List of Syracuse University people

This is a list of notable individuals associated with Syracuse University.

Founders

• Jesse Truesdell Peck – first Chairman of the University's Board of Trustees
• Wilfred W. Porter
• George F. Comstock
• George L. Taylor
• Charles Andrews

Benefactors

Syracuse has had many financial supporters, but some stand out by the magnitude of their contributions. Among those who have made transformative donations commemorated at the university are:

• John D. Archbold- oil
• Andrew Carnegie- steel
• George F. Comstock- real estate
• Joseph Lubin- real estate
• Donald Newhouse- publishing
• Samuel Irving Newhouse, Sr.- publishing
• Samuel Irving Newhouse, Jr.- publishing
• Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage – philanthropist
• Lyman Cornelius Smith- firearm and typewriter magnate
• Thomas J. Watson- IBM

Notable alumni

Arts and Letters

• Julia Alvarez – poet, novelist, and essayist
• Donna Alvermann – prominent professor and researcher in adolescent and media literacies
• Joe Amato (poet) – author
• Robb Armstrong – cartoonist of the comic strip Jump Start
• Maltbie D. Babcock – 19th century clergyman and author
• Wendy Coakley-Thompson – novelist
• Stephen Crane – novelist; stayed only one semester, later admitting he came "more to play baseball than to study." [1]
• Adam Davies – novelist
• Aleš Debeljak – poet, essayist and sociologist
• Stephen Dunn – poet
• Moses Finley – historian
• Carlisle Floyd – opera composer
• Aaron Goldfarb – novelist
• Clement Greenberg – art critic
• Henry Grethel – fashion designer
• Beth Gylys - poet and professor.
• Morton L. Janklow – literary agent
• Shirley Jackson – novelist
• Betsey Johnson – fashion designer
• David N. Johnson – composer, organist, and professor
• Joseph S. Kozlowski – portrait artist
• Hilton Kramer – critic, "The Revenge of the Philistines"
• Barbara Kruger – collage artist
• Sol LeWitt – sculptor
• Mark Lombardi – abstract painter
• John D. MacDonald – novelist
• Don Maloney – Japanophile author
• Barry N. Malzberg science fiction writer
• Jerre Mangione novelist, and scholar of the Italian-American experience
• Robert Mankoff – cartoonist and editor of The New Yorker
• Donald Martino – Pulitzer Prize-winning composer
• Scott McCloud – cartoonist and comics theorist
• Jay McInerney – novelist
• Joyce Carol Oates – novelist
• Robert O'Connor – novelist
• Tom Perrotta – novelist and screenwriter
• Salvador Plascencia – novelist
• William Powhida – artist
• Mary Jo Putney – romance novelist
• M. J. Rose - author and book marketing executive
• David Ross – museum director
• William Safire – Pulitzer Prize-winning commentator and former New York Times columnist
• George Saunders – short story writer
• Alice Sebold – novelist
• Laurie Gwen Shapiro – novelist, director, Independent Spirit Award for Keep the River on Your Right
• Lexington Steele – actor, director, and owner of Mercenary Motion Pictures and Black Viking Pictures Inc.
• William Tester – short story writer
• Irene Vilar – author and literary agent
• Kate Vrijmoet – artist
• John A. Williams (author) – novelist
• Howard Wyeth – drummer and pianist
• Dorothy Thompson – journalist

Education

• Martin J. Anisman – President, Daemen College
• Molly Corbett Broad – President, American Council on Education
• Walter Broadnax – President, Clark Atlanta University
• George Campbell Jr. – President, Cooper Union
• Kent John Chabotar – President, Guilford College
• R. Inslee Clark, Jr. – Director of Admissions, Yale College
• Michael Crow – President, Arizona State University
• John Crowley – Vice President for Federal Relations, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Mark Emmert – President, University of Washington
• Welthy Honsinger Fisher - Founder, World Education and World Literacy Canada.
• A. Lee Fritschler – former President, Dickinson College
• Jonathan Gibralter – President, State University of New York at Farmingdale
• John Griffith – President, Presbyterian College
• Kermit L. Hall – former President, State University of New York at Albany
• Richard Hersh – President, Trinity College (Connecticut)
• Anne Hopkins – former President, University of North Florida
• Alice Ilchman – President, Sarah Lawrence College
• David Knapp – President, University of Massachusetts
• Barry Mills – President, Bowdoin College
• Sean O'Keefe – former Chancellor, Louisiana State University (LSU)
• L. Jay Oliva – former President, New York University
• David Potter – former President, Delta State University
• Joseph Rallo – President, Angelo State University
• Kenneth P. Ruscio – President, Washington and Lee University
• Donna Shalala – President, University of Miami
• Deborah F. Stanley – President, State University of New York at Oswego
• R. Mark Sullivan – President, The College of Saint Rose
• Michael Theall – President, Youngstown State University

