List of Stuyvesant High School people

Significant awards

The lists below include several alumni who have won significant awards in their fields of endeavor. Some of these are:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1924) – 1949, 1950 Academy Award for Best Director for A Letter to Three Wives and All About Eve

Joshua Lederberg (1941) – 1958 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Peter Lax (1943) – 1987 Wolf Prize in Mathematics

Robert Fogel (1944) – 1993 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences

Elias Stein (1949) – 1999 Wolf Prize in Mathematics

Paul Cohen (1950) – 1966 Fields Medal

Roald Hoffmann (1954) – 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Richard Axel (1963) – 2004 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Tim Robbins (1976) – 2003 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Mystic River

Mathematics

Samuel L. Greitzer (c. 1923) geometer, founding chairman of United States of America Mathematical Olympiad

Peter Lax (1943) fluid dynamics, differential equations; elected 1970 to the United States National Academy of Sciences, 1987 Wolf Prize, 1992 Steele Prize, 2005 Abel Prize, (New York University, emeritus)

Bertram Kostant (1945) Lie groups and representation theory; elected in 1978 to the United States National Academy of Sciences, (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).

D. J. Newman (1947) analytic number theory, long-time editor of problems section in the American Mathematical Monthly (Temple University, emeritus)

Harold Widom (1949) integral equations, symplectic geometry (University of California, Santa Cruz), 2007 Wiener Prize

Elias Stein (1949) harmonic analysis; 1974 elected to United States National Academy of Sciences, 1993 Schock Prize, 1999 Wolf Prize, 2002 Steele Prize (Princeton University)

Paul Cohen (1950) logic, Banach algebras, 1964 Bôcher Prize, 1966 Fields Medal, elected 1967 to the United States National Academy of Sciences (Stanford University)

Neil R. Grabois (1953) commutative algebra (President, Colgate University)

Jeff Rubens (1957) probability and statistics, coeditor of The Bridge World (Pace University)

Melvin Hochster (1960) commutative algebra, algebraic geometry, invariant theory; 1980 Cole Prize, elected in 1992 to the United States National Academy of Sciences (University of Michigan)

James Lepowsky (1961) Lie theory (Rutgers University). Lepowsky's Ph. D advisor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology was Bertram Konstant (1945).

Peter Shalen (1962) low-dimensional topology, Kleinian groups, hyperbolic geometry (University of Illinois at Chicago)

Robert Zimmer (1964) ergodic theory, dynamical cocycles (President of University of Chicago)

Richard Arratia (1968) probability, combinatorics (USC)

David Harbater (1970) algebraic geometry; NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, in 1994 Invited Lecturer to the International Congress of Mathematicians, 1995 Cole Prize (University of Pennsylvania)

Paul Zeitz (1975) ergodic theory (University of California, San Francisco).

Jon Lee (1977) mathematical optimization (G. Lawton and Louise G. Johnson Professor of Engineering, University of Michigan)

Noam Elkies (1982) elliptic curves; youngest person ever to win tenure at Harvard; his musical compositions have been performed by major symphony orchestras (Harvard University).

Dana Randall (1984) discrete mathematics, theoretical computer science (Georgia Tech).

Michael Hutchings (1989) topology, geometry (University of California, Berkeley).

Aleksandr Khazanov (1995) Math Olympiad, Curry Fellowship; Khazanov skipped college and became a PhD student at Pennsylvania State University.

Michael Develin (1996) combinatorics, geometry; American Institute of Mathematics Fellow. (University of California, Berkeley).

Physics

Joseph File (1940) Received a Fermi Foundation Award.

Marshall Rosenbluth (1942) theory of liquids, fusion; Fermi Award, United States National Academy of Sciences (University of California, San Diego, emeritus)

Rolf Landauer (1943) physics of computation; elected in 1988 to the United States National Academy of Sciences, IBM Fellow (Thomas J. Watson Research Center) (d. 1998)

Leo Sartori (1945) high energy physics, relativity; negotiator for SALT II disarmanent talks (University of Nebraska).

