This is a partial list of notable persons who have had ties to Columbia University. For further listings of notable Columbians see notable alumni at:
Columbia College of Columbia University
Columbia University School of General Studies
Columbia Law School
Columbia Business School
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University Graduate School of Education (Teachers College)
Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science
Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Columbia University School of the Arts
School of International and Public Affairs
See also: Notable alumni of Columbia Business School, Columbia Law School (Business and Philanthropy), Columbia College of Columbia University, School of Engineering and Applied Science (Columbia University) (Businesspeople) for separate listing of more than 155 businesspersons
His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Amedeo of Belgium(M.B.A.) - eldest grandson of King Albert II of Belgium and Archduke of Austria and Prince of Hungary
John Jacob Astor III - 19th-century real estate baron
Frank Lusk Babbott (LLB 1880) - jute merchant and art patron
Leonard Blavatnik (M.A.) - Russian-American businessman; founder, chairman and president of Access Industries
Warren Buffett (M.S., economics, 1951) - investor, president of Berkshire Hathaway
Ursula Burns (M.S., mechanical engineering, 1981) - CEO of Xerox Corporation (July 1, 2009–); first African-American woman CEO to head a Fortune 500 company
William Campbell (B.A., M.A.) - Chairman of the Board (incumbent as of 2009), former CEO, Intuit, Inc.; head football coach, Columbia University, 1974–79
Bennett Cerf (B.A. 1919, Litt.B. 1920) - founder of Random House
John B. Chambers (M.A., English literature) - deputy head of the Sovereign Debt Ratings Group; chairman of the Sovereign Debt Committee at Standard and Poor's
Leon G. Cooperman (M.B.A. 1967) - billionaire Chairman and CEO of Omega Advisors; former general partner, Chairman, CEO of Goldman Sachs Asset Management
Alexander Crutchfield-(M.B.A. 1984) international investor and financier; founder of Oasis Partners
Azita Raji (MBA 1991), investment banker, philanthropist, nominated ambassador to Sweden in 2014
Akio Shigemitsu (Shin Dong-Bin) (M.B.A. 1980) - Chairman, Lotte Group (2011–)
John Andrew Davis (M.B.A.) - business executive with numerous Fortune 500 companies; academic at some of the most prestigious business schools in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East
Lynn Forester de Rothschild (J.D.) - CEO of E.L. Rothschild (2002–)
Jason Epstein - editorial director at Random House
Stephen Friedman — Chairman of Goldman Sachs; National Economic Council director; chairman of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board
Mario Gabelli — investor
Michael Goodkin (M.B.A.) - quantitative finance entrepreneur; instrumental in development of computer program pricing of exotic financial derivatives and structured products
Noam Gottesman (B.A.) - billionaire, GLG Partners
Michael Gould (B.A. 1966) - CEO of Bloomingdale's
Joseph Peter Grace, Sr. (B.A.) - president and CEO of W. R. Grace and Company
Armand Hammer - President of Occidental Petroleum; internationalist; convicted for illegal campaign donations
Herman Hollerith (Engineer of Mines 1879, Ph.D. 1890) - founder of the Tabulating Machine Company, a predecessor to IBM
John Kluge - founder of Metromedia
Alfred A. Knopf (B.A. 1912) - founder of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Publishers
Robert Kraft (B.A. 1963) - owner of New England Patriots
Henry Kravis (M.B.A. 1969) - investment banker who invented the leveraged buyout
Sallie Krawcheck (M.B.A. 1992) - former Chairman, CEO of Sanford Bernstein; number seven on Forbes' 2005 list ofThe World's 100 Most Powerful Women
Randolph Lerner (1984) - CEO of MBNA Bank; owner of Cleveland Browns
Dan Loeb (B.A.) - billionaire, founder of Third Point LLC
Frank Lorenzo (B.A. 1961) - corporate raider
John R. MacArthur (B.A. 1917) - president and publisher of Harper's, the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the country
Michael Moradzadeh - founding partner, Rimon Law P.C.
Eric Ober - former President of CBS News division, and Food Network
Vikram Pandit (B.S. 1976, M.S. 1977, MBA 1980, Ph.D 1986, Trustee) - CEO of Citigroup
Mark J. Penn (Law) - worldwide CEO, public relations firm Burson-Marsteller; president of polling firm Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates
Wayne Allyn Root (B.A. 1983) - founder and chairman of Winning Edge International, inducted into Las Vegas Walk of Stars in 2006
David Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville (M.B.A.) - Chairman, CEO, J Sainsbury plc (1992–1997); Deputy Chairman (1988–1992)
Edwin Schlossberg (B.A. 1967, Ph.D. 1971) - founder and principal designer of ESI Design
David O. Selznick - movie producer
Robert Shaye (J.D. 1964) - CEO of New Line Cinema
Lawrence L. Shenfield (B.A. 1915) - advertising executive, philatelist
Richard L. Simon (1920) - co-founder of Simon & Schuster
Epaminondas Stathopoulo - founder and president of The Epiphone Company
Ken Shubin Stein (B.A.) - founder and Portfolio Manager, Spencer Capital Management
Joseph M. Tucci (M.S.) - Chairman, President, and CEO of EMC Corporation (2006–); former Chairman and CEO of Wang Laboratories
P. Roy Vagelos (M.D. 1954) - Chairman and CEO of Merck & Co.
Alan Wagner (B.A. 1951, M.A. 1952) - first president of Disney Channel; East Coast vice president of programming at CBS; radio personality; opera historian and critic
S. Robson Walton (J.D. 1969) - Chairman of the Board, Wal-Mart
Religion and ministry
See also: Notable alumni of Columbia College of Columbia University (Religious figures) for separate listing of more than 10 religious figures
Anthony Joseph Bevilacqua (M.A. 1962) - American Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church (1991–12); Archbishop of Philadelphia (1988–03); Bishop of Pittsburgh (1983–88)
George BonDurant - founder of Point University (1937) and Mid-Atlantic Christian University (1948)
Reuben Clark (J.D.) - prominent leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Jack Cohen (Ph.D.) - Reconstructionist rabbi, educator, philosopher and author
Elliot N. Dorff (Ph.D. 1971) - conservative rabbi
Ira Eisenstein (B.A., Ph.D.) rabbi; co-founder of Reconstructionist Judaism, along with Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan
John Patrick Foley (M.A.) - American Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church (2007–2011); President of Pontifical Council for Social Communications (1984–2007)
Herbert S. Goldstein (B.A., M.A.) - prominent rabbi and Jewish leader
Benedict Groeschel (Ph.D. 1971) - Catholic priest, author, psychologist; co-founder of Franciscan Friars of the Renewal
Joseph Herman Hertz (Ph.D.) - Jewish Hungarian-born rabbi and Bible scholar; Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom (1913–1946) during World War I and World War II
Arthur Hertzberg (Ph.D. 1966) Conservative rabbi; prominent Jewish-American scholar and activist
Mordecai Kaplan (M.A., Ph.D.) - rabbi; co-founder of Reconstructionist Judaism, along with Rabbi Ira Eisenstein
Archbishop Leontios of Cyprus - Archbishop of Cyprus (1947)
James Francis Aloysius McIntyre - American Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church (1953–1979); Archbishop of Los Angeles (1948–1970)
Thomas Merton (B.A. 1938, studied for M.A.) - 20th-century Catholic writer; student of comparative religions; trappist monk; poet; author of The Seven Storey Mountain
In Jin Moon (B.A.) - president of Unification Church of the United States (2009–)
Frederick Buckley Newell (M.A. 1916) - Bishop, Methodist Church
Paula Reimers (M.A. 1971) - rabbi
Henry Y. Satterlee (A.B. 1863) - first Episcopal Bishop of Washington (1896–1908); established Washington National Cathedral
Michael Schudrich (M.A. 1982) - Chief Rabbi of Poland
Mendel Shapiro (J.D.) - Jerusalem lawyer and Modern Orthodox rabbi; author of a notable halakhic analysis
Milton Steinberg (Ph.D. 1928) - rabbi and novelist
Diosdado Talamayan (M.A. 1970) - Archbishop, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tuguegarao (1986–) in the province of Cagayan on the island of Luzon, Philippines
George W. Webber - President of New York Theological Seminary
Hazen Graff Werner - Bishop, the Methodist Church
Jan Willis (Ph.D.) - African-American Buddhist and Buddhist scholar at Wesleyan University; called influential by Time magazine, Newsweek (cover story), and Ebony Magazine
Architecture, arts and literature
See also: Notable alumni of Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia College of Columbia University (Artists and architects; and Writers) and Columbia Law School (Arts and Letters) for separate listing of more than 90 architects, artists, and writers
Max Abramovitz (1931) - 1961 Rome Prize; designed Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, the United Nations complex, and the Assembly Hall
Aravind Adiga (B.A. 1997) - author of The White Tiger and winner of the 2008 Man Booker Prize
Mitch Albom (M.A., M.B.A.) - author, journalist, screenwriter, dramatist, Tuesdays with Morrie, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, For One More Day
Chester Holmes Aldrich (Ph.B. 1893) - architect and director of the American Academy in Rome from 1935 until his death in 1940
Jacob M. Appel (M.A., M.Phil.) - author (Creve Coeur) and playwright (Arborophilia, The Mistress of Wholesome)
John Ashbery (M.A. 1951) - poet; MacArthur Fellowship, National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle Award, Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
Isaac Asimov (B.S. 1939, Ph.D. 1948) - science fiction author, I, Robot
Paul Auster (B.A. 1969) - postmodern author, The New York Trilogy, Moon Palace (named after now-defunct Chinese restaurant near campus)
Carole B. Balin (M.Phil. 1994; PhD history 1998) - professor of Jewish history, author, Reform rabbi
Béla Bartók - musician, composer, pianist, and early scholar in ethnomusicology
Josh Bazell (M.D.) - novelist
James Blish - science fiction author; Nebula Award, Hugo Award; Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame (2002)
Helaine Blumenfeld (Ph.D. 1963) - sculptor working in Britain and Italy
Carlos Brillembourg (M.A. 1975) - architect
Jim Carroll - writer (The Basketball Diaries), poet, punk rocker
Jerome Charyn (B.A. 1959) - novelist
Jonas Coersmeier - award-winning architect and designer; finalist and first runner-up in the World Trade Center Memorial Competition
Teju Cole (M.Phil.) - novelist, author of Open City
Robin Cook (M.D.) - physician and novelist; novels combine medical writing with thriller genre; his books have sold nearly 100 million copies
John Corigliano (B.A. 1959) - musician, composer
Agnes Denes - conceptual and environmental artist; Rome Prize, works held in over 40 public museums, including the MoMA, Met and Whitney
Kiran Desai (M.F.A. 1999) - novelist, winner of 2006 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction and the Man Booker Prize, 1998 Betty Trask Award
