Notable Alumni of Columbia University in the City of New York
Notable alumni of Columbia University in the City of New York include Barack Obama (44th President of the United States), Franklin Delano Roosevelt (32nd President of the United States) and Theodore Roosevelt (26th President of the United States).
Alumni list
Politics and law
-
Barack Obama 1961–
44th President of the United States
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Franklin Delano Roosevelt 1882–1945
32nd President of the United States
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Theodore Roosevelt 1858–1919
26th President of the United States
-
B. R. Ambedkar 1891–1956
Chaired committee drafting the Constitution of India
-
Mikheil Saakashvili 1967–
Former President of Georgia, ex-Governor of Odesa Oblast
-
Madeleine Albright 1937–2022
64th US Secretary of State, first woman in the role
-
Alexander Hamilton 1757–1804
Founding Father and first U.S. Treasury Secretary
-
Radovan Karadžić 1945–
Bosnian Serb politician convicted of genocide
-
Salome Zourabichvili 1952–
Fifth President of Georgia
-
Ashraf Ghani 1949–
Former President of Afghanistan
-
Ruth Bader Ginsburg 1933–2020
Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
-
Antony Blinken 1962–
71st U.S. Secretary of State
-
Mauricio Macri 1959–
Former President of Argentina
-
Mary Robinson 1944–
First female President of Ireland
-
José Ramos-Horta 1949–
President of East Timor, 1996 Nobel Peace laureate
-
Toomas Hendrik Ilves 1953–
Fourth President of Estonia
-
Giuliano Amato 1938–
Twice Prime Minister of Italy
-
Keiko Fujimori 1975–
President of Peru, Popular Force leader
-
Shirley Chisholm 1924–2005
First black woman elected to U.S. Congress
-
Elihu Root 1845–1937
US Secretary of State and Secretary of War
-
Daniel D. Tompkins 1774–1825
6th Vice President of the United States
-
Nnamdi Azikiwe 1904–1996
First president of Nigeria
-
Henrique Capriles 1972–
Venezuelan politician, former Governor of Miranda
-
John Jay 1745–1829
Founding Father and first U.S. Chief Justice
-
Bill de Blasio 1961–
Former Mayor of New York City
-
Karim Massimov 1965–
Former Prime Minister of Kazakhstan
-
Nicholas Murray Butler 1862–1947
Columbia University president and Nobel Peace Prize winner
-
Hafizullah Amin 1929–1979
Afghan communist leader, head of state in 1979
-
Caroline Kennedy 1957–
Author, attorney, former ambassador to Japan and Australia
-
Benjamin Mkapa 1938–2020
Former President of Tanzania
-
Abdul El-Sayed 1984–
US senator-elect from Michigan
-
Bella Abzug 1920–1998
Lawyer, politician and women's movement leader
-
Pat Buchanan 1938–
Political commentator and adviser to three US presidents
-
Hans Blix 1928–
Swedish former foreign minister, head of the IAEA
-
Alexander Haig 1924–2010
Former US Secretary of State and Army general
-
Ephraim Katzir 1916–2009
Biophysicist and 4th President of Israel
-
Robert Badinter 1928–2024
French justice minister who abolished the death penalty
-
Charles Evans Hughes 1862–1948
11th Chief Justice of the United States
-
Alfred Thayer Maan 1840–1914
US Navy admiral, historian and strategist of sea power
-
Elaine Chao 1953–
Former US Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Transportation
-
Santiago Peña 1978–
Former President of Paraguay and economist
-
Marek Belka 1952–
Former Prime Minister of Poland and economist
-
Andrew Yang 1975–
Entrepreneur and Forward Party co-chair
-
Sixto Durán-Ballén 1921–2016
Former President of Ecuador
-
George Tenet 1953–
Former director of central intelligence at the CIA
-
Wellington Koo 1887–1985
Chinese diplomat educated at Columbia University
-
David Paterson 1954–
55th Governor of New York