Investors, industrialists, and executives

• Martin J. Whitman – founder, Co-Chief Investment Officer, Third Avenue Value Fund
• P.O. Ackley – World-Renowned Gunsmith, CEO, P.O. Ackley Inc.
• Al-Waleed bin Talal – founder and President, Kingdom Holding Co
• Steven Barnes – Managing Director, Bain Capital LLC
• William J. Brodsky – Chairman and chief executive officer of the Chicago Board Options Exchange
• Jeffrey Cohen – CEO, Silverado Capital Management
• Dennis Crowley – Co-Founder, Foursquare (service)
• Nick Donofrio – Senior Vice President, Technology & Manufacturing, IBM
• Bernard Goldberg (1948) – Co-founder of Raymour & Flanigan
• William James – Director, Lazard Freres & Company
• E. Floyd Kvamme – Partner Emeritus; Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers. Chairman, Presidents Council of Advisors on Science and Technology under President George W Bush
• Arthur Rock – venture capitalist
• Peter Valdes – co-founder of Tivoli Systems (an IBM Company)

Hospitality, real estate, construction, and architecture

• Harley Baldwin – developer in Aspen, Colorado
• Bruce Fowle – architect, Fox & Fowle Architects
• Adam Gross – architect, Ayers Saint Gross
• Lorimer Rich – architect, designed the Tomb of the Unknowns in Washington, DC and the Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier in Rome, NY
• David Rockwell – founder and CEO, Rockwell Group
• Steve Rubell – former Studio 54 club owner
• Ian Schrager – hotelier and former Studio 54 club owner
• Werner Seligmann – architect
• Gianfranco Zaccai – President and CEO, Design Continuum
• Thom Filicia – Interior Designer, Author, Television Host

Law and Public Service

• Adam Leitman Bailey, Esq. - Author of New York Times bestseller Finding The Uncommon Deal: A Top New York Lawyer Explains How To Buy A Home For The Lowest Possible Price[2]; defended the Ground Zero Mosque, victoriously obtaining the right for them to build their community center [3]; obtained winning settlement for restaurant struck by devastating crane on March 15, 2008 [4]; landed largest condominium settlement in New York History. [5] [6]
• Craig Benson, former New Hampshire Governor
• Joseph R. Biden, Jr. – Current Vice-President of the United States, former U.S. Senator from Delaware, Former Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
• Joseph R. (Beau) Biden, III – Attorney General of Delaware
• Angus Cameron – former Senator from Wisconsin
• Gary Chan, Member of Legislative Council of Hong Kong since 2008
• John T. Connor – former U.S. Secretary of Commerce
• David Crane – former Chief Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone
• Al D'Amato – former Senator from New York
• Willy De Clercq – former European Commissioner for Trade and External Relations, former Belgian Minister of Finance, Foreign Trade, and Budget; former Belgian Deputy Prime Minister
• Robert Duffy – Mayor of Rochester, New York
• Kwabena Dufuor – Finance Minister of Ghana and former of Governor, Bank of Ghana.
• Ronald A. George – Maryland State Delegate
• David Gordon – Partner at Latham & Watkins, LLP
• James E. Graves, Jr. – Mississippi Supreme Court Justice
• Arthur T. Hannett – former Governor of New Mexico
• Kathy Hochul - Congresswoman, New York
• Randy Kuhl – Congressman, New York
• Mordecai Lee – Wisconsin State Senator
• Belva A. Lockwood – first woman to receive her party’s nomination for President of the United States, and the first woman to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court
• Oren Lyons – Onondaga Faithkeeper and Global Indigenous Leader
• Joanie Mahoney – Onondaga County Executive
• Neal P. McCurn – Senior Judge for the U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York
• Theodore McKee – federal appeals court judge, Philadelphia
• Rodney C. Moen – Wisconsin State Senator
• John H. Mulroy – former Onondaga County Executive
• Norman A. Mordue – Chief Judge for the U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York
• Bismarck Myrick – former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Liberia and Lesotho
• Sean O'Keefe – former NASA administrator
• Masahide Ota – former Governor of Okinawa, Japan
• John Prevas – Circuit Court Judge, City of Baltimore
• Elliott Portnoy – Chairman of SNR Denton
• Steven Rothman – Congressman, New Jersey
• Warren Rudman – former Senator
• Frederick J. Scullin, Jr. – Senior Judge for the U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York
• Donna Shalala – former Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Glenn T. Suddaby – Justice for the U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York
• Sandra L. Townes – Justice for the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
• Mitchel Wallerstein – former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for counter-proliferation policy
• George Warrington – NJ Transit president and former Amtrak president
• John P. White – former Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Defense

