100 Notable alumni of
Swarthmore College
Updated:
Swarthmore College is 283rd in the world, 118th in North America, and 112th in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from Swarthmore College sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
-
Stephen Lang
- Occupations
- stage actortelevision actorfilm actoractor
- Biography
-
Stephen Lang is an American actor. He is known for roles in films such as Manhunter (1986), Gettysburg, Tombstone (both 1993), Gods and Generals (2003), Public Enemies, The Men Who Stare at Goats (both 2009), Conan the Barbarian (2011) and Don't Breathe (2016). He won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in James Cameron's Avatar (2009). Besides his film roles, he has had an extensive career on Broadway, and has received a Tony Award nomination for his role in the 1992 production of The Speed of Darkness. From 2004 to 2006, he was co–artistic director of the Actors Studio.
-
Alexandra Grant
- Enrolled in Swarthmore College
- Studied in 1995
- Occupations
- artist
- Biography
-
Alexandra Grant is an American visual artist who examines language and written texts through painting, drawing, sculpture, video, and other media. She uses language and exchanges with writers as a source for much of that work. Grant examines the process of writing and ideas based in linguistic theory as it connects to art and creates visual images inspired by text and collaborative group installations based on that process. She is based in Los Angeles.
-
Sally Ride
- Occupations
- children's writeruniversity teacherwriterastrophysicistphysicist
- Biography
-
Sally Kristen Ride was an American astronaut and physicist. Born in Los Angeles, she joined NASA in 1978, and in 1983 became the first American woman and the third woman to fly in space, after cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova in 1963 and Svetlana Savitskaya in 1982. She was the youngest American astronaut to have flown in space, having done so at the age of 32.
-
Michael Dukakis
- Occupations
- university teacherpoliticianlawyer
- Biography
-
Michael Stanley Dukakis is an American retired lawyer and politician who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history and only the second Greek-American governor in U.S. history, after Spiro Agnew. He was nominated by the Democratic Party for president in the 1988 election, losing to the Republican nominee, Vice President George H. W. Bush.
-
Jonathan Franzen
- Occupations
- novelistwriteropinion journalistessayist
- Biography
-
Jonathan Earl Franzen is an American novelist and essayist. His 2001 novel The Corrections, a sprawling, satirical family drama, drew widespread critical acclaim, earned Franzen a National Book Award, was a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction finalist, earned a James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and was shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award. His novel Freedom (2010) garnered similar praise and led to an appearance on the cover of Time magazine alongside the headline "Great American Novelist". Franzen's latest novel Crossroads was published in 2021, and is the first in a projected trilogy.
-
Christiana Figueres
- Occupations
- international forum participanteconomistdiplomatpoliticianpodcaster
- Biography
-
Karen Christiana Figueres Olsen is a Costa Rican diplomat who has led national, international and multilateral policy negotiations. She was appointed Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in July 2010, six months after the failed COP15 in Copenhagen. During the next six years she worked to rebuild the global climate change negotiating process, leading to the 2015 Paris Agreement, widely recognized as a historic achievement.
-
Alice Paul
- Occupations
- women's rights activistsuffragettejurist
- Biography
-
Alice Stokes Paul was an American Quaker, suffragist, feminist, and women's rights activist, and one of the foremost leaders and strategists of the campaign for the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits sex discrimination in the right to vote. Paul initiated, and along with Lucy Burns and others, strategized events such as the Woman Suffrage Procession and the Silent Sentinels, which were part of the successful campaign that resulted in the amendment's passage in August 1920.
-
James A. Michener
- Enrolled in Swarthmore College
- In 1929 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in history and English
- Occupations
- writerscreenwriterautobiographermilitary officerteacher
- Biography
-
James Albert Michener was an American writer. He wrote more than 40 books, most of which were long, fictional family sagas covering the lives of many generations, set in particular geographic locales and incorporating detailed history. Many of his works were bestsellers and were chosen by the Book of the Month Club; he was known for the meticulous research that went into his books.
-
Chris Van Hollen
- Enrolled in Swarthmore College
- In 1982 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in philosophy
- Occupations
- politicianinternational forum participantlawyer
- Biography
-
Christopher Van Hollen Jr. is an American attorney and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Maryland since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Van Hollen served as the U.S. representative for Maryland's 8th congressional district from 2003 to 2017.
