100 Notable alumni of
Yale University
Updated:
Yale University is 5th in the world, 3rd in North America, and 3rd in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from Yale University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. 9 individuals affiliated with Yale University won Nobel Prizes in Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
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George W. Bush
- Enrolled in Yale University
- 1964-1968 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in study of history
- Occupations
- financiermilitary officermotivational speakerpainterrugby union player
- Biography
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George Walker Bush is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 46th governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000.
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Bill Clinton
- Enrolled in Yale University
- 1970-1973 graduated with Juris Doctor
- Occupations
- writersaxophonistdiplomatteacherpolitician
- Biography
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William Jefferson Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as Governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again from 1983 to 1992. Clinton, whose policies reflected a centrist "Third Way" political philosophy, became known as a New Democrat.
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George H. W. Bush
- Enrolled in Yale University
- 1945-1948 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- autobiographerentrepreneurstatespersonnaval officerpolitician
- Biography
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George Herbert Walker Bush was an American politician, diplomat, and businessman who served as the 41st president of the United States from 1989 to 1993. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as the 43rd vice president from 1981 to 1989 under Ronald Reagan, and in various other federal positions prior to that.
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Meryl Streep
- Enrolled in Yale University
- In 1975 graduated with Master of Fine Arts
- Occupations
- stage actorfilm actorfilm producervoice actortelevision producer
- Biography
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Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress. Known for her versatility and accent adaptability, she has been described as "the best actress of her generation". She has received numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over four decades, including a record 21 Academy Award nominations, winning three, and a record 33 Golden Globe Award nominations, winning eight.
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Hillary Clinton
- Enrolled in Yale University
- 1969-1973 graduated with Juris Doctor
- Occupations
- university teacherpodcasterautobiographerwriterpolitician
- Biography
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Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is an American politician and diplomat who served as the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a U.S. senator representing New York from 2001 to 2009, and as the first lady of the U.S. to president Bill Clinton from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the party's nominee in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, becoming the first woman to win a presidential nomination by a major U.S. political party and the first woman to win the popular vote for U.S. president.
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Jennifer Connelly
- Enrolled in Yale University
- Studied in 1988-1989
- Occupations
- voice actormodelactorsinger
- Biography
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Jennifer Lynn Connelly is an American actress. She began her career as a child model before making her acting debut in the 1984 crime film Once Upon a Time in America. After a few more years of modeling, she began to concentrate on acting, starring in a variety of films including the horror film Phenomena (1985), the musical fantasy film Labyrinth (1986), the romantic comedy Career Opportunities (1991), and the period superhero film The Rocketeer (1991). She received praise for her performance in the science fiction film Dark City (1998) and playing a drug addict in Darren Aronofsky's drama film Requiem for a Dream (2000).
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James Franco
- Occupations
- screenwriterwriterfilm produceractortelevision presenter
- Biography
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James Edward Franco is an American actor and filmmaker. He has starred in numerous films, including Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy (2002–2007), Milk (2008), Eat Pray Love (2010), Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Spring Breakers (2012), and Oz the Great and Powerful (2013). He is known for his collaborations with fellow actor Seth Rogen, having appeared in eight films and one television series with him, examples being Pineapple Express (2008), This Is the End (2013), Sausage Party (2016), and The Disaster Artist (2017), for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. For his role in 127 Hours (2010), he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor.
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Jodie Foster
- Enrolled in Yale University
- 1980-1985 graduated with bachelor's degree in literary studies
- Occupations
- film actoractorexecutive producerfilm producerfilm director
- Biography
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Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster is an American actress and filmmaker. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards. She has also earned numerous honors such as the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2013 and the Honorary Palme d'Or in 2021.
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Gerald Ford
- Enrolled in Yale University
- Studied in 1941
- Occupations
- military officergridiron football playerautobiographerpoliticianlawyer
- Biography
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Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He previously served as the leader of the Republican Party in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1965 to 1973, and as the 40th vice president under President Richard Nixon from 1973 to 1974. Ford succeeded to the presidency when Nixon resigned in 1974, but was defeated for election to a full term in 1976. Ford is the only person to become U.S. president without winning an election for president or vice president.
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Dick Cheney
- Occupations
- politicianbusinesspersonmerchantinternational forum participantautobiographer
- Biography
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Richard Bruce Cheney is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. Often cited as the most powerful vice president in American history, Cheney previously served as White House Chief of Staff for President Gerald Ford, the U.S. representative for Wyoming's at-large congressional district from 1979 to 1989, and as the 17th United States secretary of defense in the administration of President George H. W. Bush. He is the oldest living former U.S. vice president, following the death of Walter Mondale in 2021.
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Alexei Navalny
- Enrolled in Yale University
- Studied in 2010
- Occupations
- politicianlawyeractivist
- Biography
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Alexei Anatolyevich Navalny was a Russian opposition leader, lawyer, anti-corruption activist, and political prisoner. He organised anti-government demonstrations and ran for office to advocate reforms against corruption in Russia and against President Vladimir Putin and his government. Navalny was a Russian Opposition Coordination Council member, the leader of the Russia of the Future party and founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK). He was recognised by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience, and was awarded the Sakharov Prize for his work on human rights.