Paul C. Martin (1948) statistical physics; elected in 1979 to the United States National Academy of Sciences (Dean of the Division of Applied Sciences, Harvard University)

Brian Greene (1980) string theory, mirror symmetry, author of The Elegant Universe; Rhodes Scholarship|Rhodes Scholar (Columbia University)

Lisa Randall (1980) high energy physics, Randall–Sundrum model, 2004 elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Harvard University)

Chemistry

Sheldon Datz (c. 1943) 2000 Fermi Award

Benjamin Widom (1945) phase transitions, stat. mechanics, elected in 1974 to the United States National Academy of Sciences (Cornell University)

Andrew Streitwieser, Jr. (1945) organic chemistry, textbook author; elected in 1969 to the United States National Academy of Sciences, Sloan Fellow, Guggenheim Fellow (University of California, Berkeley)

Edward M. Kosower (1945) biophysics, 1996 Rothschild Prize in Chemistry (Tel Aviv University)

Gary Felsenfeld (1947) physical chemistry, elected in 1976 to the United States National Academy of Sciences (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at National Institutes of Health)

Roald Hoffmann (1955) geometric structure and reactivity of molecules, elected in 1972 to the United States National Academy of Sciences, 1973 Cope Award, 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (Cornell University)

Life sciences and medicine

Hyman Biegeleisen (c. 1922), physician and vein expert, pioneer of phlebology

Philip H. Sechzer (1930) anesthesiologist, pioneer in pain management; inventor of patient-controlled analgesia (PCA)

Joshua Lederberg (1940) genetics; 1957 United States National Academy of Sciences, 1958 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1989 National Medal of Science, former President of Rockefeller University, 2006 Presidential Medal of Freedom

Alvin Poussaint (1952) clinical psychiatry (Judge Baker Children's Center, Harvard University)

Robert Ira Lewy (1960), Hematology, Baylor College of Medicine, developed early application of aspirin in heart disease and donated to the creation of the Stuyvesant High School library in 2006, the Dr Robert Ira Lewy Multimedia Center.

Richard Axel (1963) biochemistry, 2004 Nobel Prize

John Gordon Harold, MD (1973) President, American College of Cardiology 2013-2014. Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute

Eric Lander (1974) computational biology; Westinghouse scholarship, Rhodes Scholar, MacArthur Fellow, codirector of Human Genome Project, 1997 United States National Academy of Sciences (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Social sciences

Lewis Mumford (1912) historian of technology and science

Igor Ansoff (1937) business theorist, coined term strategic management

Robert Fogel (1944) economist, winner of 1993 Nobel Memorial Prize in economics

Samuel P. Huntington (c. 1945) political theorist, author

Thomas Sowell (1947) economist

John F. Banzhaf III (c. 1955) professor and practitioner of public interest law at George Washington University

Michael Levin (1960) philosopher, author of Why Race Matters

Technology

Hans Mark (1947) aerospace engineering; served as Deputy Administrator of NASA, and Secretary of the United States Air Force

Ronald J. Grabe (1962) astronaut (NASA)

Steven Rothman (1965) computer architecture; codesigner of VAX architecture (DEC)

Richard Lary (1965) computer architecture; codesigner of VAX architecture (DEC)

Bob Frankston (1966) software; author of the spreadsheet VisiCalc

Daniel Hirschberg (1967) design of algorithms (University of California, Irvine)

Steven M. Bellovin (1968) leading authority on firewalls and Internet security; elected to National Academy of Engineering in 2001 (Columbia University)

Omar Wasow (1988) creator of BlackPlanet, Oprah's "tech guy", MSNBC Internet analyst

Bram Cohen (1993) author of BitTorrent

Staff

Frank McCourt, memorist and author, was a teacher of English and Creative Writing from 1972 until the late 1980s.

Alumni

Samuel Spewack (c. 1917) screenwriter, playwright, and double Tony Award-winner for Kiss Me, Kate and Academy Award nominee for My Favorite Wife

Marv Goldberg (1960) music critic and writer

Eric Van Lustbader (1964) writer, author of The Bourne Legacy and The Ninja

Arnold Anthony Schmidt (1972) Screenwriter, Déjà Vu, Alice ("Tommy's Lost Weekend" episode)

M. G. Sheftall (1980) writer, author of Blossoms in the Wind: Human Legacies of the Kamikaze

David Lipsky (1983) novelist (Absolutely American)

Matt Ruff (1983) writer (Set This House in Order)

Laurie Gwen Shapiro (1984) novelist (Matzo Ball Heiress) and documentary director; sister of David Shapiro (1981); worked with Conor McCourt (1983)

Jordan Sonnenblick (1987) writer of young adult novels Drums, Girls, & Dangerous Pie, Notes from the Midnight Driver, Zen and the Art of Faking It, and Dodger and Me. Student of Frank McCourt.