-
Robert D. Putnam
- Occupations
- university teachersociologistpolitical scientist
- Biography
-
Robert David Putnam is an American political scientist specializing in comparative politics. He is the Peter and Isabel Malkin Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government. Putnam developed the influential two-level game theory that assumes international agreements will only be successfully brokered if they also result in domestic benefits. His most famous work, Bowling Alone, argues that the United States has undergone an unprecedented collapse in civic, social, associational, and political life (social capital) since the 1960s, with serious negative consequences. In March 2015, he published a book called Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis that looked at issues of inequality of opportunity in the United States. According to the Open Syllabus Project, Putnam is the fourth most frequently cited author on college syllabi for political science courses.
-
Ted Nelson
- Occupations
- sociologistprofessorphilosopher
- Biography
-
Theodor Holm Nelson is an American pioneer of information technology, philosopher, and sociologist. He coined the terms hypertext and hypermedia in 1963 and published them in 1965. According to a 1997 Forbes profile, Nelson "sees himself as a literary romantic, like a Cyrano de Bergerac, or 'the Orson Welles of software'."
-
Carl Levin
- Enrolled in Swarthmore College
- Studied in 1956
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
-
Carl Milton Levin was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Michigan from 1979 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee from 2001 to 2003 and again from 2007 to 2015.
-
Carol Gilligan
- Occupations
- writerwomen's rights activistpsychologistinternational forum participantphilosopher
- Biography
-
Carol Gilligan is an American feminist, ethicist, and psychologist, best known for her work on ethical community and ethical relationships.
-
David Baltimore
- Occupations
- university teachervirologistmicrobiologist
- Biography
-
David Baltimore is an American biologist, university administrator, and 1975 Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine. He is a professor of biology at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where he served as president from 1997 to 2006. He founded the Whitehead Institute and directed it from 1982 to 1990. In 2008, he served as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2008.
-
Maochun Yu
- Occupations
- university teacherhistorian
- Biography
-
Miles Maochun Yu is an American historian and strategist who served as the principal China policy and planning adviser to former United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
-
Josh Green
- Enrolled in Swarthmore College
- 1988-1992 graduated with Bachelor of Science in anthropology
- Occupations
- physicianpolitician
- Biography
-
Joshua Booth Green is an American politician and physician who has been the governor of Hawaii since 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the state's ninth governor. He was the 15th lieutenant governor of Hawaii from 2018 to 2022, a member of the Hawaii Senate from 2008 to 2018, and as a member of the Hawaii House of Representatives from 2004 to 2008.
-
Robert Zoellick
- Occupations
- bankereconomistpoliticianinvestment banker
- Biography
-
Robert Bruce Zoellick is an American public official and lawyer who was the 11th president of the World Bank Group, a position he held from July 1, 2007, to June 30, 2012. He was previously a managing director of Goldman Sachs, United States Deputy Secretary of State (resigning on July 7, 2006) and U.S. Trade Representative, from February 7, 2001, until February 22, 2005. Zoellick has been a senior fellow at Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs since ending his term with the World Bank. He is currently a Senior Counselor at Brunswick Group.
-
Beth Littleford
- Occupations
- television actorvoice actorfilm actoractor
- Biography
-
Elizabeth Littleford is an American actress, comedian and television personality. She is best known as one of the original correspondents on The Daily Show on Comedy Central from 1996 to 2000. Littleford has also appeared in the shows I'm in the Band and Dog with a Blog.
-
Michael Meeropol
- Occupations
- economist
- Biography
-
Michael Meeropol is an American retired professor of economics. He is the older son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, convicted communist spies. Born in New York City, as Michael Rosenberg, Meeropol spent his early childhood living in New York and attending local school there.
-
David Gale
- Enrolled in Swarthmore College
- Studied in 1943
- Occupations
- economistmathematician
- Biography
-
David Gale was an American mathematician and economist. He was a professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, affiliated with the departments of mathematics, economics, and industrial engineering and operations research. He has contributed to the fields of mathematical economics, game theory, and convex analysis.
-
Isabel Briggs Myers
- Occupations
- novelistwriterpsychologist
- Biography
-
Isabel Briggs Myers was an American writer who co-created the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) with her mother, Katharine Cook Briggs. The MBTI is one of the most-often used personality tests worldwide; over two million people complete the questionnaire each year.
-
Arlie Russell Hochschild
- Occupations
- writeruniversity teachersociologistpsychologistinternational forum participant
- Biography
-
Arlie Russell Hochschild is an American professor emeritus of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley and writer. Hochschild has long focused on the human emotions that underlie moral beliefs, practices, and social life generally. She is the author of nine books including, most recently, Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right, a finalist for the National Book Award. In The Managed Heart (1983), The Second Shift (1989), The Time Bind (1997) and many of her other books, she continues the sociological tradition of C. Wright Mills by drawing links between private troubles and public issues. Her impact worldwide is recognized, as her books have been translated into 16 different languages (World Affairs).
