List of Brandeis University people

Notable alumni

Academia

• Eve Adler: Classicist, professor at Middlebury College
• Amnon Albeck: Chemist, professor and University's Vice-Rector at Bar-Ilan University
• Arjun Appadurai: Anthropologist and editor of Public Culture
• Elliot Aronson: Social psychologist known for research on the theory of cognitive dissonance
• Seyla Benhabib: Professor of political science and philosophy at Yale University
• Bonnie Berger: Professor of applied mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Steven Berk: Dean of medicine at Texas Tech University; author of Anatomy of a Kidnapping: A Doctor's Story, based on his own kidnapping
• Ilan Berman: Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council
• David Bernstein: Law professor and blogger
• Deborah Bial: Education strategist, founder and President of Posse Foundation, MacArthur Fellow
• Richard Burgin: Professor, fiction writer, critic, founder and editor of Boulevard literary magazine
• Nancy Chodorow: Feminist sociologist and psychoanalyst
• Arthur L.Caplan: Professor of Bioethics
• Angela Davis: Political activist, academic and author
• Donna Robinson Divine: Professor at Smith College
• Jean Bethke Elshtain: Professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School, feminist, political philosopher
• Daniel A. Foss: Sociologist
• Perry A. Frey: Professor of biochemistry at University of Wisconsin–Madison
• Robert Gallucci: President of the MacArthur Foundation
• Sherwood Gorbach: Emeritus Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine
• Herbert Gross: Professor of Mathematics, Bunker Hill Community College, Corning Community College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• John Hopps: Physicist, politician
• Evelyn Fox Keller: Historian and philosopher of science, MacArthur Fellow 1992
• David Kertzer: Anthropologist at Brown University; Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Pope and Mussolini
• Deborah Lipstadt: History professor, Emory University
• George Loewenstein: Professor of Economics and Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University
• Roderick MacKinnon: Professor at Rockefeller University, Nobel Prize in Chemistry
• Fatema Mernissi: Moroccan sociologist
• Joseph S. Murphy : President of Queens College, President of Bennington College, and Chancellor of the City University of New York
• Elisa New: Professor, Harvard University, wife of Lawrence Summers, former President of Harvard University
• David Oshinsky: Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, professor
• Alicia Ostriker: Poet, professor at Rutgers University
• Lawrence Rosen: Anthropologist and law professor
• Philip Rubin: Cognitive scientist, CEO Emeritus, Haskins Laboratories
• Paul Sally: Professor of mathematics, University of Chicago
• Michael Sandel: Professor of political philosophy, Harvard University and former member of The President's Council on Bioethics
• Lawrence Schiffman: Historian of ancient Judaism and Vice-Provost at Yeshiva University
• Joan Wallach Scott: Historian of France and pioneer in the field of gender history
• Judith Shapiro: Former President, Barnard College
• Elaine Showalter: Literary critic
• Lawrence Solan: Professor of law at Brooklyn Law School
• Hortense Spillers: Literary critic, Black feminist scholar and the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor at Vanderbilt University
• Maurice R. Stein: Author of Blueprint for Counter Education, founding dean of the School of Critical Studies at the California Institute of the Arts, and a professor of sociology at Brandeis University
• Alan Taylor: Pulitzer-Prize-winning historian, professor at UC Davis
• Fernando Torres-Gil: Associate Dean and professor of public policy, UCLA School of Public Affairs
• Paul Townsend: Physicist, notable for work on String Theory
• Karen Uhlenbeck: Mathematics professor, MacArthur Fellow, awarded Leroy P. Steele Prize for research, first woman to win the Abel Prize.
• Judith G. Voet: Professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Swarthmore College, author of biochemistry textbooks
• Theo Wallimann: Professor, Biochemist/Cell Biologist at ETH Zurich
• Michael Walzer: Professor of social science at the Institute for Advanced Study
• Edward Witten: Physicist, awarded Fields Medal in 1990
• Rich Yampell: Grammarian, Klingon Language Institute
• David B. Yoffie: Professor of International Business Administration at Harvard Business School
• Robert J. Zimmer: President, University of Chicago