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Claire Danes
- Enrolled in Yale University
- Studied in 1998-2000
- Occupations
- stage actortelevision actorfilm actoractor
- Biography
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Claire Catherine Danes is an American actress. Prolific in film and television since her teens, she is the recipient of three Primetime Emmy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards. In 2012, Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
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Hunter Biden
- Enrolled in Yale University
- Graduated with Juris Doctor
- Occupations
- businesspersonlawyer
- Biography
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Robert Hunter Biden is an American attorney and businessman. Biden has also worked as a hedge fund principal and a venture capital and private equity fund investor. He formerly worked as a banker, a lobbyist, and a legal representative for lobbying firms.
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Angela Bassett
- Occupations
- directortelevision actoractorstage actorvoice actor
- Biography
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Angela Evelyn Bassett is an American actress. Known for her work in film and television since the 1980s, she has received various accolades, including two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards and eight Primetime Emmy Awards. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2023, and she received an Academy Honorary Award in 2023.
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Ron DeSantis
- Enrolled in Yale University
- In 2001 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- naval officerwriterpoliticianjudge advocate
- Biography
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Ronald Dion DeSantis is an American politician serving since 2019 as the 46th governor of Florida. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Florida's 6th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2013 to 2018. DeSantis was a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. He withdrew his candidacy in January 2024.
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Ben Carson
- Occupations
- university teacherwritersurgeonpsychologistpolitician
- Biography
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Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr. is an American retired neurosurgeon, academic, author, and politician who served as the 17th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2017 to 2021. A pioneer in the field of neurosurgery, he was a candidate for President of the United States in the 2016 Republican primaries. Carson is one of the most prominent Black conservatives in America.
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Anderson Cooper
- Enrolled in Yale University
- In 1989 studied political science
- Occupations
- writermodeltelevision presenteractorjournalist
- Biography
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Anderson Hays Cooper is an American broadcast journalist and political commentator currently anchoring the CNN news broadcast show Anderson Cooper 360°. In addition to his duties at CNN, Cooper serves as a correspondent for 60 Minutes on CBS News. After graduating from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts in 1989, he began traveling the world, shooting footage of war-torn regions for Channel One News. Cooper was hired by ABC News as a correspondent in 1995, but he soon took more jobs throughout the network, working for a short time as a co-anchor, reality game show host, and fill-in morning talk show host.
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David Duchovny
- Occupations
- television directorscreenwriterfilm actoractorfilm producer
- Biography
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David William Duchovny is an American actor, writer, producer and musician. He portrayed FBI agent Fox Mulder on the television series The X-Files (1993–2002, 2016–2018) and played the writer Hank Moody on the television series Californication (2007–2014), both of which have earned him Golden Globe awards. Duchovny appeared in both X-Files films, the 1998 science fiction-thriller of the same name and the supernatural-thriller The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008). He executive-produced and starred in the historically based cop drama Aquarius (2015–2016).
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Bárbara de Regil
- Occupations
- film actoractor
- Biography
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Jordana Brewster is an American actress. She made her acting debut in an episode of All My Children in 1995 and next took on the recurring role as Nikki Munson in As the World Turns, garnering a nomination for Outstanding Teen Performer at the 1997 Soap Opera Digest Award. Her first role in a feature film was in Robert Rodriguez's horror science fiction The Faculty (1998).
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Clarence Thomas
- Occupations
- politicianjudgelawyer
- Biography
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Clarence Thomas is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to succeed Thurgood Marshall and has served since 1991. After Marshall, Thomas is the second African American to serve on the Supreme Court and has been its longest-serving member since Anthony Kennedy's retirement in 2018. Since Stephen Breyer's retirement in 2022, he is also the Court's oldest member.
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Sara Gilbert
- Occupations
- television actorscreenwriterfilm actoractor
- Biography
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Sara Gilbert is an American actress best known for her role as Darlene Conner on the ABC sitcom Roseanne (1988–1997; 2018), for which she received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations, and its spin-off, The Conners (2018–present). She is also creator and former co-host of the CBS daytime talk show The Talk and had a recurring role as Leslie Winkle on CBS's The Big Bang Theory.
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John Kerry
- Enrolled in Yale University
- Studied in 1966
- Occupations
- peace activistinternational forum participantpoliticianaircraft pilotlawyer
- Biography
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John Forbes Kerry is an American attorney, politician and diplomat currently serving as the first U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the administration of Barack Obama and represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1985 to 2013. Kerry was the Democratic nominee for president of the United States in the 2004 election, losing to president George W. Bush.
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Ronan Farrow
- Enrolled in Yale University
- In 2009 graduated with Juris Doctor
- Occupations
- lawyerjuristhuman rights activistjournalistdocumentarian
- Biography
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Satchel Ronan O'Sullivan Farrow is an American journalist. The son of actress Mia Farrow and filmmaker Woody Allen, he is known for his investigative reporting on allegations of sexual abuse against film producer Harvey Weinstein, which was published in The New Yorker magazine. The magazine won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for this reporting, sharing the award with The New York Times. Farrow has worked for UNICEF and as a government advisor.
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Brett Kavanaugh
- Enrolled in Yale University
- In 1987 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in history
- In 1990 graduated with Juris Doctor
- Occupations
- politicianjudgelawyer
- Biography
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Brett Michael Kavanaugh is an American lawyer and jurist serving as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on July 9, 2018, and has served since October 6, 2018. He was previously a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
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Oliver Stone
- Occupations
- directorscreenwriteractorfilm producerdocumentarian
- Biography
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William Oliver Stone is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone is known as a controversial but acclaimed director, tackling subjects ranging from the Vietnam war, and American politics to musical biopics and crime dramas. He has received numerous accolades including four Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and five Golden Globe Awards.