-
Arthur Chu
- Occupations
- bloggercolumnist
- Biography
-
Arthur Chu is an American columnist and former contestant on Jeopardy!, a syndicated U.S. game show. Chu first became known for the unusual style of play he adopted during his eleven-game winning streak on Jeopardy! When the shows aired, Chu attracted criticism from many for jumping from category to category rather than selecting clues in sequential order, a strategy known as the "Forrest Bounce", named for former champion Chuck Forrest.
-
Robert P. George
- Occupations
- lawyeruniversity teacherpolitical philosopherjuristphilosopher
- Biography
-
Robert Peter George is an American legal scholar and political thinker who serves as the sixth McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. He lectures on constitutional interpretation, civil liberties, philosophy of law, and political philosophy.
-
Alexander Mitchell Palmer
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
-
Alexander Mitchell Palmer was an American attorney and politician who served as the 50th United States attorney general from 1919 to 1921. He is best known for overseeing the Palmer Raids during the Red Scare of 1919–20.
-
Kevin Hassett
- Occupations
- economist
- Biography
-
Kevin Allen Hassett is an American economist who is a former Senior Advisor and Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Trump administration from 2017 to 2019. He has written several books and coauthored Dow 36,000, published in 1999, which argued that the stock market was about to have a massive swing upward. Shortly thereafter, the dot-com bubble burst, causing a massive decline in stock market prices, though the Dow was soon to recover. It finally did reach 36,000 as the Covid pandemic receded in late 2021.
-
Malcolm Browne
- Occupations
- photographerjournalist
- Biography
-
Malcolm Wilde Browne was an American journalist and photographer, best known for his award-winning photograph of the self-immolation of Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức in 1963.
-
Michael Hardt
- Occupations
- writerprofessorliterary criticpolitical scientistjournalist
- Biography
-
Michael Hardt is an American political philosopher and literary theorist. Hardt is best known for his book Empire, which was co-written with Antonio Negri.
-
John C. Mather
- Occupations
- physicistresearcherastrophysicistastronomer
- Biography
-
John Cromwell Mather is an American astrophysicist, cosmologist and Nobel Prize in Physics laureate for his work on the Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite (COBE) with George Smoot.
-
Josef Joffe
- Occupations
- international forum participantjournalist
- Biography
-
Josef Joffe is a former publisher-editor of Die Zeit, a weekly German newspaper. His second career has been in academia. Appointed Senior Fellow of Stanford's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies in 2007 (a faculty position), he is also the Marc and Anita Abramowitz Fellow in International Relations at the Hoover Institution and a courtesy professor of political science at Stanford University. Since 1999, he has been an associate of the Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University.
-
Peter Schickele
- Occupations
- musicologistuniversity teacherimpressionistcomposerfilm score composer
- Biography
-
Johann Peter Schickele was an American composer, musical educator and parodist, best known for comedy albums featuring his music, which he presented as being composed by the fictional P.D.Q. Bach. He also hosted a long-running weekly radio program called Schickele Mix.
-
Edward C. Prescott
- Occupations
- economistuniversity teacher
- Biography
-
Edward Christian Prescott was an American economist. He received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 2004, sharing the award with Finn E. Kydland, "for their contributions to dynamic macroeconomics: the time consistency of economic policy and the driving forces behind business cycles". This research was primarily conducted while both Kydland and Prescott were affiliated with the Graduate School of Industrial Administration (now Tepper School of Business) at Carnegie Mellon University. According to the IDEAS/RePEc rankings, he was the 19th most widely cited economist in the world in 2013. In August 2014, Prescott was appointed an Adjunct Distinguished Economic Professor at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, Australia. Prescott died of cancer on November 6, 2022, at the age of 81.
-
Nancy Roman
- Enrolled in Swarthmore College
- In 1946 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- Asturian
- Biography
-
Nancy Grace Roman was an American astronomer who made important contributions to stellar classification and motions. The first female executive at NASA, Roman served as NASA's first Chief of Astronomy throughout the 1960s and 1970s, establishing her as one of the "visionary founders of the US civilian space program".
-
Rudy Rucker
- Occupations
- university teacherwriterscience fiction writercomputer scientistmathematician
- Biography
-
Rudolf von Bitter Rucker is an American mathematician, computer scientist, science fiction author, and one of the founders of the cyberpunk literary movement. The author of both fiction and non-fiction, he is best known for the novels in the Ware Tetralogy, the first two of which (Software and Wetware) both won Philip K. Dick Awards. Until its closure in 2014 he edited the science fiction webzine Flurb.
