List Of Cornell University Alumni

This list of Cornell University alumni includes notable graduates, non-graduate former students, and current students of Cornell University. Cornell counted 245,027 living alumni as of August 2008. Its alumni includes 25 recipients of National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology and Innovation combined, 36 MacArthur Fellows, 34 Marshall Scholars and 31  Rhodes Scholars, 242 elected members of the National Academy of Sciences, 201 elected members of the National Academy of Engineering, 190 plus heads of higher learning institutions in the United States and around the world, and Cornell is the only university in the world with three female winners of unshared Nobel Prizes among its graduates (Pearl S. Buck, Barbara McClintock, and Toni Morrison). Many alumni maintain university ties through Homecoming's reunion weekend, through ''Cornell Magazine'', and through the Cornell Club of New York. In 2005, Cornell ranked No. 3 nationwide for gifts and bequests from alumni. Alumni are known as ''Cornellians'', many of whom are noted for their accomplishments in public, professional, and corporate life.

Fictional alumni have been portrayed in several films, television shows, and books. Characters include Andy Bernard of ''The Office'', Natalie Keener of '' Up in the Air'', Tom Kirkman of ''Designated Survivor'', Christina Pagniacci of ''Any Given Sunday'', and Shane Patton of HBO's ''The White Lotus''.

Nobel laureates

Chemistry
* Eric Betzig (M.S. 1985; PhD 1988, applied and engineering physics) – Chemistry, 2014; member of the National Academy of Sciences (2015)
* Joachim Frank (postdoctoral fellow 1972) – Chemistry, 2017; member of the National Academy of Sciences (2006)
* William Moerner (PhD 1982, experimental physics) – Chemistry, 2014; Wolf Prize in Chemistry (2008); member of the National Academy of Sciences (2007)

Physics
* Arthur Ashkin (PhD 1952 nuclear physics) – Physics 2018; pioneer in Optical tweezers; member of the National Academy of Engineering (1984) and the National Academy of Sciences (1996); recipient of the Harvey Prize (2004)
* Sheldon Glashow (B.A. 1954 physics) – Physics 1979; Physics (1979); member of the National Academy of Sciences since 1977
* Russell Hulse — Physics 1993; conducted award-winning research at Cornell's affiliated Arecibo Observatory (1974))
* John M. Kosterlitz — Physics 2016; postdoctoral fellow (1973–1974); fellow of the American Physical Society; recipient of the Maxwell Medal and Prize (1981) and the Lars Onsager Prize (2000); member of the National Academy of Sciences, since 2017
* Douglas D. Osheroff (M.S. 1971 physics, PhD 1973 physics) – Physics 1996; MacArthur Fellow (1981); member of the National Academy of Sciences, since 1987
* Isidor Isaac Rabi (B.Chem. 1919; graduate study 1921–23, transferred) – Physics 1944; member of the National Academy of Sciences, since 1940
* David J. Thouless (PhD 1958) – Physics 2016; fellow of the Royal Society, of the American Physical Society and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; member of the National Academy of Sciences (1995); recipient of the Maxwell Medal and Prize (1973), the Wolf Prize in Physics (1990), the Paul Dirac Medal (1993), and the Lars Onsager Prize (2000)
* Steven Weinberg (B.A. 1954 physics) – Physics 1979, National Medal of Science (1991); member of the National Academy of Sciences (1972)

Peace, literature, or economics
* Pearl S. Buck (M.A. 1925 English literature) – Literature 1938
* Robert F. Engle (M.S. 1966 physics, PhD 1969 economics) – Economics 2003; member of the National Academy of Sciences (2005)
* Robert Fogel (B.A. 1948 history, minor in economics) – Economics 1993; member of the National Academy of Sciences (1973)
* Toni Morrison (M.A. 1955 English) – A.D. White Professor-at-Large, 1997–2003) – Literature 1993; National Humanities Medal (2000), Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1988)
* John Mott (B.S. 1888 philosophy) – Peace 1946

Physiology or medicine
* George Wells Beadle (PhD 1930 genetics) – Physiology or Medicine 1958; member of the National Academy of Sciences (1944), Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research (1950)
* Robert W. Holley (PhD 1947 organic chemistry; professor and department chair in biochemistry, 1948–68) – Physiology or Medicine 1968; member of the National Academy of Sciences (1968), Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research (1965)
* Barbara McClintock (B.S. 1923 botany, M.A. 1925 botany, PhD 1927 cytology; instructor in Botany, 1927–31; A.D. White Professor-at-Large, 1965–74) – Physiology or Medicine 1983; National Medal of Science (1970); MacArthur Fellow (1981); Wolf Prize in Medicine (1981); member of the National Academy of Sciences (1944), Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research (1981)
* Hermann Joseph Muller (graduate study 1911–12) – Physiology or Medicine 1946; member of the National Academy of Sciences (1931)
* Jack W. Szostak (PhD 1977 biochemistry) – Physiology or Medicine 2009; member of the National Academy of Sciences (1998), Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research (2006)

Government

Heads of state

* Jamshid Amouzegar (B.S. 1945 engineering, PhD 1951) – Prime Minister of Iran, 1977–78
* Václav Klaus (1969, no degree) – President of the Czech Republic (2003–2013), Prime Minister of the Czech Republic (1992–1997)
* Mario García Menocal (B.S. 1888 engineering) – President of Cuba, 1913–21
* Lee Teng-hui (PhD 1968 agricultural economics) – President of the Republic of China (Taiwan), 1988–2000
* Tsai Ing-wen (LL.M. 1980) – President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) (2016 to date), chairperson of the Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan and former Vice Premier (January 25, 2006 – May 21, 2007) (her LL.M.1980)

U.S. Supreme Court justices

* Ruth Bader Ginsburg (B.A. 1954 government) – U.S. Supreme Court associate justice 1993–2020

U.S. Cabinet and cabinet-level ranks

* Sandy Berger (B.A. 1967 government) – National Security Advisor to President Bill Clinton, 1997–2001
* Samuel Bodman (B.S. 1961 chemical engineering) – Deputy Secretary of Commerce, 2001–2003, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury (2004–2005), Secretary of Energy, 2005–2009; member of the National Academy of Engineering (2006)
* Jim Bridenstine (M.B.A) – Administrator of NASA (2013-2018)
* Lincoln D. Faurer (attended, did not graduate) – director, National Security Agency 1981–85
* W. Scott Gould (A.B.) – United States Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs (April 9, 2009 – May 17, 2013)
* Stephen Hadley (B.A. 1969 government) – National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush, 2005–2009
* Seth Harris (B.S. ILR 1983) – Deputy Secretary of Labor (2009–2014) and Acting Secretary of Labor (January 22, 2013 – July 23, 2013)
* Eugene Kinckle 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; recipient of the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement (1991)
* 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
* James Peake (M.D. 1972) – former Surgeon General of the United States Army, 2000–2004; United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 2007–2009
* 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) – Secretary of Health and Human Services under George H. W. Bush, 1989–93; founder, dean and president of Morehouse School of Medicine
* Nancy Sutley (B.A.) – Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality under Barack Obama (2009–2014)
* John P. White (B.S. 1959 ILR) – United States Deputy Secretary of Defense (1995–1997)
* 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. governors

* John Alden Dix (attended 1879–1882) – 38th Governor of New York, 1911–1912
* Joseph B. Foraker (B.A. 1869) – Governor of Ohio (1886–90); Senator of Ohio (1897–1909); one of eight members of Cornell's first graduating class
* James Benton Grant (attended 1873–1874) – Governor of Colorado, 1883–1885
* Herbert James Hagerman (1890) – 17th Governor of the New Mexico Territory (1906–1907)
* 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, 1953–1959
* John T. Morrison (LL.B. degree 1890) – sixth Governor of Idaho, 1903–1905
* Edmund Muskie (LL.B. 1939) – Governor of Maine, 1955–59; Senator from Maine, 1959–80; vice presidential candidate, 1968; Secretary of State, 1980–81
* Chuck Robb (undergrad 1957–58, transferred) – Senator from Virginia, 1989–2001; Governor of Virginia, 1982–1986
* Horace White (1887) – member of New York State Senate, 1896–1908; Lieutenant Governor of New York, 1909–1910; 37th Governor of New York

U.S. senators

* Joseph B. Foraker (B.A. 1869) – Governor of Ohio (1886–90); Senator of Ohio (1897–1909); one of eight members of Cornell's first graduating class
* Thomas C. Hennings, Jr. (1924) – Representative, Missouri 11th District (1935–40); Senator of Missouri (1951–60)
* Mark Kirk (B.A. 1981 history) – Illinois 10th District, 2001–2011; senator, 2011–2017
* Edmund Muskie (LL.B. 1939) – Governor of Maine, 1955–59; Senator from Maine, 1959–80; vice presidential candidate, 1968; Secretary of State, 1980–81
* Chuck Robb (undergrad 1957–58, transferred) – senator, Virginia, 1989–2001

U.S. representatives

* John G. Alexander (J.D. 1916) – Minnesota 3rd District, 1939–41
* Rob Andrews (J.D. 1982) – New Jersey 1st District, 1990–2014
* Andrew Biemiller (B.A. 1926) – Wisconsin, 1945–47, 1949–51
* Jim Bridenstine (M.B.A) – Oklahoma 1st District, 2013–2018; Administrator of NASA (2018–)
* Frederick Van Ness Bradley (1921) – Michigan, 1939–47
* Abraham Lincoln Brick (undergrad) – Indiana, 1899–1908
* Katherine Clark (J.D.) – Massachusetts 5th, 2013–present
* Hansen Clarke (B.F.A.) – Michigan 13th District, 2010–2013
* 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
* Sharice Davids (J.D. 2010) – Kansas 3rd district, 2019–
* Thomas Joseph Downey (B.S. 1970) – New York 2nd District, 1975–93
* Bob Filner (B.A. 1963 chemistry, PhD 1973 history of science) – California 50th District, 1993–2003, 51st District, 2003–2012; San Diego mayor, 2012–present
* Chris Gibson (New York politician), Chris Gibson (MPA 1995, M.A. 1996, PhD 1998) – New York 20th District (2011–2013), 19th District (2013–)
* Gabby Giffords (M.R.P. 1996) – Arizona, 8th District, 2007–2012
* 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
* Nan Hayworth (M.D. 1985) – New York 19th district, 2011–2013
* Joseph C. Hendrix, Joseph Clifford Hendrix (studies 1870–73; trustee) – New York, 1893–95
* Lewis Henry (1909) – New York, 1922–23
* Frank Horton (New York politician), 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, 2001–2011; Senator, 2011–2017
* 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
* Richard Dean McCarthy (graduate study) – New York, 1965–71
* Dan Meuser (B.A. 1988) – Pennsylvania 9th, 2019–present
* 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
* James Parker (New York), James Parker (1887) – New York 29th District, 1913–33
* Edward Worthington Pattison (B.A. 1953, L.L.B. 1957) – New York, 1975–79
* 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 (politician), 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
* Kurt Schrader (B.A. 1973) – Oregon 5th District, 2009–present
* George Shiras III (1881) – Pennsylvania, 1903–05
* Henry P. Smith III (Law 1936) – New York, 1965–75
* Elissa Slotkin (B.A. 1989) – Michigan 8th, 2019–
* James H. Southard (law 1874) – Ohio, 1895–1907
* Sam Steiger (attended two years) – Arizona, 1946–47
* 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
* Beth Van Duyne (1995) - Texas's 24th congressional district, Texas 24th, 2021-
* 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

* Parker W. Borg (Master of Public Administration, MPA 1965) – United States Ambassador to Mali (1981–1984) and United States Ambassador to Iceland (1993–1996)
* William Brownfield (1974) – U.S. Ambassador to Chile (2002–2004), Venezuela (2004–2007), and Colombia (2007–2010)
* Richard Burt (B.A. 1969) – United States Ambassador to Germany (1985–1989); chief negotiator of the START I, Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (rank of Ambassador); Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs (1983–1985)
* Dwight L. Bush, Sr. (B.A. 1979) – businessman; United States Ambassador to Morocco (2014– )
* Henry A. Byroade (M.S. 1940 civil engineering) – career diplomat serving as U.S. Ambassador to Egypt (1955–1956), South Africa (1956–1959), Afghanistan (1959–1962), Burma (1963–1968), Philippines (1969–1973), Pakistan (1973–1977)
* Timothy M. Carney (1975–1976 Southeast Asian studies) – United States Ambassador to Sudan (1995–1997), United States Ambassador to Haiti (1998–1999)
* Chan Heng Chee (M.A. 1967 government) – Singapore's Ambassador to the U.S. (1996–2012) and to Mexico (1989–1991)
* Arthur Dean (lawyer), Arthur Hobson Dean (B.A. 1921, L.L.B. 1923) – international law expert, chief U.S. negotiator at Panmunjeom, assisted with negotiations for Partial Test Ban Treaty, Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, delegate to the United Nations
* Eric S. Edelman (B.A. 1972 history) – United States Ambassador to Finland (1998–2001), United States Ambassador to Turkey (2003–2005)
* Glenn W. Ferguson (B.A. 1950 economics, MBA 1951) – United States Ambassador to Kenya, 1966–1969, academic administrator
* Robert Ford (poet), Robert Ford (M.A. 1940 history) – Canadian Ambassador to Colombia (1957–1959), Yugoslavia (1959–1961), Egypt and Sudan (1961–1964), the USSR (1964–1980) and Mongolia (1974–1980); a Companion of the Order of Canada
* Daniel Fried (B.A. 1974) – career diplomat; United States Ambassador to Poland (1997–2000)
* William vanden Heuvel (Bachelor and Law, editor-in-chief of ''Cornell Law Review'') – Representative of the United States to the European Office of the United Nations, U.S. Ambassador to the European office of the United Nations (1977–79) and United States Deputy United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Ambassador to the United Nations (1979–1981)
* John H. Holdridge (1948–1950 Chinese language) – United States Ambassador to Singapore (1975–1978), United States Ambassador to Indonesia (1982–1986)
* 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); United States Ambassador to Sweden, 1970–73; chairman of the American Red Cross, 1979–85
* Makila James ('79) – United States Ambassador to Swaziland (2012–2016)
* Alan Keyes (undergrad 1968–69, transferred) – diplomat, U.S. Presidential candidate, 1996, 2000; U.S. Senate candidate from Maryland (1988, 1992) and Illinois (2004)
* Edwin Jackson Kyle (M.S. 1902) – United States 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
* Simon Mbilinyi (BSc) – Tanzanian Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg, 1985–1989; Minister of Finance (1995–1996)
* C. Steven McGann (1975–1978 graduate studies) – United States Ambassador to Fiji, United States Ambassador to Kiribati, Kiribati, United States Ambassador to Nauru, Nauru, United States Ambassador to Tonga, Tonga, and United States Ambassador to Tuvalu, Tuvalu (2008–2011)
* :es:Francisco de Miguel Álvarez, Francisco de Miguel (M.A. 1985) – Spanish career diplomat, Spain's Ambassador to Libya
* Cameron Munter (B.A. 1976) – United States Ambassador to Serbia (2007–2009), United States Ambassador to Pakistan (2010–2012)
* Michael Punke (J.D. 1989) – United States Ambassador to the World Trade Organization (2011– )
* G. Frederick Reinhardt (M.A. 1935) – career diplomat, U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam (1955–1957), to the United Arab Republic and Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen, North Yemen (1960–1961) and to Italy (1961–1968)
* Hu Shih (B.A. 1914) – China's Ambassador to the U.S., 1938–42; philosopher; poet
* Moncrieff J. Spear (B.A. 1946) – former American diplomat
* Willard Straight (B.Arch, BArch 1901) – diplomat, investment banker, publisher, World War I veteran, namesake of Willard Straight Hall
* Alfred Sao-ke Sze, 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
* Sandra Louise Vogelgesang – United States Ambassador to Nepal (1994–1997)
* Ali Jehangir Siddiqui - Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States (2018), Diplomat, Businessman, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan (2017-2018), Pakistan's Ambassador at Large for Foreign Investment (2019-2022).

