List of Smith College people

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

The following is a list of individuals associated with Smith College through attending as a student, or serving as a member of the faculty or staff.

Notable alumnae

The Alumnae Association of Smith College considers all former students to be members, whether they graduated or not, and does not generally differentiate between graduates and non-graduates when identifying Smith alumnae.

Academia

• Jean Harris, 1945, notable for work with female inmates after serving time herself
• LaWanda Cox, 1934, M.A., noted Historian of slavery and reconstruction at Hunter College
• Otelia Cromwell, 1900, first African-American woman to receive a Yale degree, Educator
• Mira Hinsdale Hall, 1883, Founder of Miss Hall's School
• Elisabeth Irwin, 1903, Founder of Little Red School House
• Laura D'Andrea Tyson, 1969, professor at Haas School of Business of UC Berkeley, Former and First Female Director of National Economic Council, former Chair of Council of Economic Advisors, First Female Dean of London Business School
• Sally Katzen, 1964, law scholar, civil servant
• Susan Low Bloch, 1966, Professor at Georgetown University Law Center, member of the American Law Institute
• Diana L. Eck, 1967, Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies and Master of Lowell House at Harvard University
• Catharine MacKinnon, 1968, American feminist, scholar, lawyer, teacher and activist
• Amy Richlin, 1970, Professor in Department of Classics at UCLA
• Denise Spellberg, 1980, scholar of Islamic history

College Presidents

• Ada Comstock, 1897, third and first full-time President of Radcliffe College
• Rhoda Dorsey, 1946, longest serving and first woman President of Goucher College
• Mary Patterson McPherson, 1957, sixth President of Bryn Mawr College, former Vice President of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Executive Officer of American Philosophical Society
• Elizabeth Hoffman, 1968, 20th President of the University of Colorado System
• Nancy A. Roseman, 28th President of Dickinson College
• Victoria Murden McClure, 1985, President of Spalding University

Activism

• Blanche Ames Ames, 1899, President of the Class of 1899, portraitist, women's rights activist, and inventor
• Jennifer Chrisler, 1992, Executive Director of Family Equality Council
• Alice T. Days, documentary filmmaker
• Betty Friedan, 1942, author of The Feminine Mystique, Co-Founder and First President of National Organization for Women, renowned feminist
• Yolanda King, 1976, activist and daughter of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Susan Lindauer, 1985, American journalist and antiwar activist
• Kathleen Ridder, Philanthropist, educator, writer, equality for women activist
• Gloria Steinem, 1956, Founder of Ms. (magazine), founding editor of New York Magazine, noted feminist and political activist
• Mary van Kleeck 1904, social feminist
• Gertrude Weil, 1901, activist of women's suffrage, labor reform and civil rights

Arts

• Gina Knee Brook, artist
• Miriam Davenport, 1937, painter and sculptor who played a central role in helping European Jews escape the Holocaust
• Alison Frantz, archeological photographer and academic
• Merrill Garbus, 2001, founder, lead singer and instrumentalist for Tune-Yards
• Thelma Golden, 1985, Board of Obama Foundation and Chief Curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem
• Shelley Hack, 1969, actress and model
• Sarah P. Harkness, 1937, American architect
• Rose Jang, pop opera singer, PR ambassador for Korean Tourism Office and UNESCO of Korea
• Mimi Kennedy, 1970, actress
• Eleanor de Laittre, artist
• May Lillie, 1886, Wild West Show performer and equestrian
• Kathleen Marshall, 1985, three-time Tony Award-winning choreographer
• Deborah Nehmad, 1974, American attorney and artist
• Cornelia Oberlander, 1944, landscape architect
• Maya Deren, U.S. avant-garde filmmaker and film theorist of the 1940s and 1950s
• Toks Olagundoye, actress, ABC TV sitcom The Neighbors
• Judith Raskin, 1949, Metropolitan Opera Soprano
• Pauline Gibling Schindler, 1915, Los Angeles arts figure
• Sandy Skoglund, 1968, artist
• Mary Otis Stevens, 1949, architect
• Patricia Wettig, 2001, actress and playwright, Brothers & Sisters
• Alice Morgan Wright, sculptor, suffragist, advocate of animal rights
• Carolyn Kuan, conductor, pianist, music director for Hartford Symphony Orchestra
• MJ Long, joint architect of the British Library