-
Diane di Prima
- Occupations
- poetautobiographertranslatorwriter
- Biography
-
Diane di Prima was an American poet, known for her association with the Beat movement. She was also an artist, prose writer, and teacher. Her magnum opus is widely considered to be Loba, a collection of poems first published in 1978 then extended in 1998.
-
Christian B. Anfinsen
- Occupations
- biochemistbiophysicistuniversity teacherchemist
- Biography
-
Christian Boehmer Anfinsen Jr. was an American biochemist. He shared the 1972 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Stanford Moore and William Howard Stein for work on ribonuclease, especially concerning the connection between the amino acid sequence and the biologically active conformation (see Anfinsen's dogma).
-
David L. Cohen
- Occupations
- lawyer
- Biography
-
David L. Cohen is an American businessman, attorney, lobbyist, and diplomat who is the United States ambassador to Canada. He previously served as the senior advisor to the CEO of Comcast Corporation. Until January 1, 2020, he was senior executive vice president and chief lobbyist for Comcast. He also served as chairman of the board of trustees for the University of Pennsylvania and was chief of staff to former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell.
-
Howard Temin
- Occupations
- biochemistgeneticistphysicianvirologist
- Biography
-
Howard Martin Temin was an American geneticist and virologist. He discovered reverse transcriptase in the 1970s at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, for which he shared the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Renato Dulbecco and David Baltimore.
-
David G. Bradley
- Occupations
- businessperson
- Biography
-
David G. Bradley is a partner in The Atlantic and Atlantic Media, and the owner of the National Journal Group. Before his career as a publisher, Bradley founded the Advisory Board Company and Corporate Executive Board, two consulting companies based in Washington, D.C.
-
Ralph Linton
- Occupations
- sociologistanthropologist
- Biography
-
Ralph Linton was an American anthropologist of the mid-20th century, particularly remembered for his texts The Study of Man (1936) and The Tree of Culture (1955). One of Linton's major contributions to anthropology was defining a distinction between status and role.
-
Drew Pearson
- Occupations
- politicianjournalist
- Biography
-
Andrew Russell Pearson was an American columnist, noted for his syndicated newspaper column "Washington Merry-Go-Round". He also had a program on NBC Radio titled Drew Pearson Comments. He was known for his approach towards high level politicians, such as senators, cabinet members, generals and American presidents.
-
Eben Moglen
- Occupations
- lawyercomputer scientisthistorianprogrammer
- Biography
-
Eben Moglen is an American legal scholar who is professor of law and legal history at Columbia University, and is the founder, Director-Counsel and Chairman of Software Freedom Law Center.
-
Christina Paxson
- Years
- 1960-.. (age 64)
- Occupations
- economist
- Biography
-
Christina Hull Paxson is an American economist and public health expert serving as the 19th president of Brown University. Previously, she was the Hughes Rogers Professor of Economics & Public Affairs at Princeton University as well as the dean of Princeton School of Public and International Affairs.
-
Anne Schuchat
- Years
- 1960-.. (age 64)
- Occupations
- physician
- Biography
-
Anne Schuchat is an American medical doctor. She is a former rear admiral and assistant surgeon general in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. She also served as the principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In May 2021, Schuchat stepped down from her post.
-
Elizabeth S. Anderson
- Enrolled in Swarthmore College
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- philosopheruniversity teacher
- Biography
-
Elizabeth Secor Anderson is an American philosopher. She is Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and John Dewey Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy and Women's Studies at the University of Michigan and specializes in political philosophy, ethics, and feminist philosophy.
-
Detlev Bronk
- Occupations
- biophysicistphysicianeducator
- Biography
-
Detlev Wulf Bronk was a prominent American scientist, educator, and administrator. He is credited with establishing biophysics as a recognized discipline. Bronk served as president of Johns Hopkins University from 1949 to 1953 and as president of The Rockefeller University from 1953 to 1968. Bronk also held the presidency of the National Academy of Sciences between 1950 and 1962.
-
Lucy Lang
- Enrolled in Swarthmore College
- In 2003 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in political science
- Occupations
- lawyer
- Biography
-
Lucy Lang is an American attorney, author, and the 11th Inspector General of New York.
