The building features portraits of notable university alumni, selected by a student committee, on the walls of each of the five floors.
Below is the list of alumni featured throughout the Campus Instructional Facility. The University of Illinois Alumni family includes Olympians, Pulitzer Prize winners, Nobel laureates and a long list of innovators.
| Alumni | Degree | Distinction | Floor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Max Abramovitz | FAA, BS 1929 | Architect and collaborator on the United Nations complex, CIA headquarters and Philharmonic Hall at Lincoln Center | 1 |
| Marc Andreessen | ENG, BS 1994 | Inventor of the modern web browser | LL |
| Susan Avery | ENG, MS 1974; LAS, PHD 1978 | President of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution | 4 |
| William Baker | ENG, MS 1980 | Structural engineer of Burj Khalifa | 2 |
| Arnold Beckman | LAS, BS 1922; ENG, MS 1923; HON 1982 | Founder of Beckman Instruments | 1 |
| Eric Bina | ENG, BS 1986; MS 1988 | Inventor of the modern web browser | 1 |
| David Harold Blackwell | LAS, BA 1938; MA 1939; PHD 1941; HON 1966 | Mathematician and first African American member of the National Academy of Sciences | LL |
| Maudelle Brown Bousfield | LAS, AB 1906 | First African American woman graduate of University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign, and first African American principal at a Chicago public school | LL |
| St. Elmo Brady | LAS, PHD 1916 | First African American to earn a PhD in chemistry in the United States | LL |
| Betsy Brandt | FAA, BFA 1996 | Actress | 4 |
| Nancy Brinker | LAS, BA 1968 | Founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom | 1 |
| George Carruthers | ENG, BS 1961; MS 1962; PHD 1964 | Inventor of Far Ultraviolet Electrographic Camera used on Apollo 16 | LL |
| Iris Chang | UNI, 1985; MEDIA, BSJ 1989 | New York Times bestselling author | 2 |
| Doris Christopher | ACES, BS 1967 | Founder of Pampered Chef | 1 |
| Ollie Watts Davis | FAA, MMUS 1982; AMUSD 1988 | Internationally-recognized vocalist and music conductor | 1 |
| Earl B. Dickerson | LAS, AB 1914 | Leading civil rights attorney and business executive | 2 |
| Jean Driscoll | LAS, BA 1991; AHS, MS 1993 | World-record holder, Paralympic gold medalist, and eight-time Boston Marathon champion | 3 |
| Martin Eberhard | ENG, BS 1982; MS 1984 | Founder of Tesla Motors | LL |
| Roger Ebert | MEDIA, BS 1964 | Pulitzer Prize winning movie critic | 2 |
| Dave Eggers | MEDIA, BSJ 2002 | Author, artist, and founder of McSweeney’s, an independent publishing company | 4 |
| Mohamed El-Ashry | LAS, MS 1963; PHD 1966 | Senior Fellow, Energy and Climate at the UN Foundation | 1 |
| Jeanne Gang | FAA, BS 1986 | Architect and founder of Studio Gang | 1 |
| Larry Gies | BUS, BS 1988 | Founder and CEO of Madison Industries | 4 |
| William W. Grainger | ENG, BS 1919 | Founder of W.W. Grainger, Inc. | 2 |
| Temple Grandin | ACES, PHD 1989; HON 2004 | Author, livestock researcher, and autism spokesperson | 3 |
| Rolando Hinojosa-Smith | LAS, PHD 1969 | Novelist, poet, and educator | 1 |
| Nick Holonyak, Jr. | ENG, BS 1950; MS 1951; PHD 1954 | Inventor of the visible light LED | 3 |
| Michael Hopkins | ENG, BS 1992 | NASA Astronaut | 2 |
| John Houbolt | ENG, BS 1940; MS 1942; HON 2005 | Aerospace engineer; developer of lunar-orbit rendezvous (LOR) crucial to moon landing | 3 |
| Freeman Hrabowski III | LAS, MA 1971; EDU, PHD 1975; HON 2004 | STEM educator; President of University of Maryland, Baltimore County | 4 |
| Judy Hsu | MEDIA, BSJ 1993 | Emmy Award winning news anchor | 4 |
| Joyce Ingram | LAW, JD 1981; LER, AM 1981 | First African American woman to earn both a LAW and LER degree at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | LL |
| Ed Jackson, Jr. | FAA, MS 1972 | Architect and chief designer of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial | 1 |
| Mannie Jackson | AHS, BS 1960; HON 2008 | Chairman and owner of the Harlem Globetrotters | 3 |
| Albert E. Jenner, Jr. | LAW, JD 1930; HON 1981 | Senior counsel to the Warren Commission and special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee during Watergate | 2 |
| Donald Johanson | LAS, BA 1966 | Paleoanthropologist best known for his discovery of “Lucy,” one of the most complete skeletons of Australopithecus afarensis known | 1 |
