List of University of Rochester people

Here follows a list of notable alumni, non-graduate attendees, faculty, and presidents of the University of Rochester. The institution has more than 120,000 living alumni as of 2022.^[1]

Note: Some individuals are listed in multiple categories (e.g., alumni who were also members of the faculty). In such cases, a parenthetical note identifies the second relevant category. Recipients of honorary degrees from the university are not included. All degree years are for bachelor's degrees unless otherwise noted. For a list of alumni of the Eastman School of Music, see List of Eastman School of Music people.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Notable alumni

Nobel laureates

Name	Class Year	Notability	Reference
Harvey J. Alter	1956; 1960 (MD)	2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine	[2]
Steven Chu	1970	1997 Nobel Prize in Physics, 12th United States Secretary of Energy	[3]
Daniel Carleton Gajdusek	1943	1976 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine	[4]
Arthur Kornberg	1941 (MD)	1959 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine	[5]
Masatoshi Koshiba	1955 (PhD)	2002 Nobel Prize in Physics	[6]
Donna Strickland	1989 (PhD)	2018 Nobel Prize in Physics	[7]
Richard Thaler	1970 (MA), 1974 (PhD)	2017 Nobel Prize in Economics (see also under 'Notable faculty')	[8]
Vincent du Vigneaud	1927 (PhD)	1955 Nobel Prize in Chemistry	[9]

National Medal winners

Name	Class Year	Notability	Reference
George Abbott	1911	National Medal of Arts, writer and director	[10]
David A. Berry	1967	National Humanities Medal, educator	[11]
D. Allan Bromley	1952 (PhD)	National Medal of Science, physicist	[12]
Esther M. Conwell	1945 (MS)	National Medal of Science, chemist and physicist (see also under 'Notable faculty')	[13]
Robert Dicke	1939 (PhD)	National Medal of Science, astrophysicist	[14]
Renée Fleming	1983 (MM)	National Medal of Arts, singer	[15]
Donald Henderson	1954 (MD)	National Medal of Science, Presidential Medal of Freedom, epidemiologist	[16]
Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham	1984 (PhD)	National Humanities Medal, historian	[17]
James V. Neel	1939 (PhD); 1944 (MD)	National Medal of Science, geneticist	[18]
John Prausnitz	1951 (MS)	National Medal of Science, chemist	[19]
John Clarke Slater	1920	National Medal of Science, physicist	[20]
Alejandro Zaffaroni	1949 (PhD)	National Medal of Technology, biotechnology entrepreneur	[21]

National academy members

Alumni listed here were elected to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, or national academies outside the United States.

