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152 notable alumni U.S. News #1

Notable Alumni of Williams College

Notable alumni of Williams College include James A. Garfield (20th President of the United States), Elia Kazan (Greek-American film and theatre director) and Reza Pahlavi (Former Crown Prince of Iran).

College data and admissions

Alumni list

Politics and law

Business

Science and academia

Arts and media

  • Elia Kazan 1909–2003

    Greek-American film and theatre director

    Also attended: Yale University, The Juilliard School

  • Stephen Sondheim 1930–2021

    Composer and lyricist who reinvented American musicals

    Attended until 1950

  • John Frankenheimer 1930–2002

    Film and television director

  • David Strathairn 1949–

    Stage and screen actor

  • William Cullen Bryant 1794–1878

    Romantic poet, journalist and editor of the New-York Evening Post

  • Leehom Wang 1976–

    Singer-songwriter, actor and film director

    Also attended: Berklee College of Music, University of Rochester

  • Walker Evans 1903–1975

    Photographer documenting the Great Depression

  • Frederick Wiseman 1930–2026

    Documentary filmmaker exploring American institutions

    Bachelor of Arts · Class of 1951

    Also attended: Yale University

  • Max Eastman 1883–1969

    Writer, poet and political activist

    Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

    Spouse: Ida Rauh (New York University)

    Sibling: Crystal Eastman (Columbia University in the City of New York, New York University)

  • William Windom 1923–2012

    Actor of stage and screen

    Also attended: Transylvania University

  • Erin Burnett 1976–

    CNN news anchor

    Bachelor of Arts

  • Mika Brzezinski 1967–

    TV host, co-host of Morning Joe

    Bachelor of Arts

    Spouse: Joe Scarborough (The University of Alabama, University of Florida)

    Father: Zbigniew Brzezinski (Harvard University)

  • Claudia Rankine 1963–

    Poet, essayist and playwright

    Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

  • John Sayles 1950–

    Independent film director, screenwriter and novelist

  • Kristen Anderson-Lopez 1972–

    Songwriter, co-wrote songs for Frozen

    Spouse: Robert Lopez (Yale University)

  • Adam Schlesinger 1967–2020

    Musician, founding member of Fountains of Wayne

  • Norah Vincent 1968–2022

    Writer and Los Angeles Times columnist

  • Charles Brackett 1892–1969

    Screenwriter and producer who made 16 films with Billy Wilder

    Also attended: Harvard University

  • Gordon Clapp 1948–

    Actor best known for NYPD Blue

  • Jay McInerney 1955–

    Novelist, screenwriter and columnist

    Spouse: Anne Hearst (Regis University, George Washington University)

  • Kristin Cashore 1976–

    Young adult fantasy writer of the Graceling Realm series

    Also attended: Simmons University

  • Monique Gabriela Curnen 1970–

    American actress

  • Irving Babbitt 1865–1933

    Literary critic, founder of New Humanism

    Also attended: Harvard University

  • John Toland 1912–2004

    Historian and author of a biography of Hitler

    Also attended: Yale University

  • Alan Baxter 1908–1976

    Film and television actor

    Also attended: Yale University

  • Stacy Schiff 1961–

    Biographer and Pulitzer Prize winner

  • Carolyn McCormick 1959–

    Actress known for Law & Order

  • Crispin Freeman 1972–

    Voice actor in English anime and game dubs

    Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

    Sibling: Cassidy Freeman (Middlebury College)

  • Charles Webb 1939–2020

    Novelist, author of The Graduate

  • Max Gail 1943–

    American stage, television and film actor

  • Eugene Field 1850–1895

    Writer known for children's poetry and humorous essays

    Also attended: Knox College, University of Missouri-Columbia

  • John Howard Lawson 1894–1977

    Playwright and screenwriter

  • Bud Collyer 1908–1969

    Radio actor and game show host, voice of Superman

    Also attended: Fordham University

  • Jesse Winchester 1944–2014

    American-Canadian singer-songwriter

  • Sebastian Arcelus 1976–

    Actor known for House of Cards

  • Tui Sutherland 1978–

    Children's book author

  • David G. Hartwell 1941–2016

    Science fiction and fantasy editor, publisher and critic

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

  • William F. Lamb 1883–1952

    Architect, a principal designer of the Empire State Building

    Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

  • Adam LeFevre 1950–

    Character actor, poet and playwright

  • A. R. Gurney 1930–2017

    Playwright and novelist

    Also attended: Yale University

  • Graham Jarvis 1930–2003

    Canadian character actor in American film and television

  • William Finn 1952–2025

    Composer and lyricist of the musical Falsettos

  • Ulrich Franzen 1921–2012

    German-born architect known for Brutalist style

    Also attended: Harvard University

  • Peter Abrahams 1947–

    Crime fiction author

  • Joanna Adler 1964–

    Actress and Obie Award winner

    Also attended: New York University

  • John Gallaudet 1903–1983

    Film and television actor

  • John Lawson Stoddard 1850–1931

    Travel lecturer, author and photographer

    Also attended: Yale University

    Child: Lothrop Stoddard (Boston University, Harvard University)

  • Eliza Myrie 1981–

    Visual artist working in sculpture and installation

    Also attended: Northwestern University

  • Sydney Walsh 1961–

    Actress who starred in Hooperman

  • Dominick Dunne 1925–2009

    Writer, investigative journalist and producer

    Spouse: Ellen Griffin Dunne (University of Arizona)

    Child: Griffin Dunne (Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater)

  • L. E. Modesitt, Jr. 1943–

    Science fiction and fantasy author of over 80 novels

  • Jon Lovett 1982–

    Podcaster, former speechwriter, Crooked Media co-founder

    Mathematics · Attended until 2004

  • Laylah Ali 1968–

    Contemporary visual artist and painter

    Also attended: Washington University in St Louis

  • Liza Johnson 1970–

    American film director, producer and writer

  • Tao Ho 1936–2019

    Hong Kong architect who designed the Bauhinia emblem

    Bachelor of Arts · Art history · Class of 1960

    Also attended: Harvard University

  • Eddie Shin 1976–

    Actor in Agent Carter and Alexa & Katie

    Also attended: University of Chicago

  • John Bedford Lloyd 1956–

    Character actor

    Also attended: Yale University

Sports

  • Dan Calichman 1968–

    Former soccer player and LA Galaxy assistant coach

  • John Bray 1875–1945

    Athlete; 1900 Olympic 1500 m bronze medalist

  • Horace Brown 1898–1983

    Long-distance runner, 1920 Olympic gold medalist

  • Jeff Hastings 1959–

    Ski jumper and Winter Olympics TV analyst

    Also attended: Dartmouth College

  • Henry Greer 1899–1978

    Field hockey player, 1932 Olympic bronze medallist

    Also attended: Harvard University

  • Tala Abujbara 1992–

    Qatari rower

  • Joey Lye 1987–

    Canadian softball player

    Also attended: Concordia University -- Irvine

  • Robert Leavitt 1883–1954

    1906 Intercalated Games 110 m hurdles winner

  • Khari Stephenson 1981–

    Jamaican former professional footballer

  • Duncan Robinson 1994–

    NBA player for the Detroit Pistons

    Also attended: University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

From Wikidata “educated at” records (including people who attended without graduating), ordered by the number of Wikipedia language editions. Degrees and years follow Wikidata and are left out where it has none.

Alumni network

Colleges that share the most alumni with Williams College (people who attended both).