  Arts and media

• Kathy Acker: Novelist
• Mitch Albom: Sports columnist for the Detroit Free Press, author of Tuesdays With Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven
• Paula Apsell: Executive Producer of Nova, the longest-running science documentary series and winner of eight Emmy Awards
• Stanley Bing : Author, columnist for Fortune and Esquire; Executive Vice President of CBS Corporation
• Dan Blum: Novelist
• Elizabeth Breunig: writer and opinion columnist for The Washington Post
• David Brudnoy: Talk radio host in Boston
• Samrat Chakrabarti: British-American actor
• Peter Child: Composer
• Joe Conason: Political columnist for The New York Observer
• David Crane: Co-creator, writer, and executive producer of television series Friends
• Steven Culp: Actor
• Tyne Daly: Actress, co-starred in TV series Cagney & Lacey
• Stuart Damon : Actor, played Dr. Alan Quartermaine for thirty years on the TV soap opera General Hospital
• Loretta Devine: Actress in TV series Boston Public and Grey's Anatomy, and films, including Crash
• Josh Dibb : Musician, member of Animal Collective
• Alan Ehrenhalt: Senior editor of Governing, contributing writer to The New York Times
• Thomas Friedman: Foreign affairs columnist for The New York Times; winner of the National Book Award and three Pulitzer Prizes
• Lindsay Gardner: Media executive
• Gary David Goldberg: Television writer and producer
• Tony Goldwyn: Actor and director
• Karen Lynn Gorney: Actress
• Alexander Gould: Actor known for roles in Finding Nemo and Weeds
• Debra Granik: Film director and screenwriter
• Mark Halliday: Poet
• Marshall Herskovitz: TV and film producer, director and screenwriter
• Dan Hirschhorn: Time.com
• Kay Hymowitz: Conservative commentator, Manhattan Institute scholar
• Chuck Israels: Jazz musician, bassist
• Margo Jefferson: The New York Times theater critic, winner of Pulitzer Prize for Criticism
• Ha Jin: Novelist, winner of the 2000 PEN/Faulkner Award
• Michael Kaiser: President, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
• Myq Kaplan: Comedian
• Marta Kauffman: Executive Producer and co-creator of the Emmy Award-winning television series Friends
• Jesse Kellerman: Novelist and playwright, son of novelists Jonathan Kellerman and Faye Kellerman
• Amanda Kelly: Miss Massachusetts 2009
• Jon Landau: Music critic, manager and record producer
• Susan B. Landau: Film and television producer
• Louise Lasser: Actress, ex-wife of Woody Allen
• Abby Leigh: Artist
• Mark Leyner: Postmodern novelist
• Peter Lieberson: Composer
• Charlene Liu: Artist
• Steven Mackey: Composer
• Michael McDowell: Novelist and script writer
• Gates McFadden: Actress, best known as Dr. Beverly Crusher on the television series
• Kathleen McInerney: Voice actress, Ash Ketchum seasons 1-8 on Pokémon
• Debra Messing: Actress in television series Will & Grace and The Starter Wife
• Walter Mossberg: Wall Street Journal technology columnist
• Josh Mostel: Actor, son of actor Zero Mostel
• Susana Naidich: Argentine singer
• Barry Newman: Actor
• Anand Patwardhan: Documentary filmmaker
• Martin Peretz: Editor-in-chief of The New Republic
• Letty Cottin Pogrebin: Author, journalist, social activist, a founding editor of Ms. magazine
• Patrik-Ian Polk: Writer-producer of Noah's Arc
• Deborah Porter: Critic, non-profit director, founder of the Boston Book Festival
• Tom Rapp: Singer/songwriter, previously of Pearls Before Swine
• Guy Raz: Host of National Public Radio's All Things Considered
• Theresa Rebeck: Playwright and novelist
• Nancy Richler: Novelist
• Jeff Rubens: Bridge player, writer and editor
• Richard Rubin: Actor, television personality, and reality star of Beauty and the Geek
• David Ian Salter: Film editor of Toy Story 2 and Finding Nemo
• Bill Schneider: CNN's senior political analyst
• Bob Simon: CBS television correspondent for 60 Minutes
• Arunoday Singh: Bollywood actor; grandson of Indian politician Arjun Singh
• Sunny Singh: Writer
• Daniel Smith: Writer
• Laura J. Snyder: Historian, philosopher, and author
• Paul Solman: Journalist for PBS
• Christina Hoff Sommers: Author, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute
• Karen Sosnoski: Author and filmmaker
• Michael Sugar: Film and TV producer/Oscar winner for Spotlight
• Jonathan Vankin: Senior Editor, Vertigo Comics
• Robin Weigert: Actress, played Calamity Jane in Deadwood on HBO
• Adam D. Weinberg: Director of Whitney Museum of American Art
• Eliza Wyatt: Playwright, author, and sculptor