| Robert Johnson | LAS, BA 1968 | Co-founder of BET; Founder and chairman, The RLJ Companies | 4 |
| Sheila Johnson | FAA, BME 1970 | Co-founder of BET; President of WNBA Washington Mystics; CEO of Salamander Hotels and Resorts | 1 |
| Jawed Karim | ENG, BS 2004 | Co-founder of YouTube and first person to upload video to site | 1 |
| Fazlur Khan | ENG, MS 1953; MS 1955; PHD 1955 | Structural engineer and father of tubular design for skyscrapers | LL |
| Shad Khan | ENG, BS 1971 | CEO of Flex-N-Gate; Owner of NFL Jacksonville Jaguars, PEL Fulham, and co-owner of All Elite Wrestling | 2 |
| Jack Kilby | ENG, BS 1947; HON 1988 | Co-inventor of the integrated circuit, the handheld calculator, and the thermal printer | LL |
| Arvind Krishna | ENG, MS 1987; PHD 1991 | CEO of IBM | 3 |
| Albert Lee | ATTENDED 1897-1898 | Advocate for African American students; Chief Clerk at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | 2 |
| Ang Lee | FAA, BFA 1980 | Academy Award-winning film director, producer, and screenwriter | 1 |
| Max Levchin | ENG, BS 1997 | Co-founder of PayPal and Affirm | 2 |
| Susan Lindquist | LAS, BS 1971 | Molecular biologist and pharmaceutical researcher | 4 |
| Bob Martinez | LER, MA 1964 | Governor of Florida | 4 |
| Mary McDowell | ENG, BS 1986 | CEO of Mitel | LL |
| Tatyana McFadden | ACES, BS 2013; EDU, EDM 2019 | 17-time Paralympian medalist; first person to win the Grand Slam (four World Major Marathons in the same year) | 2 |
| Lester McKeever | BUS, BS 1955 | Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago | 1 |
| Herb McKenley | ATTENDED 1949 | Gold medal Olympian | 3 |
| Edna Greene Medford | LAS, MA 1976 | Historian and Director for History of New York’s African Burial Ground Project | 2 |
| Joan Mitchell | ENG, MS 1971; PHD 1974 | Co-inventor of the .jpeg | 3 |
| Nick Offerman | FAA, BFA 1993 | Actor, writer, comedian, producer; co-founder of the Defiant Theatre company | 3 |
| Suze Orman | LAS, BA 1977; HON 2009 | Financial advisor and founder of Suze Orman Financial Group; New York Times bestselling author | 2 |
| Cesar Pelli | FAA, MARCH 1954 | Architect and designer of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur and World Financial Center in NYC | LL |
| Irna Phillips | EDU, BS 1923 | Screenwriter, actress and inventor of American soap operas | 3 |
| Richard Powers | LAS, BA 1978; MA 1980 | Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winning author | 2 |
| Julie Pryde | SW, BSW 1991; SW, MSW 1992 | Public health administrator | 4 |
| Sylvia Puente | LAS, BS 1980 | Executive Director of Latino Policy Forum | 1 |
| James “Scotty” Reston | MEDIA, BS 1932; HON 1962 | Columnist and editor for The New York Times | 4 |
| Taylor Rooks | MEDIA, BSJ 2014 | Sports journalist | 4 |
| Reshma Saujani | LAS, BA 1996 | New York Times bestselling author; Founder and CEO of Girls Who Code | 3 |
| Julie Scott | BUS, BS 1985 | President, CEO, and founder of CTS Impact | 4 |
| Tom Siebel | LAS, BA 1975; BUS, MBA 1983; ENG, MS 1985; HON 2006 | Founder of Siebel Systems and C3.ai | 3 |
| William Walter Smith | LAS, BA 1900; BS 1907 | First African American graduate of University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign | 3 |
| Jeremy Stoppelman | ENG, BS 1999 | Co-founder and CEO of Yelp! | 1 |
| Parisa Tabriz | ENG, BS 2005; MS 2007 | Computer “Security Princess” and Director of Engineering at Google | 1 |
| Lorado Taft | LAS, BA 1879; MA 1880; HON 1929 | Sculptor of the Alma Mater | LL |
| Lynne Thigpen | LAS, BA 1970 | Tony Award-winning actress | LL |
| Linda Tollefson | VETMED, BS 1978; DVM 1980 | Associate Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine, U.S. Food and Drug Administration | 1 |
| Wilma Vaught | BUS, BS 1952 | First woman Air Force Brigadier General; first woman to deploy with a Strategic Air Command bombardment wing on an operational deployment | LL |
| Wassaja | LAS, BS 1884 | First Native American student at University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign; doctor and founder of the Society of American Indians | 3 |
| Jack Welch | LAS, MS 1959; PHD 1961 | Chairman and CEO of General Electric | 3 |
| Eddie Williams | MEDIA, BS 1954 | President of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies | 1 |
| Rosalyn Yalow | ENG, MS 1942; PHD 1945 | Nobel Prize-winning physicist | LL |