100 Notable alumni of
College of William and Mary
Updated:
The College of William and Mary is 252nd in the world, 108th in North America, and 103rd in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from the College of William and Mary sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Thomas Jefferson
- Occupations
- paleontologistplanter classjuristarchitectstatesperson
- Biography
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Thomas Jefferson was an American Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson was the nation's first U.S. secretary of state under George Washington and then the nation's second vice president under John Adams. Jefferson was a leading proponent of democracy, republicanism, and natural rights, and he produced formative documents and decisions at the state, national, and international levels.
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Glenn Close
- Occupations
- stage actorfilm directoractorvoice actorfilm producer
- Biography
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Glenn Close is an American actress. In a career spanning five decades on screen and stage, she has received numerous accolades, including three Primetime Emmy Awards, three Tony Awards and three Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for eight Academy Awards, three Grammy Awards, and two British Academy Film Awards. She was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019.
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Patton Oswalt
- Enrolled in the College of William and Mary
- In 1991 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in English studies
- Occupations
- television actoractortelevision producerwritervoice actor
- Biography
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Patton Peter Oswalt is an American stand-up comedian and actor. His acting roles include Spence Olchin in the sitcom The King of Queens (1998–2007) and narrating the sitcom The Goldbergs (2013–2023) as adult Adam F. Goldberg. After making his acting debut in the Seinfeld episode "The Couch", he has appeared in a variety of television series, such as Parks and Recreation, Community, Two and a Half Men, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Drunk History, Reno 911!, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Archer, Veep, Justified, Kim Possible, WordGirl, Modern Family, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and We Bare Bears. He portrayed Principal Ralph Durbin in A.P. Bio (2018–2021) and voiced Matthew the Raven in the TV series The Sandman (2022–2025).
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James Comey
- Occupations
- juristlawyeruniversity teacherpolitician
- Biography
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James Brien Comey Jr. is an American lawyer who was the seventh director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 2013 until his termination in May 2017.
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John Tyler
- Enrolled in the College of William and Mary
- Studied in 1807
- Occupations
- statespersonlawyerpolitician
- Biography
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John Tyler was the tenth president of the United States, serving from 1841 to 1845, after briefly holding office as the tenth vice president in 1841. He was elected vice president on the 1840 Whig ticket with William Henry Harrison, succeeding to the presidency following Harrison's death 31 days after assuming office as president. Tyler was a stalwart supporter and advocate of states' rights, including regarding slavery, and he adopted nationalistic policies as president only when they did not infringe on the states' powers. His unexpected rise to the presidency posed a threat to the presidential ambitions of Senator Henry Clay and other Whig politicians and left Tyler estranged from both major political parties at the time: the Whigs and the Democrats.
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Jen Psaki
- Occupations
- television presenterpolitician
- Biography
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Jennifer Rene Psaki is an American political analyst and former government official. A political advisor who served under both the Obama and Biden administrations, she served in the Biden administration as the 34th White House press secretary from January 2021 to May 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served in the Obama administration as the White House deputy press secretary (2009); the White House deputy communications director (2009–2011); the spokesperson for the United States Department of State (2013–2015); and the White House communications director (2015–2017).
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Scott Glenn
- Occupations
- stage actormilitary personnelactorstunt performerreporter
- Biography
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Theodore Scott Glenn is an American actor. His roles have included Bill Lester in She Came to the Valley (1979), Pfc Glenn Kelly in Nashville (1975), Wes Hightower in Urban Cowboy (1980), astronaut Alan Shepard in The Right Stuff (1983), Emmett in Silverado (1985), Captain Bart Mancuso in The Hunt for Red October (1990), Jack Crawford in The Silence of the Lambs (1991), John Adcox in Backdraft (1991), Bill Burton in Absolute Power (1997), Roger in Training Day (2001), Ezra Kramer in The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), and Chris Chenery in Secretariat (2010).
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James Monroe
- Occupations
- farmerlawyerwriterstatespersonpolitician
- Biography
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James Monroe was an American Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. He was the last Founding Father to serve as president as well as the last president of the Virginia dynasty. Monroe was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, and his presidency coincided with the Era of Good Feelings, concluding the First Party System era of American politics. He issued the Monroe Doctrine, a policy of limiting European colonialism in the Americas. Monroe previously served as Governor of Virginia, a member of the United States Senate, U.S. ambassador to France and Britain, the seventh secretary of state, and the eighth secretary of war.
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Mike Tomlin
- Occupations
- American football coach
- Biography
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Michael Pettaway Tomlin is an American professional football coach who most recently served as the head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) from 2007 to 2025. During his 19 seasons as head coach, Tomlin never finished with a losing record, the longest streak in NFL history. At the time of his resignation, Tomlin was the longest-tenured head coach in the four major North American sports leagues.
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Linda Lavin
- Occupations
- film producerfilm actorfilm directorstage actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Linda Lavin was an American actress and singer. Known for her roles on stage and screen, she received several awards including three Drama Desk Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Obie Awards, and a Tony Award, as well as nominations for a Daytime Emmy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. She was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2010.