E.L. Doctorow (graduate study) - author, National Humanities Medal; thrice winner, National Book Critics Circle Award; Ragtime, Billy Bathgate
Timothy Donnelly (M.F.A.) - poet, 2012 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award; professor at Columbia University
Alden B. Dow (B.A. 1931) - architect; known for his prolific architectural design
Pamela Druckerman (M.A.) - author and freelance journalist living in Paris, France
Louis Dudek (Ph.D.) - Canadian poet, academic and publisher
Clifford Percy Evans (B.A.) - architect based in Salt Lake City, Utah
Walter Farley (B.A. 1941) - author, The Black Stallion
Lawrence Ferlinghetti (M.A. 1947) - Beat Generation poet, founder of City Lights Bookstore
Amanda Filipacchi (M.F.A) - author, Nude Men, Vapor, Love Creeps
Rolf G. Fjelde (M.F.A.) - playwright, educator and poet, founding President of the Ibsen Society of America
Amanda Foreman - 1998 Whitbread Prize for Best Biography; author, one of The New York Times "Ten Best Books of 2011"
Allen Forte (B.A.) - music theorist; Battell Professor of Music, Emeritus at Yale University
Hal Foster (M.A. 1979) - art critic and historian; faculty at Princeton since 1997; Berlin Prize
Nicholas Gage (M.A. 1964) - author, Eleni, A Place For Us, Greek Fire
Paul Gallico (1919) - author, The Snow Goose, The Poseidon Adventure, The Silent Miaow
Federico García Lorca (1929–1930) - poet and playwright
Allen Ginsberg (B.A. 1948) - Beat Generation poet; National Book Award for Poetry for The Fall of America: Poems of These States
Louise Gluck - United States Poet Laureate (2003–2004), Pulitzer Prize, National Book Critics Circle Award, Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry, Bollingen Prize, William Carlos Williams Award
Philip Gourevitch (M.F.A. 1992) - recipient of the National Book Critics Circle Award, editor of The Paris Review
Edwin Granberry (1920) - writer of the Buz Sawyer comic strip
Bette Greene (B.A.) - 1975 Newbery Honor, 1973 Golden Kite Award, New York Times Outstanding Book Award, ALA Notable Book Award
Ismail Gulgee (engineering) - Pakistani artist noted for his paintings and Islamic calligraphy; qualified engineer
Elizabeth Hardwick (attended) - writer; co-founder of The New York Review of Books
Anthony Hecht (M.A.) - Pulitzer Prize–winning poet, United States Poet Laureate (1982–1984), 1983 Bollingen Prize, 1988 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, 1997 Wallace Stevens Award, 1999/2000 Frost Medal
Joseph Heller (M.A. 1949) - author, Catch-22
Henry Beaumont Herts (attended) - architect, known for theater designs
Daniel Hoffman (B.A. 1947, M.A. 1949, Ph.D. 1956) - poet, essayist, United States Poet Laureate (1973–1974)
Henry Hornbostel (B.A. 1891) - architect; designed more than 225 buildings, bridges, and monuments in the United States
Langston Hughes (engineering) - writer and poet
Zora Neale Hurston (B.A. Barnard; graduate study, two years, CU) - author, folklorist, anthropologist
Ely Jacques Kahn - commercial architect; designed numerous skyscrapers in New York City in the twentieth century
Rockwell Kent (B.A.) - painter, printmaker, illustrator, and writer
Maude Kerns (M.A. 1906) - pioneering abstract artist from Portland, Oregon, prolific on the East coast
Jack Kerouac (College 1940–1942; dropped out) - founder of the Beat Generation movement; author, On the Road
Keorapetse Kgositsile (M.F.A. 1971) - South African poet and political activist; South African National Poet Laureate in 2006
Benjamin Kunkel (M.F.A.) - novelist, founder of n+1
Leroy Lamis (M.A.) - sculptor and digital artist known for his Plexiglas sculptures
Ursula K. Le Guin (M.A. 1951) - author of science fiction, fantasy novels; 1973 National Book Award for Young People's Literature; five Hugo awards, six Nebula awards
Alan Lomax (graduate study) - ethnomusicologist, 1986 National Medal of Arts; 2000 Library of Congress Living Legend Award; National Book Critics Circle Award
Diego Luzuriaga (Ph.D. 1996) - Ecuadorian composer; 1993 Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowship for Music Composition recipient, composer of first Ecuadorian opera, 2006 recipient of the Eugenio Espejo National Prize.
Edward MacDowell - composer, professor of music
Patricia McCormick (M.S. 1985) - author for young adults; 2012 National Book Award (Young People's Literature), finalist
Carson McCullers - author, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
Terrence McNally - playwright; winner of four Tony Awards, an Emmy Award, a Rockefeller Grant, the Lucille Lortel Award, the Hull-Warriner Award
William March - author; highly decorated U.S. Marine; Company K, The Bad Seed
John Matteson (PhD.) - Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer (2008)
Kate Millett (Ph.D. 1970) - author of Sexual Politics, feminist and artist
Fereydoun Motamed (M.A. 1952) - linguist, Louis de Broglie award winner from the French Academy (1963)
Isamu Noguchi - sculptor
Georgia O'Keeffe (attended TC 1914–15, studied with Arthur Wesley Dow, TC 1916) - artist; Presidential Medal of Freedom, National Medal of Arts
Sharon Olds (Ph.D.) - National Book Critics Circle Award; T.S. Eliot Prize; Lamont Poetry Prize; Poet Laureate, State of New York (1998–2000)
Ron Padgett (B.A.) - poet; 2009 Shelley Memorial Award; member New York School
Campion A. Platt (B.S. Arch) - architect; on Architectural Digest's 2010 list of Top 100 Architects and Designers in the World
John Russell Pope (B.S. Arch 1894) - Rome Prize; designed the National Archives, the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC, the West Building of the National Gallery of Art
Antoine Predock (B. Arch.) - architect, Rome Prize (1985); AIA Gold Medal (2006), National Design Award (2007)
Richard Price (M.F.A.) - novelist and screenwriter
Gregory Rabassa (Ph.D.) - literary translator from Spanish and Portuguese to English; 2006 National Medal of Arts; inaugural U.S. National Book Award (Category Translation)
David Rakoff (B.A. 1986) - Canadian-born writer based in New York City; 2011 Thurber Prize for American Humor
Claudia Rankine (M.F.A. 1993) - poet; winner of the Jackson Poetry Prize; professor at Pomona College
James Renwick, Jr. (B.A. 1836, M.A. 1839) - Gothic Revival architect; designed St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York and the Smithsonian Institution Building in Washington, D.C.
Mark Rudman (M.F.A.) - poet; National Book Critics Circle Award in poetry
Karen Russell (M.F.A. 2006) - author, a National Book Foundation "5 Under 35" young writer honoree
Friedrich St. Florian (M. Arch. 1961) - Austrian-American architect; Rome Prize; National World War II Memorial, Washington, D.C.
J.D. Salinger - author, The Catcher in the Rye
Karenna Gore Schiff (J.D. 2000) - author, journalist, and attorney
David Serero (M.S. Arch) - French architect; Rome Prize
Vijay Seshadri (M.F.A. 1988) - winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
Robert Silverberg (B.A. 1956) - science fiction author; five Nebula Awards, four Hugo Awards, the prestigious Prix Apollo; 1999 inductee into Science Fiction Hall of Fame
Mona Simpson (M.F.A.) - novelist, essayist
Upton Sinclair - populist and Pulitzer Prize–winning author, The Jungle; presidential candidate
Laurinda Hope Spear (M.S. Arch 1975) - architect and landscape architect; Rome Prize; one of the founders of Arquitectonica
William Jay Smith - United States Poet Laureate (1968–1970); Rhodes Scholar
Robert A. M. Stern (B.A. 1960) - postmodern architect; Dean of the Yale University School of Architecture
Mary Stolz (1936–38) - writer of fiction for children and young adults; Newbery Honors (1962, 1966); 1953 Child Study Children's Book Award
Hunter S. Thompson - author, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas; creator of Gonzo Journalism
Melvin B. Tolson (M.A.) - Liberian Poet Laureate; central character (played by Denzel Washington) in the movie The Great Debaters (2007)
Wells Tower (M.F.A.) - writer of fiction and non-fiction, two Pushcart Prizes
Erica Simone Turnipseed (M.A.) - writer
Charles Van Doren (M.A., Ph.D. 1955) - author, English professor whose national disgrace was the subject of the Oscar-nominated film Quiz Show
Mark Van Doren (Ph.D. 1920) - Pulitzer Prize–winning poet
Eric Van Lustbader (B.A.) - author of thriller and fantasy novels; The Ninja; continuation of the Bourne series by Robert Ludlum
Eudora Welty (Business, 1930–31, hon. LHD 1982) - Pulitzer Prize–winning author, The Optimist's Daughter
Fred F. Willson (B.A. 1902) - architect, Bozeman, Montana; designed many buildings that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Hana Wirth-Nesher (M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D. 1977) - literary scholar and Professor of American and English Studies at Tel Aviv University
Herman Wouk (B.A. 1934) - Pulitzer Prize–winning author, War and Remembrance
George Wyatt (B.A. 1971) - sculptor
Mako Yoshikawa (B.A. 1988) - author, One Hundred and One Ways (1999), a national bestseller translated into six languages
Roger Zelazny (M.A. 1962) - science fiction author; The Chronicles of Amber series; three Nebula awards, six Hugo awards
See also: Notable alumni of Columbia College of Columbia University (Actors; Musicians, Composers, Lyricists; Playwrights, Screenwriters, and Directors) and Columbia University School of the Arts
Casey Affleck (B.A. 1998) - Academy Award-winning actor, Manchester by the Sea
Kathryn Bigelow (M.F.A. 1981) - two Academy Awards: director, producer, The Hurt Locker; 2010 Time 100; first female to win Academy Award for directing
Sidney Buchman (B.A. 1923) - screenwriter, won an Academy Award for writing Mr. Smith Goes To Washington
Elinor Burkett (M.A. 1988) - Academy Award-winning producer of Music by Prudence
James Cagney (upon the death of his father, dropped out) - two Academy Awards: Best Actor White Heat and Yankee Doodle Dandy; Presidential Medal of Freedom
Bill Condon (B.A. 1976) - Academy Award-winning writer, Gods and Monsters, Chicago; director, Kinsey and Dreamgirls
John Corigliano (B.A. 1959) - Academy Award; composer of classical music; 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Music; 2009 Grammy Award
Adam Davidson (M.F.A 1991) - Academy Award-winning director for Best Short Subject, The Lunch Date
I.A.L. Diamond (B.A. 1941) - co-winner of an Academy Award for writing The Apartment
Tan Dun (Ph.D.) - Academy Award-winning Chinese contemporary classical music composer; scores for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero
Dede Gardner - Academy Award-winning co-producer of 12 Years A Slave
William Goldman (M.A. 1956) - two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter; novelist, playwright
Oscar Hammerstein II (A.B. 1916, studied at Law School 1916–17) - lyricist and librettist; winner of two Academy Awards, two Tony Awards, two Pulitzer Prizes, and two Grammy Awards, including musicals such as the Pulitzer–winning Oklahoma!, The King and I and The Sound of Music; collaborator with Richard Rodgers
