Paul David Wellstone

(July 21, 1944, Washington, D.C.-October 25, 2002, Minnesota). U.S. Senator (D-MN), 1991-2002. A noted liberal legislator. Died in a plane crash.

Linda Wertheimer

(March 19, 1943, Carlsbad, New Mexico-Alive). Radio journalist, National Public Radio, 1971-Current.

Nathaniel West

(October 17, 1903, New York, New York-December 22, 1940, El Centro, California). Author, screenwriter, and satirist. Pen name of Nathan Wallenstein Weinstein. Noted for The Day of the Locust (1939). Died in an auto accident.

Dr. Ruth Westheimer

(June 4, 1928, Frankfurt, Germany-Alive). German-American sex therapist and author. Born Karola Ruth Siegel and known popularly as "Dr. Ruth." Made Aliyah to Israel, 1945. Sniper in Haganah. Moved to France, 1950, and then to the United States in 1956.

Robert Wexler

(January 2, 1961, Queens, New York-Alive). U.S. Representative (D-FL), 1997-Current.

Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel

(September 30, 1928, Sighet, Romania-Alive). Romanian-Hungarian-American novelist, philosopher, humanitarian, political activist and Holocaust survivor. Immigrated to the United States, 1955. Naturalized U.S. citizen, 1963. Congressional Gold Medal, 1985. Nobel Peace Prize, 1986.

Simon Wiesenthal

(December 31, 1908, Buczacz, Ukraine-September 20, 2005, Vienna, Austria). Austrian architectural engineer and Nazi hunter. Born Szymon Wiesenthal. Spent four and one-half years in a total of 12 different concentration camps before being liberated at the end of WWII. Responsible for the capture of numerous high-profile Nazis. Received Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal.

Jerome Bert Wiesner

(May 30, 1915, Detroit, Michigan-October 21, 1994, Watertown, Massachusetts). Educator, Science Adviser to the President, 1961-1964. An advocate of arms control and unmanned exploration of outer space. 13th President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1971-1980.