  Business

• Leonard Asper: Chief Operating Officer, CanWest
• Mitch Caplan: Former president and CEO, E*Trade Financial Corporation
• Christie Hefner: Former Chairman & CEO, Playboy Enterprises, Inc., daughter of Hugh Hefner
• Brian Hirsch: venture capitalist
• Myra Hiatt Kraft: Philanthropist and late wife of Bob Kraft, owner of New England Patriots NFL football team
• Suk-Won Kim: Chair of Ssangyong Business Group, one of the largest companies in the Republic of Korea
• Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson: Executive Vice President of Time Warner, former CEO and president of Sony Interactive Entertainment, responsible for the introduction of PlayStation
• Bobby Sager: Philanthropist, photographer, former president of Gordon Brothers Group
• Robert F.X. Sillerman: Media entrepreneur; CEO of CKX, Inc.
• Louise Sunshine: Real estate professional and founder of the Sunshine Group
• Ellis Verdi: Advertising executive and co-founder of the DeVito/Verdi advertising agency

  Government, law, politics and non-profits

• Jack Abramoff: Republican activist; founder, International Freedom Foundation, former lobbyist
• Donna Arzt: Human rights attorney, law professor
• Françoise Blime-Dutertre: French philosopher
• Sidney Blumenthal: Adviser to President Bill Clinton and journalist
• Naomi Reice Buchwald: United States District Court Judge, Southern District of New York
• Jennifer Casolo: Peace activist
• Bernard Coard: Grenadian politician who led the coup that ousted Maurice Bishop
• Ruth Deech, Baroness Deech: Member of the House of Lords, UK
• Gustavo Gelpi: United States District Court Judge, District of Puerto Rico
• Geir Haarde: Prime Minister of Iceland
• Wakako Hironaka: Member of the Diet of Japan, State Minister, Director-General of the Environment Agency
• Abbie Hoffman: Social and political activist; co-founder of the Youth International Party
• Michael E. Horowitz: Inspector General for the United States Department of Justice
• Otis Johnson: Mayor of Savannah, Georgia
• Joette Katz: Associate Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court
• Lisa Kubiske: United States Ambassador to Honduras
• Edgar Romano: managing senior partner at the New York City law firm Pasternack Tilker Ziegler Walsh Stanton & Romano, LLP
• Robert Lasnik: United States District Court Judge, Western District of Washington
• Osman Faruk Loğoğlu: Ambassador to the United States from the Republic of Turkey
• Roslynn Mauskopf: United States District Court Judge, Eastern District of New York
• Vineeta Rai: Indian Administrative Service officer; former Revenue Secretary, Government of India; voted one of 25 Most Powerful Women in Business in India
• Michael Ratner: President of the Center for Constitutional Rights, a non-profit human rights litigation organization
• Lois Galgay Reckitt: Executive director, Family Crisis Services of Portland, Maine
• Lauren Rikleen: Author, lawyer, workplace expert
• Stanley Roth: Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, 1997–2001
• Dimitrij Rupel: Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia
• George Saitoti: Vice President of the Republic of Kenya
• Ari Schwartz: Chief operating officer, Center for Democracy and Technology
• Eli J. Segal: Assistant to the President of the United States 1993–1996
• Daniel B. Shapiro: Current United States Ambassador to Israel
• Daniel Sokatch: CEO of the New Israel Fund
• Stephen J. Solarz: Former U.S. Representative from Brooklyn, New York
• Beth Teper: Director of COLAGE
• Shen Tong: Student leader in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
• Micah Zenko: Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations
• Gerald Zerkin: Attorney for Zacarias Moussaoui

