List of Boston College people

Notable Boston College alumni

Arts and literature

• Gretchen Andrew, 2010, painter and search engine artist
• Robert Ambrose, 1990, professional conductor; Director of Bands Georgia State University
• James Balog, 1974, photographer
• Joseph Bottum, Ph.D. 1994, writer
• Brendan Galvin, 1960, 76 poet, 2005 National Book Award finalist
• George V. Higgins, 1961, J.D. 1967, novelist
• Mary Elizabeth Hirsh, novelist
• Joseph McLellan, 1951, M.A. 1953, music critic, The Washington Post
• Brian Murphy, nonfiction writer, essayist
• David Plante, 1961, novelist
• Maurice Sagoff, poet
• Mary Sherman, artist and curator
• Elliot Silverstein, 1949, director; president, Artists Rights Foundation
• Karen Sosnoski, author, radio contributor and filmmaker
• C. Dale Young, 1991, poet, physician, editor

  Business

• Nikesh Arora, 1995, President, Global Sales Operations and Business Development, Google
• Richard Berman, J.D. 1969, CEO, NexMed
• Wayne Budd, 1963, executive vice president, John Hancock Financial Services
• Kathleen Corbet, 1982, CEO, fixed income division, Alliance Capital Management
• Joseph Donahue, S.B. 1978, founder, president, Microtech
• Stephen L. Green, J.D. 1962, founder of S.L. Green Realty
• Robert B. Ford, Chief Executive Officer of Abbott Laboratories
• Charlie Jacobs, Principal, Boston Bruins, Delaware North Companies
• Christopher George Kennedy, 1986, President of Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc., a subsidiary of Vornado Realty Trust, and son of Robert F. Kennedy
• Ronald Logue, S.B. 1967, M.B.A. 1974, Chairman and former CEO, State Street Corporation
• David H. Long, CEO of Liberty Mutual Group
• Peter Lynch, 1965, mutual fund manager for Fidelity
• John Mara, 1976, president, CEO, and co-owner, New York Giants
• Harry Markopolos, 1997, Bernard Madoff whistleblower to SEC
• Denise Morrison, 1975, President and CEO, Campbell Soup Company
• James Moses, 1979, president, Elderhostel
• Denis O'Brien, MBA 1982, Chairman, Digicel
• Ferit Sahenk, 1989, head of Turkey's Dogus Holding conglomerate
• Philip W. Schiller, B.S. 1982, vice president of Apple Computer
• Bill Simon, J.D. 1982, businessman and former gubernatorial candidate in California
• Patrick Stokes, 1964, president, Anheuser-Busch
• Richard Syron, 1966, chairman, president and CEO, Thermo Electron Corporation; currently CEO of Freddie Mac

  Education

• Harold Attridge, 1967, dean, Divinity School, Yale University
• William Bulger, 1958, professor, Boston College; former president of University of Massachusetts
• Peter Dervan, 1967, former chairman, division of chemistry and chemical engineering, California Institute of Technology
• Robert Drinan, SJ, 1942, former dean, Boston College Law School
• Chester Dunning, M.A. 1972, Ph.D. 1976, Russian history specialist at Texas A&M University
• Francis Kilcoyne, President of Brooklyn College
• Paul J. LeBlanc, president, Southern New Hampshire University; former president of Marlboro College
• Brian Linnane, SJ, 1977, president, Loyola University Maryland
• Joseph M. McShane, SJ, 1972, president, Fordham University, former president of the University of Scranton
• Ernest Moniz, 1966, United States Secretary of Energy under Barack Obama; chair, Physics Department, MIT; director, Bates Linear Accelerator Center
• J. Keith Motley, Ph.D. 1999, chancellor, University of Massachusetts Boston; first African-American chancellor at UMass Boston
• Vincent Phillip Muñoz, Tocqueville Associate Professor of Religion & Public Life in the Department of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame
• Thomas P. O'Malley, SJ, 1951, former president, John Carroll and Loyola Marymount universities
• Michael P. Walsh, SJ, 1929, former president, Boston College and Fordham University

