Notable Alumni of University of Massachusetts-Amherst

Hina Rabbani Khar 1977–

Former Foreign Minister of Pakistan

John F. Kelly 1950–

Former White House chief of staff, retired Marine general

Also attended: Georgetown University, University of Massachusetts-Boston

John B. Anderson 1922–2017

Former US Representative from Illinois

Also attended: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Harvard University

Kang Kyung-hwa 1955–

First female Foreign Minister of South Korea

Betty Shabazz 1934–1997

Educator and civil rights advocate, wife of Malcolm X

Also attended: Tuskegee University, New Jersey City University

Child: Ilyasah Shabazz (Fordham University, State University of New York at New Paltz)

Child: Qubilah Shabazz (Princeton University)

Matthew Pottinger 1973–

Former US deputy national security advisor

Madeleine Kunin 1933–

Former Vermont governor and ambassador to Switzerland

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York, University of Vermont

Bert T. Combs 1911–1991

50th governor of Kentucky and federal judge

Also attended: University of the Cumberlands, University of Kentucky

Spouse: Sara W. Combs (University of Louisville)

Abraham Serfaty 1926–2010

Moroccan Marxist dissident and activist

Unita Blackwell 1933–2019

Civil rights activist, Mississippi's first Black woman mayor

Sheila Bair 1954–

19th Chair of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Also attended: University of Kansas

Hau Lung-pin 1952–

Taiwanese politician and chemist

Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar 1992–

Maharaja of Mysore and Indian Member of Parliament

John Olver 1936–2023

Massachusetts congressman and chemist

Also attended: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Silvio O. Conte 1921–1991

Congressman from Massachusetts

Also attended: Boston College

Bill Bulger 1934–

Longest-serving President of the Massachusetts Senate

Also attended: Boston College

Jack Welch 1935–2020

Former CEO of General Electric

Also attended: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Spouse: Suzy Welch (Harvard University)

Andrew Keen 1960–

British-American entrepreneur and author

Also attended: University of California-Berkeley

Anshu Jain 1963–2022

Banker; president of Cantor Fitzgerald

Steven Sinofsky 1965–

Former president of Microsoft's Windows Division

Also attended: Cornell University

James Pallotta 1958–

Billionaire businessman, founder of Raptor Group

Also attended: University of Massachusetts-Boston, Northeastern University

Wayne Chang 1983–

Founder of Crashlytics, acquired by Twitter

Russell A. Hulse 1950–

Astrophysicist, 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics laureate

Also attended: The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art

Joseph Hooton Taylor 1941–

Astrophysicist and Nobel Prize winner

Also attended: Harvard University, Haverford College

Lynn Margulis 1938–2011

Evolutionary biologist and proponent of symbiosis theory

Also attended: University of California-Berkeley, University of Chicago, Harvard University

Spouse: Carl Sagan (University of Chicago)

Vernon L. Smith 1927–

Economist and Chapman University professor

Also attended: California Institute of Technology, Friends University, University of Kansas

Catherine Coleman 1960–

Retired NASA astronaut and former Air Force colonel

Also attended: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Leila Ahmed 1940–

Egyptian-American scholar of women's studies and religion

Edmund Gettier 1927–2021

Philosopher known for the Gettier problem

Also attended: Cornell University

Richard D. Wolff 1942–

Marxian economist, professor emeritus at UMass Amherst

Also attended: Yale University, Harvard University, Stanford University

Richard S. Sutton 1950–

Computer scientist and University of Alberta professor

Also attended: Stanford University

Amy Cuddy 1972–

Social psychologist and proponent of power posing

Social psychology · Attended until 2000

Also attended: University of Colorado Boulder, Princeton University

Albert Charles Smith 1906–1999

Botanist and director of National Museum of Natural History

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

Andrew Barto 1948–

Computer scientist and reinforcement learning pioneer

Also attended: University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Minouche Shafik 1962–

Economist and former Columbia University president

Agnes Kalibata

Rwandan agricultural scientist and former agriculture minister

Samuel Bowles 1936–

Economist and professor emeritus at UMass Amherst

Also attended: Yale University, Harvard University

Father: Chester Bowles (Yale University)

