List of University of Pittsburgh alumni

This list of University of Pittsburgh alumni includes notable graduates, non-graduate former students, and current students of the University of Pittsburgh, a state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Arts and entertainment

Michael Chabon, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of *The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay*, *Wonder Boys*, and *The Mysteries of Pittsburgh*

Dilruba Ahmed – Bangladeshi poet and author
Geri Allen (A&S 1983G, faculty) – jazz composer, educator, and pianist^[1]
Hervey Allen (1915) – author, best known for Anthony Adverse
Olivia Anakwe (did not graduate) – fashion model
Joseph Bathanti (A&S 1976) – poet, writer, professor; NC Poet Laureate, 2012–2014
Peter Beagle (A&S 1959) – Hugo Award-winning fantasist and author of novels, nonfiction, and screenplays
Jeff Bergman (A&S 1983) – voice actor who provides modern-day voices of classic cartoon characters including Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck
Frank E. Bolden (BS 1934) – journalist known for his work as a World War II correspondent for the Pittsburgh Courier
DJ Bonics (2002, real name Brandon Glova) – radio DJ, hip hop DJ for Wiz Khalifa
Mark Bulwinkle (BFA 1968) – graphic artist and sculptor^[2]
Michael Chabon (A&S 1984) – Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, The Yiddish Policemen's Union, and The Mysteries of Pittsburgh
Murray Chass (A&S 1960) – award-winning baseball journalist for The New York Times
Michael Clinton – writer and photographer
Bill Cullen – host of many television game shows^[3]
Virginia Cuthbert (MFA 1934) – artist
Stephen Dau – writer
Jim Donovan – professional drummer and percussionist, best known as the former drummer and one of the founding members of the band Rusted Root
Morton Fine (MA, English) – screenwriter/producer, winner of the Writers Guild of America Award for The Pawnbroker^[4]
Sharon G. Flake (A&S 1978) – award-winning author of young adult literature
Jack Gilbert (A&S 1954) – award-winning poet^[5]
Lester Goran (A&S 1951, MA 1961) – author
Gabbie Hanna (A&S 2013) – YouTuber, singer-songwriter, author, and internet personality
Ernie Hawkins (A&S 1973; degree in philosophy) – blues guitarist and singer
Terrance Hayes (MFA 1997, faculty 2013–present) – poet whose books have won National Book Award for Poetry and National Poetry Series^[6]
Samuel John Hazo (A&S 1957G) – novelist, playwright, first poet laureate of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Paul Hertneky – writer
Frederick A. Hetzel – University Press publisher
Eddie Ifft – stand-up comedian, athlete (track and field, cross country)
John Irving – author of The Cider House Rules and The World According to Garp; recipient of an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and a National Book Award for Fiction (did not graduate)
Jero– Japanese pop artist known for fusion of hip-hop and enka
Nicole Johnson (Public Health 2007) – Miss America 1999 and diabetes advocate
Gene Kelly (A&S 1933) – Academy Award-winning dancer, actor, singer, film director, producer and choreographer, perhaps best known for performance in Singin' in the Rain
Chris Kuzneski (A&S 1991, MEDU 1993) – New York Times best-selling author
Jeanne Marie Laskas (MFA) – award-winning columnist, journalist, and author
Lorin Maazel (A&S 1954) – conductor, violinist, and composer, New York Philharmonic
Herb Magidson – lyricist, won first Academy Award for Best Original Song, in 1934
Kellee Maize – musician, rapper and hip-hop artist
Allison McAtee (A&S 2001) – actress, model, CSI: Miami, Life, Hell Ride, Bloomington
Bebe Moore Campbell (EDU 1971) – author and journalist
Jenna Morasca – actress, model and winner of Survivor: The Amazon
Laci Mosley (A&S 2012) – actress, comedian and podcaster ^[7]
Thaddeus Mosley (A&S 1950) – sculptor who works mostly in wood
Brett Murphy (A&S 2013) – member of Pulitzer Prize-winning team and individual finalist for the Pulitizer for journalism^[8]
Ethelbert Nevin – pianist and composer, left school after one year
David Newell (CGS 1973) – actor, Mr. McFeely on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
Beth Ostrosky – model, actress, and wife of Howard Stern
Barbara Paul (PhD) – writer
Susan Ressler (1971) – photographer
Ed Roberson (A&S 1970, faculty) – award-winning poet
Leo Robin (law degree) – composer and songwriter
Fred Rogers – host of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood^[9]
Zelda Rubinstein – actress best known for Poltergeist, earned bachelor's degree in bacteriology
Neal Russo – sportswriter for St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sporting News and Sports Illustrated
Justin Sane (A&S 1998) – singer, guitarist of punk band Anti-Flag
Julie Sokolow (A&S 2010) – documentary filmmaker, musician, and writer
Brandon Som (A&S 2002G) – Pulitzer Prize-winning poet^[8]
Jack Stauber – YouTuber, singer-songwriter, and animator most well known for his song "Buttercup" and Adult Swim collaborations
Robert Sterling – actor best known for Topper
Gerald Stern (BA, English) – National Book Award-winning poet
Bill Strickland – founder of Manchester Craftsmen's Guild, an agency that inspires teenagers through the arts; board member of National Endowment for the Arts; awarded MacArthur prize
Benjamin Tatar (bachelor's degree in English and drama) – actor^[10]
Alaska Thunderfuck (AS) (real name Justin Honard) – drag performer, musician, winner of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars
Regis Toomey (A&S 1921) – motion picture and television actor who appeared in over 180 films
Wang Xiaobo (MS) – writer