Media and communications

• Marv Albert – sportscaster
• David Amber – reporter, ESPN
• Damon Amendolara – sportscaster
• Gary Apple – sports anchor, SNY
• Steve Bunin – sportscaster, ESPN
• Ed Coleman – sportscaster, WFAN NY
• Len Berman – sportscaster
• Matthew Berry – ESPN fantasy sports analyst
• Contessa Brewer – broadcast journalist, MSNBC
• Samantha Brown – TV host
• Joe Castiglione – sportscaster
• Michael Cole – WWE Raw commentator
• Bob Costas – sportscaster, NBC Sports and MLB Network
• Bob Dotson – journalist
• Ian Eagle – sportscaster
• Marty Glickman – sportscaster
• Ariel Helwani - MMA journalist
• Larry Hryb – Xbox Live Director of Programming
• Megyn Kelly – co-anchor of "America’s Newsroom," Fox News Channel
• Ted Koppel – broadcast journalist, "Nightline"
• Larry Kramer – President, CBS Interactive (former President of CBS Marketwatch.com)
• Steve Kroft – co-editor and news correspondent, "60 Minutes"
• Michael Kranish – journalist
• David Levy – president, Turner Entertainment Group
• Harold E. Martin – Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaperman, Montgomery, Alabama Advertiser
• Mike McAlary – Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
• Sean McDonough – sportscaster, ESPN
• Joe McNally – photographer
• Jim Naughtie – British journalist and radio presenter
• Bob Neumeier – sportscaster, NBC
• Donald Newhouse – president, Advance Publications
• S.I. Newhouse, Jr. – Chairman & CEO, Advance Publications/ Chairman, Conde Nast Publications
• Dave Pasch – sportscaster, ESPN
• Harry M. Rosenfeld – former editor, "Washington Post"
• Dave Ryan – sportscaster, ESPN

Stephanie Scarpulla (Senior Manager, Media and Clearance) - MLB Network

• Adam Schein – SNY, Sirius XM Satellite radio NFL
• Bob Shannon – radio DJ/Announcer, CBS-FM New York
• Arun Shourie – former editor, The Indian Express
• Anish Shroff- ESPNews Anchor
• Fred Silverman – former President, NBC
• Lakshmi Singh – newscaster, journalist, NPR
• Jayson Stark – journalist, sportscaster, ESPN
• Dick Stockton – sportscaster
• John Sykes – former Chairman and CEO, Infinity Broadcasting (former president of VH1)
• Mike Tirico – sportscaster, ABC/ESPN
• Craig Carton – Sports talk show host

Science, engineering, medicine, and exploration

• Joseph A. Ahearn – Civil Engineer of the U.S. Air Force
• Albert Baez – developer of the X-ray reflection microscope, physics educator, and father of Joan Baez.
• Eileen Collins – NASA astronaut and first female space shuttle commander
• Nina Fedoroff – geneticist and molecular biologist; Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State. Recipient of the National Medal of Science.
• Joan Feynman – astrophysicist
• Edith M. Flanigen – chemist and inventor
• George E. Fox – biologist and chemical engineer; co-discoverer of the Archaea kingdom of organisms
• Hermann Gummel - semiconductor device physicist; member of the National Academy of Engineering.
• Robert Jarvik – inventor of the first permanently-implantable artificial heart
• Joel Lebowitz – statistical physicist; member of the National Academy of Sciences
• Alfred U. MacRae – semiconductor physicist, developer of ion implantation; member of the National Academy of Engineering
• William Ralph Maxon – botanist and pteridologist.
• Story Musgrave – NASA astronaut
• Ezra T. Newman - theoretical physicist, winner of the 2011 Einstein Prize.
• Martin A. Pomerantz – astrophysicist, president emeritus of the Bartol Research Institute, and pioneer of Antarctic astronomy.
• Pierre Ramond – string theorist; winner of the 2004 Oskar Klein Medal
• Harry Frederick Recher – ornithologist; winner of the 1994 D.L. Serventy Medal
• Mark Reed – nanotechnology pioneer
• Joel Rosenbaum – cell biologist; winner of the E. B. Wilson Medal.
• Michael Streicher – developer of stainless steels; winner of the W. R. Whitney Award
• James Tour – organic chemist and nanotechnologist
• Clarence Abiathar Waldo – mathematician and educator known for his role in the Indiana Pi Bill affair

