List of Yale University people: Encyclopedia II - List of Yale University people - Alumni

List of Yale University people - Alumni

List of Yale University people - Nobel laureates

• George Akerlof (B.A. 1962). Economics, 2001
• Raymond Davis Jr. (Ph.D. 1942). Physics, 2002.
• John F. Enders (B.A. ca. 1921). Physiology or Medicine, 1954.
• John Fenn (Ph.D. ca. 1940). Chemistry, 2002.
• Murray Gell-Mann (B.S. 1948). Physics, 1969.
• Alfred G. Gilman (B.S. 1962). Physiology or Medicine, 1994.
• Ernest Lawrence (Ph.D. 1925). Physics, 1939. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory & Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are named for him.
• Joshua Lederberg (Ph.D. 1948). Physiology or Medicine, 1958.
• David Lee (Ph.D. 1959). Physics, 1996.
• Sinclair Lewis (B.A. 1908). Literature, 1930.
• Lars Onsager (Ph.D. 1935). Chemistry, 1968.
• Dickinson Richards (B.A. 1917). Physiology or Medicine, 1956.
• William Vickrey (B.S. 1935). Economics, 1996.
• George Whipple (A.B. 1900). Physiology or Medicine, 1934.
• Eric Wieschaus (Ph.D.). Physiology or Medicine, 1995.

List of Yale University people - Pulitzer Prize winners

• Anne Applebaum (B.A. 1986), Pulitzer Prize-winning author for non-fiction in 2004
• Stephen Vincent Benét (B.A. 1919, M.A. 1920), Pulitzer Prize-winning author
• Linda Greenhouse (M.A. 1978), U.S. Supreme Court correspondent for the New York Times, received the Pulitzer Prize in 1998.
• John Hersey (B.A. 1936), Pulitzer Prize-winning author, namesake of the annual John Hersey Lecture at Yale
• David M. Kennedy (M.A. 1964, Ph.D. 1968), Stanford University professor, won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize in History for "Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-45"
• David McCullough (B.A. 1955), famous historian, winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, best known for his books on American Presidents Harry S. Truman and John Adams.
• J.R. Moehringer (B.A. 1986), Los Angeles Times reporter, won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing
• Samantha Power (B.A. 1992), winner of the Pulitzer Prize for the book A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide
• Mark Schoofs (B.A. 1985), reporter, won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting
• Lewis Spratlan (B.A. 1962, M.M. 1965), composer, won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize in Music for "Life is a Dream, Opera in Three Acts: Act II, Concert Version"
• Wendy Wasserstein, (M.F.A. 1976), playwright and Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatist of The Heidi Chronicles
• Thornton Wilder (B.A. 1920), playwright, winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, the first in 1928 for The Bridge of San Luis Rey, and the second in 1938 for the play Our Town; recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963
• Bob Woodward (B.A. 1965), journalist, co-author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book All the President's Men, won a second Pulitzer in 2002 for National Reporting
• Doug Wright (B.A. 1986), screenwriter, winner of a Pulitzer in 2004 for drama, winner of a Tony Award
• Daniel Yergin (B.A. 1968)

List of Yale University people - Technology & innovation

• David Bushnell (ca. 1776), inventor of the screw propellor, submarine, naval mine, and time bomb
• Francis S. Collins (Ph.D.), director, Human Genome Project
• Lee De Forest (B.S. 1896, Ph.D. 1899), inventor of the triode
• Eric Fossum (Ph.D. 1984), inventor of CMOS image sensor
• W. Edwards Deming (Ph.D. 1928), "total quality management" (TQM) guru
• Irving Fisher (B.A. 1888, Ph.D. 1891), economist, "father of monetarism"
• J. Willard Gibbs (1858, Ph.D. 1863), mathematician, physical chemist, thermodynamicist, known for Gibb's Phenomenon
• Grace Hopper (M.A. 1930, Ph.D. 1934), inventor of COBOL programming language
• Art Laffer (B.A. 1963), economist, best known for the "Laffer Curve"
• Paul B. MacCready (1947), "Engineer of the Century," won the Kremer prize for first human-powered flying machine (the Gossamer Condor); pioneer in solar-powered flight; founder of AeroVironment
• Saunders MacLane (B.A. 1930), mathematician, one of the founders of "category theory"
• Jordan Mechner (B.A. 1985), videogame developer, created Prince of Persia
• Samuel Morse (1810), telegraph pioneer, inventor of Morse code
• Harry Nyquist (Ph.D. 1917), engineer known for the Nyquist theorem
• John Ousterhout, creator of the Tcl programming language
• Ronald Rivest (B.S. 1969), computer scientist, the "R" in the RSA cryptography, 2002 Turing Award receipient
• George B. Selden, Awarded the first United States patent for an automobile in 1895
• Benjamin Spock (B.A. 1925), child psychology guru
• Eli Whitney (1792), inventor of the cotton gin