Name	Class Year	Notability	Reference
Girish Agarwal	1969 (PhD)	The Royal Society, Indian National Science Academy, physicist	[22]
Michelle Albert	1994 (MD)	National Academy of Medicine, physician	[23][24]
John Aldrich	1975 (PhD)	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, political scientist	[25]
David Amaral	1977 (PhD)	National Academy of Medicine, psychiatrist	[26][27]
Dominick Argento	1958 (DMA)	American Academy of Arts and Letters, composer, recipient of the Pulitzer Prize	[28]
Linda Birnbaum	1967	National Academy of Medicine, microbiologist	[29][30]
E. Sandra Byers	1973	The Royal Society of Canada, psychologist and sexologist	[31]
Laura Carstensen	1978	National Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, psychologist	[32][33]
Daniel Diermeier	1995 (PhD)	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, political scientist, 9th Chancellor of Vanderbilt University	[34]
Robert S. Edgar	1957 (PhD)	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, geneticist	[35]
Stephen Fantone	1979 (PhD)	National Academy of Engineering, optical engineer	[36]
Timothy Feddersen	1993 (PhD)	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, political scientist	[37][38]
Clement Finch	1941 (MD)	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, hematologist	[39][40]
Morris Fiorina	1972 (PhD)	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, political scientist	[41]
Robert Fogelin	1955	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, philosopher	[42][43]
Gilles Fontaine	1974 (PhD)	The Royal Society of Canada, astrophysicist	[44]
Kenneth French	1978 (MBA), 1981 (MS), 1983 (PhD)	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, economist	[45]
Grove Karl Gilbert	1862	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, geologist, 1st Chief Geologist of the United States Geological Survey	[46]
Robert Gomer	1949 (PhD)	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, chemist and physicist	[47]
Amit Goyal	1988 (MS), 1991 (PhD)	National Academy of Engineering, engineer	[48]
Jerry Green	1967, 1970 (PhD)	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, economist	[49]
Jane Guyer	1972 (PhD)	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, anthropologist	[50][51]
N. Katherine Hayles	1977 (PhD)	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, literary scholar	[52]
Susan Hockfield	1973	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, neuroscientist, 16th President of MIT	[53][54]
John D. Huber	1991 (PhD)	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, political scientist	[55][56]
Peter van Inwagen	1969 (PhD)	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, philosopher	[57]
Gregory Kealey	1978 (PhD)	The Royal Society of Canada, historian	[58][59]
David T. Kearns	1952	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1st U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education, Chairman and CEO of Xerox	[60]
Young-Kee Kim	1990 (PhD)	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, physicist	[61]
H. Jeff Kimble	1977 (PhD)	National Academy of Sciences, physicist	[62]
Galway Kinnell	1949 (MA)	American Academy of Arts and Letters, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, poet, MacArthur Fellow, recipient of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award	[63][64]
Clifford Kubiak	1980 (PhD)	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, chemist	[65]
John G. Levi	1969	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, lawyer, Chair of the Legal Services Corporation	[66]
Richard Locksley	1976 (MD)	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, immunologist	[67]
Jonathan Lunine	1980	National Academy of Sciences, astrophysicist	[68]
Arthur Lupia	1986	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, political scientist	[69][70]
Harmit Malik	2000 (PhD)	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, biologist	[71][72]
Ho-Kwang Mao	1968 (PhD)	National Academy of Sciences, The Royal Society, Chinese Academy of Sciences, geophysicist	[73]
Diane Mathis	1978 (PhD)	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, hematologist	[74][75]
Bernadette Mazurek Melnyk	1992 (PhD)	National Academy of Medicine, nurse	[76]
Richard McKelvey	1973 (PhD)	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, political scientist	[77]
Edward Mendelson	1966	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, literary scholar	[78]
Henry Metzger	1953	National Academy of Sciences, immunologist	[79]
Edward D. Miller	1968 (MD)	National Academy of Medicine, anesthesiologist, Dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine	[80][81]
James D. Morrow	1982 (PhD)	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, political scientist	[82]
Carol Nadelson	1961 (MD)	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, psychiatrist	[83]
Norman Neureiter	1952	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, scientist and governmental advisor	[84]
Roger Nicoll	1968 (MD)	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, neuroscientist	[85][86]
Peter Ordeshook	1969 (PhD)	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, political scientist	[87][88]
Charles S. Parmenter	1963 (PhD)	National Academy of Sciences, chemist	[89][90]
Terence Parsons	1961	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, philosopher	[91][92]
James Breck Perkins	1867	American Academy of Arts and Letters, historian, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York	[93]
Keith T. Poole	1978 (PhD)	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, political scientist	[94]
Alan S. Rabson	1948	National Academy of Medicine, pathologist, Deputy Director of the National Cancer Institute	[95][96]
Hermann Rahn	1938 (PhD)	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, physiologist	[97]
Richard Rashid	1977 (MS), 1980 (PhD)	National Academy of Engineering, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, computer scientist, founder of Microsoft Research	[98]
David Rohde	1971 (PhD)	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, political scientist	[99]
Roberta Romano	1973	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, legal scholar	[100]
Joan Roughgarden	1968	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, biologist and ecologist	[101]
Ivan Sag	1971	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, linguist and cognitive scientist	[102]
José Scheinkman	1974 (PhD)	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, economist	[103]
Nevin Scrimshaw	1945 (MD)	National Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, nutritionist, recipient of the World Food Prize	[104]
John H. Seinfeld	1964	National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, atmospheric scientist, recipient of the Tyler Prize	[105]
Kenneth Shepsle	1970 (PhD)	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, political scientist	[106]
Kalyan Bidhan Sinha	1969 (PhD)	Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy, mathematician	[107]
Hugo F. Sonnenschein	1961	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, economist, 11th President of the University of Chicago	[108]
Gary Starkweather	1966 (MS)	National Academy of Engineering, engineer, inventor of the laser printer, elected to the National Inventors Hall of Fame	[109]
Franklin Stahl	1956 (PhD)	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, molecular biologist, MacArthur Fellow	[110]
Frank Stillinger	1955	National Academy of Sciences, chemist	[111]
Patricia Stone	1997 (PhD)	National Academy of Medicine, nurse	[112][113]
Paul E. Turner	1988	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, biologist and virologist	[114]
Lynn Vavreck	1997 (PhD)	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, political scientist	[115][116]
Tener Goodwin Veenema	1992 (MS), 1999 (MPH), 2001 (PhD)	National Academy of Medicine, public health scientist	[117][118]
George Walker	1956 (DMA)	American Academy of Arts and Letters, composer, recipient of the Pulitzer Prize	[119]
Ian Walmsley	1986 (PhD)	The Royal Society, optical physicist, Provost of Imperial College London	[120]
Robert Ward	1939	American Academy of Arts and Letters, composer, recipient of the Pulitzer Prize	[121][122]
Nils Yngve Wessell	1938 (PhD)	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, psychologist, 8th President of Tufts University	[123]
Robert H. Wiebe	1957 (PhD)	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, historian	[124][125]
James C. Wyant	1969 (PhD)	National Academy of Engineering, optical scientist, 1st Dean of the University of Arizona College of Optical Sciences	[126]
Herbert York	1942 (BS, MS)	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, nuclear physicist, 1st Chancellor of the University of California, San Diego, 1st Chief Scientist at DARPA	[127][128]
Muhammad Suhail Zubairy	1978 (PhD)	Pakistan Academy of Sciences, optical physicist	[129]

