Notable Alumni
Hamilton’s 23,200 alumni are collectively among the most loyal, passionate, and accomplished graduates of any college in the country.
Authors & Artists
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Peter Cameron ’82 (English Literature) Author, Andorra, The Weekend, The City of Your Final Destination, and Coral Glynn
Spencer Finch ’85 (Comparative Literature), Artist; Commissioned to create “Trying To Remember the Color of the Sky on That September Morning” for the 9/11 Memorial & MuseumBill Harley ’77 (Religion) Storyteller, Musician, Author; 2007 and 2009 Grammy Awards for “Best Spoken Word for Children”
William C. Henderson ’67 (English Literature) Author, Founder/Publisher, Pushcart Press
Stuart Kestenbaum ’73 (Religion) Author, Poet Laureate of Maine; former Director of the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts
Peter Meinke ’55 (English Literature) Author, Poet Laureate of Florida; former Director, Eckerd College Writing Workshop; recipient, Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction
John Nichols ’62 (English Literature) Author, The Sterile Cuckoo and The Milagro Beanfield War
Cameron “Kip” Paine ’94 (History) Recipient, 2000 Best Small Ensemble Grammy as a member of Chanticleer
Ezra Pound 1905* Poet, Pioneer of the Modernist MovementJay Reise ’72 (English Literature) Composer; Opera Rasputin presented in Moscow to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution
Preeta Samarasan ’98 (History and Music) Author, Evening is the Whole Day and Tale of the Dreamer’s SonKamila Shamsie ’94 (Creative Writing) Author, Salt and Saffron, Kartography, Burnt Shadows, Home Fire and Best of Friends
Josh Simpson ’72 World-Renowned Glass Sculptor
Mark Sullivan ’80 (English Literature) Author, Beneath a Scarlet Sky, The Purification Ceremony, the “Private” series (with James Patterson)
Melinda Wagner K’79 (Music) Composer; 1999 Pulitzer Prize in Music Composition
Elaine Weiss K’73 (American Studies) Author, The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote
Business & Entrepreneurs
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Johannes Burlin ’87 (Economics) Co-Founder/CEO, Tilia Holdings; former President, Silliker Laboratories North America; former President/CEO, Advanced BioScience Laboratories (working on AIDS vaccine)
Robert Bernstock ’72 (History) President/CEO, Realtime Media; former President, Mailing and Shipping Services, U.S. Postal Service; former President, Campbell Soup; former President, Scotts Miracle-Gro
David Blood ’81 (Economics and Psychology) Co-Founder/Senior Partner, Generation Investment Management; former CEO, Goldman Sachs Asset Management
William M. Bristol 1882*Co-Founder, Bristol-Myers
Harlow Bundy 1877* Founder, Bundy Time Recording (forerunner to IBM)
Blake Darcy ’78 (Government) Founder, DLJdirect; Co-Founder, Formula Investing LLC
William Gaden ’84 (Mathematics) President, Concord Theatricals (manages the works of Irving Berlin, George & Ira Gershwin, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hammerstein, and more)
Amy Owens Goodfriend ’82 (French) Founder, Goodfriend Partners; former Partner, Goldman Sachs
Scott Hand ’64 (History) Lead Director, Boyd Technologies and Karora Resources; Executive Chairman, Kharrouba Copper; former Chairman and CEO, Inco
David Hess ’77 (Physics) former CEO, Pratt & Whitney
Alon Hillel-Tuch ’07 (Chinese and Economics) Managing Partner, Stacked Capital; Co-Founder, RocketHub
Kevin Kennedy ’70 (Art) former General Partner/Managing Director, Goldman Sachs; former President/CEO, Metropolitan Opera
Eric Kuhn ’09 (Government) Media Executive, Entrepreneur, Broadway Producer (Tony Awards: 2019 for Oklahoma!; 2021 for The Inheritance); former Senior VP, Social Media & Talent Marketing, CBSA.G. Lafley ’69 (French and History) former President/CEO, Procter & Gamble
Jack Levy ’75 (History and Government) Senior Advisor, Centerview Partners; former Global Head, Mergers & Acquisitions, Goldman Sachs
Michael Mathres ’96 (Art and Economics) Co-Founder/Director, REDD+Capital; Co-Founder/Director, World Climate; Founder/Director, Climate Capital Network; recipient, 2004 Millenium Prize for Social Entrepreneurship
Adam Miller ’92 (Philosophy) Executive Vice President, NBCUniversal Media
Robert Morris ’76 (Economics) Chairman/CEO, Olympus Partners
Dan Nye ’88 (Government) former President/CEO, Rocket Lawyer; former CEO, LinkedInRonald Pressman ’80 (Biology) former Chief Operating Officer, TIAA-CREF; former President/CEO, GE Real Estate
John Rice ’78 (Economics) former President/CEO, General Electric Energy; former President/CEO, GE Global Growth and GE Industry & Infrastructure
Stephen Sadove ’73 (Government) former Chairman/CEO, Saks Fifth Avenue
