100 Notable alumni of
Cornell University
Updated:
Cornell University is 20th in the world, 13th in North America, and 13th in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from Cornell University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. 8 individuals affiliated with Cornell University won Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, and Physiology or Medicine.
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Gillian Anderson
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- Studied in 1987-1987
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm directorsingervoice actorstage actor
- Biography
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Gillian Leigh Anderson OBE is an American actress, writer, and activist. She is best known for her roles as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the sci-fi series The X-Files (1993–2002; 2016–2018), Lily Bart in the drama film The House of Mirth (2000), DSI Stella Gibson in the BBC/RTÉ crime drama series The Fall (2013–2016), Jean Milburn in the Netflix comedy drama series Sex Education (2019–2023), and Margaret Thatcher in the fourth season of the Netflix drama series The Crown (2020). Among other honors, she has won two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards.
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Christopher Reeve
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm directorvoice actorstage actoractor
- Biography
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Christopher D'Olier Reeve was an American actor, activist, director, and author. He amassed several stage and screen credits in his 34-year career, including playing the title character in the Superman film series (1978–1987). He won a British Academy Film Award, an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. He was also known for his activism.
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Occupations
- judgejuristlawyer
- Biography
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Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020. She was nominated by President Bill Clinton to replace retiring justice Byron White, and at the time was viewed as a moderate consensus-builder. Ginsburg was the first Jewish woman and the second woman to serve on the Court, after Sandra Day O'Connor. During her tenure, Ginsburg authored the majority opinions in cases such as United States v. Virginia (1996), Olmstead v. L.C. (1999), Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services, Inc. (2000), and City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York (2005). Later in her tenure, Ginsburg received attention for passionate dissents that reflected liberal views of the law. She was popularly dubbed "the Notorious R.B.G.", a moniker she later embraced.
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Tsai Ing-wen
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- 1978-1980 graduated with Master of Laws
- Occupations
- university teacherpoliticianjuristlawyer
- Biography
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Tsai Ing-wen is a Taiwanese politician and legal scholar who served as the 7th president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2016 to 2024. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), she intermittently served as chair of the DPP from 2008 to 2012, 2014 to 2018, and 2020 to 2022.
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Kurt Vonnegut
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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Kurt Vonnegut was an American author known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. His published work includes fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and five nonfiction works over fifty-plus years; further works have been published since his death.
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Ann Coulter
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts in history
- Occupations
- journalistauthorcolumnistlawyerwriter
- Biography
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Ann Hart Coulter is an American conservative media pundit, author, syndicated columnist, and lawyer. She became known as a media pundit in the late 1990s, appearing in print and on cable news as an outspoken critic of the Clinton administration. Her first book concerned the impeachment of Bill Clinton and sprang from her experience writing legal briefs for Paula Jones's attorneys, as well as columns she wrote about the cases. Coulter's syndicated column for Universal Press Syndicate appears in newspapers and is featured on conservative websites. Coulter has also written 13 books.
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Bill Nye
- Occupations
- writerscience communicatorscientisttelevision personalityeducator
- Biography
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William Sanford Nye is an American science communicator, television presenter, and former mechanical engineer. He is best known as the host of the science education television show Bill Nye the Science Guy (1993–1999) and as a science educator in pop culture. Born in Washington, D.C., Nye began his career as a mechanical engineer for Boeing in Seattle, where he invented a hydraulic resonance suppressor tube used on 747 airplanes. In 1986, he left Boeing to pursue comedy—writing and performing for the local sketch television show Almost Live!, where he regularly conducted wacky scientific experiments.
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Bill Maher
- Occupations
- screenwriterjournalisttelevision presenteractortelevision producer
- Biography
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William Maher is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is popularly known for the HBO political talk show Real Time with Bill Maher (2003–present) and the similar late-night show called Politically Incorrect (1993–2002), originally on Comedy Central and later on ABC. In 2022, Maher started the podcast Club Random.
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Jane Lynch
- Occupations
- singercharacter actorvoice actorstage actorgame show host
- Biography
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Jane Marie Lynch is an American actress, comedian, and singer. Known for playing starring and recurring roles in comedic television, her accolades include one Golden Globe, five Primetime Emmys and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2013, Lynch received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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Toni Morrison
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- Graduated with Master of Arts
- Occupations
- audiobook narratorlibrettistuniversity teacherwriterchildren's writer
- Biography
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Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison, known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist and editor. Her first novel, The Bluest Eye, was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed Song of Solomon (1977) brought her national attention and won the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 1988, Morrison won the Pulitzer Prize for Beloved (1987); she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993.
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Jimmy Smits
- Occupations
- film actortelevision actorfilm produceractor
- Biography
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Jimmy L. Smits is an American actor. He is best known for playing attorney Victor Sifuentes on the 1980s–1990s legal drama L.A. Law, NYPD Detective Bobby Simone on the 1990s–2000s police drama NYPD Blue, and Matt Santos on the political drama The West Wing. He appeared in Switch (1991), My Family (1995), The Jane Austen Book Club (2007), and In the Heights (2021). He also appeared as Bail Organa in the Star Wars franchise and as ADA Miguel Prado in Dexter. From 2012 to 2014, he was a member of the main cast of Sons of Anarchy, in the role of Nero Padilla. Smits also portrayed Elijah Strait in the NBC drama series Bluff City Law.