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Todd Boehly
- Occupations
- business executivephilanthropistinvestorbusinessperson
- Biography
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Todd Boehly is an American businessman and head of Eldridge Industries, a holding company headquartered in Miami, Florida. He is the company's co-founder, chairman, chief executive officer and controlling member, as well as chairman of asset manager Eldridge. He is also the co-controlling owner and chairman of Premier League football club Chelsea, and co-owner of Ligue 1 football club Strasbourg under BlueCo. As of December 2025, Forbes estimated his net worth at US$9.3 billion.
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Michelle Wolf
- Occupations
- comedianactor
- Biography
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Michelle Wolf is an American comedian, writer, producer, and television host. She worked as a contributor and writer for Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. She spoke as the featured performer at the 2018 White House Correspondents' Dinner. She hosted the Netflix comedy talk show series The Break with Michelle Wolf and performed in the 2019 stand-up comedy special Joke Show.
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Yuri Lowenthal
- Occupations
- screenwritertelevision actorvoice actoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Yuri Lowenthal is an American voice actor known for his work in cartoons, anime, and video games. Some of his prominent voice roles in video games include Peter Parker / Spider-Man in various video games associated with the character, notably the incarnation featured in the Marvel's Spider-Man series by Insomniac Games and in Marvel Rivals by NetEase Games, Lorath Nahr in Blizzard Entertainment's Diablo III, The Prince in Ubisoft's Prince of Persia, Hayate/Ein in Dead or Alive, Courier 6 (male variant) in Obsidian Entertainment's Fallout: New Vegas, Matt Miller in Saints Row: The Third and Saints Row IV, The Protagonist in Persona 3, Yosuke Hanamura in Persona 4, Pure Vanilla Cookie in Cookie Run: Kingdom, and Dainsleif in Genshin Impact. His roles in animation include Sasuke Uchiha in Naruto, teenage Ben Tennyson in Ben 10, Jinnosuke in Afro Samurai, Simon in Gurren Lagann and Suzaku Kururugi in Code Geass.
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Henry Clay
- Occupations
- writerlawyerdiplomatpolitician
- Biography
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Henry Clay was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. He was the seventh House speaker as well as the ninth secretary of state. Clay unsuccessfully ran for president in the 1824, 1832, and 1844 elections. He helped found both the National Republican Party and the Whig Party. For his role in defusing sectional crises, he earned the appellation of the "Great Compromiser" and was part of the "Great Triumvirate" of Congressmen, alongside fellow Whig Daniel Webster and Democrat John C. Calhoun.
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Dylan Baker
- Occupations
- stage actorfilm directortelevision actoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Dylan Baker is an American actor. He gained recognition for his roles in films such as Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), Happiness (1998), Thirteen Days (2000), Road to Perdition (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004), Spider-Man 3 (2007), Trick 'r Treat (2007), Revolutionary Road (2008), Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013), and Selma (2014). On television he has had prominent roles in series such as Murder One (1995–1996), The Good Wife (2010–2015), Damages (2011), The Americans (2016), and Homeland (2018). For The Good Wife he earned three Primetime Emmy Award nominations.
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Bill Lawrence
- Occupations
- film producerscreenwritertelevision directortelevision producerfilm director
- Biography
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William Van Duzer Lawrence IV is an American television producer, screenwriter, and director. He is the creator of the series Scrubs and co-creator of shows including the live-action Cougar Town, Spin City, Ground Floor, Ted Lasso, and Shrinking, and the animated series Clone High, in which he also voiced the leader of the shadowy figures. He has written for many other shows, including The Nanny and Boy Meets World.
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Robert Gates
- Occupations
- air force officerpolitician
- Biography
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Robert Michael Gates is an American intelligence analyst and university president who has served as the 24th Chancellor of the College of William and Mary since 2012. He previously served as the 22nd United States secretary of defense from 2006 to 2011 and as the 15th director of central intelligence from 1991 to 1993.
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Charles Esten
- Occupations
- singerimprovisertelevision actorcomedianfilm actor
- Biography
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Charles Esten Puskar III, also known professionally as Charles Esten, and (when appearing as himself on improvisation shows or hosting) as Chip Esten, is an American actor, musician, singer-songwriter, and comedian.
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John Marshall
- Occupations
- juristlawyerwriterjudgepolitician
- Biography
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John Marshall was an American statesman, jurist, and Founding Father who served as the fourth chief justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longest-serving justice in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court, and he is widely regarded as one of the most influential justices ever to serve. Prior to joining the court, Marshall briefly served as both the U.S. secretary of state under President John Adams and a U.S. representative from Virginia, making him one of the few Americans to have held a constitutional office in each of the three branches of the United States federal government.
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Todd Howard
- Occupations
- video game producercomputer scientistvideo game directorpresentervideo game designer
- Biography
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Todd Andrew Howard is an American video game designer, director, and producer. He serves as director and executive producer at Bethesda Game Studios, where he has led the development of the Fallout and The Elder Scrolls series. He was also the game director for Starfield.
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Ben Domenech
- Occupations
- bloggerpolitical punditjournalist
- Biography
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Benjamin Domenech is the editor at large of The Spectator World. He is also a television commentator, radio host, and publisher of The Transom, a daily subscription newsletter for political insiders. In 2013, he co-founded The Federalist, where he served as publisher and hosted The Federalist Radio Hour. He earlier had been a co-founder of the RedState group blog. He joined Fox News as a commentator in 2021.