  Entertainment

• Alex Riley, 2002, professional wrestler and actor
• Ayla Brown, 2010, singer, American Idol
• P. J. Byrne, 1996, film and television actor of Horrible Bosses, Final Destination 5, The Legend of Korra and The Game
• Flora Chan, 1991, Hong Kong television and film actress
• Jodi Cilley, producer
• Teddy Dunn, JD 2013, actor best known for portraying Duncan Kane on Veronica Mars
• Cameron Esposito, comedian
• Craig Finn, 1993, lead singer of The Hold Steady
• Maile Flanagan, 1987, voice actress for Naruto
• Michael Frazier, 1958, producer
• Gary Gulman, 1993, comedian, runner-up in 2004's Last Comic Standing
• Alison Haislip, 2003, actress, TV host of Attack of the Show
• Elisabeth Hasselbeck, 1999, former reality show contestant on , former co-host of talk show The View; host on Fox & Friends
• Clinton Kelly, 1991, co-host of TLC's What Not to Wear,; co-host of ABC's The Chew; former magazine editor
• Christine Kane, singer-songwriter
• Kofi Kingston, professional wrestler
• Tom McCarthy, 1988, actor, writer, and director; directed and co-wrote Academy Award Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay winner Spotlight
• Edwin McDonough, actor
• Ed McMahon, TV host and personality
• Jason Mulgrew, 2001, writer/blogger
• Mike Najarian, drummer, State Radio
• Eric Nam, 2011, Korean singer and entertainer
• Leonard Nimoy, 1952, actor
• Chris O'Donnell, 1992, actor
• PH-1, 1989, Korean singer and rapper
• Mary Parker, 1975, actress
• Ellis Paul, 1987, singer/songwriter
• Bryce Pinkham American stage and screen actor
• Amy Poehler, 1993, repertory player for Saturday Night Live and Upright Citizens Brigade; star of Parks and Recreation
• Greg Poehler, 1996, creator and star of Welcome to Sweden
• Rikishi, 1988, born Solofa F. Fatu Jr., professional wrestler
• David Smalley, 1985, singer for All, Dag Nasty, and DYS
• Skylar Spence, 2015, musician
• Tim Stack, 1978, actor
• Lori Trespicio, 2001, Real World X cast member, singer, writer
• Nancy Walls, 1988, comedian, wife of Steve Carell
• Lulu Wang, 2005, filmmaker
• Tracey Wigfield, 2005, comedy writer
• Wayne Wilderson, 1989, actor