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Lee Teng-hui
- Years
- 1923-2020 (aged 97)
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- 1965-1968 graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- agricultural economistpolitician
- Biography
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Lee Teng-hui was a Taiwanese politician and agricultural scientist who served as the 4th president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) under the 1947 Constitution and chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) from 1988 to 2000. He was the first president to be born in Taiwan, the last to be indirectly elected and the first to be directly elected.
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Huey Lewis
- Occupations
- musiciansingeractorstreet artistsinger-songwriter
- Biography
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Hugh Anthony Cregg III, known professionally as Huey Lewis, is an American singer, songwriter and actor.
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William Sadler
- Occupations
- film actoractortelevision actor
- Biography
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William Thomas Sadler is an American stage, film, and television actor. His television and motion picture roles have included Chesty Puller in The Pacific, Luther Sloan in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Sheriff Jim Valenti in Roswell, convict Heywood in The Shawshank Redemption, Senator Vernon Trent in Hard to Kill, Death in Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey and Bill & Ted Face the Music, and Colonel Stuart in Die Hard 2. He played Matthew Ellis in Iron Man 3, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and WHIH Newsfront. He also recurs as John McGarrett in the 2010 remake of the 1968 television series Hawaii Five-O, and the Boston boxing promoter and suspected drug dealer Gino Fish in the Jesse Stone television film series, opposite Tom Selleck. He also played Don in the 1992 movie Trespass.
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Thomas Pynchon
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- 1953-1959 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in English literature
- Occupations
- writerscience fiction writernovelistessayist
- Biography
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Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, genres and themes, including history, music, science, and mathematics. For Gravity's Rainbow, Pynchon won the 1973 U.S. National Book Award for Fiction. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American novelists.
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Francis Fukuyama
- Occupations
- photographereconomistpolitical scientistwriterblogger
- Biography
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Francis Yoshihiro Fukuyama is an American political scientist, political economist, international relations scholar, and writer.
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Isaac Herzog
- Occupations
- politicianadvocatelawyer
- Biography
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Isaac "Bougie" Herzog is an Israeli politician who has been serving since 2021 as the 11th president of Israel. He is the first president to have been born in Israel after its Declaration of Independence.
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Edward Bernays
- Occupations
- psychologistpublic relations scholarjournalistnon-fiction writer
- Biography
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Edward Louis Bernays was an American pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda, and referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations". While credited with advancing the profession of public relations, his techniques have been criticized for manipulating public opinion, often in ways that undermined individual autonomy and democratic values.
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Bajrakitiyabha, Princess Rajasarinisiribajra
- Occupations
- social workerlawyerdiplomatmilitary officer
- Biography
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Bajrakitiyabha, Princess Rajasarini Siribajra is a Thai princess and diplomat of Thailand, the first grandchild of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit of Thailand, and the only one of the seven children of King Vajiralongkorn born to his first wife Princess Soamsawali.
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Janet Reno
- Occupations
- politicianprosecutorlawyer
- Biography
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Janet Wood Reno was an American lawyer and public official who served as the first female and 78th United States attorney general. Reno, a member of the Democratic Party, held the position from 1993 to 2001, making her the second-longest serving attorney general, behind only William Wirt.
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Robert F. Smith
- Occupations
- investment bankerinvestor
- Biography
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Robert Frederick Smith is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder, chairman, and CEO of private equity firm Vista Equity Partners. He graduated from Cornell University with a chemical engineering degree and from Columbia Business School with an MBA, before working as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs.
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Peter Ostrum
- Occupations
- voice actorfilm actorstage actorbasketball playersongwriter
- Biography
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Peter Gardner Ostrum is an American retired veterinarian and former child actor, whose only film role was as Charlie Bucket in the 1971 motion picture Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
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Andrea Savage
- Occupations
- film actorscreenwritertelevision actorfilm director
- Biography
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Andrea Kristen Savage is an American actress and comedian known best known for creating, writing and starring in the show I'm Sorry (2017–2019). The show originally aired on TruTV, but became a hit when it streamed on Netflix. In 2022, she starred as Stacy Beale opposite Sylvester Stallone in the series Tulsa King on Paramount+. That same year she also starred in Look Both Ways on Netflix and Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe for Paramount+. Savage is also known for roles in projects such as the Comedy Central mockumentary series Dog Bites Man (2006), the comedy film Step Brothers (2008), Hulu's reality TV parody series The Hotwives (2014–2015), and the HBO comedy Veep (2016–2017). She also has appeared in Curb Your Enthusiasm.
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Pearl S. Buck
- Occupations
- children's writernovelistwriterautobiographertranslator
- Biography
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Pearl Comfort Sydenstricker Buck was an American writer and novelist. She is best known for The Good Earth, the best-selling novel in the United States in 1931 and 1932 and which won her the Pulitzer Prize in 1932. In 1938, Buck became the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature "for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China" and for her "masterpieces", two memoir-biographies of her missionary parents.