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Winfield Scott
- Occupations
- politicianmilitary officer
- Biography
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Winfield Scott was an American military commander and a presidential candidate. He served as Commanding General of the United States Army from 1841 to 1861, and was a veteran of the War of 1812, American Indian Wars, Mexican–American War, and the early stages of the American Civil War. Scott was the Whig Party's presidential nominee in the 1852 election but was defeated by Democrat Franklin Pierce. He was known as Old Fuss and Feathers for his insistence on proper military etiquette and the Grand Old Man of the Army for his many years of service.
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Michele Bachmann
- Enrolled in the College of William and Mary
- In 1988 graduated with Master of Laws
- Occupations
- autobiographerlawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Michele Marie Bachmann is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for Minnesota's 6th congressional district from 2007 until 2015. A member of the Republican Party, she was a candidate for president of the United States in the 2012 election, but dropped out after the Iowa caucuses.
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Jacob Frey
- Enrolled in the College of William and Mary
- In 2004 graduated with bachelor's degree in government
- Occupations
- politicianathletics competitor
- Biography
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Jacob Lawrence Frey is an American politician and attorney who has served since 2018 as the 48th mayor of Minneapolis. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, he served on the Minneapolis City Council from 2014 to 2018 and was elected mayor of Minneapolis in 2017 and reelected in 2021 and 2025.
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Stephanie Szostak
- Occupations
- film actoractormodel
- Biography
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Stéphanie Szostak is a French actress and author who started her career in the early 2000s. Szostak is best known for having appeared in the films The Devil Wears Prada, Dinner for Schmucks, Iron Man 3, and R.I.P.D. Szostak starred in the USA Network original drama series Satisfaction and the ABC series A Million Little Things.
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Kyle Soller
- Occupations
- television actorvoice actorstage actoractor
- Biography
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Kyle William Soller is an American, UK-based film, stage, and television actor. His accolades include three Evening Standard Theatre Awards as well as the 2019 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Inheritance, staged at the Young Vic Theatre in 2018.
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Gary Wright
- Occupations
- singersongwriterrock musicianrecording artistrock singer
- Biography
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Gary Malcolm Wright was an American musician and composer best known for his 1976 hit songs "Dream Weaver" and "Love Is Alive". Wright's breakthrough album, The Dream Weaver (1975), came after he had spent seven years in London as, alternately, a member of the British blues rock band Spooky Tooth and a solo artist on A&M Records. While in England, he played keyboards on former Beatle George Harrison's triple album All Things Must Pass (1970), which began a friendship that inspired the Indian religious themes and spirituality inherent in Wright's subsequent songwriting. His work from the late 1980s onwards embraced world music and the new age genre, although none of his post-1976 releases matched the same level of popularity as The Dream Weaver.
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Eric Cantor
- Enrolled in the College of William and Mary
- In 1988 graduated with Juris Doctor
- Occupations
- lawyerbusinesspersonpolitician
- Biography
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Eric Ivan Cantor is an American politician and lawyer who served as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 7th congressional district from 2001 until his resignation in 2014. A member of the Republican Party, Cantor served as House minority whip from 2009 to 2011 and as House majority leader from 2011 to 2014.
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Jill Ellis
- Enrolled in the College of William and Mary
- Studied in 1984-1988
- Occupations
- association football playerassociation football coach
- Biography
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Jillian Anne Ellis is an English-American football manager and executive who is the Chief Football Officer of FIFA and will serve as part of the world governing body's executive management team, driving the development and implementation of FIFA's global football strategy. Ellis had previously been president of San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) since its expansion in 2021. Ellis coached the United States women's national team from 2014 to 2019 and won two FIFA Women's World Cups in 2015 and 2019, making her the second coach to win consecutive World Cups. She stepped down as the team's head coach in October 2019 and currently serves as an ambassador for the United States Soccer Federation, with her focus being on working with the federation to help raise the number of women in coaching. She has also served as head coach for various college and United States national youth teams over her career.
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Stephanie Murphy
- Enrolled in the College of William and Mary
- In 2000 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in economics
- Occupations
- academicpoliticianconsultantbusinesspersonemployee
- Biography
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Stephanie Murphy is an American politician, businesswoman, former educator, and former national security analyst who served as the U.S. representative for Florida's 7th congressional district from 2017 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she defeated 12-term incumbent Republican John Mica in 2016. Her district included much of downtown and northern Orlando, as well as all of Winter Park, Maitland, Sanford, and Altamonte Springs.
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Steven Pruitt
- Enrolled in the College of William and Mary
- In 2006 studied art history
- Occupations
- Wikimedian
- Biography
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Steven Pruitt, known online as Ser Amantio di Nicolao, is an American Wikipedia editor and administrator with the largest number of edits made to the English Wikipedia, at over 6 million, having made at least one edit to one-third of all articles in the edition. Pruitt first began editing Wikipedia in 2004. He has also created more than 33,000 Wikipedia articles. Pruitt was named as one of the 25 most important influencers on the Internet by Time magazine in 2017.