Howard Koch (LL.B.) - Academy Award-winning screenwriter of Casablanca
Jennifer Lee (M.F.A.) - Academy Award-winning co-screenwriter and co-director of Frozen
William Ludwig (B.A. 1932) - screenwriter; co-winner, Academy Award for Interrupted Melody (1955); founder of Screen Writers Guild (known now as Writers Guild of America)
Sidney Lumet (undergraduate studies interrupted by service during World War II) - Academy Award-winning film director (nominated five times)
Herman J. Mankiewicz (B.A. 1917) - won an Academy Award for co-writing Citizen Kane; older brother of Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Joseph L. Mankiewicz (B.A. 1928) - won four Academy Awards, including Academy Award for Best Director; younger brother of Herman J. Mankiewicz
Graham Moore (B.A. 2003) - won an Academy Award for writing "The Imitation Game"
Veronica Nickel (M.F.A. 2010) - Academy Award-winning co-producer of Moonlight (2016 film)
Edmond O'Brien (B.A., Drama) - Academy Award-winning actor, The Barefoot Contessa
Anna Paquin (on leave of absence, attended first year) - Academy Award-winning actress, The Piano and X-Men
Richard Rodgers (1923) - composer of musicals; winner of one Academy Award, 11 Tony Awards, two Pulitzer Prizes, two Emmy Awards and two Grammy Awards; one of two persons to win an EGOT and a Pulitzer, including the Pulitzer Prize–winning Oklahoma!, The King and I, and The Sound of Music; collaborator with Oscar Hammerstein II
Maureen Ryan (M.F.A. 1992) - co-produced Academy Award-winning documentary, Man on Wire
Franklin Schaffner (studied law, education, interrupted by service during World War II) - Academy Award-winning film director
Thelma Schoonmaker (studied for M.A.) - three-time Academy Award-winning editor for Raging Bull, The Aviator, and The Departed
David O. Selznick (G.S. 1923) - three-time Academy Award-winning producer of Gone with the Wind, Rebecca, and King Kong
Karl Struss (B.A. 1912) -Academy Award-winning cinematographer, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
Steve Tesich (M.A. 1967) - Academy Award-winning screenwriter, Breaking Away
Allie Wrubel (graduate study in music) - composer, musician, and songwriter, Academy Award ("Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah"); Songwriters Hall of Fame
AJ (에이제이) (current student) - singer, member of Korean pop group U-KISS
Emanuel Ax (B.A. 1970) - pianist, won Avery Fisher prize at age 30, won three Grammy Awards along with cellist Yo-Yo Ma; awarded John Jay Award by the University
Babydaddy, born Scott Hoffman (B.A) - member of the glam rock band Scissor Sisters
Ramin Bahrani (B.A. 1996) - director and writer Man Push Cart, Chop Suey, and Goodbye Solo
Chris Baio - musician, member of indie band Vampire Weekend
Mason Bates (B.A.) - composer of symphonic music; Chicago Symphony's Mead composer in residence (2010–12)
Rostam Batmanglij - musician, member of indie band Vampire Weekend
Will Beech (B.A., current student) - stage actor
Kelly Killoren Bensimon (GS 1998) - author; former model; former editor of Elle Accessories; cast member of The Real Housewives of New York City
Albert Berger (SoA 1983) - Academy Award-nominated producer of Cold Mountain, Little Miss Sunshine
Jeremy Blackman (B.A. 2009) - actor, Magnolia
Sorrell Booke (B.A. 1949) - actor, best known as "Boss Hogg" on the TV series The Dukes of Hazzard
Pat Boone (B.S. 1957) - singer and actor
Jesse Bradford (B.A. 2002) - actor
Joshua Brand (M.A. 1974) - Emmy Award-winning creator of St. Elsewhere, I'll Fly Away, and Northern Exposure
David Brown (M.A. 1937) - Academy Award-nominated film producer, Jaws, The Sting, Cocoon, Driving Miss Daisy
Cara Buono (B.A. 1993) - actress, Third Watch
Wendy Carlos (M.A. 1966) - composer and synthesizer pioneer
Vanessa Carlton - singer, songwriter
Soman Chainani - author of The School for Good and Evil
Lisa Cholodenko (M.F.A. 1998) – screenwriter and film director, Laurel Canyon, The L Word
Peter Cincotti - pianist, singer, songwriter, actor, model
Spencer Treat Clark (B.A. 2010) - actor, Gladiator, Mystic River, and Unbreakable
Ben Cooper - actor of film and television
Federico A. Cordero (M.A., economics) - guitarist of classical music
Joseph Cross - actor, Milk
Ossie Davis (GS 1948) - Golden Globe-nominated actor and activist, Do the Right Thing
Brian Dennehy (B.A. 1960) - actor, First Blood, Tommy Boy, Romeo + Juliet, Ratatouille
Brian De Palma (B.A. 1962) - movie director, Carrie, Scarface, Carlito's Way The Untouchables
R. Luke DuBois (B.A. 1997, M.A. 1999, D.M.A. 2003) - musician, composer/artist, member of the Freight Elevator Quartet
Todd Duncan (M.A.) - baritone opera singer and actor
Fred Ebb (M.A. 1957) - lyricist who collaborated with John Kander on such Broadway musicals as Cabaret, Chicago, Woman of the Year and Kiss of the Spider Woman and the soundtracks of Funny Lady and New York, New York
Peter Farrelly (M.F.A. 1986) - filmmaker, with his brother Bobby Farrelly, There's Something About Mary, Dumb and Dumber
Adriana Ferreyr - Brazilian actress
William Finley (B.A. 1963) - actor
Matthew Fox (B.A. 1989) - Golden Globe-nominated actor, Lost, Party of Five
James Franco (M.F.A.) - actor, Golden Globe Award; James Dean; Spider-Man trilogy; Pineapple Express, Milk
Dan Futterman (B.A. 1989) - actor, The Birdcage, Judging Amy
Bernard Garfield (M.A. 1950) - bassoonist and composer
Art Garfunkel (B.A. 1965, art history; M.A. 1965, mathematics; ABD) - Grammy-award winning singer, poet, Golden Globe-nominated actor, songwriter of Simon and Garfunkel
Allen Ginsberg (A.B. 1948) - Beat Generation poet, National Book Award for Poetry; The Fall of America: Poems of These States
Greg Giraldo (B.A. 1987) - comedian
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (attended four years in GS; did not graduate) - actor, 3rd Rock from the Sun, (500) Days of Summer
Lauren Graham (Barnard College; B.A. 1988) - actress, Gilmore Girls
James Gunn (M.F.A.) - film director (Slither); screenwriter (Dawn of the Dead, Scooby-Doo); novelist (The Toy Collector)
Jake Gyllenhaal (attended first two years) - Academy Award-nominated actor, Brokeback Mountain, star of Donnie Darko, Jarhead
Maggie Gyllenhaal (B.A. 1999) - Golden Globe and Academy Award-nominated actress, Crazy Heart, Secretary, The Dark Knight
Katori Hall (B.A. 2003) - playwright, journalist and actress; The Mountaintop
Ed Harris (attended first two years) - Golden Globe-winning and Academy Award-nominated actor, The Truman Show, A Beautiful Mind
Lorenz Hart - Broadway lyricist, collaborator with Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II; wrote such songs as "Blue Moon", "The Lady Is a Tramp", "My Funny Valentine"
Utada Hikaru (did not graduate) - Japanese pop singer; fashion model
Lauryn Hill (attended first year) - Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, musician
Nicole Holofcener (M.F.A.) - film and TV director, screenwriter, Friends With Money, Sex and the City, Gilmore Girls, Six Feet Under
Katie Holmes (attended a summer session) - actress
Famke Janssen (B.A. 1992) - actress, GoldenEye, X-Men
Jim Jarmusch (B.A. 1975) - filmmaker, Dead Man, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, Broken Flowers
Julia Jones (B.A.) - Native American actress, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
John Kander(M.A.) - lyricist who collaborated with Fred Ebb on such Broadway musicals as Cabaret, Chicago, Woman of the Year and Kiss of the Spider Woman and the soundtracks of Funny Lady and New York, New York
Jean Kelly (B.A. 1994) - actress
Alicia Keys (attended first year) - Grammy Award-winning singer, musician, composer
Simon Kinberg (M.F.A.) - screenwriter Mr. & Mrs. Smith, X-Men: The Last Stand
Ezra Koenig - musician, member of indie band Vampire Weekend
Joseph Kosinski (GSAPP) - television commercial and feature film director best known for his computer graphics and computer generated imagery work
Joel Krosnick (B.A. 1963) - cellist; member of the Juilliard String Quartet; chairman of Cello Department at Juilliard School
Robert Kurka (M.A. 1948) - composer, musician; the opera and instrumental suite The Good Soldier Schweik
Tony Kushner (B.A. 1978) - Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright, Angels in America
Claire Labine (M.F.A.) - head writer of Ryan's Hope, One Life to Live, General Hospital, Where The Heart Is, Guiding Light
Yves Lavandier - screenwriter, director (Yes, But...), script doctor and author of Writing Drama
Michael Lehmann (B.A. 1978) - director, Heathers, Hudson Hawk
Sean Lennon (attended) - singer and songwriter, son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono
Al Lewis (Ph.D. 1941) - actor, The Munsters; basketball scout; New York gubernatorial candidate; restaurateur
Yo-Yo Ma (transferred to Harvard University) - cellist
James Mangold (M.F.A. 1991) - filmmaker, Girl, Interrupted and Walk the Line
Robert Maschio (B.A. 1988) - actor, Scrubs
Kate McKinnon (B.A. 2006) - actress and comedian
Terrence McNally (B.A. 1960) - dramatist, winner of four Tony Awards, an Emmy, a Pulitzer Prize, and two Guggenheim Fellowships
Max Minghella (B.A. 2009) - actor, starred in Syriana and Art School Confidential
Greg Mottola (M.F.A. 1991) - film director, Superbad
Rachel Nichoadls - actress, model
Ronald Noll (B.A., M.F.A c.1950) - conductor, music director, and television music supervisor
Lena Park (B.A. 2010) - Korean R&B singer
Diane Paulus (M.A. SoA 1997) - 2013 Tony Award; director of theater, opera; Artistic Director, American Repertory Theater, Harvard University (2009–)
Amanda Peet (B.A. 1995) - actress, The Whole Nine Yards
Kimberly Peirce (M.F.A. 1996) - filmmaker, Boys Don't Cry
Anthony Perkins - actor, best known as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho
Martin Quigley, Jr. (B.A. 1939) - movie trade periodical publisher, author, politician, spy
James Rebhorn (M.F.A 1972) - actor
Paul Robeson (J.D. 1923) - Basso cantante concert singer, multi-lingual actor
Emmy Rossum (B.A. 2008) - actress, Shameless
Cameron Russell - fashion model
George Segal (B.A. 1955) - Academy Award-nominated actor, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Just Shoot Me!
Jeffrey Sharp (M.F.A.) - filmmaker, Boys Don't Cry, You Can Count On Me
Jenny Slate (B.A. 2004) - actor, former cast member of Saturday Night Live
Scott Smith (M.F.A. 1990) - author and screenwriter, A Simple Plan
Sarah Steele - actress, Spanglish
Julia Stiles (B.A. 2005) - actress, Save the Last Dance, Mona Lisa Smile
Richard Stoltzman (studied for Ph.D. in music) - clarinetist
Stephen Strimpell (B.A., J.D.) - actor, star of the cult television classic Mister Terrific
Rider Strong (B.A. 2004) - actor, Boy Meets World
Aaron Schwartz (M.F.A.) - actor, director and copyright lawyer in Toronto
Craig Timberlake (M.A.) - stage actor, opera singer, and later Columbia faculty member
Chris Tomson - musician, member of indie band Vampire Weekend
Darko Tresnjak (B.A. 1998) - theatre director
Claire Unabia (G.S.) - contestant in Cycle 10 of America's Next Top Model
Mario Van Peebles (B.A. 1978) - actor and director, New Jack City, BAADASSSSS!
