Notable burials · Science and work
Scientists buried in Virginia
Wikidata records 86 scientists as buried in 22 of the cemeteries we list in Virginia. Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington holds the most, with 57. Virginia has the 7th highest count of any state, out of 1,905 nationally.
People recorded as scientists, including chemists, physicists, mathematicians, biologists and astronomers.
86
scientists
22
cemeteries
2%
of notable burials in Virginia
1960s
the decade with the most deaths (12)
Map of cemeteries
Loading map…
Each point is a cemetery; open it for everyone recorded there.
In order of death
Scientists buried in Virginia
- George Marshall1781-1855US Navy Gunner and Warrant OfficerCedar Grove Cemetery, Portsmouth, VA
- Matthew Fontaine Maury1806-1873United States Navy officerHollywood Cemetery, Richmond, VA
- Charles Wilkes1798-1877Naval officer and explorer from the United StatesArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- John Lyle Campbell1818-1886Professor of chemistry and geologyStonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery, Lexington, VA
- William Henry Prestele1838-1895German botanical artistArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Seth Barton1829-1900Confederate Army generalFredericksburg City Cemetery, Fredericksburg, VA
- John Wesley Powell1834-1902American geologistArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- John Mercer Brooke1826-1906United States Navy officerStonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery, Lexington, VA
- Almon Harris Thompson1839-1906American geologistArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- William Henry Ruffner1824-19081824-1908 , educational reformer, clergyman, and geologistStonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery, Lexington, VA
- Charles Augustus Young1834-1908American astronomerArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Simon Newcomb1835-1909American astronomerArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Ellen Powell Thompson1840-1911American teacher and botanistArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- John Shaw Billings1838-1913American surgeon, statistician, United States Army officer, designer of New York Public libraryArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Henry Elias Van Deman1845-1915BotanistArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Frank Muller1862-1917American astronomerWarrenton Cemetery, Warrenton, VA
- Thomas Lincoln Casey1857-1925American entomologist and astronomerArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Oswald Herbert Ernst1842-1926Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1914 to 1917Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Asaph Hall Jr.1859-1930American astronomerArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Harvey Washington Wiley1844-1930American chemistArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Fernando E. Rodríguez Vargas1888-1932Puerto Rican doctor and a Major in the U.S. ArmyArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- David Clinton Gillespie1877-1935American mathematicianMaplewood Cemetery, Tazewell, VA
- Otto Hilgard Tittmann1850-1938Geographer and Civil servantUnion Cemetery, Leesburg, VA
- John Jennings Luck1883-1938Ph.D. University of Virginia 1908Evergreen Cemetery, Roanoke, VA
- Josephine D. Lowe1843-1939Botanist and collectorArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Carl Rogers Darnall1867-1941United States generalArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Edwin C. Eckel1875-1941American engineer, geologist and former Geological Survey division chiefArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Elizabeth Seymour Rawlinson1901-1942American horticulturalist and botanistThornrose Cemetery, Staunton, VA
- Marcus Ward Lyon, Jr.1875-1942U.S. mammalogist, bacteriologist, and pathologistArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- George Patrick Ahern1859-1942American botanist, forester and soldierArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- William Pinkerton Ott1872-1944Ph.D. The University of Chicago 1917Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery, Lexington, VA
- Charles W. Gilmore1874-1945PaleontologistArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Edward Alphonso Goldman1873-1946American zoologistArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- David Arthur Brodie1867-1951Botanist and American football coachMount Hebron Cemetery, Winchester, VA
- Charles Edward Merriam1874-1953American political scientistArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- John McAuley Palmer1870-1955United States Army generalArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Edwin Kirk1884-1955American paleontologistJefferson Tomb, Charlottesville, VA
- Hiram Bingham III1875-1956American academic, explorer, treasure hunter and politicianArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Alice M. Dimick1878-1956American mathematicianArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Eugene Randolph Whitmore1874-1957U.S. physician, and parasitologist.Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Herbert Yardley1889-1958American cryptographerArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Harriet Richardson1874-1958American carcinologistArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Thomas Milton Rivers1888-1962United States admiralArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Howard Engstrom1913-1962American computer scientistArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Oscar Sherman Adams1874-1962Mathematician, geodesist, and cartographerArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Benjamin R. Jacobs1879-1963Chemist, scientistArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Robert Carl Yates1904-1963Ph.D. The Johns Hopkins University 1930Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Don E. Eyles1915-1963American public health scientist and botanical collectorArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Harry Ardell Allard1880-1963BotanistColumbia Gardens Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Elmer Walker Brandes1891-1964BotanistArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Arthur Charles Bevan1888-1968American geologistGreen Hill Cemetery, Staunton, VA
