List of Cornell University alumni

This list of Cornell University alumni includes notable graduates, non-graduate former students, and current students of Cornell University, an Ivy League university whose main campus is in Ithaca, New York.

Alumni are known as Cornellians, and many are noted for their accomplishments in public, professional, and corporate life.^[1]^[2] The school's alumni include 25 recipients of National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology and Innovation combined, 38 MacArthur Fellows, 34 Marshall Scholars, 31 Rhodes Scholars,^[1]^[3]^[4]^[5] 249 elected members of the National Academy of Sciences, 201 elected members of the National Academy of Engineering, and over 190 heads of higher learning institutions. Cornell is the only university in the world with four female winners of unshared Nobel Prizes among its graduates: Pearl S. Buck, Barbara McClintock, Toni Morrison and Claudia Goldin.^[6]^[7]

As of 2006, Cornell had over 250,000 living alumni.^[1] Many alumni maintain university ties through the university's homecoming. Its alumni magazine is Cornell Magazine.^[8] In Manhattan, the university maintains the Cornell Club of New York for alumni. In 2005, Cornell ranked third nationally among universities and colleges in philanthropic giving by its alumni.^[1]

Academia

College and university leadership

Walter S. Davis (M.S., 1933, Ph.D., 1941) – president of Tennessee State University (1943–1968)
Gregory L. Fenves (B.S., 1979) – president of the University of Texas at Austin (2015–2020), president of Emory University (2020–2025), chancellor of Emory University (2025–)
Zvi Galil (Ph.D., 1975) – dean of the Georgia Institute of Technology College of Computing (2010–19), president of Tel Aviv University (2007–09)
Chris Gibson (MPA, 1995, M.A., 1996, Ph.D., 1998) – president of Siena College (2020–23), U.S. representative from New York (2011–17)
Ana Guadalupe (Ph.D., 1987) – chancellor of the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus (2009–13)
David Starr Jordan (M.S., 1872) – chancellor of Stanford University (1913–16), president of Stanford University (1891–1913), president of Indiana University (1884–91)
Charnvit Kasetsiri (Ph.D., 1972) – historian and rector at Thammasat University
Steven Knapp (Ph.D., 1981) – president of George Washington University (2007–17)
Archie Palmer (B.A., 1920) – president of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Marc Parlange (M.S., 1987, Ph.D., 1990) – president of the University of Rhode Island
Wendy Raymond (B.A., 1982) – president of Haverford College (2019–present)
Arthur K. Smith (Ph.D., 1970) – president of the University of Utah (1991–1997), president of the University of Houston (1997–2003), chancellor of the University of Houston System (1997–2003)
George R. Throop (Ph.D.) - chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis (1927-44)^[9]

Anthropology and sociology

Carol Aneshensel (B.S., M.A., Ph.D.) – sociologist, professor, and vice chair of the Department of Community Health Sciences at UCLA's School of Public Health
Sarah T. Barrows (M.A. 1893) – phonetician and phonetics pioneer
Alfred Blumstein (B.A., Ph.D.) – criminologist, former dean of the Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University, and member, National Academy of Engineering (1998)
Aaron Cicourel (Ph.D.) – professor emeritus of sociology, University of California, San Diego, 1992 American Academy of Arts and Sciences fellow, and 1982 American Association for the Advancement of Science fellow
Kimberlé Crenshaw (B.A. 1981) – critical race theory scholar, Columbia Law School
Harry Edwards (Ph.D. 1970) – sociologist specializing on race and sports and University of California, Berkeley professor emeritus
Shelly Errington (M.A., Ph.D.) – cultural anthropologist, professor of anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz, and 1981 MacArthur Fellow
Diana E. Forsythe (Ph.D. 1974) – anthropologist, University of California, San Francisco, noted for her work on artificial intelligence and medical informatics
Daniel A. Foss (B.A.) – sociologist and author of Beyond Revolution: A New Theory of Social Movements and Freak Culture: Life Style and Politics
Ward Goodenough (B.A. 1940) – anthropologist, University of Pennsylvania, 1971 member of National Academy of Sciences, and 1975 fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Sabine Hyland (B.A. 1986) – anthropologist, professor of World Christianity at University of St Andrews, specialist on khipus and religion in Peru, and 2019 Guggenheim Fellow
Suzanne Maman – social scientist and HIV/AIDS researcher
Erik Mueggler (B.A.) – anthropologist, professor at the University of Michigan, and 2002 MacArthur Fellow
Mary Racelis (B.A. 1954) – anthropologist, sociologist, professor at Ateneo de Manila University and University of the Philippines Diliman, and former UNICEF regional director in Eastern and Southern Africa
David M. Schneider (B.S. 1940, M.S. 1941) – cultural anthropologist known for studies of kinship, former William B. Ogden Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in Anthropology, and chairman of Anthropology, University of Chicago
G. William Skinner (B.A. 1947, Ph.D. 1954) – anthropologist and sinologist known for delineation of the physiographic macroregions of China and 1980 member of the National Academy of Sciences
Julian Steward (B.A. 1925 zoology and biology) – anthropologist known for development of a scientific theory of cultural evolution and 1954 member of National Academy of Sciences
Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah (Ph.D. 1954) – social anthropologist, Esther and Sidney Rabb Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Harvard University, 1997 recipient of the Balzan Prize, 1998 Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize, and 1994 member of the National Academy of Sciences
Mildred Bertha Thurow Tate (Ph.D. 1935) – rural sociologist
Brackette Williams (B.S. 1973) – anthropologist and 1997 MacArthur Fellow

Economics

Alice Amsden (B.A. 1965) – Barton L. Weller Professor of Political Economics, MIT
Luc Anselin (M.A. 1979, Ph.D. 1980) – principal developer of spatial econometrics, 2008 member of the National Academy of Sciences, and 2011 American Academy of Arts and Sciences fellow
Hugh E. Conway – labor economist, professor, and construction industry expert
Maureen Cropper (M.A. 1972, Ph.D. 1973 economics) – distinguished university professor, University of Maryland, College Park;^[10]^[11] member of the National Academy of Sciences (2008)
Frank Fetter (M.A. 1892 philosophy) – economist, former president of the American Economic Association, and American Academy of Arts and Sciences member
Austin Frakt (B.S. 1994) – health care economist and founder, The Incidental Economist
Robert Gilpin (M.S. 1954) – international political economy scholar, professor emeritus of Politics and International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, and American Academy of Arts and Sciences fellow
Garance Genicot (M.A. 1997, Ph.D. 1999) – economics professor, Georgetown University
Claudia Goldin (B.A. magna cum laude 1968) – economist and 2006 National Academy of Sciences member
Sanjeev Goyal (M.A. 1989, Ph.D. 1990 economics) – economics professor, University of Cambridge, and British Academy fellow
Charles Henry Hull (1886) – economist, historian, and former dean of Cornell University's College of Arts^[12]^[13]
Paul L. Joskow (B.A. 1968) – economist, distinguished fellow of the American Economic Association, Econometric Society, Industrial Organization Society, and American Academy of Arts and Sciences fellow, Elizabeth and James Killian Professor of Economics, emeritus at MIT, past department chair of MIT Department of Economics, and current president of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Ehud Kalai (M.S. 1971, Ph.D. 1972) – game theorist, mathematical economist, James J. O’Connor Distinguished Professor of Decision and Game Sciences at Northwestern University, and American Academy of Arts and Sciences and Econometric Society fellow
Edwin W. Kemmerer (Ph.D. 1903) – economist at Princeton University who served as president of the American Economic Association (1926) – known internationally as one of the most prominent so-called money doctors, and 1934 American Academy of Arts and Sciences fellow
Frank Knight (Ph.D. 1916) – economist and one of the original leaders of the "Chicago School" of economic theory
John Williams Mellor (BSc 1950; MSc 1951; Ph.D.)
Sendhil Mullainathan (B.A. 1993) – behavioral economist at Harvard University, co-founder of MIT Poverty Action Lab, MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" recipient in 2002, and Infosys Prize recipient in 2018
Edwin Griswold Nourse (1906) – agricultural economist, first chairman of the US Council of Economic Advisers, former president of the American Economic Association, Brookings Institution vice president, Guggenheim Fellow, and 1934 American Academy of Arts and Sciences fellow
Jack A. Roth (B.A 1967) – physician-scientist, thoracic surgeon
Thorstein Veblen (graduate study 1891–92, transferred) – economist and author, The Theory of the Leisure Class

History

Glenn C. Altschuler (Ph.D. 1976) – Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies and vice president for University Relations at Cornell University
Barbara Watson Andaya (Ph.D. 1975) – professor of Asian studies at the University of Hawaii and director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies
Leonard Andaya (Ph.D. 1972) – professor of Southeast Asian history at the University of Hawaii
John L. Brooke (B.A. 1975) – Arts & Sciences Distinguished Professor of History at Ohio State University; recipient of Bancroft Prize (1995)
Edward Countryman (M.A. 1969, Ph.D. 1971) – historian and educator; recipient of Bancroft Prize (1982)
Nancy F. Cott (B.A. 1967) – historian, Sterling Professor of History and American Studies at Yale University and Jonathan Trumbull Professor of American History at Harvard University; member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Charlotte J. Erickson (M.A. 1947, Ph.D. 1951) – Paul Mellon Professor of American History at the University of Cambridge (1983–1990); MacArthur Fellow (1990) and Guggenheim Fellow (1966–1967)
Louis R. Gottschalk (A.B. 1919, A.M. 1920, Ph.D. 1921) – professor of history (1927–1965), department chair (1937–1942), Gustavus F. and Ann M. Swift Distinguished Service Professor of History (1959–1965) at the University of Chicago
Henry Guerlac (B.A. 1932 chemistry, M.A. 1933 biochemistry) – historian of science considered among the pioneers in the development of the academic field of the history of science; president of the History of Science Society (1957–1960), recipient of the George Sarton Medal (1973)
Marie Boas Hall (Ph.D. 1949) – historian of science; fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1955) and of the British Academy (1994), recipient of the George Sarton Medal (1981)
Dominick LaCapra (B.A., faculty 1969–) – Bryce and Edith M. Bowmar Professor of Humanistic Studies at Cornell University; member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2006)
Frederic C. Lane (B.A. 1921) – historian in Medieval history, professor emeritus of history at Johns Hopkins University; president of the American Historical Association (1964–1965); fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the Medieval Academy of America
Melvyn P. Leffler (B.S. 1966) – Edward Stettinius Professor and former chairman of the Department of History, dean of the college and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Virginia; recipient of the George Louis Beer Prize (2008) and Bancroft Prize (1993)
William Leuchtenburg (B.A. 1943) – historian, William Rand Kenan Jr. professor emeritus of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; recipient of Bancroft Prize and North Carolina Award for Literature
William H. McNeill (Ph.D. 1947) – professor emeritus of History at the University of Chicago; author of The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community; recipient of the National Humanities Medal (2010)
Anthony Milner (Ph.D.) – Basham Professor of Asian History, School of Culture, History & Language, Australian National University
David Oshinsky (B.S. 1965, M.S. 1967) – historian, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History in 2006 for his book Polio: An American Story, Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair Emeritus in History at The University of Texas at Austin, Distinguished Scholar in Residence, New York University
Milton Osborne (Ph.D.) – Australian historian, author, and consultant specializing in Southeast Asia
Laura Otis (Ph.D. 1991 comparative literature) – historian of science and Professor of English at Emory University; MacArthur Fellow (2000)
Richard Pipes (graduate of 1945) – historian in Russian history; fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; recipient of National Humanities Medal (2007)
Merle Calvin Ricklefs (Ph.D.) – scholar of the history and current affairs of Indonesia
Clinton Rossiter (1939; professor 1947–1970) – historian and political scientist; recipient of the Bancroft Prize (1954) and the Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award (1953)
James Morton Smith (Ph.D. 1951) – historian; recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship (1960); director of the Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library (1976–1984)
Kazys Varnelis (M.A. 1990, Ph.D. 1994) – historian and theorist of architecture, specializing in network culture
Olin Dunbar Wheeler (1874) – historian, author, topographer, wrote especially about the Lewis and Clark Expedition
David K. Wyatt (Ph.D. 1966) – John Stambaugh Professor of History and Asian Studies, emeritus, Cornell University
Mary E. Young (Ph.D. 1955) – professor emerita at the University of Rochester^[14]

Law

Nina Appel – first female dean of Loyola Law School
Boris Bittker (B.A. 1938) – Yale Law School professor emeritus and author

Philosophy

Marilyn McCord Adams (Ph.D. 1967) – philosopher; Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences (2015)
Francis Fukuyama (B.A.) – philosopher, political economist, and professor at Johns Hopkins University
Edmund Gettier – philosopher and professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Amherst; owes his reputation to a single three-page paper published in 1963 called "Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?"
Matthew Kramer (B.A. 1981, philosophy) – philosopher, professor of Legal and Political Philosophy at the University of Cambridge; fellow of the British Academy (2014); Guggenheim Fellow (2001–2002)
John Warwick Montgomery (A.B. 1952) – lawyer, professor, theologian, and academic known for his work in the field of Christian apologetics^[15]
Thomas Nagel (B.A. 1958) – philosopher, author of What is it like to be a bat? and Balzan Prize recipient (2008)
Dominik Perler (visiting scholar 1991–1992) – professor of philosophy at the Humboldt University of Berlin; Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize recipient (2005)
John Perry (Ph.D. 1968) – Henry Waldgrave Stuart Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Stanford University and Distinguished Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at the University of California, Riverside; Jean Nicod Prize laureate (1999); member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2002) and of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
David H. Sanford (Ph.D. 1966) – professor of philosophy at Duke University
J. B. Schneewind (B.A.) – professor emeritus of Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University, former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh and former provost of Hunter College CUNY; fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Samuel Weber (Ph.D. 1960) – Avalon Foundation Professor of Humanities at Northwestern University; professor at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland
Jessica Wilson (Ph.D. 2001) – professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto
Paul Ziff (B.F.A. 1949, Ph.D. 1951) – artist and philosopher specializing in semantics and aesthetics

Political science

Benedict Anderson (Ph.D. 1967) – Aaron L. Binenkorb Professor Emeritus of International Studies, Government & Asian Studies at Cornell University; best known for his book Imagined Communities
Gordon G. Chang (B.A. 1973, J.D. 1976) – author of The Coming Collapse of China and Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes On the World; one of the original set of student trustees
George Friedman (Ph.D. 1976) – director of the political analysis and forecasting think tank Stratfor; author of The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century (2009)
Everett Carll Ladd (Ph.D.) – political scientist; director of the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at the University of Connecticut
John Mearsheimer (Ph.D. 1980) – international relations theorist and professor of political science at University of Chicago
Ruth McVey (Ph.D. 1961) – co-author, Cornell Paper
Suzanne Mettler (Ph.D. 1994) – political scientist and author
Lee Poh Ping (Ph.D. 1974) – political scientist at the University of Malaya; prominent contributor to the field of international relations and Japanese studies in Malaysia
William Schonfeld (B.A. 1963) – political scientist, author, researcher, educator and university administrator
Wang Shaoguang (Ph.D. 1990) – political scientist and leading member of the Chinese New Left; professor at Chinese University of Hong Kong
Stephen Skowronek (Ph.D. 1979) – Pelatiah Perit Professor of political and social science at Yale University
William Irwin Thompson (Ph.D. 1966; professor) – cultural historian, social critic, poet, philosopher of science