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Jennifer Beals
- Occupations
- television actormodelfilm actoractorvoice actor
- Biography
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Jennifer Beals is an American actress. She made her film debut in My Bodyguard (1980), before receiving critical acclaim for her performance as Alexandra Owens in Flashdance (1983), for which she won NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical.
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William Howard Taft
- Occupations
- writeruniversity teacherpedagoguelawyerstatesperson
- Biography
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William Howard Taft was the 27th president of the United States, serving from 1909 to 1913, and the tenth chief justice of the United States, serving from 1921 to 1930, the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected president in 1908, the chosen successor of Theodore Roosevelt, but was defeated for reelection in 1912 by Woodrow Wilson after Roosevelt split the Republican vote by running as a third-party candidate. In 1921, President Warren G. Harding appointed Taft to be chief justice, a position he held until a month before his death.
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Barbara Bush
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Barbara Bush was the first lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993, as the wife of George H. W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States. She was previously the second lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989, and founded the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. Among her children are George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States, and Jeb Bush, the 43rd governor of Florida. She and Abigail Adams are the only two women to be the wife of one U.S. president and the mother of another. At the time she became first lady, she was the second oldest woman to hold the position, behind only Anna Harrison, who never lived in the capital. Bush was generally popular as first lady, recognized for her apolitical grandmotherly image.
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Cory Booker
- Enrolled in Yale University
- In 1997 graduated with Juris Doctor
- Occupations
- lawyerjuristinternational forum participantpolitician
- Biography
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Cory Anthony Booker is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from New Jersey since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Booker is the first African-American U.S. senator from New Jersey. He was the 38th mayor of Newark from 2006 to 2013, and served on the Municipal Council of Newark for the Central Ward from 1998 to 2002.
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Chris Cuomo
- Occupations
- correspondentlawyer
- Biography
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Christopher Charles Cuomo is an American television journalist anchor at NewsNation, based in New York City. He has previously been the ABC News chief law and justice correspondent and the co-anchor for ABC's 20/20, news anchor for Good Morning America from 2006 to 2009, and an anchor at CNN, where he co-hosted its morning show New Day from 2013 through May 2018, before moving to Cuomo Prime Time in June 2018.
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Zoe Kazan
- Occupations
- stage actorfilm actorplaywrightwriterscreenwriter
- Biography
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Zoe Swicord Kazan is an American actress and screenwriter. She made her acting debut in the film Swordswallowers and Thin Men (2003) and later appeared in films such as The Savages (2007), Revolutionary Road (2008), and It's Complicated (2009). She starred in Happythankyoumoreplease (2010), Meek's Cutoff (2010), Ruby Sparks (2012), and The F Word (2013). In 2014, she appeared in the HBO miniseries Olive Kitteridge, for which she received an Emmy nomination. She portrayed Emily Gordon in the film The Big Sick (2017), and in 2018 appeared in the Coen Brothers film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs in the episode "The Gal Who Got Rattled".
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Giuseppe Conte
- Occupations
- lawyerpoliticianacademicinternational forum participantjurist
- Biography
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Giuseppe Conte is an Italian jurist, academic, and politician who served as prime minister of Italy from June 2018 to February 2021. He has been the president of the Five Star Movement (M5S) since August 2021.
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Allison Williams
- Occupations
- television actorsingeractorvoice actorcomedian
- Biography
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Allison Howell Williams is an American actress and producer. She first became known for starring as Marnie Michaels in the HBO comedy-drama series Girls (2012–2017), which earned her a Critics' Choice Award nomination. Her breakthrough came with the role of Rose Armitage in the horror film Get Out (2017), which earned her nominations from the MTV Movie Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards among other accolades. She went on to star in the horror films The Perfection (2018) and M3GAN (2022), the latter of which she also executive produced.
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Vincent Price
- Occupations
- art historianwritertelevision actorstage actorvoice actor
- Biography
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Vincent Leonard Price Jr. was an American actor, art historian, art collector, and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for motion pictures and one for television.
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Vivek Ramaswamy
- Occupations
- podcasterpoliticianpunditentrepreneur
- Biography
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Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy is an American entrepreneur and politician. He founded Roivant Sciences, a pharmaceutical company, in 2014. In February 2023, Ramaswamy declared his candidacy for the Republican Party nomination in the 2024 United States presidential election. He suspended his campaign in January 2024, after finishing fourth in Iowa's caucuses.
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Sam Waterston
- Occupations
- film actortelevision actorfilm producerfilm directorstage actor
- Biography
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Samuel Atkinson Waterston is an American actor. Waterston is known for his work in theater, television, and film. He has received numerous accolades including a Primetime Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and a BAFTA Award. His acting career has spanned over five decades acting on stage and screen. Waterston received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2010 and was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2012.
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Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden
- Enrolled in Yale University
- Studied in 1998-2000
- Occupations
- international forum participantdiplomat
- Biography
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Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland is the heir apparent to the Swedish throne, as the eldest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf. If she ascends to the throne as expected, she would be Sweden's fourth queen regnant (after Margaret, Christina and Ulrika Eleonora) and the first since 1720. Her inheritance is secured by Sweden's 1979 Act of Succession, the first law in Western Europe to adopt royal absolute primogeniture.