List of Yale University people - Business

• Robert M. Bass (B.A. 1971), president, Keystone, Inc.
• Roland W. Betts, investor, film producer, owner of Chelsea Piers, lead owner in George W. Bush’s Texas Rangers partnership
• Jeffrey Bewkes (B.A. 1974), Time Warner President and COO
• Tim Collins (M.B.A.), founder and CEO, Ripplewood Holdings LLC
• John Thomas Daniels, founder, Archer Daniels Midland
• Donna Dubinsky (B.A. 1977), former CEO of PDA company Palm Inc., co-founder of PDA company Handspring
• Ted Forstmann, co-founder & senior partner of Forstmann Little & Company, member of the Forbes 400
• Robert Glaser (B.A., M.A.), founder & CEO, RealNetworks
• Bing Gordon, co-founder, executive vice-president, and chief creative officer of Electronic Arts
• Roberto Goizueta (B.E. 1953), former CEO, Coca-Cola (namesake of Emory University's business school)
• Briton Hadden (B.A. 1920), co-founder of Time magazine
• Henry Holt (B.A. 1862), founder of publishing firm Henry Holt & Company, which would later merge with other companies to become Holt, Rinehart, & Winston
• Curtis Jensen (M.B.A.), co-chief investment officer, Third Avenue Funds
• Charles B. Johnson, chairman, Franklin Templeton Investments
• Ellis B. Jones (M.B.A.), CEO, Wasserstein & Co.
• Mitch Kapor, founder, Open Source Applications Foundation, investor (Kapor Enterprises), founder & former CEO, Lotus Software
• Herbert Kohler, chairman & president, Kohler Company
• Clarence King, founder of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
• Loring Knoblauch, (B.A. 1964), ninth president and CEO of Underwriters Laboratories, former leader of nine different companies in high technology and manufacturing
• Edward Lampert, founder & chairman, ESL Investments (hedge fund),Chairman of Sears Holding Company
• Henry Luce (B.A. 1920), co-founder of Time magazine.
• John Franklyn Mars, CEO, Mars, Incorporated (as in Mars & M&M candy)
• W. James McNerney (B.A. 1971), CEO of 3M Corporation
• Robert Moses, mid-20th-century New York City construction czar
• Indra Nooyi (M.B.A.), president and CFO, Pepsi
• Eric Ober (B.A.), president, CBS News, Food Network
• John Pepper (B.A. 1960), former chairman and CEO of Procter & Gamble
• Norman R. Prouty (B.A. 1961), investor and founder of the India Capital Fund--first American venture capitalist (VC) in India
• Wilbur Ross, investor, steel magnate, member of the Forbes 400
• Stephen A. Schwarzman, co-founder & CEO of the Blackstone Group, member of the Forbes 400
• Robert Sargent Shriver III (Law), part-owner of the Baltimore Orioles
• Timothy Perry Shriver, CEO of the Special Olympics
• David Singer (B.A. 1984), founder, former CEO, chairman of the board of Genesoft Pharmaceuticals (now Oscient Pharmaceuticals); founding president of Affymetrix and Corcept Therapeutics; princpal of Maverick Capital Ltd.
• Frederick W. Smith, (B.A. 1966), founder & CEO, FedEx
• Harold Stanley, founder, Morgan Stanley
• Richard Thalheimer, founder & CEO of The Sharper Image
• John Thornton, (M.P.P.M. School of Management 1980), former president and COO, Goldman Sachs
• Juan Trippe, (B.A. 1921), founder & CEO, Pan Am
• Frederick E. Weyerhaeuser, founder, Weyerhaeuser
• John (Jock) Hay Whitney, (B.A. 1926), philanthropist and founder of J.H.Whitney & Co., first venture capital firm in U.S.
• Payne Whitney, (B.A. 1898)