-
Neil Gorsuch 1967–
Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court
-
Karine Jean-Pierre 1974–
35th White House Press Secretary
-
Frances Perkins 1880–1965
4th US Secretary of Labor, first female cabinet member
-
Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz 1950–
Former Prime Minister of Poland
-
Mark Eyskens 1933–
Former Prime Minister of Belgium and economist
-
Hans-Gert Pöttering 1945–
Former President of the European Parliament
-
Park Yeon-mi 1993–
North Korean defector, conservative activist and author
-
William Barr 1950–
77th and 85th US Attorney General
-
Charles Wilkes 1798–1877
Naval officer who led the US Exploring Expedition
-
Thomas E. Dewey 1902–1971
47th Governor of New York, Republican presidential nominee
-
Eric Holder 1951–
82nd United States Attorney General
-
Beto O'Rourke 1972–
Former US representative and Democratic politician
-
Gaston Eyskens 1905–1988
Former Prime Minister of Belgium and economist
-
Jeane Kirkpatrick 1926–2006
Diplomat and political scientist in the Reagan administration
-
Henry Morgenthau 1856–1946
US ambassador to the Ottoman Empire during World War I
-
Mike Gravel 1930–2021
Former US Senator from Alaska
-
Alexander Nikolaevich Yakovlev 1923–2005
Soviet politician and diplomat, godfather of glasnost
-
Roy Cohn 1927–1986
Lawyer and Joseph McCarthy's chief counsel
-
George Pataki 1945–
53rd Governor of New York
-
Zalmay Khalilzad 1951–
Diplomat; former US special representative for Afghanistan
-
T. V. Soong 1891–1971
Chinese banker, finance minister and Premier
-
Nahas Angula 1943–
Former Prime Minister of Namibia
-
Tang Shaoyi 1862–1938
First Premier of the Republic of China
-
Chen Gongbo 1892–1946
Chinese politician, president of Japanese-backed Nanjing government
-
Sun Fo 1891–1973
Son of Sun Yat-sen, Republican-era Chinese politician
-
P. C. Chang 1892–1957
Chinese diplomat, educator and playwright
-
Lee Huan 1917–2010
Former head of Taiwan's executive branch
-
Tsiang Tingfu 1895–1965
Historian and diplomat
-
Zhou Ziqi 1869–1923
Chinese educator and early Republic acting president
-
Shinjirō Koizumi 1981–
Japanese Minister of Defense
-
Elissa Slotkin 1976–
US senator from Michigan
-
Jerrold Nadler 1947–
US Representative from New York and lawyer
-
Mary Jo White 1947–
31st Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission
-
Maya Wiley 1965–
Civil rights lawyer and leadership conference CEO
-
Jawar Mohammed 1986–
Ethiopian political analyst and Oromo activist
Business
-
Warren Buffett 1930–
Investor, former CEO of Berkshire Hathaway
-
Alan Greenspan 1926–2026
Economist, 13th chair of the Federal Reserve
-
David Rockefeller 1915–2017
Former chairman of Chase Manhattan Corporation
-
Thomas John Watson, Sr. 1874–1956
Chairman and CEO of IBM
-
Benjamin Graham 1894–1976
Father of value investing, author of Security Analysis
-
Kai-Fu Lee 1961–
Founder of Microsoft Research Asia, former Google China president
-
Robert Kraft 1941–
Chairman and CEO of the Kraft Group
-
Gail Boudreaux 1960–
President and CEO of Elevance Health
-
Robert F. Smith 1962–
Founder and CEO of Vista Equity Partners
-
Diana Taylor 1955–
Business executive and former New York Superintendent of Banks
-
Safra Catz 1961–
Executive vice chair and former CEO of Oracle
Science and academia
-
Milton Friedman 1912–2006
Economist, 1976 Nobel laureate, Chicago school leader
-
Robert Andrews Millikan 1868–1953
Physicist and 1923 Nobel Prize winner
-
Margaret Mead 1901–1978
Cultural anthropologist, author of Coming of Age in Samoa
-
Steven Weinberg 1933–2021
Theoretical physicist, standard model developer
-
Konrad Lorenz 1903–1989
Austrian zoologist, 1973 Nobel laureate
-