Athletics

Steven Adams – NBA starting center for Memphis Grizzlies
Britt Baker (DMD, 2018) – professional wrestler currently signed with All Elite Wrestling
Adam Bisnowaty – NFL football player for Carolina Panthers
DeJuan Blair – power forward for Dallas Mavericks; consensus first-team basketball All-American in 2008–09
Matthew Bloom – professional wrestler and San Diego Chargers football player
Antonio Bryant – wide receiver for Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Fred Biletnikoff Award winner
Clifford Carlson – Pitt basketball head coach, two national championships and one Final Four team ("Doc" Carlson received MD from Pitt)
Marcus Carr (born 1999) – basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
James Conner – running back for the Arizona Cardinals
Jason Conti – Major League Baseball player^[11]
Beano Cook – ABC Sports and ESPN sports commentator
Myron Cope – Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Steelers broadcaster
Hailey Davidson – defender for the Dallas Trinity FC
Mike Ditka – football player for Pitt and Chicago Bears, NFL coach, broadcaster, member of Pro Football Hall of Fame
Aaron Donald – All-pro defensive end for the Los Angeles Rams
Tony Dorsett – member of Pro Football Hall of Fame; Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award, and Walter Camp Award winner
Herb Douglas (Edu. 1948, 1950G) – bronze medalist in long jump at 1948 Summer Olympics
Larry Fitzgerald – wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals, Walter Camp Award and Fred Biletnikoff Award winner
Bill Fralic – Atlanta Falcons offensive lineman, member of College Football Hall of Fame
Marshall Goldberg (1917–2006) – two-time national champion and All-American, four-time All-Pro Chicago Cardinals running back and defensive back, member of 1947 NFL championship team, member of College Football Hall of Fame
Aaron Gray – former center for the NBA's Detroit Pistons
Hugh Green – pro football player; Lombardi Award, Maxwell Award, and Walter Camp Award winner
Bobby Grier – Pitt football player, first African-American to play in Sugar Bowl
Art Griggs – Major League Baseball player^[12]
Russ Grimm – four-time Super Bowl-winning offensive lineman with Washington Redskins, assistant coach of Arizona Cardinals
Mouhamadou Gueye – forward for the Toronto Raptors
Damar Hamlin (Class of 2020) – safety for the Buffalo Bills
Don Hennon – two-time All-American basketball guard and Helms Foundation Basketball Hall of Fame inductee
Craig Heyward – NFL running back
Dick Hoblitzel – Major League Baseball player for Cincinnati Reds and Boston Red Sox, MVP for the Reds^[13]
Chuck Hyatt – three-time basketball All-American (1927–1930) under Coach Doc Carlson, member of Basketball Hall of Fame
Russ Kemmerer – Major League Baseball player^[14]
Roger Kingdom (CGS 2002) – sprinter and hurdler, two-time Olympic gold medalist, former 110 m high hurdles world record holder
Billy Knight – ABA and NBA basketball player, GM of Atlanta Hawks
Andy Lee – football punter for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League^[15]
Dion Lewis – running back for the Tennessee Titans
Bill Maas – defensive tackle for Kansas City Chiefs and Green Bay Packers
Ken Macha – former Major League Baseball player and manager
Bob Malloy – Major League Baseball pitcher
Dan Marino – quarterback for Pitt and Miami Dolphins, member of Pro Football Hall of Fame and television commentator
Curtis Martin – pro football running back, fourth leading rusher of all time
Mark May – ESPN sports commentator, football player, Outland Trophy winner
LeSean McCoy – former running back for Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers
George "Doc" Medich – Major League Baseball player
Johnny Miljus – Major League Baseball player^[16]
Sean Miller – basketball player at Pitt and head basketball coach at Arizona
Bill Osborn (CGS 1989) – pro footballer, scout and color analyst
Sam Parks Jr. – pro golfer, won U.S. Open in 1935 at Oakmont
Johan Peñaranda – pro footballer, goalkeeper for FC Tulsa
Kenny Pickett – Philadelphia Eagles quarterback
Cumberland Posey (Pharm. 1915) – member of National Baseball Hall of Fame, player, manager, and team owner in Negro leagues, professional basketball player and team owner^[17]
Darrelle Revis – defensive back for New York Jets
Richard Rydze (MD 1975) – Olympic silver medalist in diving at 1972 Summer Olympics, men's 10 meter platform
Joe Schmidt – NFL player and head coach of Detroit Lions, 1967–1973
Marty Schottenheimer – head coach of four NFL teams
Jabaal Sheard – defensive end for the Indianapolis Colts
Trecia-Kaye Smith – long jump and triple jump, seven-time NCAA national champion, 15-time All-American, 4 national indoor titles, 2004 Olympics fourth place, 2007 IAFF Champion, named to USTF Silver Anniversary Team in 2007
Sal Sunseri – college and professional football coach
Jock Sutherland – Hall of Fame football coach, All-American football player; Pitt Professor of Dentistry
Steve Swetonic – Major League Baseball player^[18]
Joe Walton – head coach of New York Jets, 1983–1989
Dave Wannstedt – coach for several NFL and college teams, including University of Pittsburgh
John Woodruff (Col. 1939) – gold medalist in 800 meters at 1936 Berlin Olympics
Sam Young – small forward for Indiana Pacers; 2008 Big East Tournament MVP

