Notable Alumni of Hamilton College

Desmond Tutu 1931–2021

South African archbishop and anti-apartheid activist

Also attended: Bates College

Child: Mpho Andrea Tutu (Howard University, Episcopal Divinity School)

Elihu Root 1845–1937

US Secretary of State and Secretary of War

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

James S. Sherman 1855–1912

27th Vice President of the United States

Tom Vilsack 1950–

Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and Iowa governor

Also attended: Albany Law School

Michael Castle 1939–2025

Former Delaware governor and US representative

Bachelor of Science · Class of 1961

Also attended: Georgetown University

Gerrit Smith 1797–1874

Abolitionist and philanthropist, presidential candidate

Matt Cartwright 1961–

U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania

Bachelor of Arts · Class of 1983

Also attended: University of Pennsylvania, Temple University

Joseph Roswell Hawley 1826–1905

42nd Governor of Connecticut and US senator

Victor H. Metcalf 1853–1936

Secretary of Commerce and Labor, then Secretary of the Navy

Also attended: Yale University

Philip Jessup 1897–1986

Diplomat, scholar and jurist in international law

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

Joseph I. France 1873–1939

US Senator from Maryland, 1917–1923

Also attended: Clark University

Henry B. Payne 1810–1896

Ohio Democratic politician and lawyer

Irving Ives 1896–1962

US Senator from New York, founding dean of Cornell ILR

Attended until 1920

Frank D. Baldwin 1842–1923

Double Medal of Honor recipient in the U.S. Army

Also attended: Hillsdale College

Theodore M. Pomeroy 1824–1905

26th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives

Gilbert Carlton Walker 1833–1885

36th Governor of Virginia

Also attended: Williams College

Austin Blair 1818–1894

13th governor of Michigan

Also attended: Cazenovia College, Union College

Daniel D. Pratt 1813–1877

U.S. senator from Indiana

Also attended: Cazenovia College

Charles Holland Duell 1850–1920

US Commissioner of Patents and federal judge

Sidney Breese 1800–1878

Illinois US senator and Supreme Court chief justice

Attended until 1816

Also attended: Union College

Sibling: Samuel Livingston Breese (Union College)

Robert Parris Moses 1935–2021

Civil rights activist; organizer of Freedom Summer

Also attended: Harvard University

Spouse: Marimba Ani (University of Chicago, The New School)

Marc Randolph 1958–

Co-founder and first CEO of Netflix

Thomas Tull 1970–

Film producer and co-chairman of TWG Global

Alex Faickney Osborn 1888–1966

Advertising executive, creator of brainstorming

David M. Solomon 1962–

CEO and chairman of Goldman Sachs

Ryan Serhant 1984–

Real estate broker and Serhant founder

John Jay Knox 1828–1892

Banker and government official

B.F. Skinner 1904–1990

Behaviorist psychologist and Harvard professor

Bachelor of Arts · English studies · Class of 1926

Also attended: Harvard University

Child: Julie Vargas (Harvard University, Columbia University in the City of New York)

Paul Greengard 1925–2019

Neuroscientist; 2000 Nobel laureate in Medicine

Also attended: Johns Hopkins University

Spouse: Ursula von Rydingsvard (University of Miami, Columbia University in the City of New York)

Child: Leslie Greengard (Wesleyan University, Yale University)

Edward Robinson 1794–1863

Biblical scholar, Father of Biblical Geography

William H. Masters 1915–2001

Gynecologist and human sexuality researcher

Also attended: University of Rochester

Spouse: Virginia E. Johnson (Drury University, University of Missouri-Columbia)

Wendy Lower 1965–

Historian and author on the Holocaust

Also attended: American University

Edward Orton, Sr. 1829–1899

First president of Ohio State University, geologist

Also attended: Harvard University, Ohio State University-Main Campus

Erica Flapan 1956–

Mathematician and professor at Pomona College

Also attended: University of Wisconsin-Madison

Ezra Pound 1885–1972

Poet and critic, major modernist and Imagism figure

Also attended: University of Pennsylvania

Peter Falk 1927–2011

Actor best known as Lieutenant Columbo

Also attended: The New School, Syracuse University

Tony Goldwyn 1960–

Actor and director, known for Ghost

Also attended: Brandeis University

Father: Samuel Goldwyn Jr. (University of Virginia-Main Campus)

Sibling: John Goldwyn (Stanford University)

Kamila Shamsie 1973–

Pakistani-British novelist, author of Home Fire

Also attended: University of Massachusetts-Amherst

Sarah Rafferty 1972–

Actress, known for Suits

Also attended: Yale University

Terry Brooks 1944–

Writer of epic fantasy fiction

Josh Billings 1818–1885

19th-century humorist and lecturer

David Thornton 1953–

Actor known for Home Alone 3 and The Notebook

Alexander Woollcott 1887–1943

Drama critic and New Yorker commentator

Sarah J. Maas 1986–

Fantasy author of Throne of Glass series

Nat Faxon 1975–

Actor and Oscar-winning screenwriter of The Descendants

Charles Dudley Warner 1829–1900

Writer who co-authored The Gilded Age with Mark Twain

Amanda Filipacchi 1967–

French-American novelist

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

Samuel Hopkins Adams 1871–1958

Investigative journalist and writer

Spouse: Jane Peyton (Northwestern University)

Paul Lieberstein 1967–

Screenwriter and actor on The Office

Willard Fiske 1831–1904

Librarian, book collector and chess player

Also attended: Cazenovia College

Peter Cameron 1959–

Novelist and short story writer

Yance Ford 1950–

Film producer and director

Melinda Wagner 1957–

Composer and 1999 Pulitzer Prize winner

Thomas Meehan 1929–2017

Writer of musicals Annie and The Producers

Grayson McCouch 1968–

Actor known for daytime soap operas

Mark T. Sullivan 1958–

Author of mystery and historical novels

Also attended: Northwestern University

Richard Nelson 1950–

Playwright and librettist

Theodore Dwight Weld 1803–1895

Leading abolitionist

Also attended: Oberlin College

Albert Barnes 1798–1870

Theologian, clergyman and abolitionist

Also attended: Princeton Theological Seminary

Justus Doolittle 1824–1880

American missionary to China and writer