1939 births

Joaquín Bustoz Jr. (1939–2003) was an American mathematician who worked as a professor of mathematics at Arizona State University. His mathematical research concerned functional analysis, including orthogonal polynomials and special functions, but he was primarily known as a mentor to underrepresented minorities in mathematics.Bustoz was born in Tempe, Arizona; his parents worked on the local farms and also for the Tempe Elementary School District, which eventually named the Joaquin and Ramona Bustoz Elementary School after them. He graduated from Arizona State University in 1962 with a degree in mathematics, and after two years in California working for Univac returned to ASU, where he completed a doctorate in 1967 under the supervision of Walter Tandy Scott. After teaching at the University of Cincinnati from 1969 to 1976, during which he also spent a year at the National University of Colombia as a Fulbright Scholar, he returned to ASU again as an associate professor in 1976, and was promoted to full professor in 1978. He chaired the ASU mathematics department from 1982 to 1985.In 1985, Bustoz founded the Summer Math–Science Honors program for high school students, which continues at ASU as the Joaquin Bustoz Math–Science Honors Program. Bustoz also worked on mathematics education on the Navajo Nation and the Pima reservations. For his efforts, president Bill Clinton honored him in 1996 with the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring.He was killed by a car accident on August 13, 2003. As well as the Math–Science Honors program, the Joaquin Bustoz Jr. Professorship at ASU, held by Carlos Castillo-Chavez, is named after Bustoz.

Anne Christine "Kiki" Sørum (16 January 1939 – 30 August 2009) was a Norwegian fashion journalist, editor, and author. She worked as a fashion editor for the weekly magazine Hjemmet from 1973 to 1977 and general editor of the magazine Nicole from 1979 to 1981. She also worked as a freelancer for several publications, among these Verdens Gang, Se og Hør and Dagbladet.
The books she authored included Hollywood i moten (Hollywood in Fashion, 1986) and Kle deg magisk (Dress Magically, 1999). Sørum was also recognised internationally for her fashion writing, and received the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2003 and became Commander of the Order of the Lion of Finland in 2005.

Jens Gerhard Heiberg (born 20 April 1939, in Oslo) is a Norwegian industrialist who was head of the Lillehammer Olympic Organizing Committee (LOOC) and member of the International Olympic Committee.

Toppen Bech (28 March 1939 – 5 February 2024) was a Norwegian journalist.

Lise Barbra Skappel Fjeldstad (born 17 June 1939) is a Norwegian actress, and daughter of the conductor and violinist Øivin Fjeldstad. A graduate of the Norwegian National Academy of Theatre in 1963, she started working at Det Norske Teatret (the Norwegian Theater) immediately afterward. In 1975 she was hired by the National Theatre, where she has acted in roles such as "Blanche Dubois" in Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire, and "Agnes" in Henrik Ibsens Brand. She won the Amanda – the main Norwegian film award – for best actress for her role in Dødsdansen in 1991. She has two children with her partner, actor Per Sunderland. She is married to Gordon Braddy.In 1982 at the 18th Guldbagge Awards she shared the award Best Actress with Sunniva Lindekleiv and Rønnaug Alten for their roles in Little Ida.In 1993 she was made a Knight, First Class, of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav. She was awarded the Ibsen Centennial Commemoration Award and the Herman Wildenvey Poetry Award in 2006.

Dave W. Mulder (born February 17, 1939) is an American politician and educator who served as a member of the Iowa Senate for the 2nd District from 2005 to 2009.

Caleb Ellicott Finch (born July 4, 1939) is an American academic who is a professor at the USC Davis School of Gerontology. Finch's research focuses on aging in humans, with a specialization in cell biology and Alzheimer's disease.

Marie, Lady Stubbs, DSG (born 1939) is a British educator and academic, mostly known for being the headmistress who reformed St George's Roman Catholic Secondary School, in Maida Vale, London.

Aras Ören is a writer of Turkish origin, currently living in Germany. He was born in November 1939 in Istanbul, and moved to Berlin in 1969. He was editor of the SFB and head of the Turkish editorial team of Radio Multikulti of the RBB. In 1981, he received an honorary prize from the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts. In 1985, he was awarded the Adelbert von Chamisso Prize. In 1999 he was a lecturer at the University of Tübingen. Since 2012 he has been a member of the Akademie der Künste, Berlin.
Ören writes in Turkish and helps to translate his works into German. Some of his works first appeared in German. His works include “What does Niyazi want in Naunynstrasse” (1973), “Privatexil” (1976), “Germany. A Turkish fairy tale ”(1978), “ Please no police ”(1981), “ Berlin-Savignyplatz ”(1995) and “Longing for Hollywood ”(1999). In 2014, Verbrecher Verlag published the volume of short stories Kopfstand, and in 2016 We New Europeans, both with illustrations by Wolfgang Neumann.

Jon Gilmore Lindgren (born 1939) is an American politician who was the mayor of Fargo, North Dakota, an advocate for LGBT rights, and a professor at North Dakota State University.