William Smith Clark 1826–1886

Professor of chemistry and botany, agricultural education leader

Also attended: Amherst College

Child: Hubert Lyman Clark (Johns Hopkins University, Amherst College)

Nancy Folbre 1952–

Feminist economist

Doctor of Philosophy · Economics · Class of 1973

Also attended: The University of Texas at Austin

R. S. Lull 1867–1957

Paleontologist and Yale Sterling Professor

Also attended: Yale University

Cynthia E. Rosenzweig 1958–

Climatologist studying climate change and agriculture

Andrea Ablasser 1983–

German immunologist, professor at EPFL

Bertram Forer 1914–2000

Psychologist who described the Forer effect

Li Minqi 1969–

Political economist, professor at University of Utah

Judith Young 1952–2014

Physicist and astronomer, first Maria Goeppert-Mayer Award winner

Also attended: Harvard University, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Mother: Vera Rubin (Georgetown University, Cornell University)

Sibling: Karl Rubin (Harvard University, Princeton University)

Janet Abu-Lughod 1928–2013

Sociologist of world-systems theory and urban sociology

Also attended: University of Chicago

Spouse: Ibrahim Abu-Lughod (Princeton University)

Child: Lila Abu-Lughod (Harvard University, Carleton College)

Barbara Partee 1940–

Linguist and pioneer of formal semantics

Also attended: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Swarthmore College

Edward N. Zalta 1952–

Philosopher and senior research scholar at Stanford

Also attended: Rice University

Charles Paul Alexander 1889–1981

American entomologist specializing in craneflies

Also attended: Cornell University

Molly Shoichet 1965–

Ontario's first Chief Scientist, University of Toronto professor

Also attended: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Edward Robert Harrison 1919–2007

British astronomer and cosmologist

Robert Epstein 1953–

Psychologist, former editor-in-chief of Psychology Today

Also attended: Harvard University

Meenakshi Gopinath 1949–

Indian educationist and political scientist

Also attended: Georgetown University

Bernice Giduz Schubert 1913–2000

Botanist and Harvard professor

Also attended: Harvard University

Anna Nagurney 1954–

Mathematician and economist at UMass Amherst

Also attended: Brown University

Harold E. Moore 1917–1980

Botanist known for palm family systematics

Also attended: Harvard University

Yewande Olubummo 1960–

Mathematician, associate professor at Spelman College

Doctorate

Also attended: Yale University

Alice Carmichael Harris 1947–

Linguist and professor emerita at UMass Amherst

Also attended: Harvard University

Sut Jhally 1955–

Communication professor, founder of Media Education Foundation

Zhou Qifeng 1947–

Chemist and former president of Peking University

Ling Daoyang 1888–1993

Chinese forester, agronomist and educator

Also attended: Yale University

Child: Hung-Chang Lin (University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, New York University)

Jing Wang 1950–2021

MIT professor of Chinese media and cultural studies

Wei Zhao 1953–

Computer scientist and former University of Macau rector

Richard Gere 1949–

American actor

Bill Cosby 1937–

Former comedian, actor and media personality

Also attended: Temple University

Spouse: Camille Cosby (University of Maryland-College Park, University of Massachusetts-Amherst)

Child: Ennis Cosby (Columbia University in the City of New York, Teachers College at Columbia University)

Liev Schreiber 1967–

Actor and Tony Award winner

Also attended: Yale University, Hampshire College

Sibling: Pablo Schreiber (University of San Francisco, Carnegie Mellon University)

Natalie Cole 1950–2015

Singer, daughter of Nat King Cole

Also attended: University of Southern California

Ted Hughes 1930–1998

English poet and children's writer

Spouse: Sylvia Plath (Smith College)

Child: Nicholas Hughes (University of Alaska Fairbanks)

Bill Pullman 1953–

Film and television actor

Also attended: SUNY College of Technology at Delhi, SUNY Oneonta

Child: Lewis Pullman (Warren Wilson College)