Architecture and design

Frederick L. Ackerman (B.Arch. 1901) – architect and urban planner
Raymond F. Almirall (1891) – architect of the Beaux-Arts period, practicing in New York City
Edmund Bacon (B.Arch. 1932) – urban planner, reshaped Philadelphia, 1949–1970
Pietro Belluschi (civil engineering grad) – architect, leader of Modernist architecture; dean of the architecture and planning school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1951–1965); Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Institute of Architects; member of the National Academy of Design; recipient of AIA Gold Medal (1972), National Medal of Arts (1991)
Morris Fuller Benton (engineering, 1896) – engineer and typeface designer
George Burnap (MA, 1910) – landscape architect of Meridian Hill Park and the first White House Rose Garden in Washington, D.C.
Albert Cassell (B.Arch. 1919) – designed buildings for Howard University, Morgan State University, and Virginia Union University
Vishaan Chakrabarti (B.S. Operations Research & Industrial Engineering and B.A. History of Art 1988) – architect and dean of UC Berkeley's College of Environmental Design
Peter H. Christensen – architectural historian
Gilmore David Clarke (B.S. 1913 landscape architecture and civil engineering) – designed the Central Park Zoo and the Unisphere
David Colleen – architect
Kimberly Dowdell (B.Arch. 2006, trustee) – architect, real estate developer and educator; 100th president of the American Institute of Architects and first Black woman to serve in the role
Peter Eisenman (B.Arch. 1955) – a foremost practitioner of deconstructivism in American architecture; Wolf Prize in Arts
Frederick Earl Emmons (1907–1999) – architect^[16]
Earl Flansburgh (B.Arch. 1954, trustee) – Cambridge, Massachusetts-based architect and designer of the Cornell Campus Store
Ruth Reynolds Freeman (B.Arch. 1936) – architect; first female licensed architect in the state of Vermont^[17]^[18]
Kathryn Gleason (B.S. Landscape architecture, 1979) – Cornell University landscape architect and archaeologist
Edward Brodhead Green (1878) – Buffalo-based architect
Jerome F. Hajjar – civil engineer, member of the National Academy of Engineering
Lawrence Halprin (B.A.) – landscape architect, designer, and teacher; recipient of National Medal of Arts (2002)
Margaret Hicks (B.Arch. 1880) – first female architectural school graduate at Cornell
Douglas Honnold (1901–1974) – architect^[19]
Emmett J. Hull (1906) – architect^[20]
William B. Ittner (1887) – St. Louis-based architect and designer of school buildings^[21]
Lee S. Jablin (B.Arch. 1971) – founding partner of Harman Jablin Architects
Robert Trent Jones (1931) – designer of about 500 golf courses
Henri Jova (1949) – architect, key figure in redevelopment of Midtown Atlanta^[22]
Raymond M. Kennedy (B.Arch. 1915, M.Arch. 1916) – designed Grauman's Chinese Theatre^[23]
Rem Koolhaas (M.Arch.) – Dutch architect, journalist, and screenwriter, Pritzker Architecture Prize winner
David Macpherson (civil engineering) – city planner for San Antonio, Texas; designed the Santa Fe Railroad
Khaled Malas (M.Arch.) – architect and art historian
Tomás Mapúa (B.Arch. 1911) – founded the Mapúa Institute of Technology; first Filipino to earn a degree in architecture
Peter Marino (1971) – designer of boutique stores for luxury brands, and private residences for wealthy individuals
Richard Meier (B.Arch. 1957, professor) – Pritzker Architecture Prize, AIA Gold Medal winner
William Henry Miller (B.Arch. 1872) – designed many iconic buildings on Cornell's Ithaca campus
Enrique Norten (M.Arch. 1980) – Mexican architect, professor, 2003 World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition jury member
Nathaniel A. Owings (B.Arch. 1927) – founding partner of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill which popularized the International style after World War II
Horace Peaslee (B.Arch, 1910) – landscape architect
Emmanuel Pratt (B.Arch. 1999) – MacArthur Fellow (2019)
Frederick Roehrig (1883 architecture) – early 20th-century architect known for landmark buildings in Pasadena, California, including the Hotel Green
Richmond Shreve (B.Arch.) – partner of architectural firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon, which designed the Empire State Building
Charles Morse Stotz (B.Arch. 1921, master's degree) – architect, historian, and preservationist of Western Pennsylvania^[24]
Vertner Woodson Tandy (MArch) – architect, Villa Lewaro, the mansion of Harlem millionairess Madam C.J. Walker; co-founder of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity
Olive Frances Tjaden (B.Arch. 1925) pioneering woman architect; donor and namesake of Tjaden Hall^[25]
Jan V. White (B.Arch. 1951) – communication designer, educator and writer
Philip Will Jr. (B.Arch. 1928) – a founding partner of Perkins and Will, designer of seven buildings on the Engineering Quad^[26]
E. Stewart Williams (B.Arch. 1932) – Palm Springs, California-based architect with a distinctive modernist style
David Williston (B.A. 1898) – first professionally trained African American landscape architect in the United States^[27]
Helen Binkerd Young (B.Arch. 1900) – architect and lecturer
Ricardo Zurita (B.Arch. 1984) – architect and designer of urban public projects

Art

Elfriede Abbe (1940) – sculptor^[28]
Richard Artschwager (1948) – sculptor, painter
Margaret Bourke-White (B.A. 1927) – photojournalist
Joan Danziger (B.F.A) – sculptor^[29]
James De La Vega (B.F.A. 1994) – muralist, street artist in Harlem, New York^[30]
Arthur Dove (1903) – first abstract expressionist painter in the US
Louise Lawler (B.F.A. 1969) – artist and photographer; member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2019)
Pat Lipsky (B.F.A. 1963) – painter
Cabot Lyford (B.F.A. 1950) – sculptor^[31]
Jill Magid (B.F.A. 1995) – performance artist
Enrique Martinez Celaya (B.S. applied & engineering physics, 1986) – artist
Amanda Means (B.A. 1969)– artist and photographer
James Rockwell (B.S. 1904 engineering) – architect and president of Meralco
John Rosenbaum (M.E.P. 1957) – kinetic artist and educator
Susan Rothenberg (B.F.A. 1967) – painter
Jason Seley (B.F.A. 1940) – sculptor
Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian (1948–1951) – contemporary Iranian artist^[32]
Frederick Sommer (M.A. 1927 landscape architecture) – photographer
Beth Ames Swartz (BSc 1957) – artist^[33]
Hugh Troy (B.A. 1922–1927, did not graduate) – artist and famous prankster
Harold Wethey (B.A. 1923) – art historian

Authors and writers

Diane Ackerman (M.F.A. 1973 poetry, M.A. 1976, Ph.D. 1978) – author, poet, and naturalist
Taiaiake Alfred (M.S. 1992, Ph.D. 1994) – scholar, author, and adviser to indigenous nations
Solvej Balle (non-matriculated, 1990) – Danish author of On the Calculation of Volume novel series^[34]
Melissa Bank (M.F.A. 1998) – best-selling author; The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing, a bestseller in both the United States and the United Kingdom, and The Wonder Spot, a novel, have been translated into over thirty languages
Edward Bernays (B.S. 1912 agriculture) – public relations practitioner, author of Propaganda
Morris Bishop (B.A. 1913, M.A. 1914, Ph.D. 1926; professor of Romance Literature) – biographer, author, humorist, wrote the preeminent history of the university, A History of Cornell
Ken Blanchard (B.A. 1961, Ph.D. 1967) – management consultant, co-author of The One Minute Manager
Harold Bloom (B.A. 1951) – literary and cultural scholar-critic; Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University; MacArthur Fellow (1985)
Susan Brownmiller (B.A. 1956) – feminist author and activist
Louis Bromfield (1914–1916 agriculture) – Pulitzer Prize winner for best novel for Early Autumn (1927) and pioneer of innovative scientific farming concepts
Pearl S. Buck (M.F.A. 1924) – author, novelist, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1932 and Nobel Prize in Literature in 1938
NoViolet Bulawayo (M.F.A. 2010) – Zimbabwean author of We Need New Names
Murray Burnett (B.A. 1931) – author of the play Everybody Comes to Rick's, which was turned into the film Casablanca
George Lincoln Burr (B.A. 1881; John Stambaugh Professor of History 1888–?) – U.S. historian, diplomat, author, and educator
Fiona Cheong (B.A. English; M.F.A. Creative Writing) – author of The Scent of the Gods, nominated for a National Book Award (1991)
George Cockcroft (B.A. 1954) – author, The Dice Man; uses the pen name Luke Rhinehart
Ann Coulter (B.A. 1984 history) – book author and columnist
Junot Díaz (M.F.A. 1995) – critically acclaimed, Pulitzer Prize-winning short-story writer; MacArthur Fellowship (2012)
Alice Dunbar-Nelson (attended 1907–1908) – poet, journalist, political activist, Harlem Renaissance influence
Jane Duran – Cuban-born poet, recipient of the Forward Poetry Prize (1995) and the Cholmondeley Award (2005)
Barry Eisler (J.D. 1989) – author, novelist
Sarah Elbert (B.A 1965, M.A 1966, Ph.D. 1974) – scholar
Richard Fariña (B.A. 1962 English) – author, Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me; folk singer
Jessie Redmon Fauset (B.A. 1905) – author from the Harlem Renaissance
Nick Fowler (B.A. 1989) – musician, poet, author, A Thing (or Two) About Curtis and Camilla
Alice Fulton (M.F.A. 1982; Ann S. Bowers Distinguished Professor of English) – poet, author, feminist, MacArthur Fellow (1991)
William H. Gass (Ph.D. 1954 philosophy) – author, essayist
Olakunle George (M.A., PhD English), researcher and professor of English and Africana Studies at Brown University
C. S. Giscombe (M.F.A. 1975) – poet and professor of English at University of California, Berkeley; recipient of American Book Award for Prairie Style (2008)
Jon Gordon (B.A.) – author of The Energy Bus
Martin Hägglund (Ph.D. 2009 comparative literature) – literary theorist, philosopher
Lynne Hanley (B.A. English) – literary critic
E. D. Hirsch (B.A., 1950) – literary critic and educational theorist
Laura Howes (B.A. English) – scholar of Middle English literature
Minfong Ho (B.A. Economics) – Chinese-American author
Laura Z. Hobson – author, Gentleman's Agreement
Clifford Irving (B.A. 1951) – author of the Howard Hughes biography hoax
Brenda Janowitz (1995) – fiction author and attorney
Michelle Knudsen (B.A. 1995 English) – New York Times best-selling American author of 47 books for young readers
Loren Kruger (Ph.D comparative literature) – academic studying literature, theater, and performing arts
Anne LaBastille (B.A. 1955, Ph.D. 1969) – author and award-winning conservationist
Jean Lee Latham (B.A., M.A.) – writer specialized in biographies for children or young adults and Newbery Medal recipient (1956) for her book Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
Victor LaValle (B.A. English) – author
Philipp Meyer (B.A. English) – fiction writer and author of American Rust and The Son
James H. Morey (M.A. 1987, Ph.D. 1990) – Medievalist and professor of English at Emory University
Toni Morrison (M.A. 1955 M) – best-selling author, The Bluest Eye and Beloved; Nobel Prize in Literature, Presidential Medal of Freedom
Lorrie Moore (M.F.A. 1982) – prize-winning short-story writer and novelist
Manuel Muñoz (M.F.A. 1998) – author and professor of creative writing
Ira Nadel (Ph.D. 1970) – biographer and literary critic
John Naisbitt (graduate study) – best-selling writer in the area of futures studies
George Jean Nathan (1904) – author, critic
Iddo Netanyahu (did not graduate) – Israeli physician, author and playwright; younger brother of Benjamin Netanyahu
Nicholas Nicastro (B.A. 1985 English, M.A. 1991 archaeology, Ph.D. 2003 psychology) – historical novelist
Téa Obreht (MFA 2009) – novelist, The Tiger's Wife
Stewart O'Nan (MFA 1992) – novelist, Drue Heinz Literature Prize-winning author for In the Walled City in 1993, author of Snow Angels
Julie Orringer (B.A. 1994 English) – short-story writer and novelist
Thomas Perry (B.A. 1969) – novelist, Edgar Award winner
Darryl Ponicsan (M.A. 1965) – writer best known as the author of the 1971 novel The Last Detail
Seksan Prasertkul (M.A., Ph.D. 1989 political science) – Thai author, National Artist of Thailand (literature)
Michael Punke (J.D. 1989) – author of The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge, adapted as the film The Revenant (2015)
Thomas Pynchon (B.A. 1959 English) – author, Gravity's Rainbow and Mason & Dixon; MacArthur Fellow (1988)
Kenneth Roberts (B.A. 1908) – novelist, Northwest Passage
Laura Riding (attended 1918–21) – poet, novelist, essayist, short story writer, and leader in modernism
Matt Ruff (B.A. 1988) – author, Fool on the Hill
Joanna Russ (B.A. 1957 English; professor) – feminist author, The Female Man
Ira Sadoff (B.S. 1966 ILR) – poet, novelist, critic, True Faith 2012, Grazing 1999, Barter 2003
Kirkpatrick Sale (B.A. 1958 history) – independent scholar and author
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick (undergrad) – critical theorist, literature professor
Elsie Singmaster – author, Swords of Steel, and 1934 Newbery Medal recipient
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (Ph.D. 1967 comparative literature) – post-colonialist theorist, author, Can the Subaltern Speak?, winner of Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy, and Columbia University professor
Ellen Stekert, folklorist and folk musician
William Stokoe (B.A. 1941, Ph.D. 1946 English) – pioneer researcher on American Sign Language; co-author of A Dictionary of American Sign Language on Linguistic Principles, the first attempt to systematically represent and characterize ASL phonology; Stokoe notation creator
William Strunk Jr. (Ph.D. 1896; professor) – co-author, The Elements of Style
Hendrik Willem van Loon (1905; professor of History 1915–17) – author of the first book to be awarded the Newbery Medal for an outstanding contribution to children's literature
William T. Vollmann (B.A., Comparative Literature, 1977) – novelist, journalist, war correspondent, short story writer, and essayist
Kurt Vonnegut (undergrad 1941–1944) – author, Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat's Cradle, and Breakfast of Champions
James Weinstein (B.A. 1949 government) – author and publisher, In These Times
Lauren Weisberger (B.A. 1999 English) – author, The Devil Wears Prada and Everyone Worth Knowing
E. B. White (B.A. 1921) – author, Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little, and co-author, The Elements of Style
Nicola Yoon (B.S. 1994 Electrical Engineering) – novelist, Everything, Everything and The Sun Is Also a Star