Authors

• Natalie Babbitt, 1954, Newbery Medal Honor-winning author of Knee-Knock Rise and Tuck Everlasting
• Joanna Barnes, 1956, actress and author
• Mildred Grosberg Bellin, 1928, cookbook author
• Dorothy Hamilton Brush, 1917, author, birth control advocate and women's rights advocate
• Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, 1929, author of Cheaper by the Dozen
• Ann Downer, 1982, writer
• Margaret Edson, 1983, Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright of Wit
• Edith Granger, author of Index of Poetry
• Laurie Ann Guerrero, writer and Texas poet laureate
• Svava Jakobsdóttir, Icelandic author, politician and women's rights activist
• Piper Kerman (class of 1992) author of Orange is the New Black
• Tosca Lee, 1992, best-selling author of Demon: A Memoir and Havah: The Story of Eve
• Madeleine L'Engle, 1941, Newbery Medal Honor-winning author of A Wrinkle in Time
• Erin Morgenstern, 2000, author of The Night Circus
• Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1928, author of Gift from the Sea, pioneering American aviator and spouse of Charles Lindbergh
• Annie Russell Marble, 1886, 1895, author and essayist
• Sarah MacLean, 2000, bestselling author of young adult and romance novels
• Ann Matthews Martin, 1977, Newbery Medal Honor-winning author of The Baby-Sitters Club
• Olive Beaupré Miller (née Olive Kennon Beaupré), 1904, an American author, publisher and editor of children's literature
• Ruth Ozeki, 1980, Japanese American novelist and filmmaker
• Margaret Mitchell, 1922, left Smith shortly after her mother's death, 1937 Pulitzer Prize-winning author for Gone with the Wind
• Sylvia Plath, 1955, poet, novelist, and author of The Bell Jar and Ariel
• Halina Poświatowska, 1961, Polish poet and writer: one of the most important figures in modern Polish literature
• Olive Higgins Prouty, 1904, Author of Now, Voyager and Stella Dallas
• Anna Chapin Ray, 1885, prolific author of juvenile and adult literature.
• Cynthia Propper Seton, 1948, novelist, nominated for the National Book Award
• Martha Southgate, 1982, award-winning author
• Dorothy Hayden Truscott, international champion bridge player and author
• Yoshiko Uchida, 1944, Japanese American writer
• Cynthia Irving Voigt, 1963, Newbury Medal-winning author
• J.R. Ward, bestselling author of romance novels
• Diane Wolkstein, children's author and folklorist
• Hanya Yanagihara, author of A Little Life
• Jane Yolen, 1963, author and editor of almost 300 books

Business

• Shelly Lazarus (class of 1968): former CEO and Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather
• Enid Mark, 1954, Founder of the ELM Press
• Christine McCarthy, 1977, CFO of The Walt Disney Company
• Jane Nielsen, 1986, CFO of Ralph Lauren Corporation, Former CFO of Coach, Inc.
• Phebe Novakovic, Chairman and CEO of General Dynamics
• Pamela J. Craig, former CFO of Accenture
• Marilyn Carlson Nelson, former chairman and CEO of the Carlson Companies and former chair of the National Women's Business Council
• Durreen Shahnaz (class of 1989): Founder of Impact Investment Exchange (IIX), the world's first social stock exchange
• Rosemarie Truman (class of 1994): current CEO and Founder of Center for Advancing Innovation

Diplomats and Government Officials

• Barbara Pierce Bush, 1947, 43rd First Lady of the United States (did not graduate, left college in 1945 to marry George H. W. Bush)
• Leecia Eve, 1986, Deputy Secretary for Economic Development in the Executive Chamber of New York Governor, Senior Policy Adviser to U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton during her 2008 primary campaign for President
• Judith Fergin, 1973, former United States Ambassador to East Timor
• Louka Katseli, Greek Minister of Economy, Competitiveness and Shipping
• Maria Lopez, 1975, Cuban-American former judge and a former television jurist
• Anne Clark Martindell, former United States Ambassador to New Zealand
• Helen Milliken, 1945, longest-serving First Lady of Michigan
• Stephanie Neely, Treasurer of City of Chicago
• Farah Pandith, 1990, Special Representative to Muslim Communities for U.S. Department of State
• Nancy Reagan, 1943, 42nd First Lady of the United States
• Sherry Rehman, former Pakistan Ambassador to the United States
• Mary Scranton, 1940, former First Lady of Pennsylvania (1963–1967)
• Julianna Smoot, Deputy Campaign Manager, Obama for America, former White House Social Secretary

