100 Notable alumni of
Cornell University
Cornell University is 18th 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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Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Occupations
- juristlawyerjudge
- 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 term, Ginsburg received attention for passionate dissents that reflected liberal views of the law. She was dubbed "the Notorious R.B.G.", and she later embraced the moniker.
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Gillian Anderson
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- Studied in 1987-1987
- Occupations
- actorfilm actorscreenwritertelevision actorvoice actor
- Biography
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Gillian Leigh Anderson is an American actress. Her credits include the roles of FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the series The X-Files, ill-fated socialite Lily Bart in Terence Davies's film The House of Mirth (2000), DSU Stella Gibson in the BBC/RTÉ crime drama television series The Fall, sex therapist Jean Milburn in the Netflix comedy drama Sex Education, and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the fourth season of Netflix drama series The Crown. 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
- television actordirectorfilm actorfilm producerscreenwriter
- Biography
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Christopher D'Olier Reeve was an American actor, film director, author, and activist, best known for playing the title character in the film Superman (1978) and three sequels.
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Tsai Ing-wen
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- 1978-1980 graduated with Master of Laws
- Occupations
- lawyeruniversity teacherpoliticianjurist
- Biography
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Tsai Ing-wen is a Taiwanese politician who has served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2016. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Tsai is the first female president of Taiwan. She served as chair of the DPP from 2020 to 2022, and also previously from 2008 to 2012 and 2014 to 2018.
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Ann Coulter
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts in history
- Occupations
- punditjournalistauthorcolumnistlawyer
- 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
- scientisteducatorengineerphysicistactor
- Biography
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William Sanford Nye is an American mechanical engineer, science communicator, and television presenter. 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.
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Kurt Vonnegut
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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Kurt Vonnegut was an American writer and humorist known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and five nonfiction works; further collections have been published after his death.
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Bill Maher
- Occupations
- television producerwriterfilm producercomedianscreenwriter
- Biography
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William Maher is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is 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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Toni Morrison
- Occupations
- writerchildren's writerpoetnovelistcontributing editor
- Biography
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Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison, known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist. 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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Jane Lynch
- Occupations
- television actorwriterfilm actorautobiographersinger
- Biography
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Jane Marie Lynch is an American actress, comedian and singer. She is known for starring as Sue Sylvester in the musical comedy series Glee (2009–2015), which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award. Lynch also gained recognition for her roles in Christopher Guest's mockumentary films, such as Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003) and For Your Consideration (2006).
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Jimmy Smits
- Occupations
- film produceractorfilm actortelevision actor
- 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, Matt Santos on the political drama The West Wing, and for appearing 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 joined the main cast of Sons of Anarchy as 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 statesman and agriculturist who served as 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. During his presidency, Lee oversaw the end of martial law and the full democratization of the ROC, advocated the Taiwanese localization movement, and led an ambitious foreign policy to gain allies around the world. Nicknamed "Mr. Democracy", Lee was credited as the president who completed Taiwan's transition to the democratic era.
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Huey Lewis
- Occupations
- singer-songwriterfilm actormusiciansingeractor
- 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
- television actorfilm actoractor
- 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, Marvel's 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 starring Ice Cube, Ice-T and Bill Paxton.
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Thomas Pynchon
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- 1953-1959 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in English literature
- Occupations
- novelistessayistwriterscience fiction writer
- 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.
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Francis Fukuyama
- Occupations
- bloggerphilosopherphotographereconomistpolitical scientist
- Biography
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Francis Yoshihiro Fukuyama is an American political scientist, political economist, international relations scholar and writer.
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Janet Reno
- Occupations
- lawyerpoliticianprosecutor
- Biography
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Janet Wood Reno was an American lawyer who served as the 78th United States attorney general. She held the position from 1993 to 2001, making her the second-longest serving attorney general, behind only William Wirt. A member of the Democratic Party, Reno was the first woman to hold that post.
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Robert F. Smith
- Occupations
- investment bankerinternational forum participantinvestor
- 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.