  Science

• Larry Abbott: Senior Fellow at Janelia Farms ; co-director, Columbia Center for Theoretical Neuroscience; member of the National Academy of Sciences
• V. Balakrishnan: Indian theoretical physicist
• Eric R. Braverman : physician
• Sheeri Cabral: DBA, notable for work in the MySQL community
• Adam Cheyer: AI and CS scientist, co-founder of Siri, the company behind Apple's personal assistant on iOS
• Judith Rich Harris: Psychologist
• Arthur G. Hunt: Plant and soils scientist
• Leslie Lamport: Computer scientist and inventor of LaTeX document preparation system
• Beatrice B. "BeBe" Magee: Chemist
• Janet Akyüz Mattei: Astronomer, former director of the American Association of Variable Star Observers
• Siddhartha Roy: Structural biologist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
• Philip Rubin: Cognitive scientist, CEO Emeritus, Haskins Laboratories; White House science advisor in Obama administration
• Robert H. Singer: Senior Fellow at Janelia Farm Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chair of Anatomy and Structural Biology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine
• Ron Sun: Professor of Cognitive Sciences and Computer Science, RPI
• Patrick Tufts: Computer scientist and inventor
• Rachel Zimmerman: Space scientist and inventor, inventor of the Blissymbol Printer, which simplifies communication for users with physical disabilities

  Sports

• Nelson Figueroa: Major League Baseball pitcher
• Jeffrey Lurie: Owner of Philadelphia Eagles NFL football team
• Tim Morehouse: Fencer, silver medal winner in men's team sabre at the 2008 Summer Olympics

  Crime, political crimes, and terrorism

• Naomi Jaffe: Social and political activist, member of the Weather Underground organization
• Katherine Ann Power: Anti-war activist and former fugitive from justice
• Susan Edith Saxe: Anti-war activist and former fugitive from justice
• Aafia Siddiqui: Neuroscientist, convicted of assaulting and attempting to kill U.S. soldiers and FBI agents
• Laura Whitehorn: Member of the Weather Underground organization, participated in the Battle of Boston during the Boston busing crisis