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Martin D. Ginsburg
- Occupations
- lawyer
- Biography
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Martin David Ginsburg was an American lawyer who specialized in tax law and was the husband of American lawyer and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He taught law at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., and was of counsel in the Washington, D.C., office of the American law firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson.
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Howard Hawks
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm directoraircraft pilotfilm editoractor
- Biography
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Howard Winchester Hawks was an American film director, producer, and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era. Critic Leonard Maltin called him "the greatest American director who is not a household name." Roger Ebert called Hawks "one of the greatest American directors of pure movies, and a hero of auteur critics because he found his own laconic values in so many different kinds of genre material." He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for Sergeant York (1941) and earned the Honorary Academy Award in 1974. A versatile director, Hawks explored many genres such as comedies, dramas, gangster films, science fiction, film noir, war films, and westerns. His most popular films include Scarface (1932), Bringing Up Baby (1938), Only Angels Have Wings (1939), His Girl Friday (1940), To Have and Have Not (1944), The Big Sleep (1946), Red River (1948), The Thing from Another World (1951), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), and Rio Bravo (1959). His frequent portrayals of strong, tough-talking female characters came to define the "Hawksian woman".
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Keith Olbermann
- Occupations
- television producerwriterjournalisttelevision presenter
- Biography
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Keith Theodore Olbermann is an American sports and political commentator and writer. Olbermann spent the first 20 years of his career in sports journalism. He was a sports correspondent for CNN and for local TV and radio stations in the 1980s, winning the Best Sportscaster award from the California Associated Press three times. He co-hosted ESPN's SportsCenter from 1992 to 1997. From 1998 to 2001, he was a producer and anchor for Fox Sports Net and a host for Fox Sports' coverage of Major League Baseball.
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Harry Chapin
- Occupations
- musiciansongwriterfilm directorpianistbanjoist
- Biography
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Harry Forster Chapin was an American singer-songwriter, philanthropist, and hunger activist best known for his folk rock and pop rock songs. He achieved worldwide success in the 1970s. Chapin, a Grammy Award-winning artist and Grammy Hall of Fame inductee, has sold over 16 million records worldwide.
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Rebekah Neumann
- Occupations
- business executive
- Biography
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Rebekah Victoria Neumann is an American businesswoman. Until September 22, 2019, she served as chief brand and impact officer at WeWork, a company founded by her husband, Adam Neumann, and oversaw its education program WeGrow.
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Leo Frank
- Occupations
- mechanical engineer
- Biography
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Leo Max Frank was an American lynching victim convicted in 1913 of the murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan, an employee in a factory in Atlanta, Georgia where he was the superintendent. Frank's trial, conviction, and unsuccessful appeals attracted national attention. His kidnapping from prison and lynching became the focus of social, regional, political, and racial concerns, particularly regarding antisemitism. Modern researchers generally agree that Frank was wrongly convicted.
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John Mearsheimer
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- Graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- international relations scholar
- Biography
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John Joseph Mearsheimer is an American political scientist and international relations scholar. He is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago.
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Ari Melber
- Occupations
- journalistnews presenterlawyer
- Biography
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Ari Naftali Melber is an American attorney and Emmy-winning journalist who is the Chief Legal Correspondent for MSNBC and host of The Beat with Ari Melber.
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Catherine Hicks
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- Graduated with Master of Fine Arts
- Occupations
- stage actorfilm actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Catherine Mary Hicks is an American retired actress. She played the character Annie Camden on the long-running television series 7th Heaven. Other roles included Dr. Faith Coleridge on the soap opera Ryan's Hope (1976–1978), her Emmy Award-nominated performance as Marilyn Monroe in Marilyn: The Untold Story (1980), Dr. Gillian Taylor in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), Carol Heath in Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), and Karen Barclay in Child's Play (1988).
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S. E. Cupp
- Occupations
- ballet dancerpolitical punditjournalisttelevision presenter
- Biography
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Sarah Elizabeth Cupp is an American television host, political commentator, and writer. In August 2017, she began hosting S. E. Cupp: Unfiltered, a political panel show, co-hosted by Andrew Levy, on HLN and later CNN.
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Norbert Wiener
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- Studied in 1910-1911
- Occupations
- psychologistscientistautobiographerfounderuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Norbert Wiener was an American computer scientist, mathematician and philosopher. He became a professor of mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). A child prodigy, Wiener later became an early researcher in stochastic and mathematical noise processes, contributing work relevant to electronic engineering, electronic communication, and control systems.
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Huang, Kuo-chang
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- 1998-1999 graduated with Master of Laws
- 1999-2002 graduated with Doctor of Juridical Science
- Occupations
- politicianresearcherlawyer
- Biography
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Huang Kuo-chang is a Taiwanese politician, legal scholar, and activist. He was one of the leading figures of the 2014 Sunflower Student Movement and joined the New Power Party shortly afterwards. He served as leader of the party from 2015 to 2019, and represented New Taipei City of Xizhi District in the Legislative Yuan on behalf of the NPP between 2016 and 2020.