Herbert Marcuse 1898–1979
Philosopher associated with the Frankfurt School
-
Isidor Isaac Rabi 1898–1988
Physicist, 1944 Nobel Prize in Physics laureate
-
Linda B. Buck 1947–
Biologist; 2004 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
-
Aage Bohr 1922–2009
Danish physicist, 1975 Nobel Prize in Physics laureate
-
Arno Allan Penzias 1933–2024
Radio astronomer, 1978 Nobel Prize in Physics laureate
-
Neil deGrasse Tyson 1958–
Astrophysicist and science communicator
-
Thomas Hunt Morgan 1866–1945
Geneticist, 1933 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
-
Harold Urey 1893–1981
Physical chemist, 1934 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate
-
Carlo Rubbia 1934–
Italian particle physicist; 1984 Nobel laureate in Physics
-
Martin Lewis Perl 1927–2014
Physicist, 1995 Nobel laureate who discovered the tau lepton
-
Leon M. Lederman 1922–2018
Physicist, 1988 Nobel laureate in Physics
-
Leon Cooper 1930–2024
Physicist, 1972 Nobel laureate, BCS theory co-creator
-
Irving Langmuir 1881–1957
Chemist awarded the 1932 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
-
Julian Seymour Schwinger 1918–1994
Theoretical physicist, 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics laureate
-
Kenneth Arrow 1921–2017
Economist, 1972 Nobel laureate in Economics
-
John Howard Northrop 1891–1987
Biochemist, 1946 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate
-
Edward Sapir 1884–1939
Anthropologist and linguist
-
Arthur Ashkin 1922–2020
Physicist, 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics laureate
-
Ruth Benedict 1887–1948
Anthropologist and folklorist
-
Simon Kuznets 1901–1985
Economist, 1971 Nobel laureate in Economics
-
Norman Foster Ramsey 1915–2011
Physicist, 1989 Nobel Prize in Physics laureate
-
Baruch Samuel Blumberg 1925–2011
1976 Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine
-
Stephen Jay Gould 1941–2002
Paleontologist, evolutionary biologist and science writer
-
Samuel C. C. Ting 1936–
Physicist, 1976 Nobel laureate in Physics
-
Melvin Schwartz 1932–2006
Physicist, 1988 Nobel Prize in Physics co-winner
-
James Rainwater 1917–1986
Physicist, 1975 Nobel Prize in Physics
-
Val Logsdon Fitch 1923–2015
Nuclear physicist, 1980 Nobel Prize in Physics laureate
-
Edward Thorndike 1874–1949
Psychologist at Columbia Teachers College
-
Baruj Benacerraf 1920–2011
Immunologist, 1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
-
Robert Lefkowitz 1943–
Physician and biochemist, 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate
-
Hermann Joseph Muller 1890–1967
Geneticist, 1946 Nobel Prize laureate
-
Robert H. Grubbs 1942–2021
Chemist, 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry co-recipient
-
Robert Nozick 1938–2002
Political philosopher and Harvard professor
-
Murray Rothbard 1926–1995
Austrian School economist, founder of anarcho-capitalism
-
Sidney Altman 1939–2022
Molecular biologist and Yale professor
-
Robert Fogel 1926–2013
Economic historian, 1993 Nobel laureate in economics
-
Martin Chalfie 1947–
Biochemist and Columbia University professor
-
Herman Hollerith 1860–1929
Inventor of the punched card tabulating machine
-
Konrad Emil Bloch 1912–2000
Biochemist and 1964 Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine
-
Howard Zinn 1922–2010
Historian, playwright and socialist thinker
-
Eric Kandel 1929–
Neuroscientist and Columbia University professor
-
Herbert A. Hauptman 1917–2011
Mathematician and Nobel laureate
-
Richard Axel 1946–
Molecular biologist, 2004 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine winner
-
Roald Hoffmann 1937–
Theoretical chemist, 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate
-
William Vickrey 1914–1996
Columbia economist and Nobel laureate
-
Joshua Lederberg 1925–2008
Molecular biologist, 1958 Nobel laureate
-
William Standish Knowles 1917–2012
American chemist
-
C. Wright Mills 1916–1962
Sociologist and author of The Power Elite
-
John Clauser 1942–
Physicist, 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics laureate
-
Edward Calvin Kendall 1886–1972
Biochemist, 1950 Nobel Prize winner
-
George Wald 1906–1997
Biologist, 1967 Nobel laureate in Medicine
-
Philip Showalter Hench 1896–1965
Physician, 1950 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine winner
-
John Backus 1924–2007
Led the team that invented FORTRAN
-
Salvador Luria 1912–1991
Microbiologist, 1969 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
-
Virginia Apgar 1909–1974
Obstetrical anesthesiologist, inventor of the Apgar score
-
André Frédéric Cournand 1895–1988
French-American physician and physiologist
-
William Howard Stein 1911–1980
Biochemist; 1972 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate
-
Benjamin Spock 1903–1998
Pediatrician and author of Baby and Child Care
-
Robert Moog 1934–2005
Inventor of the Moog synthesizer
-
Leo Strauss 1899–1973
German-American political philosopher
-
Harold E. Varmus 1939–
Nobel-winning scientist and Weill Cornell professor
-
Robert C. Merton 1944–
Nobel-winning economist and MIT Sloan professor
-
Albert Ellis 1913–2007
Psychologist, founder of REBT
-
Alvin Eliot Roth 1951–
Economist and Stanford University professor
-
Dickinson W. Richards 1895–1973
Physician, physiologist and Nobel laureate
-
Louis Ignarro 1941–
Pharmacologist; 1998 Nobel laureate in Medicine
-
Theodosius Dobzhansky 1900–1975
Geneticist and evolutionary biologist
-
Louis E. Brus 1943–2026
Chemist and co-discoverer of quantum dots
-
Lotfi A. Zadeh 1921–2017
UC Berkeley professor who proposed fuzzy logic
-
Thomas Sowell 1930–
Economist and social theorist
-
Immanuel Wallerstein 1930–2019
Sociologist known for world-systems analysis
-
Lewis Mumford 1895–1990
Historian, sociologist and urban studies scholar
-
Alfred L. Kroeber 1876–1960
Cultural anthropologist
-
Edwin Howard Armstrong 1890–1954
Electrical engineer who developed FM radio
-
Mortimer J. Adler 1902–2001
Philosopher, educator and author
-
Mihajlo Pupin 1858–1935
Serbian-American physicist and inventor
-
Joseph Greenberg 1915–2001
Linguist known for typology and language classification
-
Daniel Bell 1919–2011
Sociologist and Harvard professor, post-industrialism scholar
-
Jesse Douglas 1897–1965
Mathematician and Fields Medalist
-
Kimberlé Crenshaw 1959–
Legal scholar of critical race theory
-
Kenneth Waltz 1924–2013
Political scientist and international relations theorist
-
Lynn Conway 1938–2024
Computer scientist and electrical engineer
-
Stein Rokkan 1921–1979
Norwegian political scientist and sociologist
-
Feng Youlan 1895–1990
Philosopher and historian of Chinese philosophy
-
Andrew Lih 1968–
New media researcher and Wikipedia authority
-
Jin Yuelin 1895–1984
Chinese logician and philosopher
-
John G. Trump 1907–1985
MIT electrical engineer and professor
-
C. Vann Woodward 1908–1999
Historian of the American South and race relations
Arts and media
-
Isaac Asimov 1920–1992
Writer and Boston University biochemistry professor
-
Leonard Cohen 1934–2016
Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist
-
J. D. Salinger 1919–2010
Author of The Catcher in the Rye
-
Ursula K. Le Guin 1929–2018
Author of the Earthsea fantasy series
-
Louise Glück 1943–2023
Poet, 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature winner
-
Jack Kerouac 1922–1969
Novelist and poet, Beat Generation pioneer
-