  Law, politics, and public service

• Bruce Ayers, member of the Mass. House of Representatives
• Peter Blute, B.A. 1978, former United States Congressmen and radio talkshow host
• Edward P. Boland, J.D. 1936, former United States Congressman; author of the Boland Amendment
• Julio Borges, M.A. 1994, 8th President of the Venezuelan National Assembly.
• Garrett J. Bradley, BA 1992 & JD 1995, member of the Mass. House of Representatives
• Joseph Brennan, 1958, former Governor of Maine, former United States Congressman
• Scott Brown, J.D. 1985, former Massachusetts state senator; United States Senator
• Wayne Budd, 1963, former United States Associate Attorney General
• William M. Bulger, J.D. 1961, former president of the Massachusetts state senate and former president of the University of Massachusetts
• R. Nicholas Burns, 1978, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, board member of the Council on Foreign Relations, former US Ambassador to NATO, former US Ambassador to Greece
• Andrea Cabral, 1981, Sheriff of Suffolk County, Boston, Massachusetts; first woman and first African-American to hold the position
• Mike Capuano, J.D. 1977, United States Congressman
• Edward Cashman, A.B. 1965, district court judge, State of Vermont
• Paul Cellucci, 1970, J.D. 1973, former Governor of Massachusetts, former US Ambassador to Canada
• Robert W. Clifford, J.D. 1962, Maine Supreme Court justice
• John Cogliano, 1987, Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation
• David Condon, 1996, Mayor of Spokane Washington
• John Connolly, former FBI agent, currently incarcerated stemming from his relationship with James J. "Whitey" Bulger
• Silvio Conte, 1949, J.D. 1949, former U.S. Congressman
• James Michael Curley, 1929, mayor of Boston, United States Congressman, and Governor of Massachusetts
• John Curtin, 1954, former president, American Bar Association
• Keith M. Davidson, 1993, former lawyer for Stormy Daniels
• Bill Delahunt, J.D. 1967, U.S. Congressman
• Salvatore DiMasi, 1967, Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
• John Dooley, LL.B 1968, Vermont Supreme Court justice
• Bob Downes, J.D. 1968, Alaska Superior Court Judge
• Robert Drinan, SJ, 1942, former United States Congressman, human rights advocate; only Catholic priest to serve in Congress
• Joseph R. Driscoll, Jr., BA, member of the Mass. House of Representatives
• Mark V. Falzone, B.A., member of the Mass. House of Representatives
• John F. "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, 1885, First Irish-Catholic mayor of Boston, grandfather of John F. Kennedy
• Linda Dorcena Forry, 1996, second Haitian-American Massachusetts state representative
• William F. Galvin, 1972, Massachusetts Secretary of State; 2006 Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate
• Joseph L. Gormley, 1937, M.A. 1939, FBI agent
• Michael S. Greco, J.D. 1972, president, American Bar Association
• Patrick Guerriero, MA 1992, executive director, Log Cabin Republicans
• Ken Hackett, B.A. 1968, President of Catholic Relief Services
• Jane D. Hartley, B.A., United States Ambassador to France
• Margaret Heckler, J.D. 1956, former United States Congresswoman, former US Secretary of Health and Human Services, former US Ambassador to Ireland
• Charles F. Hurley, 1913, Governor of Massachusetts
• Cheryl Jacques, 1984, first openly gay state senator in Massachusetts; former president, Human Rights Campaign
• Sean M. Joyce, Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Karim Kawar, 1987, Jordanian Ambassador to the United States
• Bill Keating, 1974, MBA 1982, United States Congressman
• John Kerry, J.D. 1976, United States Secretary of State, former United States Senator, 2004 Democratic candidate for President of the United States
• Edward J. King, 1948, former Governor of Massachusetts and professional football player
• Pat LaMarche, 1982, Maine gubernatorial candidate, 2004 Green Party vice-presidential candidate
• Wayne LaPierre, M.A., Executive Vice President of the National Rifle Association
• Stephen Lynch, 1991, United States Congressman
• Dannel P. Malloy, 1977, J.D. 1980, Governor of Connecticut
• Ed Markey, 1968, J.D. '72, United States Congressman
• Maeve Kennedy McKean, attorney and public health official in the Obama Administration
• Ernest Moniz, 1966, 13th United States Secretary of Energy
• Tip O'Neill, 1936, former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
• Grace Poe, 1991, former Chair of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board in the Philippines. Senator of the Republic of the Philippines.
• Pierre-Richard Prosper, 1985, United States Ambassador-at-large for War Crimes Issues
• Mike Rawlings, 1976, Mayor of Dallas, Texas
• Thomas Reilly J.D. 1970, Attorney General of Massachusetts, 2006 Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate
• Warren Rudman, J.D. 1960, former United States Senator and New Hampshire attorney general
• Michael Rustad, Ph.D, Intellectual Property author, Professor at Suffolk University Law School
• R.T. Rybak, 1978, Mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Marie St. Fleur, J.D. 1987, Massachusetts state representative; first Haitian-American elected to the Massachusetts Legislature; 2006 Massachusetts lieutenant gubernatorial candidate
• Thomas P. Salmon, 1954, J.D. '57, former Governor of Vermont
• Bobby Scott, J.D. 1973, United States Congressman
• Francis X. Spina, J.D. 1971, Massachusetts Supreme Court justice
• Michael A. Sullivan, 1982, J.D. '85, Mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Michael J. Sullivan, 1979, United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts; 2006 Massachusetts lieutenant gubernatorial candidate
• Amul Thapar, 1991, Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
• Maurice J. Tobin, 1922, former mayor of Boston, former Governor of Massachusetts, former US Secretary of the Department of Labor
• Martin J. "Marty" Walsh, mayor of Boston, 2014–present
• Kevin White, 1955, former mayor of Boston; longest serving
• Diane Wilkerson, J.D. 1981, first African-American Massachusetts state senator
• Barbara Wright, B.S., member of the New Jersey General Assembly.
• Debra Wong Yang, J.D. 1984, United States Attorney for the Central District of California

  Media and communication

• Tom Bowman, M.A., Pentagon reporter, National Public Radio
• Alina Cho, 1993, broadcast news reporter, CNN
• Jack Griffin, 1982, publisher, Parade magazine
• Elisabeth Filarski Hasselbeck, 1999, co-host, The View, ABC
• Jack King, NASA Public Affairs Officer
• Paul LaCamera, MBA 1983, president and general manager, WCVB-TV/Boston
• Steve Lacy, 1997, anchor, reporter, WCVB-TV/Boston
• Mike Lupica, 1974, author; sports columnist, New York Daily News
• Julianne Malveaux, 1974, M.A. '76, nationally syndicated columnist, author, producer
• Drew Massey, 1992, founder and publisher of P.O.V. magazine; founder of ManiaTV!
• John McLaughlin, M.A. 1961, executive producer and host of The McLaughlin Group, PBS
• Brian Murphy, religion editor, Associated Press
• Frederick Pratson, 1957, travel writer
• Mel Robbins, 1994, television show host and motivational speaker
• Luke Russert, 2008, congressional correspondent, NBC News
• Bob Ryan, 1968, sports columnist for the Boston Globe
• Herb Scannell, 1979, president, MTV Networks, Nickelodeon Networks
• Lesley Visser, 1975, sports broadcaster, ESPN
• Dave Wedge, 1993, author, journalist, VICE, Boston Strong, Boston Herald
• William O. Wheatley, Jr., 1966, former Emmy Award-winning executive producer of NBC Nightly News; executive vice president, NBC News