Notable judges and lawyers

* Floyd Abrams (B.A. 1956) – co-counsel for the "Pentagon Papers" case
* Ronnie Abrams (B.A. 1990) – federal judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (2012–)
* Simon L. Adler (LL.B. 1889) – United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of New York
* Barry T. Albin (J.D. 1976) – associate justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court
* Mark J. Bennett (J.D. 1979) – Attorney General of Hawaii, federal judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
* Richard M. Berman (B.S. 1964) – senior judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
* Boris Bittker (B.A. 1938) – Yale Law School professor ''emeritus''; author
* William F. Bleakley (LL.B. 1904) – New York Supreme Court Justice, first Westchester County Executive, 1936 Republican Party (United States), Republican nominee for Governor of New York
* Frederic Block (LL.B. 1959) – senior judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
* Robert Boochever (B.A. 1939, J.D. 1941) – senior judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; chief justice of the Alaska Supreme Court
* Leonie Brinkema (J.D. 1976) – U.S. District Court judge
* David Buckel (J.D. 1987) – U.S. LGBT rights lawyer; environmentalist
* Zachary W. Carter (B.A. 1972) – United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York
* George B. Clementson (LL.B. 1892) – author of ''The Road Rights and Liabilities of Wheelmen'', the first treatise on bicycle law
* Brian Cogan (J.D. 1979) – United States federal judge, federal judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
* Christopher C. Conner (B.A. 1979) – United States federal judge, federal judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
* Paul A. Crotty (LL.B. 1967) – federal judge, Southern District of New York
* Leonard C. Crouch (Ph.B. 1889) – New York Supreme Court judge; New York Court of Appeals justice
* William H. Cuddeback (B.A. 1874) – New York Court of Appeals judge
* Mary H. Donlon (LL.B. 1920) – U.S. Customs Court judge; first female editor-in-chief of the ''Cornell Law Quarterly'' and of a U.S. law review
* Henry White Edgerton (A.B. 1910) – justice of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
* Nancy Garlock Edmunds (B.A. 1969) – judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
* Harry T. Edwards (B.A. 1962 industrial & labor relations) – chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Washington, D.C.; professor at New York University School of Law; former professor at Duke University School of Law, Duke, Georgetown University Law Center, Georgetown, Harvard Law School, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania Law School, Pennsylvania, and University of Michigan Law School, Michigan law schools; author
* John T. Elfvin (B.E.E. 1942 electrical engineering) – federal judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York
* Dana Fabe (B.A. 1973) – chief justice of the Alaska Supreme Court
* Thomas E. Fairchild (B.A. 1934) – senior justice (1981–2007) of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
* Peter T. Farrell (B.A. 1922) – Queens County Court judge; presided over the trial of bank robber Willie Sutton
* Phillip S. Figa (J.D. 1976) – federal judge of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado
* Paul L. Friedman (B.A. 1965) – senior judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
* Charles Garside (LL.B. 1923) – New York City municipal judge, notable in New York State Government legal affairs
* Nina Gershon (B.A. 1962 English) – United States magistrate judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York; senior judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
* Douglas H. Ginsburg (B.S. 1970) – chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
* Michael Goldsmith (B.S. 1972, J.D. 1975) – Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, RICO expert; ALS advocate
* William E. Grauer (B.A. 1971, J.D. 1974) – chair of the Standing Committee on Discipline for the United States District Court for the Southern District of California; chair of the Ethics Committee of the San Diego County Bar Association; partner at Cooley LLP
* Peter W. Hall (J.D. 1977) – justice of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
* Emily C. Hewitt (A.B. 1966) – chief judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims
* Frank H. Hiscock (A.B. 1875) – chief justice of the New York Court of Appeals; chairman of Cornell Board of Trustees, and decided the Chester Gillette murder case.
* David N. Hurd (B.S. 1959) – federal judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York
* Edith Jones (B.A. 1971 economics) – justice of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
* Gail Laughlin (Law 1898) – lawyer; suffragist; member of the Maine State Senate
* Peter Marx (lawyer), Peter Marx - television host; information law attorney; technology business consultant; producer
* Barbara Milano Keenan (B.A. 1971) – justice of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit; List of justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia, justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia; justice of the Virginia Court of Appeals
* Gladys Kessler (B.A. 1959) – senior judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
* Theodore W. Kheel (B.A. 1935, law 1937) – attorney; labor mediator
* H. David Kotz (J.D. 1990) – Inspector General of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC
* John A. Kronstadt (B.A. 1973) – justice of the Los Angeles County Superior Court; judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California
* Frederick Bernard Lacey (LL.B. 1948) – federal judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
* Kenneth K. Lee (B.A. 1997) – federal justice of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
* Leonard Leo (B.A. 1986, J.D. 1989) – executive vice-president of the Federalist Society
* Lloyd Francis MacMahon (B.A. 1936, LL.B. 1938) – federal judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
* Andrew J. McDonald (B.A.) – associate justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court; member of the Connecticut Senate
* L. Londell McMillan (B.S. 1987 ILR) – entertainment attorney; publisher
* Sherman Moreland (LL.B. 1894) – Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
* Alison J. Nathan (B.A. 1994, J.D. 2000) – editor-in-chief of the ''Cornell Law Review''; federal judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
* Paul C. Ney Jr. (B.S. 1980 biology) – General Counsel of the Department of Defense of United States
* Edward Nottingham (B.A. 1969) – United States federal judge in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado
* Walter Chadwick Noyes (1888) – United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit judge
* Edward R. O'Malley (LL.B. 1891) – former New York Attorney General; justice of the New York Supreme Court
* Anne M. Patterson (J.D. 1983) – associate justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court
* Marsha J. Pechman (B.A. 1973) – United States federal judge, Federal judge (1999–2011), Chief United States federal judge, Federal judge (2011–) of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington
* Pamela Pepper (J.D. 1989) – Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin (2014–)
* Philip Perry (J.D. 1990) – General Counsel for the United States Department of Homeland Security, Department of Homeland Security
* Cuthbert W. Pound (1887 law professor) – member of New York State Senate; chief justice of the New York Court of Appeals
* Sharon Prost – chief justice of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
* Leonardo Quisumbing (LL.M.) – Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
* Aubrey Eugene Robinson, Jr. (B.A. 1943, LL.B. 1947) – senior judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
* Robin S. Rosenbaum (B.A. 1988) – United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida judge
* Max Rosenn (B.A. 1929) – U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit judge
* Barbara Jacobs Rothstein (B.A. 1960) – chief judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington; senior judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
* Amy J. St. Eve (B.S. 1987, J.D. 1990) – federal justice of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
* Karen Gren Scholer (J.D. 1982) - District Judge United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
* Frederic Palen Schoonmaker (B.A. 1891) – federal judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
* Leah Ward Sears (B.S. 1976) – chief justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia (U.S. state), Supreme Court of Georgia
* Sang-Hyun Song (J.S.D. 1970) – judge (2003–2015) and president (2009–2015) of the International Criminal Court
* Jonathan R. Steinberg (B.A. 1960) – justice of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
* Harold Montelle Stephens (A.B. 1909) – chief justice of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
* Joseph L. Tauro (LL.B. 1956) – United States federal judge, federal judge for the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
* Harry Taylor (1890s first baseman), Harry Taylor (1893) – Associate Justice of the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department (1924–1936). Provided the legal advice that elevated the American League to major league status as a rival to the National League. Taylor financed his legal education by playing professional baseball with the Louisville Colonels.
* Elbert Tuttle (B.A. 1918, LL.B. 1923) – chief justice, U.S. Court of Appeals; ruled on many fundamental Fifth Circuit Four, 1954 civil-rights cases
* Richard C. Wesley (J.D. 1974) – justice of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

Medal of Honor recipients

* Alan Louis Eggers – United States Army Sergeant#United States, sergeant, World War I; awarded for heroic actions near Le Catelet, France
* Webb Hayes (attended 1873–1875) – United States Army brigadier general, Philippine–American War; awarded for rescue of captives at Vigan Island
* Matt Urban (Matty L. Urbanowitz, B.A. 1941, history, government) – United States Army (1941–46) lieutenant colonel, World War II; awarded for valorous actions in France and Belgium

Other government

* Carol Aichele (B.A.) – Secretary of the Commonwealth, Pennsylvania (2011–2015)
* Stephen S. Aichele, Steve Aichele (B.A. 1970) – former Chief of Staff of Governor Tom Corbett
* Nicole Alexander-Scott (B.Sc. 1997) — Director of the Rhode Island Department of Health
* Alan A. Altshuler (B.A.) – Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation (1971–1975); former dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Design and of the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, Graduate School of Public Administration at New York University; fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1997)
* Jane Amero (B.A. 1963) – member of Maine Senate (1992–2000)
* Irma Anderson (B.S. Nursing) – Mayor of the city of Richmond, California (2001–2006)
* Patrice M. Arent (J.D. 1981) – member of the Utah House of Representatives (January 1, 1997 – December 31, 2002, January 1, 2011–) and the Utah State Senate (January 1, 2003 – December 31, 2006)
* Michael Atkinson (Inspector General), Michael Atkinson (J.D. 1991) – Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, involved in the Trump–Ukraine scandal
* Byron M. Baer – member of the New Jersey General Assembly (1972–1993) and of the New Jersey Senate (1994–2005)
* Roy E. Baldwin (B.S. 1970) – member of Pennsylvania House of Representatives (2002–present)
* Calvin Barton (1899) – Mayor of Norwalk, Connecticut (1921–1923)
* Ruth Bascom (Master's in Social Psychology) – first female mayor of Eugene, Oregon (1993–1996)
* Bob Bastian (Veterinary Medicine 1963) – member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (1999–2008)
* George Bell, Jr. (LL.B., 1894), United States Army Major General (United States), Major General who commanded the 33rd Infantry Division (United States), 33rd Infantry Division in World War I and later the VI Corps (United States), United States VI Corps
* George A. Blauvelt (1890) – member of the New York State Assembly (1911, 1912) and of the New York State Senate (1913, 1914)
* Peter Bowman (B.S. 1960 electrical engineering) – member of the Maine Senate (2006–2010)
* William B. Broydrick – Wisconsin politician
* Terry Calvani (J.D. 1972) – commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (1983–1990)
* Robert Cardillo (B.A. 1983 government) – director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (2014–2019)
* David Carlucci (B.S. 2002, ILR) – member of the New York Senate (January 1, 2011–)
* Nelson W. Cheney (B.A. 1899) – member of the New York State Assembly (1916–1929) and of the New York State Senate (1930–1938)
* Derek Chollet (B.A. 1993) – Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (2012–2014)
* Parley Parker Christensen – Utah and California politician, Esperantist
* Bruce C. Clarke – United States Army General (United States), general
* Clem S. Clarke (two years, Geology) – oilman and Republican politician from Shreveport, Louisiana
* David S. Cohen (attorney), David S. Cohen (B.A. 1985, Government) – Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, CIA (2015–17, 2021-), Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing (2009–2011)
* Mandy Cohen (B.S. 2000) – Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
* Ernest E. Cole (B.S. 1895) – Commissioner of Education of the State of New York, 1940–1942
* Rhonda Cornum (PhD 1980 biochemistry and nutrition) – former United States Army Brigadier general; former prisoner of war
* Edwin L. Crawford – first county executive of Broome County, New York
* Clifford Crouch, Clifford W. Crouch (AAS 1965, dairy science) – member of the New York State Assembly
* Walter Cruickshank (B.A. Geological Sciences) – deputy director and then acting director of US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
* Charles d'Autremont (1868–1871) – Mayor of Duluth, Minnesota
* Melissa DeRosa (B.A.) – Executive Secretary to Governor Andrew Cuomo
* Samuel B. Dicker (1911) – 58th Mayor of Rochester, New York (1939–1955)
* Elizabeth B. Drewry (PhD 1933) – archivist with the National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum
* Harriet Drummond (B.S. 1974) – member of the Alaska House of Representatives (2013– )
* María del Rosario Guerra de La Espriella (M.S. Agricultural Economy) – Minister of Information Technologies and Communications of the Government of Colombia (2006–2010) and Senator of Colombia (2014–)
* Anthony Fauci (M.D. 1966) - Chief Medical Advisor to the President, Chief Medical Advisor to the U.S. President during the COVID-19 pandemic
* Robert Flanagan (politician), Robert Flanagan (J.D. 1974) – secretary of the Maryland Department of Transportation (2003–2007) and member of the Maryland House of Delegates (1987–2003)
* John Ford (New York state senator), John Ford – member of the New York State Senate (1896–1900)
* Stephen Friedman (PFIAB), Stephen Friedman (B.A. 1959; trustee, 1993–) – chairman of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (2005–2009); former assistant for economic policy to President George W. Bush (2002–2004) and director of the United States National Economic Council, 2003–04; former chairman of the Goldman Sachs Group, 1990–94
* Vincent J. Gentile (B.A.) – member of the New York State Senate (1997–2002) and of the New York City Council (2003–2017)
* Kim Gillan (Masters 1975) – member of the Montana House of Representatives (1996–2004) and of the Montana Senate (2004–2012)
* Armando Samper Gnecco (B.S. 1943 agricultural economy) – Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Colombia), Minister of Agriculture of Colombia
* Richard N. Gottfried (B.A. 1968) – member of the New York State Assembly since 1971; more than 40 years
* W. Scott Gould (A.B.) - United States Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 2013-2017
* Jesse Root Grant (undergrad 1874–77, dropped out) – son of U.S. President Ulysses S Grant
* Geoffrey Gratwick (post-doctoral fellowship) – physician and member of the Maine Senate (2012–)
* Mark J. Green (B.A. 1967) – government consumer-affairs activist, New York Public Advocate (1994–2001)
* Jo Handelsman (B.S. 1979) – associate director for science at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (2014–2017); member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2019)
* Howard Hart – Central Intelligence Agency officer
* Isaac Herzog – Israeli politician
* John Hillen (MBA) – 15th Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs (2005–2007)
* Dennis Hollingsworth (Dairy Science) – member of California State Legislature (2000–2010)
* Clinton T. Horton (B.A. 1898, LL.B. 1899) – member of the New York State Assembly (1912–1914) and of the New York State Senate (1915–1916); Justice of the New York Supreme Court (1922–1935)
* Edward M. House (undergrad 1877–80, dropped out) – Foreign policy advisor for Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt
* Alyson Huber (B.S.) – member of the California State Assembly (2008–2012); judge of the Superior Court of Sacramento County in California (2012–)
* Tony Hwang (B.S.) – member of the Connecticut House of Representatives (2009–2015) and of the Connecticut Senate (2015–)
* Henry W. Jeffers (B.S. 1899) – chairman of the New Jersey Republican State Committee (1935–1937); inventor of the Rotolactor
* Phyllis Kahn (A.B. 1957 physics) – member of the Minnesota House of Representatives for more than 40 years (1973–)
* Florence Kelley (B.A. 1882) – political and social reformer
* Donald Kerr (B.S. 1963) – assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, F.B.I.; former director of Los Alamos National Laboratory
* Akhlaqur Rahman Kidwai (PhD 1950) – Governor of Bihar (1979–85, 1993–98), West Bengal (1998–1999), and Haryana (2004–2009), India
* Stephen D. Krasner (B.A. 1963) – Director of Policy Planning at the U.S. State Department, professor of political science at Stanford University
* Celso Lafer (PhD 1970) – Foreign Minister (1992–1992, 2001–2002) and Commerce Minister (1999–1999) of Brazil
* Gail Lavielle (B.A. English) – member of the Connecticut House of Representatives (2011–)
* Chih-Kung Lee (M.S. 1985, PhD 1987) – Ministry of Economic Affairs (Taiwan), Minister of Economic Affairs of the Republic of China (2016–)
* Harold O. Levy (B.A. 1974, J.D. 1977) – New York City School Chancellor, Chancellor of New York City Schools 2000–2002
* David R. Macdonald (B.S. 1952) – United States Assistant Secretary of the Treasury (Enforcement, Operations, and Tariff Affairs) (1974–1976), Under Secretary of the Navy (1976–1977), Deputy U.S. Trade Representative (1981–1983)
* William Magee (politician), William Magee (bachelor's degree 1961, agricultural economics) – Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Member of the New York State Assembly
* Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol (LL.M. 2002, J.S.D. 2005) – Princess of Thailand
* Stanley Makowski (attended with a certificate from ILR) – Mayor of the City of Buffalo, New York (1973–1977)
* Debbie Matz (B.S.) – Chairman of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) (2009–2016)
* Kyle E. McSlarrow – Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy
* Dan Meuser – Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, Secretary of Revenue of Pennsylvania (2011–2015)
* Daneek Miller – member of the New York City Council from the 27th District (January 1, 2014–)
* Wheeler Milmoe (A.B. 1917) – member of the New York State Assembly 1934–1952 and New York State Senate (1953–1958)
* Yatarō Mishima (M.A) – 8th Governor of the Bank of Japan (1913–1919)
* E. Blackburn Moore – member (1933–1967), Speaker (1950–1967) of the Virginia House of Delegates
* Sherman Moreland (B.Litt. 1892, LL.B. 1894) – member of the New York State Assembly (1903–1907) and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
* Becky Morgan (politician), Becky Morgan (B.S. 1960) – California State Senate, California State Senator (1984–1993)
* Svante Myrick (A.B. 2009) – Mayor of Ithaca, New York (2012– ); former member of Ithaca Common Council for the 4th Ward
* Benjamin Nichols (B.S. 1946, M.S. 1949) – Cornell professor of electrical and computer engineering and Socialist mayor of Ithaca (1989–1995)
* Kenneth Nichols (B.S., M.S. civil engineering) – United States Army Major General and an engineer who worked on the Manhattan Project; member of the National Academy of Engineering (1968)
* Michael F. Nozzolio (Bachelor's ILR, Master's in Public Administration and Agricultural Economics) – former member of the New York State Assembly (1983–1992) and the New York State Senate (1993–)
* Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello (PhD 1994) – former Senate of Nigeria, Nigerian Senator (2007–2011); daughter of former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo
* William O'Brien (Minnesota politician), William O'Brien (attended 2 years, mechanical engineering) – member of the Minnesota House of Representatives (1963–1967), 11th Minnesota State Auditor (1969–1971)
* Napsiah Omar (B.S. Nutrition and Education) – Malaysian educator and politician
* Bill O'Neill (New Mexico politician), Bill O'Neill – member of the New Mexico Legislature (2009–)
* Pan Shih-wei, Shih-wei Pan (M.A. PhD ILR) – former Minister of Labor of the Republic of China
* John M. Paxton, Jr. (B.S. 1973, MEng 1974) – major general, United States Marine Corps, Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps
* Ralph Perlman (Bachelor's) – Louisiana state budget director, 1967–1988
* Charles Gilbert Peterson – Mayor of Lockport (city), New York, Lockport, New York; contractor
* Fred B. Pitcher (B.S. 1888) – New York State Senate, New York State Senator (1919–1922)
* Lim Chuan Poh (MBA 1993) – Singaporean civil servant and former army general who served as Chief of Army (1998–2000) and Chief of Defence Force (Singapore), Chief of Defence Force (2000–2003) of the Singapore Armed Forces
* Juan Carlos Esguerra Portocarrero (LL.M. 1973) – Minister of Ministry of National Defense (Colombia), National Defence of Colombia (1995–1997) and Ministry of Justice and Law (Colombia), Justice and Law of Colombia (2011–2012); Ambassador of Colombia to the United States (1997–1998)
* Roberto Prats (B.A. 1990 public political analysis and economics) – Senator of Puerto Rico
* Samuel Rabin – member of the New York State Assembly (1945–1954); New York Supreme Court Justice
* Charlie Rodríguez (B.A. 1976 in Government and History) – 11th president of the Senate of Puerto Rico (1997–2000)
* Martin Romualdez (B.A. 1985 government) – member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines (2007–)
* Anna Roosevelt Halsted (did not graduate) – daughter of U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt
* Chang San-cheng (PhD 1981) – Taiwanese politician who was Premier of the Republic of China from February 1, 2016 until May 20, 2016
* Joseph D. Scholtz (B.A. 1912) – Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky (1937–1941)
* Martha Schrader (B.A.) – member of the Oregon Senate (2009–2011); Clackamas County, Oregon Commissioner (2003–2009, 2012–)
* José Serra (M.A., PhD Economics) – Brazilian politician who served as a Brazil Congressman, Senator, Minister of Planning and Minister of Health, Mayor of São Paulo and Governor of São Paulo state
* Raj Shah (B.A. 2006 government) – principal deputy press secretary at The White House
* Miriam Shearing (B.A. philosophy) – Justice of the Supreme Court of Nevada (1993–2005)
* Joseph Simons (A.B. 1980 economics and history) – chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (2018–)
* Samuel S. Slater (B.L. and LL.B. 1894) – member of the New York State Assembly (1899–1900) and of the New York State Senate (1901–1902)
* Gayle Slossberg (B.S. 1987) – Connecticut Senate, Connecticut State Senator (2005–)
* William T. Smith (1938) – member of the New York State Senate (1963–1986)
* Robert Sopuck (M.S. 1975) – member of House of Commons of Canada, Canadian Parliament (2010–)
* Ellen Spiegel (B.S. 1984, consumer economics and public policy) – member of the Nevada Assembly (2008–)
* Karen Spilka (B.A.) – Massachusetts State Senator (2005–); member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives (2001–2005)
* David A. Stafford (B.A. 1917) – brigadier general in the United States Marine Corps
* Melanie Stansbury (M.S. 2007) – member of the New Mexico House of Representatives (2019–present)
* Thomas J. Surpless (1900) – member of the New York State Assembly (1906–1909)
* Gaye Symington (M.B.A. 1983) – member (1996–2009), Speaker (January 5, 2005 – January 8, 2009) of the Vermont House of Representatives
* Huang Ta-chou (PhD 1971 agriculture) – mayor of Taipei (1990–1994)
* Mamintal A.J. Tamano (LL.M. 1958) – Filipino statesman; former Senate of the Philippines, Senator of the Philippines
* Rick Taylor (Master's 1998 ILR) – member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (2007–2010)
* Martín Travieso (Law 1903) – member of the Puerto Rico Senate (1917–1921), Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico (1921–1923), 4th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico (1944–1948)
* James S. Truman (Ph.B. 1896, LL.B. 1898) – member of the New York State Senate (1925–1928)
* Tsay Ting-kuei, Ting-kuei Tsay (PhD 1982) – vice-chairman of Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration (Republic of China), Environmental Protection Administration, 2002–2004
* Wu Tsung-tsong (M.S. 1983, PhD 1987) – minister without portfolio, Executive Yuan, Republic of China (2016–)
* Alexander Vindman American foreign affairs specialist serving on the U.S. National Security Council as director for European Affairs
* William Wallace, Baron Wallace of Saltaire (PhD) – scholar and Liberal Democrat peer
* Andrew C. Weber – Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical & Biological Defense Programs; Obama administration
* Roy P. Wilcox (LL.B. 1897) – Wisconsin politician
* Henry D. Williams – member of the New York State Assembly (1918) and of the New York State Senate (1925–1930)
* Mitchell Van Yahres (B.S. 1949) – Mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia (1970–1972) and member of the Virginia House of Delegates (1981–2005)
* Frank L. Young (B.A. 1888) – member of the New York State Assembly (1909–1912); Justice of the New York Supreme Court (1922–1930)