Alicia Keys 1981–
Singer-songwriter and pianist
-
Emmy Rossum 1986–
Actress and singer
-
Allen Ginsberg 1926–1997
Poet and core figure of the Beat Generation
-
James Cagney 1899–1986
Hollywood actor and dancer
-
Langston Hughes 1901–1967
Poet and leader of the Harlem Renaissance
-
Joan Rivers 1933–2014
Comedian, actress and television host
-
Jake Gyllenhaal 1980–
Actor and BAFTA Award winner
-
Timothée Chalamet 1995–
Actor with four Academy Award nominations
-
James Franco 1978–
Actor and filmmaker
-
Ed Harris 1950–
Actor and director, three-time Oscar nominee
-
Katie Holmes 1978–
Actress, Joey Potter in Dawson's Creek
-
Paul Auster 1947–2024
Novelist, author of The New York Trilogy
-
Hunter S. Thompson 1937–2005
Journalist and author, New Journalism pioneer
-
Nawal El Saadawi 1931–2021
Egyptian feminist writer and psychiatrist
-
Upton Sinclair 1878–1968
Author, muckraker and 1934 California gubernatorial nominee
-
Sidney Lumet 1924–2011
Film director, producer and screenwriter
-
Amanda Peet 1972–
Film and television actress
-
Maggie Gyllenhaal 1977–
Actress and filmmaker
-
Kathryn Bigelow 1951–
Filmmaker and two-time Academy Award winner
-
Famke Janssen 1964–
Dutch actress, Jean Grey in X-Men films
-
Joseph Gordon-Levitt 1981–
Actor and filmmaker
-
Casey Affleck 1975–
Actor and Academy Award winner
-
Will Durant 1885–1981
Historian and philosopher, author of The Story of Civilization
-
Brian De Palma 1940–
Film director and screenwriter
-
Jenny Slate 1982–
Actress, stand-up comedian and writer
-
Anna Paquin 1982–
Actress and Academy Award winner
-
Joseph Heller 1923–1999
Author of Catch-22
-
Zora Neale Hurston 1891–1960
Writer, anthropologist and folklorist
-
Anthony Perkins 1932–1992
Actor, played Norman Bates in Psycho
-
Joseph Campbell 1904–1987
Mythologist, writer and lecturer
-
Jim Jarmusch 1953–
Independent film director and screenwriter
-
Kiran Desai 1971–
Indian novelist, 2006 Booker Prize winner
-
Joseph L. Mankiewicz 1909–1993
Film director, screenwriter and producer
-
Erica Jong 1942–
Novelist and poet, author of Fear of Flying
-
Julia Stiles 1981–
Actress and director
-
Yo-Yo Ma 1955–
Cellist
-
Gene Roddenberry 1921–1991
Creator of Star Trek
-
Audre Lorde 1934–1992
Writer, poet, feminist and civil rights activist
-
Matthew Fox 1966–
Actor, known for Lost and Party of Five
-
Dorothea Lange 1895–1965
Documentary photographer known for Depression-era work
-
Jane Seymour 1951–
English-American actress and author
-
Anna Wintour 1949–
Former Vogue editor-in-chief, Condé Nast executive
-
Carson McCullers 1917–1967
Novelist, author of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
-
Laurie Holden 1969–
Actress known for The Walking Dead and The X-Files
-
Art Garfunkel 1941–
Singer and actor of Simon & Garfunkel
-
Paul Robeson 1898–1976
Bass-baritone, actor, football player and activist
-
Roger Zelazny 1937–1995
Science fiction and fantasy writer
-
Robert Sean Leonard 1969–
Actor and Tony Award winner
-
Aravind Adiga 1974–
Writer, won 2008 Man Booker Prize for The White Tiger
-
Laurie Anderson 1947–
Avant-garde artist and musician
-
Kate Millett 1934–2017
Feminist writer, educator and activist
-
Lauren Graham 1967–
Actress known for Gilmore Girls
-
David O. Selznick 1902–1965
Film producer of Gone with the Wind and Rebecca
-
Telly Savalas 1922–1994
Actor and singer
-
Thomas Merton 1915–1968
Trappist monk, Catholic priest and writer
-
James Mangold 1963–
Film director and screenwriter, directed Logan
-
Anne Tyler 1941–
Novelist, author of Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant
-
E. L. Doctorow 1931–2015
Novelist, author of Ragtime
-
James Gunn 1966–
Filmmaker and screenwriter
-