Sports

• Will Allen – football player
• Joe Alexander – NFL football player
• Gary Anderson – football player, former NFL record holder
• Carmelo Anthony – basketball player,New York Knicks
• Dave Bing – basketball player, current mayor of Detroit, Michigan.
• Jim Boeheim – basketball player and coach, member of the National Basketball Hall of Fame
• Jim Brown – football player, lacrosse player, actor, member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame
• Keith Bulluck – football player
• Derrick Coleman – basketball player
• John Coleman – baseball player
• Tom Coughlin – football coach, New York Giants
• Larry Csonka – football player
• Donovin Darius – football player
• Al Davis – NFL owner
• Ernie Davis – football player, Heisman Trophy winner
• John Desko – lacrosse coach
• Sherman Douglas – basketball player
• Randy Edsall – college football coach
• David Falk – Founder, SFX Basketball Group
• Mickey Fallon – football player
• Jonny Flynn – basketball player
• Dwight Freeney – football player
• Gary Gait – lacrosse player
• Paul Gait – lacrosse player
• Donte Greene – pro basketball player
• Tim Green – football player
• Morlon Greenwood – football player
• Marvin Harrison – football player
• Jason Hart – basketball player
• Qadry Ismail – football player
• Tanard Jackson – football player
• Tebucky Jones – football player
• Wesley Johnson – basketball player, Minnesota Timberwolves
• Daryl Johnston – football player
• Mark Kerr – Division I national champion wrestler, two-time UFC heavyweight tournament champion
• Rob Konrad – football player
• Jim Konstanty – major league baseball pitcher
• Floyd Little – football player
• John Mackey – former NFL tight end, has college award named after him
• Olindo Mare – football player, Carolina Panthers
• Alex Markham - noted Madden player

Doug Marrone – football coach

• Donovan McNabb – football player, Free Agent
• Gerry McNamara – basketball player
• Don McPherson – football player
• Dave Meggyesy – football player
• Eddie Miller - basketball player
• Gene Mills – wrestler, 1980 US Olympian, voted the "Athlete of the Year" by the U.S. Olympic Committee
• Art Monk – football player; NFL Hall of Fame inductee
• Tim Moresco – football player
• Joe Morris – football player
• Larry Morris – football player
• Lawrence Moten – basketball player
• Louis Orr – basketball player
• Billy Owens – basketball player
• Greg Paulus – football player and former Duke University basketball player
• Casey Powell – lacrosse player
• Mikey Powell – lacrosse player
• Ryan Powell – lacrosse player
• Myer Prinstein – Olympic medalist
• Andy Rautins – basketball player
• Leo Rautins – basketball player
• Jim Ringo – football player
• Victor Ross - lacrosse player
• Mike Rotundo – professional wrestler
• Danny Schayes - basketball player
• Rony Seikaly – basketball player
• Wilmeth Sidat-Singh – football and basketball player
• Anthony Smith – football player
• Etan Thomas – basketball player
• David Tyree – football player
• John Wallace – basketball player
• Hakim Warrick – basketball player, Phoenix Suns
• Dwayne Washington – basketball player
• Paul Young- Jamaican soccer player/manager

Entertainment and arts

• Lynn Ahrens – musical theatre lyricist
• Darryl Bell – actor
• Matthew Berry – screenwriter
• Eric Bress – film director and screenwriter
• Tim Calpin – screenwriter
• Warren Casey – writer, lyricist, screenwriter
• Priscilla Chan – singer
• Dick Clark – host of American Bandstand; television producer
• John Curran – film director and screenwriter
• Taye Diggs – actor
• Peter Falk – actor
• Gary Farmer – actor
• Vera Farmiga – actress
• Judy Freudberg – screenwriter
• Jami Gong – stand-up comedian
• Carl Gottlieb – screenwriter; vice-president of the Writers Guild of America, West
• Peter Guber – former studio head of Columbia Pictures and current CEO of Mandalay Entertainment
• Jay Harrington – actor
• Elizabeth Hendrickson – actress
• Miriam Hopkins – actress
• Garland Jeffreys – musician
• Miss Jones – radio DJ and singer
• Joe Klotz - film editor
• Lisa Lampanelli – comedian
• Frank Langella – actor Frost/Nixon
• James LaRosa – screenwriter, Tennis Channel blogger
• Riki Lindhome – actress
• Sam Lloyd – actor, musician
• Frank Marion – motion picture pioneer
• Neal McDonough – actor
• Sterling Morrison – musician
• Suzanne Pleshette – actress
• Lou Reed – musician
• Kevin Michael Richardson – actor
• Maria Sansone – television presenter
• Reid Scott – actor
• Tom Everett Scott – actor
• Matt Singer – media personality
• Aaron Sorkin – screenwriter The Social Network, The West Wing, Moneyball
• Mark Stevens – President, Time-Life Music
• Jerry Stiller – actor
• Habib Tabani – Pakistani ghazal singer and industrialist
• Arielle Tepper – Broadway producer
• Mark Tinker – television producer/director
• Stephen A. Unger – executive recruiter, media and entertainment business
• Jimmy Van Heusen – Academy Award winning composer
• Bill Viola – video artist
• Vanessa Williams – singer, songwriter, actress, dancer
• Pete Yorn – musician