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David M. Brown
- Occupations
- physicianastronautcircus performermilitary officer
- Biography
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David McDowell Brown was a United States Navy captain and NASA astronaut. He died on his first spaceflight, when the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-107) disintegrated during orbital reentry into the Earth's atmosphere. Brown became an astronaut in 1996 but had not served on a space mission prior to the Columbia disaster. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
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Benjamin Harrison V
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Benjamin Harrison V was an American planter, merchant, and politician who was a Founding Father of the United States. He served as a delegate to the United States Continental Congress, and was a signer of the Continental Association and the Declaration of Independence. He also served as Virginia's governor (1781–1784), affirming a tradition of public service in the Harrison family.
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Peyton Randolph
- Occupations
- farmerlawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Peyton Randolph was an American politician and planter who was a Founding Father of the United States. Born into Virginia's wealthiest and most powerful family, Randolph served as speaker of Virginia's House of Burgesses, president of the first two Virginia Conventions, and president of the First Continental Congress. He also served briefly as the first president of the Second Continental Congress.
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Joe McCain
- Occupations
- journalistactor
- Biography
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Joseph Pinckney McCain II is an American stage actor, newspaper reporter, and the brother and only living sibling of the late U.S. Senator and two-time presidential candidate John McCain.
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Alexandra Bracken
- Occupations
- novelistscience fiction writerwriter
- Biography
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Alexandra Bracken is an American author known for The Darkest Minds series and Passenger series.
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Edmund Randolph
- Occupations
- diplomatlawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Edmund Jennings Randolph was an American Founding Father, attorney, and the seventh Governor of Virginia. As a delegate from Virginia, he attended the Constitutional Convention and helped to create the national constitution while serving on its Committee of Detail. He was appointed the first United States Attorney General by George Washington and subsequently served as the second Secretary of State during the Washington administration.
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Michael Kevin Powell
- Occupations
- lawyer
- Biography
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Michael Kevin Powell is an American attorney and lobbyist who served as the 24th chairman of the Federal Communications Commission from 2001 to 2005. Since leaving office, Powell has worked as the president of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), a broadband industry trade association.
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Rick Gates
- Occupations
- political adviserlobbyist
- Biography
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Richard William Gates III is an American former political consultant and lobbyist who pleaded guilty to conspiracy against the United States for making false statements in the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. He is a longtime business associate of Paul Manafort and served as deputy to Manafort when the latter was campaign manager of the Donald Trump presidential campaign in 2016, and after under Kellyanne Conway.
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Lisa Desjardins
- Occupations
- journalist
- Biography
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Lisa Desjardins is an American political journalist. She is a correspondent at PBS NewsHour and has previously worked for the Associated Press and CNN Radio. As of 2018, she has reported on five U.S. presidential elections.
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Michael Burns
- Occupations
- historianactortelevision actor
- Biography
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Michael Thornton Burns is an American professor emeritus of history at Mount Holyoke College, and a published author and former television and film teen actor, most known for the television series Wagon Train.
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Dina Titus
- Enrolled in the College of William and Mary
- In 1970 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- university teacherpolitical scientistpolitician
- Biography
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Alice Constandina "Dina" Titus is an American politician who has been the United States representative for Nevada's 1st congressional district since 2013. She served as the U.S. representative for Nevada's 3rd congressional district from 2009 to 2011, when she was defeated by Joe Heck. Titus is a member of the Democratic Party. She served in the Nevada Senate and was its minority leader from 1993 to 2009. Before her election to Congress, Titus was a professor of political science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). She was the Democratic nominee for governor of Nevada in 2006.
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Mary Jo White
- Enrolled in the College of William and Mary
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Mary Jo White is an American attorney who served as the 31st chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from 2013 to 2017. She was the first woman to be the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, serving from 1993 to 2002. On January 24, 2013, President Barack Obama nominated White to replace Elisse B. Walter as Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. She was confirmed by the Senate on April 8, 2013, and was sworn into office on April 10, 2013. In 2014, she was listed as the 73rd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.
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Bushrod Washington
- Occupations
- judge
- Biography
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Bushrod Washington was an American attorney and politician from the Washington family who served as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1798 to 1829. On the Supreme Court, he was a staunch ally of Chief Justice John Marshall.
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John J. Crittenden
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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John Jordan Crittenden was an American statesman and politician from the U.S. state of Kentucky. He represented the state in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and twice served as United States Attorney General in the administrations of William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, and Millard Fillmore. He was also the 17th governor of Kentucky and served in the state legislature. Although frequently mentioned as a potential candidate for the U.S. presidency, he never consented to run for the office.
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Steve Chabot
- Enrolled in the College of William and Mary
- In 1975 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- teacherlawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Steven Joseph Chabot is an American politician and lawyer who represented Ohio's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2009 and again from 2011 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he lost his 2008 reelection bid to Democrat Steve Driehaus, before reclaiming his seat in 2010, and losing his 2022 reelection bid to Democrat Greg Landsman. Until his second election loss, he was the dean of Ohio's GOP delegation to the House of Representatives, after the retirement of former Speaker John Boehner.