Business

Founders

*James Altucher (B.S. 1989, Computer Science) - founder of Reset Inc., StockPickr
*Richard A. Baker (businessman), Richard Baker (B.S. 1988, hotel administration) – founder, president, and CEO of NRDC Equity Partners and Hudson's Bay Company, the owner of Saks Fifth Avenue, Gilt Groupe, Lord & Taylor, Hudson's Bay (retailer), The Bay, Home Outfitters, Zellers, and Fields (department store), Fields
* André Balazs (class of 1979) – hotelier and businessman
*Aldo Bensadoun (attended, transferred) – billionaire founder and executive chairman of the ALDO Group
*Amit Bhatia (B.S. 2001) – founder of Swordfish Investments; vice chairman of Queen's Park Rangers
*Wendell Brown (B.S. 1982) – co-founder of Teleo, eVoice, LiveOps, and Nularis
*Daniel Cane (B.S. 1997) – co-founder of Blackboard Inc.
*Willis Carrier (M.E. 1901) – founder of Carrier Corporation; inventor of air conditioning
* Gerald Cassidy (lobbyist), Gerald Cassidy (J.D. 1967) – co-founder and CEO of Cassidy & Associates
*Steve Conine (B.S. 1995) – billionaire co-founder of Wayfair
*Joseph Coors (B.Chem. 1939, chemical engineering 1940) – co-founder of The Heritage Foundation
*Mac Cummings (B.A. 2001) – co-founder of Terakeet Corporation; director of Internet Finance
*Tom Dinwoodie (B.S. 1978, civil and environmental engineering) – Cleantech entrepreneur, inventor, and founder of SunPower, SunPower Corporation Systems (formerly PowerLight Corporation)
*Ira Drukier (B.S. 1966 engineering) – hotelier and philanthropist, who donated US$25 million in December 2014 to establish the Drukier Institute for Children's Health at the Weill Cornell Medical College
*David Duffield (B.E.E. 1962, M.B.A. 1964) – billionaire co-founder of PeopleSoft and Workday, Inc., Workday
*John S. Dyson (B.S. 1965) – creator of the "I Love NY" campaign; owner of Millbrook Vineyards and Winery
*David Edgerton (B.A. 1947, hotel administration) – co-founder of Burger King Corporation
*David Einhorn (hedge fund manager), David Einhorn (B.A. 1991) – founder and president of Greenlight Capital; billionaire hedge fund manager
*Chuck Feeney (B.S. 1956 hotel administration) – co-founder of DFS Group, Duty Free Shoppers Group; founder and director of Atlantic Philanthropies; founder of General Atlantic; billionaire philanthropist who has given away more than $8 billion
*Russell W. Galbut (B.S. 1974 hotel administration) – co-founder of Crescent Heights, a real estate development company
*Frank Gannett (B.A. 1898) – founder of Gannett, the largest U.S. newspaper publisher; namesake of Gannett Health Center
* Art Gensler (BArch 1958) – founder and chairman of Gensler
*Stephen Gilfus (B.S. 1997) – co-founder of Blackboard Inc. sold to Providence Equity for $1.6 billion.
*Paul Graham (computer programmer), Paul Graham (B.A.) – co-founder of Viaweb, sold for $46.6 million to Yahoo! and became Yahoo! Stores; Lisp programming language, Lisp programmer, author, founder of Y-Combinator
*Leroy Grumman (B.S. 1916 mechanical engineering) – founder of Grumman, Grumman Aerospace Corporation; recipient of the Medal for Merit (1948)
*Myra Hart (B.A. 1962, M.B.A. 1981, trustee, 1999–) – one of four co-founders of Staples, Inc.; professor at Harvard Business School
*Jeff Hawkins (B.S. 1979 electrical engineering) – founder of Palm, Inc. and Handspring (pda), Handspring; inventor of the Palm (PDA), Palm Pilot; member of the National Academy of Engineering (2003)
*Christopher Hemmeter (B.S. 1962, hotel administration) – founder and chairman of Hemmeter Companies
*Irwin M. Jacobs (B.E.E. 1956) – billionaire, co-founder and chairman of Qualcomm; UCSD and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT engineering professor, pioneer of CDMA wireless technology, philanthropist; recipient of numerous awards including National Medal of Technology and Innovation (1994), Marconi Prize (2011), IEEE Medal of Honor (2013); member of the National Academy of Engineering (1982)
*Stephen A. Jarislowsky (B.S. 1946 mechanical engineering) – billionaire businessman and philanthropist; founder, chairman, and CEO of Jarislowsky Fraser Limited
*Seth Klarman (B.A. 1979) – founder and chairman of the Baupost Group; hedge fund manager, billionaire
*Jules Kroll (B.A. 1963) – founder of Kroll Inc. and the modern investigations, intelligence, and security industry; responsible for tracking the assets of Jean-Claude Duvalier, Ferdinand Marcos, Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, and Saddam Hussein
*Robert S. Langer (B.S. 1970, chemical engineering) – founder of Moderna
*David Litman (1979, 1982) – founder and CEO of Hotels.com
*Yossi Maiman – founder and owner of the Merhav Group, shareholder of the East Mediterranean Gas Company, and former chairman, chief executive officer and president of the Ampal-American Israel Corporation
*James McLamore (B.A. 1947, hotel administration) – co-founder of Burger King Corporation
*Gary Mendell (B.S. 1979 hotel administration) – founder, chairman, and CEO of HEI Hotels & Resorts
*Robert Warren Miller (B.S. 1955, hotel administration) – billionaire co-founder of DFS Group, Duty Free Shoppers Group
*Howard Milstein (B.A. 1973) – billionaire real estate developer, financier, and philanthropist; chairman, president and chief executive officer of New York Private Bank & Trust
*Jeff Morgan (B.S. City and Regional Planning) – founder of Global Heritage Fund
*Rohan Murty (B.S. Computer Science) – founder of Murty Classical Library of India
*Floyd R. Newman (B.S. 1912 chemistry) – founder of Allied Oil Company of Cleveland
*Drew Nieporent (B.S. 1977 hotel administration) – founder of Myriad Restaurant Group
*Franklin W. Olin (B.C.E. 1886) – founder of Olin Corporation; gave gift to build Olin Hall in memory of his son Franklin W. Olin, Jr.
*John M. Olin (B.S. 1913 chemistry) – founder of John M. Olin Foundation, president, Olin Corporation; namesake of Olin Library
*Spencer Truman Olin (B.S. 1921 mechanical engineering) – industrialist and philanthropist; an executive of the Olin Corporation; Republican Party (United States), Republican Party leader
*Peter Busch Orthwein (B.S. 1968, MBA 1969) – co-founder and chairman of Thor Industries
*Nathaniel A. Owings – founding partner of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, SOM)
* James Rockwell (B.S. 1904 engineering) – architect and president of Meralco
*Harris Rosen (B.S. 1961 hotel administration) – founder of Rosen Hotels and Resorts; major donor of Rosen College of Hospitality Management (which was renamed due to his major donation)
*Rob Ryan (entrepreneur), Rob Ryan (B.A. 1969) – founder and chairman of Ascend Communications
*William Sanders (businessman), William Sanders (B.S. 1964) – founder of LaSalle Partners (later merged to form Jones Lang LaSalle); founder and chairman of Security Capital Group Incorporated; former chairman of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT)
*Niraj Shah (born 1973/74) (B.S. 1995) – billionaire CEO and co-founder of Wayfair
*Leonard Schleifer (B.S. 1970) – founder and CEO of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals; billionaire
*Seth M. Siegel (B.S. 1974, J. D. 1978) – founder of The Beanstalk Group
*Robert F. Smith (investor), Robert F. Smith (B.S. chemical engineering) – billionaire investor; founder, chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners; ranked by ''Forbes'' in 2015 as 268th richest man in America, and the second wealthiest African-American
*Elmer Ambrose Sperry – founder of Sperry Corporation, known for his invention of Gyrostabilizer and the Gyrocompass; recipient of John Fritz Medal (1927) and Elliott Cresson Medal from the Franklin Institute (1929), member of the National Academy of Sciences (1925)
*Clarence W. Spicer (engineering student) – founder of what is now Dana Holding Corporation; engineer, inventor, known for invention of Universal joint; inductee into the Automotive Hall of Fame
*John A. Swanson (B.S. 1962, M.S. 1963) – founder of ANSYS and John Fritz Medal winner; member of the National Academy of Engineering (2009)
*Jake Swirbul (attended) – co-founder of Grumman, Grumman Aerospace Corporation
*Michael Tien (B.S. 1972 electrical engineering) – founder and chairman of the apparel retail company G2000
*Robert Tishman, Robert V. Tishman (1937) – founder of Tishman Speyer Properties
*Robert I. Toll (B.A. 1963) – billionaire, co-founder of Toll Brothers
*Deena Varshavskaya – founder and CEO of Wanelo
* Tien Tzuo (B.S. 1990 electrical engineering) – founder and CEO of Zuora
*Jay S. Walker, Jay Walker (B.S. 1977 industrial relations) – founder of Priceline.com; founder and chairman of Walker Digital, billionaire on Forbes list of the world's billionaires ($1.6 billion in 2000)
*Colston Warne (bachelor's 1920, master's 1921 economics) – co-founder of the Consumers Union and its ''Consumer Reports'' monthly magazine and served as its president for 43 years; professor of economics at Amherst College (1930–1969)
*Sanford I. Weill (B.A. 1955 government) – billionaire, former chairman and CEO of Citigroup; founder of Shearson Loeb Rhoades, sold for $930 million to American Express; namesake of Weill Cornell Medical College
*David Welch (optical engineer), David F. Welch (PhD 1985 electrical engineering) – co-founder, president of Infinera, Infinera Corp; member of the National Academy of Engineering (2016)
*Justin DuPratt White (1890) – co-founder of White & Case law firm; trustee of the Cornell University Board of Trustees (1928–1939)
*Robin Wolaner (B.S. 1975 industrial and labor relations) – founder of ''Parenting Magazine''
*John Zimmer (B.S. 2006 hotel administration) – co-founder and COO of Zimride; co-founder and president of Lyft

