List of Northwestern University alumni

The following is a list of notable alumni who attended Northwestern University

Academia

• David J. Skorton, president, Cornell University
• Graham Spanier, president, Pennsylvania State University
• Jacques Vallee, computer scientist, astronomer and UFO researcher

Actors/Celebrities

• Claude Akins, actor (Inherit the Wind, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo)
• Ann-Margret (Olsson) (Class of 1963), actress and singer (never graduated)
• Sharif Atkins, actor (ER)
• Warren Beatty (dropped out), actor (Bonnie and Clyde, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Shampoo)
• Lee Phillip Bell 16 time Emmy winning talk show host and soap opera creator (The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful)
• Richard Benjamin, actor
• Karen Black (attended for two years), actress
• Zach Braff, actor (Scrubs), director (Garden State)
• Bruno Campos, actor (Nip/Tuck)
• Stephen Colbert, comedian (The Colbert Report, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart)
• Kate Collins, popular soap opera actress.
• Cindy Crawford, model (never graduated)
• Stephanie D'Abruzzo, actress, puppeteer (Avenue Q)
• Zooey Deschanel, actress (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) (never graduated)
• Temi Epstein, child actress (North and South, Book 1)
• Daniele Gaither, actress, comic (MADtv)
• Ana Gasteyer, actress, comic (Saturday Night Live, Mean Girls, Wicked)
• Heather Headley, Tony Award-winning actress and singer (Aida, The Lion King)
• Marg Helgenberger, actress (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation)
• Charlton Heston, actor
• Harry J. Lennix, actor (The Matrix Revolutions, "Commander in Chief" (2005) TV Series, Ray, The Matrix Reloaded)
• Martha Hyer, Oscar nominated actress (Some Came Running)
• Laura Innes, actress (ER)
• Brian d'Arcy James, actor (Tony Award nominee for Sweet Smell of Success: The Musical)
• Clinton Kelly, television personality (What Not to Wear)
• Clyde Kusatsu, actor (All American Girl)
• Sherry Lansing, former CEO of Paramount Pictures
• Cloris Leachman, actress (The Facts of Life)
• Shelley Long (did not graduate), actress (Cheers, The Money Pit)
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus, actress (Saturday Night Live, Seinfeld)
• Paul Lynde, actor, comic (Hollywood Squares)
• Stephanie March, actress (Law & Order: SVU)
• Garry Marshall, director, producer (Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley)
• Ralph Meeker, actor (Kiss Me Deadly, Paths of Glory)
• Josh Meyers, actor (MADtv)
• Seth Meyers, comic (Saturday Night Live)
• John Cameron Mitchell, writer, performer, director (Hedwig and the Angry Inch)
• Megan Mullally, actress (Will and Grace) (never graduated)
• Dermot Mulroney, actor (About Schmidt, My Best Friend's Wedding)
• Patricia Neal, actress (A Face In The Crowd, Hud)
• Agnes Nixon, four time Emmy winning soap opera writer/producer (All My Children, One Life to Live, Another World, As the World Turns, Loving)
• Jerry Orbach, actor (Law & Order) (never graduated)
• Mary Beth Peil, actress (Dawson's Creek)
• Paula Prentiss, actress
• Charlotte Rae, actress (The Facts of Life)
• Tony Randall, actor, (The Odd Couple) (never graduated)
• Jeri Ryan, actress, (Boston Public, Star Trek: Voyager)
• David Schwimmer, actor (Friends)
• Katherine Shindle, Miss America 1998
• Jerry Springer, host of The Jerry Springer Show, former mayor of Cincinnati
• Nicole Sullivan, actress (MADtv)
• Inga Swenson, actress (The Miracle Worker, Benson)
• Jason Tyne, actor (Tony n' Tina's Wedding)
• Billie Lou Watt, actress (Search for Tomorrow, Astroboy)
• Kimberly Williams, actress (Father of the Bride, According to Jim)
• Fred Williamson, athlete, film actor (MASH, Three the Hard Way, Black Caesar)
• William Daniels, actor (Boy Meets World)

Business

• Joseph Levy Jr., Levy Venture Management
• Edwin G. Booz, founder of Booz Allen Hamilton
• Nick Chabraja, chairman and CEO, General Dynamics
• Alvin V. Cheeks, Chairman & CEO of ClinDev Global Inc., minister, and conservative civic activist
• Terri Dial, former CEO of Wells Fargo Bank
• Craig Donohue, CEO of Chicago Mercantile Exchange
• John H. Johnson (briefly attended), founder of the Johnson Publishing Company (Ebony and Jet magazines)
• Sherry Lansing, chairman, Paramount Pictures
• Kathy Kolbe, author and entrepreneur
• Jeffrey McClelland, COO, US Airways
• Blythe McGarvie, former CFO of a Fortune 500 company and director of several corporations including Accenture, Lafarge NA, Pepsi Bottling Group, St. Paul Travelers and Wawa
• Steve Odland, Chairman & CEO, Office Depot, Inc.
• Peter George Peterson, former Chairman and CEO of Lehman Brothers (1973-1984), co-founded the Blackstone Group (*also listed under Politics, government, and public policy)
• Jerry Reinsdorf, owner of the Chicago Bulls and the Chicago White Sox
• Patrick G. Ryan, chairman and CEO, Aon Corporation
• John Meriwether, founder of Long Term Capital Management
• George Nemhauser, noted Operations Research figure
• David R. Nissen, President and CEO, GE Consumer Finance
• Jeanette Sarkisian Wagner, former Vice Chair, Estee Lauder International
• William A. Woodburn, President and CEO, Strategy & Integration, Infrastructure for GE