  Notable faculty and staff, past and present

• John B. Anderson: United States Congressman, third party candidate for President of the United States in 1980
• Stuart Altman: Healthcare policy economist, member of the Institute of Medicine
• Alexander Altmann: Professor of Jewish Philosophy and History of Ideas
• Teresa Amabile: Social and organizational psychologist
• Robert J. Art: International politics
• Kathleen Barry: Feminist and sociologist
• Leonard Bernstein: Composer and conductor
• Frank Bidart: Poet, awarded Bollingen Prize
• Egon Bittner: Sociologist and police science scholar
• Michael Brenner: Professor for Jewish history and culture
• Bernadette Brooten: Professor of Christian studies, member of the MacArthur Fellows Program
• Olga Broumas: Poet
• David Buchsbaum : Member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Mary Baine Campbell: Poet and critic
• Carolyn Cohen: Member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Saul Cohen : Member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Frank Conroy: Memoirist, fiction writer, and director of the Iowa Writers' Workshop
• Lewis A. Coser: Sociologist, one of the founders of Dissent magazine
• J.V. Cunningham: Poet and literary critic
• Pamela Dellal: Mezzo-soprano
• Stanley Deser : Member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Mark Feeney: Pulitzer Prize-winning arts critic for The Boston Globe
• Irving Fine: Composer
• David Hackett Fischer: Pulitzer Prize-winning historian
• Benny Friedman: Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback; Brandeis Athletic Director and last football coach
• Lawrence "Larry" Fuchs: Founder of the American Studies Department at Brandeis and immigration policy expert
• Paul Georges: Member of National Academy Museum
• Ray Ginger: Historian noted for his biography of Eugene V. Debs
• Arthur Green: Jewish spirituality and thought
• Allen Grossman: Poet, awarded Bollingen Prize and MacArthur Fellowship "genius" grant
• Jeff Hall : member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• Timothy J Hickey: Computer scientist
• Anita Hill: Lawyer and social policy expert
• Heisuke Hironaka: Mathematician, Fields Medal winner
• Michelle Hoover: Writer-in-residence, author
• Irving Howe: Political theorist, editor and founder of Dissent
• Hugh Huxley : Member of the National Academy of Science
• Ray Jackendoff : Member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Paul Jankowski: Historian
• Gish Jen: Member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• William Jencks: Biochemist
• William E. Kapelle: Medieval historian
• Dorothee Kern: Biochemist, former basketball player for the East German national team
• Jytte Klausen: European politics, author of The Cartoons that Shook the World
• Walter Laqueur: Historian and political commentator
• Max Lerner: Author, syndicated columnist, and editor
• Alvin Lucier: Composer of experimental music
• Alasdair MacIntyre: Philosopher
• Kanan Makiya: Iraqi dissident, advocate of the 2003 invasion of Iraq
• Herbert Marcuse: Social theorist and member of the Frankfurt School
• Eve Marder: Neuroscientist
• Abraham Maslow: Psychologist noted for humanistic approach
• Eileen McNamara: Pulitzer Prize- winning columnist for the Boston Globe
• Pauli Murray: Feminist, civil rights advocate, lawyer, and ordained priest
• Ulric Neisser: Pioneer in development of cognitive psychology
• Irene Pepperberg: Psychologist noted for research on cognition in animals, particularly for her work with Alex, a grey parrot
• Gregory Petsko: Biochemist
• James Pustejovsky: Linguist, proposer of Generative Lexicon theory
• Philip Rahv: Literary and social critic, editor and founder of Partisan Review
• David Rakowski: Music, runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize for Music
• Robert Reich: United States Secretary of Labor, 1993–1997
• Margret Rey: Author and illustrator of children's books, notably the Curious George series
• Adrienne Rich: Poet, essayist and feminist
• Philip Rieff: Sociologist and cultural critic
• Eleanor Roosevelt: First Lady of the United States
• Michael Rosbash: Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• Dennis Ross: Special envoy/ambassador to Middle East under President Bill Clinton
• Jonathan Sarna: Historian of American Judaism
• Nahum Sarna: Biblical scholar, father of Jonathan Sarna
• Morrie Schwartz: Sociologist; subject of Mitch Albom's bestselling novel, Tuesdays with Morrie
• Arnold S. Shapiro: Mathematician
• Thomas M. Shapiro: Sociologist, author
• Mitchell Siporin: Artist
• Thomas Sowell: Economist, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution
• Marie Syrkin: Poet and author
• Andreas Teuber: Philosophy professor, actor
• Samuel O. Thier: President of both Massachusetts General Hospital and Brandeis University
• Gina G. Turrigiano: Neuroscientist, winner of the MacArthur "Genius" Award
• Claude Vigée: Poet
• Kurt Heinrich Wolff: Sociologist
• Franz Wright: Poet, awarded Pulitzer Prize
• Yehudi Wyner: Composer, awarded Pulitzer Prize
• Leslie Zebrowitz: Social psychologist