-
Njideka Akunyili Crosby
- Occupations
- paintervisual artist
- Biography
-
Njideka Akunyili Crosby // is a Nigerian-born visual artist working in Los Angeles, California. Through her art, Akunyili Crosby "negotiates the cultural terrain between her adopted home in America and her native Nigeria, creating collage and photo transfer-based paintings that expose the challenges of occupying these two worlds". In 2017, Akunyili Crosby was awarded the prestigious Genius Grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
-
Ken Hechler
- Occupations
- military personnelhistorianpoliticianprofessor
- Biography
-
Kenneth William Hechler was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented West Virginia's 4th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1959 to 1977 and was West Virginia Secretary of State from 1985 to 2001.
-
Dean Baker
- Occupations
- economistuniversity teacherscientist
- Biography
-
Dean Baker is an American macroeconomist who co-founded the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) with Mark Weisbrot. Baker has been credited as one of the first economists to have identified the 2007–08 United States housing bubble.
-
Clark Kerr
- Occupations
- economist
- Biography
-
Clark Kerr was an American economist and academic administrator. He was the first chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, and twelfth president of the University of California.
-
Kenneth Turan
- Occupations
- film criticjournalist
- Biography
-
Kenneth Turan is an American retired film critic, author, and lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California. He was a film critic for the Los Angeles Times from 1991 until 2020 and was described by The Hollywood Reporter as "arguably the most widely read film critic in the town most associated with the making of movies".
-
David D. Clark
- Years
- 1944-.. (age 80)
- Occupations
- computer scientistuniversity teacherinformation scientist
- Biography
-
David Dana "Dave" Clark is an American computer scientist and Internet pioneer who has been involved with Internet developments since the mid-1970s. He currently works as a senior research scientist at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL).
-
Leland Stanford MacPhail Jr
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
-
Leland Stanford MacPhail Jr. was an American front-office executive in Major League Baseball. MacPhail was a baseball executive for 45 years, serving as the director of player personnel for the New York Yankees, the president and general manager of the Baltimore Orioles, chief aide to Commissioner of Baseball William Eckert, executive vice president and general manager of the Yankees, and president of the American League.
-
Iqbal Quadir
- Occupations
- manager
- Biography
-
Iqbal Z. Quadir is an entrepreneur and promoter of the role of entrepreneurship and innovation in creating prosperity in low-income countries. He has taught at Harvard Kennedy School and at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the brother of Bangladeshi-American entrepreneur and artist Kamal Quadir.
-
Thomas W. Laqueur
- Occupations
- university teacherhistoriananthropologistman of letterswriter
- Biography
-
Thomas Walter Laqueur is an American historian, sexologist and writer. He is the author of Solitary Sex: A Cultural History of Masturbation and Making Sex: Body and Gender from the Greeks to Freud as well as many articles and reviews. He is the winner of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation's 2007 Distinguished Achievement Award, and is currently the Helen Fawcett Distinguished Professor of History at the University of California, Berkeley, located in Berkeley, California. Laqueur was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2015.
-
Neil Gershenfeld
- Occupations
- physicistcomputer scientistinternational forum participantuniversity teacher
- Biography
-
Neil Adam Gershenfeld is an American professor at MIT and the director of MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms, a sister lab to the MIT Media Lab. His research studies are predominantly focused in interdisciplinary studies involving physics and computer science, in such fields as quantum computing, nanotechnology, and personal fabrication. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society. Scientific American has named Gershenfeld one of their "Scientific American 50" for 2004 and has also named him Communications Research Leader of the Year. Gershenfeld is also known for releasing the Great Invention Kit in 2008, a construction set that users can manipulate to create various objects.
-
Marcella Nuñez-Smith
- Born in
- United States
- Enrolled in Swarthmore College
- In 1996 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- physicianmedical researcherinternational forum participant
- Biography
-
Marcella Nunez-Smith is an American physician-scientist. She is C.N.H Long Professor of medicine and epidemiology at the Yale School of Medicine, where she serves as the inaugural Associate Dean for Health Equity Research and founding director of the Equity Research and Innovation Center. She also holds joint appointments at the Yale School of Public Health and the Yale School of Management. After co-chairing the Biden-Harris transition’s COVID-19 Advisory Board from November 2020 to January 2021, she was selected by President Joe Biden to serve as Senior Advisor to the White House COVID-19 Response Team and Chair of the Presidential COVID-19 Equity Task Force.
-
William Saletan
- Occupations
- journalist
- Biography
-
William Saletan is an American writer for The Bulwark.