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Willis Carrier
- Occupations
- technicianengineerinventorbusinessperson
- Biography
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Willis Haviland Carrier was an American engineer, best known for inventing modern air conditioning. Carrier invented the first electrical air conditioning unit in 1902. In 1915, he founded Carrier Corporation, a company specializing in the manufacture and distribution of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.
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Steve Reich
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- Studied in 1953-1957
- Occupations
- composermusicianvideographer
- Biography
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Stephen Michael Reich is an American composer best known as a pioneer of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, and canons. Reich describes this concept in his essay, "Music as a Gradual Process", by stating, "I am interested in perceptible processes. I want to be able to hear the process happening throughout the sounding music." For example, his early works experiment with phase shifting, in which one or more repeated phrases plays slower or faster than the others, causing it to go "out of phase." This creates new musical patterns in a perceptible flow.
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Frank Morgan
- Occupations
- stage actorfilm actorcharacter actor
- Biography
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Francis Phillip Wuppermann, known professionally as Frank Morgan, was an American character actor. He was best known for his appearances in films starting in the silent era in 1916, and then numerous sound films throughout the 1930s and 1940s, with a career spanning 35 years mostly as a contract player at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He is best-known for his multiple roles, including the title role of The Wizard in the 1939 MGM film The Wizard of Oz. He was also briefly billed early in his career as Frank Wupperman and Francis Morgan.
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Hu Shih
- Occupations
- politicianjournalistdiplomatwriteruniversity teacher
- Biography
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Hu Shih was a Chinese diplomat, essayist and fiction writer, literary scholar, philosopher, and politician. Hu contributed to Chinese liberalism and language reform and advocated for the use of written vernacular Chinese. He participated in the May Fourth Movement and China's New Culture Movement. He was a president of Peking University.
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Ato Essandoh
- Occupations
- film actoractortelevision actor
- Biography
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Ato Essilfi Bracato Essandoh is an American television and film actor. He has appeared in numerous films and TV series, including a major role in the 2023 Netflix political drama series The Diplomat.
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Justin H. Min
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- photographertelevision actorfilm actoractor
- Biography
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Justin Hong-Kee Min is an American actor. He began his acting career with roles in several Wong Fu productions. He is known for portraying Ben Hargreeves in the Netflix original series The Umbrella Academy (2019–2024), and for portraying the title role in After Yang (2021).
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Cheryl Crane
- Occupations
- writerreal estate agent
- Biography
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Cheryl Christina Crane is an American former model, retired real estate broker, author, and the only child of actress Lana Turner. Her father was Turner's second husband, actor-turned-restaurateur Steve Crane. She was the subject of significant media attention in 1958 when, at fourteen years old, she stabbed to death her mother's lover, Johnny Stompanato, during a domestic struggle; she was not charged, and his death was deemed a justifiable homicide.
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Harold Bloom
- Occupations
- writerliterary theoristprofessoruniversity teacherjournalist
- Biography
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Harold Bloom was an American literary critic and the Sterling Professor of humanities at Yale University. In 2017, Bloom was called "probably the most famous literary critic in the English-speaking world". After publishing his first book in 1959, Bloom wrote more than 50 books, including over 40 books of literary criticism, several books discussing religion, and one novel. He edited hundreds of anthologies concerning numerous literary and philosophical figures for the Chelsea House publishing firm. Bloom's books have been translated into more than 40 languages. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1995.
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E. B. White
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- Studied in 1921
- Occupations
- editorscreenwriterjournalistwriterchildren's writer
- Biography
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Elwyn Brooks White was an American writer. He was the author of several highly popular books for children, including Stuart Little (1945), Charlotte's Web (1952), and The Trumpet of the Swan (1970).
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Václav Klaus
- Occupations
- politicianeconomistteacher
- Biography
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Václav Klaus is a Czech economist and politician who served as the second president of the Czech Republic from 2003 to 2013. From July 1992 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in January 1993, he served as the second and last prime minister of the Czech Republic while it was a federal subject of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic, and then as the first prime minister of the newly independent Czech Republic from 1993 to 1998.
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Andrew Ross Sorkin
- Occupations
- television producerscreenwriterwriterjournalist
- Biography
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Andrew Ross Sorkin is an American journalist and author. He is a financial columnist for The New York Times and a co-anchor of CNBC's Squawk Box. He is also the founder and editor of DealBook, a financial news service published by The New York Times. He wrote the bestselling book Too Big to Fail and co-produced a movie adaptation of the book for HBO Films. He is also a co-creator of the Showtime series Billions.
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Thomas Midgley
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- In 1911 studied mechanical engineering
- Occupations
- inventorchemistengineer
- Biography
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Thomas Midgley Jr. was an American mechanical and chemical engineer. He played a major role in developing leaded gasoline (tetraethyl lead) and some of the first chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), better known in the United States by the brand name Freon; both products were later banned from common use due to their harmful impact on human health and the environment. He was granted more than 100 patents over the course of his career.
