List of Famous people born in Tennessee, United States of America

Jenette Kahn is an American comic book editor and executive. She joined DC Comics in 1976 as publisher, and five years later was promoted to president. In 1989, she stepped down as publisher and assumed the title of editor-in-chief while retaining the office of president. After 26 years with DC, she left the company in 2002.

Michael Allen Baker is a retired captain in the United States Navy, former NASA astronaut, and the International Space Station Program Manager for International and Crew Operations, at NASA's Johnson Space Center. He is responsible for the coordination of program operations, integration and flight crew training and support activities with the International Partners.

Dawn Upshaw is an American soprano. She is the recipient of several Grammy Awards and has released a number of Edison Prize-winning discs; she performs both opera and art song, and her repertoire spans Baroque to contemporary. Many composers, including Henri Dutilleux, Osvaldo Golijov, John Harbison, Esa-Pekka Salonen, John Adams, and Kaija Saariaho, have written for her. In 2007, she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship.

Alan Paige Lightman is an American physicist, writer, and social entrepreneur. He has served on the faculties of Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and is currently a Professor of the Practice of the Humanities at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He was one of the first people at MIT to have a joint faculty position in both the sciences and the humanities. In his thinking and writing, Lightman is known for exploring the intersection of the sciences and the humanities, especially the dialogue between science, philosophy, religion, and spirituality.

Tamara Elizabeth "Tammy" Jernigan is an American astrophysicist and former NASA astronaut. During her career she completed five Space Shuttle program missions, logging over 1512 hours in space. Jernigan left NASA in 2001 and currently serves as Deputy Principal Associate Director in the Weapons and Complex Integration (WCI) organization at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Margaret Rhea Seddon is an American surgeon and retired NASA astronaut. After being selected as part of the first group of astronauts to include women in 1978, she flew on three Space Shuttle flights: as mission specialist on STS-51-D and STS-40, and as payload commander for STS-58, accumulating over 722 hours in space.

Charles Randolph is an American screenwriter and producer for film and television. In 2015, he won the Academy Award for Best Writing Adapted Screenplay along with Adam McKay for co-writing The Big Short.

Nikki Kesangane McCray-Penson is the head coach of the Mississippi State Bulldogs women's basketball team and a former professional women's basketball player. She played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) for eight seasons. In 2008 after leaving the WNBA, McCray joined the coaching staff as an assistant coach for the University of South Carolina Gamecocks. McCray-Penson was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.

Jim Stewart is an American record executive and record producer who co-founded Stax Records, one of the leading recording companies during soul and R&B music's heydays in the 1960s and 1970s. The label also scored many hits on the Billboard Hot 100 pop music chart during this time.