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Edward Bernays
- Occupations
- psychologistnon-fiction writerjournalist
- Biography
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Edward Louis Bernays was an American theorist, considered a pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda, and referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations". His best-known campaigns include a 1929 effort to promote female smoking by branding cigarettes as feminist "Torches of Freedom", and his work for the United Fruit Company in the 1950s, connected with the CIA-orchestrated overthrow of the democratically elected Guatemalan government in 1954. He worked for dozens of major American corporations including Procter & Gamble and General Electric, and for government agencies, politicians, and nonprofit organizations.
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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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Peter Ostrum
- Occupations
- film actorstage actorbasketball playersongwritertelevision actor
- Biography
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Peter Gardner Ostrum is an American 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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Pearl S. Buck
- Occupations
- missionaryscreenwriterprosaistjournalisthuman rights activist
- Biography
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Pearl 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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Keith Olbermann
- Occupations
- journalisttelevision presentertelevision producerwriter
- Biography
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Keith Theodore Olbermann is an American sports and political commentator and writer.
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S. E. Cupp
- Occupations
- journalisttelevision presenterballet dancerpolitical pundit
- 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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Harry Chapin
- Occupations
- banjoistsinger-songwriterguitaristsingermusician
- Biography
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Harold 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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Howard Hawks
- Occupations
- film editoraircraft pilotfilm directorfilm produceractor
- 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."
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Andrea Savage
- Occupations
- television actorscreenwriterfilm actor
- Biography
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Andrea Kristen Savage is an American actress, comedian, and writer known for her 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 created and starred in TruTV's comedy series I'm Sorry (2017–2019).
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Bajrakitiyabha, Princess Rajasarinisiribajra
- Occupations
- lawyerdiplomatmilitary officersocial worker
- Biography
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Princess Bajrakitiyabha of Thailand, the Princess Rajasarini Siribajra is a Thai princess and diplomat of Thailand, the first grandchild of King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit of Thailand, and the only one of the seven children of King Maha Vajiralongkorn born to his first wife Princess Soamsawali.
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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 known for his contribution to the development 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." To do so, his music employs the technique of phase shifting, in which a phrase is slightly altered over time, in a flow that is clearly perceptible to the listener.
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Norbert Wiener
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- Studied in 1910-1911
- Occupations
- computer scientistautobiographermathematicianpsychologistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Norbert Wiener was an American mathematician and philosopher. He was 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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Catherine Hicks
- Occupations
- television actorstage actorfilm 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), and Karen Barclay in Child's Play (1988).
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Willis Carrier
- Occupations
- technicianengineerbusinesspersoninventorComephorus baikalensis
- 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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Ari Melber
- Occupations
- journalistinternational forum participant
- 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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Hu Shih
- Occupations
- university teacherphilosopherpoliticianjournalistdiplomat
- Biography
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Hu Shih, also known as Hu Suh in early references, was a Chinese diplomat, essayist, literary scholar, philosopher, and politician. Hu is widely recognized today as a key contributor to Chinese liberalism and language reform in his advocacy for the use of written vernacular Chinese. He was influential in the May Fourth Movement, one of the leaders of China's New Culture Movement, was a president of Peking University, and in 1939 was nominated for a Nobel Prize in literature. He had a wide range of interests such as literature, philosophy, history, textual criticism, and pedagogy. He was also an influential redology scholar and held the famous Jiaxu manuscript (甲戌本; Jiǎxū běn) for many years until his death.
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Frank Morgan
- Occupations
- character actorstage actorfilm 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, with his most celebrated performance playing the title role in The Wizard of Oz (1939). He was also briefly billed early in his career as Frank Wupperman and Francis Morgan.
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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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Huang Kuo-chang
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- 1998-1999 graduated with Master of Laws
- 1999-2002 graduated with Doctor of Juridical Science
- Occupations
- lawyerpoliticianresearcher
- Biography
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Huang Kuo-chang is a Taiwanese politician, activist, legal scholar, researcher and writer. He is one of the lead figures of the 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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Cheryl Crane
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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Cheryl Christina Crane is an American retired real estate broker, author and former model. She is 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
- literary theoristprofessoruniversity teacherjournalistliterary historian
- 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 a 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. Bloom was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1995.