Business

Founders

James Altucher (B.S. 1989, Computer Science) – founder of Reset Inc., StockPickr
Richard Baker (B.S. 1988, hotel administration) – founder, president, and CEO of NRDC Equity Partners and Hudson's Bay Company, the owner of Saks Fifth Avenue, Gilt Groupe, Lord & Taylor, The Bay, Home Outfitters, Zellers, and Fields
André Balazs (class of 1979) – hotelier and businessman
Aldo Bensadoun (attended, transferred) – billionaire founder and executive chairman of the ALDO Group
Amit Bhatia (B.S. 2001) – founder of Swordfish Investments; vice chairman of Queen's Park Rangers
Daniel Cane (B.S. 1997) – co-founder of Blackboard Inc.
Willis Carrier (M.E. 1901) – founder of Carrier Corporation; inventor of air conditioning
Gerald Cassidy (J.D. 1967) – co-founder and CEO of Cassidy & Associates
Steve Conine (B.S. 1995) – billionaire co-founder of Wayfair^[35]
Joseph Coors (B.Chem. 1939, chemical engineering 1940) – co-founder of The Heritage Foundation
Mac Cummings (B.A. 2001) – co-founder of Terakeet Corporation; director of Internet Finance
Tom Dinwoodie (B.S. 1978, civil and environmental engineering) – Cleantech entrepreneur, inventor, and founder of SunPower Corporation Systems (formerly PowerLight Corporation)
Ira Drukier (B.S. 1966 engineering) – hotelier and philanthropist, donated US$25 million in December 2014 to establish the Drukier Institute for Children's Health at the Weill Cornell Medical College
David Duffield (B.E.E. 1962, M.B.A. 1964) – billionaire co-founder of PeopleSoft and Workday
John S. Dyson (B.S. 1965) – creator of the "I Love NY" campaign; owner of Millbrook Vineyards and Winery
David Edgerton (B.A. 1947, hotel administration) – co-founder of Burger King Corporation
David Einhorn (B.A. 1991) – founder and president of Greenlight Capital; billionaire hedge fund manager
Chuck Feeney (B.S. 1956 hotel administration) – co-founder of Duty Free Shoppers Group; founder and director of Atlantic Philanthropies; founder of General Atlantic; billionaire philanthropist who has given away more than $8 billion
Russell W. Galbut (B.S. 1974 hotel administration) – co-founder of Crescent Heights, a real estate development company^[36]
Frank Gannett (B.A. 1898) – founder of Gannett, the largest U.S. newspaper publisher; namesake of Gannett Health Center
Art Gensler (B.Arch. 1958) – founder and chairman of Gensler
Stephen Gilfus (B.S. 1997) – co-founder of Blackboard Inc. sold to Providence Equity for $1.6 billion.
Paul Graham (B.A.) – co-founder of Viaweb, sold for $46.6 million to Yahoo! and became Yahoo! Stores; Lisp programmer, author, founder of Y-Combinator
Leroy Grumman (B.S. 1916 mechanical engineering) – founder of Grumman Aerospace Corporation; recipient of the Medal for Merit (1948)
Myra Hart (B.A. 1962, M.B.A. 1981, trustee, 1999–) – one of four co-founders of Staples, Inc.; professor at Harvard Business School
Jeff Hawkins (B.S. 1979 electrical engineering) – founder of Palm, Inc. and Handspring; inventor of the Palm Pilot; member of the National Academy of Engineering (2003)
Christopher Hemmeter (B.S. 1962, hotel administration) – founder and chairman of Hemmeter Companies
Irwin M. Jacobs (B.E.E. 1956) – billionaire, co-founder and chairman of Qualcomm; UCSD and MIT engineering professor, pioneer of CDMA wireless technology, philanthropist; recipient of numerous awards including National Medal of Technology and Innovation (1994), Marconi Prize (2011), IEEE Medal of Honor (2013); member of the National Academy of Engineering (1982)
Stephen A. Jarislowsky (B.S. 1946 mechanical engineering) – billionaire businessman and philanthropist; founder, chairman, and CEO of Jarislowsky Fraser Limited
Seth Klarman (B.A. 1979) – founder and chairman of the Baupost Group; hedge fund manager, billionaire
Jules Kroll (B.A. 1963) – founder of Kroll Inc. and the modern investigations, intelligence, and security industry; responsible for tracking the assets of Jean-Claude Duvalier, Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, and Saddam Hussein
Robert S. Langer (B.S. 1970, chemical engineering) – founder of Moderna
David Litman (1979, 1982) – founder and CEO of Hotels.com
Yossi Maiman – founder and owner of the Merhav Group, a shareholder of the East Mediterranean Gas Company, and former chairman, chief executive officer and president of the Ampal-American Israel Corporation^[37]
James McLamore (B.A. 1947, hotel administration) – co-founder of Burger King Corporation
Gary Mendell (B.S. 1979 hotel administration) – founder, chairman, and CEO of HEI Hotels & Resorts
Robert Warren Miller (B.S. 1955, hotel administration) – billionaire co-founder of Duty Free Shoppers Group
Howard Milstein (B.A. 1973) – billionaire real estate developer, financier, and philanthropist; chairman, president, and chief executive officer of New York Private Bank & Trust
Harriet Converse Moody (B.A. 1876) – businesswoman and arts patron^[38]
Jeff Morgan (B.S. City and Regional Planning) – founder of Global Heritage Fund
Rohan Murty (B.S. Computer Science) – founder of Murty Classical Library of India
Floyd R. Newman (B.S. 1912 chemistry) – founder of Allied Oil Company of Cleveland
Drew Nieporent (B.S. 1977 hotel administration) – founder of Myriad Restaurant Group
Franklin W. Olin (B.C.E. 1886) – founder of Olin Corporation; gave a gift to build Olin Hall in memory of his son Franklin W. Olin Jr.
John M. Olin (B.S. 1913 chemistry) – founder of John M. Olin Foundation, president, Olin Corporation; namesake of Olin Library
Spencer Truman Olin (B.S. 1921 mechanical engineering) – industrialist and philanthropist; an executive of the Olin Corporation; Republican Party leader
Peter Busch Orthwein (B.S. 1968, MBA 1969) – co-founder and chairman of Thor Industries
Nathaniel A. Owings – founding partner of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM)
Tom Peters (B.C.E. 1965, M.C.E. 1966) – business management motivational guru
Harris Rosen (B.S. 1961 hotel administration) – founder of Rosen Hotels and Resorts; major donor of Rosen College of Hospitality Management (which was renamed due to his major donation)
Rob Ryan (B.A. 1969) – founder and chairman of Ascend Communications
William Sanders (B.S. 1964) – founder of LaSalle Partners (later merged to form Jones Lang LaSalle); founder and chairman of Security Capital Group Incorporated; former chairman of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT)
Niraj Shah (born 1973/74) (B.S. 1995) – billionaire CEO and co-founder of Wayfair^[35]^[39]
Leonard Schleifer (B.S. 1970) – founder and CEO of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals; billionaire
Seth M. Siegel (B.S. 1974, J. D. 1978) – founder of The Beanstalk Group
Robert F. Smith (B.S. chemical engineering) – billionaire investor; founder, chairman, and CEO of Vista Equity Partners; ranked by Forbes in 2015 as 268th richest man in America, and the second wealthiest African-American
Elmer Ambrose Sperry – founder of Sperry Corporation, known for his invention of Gyrostabilizer and the Gyrocompass; recipient of John Fritz Medal (1927) and Elliott Cresson Medal from the Franklin Institute (1929), member of the National Academy of Sciences (1925)
Clarence W. Spicer (engineering student) – founder of what is now Dana Holding Corporation; engineer, inventor, known for invention of Universal joint; inductee into the Automotive Hall of Fame
John A. Swanson (B.S. 1962, M.S. 1963) – founder of ANSYS and John Fritz Medal winner; member of the National Academy of Engineering (2009)
Jake Swirbul (attended) – co-founder of Grumman Aerospace Corporation
Michael Tien (B.S. 1972 electrical engineering) – founder and chairman of the apparel retail company G2000
Robert V. Tishman (1937) – founder of Tishman Speyer Properties
Robert I. Toll (B.A. 1963) – billionaire, co-founder of Toll Brothers
Deena Varshavskaya – founder and CEO of Wanelo
Tien Tzuo (B.S. 1990 electrical engineering) – founder and CEO of Zuora
Jay Walker (B.S. 1977 industrial relations) – founder of Priceline.com; founder and chairman of Walker Digital, a billionaire on Forbes list of the world's billionaires ($1.6 billion in 2000)
Colston Warne (bachelor's 1920, master's 1921 economics) – co-founder of the Consumers Union and its Consumer Reports monthly magazine and served as its president for 43 years;^[40] professor of economics at Amherst College (1930–1969)
Sanford I. Weill (B.A. 1955 government) – billionaire, former chairman and CEO of Citigroup; founder of Shearson Loeb Rhoades, sold for $930 million to American Express; namesake of Weill Cornell Medical College
David F. Welch (Ph.D. 1985 electrical engineering) – co-founder, president of Infinera Corp; member of the National Academy of Engineering (2016)
Justin DuPratt White (1890) – co-founder of White & Case law firm; trustee of the Cornell University Board of Trustees (1928–1939)
John Zimmer (B.S. 2006 hotel administration) – co-founder and COO of Zimride; co-founder and president of Lyft

Chairpersons, CEOs, and executives

Keith Barr (B.S. 1992 hotel administration) – CEO of InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) (2017–)
Carl Bass (B.A. 1983 mathematics) – former CEO and president of Autodesk (2006–2017)
Al Bernardin (1952) – creator of the McDonald's Quarter Pounder;^[41] former vice president of Product Development for McDonald's
Mark Bertolini (MBA 1984) – CEO and president of Aetna
Jeffrey Bleustein (B.S. 1960, B.M.E 1961) – chairman and former CEO of Harley Davidson
Joseph H. Boardman (B.S. agriculture economics) – president and CEO of Amtrak (2008–2016), 11th Federal Railroad administrator (2005–2008), New York State commissioner of Transportation (1997–2005)
Val A. Browning (B.S. 1917) – president of Browning Arms Company and American soldier in World War I
Walter S. Carpenter Jr. (undergrad 1906–09, dropped out) – president (1940–48) and chairman (1948–62) of DuPont
Abby Joseph Cohen (B.A. 1973 economics and computer science, trustee) – partner and senior investment strategist of Goldman Sachs; president of Global Markets Institute (GMI), Goldman Sachs
Jennie Chua (B.S. 1971, hotel administration) – CEO of Capitaland Residential, former CEO of Raffles Holdings
Adolph Coors II (B.A. 1907) – second president of Coors Brewing Company
Pete Coors (B.S. 1969 industrial engineering) – executive of Coors Brewing Company; Senatorial candidate, 2004
Luciano Coutinho (Ph.D. economics) – president of the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES)
Eric Daniels (B.A. 1973) – former CEO of Lloyds Banking Group
Alonzo G. Decker Jr. (B.S. 1929 electrical engineering) – former president, CEO, and chairman of the board of Black & Decker; known for developing power tools for use in the home, including the first cordless electric drill
Kenneth T. Derr (B.S. 1959 mechanical engineering, M.B.A. 1960, trustee) – chairman and CEO of Chevron, 1989–99
Dave Dombrowski (undergrad 1974–75, transferred) – president, CEO, and general manager of the Detroit Tigers
Jennifer Dulski (B.A., MBA) – president and chief operating officer of Change.org
Henry D. Edelman (J.D. 1973) – president and CEO of Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac) (1989–2008)
Richard J. Ferris (B.S. 1962) – president and CEO of United Airlines (1976–1987)
Reggie Fils-Aimé (B.S. 1983 applied economics) – president and COO of Nintendo of America (2006–2019)
J. Patrick Gallagher Jr (B.A. government) – president, CEO and chairman of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
Pawan Kumar Goenka – managing director of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, an Indian multinational automobile manufacturing corporation headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India; chairman of SsangYong Motor Company in Korea
Harvey Golub (attended 1956–1958) – president (1991–1993), chairman and CEO (1993–2001) of American Express; chairman of the board at the Campbell Soup Company (2004–2009); chairman of the American International Group (AIG) (2009–2010); chairman of the board of Advisors of Miller Buckfire (2011–)
Byron Grote (Ph.D. 1981 quantitative analysis) – chief financial officer of BP
Raj Gupta (M.S. 1969 operations research) – chairman, CEO and president of Rohm and Haas,^[42] chairman of Delphi Automotive (2015–)
Robert Harrison (B.A. 1976 government) – CEO of the Clinton Global Initiative and chairman of the Cornell University Board of Trustees; Rhodes Scholar
Dan Hesse (MBA 1977) – CEO of Sprint Nextel
Matthew Hiltzik (B.S. 1994, ILR) – president and CEO of Hiltzik Strategies, a strategic consulting and communications firm
D. Brainerd Holmes (B.S. 1943 electrical engineering) – best known for directing NASA's crewed spaceflight program from September 1961 to June 1963; president of Raytheon (1976–1986) and chairman of Beechcraft; member of the National Academy of Engineering (1977)
F. Kenneth Iverson (1946, aeronautical engineering) – president of Nucor Steel (1967–1998); inductee into the American Metal Market Steel Hall^[43] and the American National Business Hall of Fame; recipient of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation (1991) and member of the National Academy of Engineering (1994)
Walter C. Johnsen (B.S 1973, Master of Engineering (chemical) 1974) – chairman and CEO of Acme United Corporation
Robert D. Kennedy (B.S. 1954 mechanical engineering) – chairman, president, and CEO of Union Carbide (1986–1995)
Shaygan Kheradpir (bachelor's, master's, and doctorate 1979–1987 electrical engineering) – CEO of Juniper Networks
Jeff Jacobson (M.S. ILR) – CEO of Xerox Corporation (2017–)
Ken Jautz (B.A.) – executive vice president of CNN; former foreign correspondent for the Associated Press; former CNN bureau chief in Germany
Herbert Fisk Johnson Jr. (B.A. 1922 chemistry) – president of S. C. Johnson & Son; benefactor and namesake of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art on campus
Herbert Fisk Johnson III (5 Cornell degrees 1979–86) – billionaire, CEO of S. C. Johnson & Son; benefactor and trustee emeritus of Cornell
Samuel Curtis Johnson Jr. (B.A. 1950 economics) – billionaire, chairman of S. C. Johnson & Son; benefactor and co-namesake of the S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management
S. Curtis Johnson (B.S. 1977) – billionaire, former chairman of Diversey
Helen Johnson-Leipold (B.A. 1978 psychology) – billionaire businesswoman; chairman of Johnson Financial Group, chairman and CEO of Johnson Outdoors
Winnie Johnson-Marquart (B.S. 1981) – billionaire, president of the Johnson Family Foundation
Thomas W. Jones (B.A. 1969, M.R.P. 1972, trustee) – principal of TWJ Capital LLC
Paul L. Joskow (B.A. 1968) – president of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation since 2008, economist
Charles F. Knight (1957, MBA 1959) – chairman (1974–2004), CEO (1973–2000) and president (1986–1988, 1995–1997) of Emerson Electric Company
Douglas Leone (B.S. 1979 mechanical engineering) – venture capitalist and partner at Sequoia Capital; billionaire
Oscar G. Mayer Jr. (1934) – chairman of Oscar Mayer
Timothy Mayopoulos (B.A. 1980) – president and CEO of Fannie Mae (2012–2018)
Lowell McAdam (M.E. 1976) – chairman and CEO of Verizon
Mary Meeker (MBA 1986 finance) – venture capitalist and former Wall Street securities analyst
Peter C. Meinig (B.M.E 1962) – chairman and CEO of HM International, LLC
Charles N. Mills (B.S. 1983, MBA 1984) – CEO of Medline Industries (1997–)
Jon R. Moeller (B.S. 1986, MBA 1988) – CEO of Procter & Gamble
Brian A. Murdock (B.S. 1978 economics) – president and CEO of Strategic Investment Group (2014–) and former chairman and CEO of TD Asset Management (2009–2013)^[44]
Thomas Murphy (B.S. 1945) – former chairman and CEO of Capital Cities/ABC, Inc.; Television Hall of Fame, NATPE Lifetime Achievement Award (1996)
Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos (B.A. 1985) – president and COO of Flag Luxury Group
Lubna Olayan (B.S. 1977) – CEO of Olayan Financing Company, the holding entity for The Olayan Group's operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Middle East
Salil Parekh (M.E.) – CEO and managing director of Infosys (2018–)
James Wentworth Parker (class of 1908) – president and general manager of Detroit Edison Company (1943–1951) and of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (1942–1943)
William D. Perez (B.A. 1969 government) – CEO of Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, CEO of Nike, Inc., 2004–06
Victor Peng (MEng, electrical engineering) – president and CEO of Xilinx (2018–)
Sandi Peterson (B.A.) – group worldwide chairman for Johnson & Johnson
Joseph N. Pew Jr. (M.E. 1908) – vice president (1912–1947) and chairman (1947–1963) of Sun Oil Company; founder of The Pew Charitable Trusts; namesake of Pew Engineering Quad
James Pitaro (B.S. 1991) – president of ESPN
Georges Plassat – chairman and chief executive officer of Carrefour (2012–2017)
Lewis Platt (B.S. 1964 mechanical engineering) – CEO of Hewlett-Packard (1992–99); chairman of Boeing, 2003–05
Michael B. Polk (B.S. IEOR) – CEO of Newell Brands (2011–)
Robert Purcell – chairman of Cornell University Board of Trustees (1968–1978)
Justin Rattner (B.S. 1970 electrical engineering, M.S. 1972 computer science) – chief technology officer of Intel, ABC News Person of the Week for his work on the ASCI Red system (fastest computer in the world, 1996–2000), R&D Magazine's "Scientist of the Year", 1989
Bruce S. Raynor (B.S. 1972 industrial & labor relations) – president of UNITE HERE
George Rea (1915) – first paid president of the New York Curb Exchange^[45]
Kevin Reilly (B.A. 1984) – president of NBC Entertainment (2004–2007), president (2007–2012) and chairman (2012–2014) of entertainment at Fox, president of TBS and TNT (2014–)
Irene Rosenfeld (B.S. 1975, M.S. 1977, Ph.D. 1980) – CEO and chairwoman of Kraft Foods
Frank Rosenfelt (LL.B. 1950) – former CEO of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Studio
Jon Rubinstein (B.S. 1978, MEng 1979) – CEO of Palm, Inc., Apple SVP 1997–2006; member of the National Academy of Engineering (2005)
Demir Sabancı (MBA 1999) – Turkish entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and philanthropist
Vicki Saporta (class of 1974) – president and CEO of the National Abortion Federation (1995–)
Robert Selander (B.S. 1972) – president and CEO of MasterCard (1997–2010)
Daniel Schwartz (B.S. 2001 applied economics and management) – CEO of Restaurant Brands International (Burger King Corporation)
Steven Sinofsky (B.A. 1987) – president of Windows and Windows Live Engineering at Microsoft
Charles E. Sporck (B.M.E. 1950) – microelectronics pioneer; co-founded the Semiconductor Industry Association; CEO and president of National Semiconductor (1967–1991)
Kyung-Bae Suh (M.B.A. 1987) – chairman, CEO, and owner of Amorepacific Corporation
Larry Tanenbaum (B.S. 1968) – chairman, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment
Ratan Tata (B.Arch. 1962) – chairman, Tata Group
Myron Charles Taylor (LL.B. 1894) – chairman and CEO, U.S. Steel, namesake of Taylor Hall, and Medal for Merit recipient
Walter C. Teagle (B.S. 1899, trustee, 1924–54) – president and chairman of Standard Oil of New Jersey (now ExxonMobil) and namesake of Teagle Hall
Andrew Tisch (B.S. 1971, hotel administration) – chairman, Loews Corporation
James Tisch (B.A. 1975) – CEO, Loews Corporation
Arnold Tremere – executive director, government official (Canadian International Grains Institute)
Rick Tsai (Ph.D. 1981) – CEO of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company
Harold Uris (B.S. 1925, trustee 1967–1972) – real estate investor and builder; namesake of Uris Hall
Sophie Vandebroek (Ph.D.) – chief technology officer of Xerox and president of Xerox Innovation Group (2006–)
Charles W. Wason (1876) – president of the Cleveland, Painesville & Eastern Railway Company
Randi Weingarten (B.S. 1980 ILR) – president of the United Federation of Teachers (1998−2008) and of the American Federation of Teachers (2008−)
Barry Weiss – chairman and CEO of Island Def Jam and Universal Motown Republic
Stephen H. Weiss (class of 1957) – investment banker and philanthropist
Tim Wentworth (B.S. ILR) – CEO and president of Express Scripts (2016–)
Mark Whitacre (Ph.D. nutritional biochemistry) – COO of Cypress Systems
Fuganto Widjaja (B.A. 2003) – Indonesian billionaire businessman
Lynton Wilson (M.A. economics) – president and CEO of Redpath Industries Ltd. (1981–1988); vice-chairman of the Bank of Nova Scotia; at various times president, COO, CEO, and chairman of the board of BCE Inc. (1990–2000); president and CEO of BCE Inc. (1992–1993); chairman of Nortel Networks (2000–2005); chairman of CAE Inc.; chancellor of McMaster University (2007–2013); Officer of the Order of Canada; recipient of honorary degrees from six Canadian universities
Dennis Woodside (B.S. 1991) – CEO of Motorola Mobility; president of Google America^{[citation needed]}
Chung Yong-ji (Ph.D.) – founder and CEO of Caregen
Robert D. Ziff (J.D. 1992) – billionaire co-CEO of Ziff Brothers Investments
Stephen Zinser – hedge fund manager who co-founded European Credit Management, a financial firm based in London, and served as its CEO

