Science & invention · born 1948Paul MilgromeconomistStanford economist who shared the 2020 Nobel Prize for auction theory and helped design the U.S. radio-spectrum auctions; born in Detroit and raised in Oak Park.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.
- 1,743 famous people
- 96 Detroit places
- 22 fields
Hungarian ties 21 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
10 people
Clear filtersScience & invention · born 1948Paul MilgromeconomistStanford economist who shared the 2020 Nobel Prize for auction theory and helped design the U.S. radio-spectrum auctions; born in Detroit and raised in Oak Park.
Science & invention · born 1942Deirdre McCloskeyeconomist, economic historianEconomic historian known for The Rhetoric of Economics and the Bourgeois Era trilogy, born in Ann Arbor in 1942.
Science & invention · born 1964Leland Melvinastronaut, engineer, former football playerNASA astronaut who flew two Space Shuttle missions after an NFL career that ended in the Detroit Lions' 1986 training camp.
Science & invention · born 1954Geoffrey MarcyastronomerAstronomer whose team found many of the first known planets around other stars; born in the Detroit suburb of St. Clair Shores.
Business & brands · born 1954Scott McNealytechnology executive, co-founder of Sun MicrosystemsSon of an American Motors executive who grew up in Bloomfield Hills, graduated from Cranbrook and co-founded Sun Microsystems.
Business & brands · 1901–1996Alex Manoogianindustrial engineer, businessman, philanthropistArmenian-born engineer who came to Detroit in 1924, founded Masco, introduced the Delta washerless faucet, and donated the Manoogian Mansion, the official home of Detroit's mayors.
Science & invention · 1844–1929Elijah McCoyengineer and inventor of automatic lubricatorsCanadian-born Black engineer whose automatic lubricators kept North America's locomotives running; he spent his last decades inventing in Detroit.The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own.