-
Sandra Faber
- Enrolled in Swarthmore College
- In 1966 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- astrophysicistuniversity teacherastronomer
- Biography
-
Sandra Moore Faber is an American astrophysicist known for her research on the evolution of galaxies. She is the University Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and works at the Lick Observatory. She has made discoveries linking the brightness of galaxies to the speed of stars within them and was the co-discoverer of the Faber–Jackson relation. Faber was also instrumental in designing the Keck telescopes in Hawaii.
-
Phil Weiser
- Years
- 1968-.. (age 56)
- Occupations
- university teacherpoliticianjurist
- Biography
-
Philip Jacob Weiser is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the 39th Attorney General of Colorado since 2019. He is the Hatfield Professor of Law and Telecommunications, executive director and Founder of the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship, and Dean Emeritus at the University of Colorado Law School. He previously served in the Obama and Clinton Administrations in the White House and Justice Department. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Attorney General for the State of Colorado in the 2018 election, defeating Republican George Brauchler on November 6, 2018. He was re-elected in 2022.
-
Martin Weitzman
- Occupations
- economistuniversity teacher
- Biography
-
Martin Lawrence Weitzman was an economist and a professor of economics at Harvard University. He was among the most influential economists in the world according to Research Papers in Economics (RePEc). His latest research was largely focused on environmental economics, specifically climate change and the economics of catastrophes.
-
William Foote Whyte
- Years
- 1914-2000 (aged 86)
- Occupations
- sociologistanthropologist
- Biography
-
William Foote Whyte was an American sociologist chiefly known for his ethnographic study in urban sociology, Street Corner Society. A pioneer in participant observation, he lived for four years in an Italian community in Boston while a Junior Fellow at Harvard researching social relations of street gangs in Boston's North End.
-
Peter Deutsch
- Enrolled in Swarthmore College
- In 1979 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- lawyerdirectorpoliticianentrepreneur
- Biography
-
Peter Russell Deutsch is an American politician from the U.S. state of Florida. Deutsch was a Democratic Representative from Florida's 20th congressional district from 1993 until 2005.
-
Andries van Dam
- Occupations
- computer scientistuniversity teacherengineer
- Biography
-
Andries "Andy" van Dam is a Dutch-American professor of computer science and former vice-president for research at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Together with Ted Nelson he contributed to the first hypertext system, Hypertext Editing System (HES) in the late 1960s. He co-authored Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice along with J.D. Foley, S.K. Feiner, and John Hughes. He also co-founded the precursor of today's ACM SIGGRAPH conference.
-
Cathlyn Platt Wilkerson
- Years
- 1945-.. (age 79)
- Occupations
- teacher
- Biography
-
Cathlyn Platt Wilkerson, known as Cathy Wilkerson, is an American far-left radical who was a member of the 1970s radical group called the Weather Underground Organization (WUO). She came to the attention of the police when she was leaving the townhouse belonging to her father after it was destroyed by an explosion on March 6, 1970. Members of WUO had been constructing a nail bomb in the basement of the building, intending to use it in an attack on a non-commissioned officers dance at Fort Dix, New Jersey that night. Wilkerson, already free on bail for her involvement in the Chicago "Days of Rage" riots, avoided capture for 10 years. She surrendered in 1980 and pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of dynamite. She was sentenced to up to three years in prison and served 11 months.
-
Marshall Curry
- Occupations
- film producerfilm directorscreenwriter
- Biography
-
Marshall Curry is an Oscar-winning American documentary director, producer, cinematographer and editor. His films include Street Fight, Racing Dreams, If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, Point and Shoot, and A Night at the Garden. His first fiction film was the Academy Award-winning short film The Neighbors' Window (2019).
-
Justin Hall
- Occupations
- bloggerjournalist
- Biography
-
Justin Hall is an American journalist and entrepreneur, best known as a pioneer blogger.
-
Roman Jackiw
- Occupations
- university teacherphysicisttheoretical physicist
- Biography
-
Roman Wladimir Jackiw was a Polish-born American theoretical physicist and Dirac Medallist.
-
Freebo
- Occupations
- singer-songwriter
- Biography
-
Daniel Friedberg, better known by the stage name Freebo, is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and producer noted primarily for his work with Bonnie Raitt. He is also a session musician who has recorded and performed with Ringo Starr, John Mayall, John Hall, Aaron Neville, Dr. John, Willy DeVille, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Maria Muldaur, Kate & Anna McGarrigle and many others.
-
Oleg Troyanovsky
- Occupations
- diplomat
- Biography
-
Oleg Alexandrovich Troyanovsky was ambassador of the Soviet Union to Japan and China and was the Soviet Permanent Representative to the United Nations (from 1976 to 1986).