Education

Entertainment

Film, radio, television and theatre

Robert Ahrens (B.A.) – film and theatre producer
Ted Berkman (1933) – screenwriter, Bedtime for Bonzo
Andrea Berloff (B.A.) – Oscar-nominated screenwriter, Straight Outta Compton
Josh Bernstein (B.A. 1993 anthropology and psychology) – host, Digging for the Truth on the History Channel
Prashant Bhargava (B.A. 1994) – filmmaker and director
Steve Carver (B.A.) – film director and producer
Dane Clark (B.A.1930s) – actor, Moonrise
Jordan Clarke (B.A. 1973 philosophy, M.F.A. 1973 acting) – actor, Guiding Light, winner of Daytime Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Steve Cohen (B.A. 1993) – magician, illusionist, writer, and television host
Gia Crovatin (B.A.) – actress
Gordon Davidson (1956) – Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director and Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play-winning stage and film director; fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Maria Dizzia (theater) – actress, nominated for the 2010 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play)
Ellen Albertini Dow (B.A. 1935 theater, M.A. 1938 theater) – actress, Wedding Crashers and The Wedding Singer
Dan Duryea (B.A. English) – actor
Rick Elice (B.A.) – writer and former stage actor
Negin Farsad (B.A. 1998) – stand-up comedian, writer, panelist on Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
Scott Ferguson (B.A. Theatre) – executive producer, Succession
Zelda Fichandler – doyenne of regional theater
Art Fleming – original Jeopardy! host, 1964–1975
Steven Franken (B.A. 1950) – actor, best known for his role in The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
Robert N. Fried (B.S., M.S.) – film producer, screenwriter, studio executive and media entrepreneur; Academy Award recipient in 1992 for his short film, Session Man
David F. Friedman (1942, electrical engineering) – filmmaker
Allen Funt (B.A. 1934 fine arts) – producer, created Candid Camera
Carla Gallo (B.A. theater) – actress notable for recurring roles in the television series Undeclared, Carnivàle, Bones, Californication
Eric Garcia (transferred 1992) – writer, author of Matchstick Men
Joel Gertner (1993–1996, dropped out) – former ECW personality
Sam Gold (B.A. English 2000) – theater director and actor; 2015 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical winner for Fun Home
Meta Golding (theatre arts and international relations) – Haitian-American actress
Harold Gould (M.A. 1948 theater, Ph.D. 1953 dramatic speech and literature) – stage, screen, and television actor
Paul Green – playwright, known for Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play, In Abraham's Bosom (1927)
Kovid Gupta (M.B.A. 2015) – screenwriter, author, Kingdom of The Soap Queen: The Story of Balaji Telefilms
Joanna Guy (B.A. 2013) – Miss Maryland 2012
Brian Hallisay (degree in economics and history) – actor from the television show Privileged
Howard Hawks (mechanical engineering) – film director, producer, and writer of the classic Hollywood era; directed Scarface, His Girl Friday, The Big Sleep, and Gentleman Prefer Blondes
Babette Henry (1936, hotel administration) – television director and producer; directed and produced Buck Rogers, directed Paul Whiteman's Goodyear Revue and That Wonderful Guy^[46]
Hugh Herbert – actor, playwright and comedian^[47]
Catherine Hicks (M.F.A. 1976?) – actress; played Annie Camden on 7th Heaven
John Hostetter (M.A. acting) – actor, played John the stage manager on Murphy Brown for 62 episodes^[48]
Ricky Jay (Hotel) – magician, historian, actor, writer and scholar^[49]^[50]^[51]
Frederick Johnson (B.A. 1978 English) – Emmy and WGA Award-winning television writer; credits include All My Children, The Young and the Restless, Days of Our Lives, As The World Turns, One Life to Live, Guiding Light
Sidney Kingsley (B.A. 1928) – playwright, screenwriter, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1934 for the drama Men in White
Mia Korf – actress, best known for originating the role of Blair Daimler Buchanan on One Life to Live
Jamie Kovac (B.S. 2001, MEng 2002) – "Fury" on American Gladiators^[52]
Ellie Krieger (B.S. 1988) – nutritionist, chef, and TV food celebrity
Arthur Laurents (B.A. 1937 English) – playwright, screenwriter, director, author, credits include West Side Story, Rope, and Gypsy
Leonard "Lenny" Lipton – author, filmmaker, and stereoscopic vision system inventor; founder of StereoGraphics
Jane Lynch (M.F.A. 1984 theater) – actress, best known for Glee
Bill Maher (B.A. 1978 English) – comedian and satirist, best known for hosting the television series Politically Incorrect and Real Time with Bill Maher
Rob Marciano – journalist and meteorologist
Ed Marinaro – film and television actor.
Louis Massiah (B.A. Astrophysics) – documentary filmmaker; MacArthur Fellow (1996), Tribeca Film Institute Fellow (1990, 1996), Fleisher Founder's Award (2009)
Peter Marx – television host; information law attorney; technology business consultant; producer
Gardner McKay (attended for 2 years) – actor, artist, and author known for the lead role in the 1960s TV series Adventures in Paradise
Carol Mendelsohn (B.A. 1973) – television producer; credits include C.S.I.
Adolphe Menjou (B.S. engineering) – actor, known for his roles in The Sheik, The Three Musketeers, and Paths of Glory
Justin H. Min (B.A. 2011 Government and English) – actor; currently stars as Ben Hargreeves in The Umbrella Academy
Ronald D. Moore (failed out 1985) – writer and producer of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica; two–time Hugo Award winner, nominated for an Emmy Award
Frank Morgan (undergrad 1908–09, dropped out) – actor who played the Wizard in The Wizard of Oz, two-time Academy Award nominee
Bill Nye (B.S. 1977 mechanical engineering, MEng 1977, Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of '56 University Professor 2001–06) – star of Bill Nye the Science Guy; science education advocate
Adepero Oduye (1999) – actress in 12 Years a Slave and Pariah
Peter Ostrum (D.V.M. 1984) – played Charlie Bucket in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Evan Parke (1990) – actor best known for his role as Hayes in King Kong
Ethan Phillips (MFA) – actor and playwright
Bill Pidto (1987) – host of NHL Live on NHL Network and former anchor at ESPN, 1993–2008
Richard Price (B.S. 1971) – author, The Wanderers and six other novels; Academy Award-nominated screenwriter for The Color of Money and Clockers
Keith Raywood (B.A. Architecture, 1980) – Emmy Award-winning production designer
Christopher Reeve (B.A. 1974 theater arts and English) – actor, best known for starring in Superman and its sequels
Jason Reich (B.S. Communication 1998) – Emmy Award-winning writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Christopher Rich (M.A. Theater Arts) – played Miller Redfield on Murphy Brown
Daniel K. Riskin (Ph.D.) – evolutionary biologist and television personality, known for co-hosting the Canadian television series Daily Planet
Casey Robinson – producer, director and screenwriter
Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum (B.A.) – director
William Sadler (M.F.A. 1974) – actor, known for films including The Shawshank Redemption
Gene Saks (B.A. 1943)^[53] – stage and film director; inductee of the American Theater Hall of Fame; seven-time nominee and three-time winner of Tony Award; four-time nominee of Drama Desk Award
Andrea Savage (B.A. Political Science and Spanish, minor in Law Studies) – actress, Dog Bites Man
Dick Schaap (B.S. 1955) – sports newscaster on ABC and ESPN, two Emmy Awards, author and co-author of 33 books
Robert Frederic Schenkkan Jr. (M.F.A 1977) – award-winning playwright, screenwriter, and actor; the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (1992) for his work The Kentucky Cycle, and the Tony Award for Best Play (2014) for his drama All the Way earned
Bert Schneider – film and television producer, Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for producing Hearts and Minds (1975)
Thelma Schoonmaker (B.A. 1961) – film editor, received the Academy Award for Raging Bull, The Aviator, and The Departed
David Seidler (1959) – screenwriter who won 83rd Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for The Kings Speech (2010)^[54]
Robert Smigel (undergrad 1978–80, transferred) – puppeteer behind Triumph the Insult Comic Dog; first head writer of Late Night with Conan O'Brien; author of "TV Funhouse" animations on Saturday Night Live
Jimmy Smits (M.F.A. 1982) – actor
Tim Squyres (B.A. 1981) – Academy Award-nominated film editor, best known for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Yale Summers (Bachelor's Business with honors, 1955) – actor and governing member of the Screen Actors Guild^[55]
Ken Sunshine (1970) – publicist
Dominique Thorne (B.S. 2019) –actress, known primarily as Riri Williams/Ironheart in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Jennifer Tipton (B.A. 1958) – award-winning theatre and dance lighting designer; MacArthur Fellowship (2008)
Franchot Tone (B.A. 1927) – actor, nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for Mutiny on the Bounty
Ming Tsai (hotel administration) – celebrity chef of Ming's Quest, a cooking show featured on the Fine Living Network, and Simply Ming on American Public Television
Jerry Wasserman (Ph.D. English Literature) – film and television actor; also professor and head of the Department of Theatre and Film at the University of British Columbia
Andrew Weinberg (B.A. 1998) – television writer and co-winner of Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series (2007)
Pete van Wieren – sportscaster and sports reporter, best known for 33-year career calling play-by-play for Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves
David Wild – writer and critic in the music and television industries, nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on America: A Tribute to Heroes
Sheri Wilner – playwright
Walt Witcover – theatre educator, né Walter Witcover Scheinman
Mary Woronov (did not graduate) – actress, member of Andy Warhol's The Factory
Paula Vogel (1976, M.A, 2016, Ph.D.) – playwright who won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play, How I Learned to Drive (1998)
Teddy Zee (B.S. 1979) – film producer, media and technology executive

Music

Ron Altbach (’68, B.A. '69) – keyboardist and songwriter, member of rock band King Harvest, co-founded with fellow Cornell undergraduates Ed Tuleja, Dave Robinson, and Rod Novak^[56]
Robert Alexander Anderson (1916) – composer, wrote Christmas song "Mele Kalikimaka"
Russ Barenberg – Grammy–nominated bluegrass musician
Herbert Barrett (B.A. 1930) – talent manager for hundreds of famous artists from the 1930s to 2000s
Harry Chapin (did not graduate) – folk musician known for the song "Cat's in the Cradle"
Henrique de Curitiba (M.F.A. 1981) – composer
Mack David – eight-time Academy Award nominee for songs including "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo"
Jeremy Dussolliet (B.S. 2009) – Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and member of the duo Kinetics & One Love
Jared Emerson-Johnson (B.A. 2003) – video game music composer
Richard Fariña – folk musician
Joscelyn Godwin (Ph.D. 1969 musicology) – musicologist, translator, historian of the esoteric
Greg Graffin (Ph.D. 1991 evolutionary biology) – lead singer and co-founder of Bad Religion
Laurens Hammond (B.S. 1916 mechanical engineering) – inventor of the Hammond organ
Jesse Harris (B.A.) – Grammy Award-winning songwriter who wrote "Don't Know Why" and "Come Away with Me", songs popularized by the artist Norah Jones
Ari Hest (attended, transferred) – singer-songwriter
John S. Hilliard (D.M.A. 1983) – classical composer
Barry Kernfeld (M.A. 1978, Ph.D. 1981) – musicologist, jazz saxophonist, known for writing The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz
Alex Kresovich (B.S. 2008) – music producer and songwriter
Huey Lewis (undergrad 1967–69, dropped out) – rock musician and member of Huey Lewis and the News
Robert Moog (Ph.D. 1965) – inventor of the Moog synthesizer and founder of Moog Music
Charles Previn (B.A. 1910) – Academy Award-winning film composer, seven-time Academy Award nominee
Steve Reich (B.A. 1957) – Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, and one of the pioneers of minimal music; recipient of the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award (2013)
Christopher Rouse (D.M.A. 1977) – classical composer; winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Music
Cary Sherman (1968) – chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America
Tim Sommers (B.S. 2010) – Grammy-nominated producer/songwriter and member of the duo Kinetics & One Love
Oliver Strunk (attended 1917–1919 and in 1927) – musicologist who was on the faculty of Princeton University 1937–1966; founding member and president (1959–1960) of the American Musicological Society
Steven Stucky (D.M.A. 1978; professor of Music Composition) – Pulitzer Prize-winning composer
Gil Trythall (D.M.A. 1960) – composer and pianist
Paul Francis Webster (undergrad 1927–1928, transferred) – Academy and Grammy Award-winning lyricist
Peter Yarrow (B.A. 1959) – folk singer, member of Peter, Paul and Mary
Andy Zax (B.A. 1986) twice-Grammy–nominated producer and music historian, known for his complete audio restoration of the Woodstock Festival

Other

Jason Rohrer (B.S. 2000, M.E. 2001) – video game designer
Dave Ross – talk show host on KIRO-FM

Government and politics

Heads of state

Jamshid Amouzegar (B.S. 1945 engineering, Ph.D. 1951) – prime minister of Iran 1977–1978
Choi Sang-mok (Ph.D. economics 1996) – acting president of South Korea and acting prime minister of South Korea
Václav Klaus (1969, no degree) – president of the Czech Republic 2003–2013 and prime minister of the Czech Republic 1992–1997^[57]
Lee Ju-ho (Ph.D. economics 1990) – acting president of South Korea and acting prime minister of South Korea
Lee Teng-hui (Ph.D. 1968 agricultural economics) – president of the Republic of China 1988–2000
Mario García Menocal (B.S. 1888 engineering) – president of Cuba 1913–1921
Tsai Ing-Wen (LL.M. 1980) – president of the Republic of China 2016–2024