List of Yale University people - Academics

• Diogenes Allen (B.D., Ph.D. 1964), philosopher, theologian, Stuart Professor of Philosophy at Princeton Theological Seminary (1981-2002)
• Frederick Barnard (B.A. 1828), mathematician, educator, president (1856-1858) and chancellor (1858-1861) of the University of Mississippi , president (1864-1889) of Columbia University, posthumous namesake of Barnard College, active in the founding of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Academy of Sciences
• Eugene Bouton (B.A. 1875), First Principal of the New York State Teachers College
• Richard H. Brodhead (B.A. 1968), president of Duke University
• Michael Burns, actor and professor of history
• Gerhard Casper (LL.B. 1962); Honorary doctorate, 2000), ninth president of Stanford University, former provost at the University of Chicago, member of the Yale Corporation
• Alan Dershowitz (LL.B. 1962) law professor at Harvard University
• Jonathan Dickinson, (B.A. 1706, when Yale was still named the Collegiate School of Connecticut), founder of the College of New Jersey, which was later named Princeton University
• James Duderstadt ( B.E. 1964), President of the University of Michigan
• Thomas H. Gallaudet (B.A. 1805, M.A. 1810) Educator for the deaf, co-founder and principal (1817-1830) of the American School for the Deaf, namesake of Gallaudet University
• Daniel Coit Gilman (B.A. 1952), first president of Johns Hopkins University
• William Rainey Harper, (Ph.D. 1874), first president of the University of Chicago
• Robert M. Hutchins (B.A. 1921, LL.B 1925) President (1929-1945) and Chancellor (1945-1951) of the University of Chicago
• Samuel Johnson (B.A. 1714), First president of Columbia University (known at the time as King's College); father of U.S. Senator William Samuel Johnson
• Yamakawa Kenjiro (ca. 1876), founder of Kyushu Institute of Technology
• Lawrence Lessig (J.D. 1989), copyright activist, law professor at Stanford University
• Reinhold Niebuhr (B.D. 1914), author, theologian
• Camille Paglia (Ph.D. 1972), author of Sexual Personae, cultural critic and feminist scholar
• Helen Parkhurst (M.A. 1943), progressive educator, created the Dalton Plan, founder of The Dalton School
• Alvin Plantinga (Ph.D. 1958), Christian philosopher, professor at University of Notre Dame
• James Rothman (B.A. 1971), biologist, winner of 2002 Lasker Award, America's "Nobel Prize"
• Benjamin Silliman (B.A. 1796), "father of American scientific education"
• David Swensen (Ph.D.), Yale Endowment Manager and professor at the Yale School of Management (SOM)
• John Griggs Thompson (B.A. 1955), mathematician, winner of the Fields Medal in 1970
• Andrew Dickson White (B.A. 1853), co-founder and first president of Cornell University
• Eleazar Wheelock (B.A. 1733) Founder of Dartmouth College
• Yung Wing (B.A. 1854), first Chinese person to receive an American college degree

List of Yale University people - Law & politics

• George H. W. Bush (B.A. 1948), President of the United States (1989-1993), Vice President of the United States (1981-1989), member of Congress (R-Texas) (1967-1971)
• George W. Bush (B.A. 1968), President of the United States (2001-present), Governor of Texas (1995-2000)
• Karl Carstens (L.L.M. 1949), Fifth President of Germany (1979-1984)
• John Calhoun (B.A. 1804), Seventh Vice President of the United States, for two different presidents, John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson; Senator; Member of the House of Representatives; Secretary of State in the Tyler presidential administration
• Dick Cheney (Class of 1963*), Vice President of the United States (2001-present)
• Bill Clinton (J.D.), President of the United States (1993-2001), Governor of Arkansas (1983-1992)
• Gerald Ford (J.D.), President of the United States (1974-1977), Vice President of the United States (1973-1974), member of the House of Representatives
• William Howard Taft (1878), President of the United States (1909-1913), Chief Justice of the United States (1921-1930)
• Ernesto Zedillo (Ph.D. 1981), President of Mexico (1994-2000)