Brian Weitz (B.A., M.P.A) - musician, member of band Animal Collective
Charles Wuorinen (B.A. 1961, M.A. 1963) - musician, pianist, and composer
Remy Zaken (B.A. 2011) - Broadway actress
Cinta Laura (B.S. 2014) - Indonesian actress, singer, and model
See also: Notable alumni of Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia College of Columbia University (Journalism and media figures; and Publishers), and Columbia Law School (Journalists) for separate listing of more than 175 journalists, media figures, and publishers
R.W. Apple (B.S. 1961) - Senior Correspondent, Associate Editor, former Washington Bureau chief, New York Times
Marcus Brauchli - managing editor, The Wall Street Journal
A'Lelia Bundles (M.A. journalism) - journalist
Greg Burke (M.A. journalism) - senior communications adviser with the Vatican's Secretariat of State (2012–)
Diann Burns (M.A. journalism) - television news anchor; nine-time Emmy Award winner
May Cutler (M.A. journalism) - Canadian publisher and journalist, founder of Tundra Books and the first Canadian woman to publish children's books
Jamal Dajani (B.A. Political Science) - Director of Middle Eastern Programming, Link TV, Producer of Mosaic: World News from the Middle East winner of a Peabody Award
Yuval Elizur (M.S. Journalism) - journalist; covers the Israeli economy, globalization, and economic warfare; author of 8 books
Max Frankel (B.A.) - executive editor, New York Times
Melissa Fung (M.A., journalism) - Canadian CBC News journalist
Nicholas Gage - investigative reporter, foreign correspondent, The New York Times (1970–80); journalist, The Boston Herald Traveler, The Wall Street Journal
Robert Giles - curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard
Caroline Glick (B.A. 1991) - American-Israeli journalist; deputy managing editor of The Jerusalem Post
Ken Hechtman - maverick journalist jailed by the Afghanistan's Taliban government as a suspected spy in 2001
Jay Irving - reporter, cartoonist; father of Clifford Irving who is best known for perpetrating hoax biography of Howard Hughes
Edward Klein (B.A., M.A. Journalism) - former foreign editor of Newsweek; former editor in chief of The New York Times Magazine; bestselling author
Leonard Koppett - sports writer, columnist, author
Steve Kroft - 60 Minutes; winner of three Peabody Awards and nine Emmy Awards
Robert Krulwich (J.D. 1974) - media journalist, Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award, Emmy Award, George Polk Award
Howard Kurtz (M.A. Journalism) - journalist and author with a special focus on the media; the nation's "most influential media reporter"
Joseph Lelyveld (M.A., Journalism) - executive editor, New York Times
Andy Levy - ombudsman, Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld, Fox News Channel
A. J. Liebling (M.A. Journalism) - journalist closely associated with The New Yorker from 1935 until his death
Thomas Lippman - journalist, author
Robert Lipsyte (B.A. 1957) - winner of an Emmy Award in 1990, host of The Eleventh Hour on PBS, correspondent for The New York Times and ABC Nightly News
Henry Demarest Lloyd (J.D.) - "the father of investigative journalism"
John R. MacArthur (B.A. 1978) - President of Harper's Magazine, political author
Cynthia McFadden (J.D.) - ABC news anchor, George Foster Peabody Award
John McWethy - five Emmy Awards, Overseas Press Club Award
Suzanne M. Malveaux (M.S.) - television news reporter; former White House correspondent for CNN
Gabriele Marcotti (M.A., Journalism) - football writer for The Times, The Sunday Herald, La Stampa, Il Corriere dello Sport, host of Five Live Sport on Fridays
Andrés Martinez (J.D.) - editorial page editor of the Los Angeles Times
Matthew Miller (J.D.1986) - columnist and author, The Two Percent Solution
John L. O'Sullivan - editor of the Democratic Review during the 1840s; coined the phrase "Manifest Destiny"
Martin Perlich - radio broadcaster and writer
Ted Rall (B.A. 1991) - editorial cartoonist, Pulitzer finalist, columnist, pundit, author of Revenge of the Latchkey Kids
Wayne Allyn Root - creator of Spike TV, Discovery Channel, CNBC; Executive Producer and host of Wayne Allyn Root's Winning Edge and King of Vegas; anchorman and host of Financial News Network
Claire Shipman (B.A. 1986) - Senior National Correspondent for ABC; winner of an Emmy Award]for her CNN coverage of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989; her work contributed to CNN winning a Peabody Award for its coverage of the Soviet coup attempt of 1991
Howard Simons - former curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard
Allan Sloan - seven-time winner of Gerald Loeb Award
Richard Smith (M.I.A., M.S journalism 1970) - CEO of Newsweek
Neil Strauss (B.A. 1991) - journalist; author of The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists
Sreenath Sreenivasan (M.S. 1993) - academic administrator, professor and technology journalist
Arthur Hays Sulzberger (M.S. 1993) - publisher of The New York Times (1935-1961)
Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Sr. (B.A. 1951) - publisher and businessman; former publisher of The New York Times; and chairman of the board of The New York Times Company
Ron Suskind (M.A. 1983) - journalist, author
Tiziano Terzani - reporter and correspondent
Dina Temple-Raston - NPR's counterterrorism correspondent
Liz Trotta (CSJ) - journalist, three Emmy Awards and two Overseas Press Club awards
Mariana van Zeller (M.A. journalism 02) - Portuguese journalist; 2011 Livingston Award; 2010 Peabody Award; 2009 Webby Award
Steven Waldman (B.A.) - political journalist; senior advisor to the Chairman of the United States Federal Communications Commission (October 2009–)
Richard Watts, Jr. - longtime theatre critic for the New York Post
Gideon Yago (B.A. 2000) - MTV News correspondent
John Ashbery (M.A. 1951) – National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle Award
John Berryman – National Book Award, Bollingen Prize
Karen Brazell (Ph.D.) – National Book Award
Robert Caro – National Book Award, two National Book Critics Circle Awards, Francis Parkman Prize
E.L. Doctorow – National Book Award, National Humanities Medal; three National Book Critics Circle Awards
Jason Epstein (B.A. 1949) – National Book Award; co-founded The New York Review of Books
Paula Fox – National Book Award (1983), Hans Christian Andersen Medal (known as the "Nobel Prize for children's literature")
Peter Gay (M.A. 1947, Ph.D. 1951) – National Book Award
Allen Ginsberg – National Book Award; one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s
Stephen Jay Gould – National Book Award, National Book Critics Award
Lillian Hellman (attended) – National Book Award, 1976 Edward MacDowell Medal and Paul Robeson Award
Herbert Kohl – National Book Award
Jerzy Kosinski (B.A. 1965) – National Book Award
Jane Kramer (M.A.) – National Book Award, Emmy Award for documentary filmmaking, National Magazine Award
Joseph Wood Krutch (M.A., Ph.D.) – National Book Award
Christopher Lasch – National Book Award
Joseph P. Lash (M.A. 1932) – National Book Award, Francis Parkman Prize
Ursula K. Le Guin – National Book Award, five Hugo awards, six Nebula awards
Oscar Lewis (Ph.D.) – National Book Award
Salvador Luria – National Book Award, Nobel Laureate
Bernard Malamud – twice winner of National Book Award, O. Henry Award
Ralph Manheim – National Book Award
Robert Nozick – National Book Award
Walker Percy (CUCPS, MD 1941) – National Book Award
Gregory Rabassa (Ph.D.) – National Book Award, National Medal of Arts (2006)
Robert V. Remini (M.A. 1947, Ph.D. 1951) – National Book Award; appointed Historian of the United States House of Representatives
Edward Seidensticker (M.A.) – National Book Award
Francis Steegmuller (B.A. 1927) – twice winner of National Book Award
Gerald Stern (M.A. 1949) – National Book Award, Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize
T.J. Stiles (Ph.D. ABD) – National Book Award (2009)
William Troy – National Book Award
Tim Weiner (M.A.) – National Book Award (2007)
Eudora Welty – National Book Award, Presidential Medal of Freedom, National Medal of Arts
Hans Zinsser (A.B. 1899, A.M. 1903, M.D. 1903) – National Book Award; bacteriologist and immunologist
Leroy F. Aarons – Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Reporting (shared)
Elie Abel – Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting (shared)
Herbert Agar – Pulitzer Prize for History
Ayad Akhtar – 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
John Ashbery – Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle Award
Dean Baquet (B.A. 1978) – Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting (1988); managing editor for news operations, The New York Times
William M. Beecher (M.S.) – Pulitzer Prize–winning former Washington correspondent for the Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal, New York Times
John Berryman – Pulitzer Prize for poetry
Katherine Boo – Pulitzer Prize for Public Service
Louis Bromfield – Pulitzer Prize for Early Autumn
Ethan Bronner – Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism
Geraldine Brooks – Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Edwin Burrows – Pulitzer Prize for History in 1999 for the book Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898
Robert Neil Butler – Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction
Robert Campbell – Pulitzer Prize–winning architectural critic
Robert Caro – twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography
Hodding Carter – Pulitzer Prize for his editorials
Margaret Clapp – Pulitzer Prize for Biography
Robert Coles (M.D.) – Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction (1973); Presidential Medal of Freedom, National Humanities Medal
John Corigliano – Pulitzer Prize for Music, Academy Award, Grammy Award
Holland Cotter (M.Phil) – Pulitzer Prize for Criticism (2009)
Richard Ben Cramer – Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting
Lawrence A. Cremin – Pulitzer Prize for History, Bancroft Prize
Justin Davidson – Pulitzer Prize for Criticism
Bob Drogin – Pulitzer Prize for Public Service
Will Durant – Pulitzer Prize for Literature, Presidential Medal of Freedom
Jim Dwyer – twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize (for Commentary and for Spot News Reporting)
Jesse Eisinger (B.A. 1992) – 2011 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting
Andrea Elliott – Pulitzer Prize (2007); reporter, New York Times
Eric Foner – 2011 Pulitzer Prize for History, Lincoln Prize, and twice winner of the Bancroft Prize
Sue Fox (M.S. 1998) – Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting (2004)
Glenn Frankel – Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting, author
Max Frankel – Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting
Robert Giles – twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize (under his editorship), current curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard
Louise Gluck – 12th U.S.[Poet Laureate, Pulitzer Prize, National Book Critics Circle Award, Bollingen Prize
Juan Gonzalez – Pulitzer Prize, George Polk Award