  Religion

• Harold Berman, J.D. 1994, executive director, Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts, writer on issues of intermarriage and Jewish identity
• Thea Bowman, Ph.D. 1989, Franciscan sister, revered evangelist
• Timothy P. Broglio, 1973, Archbishop, Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA
• Richard James Cushing, 1917, Cardinal-Archbishop of Boston
• Robert Drinan, SJ, 1942, human rights advocate, only Catholic priest ever to serve in US Congress
• Frederick G. Lawrence, scholar of Bernard Lonergan
• Richard Lennon, 1969, Bishop of Cleveland
• Gerasimos Michaleas, M.A. 1986, Ph.D. 1993, Metropolitan of San Francisco; Archbishop, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
• John Courtney Murray, 1926, M.A. 1927, prominent Jesuit theologian, architect of Vatican II
• Mark O'Connell, 1986, Auxiliary Bishop of Boston
• Fachtna O'Driscoll, Superior General of the Society of African Missions worldwide, 2013-2019
• William Henry O'Connell, 1881, Cardinal-Archbishop of Boston
• Deidre Palmer, Ph.D. 1989, President of the Uniting Church in Australia from 8 July 2018
• Edward Phillips, Eastern Deanery AIDS Relief Program, Archdiocese of Nairobi
• Francis A. Sullivan, SJ, 1944, M.A. 1945, Jesuit theologian and ecclesiologist

  Science, technology, and medicine

• Rosina Bierbaum, B.S. and B.A. 1974, Dean at the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment and member of the National Science and Technology Council under Bill Clinton and Barack Obama
• Jane A. Cauley,, epidemiologist, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute
• Joseph L. Gormley, 1937, M.A. 1939, former chief of chemistry and toxicology for the FBI.
• Philip J. Landrigan, epidemiologist and pediatrician
• Aleksandar Totic, 1988, co-founder and former partner, Netscape
• Kevin J. Tracey, 1979, neurosurgeon and immunologist

  Economics

• Welles Crowther, 1999, equities trader who saved a dozen people during the September 11 attacks before dying
• Martha MacDonald, President of the International Association for Feminist Economics from 2007 to 2008
• Abdisalam Omer, Governor of the Central Bank of Somalia
• Joseph T. Salerno, 1972, Austrian School economist,

  Athletics

Notable Boston College faculty

Chemistry

• Amir Hoveyda, developer of the Hoveyda–Grubbs catalyst

  Economics

• Arthur Lewbel, noted for econometrics, consumer demand analysis

  English

• Gerald Dawe, Northern Irish; Burns Visiting Professor
• Elizabeth Graver, author
• Paul Mariani, author

  Finance

• Alicia Munnell, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury; researcher on Social Security and retirement

  History

• Radu Florescu, distinguished Romanian historian, author of successful works on Vlad Dracula
• John Hume, former Northern Ireland politician, recipient of the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize

  Philosophy

• Richard Kearney, philosopher
• Peter Kreeft, author, conservative, autumn hormif books on Thomas Aquinas, Socrates, and C. S. Lewis
• David M. Rasmussen, Continental political philosopher, editor in chief of Philosophy and Social Criticism
• William J. Richardson, SJ, philosopher and psychoanalyst; known for his work on Martin Heidegger
• John Sallis, philosopher within Continental philosophy and hermeneutics

  Political science

• William Bulger, former Massachusetts Senate president; former president, University of Massachusetts
• Robert S. Ross, associate of the Fairbank Center for East Asian Research at Harvard University; senior advisor of the security studies program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
• Alan Wolfe, director, Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life; bestselling author

  Psychology

• William Ryan, social psychologist who coined the term "blaming the victim"
• Brinton Lykes, scholar-activist

  Sociology

• Juliet Schor, leading expert on American consumerism, author

  Theology

• Lisa Sowle Cahill, fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; former president of Catholic Theological Society of America
• Michael Himes, former academic dean of the Seminary of Immaculate Conception on Long Island, New York
• Ruth Langer, expert on Jewish liturgy
• Pheme Perkins, New Testament scholar; former president, Catholic Biblical Association of America

  Music