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Reggie Fils-Aimé
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- Studied applied economics
- Occupations
- businesspersonbusiness executive
- Biography
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Reginald Fils-Aimé is an American businessman best known for being the president and chief operating officer of Nintendo of America, the North American branch of the Japanese video game company Nintendo, from 2006 to 2019. Prior to his promotion to president and COO, Fils-Aimé was executive vice president of sales and marketing.
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Herb Edelman
- Occupations
- film actortelevision actorstage actoractor
- Biography
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Herbert “Herb” Edelman was an American actor of stage, film and television. He was twice nominated for an Emmy Award for his television work. His best-known role was as Stanley Zbornak, the ex-husband of Dorothy Zbornak (played by Bea Arthur) on The Golden Girls. He also had a recurring role on the 1980s medical drama St. Elsewhere.
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Hans Bethe
- Occupations
- physicistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Hans Albrecht Bethe was a German-American physicist who made major contributions to nuclear physics, astrophysics, quantum electrodynamics and solid-state physics, and received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1967 for his work on the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis. For most of his career, Bethe was a professor at Cornell University.
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Lauren Weisberger
- Occupations
- writerjournalistnovelist
- Biography
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Lauren Weisberger is an American writer and author of the 2003 bestseller The Devil Wears Prada, a roman à clef of her experience as an assistant to Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour. Weisberger worked as a writer and editor for Vogue and Departures magazines prior to authoring The Devil Wears Prada, which was adapted into a film of the same name in 2006. She has since published seven other novels.
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Robert Smigel
- Occupations
- screenwritertelevision actorfilm directoractorvoice actor
- Biography
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Robert Smigel is an American actor, comedian, writer, director, producer, and puppeteer, known for his Saturday Night Live "TV Funhouse" cartoon shorts and as the puppeteer and voice behind Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. He also co-wrote the first two Hotel Transylvania films, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, and Leo, all starring Adam Sandler.
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Paul Wolfowitz
- Occupations
- political scientisteconomistbankerpoliticiandiplomat
- Biography
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Paul Dundes Wolfowitz is an American political scientist and diplomat who served as the 10th President of the World Bank, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia, and dean of Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University. He is currently a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
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Steven Weinberg
- Occupations
- cosmologistuniversity teacherphysicistwritertheoretical physicist
- Biography
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Steven Weinberg was an American theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate in physics for his contributions with Abdus Salam and Sheldon Glashow to the unification of the weak force and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles.
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Simon Chang
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- 1977-1981 graduated with doctorate
- Occupations
- university teacherpolitician
- Biography
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Chang San-cheng, also known by his English name Simon Chang, is a Taiwanese politician who has been the mayor of Taoyuan City since 25 December 2022. He was premier of Taiwan from 1 February 2016 (de facto; 18 January 2016 as the acting premier) until 20 May 2016, appointed by President Ma Ying-jeou. Before assuming the premiership, he had served as vice premier from 8 December 2014 under the Mao Chi-kuo cabinet. Chang was the first nonpartisan premier of Taiwan.
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Ethan Phillips
- Occupations
- film actorplaywrighttelevision actoractor
- Biography
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Ethan Phillips is an American actor. He is best known for his television roles as Neelix on Star Trek: Voyager and PR man Pete Downey on Benson.
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Harold Gould
- Occupations
- film actoractortelevision actor
- Biography
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Harold Vernon Goldstein, better known as Harold Gould, was an American character actor. He appeared as Martin Morgenstern on the sitcom Rhoda (1974–78) and Miles Webber on the sitcom The Golden Girls (1985–92). A five-time Emmy Award nominee, Gould acted in film and television for nearly 50 years, appearing in more than 300 television shows, 20 major motion pictures, and over 100 stage plays. He was known for playing elegant, well-dressed men (as in The Sting), and he regularly played Jewish characters and grandfather-type figures on television and in film.
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Dan Duryea
- Occupations
- film actoractortelevision actor
- Biography
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Dan Duryea was an American actor in film, stage, and television. Known for portraying a vast range of character roles as a villain, he nonetheless had a long career in a wide variety of leading and secondary roles.
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Gad Saad
- Occupations
- psychologistpolitical scientistYouTuberwriteruniversity teacher
- Biography
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Gad Saad is a Canadian marketing professor at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University. He has argued for applying evolutionary psychology to marketing and consumer behaviour. He wrote a blog for Psychology Today and hosts a podcast titled "The Saad Truth".
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Franchot Tone
- Occupations
- film producerfilm actorstage actorfilm directortelevision actor
- Biography
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Stanislaus Pascal Franchot Tone was an American actor, producer, and director of stage, film and television. He was a leading man in the 1930s and early 1940s, and at the height of his career was known for his gentlemanly sophisticate roles, with supporting roles by the 1950s. His acting crossed many genres including pre-Code romantic leads to noir layered roles and World War I films. He appeared as a guest star in episodes of several golden age television series, including The Twilight Zone and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour while continuing to act and produce in the theater and movies throughout the 1960s.
