Notable Alumni
Gary S. Becker
From Nobel laureates to business and education leaders, from Heisman winners to Attorneys General, University alumni carry on the tradition of excellence.
Robert McCormick Adams
Ph.B.’47, A.M.’52, Ph.D.’56
Archeologist; secretary emeritus of the Smithsonian Institution; former provost of the University
Luis Alvarez (1911–1988)
S.B.’32, S.M.’34, Ph.D.’36
Nobel laureate in physics, 1968
John Ashcroft
J.D.’67
Former U.S. Attorney General; former Governor of Missouri; former U.S. senator
Ed Asner
X.’48
Actor and social activist
Richard C. Atkinson
Ph.B.’48
Former President of the University of California
David Auburn
A.B.’91
Playwright; winner of the Pulitzer Prize winner and Tony Award winner for the play Proof (2001); winner of the Helen Merrill Playwriting Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship
Marguerite Ross Barnett (1945–1992)
A.M. ’66, Ph.D. ’72
First African-American, female President of the University of Houston (1990–92); first African-American Chancellor of the University of Missouri (1986–90)
Gary Becker
A.M.’53, Ph.D.’55
University Professor in Economics and Sociology; Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, 1992
Robert Bell
S.M. ’73
Research Scientist in the AT&T Research Labs; 2003 AT&T Science and Technology Medalist
Saul Bellow (1915–2005)
X.’39
Novelist, playwright, and academic; Professor in the Committee on Social Thought and in English (1962–93); Nobel Laureate in Literature (1976); winner of the Pulitzer Prize for the novel Humboldt’s Gift (1976); winner of three American Book Awards
Jay Berwanger (1914–2002)
A.B.’36
First Heisman Trophy winner (1935)
Henry Bienen
A.M.’62, Ph.D.’66
President of Northwestern University; former James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University
George David Birkhoff (1888–1944)
Ph.D.’07
Mathematician; winner of the first Bocher Memorial Prize for his memoir Dynamical systems with two degrees of freedom (1917); founder of the ergodic theorem
Allan Bloom (1930–1992)
Ph.B.’49, A.M.’53, Ph.D.’55
Philospher, essayist, and academic; Professor Emeritus in the Committee on Social Thought (1979–92); author of The Closing of the American Mind
Robert H. Bork
A.B.’48, J.D.’53
Lawyer, law professor, and best-selling author; former Justice, U.S. Court of Appeals (1982–88); nominated to the Supreme Court by Ronald Reagan (1987)
Leon Botstein
A.B.’67
President of Bard College; Principal Conductor of American Symphony Orchestra
Barbara Bowman
A.M. ’52
President and founder of Chicago’s Erickson Institute for Advanced Study in Child Development (1966); President of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (1980–82)
David Broder
A.B.’47, A.M.’51
Pulitzer Prize winner for commentary (1973); political correspondent and columnist for the Washington Post
David Brooks
A.B.’83
Op-Ed Columnist for the New York Times
Herbert Brown (1912–2004)
S.B.’36, Ph.D.’38
Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 1979
William Holmes Brown (1923–1994)
J.D. ’54
House Parliamentarian, House of Representatives (1974–94)
James Buchanan
Ph.D.’48
Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, 1986
Jocelyn Carter-Miller
M.B.A. ’81
Director at Principal Financial Group, Incorporated; former Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer for Office Depot, Inc.; former Corporate Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer of Motorola, Inc.
Owen Chamberlain (1920–2006)
Ph.D.’49
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1959
Ramsey Clark
A.M.’50, J.D.’51
Human rights activist; former U.S. Attorney General (1967–69)
Henry Steele Commager (1902–1998)
Ph.B.’23, A.M.’24, Ph.D.’28
U.S. historian
Jon S. Corzine
M.B.A.’73
Governor of New Jersey; University trustee
Casey Cowell
A.B.’75
Chairman and President of Durandal Inc.; co-founder of U.S. Robotics Corporation; University trustee
James Cronin
S.M.’53, Ph.D.’55
University Professor Emeritus in Physics; Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1980
Robert C. Davidson, Jr.
M.B.A. ’69
Former Chairman and CEO of Surface Protection Industries, Inc.
Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.