Charles Gordone – Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Oscar Hammerstein II – twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize
Anthony Hecht – U.S. Poet Laureate, Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, Bollingen Prize, Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, Frost Medal
Ellis Henican (CSL) – Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Reporting (shared) (1992)
Marguerite Higgins – first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting (1951)
Jim Hoagland – twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize (for International Reporting and for Commentary)
Richard Hofstader – twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize (for History and General Non-Fiction)
Michael Holley – Pulitzer Prize for Meritorious Public Service (team)
Tony Horwitz – Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting
Richard Howard – Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, American Book Award, Pen Translation Prize
Nigel Jaquiss – 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting
Margo Jefferson – Pulitzer Prize for Criticism
William Jorden – Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting (shared) and U.S. Ambassador to Panama
Frederick Kempe – twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize (both team)
Glenn Kessler – twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize (for Spot News Reporting)
Tom Kitt – Pulitzer Prize for Drama; Tony Award
Carolyn Kizer – Pulitzer Prize, poet, three-time winner of the Pushcart Prize, Frost Medal
Edward Kleban – Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Tony Award, Drama Desk Award
David Kocieniewski (M.A. Journalism 1986) – 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting
Tony Kushner – Pulitzer Prize for Drama, two Tony Awards, Emmy Award, Whiting Writers' Award
Joseph P. Lash (M.A. 1932) – Pulitzer Prize for Biography (1972)
Joseph Lelyveld – Pulitzer Prize, journalist
Leonard Levy (Ph.D.) – 1969 Pulitzer Prize for History
David Levering Lewis – twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography, Bancroft Prize, Francis Parkman Prize
Steve Liesman – Pulitzer Prize (team leader) for International Reporting
Steve Lohr (JRN 1975) – 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting
Zhou Long – 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Music
Carleton Mabee (Ph.D) – 1944 Pulitzer Prize for Biography
Bernard Malamud – Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, O. Henry Award
John Matteson – Pulitzer Prize for Biography
Terrence McNally – Pulitzer Prize, four Tony Awards, Emmy Award, four Drama Desk Awards, two Obie Awards
Eileen McNamara – Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Reporting, Yankee Quill Award
Louis Menand – Pulitzer Prize for History, Francis Parkman Prize
Steven Millhauser – Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Paul Moravec – Pulitzer Prize for Music
Tad Mosel – Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Amy Ellis Nutt (M.A.) – 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing
Mirta Ojito – Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting
Sharon Olds – 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
Dele Olojede – Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting, first African-born winner of the Pulitzer prize
Tim Page – Pulitzer Prize, music critic
Gregory Pardlo - 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
Michael Pupin – Pulitzer Prize, physicist
Matt Richtel – 2010 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting
Richard Rodgers – twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize
Carlos P. Romulo – Pulitzer Prize in Correspondence
Wendy Ruderman – 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting
Morrie Ryskind – Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Eli Sanders (1999) – 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing
Carl Emil Schorske – Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction
William Schuman – Pulitzer Prize for Music, president of the Juilliard School of Music, president of Lincoln Center
Louis Simpson – Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, Prix de Rome
Upton Sinclair – Pulitzer Prize, wrote over 90 books in many genres, his novel Oil! was the basis of There Will Be Blood (2007)
R. Jeffrey Smith – Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting
Tracy K. Smith (M.F.A. 1997) – 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry; 2006 James Laughlin Award; 2005 Whiting Writers' Award
Paul Starr – Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction, Bancroft Prize, Goldsmith Book Prize
T.J. Stiles – 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Biography
Ron Suskind – Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing
William Taubman – Pulitzer Prize for Biography, National Book Critics Circle Award
Edwin Way Teale – Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction
Allan Temko – Pulitzer Prize, architectural critic
John Kennedy Toole – Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Anne Tyler – Pulitzer Prize (Breathing Lessons), National Book Critics Circle Award (The Accidental Tourist)
Irwin Unger – Pulitzer Prize for History
Carl Clinton Van Doren – Pulitzer Prize, biographer
Mark Van Doren – Pulitzer Prize
Bill Vlasic (JRN 1982) – 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting
Mike Wallace – Pulitzer Prize for History
Charles Warren – Pulitzer Prize for History
Tim Weiner – Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting
Eudora Welty – Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Presidential Medal of Freedom, National Medal of Arts
Damon Winter (B.A.) – Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography (2009)
C. Vann Woodward (M.A. 1932) – Pulitzer Prize for History, Bancroft Prize
Herman Wouk – Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Charles Wuorinen – Pulitzer Prize for Music, Guggenheim Fellowships
Brian Yorkey – 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama; 2009 Tony Award for Best Score
The following alumni are fellows of the MacArthur Fellows Program (known as the "genius grant") from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. As this is an interdisciplinary award, fellows are listed here as well as in their fields of accomplishment.
John Ashbery (M.A. 1951) - poet; MacArthur Fellowship
Jacqueline K. Barton (Ph.D. 1979) - chemist; 1991 MacArthur Fellowship
Terry Belanger (M.A., 1964; Ph.D. 1970) - historian; history of books, manuscripts, and related objects; 2005 MacArthur Fellowship; founding director of Rare Book School
Edet Belzberg (M.A., 1957) - documentary filmmaker; 2005 MacArthur Fellowship; won Special Jury Prize, Sundance Film Festival (2001)
Paul Berman (M.A.) - leading writer on politics and literature; MacArthur Fellowship
Seweryn Bialer (Ph.D.) - political scientist; 1983 MacArthur Fellowship
Katherine Boo (B.A.) - journalist and author; 2002 MacArthur Fellowship
Rogers Brubaker (Ph.D. 1990) - sociologist; 1994 MacArthur Fellowship
Robert Coles (M.D. 1954) - author, child psychiatrist, and professor at Harvard University; 1981 MacArthur Fellowship
Wafaa El-Sadr (MPH) - infectious disease physician; 2008 MacArthur Fellowship; 2009 Rolling Stone's "100 People Who Are Changing America," Scientific American's "10: Guiding Science for Humanity" and Utne Reader's “50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World”
Irving Feldman (M.A. 1953) - poet and professor of English; 1992 MacArthur Fellowship
Randall Forsberg (B.A.) - expert in defense and disarmament as used for promoting democratic institutions; 1983 MacArthur Fellowship
Stephen Jay Gould (Ph.D. 1967) - paleontologist, author; 1981 MacArthur Fellowship; Linnean Society of London's Darwin–Wallace Medal (2008); Paleontological Society Medal (2002); Charles Schuchert Award (1975); Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science (twice – 1983, 1990)
Rosanne Haggerty (M.A. Arch.) - housing and community development leader; 2001 MacArthur Fellowship
Shirley Heath (Ph.D. 1970) - linguistic anthropologist; 1984 MacArthur Fellowship]
John Hollander (B.A.) - poet, 1990 MacArthur Fellowship, Bollingen Prize (1983); Poet Laureate, State of Connecticut (2006–2011)
Richard Howard (B.A. 1951) - poet, literary critic, essayist, translator; MacArthur Fellowship; PEN Translation Prize; Poet Laureate, State of New York (1994–97)
David Keightley (Ph.D.) - sinologist, historian; 1986 MacArthur Fellowship
Harlan Lane (B.S., M.S. 1958) - psychologist; 1991 MacArthur Fellowship
Lawrence W. Levine (M.A., Ph.D.) - historian; 1983 MacArthur Fellowship
David Levering Lewis (M.A. 1959) - Professor of History; MacArthur Fellowship
Ralph Manheim - English translator of major German, French works; 1983 MacArthur Fellowship; PEN Translation Prize (1964); PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation
Campbell McGrath (M.F.A. 1988) - poet; MacArthur Fellowship; Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, Pushcart Prize, three Academy of American Poets Prizes
Dinaw Mengestu (M.F.A.) - novelist and writer; 2012 MacArthur Fellowship
Richard A. Muller (B.A.) - physicist; 1982 MacArthur Fellowship; known for astrophysics, radioisotope dating, optics and climate change
Pepon Osorio (M.A. 1985) - Latino artist; 1999 MacArthur Fellowship
George Oster (Ph.D.) - mathematical biologist; 1984 MacArthur Fellowship
Rosalind P. Petchesky (Ph.D.) - political scientist; 1995 MacArthur Fellowship
Terry Plank (Ph.D. 1993) - geologist, volcanologist and professor, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory; 2012 MacArthur Fellowship
Anna Curtenius Roosevelt (Ph.D.) - archaeologist; 1988 MacArthur Fellowship; Curator of Archaeology, Field Museum (1991–02)
Meyer Schapiro (B.A., Ph.D.) - Lithuanian-born American art historian; MacArthur Fellowship; known for forging new art historical methodologies
Stephen Schneider (B.S. 1967, Ph.D., mechanical engineering, plasma physics, 1971) - environmental biologist, climatologist; 1992 MacArthur Fellowship; Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to which Schneider made significant contributions, shared in the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize
Carl Emil Schorske (B.A. 1936) - cultural historian; 1981 MacArthur Fellowship
Ricardo Scofidio (M.Arch. 1960) - founder, principal, Diller Scofidio + Renfro; in 1991, one of the first architects to win MacArthur Prize "genius grant"
Sally Temple (postdoctoral fellowship) - developmental neuroscientist; innovator in field of stem cells, specifically neural stem cells; 2008 MacArthur Fellowship
Camilo José Vergara (M.A. 1977, Ph.D. not yet awarded) - writer, photographer, documentarian; 2002 MacArthur Fellowship; 2010 Berlin Prize
Alisa Weilerstein (B.A. 2004) - cellist; 2011 MacArthur Fellowship
Anders Winroth (M.A., Ph.D.) - professor of medieval history, Yale; 2003 MacArthur Fellowship
Irene J. Winter (Ph.D.) - art historian; 1983 MacArthur Fellowship
Lawrence S. Wittner (B.A. 1962; Ph.D., in history, 1967) historian; MacArthur Fellowship
Eric Wolf (Ph.D.) - anthropologist; MacArthur Fellowship