• Samuel Alito (J.D. 1975), Supreme Court associate justice nominee
• Henry Baldwin (1797), Supreme Court justice (1830-1844)
• David J. Brewer (1856), Supreme Court justice (1889-1910)
• Henry B. Brown (1856), Supreme Court justice (1891-1906)
• David Davis (LAW 1835), Supreme Court justice (1862-1877)
• Oliver Ellsworth (Class of 1766*), Supreme Court justice (1796-1800)
• Abe Fortas (J.D. 1933), Supreme Court justice (1965-1969)
• Sherman Minton (YLS one-year degree, 1917), Supreme Court justice (1949-1956)
• George Shiras, Jr. (1853), Supreme Court justice (1892-1903)
• Potter Stewart, Supreme Court justice (1958-1981)
• William Strong (1828, GRD 1831, briefly attended YLS), Supreme Court justice (1870-1880)
• William Howard Taft (1878), President of the United States (1909-1913), Chief Justice of the United States (1921-1930)
• Clarence Thomas (J.D. 1974), Supreme Court Justice (1991-present)
• Morrison R. Waite (1837), Chief Justice of the United States (1874-1888)
• William B. Woods (1845), Supreme Court justice (1881-1887)
• Byron White, Supreme Court Justice (1962-1993)

• Alva B. Adams (1896), U.S. senator (D-Colorado, 1923-24, 1932-1941)
• John Ashcroft (B.A. 1964 cum laude) U.S. attorney general (2001-2005), U.S. senator (R-Missouri, 1993-2001), governor of Missouri (1985-1993)
• Abraham Baldwin (B.A. 1772), U.S. Representative (1789-1799), U.S. Senator (1799-1807); author of the charter for, and president of, the University of Georgia (1786-1801)
• Roger Sherman Baldwin (B.A. 1811), governor of Connecticut (1844-46), U.S. senator (Whig-Connecticut, 1847-51)
• John Beall (B.A. 1950), U.S. senator (R-Maryland, 1971-1976)
• Hiram Bingham III (1898), governor of Connecticut (1925), U.S. senator (R-Connecticut, 1924-1933); explorer who rediscovered the lost city of Machu Picchu, Peru; said to be the inspiration behind the fictional Indiana Jones character
• David Boren (B.A. 1963), governor of Oklahoma (1975-79), U.S. senator (D-Oklahoma, 1979-94), president of University of Oklahoma
• Prescott Bush (B.A. 1917), U.S. senator (R-Connecticut, 1953-1963)
• James L. Buckley (B.A. 1943, Law 1949), U.S. senator (C-New York, 1971-1977); president of Radio Free Europe, 1982-1985; federal judge for the United States Court of Appeals (District of Columbia Circuit) (1985-1996)
• John Chafee (B.A. 1947), governor of Rhode Island (1962-69), Secretary of the Navy (1969-72), U.S. senator (R-Rhode Island, 1976-99)
• John Clayton (1815), Secretary of State in the Taylor administration, U.S. senator (AJ-Delaware, 1829-1836; W-Delaware, 1845-1849; O-Delaware 1853-1856)
• Hillary Rodham Clinton (J.D. 1973) Junior Senator from New York (2001-Present)
• LeBaron Colt (B.A. 1868), U.S. senator (R-Rhode Island, 1913-1924)
• David Daggett (1783), U.S. senator (F-Connecticut, 1813-19)
• David Davis (Law 1835), appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court by Lincoln (1862-1877); U.S. senator (I-Illinois, 1877-1883)
• Henry L. Dawes (1839), U.S. senator (R-Connecticut, 1875-93)
• John Danforth (J.D, DIV 1963), U.S senator (R-Missouri, 1976-95)
• Mark Dayton (B.A. 1969), U.S. senator (D-Minnesota, 2001-present)
• Fred Dubois (B.A. 1872), U.S. senator (R-Idaho,1891-1897; D-Idaho, 1901-1907)
• William M. Evarts (1837), Secretary of State under Hayes, U.S. senator (R-New York, 1885-91)
• Gary Hart (DIV 1961, LLB 1964), U.S. senator (D-Colorado, 1975-1987)
• John Heinz(B.A. 1960), U.S. senator (Pennsylvania)
• James Hillhouse (B.A. 1773), U.S. senator (F-Connecticut, 1796-1810 )
• James Jeffords (B.A. 1956), U.S. senator (I-Vermont, 1989-present)
• William Samuel Johnson (B.A. 1744, M.A. 1747), United States Founding Father, member of the Continental Congress (1785-1787),delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787, president (1787-1800) of Columbia University (he was its first president under its new name of Columbia College; his father was the first president of the institution when it was known as King's College), U.S. senator (Connecticut, 1789-1791)
• John Kerry (B.A. 1966), U.S. senator (D-Massachusetts, 1985-present)
• James Lanman (1788), U.S. senator
• Joseph Lieberman (B.A. 1964, J.D. 1967), U.S. senator (D-Connecticut, 1989-present)
• Return Jonathan Meigs (B.A. 1785), U.S. Senator (DR-Ohio, 1808-181), 4th Governor of Ohio (1810-1814), 8th U.S. Postmaster General (1814-1823). Meigs County, Ohio and Meigs County, Tennessee are named in his honor.
• Bill Nelson (B.A. 1965), U.S. representative (D-Florida, 1979-91), astronaut (STS-61-C, 1986), U.S. senator (D-Florida, 2001-present)
• Francis Newlands (ca. 1859), U.S. senator (D-Nevada, 1903-17)
• William Proxmire (B.A. 1948), U.S. senator (D-Wisconsin, 1957-89)
• Robert Taft, Jr. (B.A. 1939), U.S. representative (R-Ohio, 1963-64, 1967-70), U.S. senator (R-Ohio, 1971-76),
• John V. Tunney (B.A. 1956), U.S. representative (D-California, 1965-1970), U.S. senator (D-California, 1971-1977)
• Frederic Walcott (1891), U.S. senator (R-Connecticut, 1929-35)
• John Wales (B.A. 1801), U.S. senator (W-Delaware, 1849-1851); co-founder of Delaware College
• Malcolm Wallop (B.A. 1954), U.S. senator (R-Wyoming, 1977-95)
• Lowell Weicker (B.A. 1953), U.S. representative (R-Connecticut, 1968-1971), U.S. senator (R-Connecticut, 1971-1989), Governor of Connecticut (1990-1994)
• Pete Wilson (B.A. 1956), U.S. senator (R-California, 1983-1991), Governor of California 1991-1999