Richard Rodgers 1902–1979
Composer of Broadway musicals
-
Eudora Welty 1909–2001
Writer and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist
-
Bernard Malamud 1914–1986
Novelist and short story writer
-
Herman Wouk 1915–2019
Novelist, author of The Caine Mutiny
-
George Segal 1934–2021
American actor and musician
-
Edmond O'Brien 1915–1985
Actor and director, Academy Award winner
-
Jerzy Kosiński 1933–1991
Polish-born American novelist
-
Ruth Westheimer 1928–2024
Sex therapist and talk show host
-
Robert Benton 1932–2025
Film director and screenwriter of Bonnie and Clyde
-
Ben Stein 1944–
Actor, writer, lawyer and commentator
-
Hikaru Utada 1983–
Japanese-American singer-songwriter and record producer
-
Ernesto Cardenal 1925–2020
Nicaraguan priest, poet and politician
-
Lillian Hellman 1905–1984
Playwright and screenwriter
-
Brian Dennehy 1938–2020
Actor, two-time Tony Award winner
-
Rachel Nichols 1980–
Actress and model
-
Raymond Burr 1917–1993
Canadian actor, star of Perry Mason
-
Pat Boone 1934–
Singer and actor, 1950s pop star
-
Lawrence Ferlinghetti 1919–2021
Poet, painter and co-founder of City Lights
-
William Goldman 1931–2018
Novelist and Oscar-winning screenwriter
-
Kate McKinnon 1984–
Comedian and actress, Saturday Night Live cast member
-
Franklin J. Schaffner 1920–1989
Director who won the Oscar for Patton
-
Hu Shih 1891–1962
Chinese scholar, writer, diplomat and language reformer
-
John Kennedy Toole 1937–1969
Novelist, posthumous Pulitzer Prize winner
-
Ray William Johnson 1981–
YouTuber known for the web series Equals Three
-
John Ashbery 1927–2017
American poet and art critic
-
Amiri Baraka 1934–2014
Writer of poetry, drama, fiction and essays
-
Robert Silverberg 1935–
Science fiction author and editor, Hugo and Nebula winner
-
Sara Ali Khan 1995–
Indian actress in Hindi films
-
Cara Buono 1971–
Actress in Stranger Things and Mad Men
-
Vanessa Carlton 1980–
Singer-songwriter and pianist
-
Wendy Carlos 1939–
Electronic musician and composer
-
Christy Turlington 1969–
American supermodel
-
Tony Kushner 1956–
Playwright and screenwriter of Angels in America
-
Jennifer Lee 1971–
Film director, former Disney Animation chief creative officer
-
Margaret Bourke-White 1904–1971
Documentary photographer and photojournalist
-
Richard Avedon 1923–2004
Fashion and portrait photographer
-
Siri Hustvedt 1955–
Novelist and essayist
-
Cornel Wilde 1912–1989
Hungarian-American actor and film director
-
Geraldo Rivera 1943–
Journalist and talk show host
-
Tony Randall 1920–2004
Actor, comedian and singer
-
Geraldine Brooks 1955–
Journalist and novelist, Pulitzer Prize winner
-
Donald Judd 1928–1994
Minimalist artist
-
Mario Van Peebles 1957–
Actor and director
-
Oscar Hammerstein II 1895–1960
Musical theater lyricist, librettist and producer
-
Lin Shaye 1943–
Actress with a career spanning over 50 years
-
Ben Platt 1993–
Actor and singer, star of Dear Evan Hansen
-
Arthur Golden 1956–
Novelist, author of Memoirs of a Geisha
-
Tan Dun 1957–
Composer and conductor
-
Antonio Skármeta 1940–2024
Chilean writer and ambassador, Il Postino novelist
-
Kelsey Asbille 1991–
Actress, lead of Netflix film Don't Move
-
Edie Adams 1927–2008
Actress, singer, comedian and Tony Award winner
-
Donald Byrd 1932–2013
Jazz trumpeter, composer and vocalist
-
Isamu Noguchi 1904–1988
Japanese-American sculptor and landscape architect
-
Thelma Schoonmaker 1940–
Film editor, longtime collaborator of Martin Scorsese
-
Mitch Albom 1958–
Author, sports journalist and talk show host
-
Augusto Boal 1931–2009
Brazilian theatre practitioner, founder of Theatre of the Oppressed
-
Ossie Davis 1917–2005
Actor, director, writer and activist