Chairpersons, CEOs, and executives

* Keith Barr (businessman), Keith Barr (B.S. 1992 hotel administration) – CEO of InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) (2017–)
* Carl Bass (B.A. 1983 mathematics) – former CEO and president of Autodesk (2006–2017)
* Al Bernardin (1952) – creator of the McDonald's Quarter Pounder; former vice president of Product Development for McDonald's
* Mark Bertolini (MBA 1984) – CEO and president of Aetna
* Jeffrey Bleustein (B.S. 1960, B.M.E 1961) – chairman and former CEO of Harley Davidson
* Joseph H. Boardman (B.S. agriculture economics) – president and CEO of Amtrak (2008–2016), 11th Federal Railroad Administration, Federal Railroad Administrator (2005–2008), New York State New York State Department of Transportation, Commissioner of Transportation (1997–2005)
* Val A. Browning (B.S. 1917) – president of Browning Arms Company, American soldier in WWI
* Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. (undergrad 1906–09, dropped out) – president (1940–48) and chairman (1948–62) of DuPont
* Abby Joseph Cohen (B.A. 1973 economics and computer science, trustee) – partner and Senior Investment Strategist of Goldman Sachs; president of Global Markets Institute (GMI), Goldman Sachs
* Jennie Chua (B.S. 1971, hotel administration) – CEO of Capitaland, Capitaland Residential, former CEO of Raffles Holdings
* Heather Cho (B.S. 1999, hotel) – former VP of Korean Air, fired after Nut Rage incident
* Adolph Coors II (B.A. 1907) – second president of Coors Brewing Company
* Pete Coors (B.S. 1969 industrial engineering) – executive of Coors Brewing Company; Senatorial candidate, 2004
* Luciano Coutinho (PhD economics) – president of the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES)
* Eric Daniels (B.A. 1973) – former CEO of Lloyds Banking Group
* Alonzo G. Decker, Jr. (B.S. 1929 electrical engineering) – former president, CEO and chairman of the board of Black & Decker; known for developing power tools for use in home, including the first cordless electric drill
* Kenneth T. Derr (B.S. 1959 mechanical engineering, M.B.A. 1960, trustee) – chairman and CEO of Chevron Corporation, Chevron, 1989–99
* Dave Dombrowski (undergrad 1974–75, transferred) – president, CEO, and general manager of the Detroit Tigers
* Jennifer Dulski (B.A., MBA) – president and chief operating officer of Change.org
* Henry D. Edelman (J.D. 1973) – president and CEO of Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac) (1989–2008)
* Reggie Fils-Aimé (B.S. 1983 applied economics) – president and COO of Nintendo of America (2006–2019)
* Stephen Friedman (PFIAB), Stephen Friedman (B.A. 1959; trustee, 1993–) – chairman of The Goldman Sachs, Goldman Sachs Group, 1990–94; chairman of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (2005–09); former Assistant for Economic Policy to President George W. Bush (2002–04); director of the United States National Economic Council, 2003–04
* J. Patrick Gallagher Jr (B.A. government) – president, CEO and chairman of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
* Pawan Kumar Goenka – managing director of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, an Indian multinational automobile manufacturing corporation headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India; chairman of SsangYong Motor Company in Korea
* Harvey Golub (attended 1956–1958) – president (1991–1993), chairman and CEO (1993–2001) of American Express; chairman of the board at the Campbell Soup Company (2004–2009); chairman of the American International Group (AIG) (2009–2010); chairman of the board of Advisors of Miller Buckfire (2011–)
* Byron Grote (PhD 1981 quantitative analysis) – chief financial officer of BP
* Rajiv L. Gupta, Raj Gupta (M.S. 1969 operations research) – chairman, CEO and president of Rohm and Haas, chairman of Delphi Automotive (2015–)
* Robert Harrison (financier), Robert Harrison (B.A. 1976 government) – CEO of the Clinton Global Initiative and Cornell University Board of Trustees, chairman of the Cornell University Board of Trustees; Rhodes Scholarship, Rhodes Scholar
* Dan Hesse (MBA 1977) – CEO of Sprint Nextel
* Matthew Hiltzik (B.S. 1994, ILR) – president and CEO of Hiltzik Strategies, a strategic consulting and communications firm
* D. Brainerd Holmes (B.S. 1943 electrical engineering) – best known for directing NASA's crewed spaceflight program from September 1961 to June 1963; president of Raytheon (1976–1986) and chairman of Beechcraft; member of the National Academy of Engineering (1977)
* F. Kenneth Iverson (1946, aeronautical engineering) – president of Nucor, Nucor Steel (1967–1998); inductee into the American Metal Market Steel Hall and the American National Business Hall of Fame; recipient of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation (1991) and member of the National Academy of Engineering (1994)
* Walter Johnsen, Walter C. Johnsen (B.S 1973, Master of Engineering (chemical) 1974) – chairman and CEO of Acme United Corporation
* Robert D. Kennedy (B.S. 1954 mechanical engineering) – chairman, president and CEO of Union Carbide (1986–1995)
* Shaygan Kheradpir (bachelor's, master's and doctorate 1979–1987 electrical engineering) – CEO of Juniper Networks
* Jeff Jacobson (CEO), Jeff Jacobson (M.S. ILR) – CEO of Xerox Corporation (2017–)
* Ken Jautz (B.A.) – executive vice president of CNN; former foreign correspondent for the Associated Press; former CNN bureau chief in Germany
* Herbert Fisk Johnson, Jr. (B.A. 1922 chemistry) – president of S. C. Johnson & Son; benefactor and namesake of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art on campus
* Herbert Fisk Johnson III (5 Cornell degrees 1979–86) – billionaire, CEO of S. C. Johnson & Son; benefactor and Trustee Emeritus of Cornell
* Samuel Curtis Johnson, Jr. (B.A. 1950 economics) – billionaire, chairman of S. C. Johnson & Son; benefactor and co-namesake of the S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management
* S. Curtis Johnson (B.S. 1977) – billionaire, former chairman of Diversey, Inc., Diversey
* Helen Johnson-Leipold (B.A. 1978 psychology) – billionaire businesswoman; chairman of Johnson Financial Group, chairman and CEO of Johnson Outdoors
* Winnie Johnson-Marquart (B.S. 1981) – billionaire, president of the Johnson Family Foundation
* Thomas W. Jones (B.A. 1969, M.R.P. 1972, trustee) – principal of TWJ Capital LLC
* Paul Joskow, Paul L. Joskow (B.A. 1968) – president of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation since 2008, economist
* Charles F. Knight (1957, MBA 1959) – chairman (1974–2004), CEO (1973–2000) and president (1986–1988, 1995–1997) of Emerson Electric Company
* Douglas Leone (B.S. 1979 mechanical engineering) – venture capitalist and a partner at Sequoia Capital; billionaire
* Oscar G. Mayer, Jr. (1934) – chairman of Oscar Mayer
* Timothy Mayopoulos (B.A. 1980) – president and CEO of Fannie Mae (2012–2018)
* Lowell McAdam (M.E. 1976) – chairman and CEO of Verizon
* Mary Meeker (MBA 1986 finance) – venture capitalist and former Wall Street securities analyst
* Peter C. Meinig (B.M.E 1962) – chairman and CEO of HM International, LLC
* Charles N. Mills (B.S. 1983, MBA 1984) – CEO of Medline Industries (1997–)
* Jon R. Moeller (B.S. 1986, MBA 1988) – CFO of Procter & Gamble
* Brian A. Murdock (B.S. 1978 economics) – president and CEO of Strategic Investment Group (2014–) and former chairman and CEO of TD Asset Management (2009–2013)
* Thomas Murphy (broadcasting), Thomas Murphy (B.S. 1945) – former chairman and CEO of Capital Cities Communications, Capital Cities/American Broadcasting Company, ABC, Inc.; Television Hall of Fame, NATPE Lifetime Achievement Award (1996)
* Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos (B.A. 1985) - President and COO of Flag Luxury Group
* Lubna Olayan (B.S. 1977) – CEO of the Olayan Financing Company, the holding entity for the Olayan Group's operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Middle East
* Salil Parekh (M.E.) – CEO and managing director of Infosys (2018–)
* James Wentworth Parker (class of 1908) – president and general manager of DTE Electric Company, Detroit Edison Company (1943–1951) and of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (1942–1943)
* William D. Perez (B.A. 1969 government) – CEO of Wm. Wrigley, Jr. Company, CEO of Nike, Inc., 2004–06
* Victor Peng (MEng, electrical engineering) – president and CEO of Xilinx (2018–)
* Sandi Peterson (B.A.) – Group Worldwide chairman for Johnson & Johnson
* Joseph N. Pew, Jr. (M.E. 1908) – vice president (1912–1947) and chairman (1947–1963) of Sun Oil Company; founder of The Pew Charitable Trusts; namesake of Pew Engineering Quad
* James Pitaro (B.S. 1991) – president of ESPN
* Georges Plassat – chairman and chief executive officer of Carrefour (2012–2017)
* Lewis Platt (B.S. 1964 mechanical engineering) – CEO of Hewlett-Packard (1992–99); chairman of Boeing, 2003–05
* Michael B. Polk (B.S. IEOR) – CEO of Newell Brands (2011–)
* Robert Purcell – chairman of Cornell University Board of Trustees (1968–1978)
* Justin Rattner (B.S. 1970 electrical engineering, M.S. 1972 computer science) – chief technology officer of Intel, ABC News Person of the Week for his work on the ASCI Red system (fastest computer in the world, 1996–2000), ''R&D Magazine''s "Scientist of the Year", 1989
* Bruce S. Raynor (B.S. 1972 industrial & labor relations) – president of UNITE HERE
* Kevin Reilly (executive), Kevin Reilly (B.A. 1984) – president of NBC Entertainment (2004–2007), president (2007–2012) and chairman (2012–2014) of entertainment at Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox, president of TBS (U.S. TV channel), TBS and TNT (U.S. TV network), TNT (2014–)
* Irene Rosenfeld (B.S. 1975, M.S. 1977, PhD 1980) – CEO and chairwoman of Kraft Foods
* Frank Rosenfelt (LL.B. 1950) – former CEO of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Studio
* Jon Rubinstein (B.S. 1978, MEng 1979) – CEO of Palm, Inc., Apple Inc., Apple SVP 1997–2006; member of the National Academy of Engineering (2005)
* Demir Sabancı (MBA 1999) – Turkish entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and philanthropist
* Joe Saddi (MBA 1983) – chairman of Booz & Company
* Vicki Saporta (class of 1974) – president and CEO of the National Abortion Federation (1995–)
* Robert Selander (B.S. 1972) – president and CEO of MasterCard (1997–2010)
* Daniel Schwartz (B.S. 2001 applied economics and management) – CEO of Restaurant Brands International (Burger King Corporation)
* Steven Sinofsky (B.A. 1987) – president of Microsoft Windows, Windows and Windows Live Engineering at Microsoft
* Charles E. Sporck (B.M.E. 1950) – microelectronics pioneer; co-founded the Semiconductor Industry Association; CEO and president of National Semiconductor (1967–1991)
* Suh Kyung-bae, Kyung-Bae Suh (M.B.A. 1987) – billionaire, chairman, CEO and owner of Amorepacific Corporation
* Larry Tanenbaum (B.S. 1968) – chairman of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment
* Ratan Tata (BArch 1962) – billionaire, chairman of Tata Group, India's wealthiest business group, 1991–2012
* Myron Charles Taylor (LL.B. 1894) – chairman and CEO of U.S. Steel (1932–38); namesake of Taylor Hall; Medal for Merit recipient
* Walter C. Teagle (B.S. 1899, trustee, 1924–54) – president and chairman of Standard Oil of New Jersey (now ExxonMobil); namesake of Teagle Hall
* Andrew Tisch (B.S. 1971, hotel administration) – chairman of Loews Corporation
* James S. Tisch (B.A. 1975) – CEO of Loews Corporation
* Fred Tomczyk (B.S. 1977) – CEO of TD Ameritrade; former president and chief executive officer of London Life Insurance Company
* Arnold Tremere – executive director, government official (Canadian International Grains Institute)
* Rick Tsai (PhD 1981) – CEO of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company
* Harold Uris (B.S. 1925, trustee 1967–1972) – real estate investor and builder; namesake of Uris Hall
* Sophie Vandebroek (PhD) – chief technology officer of Xerox and president of Xerox Innovation Group (2006–)
* Randi Weingarten (B.S. 1980 ILR) - president of the United Federation of Teachers (1998−2008) and of the American Federation of Teachers (2008−)
* Barry Weiss – chairman and CEO of Island Def Jam and Universal Motown Republic
* Stephen H. Weiss (class of 1957) – an American investment banker, philanthropist, and former chairman of the Cornell University Board of Trustees (1989–1997)
* Tim Wentworth (B.S. ILR) – CEO and president of Express Scripts (2016–)
* Mark Whitacre (PhD nutritional biochemistry) – COO of Cypress Systems
* Fuganto Widjaja (B.A. 2003) – Indonesian billionaire businessman
* Lynton Wilson (M.A. economics) – president and CEO of Redpath Sugar, Redpath Industries Ltd. (1981–1988); vice-chairman of the Bank of Nova Scotia; at various times president, COO, CEO, and chairman of the board of BCE Inc. (1990–2000); president and CEO of BCE Inc. (1992–1993); chairman of Nortel, Nortel Networks (2000–2005); chairman of CAE Inc.; chancellor of McMaster University (2007–2013); Officer of the Order of Canada; recipient of honorary degrees from six Canadian universities
* Dennis Woodside (B.S. 1991) – CEO of Motorola Mobility; president of Google America
* Teddy Zee (B.S. 1979) – Film Producer/Media & Technology Executive
* Robert D. Ziff (J.D. 1992) – billionaire co-CEO of Ziff Brothers Investments
* Stephen Zinser – American-born, London-based hedge fund manager who co-founded the European Credit Management, a financial firm based in London, and served as its CEO

Natural sciences and related fields

See: List of Cornell University alumni (natural sciences).