Business

Marc Chandler, foreign exchange market analyst, writer, and speaker

Walter Arnheim – Mobil Oil executive, corporate and non-profit advisor
Susan Arnold (MBA, Katz 1980) – vice chairman of P&G, ranked 10th among the 50 most powerful women in business by Fortune
George Barco (Law 1934) – cable television executive who played a key role in development of the industry^[19]
Yolanda Barco (1949) – cable television executive^[19]
Erik Buell (ENGR 1979) – engineer, founder and chairman of Buell Motorcycle Company, a subsidiary of Harley-Davidson
Marc Chandler (MPIA, GSPIA 1985) – foreign exchange market analyst, writer, and speaker
George Hubbard Clapp (Ph.B. Col. 1877) – aluminium industry pioneer
Pat Croce (SHRS 1977) – entrepreneur, author, TV personality, and former president of the Philadelphia 76ers^[20]
Mark Cuban (did not graduate) – businessman and investor, owner of Dallas Mavericks NBA franchise
William S. Dietrich II (A&S 1980G, 1984G) – industrialist and philanthropist
Ning Gaoning (MBA, Katz 1985) – chairman of COFCO International Limited, 2009 CNBC Asia Pacific's Asia Business Leader of the Year
Joseph A. Hardy III (ENGR 1948) – founder and CEO of 84 Lumber and Nemacolin Woodlands Resort^[21]^[22]
Frances Hesselbein (UPJ) – president and CEO of Leader to Leader Institute, former CEO for the Girl Scouts of the USA, and Presidential Medal of Freedom winner
Dawne Hickton (1983 JD degree, school of law) – vice chair, president, CEO of RTI International Metals^[23]
Emmett Leahy (1910–1964) – archivist and entrepreneur, pioneer in the discipline of records management
Kevin March (CGS 1983, MBA 1984) – CFO and senior vice-president of Texas Instruments^[24]
Kevin G. McAllister (Mechanical Engineering) – EVP The Boeing Company, president and CEO Boeing Commercial Airplanes
Andrew W. Mellon (1874) – banker, philanthropist, U.S. secretary of the treasury, university trustee, donor, and founder of the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research
Richard B. Mellon (1876) – banker, philanthropist, university trustee, founder of Mellon Institute of Industrial Research
Thomas Mellon (Col. 1837) – founder of Mellon Financial, judge
Larry Merlo (Pharm BS 1978) – president and CEO of CVS Health
Arturo C. Porzecanski (MA 1974, PhD 1975) – 2005 Legacy Laureate, pioneer in emerging markets research on Wall Street, former chief economist at ABN AMRO
Al Primo (A&S 1958) – television news executive credited with creating "Eyewitness News" format^[25]
Art Rooney II (A&S 1978) – president and co-owner of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers
Brent Saunders (A&S, UCIS 1992) – CEO of Bausch & Lomb; former president of Schering-Plough Healthcare Products^[26]
Kevin W. Sharer (MBA, Katz 1983) – chairman of Amgen
Jagdish Sheth (MBA 1962, PhD 1966) – internationally recognized business consultant, author and educator
Sung Won Sohn – member of Council of Economic Advisers during Nixon administration
John A. Swanson (ENGR PhD 1966) – founder and retired President of ANSYS, innovator of finite element simulation software and technologies designed to optimize product development processes; winner of John Fritz Medal in engineering
Burton Tansky – president and chief executive officer, Neiman Marcus Group, Inc.
David Tepper (A&S 1978) – speculator, hedge fund manager; gave naming donation to Tepper School of Business, owner of the NFL's Carolina Panthers and the MLS's Charlotte FC.
Thomas Usher (undergraduate, master's and Ph.D degrees) – chairman of U.S. Steel and Marathon Oil;^[27] director of Extra Mile Education Foundation and Boy Scouts of America^[28]
David Wilstein (bachelor's degree in engineering) – real estate developer^[29]
Tung Chao Yung – Chinese shipping magnate, founder of the Orient Overseas Line (now OOCL), and owner of the largest ship ever built

Education

Bowman Foster Ashe (BS 1910, faculty) – first president of the University of Miami
Stanley F. Battle (M.P.H. 1979, PhD 1980) – educator, author, activist, leader of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Coppin State University and Southern Connecticut State University
Steven C. Beering – president emeritus, Purdue University and former dean of the Indiana University School of Medicine
Todd H. Bullard – former president of Potomac State College and Bethany College
Carol A. Cartwright – president of Kent State University, 1991–2006
Paul Russell Cutright – historian and biologist
Teresa Abi-Nader Dahlberg – 11th president of the University of Tampa
Helen Faison (BA 1946, MA 1955, PhD 1975) – first African-American, first woman to become superintendent of Pittsburgh district schools
Claire Finkelstein, professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School
Christine Fulwylie-Bankston (PhD 1974) – educator, writer, civil rights activist
Adam Herbert – president of Indiana University
Young Woo Kang (EDUC 1973G, 1976G) – special education expert; author; former policy advisor of National Council on Disability
Ambrose King (Yeo-Chi King) – former vice-chancellor of Chinese University of Hong Kong
Jacqueline Liebergott – president of Emerson College
Michael Lovell (ENGR 1989, 1991, 1994) – former chancellor of University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, president of Marquette University
Barry McCarty – former president of Cincinnati Christian University and national radio host
Jay F. W. Pearson (AB, MA, faculty) – former president of University of Miami
M. Richard Rose – former president of Alfred University and the Rochester Institute of Technology
Brian Segal (Social Work 1971) – publisher and former president of Ryerson Polytechnical Institute and the University of Guelph
Michael Slinger – director of law library at Widener Law, former president of ALL-SIS and Ohio Regional Association of Law Libraries
Peter Woolley (PhD, 1989) – political scientist, founder of PublicMind
Khodr Zaarour (MA, 1998) – professor of international relations; founder of the Muslim American Public Affairs Council^[30]

History

Leonard Baker (A&S 1952) – Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer
Paul Russell Cutright (PhD, faculty) – historian and biologist
Kenneth Sacks (AB 1969) – professor of History and Classics, Brown University