Senators, Congresspersons, and other Politicians

• Barbara Adams, General Counsel of Pennsylvania
• Tammy Baldwin, 1984, first openly gay U.S. Senator, former U.S. House of Representative of Wisconsin's 2nd District
• Becca Balint, 1990, Majority Leader of the Vermont Senate
• Deborah Bergamini, 1993, Member of the Italian Parliament
• Leanna Brown, 1956, first Republican woman elected to the New Jersey Senate
• Emily Couric, 1969, late Virginia State Senator and sister of American television journalist Katie Couric
• Mattie Daughtry, 2009, Democratic member of the Maine House of Representatives for the 49th District
• Jane Lakes Harman, 1966, President of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, U.S. House of Representative of California's 36th District
• Maureen Ogden, 1950, seven term member of the New Jersey General Assembly
• Niki Tsongas, 1968, U.S. House of Representative of Massachusetts's 5th District

Journalism and Media

• Julia McWilliams Child, 1934, Primetime Emmy Award and Peabody Award-winning host of The French Chef, renowned chef, and author of Mastering the Art of French Cooking
• Patience Cleveland, 1952, American film and television actress
• Molly Ivins, 1966, populist American newspaper columnist, political commentator, humorist and bestselling author
• Meg Greenfield, 1952, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Editorial Writer for the Washington Post and Newsweek
• Sara Haines, 2000, co-Host of The View (U.S. TV series), ABC News correspondent
• Stephanie Cutter, co-host of CNN's Crossfire, Chief Spokesperson for the Obama-Biden Transition Project, Senior Advisor for President Obama's Presidential Campaign
• Ruth Sulzberger Holmberg, 1943, newspaper publisher
• Sally Quinn, 1963, author and journalist for The Washington Post
• Nina Munk, 1988, American journalist, author, and Contributing Editor at Vanity Fair
• Kate O'Brian, President of Al Jazeera America
• Shirley Fleming, American music critic and editor
• Margaret Petherbridge Farrar, 1919, American journalist and first crossword puzzle editor for New York Times
• Danielle Pletka
• Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, 2002, Pakistan's first Oscar winner, Academy Award and Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker for Saving Face and journalist
• Sarah Hampson, 1979, Canadian journalist and columnist for The Globe and Mail
• Doan Hoang, 1994, award-winning Vietnamese-American film producer, screenwriter, and director
• Lara M. Schwartz, 1992, music video producer
• Lynne M. Thomas, 1996, Hugo Award-winning science fiction editor and curator
• Anne Froelick, blacklisted screenwriter
• Cynthia Wade, Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker for Freeheld
• Julia Scott, 2002, NPR and The New York Times
• Helaine Olen, journalist and author
• Erin Cressida Wilson, screenwriter
• Desiree Akhavan, 2007, Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning filmmaker

Law

• Cynthia Ann Bashant, 1982, Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California
• Joan B. Gottschall, 1969, Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• Carolyn Dineen King, 1959, first Female and former Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• Jane Richards Roth, 1956, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• Stephanie Kulp Seymour, 1962, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit

MacArthur Fellowship Winner

• Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, 1986, author of Random Family, freelance journalist

Philanthropy

• Sarina Prabasi, Chief Executive Officer of WaterAid America
• Wendy Schmidt, 1977, President of Schmidt Family Foundation

Pulitzer Prize Winners

• Margaret Mitchell, 1922, 1937 Novel for Gone with the Wind
• Sylvia Plath, 1955, 1982 Poetry for The Collected Poems (awarded posthumously)
• Amy Ellis Nutt, 1977, 2011 Feature Writing
• Meg Greenfield, 1978 Editorial Writing
• Margaret Edson, 1983, 1999 Drama for Wit (play)