Social sciences

Anthropology and sociology

* Carol Aneshensel (B.S., M.A., PhD) – sociologist; professor and vice chair for the Department of Community Health Sciences in the School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles
* Sarah T. Barrows (M.A. 1893) - American phonetician, phonetics pioneer
* Edward Bernays (B.S. 1912 agriculture) – public relations practitioner, author of ''Propaganda (book), Propaganda''
* Ken Blanchard (B.A. 1961, PhD 1967) – management consultant, co-author of ''The One Minute Manager''
* Alfred Blumstein (B.A., PhD) – criminologist and former dean of the Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University; member of the National Academy of Engineering (1998)
* Aaron Cicourel (PhD) – professor emeritus of sociology at the University of California, San Diego; fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1992) and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1982)
* Kimberlé Crenshaw (B.A. 1981): founder of critical race theory, highly influential black feminist and race theorist
* Harry Edwards (sociologist), Harry Edwards (PhD 1970) – sociologist noted for work on race and sports, Professor Emeritus at University of California, Berkeley
* Shelly Errington (M.A., PhD) – cultural anthropologist and a professor of anthropology at the University of California, Santa Cruz; MacArthur Fellow (1981)
* Diana E. Forsythe (PhD 1974) – anthropologist at the University of California, San Francisco noted for her work on artificial intelligence and medical informatics
* Daniel Foss, Daniel A. Foss (B.A.) – sociologist, author of ''Beyond Revolution: A New Theory of Social Movements'' (1986), ''Freak Culture: Life Style and Politics'' (1972)
* Ward Goodenough (B.A. 1940) – anthropologist at the University of Pennsylvania; member of the National Academy of Sciences (1971), fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1975)
* Sabine Hyland (B.A. 1986) – anthropologist; Professor of World Christianity at the University of St Andrews known for her studies on Quipu, khipus and religion in Peru; Guggenheim Fellowship, Guggenheim Fellow (2019)
* Suzanne Maman – social scientist and HIV/AIDS researcher
* Erik Mueggler (B.A.) – anthropologist; professor at the University of Michigan; MacArthur Fellow (2002)
* John Naisbitt (graduate study) – best-selling writer in the area of futures studies
* Tom Peters (B.C.E. 1965, M.C.E. 1966) – business management motivational guru
* Mary Racelis (B.A. 1954) – anthropologist; sociologist; professor at Ateneo de Manila University and University of the Philippines Diliman; UNICEF Regional Director in Eastern and Southern Africa (1983–1992)
* David M. Schneider (B.S. 1940, M.S. 1941) – cultural anthropologist known for his studies of kinship; former William B. Ogden Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in Anthropology, and chairman of Anthropology (1963–1966) at the University of Chicago
* G. William Skinner (B.A. 1947, PhD 1954) – anthropologist and sinologist best known for his delineation of the physiographic macroregions of China; member of the National Academy of Sciences (1980)
* Julian Steward (B.A. 1925 zoology and biology) – anthropologist best known for his development of a scientific theory of cultural evolution; member of the National Academy of Sciences (1954)
* Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah (PhD 1954) – Social anthropology, social anthropologist and Esther and Sidney Rabb Professor (Emeritus) of Anthropology at Harvard University; recipient of Balzan Prize (1997) and Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize (1998); member of the National Academy of Sciences (1994)
* Mildred Bertha Thurow Tate (PhD 1935) Rural sociology, rural sociologist
* Brackette Williams (B.S. 1973) – anthropologist; MacArthur Fellow (1997)

Economics

* Alice Amsden (B.A. 1965) – Barton L. Weller Professor of Political Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1999–2012)
* Luc Anselin (M.A. 1979, PhD 1980) – one of the principal developers of the field of spatial econometrics; member of the National Academy of Sciences (2008) and fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2011)
* Hugh E. Conway – labor economist, college professor, and construction industry expert
* Maureen L. Cropper (M.A. 1972, PhD 1973 economics) – distinguished university professor at the University of Maryland, College Park; member of the National Academy of Sciences (2008)
* Frank Fetter (M.A. 1892 philosophy) – economist who served as president of the American Economic Association (1912–1913); member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
* Austin Frakt (B.S. 1994) – health care economist; founder of The Incidental Economist
* Robert Gilpin (M.S. 1954) – scholar of international political economy, professor emeritus of Politics and International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
* Claudia Goldin (B.A. magna cum laude 1968) – economist; member of the National Academy of Sciences (2006)
* Sanjeev Goyal (M.A. 1989, PhD 1990 economics) – professor of economics, University of Cambridge and a fellow of the British Academy
* Ricardo Hausmann (PhD 1981) – former Venezuelan Minister and ex-Chairman of the IMF – World Bank Development Committee
* Charles Henry Hull (1886) – economist and historian; former dean of the College of Arts of Cornell University
* Paul Joskow, Paul L. Joskow (B.A. 1968) – economist, distinguished fellow of the American Economic Association, fellow of the Econometric Society and Industrial Organization Society and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Elizabeth and James Killian Professor of Economics, Emeritus at MIT, past department chair of MIT Department of Economics; current president of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation since 2008
* Ehud Kalai (M.S. 1971, PhD 1972) – game theorist, mathematical economist, and James J. O’Connor Distinguished Professor of Decision and Game Sciences at Northwestern University; Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Econometric Society
* Edwin W. Kemmerer (PhD 1903) – economist at Princeton University who served as president of the American Economic Association (1926), known internationally as "The Money Doctor"; fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1934)
* Frank H. Knight (PhD 1916) – influential scholar-economist, one of the original leaders of the "Chicago school (economics), Chicago School" of economic theory
* Alan Krueger (B.S. 1983) – labor economist and former chief economist for the US Department of Labor; chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, 2011–2013
* John Williams Mellor (BSc 1950; MSc 1951; PhD)
* Sendhil Mullainathan (B.A. 1993) – behavioral economist at Harvard, co-founder of Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, MIT Poverty Action Lab, MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" recipient (2002), Infosys Prize (social sciences) recipient (2018)
* Edwin Griswold Nourse (1906) – agricultural economist; first chairman of the US Council of Economic Advisers (1946–49); president of the American Economic Association (1942) and vice president of the Brookings Institution; Guggenheim Fellows; Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1934)
* George Rea (1915) – first paid president of the American Stock Exchange, New York Curb Exchange
* Thorstein Veblen (graduate study 1891–92, transferred) – economist, author of ''The Theory of the Leisure Class''

Government

* Benedict Anderson (PhD 1967) – Aaron L. Binenkorb Professor Emeritus of International Studies, Government & Asian Studies at Cornell University; best known for his book ''Imagined Communities''
* 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
* George Friedman (PhD 1976) – director of the political analysis and forecasting think tank Stratfor; author of ''The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century'' (2009)
* Everett Carll Ladd (PhD) – political scientist; director of the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at the University of Connecticut
* John Mearsheimer (PhD 1980) – international relations theorist and Professor of Political Science at University of Chicago; known for his book on offensive realism, ''The Tragedy of Great Power Politics'' and his ''New York Times'' best-seller ''The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy''
* Ruth McVey (PhD 1961) – co-author, Cornell Paper
* Suzanne Mettler (PhD 1994) – American political scientist and author
* Lee Poh Ping (PhD 1974) - Malaysian political scientist at the University of Malaya; prominent contributor to the field of international relations and Japanese studies in Malaysia
* Stephen Skowronek (PhD 1979) – Pelatiah Perit Professor of political and social science at Yale
* William Irwin Thompson (PhD 1966; professor) – cultural historian, social critic, poet, philosopher of science
* Wang Shaoguang (PhD 1990) – Chinese political scientist and leading member of the Chinese New Left; professor at Chinese University of Hong Kong
* James Weinstein (author), James Weinstein (B.A. 1949 government) – author and publisher of ''In These Times''

Psychology

* John Wallace Baird (PhD 1902 psychology) – Canadian psychologist who served as the 27th president of the American Psychological Association (1918)
* I. Madison Bentley (PhD 1899) – 34th president of the American Psychological Association (1925–1926); former faculty member and department chair of the Psychology Department at Cornell University
* Edwin Boring, Edwin G. Boring (1908, PhD 1915 psychology; instructor of psychology 1913–1918) – experimental psychologist and historian of psychology; president of the American Psychological Association (1928), member of the National Academy of Sciences (1932)
* Urie Bronfenbrenner (B.A. 1938 psychology and music; Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Human development (psychology), Human Development and Psychology) – psychologist, pioneer in developmental psychology (Ecological Systems Theory), founder of the field of human ecology; co-founder of national Head Start Program, Head Start program
* Joyce Brothers (B.S. 1947) – author, psychologist, and television personality
* Karl M. Dallenbach (PhD 1913; faculty member 1916–1948) – experimental psychologist and editor of the American Journal of Psychology
* John E. Exner (PhD 1958 clinical psychology) – psychologist known for Rorschach test, Exner system of scoring
* J. P. Guilford (PhD 1927) – psychologist at the University of Southern California who served as the president of the American Psychological Association (1950); member of the National Academy of Sciences (1954)
* Suzanne Bennett Johnson (B.A. 1970 psychology) – psychologist who served as the president of the American Psychological Association (2012)
* James Maas (M.A., PhD; Professor of Psychology) – psychologist, coined the term "power nap"
* Abraham Maslow (undergrad 1928–29, transferred) – psychologist best known for Maslow's hierarchy of needs; president of the American Psychological Association (1968)
* Helen Neville (PhD Neuropsychology) – psychologist and neuroscientist at the University of Oregon; member of the National Academy of Sciences (2014); fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the American Psychological Society
* Frank Parsons (school counselor), Frank Parsons (B.S. civil engineering) – founder of the field of vocational psychology.
* Walter Bowers Pillsbury (PhD 1896) – psychologist who was on faculty with the University of Michigan for his entire career; president of the American Psychological Association (1910–1911), member of the National Academy of Sciences (1925)
* Frank Rosenblatt (A.B. 1950, PhD 1956) – psychologist in the field of artificial intelligence; inventor of the perceptron algorithm.
* Elizabeth Spelke (PhD) – cognitive psychologist; psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, MIT and Harvard University; fellow of the Society of Experimental Psychologists, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science; member of the National Academy of Sciences; recipient of the 2009 Jean Nicod Prize
* Robert Spitzer (psychiatrist), Robert Spitzer (B.A. 1953 psychology) – professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, known for modernizing classification of mental disorders and recognizing homosexuality as a non-mental disorder
* Louis Leon Thurstone (Master of Mechanical Engineering 1912) – pioneer in the fields of psychometrics and psychophysics; He conceived the approach to measurement known as the law of comparative judgment, and is well known for his contributions to factor analysis; president of the American Psychological Association (1933); co-founder and first president of the Psychometric Society (1936); Fellow of the American Statistical Association and member of the National Academy of Sciences (1938)
* Margaret Floy Washburn (PhD 1894) – psychologist, first female PhD in psychology; president of the American Psychological Association (1921–1922); member of the National Academy of Sciences (1931)

Humanities

Philosophy

* Marilyn McCord Adams (PhD 1967) – philosopher; Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences (2015)
* Francis Fukuyama (B.A.) – philosopher, political economist, and professor at Johns Hopkins University
* Edmund Gettier – philosopher and professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Amherst; owes his reputation to a single three-page paper published in 1963 called "Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?"
* Matthew Kramer (B.A. 1981, philosophy) – philosopher, professor of Legal and Political Philosophy at the University of Cambridge; Fellow of the British Academy (2014); Guggenheim Fellow (2001–2002)
* John Warwick Montgomery (A.B. 1952) – lawyer, professor, theologian and academic known for his work in the field of Christian apologetics
* Thomas Nagel (B.A. 1958) – philosopher, author of ''What is it like to be a bat?'' and Balzan Prize recipient (2008)
* George Ashton Oldham (A.B. 1902) – Episcopal bishop, peace activist, and writer
* Dominik Perler (visiting scholar 1991–1992) – professor of philosophy at the Humboldt University of Berlin; Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize recipient (2005)
* John Perry (philosopher), John Perry (PhD 1968) – Henry Waldgrave Stuart Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Stanford University and Distinguished Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at the University of California, Riverside; Jean Nicod Prize laureate (1999); member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2002) and of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
* David H. Sanford (PhD 1966) – professor of philosophy at Duke University
* J. B. Schneewind (B.A.) – professor emeritus of Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University, former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh and former provost of Hunter College City University of New York, CUNY; fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
* May Gorslin Preston Slosson (PhD 1880) – suffragist, first woman in the United States to get her PhD in philosophy
* Samuel Weber (PhD 1960) – Avalon Foundation Professor of Humanities at Northwestern University; professor at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland
* Jessica Wilson (PhD 2001) – professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto
* Paul Ziff (B.F.A. 1949, PhD 1951) – artist and philosopher specializing in semantics and aesthetics

Literature

*
* Diane Ackerman (M.F.A. 1973 poetry, M.A. 1976, PhD 1978) – author, poet, and naturalist
* Gerald Taiaiake Alfred (M.S. 1992, PhD 1994) – scholar, author, and adviser to indigenous nations
* Melissa Bank (M.F.A. 1998) – best-selling author; ''The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing'', a bestseller in both the United States and the United Kingdom, and ''The Wonder Spot'', a novel, have been translated into over thirty languages
* Morris Bishop (B.A. 1913, M.A. 1914, PhD 1926; Professor of Romance Literature) – biographer, author, humorist, wrote the preeminent history of the university, A History of Cornell
* Harold Bloom (B.A. 1951) – literary and cultural scholar-critic; Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University; MacArthur Fellow (1985)
* Susan Brownmiller (B.A. 1956) – feminist author and activist
* Louis Bromfield (1914–1916 agriculture) – Pulitzer Prize winner for best novel for ''Early Autumn'' (1927) and pioneer of innovative scientific farming concepts
* Pearl S. Buck (M.F.A. 1924) – author, novelist, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1932 and Nobel Prize in Literature in 1938
* NoViolet Bulawayo (M.F.A. 2010) – Zimbabwean author of ''We Need New Names''
* Murray Burnett (B.A. 1931) – author of the play ''Everybody Comes to Rick's'', which was turned into the film ''Casablanca (film), Casablanca''
* George Lincoln Burr (B.A. 1881; John Stambaugh Professor of History 1888–?) – U.S. historian, diplomat, author, and educator
* Fiona Cheong (B.A. English; M.F.A. Creative Writing) – author of ''The Scent of the Gods'', nominated for a National Book Award (1991)
* 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; MacArthur Fellowship (2012)
* Alice Dunbar-Nelson (attended 1907–1908) – poet, journalist, political activist, Harlem Renaissance influence
* Jane Duran – Cuban-born poet, recipient of the Forward Poetry Prize (1995) and the Cholmondeley Award (2005)
* Barry Eisler (J.D. 1989) – author, novelist
* Sarah Elbert (B.A 1965, M.A 1966, PhD 1974) – scholar
* 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) – author from the Harlem Renaissance
* Nick Fowler (B.A. 1989) – musician, poet, author, ''A Thing (or Two) About Curtis and Camilla
* Alice Fulton (M.F.A. 1982; Ann S. Bowers Distinguished Professor of English) – poet, author, feminist, MacArthur Fellow (1991)
* William H. Gass (PhD 1954 philosophy) – author, essayist
* C. S. Giscombe (M.F.A. 1975) – poet and professor of English at University of California, Berkeley; recipient of American Book Award for ''Prairie Style '' (2008)
* Martin Hägglund (PhD 2009 comparative literature) – literary theorist, philosopher
* Lynne Hanley (B.A. English) – literary critic
* E. D. Hirsch (B.A., 1950) – literary critic and educational theorist
* Laura Howes (B.A. English) – scholar of Middle English literature
* Minfong Ho (B.A. Economics) – Chinese-American author
* Laura Z. Hobson – author, ''Gentleman's Agreement''
* Clifford Irving (B.A. 1951) – author of the Howard Hughes biography hoax
* Michelle Knudsen (B.A. 1995 English) – ''New York Times'' best-selling American author of 47 books for young readers
* Anne LaBastille (B.A. 1955, PhD 1969) – author and award-winning conservationist
* Jean Lee Latham (B.A., M.A.) – writer specialized in biographies for children or young adults and Newbery Medal recipient (1956) for her book ''Carry On, Mr. Bowditch''
* Victor LaValle (B.A. English) – author
* Philipp Meyer (B.A. English) – fiction writer and author of ''American Rust'' and ''The Son''
* James H. Morey (M.A. 1987, PhD 1990) – Medievalist and professor of English at Emory University
* Toni Morrison (M.A. 1955 M) -best-selling author; The Bluest Eye and Beloved. Nobel Prize in Literature. Presidential Medal of Freedom.
* Lorrie Moore (M.F.A. 1982) – prize-winning short-story writer and novelist
* Manuel Muñoz (writer), Manuel Muñoz (M.F.A. 1998) – award-winning author and professor of creative writing
* Ira B. Nadel (PhD 1970) – prize-winning biographer and literary critic
* George Jean Nathan (1904) – author, critic
* Iddo Netanyahu (did not graduate) – Israeli physician, author and playwright; younger brother of Benjamin Netanyahu
* Nicholas Nicastro (B.A. 1985 English, M.A. 1991 archaeology, PhD 2003 psychology) – historical novelist
* Téa Obreht (MFA 2009) – novelist, ''The Tiger's Wife''
* Stewart O'Nan (MFA 1992) – novelist, Drue Heinz Literature Prize-winning author for ''In the Walled City'' in 1993, author of ''Snow Angels (novel), Snow Angels''
* Julie Orringer (B.A. 1994 English) – short-story writer and novelist
* Thomas Perry (author), Thomas Perry (B.A. 1969) – novelist, Edgar Award winner
* Darryl Ponicsan (M.A. 1965) – writer best known as the author of the 1971 novel ''The Last Detail''
* Seksan Prasertkul (M.A., PhD 1989 political science) – Thai people, Thai author, National Artist of Thailand (literature)
* Michael Punke (J.D. 1989) – author of ''The Revenant (novel), The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge'', adapted as the film ''The Revenant (2015 film), The Revenant''
* Thomas Pynchon (B.A. 1959 English) – author, ''Gravity's Rainbow'' and ''The Crying of Lot 49''; MacArthur Fellow (1988)
* Kenneth Roberts (author), Kenneth Roberts (B.A. 1908) – novelist, ''Northwest Passage (novel), 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 (novel), Fool on the Hill''
* Joanna Russ (B.A. 1957 English; professor) – feminist author, ''The Female Man''
* Ira Sadoff (B.S. 1966 ILR) – poet, novelist, critic, ''True Faith'' 2012, ''Grazing'' 1999, ''Barter'' 2003
* Kirkpatrick Sale (B.A. 1958 history) – independent scholar and author
* Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick (undergrad) – critical theorist, literature professor
* Elsie Singmaster – author, ''Swords of Steel''
* Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (PhD 1967 comparative literature) – post-colonialist theorist, ''Can the Subaltern Speak?''; winner of Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy; university professor at Columbia University
* Ellen Stekert – folklorist and folk musician
* William Stokoe (B.A. 1941, PhD 1946 English) – pioneered research on American Sign Language; co-authored ''A Dictionary of American Sign Language on Linguistic Principles'' (1965), the first attempt to systematically represent and characterize ASL phonology, Stokoe notation creator
* William Strunk Jr. (PhD 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
* William T. Vollmann (B.A., Comparative Literature, 1977) – novelist, journalist, war correspondent, short story writer, and essayist.
* Kurt Vonnegut (undergrad 1941–1944) – author, ''Slaughterhouse-Five'', ''Cat's Cradle'', and ''Breakfast of Champions''
* Lauren Weisberger (B.A. 1999 English) – author, ''The Devil Wears Prada (novel), The Devil Wears Prada'' and ''Everyone Worth Knowing''
* E. B. White (B.A. 1921) – author, ''Charlotte's Web'' and ''Stuart Little''; co-author of ''The Elements of Style''