Military

Gust Avrakotos (A&S 1962) – CIA agent responsible for arming Afghan mujaheddin in 1980s
Samuel W. Black (A&S 1834) – colonel, hero of Mexican and Civil wars
Patricia Horoho (NURS 1992G) – Army's 43rd Surgeon General, commanding general of U.S. Army Medical Command
Nicholas P. Kafkalas (1949) – US Army major general^[31]
Thomas J. Lynch (Eng 1940) – Army Air Forces lieutenant colonel and a flying ace of World War II; Distinguished Service Cross recipient
Roscoe Robinson, Jr. (GSPIA 1965) – first African-American four-star general
James Martinus Schoonmaker – Civil War Medal of Honor recipient
Joseph "Colonel Joe" H. Thompson (Col. 1905, Law 1908) – Medal of Honor recipient, College Football Hall of Fame inductee
Boyd Wagner (Eng 1938) – first Army Air Forces fighter ace of World War II; Distinguished Service Cross recipient

Philosophy

Nancy Cartwright (A&S 1966) – MacArthur Fellowship-winning philosopher noted for her work in philosophy of science, philosophy of economics, and philosophy of physics
Patricia Churchland (MA 1966) – 1991 MacArthur Prize-winning philosopher noted for her work in philosophy of mind and neurophilosophy; associated with a school of thought called eliminativism or eliminative materialism
Stephen Hetherington (MA 1986; Ph.D. 1987) – philosopher noted for his work in epistemology, emeritus professor in the school of humanities and languages at the University of New South Wales
Sandra Mitchell (PhD 1987, faculty) – professor and chair of the department of History and Philosophy of Science
Holmes Rolston III (MS A&S 1968) – Templeton Prize-winning philosopher best known for his contributions to environmental ethics and the relationship between science and religion
Ernest Sosa (PhD 1964) – international leader in virtue epistemology, inaugural winner of the Rescher Prize in Philosophy