U.S. cabinet and cabinet-level ranks

Sandy Berger (B.A. 1967) – National Security advisor to President Bill Clinton (1997–2001)
Samuel Bodman (B.S. 1961) – United States secretary of energy (2005–09), U.S. deputy secretary of the treasury (2004–05), U.S. deputy secretary of commerce (2001–03)
Jim Bridenstine (M.B.A.) – administrator of NASA (2013–18)
Lincoln D. Faurer (attended, did not graduate) – director of the National Security Agency and chief of the Central Security Service (1981–85)
W. Scott Gould (B.A.) – U.S. deputy secretary of Veterans Affairs (2009–13)
Stephen Hadley (B.A. 1969) – National Security advisor to President George W. Bush (2005–09)
Seth Harris (B.S. 1983) – acting United States secretary of labor (2013), deputy secretary of labor (2009–14)
Eugene Kinckle Jones (M.A. 1908) – member of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Black Cabinet, executive secretary of the National Urban League, founder of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity
C. Everett Koop (M.D. 1941) – Surgeon General of the United States (1982–89), recipient of the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement (1991)
Henry Morgenthau Jr. (undergraduate 1909–10, 1912–13, dropped out) – U.S. secretary of the treasury (1934–45)
Edmund Muskie (LL.B. 1939) – United States secretary of state (1980–81), senator from Maine (1959–80), United States vice presidential candidate (1968), governor of Maine (1955–59)
James Peake (M.D. 1972) – Surgeon General of the United States Army (2000–04), U.S. secretary of Veterans Affairs (2007–09)
Samuel Pierce (B.A. 1947, J.D. 1949) – secretary of Housing and Urban Development (1981–89)
Thomas C. Reed (B.S. 1956) – secretary of the Air Force (1976–77)
Janet Reno (B.A. 1960) – United States attorney general (1993–2001)
William P. Rogers (LL.B. 1937) – United States attorney general (1957–61), United States secretary of state (1969–73), Presidential Medal of Freedom (1973)
Louis Wade Sullivan (Medical College resident) – secretary of Health and Human Services (1989–93); founder, dean, and president of Morehouse School of Medicine
Nancy Sutley (B.A.) – chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (2009–14)
Daniel I. Werfel (B.S. 1993) – commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (2023–25), acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (2013)
John P. White (B.S. 1959) – deputy secretary of Defense (1995–97)
Paul Wolfowitz (B.A. 1965) – deputy secretary of Defense (2001–05), president of the World Bank (2005–07)

U.S. governors

John Alden Dix (attended 1879–1882) – governor of New York (1911–12)
Joseph B. Foraker (B.A. 1869) – governor of Ohio (1886–90), U.S. senator from Ohio (1897–1909), member of Cornell University's first graduating class^[58]
James Benton Grant (attended 1873–1874) – governor of Colorado (1883–85)
Herbert James Hagerman (1890) – governor of the New Mexico Territory (1906–07)
Philip H. Hoff (J.D. 1951) – governor of Vermont (1963–69)
Goodwin Knight (graduate study 1919–20) – governor of California (1953–59)
John T. Morrison (LL.B. degree 1890) – governor of Idaho (1903–05)^[59]
Edmund Muskie (LL.B. 1939) – governor of Maine (1955–59), United States secretary of state (1980–81), U.S. senator from Maine (1959–80), United States vice presidential candidate (1968)
Chuck Robb (undergraduate 1957–58, transferred) – governor of Virginia (1982–86), U.S. senator from Virginia (1989–2001)
Horace White (1887) – governor of New York (1910), lieutenant governor of New York (1909–10), New York state senator (1896–1908)

U.S. senators

Joseph B. Foraker (B.A. 1869) – senator from Ohio (1897–1909), governor of Ohio (1886–90), member of Cornell University's first graduating class^[58]
Thomas C. Hennings Jr. (1924) – senator from Missouri (1951–60), U.S. representative from Missouri (1935–40)
Mark Kirk (B.A. 1981) – senator from Illinois (2011–17), U.S. representative from Illinois (2001–11)
Edmund Muskie (LL.B. 1939) – senator from Maine (1959–80), United States secretary of state (1980–81), United States vice presidential candidate (1968), governor of Maine (1955–59)
Chuck Robb (undergraduate 1957–58, transferred) – senator from Virginia (1989–2001), governor of Virginia (1982–86)
Elissa Slotkin (B.A. 1998) – senator from Michigan (2025–present), U.S. representative from Michigan (2019–2025), assistant secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (2014–17)

U.S. representatives

John G. Alexander (J.D. 1916) – representative from Minnesota (1939–41)
Rob Andrews (J.D. 1982) – representative from New Jersey (1990–2014)
Andrew Biemiller (B.A. 1926) – representative from Wisconsin (1945–47, 1949–51)
Jim Bridenstine (M.B.A) – representative from Oklahoma (2013–18), administrator of NASA (2018–21)
Frederick Van Ness Bradley (1921) – representative from Michigan (1939–47)
Abraham Lincoln Brick (undergrad) – representative from Indiana (1899–1908)
Katherine Clark (J.D.) – representative from Massachusetts (2013–present), U.S. House of Representatives minority whip (2023–present), assistant speaker of the United States House of Representatives (2021–23)
Hansen Clarke (B.F.A.) – representative from Michigan (2010–13)
Barber Conable (B.A. 1942, LL.B. 1948) – representative from New York (1965–85), president of the World Bank (1986–91)
Maurice Connolly (1897) – representative from Iowa (1913–15)
Sharice Davids (J.D. 2010) – representative from Kansas (2019–present)
Thomas Joseph Downey (B.S. 1970) – representative from New York (1975–93)
Beth Van Duyne (1995) – representative from Texas (2021–present)
Bob Filner (B.A. 1963, Ph.D. 1973) – representative from California (1993–2012), mayor of San Diego (2012–13)
Chris Gibson (MPA 1995, M.A. 1996, Ph.D. 1998) – representative from New York (2011–17), President of Siena College (2020–23)
Gabby Giffords (M.R.P. 1996) – representative from Arizona (2007–12), member of the Arizona Senate (2003–05), member of the Arizona House of Representatives (2001–03)
Norman Judd Gould (M.E. 1899) – representative from New York (1915–23)
Gilbert Gude (B.S. 1948) – representative from Maryland (1967–77)
Edwin Arthur Hall – representative from New York (1939–53)
Nan Hayworth (M.D. 1985) – representative from New York (2011–13)
Joseph Clifford Hendrix (1870–73, trustee) – representative from New York (1893–95)
Lewis Henry (1909) – representative from New York (1922–23)
Frank Horton (L.L.B. 1947) – representative from New York (1963–93)
Wesley Hunt (M.P.A. 2015, M.B.A. 2015, M.I.L.R. 2016) – representative from Texas (2023–present)
Charles Samuel Joelson (B.A. 1937, L.L.B. 1939) – representative from New Jersey (1961–69)
Clarence Evans Kilburn (1916) – representative from New York (1940–65)
Gary Alcide Lee (graduate study 1963) – representative from New York (1979–83)
Norman F. Lent (L.L.B. 1957) – representative from New York (1971–93)
Richard Dean McCarthy (graduate study) – representative from New York (1965–71)
Dan Meuser (B.A. 1988) – representative from Pennsylvania (2019–present)
Clement Woodnutt Miller (B.S. 1946) – representative from California (1959–62)
Robert J. Mrazek (B.A. 1967) – representative from New York (1983–93)
James R. Olin (B.E.E. 1943) – representative from Virginia (1983–93)
Richard Ottinger (B.A. 1950) – representative from New York (1965–71, 1975–85); founder and second staff member of the Peace Corps (1961–64), dean of Pace Law School (1994–99)
James Parker (1887) – representative from New York (1913–33)
Edward Worthington Pattison (B.A. 1953, L.L.B. 1957) – representative from New York (1975–79)
John Raymond Pillion (L.L.B. 1927) – representative from New York (1953–65)
Alexander Pirnie (1924, J.D. 1926) – representative from New York (1959–73)
Daniel A. Reed (1898) – representative from New York (1919–59)
Henry Schoellkopf Reuss (B.A. 1933) – representative from Wisconsin (1955–83)
Howard Winfield Robison (B.A. 1937, LL.B. 1939) – representative from New York (1958–75)
James A. Roe (School of Military Aeronautics 1917) – representative from New York (1945–47)
Kurt Schrader (B.A. 1973) – representative from Oregon (2009–23), member of the Oregon Senate (2003–08), member of the Oregon House of Representatives (1997–2003)
George Shiras III (1881) – representative from Pennsylvania (1903–05)
Henry P. Smith III (Law 1936) – representative from New York (1965–75)
James H. Southard (law 1874) – representative from Ohio (1895–1907)
Melanie Stansbury (M.S. 2007) – representative from New Mexico (2021–present), member of the New Mexico House of Representatives (2019–21)
Sam Steiger (attended two years) – representative from Arizona (1946–47)
Elmer E. Studley (1894) – representative from New York (1933–35)
Frank Sundstrom (1924) – representative from New Jersey (1943–49)
George Ernest Waldo (1872) – representative from New York (1905–1909), member of the New York State Assembly (1896)
John De Witt Warner (1872) – representative from New York (1891–95)
John S. Wold (M.S. 1939) – representative from Wyoming (1969–71)

Diplomats

Parker W. Borg (MPA 1965) – U.S. ambassador to Mali (1981–1984) and Iceland (1993–1996)
William Brownfield (1974) – U.S. ambassador to Chile (2002–2004), Venezuela (2004–2007), and Colombia (2007–2010)
Richard Burt (B.A. 1969) – U.S. ambassador to Germany (1985–1989); chief negotiator of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (rank of ambassador); assistant secretary of state for European and Canadian Affairs (1983–1985)
Dwight L. Bush Sr. (B.A. 1979) – businessman; U.S. ambassador to Morocco (2014– )
Henry A. Byroade (M.S. 1940 civil engineering) – career diplomat serving as U.S. ambassador to Egypt (1955–1956), South Africa (1956–1959), Afghanistan (1959–1962), Burma (1963–1968), Philippines (1969–1973), Pakistan (1973–1977)
Timothy M. Carney (1975–1976 Southeast Asian studies) – U.S. ambassador to SUdan (1995–1997), United States Ambassador to Haiti (1998–1999)
Chan Heng Chee (M.A. 1967 government) – Singapore's ambassador to the U.S. (1996–2012) and to Mexico (1989–1991)
Arthur Hobson Dean (B.A. 1921, L.L.B. 1923) – international law expert, chief U.S. negotiator at Panmunjeom, assisted with negotiations for Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, delegate to the United Nations
Eric S. Edelman (B.A. 1972 history) – U.S. ambassador to Finland (1998–2001), Turkey (2003–2005)
Glenn W. Ferguson (B.A. 1950 economics, MBA 1951) – U.S. ambassador to Kenya, 1966–1969, academic administrator
Robert Ford (M.A. 1940 history) – Canadian ambassador to Colombia (1957–1959), Yugoslavia (1959–1961), Egypt and Sudan (1961–1964), the USSR (1964–1980) and Mongolia (1974–1980); Companion of the Order of Canada
Daniel Fried (B.A. 1974) – career diplomat; U.S. ambassador to Poland (1997–2000)
William vanden Heuvel (Bachelor and Law, editor-in-chief of Cornell Law Review) – U.S. ambassador to the European office of the United Nations (1977–79) and U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations (1979–1981)
John H. Holdridge (1948–1950 Chinese language) – U.S. ambassador to Singapore (1975–1978), Indonesia (1982–1986)
Jerome H. Holland (B.S. 1939, M.S. 1941) – first black member of the New York Stock Exchange; president of Delaware State University (1953–60) and Hampton University (1960–70); U.S. ambassador to Sweden, 1970–73; chairman of the American Red Cross, 1979–85
Hu Shih (B.A. 1914) – China's ambassador to the U.S., 1938–42; philosopher; poet
Makila James ('79) – U.S. ambassador to Swaziland (2012–2016)
Alan Keyes (undergrad 1968–69, transferred) – diplomat, U.S. presidential candidate, 1996, 2000; U.S. Senate candidate from Maryland (1988, 1992) and Illinois (2004)
Edwin Jackson Kyle (M.S. 1902) – U.S. ambassador to Guatemala, 1945–48; namesake of Kyle Field
Sol Linowitz (J.D. 1938, trustee, 1966–95) – diplomat, ambassador, chairman of Xerox, 1960–66; Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, 1998
Simon Mbilinyi (BSc) – Tanzanian ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg, 1985–1989; minister of Finance (1995–1996)
C. Steven McGann (1975–1978 graduate studies) – U.S. ambassador to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga, and Tuvalu (2008–2011)
Francisco de Miguel (M.A. 1985) – Spanish career diplomat, Spain's ambassador to Libya
Cameron Munter (B.A. 1976) – United States Ambassador to Serbia (2007–2009), U.S. ambassador to Pakistan (2010–2012)
Michael Punke (J.D. 1989) – United States ambassador to the World Trade Organization (2011– )
G. Frederick Reinhardt (M.A. 1935) – career diplomat, U.S. ambassador to South Vietnam (1955–1957), the United Arab Republic and North Yemen (1960–1961), and Italy (1961–1968)
Ali Jehangir Siddiqui – ambassador of Pakistan to the United States (2018), diplomat, businessman, special assistant to the prime minister of Pakistan (2017–2018), Pakistan's ambassador at-large for Foreign Investment (2019–2022)
Moncrieff J. Spear (B.A. 1946) – former diplomat
Willard Dickerman Straight (B.Arch. 1901) – diplomat, investment banker, publisher, World War I veteran, namesake of Willard Straight Hall
Sao-Ke Alfred Sze (B.A. 1901) – China's ambassador to the U.S. and later UK; founding member of World Bank; first Chinese student to attend Cornell
Sandra Louise Vogelgesang – U.S. ambassador to Nepal (1994–1997)

Other U.S. government officials

Michael Atkinson (J.D. 1991) – inspector general of the Intelligence Community, involved in the Trump–Ukraine scandal
Terry Calvani (J.D. 1972) – commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (1983–1990)
Robert Cardillo (B.A. 1983 government) – director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (2014–2019)^[60]
Arun Chaudhary (B.A. 1997) – White House official videographer^[61]
Derek Chollet (B.A. 1993) – assistant secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (2012–2014)
David S. Cohen (B.A. 1985, Government) – deputy director of the CIA (2015–2017, 2021–), Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing (2009–2011)
Walter Cruickshank (B.A. Geological Sciences) – deputy director, then acting director of US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
Elizabeth B. Drewry (Ph.D. 1933) – archivist with the National Archives and director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum
Anthony Fauci (M.D. 1966) – chief medical advisor to the U.S. president during the COVID-19 pandemic^[62]
Stephen Friedman (B.A. 1959; trustee, 1993–) – chairman of the Goldman Sachs Group, 1990–94; chairman of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (2005–09); former assistant for Economic Policy to President George W. Bush (2002–04); director of the United States National Economic Council, 2003–04
W. Scott Gould (B.A.) – United States deputy secretary of Veterans Affairs, 2013–2017
Jo Handelsman (B.S. 1979) – associate director for science at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (2014–2017); member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2019)
Howard Hart – Central Intelligence Agency officer
John Hillen (MBA) – 15th assistant secretary of state for Political-Military Affairs (2005–2007)
Edward M. House (undergrad 1877–80, dropped out) – foreign policy advisor for Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Florence Kelley (B.A. 1882) – political and social reformer
Donald Kerr (B.S. 1963) – assistant director of the FBI; former director of Los Alamos National Laboratory
H. David Kotz (J.D. 1990) – inspector general of the SEC
Stephen D. Krasner (B.A. 1963) – director of Policy Planning at the U.S. State Department, professor of political science at Stanford University
Alan Krueger (B.S. 1983) – labor economist and former chief economist for the US Department of Labor; chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, 2011–2013
Celso Lafer (Ph.D. 1970) – foreign minister (1992–1992, 2001–2002) and commerce minister (1999–1999) of Brazil
David R. Macdonald (B.S. 1952) – U.S. assistant Sscretary of the Treasury (Enforcement, Operations, and Tariff Affairs) (1974–1976), under secretary of the Navy (1976–1977), deputy U.S. trade representative (1981–1983)
Debbie Matz (B.S.) – chairman of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) (2009–2016)
Kyle E. McSlarrow – deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy
Lenora Moragne (Ph.D. 1969) – head of the Division of Nutrition Education and Training at the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
Amy Rosenbaum – White House director of Legislative Affairs, 2016–2017
Adam Segal – cybersecurity expert; director at the Digital and Cyberspace Policy Program of the Council on Foreign Relations
Raj Shah (B.A. 2006 government) – principal deputy press secretary at the White House
Joseph Simons (A.B. 1980 economics and history) – chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (2018–)
Alexander Vindman – foreign affairs specialist serving on the U.S. National Security Council as director for European Affairs
Andrew C. Weber – assistant secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical & Biological Defense Programs; Obama administration
Portia Wu – assistant secretary of labor for employment and training (2014–2017); secretary of the Maryland Department of Labor (2023–)

