List of Famous people who born in 1902

George Gaylord Simpson was a US paleontologist. Simpson was perhaps the most influential paleontologist of the twentieth century, and a major participant in the modern synthesis, contributing Tempo and Mode in Evolution (1944), The Meaning of Evolution (1949) and The Major Features of Evolution (1953). He was an expert on extinct mammals and their intercontinental migrations. He anticipated such concepts as punctuated equilibrium and dispelled the myth that the evolution of the horse was a linear process culminating in the modern Equus caballus. He coined the word hypodigm in 1940, and published extensively on the taxonomy of fossil and extant mammals. Simpson was influentially, and incorrectly, opposed to Alfred Wegener's theory of continental drift.

Viacheslav Aleksandrovich Malyshev was a Soviet statesman who was one of the leading figures of Soviet industry during the 1940s and 1950s. During the war, he served as People's Commissar of Heavy Machine Building since 1939 and Vice-Chairman of Council of People's Commissars since 1940. From 1941 he supervised Soviet tank industry, later he was responsible for shipbuilding and transport industry. He was elected Vice-Chairman of Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union twice, from 1947 to 1953 and again from 1954 to 1956. He was also appointed the first head of Ministry of Medium Machine Building, supervising the whole Soviet nuclear industry.

Anthony John King Mussio was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the first Bishop of Steubenville, Ohio (1945–1977).

Henry Field was an American anthropologist and archaeologist.

John P. Fulton, A.S.C. was an American special effects supervisor and cinematographer. His work included the parting of the Red Sea scene in the 1956 film The Ten Commandments.

Arne Emil Jacobsen, Hon. FAIA 11 February 1902 – 24 March 1971) was a well-known Danish architect and furniture designer. He is remembered for his contribution to architectural Functionalism, and for the worldwide success he enjoyed with simple, but effective, chair designs.

John Lee Mahin was an American screenwriter and producer of films who was active in Hollywood from the 1930s to the 1960s. He was known as the favorite writer of Clark Gable and Victor Fleming. In the words of one profile, he had "a flair for rousing adventure material, and at the same time he wrote some of the raciest and most sophisticated sexual comedies of that period."

Adriaan "Adje" Paulen was a Dutch athlete who competed from 1917 to 1931. During World War II, he was part of the Dutch resistance in the Netherlands. Following World War II, Paulen became a sports official, becoming president of the IAAF, serving from 1976 to 1981.