Alumni who have served as Governors may also have served in other government capacities, such as President or Senator. In such cases, the names are left un-linked, but are annotated with a "See also:" which links to the section on this page where a more detailed entry can be found.

• John Ashcroft (B.A. 1964 ) Governor of Missouri (1985-1993). (See also: Senators)
• Roger Sherman Baldwin (B.A. 1811), Governor of Connecticut (1844-46). (See also: Senators)
• Hiram Bingham III (1898), Governor of Connecticut (1925). (See also: Senators)
• David Boren (B.A. 1963), Governor of Oklahoma (1975-79). (See also: Senators)
• Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. (J.D. 1964), Governor of California (1975-1983)
• George W. Bush (B.A. 1968), Governor of Texas (1995-2000). (See also: Presidents & Vice Presidents)
• John Chafee (B.A. 1947), Governor of Rhode Island (1962-69). (See also: Senators)
• William Jefferson Clinton (J.D.), Governor of Arkansas (1983-1992). (See also: Presidents & Vice Presidents)
• Wilbur Cross (B.A.1885, Ph.D. 1889), Governor of Connecticut (1931-1939), Yale professor of English
• Howard Dean (B.A. 1971), Governor of Vermont (1991-2003)
• Henry Haight (B.A. 1844), Governor of California (1867-1871)
• W. Averell Harriman (B.A. 1913), Governor of New York (1955-1958), United States ambassador to Russia (1943-1946), ambassador to Great Britain (1946), Secretary of Commerce (1946-1948)
• Tony Knowles (B.A. 1968), Governor of Alaska (1994-2002), mayor of Anchorage, Alaska (1981-1987)
• William Livingston (B.A. 1741), First Governor of New Jersey (1776-1790) after the signing of the Declaration of Independence
• Gary Locke (B.A. 1972), Governor of Washington (1997-2005) (thereby the first Chinese American governor in the United States)
• Return Jonathan Meigs (B.A. 1785), 4th Governor of Ohio (1810-1814). (See also: Senators)
• George Pataki (B.A. 1967), Governor of New York (1995-present)
• Winthrop Rockefeller (Class of 1935*), attended Yale from 1931 to 1934; Governor of Arkansas (1967-1971)
• William Scranton (B.A. 1939, J.D. 1946), Governor of Pennsylvania (1963-1967), United States Ambassador to the United Nations (1976-1977)
• Robert Taft (B.A. 1953), Governor of Ohio (1999-present)
• Lowell Weicker (B.A. 1953), Governor of Connecticut (1990-1994).(See also: Senators)
• Pete Wilson (B.A. 1956), Governor of California (1991-1999). (See also: Senators)

