Thomas Jefferson University Thomas Jefferson University is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. ...

's notable alumni include:

Early years

* Charles Mertz Arbuthnot (class of 1881) (1852-1920), physician and pharmacist in

Republic County, Kansas Republic County is a county located in the state of Kansas, south from the Nebraska state line. Its county seat and largest city is Belleville. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 4,674. The county was named after the Repub ...

* Jacob Mendes Da Costa (class of 1852) (1833–1900), physician and pioneer in

internal medicine Internal medicine, also known as general medicine in Commonwealth nations, is a medical specialty for medical doctors focused on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases in adults. Its namesake stems from "treatment of diseases of ...

* John Chalmers Da Costa (1863–1933), chair of the Jefferson Medical College Department of Surgery *

Fisk Holbrook Day Fisk Holbrook Day (1826-1903) was a physician and an amateur geologist in Wisconsin who developed an impressive collection of Silurian-age fossils. The collection is now at Harvard University. Day was born on March 11, 1826, in Richmond, New Yo ...

(1826–1903), doctor and geologist. *

Isaac Newton Evans Isaac Newton Evans (July 29, 1827 – December 3, 1901) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. Biography Isaac Newton Evans was born near present-day West Chester, Pennsylvania. He attended the common s ...

(1827–1901), represented

Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district includes all of Carbon, Lehigh, and Northampton Counties, and parts of Monroe County. It has been represented by Republican Ryan Mackenzie since 2025. From March 2003 through 2018, the district inc ...

in the

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

from 1877 to 1879 and 1883 to 1887. *

Carlos Juan Finlay Carlos Juan Finlay (December 3, 1833 – August 20, 1915) was a Cuban epidemiologist recognized as a pioneer in the research of yellow fever, determining that it was transmitted through mosquitoes ''Aedes aegypti''. Biography Early life and ...

(1833–1915), epidemiologist who discovered mosquitoes as vector of yellow fever *

William S. Forbes William Smith Forbes (10 February 1831 – 17 December 1905)Staff report (December 18, 1905) Dr. William Smith Forbes. (obituary) ''New York Times'' was an American physician who served as demonstrator of anatomy at Jefferson Medical College. H ...

(1831–1905), physician and anatomist * John H. Gibbon, Jr. (class of 1927) (1903–1973), developed first successful

heart-lung machine Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) or heart-lung machine, also called the pump or CPB pump, is a machine that temporarily takes over the function of the heart and lungs during open-heart surgery by maintaining the circulation of blood and oxygen throu ...

* Samuel D. Gross (class of 1828) (1805–1884), pioneering surgeon *

John Martyn Harlow John Martyn Harlow (1819–1907) was an American physician primarily remembered for his attendance on brain-injury survivor Phineas Gage, and for his published reports on Gage's accident and subsequent history. Harlow was born in Whiteha ...

(class of 1844) (1819-1907), physician primarily remembered for his attendance on brain-injury survivor

Phineas Gage Phineas P. Gage (18231860) was an American railroad construction foreman remembered for his improbable survival of an accident in which a large iron rod was driven completely through his head, destroying much of his brain's left frontal lobe, ...

. * Robert H. Hodsden (1806-1864), physician and Tennessee state legislator *

Chevalier Jackson Chevalier Quixote Jackson (November 4, 1865 – August 16, 1958) was an American pioneer in laryngology. He is sometimes known as the "father of endoscopy", although Philipp Bozzini (1773–1809) is also often given this sobriquet. Chevalier Q. J ...

(1865–1958), pioneering

laryngologist The larynx (), commonly called the voice box, is an organ in the top of the neck involved in breathing, producing sound and protecting the trachea against food aspiration. The opening of larynx into pharynx known as the laryngeal inlet is about 4 ...

William Williams Keen William Williams Keen Jr. (January 19, 1837June 7, 1932) was an American physician and the first brain surgeon in the United States. During his lifetime, Keen worked with six American presidents. Early life and education Keen was born in Phila ...

(1837–1932), surgeon who assisted in surgery on President Grover Cleveland *

Simon Lord Simon Locke Lord (first name sometimes Simeon; March 8, 1826 – February 17, 1893) was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly and the Wisconsin State Senate. Biography Lord was born in Limington, Maine, in 1826. After graduating from the Je ...

(1826–1893), member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

and the

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after those o ...

* Harry Lott (1880–1949), Olympic gold medalist rower, graduated M.D. at Jefferson Medical College, returned as Professor * S. Weir Mitchell, (1829–1914), experimental physiologist and neurologist *

Ninian Pinkney Ninian Pinkney (17 June 1811, in Hammond-Harwood House, Annapolis, Maryland – 15 December 1877), also spelled Pinckney, was a United States Navy surgeon and medical director. He graduated from St. John's College, Annapolis, Maryland, in 1829, ...

, (1811–1877),

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

medical director, active during the

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

. *

Orlando Plummer Orlando Pleasant Shields Plummer (April 13, 1836 – December 7, 1913) was an American physician and politician in the state of Oregon. A native of Pennsylvania, he started practicing medicine in Illinois before moving to Portland, Oregon. In ...