-
Thomas B. McCabe
- Occupations
- businessperson
- Biography
-
Thomas Bayard McCabe was an American businessman who served as the 8th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1948 to 1951. McCabe also served as president and CEO of Scott Paper Company for 39 years.
-
Dawn Porter
- Years
- 20th Century
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm director
- Biography
-
Dawn Porter is an American documentary filmmaker and founder of production company Trilogy Films.
-
Peter J. Weinberger
- Occupations
- mathematiciancomputer scientist
- Biography
-
Peter Jay Weinberger is a computer scientist best known for his early work at Bell Labs. He now works at Google.
-
Frank H. Easterbrook
- Occupations
- judge
- Biography
-
Frank Hoover Easterbrook is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as a United States circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit since 1985. He was the Seventh Circuit's chief judge from 2006 to 2013.
-
Adam Haslett
- Occupations
- novelistwritershort story writer
- Biography
-
Adam Haslett is an American fiction writer and journalist. His debut short story collection, You Are Not a Stranger Here, and his second novel, Imagine Me Gone, were both finalists for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. He has been awarded fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the American Academy in Berlin. In 2017, he won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.
-
H. C. Robbins Landon
- Occupations
- music historianmusicologistcomposerbiographer
- Biography
-
Howard Chandler Robbins Landon was an American musicologist, journalist, historian and broadcaster, best known for his work in rediscovering the huge body of neglected music by Haydn and in correcting misunderstandings about Mozart.
-
John Freeman
- Occupations
- literary criticauthor
- Biography
-
John Freeman is an American writer and a literary critic. He was the editor of the literary magazine Granta from 2009 until 2013, the former president of the National Book Critics Circle, and his writing has appeared in almost 200 English-language publications around the world, including The New York Times Book Review, the Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, and The Wall Street Journal. He is currently an executive editor at the publishing house Knopf.
-
Charles Ruff
- Occupations
- lawyer
- Biography
-
Charles Frederick Carson Ruff was a prominent American lawyer based in Washington, D.C., and was best known as the White House Counsel who defended President Bill Clinton during his impeachment trial in 1999.
-
Mary Schroeder
- Occupations
- United States federal judgejudgelawyer
- Biography
-
Mary Murphy Schroeder is an American attorney and jurist serving as a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
-
Paul DiMaggio
- Occupations
- sociologistacademic
- Biography
-
Paul Joseph DiMaggio is an American educator, and professor of sociology at New York University since 2015. Previously, he was a professor of sociology at Princeton University.
-
Arianna J. Freeman
- Occupations
- lawyer
- Biography
-
Arianna Julia Freeman is an American lawyer from Pennsylvania who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
-
Arnold Kling
- Years
- 1954-.. (age 70)
- Occupations
- economist
- Biography
-
Arnold Kling is an American economist, scholar, and blogger known for his writings on EconLog, an economics blog, along with Bryan Caplan and David R. Henderson. Kling also has his own blog, askblog, which carries the motto: "taking the most charitable views of those who disagree." The "ask" in askblog stands for "Arnold S. Kling." He is an Adjunct Scholar for the Cato Institute and is affiliated with the Mercatus Center.
-
Maxine Singer
- Enrolled in Swarthmore College
- In 1952 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- biochemistbiologistmolecular biologistchemist
- Biography
-
Maxine Frank Singer is an American molecular biologist and science administrator. She is known for her contributions to solving the genetic code, her role in the ethical and regulatory debates on recombinant DNA techniques (including the organization of the Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA), and her leadership of Carnegie Institution of Washington. In 2002, Discover magazine recognized her as one of the 50 most important women in science.
-
Heidi Hartmann
- Occupations
- economistresearcher
- Biography
-
Heidi I. Hartmann is an American feminist economist who is founder and president emerita of the Washington-based Institute for Women's Policy Research, a research organization created to conduct women-centered, public policy research. She retired from her position as President and CEO in 2019.
-
Michael Schudson
- Occupations
- sociologistcommunication scholar
- Biography
-
Michael S. Schudson is professor of journalism in the graduate school of journalism of Columbia University and adjunct professor in the department of sociology. He is professor emeritus at the University of California, San Diego. He is an expert in the fields such as journalism history, media sociology, political communication, and public culture.
-
Phyllis Wise
- Occupations
- biologist
- Biography
-
Phyllis M. Wise is a biomedical researcher. Most recently, she is serving as the inaugural Chief Executive Officer and President of Colorado Longitudinal Study.