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Sonia Sotomayor
- Enrolled in Yale University
- Studied in 1976
- Occupations
- judgelawyeruniversity teacherprosecutorpolitician
- Biography
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Sonia Maria Sotomayor is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009, and has served since August 8, 2009. She is the third woman, first woman of color, the first Hispanic, and first Latina to serve on the Supreme Court.
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Alan Dershowitz
- Occupations
- university teacherscreenwriterlawyer
- Biography
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Alan Morton Dershowitz is an American lawyer and law professor known for his work in U.S. constitutional law and American criminal law. From 1964 to 2013, he taught at Harvard Law School, where he was appointed as the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law in 1993. Dershowitz is a regular media contributor, political commentator, and legal analyst.
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Stacey Abrams
- Enrolled in Yale University
- 1996-1999 graduated with Juris Doctor
- Occupations
- juristentrepreneurvoting rights activistpolitical activistwriter
- Biography
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Stacey Yvonne Abrams is an American politician, lawyer, voting rights activist, and author who served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2007 to 2017, serving as minority leader from 2011 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Abrams founded Fair Fight Action, an organization to address voter suppression, in 2018. Her efforts have been widely credited with boosting voter turnout in Georgia, including in the 2020 presidential election, when Joe Biden narrowly won the state, and in Georgia's 2020–21 regularly scheduled and special U.S. Senate elections, which gave Democrats control of the Senate.
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Harry Hamlin
- Occupations
- film actortelevision actoractorfilm producerstage actor
- Biography
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Harry Robinson Hamlin is an American actor, author, and entrepreneur. He is best known for his roles as Perseus in the 1981 fantasy film Clash of the Titans, a role he reprised in 2007's Santa Monica Studio video game God of War II, and as Michael Kuzak in the legal drama series L.A. Law, for which he received three Golden Globe nominations. For his recurring role as Jim Cutler on the AMC drama series Mad Men, Hamlin received a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.
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Ron Livingston
- Occupations
- television actorstage actorfilm actoractorfilm producer
- Biography
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Ronald Joseph Livingston is an American actor. He is best known for playing Peter Gibbons in the 1999 film Office Space and Captain Lewis Nixon III in the 2001 miniseries Band of Brothers. Livingston's other roles include the films Swingers (1996), Adaptation (2002), The Conjuring (2013); and the television series Loudermilk, and Boardwalk Empire, on which he appeared in the fourth season.
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Amy Klobuchar
- Enrolled in Yale University
- In 1982 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- lawyerpoliticianinternational forum participantjuristautobiographer
- Biography
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Amy Jean Klobuchar is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States senator from Minnesota, a seat she has held since 2007. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Minnesota's affiliate of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the county attorney of Hennepin County, Minnesota.
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Peter Hermann
- Occupations
- film actorwriterscreenwritertelevision actorfilm producer
- Biography
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Peter Hermann is an American actor, producer and writer. He is the husband of Mariska Hargitay, with whom he has three children. He is best known for his roles as Charles Brooks in Younger, Trevor Langan in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Jack Boyle in Blue Bloods.
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Steven Mnuchin
- Occupations
- international forum participantpoliticianfilm producerbanker
- Biography
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Steven Terner Mnuchin is an American investment banker and film producer who served as the 77th United States secretary of the treasury as part of the Cabinet of Donald Trump from 2017 to 2021. Serving for a full presidential term, Mnuchin was one of the few high-profile members of Trump's cabinet whom the president did not dismiss.
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Nathan Chen
- Enrolled in Yale University
- Studied in 2018
- Occupations
- figure skater
- Biography
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Nathan Wei Chen is an American figure skater. He is the 2022 Olympic champion, a three-time World champion (2018, 2019, 2021), the 2017 Four Continents champion, a three-time Grand Prix Final champion (2017, 2018, 2019), a ten-time Grand Prix medalist (8 golds, 1 silver, 1 bronze), the presumptive 2022 Olympic silver medalist in the team event, the 2018 Olympic bronze medalist in the team event, and a six-time U.S. national champion (2017–22). At the junior level, Chen is the 2015–16 Junior Grand Prix Final champion, 2013–14 Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, 2014 World Junior bronze medalist, and a six-time Junior Grand Prix medalist (5 golds, 1 silver).
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Cyril Ramaphosa
- Occupations
- entrepreneurpoliticianbusinesspersoninternational forum participanttrade unionist
- Biography
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Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa is a South African businessman and politician serving as the fifth and current president of South Africa since 2018. A former anti-apartheid activist, trade union leader, and businessman, Ramaphosa is also the president of the African National Congress (ANC).
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Jerry Brown
- Occupations
- politicianlawyerblogger
- Biography
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Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of State of California in 1970; Brown later served as Mayor of Oakland from 1999 to 2007 and Attorney General of California from 2007 to 2011. He was both the oldest and sixth-youngest governor of California due to the 28-year gap between his second and third terms. Upon completing his fourth term in office, Brown became the fourth longest-serving governor in U.S. history, serving 16 years and 5 days in office.