History

* Glenn C. Altschuler (PhD 1976) – Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies and vice president for University Relations at Cornell University
* Barbara Watson Andaya (PhD 1975) – professor of Asian studies at the University of Hawaii and director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies
* Leonard Andaya (PhD 1972) – professor of Southeast Asian history at the University of Hawaii
* John L. Brooke (B.A. 1975) – Arts & Sciences Distinguished Professor of History at Ohio State University; recipient of Bancroft Prize (1995)
* Edward Countryman (M.A. 1969, PhD 1971) – American historian and educator; recipient of Bancroft Prize (1982)
* Nancy F. Cott (B.A. 1967) – historian, Sterling Professor, Sterling Professor of History and American Studies at Yale University and Jonathan Trumbull Professor of American History at Harvard University; member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
* Charlotte Erickson, Charlotte J. Erickson (M.A. 1947, PhD 1951) – historian, the Paul Mellon Professor of American History at the University of Cambridge (1983–1990); MacArthur Fellow (1990) and Guggenheim Fellow (1966–1967)
* Louis R. Gottschalk (A.B. 1919, A.M. 1920, PhD 1921) – professor of history (1927–1965), department chair (1937–1942), Gustavus F. and Ann M. Swift Distinguished Service Professor of History (1959–1965) at the University of Chicago
* Henry Guerlac (B.A. 1932 chemistry, M.A. 1933 biochemistry) – historian of science considered among the pioneers in the development of the academic field of the history of science; president of the History of Science Society (1957–1960), recipient of the George Sarton Medal (1973)
* Marie Boas Hall (PhD 1949) – historian of science; fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1955) and of the British Academy (1994), recipient of the George Sarton Medal (1981)
* Charnvit Kasetsiri (PhD 1972) – Thai historian and former president of Thammasat University
* Dominick LaCapra (B.A., Faculty 1969–) – Bryce and Edith M. Bowmar Professor of Humanistic Studies at Cornell University; member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2006)
* Frederic C. Lane (B.A. 1921) – historian in Medieval history, professor emeritus of history at Johns Hopkins University; president of the American Historical Association (1964–1965); fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the Medieval Academy of America
* Melvyn P. Leffler (B.S. 1966) – American historian and educator, Edward Stettinius Professor, former chairman of the Department of History, dean of the college and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Virginia; recipient of the George Louis Beer Prize (2008) and Bancroft Prize (1993)
* William Leuchtenburg (B.A. 1943) – historian, William Rand Kenan Jr. professor emeritus of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; recipient of Bancroft Prize and North Carolina Award for Literature
* William Hardy McNeill, William McNeill (PhD 1947) – historian, professor emeritus of History at the University of Chicago; author of ''The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community''; recipient of the National Humanities Medal (2010)
* Anthony Milner (historian), Anthony Milner (PhD) – Basham Professor of Asian History, School of Culture, History & Language, Australian National University
* David Oshinsky (B.S. 1965, M.S. 1967) – historian, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History in 2006 for his book Polio: An American Story, Jack S. Blanton, Sr. Chair Emeritus in History at The University of Texas at Austin, Distinguished Scholar in Residence, New York University
* Milton Osborne (PhD) – Australian historian, author, and consultant specializing in Southeast Asia
* Laura Otis (PhD 1991 comparative literature) – historian of science and Professor of English at Emory University; MacArthur Fellow (2000)
* Richard Pipes (graduate of 1945) – historian in Russian history; fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; recipient of National Humanities Medal (2007)
* M. C. Ricklefs, Merle Calvin Ricklefs (PhD) – scholar of the history and current affairs of Indonesia
* Clinton Rossiter (1939; professor 1947–1970) – historian and political scientist; recipient of the Bancroft Prize (1954) and the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award (1953)
* James Morton Smith (PhD 1951) – historian; recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship (1960); director of the Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library (1976–1984)
* Kazys Varnelis (historian), Kazys Varnelis (M.A. 1990, PhD 1994) – historian and theorist of architecture, specializing in network culture
* Olin Dunbar Wheeler (1874) – historian, author, topographer, wrote especially about the Lewis and Clark Expedition
* David K. Wyatt (PhD 1966) – John Stambaugh Professor of History and Asian Studies, Emeritus, Cornell University

Religion

* Georgia Harkness (1912) American Methodist theologian and philosopher
* Homer A. Jack, Homer Alexander Jack (B.A. 1936, M.S. 1937, PhD 1940) – Unitarian Universalist minister and early activist for peace, disarmament, racial equality and social justice; Niwano Peace Prize (1984), Jamnalal Bajaj Award (1992)
* Rabbi David Saperstein (B.A.) Reform Jewish leader, former United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom

Music

* Robert Alexander Anderson (composer), Robert Alexander Anderson (1916) – composer, wrote Christmas song "Mele Kalikimaka"
* Russ Barenberg – Grammy–nominated Bluegrass music, bluegrass musician
* Herbert Barrett (talent manager), Herbert Barrett (B.A. 1930) – talent manager for hundreds of famous artists from the 1930s to 2000s
* 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"
* Kinetics & One Love, Jeremy Dussolliet (B.S. 2009) – Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and member of the duo Kinetics & One Love
* Jared Emerson-Johnson (B.A. 2003) – video game music composer
* Richard Fariña – folk musician
* Joscelyn Godwin (PhD 1969 musicology) – musicologist, translator, historian of the esoteric
* Greg Graffin (PhD 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
* Ari Hest (attended, transferred) – singer-songwriter
* John S. Hilliard (D.M.A. 1983) – classical composer
* Barry Kernfeld (M.A. 1978, PhD 1981) – musicologist, jazz saxophonist, known for the largest jazz dictionary ever published, ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz''
* Alex Kresovich (B.S. 2008) – music producer and songwriter
* Huey Lewis (undergrad 1967–69, dropped out) – rock musician, Huey Lewis and the News
* Robert Moog (PhD 1965) – inventor of the Moog synthesizer and founder of Moog Music
* Charles Previn (B.A. 1910) – Academy Award-winning film composer, seven-time Academy Award nominee
* Steve Reich (B.A. 1957) – Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, and one of the pioneers of minimal music; recipient of the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award (2013)
* Christopher Rouse (composer), Christopher Rouse (D.M.A. 1977) – classical composer; winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Music
* Cary Sherman (1968) – chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America
* Kinetics & One Love, Tim Sommers (B.S. 2010) – Grammy-nominated producer/songwriter and member of the duo Kinetics & One Love
* Oliver Strunk (attended from 1917 to 1919 and in 1927) – musicologist who was on the faculty of Princeton University from 1937 to 1966; founding member and president (1959–1960) of the American Musicological Society
* Steven Stucky (D.M.A. 1978; Professor of Music Composition) – Pulitzer Prize-winning composer
* Gil Trythall (D.M.A. 1960) – composer and pianist
* Paul Francis Webster (undergrad 1927–1928, transferred) – Academy and Grammy Award-winning lyricist
* Peter Yarrow (B.A. 1959) – folk singer, member of Peter, Paul and Mary
* Andy Zax (B.A. 1986) twice-Grammy–nominated producer and music historian, known for his complete audio restoration of the Woodstock Festival.

Architecture and design

* Frederick L. Ackerman (B.Arch, BArch 1901) – architect and urban planner
* Raymond F. Almirall (1891) – architect of the Beaux-Arts period, practicing in New York City
* Edmund Bacon (architect), Edmund Bacon (BArch 1932) – urban planner, reshaped Philadelphia, 1949–1970
* Pietro Belluschi (Civil engineering grad) – architect, leader of the Modern architecture, Modern Movement in architecture who was responsible for the design of over 1,000 buildings; dean of the architecture and planning school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1951–1965); Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Institute of Architects; member of the National Academy of Design; recipient of AIA Gold Medal (1972), National Medal of Arts (1991)
* Morris Fuller Benton (engineering, 1896) – engineer and typeface designer
* Albert Cassell (BArch 1919) – designed buildings for Howard University, Morgan State University, and Virginia Union University
*Vishaan Chakrabarti (B.S. Operations Research & Industrial Engineering and B.A. History of Art 1988)— architect and dean of UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design, UC Berkeley's College of Environmental Design
* Gilmore David Clarke (B.S. 1913 landscape architecture and civil engineering) – designed the Central Park Zoo and the Unisphere
* Peter Eisenman (BArch 1955) – a foremost practitioner of deconstructivism in American architecture; Wolf Prize in Arts (2010)
* Frederick Earl Emmons (1907–1999) – architect
* Earl Flansburgh (BArch 1954, Trustee) — Cambridge, MA-based architect and designer of the Cornell Campus Store
*Kathryn Gleason (BS Landscape architecture, 1979) — Cornell University landscape architect and archaeologist
* Edward Brodhead Green (1878) Buffalo-based architect
* Lawrence Halprin (B.A.) – landscape architect, designer and teacher; recipient of National Medal of Arts (2002)
* Margaret Hicks (architect), Margaret Hicks (BArch 1880) – first female architectural school graduate at Cornell
* Douglas Honnold (1901–1974) – Canadian-born American architect
* Emmett J. Hull (1906) – architect from Jackson, Mississippi
* William B. Ittner (1887) - St. Louis-based architect and designer of school buildings
* Lee Jablin, Lee S. Jablin (BArch 1971) – founding partner of Harman Jablin Architects
* Robert Trent Jones (1931) – designer of about 500 golf courses
* Henri Jova (1949) – noted Atlanta architect, key figure in redevelopment of Midtown Atlanta
* Raymond M. Kennedy (BArch 1915, MArch 1916) – designed Grauman's Chinese Theatre
* Rem Koolhaas (MArch) – Dutch architect, journalist, and screenwriter, Pritzker Prize, Pritzker Architecture Prize winner
* David Macpherson (engineer), David Macpherson (civil engineering) – city planner for San Antonio, Texas; designed the Santa Fe Railroad
* Khaled Malas (MArch) – architect and art historian
* Tomás Mapúa (BArch 1911) – founded the Mapúa Institute of Technology; first Philippines, Filipino to earn a degree in architecture
* Peter Marino (1971) – designer of boutique stores for luxury brands, and private residences for wealthy individuals
* Richard Meier (BArch 1957, professor) – Pritzker Architecture Prize, AIA Gold Medal winner
* William Henry Miller (architect), William Henry Miller (BArch 1872) – designed many iconic buildings on Cornell's Ithaca campus
* Enrique Norten (MArch 1980) – Mexican architect, professor, 2003 World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition jury member
* Nathaniel A. Owings (BArch 1927) – founding partner of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill which popularized the International style after World War II
* Lawrence Perkins (BArch 1930) and Philip Will Jr. (BArch 1928) – founding partners of Perkins and Will, designers of seven buildings on the Engineering Quad
* Emmanuel Pratt (BArch 1999) – MacArthur Fellow (2019)
* Frederick Roehrig (1883 architecture) – early 20th-century architect known for his many landmark buildings in Pasadena, California, including the Hotel Green
* Richmond Shreve (BArch) – partner of architectural firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon, which designed the Empire State Building
* Charles Morse Stotz (BArch 1921, master's degree) – architect, historian, and preservationist of Western Pennsylvania
* Vertner Tandy (MArch) – architect whose most famous commission was probably ''Villa Lewaro'', the mansion of Harlem millionairess Madam C.J. Walker; co-founder of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity
* Olive Frances Tjaden (BArch 1925) pioneering woman architect; donor and namesake of Tjaden Hall
* Jan V. White (BArch 1951) – communication designer, educator and writer
* E. Stewart Williams (BArch 1932) – Palm Springs, California-based architect with a distinctive modernist style
* Helen Binkerd Young (BArch 1900) – architect and lecturer
* Ricardo Zurita (BArch 1984) – architect and designer of urban public projects

Fine arts and photography

* Elfriede Abbe (1940) – sculptor
* Richard Artschwager (1948) – sculptor, painter
* Margaret Bourke-White (B.A. 1927) – photojournalist
* Joan Danziger (B.F.A) – sculptor
* James De La Vega (B.F.A. 1994) – muralist, street artist in Harlem, New York
* Arthur Dove (1903) – first abstract expressionist painter in the US
* George William Goddard (1917-1918, U.S. Army cadet) - United States Air Force brigadier general and a pioneer in aerial photography; studied aerial photography at United States Army School of Military Aeronautics at Cornell University
* Louise Lawler (B.F.A. 1969) – artist and photographer; member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2019)
* Pat Lipsky (B.F.A. 1963) – painter
* Cabot Lyford (B.F.A. 1950) – sculptor
* Jill Magid (B.F.A. 1995) – performance artist
* Enrique Martinez Celaya (B.S. applied & engineering physics, 1986) – artist
* Amanda Means (B.A. 1969)– artist, photographer
* John Rosenbaum (Engineering physics, M.E.P. 1957) – kinetic artist, educator
* Susan Rothenberg (B.F.A. 1967) – painter
* Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian (1948–1951) – contemporary Iranian artist
* Frederick Sommer (M.A. 1927 landscape architecture) – photographer
* Beth Ames Swartz (BSc 1957) – artist
* Hugh Troy (B.A. 1922–1927, did not graduate) – artist, famous practical joke, prankster
* Harold Wethey (B.A. 1923) – art historian