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Barbara McClintock
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- Graduated with Doctor of Philosophy in botany
- Occupations
- cytogeneticist
- Biography
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Barbara McClintock was an American scientist and cytogeneticist who was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. McClintock received her PhD in botany from Cornell University in 1927. There she started her career as the leader of the development of maize cytogenetics, the focus of her research for the rest of her life. From the late 1920s, McClintock studied chromosomes and how they change during reproduction in maize. She developed the technique for visualizing maize chromosomes and used microscopic analysis to demonstrate many fundamental genetic ideas. One of those ideas was the notion of genetic recombination by crossing-over during meiosis—a mechanism by which chromosomes exchange information. She is often credited with producing the first genetic map for maize, linking regions of the chromosome to physical traits.However this legend has been corrected by Kass (2024) She demonstrated the role of the telomere and centromere, regions of the chromosome that are important in the conservation of genetic information. She was recognized as among the best in the field, awarded prestigious fellowships, and elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1944.
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Isidor Isaac Rabi
- Occupations
- university teachernuclear physicisttheoretical physicistphysicist
- Biography
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Isidor Isaac Rabi was an American physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1944 for his discovery of nuclear magnetic resonance, which is used in magnetic resonance imaging. He was also one of the first scientists in the United States to work on the cavity magnetron, which is used in microwave radar and microwave ovens.
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Greg Graffin
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- Graduated with Doctor of Philosophy in history of science
- Occupations
- zoologistmusiciancomposerwritersinger-songwriter
- Biography
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Gregory Walter Graffin is an American singer and evolutionary biologist. He is most recognized as the lead vocalist and only constant member of rock band Bad Religion, which he co-founded in 1980. He embarked on a solo career in 1997, when he released the album American Lesion. His follow-up album, Cold as the Clay, was released nine years later. His newest solo work is Millport, released in 2017.
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Elissa Slotkin
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- 1994-1998 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in rural sociology
- Occupations
- politicianexpertcivil servant
- Biography
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Elissa Blair Slotkin is an American politician serving since 2025 as the junior United States senator from Michigan. From 2019 to 2025, she served as the U.S. representative for Michigan's 7th congressional district. The district, numbered as the 8th from 2019 to 2023, stretches from Lansing to the outer northern suburbs of Detroit. A member of the Democratic Party, Slotkin was previously a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst and Department of Defense official.
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Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak
- Occupations
- translatorliterary criticuniversity teacherwriterphilosopher
- Biography
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Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak FBA (born 24 February 1942) is an Indian scholar, literary theorist, and feminist critic. She is a University Professor at Columbia University and a founding member of the establishment's Institute for Comparative Literature and Society.
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Ricky Jay
- Occupations
- television actor
- Biography
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Richard Jay Potash was an American stage magician, actor, and writer. In a 1993 profile for The New Yorker, Mark Singer called Jay "perhaps the most gifted sleight of hand artist alive". In addition to sleight of hand, he was known for his card tricks, card throwing, memory feats, and stage patter. He also wrote extensively on magic and its history. His acting credits include The Prestige, The Spanish Prisoner, Mystery Men, Heist, Boogie Nights, Tomorrow Never Dies, Heartbreakers, State and Main, House of Games, Magnolia, and Deadwood. In 2015, he was the subject of an episode of PBS's American Masters, the only magician ever profiled in the series.
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Anna Roosevelt Halsted
- Occupations
- socialitejournalistwriter
- Biography
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Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Halsted was an American writer who worked as a newspaper editor and in public relations. Halsted also wrote two children's books published in the 1930s. She was the eldest child and only daughter of U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Halsted assisted her father as his advisor during World War II.
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Leonard Susskind
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- In 1965 graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- scientistacademicuniversity teacherphysicistnon-fiction writer
- Biography
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Leonard Susskind is an American theoretical physicist, Professor of theoretical physics at Stanford University and founding director of the Stanford Institute for Theoretical Physics. His research interests are string theory, quantum field theory, quantum statistical mechanics and quantum cosmology. He is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an associate member of the faculty of Canada's Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, and a distinguished professor of the Korea Institute for Advanced Study.
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Paul Graham
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- journalistcomputer scientistwriteressayistventure capitalist
- Biography
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Paul Graham is an English-American computer scientist, writer and essayist, entrepreneur and investor. His work includes the programming language Arc, the startup Viaweb (later renamed Yahoo! Store), co-founding the startup accelerator and seed capital firm Y Combinator, a number of essays and books, and the media webpage Hacker News.
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Ed Marinaro
- Occupations
- actortelevision actorAmerican football player
- Biography
-
Ed Marinaro is an American actor and former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Minnesota Vikings. He played college football for the Cornell Big Red, where he was a unanimous All-American and won the Maxwell Award in 1971.
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Thomas Nagel
- Occupations
- writeruniversity teacherphilosopher
- Biography
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Thomas Nagel is an American philosopher. He is the University Professor of Philosophy and Law Emeritus at New York University, where he taught from 1980 until his retirement in 2016. His main areas of philosophical interest are political philosophy, ethics and philosophy of mind.
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Barry Weiss
- Occupations
- music executive
- Biography
-
Barry Weiss is an American music executive. He co-founded the record label RECORDS in 2015, an imprint of Sony Music Entertainment which specializes in young recording artists.
