List of Vassar College people
This is a list of notable faculty and alumnae/alumni of Vassar College.
Faculty
Music Department
- Gustav Dannreuther
- Karen Holvik
- Ernst Krenek
- Annea Lockwood
- Harold Meltzer
- Quincy Porter
- Richard Wilson
Philosophy Department
English Department
Other Departments
- Jean Arthur, Theater
- Hallie Flanagan, Theater
- Grace Hopper, Mathematics
- Margaret Mead, Visiting lecturer, Anthropology
- James Merrell, History
- Maria Mitchell, Physics and Astronomy
- Deborah Dash Moore, Religion
- Linda Nochlin, Art History
- Colin Turnbull, Visiting lecturer, Anthropology
Famous alumnae/alumni
Writers
- Jesse Ball, poet and author.
- Thomas Beller
- Elizabeth Bishop, Poet Laureate of the United States from 1949 to 1950.
- Katherine Center
- Elizabeth Williams Champney, author of Three Vassar Girls series
- Janet Cooke
- Megan Crane
- Meghan Daum
- Geri Doran, award-winning poet
- Aimee Friedman
- Joe Hill, Novelist, Heart-Shaped Box (novel)
- Matthew Kauffman, Hartford Courant journalist
- Lucette Lagnado journalist and novelist
- Eric Marcus
- Mary McCarthy, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, critic
- Edna St. Vincent Millay, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet
- Andrew J. Porter
- Greg Rucka
- Rachel Simmons
- Jane Smiley, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist
- Neil Strauss, journalist and author
- Michael Specter, Award-winning journalist for The New Yorker and The New York Times
- Curtis Sittenfeld (attended)
- Eva March Tappan author class of 1875
- Jean Webster, author of Daddy Long Legs
- Christina Weir and Nunzio DeFilippis, husband and wife comic book writing team
- Owen King
- Jane Kramer
Activists and Philanthropists
- Urvashi Vaid, political activist
- Jonathan Granoff, President of the Global Security Institute
Adventurers
- Alice Huyler Ramsey, first woman to cross the continent driving a car
- Ethan Zohn, Survivor:Africa winner and philanthropist
Artists and Architects
- Nancy Graves, first woman to solo at the Whitney
- Linda Nochlin, pioneer in the field of feminist art theory
Drama, Film, and Television
- Erika Amato, singer, actress
- Noah Baumbach, writer, director
- Lloyd Braun, Media Executive
- Erin Daniels, actress
- Hope Davis, actress
- Judd Ehrlich, director and producer
- Angela Goethals, actress
- Lecy Goranson, actress
- Phil Griffin, president of MSNBC
- Kerri Green, actress, director
- Anne Hathaway, actress
- Caspar von Winterfeldt, producer
- Carrie Kei Heim, actress
- Lisa Kudrow, Emmy Award-winning actress
- Lisa Lassek, film producer and editor
- Stacy London, television host
- Justin Long, actor
- Marguerite Moreau, actress
- Jay Severin, commentator and talk radio host
- Sandy Stern, film producer
- Frances Sternhagen, Tony Award-winning actress
- Meryl Streep, Academy Award-winning actress
- Jon Tenney, actor
- Jonathan Togo, actor
- Lisa Zane, actress
- Ethan Zohn, Survivor: Africa winner and philanthropist
- Andrew Zimmern, chef and TV personality
Music
- Erika Amato, singer (Velvet Chain)
- Sam Endicott, singer (The Bravery) and John Conway, keyboardist in The Bravery
- Genghis Tron
- Mark Ronson, DJ
Science and Medicine
- Ruth Benedict, anthropologist
- Mary Calderone, physician
- Grace Hopper, computer scientist
- Vera Rubin, astronomer
- Ellen Swallow Richards, chemist
- Ellen Kovner Silbergeld, engineer
- Christine Ladd-Franklin, psychologist
- Bernadine Healy, cardiologist
- Patricia Goldman Rakic, neuroscientist
- Margaret Floy Washburn, psychologist
Business
- Phil Griffin, President of MSNBC
- Caterina Fake, Founder of Flickr
- Jon Fisher, entrepreneur
- Geraldine Laybourne, creator of Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite, CEO of Oxygen Media
- Scott Kauffman, notable CEO
- Lurita Doan, founder of New Technology Management, Inc.
- Lee Zalben, founder of Peanut Butter & Co.
- Nina Zagat, co-founder of Zagat Survey
Politics and Law
- Anne Armstrong, diplomat, politician
- Harriot Eaton Stanton Blatch, suffragette and daughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton
- Crystal Eastman, coauthor of the Equal Rights Amendment
- Rick Lazio, Congressman (Long Island), Executive Vice President (JPMorgan Chase)
- Nancy Killefer, Former Chief Performance Officer in Barack Obama administration
- Vicki Miles-LaGrange, first African-American female to become a United States Attorney
- Inez Milholland, suffragist
- Benson Whitney, Ambassador to Norway
- Deborah L. Wince-Smith, President of the Council on Competitiveness
- Catherine Bauer Wurster, urban housing reformer
- Linda Fairstein, prosecutor in the infamous "Preppie Murder" trial of Robert Chambers
Espionage
- Elizabeth Bentley, American spy for the Soviet Union
Attended, but did not graduate
- Anthony Bourdain (graduated from Culinary Institute of America), chef, writer
- Mike D (Michael Diamond), rapper (The Beastie Boys)
- Jane Fonda (graduated from The Actors Studio), actress
- Katharine Graham (graduated from the University of Chicago), publisher of the Washington Post
- Anne Hathaway (graduated New York University), actress
- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (graduated from George Washington University), First Lady
- Curtis Sittenfeld (graduated from Stanford University), author
- Neil Strauss (graduated from Columbia College), author and journalist
- Rachael Yamagata (graduated from Northwestern University), singer
- Justin Long, actor, Apple Computer spokesperson
References
- Eva March Tappan atVassar College Libraries Archives & Special Collections Accessed December 10, 2008