Media

Journalism

* Eric Alterman (B.A. 1982 history and government) – author and columnist
* Jim Axelrod (B.A. 1985 history) – national correspondent and reporter for CBS News
* Jane Brody (1962, Biochemistry) — NY Times health and nutrition journalist
* Rodney A. Brooks (B.S. 1975 – Personal Finance Editor, ''USA Today''
* Marion Hamilton Carter (B.S. 1898) - educator, psychologist, journalist, author
* Julius Chambers (B.A. 1870) – author, editor, journalist, travel writer, and activist against psychiatric abuse
* C.J. Chivers (journalist), C.J. Chivers (B.A. 1987) – foreign correspondent with ''The New York Times''; winner of Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting as part of a team of New York Times reporters and photographers (2009) and winner of Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing (2017)
* Charles Collingwood (journalist), Charles Collingwood (B.A. 1939) – broadcast journalist and foreign correspondent
* Ann Coulter (B.A. 1984 history) – book author and columnist
* S.E. Cupp (B.A. 2000 art history) – co-host of MSNBC's ''The Cycle (TV program), The Cycle''
* Michael Dirda (M.A. 1974, PhD 1977, comparative literature) – Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic for ''The Washington Post''
* Edward Jay Epstein (B.A., M.A.) – investigative journalist; former political science professor at Harvard, UCLA, and MIT
* Jessica Ettinger (B.S. 1997) – news anchor with CBS 1010 WINS (AM), WINS New York; anchor of ''Today (U.S. TV program), Today Show'' Radio, SiriusXM/NBC
* Michael Fremer (B.S. 1968 Industrial and Labor Relations) - audiophile journalist
* Vijaya Gadde (BS in Industrial and Labor Relations) – general counsel of Twitter
* Jeffrey Gettleman (B.A. 1994) – foreign correspondent, ''The New York Times''; Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting (2012)
* Wendy M. Grossman (B.A. 1975) – journalist, blogger
* Philip Gourevitch (B.A. 1986) – former editor of ''The Paris Review''; 1998 National Book Critics Circle Award winner
* Carolyn Gusoff (B.A. 1984) – reporter and anchor with WNBC in New York City
* Sally Jacobsen (M.A. Economics) – journalist and foreign correspondent; first woman to serve as international editor of the ''Associated Press''
* Neeraj Khemlani (1992) – co-president of CBS News
* Andy Kessler (author), Andy Kessler (B.S. 1980) – "Inside View" columnist, ''Wall Street Journal'' opinion page; author
* Aditi Kinkhabwala (B.A. American Studies) – sports reporter for NFL Network
* Austin H. Kiplinger (B.A. 1939) – journalist; editor of ''The Kiplinger Letter''; founder of ''Kiplinger's Personal Finance'' magazine; winner of the Peabody Award
* John S. Knight – major newspaper publisher and editor, Pulitzer Prize winner
* Steven Lagerfeld (B.A. 1977) – editor of ''The Wilson Quarterly''
* Carl Leubsdorf (B.A. 1959 government) – journalist and columnist
* Eric Lichtblau (B.A. 1987 English and political science) – Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for national reporting with ''The New York Times''
* Stuart Loory (B.A. 1954) – executive and reporter, CNN
* Roger Lowenstein (B.A. 1973) – financial journalist and author of ''When Genius Failed'' (2000)
* Farhad Manjoo (2000) – journalist and author, columnist for ''The Wall Street Journal'', ''The New York Times''
* James C. McKinley, Jr. (B.A. 1984) – foreign correspondent, ''The New York Times''
* Anne Morrissy Merick (1955) – Journalist who broke barriers against women
* Philip Merrill (B.A. 1955 government, trustee) – owner and publisher of ''The Capital Daily Newspaper'' in Annapolis, MD and ''Washingtonian (magazine), Washingtonian'' magazine; international statesman; adviser to U.S. presidents
* Jeremy O'Grady (MA Political Science) – founding editor of ''The Week'' news digest magazine, and one of its original owners; now its editor-in-chief
* Keith Olbermann (B.S. 1979 communication) – sportscaster, news anchor and political commentator; hosted ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'' on MSNBC
* Bill Pidto (1987) – a host of ''NHL Live'' on NHL Network (United States), NHL Network and former anchor at ESPN, 1993–2008
* Jon Ralston (B.A. 1981) - journalist, founder of ''The Nevada Independent''
* John Andrew Rea (B.A. 1869) – editor of ''The Olympian'', ''Minneapolis Tribune'', ''Bismarck Tribune'' and the Dakota edition of the ''St. Paul Pioneer Press''
* Dave Ross – talk show host on KIRO-FM
* Dick Schaap (B.S. 1955) – sports newscaster on American Broadcasting Company, ABC and ESPN, two Emmy Awards, author and co-author of 33 books
* Jeremy Schaap (1991) – author, sports journalist, recipient of eight Emmy Awards
* Kate Snow (B.S. 1991 communication) – journalist, correspondent, NBC News
* Andrew Ross Sorkin (B.S. 1999 communication) – journalist, co-anchor of ''Squawk Box'', author of ''Too Big to Fail''
* Gerald Stone (1957 political science) – American-born Australian television and radio journalist, television executive, and author
* Howard Taubman (B.A. 1929) – Chief Music Critic and Chief Theater Critic for ''The New York Times'' in the 1950s and 1960s
* William T. Vollmann (B.A. 1981 comparative literature) – journalist, author of numerous books on war, including a seven volume treatise on violence
* Whit Watson (B.A., English, 1993) – announcer on Golf Channel, formerly at ESPN and Sun Sports; winner of four Emmy Awards; former Sports Director at WVBR
* Pete van Wieren – sportscaster and sport reporter, best known for 33-year career calling play-by-play for Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves
* Sheryl WuDunn (B.A. 1981 European history) – journalist at ''The New York Times'', co-winner in 1990 of the Pulitzer Prize for her coverage on the Tienanmen Square protests of 1989, winner of the George Polk Award in 1989, and winner of the Overseas Press Club in 1990
* Robert Zelnick (B.S.) – award-winning journalist; winner of two Emmy Awards and two Gavel Awards; formerly ABC News correspondent for more than 20 years, and professor of journalism at the Boston University College of Communication

Film, radio, television and theatre

* Robert Ahrens (B.A.) - film and theatre producer
* Ted Berkman (1933) – screenwriter, authored ''Bedtime for Bonzo''
* Josh Bernstein (B.A. 1993 anthropology and psychology) – host of ''Digging for the Truth'' on the History (U.S. TV channel), History Channel
* Murray Burnett, co–wrote the play ''Everybody Comes to Rick's'' which was adapted into the film ''Casablanca (film), Casablanca''
* Steve Carver (B.A.) – film director and producer
* Arun Chaudhary (B.A. 1997) – White House official videographer
* Dane Clark (bachelors 1930s) – actor, ''Moonrise (film), Moonrise''
* Jordan Clarke (actor), Jordan Clarke (B.A. 1973 philosophy, M.F.A. 1973 acting) – actor, starred in ''Guiding Light'', winner of a Daytime Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
* Gordon Davidson (director), Gordon Davidson (1956) – Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director and Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play-winning stage and film director; fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
* Maria Dizzia (theater) – actress, nominated for the 2010 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in ''In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play)''
* Ellen Albertini Dow (B.A. 1935 theater, M.A. 1938 theater) – actress, ''Wedding Crashers'' and ''The Wedding Singer''
* Dan Duryea (B.A. English) – actor
* Rick Elice (B.A.) – writer and former stage actor
* Zelda Fichandler – doyenne of regional theater
* Art Fleming – original ''Jeopardy!'' host, 1964–75
* David Folkenflik (B.A. 1991 arts and sciences) – media correspondent for NPR
* Steven Franken (B.A. 1950) – actor, best known for his role in ''The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis''
* Robert N. Fried (B.S., M.S.) – film producer, screenwriter, studio executive and media entrepreneur; Academy Award recipient in 1992 for his short film, ''Session Man (film), Session Man''
* David F. Friedman (1942, electrical engineering) – filmmaker
* Allen Funt (B.A. 1934 fine arts) – producer, created ''Candid Camera''
* Carla Gallo (B.A. theater) – actress notable for recurring roles in the television series ''Undeclared'', ''Carnivàle'', ''Bones (TV series), Bones'', ''Californication (TV series), Californication''
* Eric Garcia (writer), Eric Garcia (transferred 1992) – writer, author of ''Matchstick Men (novel), Matchstick Men''
* Joel Gertner (1993–1996, dropped out) – former ''Extreme Championship Wrestling, ECW'' personality
* Sam Gold (B.A. English 2000) – theater director and actor; 2015 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical winner for ''Fun Home (musical), Fun Home''
* Meta Golding (theatre arts and international relations) – Haitian-American actress
* Harold Gould (M.A. 1948 theater, PhD 1953 dramatic speech and literature; professor of speech and drama) – stage, screen, and television actor
* Paul Green (playwright), Paul Eliot Green – playwright, known for Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play, ''In Abraham's Bosom'' (1927)
* Kovid Gupta (M.B.A. 2015) – screenwriter, author, ''Kingdom of The Soap Queen: The Story of Balaji Telefilms''
* Brian Hallisay (degree in economics and history) – actor from the television show ''Privileged (TV series), Privileged''
* Howard Hawks (mechanical engineering) – film director, producer and writer of the classic Hollywood era; directed ''Scarface'', ''His Girl Friday'', ''The Big Sleep'', and ''Gentlemen Prefer Blondes''
* Hugh Herbert – actor, playwright and comedian
* Catherine Hicks (M.F.A. 1976?) – actress; played Annie Camden on ''7th Heaven (TV series), 7th Heaven''
* John Hostetter (M.A. acting) – actor, played John the stage manager on ''Murphy Brown'' for 62 episodes
* Ricky Jay (Hotel) – magician, historian, actor, writer and scholar
* Frederick Johnson (writer), Frederick Johnson (B.A. 1978 English) – Emmy and WGA Award-winning television writer; credits include ''All My Children'', ''The Young and the Restless'', ''Days of Our Lives'', ''As The World Turns'', ''One Life to Live'', ''Guiding Light''
* Sidney Kingsley (B.A. 1928) – playwright, screenwriter, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1934 for the drama ''Men in White''
* Mia Korf – actress, best known for originating the role of Blair Cramer, Blair Daimler Buchanan on One Life to Live
* Jamie Kovac (B.S. 2001, MEng 2002) – "Fury" on ''American Gladiators (2008 TV series), American Gladiators''
* Ellie Krieger (B.S. 1988) – nutritionist, chef, and TV food celebrity
* Arthur Laurents (B.A. 1937 English) – playwright, screenwriter, director, author, credits include ''West Side Story (1961 film), West Side Story'', ''Rope (film), Rope'', and ''Gypsy (1962 film), Gypsy''
* Lenny Lipton, Leonard "Lenny" Lipton – author, filmmaker and stereoscopic vision system inventor; founder of StereoGraphics
* Jane Lynch (M.F.A. 1984 theater) – actress, best known for ''Glee (TV series), Glee''
* Bill Maher (B.A. 1978 English) – comedian and satirist, best known for hosting the television series ''Politically Incorrect'' and ''Real Time with Bill Maher''
* Rob Marciano – journalist and meteorologist
* Ed Marinaro – film and television actor.
* Louis Massiah (B.A. Astrophysics) – documentary filmmaker; MacArthur Fellow (1996), Tribeca Film Institute Fellow (1990, 1996), Fleisher Founder's Award (2009)
* Gardner McKay (attended for 2 years) – actor, artist, and author known for the lead role in the 1960s TV series ''Adventures in Paradise (TV series), Adventures in Paradise''
* Carol Mendelsohn (B.A. 1973) – television producer; credits include ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, C.S.I.''
* Adolphe Menjou (B.S. engineering) – actor, known for his roles in ''The Sheik (film), The Sheik'', ''The Three Musketeers (1921 film), The Three Musketeers'', and ''Paths of Glory''
*Justin H. Min (B.A. 2011 Government and English) - actor; currently stars as List of The Umbrella Academy characters#Number Six / The Horror (Ben Hargreeves), Ben Hargreeves in The Umbrella Academy (TV series), The Umbrella Academy
* Ronald D. Moore (failed out 1985) – writer and producer of ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'', ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', and the re-imagined ''Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series), Battlestar Galactica''; two–time Hugo Award winner, nominated for an Emmy Award
* Frank Morgan (undergrad 1908–09, dropped out) – actor, played the Wizard in ''The Wizard of Oz (1939 film), The Wizard of Oz'', two-time Academy Award nominee
* Bill Nye (B.S. 1977 mechanical engineering, MEng 1977, Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of '56 University Professor 2001–06) – star of ''Bill Nye the Science Guy''; science education advocate
* Adepero Oduye (1999) – actress in ''12 Years a Slave (film), 12 Years a Slave'' and ''Pariah (2011 film), Pariah''
* Keith Olbermann (B.S. 1979 communication arts) – sports commentator, MSNBC news anchor, co-host of ''Football Night in America'' of NBC
* Peter Ostrum (D.V.M. 1984) – played List of characters in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory#Charlie Bucket, Charlie Bucket in ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory''
* Evan Parke (1990) – Jamaican-born American actor best known for his role as Hayes in ''King Kong (2005 film), King Kong''
* Ethan Phillips (MFA) – actor and playwright
* Richard Price (writer), Richard Price (B.S. 1971) – author, ''The Wanderers (Richard Price novel), The Wanderers'' and six other novels; Academy Award-nominated screenwriter for ''The Color of Money'' and ''Clockers (film), Clockers''
* Keith Raywood (B.A. Architecture, 1980) – Emmy Award-winning production designer
* Christopher Reeve (B.A. 1974 theater arts and English) – actor, best known for starring in ''Superman (1978 film), Superman'' and its sequels
* Jason Reich (B.S. Communication 1998) – Emmy Award-winning writer for ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''
* Christopher Rich (American actor), Christopher Rich (M.A. Theater Arts) – played Miller Redfield on ''Murphy Brown''
* Daniel K. Riskin (PhD) – Canadian evolutionary biologist and television personality, known for co-hosting the Canadian television series ''Daily Planet (TV series), Daily Planet''
* Casey Robinson – producer, director and screenwriter
* Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum (B.A.) – director
* William Sadler (actor), William Sadler (M.F.A. 1974) – actor, known for films including ''The Shawshank Redemption''
* Gene Saks (B.A. 1943) – stage and film director, an inductee of the American Theater Hall of Fame; seven-time nominee and three-time winner of Tony Award; four-time nominee of Drama Desk Award
* Andrea Savage (B.A. Political Science and Spanish, minor in Law Studies) – Actress, ''Dog Bites Man''
* Robert Schenkkan, Robert Frederic Schenkkan, Jr. (Master of Fine Arts, M.F.A 1977) – award-winning playwright, screenwriter, and actor; the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (1992) for his work ''The Kentucky Cycle'', and the Tony Award for Best Play (2014) for his drama ''All the Way earned''
* Bert Schneider – film and television producer, Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for producing ''Hearts and Minds (film), Hearts and Minds'' (1975)
* Vivian Schiller (B.A. Russian) – former CEO of NPR
* Thelma Schoonmaker (B.A. 1961) – film editor, received the Academy Award for ''Raging Bull'', ''The Aviator (2004 film), The Aviator'', and ''The Departed''
* David Seidler (1959) – screenwriter, won 83rd Academy Awards, 83rd Academy Award for Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay), Best Original Screenplay for ''The Kings Speech'' (2010)
* Robert Smigel (undergrad 1978–80, transferred) – puppeteer behind ''Triumph the Insult Comic Dog''; first head writer of ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien''; author of "TV Funhouse" animations on ''Saturday Night Live''
* Jimmy Smits (M.F.A. 1982) – actor
* Sarah Spain – ESPN sports journalist
* Tim Squyres (B.A. 1981) – Academy Award-nominated film editor, best known for ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon''
* Yale Summers (Bachelor's Business with honors, 1955) – actor and governing member of the Screen Actors Guild
* Ken Sunshine (1970) – publicist
* Dominique Thorne (B.S. 2019) – American actress, known primarily as Riri Williams (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Riri Williams/Ironheart in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
* Jennifer Tipton (B.A. 1958) – award-winning theatre and dance lighting designer; MacArthur Fellowship (2008)
* Franchot Tone (B.A. 1927) – actor, nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for ''Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 film), Mutiny on the Bounty''
* Ming Tsai (hotel administration) – celebrity chef of ''Ming's Quest'', a cooking show featured on the Fine Living Network, and ''Simply Ming'' on American Public Television
* Jerry Wasserman (PhD English Literature) – film and television actor; also professor and head of the Department of Theatre and Film at the University of British Columbia
* Andrew Weinberg (B.A. 1998) – television writer and co-winner of Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series (2007)
* David Wild – writer and critic in the music and television industries, nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on ''America: A Tribute to Heroes''
* Sheri Wilner – playwright
* Walt Witcover Theatre educator, né Walter Witcover Scheinman
* Mary Woronov (did not graduate) – actress, member of Andy Warhol's The Factory
* Paula Vogel (1976, M.A, 2016, PhD) – playwright, known for Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play, ''How I Learned to Drive'' (1998)