Charles Wuorinen (B.A. 1961, M.A. 1963) - composer; 1985 MacArthur Fellowship
Jan Drewes Achenbach (post-doc research) - mechanical engineer; National Medal of Science (2005)
Fay Ajzenberg-Selove (M.D. 1904) - German-American physicist; recipient, 2007 National Medal of Science
Kenneth Arrow (M.S., Ph.D.) - economist; National Medal of Science (2004), John Bates Clark Medal (1957), von Neumann Theory Prize (1986); Arrow's impossibility theorem
Francisco J. Ayala (Ph.D. 1964) - evolutionary biologist and geneticist, National Medal of Science (2001)
John Backus (B.S., mathematics, 1949) - co-inventor of Fortran programming language, National Medal of Science (1975), ACM Turing Award, Draper Prize
Jacqueline K. Barton (Ph.D. 1979) - chemist; National Medal of Science (2011); NSF Waterman Award (1985), ACS Gibbs Medal (2006), Weizmann Women & Science Award
Baruj Benacerraf (B.S.) - Venezuelan immunologist, National Medal of Science
Konrad Emil Bloch (Ph.D. 1938) - biochemist; 1988 National Medal of Science
Wallace Smith Broecker (B.S. 1953, Ph.D. 1958) - Crafoord Prize in Geoscience, National Medal of Science
Shu Chien (Ph.D. 1957) - biological scientist, engineer; National Medal of Science; National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Mildred Cohn (M.S., Ph.D.) - biochemist, National Medal of Science
Daniel C. Drucker (B.S., M.S., Ph.D. 1939) - mechanical engineer; authority on theory of plasticity; National Medal of Science; Timoshenko Medal; Drucker Medal
Val Logsdon Fitch (Ph.D.) - nuclear physicist, National Medal of Science
Milton Friedman (Ph.D. 1946) - economist; John Bates Clark Medal (1951); National Medal of Science (1988); Presidential Medal of Freedom (1988)
James Glimm (Ph.D.) - mathematical physicist, National Medal of Science, Priestley Medal
Louis Plack Hammett (Ph.D.) - physical chemist; creator, Hammett equation, Curtin-Hammett principle; National Medal of Science, Priestley Medal
Michael Heidelberger (B.S., Ph.D. 1911) - immunologist, Lasker Award, National Medal of Science
Roald Hoffman (B.S. 1958) - chemist, National Medal of Science
Elvin A. Kabat (Ph.D.) - biomedical scientist; National Medal of Science; one of the founding fathers of modern quantitative immunochemistry
Rudolf E. Kálmán (Ph.D. 1957) - electrical engineer, mathematical systems theorist; National Medal of Science; Kyoto Prize; IEEE Medal of Honor
Joshua Lederberg (B.S.) - molecular biologist; National Medal of Science (1989), Presidential Medal of Freedom (2006)
Leon M. Lederman (Ph.D.) - experimental physicist, National Medal of Science, Presidential Medal of Freedom
Robert Lefkowitz (B.A. 1962, M.D. 1966) - physician, Shaw Prize, National Medal of Science
Raymond D. Mindlin (B.A., B.S., C.E., Ph.D.) - mechanician, National Medal of Science, Presidential Medal for Merit
Walter Munk (undergrad attendee) - physical oceanographer; Crafoord Prize in Geoscience; National Medal of Science, Kyoto Prize, Vetlesen Prize
Frank Press (M.A., Ph.D.) - geophysicist, National Medal of Science
Julian Schwinger (B.A., M.D.) - theoretical physicist, National Medal of Science
Warren G. Smirl, M.D. - general surgeon
Alfred Sturtevant (Ph.D.) - geneticist, National Medal of Science
Patrick Suppes (Ph.D. 1950) - philosopher, 1990 National Medal of Science; contributions to philosophy of science, theory of measurement, foundations of quantum mechanics
John G. Trump (M.S.) - high-voltage engineer and physicist; National Medal of Science; National Academy of Engineering
Harold Varmus (M.D. 1941) - Director, National Institutes of Health; Nobel Laureate; National Medal of Science; president and CEO of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Evelyn M. Witkin (Ph.D.) - geneticist; National Medal of Science; National Academy of Sciences; Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal
Jan Drewes Achenbach (post-doc research) - mechanical engineer; 2003 National Medal of Technology; ASME Medal
Edwards Deming (faculty 1988–93) - statistician; 1987 National Medal of Technology
Walter Lincoln Hawkins (postgraduate research) - chemical engineer, chemist; 1992 National Medal of Technology; first African-American member, National Academy of Engineering; National Inventors Hall of Fame
Robert Ledley (B.S., M.S. 1950) - professor of physiology and biophysics; 1997 National Medal of Technology; National Inventors Hall of Fame; pioneered use of electronic digital computers in biology and medicine; research lead to invention of whole-body CT scanner;
Arun Netravali (faculty) - computer engineer; 2001 National Medal of Technology; 1991 IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal; President of Bell Laboratories (1999-2001) and former Chief Scientist for Lucent Technologies
See also: Notable alumni of Columbia College of Columbia University (Scientists and inventors) for additional listing of more than 28 scientists and inventors, Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science for additional listing of more than 55 scientists, engineers, computer scientists and inventors, and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons for additional listing of more than 100 physicians
Saul Amarel (M.S. 1953, Ph.D. 1955) - computer scientist and pioneer in artificial intelligence
Roy Chapman Andrews (M.A.) - dinosaur bone hunter; Cover of Time Magazine, October 29, 1923
Virginia Apgar (M.D. 1933) - effectively founded the field of neonatology; created the Apgar score used to evaluate the health of newborn babies
Edwin Howard Armstrong (B.S. 1913) - inventor of radio circuitry such as the regenerative circuit and FM radio; pioneer in feedback amplifiers; first Institute of Radio Engineers (now IEEE Medal of Honor); 1941 Franklin Medal, 1942 Edison Medal; National Inventors Hall of Fame
Oswald Avery (M.D. 1904) - discoverer of DNA's role in transmitting genetic information
T. Romeyn Beck (M.D.) - forensic medicine pioneer
H. I. Biegeleisen (B.S.) - physician and vein expert, pioneer of phlebology
Ira Black (B.A. 1961) - neuroscientist and stem cell researcher who served as the first director of the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey
Thomas Berry Brazelton (M.D.) - pediatrician; Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale
Thomas H. Chilton (B.A. 1922) - chemical engineer; a founder of modern chemical engineering practice; Chilton and Colburn J-factor analogy
Marie Maynard Daly (Ph.D. 1947) - first African-American woman to earn a doctorate in chemistry
Charles Drew (M.D. 1940) - inventor of blood plasma preservation system
Helen Flanders Dunbar (Ph.D. 1929) - important early figure in U.S. psychosomatic medicine
Noam Elkies (B.S.) - three-time Putnam Fellow; mathematician, co-creator of Schoof–Elkies–Atkin algorithm; chess master
Joseph Engelberger ( B.S. 1946, M.S. 1949) - engineer and entrepreneur, often credited with being the father of robotics; 1997 Japan Prize
David Eppstein (M.S. 1985, Ph.D. 1989) - computer scientist, mathematician
James C. Fletcher (B.S.) - physicist, 4th and 7th Administrator of NASA
Ferdinand Freudenstein (Ph.D.) - mechanical engineer, "father of modern kinematics"; National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Science
Tom Frieden (M.D., MPH) - Director of U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2009–); N. Y. City Health Commissioner (2002–09)
Elmer L. Gaden (B.S., M.S., Ph.D.) - father of biochemical engineering; fifth recipient of 2009 Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize; National Academy of Engineering
Alfred Norton Goldsmith —(Ph.D.) - electrical engineer; IEEE Medal of Honor
Gordon Gould (work toward Ph.D., did not complete) - inventor of the laser
Benjamin Graham (B.A. 1914) - father of modern security analysis and value investing, taught Warren Buffett
William Stewart Halsted (M.D.) - thought by many to be the most innovative, influential and important US surgeon
Tsuruko Haraguchi (Ph.D. 1912) - psychologist
Walter Lincoln Hawkins (postgraduate research) - chemical engineer, chemist; first African-American member, National Academy of Engineering; 1992 National Medal of Technology; National Inventors Hall of Fame
Gustav A. Hedlund (M.A.) - mathematician, one of the founders of symbolic and topological dynamics
Jean Emily Henley (M.D. 1940) - wrote the first German anesthesia textbook after World War II
Herman Hollerith (B.S. 1879, Ph.D.) - statistician who developed a mechanical tabulator; founder of one of the companies that later merged and became IBM
Robert Jastrow (B.A, M.A. Ph.D.) - astronomer
Arthur Jensen (Ph.D. 1956) - known for work in psychometrics and differential psychology; educational psychologist who argued for heritability of intelligence
Edward Kasner (Ph.D. 1899) - mathematician, coined the term googol; Kasner metric, Kasner polygon
Marshall Kay (Ph.D. 1929) - geologist; known for stratigraphy; 1971 Penrose Medal
Robert Ledley (B.S., M.S. 1950) - professor of physiology and biophysics; pioneered use of electronic digital computers in biology and medicine; research lead to invention of whole-body CT scanner; National Medal of Technology; National Inventors Hall of Fame
Kai-Fu Lee (B.S. 1983) - prominent figures in Chinese internet sector; established China division, Microsoft Research; establishing China research division for Google
John W. Marchetti (A.B., B.S. 1925; E.E. 1931) - radar pioneer combining government and industrial activities
Winifred Edgerton Merrill (Ph.D. 1886) - first American woman to receive a Ph.D. in mathematics
Robert Mills (B.A.) - Putnam Fellow; physicist, specializing in quantum field theory, the theory of alloys, and many-body theory; Yang-Mills fields
Robert Moog (B.S.E.E.) - pioneer of electronic music, best known as the inventor of the Moog synthesizer
Joel Moses (B.A., M.A.) - MIT Provost and Institute Professor, author of Macsyma
William Nierenberg (Ph.D.) - Putnam Fellow; physicist, worked on Manhattan Project; director, Scripps Institution of Oceanography (1965–86)
Edward Lawry Norton (M.S. 1925) - electrical engineer, discovered the Norton equivalent circuit
Bedabrata Pain (M.S., Ph.D., Applied physics) - Indian inventor; CMOS image sensor, active pixel sensor, 87 invention patents; film director
William Barclay Parsons (B.S. 1879) - civil engineer
Michael I. Pupin (B.S. 1883) - physicist and physical chemist; IEEE Medal of Honor, Edison Medal for his work in mathematical physics; Pulitzer Prize for his autobiography
Hyman G. Rickover - father of U.S. nuclear submarine fleet; Enrico Fermi Award; U.S. Navy four-star admiral
Ora Mendelsohn Rosen (M.D. 1960) - cell biology researcher
Ruth Schmidt (M.S. 1939, Ph.D. 1948) - geologist
Benjamin Spock (M.D. 1929) - pediatrician, author of The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care; Olympic rower
George Clark Southworth (graduate study) - radio engineer; pioneering contributions: microwave radio physics, radio astronomy, waveguides; IEEE Medal of Honor
Paul Stelzer (M.D. 1972) - cardiothoracic surgeon and expert in the Ross procedure
John Stevens (A.B. 1768) - built first steam railroad, responsible for first patent law in the U.S.