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Thomas A. Shannon, Jr
- Occupations
- diplomat
- Biography
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Thomas Alfred Shannon Jr. is an American diplomat who served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2016 to 2018. In early 2017, Shannon served as acting United States Secretary of State until President Donald Trump's nominee, Rex Tillerson, was confirmed. He was also acting Deputy Secretary of State of the United States until the Senate confirmed President Trump's nominee, John J. Sullivan.
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Roh Soh-yeong
- Biography
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Roh Soh-yeong is a South Korean business executive who is the founder and director of Art Center Nabi.
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Edmund Ruffin
- Occupations
- soldierwriteragronomist
- Biography
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Edmund Ruffin III was an American planter, politician, scientist, and activist best known as an early advocate for secession of the Southern slave states from the United States. He served in the Virginia Senate from 1823 to 1827. In the three decades before the American Civil War he published polemics in support of states' rights and the protection of chattel slavery, earning notoriety as one of the so-called Fire-Eaters. Ruffin was present at the Battle of Fort Sumter in April 1861 and fired one cannon shot at the fort. This gave rise to the legend that Ruffin fired the first shot of the Civil War. Ruffin did enlist as a Confederate soldier despite his advanced age. When the war ended in defeat in 1865, he died of suicide rather than accept what he called "Yankee rule."
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Albee Benitez
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Alfredo Abelardo "Albee" Bantug Benitez is a Filipino politician and businessman who has served as the representative for Bacolod's lone district since 2025. He previously served as the 43rd mayor of Bacolod from 2022 to 2025 and as the representative for Negros Occidental's third district from 2010 to 2019.
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Pinball Clemons
- Occupations
- motivational speakerCanadian football playerAmerican football playerassociation football player
- Biography
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Michael Lutrell "Pinball" Clemons OOnt MSM is an American-Canadian sports executive and former running back and return specialist who serves as general manager for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He is considered by many to be one of the greatest and most famous Argonauts players of all time, as well as one of the most popular professional athletes in the history of Toronto.
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Jerry Coyne
- Occupations
- university teacherbiologistwritergeneticistecologist
- Biography
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Jerry Allen Coyne is an American biologist and skeptic known for his work on speciation and his commentary on intelligent design. A professor emeritus of ecology and evolution at the University of Chicago, he has published on the theory of evolution. His concentration is speciation and ecological and evolutionary genetics, particularly as they involve the fruit fly, Drosophila. In 2023 he became a fellow with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
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Sarah Brady
- Occupations
- activist
- Biography
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Sarah Jane Brady was a prominent advocate for gun control in the United States. Her husband, James Brady, was press secretary to U.S. president Ronald Reagan and was left permanently disabled as a result of an assassination attempt on Reagan.
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George Wythe
- Occupations
- politicianuniversity teacherlawyerjudgejurist
- Biography
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George Wythe was an American academic, scholar, and judge who was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. The first of the seven signatories of the United States Declaration of Independence from Virginia, Wythe served as one of Virginia's representatives to the Continental Congress and the Philadelphia Convention and served on a committee that established the convention's rules and procedures. He left the convention before signing the United States Constitution to tend to his dying wife. He was elected to the Virginia Ratifying Convention and helped ensure that his home state ratified the Constitution. Wythe taught and was a mentor to Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, Henry Clay and other men who became American leaders.
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William C. C. Claiborne
- Occupations
- lawyerjudgepolitician
- Biography
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William Charles Cole Claiborne was an American politician and military officer who served as the first governor of Louisiana from April 30, 1812, to December 16, 1816. He was also possibly the youngest member of the United States Congress in the history of the United States, although reliable sources differ about his age.
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James Branch Cabell
- Occupations
- humoristfantasy authorshort story writerwriterautobiographer
- Biography
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James Branch Cabell was an American author of fantasy fiction and belles-lettres. Cabell was well-regarded by his contemporaries, including H. L. Mencken, Edmund Wilson, and Sinclair Lewis. His works were considered escapist and fit well in the culture of the 1920s, when they were most popular. For Cabell, veracity was "the one unpardonable sin, not merely against art, but against human welfare".
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David Atlee Phillips
- Occupations
- journalistspy
- Biography
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David Atlee Phillips was an American Central Intelligence Agency officer of 25 years and a recipient of the Career Intelligence Medal. Phillips rose to become the CIA's chief of operations for the Western Hemisphere. In 1975, he founded the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO), an alumni association comprising intelligence officers from all services.
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Joseph Ellis
- Occupations
- historianwriter
- Biography
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Joseph John-Michael Ellis III is an American historian whose work focuses on the lives and times of the Founding Fathers of the United States. His book American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson won a National Book Award in 1997 and Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for History. Both books were bestsellers.
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Weijia Jiang
- Occupations
- reporter
- Biography
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Weijia Jiang is a Chinese-American television journalist and reporter. She is based in Washington, D.C., and has served as the Senior White House Correspondent for CBS News since July 2018. Jiang's question to President Donald Trump about the COVID-19 testing program in the United States during a White House press briefing received global attention and coverage.