• Dean Acheson (B.A, 1915), United States Secretary of State in the Truman presidential administration
• Cecilia Altonaga (J.D. 1986), federal judge, first Cuban American woman to be appointed as a federal judge in the United States
• James Jesus Angleton, (B.A. 1941), chief of CIA Counterintelligence Staff (1954-1974)
• Les Aspin (B.A. 1960), Secretary of Defense, U.S. Congressman (D-Wisconsin (1971-1993)
• Leonard Bacon (B.A. 1820), abolitionist
• David Boies (LL.B.. 1966), famous lawyer (Microsoft antitrust, Bush v. Gore, Napster v. RIAA)
• L. Paul Bremer (B.A. 1963), ambassador
• Geraldo Brindeiro (L.L.M, J.D.), Attorney General of Brazil (1995-2003)
• William F. Buckley (B.A. 1950), political pundit, founder of the National Review', host of public affairs television show Firing Line
• McGeorge Bundy (B.A. 1940), former Cabinet official
• Cassius Marcellus Clay (B.A. 1832), abolitionist. (The birth-name of boxer Muhammad Ali was Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., after his father, Cassius Marcellus Clay, Sr., who was named for the abolitionist.)
• Moses Cleaveland (B.A. 1777), founder of Cleveland, Ohio
• Rev. William Sloane Coffin, Jr. (B.D. 1956), chaplain of Yale (1958-1975), senior minister of Riverside Church in New York, political and civil rights activist, author
• Mike Krüger German Comedian
• Manasseh Cutler (B.A. 1765), co-author of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, member of the Ohio Company of Associates (the first non-Native American settlement in Ohio), U.S. Congressman (F-Massachusetts (1801-1805)
• Sir Daryl Dawson (L.L.M.), justice of the High Court of Australia
• David Dellinger (B.A. 1936), activist, member of the Chicago Seven
• William H. Donaldson (B.A. 1954), chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (2003-2005), co-founder of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, founder and dean of the Yale School of Management, president of the New York Stock Exchange
• Jeremiah Evarts (B.A. 1802), author, editor, activist, opponent of the Indian Removal Act of 1830
• James Gadsden (B.A. 1806), namesake of the Gadsden Purchase, in which the United States purchased from Mexico the land that became Arizona and part of New Mexico.
• David Gergen (B.A. 1963), political pundit, worked as an advisor for the Republican and Democratic Presidential administrations of Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton
• Porter Goss (B.A. 1960), CIA director (2004-present), Florida congressman
• Stephen Hadley, (J.D. 1972), National Security Adviser
• Nathan Hale (B.A. 1773), patriot & martyr, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."
• Clarence King (Ph.D. 1862), founder of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
• Paul Krugman (B.A. Economics, 1974), architect of "New Trade Theory," winner of the John Bates Clark Medal, respected economist, Princeton University professor, New York Times columnist
• William Kunstler (B.A. 1941), Civil liberties lawyer
• John Lindsay (B.A. 1944, LL.B. 1948), Mayor of New York
• Burke Marshall (B.A. 1943, LL.B. 1951), U.S. Assistant Attorney General
• William McChesney Martin, Jr. (B.A. ca. 1926), the ninth and longest-serving chairman of theU.S. Federal Reserve
• Edwin Meese (B.A. 1953), former United States Attorney General
• John Negroponte (B.A. 1960), first U.S. Director of National Intelligence (2005-present), first ambassador to post-Saddam Iraq (2004-2005)
• Eleanor Holmes Norton (M.A. 1963, LL.B. 1964), non-voting congressional delegate for District of Columbia (1991-present)
• Marvin Olasky (B.A. 1971), conservative pundit
• Gifford Pinchot, founder of the United States Forest Service
• Clark T. Randt, Jr., U.S. ambassador to China (2001-present)
• Robert Rubin (LL.B. 1964), United States Secretary of the Treasury (1995-1999) in the Clinton presidential administration
• Barry Scheck (B.S., 1971) Co-founded the Innocence Project
• Sargent Shriver (B.A. 1938, LL.B. 1941), main organizer and first director of the Peace Corps. Husband of Eunice Kennedy, and father of Maria Shriver (news journalist and wife of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger).
• Henry L. Stimson, (B.A. 1888), United States Secretary of State in the Hoover presidential administration
• Alphonso Taft (B.A. 1833, Law), Attorney General and Secretary of War in the Ulysses S. Grant presidential administration.
• Strobe Talbott (B.A. 1968), Deputy Secretary of State (1994-2001) in the Clinton presidential administration, President of the Brookings Institution
• Cyrus Vance, (B.A. 1939, Law 1942) United States Secretary of State in the Carter presidential administration
• David Wooster (B.A. 1738), brigadier general in the American Revolutionary War; namesake of Wooster, Ohio, The College of Wooster, and the Wooster School
• Fareed Zakaria, political pundit, author, host of public affairs show, Foreign Exchange