Politics, law, and activism

Hanan Al-Ahmadi (PhD 1995) – assistant speaker of the Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia
Ruggero J. Aldisert – judge on United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit; adjunct professor at School of Law
Roozbeh Aliabadi (MPIA 2008) – advisor to Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Iran and political commentator
Anne X. Alpern (EDU 1923, Law 1927) – Pennsylvania attorney general and Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice; first woman to serve as a state attorney general
W. Thomas Andrews (L.L.B. 1966) – Pennsylvania state senator
Eugene Atkinson – member of House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
Gust Avrakotos – case officer CIA; known for massive arming of Afghan Mujahideen in 1980s in Soviet–Afghan War, chronicled in book Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History by George Crile
Max Baer (A&S 1971) – justice on Pennsylvania Supreme Court (2003–present)
Derrick Bell (Law 1957) – law professor, first tenured black professor at Harvard Law School, dean of Oregon Law School
Michael Bilirakis – Republican member of United States House of Representatives
Samuel W. Black (A&S 1834) – seventh governor of Nebraska Territory
Henry Marie Brackenridge (Academy) – writer, lawyer, judge, superintendent, and U.S. congressman^[32]
Frank Buchanan – Democratic member of U.S. House of Representatives and Mayor of McKeesport, Pennsylvania (1924–1928 and 1931–1942)
Joseph Buffington (Col 1825) – two-term Whig member of the U.S. House of Representatives
Linda Drane Burdick (A&S 1986, Law 1989) – chief assistant state attorney at Orange and Osceola County State Attorney's Office in Orlando, Florida; lead prosecutor on State of Florida vs. Casey Anthony case^[33]
Ralph J. Cappy (A&S 1965, Law 1968) – justice (1990–2008) and chief justice of Pennsylvania Supreme Court (2003–2008)
Ben Cardin (A&S 1964) – U.S. senator from Maryland^[34]
Johnny Chiang (MPA) – Taiwanese politician who serves as the chairman of the Kuomintang, former penultimate minister of the Government Information Office, and member of the Legislative Yuan
Steven Choi (SIS 1976G) – mayor of Irvine, California (2012–2016)
Earl Chudoff (1932) – U.S. representative (1949–1958)
Robert J. Cindrich (Law 1968) – former U.S. attorney and US district judge
David I. Cleland (A&S 1954, KGSB 1958, faculty) – engineer and educator; the "father of project management"
Bill Cobey (EDU 1968G) – former U.S. representative from North Carolina's 4th congressional district, director of Jesse Helms Center
Harry W. Colmery (Law 1916) – author of G.I. Bill
Robert J. Corbett – Republican member of U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania^[35]
William Corbett (A&S 1924, Law 1927) – former acting governor of Guam^[36]
Father James Cox – U.S. presidential candidate in 1932 and labor activist
Adrian Cronauer (A&S 1959) – disc jockey, attorney, activist, basis for movie Good Morning, Vietnam; helped found WPGH AM radio station
Cornelius Darragh (Col. 1826) – U.S. district attorney for western district of Pennsylvania, abolitionist, Whig member of U.S. House of Representatives^[37]
Harmar D. Denny, Jr. (1911) – U.S. representative (1951–1953)
Eugene A. DePasquale (MPA 1997) – Pennsylvania auditor general^[38]
Patrick R. Donahoe – Postmaster General
James H. Duff (1907) – Pennsylvania governor (1947–1951), U.S. senator (1951–1957)
Charlene Dukes (M.Ed. 1987, Ed.D. 1992) – first vice chair of the Maryland Democratic Party
Harry Allison Estep (1913) – U.S. representative (1927–1933)
Lucy Fato (1988) – corporate attorney, executive vice president and general counsel for Seaport Entertainment Group^[39]
Tom Feeney (law degree) – U.S. representative
Jay Fisette (GSPIA 1983) – member of Arlington County, Virginia's Board of Supervisors
David Frederick – appellate attorney who has argued more than 50 cases before the Supreme Court of the United States
George W. Guthrie (1866) – mayor of Pittsburgh, 1906–1909; ambassador to Japan
Melissa Hart (law degree ) – U.S. representative, 2001–2007^[40]
Orrin Hatch (law degree) – U.S. senator, 1976–2018 ^[41]
David J. Hickton (Law 1981) – staff director and senior counsel to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, former U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, director and founder of the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Cyber Law, Policy and Security
