Notable Alumni of Weill Cornell Medical College

James Peake 1944–

6th U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs

Doctor of Medicine

Also attended: Cornell University, The United States Military Academy at West Point

Nan Hayworth 1959–

Ophthalmologist and former New York congresswoman

Doctor of Medicine · Class of 1985

Also attended: Princeton University

Charles V. Paterno 1876–1946

Italian-born American real estate developer

Mae Jemison 1956–

Former NASA astronaut, first African-American woman in space

Doctor of Medicine · Class of 1981

Also attended: Cornell University, Stanford University

Anthony Fauci 1940–

Immunologist, former NIAID director

Doctor of Medicine · Class of 1966

Also attended: Boston University, College of the Holy Cross, Cornell University

Spouse: Christine Grady (Georgetown University, Boston College)

Robert W. Holley 1922–1993

Biochemist, 1968 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

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

Ellen S. Baker 1953–

Physician and former NASA astronaut

Also attended: Cornell University, University at Buffalo

Henry Heimlich 1920–2016

Surgeon credited with inventing the Heimlich maneuver

Also attended: Cornell University

Wilson Greatbatch 1919–2011

Engineer and inventor with over 325 patents

Also attended: Cornell University, University at Buffalo

Robert Jay Lifton 1926–2025

Psychiatrist known for his theory of thought reform

Also attended: Cornell University, New York Medical College

C. Everett Koop 1916–2013

13th US Surgeon General under Reagan

Also attended: Dartmouth College, Cornell University, University of Pennsylvania

Jay C. Buckey 1956–

Physician and astronaut, STS-90 payload specialist

Also attended: Cornell University

Margaret Hamburg 1955–

Physician and 21st FDA Commissioner

Medicine

Also attended: Harvard University

Spouse: Peter Brown (Carnegie Mellon University)

Mother: Beatrix Hamburg (Yale University, Vassar College)

Rudolph John Anderson 1879–1961

Swedish-born American biochemist

Also attended: Tulane University of Louisiana, Cornell University

John P. Donohue 1932–2008

Urologist and professor at Indiana University School of Medicine

Also attended: College of the Holy Cross

Robert Atkins 1930–2003

Cardiologist known for the Atkins Diet

Also attended: University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Cornell University

Emily Barringer 1876–1961

World's first female ambulance surgeon

Also attended: Cornell University

Robert H. Lustig 1957–

Pediatric endocrinologist, UCSF professor emeritus

Also attended: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cornell University

Philip Levine 1900–1987

Immuno-hematologist who advanced Rhesus factor research

Also attended: CUNY--City College

Romeyn Beck Hough 1857–1924

Physician and botanist who created The American Woods

Also attended: Cornell University

Father: Franklin B. Hough (Union College)

Ida S. Scudder 1870–1960

Medical missionary in India

Doctor of Medicine · Class of 1899

Maiken Nedergaard 1957–

Neuroscientist who discovered the glymphatic system

Sofia Simmonds 1917–2007

Biochemist who studied amino acid metabolism

Also attended: Barnard College

Spouse: Joseph S. Fruton (Columbia University in the City of New York)

Ruth Westheimer 1928–2024

Sex therapist and talk show host

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York