Academia

Institutional leaders

Name	Class Year	Notability	Reference
Galusha Anderson	1858	8th President of Denison University, 5th President of the Old University of Chicago	[130]
Sheila Blumstein	1965	President (interim), Dean of the College, Brown University	[131]
Myles Brand	1967 (PhD)	4th President of the NCAA, 16th President of Indiana University, 14th President of the University of Oregon	[132]
Ilene Busch-Vishniac	1976	9th President of the University of Saskatchewan, Dean of the Whiting School of Engineering, Johns Hopkins University	[133]
Bonnie Thornton Dill	1965	Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, University of Maryland, College Park	[134]
Robert J. Dolan	1977 (PhD)	Dean of the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan	[135]
Bernard T. Ferrari	1970, 1974 (MD)	2nd Dean of the Carey Business School, Johns Hopkins University	[136]
Merrill Edwards Gates	1870	6th President of Amherst College, 9th President of Rutgers University	[137]
Robyn E. Hannigan	1997 (PhD)	19th President of Ursinus College	[138]
Bernard Harleston	1955 (PhD)	9th President of City College of New York	[139]
Karen R. Hitchcock	1969 (PhD)	18th Principal and Vice Chancellor of Queen's University, 16th President of the University at Albany	[140]
Marc Holzer	1966	1st Dean of the School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers University	[141]
Emory William Hunt	1884	10th President of Denison University, 6th President of Bucknell University	[142]
Alan Hurwitz	1980 (EdD)	10th President of Gallaudet University	[143]
Malcolm MacVicar	1859	1st Chancellor of McMaster University	[144]
Sugata Marjit	1985 (PhD)	52nd Vice Chancellor of the University of Calcutta	[145]
Joseph B. Martin	1971 (PhD)	6th Chancellor of the University of California, San Francisco, former Dean of Harvard Medical School and the UCSF School of Medicine	[146]
Nancy McGlen	1975 (PhD)	Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Niagara University	[147]
Leonard Chapin Mead	1939 (PhD)	Acting President of Tufts University	[148]
Peter Mennin	1947 (PhD)	5th President of the Juilliard School	[149]
William J. Milne	1868	8th President of the University at Albany, President of the State University of New York at Geneseo	[150]
Brian C. Mitchell	1981 (PhD)	16th President of Bucknell University, 11th President of Washington & Jefferson College	[151][152]
Lemuel Moss	1858	6th President of Indiana University, 2nd President of the Old University of Chicago	[153]
David Nash	1981 (MD)	1st Dean of the College of Population Health, Thomas Jefferson University	[154]
George Daniel Olds	1873	9th President of Amherst College	[155]
Paul J. Olscamp	1962 (PhD)	8th President of Bowling Green State University	[156]
David Oppenheim	1943	2nd Dean of the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University	[157]
Maria Oudeman	(MBA)	President of Utrecht University	[158]
Harold Paz	1977, 1982 (MD)	Dean of the College of Medicine, Pennsylvania State University	[159]
Philip A. Pizzo	1970 (MD)	Dean of the Stanford University School of Medicine	[160]
Joseph Platt	1937	8th President of Claremont Graduate University, 1st President of Harvey Mudd College	[161]
Jonathan Samet	1970 (MD)	Dean of the Colorado School of Public Health	[162]
Gary Schuster	1971 (PhD)	President (interim), Provost of the Georgia Institute of Technology	[163]
Eileen Sullivan-Marx	1980 (MS)	Dean of the Rory Meyers College of Nursing, New York University	[164]
James Monroe Taylor	1868	4th President of Vassar College	[165]
Joseph F. Volker	1941 (PhD)	1st President of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1st Chancellor of the University of Alabama System	[166]

Professors and researchers

Name	Class Year	Notability	Reference
Alan Abramowitz	1969	political scientist	[167]
Charles M. Achilles	1959, 1962 (MS), 1965 (EdS), 1967 (EdD)	education scholar	[168]
Shirley J. Allen	1992 (PhD)	first black and deaf woman to earn a doctorate	[169]
Willard Myron Allen	1932 (MD)	gynecologist, co-discoverer of progesterone	[170]
Frederick R. Bieber	1976 (MS)	medical geneticist	[171]
Robert N. Burr	1939	historian	[172]
C. Ondine Chavoya	2002 (PhD)	art historian	[173]
Sarah Demers	2001 (MA), 2005 (PhD)	physicist	[174]
Bernadette Drummond	1982 (MS)	professor of dentistry	[175][176]
Elon Howard Eton	1890, 1893 (MA)	ornithologist	[177]
C. Lawrence Evans	1988 (PhD)	political scientist	[178]
Hany Farid	1988	computer scientist	[179]
Paul Frommer	1965	linguist	[180]
Barry L. Gan	1970, 1981 (MA), 1984 (PhD)	philosopher	[181][182]
Steven Hahn	1978	historian, recipient of the Pulitzer Prize	[183]
Paul M. Healy	1981 (PhD)	business scholar	[184]
Zvi Hercowitz	1980 (PhD)	economist	[185]
Olivia Hooker	1962 (PhD)	psychologist, civil rights pioneer	[186]
Richard Isay	1961 (MD)	psychologist	[187]
Beata Javorcik	1994	economist	[188]
Francis Kelsey	1880	philologist and archeologist	[189]
Bruce Kingma	1989 (PhD)	economist	[190]
Stephen Kotkin	1981	historian	[191]
Frederick D. Losey	1891	Shakespearian scholar and elocutionist	[192]
Christopher J. Mayer	1987	economist	[193]
Arthur R. Miller	1956	legal scholar	[194]
Philip Nel	1992	literary scholar	[195]
Patricia Numann	1962	surgeon	[196]
Derek Peterson	1993	historian, MacArthur Fellow	[197]
Walter Rauschenbusch	1884	Social Gospel theologian	[198]
Mark Rosenzweig	1943, 1944 (MS)	psychologist	[199]
Richard M. Ryan	1981 (PhD)	psychologist, co-founder of self-determination theory (see also under 'Notable faculty')	[200]
William Amasa Scott	1886, 1889 (AM)	economist	[201]
Elba Serrano	1973	neuroscientist, recipient of the PAESMEM	[202]
George Sudarshan	1958 (PhD)	physicist	[203]
Rudolph E. Tanzi	1980	neurologist	[204]
Steven M. Weinreb	1967 (PhD)	chemist	[205]
David Sloan Wilson	1971	biologist	[206]

Arts

Alumni listed here are notable for their work in the performing arts, visual arts, or arts administration.