• Alfred Steele ,President of Pepsi-Cola & actress Joan Crawfords last husband. (class of 1923)

Journalism

• J.A Adande, ESPN contributor Around The Horn and Los Angeles Times sports columnist
• Allison Beach, commentary page editor, Austin American-Statesman
• Kevin Blackistone, ESPN contributor Around The Horn and Dallas Morning News sports columnist
• Christine Brennan, USA Today columnist and NBC commentator
• Elisabeth Bumiller, The New York Times White House Correspondent
• Al Dybsky, chief editor for CNNSI.com
• Gregg Easterbrook, author and journalist
• Rich Eisen, NFL Network anchor
• Mike Greenberg ESPN Sportscenter Host, Co-Host of Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio
• Michael Isikoff, investigative journalist for Newsweek magazine
• Rikki Klieman, Court TV anchor and legal analyst
• Barry Petersen, foreign correspondent, CBS News
• Kathy Reichs, best-selling novelist and forensic anthropologist.
• Michael Wilbon, ESPN analyst (Pardon the Interruption) and Washington Post sports columnist
• Rachel Nichols, ESPN and Washington Post reporter
• Anatole Shub, journalist for Washington Post and New York Times, author

For more notable alumni visit the Medill School of Journalism's Hall of Achievement: http://www.medill.northwestern.edu/alumni/honors/

Law

• Richard Ben-Veniste, former Watergate counsel and 9/11 Commission member
• David Boies, counsel, Bush v. Gore; founding partner, Boies, Schiller & Flexner
• Erwin Chemerinsky, professor at Duke University School of Law, prominent legal scholar
• Arthur Goldberg, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
• John Paul Stevens, U.S. Supreme Court Justice

Medicine

• Cheddi Jagan, dentist/Guyanese president
• Charles H. Mayo, doctor (Mayo Clinic)
• Robert F. Furchgott, Ph.D., 1940, Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine (1998)
• Daniel Hale Williams, first person to perform open heart surgery

Music, literature and the arts

• Steve Albini, recording engineer, member of Big Black, Rapeman, and Shellac.
• Saul Bellow, author and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Bellow's most famous fictional character, Augie March, also attended Northwestern University for a time.
• Andrew Bird, singer-songwriter (The Mysterious Production of Eggs)
• William Butler, member of indie rock band The Arcade Fire
• Cynthia Dobrinski, handbell composer and clinician
• Tananarive Due, author and journalist
• Kyle Gann, composer, microtonalist
• Chester Gould, cartoonist and author of Dick Tracy
• Howard Hanson, composer
• Sheldon Harnick, lyricist (Fiddler on the Roof)
• George R.R. Martin, New York Times best-selling author (A Game of Thrones)
• Robert McHenry, encyclopedist and author
• Karen A. Page, James Beard Award-winning author
• Joseph Schwantner, composer
• Mary Zimmerman, Tony Award-winning director (Metamorphoses)

Politics, government, and public policy

• George Ball, former Undersecretary of State
• Rod Blagojevich, Governor of Illinois
• William Jennings Bryan, three-time Democratic presidential nominee
• Salem Chalabi, ex-General Director of the Iraqi Special Tribunal (resigned in September 2004)
• Rahm Emanuel, former aide to Bill Clinton and Democratic congressman
• Dick Gephardt, former House Democratic leader
• George McGovern, South Dakota Senator and 1972 Democratic candidate for president
• Eduardo Mondlane, Revolutionary leader of Mozambique
• Newton Minow, former director of the Federal Communications Commission
• Peter George Peterson, former chairman of the Council On Foreign Relations, United States Secretary of Commerce (1972-1973) (*also listed under Business)
• Adlai Stevenson, Illinois governor and two-time Democratic presidential nominee
• Harold Washington, first black Chicago mayor

Sports

• Mike Adamle, football player and sportscaster
• Darnell Autry, football player and actor
• D'Wayne Bates, football player
• Luis Castillo, San Diego Chargers football player
• Luke Donald, golfer
• John L. "Paddy" Driscoll, football player
• Evan Eschmeyer, former basketball player
• Pat Fitzgerald, former 2-time All-American football player, current Northwestern Head Coach
• Joe Girardi, former baseball player, current Manager, Florida Marlins
• Jim Golliday, track
• Otto Graham, professional football player
• Mike Greenberg, sportscaster, ESPN
• JA Happ, baseball player
• Napoleon Harris, football player
• Nathan William Linkon, basketball coach, Infosys
• Mark Loretta, baseball player
• Todd Martin, tennis player
• Brent Musburger, sports announcer, ABC
• Matt O'Dwyer, football player
• Dave Revsine, sportscaster, ESPN
• Marty Riessen, tennis player
• Steve Tasker, football player, sports announcer, Buffalo Bills
• Matt Pearl, sportscaster
• Darren Rovell, ESPN.COM Columnist, Sports Business Reporter
• Barry Cofield, New York Giants Defensive Lineman

Other

• Richard Skrenta, creator of the first computer virus, Elk Cloner.
• Jade Small, Miss Illinois 1999
• Katherine Shindle, Miss Illinois 1997 and Miss America 1998