Education

See: List of Cornell University alumni (education)

Athletics

American football

* Greg Bloedorn (1995) – former NFL offensive lineman and long snapper for the Seattle Seahawks
* Kevin Boothe (B.S. 2005 hotel administration) – former Lineman (gridiron football), lineman for the Oakland Raiders and New York Giants
* Al Dekdebrun – Buffalo Bisons, 1946, Chicago Rockets, 1947, Boston Yanks, 1948, New York Yankees (AAFC), New York Yankees, 1948
* Pete Gogolak (1964) – Buffalo Bills 1964–1965, New York Giants, 1966–1975; first "soccer style" kicker in professional "American" football
* Derrick Harmon (1984) – San Francisco 49ers 1984–1986
* Mort Landsberg (1919–1970) - NFL player
* Bill Lazor (1994) – NFL assistant coach
* Chad Levitt (1997) – Oakland Raiders, St. Louis Rams
* Ed Marinaro (B.S. 1972) – Minnesota Vikings, New York Jets, and Seattle Seahawks; runner-up for the 1971 Heisman Trophy Award, actor on ''Hill Street Blues''
* Jeff Mathews (2014) – quarterback for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
* Lou Molinet (1928) – Frankford Yellow Jackets, 1927 first Hispanic-American player in the National Football League
* Seth Payne (1997) – Jacksonville Jaguars, 1997–2001, Houston Texans, 2001–2007
* Lee Reherman (1988) – Miami Dolphins, actor on ''American Gladiators (1989 TV series), American Gladiators'' and ''X-Files''
* Luke Tasker (2013) – wide receiver for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
* J. C. Tretter (2012) – offensive guard for the Green Bay Packers (2013–2016) and Cleveland Browns (2017–present)
* Bryan Walters (2010) – wide receiver for the San Diego Chargers 2010–2011, Seattle Seahawks (2012–2014), Jacksonville Jaguars (2015–present)
* Glenn Scobey Warner, Glenn "Pop" Warner (LL.B. 1894, football coach) – football player and coach; founder of Pop Warner Little Scholars
* Gary Wood (1964) – New York Giants 1964–1966, 1968–1969, New Orleans Saints, 1967

Baseball

* Joe Birmingham – baseball player, Cleveland Naps, 1906–1914
* Jon Daniels (B.S. 1999) – general manager of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers, youngest GM ever in Major League Baseball
* Bob DuPuy, Robert A. DuPuy (J.D. 1973) – former president and chief operating officer of Major League Baseball (MLB)
* Joseph Iglehart (1914) – chairman of the board, Baltimore Orioles, 1955–1965
* Hughie Jennings (LL.B. study 1901–1904, dropped out; Baseball Coach, 1899–?) – Baseball Hall of Fame-inducted shortstop; Louisville Colonels (1891–1893), Baltimore Orioles (1893–1899), Brooklyn Superbas (1899–1900, 1903), Philadelphia Phillies (1901–02), Detroit Tigers (1907, 1909, 1912, 1918)
* Rob Manfred (B.S. 1980) – chief operating officer of Major League Baseball; 10th Commissioner of Major League Baseball
* A. J. Preller (B.S. 1999) – general manager of the Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres 2014–
* Brandon Taubman (B.A. 2007), assistant general manager of the Houston Astros, 2018–2019
* Bill Walkenbach (B.A. 1998) – Cornell head baseball coach

Basketball

* Bryan Colangelo (B.S. 1987) – president and general manager of the Toronto Raptors, 2005, 2007 NBA Executive of the Year
* Jon Jaques – American-Israeli assistant men's basketball coach for Cornell University, who played for Ironi Ashkelon in Israel
* Nat Militzok (1923–2009) – New York Knicks basketball player
* Larry Weinberg – co-founder and president (1975–1988) of the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers

Ice hockey

* Gary Bettman (B.S. 1974) – Commissioner of the National Hockey League, NHL (1993–)
* Byron Bitz (2007) – forward for the Boston Bruins 2008–2010, Florida Panthers 2010–2011, Vancouver Canucks 2011–2012
* Ken Dryden (B.A. 1969) – National Hockey League, NHL Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender, six-time Stanley Cup winner, Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Calder Memorial Trophy winner, Canadian Member of Parliament
* Colin Greening (2010) – Centre for the Ottawa Senators 2011–2015, Toronto Maple Leafs 2016–2019
* Ned Harkness (lacrosse and hockey head coach) – Coach of Cornell NCAA hockey champions in 1967 and 1970; previously RPI coach of 1954 national champs; also head coach and then general manager of the Detroit Red Wings
* David LeNeveu – NHL goalie, previously for the Phoenix Coyotes
* Matt Moulson (2006) – left wing for the Buffalo Sabres, and previously New York Islanders and Minnesota Wild.
* Douglas Murray (ice hockey), Douglas Murray (2003) – defenseman for Montreal Canadiens and previously San Jose Sharks and Pittsburgh Penguins, Ice hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics – Men's team rosters#Sweden, 2010 Olympian
* Riley Nash (2007–2010) – centre for the Columbus Blue Jackets, formerly of the Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes, 2011–present
* Lance Nethery – NHL player, executive in the German Elite League
* Joe Nieuwendyk (1988) – National Hockey League, NHL player, three-time Stanley Cup champion, Ice hockey at the 2002 Winter Olympics, 2002 Olympic gold medalist
* Ryan O'Byrne (2007) – former NHL defenseman for the Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche
* Rick Olczyk (Law 1996) – Assistant general manager of the Carolina Hurricanes
* Joakim Ryan (2015) – NHL defenseman for the Los Angeles Kings and previously for the San Jose Sharks
* Ben Scrivens (2010) – former NHL goaltender for the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers
* Ryan Vesce (2004) – right wing for the San Jose Sharks, 2008–2010

Lacrosse

* Michael French (lacrosse), Michael "Mike" G. French (1976) – All-American lacrosse player at Cornell from 1974 to 1976, leading the "Big Red" to the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship in 1976
* Daniel R. Mackesey (1977) – received Today's Top VIII Award, NCAA Top Five Award in 1978 for lacrosse and soccer; inducted in Lacrosse Museum and National Hall of Fame, National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2006
* Eamon McEneaney (1977) – All-American lacrosse player at Cornell from 1975 to 1977, leading the "Big Red" to the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship in 1976 and 1977. Eamon died in the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center
* Rob Pannell (2013) – professional lacrosse player for the New York Lizards; recipient of Lt. Raymond Enners Award (2013) and Tewaaraton Trophy (2013)
* Max Seibald (born 1987) – lacrosse player

Tennis

* William Larned – seven-time U.S. tennis championship winner
* Dick Savitt (born 1927) – tennis player, ranked No. 2 in the world

Wrestling

* Kyle Dake (B.A. 2013) – Freestyle Wrestling Olympic Gold Medalist in 2020, World Champion (2018, 2019, 2021), World Cup Gold Medalist (2018), 4-time NCAA Division I individual national titleholder (2010–2013)
* Yianni Diakomihalis – Freestyle and Folkstyle Wrestling, 3-time NCAA Division I individual national titleholder (2018, 2019, 2021)
* Joe DeMeo – U.S. Olympic wrestling assistant coach

Olympics

* Jon Anderson (runner), Jon Anderson (1971) – 1972 Olympian, track; winner of 1973 Boston Marathon
* Edward Cook (athlete), Edward Tiffin Cook, Jr. (1910) – men's pole vault Olympic gold medalist in 1908 Summer Olympics
* Darren Eliot (1983) – NHL player, Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres; 1984 Olympian
* Jamie Greubel (2006) – bronze medalist in two-woman bobsleigh at the 2014 Sochi games
* Muhammad Halim (2008) – competed in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic games, triple jump
* Al Hall (athlete), Al Hall (1956) – four-time Olympian (1956, 1960, 1964, 1968), hammer throw
* Rebecca Johnston (2012) – hockey player, Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics, 2010 and 2014 Olympic gold medalist with Team Canada
* Robert Kane (sports administrator), Robert J. Kane (1934, director of athletics) – United States Olympic Committee, U.S. Olympic Committee president, 1976–1980; inducted into U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, 1986
* Kent Manderville (1993) – NHL player, Calgary Flames, Pittsburgh Penguins; 1992 Olympic silver medalist with Team Canada
* Edith Master (born 1932) – Olympic bronze medalist equestrian
* Travis Mayer (undergrad 2000–01, on leave) – Olympic freestyle skiing silver medalist
* Charles Moore (athlete), Charles Moore (1951, director of Athletics, 1994–1999) – Athletics at the 1952 Summer Olympics, 1952 Olympic gold medalist (hurdles) and silver medalist (1600-meter relay); honored as Golden Olympian, 1996
* Pablo Morales (J.D. 1994) – three-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming, Swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 and Swimming at the 1992 Summer Olympics, 1992
* David Curtiss Munson, David Munson (1906) – four-mile team Olympic gold medalist in 1904 Summer Olympics; inducted into the Cornell University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988
* Richard Pew (1956) – 1956 Summer Olympics, épée, épée fencing
* Harry Porter (1905) – 1908 Summer Olympics high jump gold medalist
* Alma Richards (1917) – 1912 Summer Olympics high jump gold medalist
* Bo Roberson (1958) – the only person to earn an Ivy League degree, an Athletics at the 1960 Summer Olympics, Olympic medal, a doctorate, and have a career in the National Football League, NFL
* Jamie Silverstein (undergrad 2002–2004, 2006–) – Olympic figure skater
*Donald Spero, Olympic rower, world champion, and venture capitalist

Other

* Bruce Arena (B.S. 1971) – five-time NCAA Men's Soccer Championship, NCAA Soccer Championship coach at the University of Virginia; coach of Major League Soccer's D.C. United; coach of United States men's national soccer team, U.S. national team; coach of MLS's New York Red Bulls; present coach of MLS's Los Angeles Galaxy
* Olivier Busquet – professional poker player
* Clarence C. Combs Jr. — polo player, two-time winner of the Monty Waterbury Cup
* Brian Hastings (poker player), Brian Hastings – professional poker player
* Bill Jenkins (dragracer), Bill Jenkins – National Hot Rod Association, NHRA drag car racer
* Alexander Kevitz (1923) – chess master
* Teddy Mayer (J.D.) – motor racing team manager
*Saurabh Netravalkar – cricketer
* John Nickles (1986) – triathlete; winner of the World Champion Title in the 1999 Hawaii Ultraman World Championship; Ultra Marathon Cycling Association world record holder in 1994
* Peter Revson – race car driver
* Dave Sarachan – head coach of Major League Soccer's Chicago Fire Soccer Club, Chicago Fire (2002–2007)
* Doug Smylie, Doug J. Smylie (attended and played football for Cornell) – Canadian football player (1945–1953), for the Toronto Argonauts, Montreal Alouettes and Ottawa Rough Riders
* Donald Spero — rower
* Carl F. Ullrich (B.S. 1950) – Athletic Director at Army Black Knights, West Point, 1980–1990; executive director of the Patriot League, 1989–1993
* Dan Wood (soccer), Dan Wood (PhD 1977) — five-year Cornell golf and soccer coach (1970s); coached the Tacoma Tides, Colorado Caribous and Atlanta Chiefs; turned professional golfer in 1980

Crime

* Nick Berg (undergrad 1996–98, transferred) – businessman beheaded by Islamic militants on May 7, 2004, during the History of Iraq (2003–2011), U.S.-led occupation of Iraq
* Leo Frank (B.S. 1906 engineering) – factory manager; lynched in 1915 for the alleged murder of a 13-year-old girl; later believed to be innocent; subject of the musical ''Parade (musical), Parade''
* David G. Friehling (B.S. 1981) – accountant to Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff
* Mark Gerard (D.V.M., 1962) – perpetrated horse racing fraud, switching horses' identities
* Katrina Leung (B.S. 1976) – accused spy; case dismissed; later sentenced to terms of plea agreement
* Robert Tappan Morris (graduate study 1988–89, suspended) – author of the Morris Worm, which crippled the Internet in 1988
* Michael Bruce Ross, Michael Ross (B.S. 1981 agricultural economics) – convicted serial killer executed in Connecticut on May 13, 2005
* Michael Schwerner (B.A. 1961 sociology) – victim in the murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner by the Ku Klux Klan in 1964
* Mark Whitacre (PhD 1983 nutritional biochemistry) – highest-ranked executive in U.S. history of a Fortune 500 company to turn whistleblower and FBI informant; pleaded guilty to fraud

Other

* Henry Arthur Callis – physician and professor of Medicine at Howard University; one of seven founders of Alpha Phi Alpha, Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, served as its general president in 1915
* Lisa Daugaard (M.A. 1987) – MacArthur Fellow (2019); criminal justice reformer
* Gregory K. Dreicer (PhD in Science and Technology Studies) – curatorial strategist, historian of technology, experience designer, exhibition developer, curator, and museum manager
* Erwin Engst (1941 agro-pastoral studies) – advisor to the People's Republic of China
* Eric Erickson (spy), Eric Erickson (1921 engineering) – Swedish oil executive; worked for American intelligence during World War II; book and film ''The Counterfeit Traitor'' are based on him
* Zvi Galil – president of Tel Aviv University
* Jon Gordon (B.A.) –author of ''The Energy Bus''
* Joanna Guy (B.A. 2013) – Miss Maryland 2012
* Rutherford P. Hayes (B.S. 1880) – vice-president and acting president of the American Library Association; third son of US President Rutherford B. Hayes
* William H. Hinton (1941 agronomy and dairy husbandry) – farmer; writer
* Genevieve Hughes (B.A. 1954) – one of the 13 original Freedom Riders
* Zach Iscol (Government 2001) – entrepreneur, US Marine, and candidate in the 2021 New York City Comptroller election
* Imogene Powers Johnson (B.S. 1952) – billionaire; philanthropist
* Carol Levine (B.A. 1956) – AIDS policy specialist; MacArthur Fellow (1993)
* Ross Gilmore Marvin (B.A. 1905) – Arctic explorer with Robert Peary; died during the 1908–1909 expedition
* Stephanie Rader (B.A. 1937) – undercover intelligence agent; recipient of the Legion of Merit (2016)
* Jason Rohrer (B.S. 2000, M.E. 2001) – video game designer
* Erik M. Ross (B.A. 1988) – U.S. Navy admiral
* Adam Segal – cybersecurity expert; director at the Digital and Cyberspace Policy Program of the Council on Foreign Relations
* David Williston (B.A. 1898) – first professionally trained African American landscape architect in the United States.
* Alfreda Bosworth Withington – physician and author
* Evelyn Groesbeeck Mitchell (B.A. 1902) – physician and researcher

See also

* List of Cornell University faculty
* List of Quill and Dagger members
* Sphinx Head#Notable alumni, Notable alumni of the Sphinx Head Society

Notes

References

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External links

Cornell in professional sports

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornell University Alumni, List Of
Lists of people by university or college in New York (state)
Cornell University alumni, *