Janice M. Holder (A&S 1971) – first female chief justice of Tennessee
Mark R. Hornak (EDU 1978, Law 1981) – judge for U.S. District Court
Frank Houben – Dutch provincial governor
Peter Huang (graduate school for sociology 1964–1966, transferred) – political activist and failed assassin
K. Leroy Irvis (Law 1954) – speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives; first African-American speaker of the House of any U.S. state legislature since reconstruction
William W. Irwin (Col 1824) – mayor of Pittsburgh and Whig member of U.S. House of Representatives^[42]
Mahmoud Jibril (MA 1980, PhD 1985) – head of executive team (interim prime minister) of newly formed National Transitional Council of Libyan Republic^[43]
Judith Krug (A&S 1962) – librarian and anti-censorship activist who co-founded Banned Books Week
William Lerach (undergraduate and law degree) – securities class-action lawyer; leading attorney in corporate and securities litigation cases including Enron, WorldCom and AOL/Time Warner
Roslyn Litman – successfully sued the NBA on behalf of blackballed player Connie Hawkins^[44]
Walter H. Lowrie (Col 1826, faculty 1846–1851) – chief justice of state Supreme Court^[37]
Wangari Maathai – 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner
Christopher Lyman Magee (1864) – powerful 19th-century Pittsburgh political boss
Wilson McCandless (Col 1826) – federal judge and candidate for Democratic nomination for president of the United States
Jonas R. McClintock – 8th mayor of Pittsburgh
Samuel J. R. McMillan (Col 1846) – Republican U.S. senator from Minnesota
Andrew W. Mellon (1874) – longest-serving U.S. secretary of the treasury (1921–1932), banker, philanthropist
Natalie Mihalek – Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives^[45]
Dalia Mogahed (KGSB 2004) – Muslim scholar
Jim Moran – Democratic member of U.S. House of Representatives
Clayton Morris (1999) – co-anchor of Fox and Friends on Fox News Channel
John Murtha (CAS 1961) – U.S. representative, 1974–2010^[46]
Susan Richard Nelson (Law 1978) – judge for United States District Court for the District of Minnesota
Dan Onorato (Law 1989) – chief executive of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania and former Democratic nominee for governor
Vjosa Osmani (Law 2004) – chairwoman of the Assembly of Kosovo, 2020–
Ralph Pampena (M.S. in Public Administration) – Pittsburgh Police chief, 1987–1990
Richard Pan (Med 1991) – California state assemblymember (2010–2014) and senator (2015–2022)
David A. Reed (1903) – U.S. senator (1922–1935)
James Hay Reed (A.M. 1872) – lawyer and U.S. federal judge
Rick Santorum (MBA) – U.S. senator, 1995–2007
Richard Mellon Scaife (A&S 1957) – conservative activist, newspaper publisher, philanthropist
Elmer Eric Schattschneider – political scientist and former president of the American Political Science Association
Bud Shuster (A&S 1954) – Republican member of U.S. House of Representatives (1973–2001)
Richard M. Simpson – Republican member of U.S. House of Representatives
Edgar Snyder (1966) – personal injury attorney
Jon Soltz (GSPIA 2010) – chairman and co-founder of VoteVets.org
Wilkins F. Tannehill (Academy student) – author, Whig politician, first mayor of Nashville, Tennessee^[47]
Richard Thornburgh (law degree) – U.S. attorney general, governor of Pennsylvania
Harve Tibbott – Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
Tshering Tobgay (ENGR 1990) – prime minister of Bhutan (2013–2018)
Debra Todd (Law 1982) – justice on Pennsylvania Supreme Court (2007–present)
James A. Traficant Jr. – convicted U.S. representative from Ohio
Aliyu Wamakko – former governor of Sokoto State in Nigeria (2007–2015)
Mary Jo White (J.D. 1967) – Pennsylvania state senator
William Wilkins – student in Pittsburgh Academy (forerunner to Pitt), U.S. senator (1831–1834); minister to Russia (1834–35); secretary of war (1844–45)^[48]
James A. Wright (1927) – U.S. representative (1941–1945)
Albert Wynn (A&S 1973) – Democratic member of U.S. House of Representatives
Joseph "Chip" Yablonski (1965) – attorney, NFL Players Association; son of murdered labor leader Joseph Yablonski
Faith B. Yisrael (BS, MPH 2004, DrPH 2007) – member of the Tobago House of Assembly
Young Woo Kang (master's and Ph.D degrees) – member of National Council On Disability
Chris Zurawsky (A&S 1987, GSPIA 2005) – journalist; director of communications and public affairs for Association of American Cancer Institutes; political candidate