X.’33
First African American General of the Air Force (1954); Commander of the Tuskegee Airmen; Assistant Secretary of Transportation under Richard Nixon
Willie D. Davis
M.B.A.’68
President of All Pro Broadcasting; Pro Football Hall of Fame member (1981); University trustee
Clinton Davisson
S.B.’09
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1937
Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada
A.B.’52
Former President of the Republic of Bolivia
Arnold Donald
M.B.A. ’80
Director of Carnival Corporation; former Chairman and CEO of Merisant Company
Katherine Dunham (1909–2006)
Ph.B.’36
Dancer and choreographer
Roger Ebert
Lecturer at Graham School; X’70
Pulitzer Prize winner for film criticism (1975); columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times
Luther H. Foster (1913–1994)
A.M. ’41, Ph.D. ’51
President of Tuskegee Institute (1953–1981)
Thomas Frank
A.M.’89, Ph.D. ’94
Editor-in-chief of The Baffler; author of What’s the Matter with Kansas
Jerome Friedman
A.B.’50, S.M.’53, Ph.D.’56
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1990
Milton Friedman (1912–2006)
A.M.’33
Paul Snowden Russell Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in Economics; Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, 1976
Martin Gardner
A.B.’36
Author and columnist of “Mathematical Games” in the magazine Scientific American
Mack Gipson, Jr.
S.M. ’61, Ph.D. ’63
First African American to obtain a Ph.D. in Geology; Founding advisor of the National Association of Black Geologists and Geophysicists (1981); consultant to NASA
Philip Glass
A.B.’56
Composer and musician
Marvin L. Goldberger
Ph.D.’48
Physicist; President of Caltech (1978–87)
Katharine Graham (1917–2001)
A.B.’38
Chairman of the executive committee of the Washington Post;
Pulitzer Prize winner for her memoir Personal History (1998)
Andrew M. Greeley
A.M.’61, Ph.D.’62
Priest, author, Senior Study Director at NORC
John Grunsfeld
S.M.’84, Ph.D.’88
Astronaut
Charles V. Hamilton
A.M. ’57, Ph.D. ’64
Civil rights leader; Author, with Stokley Carmichael, of Black Power: The Politics of Liberation in America (1967); Professor in Political Science, Columbia University
Nathan Hare
A.M. ’57, Ph.D. ’62
Author, activist, and sociologist; founding publisher of The Black Scholar, then dubbed “the most important journal devoted to black issues since the Crisis” by the New York Times
Warren E. Henry (1903–2001)
Ph.D. ’41
Physicist and Professor in magnetism and superconductivity; developed video amplifiers used in portable radar systems on warships in World War II; his demonstration of the proof of non-interacting paramagnetic ions is used in a number of physics texts.
Seymour Hersh
A.B.’58
Pulitzer Prize winner for international reporting (1970)
Dan Hertzberg
A.B.’68
Pulitzer Prize winner (1988) for reporting on the 1987 stock market crash; Managing Editor of The Wall Street Journal
Mark Hollmann (right)
A.B.’85
Composer of the score of Tony-award winning musical Urinetown
Donald Hopkins
M.D. ’66
Vice President, The Carter Center; former Deputy Director of International Health, Centers for Disease Control; recipient of the MacArthur fellowship award
James Hormel
J.D.’58
First openly gay U.S. ambassador
Michelle Howard-Vital
A.B. ’74, M.A.T. ’75
Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of North Carolina (2003); Associate provost and vice chancellor for public service and continuing studies at UNC Wilmington (1993–2003); one of thirteen members on the State Board of Education in North Carolina
Edwin Hubble
S.B.’10, Ph.D.’17
Astronomer who found first evidence for the big bang theory
Chimere Ikoku (d. 2002)
S.M. ’52, Ph.D. ’64
Former Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria
Jesse Jackson
X. ’67
Civil Rights Leader; Political Activist; Founder of Operation PUSH and the National Rainbow Coalition
Donald Johanson
A.M.’70, Ph.D.’74
Paleoanthropologist who discovered “Lucy,” a link between primates and humans
John H. Johnson (1918–2005)
X.’42
Founder of Johnson Publishing Company; publisher of Ebony and Jet magazines
Ann Dibble Jordan
A.M. ’61
Director, Johnson & Johnson
Ernest Everett Just (1883–1941)
Ph.D. ’16
Zoologist, Biologist, Physiologist, Research Scientist
Patricia Kabbah
M.A. ’63
Former first lady of Sierra Leone
Karen Katen
A.B.’70, M.B.A.’74
Executive Vice President of Pfizer, Inc.; President of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Group; University trustee
Philip Kaufman
A.B.’58
Director of films The Right Stuff and The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Dennis Keller
M.B.A.’68
Chairman and CEO of DeVry Inc.; University trustee
Michael Klingensmith
A.B.’75, M.B.A.’76
Executive Vice President of Time Inc.; University trustee
Greg Kotis (left)
A.B.’88
Playwright of Tony-award winning musical Urinetown
Jewel Lafontant (1922–1997)
J.D. ’46
First African-American woman to receive a degree from the University of Chicago Law School; United Nations delegate; director of Jewel grocery chain
Sherry Lansing
LAB’62
First female Chairman and CEO of a major film studio (Paramount Pictures)
LaMar F. Laster, Jr.