List of Yale University people - History literature art & music

• Matthew Barney (B.A. 1989), video and installation artist
• Harold Bloom (Ph.D. 1956), American literary critic
• Chuck Close (M.F.A. 1964), painter
• Gregory Crewdson (M.F.A. 1988), photographer
• John Currin (M.F.A. 1986), painter
• James Fenimore Cooper (Class of 1805*), author of The Last of the Mohicans
• Brendan Gill (B.A. 1936), architecture writer
• Eva Hesse (M.F.A. 1959), sculptor
• Charles Ives (B.A. 1898), composer, classical music.
• John Knowles (B.A. 1949), author of A Separate Peace
• Larry Kramer (B.A. 1957), Playwright and gay activist
• Maya Lin (B.A. 1981, M.Arch 1986, honorary Ph.D 1987), architect, best known for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
• Philip-Lorca diCorcia (M.F.A. 1979), photographer
• Cole Porter (B.A. 1913), composer
• Mark Rothko (Class of 1924*), painter
• Eero Saarinen (B.Arch, 1934), architect, best known for the St. Louis Gateway Arch
• Richard Serra (B.F.A., M.F.A. 1964), sculptor
• Robert A. M. Stern (M. Arch. 1965), architect, current dean of Yale School of Architecture
• Sergio Troncoso (M.A.), author of The Nature of Truth, a novel about righteousness and evil, Yale and the Holocaust.
• Garry Trudeau(B.A. 1970, M.F.A. 1973), Doonesbury cartoonist
• Noah Webster(B.A. 1778, Ll.D. 1823), lexicographer, author of the first definitive dictionary of the American English language, helped to found Amherst College
• Naomi Wolf(B.A. 1984), feminist writer
• Tom Wolfe (Ph.D. 1957), journalist, author of The Right Stuff and The Bonfire of the Vanities
• Maury Yeston (B.A. 1967, Ph.D. 1974 ), lyricist, composer, Tony Award for Titanic
• Vincent Scully, art historian
• Linda Greenhouse, journalist for the New York Times, covers the United States Supreme Court.

List of Yale University people - Athletics

• Walter Camp (B.A. 1880), the "Father of American Football"
• Ron Darling Mets pitcher
• Brian Dowling (B.A. 1969), quarterback
• Chris Dudley (B.A. 1987), former NBA player
• Theo Epstein (B.A. 1995), became Red Sox general manager at age 28, youngest in Major League Baseball history
• Howard Groskloss Major League Baseball Player
• Chris Hetherington (B.A. 1996), National Football League running back
• Calvin Hill (B.A. 1969), National Football League player with the Cowboys, Redskins and Browns
• Sarah Hughes (Class of 2008), gold medalist in 2002 Olympic figure skating
• Bill Hutchison, former Major League Baseball player
• Sada Jacobson (Class of 2006), bronze medalist in 2004 Olympic women's saber
• Eric Johnson (B.A. 2001), National Football League wide receiver
• Nate Lawrie (B.A. 2004), National Football League tight end
• Frank Shorter (B.A. 1969) gold medal (1972) and silver medal (1976), Olympic Marathon