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Marcus Thornton
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Marcus Alexander Thornton is an American professional basketball player. He was drafted by the Boston Celtics with the 45th overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft. Thornton completed his collegiate career at the College of William & Mary (W&M) in 2015 and was named the 2014–15 Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year. Thornton spent 10 days on the NBA roster of the Cleveland Cavaliers, but never played.
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Christina Romer
- Occupations
- university teachereconomist
- Biography
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Christina Duckworth Romer is the Class of 1957 Garff B. Wilson Professor of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley and a former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Obama administration. She resigned from her role on the Council of Economic Advisers on September 3, 2010.
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David D. McKiernan
- Occupations
- military personnel
- Biography
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David D. McKiernan is a retired United States Army four-star general who served in Afghanistan as Commander, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). He served concurrently as Commander, United States Forces – Afghanistan (USFOR-A) from 6 October 2008 to 15 June 2009.
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Michael J. Garcia
- Occupations
- prosecutorlawyerjudge
- Biography
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Michael John Garcia is an American attorney and former government official. Since February 2016, he has served as an Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, that state's highest court. He is a former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (2005–2008). Between his service as United States Attorney and his appointment to the Court of Appeals, Garcia was a partner at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis. He has also served as chairman of El Museo del Barrio.
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Chuck Horner
- Occupations
- air force officer
- Biography
-
Charles Albert Horner is a retired United States Air Force four-star general. He was born in Davenport, Iowa and attended the University of Iowa, as part of the Air Force Reserve Officers' Training Corps program. On June 13, 1958, Horner was commissioned into the Air Force Reserve. During the Vietnam War, he flew in combat as a Wild Weasel pilot and received the Silver Star. During Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm, he commanded the air forces of the coalition, and he additionally briefly served as Commander-in-Chief — Forward of United States Central Command while General Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr., the commander of all coalition forces, was still in the United States. He currently serves on the board of directors for the United States Institute of Peace.
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Yohanes Surya
- Occupations
- physicist
- Biography
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Yohanes Surya is an Indonesian physicist and coach of Indonesian Physics Team for the Olympiad (TOFI) since 1993. Under his guidance, the Indonesian team has won 54 gold medals, 33 silver medals, and 42 bronze medals at various international science and physics competitions. He is well known for his 'fun and applicable physics' training program. He is author of 68 books and the comic Archi & Meidy.
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William Barton Rogers
- Occupations
- paleobotanistuniversity teacherphysicistgeologistfounder
- Biography
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William Barton Rogers was an American geologist, physicist, and the founder and first president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
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Thomas Lee
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Colonel Thomas Lee was a planter and politician in colonial Virginia, and a member of the Lee family, a political dynasty. Lee became involved in politics in 1710, serving in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly, and also held important positions as Naval Officer for the Northern Potomac Region and agent for the Northern Neck Proprietary. After his father died, Lee inherited thousands of acres of land as well as enslaved people in then-vast Northumberland and Stafford Counties in Virginia as well as across the Potomac River in Charles County, Maryland. These properties were developed as tobacco plantations. Northumberland County was later subdivided, so some of Lee's properties were in present-day Fairfax, Fauquier, Prince William, and Loudoun counties and counties in the present-day Northern Neck of Virginia.
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Robert Carter III
- Occupations
- politicianplantation owner
- Biography
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Robert Carter III was an American planter and politician from the Northern Neck of Virginia. During the colonial period, he sat on the Virginia Governor's Council for roughly two decades. After the American Revolutionary War saw the Thirteen Colonies gain independence from the British Empire as the United States, Carter, influenced by his Baptist beliefs, began the largest manumission in the history of the United States prior to the American Civil War.
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Thomas Mann Randolph
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Thomas Mann Randolph Jr. was an American planter, soldier, and politician from Virginia. He served as a member of both houses of the Virginia General Assembly, a representative in the United States Congress, and as the 21st governor of Virginia, from 1819 to 1822. He married Martha Jefferson, the oldest daughter of Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States. They had eleven children who survived childhood. As an adult, Randolph developed alcoholism, and he and his wife separated for some time before his death.
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Sara Schaefer
- Occupations
- podcasterwriterstand-up comedian
- Biography
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Sara Schaefer is an American stand-up comedian, writer, and author.
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Kelly Choi
- Occupations
- modelfilm directorjournalisttelevision presenter
- Biography
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Kelly Choi is an American television personality on NYC Media, the official broadcast service of the City of New York. A former host of Bravo TV's Top Chef spin-off, Top Chef Masters, she has also been presenter of the documentary series Secrets of New York.
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Ashley Miller
- Occupations
- film producertelevision producerscreenwriter
- Biography
-
Ashley Edward Miller is an American screenwriter and producer best known for his work on the television series Andromeda, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Fringe, and Dota: Dragon's Blood. He also worked on the films Thor and X-Men: First Class.
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John C. Wright
- Occupations
- writerscience fiction writernovelistlawyer
- Biography
-
John C. Wright is an American writer of science fiction and fantasy novels. He was a Nebula Award finalist for his fantasy novel Orphans of Chaos. Publishers Weekly said he "may be this fledgling century's most important new SF talent" when reviewing his debut novel, The Golden Age.
