List of Harvard University non-graduate alumni
This is a list of some notable people who attended Harvard University, but did not graduate or have yet to graduate. See List of Harvard University people for a more comprehensive list of people affiliated with Harvard.
Name | Life | Known for | Relationship to Harvard |
John Adams II | aide to his father President John Quincy Adams | Attended College; expelled prior to 1823 graduation; later among those designated as "Bachelor of Arts as of 1823" and admitted to Roll of Graduates | |
Vincent Astor | 1891–1959 | businessman and philanthropist | Attended College |
F. Lee Bailey | born 1933 | lawyer | Attended College |
William J. A. Bailey | 18841949 | Radithor scandal | Attended College |
Andrew Beyer | horse racing expert | Attended College | |
James Blake | born 1979 | tennis player | Attended College in 1997–1999 |
Rick Brewer | born 1956 | president of Louisiana College in Pineville, Louisiana; former administrator at Charleston Southern University in North Charleston, South Carolina | Post-graduate study at Harvard |
William Starling Burgess | born 1878 | aviator, yacht designer, automotive innovator, poet | Attended Harvard College 1897–1900 |
Frank Carlucci | born 1930 | United States Secretary of Defense | Attended Business School |
Alistair Cooke | 1908–2004 | journalist, broadcaster | Visiting graduate student |
Hamilton Coolidge | 1895–1918 | soldier | Attended College 1916 but dropped out to fight in World War I ; posthumously awarded an A.B., Harvard Class of 1919 |
Broderick Crawford | 1911–1986 | actor | Attended college after high school graduation but dropped out after three weeks |
Vincent Cronin | born 1924 | historian, writer | Attended College |
Matt Damon | born 1970 | actor | Attended College |
Eli Dershwitz | born 1995 | Under-20 World Saber Champion, and US Olympic saber fencer | Attending College |
Paul Douglas | 1892–1976 | United States Senator | Attended Graduate School |
Edmund Fanning | 1739–1818 | British Colonial Officer and Governor | Given A.M. Degree in 1764 |
John F. Fitzgerald | 1863–1950 | mayor of Boston, Massachusetts | Attended Harvard Medical School but dropped out in 1885 after father died |
Geoffrey S. Fletcher | born 1970 | screenwriter, film director, and adjunct film professor at Columbia University and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts | |
John Gould Fletcher | 1886–1950 | poet and philosopher | College |
Benjamin Franklin | 1706–1790 | scientist | Never attended College; awarded an honorary degree in 1753 as Class of 1724 |
Robert Frost | 1874–1963 | poet | Attended College ; awarded an honorary degree in 1937 |
Buckminster Fuller | 1895–1983 | designer, architect | Attended College |
William Gaddis | 1922–1998 | novelist | Attended College |
Bill Gates | born 1955 | co-founder and Chairman of Microsoft, entrepreneur, and philanthropist | Attended College ; awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws in 2007 |
Frank Gehry | born 1929 | architect | Attended Design School |
Ruth Bader Ginsburg | born 1933 | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | Attended Law School, later transferred to Columbia |
James Halperin | born 1952 | co-founder and Chairman of Heritage Auctions, entrepreneur, and author | Attended College |
S. Herbert Hare | 1888-1960 | landscape architect, co-founder of Hare & Hare | Attended Design School |
William Randolph Hearst | 1863–1951 | newspaper magnate | Attended College |
Bruce Henderson | 1915–1992 | founder of the Boston Consulting Group | Attended the Business School |
Richard Honaker | born 1951 | attorney, former Wyoming legislator, nominee for U.S. District Judge | Attended College |
Theodore Rickey Hostetter | 1897–1918 | Son of Theodore R. Hostetter | Enlisted in the 3rd Squadron, Royal Flying Corps; killed in action Sept 27, 1918. In 1919 awarded a posthumous Degree S.B. |
Joel Iacoomes | died 1665 | Native American student | Attended Harvard's Indian College; died in shipwreck at Nantucket before receiving his degree as Class of 1665; awarded a posthumous degree A.B. in 2011 |
Henry James | 1843–1916 | novelist | Attended Law School |
Philip Kaufman | born 1936 | film director, screenwriter | Attended Law School |
John Key | born 1961 | Prime Minister of New Zealand | Attended professional courses at the Business School |
Dan Kiley | 1912–2004 | landscape architect, architect | Attended Design School |
Edwin Land | 1909–1991 | inventor | Attended College; awarded honorary doctorate in 1957 |
Benjamin Larnell | 1694–1714 | Native American student and poet | Attended Indian College; died before receiving degree; poem found in 2013 |
William Harrington Leahy | 1904-1986 | rear admiral in the United States Navy, son of fleet admiral William D. Leahy | Attended Business School |
Fred A. Leuchter | born 1943 | inventor and execution equipment designer | Attended for post-graduate studies |
Alan Lomax | 1915–2002 | musicologist | Attended College |
John Lomax | 1867–1948 | musicologist | Visiting student |
Amory Lovins | born 1947 | environmentalist | Attended College |
Robert Lowell | 1917–1977 | poet | Attended College |
James MacArthur | 1937–2010 | actor | Attended Harvard; dropped out in second year to become actor |
Rosario Marin | born 1958 | Treasurer of the United States | Attended KSG Program for State and Local Government Executives |
Tshilidzi Marwala | born 1971 | academic, community leader, and businessman | Attended Harvard Business School |
Dustin Moskovitz | born 1984 | co-founder of Facebook, Inc. | Attended College |
Ogden Nash | 1902–1971 | poet | Attended College |
born 1949 | Prime Minister of Israel | Attended College; studied political science | |
Gabe Newell | born 1962 | co-founder of Valve | Attended College |
Eugene O'Neill | 1888–1953 | playwright | Attended College |
James Park | co-founder and CEO of Fitbit | Attended College | |
Gram Parsons | 1946–1973 | father of country rock | Attended College |
James Peck | 1914–1993 | civil rights and anti-war activist | Attended College |
Ion Perdicaris | 1840–1925 | businessman and philanthropist | Attended College but left in second year |
Mary Peters | born 1948 | United States Secretary of Transportation | Attended KSG Program for State and Local Government Executives |
Albert Pike | 1809–1891 | Confederate General | Attended but then chose not to attend college because of fees |
Cole Porter | 1891–1964 | composer | Attended Law and Graduate Schools |
David Endicott Putnam | 1898–1918 | Soldier | Attended College 1917 but dropped out to fight in World War I ; posthumously awarded an S.B. Harvard Class of 1920 |