John Stone Stone (1886–1888) - mathematician, physicist, inventor; influential in developing wireless communication technology, IEEE Medal of Honor
Hing Tong (Ph.D.) - mathematician, algebraic topology; theoretical physics; known for providing original proof of Katetov–Tong insertion theorem
Joseph F. Traub (Ph.D.) - computer scientist; National Academy of Engineering
Neil deGrasse Tyson (MPhil. 1989, Ph.D. 1991) - astrophysicist, science communicator; first and current Director of the Hayden Planetarium
Roy Vagelos (M.D.) - mastered three professions: medicine, science, and business
Allen Whipple (M.D.) - surgeon known for pancreatic surgery bearing his name (the Whipple procedure), as well as Whipple's triad
Victor Wouk (B.A. 1939) - scientist and engineer; pioneer in the development of electric and hybrid vehicles
Lotfi A. Zadeh (Ph.D. 1949) - mathematician, electrical engineer, computer scientist, artificial intelligence researcher; founder of fuzzy mathematics, fuzzy set theory, fuzzy logic; IEEE Medal of Honor; National Academy of Engineering
Bruno H. Zimm (B.S. 1941, M.S. 1943, Ph.D. 1944) - polymer chemist and DNA researcher; in statistical mechanics, the Zimm–Bragg model
Astronauts and aviators
Kenneth D. Bowersox (M.S. 1979)
Kevin P. Chilton (M.S. 1977)
Amelia Earhart (attended one semester, 1920)
William G. Gregory (M.S. 1980)
Gregory H. Johnson (M.S. 1985)
Michael J. Massimino (B.S. 1984)
Story Musgrave (M.D. 1964)
Eugene H. Trinh (B.S. 1972)
Carmen Twillie Ambar (J.D.) - ninth woman to lead Douglass College and 13th president of Cedar Crest College
Frederick A.P. Barnard - president of Columbia; Chancellors of the University of Mississippi; namesake of Barnard College
Lee Bollinger (JD 1971) - current president of Columbia; former president of University of Michigan; former Provost of Dartmouth College; First Amendment scholar; defendant in two key affirmative action cases in the United States Supreme Court; Chair of the Board of Federal Reserve Bank of New York (2011)
H. Keith H. Brodie (M.D.) - chancellor (1982–1985) and president (1985–1993) of Duke University
Harold Brown (B.S., M.S., Ph.D.)—physicist; former president of Caltech; former dean, School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University
Nicholas Murray Butler (B.A., M.A., Ph.D.) - president of Columbia University; Nobel Laureate; president of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Colin Campbell (J.D.) - 13th president of Wesleyan University
Margaret Clapp (Ph.D 1937) - president of Wellesley College (1949–1966)
James S. Coles (B.S. 1936, Ph.D.) - former president of Bowdoin College
Michael Crow (faculty) - president of Arizona State University
Colgate Darden (1923) - chancellor of College of William and Mary (1946–47); president of University of Virginia (1947–59); namesake of Darden Graduate School of Business Administration
Nicholas Dirks (faculty) - 10th chancellor-designate of University of California, Berkeley; professor of anthropology and history; Dean of faculty of arts and sciences
Livingston Farrand (M.D.) - 4th president of Cornell University and University of Colorado; public health advocate
John Henry Fischer (M.S. 1949, Ph.D. 1951) - president and dean of Teachers College, Columbia University for fifteen years; as school superintendent, made Baltimore the first large American city to desegregate its public schools
James C. Fletcher (B.A.) - president of University of Utah; head of NASA
Lether Frazar (Ph.D.) - president of University of Louisiana at Lafayette and McNeese State University; Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana
Ellen V. Futter (J.D. 1974) - president of Barnard College (1980–93); president of American Museum of Natural History
Gordon Gee (J.D., Ed.D.) - former president of Brown University; former chancellor of Vanderbilt University; twice president of, Ohio State University; president of the University of Colorado at Boulder and West Virginia University
Frank Goodnow (LL.B. 1882) - president of Johns Hopkins University
Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones (M.A.) - president of historically black Grambling State University in Grambling, Louisiana, 1936-1977
Thomas Kean (M.A.) - president of Drew University; head of 9/11 Commission
Eamon Kelly (Ph.D.) - former president of Tulane University
Grayson L. Kirk (faculty) - president of Columbia
George Latimer (LL.B.) - regent of University of Minnesota
Joshua Lederberg (B.A. 1944; graduate study) - former president of Rockefeller University; Nobel Prize–winning biologist; National Medal of Science; Presidential Medal of Freedom
Ronald D. Liebowitz (Ph.D. 1985) - president of Middlebury College (2004—)
Peter Likins (faculty) - electrical engineer; president of University of Arizona; former president of Lehigh University
John V. Lombardi (M.A. 1964, Ph.D. 1968) - president of University of Florida (1990–1999); chancellor of University of Massachusetts Amherst (2002–2007); president of Louisiana State University System (2007–present)
Seth Low (B.A. 1870) - president of Columbia University; chairman of Tuskegee Institute (1907–1916)
James L. McConaughy (Ph.D. 1913) - president of Wesleyan University and Knox College
Alfred Thayer Mahan (attended two years) - president of U.S. Naval War College; author of The Influence of Sea Power upon History
Anthony Marx (faculty) - president of Amherst College
Martin Meyerson (B.A.) - president of the University of Pennsylvania; acting chancellor of University of California, Berkeley; president of State University of New York at Buffalo
J. Hillis Miller, Sr. (Ph.D. 1933) - fourth president of University of Florida (1947–1953)
Robert A. Millikan (Ph.D. 1895) - early president of Caltech (1921–1945); Nobel Prize–winning physicist; first to measure the charge of the electron
Christina Hull Paxson (M.A. 1985, Ph.D. 1987)—19th president of Brown University (2012–); former Dean and Professor of Economics & Public Affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs
Mario Laserna Pinzon (B.A.) - founded the Universidad de Los Andes
Peter Pouncey (Ph.D. 1969) - classicist; former president of Amherst College
Jehuda Reinharz (B.S.) - president of Brandeis University
Nicanor Reyes, Sr. (Ph.D.) - founder and first president of Far Eastern University in Manila, Philippines
Thomas Hedley Reynolds (M.A. 1947, Ph.D. 1953) - historian; president of Bates College
Judith Rodin (Ph.D.) - psychologist; chancellor and former president of University of Pennsylvania; president of Rockefeller Foundation; former provost of Yale University
Brian C. Rosenberg (M.A., Ph.D.) - 16th president of Macalester College (2003–)
David Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville (M.B.A.) - Chancellor of the University of Cambridge (elected October 16, 2011)
William Schuman (B.S. 1935) - president of Juilliard School of Music; president of Lincoln Center; inaugural Pulitzer Prize for Music; founded Juilliard String Quartet; awarded National Medal of Arts
Beheruz Sethna (M.Phil., Ph.D) - president of University of West Georgia; Professor of Business at the University
Judith Shapiro (Ph.D.) - former president of Barnard College; anthropologist
Michael Sovern (B.A., Ph.D.) - president of Columbia University; Dean of Columbia Law School; professor at Columbia Law School
Lida Lee Tall (B.A.) - sixth president/principal of State Teachers College at Towson (now Towson University)
Stephen Joel Trachtenberg (B.A. 1959) - president of George Washington University and the University of Hartford
David Truman (faculty) - political scientist and educator; former president of Mount Holyoke College
Andrew Truxal (Ph.D. 1928) - president of Hood College and Anne Arundel Community College
Michael K. Young (Law faculty) - president of University of Utah; former dean of George Washington University Law School
See also: above at Nobel Laureates (Alumni) for separate listing of more than 43 academics and theorists, Notable alumni at Columbia College of Columbia University (Academicians), Columbia Law School (Academia: University presidents and Legal Academia), and Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (Economists-Natural Scientists, Social Scientists) for separate listing of more than 163 academics and theorists
Mortimer Adler (Ph.D.) - founder of the Great Books movement
Claude Ake (Ph.D. 1966) - Nigerian political scientist
Kenneth Arrow (M.S., Ph.D.) - economist; John Bates Clark Medal, National Medal of Science
E. Digby Baltzell (Ph.D.) - sociologist, credited with the popularization of the acronym WASP
Jacques Barzun (B.A. 1927, Ph.D. 1932; faculty 1932–75) - historian; 2003 Presidential Medal of Freedom; 2010 National Humanities Medal
Steven M. Bellovin (B.A.) - computer scientist; one of originators of USENET; co-inventor, Encrypted key exchange password-authenticated key agreement methods
Ruth Benedict (Ph.D.) - cultural anthropologist, author of The Chrysanthemum and the Sword, a World War II-era study of Japanese culture
Theos Casimir Bernard (Ph.D.) - accomplished practitioner of yoga and Tibetan Buddhism; scholar of religion; explorer
Walter Block (Ph.D.) - Austrian School free market economist
Karen Boroff (Ph.D.) - Dean, Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University
Joseph Campbell (B.A., M.A.) - mythologist, writer and lecturer, best known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion
John Maurice Clark (Ph.D 1910) - economist
Robert C. Clark (Ph.D. 1971) - Dean and Professor of Law, Harvard Law School (1989–2003)
Margaret Cuninggim - served as Dean of Women at the University of Tennessee and at Vanderbilt University
Robert Dallek (M.A. 1957, Ph.D. 1964) - historian specializing in American presidents; winner of Bancroft Prize
Wm. Theodore de Bary (B.A.) - East Asian studies expert
John Dewey - philosopher, developed theory of pragmatism
Donna Robinson Divine (Ph.D. 1971) - political scientist
Norman Dorsen (B.A. 1950) - Professor of Law at NYU Law School (Constitutional Law, Civil Liberties, and Comparative Constitutional Law)
Irwin Edman (B.A., Ph.D. 1964) - philosopher and writer
Richard Epstein (B.A. 1964) - considered one of the most influential legal thinkers of modern times
Yael S. Feldman (PhD. 1981) - Abraham I. Katsh Professor of Hebrew Culture and Education and Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University
Charles Ferster (M.A., Ph.D.) - behavioral psychologist
Moses Finley (M.A., Ph.D.) - historian noted for his work on the ancient economy
Joshua Fishman (Ph.D.) - distinguished linguist specializing in social linguistics, language and culture, and Yiddish
Richard Florida (Ph.D. 1986) - urban studies theorist; created concept, creative class and its implications for urban regeneration
Gilberto Freyre (M.A. 1922) - Brazilian sociologist, cultural anthropologist and historian
Milton Friedman (Ph.D.) - free market economist; John Bates Clark Medal, National Medal of Science, Presidential Medal of Freedom
Allan Gotthelf (Ph.D. 1975) - philosopher, and a recognized authority on the philosophies of both Aristotle and Ayn Rand
Lynne Hanley (M.A.) - literary critic
Edward Harris (B.A. 1971) - inventor of the Harris matrix
Sidney Hook (Ph.D 1927) - philosopher of the Pragmatist school; Presidential Medal of Freedom
J. C. Hurewitz (M.A. 1937, Ph.D. 1950) - Middle East scholar, Columbia faculty 1950–84
Jane Jacobs (two years of graduate studies) - urban theorist
Ira Katznelson (B.A. 1966) - political scientist and historian; When Affirmative Action Was White (2005)
Donald Keene (B.A. 1942) - Japanese studies expert
Ruth Landes (Ph.D. 1935) - author, City of Women (1947)
Paul Lazarsfeld - major figure in 20th-century American sociology; founder of Columbia University's Bureau of Applied Social Research
Harvey J. Levin (M.A. 1948, Ph.D. 1953) - communications economics pioneer
Seymour Martin Lipset (Ph.D. 1949) - sociologist
Margaret Mead (M.S. 1924, Ph.D. 1929) - anthropologist; Presidential Medal of Freedom; Kalinga Prize
Robert Nozick (A.B. 1959, summa cum laude) - philosopher
Marvin Opler (Ph.D. 1938) - anthropologist and social psychiatrist
Michael Oren (B.A., M.A.) - historian and author; Israeli ambassador to the United States
Charles Patterson (M.A., Ph.D.) - author and historian
Richard Popkin (B.A. 1950, Ph.D.) - academic philosopher, specialized in the history of enlightenment philosophy and early modern anti-dogmatism
Alvin Poussaint (B.A. 1956) - professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School; author of numerous books on child psychiatry
Frank Press (M.A., Ph.D.) - geophysicist, work in seismic activity and wave theory, counsel to four U.S. Presidents.