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Junot Díaz
- Occupations
- faculty memberuniversity teachernovelistwriterscience fiction writer
- Biography
-
Junot Díaz is a Dominican American writer, creative writing professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a former fiction editor at Boston Review. He also serves on the board of advisers for Freedom University, a volunteer organization in Georgia that provides post-secondary instruction to undocumented immigrants. Central to Díaz's work is the immigrant experience, particularly the Latino immigrant experience.
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Gary Bettman
- Occupations
- juristNHL Commissionerlawyer
- Biography
-
Gary Bruce Bettman is an American sports executive who serves as the commissioner of the National Hockey League (NHL), a post he has held since February 1, 1993. Previously, Bettman was a senior vice president and general counsel to the National Basketball Association (NBA). Bettman is a graduate of Cornell University and New York University School of Law. Bettman was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018.
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George Friedman
- Occupations
- political scientistgeopolitical analystbusinesspersonnon-fiction writer
- Biography
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George Friedman is a Hungarian-born American futurologist, political scientist, and writer. He is a geopolitical author on international relations. He is the founder and chairman of Geopolitical Futures. Prior to founding Geopolitical Futures, he was chairman of the publishing company Stratfor.
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Ronald D. Moore
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm directorshowrunneractorwriter
- Biography
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Ronald Dowl Moore is an American screenwriter and television producer. He is best known for his work on Star Trek, as well as on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series, for which he won a Peabody Award, and on Outlander, based on the novels of the same name by Diana Gabaldon. In 2019, he created and wrote the series For All Mankind for Apple TV+.
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Edmund Muskie
- Occupations
- politicianlawyerdiplomatmilitary officer
- Biography
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Edmund Sixtus Muskie was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 58th United States Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter from 1980 to 1981, a United States Senator from Maine from 1959 to 1980, the 64th governor of Maine from 1955 to 1959, and a member of the Maine House of Representatives from 1946 to 1951. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for vice president in the 1968 presidential election.
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Christopher Rich
- Occupations
- film actortelevision actorfilm produceractor
- Biography
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Christopher Rich Wilson is an American actor, best known for his roles on Murphy Brown, Reba, and Boston Legal.
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Hubert Reeves
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- Graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- university teacherscience communicatorastrophysicistenvironmentalist
- Biography
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Hubert Reeves CC GOQ was a Canadian astrophysicist and popularizer of science.
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Jim Bridenstine
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- In 2009 graduated with Master of Business Administration
- Occupations
- politicianconsultantmilitary officer
- Biography
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James Frederick Bridenstine is an American military officer and politician who served as the 13th administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Bridenstine was the United States representative for Oklahoma's 1st congressional district, based in Tulsa from January 3, 2013, to April 23, 2018. He is a member of the Republican Party. Bridenstine currently works in the private sector and holds positions at Voyager Space Holdings, Viasat, Acorn Growth Companies and Firefly Aerospace.
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Thelma Schoonmaker
- Occupations
- film editortelevision actor
- Biography
-
Thelma Schoonmaker is an American film editor, best known for her collaboration over five decades with director Martin Scorsese. She has received numerous accolades, including three Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and four ACE Eddie Awards. She has been honored with the British Film Institute Fellowship in 1997, the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in 2014, and the BAFTA Fellowship in 2019.
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Vera Rubin
- Occupations
- astronomerphysicistscientist
- Biography
-
Vera Florence Cooper Rubin was an American astronomer who pioneered work on galaxy rotation rates. She uncovered the discrepancy between the predicted and observed angular motion of galaxies by studying galactic rotation curves. These results were later confirmed over subsequent decades. Her work on the galaxy rotation problem was cited by others as evidence for the existence of dark matter. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile is named in her honor.
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Mark Whitacre
- Occupations
- businesspersonbiochemist
- Biography
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Mark Edward Whitacre is an American business executive who came to public attention in 1995 when, as president of the Decatur, Illinois-based BioProducts Division at Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), he became the highest-level corporate executive in U.S. history to become a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) whistleblower. For three years (1992–95), Whitacre acted as a cooperating witness for the FBI, which was investigating ADM for price fixing. In the late 1990s, Whitacre was sentenced to nine years in federal prison for embezzling $9.5 million from ADM at the same time he was assisting the federal price-fixing investigation.
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Robert Moog
- Occupations
- university teachermusicianmusical instrument makerinventor
- Biography
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Robert Arthur Moog was an American engineer and electronic music pioneer. He was the founder of the synthesizer manufacturer Moog Music and the inventor of the first commercial synthesizer, the Moog synthesizer, which debuted in 1964. In 1970, Moog released a more portable model, the Minimoog, described as the most famous and influential synthesizer in history. Among Moog's honors are a Technical Grammy Award, received in 2002, and an induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
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Ernst Albrecht
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Ernst Carl Julius Albrecht was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union and a former high-ranking European civil servant. He was one of the first European civil servants appointed in 1958 and served as Director-General of the Directorate-General for Competition from 1967 to 1970. He served as Minister President of the state of Lower Saxony from 1976 to 1990. He was the father of the politician Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission.