M.B.A ‘74
Chairman, Chief Operations Officer, Executive Vice President, Vice President of Finance/Chief Financial Officer at Starr Surgical Company (positions held over a period between 1986–1995); previous Vice President and Chief Financial officer of Intermedics, Inc.; currently a consultant for financial, medical, and other high-growth corporations
Ernest Lawrence
X.’23
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1939
Tsung-Dao Lee
Ph.D.’50
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1957
Edward Levi (1911–2000)
A.B.’32, J.D.’35
President of the University of Chicago (1968–1975); U.S. Attorney General (1975–1977)
Robert Lucas
A.B.’59, Ph.D.’64
John Dewey Distinguished Service Professor in Economics and the College; Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, 1995
Deborah Mack
B.A. ’76
Chief scientific consultant for Terranova Pictures; project director for Chicago Field Museum’s Africa exhibition; Manager of Exhibits and Education Programs at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
Jackson Mac Low
A.A. ’43
Poet and Composer; Guggenheim Fellowship, 1985; Wallace Stevens Award, 1999
Omar Ramadhan Mapuri
A.M. ’85
Minister of Education and Minister for Home Affairs of the United Republic of Tanzania
Lynn Margulis
A.B.’ 57
National Medal of Science winner, 2000
Harry Markowitz
Ph.B.’47, A.M.’50, Ph.D.’55
Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, 1990
Martin Marty
Ph.D.’56
Theologian
Ulysses G. Mason
M.D. ’36
Founder of first integrated hospital in Cleveland during the 1950s
Benjamin E. Mays
M.A. ’25, Ph.D. ’35
President of Morehouse College (1940–1967); Recipient of the American Educator Award (1980); Civil Rights Activist
Abner J. Mikva
J.D.’51
Visiting Professor in Law; Illinois Congressman (1956–1966); U.S. Congressman (1969-73, 1975-79); U.S. Court of Appeals Judge (1979-94)
Robert Millikan (1868–1953)
X.1894
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1923
Patsy Mink (1927–2002)
J.D.’51
First Asian-American woman elected to U.S. House of Representatives (Hawaii, 1965–1977 and 1990–2002)
Carol Moseley-Braun
J.D.’72
First African-American woman elected to U.S. Senate (Illinois, 1992–1998); U.S. Ambassador (1999–2001)
Robert Mulliken
Ph.D.’21
Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 1966
Eliot Ness (1903–1957)
’25
Co-author and inspiration of The Untouchables
Kimberly Ng
A.B.’90
Assistant General Manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers
Mike Nichols
X.’53
Director of films Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Graduate; co-founder of comedy troupe Second City
John Opel
M.B.A.
CEO of IBM (1981–1985)
Sara Paretsky
A.M.’69, M.B.A.’77, Ph.D.’77
Author of V.I. Warshawski detective novels
Marjorie Holloman Parker
A.M. ’51, Ph.D. ’51
Presidential appointee to City Council in Washington, D.C.
James B. Parsons (1911–1993)
A.M.’46, J.D.’49
First African-American Federal District Court Judge (1991-92)
Kimberly Peirce
A.B.’90
Director of Boys Don’t Cry (1999)
Jaroslav Pelikan (1923–2006)
Ph.D.’1946; Professor of Historical Theology (1953–1962)
Awarded Kluge Prize (2004)
Peter G. Peterson
M.B.A.’51
Chairman of merchant banking firm The Blackstone Group; U.S. Secretary of Commerce (1972–1973)
Myrtle Potter
A.B. ’80
President, Commercial Operations of Genentech Inc.
Roderick W. Pugh
Ph.D. 49
Clinical Psychologist; diplomat, American Board of Professional Psychology
Joshua Cooper Ramo
A.B.’92
Managing Partner, Office of John L. Thornton, Goldman Sachs & Co.