- Wilbur A. Nelson1889-1969American geologistHolly Memorial Gardens, Hollymead, VA
- Harry Hammond Hess1906-1969American geologistArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- William Frederick Friedman1891-1969American cryptologistArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Agnes Meyer Driscoll1889-1971American cryptographerArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Joseph Leonard Walsh1895-1973American mathematicianArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Clyde Cowan1919-1974Co-discoverer of the neutrinoArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- William Carroll Chewning Jr.1945-1975Ph.D. University of Virginia 1970Riverview Cemetery, Richmond, VA
- Earle Wheeler1908-1975United States Army generalArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Wernher von Braun1912-1977German and later American aerospace engineer and space architectIvy Hill Cemetery, Alexandria, VA
- Elizebeth Smith Friedman1892-1980American cryptanalyst and authorArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Bernice Marguerite Speese1911-1985American botanist, professor and botanical collectorCedar Grove Cemetery, Williamsburg, VA
- William Zisman1905-1986American scientistKing David Memorial Gardens, Idylwood, VA
- Ronald McNair1950-1986American physicist, astronautArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Willard Harrison Bennett1903-1987American physicistArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Howard Herbert Campaigne1910-1988Ph.D. Northwestern University 1938Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Grace Hopper1906-1992American computer scientist and United States Navy officerArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- R. Tucker Abbott1919-1995American biologistArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Rose Morton1925-1999American mathematicianArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- DeKalb Russell, Jr.1918-2001American botanist and orchardistMount Hebron Cemetery, Winchester, VA
- Dianne Kasnic Prinz1938-2002American scientistColumbia Gardens Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Michael P. Anderson1959-2003Astronaut, scientistArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Mary Jackson1921-2005American mathematician and aerospace engineerBethel AME Church Cemetery, Hampton, VA
- Sergius H. Mamay1920-2008American paleobotanistArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Hans G. Wolfhard1912-2008Physician and researcherColumbia Gardens Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- I. J. Good1916-2009British statistician and cryptographerSunset Cemetery, Christiansburg, VA
- John W. Townsend Jr.1924-2011American space physicist and NASA administratorArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Robert Edward Perdue Jr.1924-2011BotanistArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Jerome Karle1918-2013American physical chemistColumbia Gardens Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Abdulalim Abdullah Shabazz1927-2014American mathematicianQuantico National Cemetery, Triangle, VA
- Eben Matlis1923-2015American mathematicianArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- John W. Sloan1915-2016Agricultural ChemistArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Richard F. Gordon1929-2017American astronautArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Isabella Karle1921-2017American physical chemistColumbia Gardens Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Raymond Clapsadle1945-2019Ph.D. Memphis State University 1994Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
- Carla Messina1937-2021PhysicistArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
Everyone on this list, by year of death. People without a recorded death year come last.
Over time
Deaths by decade
- 1850s1
- 1870s2
- 1880s1
- 1890s1
- 1900s7
- 1910s4
- 1920s2
- 1930s7
- 1940s8
- 1950s9
- 1960s12
- 1970s6
- 1980s6
- 1990s3
- 2000s7
- 2010s9
- 2020s1
By recorded year of death, for the 86 people with one.
Cemeteries
Where they are buried
- Arlington National Cemetery · Arlington, VA57
- Columbia Gardens Cemetery · Arlington, VA5
- Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery · Lexington, VA4
- Mount Hebron Cemetery · Winchester, VA2
- Quantico National Cemetery · Triangle, VA1
- Cedar Grove Cemetery · Williamsburg, VA1
- Hollywood Cemetery · Richmond, VA1
- Jefferson Tomb · Charlottesville, VA1
- Fredericksburg City Cemetery · Fredericksburg, VA1
- King David Memorial Gardens · Idylwood, VA1
- Sunset Cemetery · Christiansburg, VA1
- Warrenton Cemetery · Warrenton, VA1
- Holly Memorial Gardens · Hollymead, VA1
- Green Hill Cemetery · Staunton, VA1
- Union Cemetery · Leesburg, VA1
- Cedar Grove Cemetery · Portsmouth, VA1
- Evergreen Cemetery · Roanoke, VA1
- Ivy Hill Cemetery · Alexandria, VA1
- Maplewood Cemetery · Tazewell, VA1
- Bethel AME Church Cemetery · Hampton, VA1
- Thornrose Cemetery · Staunton, VA1
- Riverview Cemetery · Richmond, VA1
More lists
Other notable burials in Virginia
World War II veterans1,175World War I veterans815American Civil War veterans444Medal of Honor recipients401Spanish-American War veterans353Korean War veterans314United States representatives305Writers and poets279Vietnam War veterans213Aviators and astronauts171Journalists125Inventors and engineers113Painters, sculptors and photographers95Business leaders92Physicians86United States senators85American football players81Governors64Mexican-American War veterans53Actors50Musicians and singers45Baseball players43Architects23Supreme Court justices19Basketball players18
Method
How this list is made
A person is on this list when their Wikidata entry gives a cemetery we list as their place of burial and also carries the statement this list is built on. We do not add anyone by judgment, so the list reflects how complete Wikidata is: some people are missing, and burial places can be disputed.
Names, years and descriptions are shown as Wikidata records them. Names link to Wikipedia where an English article exists.