Arthur M. Jolly (1987)' Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting, playwright of Past Curfew and A Gulag Mouse'. Student of Frank McCourt.

Alissa Quart (1989), critic, journalist, poet, and editor, author of Republic of Outsiders: The Power of Amateurs, Dreamers and Rebels, Hothouse Kids: The Dilemma of the Gifted Child, Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers, and Monetized.

Gary Shteyngart (1991) author of The Russian Debutante's Handbook and Absurdistan

Rebecca Pawel (1995) writer

Daniel Genis (1996) writer, journalist, and ex-convict; columnist at Vice, author of The Last Beat: 1046 Books Behind the Wall

Jessica Valenti (1996) writer, online journalist, blogger, columnist and staff writer at The Guardian,

Ned Vizzini (1999) author of The Other Normals, It's Kind of a Funny Story, Be More Chill, and Teen Angst? Naaah....

Music

Thelonious Monk (1936) Jazz pianist and composer

Julius Hegyi (1941) conductor and violinist

Tom Dowd (1942) pioneer recording engineer, 1992 Grammy Award

Walter Becker (1967) co-founder Steely Dan

Richard Lloyd (1969) guitarist for punk band Television and Matthew Sweet

Kevin Wimmer (1980) folk musician, Grammy-nominated in 2007 with Racines

Kate Schellenbach (1983) musician with the Beastie Boys and Luscious Jackson

Asher Lack (2001) front-man, principal songwriter and founder of the band Ravens & Chimes

Rebecca Rossi (2003) piano, vocals with Ravens & Chimes

Film

James Cagney (1918) actor/dancer

J. Edward Bromberg (c. 1920) actor

Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1924) Four-time Oscar-winning producer

Sheldon Leonard (1925) Emmy-winning actor, producer, director

William Greaves (1944) Emmy-winning filmmaker

Ben Gazzara (1946) Emmy Award winning actor

Simon Kornblit (1951) – former Executive Vice President of worldwide marketing for Universal Pictures and actor.

Ron Silver (1963) actor, director

Arnold Anthony Schmidt (1972) screenwriter (Alice, Deja Vu), assistant producer (The Silence)

Louis Ozawa Changchien actor

Paul Reiser (1973) actor and producer

Tim Robbins (1976) actor, screenwriter, director, producer; won Academy Award for Mystic River

Lucy Liu (1986) actress

James Bohanek (c. 1987) Broadway and television actor

Heather Juergensen (1987) actress and writer (Kissing Jessica Stein)

Billy Eichner (1996) actor/comedian Billy on the Street, Difficult People, Parks and Recreation

Kelly Karbacz (1996) actress Rent, Sesame English, Regular Joe

Telly Leung (1998) Broadway and television actor

Emily Carmichael (2000) director, screenwriter, and animator

Jonah Meyerson (2009) actor The Royal Tenenbaums, The Matador

Journalism, radio, and television

Jan Merlin (Wasylewski) (1942) Movie/Television/Broadway actor, Emmy Award (1975)

Vladimir Posner (1948) journalist, author, Soviet television personality

Bernie Brillstein (1948) producer and manager, Emmy

Barry Schweid (1949) longtime politics and international affairs reporter for the Associated Press

Robert Siegel (1964) radio journalist, All Things Considered

Len Berman (1964) Emmy Award-winning NBC sportscaster

Sam Rosen (1965) NFL announcer and play-by-play announcer for the NHL team, New York Rangers.

Sam Marchiano (1985) MLB.com sportcaster and host, daughter of longtime sports news anchor, Sal Marchiano.

Mike Greenberg (1985) ESPN sportscaster, co-host of the Mike and Mike show on ESPN Radio.

Hanna Rosin (1987) journalist

Billy Eichner (1996) Emmy nominated host of Billy on the Street, actor

Harry Siegel (1996) Author, political consultant and journalist.