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E. B. White
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- Studied in 1921
- Occupations
- writerchildren's writerpoetnovelistessayist
- 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). In a 2012 survey of School Library Journal readers, Charlotte's Web came in first in their poll of the top one hundred children's novels. In addition, he was a writer and contributing editor to The New Yorker magazine, and also a co-author of the English-language style guide The Elements of Style.
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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 division 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
- actorfilm actortelevision actorstage actor
- Biography
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Herbert Edelman was an American actor of stage, film and television. He was twice nominated for an Emmy Award for his television work. One of his best-known roles 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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Ato Essandoh
- Occupations
- television actorfilm actoractor
- Biography
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Ato Essilfi Bracato Essandoh is an American television and film actor.
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Steven Weinberg
- Occupations
- writertheoretical physicistcosmologistuniversity teacherphysicist
- 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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Václav Klaus
- Occupations
- teacherpoliticianinternational forum participanteconomist
- 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
- writerjournalistinternational forum participanttelevision producerscreenwriter
- 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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Lauren Weisberger
- Occupations
- writerjournalistnovelist
- Biography
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Lauren Weisberger is an American writer best known for her 2003 bestseller The Devil Wears Prada, a roman à clef of her experience as an assistant to Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour. Weisberger has worked as a writer and editor for magazines such as Vogue and Departures before writing her first novel The Devil Wears Prada. She has since worked on the film adaptation of her novel and has published seven other novels.
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Paul Wolfowitz
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitical scientisteconomistbankerpolitician
- 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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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, who belongs to the realist school of thought. He is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago. He has been described as the most influential realist of his generation.
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Peter Yarrow
- Occupations
- composerguitaristsingersongwritersinger-songwriter
- Biography
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Peter Yarrow is an American singer and songwriter who found fame for being in the 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary. Yarrow co-wrote (with Leonard Lipton) one of the group's best known hits, "Puff, the Magic Dragon". He is also a political activist and has supported causes that range from opposition to the Vietnam War to school anti-bullying programs.
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Isaac Herzog
- Occupations
- advocatelawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Isaac "Bougie" Herzog is an Israeli politician who has been serving as the 11th president of Israel since 2021. He is the first president to be born in Israel after its Declaration of Independence.
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Ethan Phillips
- Occupations
- actorfilm actorplaywrighttelevision actor
- Biography
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Ethan Phillips is an American actor and playwright. 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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Robert Smigel
- Occupations
- film directortelevision actoractorvoice actorscreenwriter
- 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 and You Don't Mess with the Zohan, all starring Adam Sandler.
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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 produced the first genetic map for maize, linking regions of the chromosome to physical traits. 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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Harold Gould
- Occupations
- television actorfilm actoractor
- 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 (1989–92). 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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Franchot Tone
- Occupations
- television actorfilm producerfilm actorstage actorfilm director
- 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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Dan Duryea
- Occupations
- television actorfilm actoractor
- 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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Barry Weiss
- Occupations
- music executive
- Biography
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Barry Weiss is an American music executive. He co-founded of the record label RECORDS in 2015, a joint-venture with Sony Music Entertainment that specializes in young artists.
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Ricky Jay
- Occupations
- television actor
- Biography
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Richard Jay Potash, known professionally as Ricky Jay, was an American stage magician, actor and writer. In a 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 included the films The Prestige, The Spanish Prisoner, The Ranger, the Cook and a Hole in the Sky, Mystery Men, Heist, Boogie Nights, Tomorrow Never Dies, State and Main, House of Games and Magnolia, and the HBO series 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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Greg Graffin
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- Graduated with Doctor of Philosophy in history of science
- Occupations
- writerzoologistsingerguitaristsinger-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 punk 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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Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak
- Occupations
- writerphilosophertranslatorliterary criticuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak 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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Leonard Susskind
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- In 1965 graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- physicistnon-fiction writeruniversity teacheracademic
- Biography
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Leonard Susskind is an American physicist, who is a professor of theoretical physics at Stanford University, and founding director of the Stanford Institute for Theoretical Physics. His research interests include 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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Junot Díaz
- Occupations
- writerscience fiction writerfaculty memberuniversity teachernovelist
- Biography
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Junot Díaz is a Dominican-American writer, creative writing professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and was 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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Chang San-cheng
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- 1977-1981 graduated with doctorate
- Occupations
- university teacherpolitician
- Biography
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Chang San-cheng is a Taiwanese politician who has been the mayor of Taoyuan City since 25 December 2022. He was Premier of the Republic of China from 1 February 2016 until 20 May 2016, appointed by President Ma Ying-jeou. Before assuming the Premiership, he had served as Vice Premier from 8 December 2014. Chang was the first nonpartisan Premier of the Republic of China.