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Rob Manfred
- Occupations
- sports executive
- Biography
-
Robert Dean Manfred Jr. is an American lawyer and business executive who is serving as the tenth commissioner of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously served as MLB's chief operating officer. Manfred succeeded Bud Selig as commissioner on January 25, 2015.
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Sarah Spain
- Occupations
- journalist
- Biography
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Sarah Colby Spain is an American sports reporter. She works as an espnW.com columnist, ESPN Radio host, ESPN television personality and occasional SportsCenter reporter for ESPN.
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Alan Keyes
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Alan Lee Keyes is an American politician, political scientist, and perennial candidate who served as the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs from 1985 to 1987. A member of the Republican Party, Keyes sought the nomination for President of the United States in 1996, 2000, and 2008.
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Kate Snow
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- Graduated with Bachelor of Science
- Occupations
- journalist
- Biography
-
Kate Snow is an American television journalist for NBC News, serving as Senior National Correspondent to various NBC platforms, including Today, NBC Nightly News, Dateline NBC, and MSNBC. Snow also anchors NBC News Daily, and frequently substitutes for the weekday and weekend broadcast. Snow also previously hosted MSNBC Live and anchored the Sunday edition of NBC Nightly News.
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Barry Voight
- Occupations
- volcanologistgeologist
- Biography
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Barry Voight is an American geologist, volcanologist, author, and engineer. After earning his Ph.D. at Columbia University, Voight worked as a professor of geology at several universities, including Pennsylvania State University, where he taught from 1964 until his retirement in 2005. He remains an emeritus professor there and still conducts research, focusing on rock mechanics, plate tectonics, disaster prevention, and geotechnical engineering.
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Mark Kirk
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- In 1981 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- politiciancongressional stafflawyermilitary officer
- Biography
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Mark Steven Kirk is an American retired politician and attorney who served as a United States senator from Illinois from 2010 to 2017, and as the United States representative for Illinois's 10th congressional district from 2001 to 2010. A member of the Republican Party, Kirk describes himself as socially liberal and fiscally conservative. To date, he is the last Republican to serve Illinois in the U.S. Senate.
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Karen Chen
- Occupations
- figure skater
- Biography
-
Karen Chen is an American figure skater. She is a 2022 Olympic Games team event gold medalist, two-time CS U.S. Classic bronze medalist (2016, 2017), the 2015 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb bronze medalist, the 2017 U.S. national champion, 2022 U.S. national silver medalist, and a three-time U.S. national bronze medalist (2015, 2018, 2021). She is currently a student at Cornell University.
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José Serra
- Occupations
- writerpoliticianeconomist
- Biography
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José Serra Chirico is a Brazilian politician who has served as a Congressman, Senator, Minister of Planning, Minister of Health, Mayor of São Paulo, Governor of São Paulo state, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil.
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Margaret Bourke-White
- Occupations
- photographerjournalistwar photographerartistwriter
- Biography
-
Margaret Bourke-White was an American photographer and documentary photographer. She was the first foreign photographer permitted to take pictures of Soviet industry under the Soviets' first five-year plan, was the first American female war photojournalist, and took the photograph (of the construction of Fort Peck Dam) that became the cover of the first issue of Life magazine.
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Sister Souljah
- Occupations
- film producerrappersongwriterwriterautobiographer
- Biography
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Lisa Williamson, known as Sister Souljah, is an American author, activist, rapper, and film producer.
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Art Fleming
- Occupations
- actorradio personalitymilitary officer
- Biography
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Arthur Fleming Fazzin was an American actor and television host. He hosted the first version of the television game show Jeopardy!, which aired on NBC from 1964 until 1975 and again from 1978 to 1979.
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Steve Pieczenik
- Occupations
- science fiction writerwriterpsychiatristnovelist
- Biography
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Steve R. Pieczenik is a Cuban-American psychiatrist, author, publisher, and conspiracy theorist. In 1976, he was made Deputy Assistant Secretary of State under Henry Kissinger, Cyrus Vance and James Baker. He was later a consultant of the United States Department of State.
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Adolphe Menjou
- Occupations
- film actorcharacter actortelevision actorstage actor
- Biography
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Adolphe Jean Menjou was an American actor. His career spanned both silent films and talkies. He appeared in such films as Charlie Chaplin's A Woman of Paris, where he played the lead role; Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory with Kirk Douglas; Ernst Lubitsch's The Marriage Circle; The Sheik with Rudolph Valentino; Morocco with Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper; and A Star Is Born with Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, and was nominated for an Academy Award for The Front Page in 1931.
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Mark Hyman
- Years
- 1959-.. (age 66)
- Occupations
- medical writerphysician
- Biography
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Mark Adam Hyman is an American physician and author. He is the founder and medical director of The UltraWellness Center. Hyman was a regular contributor to the Katie Couric Show until the show's cancellation in 2013. He hosts an eponymous podcast, The Dr. Hyman Show, which examines many topics related to human health. He is the author of several books on nutrition and longevity, of which 15 have become New York Times bestsellers, including Food Fix, Eat Fat, Get Thin, and Young Forever.
