heroes

• Arthur Eldred, first Eagle Scout and Navy veteran (Eagle Scout, Class of 1912)
• Thomas Norris, Navy SEAL who received Medal of Honor for his actions during the Vietnam War (Eagle Scout, Class of 1959)
• Mitchell Paige, Marine who received Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942 (Eagle Scout, Class of 1936)
• Leo K. Thorsness, Air Force colonel who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Vietnam War (Eagle Scout, Class of 1949)