State and local government

Carol Aichele (B.A.) – secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (2011–2015)
Steve Aichele (B.A. 1970) – former chief of staff to Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett
Nicole Alexander-Scott (B.Sc. 1997)^[63] – director of the Rhode Island Department of Health
Alan A. Altshuler (B.A.) – Massachusetts secretary of transportation (1971–1975); former dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Design and of the Graduate School of Public Administration at New York University; fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1997)
Jane Amero (B.A. 1963) – Maine state senator (1992–2000)
Irma Anderson (B.S. Nursing) – mayor of Richmond, California (2001–2006)
Patrice Arent (J.D. 1981) – member of the Utah House of Representatives (1997–2002, 2011–present) and Utah State Senate (2003–2006)
Byron Baer – member of the New Jersey General Assembly (1972–1993) and New Jersey state senator (1994–2005)
Roy E. Baldwin (B.S. 1970) – member of Pennsylvania House of Representatives (2002–present)
Calvin Barton (1899) – mayor of Norwalk, Connecticut (1921–1923)
Ruth Bascom (Master's in Social Psychology) – first female mayor of Eugene, Oregon (1993–1996)
Bob Bastian (Veterinary Medicine 1963) – member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (1999–2008)
Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (B.A. 2007, History) – vice mayor of Alexandria, Virginia (2019–2021), delegate in the Virginia House of Delegates (2022–2026), and senator in the Virginia Senate (2026–present)
George A. Blauvelt (1890) – New York State Assemblyman (1911, 1912) and New York state senator (1913, 1914)
Alex Bores (B.S. 2013, ILR) – New York State Assemblyman (2023–)
Peter Bowman (B.S. 1960, Electrical Engineering) – Maine state senator (2006–2010)
William B. Broydrick – Wisconsin politician
David Carlucci (B.S. 2002, ILR) – New York state senator (2011–2020)
Nelson W. Cheney (B.A. 1899) – New York State Assemblyman (1916–1929) and New York state senator (1930–1938)
Parley Parker Christensen – Utah and California politician, Esperantist
Clem S. Clarke (two years, Geology) – oilman and Republican politician from Shreveport, Louisiana^[64]
Mandy Cohen (B.S. 2000) – secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Ernest E. Cole (B.S. 1895) – commissioner of Education of the State of New York, 1940–1942
Edwin L. Crawford – first county executive of Broome County, New York
Clifford W. Crouch (AAS 1965, dairy science) – New York State Assemblyman
Charles d'Autremont (1868–1871) – mayor of Duluth, Minnesota
Melissa DeRosa (B.A.) – executive secretary to Governor Andrew Cuomo
Samuel B. Dicker (1911) – 58th mayor of Rochester, New York (1939–1955)
Harriet Drummond (B.S. 1974) – member of the Alaska House of Representatives (2013–present)
Robert Flanagan (J.D. 1974) – secretary of the Maryland Department of Transportation (2003–2007) and member of the Maryland House of Delegates (1987–2003)
John Ford – New York state senator (1896–1900)
Vincent J. Gentile (B.A.) – New York state senator (1997–2002) and New York City Councilman (2003–2017)
Kim Gillan (Masters 1975) – member of the Montana House of Representatives (1996–2004) and of the Montana state senator (2004–2012)
Richard N. Gottfried (B.A. 1968) – New York State Assemblyman (1971–2022)
Geoffrey Gratwick (post-doctoral fellowship) – physician and Maine state senator (2012–)
Mark Green (B.A. 1967) – government consumer-affairs activist, New York Public Advocate (1994–2001)
Dennis Hollingsworth (Dairy Science) – member of California State Legislature (2000–2010)
Clinton T. Horton (B.A. 1898, LL.B. 1899) – New York State Assemblyman (1912–1914), New York state senator (1915–1916), and justice of the New York Supreme Court (1922–1935)
Alyson Huber (B.S.) – member of the California State Assembly (2008–2012); judge of the Superior Court of Sacramento County in California (2012–)
Tony Hwang (B.S.) – member of the Connecticut House of Representatives (2009–2015) and Connecticut state senator (2015–)
Henry W. Jeffers (B.S. 1899) – chairman of the New Jersey Republican State Committee (1935–1937); inventor of the Rotolactor
Phyllis Kahn (B.A. 1957) – member of the Minnesota House of Representatives for more than 40 years (1973–)
Gail Laughlin (Law 1898) – lawyer; suffragist; member of the Maine State Senate^[65]
Gail Lavielle (B.A. English) – member of the Connecticut House of Representatives (2011–)
Harold O. Levy (B.A. 1974, J.D. 1977) – chancellor of New York City Schools 2000–2002
William Magee (bachelor's degree 1961, agricultural economics) – New York State Assemblyman
Stanley Makowski (attended with a certificate from ILR) – mayor of the City of Buffalo, New York (1973–1977)
Dan Meuser – Secretary of Revenue of Pennsylvania (2011–2015)
Daneek Miller – New York City Councilman (2014–2021)
Wheeler Milmoe (A.B. 1917) – member of the New York State Assembly 1934–1952 and New York State Senate (1953–1958)
E. Blackburn Moore – member (1933–1967), speaker (1950–1967) of the Virginia House of Delegates
Sherman Moreland (B.Litt. 1892, LL.B. 1894) – member of the New York State Assembly (1903–1907) and associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
Becky Morgan (B.S. 1960) – California state senator (1984–1993)
Svante Myrick (A.B. 2009) – mayor of Ithaca, New York (2012–2022); former member of Ithaca Common Council for the 4th Ward
Zellnor Myrie (J.D. 2016) – New York state senator (2019–)
Benjamin Nichols (B.S. 1946, M.S. 1949) – mayor of Ithaca, New York (1989–1995)
Michael F. Nozzolio (Bachelor's ILR, Master's in Public Administration and Agricultural Economics) – New York State Assemblyman (1983–1992) and the New York State Senate (1993–2016)
William O'Brien (attended 2 years, mechanical engineering) – member of the Minnesota House of Representatives (1963–1967), 11th Minnesota State Auditor (1969–1971)
Bill O'Neill – member of the New Mexico Legislature (2009–)
Ralph Perlman – Louisiana state budget director, 1967–1988^[66]
Charles Gilbert Peterson – mayor of Lockport, New York
Fred B. Pitcher (B.S. 1888) – New York state senator (1919–1922)
Cuthbert W. Pound (1887 law professor) – New York state senator; chief justice of the New York Court of Appeals
Samuel Rabin – New York State Assemblyman (1945–1954); New York Supreme Court justice
Elijah Reichlin-Melnick (B.A. 2006) – New York state senator (2021–2023)
Joseph D. Scholtz (B.A. 1912) – mayor of Louisville, Kentucky (1937–1941)
Martha Schrader (B.A.) – Oregon state senator (2009–2011); Clackamas County, Oregon commissioner (2003–2009, 2012–)
Samuel S. Slater (B.L. and LL.B. 1894) – New York State Assemblyman (1899–1900) and New York state senator (1901–1902)
Gayle Slossberg (B.S. 1987) – Connecticut state senator (2005–)
William T. Smith (1938) – New York state senator (1963–1986)
Ellen Spiegel (B.S. 1984) – member of the Nevada Assembly (2008–)
Karen Spilka (B.A.) – member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives (2001–2005) and Massachusetts state senator (2005–)
Thomas J. Surpless (1900) – New York State Assemblyman (1906–1909)
Gaye Symington (M.B.A. 1983) – member (1996–2009) and speaker (2005–2009) of the Vermont House of Representatives
Rick Taylor (Master's 1998 ILR) – member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (2007–2010)
James S. Truman (Ph.B. 1896, LL.B. 1898) – New York state senator (1925–1928)
Alicia Roth Weigel (B.A.) – Human Rights commissioner of Austin, Texas
Roy P. Wilcox (LL.B. 1897) – Wisconsin politician
Henry D. Williams – New York State Assemblyman (1918) and New York state senator (1925–1930)
Mitchell Van Yahres (B.S. 1949) – mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia (1970–1972); member of the Virginia House of Delegates (1981–2005)
Frank L. Young (B.A. 1888) – New York State Assemblyman (1909–1912); justice of the New York State Supreme Court (1922–1930)

Non-U.S. governments

Bajrakitiyabha (LL.M. 2002, J.S.D. 2005) – princess of Thailand^[67]
Erwin Engst (1941 agro-pastoral studies) – advisor to the People's Republic of China
María del Rosario Guerra (M.S. Agricultural Economy) – minister of Information Technologies and Communications of the Government of Colombia (2006–2010) and senator of Colombia (2014–)
Armando Samper Gnecco (B.S. 1943 agricultural economy) – minister of Agriculture of Colombia
Ricardo Hausmann (Ph.D. 1981) – former Venezuelan Minister and ex-Chairman of the IMF – World Bank Development Committee
Isaac Herzog – president of Israel
Akhlaqur Rahman Kidwai (Ph.D. 1950) – governor of Bihar (1979–85, 1993–98), West Bengal (1998–1999), and Haryana (2004–2009), India
Chih-Kung Lee (M.S. 1985, Ph.D. 1987) – minister of Economic Affairs of the Republic of China (2016–)
Yatarō Mishima (M.A) – 8th governor of the Bank of Japan (1913–1919)
Iyabo Obasanjo (Ph.D. 1994) – former Nigerian senator (2007–2011); daughter of former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo
Napsiah Omar (B.S. Nutrition and Education) – Malaysian educator and politician
Shih-wei Pan (M.A. Ph.D. ILR) – former minister of Labor of the Republic of China
Lim Chuan Poh (MBA 1993) – Singaporean civil servant and former army general who served as Chief of the Army (1998–2000) and chief of Defence Force (2000–2003) of the Singapore Armed Forces
Juan Carlos Esguerra Portocarrero (LL.M. 1973) – minister of National Defence of Colombia (1995–1997) and Justice and Law of Colombia (2011–2012); ambassador of Colombia to the United States (1997–1998)
Roberto Prats (B.A. 1990 public political analysis and economics) – senator of Puerto Rico
Charlie Rodríguez (B.A. 1976 in Government and History) – 11th president of the Senate of Puerto Rico (1997–2000)
Martin Romualdez (B.A. 1985 government) – 28th speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Leyte (2007–2016, 2019–present)
Chang San-cheng (Ph.D. 1981) – Taiwanese politician; premier of the Republic of China February 1, 2016 – May 20, 2016
José Serra (M.A., Ph.D. Economics) – Brazilian politician who served as a Brazil congressman, senator, minister of Planning and minister of Health, mayor of São Paulo and governor of São Paulo state
Robert Sopuck (M.S. 1975) – member of Canadian Parliament (2010–)
Huang Ta-chou (Ph.D. 1971 agriculture) – mayor of Taipei (1990–1994)
Mamintal A.J. Tamano (LL.M. 1958) – Filipino statesman; former Senator of the Philippines
Martín Travieso (Law 1903) – member of the Puerto Rico Senate (1917–1921), mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico (1921–1923), 4th chief justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico (1944–1948)
Ting-kuei Tsay (Ph.D. 1982) – vice-chairman of Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration, 2002–2004^[68]
Chang San-cheng (Ph.D. 1981) – president of the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China (2016)
Wu Tsung-tsong (M.S. 1983, Ph.D. 1987) – minister without portfolio, Executive Yuan, Republic of China (2016–)
William Wallace, Baron Wallace of Saltaire (Ph.D.) – scholar and Liberal Democrat peer

Journalism and media

Eric Alterman (B.A. 1982 history and government) – author and columnist
Jim Axelrod (B.A. 1985 history) – national correspondent and reporter for CBS News
Ken Blum – editor, 48 Hours
Jane Brody (1962, Biochemistry) – The New York Times health and nutrition journalist^[69]
Rodney A. Brooks (B.S. 1975 – personal finance editor with USA Today
Marion Hamilton Carter (B.S. 1898) – educator, psychologist, journalist, and author
Julius Chambers (B.A. 1870) – author, editor, journalist, and travel writer
C.J. Chivers (B.A. 1987) – foreign correspondent with The New York Times; winner of Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting as part of a team of The New York Times reporters and photographers (2009) and winner of Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing (2017)
Charles Collingwood (B.A. 1939) – broadcast journalist and foreign correspondent
S.E. Cupp (B.A. 2000 art history) – co-host of MSNBC's The Cycle
Michael Dirda (M.A. 1974, Ph.D. 1977, comparative literature) – Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic for The Washington Post
Edward Jay Epstein (B.A., M.A.) – investigative journalist and former political science professor, Harvard University, UCLA, and MIT
Jessica Ettinger (B.S. 1997) – news anchor with CBS 1010 WINS New York; anchor of Today Show Radio, SiriusXM/NBC
David Folkenflik (B.A. 1991 arts and sciences) – media correspondent for NPR
Michael Fremer (B.S. 1968 Industrial and Labor Relations) – audiophile journalist^[70]
Jeffrey Gettleman (B.A. 1994) – foreign correspondent, The New York Times; Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting (2012)
Iser Ginzburg (MD 1900) – physician and Yiddish journalist
Wendy M. Grossman (B.A. 1975) – journalist and blogger
Philip Gourevitch (B.A. 1986) – former editor of The Paris Review; 1998 National Book Critics Circle Award winner
Carolyn Gusoff (B.A. 1984) – reporter and anchor with WNBC in New York City
Sally Jacobsen (M.A. Economics) – journalist and foreign correspondent; first woman to serve as international editor of the Associated Press^[71]
Andy Kessler (B.S. 1980) – "Inside View" columnist, Wall Street Journal opinion page; author
Neeraj Khemlani (1992) – co-president of CBS News
Aditi Kinkhabwala (B.A. American Studies) – sports reporter for NFL Network
Austin H. Kiplinger (B.A. 1939) – journalist; editor of The Kiplinger Letter; founder of Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine; winner of the Peabody Award
John S. Knight – major newspaper publisher and editor, Pulitzer Prize winner
Steven Lagerfeld (B.A. 1977) – editor of The Wilson Quarterly
Carl Leubsdorf (B.A. 1959 government) – journalist and columnist
Eric Lichtblau (B.A. 1987 English and political science) – Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for national reporting with The New York Times
Roger Lowenstein (B.A. 1973) – financial journalist and author of When Genius Failed (2000)
Stuart Loory (B.A. 1954) – executive and reporter, CNN
Farhad Manjoo (2000) – journalist and author, columnist for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times
James C. McKinley Jr. (B.A. 1984) – foreign correspondent, The New York Times
Anne Morrissy Merick (1955) – journalist who broke barriers against women^[72]
Philip Merrill (B.A. 1955 government, trustee) – owner and publisher of The Capital Daily Newspaper in Annapolis, MD and Washingtonian magazine; international statesman; adviser to U.S. presidents
Jeremy O'Grady (M.A. Political Science) – founding editor of The Week news digest magazine, and one of its original owners; now its editor-in-chief
Keith Olbermann (B.S. 1979 communication arts) – sports commentator, MSNBC news anchor, co-host of Football Night in America of NBC
Jon Ralston (B.A. 1981) – journalist, founder of The Nevada Independent
John Andrew Rea (B.A. 1869) – editor of The Olympian, Minneapolis Tribune, Bismarck Tribune and the Dakota edition of the St. Paul Pioneer Press
Jeremy Schaap (1991) – author, sports journalist, recipient of eight Emmy Awards
Vivian Schiller (B.A. Russian) – former CEO of NPR
Kate Snow (B.S. 1991 communication) – journalist, correspondent, NBC News
Andrew Ross Sorkin (B.S. 1999 communication) – journalist, co-anchor of Squawk Box, author of Too Big to Fail
Sarah Spain – ESPN sports journalist
Gerald Stone (1957 political science) – Australian television and radio journalist, television executive, and author
Howard Taubman (B.A. 1929) – chief music critic and chief theater critic for The New York Times in the 1950s and 1960s
William T. Vollmann (B.A. 1981 comparative literature) – journalist, author of numerous books on war, including a seven-volume treatise on violence
Whit Watson (B.A., English, 1993) – announcer on Golf Channel, formerly at ESPN and Sun Sports; winner of four Emmy Awards; former sports director at WVBR
Robin Wolaner (B.S. 1975 industrial and labor relations) – founder of Parenting Magazine
Sheryl WuDunn (B.A. 1981 European history) – journalist at The New York Times, co-winner in 1990 of the Pulitzer Prize for her coverage on the Tienanmen Square protests of 1989, winner of the George Polk Award in 1989, and winner of the Overseas Press Club in 1990
Robert Zelnick (B.S.) – journalist, winner of two Emmy Awards and two Gavel Awards, former ABC News correspondent for more than 20 years, and professor of journalism at Boston University College of Communication