, (1836–1913) doctor and politician in

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

.Corning, Howard M. (1989) ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing. p. 199. * George R. Robbins (1814–1875), represented

New Jersey's 2nd congressional district New Jersey's 2nd congressional district, based in South Jersey, Southern New Jersey, is represented by Republican Jeff Van Drew. He was first elected as a Democrat in 2018, but announced on December 19, 2019, that he would be switching parties ...

in the

from 1855 to 1859. *

J. Marion Sims James Marion Sims (January 25, 1813November 13, 1883) was an American physician in the field of surgery. His most famous work was the development of a Surgery, surgical technique for the repair of vesicovaginal fistula, a severe Complication (me ...

(1813–1883), pioneering

gynecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences) is the area of medicine concerned with conditions affecting the female reproductive system. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, which focuses on pre ...

* Charles Skelton (1806–1879), represented

in the

from 1851 to 1855. *

Edward Robinson Squibb Edward Robinson Squibb (July 4, 1819October 25, 1900) was a medical doctor, a leading American inventor, and a manufacturer of pharmaceutics who founded E. R. Squibb and Sons, which eventually became part of the modern pharmaceutical giant Brist ...

(1819–1900), developed process to produce pure

ether In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group, a single oxygen atom bonded to two separate carbon atoms, each part of an organyl group (e.g., alkyl or aryl). They have the general formula , where R and R� ...

and established E.R. Squibb & Sons, predecessor to

Bristol-Myers Squibb The Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, doing business as Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), is an American multinational pharmaceutical company. Headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, BMS is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and consist ...

Modern era

Jose F. Caro José F. Caro (born Granada, Spain, 1948) is an American physician, scientist, and educator most notable for his research in obesity and diabetes. The Institute for Scientific Information listed him the third most cited investigator in the world i ...

(post-graduate training class of 1977) (1948- ), formerly Magee Professor of Medicine and the 16th Chairman of the Department, best known for his research in obesity * Cora LeEthel Christian (class of 1971), first woman from the U.S. Virgin Islands to become a physician, former assistant commissioner of the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Health and member of the national AARP Board of Directors. *

Robert Gallo Robert Charles Gallo (; born March 23, 1937) is an American biomedical researcher. He is best known for his role in establishing the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as the infectious agent responsible for acquired immune deficiency syndrome ( ...

(class of 1963), (1937- ), co-discoverer of HIV * Joseph Giordano (class of 1967), led trauma team at

George Washington University Hospital The George Washington University Hospital (GWUH) is a short-stay hospital in Washington, D.C. affiliated with the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Since 2022, the hospital has been wholly owned and operated ...

following

attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan On March 30, 1981, Ronald Reagan, the President of the United States, was shot and wounded by John Hinckley Jr. in Washington, D.C., as Reagan was returning to his limousine after a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton hotel. Hinckley ...

Marty Makary Martin Adel Makary () is a British-American surgeon, professor, author, and medical commentator who has served as the 27th Commissioner of Food and Drugs since 2025. He practices surgical oncology and gastrointestinal laparoscopic surgery at ...

(class of 1998), physician, author,

health policy Health policy can be defined as the "decisions, plans, and actions that are undertaken to achieve specific healthcare goals within a society".World Health Organization''Health Policy'' accessed 22 March 2011(archived 5 February 2011) According ...

educator, and television medical commentator * Kenneth Margulies (class of 1986), cardiologist and Research Director of Heart Failure & Transplantation, University of Pennsylvania * Thomas J. Nasca (class of 1975), Chief Executive Director of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education which Accredits Residency Training Programs in the United States. *

Janice Nevin Janice E. Nevin is an executive who in 2014 became President and CEO of ChristianaCare Health System. She is the first woman to be the head of Delaware's largest hospital system. Early life and education Nevin was raised in Delaware after and ...

(class of 1987) (1959- ), President, CEO of Christiana Care Health System * David L. Reich (class of 1982), academic

anesthesiologist Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative medicine, perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critica ...

and professor; President & Chief Operating Officer of the Mount Sinai Hospital, and President of Mount Sinai Queens; among the first to demonstrate the utility of

electronic medical record An electronic health record (EHR) is the systematized collection of electronically stored patient and population health information in a digital format. These records can be shared across different health care settings. Records are shared thro ...

s for large-scale retrospective investigations demonstrating the association of intraoperative

hemodynamic Hemodynamics or haemodynamics are the dynamics of blood flow. The circulatory system is controlled by homeostatic mechanisms of autoregulation, just as hydraulic circuits are controlled by control systems. The hemodynamic response continuously ...

abnormalities with adverse postoperative outcomes. * Arye Rosen (Masters 1980), Academy Professor of Biomedical and Electrical Engineering in the School of Biomedical Engineering * Gordon Rubenfeld (class of 1987), (1961- ), 2007 American Thoracic Society recipient of John W. Walsh PAR Award for Excellence and Inaugural Chief of the Program in Trauma, Critical Care, and Emergency Medicine at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, and Affiliate Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington

References

{{reflist

External links

10 Notable Jefferson Alumni
via Thomas Jefferson University