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Brian Tyree Henry
- Occupations
- actorfilm actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Brian Tyree Henry is an American actor. He rose to prominence for his role as rapper Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles in the FX comedy-drama series Atlanta (2016–2022), for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
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Stacy Keach
- Enrolled in Yale University
- Graduated with Master of Fine Arts
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm actoractorcomposerfilm producer
- Biography
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Walter Stacy Keach Jr. is an American actor, active in theatre, film and television since the 1960s. Keach first distinguished himself in Off-Broadway productions and remained a prominent figure in American theatre across his career, particularly as a noted Shakespearean. He is the recipient of several theatrical accolades, four Drama Desk Awards, two Helen Hayes Awards and two Obie Awards for Distinguished Performance by an Actor. He was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance in Arthur Kopit's 1969 production of Indians.
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David Hyde Pierce
- Occupations
- film actortelevision actorstage actorvoice actortheatrical director
- Biography
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David Hyde Pierce is an American actor. For his portrayal of psychiatrist Dr. Niles Crane on the NBC sitcom Frasier from 1993 to 2004, he received four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series as well as two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Hyde Pierce has also received five Golden Globe Awards nominations for Best Supporting Actor for the role. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his role of Lt. Frank Cioffi in the Broadway musical Curtains (2007).
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Tom Steyer
- Occupations
- entrepreneurbusinesspersoninternational forum participantorganizational founderinvestment banker
- Biography
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Thomas Fahr Steyer is an American climate investor, businessman, hedge fund manager, philanthropist, environmentalist, and liberal activist. Steyer is the co-founder and co-chair of Galvanize Climate Solutions, founder and former co-senior-managing-partner of Farallon Capital and the co-founder of OneCalifornia Bank, which became (through merger) Beneficial State Bank, an Oakland-based community development bank. Farallon Capital manages $20 billion in capital for institutions and high-net-worth individuals. The firm's institutional investors include college endowments and foundations. Steyer served on the board of trustees at Stanford University from 2007 to 2017. Since 1986, he has been a partner and member of the executive committee at Hellman & Friedman, a San Francisco–based private equity firm.
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Anita Hill
- Occupations
- lawyerhuman rights activistwomen's rights activistprofessor
- Biography
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Anita Faye Hill is an American lawyer, educator and author. She is a professor of social policy, law, and women's studies at Brandeis University and a faculty member of the university's Heller School for Social Policy and Management. She became a national figure in 1991 when she accused U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, her supervisor at the United States Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, of sexual harassment.
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Mark Rothko
- Enrolled in Yale University
- Studied in 1921
- Occupations
- painteruniversity teacherdrawer
- Biography
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Mark Rothko, born Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz (Russian: Ма́ркус Я́ковлевич Ротко́вич, Latvian: Markuss Rotkovičs; name not Anglicized until 1940; September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970), was a Latvian-born American abstract painter. He is best known for his color field paintings that depicted irregular and painterly rectangular regions of color, which he produced from 1949 to 1970. Although Rothko did not personally subscribe to any one school, he is associated with the American abstract expressionism movement of modern art.
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Alessandro Nivola
- Occupations
- stage actortelevision actorfilm actoractor
- Biography
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Alessandro Antine Nivola is an American actor. He has been nominated for a Tony Award and an Independent Spirit Award and has won a Screen Actors Guild Award, a British Independent Film Award (BIFA), and the Best Actor Award at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival among others.
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Judith Butler
- Occupations
- writeruniversity teacherphilosopherart theoristjournalist
- Biography
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Judith Pamela Butler is an American philosopher and gender studies scholar whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory.
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Samuel Alito
- Occupations
- judgelawyeruniversity teachermagistratejurist
- Biography
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Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated to the high court by President George W. Bush on October 31, 2005, and has served on it since January 31, 2006. After Antonin Scalia, Alito is the second Italian American justice to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Grace Hopper
- Enrolled in Yale University
- 1928-1930 graduated with master's degree
- In 1934 graduated with Doctor of Philosophy in mathematics
- Occupations
- university teachernaval officercomputer scientistphysicistmathematician
- Biography
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Grace Brewster Hopper was an American computer scientist, mathematician, and United States Navy rear admiral. One of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer, she was a pioneer of computer programming. Hopper was the first to devise the theory of machine-independent programming languages, and the FLOW-MATIC programming language she created using this theory was later extended by others to create COBOL, an early high-level programming language still in use today.
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Cole Porter
- Occupations
- lyricistcomposerfilm score composerplaywrightwriter
- Biography
-
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film.
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Josh Hawley
- Enrolled in Yale University
- 2003-2006 graduated with Juris Doctor
- Occupations
- politicianlawyerjurist
- Biography
-
Joshua David Hawley is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States senator from Missouri, a seat he has held since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Hawley served as the 42nd attorney general of Missouri from 2017 to 2019, before defeating two-term incumbent Democratic senator Claire McCaskill in the 2018 election.
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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Occupations
- short story writernovelistteacherpoetnon-fiction writer
- Biography
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Chief Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian writer whose works include novels, short stories and nonfiction. She was described in The Times Literary Supplement as "the most prominent" of a "procession of critically acclaimed young anglophone authors" of Nigerian fiction who are attracting a wider audience, particularly in her second home, the United States.