Steven Rubenstein (B.A. 1984, M.A. 1986, Ph.D. 1995) - anthropologist
James R. Russell (B.A.) - Ancient Near Eastern scholar; professor at Harvard University
Naomi Sager (B.S.E.E., 1953) - computational linguist; professor at New York University; pioneer in the field of natural language computer processing
Edward Sapir (B.A. 1904, M.A. 1905, Ph.D. 1909) - linguist and anthropologist, co-creator of Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
Andrew Sarris (B.A.) - film critic; a leading proponent of the auteur theory of criticism; controversialist
Nathan A. Scott, Jr. (Ph.D.) - literary scholar and founder of the theology and literature doctoral program at the University of Chicago
Anwar Shaikh (M.A., Ph.D. 1973) - Professor of Economics; professor at The New School for Social Research of New York
Patrick Suppes (Ph.D.) - philosopher, National Medal of Science
Lionel Trilling (B.A. 1925, M.A. 1926, Ph.D. 1938) - literary critic
Immanuel Wallerstein (B.A., M.A., Ph.D.) - sociologist
Eugene P. Watson (advanced study 1960) - namesake of the library at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana
Philip L. White (MA 1952, Ph.D. 1954) - nationality historian and political activist in Austin, Texas
Sean Wilentz (B.A. 1972) - Chair of American Studies at Princeton University; winner of the Bancroft Prize in history
Jay Winter (B.A. 1966) - World War I scholar at Yale University
Thomas Woods (M.Phil., Ph.D.) - historian
Aaron D. Wyner (Ph.D. 1963) - information theorist noted for his contributions in coding theory
Howard Zinn (M.A., Ph.D.) - historian
Mario Ančić (LL.M. 2013) - former Croatian professional tennis player and current NBA executive
Roone Arledge (B.A.) - pioneer of sports and news broadcasting with ABC]; Monday Night Football, 20/20; winner of 37 Emmy Awards
Norman Armitage - 17-time national champion sabre fencer, and six-time Olympian
Kyra Tirana Barry (B.A. 1987), Team Leader for United States Women's National wrestling team
Lou Bender (B.A. 1932, LL.M. 1935) - pioneer player with Columbia Lions and in early pro basketball; later a trial attorney
William Campbell (B.A.) - Chairman of the Board (incumbent as of 2009) and former CEO of Intuit, Inc.; head football coach, Columbia University, 1974–79
José Raúl Capablanca - world chess champion (1921–27)
Isadora Cerullo - 2016 Olympic rugby player
Gary Cohen (B.A.) - New York Mets television play-by-play announcer
Eddie Collins (CC 1907) - Baseball Hall of Fame second baseman
Caryn Davies (J.D. 2013) - rower, stroke seat in women's eight; gold medals, 2012 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Olympics; silver medal, 2004 Summer Olympics
Annie Duke - professional poker player
Lou Gehrig (1921–23) - baseball player for the New York Yankees; enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame, suffered from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ("Lou Gehrig's Disease")
Bruce Gehrke (B.A.) - NFL player with New York Giants
Vitas Gerulaitis - professional tennis player
Edward P. Hurt - Morgan's football, basketball and track coach
Max Kellerman (B.A. 1998) - ESPN Radio host in Los Angeles and HBO boxing analyst
Dan Kellner - four-time All-American, NCAA foil champion; national champion; two-time Pan American gold medalist; silver medalist; Maccabiah silver medalist
Sandy Koufax - Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher
Shaul Ladany (Ph.D 1968) - world-record-holding Israeli racewalker; Bergen-Belsen survivor; Munich Massacre survivor; Professor of Industrial Engineering
Maya Lawrence (M.A.) - fencer; bronze medal in the women's team épée, United States Fencing Team, 2012 Summer Olympics
Howard Lederer - professional poker player; brother of Annie Duke
Sid Luckman (B.A.) - football quarterback, enshrinee of the Pro Football Hall of Fame
James M. "Jim" McMillian (B.A.) - NBA basketball player
Cliff Montgomery (B.A.) - football quarterback; enshrinee in College Football Hall of Fame; captain and MVP of Rose Bowl-winning squad; Silver Star recipient in U.S. Navy
Troy Murphy (B.A. expected December 2015) - former NBA player
Dave Newmark - NBA basketball player
Mark Pope (M.D. Class of 2010) - former NBA player; left Columbia before graduation to pursue a coaching career; now head coach at Utah Valley
Paul Robeson - football All-American, attorney, musician, activist
Archie Roberts (B.A. 1942) - played with the Miami Dolphins; subsequently became a cardiac surgeon
Bob Sheppard (M.A. 1933) - sports announcer, "Voice of the Yankees"
William Milligan Sloane - founder of the United States Olympic Committee
Keeth Smart (Business School) - silver medal, fencing, 2008 Summer Olympics
David Stern (J.D.) - NBA Commissioner, 1984–2014
Cristina Teuscher (B.A. 2000) - Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer, 1996
Jenny Thompson (M.D. 2006) - former competition swimmer; won 12 medals, including eight gold medals, in 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 Summer Olympics
LeRoy T. Walker (M.A.) - first black president of the United States Olympic Committee (1992–1996)
Marcellus Wiley (B.A. 1997) - football player, Pro Bowl defensive end
James L. Williams (B.A.) - world-class fencer; Olympic silver-medal winner, 2008
See also: notable alumni of Columbia Law School (Activism) and Columbia College (Miscellaneous) for a separate listing of more than 50 activists
Bella Abzug (LL.M. 1947) - social rights activist and a leader of the women's rights movement
Anna Baltzer - public speaker and Jewish-American pro-Palestinian activist
Mark Barnes (LL.M. 1991) - advocate for public healthcare law at the state and national levels; co-founded the first AIDS law clinic
Edward Bassett (LL.B. 1886) - one of the founding fathers of modern-day urban planning
Lee Bollinger - advocate for affirmative action, defendant in Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger
Robert L. Carter (LL.M. 1941) - civil rights activist, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund general counsel, in which capacity he argued Brown v. Board of Education II
Julius L. Chambers (LL.M. 1964) - civil rights leader, attorney, and educator; third President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Felix Cohen (1928) - advocate for Native American rights, fundamentally shaped federal Native American law and policy
Roy Cohn (LL.M. 1947) - conservative lawyer who became famous during the investigations of Senator Joseph McCarthy into alleged Communists in the U.S. government
Robert Cover (J.D. 1968) - civil rights and international anti-violence activist, professor at Yale Law School
Annie Elizabeth Delany (D.D.S. 1923) - dentist and civil rights pioneer; subject, New York Times bestselling oral history, Having Our Say
Sarah Louise Delany (B.A. 1920, M.A. 1925) - educator and civil rights pioneer; subject, New York Times bestselling oral history, Having Our Say
Daniel DeLeon (LL.M. 1878) - socialist newspaper editor, politician, trade union organizer; regarded as forefather of idea of revolutionary industrial unionism
Albert DeSilver (LL.B. 1913) - a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
William Dudley Foulke (LL.B. 1871) - reformer; principal reformers, New York State and federal civil service systems; early president of American Suffrage Association
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (LL.B.) - women's rights advocate, co-founded the Women's Rights Law Reporter; co-authored the first law school casebook on sex discrimination; as chief litigator of the ACLU's women's rights project, she argued six cases before the U.S. Supreme Court
Jack Greenberg (B.A. 1945, LL.B. 1948) - second President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund; argued 40 civil rights cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
Arthur Garfield Hays (LL.B. 1905) - civil liberties activist, general counsel for the ACLU, notable trials included Scopes Trial, trial of Sacco and Vanzetti, and Scottsboro case
Dorothy Height (graduate study) - administrator, educator, and social activist; president of National Council of Negro Women for forty years; Presidential Medal of Freedom; Congressional Gold Medal
Charles Evans Hughes, one of the co-founders of the National Conference of Christians and Jews to oppose the Ku Klux Klan, anti-Catholicism, and anti-Semitism
Ben Jealous (B.A.) - Rhodes Scholar; president and chief executive officer, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) (2008–)
Wang Juntao (Ph.D. Pol. Sci., 2006) - one of alleged heads of 1989 Tiananmen Square protests
Steve Kelly, legal advocate for litigants who could not afford an attorney and for public housing tenants; consumer advocate
Rushworth Kidder (Ph.D.) - founded the Institute for Global Ethics
William Kunstler (LL.B. 1948) - civil rights and human rights activist; director, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) (1964–1972); co-founded, Center for Constitutional Rights
Eugene Lang (M.S. 1940) - philanthropist, Presidential Medal of Freedom
Charles K. Lexow, first attorney for the Legal Aid Society of New York City; brother of Clarence Lexow (class of 1872)
Li Lu (1996) - one of the student leaders of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Protests, first student at Columbia to simultaneously receive B.A., M.B.A., and J.D. degrees
Vilma Socorro Martínez - served for almost ten years as president and general counsel of Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Meghan McCain (B.A. 2007) - blogger and daughter of Arizona senator John McCain
James Meredith (L.B. 1968) - American civil rights movement figure, first African-American student at the University of Mississippi
Constance Baker Motley (LL.B. 1946) - attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (1945–64); Manhattan Borough president (1964–66)
Kelly Overton, animal rights activist
Antonia Pantoja (M.S. 1954) - Presidential Medal of Freedom; educator, social worker, feminist, civil rights leader and founder of ASPIRA
Marshall Perlin (LL.B. 1942) - civil liberties lawyer, defended Soviet spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Anika Rahman (J.D. 1990) - president and CEO, Ms. Foundation for Women (2/2011)
Paul Rapoport (J.D. 1965) - co-founder of the New York City Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Services Center and the Gay Men's Health Crisis
Michael Ratner (J.D. 1969) - human rights activist on national and international level, current president of the Center for Constitutional Rights (co-founded by William Kunstler in 1969) - National Law Journal named him as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in the United States (2006)
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf (B.A. nuclear engineering, 1969) - American Sufi imam, author, and activist
Isaac Rice, U.S. chess patron
Paul Robeson (LL.B. 1923) - civil and human rights activist, international social justice activist, writer, Spingarn Medal
Theodore Roosevelt - progressive reformer, conservationist, a leader of the Republican Party and the Progressive Party
Menachem Z. Rosensaft (1979) - a leader of the Second Generation Movement of children of Jewish survivors
Brad R. Roth (LL.M. 1992) - social and human rights activist, critic of torture policies in the administration of George W. Bush
Charles Ruthenberg (1909) - founder of the Communist Party of America (1919)
Mikheil Saakashvili (LL.M. 1994) - founder and leader of the United National Movement in Georgia (country), leader of the bloodless "Rose Revolution"
Theodore Shaw, civil rights leader, attorney, and educator; former 5th President and Director-Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Arthur B. Spingarn (A.B. 1897) - leader in fight for civil rights for African Americans, third president of NAACP
Joel Elias Spingarn (A.B. 1895) - educator, literary critic, and civil rights activist; second president of NAACP; established Spingarn Medal
Abby Stein (B.A. expected 2019) - trans activist, educator, model, and speaker. First Openly trans person, and rabbi, from an Ultra Orthodox Jewish community.
Leon Sullivan (M.A. 1947) - Presidential Medal of Freedom; civil rights activist; anti-apartheid activist; long-time GM board member; Baptist minister
Franklin A. Thomas - president of the Ford Foundation (1976–91)
Judith Vladeck (1947) - civil rights advocate, particularly on behalf of women; helped set new legal precedents against sex discrimination and age discrimination
Faye Wattleton (M.S. 1967) - president of the Center for the Advancement of Women, National Women's Hall of Fame
Charles Weltner (1950) - advocate for racial equality, second individual to receive the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award
Grace Adler — Will & Grace
Alexis Castle - Castle
Matt Camden and Ruthie Camden - 7th Heaven; originally from Glenoak went to Columbia Med School.
Dr. Eric Foreman – House, attended undergraduate school at Columbia
Matthew Murdock, Esq. - Marvel Comics superhero Daredevil; Columbia Law School
Dr. Victor Von Doom, Dr. Doom, Marvel Comics supervillain
Marshall Eriksen (alumnus of Columbia Law School) - How I Met Your Mother
Dr. Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic - leader of the Marvel Comics superhero team the Fantastic Four
Ross Geller — Friends; has a Ph.D. in paleontology from Columbia
Saskia Kupferberg - The Sopranos; attended Columbia College, Columbia University
Alex Mercer - video game Prototype; alumna of Columbia
Peter Parker — Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films; Columbia University physics student
Meadow Soprano — The Sopranos; alumna of Columbia College, Columbia University
Jessie Spano — Saved by the Bell
Asuka Sugo Future GPX Cyber Formula; Columbia University alumna
Will Truman — Will & Grace
Serena van der Woodsen - Gossip Girl
Blair Waldorf - Gossip Girl
Jeff Winger - Community; his diploma from Columbia Law School is discovered to be from the country of Colombia, and he is forced to attend Greendale Community College