Law

Supreme Court justices

Ruth Bader Ginsburg (B.A. 1954 government) – U.S. Supreme Court associate justice 1993–2020^[73]^[74]
Sherman Moreland (LL.B. 1894) – associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
Leonardo Quisumbing (LL.M.) – associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines

Federal judges

Ronnie Abrams (B.A. 1990) – federal judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (2012–)
Simon L. Adler (LL.B. 1889) – United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of New York
Mark J. Bennett (J.D. 1979) – judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Attorney General of Hawaii
Richard M. Berman (B.S. 1964) – senior judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Frederic Block (LL.B. 1959) – senior judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
Robert Boochever (B.A. 1939, J.D. 1941) – senior judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; chief justice of the Alaska Supreme Court
Leonie Brinkema (J.D. 1976) – U.S. district court judge
Brian Cogan (J.D. 1979) – federal judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
Christopher C. Conner (B.A. 1979) – federal judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
Paul A. Crotty (LL.B. 1967) – federal judge, Southern District of New York
Mary H. Donlon (LL.B. 1920) – U.S. Customs Court judge; first female editor-in-chief of the Cornell Law Quarterly and of a U.S. law review
Henry White Edgerton (A.B. 1910) – justice of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
Nancy Garlock Edmunds (B.A. 1969) – judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
Harry T. Edwards (B.A. 1962 industrial & labor relations) – chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Washington, D.C.; professor at New York University School of Law; former professor at Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Pennsylvania, and Michigan law schools; author
John T. Elfvin (B.E.E. 1942 electrical engineering) – federal judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York
Thomas E. Fairchild (B.A. 1934) – senior justice (1981–2007) of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Phillip S. Figa (J.D. 1976) – federal judge of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado
Paul L. Friedman (B.A. 1965) – senior judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
Nina Gershon (B.A. 1962 English) – United States magistrate judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York; senior judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
Douglas H. Ginsburg (B.S. 1970) – chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
Peter W. Hall (J.D. 1977) – justice of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Emily C. Hewitt (A.B. 1966) – chief judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims
David N. Hurd (B.S. 1959) – judge of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York
Edith Jones (B.A. 1971 economics) – justice of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
Barbara Milano Keenan (B.A. 1971) – justice of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit; justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia; justice of the Virginia Court of Appeals
Gladys Kessler (B.A. 1959) – senior judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
Frederick Bernard Lacey (LL.B. 1948) – judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
Kenneth K. Lee (B.A. 1997) – justice of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Lloyd Francis MacMahon (B.A. 1936, LL.B. 1938) – federal judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Alison J. Nathan (B.A. 1994, J.D. 2000) – judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Edward Nottingham (B.A. 1969) – United States federal judge in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado
Walter Chadwick Noyes (1888) – United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit judge
Marsha J. Pechman (B.A. 1973) – federal judge (1999–2011), chief federal judge (2011–) of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington
Pamela Pepper (J.D. 1989) – judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin (2014–)
Sharon Prost – chief justice of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
Aubrey Eugene Robinson Jr. (B.A. 1943, LL.B. 1947) – senior judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
Robin S. Rosenbaum (B.A. 1988) – United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida judge^[75]
Max Rosenn (B.A. 1929) – U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit judge
Barbara Jacobs Rothstein (B.A. 1960) – chief judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington; senior judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
Amy J. St. Eve (B.S. 1987, J.D. 1990) – federal justice of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Karen Gren Scholer (J.D. 1982) – district judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
Frederic Palen Schoonmaker (B.A. 1891) – judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Jonathan R. Steinberg (B.A. 1960) – justice of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
Harold Montelle Stephens (A.B. 1909) – chief justice of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
Joseph L. Tauro (LL.B. 1956) – federal judge for the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
Elbert Tuttle (B.A. 1918, LL.B. 1923) – chief justice, U.S. Court of Appeals; ruled on many fundamental 1954 civil-rights cases
Richard C. Wesley (J.D. 1974) – justice of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

State and local judges

Barry T. Albin (J.D. 1976) – associate justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court
William F. Bleakley (LL.B. 1904) – New York Supreme Court justice, first Westchester County Executive
Leonard C. Crouch (Ph.B. 1889) – New York Supreme Court judge; New York Court of Appeals justice
William H. Cuddeback (B.A. 1874) – New York Court of Appeals judge
Dana Fabe (B.A. 1973) – chief justice of the Alaska Supreme Court
Peter T. Farrell (B.A. 1922) – Queens County Court judge; presided over the trial of bank robber Willie Sutton^[76]
Charles Garside (LL.B. 1923) – New York City municipal judge, notable in New York State Government legal affairs
Frank H. Hiscock (A.B. 1875) – chief justice of the New York Court of Appeals; and decided the Chester Gillette murder case
John A. Kronstadt (B.A. 1973) – justice of the Los Angeles County Superior Court; judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California
Louis W. Marcus (LL.B. 1889) – justice of the New York Supreme Court
Andrew J. McDonald (B.A.) – associate justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court; member of the Connecticut Senate
Edward R. O'Malley (LL.B. 1891) – justice of the New York Supreme Court and former New York Attorney General
Anne M. Patterson (J.D. 1983) – associate justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court
Leah Ward Sears (B.S. 1976) – chief justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia
Miriam Shearing (B.A. Philosophy) – Justice of the Supreme Court of Nevada (1993–2005)
Lyman H. Smith (B.A. and LL.B.) – justice of the New York Supreme Court
Harry Taylor (1893) – associate justice of the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department (1924–1936); provided the legal advice that elevated the American League to major league status as a rival to the National League

Other judges

Sang-Hyun Song (J.S.D. 1970) – judge (2003–2015) and president (2009–2015) of the International Criminal Court

Lawyers

Floyd Abrams (B.A. 1956) – co-counsel, Pentagon Papers case
David Buckel (J.D. 1987) – LGBT rights lawyer and environmentalist
Zachary W. Carter (B.A. 1972), U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York
George B. Clementson (LL.B. 1892) – author of The Road Rights and Liabilities of Wheelmen, the first treatise on bicycle law
Vijaya Gadde (B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations) – general counsel of Twitter
Michael Goldsmith (B.S. 1972, J.D. 1975) – RICO expert; ALS advocate
William E. Grauer (B.A. 1971, J.D. 1974) – chair of the Standing Committee on Discipline for the United States District Court for the Southern District of California; chair of the Ethics Committee of the San Diego County Bar Association; partner at Cooley LLP
Theodore W. Kheel (B.A. 1935, law 1937) – attorney; labor mediator
Leonard Leo (B.A. 1986, J.D. 1989) – executive vice-president of the Federalist Society
L. Londell McMillan (B.S. 1987 ILR) – entertainment attorney; publisher
Paul C. Ney Jr. (B.S. 1980 biology) – general counsel of the Department of Defense
Philip Perry (J.D. 1990) – general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security

Military

George Bell Jr. (LL.B., 1894) – United States Army major general who commanded the 33rd Infantry Division during World War I and later the United States VI Corps
Bruce C. Clarke – United States Army general
John P. Craven (B.S. 1947) – United States Navy officer, scientist and submarine expert
Alan Louis Eggers – United States Army sergeant, World War I; awarded for heroic actions near Le Catelet, France
Rhonda Cornum (Ph.D. 1980 biochemistry and nutrition) – former United States Army Brigadier general; former prisoner of war
George William Goddard (1917–1918) – United States Air Force brigadier general and a pioneer in aerial photography^[77]
Webb Hayes (attended 1873–1875) – United States Army brigadier general, Philippine–American War; awarded for rescue of captives at Vigan Island
Kenneth Nichols (B.S., M.S. civil engineering) – United States Army Major General and an engineer who worked on the Manhattan Project; member of the National Academy of Engineering (1968)^[78]
John M. Paxton Jr. (B.S. 1973, MEng 1974) – major general, United States Marine Corps, Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps
Erik M. Ross (B.A. 1988) – U.S. Navy admiral
Louis Livingston Seaman (A.B. 1872) – military surgeon who served in the Spanish-American War, Russo-Japanese War, and WWI
David A. Stafford (B.A. 1917) – brigadier general in the United States Marine Corps^[79]
Matt Urban (Matty L. Urbanowitz, B.A. 1941, history, government) – United States Army (1941–46) lieutenant colonel, World War II; awarded for valorous actions in France and Belgium

Nobel laureates

Chemistry

Eric Betzig (M.S. 1985; Ph.D. 1988, applied and engineering physics) – Chemistry, 2014;^[80] member of the National Academy of Sciences (2015)
Joachim Frank (postdoctoral fellow 1972)^[81] – Chemistry, 2017; member of the National Academy of Sciences (2006)
William Moerner (Ph.D. 1982, experimental physics) – Chemistry, 2014;^[80] Wolf Prize in Chemistry (2008); member of the National Academy of Sciences (2007)

Physics

Arthur Ashkin (Ph.D. 1952 nuclear physics) – Physics 2018; pioneer in optical tweezers; member of the National Academy of Engineering (1984) and the National Academy of Sciences (1996); recipient of the Harvey Prize (2004)
Sheldon Glashow (B.A. 1954 physics) – Physics 1979; Physics (1979); member of the National Academy of Sciences since 1977
John Hopfield (Ph.D. 1958 physics) – Physics 2024; member of the National Academy of Sciences (1973), the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; recipient of the Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize (1969), Harold Pender Award (2002), Dirac Medal (2002), Albert Einstein World Award of Science (2005); Benjamin Franklin Medal (2019); Boltzmann Medal (2022); MacArthur Fellow (1983)
Russell Hulse – Physics 1993; conducted award-winning research at Cornell's affiliated Arecibo Observatory (1974)
John M. Kosterlitz – Physics 2016; postdoctoral fellow (1973–1974); fellow of the American Physical Society; recipient of the Maxwell Medal and Prize (1981) and the Lars Onsager Prize (2000); member of the National Academy of Sciences, since 2017^[82]
Douglas D. Osheroff (M.S. 1971 physics, Ph.D. 1973 physics) – Physics 1996; MacArthur Fellow (1981); member of the National Academy of Sciences, since 1987
Isidor Isaac Rabi (B.Chem. 1919; graduate study 1921–23, transferred) – Physics 1944; member of the National Academy of Sciences, since 1940
David J. Thouless (Ph.D. 1958) – Physics 2016; fellow of the Royal Society, of the American Physical Society and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; member of the National Academy of Sciences (1995); recipient of the Maxwell Medal and Prize (1973), the Wolf Prize in Physics (1990), the Paul Dirac Medal (1993), and the Lars Onsager Prize (2000)
Steven Weinberg (B.A. 1954 physics) – Physics 1979, National Medal of Science (1991); member of the National Academy of Sciences (1972)

Peace, literature, or economics

Pearl S. Buck (M.A. 1925 English literature) – Literature 1938
Robert F. Engle (M.S. 1966 physics, Ph.D. 1969 economics) – Economics 2003; member of the National Academy of Sciences (2005)
Robert Fogel (B.A. 1948 history, minor in economics) – Economics 1993; member of the National Academy of Sciences (1973)
Claudia Goldin (B.A. 1967 economics) – Economics 2023; member of the National Academy of Sciences (2006)
Toni Morrison (M.A. 1955 English) – A.D. White Professor-at-Large, 1997–2003) – Literature 1993; National Humanities Medal (2000), Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1988)
John Mott (B.S. 1888 philosophy) – Peace 1946

Physiology or medicine

George Wells Beadle (Ph.D. 1930 genetics) – Physiology or Medicine 1958; member of the National Academy of Sciences (1944), Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research (1950)
Robert W. Holley (Ph.D. 1947 organic chemistry; professor and department chair in biochemistry, 1948–68) – Physiology or Medicine 1968; member of the National Academy of Sciences (1968), Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research (1965)
Barbara McClintock (B.S. 1923 botany, M.A. 1925 botany, Ph.D. 1927 cytology; instructor in botany, 1927–31; A.D. White Professor-at-Large, 1965–74) – Physiology or Medicine 1983; National Medal of Science (1970); MacArthur Fellow (1981); Wolf Prize in Medicine (1981); member of the National Academy of Sciences (1944), Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research (1981)
Hermann Joseph Muller (graduate study 1911–12) – Physiology or Medicine 1946; member of the National Academy of Sciences (1931)
Jack W. Szostak (Ph.D. 1977 biochemistry) – Physiology or Medicine 2009; member of the National Academy of Sciences (1998), Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research (2006)

Psychology

John Wallace Baird (Ph.D. 1902 psychology) – Canadian psychologist who served as the 27th president of the American Psychological Association (1918)
I. Madison Bentley (Ph.D. 1899) – 34th president of the American Psychological Association (1925–1926); former faculty member and department chair of the Psychology Department at Cornell University
Edwin Boring (1908, Ph.D. 1915 psychology; instructor of psychology 1913–1918) – experimental psychologist and historian of psychology; president of the American Psychological Association (1928), member of the National Academy of Sciences (1932)
Urie Bronfenbrenner (B.A. 1938 psychology and music; Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Human Development and Psychology) – psychologist, pioneer in developmental psychology (Ecological Systems Theory), founder of the field of human ecology; co-founder of national Head Start program
Joyce Brothers (B.S. 1947) – author, psychologist, and television personality
Serena Chen – social psychologist
Karl M. Dallenbach (Ph.D. 1913; faculty member 1916–1948) – experimental psychologist and editor of the American Journal of Psychology
John E. Exner (Ph.D. 1958 clinical psychology) – psychologist known for Exner system of scoring
J. P. Guilford (Ph.D. 1927) – psychologist at the University of Southern California who served as the president of the American Psychological Association (1950); member of the National Academy of Sciences (1954)
Suzanne Bennett Johnson (B.A. 1970 psychology) – psychologist, served as the president of the American Psychological Association (2012)
James Maas (M.A., Ph.D.; professor of Psychology) – psychologist, coined the term "power nap"
Abraham Maslow (undergrad 1928–29, transferred) – psychologist best known for Maslow's hierarchy of needs; president of the American Psychological Association (1968)
Helen Neville (Ph.D. Neuropsychology) – psychologist and neuroscientist at the University of Oregon; member of the National Academy of Sciences (2014); fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the American Psychological Society
Frank Parsons (B.S. civil engineering) – founder of the field of vocational psychology.
Walter Bowers Pillsbury (Ph.D. 1896) – psychologist who was on faculty with the University of Michigan for his entire career; president of the American Psychological Association (1910–1911), member of the National Academy of Sciences (1925)
Frank Rosenblatt (A.B. 1950, Ph.D. 1956) – psychologist in the field of artificial intelligence; inventor of the perceptron algorithm.
Elizabeth Spelke (Ph.D.) – cognitive psychologist; psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, MIT and Harvard University; fellow of the Society of Experimental Psychologists, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science; member of the National Academy of Sciences; recipient of the 2009 Jean Nicod Prize
Robert Spitzer (B.A. 1953 psychology) – professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, known for modernizing the classification of mental disorders and recognizing homosexuality as a non-mental disorder
Louis Leon Thurstone (Master of Mechanical Engineering 1912) – pioneer in the fields of psychometrics and psychophysics; He conceived the approach to measurement known as the law of comparative judgment, and is well known for his contributions to factor analysis; president of the American Psychological Association (1933); co-founder and first president of the Psychometric Society (1936); Fellow of the American Statistical Association and member of the National Academy of Sciences (1938)
Margaret Floy Washburn (Ph.D. 1894) – psychologist, first female Ph.D. in psychology; president of the American Psychological Association (1921–1922); member of the National Academy of Sciences (1931)