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Anna Roosevelt Halsted
- Occupations
- writersocialitejournalist
- 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 the U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt and assisted him as his advisor during World War II.
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Jim Bridenstine
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- In 2009 graduated with Master of Business Administration
- Occupations
- consultantmilitary officerpolitician
- 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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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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Gad Saad
- Occupations
- YouTuberpolitical scientistpsychologisttelevision produceruniversity teacher
- Biography
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Gad Saad is a Canadian marketing professor at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University. He is known for applying evolutionary psychology to marketing and consumer behaviour. He wrote a blog for Psychology Today and hosts a YouTube channel titled "The Saad Truth".
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Thomas Nagel
- Occupations
- philosopherwriteruniversity teacher
- 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 to 2016. His main areas of philosophical interest are legal philosophy, political philosophy, and ethics.
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Thomas Midgley
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- In 1911 studied mechanical engineering
- Occupations
- engineerinventorchemist
- 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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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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Karen Chen
- Occupations
- figure skater
- Biography
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Karen Chen is an American figure skater. She is a 2022 Olympic Games team event silver 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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George Friedman
- Occupations
- businesspersonnon-fiction writerpolitical scientistgeopolitician
- Biography
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George Friedman is a Hungarian-born U.S. geopolitical forecaster, author, and strategist on international affairs. He is the founder and chairman of Geopolitical Futures, an online publication that analyzes and forecasts the course of global events. Prior to founding Geopolitical Futures, he was chairman of its predecessor Stratfor, the private intelligence publishing and consulting firm he founded in 1996.
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Steve Pieczenik
- Occupations
- novelistscience fiction writerwriterpsychiatrist
- Biography
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Steve R. Pieczenik is a Cuban-American psychiatrist, author, publisher, and conspiracy theorist,. He is a former consultant of the United States Department of State.
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Hans Bethe
- Occupations
- physicistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Hans Albrecht Bethe was a German-American theoretical physicist who made major contributions to nuclear physics, astrophysics, quantum electrodynamics, and solid-state physics, and who won the 1967 Nobel Prize in Physics 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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Vera Rubin
- Occupations
- scientistastronomerphysicist
- 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. Identifying the galaxy rotation problem, her work provided the first evidence for the existence of dark matter. These results were confirmed over subsequent decades.
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Edmund Muskie
- Occupations
- lawyerdiplomatmilitary officerpolitician
- Biography
-
Edmund Sixtus Muskie was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 58th United States secretary of state under president Jimmy Carter, 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 candidate for Vice President of the United States in the 1968 presidential election.
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Ronald D. Moore
- Occupations
- writertelevision producerbloggerbasketball playermanufacturer
- 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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Mark Kirk
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- In 1981 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- lawyermilitary officerpoliticiancongressional staff
- Biography
-
Mark Steven Kirk is a retired American 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.
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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 the Sunday edition of NBC Nightly News, and frequently substitutes for the weekday and Saturday broadcast. Snow also previously hosted MSNBC Live.
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Hubert Reeves
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- Graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- astrophysicistscience communicator
- Biography
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Hubert Reeves, is a Canadian astrophysicist and popularizer of science.
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Robert Moog
- Occupations
- musical instrument makerengineerinventormusicianuniversity teacher
- 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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Gary Bettman
- Occupations
- NHL Commissionerlawyerjurist
- 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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Christopher Rich
- Occupations
- film produceractorfilm actortelevision actor
- Biography
-
Christopher Rich Wilson is an American actor, best known for his roles on Murphy Brown, Reba, and Boston Legal.