Science, medicine, and technology

Vladimir Zworykin, considered one of the "fathers of television"

Engin Arık (MSc 1971, PhD 1976) – Turkish particle physicist who headed the Experimental High Energy Physics group at the Boğaziçi University
Harry Bisel (MD 1942) – pioneering medical oncologist, founding member of American Association of Clinical Oncology, American Society of Preventative Oncology and American Association for Cancer Education
Christine L. Borgman (SIS 1974) – information sciences scholar
Herbert Boyer (PhD) – biochemist; 1990 recipient of National Medal of Science; co-founder of Genentech
Margaret W. "Hap" Brennecke – NASA metallurgist^[49]^[50]
Jane A. Cauley (MPH 1980, DrPH 1983) – epidemiologist, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute^[51]
Jingguang Chen (Ph.D.) – Chinese-American material scientist
John Choma (ENGR 1963, 1964, MS 1965, PHD 1969) – professor and chair of Electrical Engineering-Electrophysics at University of Southern California
Bob Colwell (ENGR 1977) – electrical engineer, chief architect on Pentium Pro, Pentium II, Pentium III, and Pentium 4 microprocessors^[52]
William Hunter Dammond (ENGR 1893) – noted early African-American civil engineer who developed railway safety systems^[53]
Sidney Dancoff (MS 1936) – theoretical physicist known for Tamm–Dancoff approximation method and for nearly developing renormalization method for solving quantum electrodynamics
Lee Davenport (MS 1940, PhD 1946) – physicist responsible for development and deployment of SCR-584 radar system in World War II
Catherine D. DeAngelis (MD 1969) – pediatrician; medical educator; first woman editor-in-chief of Journal of the American Medical Association
G. Michael Deeb (A&S 1971, MD 1975) – cardiothoracic surgeon, Herbert Sloan Collegiate Professor of Surgery, and director of Multidisciplinary Aortic Clinic at University of Michigan Medical Center
Emilio del Valle Escalante (PhD 2004) – professor of Latin American/indigenous literature, culture and social movements at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Bernard Fisher (MD, faculty) – pioneer breast cancer researcher
Patrick D. Gallagher (MS 1987, PhD 1991) – physicist and 14th director of U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology, Chancellor of the University since 2014
George Otto Gey (A&S 1921, faculty) – scientist who first propagated the HeLa cell line^[54]
Kevin Guskiewicz (MS EDUC 1992) – sports medicine scholar and MacArthur "Genius" Fellow; among first to identify long-term threats to athletes of multiple concussions
David Halliday (A&S 1938, MS 1939, PhD 1941) – physicist known for textbooks Physics and Fundamentals of Physics
Ann M. Hardy (PhD 1983) – Epidemiologist known for her research in AIDs surveillance and tracking and her expertise in human subject ethics
Jacob Pieter Den Hartog (PhD 1929) – Timoshenko Medal winner for distinguished contributions to field of applied mechanics
Philip Hench (Med 1920) – 1950 Nobel Prize co-winner in medicine with Mayo Clinic colleague Dr. Kendall, for work on adrenal cortex hormones
Norman H Horowitz (A&S 1936) – geneticist, worked on genome organization and tests for famous one gene-one enzyme hypothesis, space scientist for Mariner and Viking missions to Mars