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Shawn Levy
- Occupations
- executive produceractortelevision directorfilm directortelevision actor
- Biography
-
Shawn Adam Levy is a Canadian film director, film producer, screenwriter, actor, and founder of 21 Laps Entertainment. He has worked across genres and is perhaps best known as the director of the Night at the Museum film franchise and primary producer of the Netflix series Stranger Things.
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Barbara Bush
- Occupations
- board memberbusinesspersonhealth activist
- Biography
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Barbara Pierce Bush is an American activist. She co-founded and is the chair of the board of the nonprofit organization Global Health Corps. She and her fraternal twin sister, Jenna, are the daughters of the forty-third U.S. president, George W. Bush, and former first lady Laura Bush. She is also a granddaughter of former president George H. W. Bush and former first lady Barbara Bush, after whom she is named.
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Don Gummer
- Occupations
- sculptor
- Biography
-
Don Gummer is an American sculptor. His early work concentrated on table-top and wall-mounted sculpture. In the mid-1980s, he shifted his focus to large free-standing works, often in bronze. In the 1990s, he added a variety of other materials, such as stainless steel, aluminum and stained glass. His interest in large outdoor works also led him to an interest in public art. He is married to Meryl Streep, although they have been separated since 2017.
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Willa Fitzgerald
- Occupations
- stage actortelevision actorfilm actoractor
- Biography
-
Willa Fitzgerald is an American actress. She is known for her starring role as Emma Duval in MTV's Scream. She has played cheer coach Colette French in the USA Network's television drama series Dare Me and officer Roscoe Conklin in the Amazon Prime Video television series Reacher. Her other notable roles include Amazon Studios' television series Alpha House, the USA Network's drama series Royal Pains, and Netflix's horror miniseries The Fall of the House of Usher.
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John C. Calhoun
- Occupations
- lawyerwriterpoliticiandiplomat
- Biography
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John Caldwell Calhoun was an American statesman and political theorist who served as the seventh vice president of the United States from 1825 to 1832. Born in South Carolina, he adamantly defended American slavery and sought to protect the interests of white Southerners. Calhoun began his political career as a nationalist, modernizer and proponent of a strong federal government and protective tariffs. In the late 1820s, his views changed radically, and he became a leading proponent of states' rights, limited government, nullification, and opposition to high tariffs. Calhoun saw Northern acceptance of those policies as a condition of the South's remaining in the Union. His beliefs heavily influenced the South's secession from the Union in 1860 and 1861. He was the first of two vice presidents to resign from the position, the second being Spiro Agnew, who resigned in 1973.
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Bob Woodward
- Enrolled in Yale University
- Studied in 1965
- Occupations
- writerjournalist
- Biography
-
Robert Upshur Woodward is an American investigative journalist. He started working for The Washington Post as a reporter in 1971 and now holds the title of associate editor.
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Henry Ford II
- Occupations
- industrialistentrepreneur
- Biography
-
Henry Ford II, sometimes known as "Hank the Deuce" or simply "the Deuce", was an American businessman in the automotive industry. He was the oldest son of Edsel Ford I and oldest grandson of Henry Ford. He was president of the Ford Motor Company from 1945 to 1960, Chief executive officer (CEO) from 1947 to 1979, and chairman of the board of directors from 1960 to 1980. Under his leadership, Ford Motor Company became a publicly traded corporation in 1956. From 1943 to 1950, he also served as president of the Ford Foundation.
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J. D. Vance
- Occupations
- writerpoliticianmerchantpunditfinancier
- Biography
-
James David Vance is an American venture capitalist, author, and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Ohio since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he came to prominence with his 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy.
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Indra Nooyi
- Occupations
- international forum participantbusinessperson
- Biography
-
Indra Nooyi is an American business executive who was the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of PepsiCo.
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Rebecca Miller
- Occupations
- film directorfilmmakersculptorwriterscreenwriter
- Biography
-
Rebecca Augusta Miller, Lady Day-Lewis is an American filmmaker and novelist. She is known for her films Angela (1995), Personal Velocity: Three Portraits (2002), The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005), The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009), and Maggie's Plan (2015), all of which she wrote and directed, as well as her novels The Private Lives of Pippa Lee and Jacob's Folly. Miller received the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for Personal Velocity and the Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Director for Angela.
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Mike McDaniel
- Occupations
- player of American footballAmerican football coach
- Biography
-
Michael Lee McDaniel is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). A former long-time assistant and descendant of the Shanahan coaching tree, McDaniel began his NFL coaching career as an intern for the Denver Broncos in 2005. McDaniel served as an assistant coach for the Houston Texans, Washington Redskins, Cleveland Browns, Atlanta Falcons, and San Francisco 49ers from 2017 to 2021, holding his first offensive coordinator position in 2021. McDaniel has appeared in Super Bowl LI with the Falcons in 2017, and Super Bowl LIV with the 49ers in 2020 as an assistant coach alongside Kyle Shanahan.
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Samuel Finley Breese Morse
- Occupations
- university teachersculptorphysicistphotographerwriter
- Biography
-
Samuel Finley Breese Morse was an American inventor and painter. After having established his reputation as a portrait painter, in his middle age Morse contributed to the invention of a single-wire telegraph system based on European telegraphs. He was a co-developer of Morse code in 1837 and helped to develop the commercial use of telegraphy.