Religion

Georgia Harkness (1912) – Methodist theologian and philosopher^[83]
Homer Alexander Jack (B.A. 1936, M.S. 1937, Ph.D. 1940)^[84] – Unitarian Universalist minister and early activist for peace, disarmament, racial equality and social justice; Niwano Peace Prize (1984), Jamnalal Bajaj Award (1992)
G. Ashton Oldham (A.B. 1902) – Episcopal bishop, peace activist, and writer
David Saperstein (B.A.) – Reform Jewish leader, former U.S. ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom

Science and medicine

Henry Arthur Callis – physician and professor of medicine at Howard University; one of seven founders of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, served as its general president in 1915
Gina Eosco (M.S. 2008, PhD 2015) – social scientist and risk communications professional specializing in social and behavioral sciences as applied to weather forecasting and hazard communication
William Flatt (PhD 1955) – animal and nutritional scientist
Roger H. French (B.Sc. 1979) – Kyocera Professor in the Case School of Engineering at Case Western Reserve University
Evelyn Groesbeeck Mitchell (B.A. 1902) – physician and researcher
James A. Shayman (B.A. 1976) – physician-scientist, nephrologist, and pharmacologist
Martha Allen Sherwood (PhD 1977) – lichenologist
Mary Louisa Willard (PhD 1927) – chemist and forensic scientist
Alfreda Bosworth Withington – physician and author

Sports

Baseball

Joe Birmingham – baseball player, Cleveland Naps, 1906–1914
Jon Daniels (B.S. 1999) – general manager of the Texas Rangers, youngest GM ever in Major League Baseball
Robert A. DuPuy (J.D. 1973) – former president and chief operating officer of Major League Baseball (MLB)
Joseph Iglehart (1914) – chairman of the board, Baltimore Orioles, 1955–1965^[85]
Hughie Jennings (LL.B. study 1901–1904, dropped out; baseball coach, 1899–?) – Baseball Hall of Fame-inducted shortstop; Louisville Colonels (1891–1893), Baltimore Orioles (1893–1899), Brooklyn Superbas (1899–1900, 1903), Philadelphia Phillies (1901–02), Detroit Tigers (1907, 1909, 1912, 1918)
Rob Manfred (B.S. 1980) – chief operating officer of Major League Baseball;^[86] 10th commissioner of Major League Baseball
A. J. Preller (B.S. 1999) – general manager of the Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres 2014–
Brandon Taubman (B.A. 2007) – assistant general manager of the Houston Astros, 2018–2019
Bill Walkenbach (B.A. 1998) – Cornell head baseball coach

Basketball

Bryan Colangelo (B.S. 1987) – president and general manager of the Toronto Raptors, 2005, 2007 NBA Executive of the Year
Jon Jaques – American-Israeli assistant men's basketball coach for Cornell University, who played for Ironi Ashkelon in Israel^[87]
Chris Mañon – basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers
Nat Militzok (1923–2009) – New York Knicks basketball player
Larry Weinberg – co-founder and president (1975–1988) of the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers

Football

Greg Bloedorn (1995) – former NFL offensive lineman and long snapper for the Seattle Seahawks
Kevin Boothe (B.S. 2005 hotel administration) – former lineman for the Oakland Raiders and New York Giants
Al Dekdebrun – Buffalo Bisons, 1946, Chicago Rockets, 1947, Boston Yanks, 1948, New York Yankees, 1948
Pete Gogolak (1964) – Buffalo Bills 1964–1965, New York Giants, 1966–1975; first "soccer style" kicker in professional "American" football
Derrick Harmon (1984) – San Francisco 49ers 1984–1986
Mort Landsberg (1919–1970) – NFL player
Bill Lazor (1994) – NFL assistant coach
Chad Levitt (1997) – Oakland Raiders, St. Louis Rams
Ed Marinaro (B.S. 1972) – Minnesota Vikings, New York Jets, and Seattle Seahawks; runner-up for the 1971 Heisman Trophy Award, actor on Hill Street Blues
Jeff Mathews (2014) – quarterback for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Lou Molinet (1928) – Frankford Yellow Jackets, 1927 first Hispanic-American player in the National Football League
Seth Payne (1997) – Jacksonville Jaguars, 1997–2001, Houston Texans, 2001–2007
Lee Reherman (1988) – Miami Dolphins, actor on American Gladiators and X-Files
Luke Tasker (2013) – wide receiver for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
JC Tretter (2012) – offensive guard for the Green Bay Packers (2013–2016) and Cleveland Browns (2017–2021), president (2020–2024) and executive director (2026–present) NFL Players Association
Bryan Walters (2010) – wide receiver for the San Diego Chargers 2010–2011, Seattle Seahawks (2012–2014), Jacksonville Jaguars (2015–2016)
Pop Warner (LL.B. 1894, football coach) – football player and coach; founder of Pop Warner Little Scholars
Gary Wood (1964) – New York Giants 1964–1966, 1968–1969, New Orleans Saints, 1967

Ice hockey

Gary Bettman (B.S. 1974) – commissioner of the NHL (1993–)
Byron Bitz (2007) – forward for the Boston Bruins 2008–2010, Florida Panthers 2010–2011, Vancouver Canucks 2011–2012
Ken Dryden (B.A. 1969) – NHL Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender, six-time Stanley Cup winner, Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Calder Memorial Trophy winner, Canadian Member of Parliament
Colin Greening (2010) – Centre for the Ottawa Senators 2011–2015, Toronto Maple Leafs 2016–2019
Ned Harkness (lacrosse and hockey head coach) – Coach of Cornell NCAA hockey champions in 1967 and 1970; previously RPI coach of 1954 national champs; also head coach and then general manager of the Detroit Red Wings
David LeNeveu – NHL goalie, previously for the Phoenix Coyotes
Matt Moulson (2006) – left wing for the Buffalo Sabres, and previously New York Islanders and Minnesota Wild.
Douglas Murray (2003) – defenseman for Montreal Canadiens and previously San Jose Sharks and Pittsburgh Penguins, 2010 Olympian
Riley Nash (2007–2010) – centre for the Columbus Blue Jackets, formerly of the Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes, 2011–present
Lance Nethery – NHL player, executive in the German Elite League
Joe Nieuwendyk (1988) – NHL player, three-time Stanley Cup champion, 2002 Olympic gold medalist
Ryan O'Byrne (2007) – former NHL defenseman for the Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche
Rick Olczyk (Law 1996) – Assistant general manager of the Carolina Hurricanes
Joakim Ryan (2015) – NHL defenseman for the Los Angeles Kings and previously for the San Jose Sharks
Ben Scrivens (2010) – former NHL goaltender for the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers
Ryan Vesce (2004) – right wing for the San Jose Sharks, 2008–2010

Lacrosse

Mike French (1976) – All-American lacrosse player at Cornell 1974–1976, leading the "Big Red" to the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship in 1976
CJ Kirst (2025) – recipient of Tewaaraton Trophy (2025) and Lt. Raymond Enners Award (2025), three-time All-American, most career goals in NCAA Division I Lacrosse history (247), most goals in a single season in NCAA Division I history (82, in 2025), National Champion (2025)
Daniel R. Mackesey (1977) – received NCAA Top Five Award in 1978 for lacrosse and soccer; inducted into National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2006
Eamon McEneaney (1977) – All-American lacrosse player at Cornell 1975–1977, leading the "Big Red" to the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship in 1976 and 1977; died in the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center
Rob Pannell (2013) – professional lacrosse player for the New York Lizards; recipient of Lt. Raymond Enners Award (2013) and Tewaaraton Trophy (2013)
Max Seibald (2009) – three-time First Team All-American, recipient of Tewaaraton Trophy (2007)

Olympians

Jon Anderson (1971) – 1972 Olympian, track; winner of 1973 Boston Marathon
Karen Chen (2025) – gold medalist at 2022 Winter Olympics
Edward Tiffin Cook Jr. (1910) – men's pole vault Olympic gold medalist in 1908 Summer Olympics
Darren Eliot (1983) – NHL player, Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres; 1984 Olympian
Jamie Greubel (2006) – bronze medalist in two-woman bobsleigh at the 2014 Sochi games
Muhammad Halim (2008) – competed in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic games, triple jump
Albert Hall (1956) – four-time Olympian (1956, 1960, 1964, 1968), hammer throw
Rebecca Johnston (2012) – four-time Olympic medalist for Canada
Robert J. Kane (1934, director of athletics) – U.S. Olympic Committee president, 1976–1980; inducted into U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, 1986
Kent Manderville (1993) – NHL player, Calgary Flames, Pittsburgh Penguins; 1992 Olympic silver medalist with Team Canada
Edith Master (born 1932) – Olympic bronze medalist equestrian
Travis Mayer (undergrad 2000–01, on leave) – Olympic freestyle skiing silver medalist
Charles Moore (1951, director of Athletics, 1994–1999) – 1952 Olympic gold medalist (hurdles) and silver medalist (1600-meter relay); honored as Golden Olympian, 1996
Pablo Morales (J.D. 1994) – three-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming, 1984 and 1992
David Munson (1906) – four-mile team Olympic gold medalist in 1904 Summer Olympics; inducted into the Cornell University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988
Richard Pew (1956) – 1956 Summer Olympics, épée fencing
Harry Porter (1905) – 1908 Summer Olympics high jump gold medalist
Alma Richards (1917) – 1912 Summer Olympics high jump gold medalist
Bo Roberson (1958) – the only person to earn an Ivy League degree, an Olympic medal, a doctorate, and have a career in the NFL^[88]
Jamie Silverstein (undergrad 2002–2004, 2006–) – Olympic figure skater
Donald Spero – Olympic rower, world champion, and venture capitalist
Rudy Winkler (2017) - Olympic hammer thrower

Racing

Bill Jenkins – NHRA drag car racer
Teddy Mayer (J.D.) – motor racing team manager
Peter Revson – race car driver

Tennis

William Larned – seven-time U.S. tennis championship winner
Dick Savitt (born 1927) – tennis player, ranked No. 2 in the world

Wrestling

Kyle Dake (B.A. 2013) – freestyle wrestling Olympic Gold Medalist in 2020, World Champion (2018, 2019, 2021), World Cup gold medalist (2018) – four-time NCAA Division I individual national titleholder in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013
Joe DeMeo – U.S. Olympic wrestling assistant coach
Yianni Diakomihalis – freestyle and folkstyle wrestling, three-time NCAA Division I individual national titleholder in 2018, 2019, and 2021

Other

Bruce Arena (B.S. 1971) – five-time NCAA Soccer Championship coach at the University of Virginia; coach of Major League Soccer's D.C. United; coach of U.S. national team; coach of MLS's New York Red Bulls; present coach of MLS's Los Angeles Galaxy
Olivier Busquet – professional poker player
Clarence C. Combs Jr. – polo player, two-time winner of the Monty Waterbury Cup
Brian Hastings – professional poker player
Alexander Kevitz (1923) – chess master
Saurabh Netravalkar – cricketer^[89]
John Nickles (1986) – triathlete; winner of the World Champion Title in the 1999 Hawaii Ultraman World Championship; Ultra Marathon Cycling Association world record holder in 1994
Dave Sarachan – head coach of Major League Soccer's Chicago Fire (2002–2007)
Doug J. Smylie (attended and played football for Cornell) – Canadian football player (1945–1953), for the Toronto Argonauts, Montreal Alouettes and Ottawa Rough Riders
Donald Spero – rower
Jonathan Tamayo (B.S. 2008) – professional poker player
Carl F. Ullrich (B.S. 1950) – athletic director at West Point, 1980–1990; executive director of the Patriot League, 1989–1993
Dan Wood (Ph.D. 1977) – five-year Cornell golf and soccer coach (1970s); coached the Tacoma Tides, Colorado Caribous and Atlanta Chiefs; turned professional golfer in 1980

Crime

Nick Berg (undergrad 1996–98, transferred) – businessman beheaded by Islamic militants on May 7, 2004, during the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq
Leo Frank (B.S. 1906 engineering) – factory manager; lynched in 1915 for the alleged murder of a 13-year-old girl; later believed to be innocent; subject of the musical Parade
David G. Friehling (B.S. 1981) – accountant to Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff
Mark Gerard (D.V.M., 1962) – perpetrated horse racing fraud, switching horses' identities^[90]
Peter Huang (graduate study 1966–did not graduate) – political activist and failed assassin
Katrina Leung (B.S. 1976) – accused spy; case dismissed; later sentenced to terms of plea agreement
Robert Tappan Morris (graduate study 1988–89, suspended) – author of the Morris Worm, which crippled the Internet in 1988
Michael Ross (B.S. 1981 agricultural economics) – convicted serial killer executed in Connecticut on May 13, 2005
Michael Schwerner (B.A. 1961 sociology) – victim in the murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner by the Ku Klux Klan in 1964
Mark Whitacre (Ph.D. 1983 nutritional biochemistry) – highest-ranked executive in U.S. history of a Fortune 500 company to turn whistleblower and FBI informant; pleaded guilty to fraud

Other

Lisa Daugaard (M.A. 1987) – 2019 MacArthur Fellow and criminal justice reform advocate
Gregory K. Dreicer (Ph.D. Science and Technology Studies) – curatorial strategist, historian of technology, experience designer, exhibition developer, and museum manager
Eric Erickson (1921 engineering) – Swedish oil executive who worked for U.S. intelligence during World War II. Was the basis for The Counterfeit Traitor, a book and film
Jesse Root Grant (undergrad 1874–77, dropped out) – son of U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant
Anna Roosevelt Halsted (did not graduate) – daughter of U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt
Rutherford P. Hayes (B.S. 1880) – vice president and acting president of the American Library Association and third son of U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes
William H. Hinton (1941 agronomy and dairy husbandry) – farmer and writer
Genevieve Hughes (B.A. 1954) – one of the 13 original Freedom Riders^[91]
Zach Iscol (Government 2001) – entrepreneur, U.S. Marine, and 2021 New York City Comptroller election candidate
Imogene Powers Johnson (B.S. 1952) – billionaire and philanthropist
Carol Levine (B.A. 1956) – HIV/AIDS policy specialist and 1993 MacArthur Fellow
Ross Gilmore Marvin (B.A. 1905) – Arctic explorer with Robert Peary who died during their 1908–1909 expedition
Natasha Pickowicz (B.A.) – pastry chef and cookbook author
Stephanie Rader (B.A. 1937) – undercover intelligence agent and 2016 Legion of Merit recipient
May Gorslin Preston Slosson (Ph.D. 1880) – suffragist and the first woman in the U.S. to earn a Ph.D. in philosophy

Fictional alumni

Several movies, television shows, and novels have included fictional Cornellians. In television, Andy Bernard on The Office (2005–2013),^[92] Gary Walsh on Veep (2012–2019), Tom Kirkman on Designated Survivor (2016–2018), Mitchell Pritchett on Modern Family (2009–2020),^[93] Tom Wambsgans on Succession (2018–2023),^[94] Shane Patton on HBO's The White Lotus (2021 to present), and Deborah "DJ" Vance Jr. on Hacks (2021 to present) are Cornell University alumni.^[95] In films, Christina Pagniacci in Any Given Sunday (1999)^[96] and Natalie Keener in Up in the Air (2009)^[97] are Cornell alumni.

College and university leadership

Anthropology and sociology

Economics

History

Law

Philosophy

Political science

Founders

Chairpersons, CEOs, and executives

Film, radio, television and theatre

Music

Other

Heads of state

U.S. cabinet and cabinet-level ranks

U.S. governors

U.S. senators

U.S. representatives

Diplomats

Other U.S. government officials

State and local government

Non-U.S. governments

Supreme Court justices

Federal judges

State and local judges

Other judges

Lawyers

Chemistry

Physics

Peace, literature, or economics

Physiology or medicine

Baseball

Basketball

Football

Ice hockey

Lacrosse

Olympians

Racing

Tennis

Wrestling

Other

Notes

Bibliography

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