Name	Class Year	Notability	Reference
Jeff Beal	1985	composer, Emmy Award winner	[207]
Doug Besterman	1985	orchestrator, Tony Award winner	[208]
Julia Bullock	2009	singer and actor, Grammy Award winner	[209]
Ron Carter	1959	jazz musician, Grammy Award winner	[210]
Alexander Courage	1941	composer, Emmy Award winner	[211]
William Dooley	1954	singer	[212]
Frederick Fennell	1937, 1939 (MA)	conductor	[213]
Joseph Fennimore	1962	composer	[214]
Robert Forster	1964	actor	[215]
Steve Gadd	1968	drummer	[216]
Anthony Dean Griffey	2001 (MM)	singer, Grammy Award winner	[217]
Michael Kanfer	1980	visual effects artist, Academy Award winner	[218]
Emil J. Kang	1990	arts administrator	[219]
Ulysses Kay	1940 (MM)	composer	[220]
Naomie Kremer	1975	visual artist	[221]
John La Montaine	1942	composer, Pulitzer Prize winner	[222]
Tony Levin	1968	bass player	[223]
Bob Ludwig	1966, 2001 (MM)	mastering engineer, Grammy Award winner	[224]
Chuck Mangione	1963	jazz musician, Grammy Award winner	[225]
Erin Morley	2002	singer, Grammy Award winner	[226]
Kevin Puts	1994, 1999 (DMA)	composer, Pulitzer Prize winner	[227]
Lance Reddick	1984	actor and musician	[228]
Debra Jo Rupp	1974	actress	[229]
Maria Schneider	1985 (MM)	composer and conductor, Grammy Award winner	[230]
Charles Strouse	1947	composer, Grammy, Emmy, Tony Award winner	[231]
William Warfield	1942, 1946 (MM)	singer and actor, Grammy Award winner	[232]

Business

Name	Class Year	Notability	Reference
Arunas A. Chesonis	1991 (MBA)	Chairman and CEO of Sweetwater Energy	[233]
Frederick S. Fish	1873	Chairman and President of the Studebaker Corporation	[234]
Gerald Gitner	1968 (MBA)	Chairman and CEO of Trans World Airlines	[235]
Robert Goergen	1960	Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Blyth, Inc.	[236]
Mario Greco	1986 (MA)	CEO of Zurich Insurance	[237]
Richard Handler	1983	Chairman and CEO of Jefferies Group	[238]
Dawne Hickton	1979	Executive Vice President of Jacobs	[239]
Robert T. Huang	1970 (MS), 1976 (MA)	Founder, Chairman, and co-CEO of Synnex	[240]
Jim Kennedy	1975	Chief Communications Officer of News Corp	[241]
Robert M. Lynch	1999, 2000 (MBA)	CEO of Papa John's Pizza	[242]
Manton Marble	1855	Owner and Editor of the New York World	[243]
William F. May	1937	Chairman and CEO of American Can Company	[244]
Barry Meyer	1964	Chairman and CEO of Warner Bros.	[245]
John Rowe	1970 (MD)	Chairman and CEO of Aetna	[246]
Robert Shetterly	1936	Chairman and CEO of Clorox	[247]
Paul Singer	1966	Founder and CEO of Elliott Management Corporation	[248]
Robert L. Stark	1973	Founder and CEO of Stark Enterprises	[249]
Henry Strong	1854	President of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway	[250]
Robert S. Wiesenthal	1988	Founder and CEO of BLADE	[251]
Joseph C. Wilson	1931	Founder and CEO of Xerox	[252]
Guy Wyser-Pratte	1962	Founder and President of Wyser-Pratte Management Co. Inc.	[253]
Gerald B. Zornow	1937	Chairman and President of Eastman Kodak	[254]

Government and law

Heads of state or government

Name	Class Year	Notability	Reference
Dae-Whan Chang	1974	Acting Prime Minister of South Korea (2002)	[255]
Elwell Stephen Otis	1858	2nd American Military Governor of the Philippines	[256]

Members of the United States Congress

Name	Class Year	Notability	Reference
Jacob Sloat Fassett	1875	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York	[257]
Kenneth Keating	1919	United States Senator, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York, United States Ambassador to India and Israel	[258]
Chris Lee	1987	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York	[259]
James M.E. O'Grady	1885	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York, Speaker of the New York State Assembly	[260]
Sereno E. Payne	1864	1st House Majority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives	[261]
Samuel S. Stratton	1937	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York, Mayor of Schenectady, New York	[262]

United States ambassadors

Name	Class Year	Notability	Reference
Gene Cretz	1972	United States Ambassador to Ghana and Libya	[263]
Lisa J. Peterson	1986	United States Ambassador to Eswatini	[264]
Robert A. Sherman	1975	United States Ambassador to Portugal	[265]
George F. Ward	1965	United States Ambassador to Namibia	[266]