Stuart Scott ’61* (English Literature) former Chairman/CEO, Jones Lang LaSalle
Aaron Sanandres ’96 (Asian Studies and Government) Co-Founder/CEO, UNTUCKit; Founder, Definite Articles
Jack Selby ’96 (Economics) Managing Director, Thiel Capital; Founder, Grandmaster Capital Management; former CEO, Clarium; Co-founder, PayPal
Leslie Shoemaker ’79 (Mathematics) Executive VP, Chief Sustainability and Leadership Development Officer, Tetra Tech
Susan Skerritt K’77 (Economics and Spanish) former Chairwoman/CEO/ President, Deutsche Bank Trust; former Executive VP, Bank of New York MellonMichael Stone ’72 (Government) Chairman/Co-Founder, The Beanstalk Group
Clyde Tuggle ’84 (German) Co-Founder, Pine Island Capital Partners; former Senior VP, Chief Public Affairs and Communications Officer, Coca-Cola
Diana van Maasdijk ’93 (World Politics) Co-Founder/CEO, Equileap (provides data on gender equity in the workplace) John Werner ’92 (Government) Founder/CEO, AR in Action; Founder/Curator/CEO, TEDxBoston; Founding Team Member, Citizen Schools
Education & Nonprofits
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Maxwell Akuamoah-Boateng ’09 (Biology) Director of Operations, Community Schools, City of PhiladelphiaDaniel Becker ’77 (Public Policy) Director, Safe Climate Transport Campaign; former Director, Global Warming, Sierra Club; appointed to the Presidential Advisory Committee on Personal Motor Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Reductions (Clinton)
Richard Burns ’77 (English Literature) First Executive Director, New York City Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center; Founding Board President, GLAD
Richard W. Couper ’44* (History) President, New York Public Library; President, Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation
John Hewko ’79 (Government and Russian Studies)
CEO/General Secretary, Rotary International
Peter Kazickas ’15 (World Politics) CEO, Uncommon (builds technology hubs in low-income communities in developing nations)
Michael Keller ’67 (Music) Vice Provost, Academic Council, Stanford University Libraries
David Kunselman ’66 CEO, World Development Teams; former CEO, Development of World Orphan Care, World Orphan Network
Mike Meyer ’74 (English Literature and Government) Founding Dean, Aga Khan University Graduate School of Media and Communications, Nairobi; former Chief Speechwriter for U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
Nancy Roob ’87 (Comparative Literature) President, Edna McConnell Clark Foundation; President, Blue Meridian PartnersThomas Schwarz ’66 (Economics) President, Drew University; former President, Purchase College (SUNY)
Michael Shapiro ’72 (Art and History) Director Emeritus, High Museum of Art
Vincent Strully ’69 (Government) Founder/CEO, The New England Center for Children
Film, Television & Theatre
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Nat Faxon ’97 (Theatre) Actor, Screenwriter, Director; 2012 Academy Award recipient for Best Adapted Screenplay for The DescendantsDeirdre Fenton ’04 (Government) Executive Director, Unscripted, Meadowlark Media; former Producer, ESPN; 2016 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for O.J. Made in America
Tony Goldwyn ’82 Director, Producer, and Actor; film credits include Ghost, Nixon, Divergent, and the voice of Tarzan in the Disney animated movie; on TV: Dexter, Justified, and Scandal
John Hadity ’83 (Sociology) Executive VP, Entertainment Partners Financial Solutions; former Senior VP, Miramax
Leigh Keno ’79 (Art) Appraiser, Antiques Roadshow; President, Keno Auctions; recipient of the 2005 National Humanities Medal
Thomas Meehan ’51* (English Literature) Playwright; won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical in 1977 for Annie, in 2001 for The Producers, and in 2003 for Hairspray
Sarah Rafferty ’93 (English Literature and Theatre) Actress, SuitsRyan Serhant ’06 (English Literature and Theatre) Real Estate Broker and Reality Television Actor of Million Dollar Listing New York
Thomas Tull ’92 (Government) Founder, Legendary Entertainment
Government, Law & Diplomacy
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Michael Castle ’61 (Economics) former U.S. Representative; former Governor of Delaware
W. Robert Connor ’56 (Government and Philosophy) former President/CEO, The Teagle Foundation; former President/Director, National Humanities Center; appointed to the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities (Clinton)
Drew Days III ’63* (English Literature) U.S. Solicitor GeneralJohn Emerson ’75 (Government and Philosophy) Chairman, American Council on Germany; former U.S. Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany
Stephen Foley ’84 (Creative Writing) former Commander, U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron (Blue Angels)
Sol Linowitz ’35* (German and Philosophy) Ambassador to the Organization of American States; Chairman of the Board, Xerox; Co-Negotiator, Panama Canal Treaties; Recipient, Presidential Medal of FreedomWilliam Luers ’51 (Chemistry and Mathematics) Director, The Iran Project; Chairman/President, United Nations Association of the USA; former President, Metropolitan Museum of Art; former U.S. Ambassador to Czechoslovakia and Venezuela
Percy Luney, Jr. ’70 (Geology) Founding Dean, Florida A&M University Law School; former VP, Space Florida
Matt McKenna ’72 (Philosophy and Speech) Adjunct Professor of Law, Fordham University; former Special Advisor to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture; former President, Keep America Beautiful; former Senior VP, Finance, PepsiCo
Michael J. Murphy ’87 (World Politics) U.S. Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ralph Oman ’62 (History) former Register of Copyrights of the United States
Elihu Root 1864* U.S. Senator, Secretary of War, Secretary of State; Recipient of the 1912 Nobel Peace PrizeJames S. Sherman 1878* Vice President of the United States
Gerrit Smith 1818* Philanthropist and Abolitionist
Edward S. Walker, Jr. ’62 (Philosophy) former President and CEO, Middle East Institute; former U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates
Journalism & Digital Media
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Henry Allen ’63 (English Literature) former Writer, The Washington Post; recipient of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticismMargaret de Streel ’88 (English Literature) Deputy Print Editor and former World News Editor, The Wall Street Journal
Fabio Freyre ’83 (Psychology) Advertising Director, Facebook; former Group Vice President, Corporate Sales and Marketing, Time Inc.; former Publisher, Sports Illustrated
Morgan Selzer Handel ’03 (Government) Chief Content Officer, Headspace; Executive Producer, Netflix’s Emmy Award-Winning Headspace Guide to Meditation
Stacey Klein ’09 (Communication) Senior White House Producer, NBC NewsJordyn Taylor ’12 (History and Theatre) Executive Digital Editor, Men’s Health Magazine
Samantha Skey ’94 (Comparative Literature) CEO, SHE MediaCharlie Warzel ’10 (Government) Staff Writer, The Atlantic (editor of its newsletter, Galaxy Brain)
James P. Willse ’67 (English Literature) former Editor, Newark Star-Ledger, recipient of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting of breaking news
Alexander Woollcott 1909* Drama Critic, The New York Times; Member of the Algonquin Round Table
More Medicine, Health Care & Science
Martin S. Hirsch ’60 (Biology) Physician and Professor of Medicine, Harvard University Medical School; former Director of AIDS Research, Massachusetts General Hospital
William H. Masters ’38* (English Literature) Co-Founder, Masters & Johnson Institute
Jonathan Overpeck ’79 (Geology) Climate Scientist and the Samuel A. Graham Dean of the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan; co-recipient of the Nobel Prize as one of the lead authors of the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate ChangeHugh A. Sampson Jr. ’71 (Biology) Professor of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Director of the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute; former President, American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology
B.F. Skinner ’26* (English Literature) Behavioral PsychologistEdward C. Taylor ’46* Professor of Chemistry at Princeton University (research in organic compounds resulted in the tumor-fighting drug Alimta)
Sports
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Joe Gilbert ’87 Offensive Line Coach, Tampa Bay BuccaneersBryan Jaroch ’97 (Psychology) Coordinating Producer, ESPN; received Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Sports Series (Sunday Night Football)
*Deceased
Andrew Lee ’94 (Government) Chairman of the Board of Directors, USA LacrosseNeal Pilson ’60 (History) President, Pilson Communications, Inc.; former President, CBS Sports
Jim Rushton ’92 (Economics) Senior Vice President, Business Strategy & Stadium Affairs, Los Angeles Chargers
Steve Wulf ’72 (English Literature) Founding Executive Editor, ESPN Magazine
50 Innovations, Discoveries & Inventions Hamilton Has Given the World
Brainstorming. IBM. A Throne of Glass. The First Drive-In Church? In this, the second edition of our digital news feature Hamilton Extra, we present a few examples of Hamiltonesque ingenuity and creativity that resulted in some impressive “firsts” you may have heard of — and possibly some you haven’t.