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Nathan Knight
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
-
Nathan Solomon Kapahukula Knight is an American professional basketball player for the Goyang Sono Skygunners of the Korean Basketball League (KBL), where he was named the 2025–26 KBL All-Star Game MVP. He played college basketball for the William & Mary Tribe and was the NCAA Division I mid-major national player of the year when he won the Lou Henson Award.
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Richard J. Sullivan
- Occupations
- lawyerjudge
- Biography
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Richard Joseph Sullivan is an American lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He was formerly a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York from 2007 to 2018. He has been a member of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal organization.
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William Short
- Occupations
- diplomat
- Biography
-
William Short, a Virginia-born lawyer who disagreed with slavery, became an American diplomat during the first two decades of his country's existence before moving to Philadelphia and becoming a successful financier and philanthropist. Thomas Jefferson, later the third President of the United States, was a lifelong mentor and friend. In a 1789 letter, Jefferson referred to Short as his "adoptive son," Short served as Jefferson's private secretary when the latter was a peace commissioner in France, and remained in Europe to take on several other diplomatic posts, including as the U.S.'s chargé d'affaires in France during the French Revolution (1789–92), America's fiscal agent in Europe (1790-1794), as America's Minister to the Netherlands (1792), as a treaty commissioner to Spain (1794 to 1795), and had a recess appointment as Ambassador to Russia in 1808 but never physically assumed the post.
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John Tyler
- Occupations
- lawyerjudgepolitician
- Biography
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John Tyler Sr. was an American lawyer, planter, politician and judge who served in the Virginia House of Delegates and became 15th Governor of Virginia and later United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Virginia. He was the father of U.S. President John Tyler.
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Nell Zink
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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Helen "Nell" Louise Zink is an American writer living in Germany. After being a long term penpal of Avner Shats, she came to prominence in her fifties with the help of Jonathan Franzen and her novel, Mislaid, was longlisted for the National Book Award. Her debut The Wallcreeper was released in the United States by the independent press Dorothy and named one of 100 notable books of 2014 by The New York Times, as was Mislaid. Zink then released Nicotine, Private Novelist, and Doxology through Ecco Press. In 2022 she published Avalon, also a New York Times notable book, with Alfred A. Knopf. In 2025 she received a Guggenheim Fellowship.
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Curtis Pride
- Occupations
- baseball playerbasketball playerassociation football player
- Biography
-
Curtis John Pride is a former professional baseball outfielder who is deaf. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed, and played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1993 to 2006 for the Montreal Expos, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, and Anaheim Angels / Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. In 2015, Pride was named MLB's Ambassador For Inclusion. Since 2009, Pride has been the head baseball coach at Gallaudet University.
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John Breckinridge
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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John Breckinridge was an American politician, militia officer, planter, and lawyer. He served several terms in the state legislatures of Virginia and Kentucky before being elected to the United States Senate. Breckinridge also served as the United States Attorney General during the second term of President Thomas Jefferson. He was the progenitor of Kentucky's Breckinridge family and the namesake of Breckinridge County, Kentucky.
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Carter Braxton
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Carter Braxton was a Founding Father of the United States, signer of the Declaration of Independence, merchant, and Virginia planter. A grandson of Robert "King" Carter, one of the wealthiest and most powerful landowners and slaveholders in Virginia, Braxton was active in Virginia's legislature for more than 25 years, generally allied with Landon Carter, Benjamin Harrison V, Edmund Pendleton and other conservative planters.
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John Blair Jr
- Occupations
- lawyerjudge
- Biography
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John Blair Jr. was an American Founding Father, who signed the United States Constitution as a delegate from Virginia and was appointed an Associate Justice on the first U.S. Supreme Court by George Washington.
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William B. Taliaferro
- Occupations
- lawyerjudgepolitician
- Biography
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William Booth Taliaferro was a United States Army officer, a lawyer, legislator, Confederate general in the American Civil War, and Grand Master of Masons in Virginia.
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Jill Holtzman Vogel
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Jill Kendrick Holtzman Vogel is an American attorney and politician who served as the Virginia State Senator from the 27th district from 2008 to 2024. A Republican, her district was located in exurban and rural parts of Northern Virginia, and it included all of Clarke, Fauquier, and Frederick counties, Winchester city, as well as pieces of Culpeper, Loudoun, and Stafford counties.
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Mills E. Godwin
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Mills Edwin Godwin Jr. was an American politician who was the 60th and 62nd governor of Virginia for two non-consecutive terms, from 1966 to 1970 and from 1974 to 1978. Godwin was the first person to be elected governor of any state as a Democrat and a Republican. He is to date the last Virginia governor to serve two terms.
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Ivan Fears
- Occupations
- American football coachAmerican football player
- Biography
-
Ivan Fears is an American former football coach. He was the running backs coach for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL) from 2002 to 2021.
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Pete Snyder
- Years
- 1972-.. (age 54)
- Occupations
- entrepreneur
- Biography
-
Pete Snyder is an American entrepreneur and marketing executive who is best known as the founder and former chief executive officer of New Media Strategies (NMS), a social media marketing agency that he started in 1999. Snyder stepped down as CEO of NMS in 2011 and founded the angel investment firm Disruptor Capital in 2012. Snyder unsuccessfully ran in the Republican primary for lieutenant governor of Virginia in 2013. Snyder declined to run for the Republican nomination for governor in 2017, instead chairing the campaign of Ed Gillespie. In 2021, he sought the Republican nomination for governor of Virginia. He finished in second place, behind eventual general election winner Glenn Youngkin.