-
Anson Mount 1973–
Actor known for Hell on Wheels
-
Ebon Moss-Bachrach 1977–
Actor, Emmy winner for The Bear
-
Bill Condon 1955–
Director and screenwriter of Chicago and Dreamgirls
-
Max Minghella 1985–
English actor and director in The Handmaid's Tale
-
Kari Wuhrer 1967–
Actress, singer and model
-
Robert Wisdom 1953–
Actor known for The Wire
-
Geling Yan 1958–
Chinese-American author and screenwriter
-
Chen Yi 1953–
Chinese-American composer and violinist
-
Lü Bicheng 1883–1943
Writer, poet, newspaper editor and school founder
-
Sun Yu 1900–1990
Leftist film director at Lianhua Film Company
-
Hsü Ti-shan 1893–1941
Chinese author, translator and folklorist
-
Liang Shih-chiu 1903–1987
Writer, translator, educator and literary critic
-
Bright Sheng 1955–
Chinese-American composer, conductor and pianist
-
Tao Xingzhi 1891–1946
Chinese educator and reformer
-
Jonathan Taylor Thomas 1981–
Actor known for Home Improvement
-
Mary L. Trump 1965–
Psychologist and author, niece of Donald Trump
-
Cenk Uygur 1970–
Co-creator and host of The Young Turks
-
Bari Weiss 1984–
Editor-in-chief of CBS News, former New York Times editor
-
Meghan McCain 1984–
TV personality, columnist, daughter of John McCain
-
Margo Jefferson 1947–
Writer, won 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism
-
Trish Regan 1972–
Former Fox Business host and author
-
Alix Kates Shulman 1932–
Writer and early second-wave feminist activist
-
Walt Mossberg 1947–
Technology journalist and Wall Street Journal columnist
-
Max Kellerman 1973–
Sports television host and boxing commentator
-
Dan Abrams 1966–
Media entrepreneur, television host and lawyer
-
Jenna Lee 1980–
Journalist and former Fox News anchor
-
Josh Elliott 1971–
Television journalist, former Good Morning America anchor
-
Kelly Choi 1976–
TV host, former Top Chef Masters host
-
John Graves 1920–2013
Writer, author of Goodbye to a River
-
Kelly Killoren Bensimon 1968–
Former model, Real Housewives of New York City cast member
-
Georgia O'Keeffe 1887–1986
Modernist painter, Mother of American modernism
-
Jhumpa Lahiri 1967–
Pulitzer-winning author of The Namesake
-
Federico García Lorca 1898–1936
Spanish poet and playwright
-
Lauryn Hill 1975–
Singer, rapper and songwriter
-
Julia Garner 1994–
Actress, three-time Emmy winner for Ozark
-
Gracie Gillam 1992–
Actress and singer in Teen Beach Movie
-
Sami Gayle 1996–
Actress known for Blue Bloods
-
Susie Gharib 1950–
Business news journalist and Fortune correspondent
-
Tony Dokoupil 1980–
Anchor of CBS Evening News
Sports
-
José Raúl Capablanca 1888–1942
Cuban chess player and third world champion
-
Federico Marchetti 1983–
Italian former professional goalkeeper
-
Lou Gehrig 1903–1941
Yankees baseball legend nicknamed the Iron Horse
-
Mario Ančić 1984–
Croatian former professional tennis player
-
Vitas Gerulaitis 1954–1994
American professional tennis player
-
David Stern 1942–2020
NBA commissioner from 1984 to 2014
Other fields
-
Amelia Earhart 1897–1939
Aviation pioneer, first woman to cross the Atlantic by air
-
Chelsea Clinton 1980–
Writer; daughter of Bill and Hillary Clinton
-
Henry Steel Olcott 1832–1907
Co-founder and first president of Theosophical Society
No alumni match.
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 Columbia University in the City of New York (people who attended both).
- Harvard University 35
- New York University 24
- CUNY--City College 14
- Cornell University 13
- Teachers College at Columbia University 11
- Barnard College 10
- Yale University 9
- University of Pennsylvania 9
- Stanford University 8
- Johns Hopkins University 7
- University of Wisconsin-Madison 7
- Howard University 6