Marilynne Robinson 1943–

Novelist, 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner

Also attended: University of Iowa, Brown University, University of Washington-Seattle Campus

Sibling: David Summers (Yale University, Brown University)

Max Roach 1924–2007

Jazz drummer and composer, bebop pioneer

Also attended: Manhattan School of Music

Dana Gould 1964–

Stand-up comedian and Simpsons writer

Taj Mahal 1942–

Blues musician

Child: Aya de Leon (Harvard University, Antioch University-Los Angeles)

James Foley 1973–2014

American journalist and video reporter

Also attended: Northwestern University, Marquette University

Kamila Shamsie 1973–

Pakistani-British novelist, author of Home Fire

Also attended: Hamilton College

Buffy Sainte-Marie 1941–

Singer-songwriter and social activist

Eastern philosophy, Pedagogy

Chuck Close 1940–2021

Photorealist painter and photographer

Also attended: Yale University, Everett Community College, University of Washington-Seattle Campus

Spouse: Sienna Shields (Lewis & Clark College)

Jeffrey Donovan 1968–

Actor known for Burn Notice

Also attended: Bridgewater State University, New York University

Samuel R. Delany 1942–

Science fiction author and literary critic

Also attended: CUNY--City College, University at Buffalo

Spouse: Marilyn Hacker (New York University)

Archie Shepp 1937–

Avant-garde jazz saxophonist and educator

Also attended: Goddard College

Yusef Lateef 1920–2013

Jazz multi-instrumentalist and composer

Also attended: Wayne State University, Manhattan School of Music

Fardeen Khan 1974–

Indian actor in Hindi films

Rob Corddry 1971–

Actor and comedian, Daily Show correspondent

Sibling: Nate Corddry (Colby-Sawyer College)

Black Francis 1965–

Lead vocalist of the band Pixies

Jane Yolen 1939–2026

Fantasy and children's book author

Also attended: Smith College

Joey Santiago 1965–

Co-founder and lead guitarist of Pixies

Pat Cadigan 1953–

Science fiction author associated with cyberpunk

Also attended: University of Kansas

Kelly Link 1969–

Short story writer and editor

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Radwa Ashour 1946–2014

Egyptian novelist

Child: Tamim al-Barghouti (Boston University)

Billy Taylor 1921–2010

Jazz pianist, composer and educator

Also attended: Virginia State University

Jack Canfield 1944–

Co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul series

Also attended: Harvard University

William Monahan 1960–

Screenwriter and novelist, Oscar winner for The Departed

J Mascis 1965–

Singer and guitarist of Dinosaur Jr

Peter Laird 1954–

Comic artist, co-creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Paul Harding 1967–

Novelist, won 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

Also attended: University of Iowa

Amy Hempel 1951–

Short story writer and journalist

Monica Gill 1990–

Indian-American model, actress, Miss India Worldwide 2014

Jere Burns 1954–

Actor in Burn Notice and Justified

Attended until 1980

Also attended: New York University

William Manchester 1922–2004

Author, journalist and historian

BA · Class of 1946

Also attended: University of Missouri-Columbia

Jonathan Hensleigh 1959–

Screenwriter and director of The Punisher

Also attended: Tulane University of Louisiana, University of Virginia-Main Campus

Spouse: Gale Anne Hurd (Stanford University)

Valerie Martin 1948–

Novelist whose Property won the Orange Prize

Also attended: University of New Orleans

David Berman 1967–2019

Musician and poet, founder of Silver Jews

Master of Fine Arts · Class of 1995

Also attended: University of Virginia-Main Campus

Loretta Long 1938–

Actress who played Susan on Sesame Street

Augusten Burroughs 1965–

Writer, author of memoir Running with Scissors

Sade Adeniran 1960–

Nigerian novelist

Jeff Corwin 1967–

Wildlife conservationist and television host

Also attended: Bridgewater State University

Natasha Trethewey 1966–

US Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet

Master of Fine Arts · Class of 1995

Also attended: University of Georgia, Hollins University

Agha Shahid Ali 1949–2001

Kashmiri-American poet

Also attended: University of Arizona, The Pennsylvania State University

John Edgar Wideman 1941–

Novelist, twice winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award

Also attended: University of Pennsylvania

Child: Jamila Wideman (Stanford University)

Flo Steinberg 1939–2017

Early Marvel Comics staffer and comics publisher

Nathan Hill 1975–

Novelist, author of The Nix

Also attended: University of Iowa

Stuart Hazeldine 1971–

British film director, producer and screenwriter

Matt Haimovitz 1970–

Cellist and music producer

Also attended: Harvard University, The Juilliard School

David Anthony Durham 1969–

Novelist of historical fiction and fantasy

Kenny Aronoff 1953–

Drummer long associated with John Mellencamp

Also attended: Indiana University-Bloomington

Tsering Wangmo Dhompa 1969–

Tibetan-American poet and writer

Also attended: San Francisco State University

Lauren Koslow 1953–

Actress known for Days of Our Lives

Also attended: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Virginia State University

Carson Cistulli 1979–

Poet, writer and baseball analyst

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

Okey Ndibe 1960–

Nigerian novelist, essayist and columnist

Peter Swanson 1968–

Suspense novelist

Peter Tolan 1958–

Television producer, director and screenwriter

Lily Brooks-Dalton 1987–

Writer, author of The Light Pirate

Sadie Dupuis 1989–

Lead vocalist and guitarist of Speedy Ortiz

Also attended: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Barnard College

Xu Xi 1954–

Hong Kong English-language author

Julius Erving 1950–

Former pro basketball player nicknamed Dr. J

Marcus Camby 1974–

Former NBA player, 2006–07 Defensive Player of the Year

Cale Makar 1998–

Colorado Avalanche NHL defenceman

Stephane Lasme 1982–

Gabonese basketball player, 2007 NBA draft pick

Briana Scurry 1971–

US women's national team goalkeeper and Olympic gold medalist

Jonathan Quick 1986–

Ice hockey goaltender, long with the Los Angeles Kings

Sarah Stevenson 1983–

British taekwondo athlete, 2008 Olympic bronze medallist

Rick Pitino 1952–

Head men's basketball coach at St. John's University

Child: Richard Pitino (Providence College)

Cady Lalanne 1992–

Haitian professional basketball player

Frank Vatrano 1994–

NHL right winger for the Anaheim Ducks

Conor Sheary 1992–

NHL winger and two-time Stanley Cup winner

Brandon Montour 1994–

Seattle Kraken defenceman in the NHL

Mario Ferraro 1998–

Canadian NHL defenceman

Thomas Pöck 1981–

Austrian former NHL defenceman

Justin Braun 1987–

Professional ice hockey player

Toni Söderholm 1978–

Finnish ice hockey coach and former player

Lou Roe 1972–

Former NBA player and UMass All-American

Judy Strong 1960–

Field hockey player and 1984 Olympic bronze medalist

Mike Kostka 1985–

Canadian former NHL defenceman

Matt Irwin 1987–

Canadian former NHL defenseman

Joel Hanley 1991–

Canadian ice hockey defenceman

Phil Laak 1972–

Professional poker player and WSOP bracelet winner

Al Skinner 1952–

College basketball head coach and former player

Oleg Yevenko 1991–

Belarusian former professional ice hockey defenceman

Matt Anderson 1982–

Former NHL player with the New Jersey Devils

Danielle Henderson 1977–

Olympic medal-winning softball pitcher and UMass coach

Harper Williams 1971–

Former basketball player, played in Spain's Liga ACB

Clement Benhaddouche 1996–

Footballer who plays for the Hong Kong national team

Bogaletch Gebre 1960–2019

Ethiopian scientist and women's rights activist

Peggy Antrobus 1935–

Caribbean feminist activist, author and scholar

Tashi Zangmo 1963–

Executive director of the Bhutan Nuns Foundation

Doctorate · Educational sciences · Class of 2009

Also attended: Mount Holyoke College

Ghoncheh Ghavami 1988–

British-Iranian women's rights activist