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Paul Krugman
- Enrolled in Yale University
- Studied in 1970-1974
- Occupations
- economistwriterprofessorcolumnistpundit
- Biography
-
Paul Robin Krugman is an American economist who is the Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and a columnist for The New York Times. In 2008, Krugman was the sole winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to new trade theory and new economic geography. The Prize Committee cited Krugman's work explaining the patterns of international trade and the geographic distribution of economic activity, by examining the effects of economies of scale and of consumer preferences for diverse goods and services.
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Gary Hart
- Occupations
- novelistpoliticianlawyer
- Biography
-
Gary Warren Hart is an American politician, diplomat, and lawyer. He was the front-runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination until he dropped out amid revelations of extramarital affairs. He represented Colorado in the United States Senate from 1975 to 1987.
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Kellie Martin
- Occupations
- television actorvoice actorfilm actoractor
- Biography
-
Kellie Martin is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Rebecca "Becca" Thatcher in Life Goes On (1989–1993), Lucy Knight on ER (1998–2000), Samantha Kinsey in the Mystery Woman TV film series (2003–2007), and as Hailey Dean in the Hailey Dean Mystery TV film series (2016–2019).
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Noah Emmerich
- Occupations
- television actortelevision directorfilm actoractorfilm producer
- Biography
-
Noah Nicholas Emmerich is an American actor and director best known for his roles in films such as Beautiful Girls (1996), The Truman Show (1998), Frequency (2000), Miracle (2004), Little Children (2006), and Super 8 (2011). From 2013 to 2018 he starred as FBI agent Stan Beeman on the FX series The Americans, for which he won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2019.
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W. Edwards Deming
- Occupations
- university teachercomposereconomiststatisticianengineer
- Biography
-
William Edwards Deming was an American business theorist, composer, economist, industrial engineer, management consultant, statistician, and writer. Educated initially as an electrical engineer and later specializing in mathematical physics, he helped develop the sampling techniques still used by the United States Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. He is also known as the father of the quality movement and was hugely influential in post-WWII Japan, credited with revolutionizing Japan's industry and making it one of the most dominant economies in the world. He is best known for his theories of management.
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Van Jones
- Occupations
- civil rights advocateinternational forum participantenvironmentalistpunditlawyer
- Biography
-
Anthony Kapel "Van" Jones is an American political analyst, media personality, lawyer, author, and civil rights advocate. He is a three-time New York Times bestselling author, a CNN host and contributor, and an Emmy Award winner.
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Wendi Murdoch
- Occupations
- film producerentrepreneurbusinessperson
- Biography
-
Wendi Deng Murdoch is a Chinese-born American entrepreneur, investor, film producer, and collector of Chinese contemporary art.
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Jennifer Westfeldt
- Occupations
- writeractorfilm directorstage actortelevision actor
- Biography
-
Jennifer Westfeldt is an American actress, screenwriter, director, and producer. She is best known for co-writing, co-producing, and starring in the 2002 indie film Kissing Jessica Stein, for which she received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best First Screenplay and a Golden Satellite Award for Best Actress - Comedy or Musical. She is also known for writing, producing, starring in, and making her directorial debut in the 2012 indie film, Friends with Kids, which was included on New York Magazine's Top Ten Movies of 2012 list, as well as NPR's Top 12 of 2012.
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Bellamy Young
- Occupations
- stage actortelevision actorfilm actorfilm producer
- Biography
-
Bellamy Young is an American actress, producer and singer, best known for her role as Melody "Mellie" Grant in the ABC drama series Scandal (2012–2018). For her performance, she won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2014. She also starred in the Fox series Prodigal Son (2019–2021).
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Michael Cimino
- Occupations
- film directorscreenwriterfilm producerdirector
- Biography
-
Michael Antonio Cimino was an American film director, screenwriter, producer and author. Notorious for his obsessive attention to detail and determination for perfection, Cimino achieved fame with The Deer Hunter (1978), which won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.
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Anne Wojcicki
- Occupations
- biologistbusinesspersonbiotechnologist
- Biography
-
Anne E. Wojcicki is an American entrepreneur who co-founded and is CEO of the personal genomics company 23andMe. She founded the company in 2006 with Linda Avey and Paul Cusenza. She is a co-founder and board member of the Breakthrough Prize.
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Prescott Bush
- Occupations
- bankerpoliticianUnited States senator
- Biography
-
Prescott Sheldon Bush was an American banker and Republican Party politician. After working as a Wall Street executive investment banker, he represented Connecticut in the United States Senate from 1952 to 1963. A member of the Bush family, he was the father of President George H. W. Bush, and the paternal grandfather of President George W. Bush and Florida Governor Jeb Bush.
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Norman Foster
- Occupations
- designerpoliticianarchitect
- Biography
-
Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank, OM, RA, HonFREng is a British architect and designer. Closely associated with the development of high-tech architecture, Foster is recognised as a key figure in British modernist architecture. His architectural practice Foster + Partners, first founded in 1967 as Foster Associates, is the largest in the United Kingdom, and maintains offices internationally. He is the president of the Norman Foster Foundation, created to 'promote interdisciplinary thinking and research to help new generations of architects, designers and urbanists to anticipate the future'. The foundation, which opened in June 2017, is based in Madrid and operates globally. Foster was awarded the Pritzker Prize in 1999.