Ellis E. Reid, III (1934–2007)
J.D. ’59
Illinois Appellate Judge, First District, 5th Division
David Rockefeller
Ph.D.’40
Chairman of Chase Manhattan Bank (1969–81); University trustee
John Rogers
LAB’76
Chairman and CEO of Ariel Capital Management; University trustee
John W. Rogers
J.D. ’48
Judge, Juvenile Division of the Cook County Circuit Court; combat veteran and captain, 99th Fighter Squadron (Tuskegee Airmen)
Philip Roth
A.M.’55
Author; Pulitzer Prize winner for the novel American Pastoral (1998)
F. Sherwood Rowland
S.M.’51, Ph.D.’52
Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 1995
Carl Sagan (1934–1996)
A.B.’54, S.B.’55, S.M.’56, Ph.D.’60
Astronomer; author of Contact; educator
Bernard Sahlins
A.B.’43
Co-founder of comedy troupe Second City
Bryan Samuels
A.M. ’93
Director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services
Paul Samuelson
A.B.’35
Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, 1970
Myron Scholes
M.B.A.’64, Ph.D.’70
Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, 1997
Robert B. Silvers
A.B.’47
Editor and co-founder of the The New York Review of Books
Herbert Simon
A.B.’36, Ph.D.’43
Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, 1978
Susan Sontag (1933–2004)
A.B.’51
Critic and author
Eileen Southern (1920–2002)
A.B. ’40, Ph.D. ’41
First African-American female professor at Harvard; holder of honorary doctorate from Columbia University
Thomas Sowell
Ph.D. ’68
Economist; Winner of the National Humanities Medal, 2002; Senior Fellow in the Hoover Institution, Stanford University (1980–present)
Roger Sperry (1930–1994)
Ph.D.’41
Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 1981
Brent Staples
A.M. ’76, Ph.D. ’82
Editorial writer for the New York Times (1990–present); winner of the Anisfield Wolff Book Award for his memoir Parallel Time: Growing Up in Black and White (1994)
Jack Steinberger
S.B.’42; Ph.D.’49
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1988
George Steiner
A.B.’48
Literary critic
John Paul Stevens
A.B.’41
U.S. Supreme Court Justice
George Stigler (1911–1991)
S.B.’42, Ph.D.’49
Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, 1982
Ray Suarez
A.M.’93
Senior Correspondent on PBS news program “The NewsHour”
Edward Lawrie Tatum (1909–1975)
X.’31
Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 1958
Studs Terkel
Ph.B.’32, J.D.’34
Oral historian; Pulitzer Prize winner for The Good War: An Oral History of World War II (1985); radio host
Daniel Tsui
S.M.’63; Ph.D.’67
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1998
Dean Valentine
A.B.’76
Former President of Walt Disney Television and UPN
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (1922–2007)
A.M.’71
Author of Slaughterhouse Five, Cat’s Cradle, and Breakfast of Champions
James Dewey Watson
Ph.B.’46, S.B.’47
Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 1962; known as one of the co-discoverers of DNA
B. Kenneth West (1933–2006)
M.B.A.’60
Former Chairman and CEO of Harris Bankcorp; Senior Consultant for TIAA-CREF
Clifford R. Wharton, Jr.
Ph.D. ’58
Chairman and chief executive officer of TIAA CREF (1987–93); President of Michigan State University (1970–78); Chancellor of the State University of New York System (1978–87); Deputy Secretary of State (Clinton Administration, 1993)
J. Ernest Wilkins Jr.
S.B.’1940, S.M.’941, Ph.D.’1942.
Received Ph.D. in mathematics at age 19; second African American elected to National Academy of Engineering.
Paul Wolfowitz
Ph.D.’72
Former Deputy Secretary of Defense; Former President of the World Bank
Carter G. Woodson (1875–1950)
A.B. ’08, A.M. ’08
Historian and founder of Negro History Week (1926), which evolved into Black History Month
Chen Ning Yang
Ph.D.’48
Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1957
Ava Youngblood
M.B.A. ’85
President/CEO of Youngblood Executive Search, Inc.; Strategic Planning Consultant, developed Competitive Intelligence program for Amoco Corporation (BP)
ACCOLADES
Katharine Graham, AB ’38
Pulitzer Prize in Biography or Autobiography, 1998Faculty, students, and alumni from the University of Chicago are amongst the world’s most lauded. Read about their achievements »