Jessica Valenti (1996) feminist blogger and writer

Reihan Salam (1997) conservative writer at The Atlantic and Forbes.com, and blogger for The American Scene

Adriana Diaz (2002) 2006 Miss New York USA

Educators

Peter Sammartino (1921) founder & first president of Fairleigh Dickinson University

Albert Shanker (1946) served as President of the United and American Federations of Teachers, 1998 Presidential Medal of Freedom.

John Tietjen (1946) served as President of Concordia Seminary and Christ Seminary-Seminex

Business

Jack Nash (1946) chairman of Oppenheimer & Company

Saul Katz (1956) president of the New York Mets

Jeffrey Loria (1957) owner of Florida Marlins, formerly owner of Montreal Expos

Arthur Blank (1960) founder of The Home Depot, owner of the Atlanta Falcons

Paul Levitz (1973) president of DC Comics

Drew Nieporent (1973) restaurateur

Kevin Buehler (1983) Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company

Boaz Weinstein (1991), hedge fund manager

Ronn Torossian (1992), CEO of 5W Public relations

Amol Sarva (1994) founding team of Virgin Mobile, founder of Wireless Founders Coalition for Innovation, founder and CEO of Peek.

Politics

Moe Fishman (1933) co-founder and Executive Secretary/Treasurer of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.

Sy Schulman (ca. 1944), civil engineer and urban planner, Mayor of White Plains, New York

Howard Golden (1945) served as Brooklyn Borough President

Serphin Maltese (c. 1950) is a longstanding New York State Senator

Roy Innis (1952) served as national chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality and a member of the National Rifle Association's governing board.

Robert Parris Moses (1952) organizer of 1964 Freedom Summer, MacArthur Fellow

Bernard W. Nussbaum (1954) law; served on the United States House Committee on the Judiciary during the Watergate impeachment inquiry, served as counsel to President Bill Clinton

Richard Ben-Veniste (1960) law; assistant prosecutor on the Watergate Task Force, served on the 9/11 Commission

Harvey Pitt (1961) Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission

Ted Gold (1964) political activist and Weathermen member

Dick Morris (1964) political consultant

Jerrold Nadler (1965) U.S. Congressman

Eric Holder (1969) law; United States Attorney General in President Barack Obama's administration

John Tsang Chun-wah (1969) Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

David Axelrod (c. 1972) senior advisor to Barack Obama's campaign

Alan Jay Gerson (1975) current member of New York City Council

Eva Moskowitz (1982) served on New York City Council

Jessica Lappin (1993) current member of New York City Council

Grace Meng (1993) U.S. Congresswoman

Sports

Herbert Vollmer (1914) was 1924 Olympic Bronze Medalist in Water Polo

Ray Arcel (1917) International Boxing Hall of Fame

Frank Hussey (1924) sprinter; 1924 Olympic Gold Medalist

Albert Axelrod (1938) was 1960 Olympic Bronze Medalist in foil fencing

Nat Militzok (ca. 1941), NBA basketball player

Jack Molinas (1949) former NBA player and key figure in the NCAA point shaving scandal

Charlie Scott (1966) former NBA player and Olympic gold medallist in 1968

Other

Otto Soglow (1913-1915) Reuben Award-winning New Yorker cartoonist and creator of The Little King comic strip; dropped out of Stuyvesant to support his family.

George Kisevalter (c. 1925) Central Intelligence Agency operations officer who handled both Major Pyotr Popov, the first Soviet GRU agent run by the CIA, and Colonel Oleg Penkovsky.

Morton Sobell (c. 1935), convicted spy

Max Elitcher (c. 1935), friend of Sobell and witness at the trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

Charles Dryden (c. 1937) Member of the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II

George Segal (1941) sculptor

Edwin Torres (c. 1949) judge and author (Carlito's Way)

John Schoenherr (c. 1953) mammologist and illustrator

Randolph Jackson (1960), judge and author

Denny Chin (1971) Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

Victoria Kolakowski (1978), judge on the Alameda County Superior Court, transgender activist

Rebecca Sealfon (2001) winner of 1997 Scripps National Spelling Bee

Arvind Mahankali (2017) winner of 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee