Notable Alumni of Wellesley College

Hillary Clinton 1947–

Former US Secretary of State and senator

Bachelor of Arts · Political science · Class of 1969

Also attended: Yale University

Spouse: Bill Clinton (Yale University, Georgetown University)

Father: Hugh E. Rodham (The Pennsylvania State University)

Madeleine Albright 1937–2022

64th US Secretary of State, first woman in the role

Bachelor of Arts · Political science

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

Father: Josef Korbel (University of Denver)

Child: Alice Albright (Williams College, Columbia University in the City of New York)

Soong May-ling 1898–2003

Wife of Chiang Kai-shek, youngest of the Soong sisters

Attended until 1917

Also attended: Piedmont University, Wesleyan College

Father: Charlie Soong (Duke University, Vanderbilt University)

Sibling: Soong Ching-ling (Wesleyan College)

Colette Flesch 1937–2026

Former Deputy Prime Minister of Luxembourg

Also attended: Tufts University

Jane Bolin 1908–2007

Judge, first Black woman graduate of Yale Law School

Also attended: Yale University

Rini Mariani Soemarno Soewandi 1958–

Indonesian economist and former state-owned enterprises minister

Leticia Ramos-Shahani 1929–2017

Filipino senator, diplomat and writer

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

Sibling: Fidel Ramos (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, The United States Military Academy at West Point)

Jocelyn Benson 1977–

Michigan Secretary of State and governor-elect

Bachelor of Arts · Political science · Class of 1999

Also attended: Harvard University

Anne W. Patterson 1949–

Diplomat, former Assistant Secretary of State

Also attended: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Carolina Barco 1951–

Former Colombian foreign minister and ambassador to the US

Also attended: Harvard University

Father: Virgilio Barco Vargas (Boston University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Mother: Carolina Isakson Proctor (Stanford University)

Cynthia Wu 1978–

Taiwanese legislator and business executive

Bachelor's degree

Susan Wagner 1961–

Co-founder of BlackRock

Also attended: University of Chicago

Shirley Young 1935–2020

Businesswoman, executive at Grey Advertising and GM

Also attended: New York University

Emily Greene Balch 1867–1961

Economist, sociologist and pacifist at Wellesley College

Also attended: University of Chicago, Bryn Mawr College

Annie Jump Cannon 1863–1941

Astronomer who pioneered stellar classification

Attended until 1894

Also attended: Wesley College, Harvard University

Pamela Melroy 1961–

NASA astronaut and former NASA deputy administrator

Also attended: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Edith Abbott 1876–1957

Economist, statistician and social worker

Also attended: University of Chicago, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Nergis Mavalvala 1968–

Astrophysicist and dean of MIT School of Science

Bachelor of Arts · Class of 1990

Also attended: California Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Erna Schneider Hoover 1926–

Mathematician who invented computerized telephone switching

Also attended: Yale University

Sarah Blaffer Hrdy 1946–

Anthropologist and primatologist

Also attended: Harvard University

Martha P. Haynes 1951–

Radio astronomer, professor at Cornell University

Marjorie Grene 1910–2009

Philosopher of science and existentialism

Zoology · Attended until 1931

Also attended: Harvard University

Rebecca Lancefield 1895–1981

Microbiologist at the Rockefeller Institute

Bachelor of Arts · Class of 1916

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

Sophonisba Breckinridge 1866–1948

Social reformer, social scientist and lawyer

Also attended: University of Chicago

Father: William Campbell Preston Breckinridge (Centre College, University of Louisville)

Ayesha Jalal 1956–

Historian and Tufts University professor

Also attended: Harvard University

Margaret Clay Ferguson 1863–1951

Botanist who advanced botany education

Also attended: Cornell University

Mary Allen Wilkes 1937–

Computer programmer known for work on the LINC computer

Also attended: Harvard University

Winifred Edgerton Merrill 1862–1951

First American woman to earn a PhD in mathematics

Licentiate · Class of 1883

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

Spouse: Frederick James Hamilton Merrill (Columbia University in the City of New York)

Abigail Thompson 1958–

Mathematician and UC Davis professor

Harriet Creighton 1909–2004

Geneticist who worked with Barbara McClintock

Also attended: Cornell University

Alice S. Huang 1939–

Biologist; former president of AAAS

Also attended: Johns Hopkins University

Spouse: David Baltimore (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The Rockefeller University)

Nora Ephron 1941–2012

Writer and director known for romantic comedies

Attended until 1962

Spouse: Carl Bernstein (University of Maryland-College Park)

Sibling: Hallie Ephron (Barnard College)

Elisabeth Shue 1963–

Actress, starred in Leaving Las Vegas

Also attended: Harvard University

Spouse: Davis Guggenheim (Brown University)

Sibling: Andrew Shue (Dartmouth College)

Ali MacGraw 1939–

Actress, won Golden Globe for Goodbye, Columbus

Spouse: Steve McQueen (Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater)

Child: Josh Evans (University of California-Los Angeles)

Anne Revere 1903–1990

Actress known for playing mothers on screen

Diane Sawyer 1945–

ABC News anchor of Good Morning America

Also attended: University of Louisville

Spouse: Mike Nichols (University of Chicago)

Barbara Babcock 1937–

American actress

Father: Stanton Babcock (The United States Military Academy at West Point)

Bing Xin 1900–1999

Writer and poet, known for children's literature

Spouse: Wu Wenzao (Columbia University in the City of New York)

Child: Wu Qing (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University)

Judith Krantz 1928–2019

Novelist, author of Scruples

Child: Tony Krantz (University of California-Berkeley)

Katharine Lee Bates 1859–1929

Poet who wrote America the Beautiful

Laura Allen 1974–

Actress known for The 4400

Ana Alicia 1956–

Actress known for Falcon Crest

Also attended: Southwestern University, University of Texas--El Paso

Nayantara Sahgal 1927–

Indian writer in English, niece of Nehru

Bachelor of Arts

Onyeka Onwenu 1952–2024

Nigerian singer, actress and politician

Bachelor of Arts · International relations

Also attended: The New School

Blanche Baker 1956–

Actress; Emmy winner for Holocaust

Mother: Carroll Baker (St Petersburg College)

Marjory Stoneman Douglas 1890–1998

Journalist, author and Everglades conservationist

Suzanne Ciani 1946–

Electronic music composer and sound designer

Also attended: University of California-Berkeley

Janet Asimov 1926–2019

Science fiction writer and psychiatrist

Also attended: New York University, Stanford University

Spouse: Isaac Asimov (Columbia University in the City of New York)

Ira Trivedi 1985–

Indian author, columnist and yoga teacher

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

Nancy Friday 1933–2017

Author writing on female sexuality and liberation

Rosalind E. Krauss 1940–

Art critic and Columbia University professor

Also attended: Harvard University

Michelle Ye 1980–

Actress and producer

Mary Rodgers 1931–2014

Composer and author of Freaky Friday

Also attended: The New School

Father: Richard Rodgers (Columbia University in the City of New York)

Child: Adam Guettel (Yale University)

Lisa Alther 1944–

American novelist

Bina Shah 1972–

Pakistani novelist, essayist and journalist

Also attended: Harvard University

Cokie Roberts 1943–2019

Journalist and political analyst for NPR and ABC News

Bachelor of Arts

Father: Thomas Hale Boggs, Sr. (Tulane University of Louisiana)

Mother: Lindy Boggs (Tulane University of Louisiana)

Santha Rama Rau 1923–2009

Indian-born American writer

Spouse: Faubion Bowers (Columbia University in the City of New York, The Juilliard School)

Angelina Weld Grimké 1880–1958

African-American poet, playwright and journalist

Also attended: Harvard University

Father: Archibald Grimké (Harvard University, Lincoln University)

Lorraine O'Grady 1934–2024

Conceptual and performance artist

Reetika Vazirani 1962–2003

Indian-American poet and educator

Also attended: University of Virginia-Main Campus

Jean Kilbourne 1943–

Writer and pioneer of feminist advertising criticism

Also attended: Boston University

Mai-Mai Sze 1909–1992

Chinese-American painter and writer

Father: Alfred Sao-ke Sze (Cornell University)

Grace Zia Chu 1899–1999

Chinese cookbook author who introduced Americans to Chinese cooking

Joanna Macy 1929–2025

Environmental activist, author and deep ecology scholar

Also attended: Syracuse University

Ruth Rowland Nichols 1901–1960

Aviation pioneer and record-setting female pilot

Isabel Ingram 1902–1988

American tutor to Empress Wanrong of China