Sciences

• Harriet Boyd-Hawes, 1892, pioneering American archaeologist, nurse and relief worker
• Judy Clapp, 1951, computer scientist
• Mary Foster, biochemist
• Carolyn Kaelin, 1983, breast cancer surgeon
• Helena Chmura Kraemer, American biostatistician
• Susan Goldin-Meadow, 1971, developmental psychologist
• Ng'endo Mwangi (Florence), 1961, Kenya's first woman physician
• Margaret Robinson, biologist
• Erin K. O'Shea, sixth President of Howard Hughes Medical Institute
• Florence R. Sabin, 1893, first Female to hold full professorship at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, be elected to National Academy of Sciences, and to head a department at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research.
• Julia Warner Snow (1863–1927), biologist
• Jane Stafford, 1920, chemist
• Jane C. Wright, 1942, pioneering oncologist and surgeon

Other Notables

• Frances Carpenter, 1912, daughter of photographer Frank Carpenter
• Kory Stamper, 1996, lexicographer and associate editor for the Merriam-Webster dictionary
• Jeannie Cho Lee, first ethnic Asian Master of Wine
• Penny Chenery, 1943, American Sportswoman, bred and raced Secretariat, the 1973 winner of the Triple Crown
• Julie Nixon Eisenhower, 1970, second daughter of 37th U.S. President Richard Nixon
• Jean Harris, spent time in prison for killing her boyfriend of 14 years, Herman Tarnower, who was the author of The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet
• Sarah Thomas, 1970, notable research librarian
• Tori Murden, 1985, first Woman to make a solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by rowboat
• Eunice Carter, 1921, first female African-American assistant district attorney for the state of New York, pivotal in the prosecution of Mob Boss Charles "Lucky" Luciano
• Rosemarie Truman, current CEO and Founder of Center for Advancing Innovation
• Charlotte Samuels, American Swimmer, youngest person to complete the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming

Fictional alumnae

• Emily Gilmore, from the television series Gilmore Girls
• Ainsley Hayes, from the television series The West Wing
• Joanna Kramer, from the 1979 film Kramer vs. Kramer
• Charlotte York, from the television series Sex and the City
• Dr. Cristina Yang, from the television series Grey's Anatomy
• Mrs. Alexandra X, from the 2007 film The Nanny Diaries
• Piper Chapman, from Netflix Original Series Orange is the New Black
• Selina Meyer, from the HBO television series Veep
• Megan Thrombey, from the 2019 film Knives Out

Presidents of the College

• Kathleen McCartney (2013–present)
• Carol T. Christ (2002–2013)
• John M. Connolly (acting president 2001–2002)
• Ruth J. Simmons, first African-American president (1995–2001)
• Mary Maples Dunn (1985–1995)
• Jill Ker Conway, first woman president (1975–1985)
• Thomas C. Mendenhall (historian) (1959–1975)
• Benjamin Fletcher Wright (1949–1959)
• Herbert Davis (1940–1949)
• Elizabeth Cutter Morrow (acting president 1939–1940)
• William Allan Neilson (1917–1939)
• Marion LeRoy Burton (1910–1917) WEF
• Laurenus Clark Seelye (1875–1910)

Notable deans, administrators, and faculty (past and present)

• Alice Ambrose - professor of philosophy
• Newton Arvin - literary critic
• Leonard Baskin - artist
• Nina Browne - librarian, archivist, and inventor of Browne Issue System
• Mary Ellen Chase - professor of English
• Henri Cole - poet
• John Duke - composer and professor of music (1923-1967)
• Sylvia Plath - poet
• Anita Desai - author
• Donna Robinson Divine
• Alfred Einstein - musicologist
• Stanley Elkins - professor of history
• Hallie Flanagan - director and playwright
• Jean Garrigue - poet
• Judith Gordon - pianist
• Domenico Grasso - founding director, Picker Engineering Program
• William Francis Ganong - botanist
• Heloise Hersey - professor of English
• Denis Johnston - professor of philosophy
• Klemens von Klemperer - professor of history
• Karen Klinger - rower and Smith crew head coach
• Kurt Koffka - psychologist
• Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz - historian
• G. E. Moore - professor of philosophy (1940-1941)
• Barry Moser - artist and illustrator
• Eric Reeves - professor of English
• Laura Woolsey Lord Scales - Dean of Students (1923–1944)
• Roger Sessions - composer
• David Staines - literary critic
• David Peck Todd - astronomer
• Thomas Tymoczko - philosopher
• Kurt Vonnegut - author
• Allen Weinstein - Archivist of the United States
• Eleanor Wilner - poet and editor
• Dorothy Maud Wrinch - mathematician
• Chien-Shiung Wu - physicist
• Andrew Zimbalist - economist