Other

• John Zogby – pollster, Zogby International

Notable educators

• William Alston
• Julia Alvarez – poet, novelist, and essayist
• Donna Artz
• Ernst Bacon
• Jonathan Bennett
• Peter Bergmann – won the Einstein Prize for research on quantum gravity.
• Catherine Bertini
• Philip Booth – poet
• Arthur C. Brooks
• Horace Campbell, Department of African American Studies and Department of Political Science
• Massimo Carmassi
• Linda CartyDepartment of African American Studies and Department of Sociology
• Bill Cole - musician, author (Department of African American Studies)
• Raymond Carver
• David Crane – former Chief Prosecutor for Special Court of the Sierra Leone
• Junot Diaz
• John Langston Gwaltney, African American professor of anthropology, author of Drylongso: A Self Portrait of Black America
• Per Brinch Hansen
• Douglas Holtz-Eakin – former Director of the U.S. Congressional Budget Office (2003–2005), and chief economic policy adviser to U.S. Senator John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign.
• Mary Karr – poet
• Janis Mayes - Author, literary critic
• Daniel Patrick Moynihan – Senator from New York, political scientist
• Ivan Mestrovic – artist
• Micere Mugo - poet and playwright (Department of African American Studies, Department of Literature)
• Ei-ichi Negishi - chemist, winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize.
• Alexander Rosenberg
• George Saunders – writer
• Milton Sernett - historian, author (Department of African American Studies, Department of History)
• Delmore Schwartz – poet
• Huston Smith – religious studies scholar
• Eileen Strempel – soprano, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Associate Professor of Fine Arts
• Robert Thompson
• Mark Trodden – theoretical cosmologist
• Betty Miller Unterberger – historian
• Peter Van Inwagen
• Frances Willard
• Tobias Wolff – writer

Notable commencement speakers & honored guests

• 2011 – J. Craig Venter, American biologist and entrepreneur, President of J. Craig Venter Institute
• 2010 – Jamie Dimon, CEO JPMorgan Chase & Co.
• 2009 – Joseph R. Biden Jr., Vice President of the United States of America
• 2008 – Bob Woodruff, ABC News journalist
• 2007 – Frank McCourt, author/Pulitzer Prize winner
• 2006 – Billy Joel, composer and singer
• 2005 – Jane Goodall, primatologist, ethologist and anthropologist
• 2004 – Phylicia Rashad, actress
• 2003 – Bill Clinton, former U.S. President, 1993–2001
• 2002 – Rudolph Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City, 1994–2001
• 2001 – Eileen Collins, American astronaut
• 2000 – Ted Koppel, American journalist
• 1999 – Charles Schumer, U.S. Senator (D-NY), 1999–present
• 1998 – Robert Fulghum, author, essayist
• 1995 – Donna Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human Services, 1993–2001
• 1994 – Kurt Vonnegut, novelist
• 1990 – William Safire, journalist
• 1988 – Malcolm Forbes
• 1986 – Mario Cuomo, Governor of New York
• 1982 – Ted Koppel, journalist
• 1981 – Alexander Haig, U.S. Secretary of State, 1981–1982
• 1979 – Tom Brokaw, journalist
• 1973 – Edward M. Kennedy, U.S. Senator (D-MA), 1962–2009
• 1969 – William F. Buckley, journalist
• 1966 – Nelson Rockefeller, Governor of New York, 1959–1973
• 1965 – Robert F. Kennedy, U.S. Senator (D-NY), 1965–1968
• 1961 – Ayn Rand, novelist
• 1960 – Harry S. Truman, former U.S. President, 1945–1953
• 1959 – Robert Frost, poet
• 1957 – John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senator (D-MA), 1953–1960
• 1937 – Herbert Hoover, former U.S. President, 1929–1933
• 1930 – Franklin D. Roosevelt, Governor of New York, 1928–1932

See also

• Syracuse University