Federal officials in the United States

Name	Class Year	Notability	Reference
Michael P. Allen	1989	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims	[267]
Robert H. Conn	1962 (MS)	Assistant Secretary of the Navy	[268]
W. Scott Gould	1985 (MBA), 1987 (EdD)	5th United States Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs	[269]
Charles G. Groat	1962	13th Director of the United States Geological Survey	[270]
Heather Higginbottom	1994	U.S. Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources	[271]
Lewis A. Kaplan	1966	Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York	[272]
Robert Khuzami	1979	Deputy United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York	[273]
John Knight	1893	Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of New York	[274]
Lawrence Kudlow	1969	12th Director of the National Economic Council	[275]
Allison M. Macfarlane	1986	Chair of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission	[276]
Cathy Minehan	1968	12th President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston	[277]
Michael O'Rielly	1993	Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission	[278]
Jimmie V. Reyna	1975	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit	[279]
Harlan Rippey	1898	Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of New York	[280]
Brian C. Roseboro	1981	U.S. Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance	[281]
Dan Rosenthal	1988	Assistant to the President, White House	[282]
Anthony Ryan	1985	U.S. Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance	[283]
Robert D. Sack	1960	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit	[284]
Graham Steele	2002	Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Institutions	[285]
Michael Telesca	1952	Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of New York	[286]
Ellsworth Van Graafeiland	1937	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit	[287]
Donald C. Winter	1969	74th United States Secretary of the Navy	[288]

Federal officials outside the United States

Name	Class Year	Notability	Reference
Chan Onn Fong	1972 (MBA), 1974 (PhD)	2nd Minister of Human Resources, Malaysia	[289]
Vittorio Grilli	1986 (PhD)	5th Minister of Economy and Finance, Italy	[290]
Pedro Guimarães	2004 (PhD)	Chairman of the Federal Savings Bank, Brazil	[291]
Sheng-cheng Hu	1967 (MA), 1970 (PhD)	Minister of the Council for Economic Planning and Development and Chairperson of the Financial Supervisory Commission, Taiwan	[292]
Ephraim Kamuntu	1973 (MS)	17th Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Uganda	[293]
Eyitayo Lambo	1973 (MA)	Federal Minister of Health, Nigeria	[294]
Awais Leghari	1994	Minister for Power, Pakistan	[295]
Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan	2004 (MBA)	38th Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Finance, Liberia	[296]
Tove Pihl	1948	Member of the Norwegian Parliament	[297]
Nasser Saidi	1977 (MA), 1979 (PhD)	63rd Minister of Economy and Trade, Lebanon	[298]

State officials in the United States

Name	Class Year	Notability	Reference
Robert S. Babcock	1937	67th Lieutenant Governor of Vermont	[299]
Joseph M. Bailey	1854	Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Illinois	[300]
Carolyn Berger	1969	Justice of the Supreme Court of Delaware	[301]
Chuck Carpenter	1985	Member of the Oregon House of Representatives	[302]
Alfred C. Carr Jr.	1988	Member of the Maryland House of Delegates	[303]
Moreau S. Crosby	1863	22nd Lieutenant Governor of Michigan	[304]
Barbara Ann DeBuono	1976, 1980 (MD)	New York State Commissioner of Health, Director of the Rhode Island Department of Health	[305]
Mark Ferrandino	1999, 2000 (MA)	Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives	[306]
Laura Friedman	1988	Member of the California State Assembly	[307]
Jenean Hampton	2003 (MBA)	57th Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky	[308]
Mary Ellen Jones	1958	New York State Senator
Mary Anne Krupsak	1953	54th Lieutenant Governor of New York	[309]
Richard Leone	1962	Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, State Treasurer of New Jersey	[310]
Sandy Pasch	1981 (MS)	Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly	[311]
George Raines	1866	New York State Senator	[312]
John Rayson	1971	Member of the Florida House of Representatives	[313]
Leland Rayson	1946	Member of the Illinois House of Representatives	[314]
Roger J. Robach	1966	Member of the New York State Assembly	[315]
Adolph J. Rodenbeck	1885	Member of the New York State Assembly, 47th Mayor of Rochester, New York	[316]
Linda Rosenthal	1980	Member of the New York State Assembly
Ebony Scott	2000	Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia	[317]
Josh Shapiro	1995	48th Governor of Pennsylvania	[318]
Lisa Swain	1980	Member of the New Jersey Assembly	[319]
Ward Tolbert	1902	New York State Senator	[320]
Tony Vargas	2007	Nebraska State Senator	[321]
Akilah Weber	2004 (MD)	Member of the California State Assembly	[322]

Others

Name	Class Year	Notability	Reference
David Buckel	1980	lawyer, environmental activist	[323]
Malik Evans	2002	71st Mayor of Rochester, New York	[324]
M. Justin Herman	1930	Executive Director of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency	[325]
Albion Tourgée	1862	lawyer and judge, argued Plessy v. Ferguson	[326]
Mark Zaid	1989	lawyer	[327]

Journalism

Alumni listed here are notable for their journalism in newspapers, television, radio, or other media.

Name	Class Year	Notability	Reference
Susan B. Anthony II	1938	journalist	[328]
Roscoe Conkling Ensign Brown	1889	Managing Editor of the New York Tribune	[329]
Christopher Carosa	1991 (MBA)	business journalist	[330]
Dudley Doust	1952	sports journalist	[331]
Jean Giambrone	1942	sports journalist	[332]
Bill Kauffman	1981	political journalist and author	[333]
Anne Keefe	1946	journalist	[334]
Stanley Levey	1937, 1939 (MA)	journalist	[335]
Melissa Long	2004 (MBA)	journalist	[336]
Janet Maslin	1970	film and literary critic	[337]
Dan Rattiner	1961	journalist and newspaper publisher	[338]
Madeline Sofia	2016 (PhD)	science journalist	[339]
Harriet Van Horne	1940	journalist	[340]

Literature

Alumni listed here are notable as authors of drama, fiction, nonfiction, or poetry.

Name	Class Year	Notability	Reference
Karen Alkalay-Gut	1966, 1975 (PhD)	poet	[341]
Benjamin Anastas	1991	novelist	[342]
Suzanne Arms	1965	author, activist	[343]
Neil Baldwin	1969	author	[344]
John M. Barry	1969 (MA)	author	[345]
Francis Bellamy	1876	author of the Pledge of Allegiance	[346]
Christian Cameron	1987	novelist	[347]
Brock Clarke	1998 (PhD)	novelist	[348]
Jennifer Donnelly	1985	novelist, Carnegie Medal winner	[349]
Rossiter Johnson	1863	author and editor	[350]
John Kessel	1972	author, Nebula Award winner	[351]
David Mason	1989 (PhD)	poet	[352]
Cheryl Mendelson	1973 (PhD)	author	[353]
Robert C. O'Brien	1940	author, Newbery Medal winner	[354]
Thomas Perry	1974 (PhD)	novelist	[355]
Dale Peterson	1967	author	[356]
Charles Mulford Robinson	1891	editor, author, pioneer of urban planning	[357]
Betsy Sholl	1969 (MA)	poet	[358]
William Stoddard	1858	author	[359]
Harriet A. Washington	1976	author, National Book Critics Circle Award winner	[360]
William Cleaver Wilkinson	1857	poet and literary critic	[361]

Military

Name	Class Year	Notability	Reference
Gretchen Herbert	1984	Rear Admiral, United States Navy, Commander of the United States Navy Cyber Forces	[362]
David Ottignon	1997 (MBA)	Lieutenant General, United States Marine Corps, Deputy Commandant for Manpower and Reserve Affairs	[363]
Sean A. Pybus	1979	Vice Admiral, United States Navy, Deputy Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command	[364]
Philip Russell	1958 (MD)	Major General, United States Army, Commander of the United States Army Medical Research and Development Command	[365]
Sidney T. Weinstein	1980 (MBA)	Lieutenant General, United States Army, Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Department of the Army	[366]

Religion

Name	Class Year	Notability	Reference
Mariann Budde	1982	Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington	[367]
Robert Stuart MacArthur	1867	Baptist minister and author	[368]
Jennifer Roback Morse	1980 (PhD)	Catholic activist, founder of the Ruth Institute	[369]
Francis H. Rowley	1875	Baptist minister, hymn writer, animal welfare activist	[370]
Henry Clay Vedder	1873	church historian	[371]

Science and technology

Name	Class Year	Notability	Reference
Bryce Bayer	1960 (MS)	inventor of the Bayer filter	[372]
Haim Bodek	1995	developer of trading software	[373]
Josh Cassada	2000 (PhD)	astronaut	[374]
Don Catlin	1965 (MD)	pharmacologist, drug testing expert	[375]
Lloyd Conover	1950 (PhD)	inventor of tetracycline, elected to the National Inventors Hall of Fame	[376]
Walter Cooper	1957 (PhD)	research scientist	[377]
Corinna Cortes	1993 (PhD)	computer scientist	[378]
Shawn Domagal-Goldman	2001, 2002 (MS)	astrobiologist	[379]
Julian Earls	1966 (MS)	Director of the NASA Glenn Research Center	[380]
Stan Frankel	1942 (PhD)	Manhattan Project scientist and computer designer	[381]
Edward Gibson	1959	astronaut who set a record for space travel	[382]
Michael S. Gottlieb	1973 (MD)	immunologist, first to identify AIDS as a new disease	[383]
William Harkness	1858	astronomer, director at the U.S. Naval Observatory	[384]
Luther Emmett Holt	1875	pediatrician	[385]
Jeannette Klute	1953	pioneer of color photography	[386]
Jay Last	1951	physicist and entrepreneur	[387]
J.C.R. Licklider	1942 (PhD)	computer science pioneer	[388]
William Masters	1943 (MD)	sexologist	[389]
Charles Munnerlyn	1969 (PhD)	optical engineer	[390]
Paul Murdin	1970 (PhD)	astronomer, identified the first known black hole	[391]
Kenneth Ouriel	1977 (MD)	Head of Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic	[392]
James A. Pawelczyk	1982	astronaut	[393]
Sylvester Sanfilippo	1947	pediatrician, discoverer of Sanfilippo syndrome
Bruce Schneier	1984	computer security expert	[394]
Susan Seacrest	1978 (MS)	environmental activist, teacher	[395]
Avie Tevanian	1983	software engineer	[396]
Eric Topol	1979 (MD)	pioneering cardiologist	[397]
Edward Bright Vedder	1898	medical researcher	[398]

Sports

Name	Class Year	Notability	Reference
Eric Born	MBA	judoka	[399]
Brian Daboll	1997	NFL coach	[400]
John DiBartolomeo	2013	basketball player	[401]
Terry Gurnett	1977	soccer coach	[402]
Renée Richards	1959 (MD)	tennis player	[403]
Dominic Seiterle	2005 (MBA)	rower, Olympic gold medalist	[404]
Zenon Snylyk	1955	soccer player	[405]

Uncategorized

Name	Class Year	Notability	Reference
Mary Calderone	1939 (MD)	founder of the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States	[406]
Jeremy Glick	1993	passenger on United Airlines Flight 93	[407]
Jonathan D. Quick	1979 (MPH,MD)	family physician and public health management specialist	[408]
Mabel Sine Wadsworth	1931	birth control activist	[409]

Notable non-graduate attendees

Name	Affiliation	Notability	Reference
Angelo Badalamenti	student (transferred)	composer, Grammy Award winner	[410]
Jason Robert Brown	student (withdrew)	composer	[411]
David Diamond	student (transferred)	composer, recipient of the National Medal of Arts	[412]
Shirley Jackson	student (transferred)	author	[413]
Meyer Jacobstein	student (withdrew)	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York	[414]
Ilya Kaminsky	student (transferred)	poet	[415]
Michael O'Donoghue	student (withdrew)	comedy writer, Emmy Award winner	[416]
David Satcher	medical resident	16th Surgeon General of the United States	[417]
George B. Selden	student (withdrew)	inventor	[418]
Rangaswamy Srinivasan	postdoctoral fellow	physicist, recipient of the National Medal of Technology	[419]
Thomas Thackeray Swinburne	student (withdrew)	poet	[420]
Milen Velchev	student (transferred)	Minister of Finance, Bulgaria	[421]

Notable faculty

See also: Category:University of Rochester faculty

Nobel laureates

Name	Affiliation	Notability	Reference
Henrik Dam	Faculty (1942-1945)	1943 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine	[422]
Robert Fogel	Faculty (1960-1965; 1968-1975)	1993 Nobel Prize in Economics	[423]
Gérard Mourou	Faculty	2018 Nobel Prize in Physics	[424]
Paul Romer	Faculty (1986-1990)	2018 Nobel Prize in Economics	[425]
Richard Thaler	Faculty (1974-1978)	2017 Nobel Prize in Economics (see also under 'Notable alumni')	[426]
George Hoyt Whipple	Faculty (1914-1976)	1934 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine	[427]

National Medal winners

Name	Affiliation	Notability	Reference
Esther M. Conwell	Faculty	National Medal of Science, chemist and physicist (see also under 'Notable alumni')	[428]
Elizabeth Fox-Genovese	Faculty	National Humanities Medal, historian	[429]
Anthony Hecht	Faculty	National Medal of Arts, poet	[430][431]
Victor Weisskopf	Faculty	National Medal of Science, physicist	[432]

National academy members

Faculty listed here were elected to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, or national academies outside the United States.

Name	Affiliation	Notability	Reference
Charles David Allis	Faculty	National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, molecular biologist, winner of a Lasker Award	[433]
Porter W. Anderson, Jr.	Faculty	National Academy of Sciences, molecular biologist, winner of a Lasker Award	[434]
Richard N. Aslin	Faculty	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, psychologist	[435]
Lewis White Beck	Faculty	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, philosopher	[436][437]
Thomas W. Clarkson	Faculty	National Academy of Medicine, toxicologist	[438]
Paul Cohen	Faculty	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, mathematician, recipient of the Fields Medal	[439]
George W. Corner	Faculty	National Academy of Sciences, physician	[440]
James Druckman	Faculty	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, political scientist	[441]
Lee Alvin DuBridge	Faculty	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, physicist	[442][443]
Stanley Engerman	Faculty	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, economic historian, recipient of the Bancroft Prize	[444]
Wallace O. Fenn	Faculty	National Academy of Sciences, physiologist	[445]
Richard Fenno	Faculty	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, political scientist	[446]
Loretta Ford	Dean, Faculty	National Academy of Medicine, nurse	[447]
Marshall D. Gates Jr.	Faculty	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, chemist	[448][449]
Eugene Genovese	Faculty	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, historian, recipient of the Bancroft Prize	[450]
Howard Hanson	Faculty	American Academy of Arts and Letters, composer, recipient of the Pulitzer Prize	[451]
Johannes Holtfreter	Faculty	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, biologist	[452][453]
John R. Huizenga	Faculty	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, physicist	[454][455]
Ronald W. Jones	Faculty	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, economist	[456][457]
Asahel C. Kendrick	Faculty	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, classicist	[458]
Henry E. Kyburg Jr.	Faculty	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, philosopher	[459]
Paul MacAvoy	Dean, Faculty	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, economist	[460]
Leonard Mandel	Faculty	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, physicist	[461]
Lynne E. Maquat	Faculty	National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, biochemist, recipient of the Wolf Prize in Medicine	[462]
Robert Marshak	Faculty	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, physicist	[463]
Elizabeth R. McAnarney	Faculty	National Academy of Medicine, pediatrician	[464]
Lionel W. McKenzie	Faculty	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, economist	[465]
Elliott Waters Montroll	Faculty	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, mathematician	[466][467]
Duncan T. Moore	Faculty	National Academy of Engineering, optical engineer	[468]
Shaul Mukamel	Faculty	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, chemist and physicist	[469]
Maiken Nedergaard	Faculty	Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, neuroscientist	[470]
Elissa L. Newport	Faculty	National Academy of Sciences, cognitive scientist	[471]
W. Albert Noyes Jr.	Faculty	National Academy of Sciences, French Academy of Sciences, chemist, recipient of the Priestley Medal	[472]
Brian O'Brien	Faculty	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, optical physicist	[473][474]
Walter Oi	Faculty	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, economist	[475]
H. Allen Orr	Faculty	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, biologist, recipient of the Darwin–Wallace Medal	[476]
Charles E. Phelps	Provost, Faculty	National Academy of Medicine, economist	[477]
William H. Riker	Faculty	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, political scientist	[478][479]
Carl Rogers	Faculty	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, psychologist	[480]
John Romano	Faculty	National Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, physician	[481][482]
Lainie Ross	Faculty	National Academy of Medicine, physician	[483]
Christopher Rouse	Faculty	American Academy of Arts and Letters, composer, recipient of the Pulitzer Prize	[484]
Seymour I. Schwartz	Faculty	National Academy of Medicine, surgeon	[485]
Joanna Scott	Faculty	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, novelist, MacArthur Fellow	[486][487]
Fred Sherman	Faculty	National Academy of Sciences, biochemist	[488]
Frederick Campion Steward	Faculty	The Royal Society, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, botanist	[489]
Michael Tanenhaus	Faculty	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, cognitive scientist, recipient of the Rumelhart Prize	[490][491]
Dean S. Tarbell	Faculty	National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, chemist	[492]
Perez Zagorin	Faculty	American Academy of Arts and Sciences, historian	[493]

Engineering and mathematics

Name	Affiliation	Notability	Reference
Henry Kautz	Faculty	computer scientist, former AAAI President	[494]
Joseph Neisendorfer	Faculty	mathematician	[495]
Isaac Ferdinand Quinby	Faculty	mathematician	[496]
Douglas Ravenel	Faculty	mathematician, winner of the Veblen Prize	[497]
Michael L. Scott	Faculty	computer scientist, winner of the Dijkstra Prize	[498]

Humanities

Name	Affiliation	Notability	Reference
Janet Catherine Berlo	Faculty	art historian	[499]
Douglas Crimp	Faculty	art historian	[500]
Peter H. Christensen	Faculty	art historian	[501]
Robert L. Holmes	Faculty	philosopher	[502]
Th. Emil Homerin	Faculty	Islamic Studies scholar	[503]
James Longenbach	Faculty	literary scholar and poet	[504]
Paul O'Dette	Faculty	musician, Grammy Award winner	[505]
Hyam Plutzik	Faculty	poet	[506]
Stephen Roessner	Faculty	audio engineer, Grammy Award winner	[507]
Frank Shuffelton	Faculty	literary scholar	[508]
Richard Taylor	Faculty	philosopher	[509]
Colin Murray Turbayne	Faculty	philosopher	[510]
Bernard Weisberger	Faculty	historian	[511]

Natural sciences

Name	Affiliation	Notability	Reference
Daphne Bavelier	Faculty	cognitive scientist	[512]
George Packer Berry	Faculty	bacteriologist	[513]
Robert W. Boyd	Faculty	optical physicist	[514]
Joseph H. Eberly	Faculty	optical physicist, winner of a Townes Award	[515]
Carmala Garzione	Faculty	geologist	[516]
C.R. Hagen	Faculty	physicist, winner of the Sakurai Prize	[517]
Harold Hodge	Faculty	toxicologist	[518]
Susumu Okubo	Faculty	physicist, winner of the Sakurai Prize	[519]
Daven Presgraves	Faculty	biologist	[520]
Carlos Stroud	Faculty	optical physicist	[521]
Ching W. Tang	Faculty	chemist, inventor of the organic light-emitting diode, winner of the Wolf Prize in Chemistry	[522]
Wolf V. Vishniac	Faculty	microbiologist	[523]
Stafford L. Warren	Faculty	radiologist, inventor of the mammogram, recipient of the Enrico Fermi Award	[524]
Emil Wolf	Faculty	physicist	[525]
Frank E. Young	Dean, Faculty	geneticist	[526]

Social sciences

Name	Affiliation	Notability	Reference
Edward L. Deci	Faculty	psychologist, co-founder of self-determination theory	[527]
Edward M. Hundert	Dean, Faculty	psychiatrist	[528]
Narayana Kocherlakota	Faculty	economist	[529]
Steven Landsburg	Faculty	economist	[530]
Sam Nolutshungu	Faculty	political scientist	[531]
Charles Plosser	Faculty	economist	[532]
Richard M. Ryan	Faculty	psychologist, co-founder of self-determination theory (see also under 'Notable alumni')	[533]
Mark Zupan	Dean, Faculty	economist	[534]

Presidents of the University

	Name[535]	Birth-Death	Years as President
1	Rev. Martin Brewer Anderson	(1815–1890)	(1853–1888)
2	Rev. David Jayne Hill	(1850–1932)	(1889–1896)
3	Rev. Benjamin Rush Rhees	(1860–1939)	(1900–1935)
4	Alan Chester Valentine	(1901–1980)	(1935–1950)
5	Cornelis Willem de Kiewiet	(1902–1986)	(1951–1961)
6	Wilson Allen Wallis	(1912–1998)	(1962–1970)
7	Robert Lamb Sproull	(1918–2014)	(1970–1984)
8	George Dennis O'Brien	(1931–)	(1984–1994)
9	Thomas H. Jackson	(1950–)	(1994–2005)
10	Joel Seligman	(1950–)	(2005–2018)
11	Sarah C. Mangelsdorf[536]	(1958–)	(2019–Present)