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Alan Keyes
- Occupations
- diplomatradio personalitypoliticianwriter
- Biography
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Alan Lee Keyes is an American politician, political activist, author, 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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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. He previously served as MLB's chief operating officer. Manfred succeeded Bud Selig as commissioner on January 25, 2015.
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Thelma Schoonmaker
- Occupations
- film editor
- Biography
-
Thelma Schoonmaker is an American film editor, known for her over five decades of work with director Martin Scorsese. She has received numerous accolades including three Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, as well as a Golden Lion in 2014 and the BAFTA Fellowship in 2019. She has received eight Academy Award for Best Film Editing nominations, the most in Academy history alongside frequent Steven Spielberg collaborator Michael Kahn.
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Art Fleming
- Occupations
- radio personalitymilitary officeractor
- 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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José Serra
- Occupations
- economistwriterpolitician
- 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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Paul Graham
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- essayistventure capitalistprogrammerjournalistcomputer scientist
- Biography
-
Paul Graham is an English-born American computer scientist, essayist, entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and author. He is best known for his work on the programming language Lisp, his former startup Viaweb (later renamed Yahoo! Store), cofounding the influential startup accelerator and seed capital firm Y Combinator, his essays, and Hacker News. He is the author of several computer programming books, including: On Lisp, ANSI Common Lisp, and Hackers & Painters. Technology journalist Steven Levy has described Graham as a "hacker philosopher".
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Sister Souljah
- Occupations
- writerautobiographerfilm producerrappersongwriter
- Biography
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Sister Souljah is an American author, activist, and film producer. Democratic Party candidate Bill Clinton criticized her remarks about race in the United States during the 1992 presidential campaign. His repudiation of her comments led to what is now known in American politics as a Sister Souljah moment.
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Barry Voight
- Occupations
- volcanologistgeologist
- Biography
-
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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Chiu Yi
- Occupations
- politicianeconomist
- Biography
-
Chiu Yi is a former Kuomintang and People First Party legislator of the Republic of China (Taiwan) known for his pro-CCP unification views. He has also been a member of the New Party.
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Margaret Bourke-White
- Occupations
- writerjournalistphotographerphotojournalistwar photographer
- Biography
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Margaret Bourke-White was an American photographer and documentary photographer. She was arguably best known as the first foreign photographer permitted to take pictures of Soviet industry under the Soviets' first five-year plan, as the first American female war photojournalist, and for taking the photograph (of the construction of Fort Peck Dam) that became the cover of the first issue of Life magazine. She died of Parkinson's disease at age 67.
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Gordon G. Chang
- Occupations
- juristlawyerjournalist
- Biography
-
Gordon Guthrie Chang is a columnist, author, and lawyer. He is the author of The Coming Collapse of China in which he attempted to predict the collapse of China and claimed that it would collapse by 2011. In December 2011, he changed the timing of the year of the predicted collapse to 2012.
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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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Peter Eisenman
- Occupations
- university teacherarchitect
- Biography
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Peter David Eisenman is an American architect. Considered one of the New York Five, Eisenman is known for his writing and speaking about architecture as well as his designs, which have been called high modernist or deconstructive.
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Elissa Slotkin
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- Studied in 1998
- Occupations
- expertinternational forum participantpoliticiancivil servant
- Biography
-
Elissa Blair Slotkin is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from Michigan's 7th congressional district since 2019. The district, numbered as the 8th district from 2019 to 2023, is based in Lansing, and stretches into Detroit's outer western suburbs.
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Joyce Brothers
- Enrolled in Cornell University
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- journalistpsychologistactortelevision presentercolumnist
- Biography
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Joyce Diane Brothers was an American psychologist, television personality, advice columnist, and writer.
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Mark Hyman
- Years
- 1959-.. (age 64)
- Occupations
- international forum participantphysicianmedical writer
- Biography
-
Mark Adam Hyman is an American physician and author. He is the founder and medical director of The UltraWellness Center and was a columnist for The Huffington Post. Hyman was a regular contributor to the Katie Couric Show until the show's cancellation in 2013. He writes a blog called The Doctor’s Farmacy, which examines many topics related to human health and welfare. He is the author of several books on nutrition and longevity, including Food Fix, Eat Fat, Get Thin, and Young Forever.