Abul Hussam (PhD Chem 1982) – inventor of Sono arsenic filter
Theresa J. Kaijage (PhD Social Work 2004) – Tanzanian NGO director and social worker known for HIV research and advocacy
Rosella Kanarik (PhD Math 1934) – mathematics professor
William Kelly – metallurgy graduate, industrialist and independent developer of Bessemer process
Ravindra Khattree (PhD) – statistician of Fountain-Khattree-Peddada Theorem fame; author and editor
Charles Glen King (MS 1920, PhD 1923, faculty) – biochemist noted for isolating vitamin C
Paul Lauterbur (PhD) – 2003 Nobel Prize winner in medicine for invention of MRI machine
Benjamin Lee (MS) – elementary particle physicist and head of Theoretical Physics Department at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Bert W. O'Malley (A&S 1959, Med 1963) – molecular endocrinologist and 2008 National Medal of Science laureate
Bennet Omalu (MPH 2004) – pathologist noted for discovery of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in football players while at Pitt
Peter Pusey (PhD 1969) – emeritus professor of physics at University of Edinburgh awarded Rhodia Prize for study of dynamically arrested particulate matter^[55]
Joan Redwing – professor of materials science and engineering and electrical engineering at Pennsylvania State University
Emily Rice – astronomy professor at City University of New York
Washington Roebling (not a graduate) – civil engineer known for work on Brooklyn Bridge^[56]
Michelle Rogan-Finnemore (BSc (Hons)) – geologist, legal expert, Antarctic program manager
John Wistar Simpson (MS) – pioneer in nuclear energy; recipient of Edison Medal
Rebecca Skloot (MFA) – freelance science writer, author, specializes in science and medicine
Mary Margaret Speer (PhD math 1935) – mathematician
Jesse Leonard Steinfeld (BS) – Surgeon General of the United States, 1969–1973
Lap-chee Tsui (PhD) – geneticist who identified defective gene that causes cystic fibrosis; president of HUGO, the international organization of scientists involved in Human Genome Project; former Vice-Chancellor of University of Hong Kong
William E. Wallace (PhD Chem 1941 & faculty) – physical chemist and Guggenheim Fellow who worked on Manhattan Project
Edward J. Wasp (A&S MS 1962) – Elmer A. Sperry Award-winning engineer and inventor known for developing long distance slurry pipelines
Cyril Wecht (A&S 1952, Med 1956, LLB 1962, faculty) – forensic pathologist^[57]
John Wheatley (PhD 1952) – Fritz London Memorial Prize winner known for his research on liquid helium-3
Jerome Wolken (BS 1946, MS 1948, Ph.D. 1949) – biophysicist^[58]
Wu Yundong (PhD 1986) – theoretical organic chemist
Nancy Zahniser (PhD 1977) – pharmacologist
Vladimir Zworykin (A&S PhD 1926) – inventor, engineer, pioneer of television technology, sometimes called "father of television"

Other

Dosia Carlson (PhD) – minister and hymnwriter
Lisa Mantini (BS) – mathematician
Marie Hochmuth Nichols (BS, MS GAS 1936) – influential rhetorical critic^[59]
Charles D. Provan (student, never graduated) – author of controversial books and articles on Christian topics and holocaust denial
Harry K. Thaw (never graduated) – murderer and son of coal and railroad baron William Thaw