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Alumni
Nobel laureates
Physics
- Isidor Isaac Rabi (B.Chem. 1919; graduate study 1921-23, transferred) - Physics 1944
- Sheldon Lee Glashow (B.A. 1954 Physics) - Physics 1979
- Steven Weinberg (B.A. 1954 Physics) - Physics 1979
- Douglas D. Osheroff (M.S. 1971 Physics, Ph.D. 1973 Physics) - Physics 1996
Peace, Literature, or Economics
- John Mott (B.S. 1888 Philosophy) - Peace 1946
- Pearl S. Buck (M.A. 1925 English Literature) - Literature 1938
- Toni Morrison (M.A. 1955 English, A.D. White Professor-at-Large, 1997-2003) - Literature 1993
- Robert Fogel (B.A. 1948 Economics) - Economics 1993
- Robert F. Engle (M.S. 1966 Physics, Ph.D. 1969 Economics) - Economics 2003
Physiology or Medicine
- Hermann Joseph Muller (graduate study 1911-12) - Physiology or Medicine 1946
- George Wells Beadle (Ph.D. 1930 Genetics) - Physiology or Medicine 1958
- Robert W. Holley (Ph.D. 1947 Organic Chemistry; Professor and Department Chair in Biochemistry, 1948-64) - Physiology or Medicine 1968
- Barbara McClintock (B.S. 1923 Botany, M.A. 1925 Botany, Ph.D. 1927 Cytology; Instructor in Botany, 1927-31; A.D. White Professor-at-Large, 1965-74) - Physiology or Medicine 1983
Government
Heads of State
- Jamshid Amuzegar (B.S. 1945 Engineering, Ph.D. 1951) - Prime Minister of Iran, 1977-78
- Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol (LL.M. 2002, J.S.D. 2005) - Princess of Thailand [1]
- Lee Teng-hui (Ph.D. 1968 Agricultural Economics) - President of Republic of China (Taiwan), 1988-2000
- Mario García Menocal (B.S. 1888 Engineering) - President of Cuba, 1913–21
U.S. Cabinet and Cabinet-level Ranks
- Sandy Berger (B.A. 1967 Government) - National Security Advisor to President Bill Clinton, 1997-2001
- Samuel W. Bodman (B.S. 1961 Chemical Engineering) - Deputy Secretary of Commerce, 2001-03; Secretary of Energy, 2005-present
- Lincoln D. Faurer - Director, National Security Agency
- Stephen Hadley (B.A. 1969) - National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush, 2005-present
- Eugene K. Jones - (M.A. 1908 Social Science) Member of Franklin D. Roosevelt's Black Cabinet, Executive Secretary of the National Urban League, Founder of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity
- C. Everett Koop (M.D. 1941) - Surgeon General of the United States under president Ronald Reagan, 1982-89
- Henry Morgenthau, Jr. (undergrad 1909-10, 1912-13, dropped out) - Secretary of the Treasury, 1934-45
- Edmund Muskie (LL.B. 1939) - Governor of Maine, 1955-59; Senator from Maine, 1959-80; Vice Presidential Candidate, 1968; Secretary of State, 1980-81
- Samuel Pierce (B.A. 1947, J.D. 1949; Trustee, 1972-77, 1978-82) - Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under Ronald Reagan, 1981-89
- Thomas C. Reed (B.S. 1956 Mechanical Engineering) - Secretary of the Air Force under Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, 1976-77
- Janet Reno (B.A. 1960 Chemistry; Professor) - Attorney General under Bill Clinton, 1993-2001
- William P. Rogers (LL.B. 1937) - Attorney General, 1957-61), Secretary of State, 1969-73), Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, 1973
- Louis Wade Sullivan (Medical College Resident) - Founder and Dean of Morehouse School of Medicine, 1975, Secretary of Health and Human Services under George H. W. Bush, 1989-93
- Paul Wolfowitz (B.A. 1965 Mathematics and Chemistry) - Deputy Secretary of Defense under George W. Bush, 2001-05, President of the World Bank, 2005-2007
U.S. Senators, Governors, Supreme Court
- Joseph B. Foraker (B.A. 1869) - Governor of Ohio, 1886-90). Senator, Ohio, 1897-1909). One of eight members of Cornell's first graduating class.
- Douglas H. Ginsburg (B.S. 1970) - U.S. Supreme Court nominee
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg (B.A. 1954 Government) - U.S. Supreme Court associate justice
- Thomas C. Hennings, Jr. (1924) - Representative, Missouri 11th District, 1935-40). Senator, Missouri, 1951-60).
- Philip H. Hoff (J.D. 1951) - Governor of Vermont, 1963-69). First Democrat to serve in that position since the Civil War.
- Goodwin Knight (graduate study 1919-20) - Governor of California, 1953-59
- Chuck Robb (undergrad 1957-58, transferred) - Senator, Virginia, 1989-2001
U.S. Congressmen
- John G. Alexander (J.D. 1916) - Minnesota 3rd District, 1939-41
- Rob Andrews (J.D. 1982) - New Jersey 1st District, 1990-present
- Andrew Biemiller (B.A. 1926) - Wisconsin, 1945-47, 1949-51
- Frederick Van Ness Bradley (1921) - Michigan, 1939-47
- Abraham Lincoln Brick (undergrad) - Indiana, 1899-1908
- Barber Conable (B.A. 1942 Medieval History, LL.B. 1948) - New York 37th District, 1965-73; 35th District, 1973-83; 30th District, 1983-85; President of the World Bank, 1986-91
- Maurice Connolly (1897) - Iowa, 1913-15
- Thomas Joseph Downey (B.S. 1970) - New York 2nd District, 1975-93
- Charles Tappan Dunwell (undergrad 1869-1872, transferred) - New York, 1903-08
- Bob Filner (B.A. 1963 Chemistry, Ph.D. 1973 History of Science) - California 50th District, 1993-2003), 51st District, 2003-present
- Gabrielle Giffords (M.R.P. 1996) - Arizona, 8th District, 2007-present
- Norman Judd Gould (M.E. 1899) - New York, 1915-23
- Gilbert Gude (B.S. 1948) - Maryland 8th District, 1967-77
- Edwin Arthur Hall - New York, 1939-53
- Reuben Locke Haskell (L.L.B. 1898) - New York, 1915-19
- Joseph Clifford Hendrix (studies 1870-73; Trustee) - New York, 1893-95
- Frank Horton (L.L.B. 1947) - New York 36th District, 1963-73), 34th District, 1973-83), 29th District, 1983-93
- Charles Samuel Joelson (B.A. 1937, L.L.B. 1939) - New Jersey, 1961-69
- Clarence Evans Kilburn (1916) - New York, 1940-65
- Mark Kirk (B.A. 1981 History) - Illinois 10th District, 2001-present
- Charles Blakeslee Law (law studies) - New York, 1905-11
- Gary Alcide Lee (graduate study 1963) - New York, 1979-83
- Norman F. Lent (L.L.B. 1957) - New York 5th District, 1971-73), 4th District, 1973-93
- Lewis Henry, 1909) - New York, 1922-23
- Richard Dean McCarthy (graduate study) - New York, 1965-71
- Clement Woodnutt Miller, 1946 Industrial & Labor Relations) - California, 1959-62
- Robert J. Mrazek (B.A. 1967 Government) - New York 3rd District, 1983-93
- James R. Olin (B.E.E. 1943) - Virginia, 1983-93
- Richard Ottinger (B.A. 1950) - New York, 1965-71, 1975-85); Founder and second staff member of the Peace Corps, 1961-64); Dean of Pace Law School, 1994-99
- Edward Worthington Pattison (B.A. 1953, L.L.B. 1957) - New York, 1975-79
- James Parker (1887) - New York 29th District, 1913-33
- John Raymond Pillion (L.L.B. 1927) - New York, 1953-65
- Alexander Pirnie (1924, J.D. 1926) - New York 34th District, 1959-63), 32nd District, 1963-73
- Daniel A. Reed (1898) - New York 43rd District, 1919-45, 1953-59), 45th District, 1945-53
- Henry Schoellkopf Reuss (B.A. 1933) - Wisconsin, 1955-83
- Howard Winfield Robison (1937, law 1939) - New York, 1958-75
- James A. Roe (School of Military Aeronautics 1917) - New York, 1945-47
- George Shiras III (1881) - Pennsylvania, 1903-05
- Henry P. Smith III (law 1936) - New York, 1965-75
- James Harding Southard (1874) - Ohio, 1895-1907
- Sam Steiger - (Arizona, 1967-77
- Elmer E. Studley (1894) - New York, 1933-35
- Frank Sundstrom (1924) - New Jersey 11th District, 1943-49
- Paul Harold Todd, Jr. (B.S. 1942) - Michigan, 1965-67), CEO of Planned Parenthood, 1967-70
- William Edgar Tuttle, Jr. (undergrad 1887-89) - New Jersey, 1911-15
- George Ernest Waldo (undergrad 1868-70) - New York, 1905-09
- John De Witt Warner (1872) - New York, 1891-95
- John S. Wold (M.S. 1939) - Wyoming, 1969-71
Diplomats
- William Brownfield (1974) - U.S. ambassador to Venezuela, 2004-present
- Chan Heng Chee (M.A. 1967 Government) - Singapore's ambassador to the U.S., 1996-
- Arthur Hobson Dean (B.A. 1921, L.L.B. 1923) - internation law expert, chief U.S. negotiator at Panmunjeom, assisted with negotiations for Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, delegate to the United Nations,
- Alan Keyes (undergrad 1968-69, transferred) - Diplomat, U.S. Presidential candidate, 1996, 2000; U.S. Senate candidate from Maryland (1988, 1992) and Illinois (2004)
- Jerome H. Holland (B.S. 1939, M.S. 1941) - First black member of the New York Stock Exchange; President of Delaware State University (1953-60) and Hampton University (1960-70); U.S. ambassador to Sweden, 1970-73; chairman of the American Red Cross, 1979-85
- Edwin Jackson Kyle (M.S. 1902) - U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala, 1945-48; namesake of Kyle Field
- Sol Linowitz (J.D. 1938, Trustee, 1966-95) - Diplomat, Ambassador, Chairman of Xerox, 1960-66; Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, 1998
- Jacob Gould Schurman, Professor of Philosophy, President (1886-1892). Ambassador to Germany (1925-1929)
- Hu Shih (B.A. 1914) - China's ambassador to the U.S., 1938-42; philosopher; poet
- Sao-Ke Alfred Sze (B.A. 1901) - China's ambassador to the U.S. and later UK, founding member of World Bank; First Chinese student to attend Cornell
- Willard Straight (B.Arch. 1901) - American diplomat, investment banker, publisher, World War I veteran, namesake of Willard Straight Hall
Judges and Lawyers
- Floyd Abrams (B.A. 1956) - Co-Counsel, The New York Times "Pentagon Papers" case
- Mary Donlon Alger (LLB 1920) - U.S. Customs Court Judge, Cornell Trustee, and first female editor-in-chief of the Cornell Law Quarterly
- Mark J. Bennett (J.D. 1979) - First Republican Attorney General of Hawaii in 40 years
- Boris Bittker (B.A. 1938) - Prominent professor
- Leonie Brinkema (J.D. 1976) - U.S. District Court Judge
- George B. Clementson (B.L. 1892) - Author of The Road Rights and Liabilities of Wheelmen, the first treatise on bicycle law.
- Harry T. Edwards (B.A. 1962 Industrial & Labor Relations) - Chief justice, U.S. Court of Appeals
- Hon. Douglas H. Ginsburg (B.A. 1970) - Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, planned presidential nomination to U.S. Supreme Court announced.
- Judge Frank H. Hiscock (A.B. 1875) Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals (1916-1926), Chairman of Cornell Board of Trustees, and decided the Chester Gillette murder case.
- Edith Jones (B.A. 1971 Economics) - Justice, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
- Walter Chadwick Noyes (1888) - Justice, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- Philip Perry (J.D. 1990) - General Counsel for the Department of Homeland Security
- Max Rosenn (B.A. 1929) - Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- Jan Schlichtmann (J.D. 1977) - Civil action lawyer whose story was made into the film A Civil Action, in which Schlichtmann is played by John Travolta
- Leah Ward Sears (B.S. 1976) - Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia
- Jack L. Stempler (LL.B. 1948) - Award-winning distinguished civilian service in U.S. Department of Defense as counsel and assistant to secretaries of defense, 1948–81); executive of LTV Aerospace Corporation, 1982–92
- Elbert Tuttle (B.A. 1918, LL.B. 1923) - Chief judge, U.S. Court of Appeals; ruled on many fundamental 1954 civil-rights cases
- Amy St. Eve (B.A. 1987, J.D. 1990) - U.S. District Court Judge
Others
- Stephen Friedman (B.A. 1959; Trustee, 1993-) - Chairman of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (2005-), former assistant for economic policy to President George W. Bush (2002-04) and director of the National Economic Council, 2003-04; former chairman of The Goldman Sachs Group, 1990-94.
- Jesse Root Grant (undergrad 1874-77, dropped out) - Son of U.S. President Ulysses S Grant
- Mark J. Green (B.A. 1967) - Government consumer-affairs activist, New York Public Advocate, 1994-2001
- Sudeen Kelly (J.D. 1976) - Commissioner, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the New Mexico Public Service Commission
- Donald Kerr (B.S. 1963) - Assistant Director of the F.B.I., former Director of Los Alamos National Laboratory
- Akhlaqur Rahman Kidwai (Ph.D. 1950) - Governor of Bihar, India, 1979-85, 1993-98
- Stephen D. Krasner (B.A. 1963) - Director of Policy Planning at the U.S. State Department, professor of political science at Stanford University
- Edward M. House (undergrad 1877-80, dropped out) - Foreign policy advisor for Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- Florence Kelley (B.A. 1882) - Political and social reformer
- Harold O. Levy (B.A. 1974, J.D. 1977) - Chancellor of New York City Schools 2000 - 2002
- Kyle E. McSlarrow (Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy
- Benjamin Nichols (B.S. 1946, M.S. 1949) - Cornell professor of electrical and computer engineering and Socialist mayor of Ithaca (1989-1995).
- Owen Pataki (Undergrad 2006-) - Son of Former New York State Governor George Pataki
- Roberto Prats (B.A. 1990 Public Political Analysis and Economics) - Senator of Puerto Rico
- Anna E. Roosevelt (did not graduate) - Daughter of U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt
- Lt. Col. Matt Urban (B.A. 1941, History, Government) - Recipient of the Medal of Honor and numerous other decorations for valor during World War II[2]
- William Wallace, Baron Wallace of Saltaire (Ph.D.) - scholar and Liberal Democrat peer
Natural Sciences and related fields
Mathematics
- Norbert Wiener (graduate study 1910-1911, transferred) - Mathematician, founder of the study of cybernetics
- William F. Friedman (B.S. 1914 Genetics) - Considered by many to be one of the greatest cryptologists of all timecitation needed
Physics
- Malcolm Beasley (B.E.P. 1962, Ph.D. 1968) - Physicist
- Harry Kroger (Ph.D. 1962) - Physicist and electrical engineer
- Hubert Reeves (Ph.D. 1960) - Astrophysicist
- Ted Taylor (Ph.D. 1956 Theoretical Physics) - Director of Project Orion and designer of many small nuclear weapons
Astronomy
- Frank Drake (B.A. 1952 Engineering Physics; Professor of Astronomy, 1964-84) - SETI researcher, known for the Drake equation
- Vera Rubin (M.A. 1951) - Astronomer known for contributions to the study of dark matter
- Steven Squyres (B.A. 1978 Geology, Ph.D. 1982 Planetary Science; Goldwin Smith Professor of Astronomy) - Astronomer, principal science investigator for the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity
- Jill Tarter (B.S. 1965) - Astronomer, Director of the Center for SETI Research
Chemistry
- Harry Coover (M.S. 1943, Ph.D. 1944) - Prolific product inventor, notably cyanoacrylate adhesives (Super Glue); member of the National Inventors Hall of Fame
- Walter McCrone (B.S. 1938 Chemistry, Ph.D. 1942 Organic Chemistry) - Leading expert in microscopy, best known for work on the Shroud of Turin and the Vinland map
- Thomas Midgley, Jr. (M.E. 1911) - Inventor of Freon and tetra-ethyl lead
- Benjamin Widom (Ph.D. 1953; Goldwin Smith Professor of Chemistry 1954-) - Physical chemist awarded the Boltzmann Medal
Computer science and Engineering
- Robert L. Cook (M.S. 1981 Computer Graphics) - Academy Award for creation of RenderMan rendering software
- Andrew C. Greenberg (B.S. 1979) - Co-creator of the massively successful early computer game Wizardry
- Donald P. Greenberg (B.C.E. 1958, Ph.D. 1968) - Computer graphics pioneer and educator
- Morton Heilig (1943) - Early virtual reality pioneer, inventor
- William Higinbotham (graduate study) - Developer of Tennis for Two, 1958, one of the earliest video games
- Jon Kleinberg (B.S. 1993, Professor of Computer Science) - MacArthur Fellow, researcher of combinatorial network structure
- Robert S. Langer (B.S. 1970 Chemical Engineering) - Leading figure in biochemical engineering, author of over 500 patents and 800 scientific papers
- Marc Levoy (B.Arch. 1976, M.S. 1978 Architecture) - Developed technology and algorithms for digitizing 3D objects that led to the Digital Michelangelo Project
- Stephen Marschner (Ph.D. 1998; Assistant Professor of Computer Science) - Co-winner of a 2004 technical achievement Academy Award for developing a commercial animation method for digitally simulating subsurface light scattering in translucent materials
- Douglas McIlroy (B.E.P. 1954) - Inventor of the pipes and filters architecture of Unix and the concept of software componentry
- Philip Raymond (B.S. EE 1979, MEng EE 1980) - Founder & Chairman of Vanquish Labs, a leading anti-spam think tank
- Al Seckel - Creator of the Darwin Fish
- Jerry M. Woodall (Ph.D. Electrical Engineering) - Inventor of the red LED
- Robert Woodhead - Co-creator of the massively successful early computer game Wizardry and co-founder of AnimEigo
Biology, ecology, botany, nutrition
- Robert C. Baker (B.S. 1943; Professor) - Inventor of the chicken nugget
- Stephen Moulton Babcock, developed the "single-grain experiment" (in 1907-11) that would lead to the development of nutrition as a science.
- John Henry Comstock (B.S. 1874; Professor) - Pioneer in entomology research and education
- Milislav Demerec (Ph.D. 1923 Genetics) - Geneticist and long serving director of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
- Keith Downey (Ph.D. 1961) - Inventor of canola oil
- Arthur Rose Eldred (B.S. 1916 Agriculture) - America's first Eagle Scout, 1912), agriculturalist
- Dr. Michael Shampan, (Ph.D. 2002) - Currently, writing and researching the mating habits of prehistoric teradyctals, and is best know for his phrase, "Lets teradyctal together."
- Louis Agassiz Fuertes (B.A 1897; Lecturer 1923-?) - Ornithologist and illustrator
- Veranus Alva Moore (B.S. 1887; Professor of Veterinary Medicine 1896-1908), Dean of Vet School, 1908-29) - Bacteriologist and pathologist
- Roger Morse (B.S. 1950, M.S. 1953, Ph.D. 1955; Professor) - Apiculture author, teacher, researcher
- John Niederhauser (Ph.D. 1943 Plant Pathology; Professor 1943-1947) - Winner of the World Food Prize, "Mr Potato"
- Jean W. Pape (M.D. 1975; Professor) - Pioneering infectious disease expert
Medicine
- Robert Atkins (M.D. 1955) - Creator of the Atkins Diet and an author on health and nutrition
- Emily Dunning Barringer (B.S. 1897) - First female ambulance surgeon in the U.S.
- Jane Brody (B.S. 1962) - Author and journalist on health and nutrition
- Rhonda Cornum (B.S. 1975, Ph.D. 1980) - U.S. Army pilot, flight surgeon, medical researcher, and commander of combat hospitals
- Adrienne Denese (M.D.) - Anti-aging expert and author of Dr. Denese's Secrets for Ageless Skin
- Dean Edell (B.A. 1963 Zoology, M.D. 1967) - Physician and media personality
- Anthony S. Fauci (M.D. 1966) - Director of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
- Wilson Greatbatch (B.E.E. 1950) - Inventor of the world's first successful artificial pacemaker
- Henry Heimlich (B.A. 1941, M.D. 1943) - Inventor of the Heimlich maneuver
- Helen Irlen (B.S. 1967) - Developer of a color-filtered treatment for a form of dyslexia known as scotopic sensitivity syndrome or Irlen Syndrome
- Philip Levine (M.D. 1923) - Immunohematologist; discovered the Rh factor in blood in 1939.
- Robert Millman (undergrad; Saul P. Steinberg Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Public Health, Medical College) - Drug abuse expert, former Medical Director for Major League Baseball
- Cecilia Mettler (Ph.D. 1938)- medical historian
- Lt. Gen. James Peake, US Army (ret) (M.D. 1972) - former Surgeon General of the United States Army
- Alvin F. Poussaint (M.D. 1960) - Child-rearing expert
- Daniel Elmer Salmon (D.V.M. 1872) - Namesake of salmonella; first D.V.M. in the United States
- Benjamin Spock (medical residency; Professor of Pediatrics, Medical College, 1933-47) - Author of The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, one of the best selling books of all time
- Ida S. Scudder (M.D. 1899, Medical Missionary in India; Founder of Christian Medical College & Hospital, Vellore, Tamilandu)
NASA astronauts
- Ellen S. Baker (M.D. 1978) - Lead Astronaut for Medical Issues, Johnson Space Center
- Daniel T. Barry (B.S.E.E. 1975) - Astronaut, contestant on CBS reality program Survivor: Exile Island
- Jay C. Buckey, Jr.) - B.S.E.E. 1977, M.D. 1981) - Astronaut
- Martin J. Fettman (B.S. 1976 Animal Nutrition, M.S. 1970 Nutrition, D.V.M 1970; Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Lecturer 1994) - Payload specialist
- Mae Jemison (M.D. 1981; A.D. White Professor-at-Large 1999-2005) - First African-American woman to travel in space; member of National Women's Hall of Fame; chemical engineer, physician, teacher
- G. David Low (B.S.M.E. 1980) - Astronaut
- Edward T. Lu (B.S.E.E. 1984) - Astronaut and physicist
- Donald A. Thomas (M.S. 1980 Materials Science, Ph.D. 1982 Materials Science) - Astronaut
Social sciences
Economics
- Abby Joseph Cohen (B.A. 1973 Economics) - Eminent Wall Street stock strategist
- Francis Fukuyama (B.A. 1974 Classics) - Political economist, philosopher
- Claudia Goldin (B.A. 1967) - Noted economist
- Ricardo Hausmann (Ph.D. 1981) - a former Venezuelan Minister and ex-Chairman of the IMF - World Bank Development Committee
- Frank H. Knight (Ph.D. 1916) - Influential scholar-economist, one of the original leaders of the "Chicago School" of economic theory
- James Needham - Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange[3]
- George Rea (1915) - First paid president of the New York Curb Exchange[4]
- Thorstein Veblen (graduate study 1891-92, transferred) - Economist, author of The Theory of the Leisure Class
Psychology
- Edwin G. Boring (1908, Ph.D. 1915 Psychology; Instructor of Psychology 1913-18) - Historian of psychology
- Urie Bronfenbrenner (B.A. 1938 Psychology and Music; Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Human Development and Psychology) - Psychologist, pioneer in developmental psychology (Ecological Systems Theory), founder of field Human Ecology, co-founder of national Head Start program
- Joyce Brothers (B.S. 1947) - Author, psychologist, and television personality
- James Maas (M.A., Ph.D.; Professor of Psychology) - Psychologist, coined the term "power nap"
- Abraham Maslow (undergrad 1928-29, transferred) - Psychologist best known for his Hierarchy of Human Needs
Anthropology, sociology, other social science
- Edward Bernays (B.S. 1912 Agriculture) - Public relations practitioner, author of Propaganda
- Ken Blanchard (B.A. 1961, Ph.D. 1967) - Management consultant, co-author of The One Minute Manager
- Alfred Blumstein (B.A., Ph.D) - Criminologist and former dean of the Heinz School at Carnegie Mellon University
- Gordon G. Chang (B.A. 1973, J.D. 1976) - Author of The Coming Collapse of China and Nuclear Showdown : North Korea Takes On the World, one of the original set of Student Trustees
- Daniel A. Foss (B.A.) - Sociologist, author of Beyond Revolution: A New Theory of Social Movements (1986), Freak Culture: Life Style and Politics (1972)
- William McNeill (Ph.D. 1947) - Historian, author of The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community
- John Naisbitt (Best-selling writer in the area of futures studies
- Tom Peters (B.C.E. 1965, M.C.E. 1966) - Business management motivational guru
- Stephen Skowronek (Ph.D. 1979) - Pelatiah Perit Professor of political and social science at Yale
- Julian Steward (B.A. 1925 Zoology and Biology) - Anthropologist best known for his development of a scientific theory of cultural evolution
- William Irwin Thompson (Ph.D. 1966; Professor) - Cultural historian, social critic, poet, philosopher of science
- James Weinstein (B.A. 1949 Government) - Author and publisher of In These Times
- Tan Chee- Beng (Ph.D., 1979, Cornell University, Department of Anthropology.) - Professor Department of Anthropology The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Humanities
Philosophy
- Thomas Nagel (B.A. 1958) - Philosopher, author of What is it like to be a bat?
Literature
- Diane Ackerman (M.F.A. 1973 Poetry, M.A. 1976, Ph.D. 1978) - Author, poet, and naturalist
- Gerald Taiaiake Alfred (M.S. 1992, Ph.D. 1994) - Scholar, author, and advisor to indigenous nations
- Morris Bishop (B.A. 1913, M.A. 1914, Ph.D. 1926; Professor of Romance Literature) - Biographer, author, humorist, wrote the preeminent history of the university, A History of Cornell
- Harold Bloom (B.A. 1952) - Literary and cultural scholar-critic
- Susan Brownmiller (B.A. 1956) - Feminist author and activist
- Murray Burnett (B.A. 1931) - Author of the play Everybody Comes to Rick's, which was turned into the film Casablanca
- George Lincoln Burr (B.A. 1881; John Stambaugh Professor of History 1888-?) - U.S. historian, diplomat, author, and educator
- George Cockcroft (B.A. 1954) - Author, The Dice Man, uses the pen name Luke Rhinehart
- Junot Díaz (M.F.A. 1995) - Critically acclaimed, Pulitzer-Prize-winning short-story writer
- Alice Dunbar-Nelson - Poet, journalist, political activist, Harlem Renaissance influence
- Richard Fariña (B.A. 1962 English) - Author, Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me, folk singer
- Jessie Redmon Fauset (B.A. 1905) - Prolific author from the Harlem Renaissance
- Alice Fulton (M.F.A. 1982; Ann S. Bowers Distinguished Professor of English) - Poet, author, feminist, MacArthur Fellow
- William H. Gass (Ph.D. 1954 Philosophy) - Author, essayist
- David B. Goodstein (B.A. 1954) - Pioneering gay-rights advocate and publisher
- Lynne Hanley (B.A. English) - Literary critic
- Minfong Ho (B.A. Economics) - Chinese-American author
- Laura Z. Hobson - Author, Gentleman's Agreement, which was made into the film of the same name
- Clifford Irving (B.A. 1951) - Author of the infamous Howard Hughes biography hoax
- Anne LaBastille (B.A. 1955, Ph.D. 1969) - Author and award-winning conservationist
- Lorrie Moore (M.F.A. 1982) - Prize-winning short-story writer and novelist
- George Jean Nathan (1904) - Author, critic
- Nicholas Nicastro (B.A. 1985 English, M.A. 1991 Archaeology, Ph.D. 2003 Psychology) - Historical novelist
- Thomas Perry (B.A. 1969) - Novelist, Edgar Award winner.
- Thomas Pynchon (B.A. 1959 English) - Author, Gravity's Rainbow and The Crying of Lot 49
- Kenneth Roberts (B.A. 1908) - Novelist, Northwest Passage
- Laura Riding (attended 1918-21) - Poet, novelist, essayist, short story writer, leader in modernism.
- Matt Ruff (B.A. 1988) - Author, Fool on the Hill
- Joanna Russ (B.A. 1957 English; Professor) - Feminist author, The Female Man
- Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick (undergrad) - Critical theorist, literature professor
- Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (Ph.D. 1967 Comparative Literature) - Postcolonialist theorist, Can the Subaltern Speak?
- William Strunk Jr. (Ph.D. 1896; Professor) - Author of The Elements of Style
- Hendrik Willem van Loon (1905; Professor of History 1915-17) - Author of the first book to be awarded the Newbery Medal for an outstanding contribution to children's literature
- Kurt Vonnegut (undergrad 1941-1943, dropped out) - Author, Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat's Cradle, and Breakfast of Champions.
- Lauren Weisberger (B.A. 1999 English) - Author, The Devil Wears Prada and Everyone Worth Knowing
- E. B. White (B.A. 1921) - Author, Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little; Co-author, The Elements of Style
History
Music
- Robert Alexander Anderson (1916) - Composer, wrote Christmas song Mele Kalikimaka
- Harry Chapin (dropped out) - Folk musician, Cat's in the Cradle
- Henrique de Curitiba (M.F.A. 1981) - Polish-Brazilian composer
- Mack David - Eight-time Academy Award nominee for songs including Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo
- Joscelyn Godwin (Ph.D. 1969 Musicology) - Musicologist, translator, historian of the esoteric
- Greg Graffin (Ph.D. 1991 Evolutionary Biology) - Lead singer and co-founder of Bad Religion
- Laurens Hammond (B.S. 1916 Mechanical Engineering) - Inventor of the Hammond organ
- Jesse Harris (B.A.) - Grammy-award winning songwriter who wrote "Don't Know Why" and "Come Away with Me", songs popularized by the artist Norah Jones
- John S. Hilliard (D.M.A. 1983) - Composer
- Huey Lewis (undergrad 1967-69, dropped out) - Rock musician, Huey Lewis and the News
- Robert Moog (Ph.D. 1965) - Inventor of the Moog synthesizer
- Steve Reich (B.A. 1957) - Composer
- Christopher Rouse (1958) - Classical composer, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Music
- Cary Sherman (1968) - President of the Recording Industry Association of America
- Steven Stucky (D.M.A. 1978; Professor of Music Composition) - Pulitzer Prize winning composer
- Paul Francis Webster (undergrad 1927-28, transferred) - Academy and Grammy Award-winning lyricist
- Peter Yarrow (B.A. 1959) - Folksinger, Peter, Paul and Mary
Architecture and design
- Edmund Bacon (B.Arch. 1932) - Urban planner, reshaped Philadelphia, 1949-70
- Albert Cassell (B.Arch. 1919) - Designed buildings for Howard University, Morgan State University, and Virginia Union University
- Gilmore David Clarke (B.S. 1913 Landscape Architecture and Civil Engineering) - Designed the Central Park Zoo and the Unisphere
- Peter Eisenman (B.Arch. 1955) - A foremost practitioner of deconstructivism in American architecture
- Robert Trent Jones, 1931) - Designer of about 500 golf courses
- Raymond M. Kennedy (B.Arch. 1915) - Designed Grauman's Chinese Theatre
- Rem Koolhaas (M.Arch.) - Dutch architect, journalist, and screenwriter
- David Macpherson (Civil Engineering) - City planner for San Antonio, Texas, designed Santa Fe Railroad
- Tomas Mapua (B.Arch. 1911) - Founded the Mapua Institute of Technology
- Richard Meier (B.Arch. 1957, Professor) - Pritzker Architecture Prize, AIA Gold Medal winner
- Enrique Norten (M.Arch. 1980) - Mexican architect, professor, 2003 World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition jury member
- Richmond Shreve (B.Arch.) - Partner of architectural firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon that designed the Empire State Building
- Vertner Tandy (M.Arch.) - Architect who's most famous commission was probably Villa Lewaro, the mansion of Harlem millionairess Madam C.J. Walker, Founder of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity
- Philip Will, Jr (B.Arch. 1928) - Partner of architectural firm Perkins+Will and President of the American Institute of Architects
- E. Stewart Williams (B.Arch.) - Palm Springs, California-based architect with a distinctive modernist style
Fine arts and photography
- Susan Rothenberg (B.F.A. 1967) - Painter
- Pat Lipsky (B.F.A. 1963) - Painter
- Jason Seley (B.A. 1940) - Sculptor
- Frederick Sommer (M.A. 1927 Landscape Architecture) - Photographer