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John J. Flanagan
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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John J. Flanagan is an American politician from Long Island, New York. A Republican, Flanagan represented New York's 2nd State Senate district from 2003 to 2020. He also served as senate majority leader from 2015 to 2019, and as senate minority leader from 2019 to 2020. Prior to his senate tenure, Flanagan served in the New York State Assembly from 1987 to 2002.
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Terry Tarpey III
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
-
Terence "Terry" Tarpey III is a French–American professional basketball player for AS Monaco of the French LNB Pro A and the EuroLeague. He also represents the French national team in international competition. Tarpey played college basketball with the William & Mary Tribe.
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Vincent T. DeVita
- Occupations
- oncologist
- Biography
-
Vincent Theodore DeVita Jr. is the Amy and Joseph Perella Professor of Medicine at Yale Cancer Center, and a Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health. He directed the Yale Cancer Center from 1993 to 2003. He has been president of the board of directors of the American Cancer Society (2012-2013). He is internationally recognized as a pioneer in the field of oncology for his work on combination-chemotherapy treatments.
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Joe J. Plumeri
- Occupations
- businesspersonbaseball player
- Biography
-
Joseph J. Plumeri II is vice chairman of the First Data Board of Directors. He was the chairman and CEO of Willis Group Holdings (Willis), a New York Stock Exchange-listed insurance broker, until July 2013. The company has 17,000 employees in 400 offices, located in 120 countries. As of June 2010, Willis had the third-highest insurance brokerage revenues in the world.
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Doug Petrie
- Years
- 20th Century
- Occupations
- screenwriterdirectorfilm directorwritertelevision producer
- Biography
-
Douglas Petrie is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. Best known as a writer, director, and co-executive producer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He co-wrote the screenplays for the Fantastic Four film and Harriet the Spy. He has also written for the television shows Angel, The 4400, Tru Calling and American Horror Story: Coven. He served as a co-executive producer and writer for two seasons on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and as a consulting producer and writer on the second season of Pushing Daisies. He made a cameo on Joss Whedon's web-based film, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, as "Professor Normal". He served as co-executive producer on the first season of the Netflix show Daredevil, and took over as showrunner for its second season alongside Marco Ramirez. In April 2016 Petrie and Ramirez were announced as showrunners of The Defenders, a miniseries that crosses over Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist.
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Aaron Zebley
- Occupations
- lawyer
- Biography
-
Aaron Mortimer Zebley is an American attorney and former FBI special agent who was the deputy special counsel of the Special Counsel investigation headed by Robert Mueller. He was the former chief of staff to Mueller at the FBI. Zebley followed Mueller from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to the law firm WilmerHale and also subsequently left when Mueller resigned to become the special counsel, along with James L. Quarles.
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Cece Bell
- Occupations
- designerchildren's writercaricaturistgraphic artistillustrator
- Biography
-
Cecelia Carolina Bell is an American author, cartoonist, and illustrator. Most well known for her graphic novel El Deafo, Bell's work has appeared in The Atlantic, Vegetarian Times, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, Working Woman, Esquire and many other publications.
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Richard Bland
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Richard Bland, sometimes referred to as Richard Bland II or Richard Bland of Jordan's Point, was an American Founding Father, planter, lawyer and politician from Virginia. A cousin and early mentor of Thomas Jefferson, Bland served 34 years in the Virginia General Assembly, and with John Robinson and this man's cousin Peyton Randolph as one of the most influential and productive burgesses during the last quarter century of the colonial period.
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Amanda Petrusich
- Years
- 20th Century
- Occupations
- writermusic journalistjournalistmusic critic
- Biography
-
Amanda Petrusich is an American music journalist. She is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of three books: Pink Moon (2007), It Still Moves: Lost Songs, Lost Highways, and the Search for the Next American Music (2008), and Do Not Sell at Any Price: The Wild, Obsessive Hunt for the World's Rarest 78rpm Records (2014).
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David N. Kelley
- Years
- 1959-.. (age 67)
- Enrolled in the College of William and Mary
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- lawyer
- Biography
-
David N. Kelley is an American attorney and a former interim United States Attorney and Deputy U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY). He was also a co-chair of the United States Justice Department’s nationwide investigation into the September 11 attacks.
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Yancey Strickler
- Biography
-
Yancey Strickler is an American author, entrepreneur, and former music critic. He co-founded Kickstarter, a funding platform for creative projects.
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Channing Moore Williams
- Occupations
- missionaryAnglican priest
- Biography
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Channing Moore Williams was an Episcopal Church missionary, later bishop, in China and Japan. Williams was a leading figure in the establishment of the Anglican Church in Japan. His commemoration in some Anglican liturgical calendars is on 2 December.
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Ellen R. Stofan
- Occupations
- geologistearth scientistastronomer
- Biography
-
Ellen Renee Stofan is Under Secretary for Science and Research at The Smithsonian and was previously the Director of the National Air and Space Museum.