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Pat Robertson
- Enrolled in Yale University
- Graduated with Bachelor of Laws
- Occupations
- entrepreneurChristian ministerwriterpoliticiantelevangelist
- Biography
-
Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson was an American media mogul, religious broadcaster, political commentator, presidential candidate, and charismatic minister. Robertson advocated a conservative Christian ideology and was known for his involvement in Republican Party politics. He was associated with the Charismatic movement within Protestant evangelicalism. He served as head of Regent University and of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN).
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John Bolton
- Occupations
- lawyercivil servantpoliticiandiplomat
- Biography
-
John Robert Bolton is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to 2006, and as the 26th United States National Security Advisor from 2018 to 2019.
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Emmett Shear
- Years
- 1983-.. (age 41)
- Occupations
- investorbusinessperson
- Biography
-
Emmett Shear is an American Internet entrepreneur and investor. He is the co-founder of live video platform Justin.tv. He served as the chief executive officer of Twitch when it was spun off from Justin.tv until March 2023. In 2011, Shear was appointed as a part-time partner at venture capital firm Y Combinator. In November 2023, he briefly served as interim CEO of OpenAI.
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Tom Wolfe
- Occupations
- reporterwriternon-fiction writerjournalistscreenwriter
- Biography
-
Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. was an American author and journalist widely known for his association with New Journalism, a style of news writing and journalism developed in the 1960s and 1970s that incorporated literary techniques. Much of Wolfe's work was satirical and centred on the counterculture of the 1960s and issues related to class, social status, and the lifestyles of the economic and intellectual elites of New York City.
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Bronson Pinchot
- Occupations
- television actorstage actorfilm actoractorvoice actor
- Biography
-
Bronson Alcott Pinchot is an American actor. He is best known for playing Balki Bartokomous on the ABC sitcom Perfect Strangers (1986–1993). He also performed in films, such as Risky Business (1983), Beverly Hills Cop (1984), After Hours (1985), True Romance (1993), Beverly Hills Cop III (1994), Stephen King's The Langoliers (1995), It's My Party (1996), Courage Under Fire (1996) and The First Wives Club (1996), and in television series, such as Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Meego and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. In 2012, he starred in his own reality series, The Bronson Pinchot Project on the DIY Network.
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Dan Schneider
- Occupations
- writertelevision produceractorfilm directortelevision actor
- Biography
-
Daniel James Schneider is an American television producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the founder and co-president of the production company Schneider's Bakery, which he established in 2003 after working as a supporting actor in film and television throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
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Fareed Zakaria
- Occupations
- writereditorial columnistpolitical scientistjournalisteconomist
- Biography
-
Fareed Rafiq Zakaria is an Indian-American journalist, political commentator, and author. He is the host of CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS and writes a weekly paid column for The Washington Post. He has been a columnist for Newsweek, editor of Newsweek International, and an editor at large of Time.
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Philip Zimbardo
- Enrolled in Yale University
- Studied in 1959
- Occupations
- university teacherscreenwriterpsychologistsocial psychologistnon-fiction writer
- Biography
-
Philip George Zimbardo is an American psychologist and a professor emeritus at Stanford University. He became known for his 1971 Stanford prison experiment, which was later severely criticized for both ethical and scientific reasons. He has authored various introductory psychology textbooks for college students, and other notable works, including The Lucifer Effect, The Time Paradox, and The Time Cure. He is also the founder and president of the Heroic Imagination Project.
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James Whitmore
- Occupations
- television actorstage actormilitary officerfilm actorcharacter actor
- Biography
-
James Allen Whitmore Jr. was an American actor. He received numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Theatre World Award, and a Tony Award, plus two Academy Award nominations.
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Joe Lieberman
- Enrolled in Yale University
- Studied in 1964
- Studied in 1967
- Occupations
- authorpoliticianlawyer
- Biography
-
Joseph Isadore Lieberman is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee for vice president of the United States in the 2000 U.S. presidential election. During his final term in office, he was officially listed as an independent Democrat and caucused with and chaired committees for the Democratic Party.
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Noah Glass
- Enrolled in Yale University
- 1999-2003 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- software developerbusinesspersonprogrammer
- Biography
-
Noah Glass is an American technology entrepreneur and software developer, whose early work included launching Twitter and Odeo, a podcasting company that closed in 2017. Glass is credited for coining the name "Twitter", which began as "Twttr".
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Ernesto Zedillo
- Occupations
- politicianuniversity teachereconomistauthorinternational forum participant
- Biography
-
Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León is a Mexican economist and politician. He was the 61st president of Mexico from 1994 to 2000, as the last of the uninterrupted 71-year line of Mexican presidents from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
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Ben Sasse
- Enrolled in Yale University
- In 2004 graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- university teachermanagement consultantpolitician
- Biography
-
Benjamin Eric Sasse is an American academic administrator and former politician who is the president of the University of Florida. He served as a United States senator from Nebraska from 2015 to 2023 and is a member of the Republican Party.
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Leigh Bardugo
- Occupations
- writernovelistexecutive producerchildren's writerjournalist
- Biography
-
Leigh Bardugo is an American fantasy author. She is best known for her young adult Grishaverse novels, which include the Shadow and Bone trilogy, and the Six of Crows and King of Scars duologies. She also received acclaim for her paranormal fantasy adult debut, Ninth House. The Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows series have been adapted into Shadow and Bone by Netflix and Ninth House will be adapted by Amazon Studios; Bardugo is an executive producer on both works.
