Business & brands · 1916–2009Robert McNamaraFord Motor Company president, U.S. Secretary of DefenseOne of Ford's postwar 'Whiz Kids', he rose to president of Ford in 1960 before leaving for Washington as Secretary of Defense.DETROIT / A living lexicon / ¼
Famous Detroiters
People who were born here, moved here or built their careers in Detroit: musicians, carmakers, athletes, writers, inventors, civil-rights leaders and a few notorious names. With their dates, their Detroit story and the places where they lived, worked and played, closed ones included.
- 1,940 famous people
- 366 Detroit places
- 21 fields
Hungarian ties 22 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
13 people
Clear filtersBusiness & brands · 1916–2009Robert McNamaraFord Motor Company president, U.S. Secretary of DefenseOne of Ford's postwar 'Whiz Kids', he rose to president of Ford in 1960 before leaving for Washington as Secretary of Defense.
Literature · 1918–1994Russell Kirkpolitical theorist, historian, man of letters, novelistAuthor of The Conservative Mind, a founding text of postwar American conservatism, born and raised in the metro Detroit railroad town of Plymouth.
Law · 1913–1988John N. Mitchelllawyer, U.S. attorney generalDetroit-born bond lawyer who became Richard Nixon's attorney general and campaign manager, and later the highest-ranking official imprisoned over Watergate.
Politics · 1912–2003Martha Griffithslawyer, judge, politicianDetroit lawyer, first woman judge of the city's Recorder's Court and 20-year congresswoman who forced sex discrimination into the Civil Rights Act and pushed the ERA through the House.
Science & invention · 1915–1994Jerome Wiesnerelectrical engineer, science adviser, university presidentPresident John F. Kennedy's science adviser and later president of MIT, born in Detroit and raised in Dearborn, where he attended Fordson High School.
Politics · 1911–1988G. Mennen Williamsgovernor of Michigan, diplomat, chief justiceDetroit-born heir to the Mennen toiletries fortune ('Soapy') who as six-term governor (1949–1961) forged Michigan's Democratic alliance of labor, Black voters and liberals.
Politics · 1918–1997Coleman Younglabor organizer, state senator, mayor of DetroitDetroit's first Black mayor (1974–1994), a Tuskegee Airman and fiery labor radical who reshaped the city with the Renaissance Center, the People Mover and new auto plants.
Labor · 1911–2001Leonard WoodcockUAW president (1970–1977), first US ambassador to the People's Republic of ChinaDetroit machine assembler who succeeded Walter Reuther as UAW president in 1970, then became the first US ambassador to Communist China.
Press & broadcasting · 1917–1977Lou Gordontelevision interviewer, columnist, political reporterCombative Detroit TV interviewer whose Lou Gordon Program on WKBD (1966–1977) drew George Romney's 1967 'brainwashing' remark that sank his presidential hopes.
Politics · 1914–1972Cora Brownsocial worker, policewoman, lawyer, state senatorCass Tech graduate, Detroit social worker and policewoman who in 1952 became the first African American woman elected to any state senate in the United States.The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own. Famous people's places among the sights ↗