List of Yale University people - Film

• Angela Bassett (B.A. 1980 African-American Studies, MFA 1983), actress
• Jennifer Beals, actress, best known for Flashdance
• Henry Bean, screenwriter/director The Believer
• Jordana Brewster, actress, plays Mia in The Fast and the Furious
• Bruce Cohen, film producer, won an Academy Award for American Beauty
• Michael Cimino, Academy Award-winning director
• Jennifer Connelly (Class of 1992*), Academy Award-winning actress
• Claire Danes (Class of 2002*), actress
• Noah Emmerich (B.A. 1992), actor
• Jodie Foster (B.A. in literature, magna cum laude), Academy Award-winning actress and director
• Paul Giamatti (MFA, 1989), actor. Starred in Academy Award nominated "Sideways".
• David Alan Grier, actor, comedian
• Kathryn Hahn, actress
• George Roy Hill, Academy Award-winning director
• Holly Hunter, Academy Award-winning actress
• Elia Kazan*, Academy Award-winning director
• Phil LaMarr (B.A. 1989), actor, comedian.
• Ron Livingston, actor. Best known for Office Space
• Frances McDormand (MFA), actress
• Paul Newman, Academy Award-winning actor
• Edward Norton (B.A. 1991), actor
• Bronson Pinchot (B.A. 1981), actor
• Vincent Price, actor
• Gene Siskel (B.A. 1967), movie critic
• Todd Solondz, director Welcome to the Dollhouse & Happiness
• Oliver Stone*, Academy Award-winning director
• Meryl Streep (MFA), Academy Award-winning actress
• John Turturro (MFA), actor
• Sam Waterston, (B.A. 1961), actor
• Sigourney Weaver (MFA), actress
• Jennifer Westfeldt, actress, screenwriter (Kissing Jessica Stein)

List of Yale University people - Television

• Lewis Black (MFA 1977) stand-up comedian who often appears on The Daily Show
• Jimmy Burrows (M.A.), producer of shows such as: Cheers and Will & Grace
• Dick Cavett, TV personality, nominated eleven times for the Emmy Award, and won three times.
• Enrico Colantoni (MFA), actor, played womanizing fashion photographer "Elliot DiMauro" on Just Shoot Me and "Mathesar" in the movie Galaxy Quest
• Anderson Cooper, CNN anchor of Anderson Cooper 360°
• Bill Corbett (DRA 1989), actor, writer, played Crow T. Robot in Mystery Science Theater 3000
• David Duchovny (M.A. English literature), actor in The X-Files
• Sam Waterston, best known for his portrayal of A.D.A. Jack McCoy in Law and Order
• Dick Ebersol, president of NBC Sports division, helped launch Saturday Night Live
• Malcolm Gets (MFA), actor, best known for as "Richard Karinsky" on Caroline in the City
• Sara Gilbert, actress, best known for her portrayal as the daughter "Darlene Conner" on the sit-com Roseanne
• Felipe Gozon, Philippine television executive
• Michael Gross (DRA 1973), actor, best known as "Steven Keaton" (the father of Michael J. Fox's character) on Family Ties
• Leo Laporte*, host of The Screen Savers on TechTV
• Ari Meyers (BA 1991), actress, played Emma McArdle on Kate & Allie
• Chris Noth (MFA), plays "Mr. Big" on Sex and the City
• Stone Phillips, television anchor for NBC
• Robert Picardo, the holographic doctor on the television show Star Trek: Voyager
• David Hyde Pierce, actor, best known as "Dr. Niles Crane" on Frasier
• Steve Skrovan, executive producer of Everybody Loves Raymond
• Ben Stein (J.D.), economist, host of Win Ben Stein's Money
• Ming Tsai (B.A. 1986), chef on East Meets West with Ming Tsai on PBS
• Courtney B. Vance (MFA 1986), actor, current on Law & Order: Criminal Intent as "Assistant District Attorney Ron Carver"
• Margaret Warner, co-anchor on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, PBS' weekday news program
• Henry Winkler (MFA 1970), actor, best known as "Fonzie" on Happy Days
• Tony Shalhoub actor, "Monk"

List of Yale University people - Fictional

• "Charles Montgomery Burns", Class of 1914, the owner of the Springfield Nuclear Powerplant in the hit cartoon television series The Simpsons
• "Linus Larrabee", protagonist in the movie Sabrina, played by Humphrey Bogart in 1954 and Harrison Ford in 1995.
• "Dink Stover", hero of Owen Johnson's 1911 Stover at Yale
• "Rory Gilmore"*, main character of Gilmore Girls
• "Tom Buchanan", antagonist of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby
• "Nick Carraway", narrator of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby
• "Dr. Niles Crane", Frasier's brother in the award-winning comedy series Frasier. The actor who plays him, David Hyde Pierce, is a real-life alumnus.
• "Richard Gilmore", grandfather of Rory Gilmore on the Gilmore Girls.
• "Paul Allen", victim of serial killer Patrick Bateman (who is a Harvard alumnus) in the movie American Psycho.
• "Charlotte", main character of Lost in Translation.
• "Sideshow Bob" in The Simpsons
• "Lisa Simpson" in The Simpsons

(* attended but did not graduate from Yale)

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Alumni", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki