Hopkins School is a private, college-preparatory,

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children are given instruction during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compared to a regular s ...

for grades 7–12 located in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

. In 1660, Edward Hopkins, seven-time governor of the Connecticut Colony, bequeathed a portion of his estate to found schools dedicated to "the breeding up of hopeful youths." With a portion of the bequest, Hopkins Grammar School was founded in a one-room building on the New Haven Green. The school relocated to its current campus in 1926. Hopkins has been coeducational since merging with Day Prospect Hill School in 1972.

History

Founding

John Davenport, a founder of the New Haven Colony, was an early proponent of education in the colony.''Chronicles of Hopkins Grammar School: 1660–1935''. Thomas B Davis. Quinnipiack Press, New Haven, CT. 1938

Grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

s of the time generally prepared young men for college, but the

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

colony was too far from England for its citizens to attend the existing English schools. Parents of the time were generally more concerned with spending their money on essentials such as food, and viewed formal education as an extravagance most could not afford. Davenport enlisted the help of a friend, Edward Hopkins,

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of the

Connecticut Colony The Connecticut Colony, originally known as the Connecticut River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became the state of Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636, as a settlement for a Puritans, Puritan congregation o ...

, to found a traditional

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

that would teach

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, Greek, and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

grammar. The school's first home was a building on the

New Haven Green The New Haven Green is a privately owned park and recreation area located in the downtown New Haven, downtown district of the city of New Haven, Connecticut, United States. It comprises the central square of the nine-square settlement plan of t ...

. Hopkins died in 1657 and bequeathed money to found a school dedicated to "the breeding up of hopeful youths for the public service of the country in future times." Colonial officials wanted Hopkins's bequest to remain in Connecticut and appointed three men, Davenport and two others, as

executor An executor is someone who is responsible for executing, or following through on, an assigned task or duty. The feminine form, executrix, is sometimes used. Executor of will An executor is a legal term referring to a person named by the maker o ...

s of Hopkins's will. They created the Hopkins Fund, from which Hopkins Grammar School was established in 1660. The exact date of Hopkins School's founding is a matter of definition. The historical record of the executors' report implies the trust was created on May 4, 1660, but since the

Julian calendar The Julian calendar is a solar calendar of 365 days in every year with an additional leap day every fourth year (without exception). The Julian calendar is still used as a religious calendar in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church and in parts ...

was in use then, the date corresponds to May 14 on modern calendars. The papers which created the fund were presented and accepted on May 30, and many use this date as the official date of the school's founding. Finally, on June 4 (June 14 on modern calendars) Davenport transferred control of the bequest to the colony, on the condition that the colony accept responsibility for the support of the school.

The Fallow Years

"The Fallow Years" is a term coined by Thomas B. Davis in his history, ''Chronicles of Hopkins Grammar School'', to describe the period from 1696 to 1853. During this time the school had difficulty finding qualified

schoolmaster A schoolmaster, or simply master, is a male school teacher. The usage first occurred in England in the Late Middle Ages and early modern period. At that time, most schools were one-room or two-room schools and had only one or two such teacher ...

s, and the Hopkins Fund often fell short in paying them. This forced the school to take up collections to meet its payroll. Consequently, there was great turnover in schoolmasters, some staying for no more than a year. Also contributing to the problem was the establishment of the Collegiate School in New Haven in 1701, which drew many local academics away from Hopkins, and which later became

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. Public opinion of Hopkins and

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

in general weakened the school. During this time parents wanted children who could read and write English and understand basic

arithmetic Arithmetic is an elementary branch of mathematics that deals with numerical operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. In a wider sense, it also includes exponentiation, extraction of roots, and taking logarithms. ...

, but Hopkins continued to focus on subjects that parents deemed irrelevant, such as Latin. Parents were also displeased with schoolmasters who paid little attention to struggling students, instead focusing only on the scholars. On January 12, 1713, the committee which managed the Hopkins Fund began releasing £12–£15 annually to run elementary English schools in East Haven and West Haven. New Haven stopped donating money to the Fund in 1719, which made hiring schoolmasters nearly impossible. Though the trustees of the Hopkins Fund constituted an independent body, the town was known to control them with financial pressures. Richard Mansfield served as schoolmaster from 1742 to 1747, and was the last headmaster until 1839 to serve for more than three years. Although Hopkins School was still somewhat unpopular with the locals, the school moved to a new larger brick building on the Green, due to the growth of New Haven. Hopkins School was somewhat rare among American schools in that it remained open during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. Former schoolmaster John Hotchkiss was killed by the British in July 1779 during their invasion of New Haven, and former schoolmaster Noah Williston was captured. Although the school remained open, records seem to indicate that it was frequently closed between September 1780 and October 1781, "for vacation". Shortly after the Revolution, Hopkins hired Jared Mansfield for two terms (1786–1790 and 1790–1795) to the unique position "Master of the Grammar School" to try to stabilize the school for the future. Between Mansfield's two terms, Abraham Bishop held a six-month term as headmaster during which he proposed radical reform, including making Hopkins coeducational, most of which never came to fruition. After the end of Mansfield's second term, the school returned to the pattern of short tenures for schoolmasters. Hopkins moved buildings again in 1803 to an even larger facility near the Green that took up nearly an entire

block Block or blocked may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting * W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...

. Teachers were offered two-year contracts to teach at Hopkins, but rarely kept them. Hopkins boys grew "unruly and malicious", some roaming New Haven streets at night. In 1838 the school moved once again, as the trustees believed that moving the school away from the town center would allow its students to focus more on their studies. Throughout August and September that year, they rushed through the necessary transactions to buy the new plot of land, currently the site of the

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

. Following this move the trustees released an announcement to New Haven's three

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

s summarizing their hope that this new location would provide sufficient space for the boys to learn and be separate enough that they could do so in peace. Hawley Olmstead became headmaster in 1839 and ended the line of short-termed schoolmasters as he held the position for ten years. Although Olmstead thought much like Hopkins' early masters, namely that the school existed to prepare boys for college, he also modernized the curriculum in several ways. Most notably, English was finally added to the curriculum, and he began keeping accurate school rolls which solidified his final legacy, increasing the size of Hopkins' student body. By the time Olmstead resigned due to poor health on July 28, 1849, school attendance had risen to 63 students. As soon as Olmstead left, the school began to deteriorate once again, with attendance dropping to 45 students in 1850 and to 20 by 1853. The recently founded debate society disbanded, with seven young members forming the

secret society A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence ag ...

known as "The Club". Though this club grew no larger and tried to remain quiet, parents grew so annoyed with this supposedly "rough-housing" club that it was forced to disband in 1851. After the debate society and "The Club" were gone, many students sought out new ways to express their literary interests, including founding the

school newspaper A student publication is a media outlet such as a newspaper, magazine, television show, or radio station Graduate student journal, produced by students at an educational institution. These publications typically cover local and school-related new ...

, ''The Critic''. Olmstead was seen by the trustees as a major failure and a cause of the school's rapid decline, and was quickly replaced by James Morris Whiton, who had just recently graduated from Yale. He further revised the curriculum by adding more English classes, and school attendance saw a rapid increase once again. Whiton taught for ten years and under his leadership, enrollment climbed to more than 100 students, thus marking the end of "the fallow years."

Modern day

Headmaster A headmaster/headmistress, head teacher, head, school administrator, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. Role While s ...

George Lovell convinced the Board of Trustees to buy land on the western edge of New Haven for a new campus atop a hill in 1925.Barbara Riley Presents the 2004 Hopkins Medal to John C. Malone '59
on Hopkins School website on November 21, 2004, by Barbara Riley. Retrieved March 30, 2006. Graduate Henry Murphy laid out plans for the new campus in 1922, and designed the original Baldwin Hall building in 1925. The school opened at the new premises, the present campus, in 1926. Baldwin Hall was initially the only building, but the campus expanded greatly over the next century. Hopkins had begun to refer to itself without "Grammar School" in the casual name by 1935, but "Grammar School" was not officially dropped until several years after Hopkins' merger with Day Prospect Hill School in 1972. Day Prospect Hill School was itself the product of a merger between two local women's schools — the Day School (founded in 1907) and the Prospect Hill School (founded in 1930). The combined institution became the Day Prospect Hill School (DPH), a united women's education school.History
on Hopkins School's website by Thom Peters. Retrieved March 30, 2006. Trustee president Vince Calarco and headmaster Tim Rodd led Hopkins to buy a further of land at its current location to establish

playing field Play is a range of Motivation#Intrinsic and extrinsic, intrinsically motivated activities done for recreation. Play is commonly associated with children and juvenile-level activities, but may be engaged in at any life stage, and among other high ...

s in 1992. In recent years alumnus John C. Malone, a wealthy

telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

, has donated more than $25 million for new construction, the financial aid program, and forming the endowment. On March 24, 2020, it was announced that Hopkins School and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford agreed to settle a sexual abuse lawsuit involving a Catholic school teacher who was regularly allowed access to the Hopkins School and who was accused of sexually abusing boys while coaching at the school between at least 1990 and 1991. Both Hopkins and the Archdiocese of Hartford were accused of covering up the sex abuse and shielding the teacher from potential prosecution. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed. The accused teacher, Glenn Goncalo, committed suicide in 1991 as arrangements were being made for him to turn himself over to the police in connection to a different accusation. It was also reported that reports of sexual abuse at Hopkins dated as far back as 1970.

Facilities

Baldwin Hall is the original building of the present campus. It has four floors, including the basement. It houses a computer lab, the language lab, and the Calarco Library. The library is a two floor, space with group study rooms, an art gallery, and a faculty reading room. Hopkins House houses the Admission Office, Business Office, College Counselling Office, and the Technology Department. This building was named for Edward Hopkins, Hopkins' first benefactor. It was finished in 1927 with the original intention of having it become a dormitory for boarding students. The program was abandoned in the 1930s due to insufficient enrollment. The Kneisel Squash Center was originally built as an all-purpose gym in 1935 and named the Reigeluth Gym in honor of a trustee. It was designed by the architect Douglas Orr. In 2010, it was converted into a squash center, housing six squash courts. Lovell Hall held the Townshend Auditorium, drama and video production classrooms, two multipurpose classrooms, the ''Razor'' 's office, and teachers' offices. The building was named after longtime headmaster George Lovell, who led the school in the first half of the 20th century. It was constructed in 1960 with funds raised during the school's tercentenary. It is currently going under renovation, and will be replaced with a new Performing Arts Center in 2024. Malone Science Center is at the center of campus and houses the science classrooms and labs. Donated by John C. Malone, it is named for Malone's father, Daniel Malone. It was opened for students in 1999 and has three floors of classrooms and labs. Heath Commons is a two-story building that houses the school dining hall and a student lounge. Heath Commons was designed by the S/L/A/M collaborative. It was completed in 2003 and won a Connecticut Design Award in 2005. Thompson Hall was opened on 30 November 2009 on the former site of one of the upper playing fields. It is named for Mary Brewster Thompson, a long-time head of the Prospect Hill School. The three-story building has two floors of classrooms, as well as large studio art studios, pottery, photography, wood shop, and choral and orchestral spaces. This building houses the advisories for the seventh and eighth grades.

Academics

Applicants to Hopkins undergo a series of standardized tests, and upon

matriculation Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used no ...

, testing is done to place students at the appropriate level of instruction in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

and

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

s. Hopkins' academics are broken into

departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military * Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

including English, mathematics,

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...

, modern language,

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

, and

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

. Each of the three class levels — Lower, Middle, and Upper — has a different level of choice in classes.''Hopkins Course Guide'', published annually by Hopkins School.

Humanities

The English Department is the only department in which Hopkins requires a student have at least one class in every semester. Upper-class students have two required semester classes: a college-prep writing course and a

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

-centered course. The History Department core is the Atlantic Communities series that focuses on Europe, the Americas, and West Africa between 1450 and modern times. In addition, elective courses go into detail on subjects such as political science, regional studies, philosophy and religion. Advanced Placement courses are offered in United States History, European History, and Human Geography. The Language Department is divided into two subdepartments: the Classics, which covers

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

and Latin; and Modern Languages, which teaches four other languages ( French, Spanish, Chinese, and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

are currently offered).

Math and Science

The Mathematics Department offers study from pre-algebra to

Linear Algebra Linear algebra is the branch of mathematics concerning linear equations such as :a_1x_1+\cdots +a_nx_n=b, linear maps such as :(x_1, \ldots, x_n) \mapsto a_1x_1+\cdots +a_nx_n, and their representations in vector spaces and through matrix (mathemat ...

Multivariable Calculus Multivariable calculus (also known as multivariate calculus) is the extension of calculus in one variable to calculus with functions of several variables: the differentiation and integration of functions involving multiple variables ('' mult ...

, Differential Equations and

Chaos Theory Chaos theory is an interdisciplinary area of Scientific method, scientific study and branch of mathematics. It focuses on underlying patterns and Deterministic system, deterministic Scientific law, laws of dynamical systems that are highly sens ...

. The Science Department has three main tracks — Biology, Chemistry, and Physics — along which students can take entry-level courses and then more advanced AP and Honors courses. There are numerous one-off courses in subjects such as Introduction to Psychology, Human Reproduction, or

Environmental Studies Environmental studies (EVS or EVST) is a multidisciplinary academic field which systematically studies human behavior, human interaction with the Natural environment, environment. Environmental studies connects principles from the physical sci ...

. The computer science department offers basic computing courses in

HTML Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It defines the content and structure of web content. It is often assisted by technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets ( ...

and

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

Athletics

Hopkins' athletics function under a trimester system, with students taking an athletic for each of the fall, winter, and spring seasons. Students may choose to participate in a

team sport A team sport is a type of sport where the fundamental nature of the game or sport requires the participation of multiple individuals working together as a team, and it is inherently impossible or highly impractical to execute the sport as a s ...

if they make the team, an intramural sport, or an independent sport where the student participates in a school-approved athletic activity such as

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

lessons. Seniors may also take one season off and not take any athletic for that season. Sports offered at Hopkins vary depending on the season and include cross country,

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

, downhill skiing,

crew A crew is a body or a group of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchy, hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the ta ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

, track (both outdoor and indoor),

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

, squash,

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

, and

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

. Hopkins is a member of the New England Preparatory School Athletic CouncilHomepage
of NEPSAC. Retrieved March 19, 2006. and the Fairchester Athletic Association. Hopkins competes with many other private and boarding schools throughout New England and the

northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—eac ...

Notable alumni

Due to the age of the school, it is unclear as to what year some of its alumni graduated. Those whose class is unknown, or assumed, are noted as such. Notable alumni include: * Michael L. J. Apuzzo (class of 1957) – academic

neurosurgeon Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty that focuses on the surgical treatment or rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, ...

, editor, futurist * Henry Baldwin (class of 1793) – U.S. Congressman,

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States An associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is a Justice (title), justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, other than the chief justice of the United States. The number of associate justices is eight, as set by the J ...

Roger Sherman Baldwin Roger Sherman Baldwin (January 4, 1793 – February 19, 1863) was an American politician who served as the 32nd Governor of Connecticut from 1844 to 1846 and a United States senator from 1847 to 1851. As a lawyer, his career was most notable ...

(class of 1807) – U.S. Senator,

Governor of Connecticut The governor of Connecticut is the head of government of Connecticut, and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Connecticut Military Department, military forces. The Governor (United States), governor has a duty to enforce state laws, ...

, defense attorney in Amistad case * Simeon E. Baldwin (class of 1857) - Chief Justice of the

Connecticut Supreme Court The Connecticut Supreme Court, formerly known as the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, is the supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. The seven justices sit i ...

, Governor of Connecticut * Wilson S. Bissell (class of 1865) –

United States Postmaster General The United States postmaster general (PMG) is the chief executive officer of the United States Postal Service (USPS). The PMG is responsible for managing and directing the day-to-day operations of the agency. The PMG is selected and appointed by ...

* Andy Bloch (class of 1987) – professional poker player * Edward Bouchet (class of 1870) –

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

, first person of color to earn a Ph.D. from an American university * Augustus Brandegee (class of 1845) – lawyer, U.S. House of Representatives * Chauncey Bunce Brewster (class of 1864) –

Episcopal Church (United States) The Episcopal Church (TEC), also known as the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (PECUSA), is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, based in the United States. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is ...

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of Connecticut * Benjamin Brewster (class of 1878) – Episcopal

of Maine and Missionary Bishop of Western Colorado. * Nicholas Britell (class of 1999) – composer, pianist, film producer *

Guido Calabresi Guido Calabresi (born October 18, 1932) is an Italian-born American jurist who serves as a senior circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He is a former Dean of Yale Law School, where he has been a professor s ...

(class of 1949) – US Court of Appeals judge, dean of the

* Walter Camp (class of 1876) – founder of modern

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

* Mei Chin (class of 1993) – novelist and food critic * Elisha Cooper (class of 1989) – author and illustrator *

Henry Farnam Henry Farnam (November 9, 1803 – October 4, 1883) was an American philanthropist and railroad president. Biography He was born in Scipio, New York, and grew up working on his father's farm. By his teenage years, he had begun studying mathem ...

(class of 1870) – railroad president * Thomas Frederick Davies, Sr. (class of 1849) – third bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan * Nicholas Dawidoff (class of 1981) – author * George DiCenzo (class of 1958) – actor, arts activist * Alexander DiPersia (class of 2000) – film actor * Henry Durand (class of 1877) – songwriter of Yale alma mater, " Bright College Years" * Timothy Dwight V (class of 1845) – president of Yale University * Henry W. Edwards (class of 1793) – U.S. Congressman, U.S. Senator, and Governor of Connecticut * Trey Ellis (class of 1980) – novelist * William Eno (class of 1877) – road safety advocate and inventor * Orris Ferry (class of 1840) – U.S. Congressman, senator * Ernest Flagg (class of 1876) – architect *

John Geanakoplos John Geanakoplos (born March 18, 1955) is an American economist, and the James Tobin Professor of Economics at Yale University. Background and education John Geanakoplos was born to a Greek-American family of scholars. His father was the late pr ...

(class of 1970) – economist *

Josiah Willard Gibbs Josiah Willard Gibbs (; February 11, 1839 – April 28, 1903) was an American mechanical engineer and scientist who made fundamental theoretical contributions to physics, chemistry, and mathematics. His work on the applications of thermodynami ...

(class 1854) – father of

thermodynamics Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, Work (thermodynamics), work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed b ...

* Chauncey Goodrich (class of 1840) – editor of the

Webster's Dictionary ''Webster's Dictionary'' is any of the US English language dictionaries edited in the early 19th century by Noah Webster (1758–1843), a US lexicographer, as well as numerous related or unrelated dictionaries that have adopted the Webster's n ...

* Arthur Hadley (class of 1872) – president of Yale University *

John Hays Hammond John Hays Hammond (March 31, 1855 – June 8, 1936) was an American mining engineer, diplomat, and philanthropist. He amassed a sizable fortune before the age of 40. An early advocate of deep mining, Hammond was given complete charge of Cecil R ...

(class of 1873) – mining engineer, helped in founding of

De Beers The De Beers Group is a South African–British corporation that specializes in the diamond industry, including mining, exploitation, retail, inscription, grading, trading and industrial diamond manufacturing. The company is active in open-pi ...

* George G. Haven, Jr. (unknown class) – businessman *

Carolyn Hax Carolyn Hanley Hax (born December 5, 1966) is an American writer and columnist for ''The Washington Post'' and author of the daily syndicated advice column, ''Carolyn Hax'' (formerly titled ''Tell Me About It''), which features broad relational ad ...

(class of 1984) – advice columnist for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' * James Hillhouse (class of 1769) – U.S. Congressman, Senator * William Hoppin (class of 1824) – Governor of Rhode Island * Edward M. House (class of 1877) – diplomat, political adviser to

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

* John Huggins (did not graduate) – Black Power activist, leader of the Black Panther Party * William Henry Hunt (class of 1874) – federal and state judge, territorial governor of Puerto Rico *

William Morris Hunt William Morris Hunt (March 31, 1824September 8, 1879) was an American painter. Born into the political List of Hunt family members of Vermont, Hunt family of Vermont, he trained in Paris with the realist Jean-François Millet and studied under hi ...

(class of 1834) – painter * Jared Ingersoll (class of 1762) – delegate to the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

; signer of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

for

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

; Federalist vice presidential candidate *

Charles Ives Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, actuary and businessman. Ives was among the earliest renowned American composers to achieve recognition on a global scale. His music was largely ignored d ...

(class of 1894) – classical composer and insurance executive * Harold Hongju Koh (class of 1971) – dean of the Yale Law School, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights * Justin Kutcher (class of 1998) –

sports commentator In Broadcasting of sports events, sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real time (media), real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present t ...

* Jonathan Levin (class of 1990) - economist and president of

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

* Scott Lowell (class of 1983) - actor, best known for ''Queer as Folk'' * Paul MacCready (class of 1943) –

aeronautical engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

John Malone John Carl Malone (born March 7, 1941) is an American billionaire businessman, landowner, and philanthropist. He was chief executive officer (CEO) of Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI), a cable and media giant, from 1973 to 1996. As of 2016, Malone i ...

(class of 1959) –

mogul * Joseph Mansfield (class of 1817) –

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

major general * Robert Tuttle Morris (class of 1877) – surgeon and writer * Newton Morton (class of 1947) – founder of modern

genetic epidemiology Genetic epidemiology is the study of the role of genetic factors in determining health and disease in families and in populations, and the interplay of such genetic factors with environmental factors. Genetic epidemiology seeks to derive a statist ...

Jonathan Mostow Jonathan Mostow (born November 28, 1961) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He has directed films such as '' Breakdown'' (1997), '' U-571'' (2000), '' Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines'' (2003), and ''Surrogates'' (2009). ...

(class of 1979) – film director, writer, and film producer * Henry Murphy (class of 1895) – architect; designed Nationalist Chinese monuments as well as Hopkins' 1925 campus, Baldwin Hall, and Hopkins House * Benjamin Matthias Nead (class of 1866) – historian, author, newspaper editor, lawyer, and politician. * John Punnett Peters (class of 1868) – Episcopal

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

, archaeologist, professor, author * Edwards Pierrepont (class of 1833) –

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the superior court in the Judiciary of New York. It is vested with unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction, although in many counties outside New York City it acts primarily as a court of civil ju ...

justice;

minister plenipotentiary An envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, usually known as a minister, was a diplomatic head of mission who was ranked below ambassador. A diplomatic mission headed by an envoy was known as a legation rather than an embassy. Under the ...

to Great Britain;

United States Attorney General The United States attorney general is the head of the United States Department of Justice and serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the Federal government of the United States, federal government. The attorney general acts as the princi ...

* Abraham Pierson (class of 1664) – first rector of Yale's precursor, the Collegiate School * Harry Rowe Shelley (class of 1876) – composer, organist, music professor * Selden Palmer Spencer (class of 1880) – lawyer, United States Senator for Missouri * Benjamin Silliman (class of 1833) – early science professor * William Henry Stiles (class of 1825) –

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

for

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, U.S. chargé d'affaires to Vienna, Confederate colonel 60th GA * Alfred Howe Terry (class of 1838) –

major general, military commander of the

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of ...

* Sherman Day Thacher (class of 1879) – founder of The Thacher School * Thomas Thacher (class of 1867) – lawyer * Thomas Anthony Thacher (class of 1831-assumed) – classicist, college administrator * Samantha Vinograd (class of 2001) – American journalist and national security analyst at

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

* Dan Wasserman (class of 1967) – political cartoonist * Ansley Wilcox (class of 1870) –

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

, Oxford graduate, lawyer,

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

reform commissioner, New York political insider and close friend of

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

* Washington F. Willcox (class of 1858) – U.S. Representative from Connecticut * Theodore Winthrop (class of 1841) – author * Theodore Dwight Woolsey (class of 1816) – president of

References

External links

* {{authority control Schools in New Haven, Connecticut Educational institutions established in the 1660s 1660 establishments in Connecticut Private high schools in Connecticut Preparatory schools in Connecticut Private middle schools in Connecticut