-
A. Elizabeth Jones
- Occupations
- diplomat
- Biography
-
A. Elizabeth Jones is an American diplomat and government official who served as the United States Ambassador to Kazakhstan from 1995 to 1998 and Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs from 2001 to 2005. She was promoted to the rank of Career Ambassador in 2004. Jones served as Chargé d'Affaires to India from 2022 to 2023. She had served Chargé d'Affaires to Egypt from October 9, 2023 to November 15, 2023.
-
Norman Rush
- Occupations
- novelistwriter
- Biography
-
Norman Rush is an American writer most of whose introspective novels and short stories are set in Botswana in the 1980s. He won the U.S. National Book Award and the 1992 Irish Times/Aer Lingus International Fiction Prize for his novel Mating.
-
Barbara Partee
- Occupations
- linguistuniversity teacher
- Biography
-
Barbara Hall Partee is a Distinguished University Professor Emerita of Linguistics and Philosophy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass).
-
Armond Budish
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
-
Armond D. Budish is an American politician, lawyer, and television host who served as Cuyahoga County Executive for two terms from 2015 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a four-term Ohio State Representative from the 8th district, and served as Speaker of the House from 2009 to 2011. He was the first Jewish representative to hold that office. He was re-elected to the House in 2010 and 2012, and thereafter was term-limited.
-
Elizabeth Martínez
- Occupations
- social activistwomen's rights activisteditorcommunity organizer
- Biography
-
Elizabeth "Betita" Martínez was an American Chicana feminist and a long-time community organizer, activist, author, and educator. She wrote numerous books and articles on different topics relating to social movements in the Americas. Her best-known work is the bilingual 500 years of Chicano History in Pictures, which later formed the basis for the educational video ¡Viva la Causa! 500 Years of Chicano History. Her work was hailed by Angela Y. Davis as comprising "one of the most important living histories of progressive activism in the contemporary era... [Martínez is] inimitable... irrepressible... indefatigable."
-
Elizabeth Economy
- Years
- 1962-.. (age 62)
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
-
Elizabeth C. Economy is an American scholar, foreign policy analyst, and expert on China's politics and foreign policy. She is Senior Advisor for China to the Secretary of Commerce in the Biden administration and Senior Fellow (on leave) at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
-
Diana Furchgott-Roth
- Occupations
- economist
- Biography
-
Diana Furchtgott-Roth is an American economist who is adjunct professor of economics at George Washington University and a columnist. She served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology at the United States Department of Transportation during the Trump administration. She previously served as Acting Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
-
Helen Magill White
- Occupations
- teacher
- Biography
-
Dr. Helen Magill White was an American academic and instructor. She was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in the United States.
-
Robert MacPherson
- Occupations
- university teachertopologistmathematician
- Biography
-
Robert Duncan MacPherson is an American mathematician at the Institute for Advanced Study and Princeton University. He is best known for the invention of intersection homology with Mark Goresky, whose thesis he directed at Brown University, and who became his life partner. MacPherson previously taught at Brown University, the University of Paris, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1983 he gave a plenary address at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Warsaw.
-
David Malone
- Occupations
- television producerpolitician
- Biography
-
David Hugh Malone is a British independent filmmaker, Green Party politician, and author of The Debt Generation. He has directed television documentaries on philosophy, science and religion, originally broadcast in the United Kingdom by the BBC and Channel 4.
-
William Poole
- Occupations
- economist
- Biography
-
William Poole was the eleventh chief executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. He took office on March 23, 1998, and began serving his full term on March 1, 2001. In 2007, he served as a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, bringing his District's perspective to policy discussions in Washington. Poole stepped down from the Fed on March 31, 2008.
-
David M. Kennedy
- Years
- 1958-.. (age 66)
- Occupations
- criminologist
- Biography
-
David M. Kennedy is a criminologist, professor, action researcher, and author specializing in crime prevention among inner city gangs, especially in the prevention of violent acts among street gangs. Kennedy developed the Operation Ceasefire group violence intervention in Boston in the 1990s and the High Point Model drug market intervention in High Point, North Carolina, in 2003, which have proven to reduce violence and eliminate overt drug markets in jurisdictions around the United States. He founded the National Network for Safe Communities in 2009 to support cities using these and related strategies.
-
Dan Kohn
- Years
- 1972-2020 (aged 48)
- Occupations
- business executive
- Biography
-
Dan Kohn was an American serial entrepreneur and nonprofit executive who led the Linux Foundation's Public Health initiative. He was the executive director at Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), which sustains and integrates open source cloud software including Kubernetes and Fluentd, through 2020. The first company he founded, NetMarket, conducted the first secure commercial transaction on the web in 1994.