List of Oberlin College alumni

The people listed alphabetically below studied at Oberlin College. Most are listed with a year of graduation. Those without years studied but did not graduate.

Contents: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Z

This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy certain standards for completion. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.

A

• Jad Abumrad, American radio host and producer. Currently hosts and produces Radio Lab on WNYC.
• Robert Alexander (1975), playwright, co-editor of the hip-hop theater anthology "Plays from the Boombox Galaxy" (among other works).
• Greg Allen (1985), founder of The Neo-Futurists experimental theatre troupe.
• William Ament, controversial missionary to China, criticised by Mark Twain.
• Hobart Baumann Amstutz, studied at the Conservatory 1914–15 before graduating from Oberlin High School in 1915. Later served as a Bishop for The Methodist Church.
• Susan Art (1973), Dean of Students at University of Chicago's undergraduate college.
• Mary Atkins, founder of Mills College.

B

• Benjamin Bagby (1974), vocalist, harpist, scholar, and founder of early music ensemble Sequentia
• Peter Baker (1988), Washington Post journalist and author.
• Ishmael Beah (2004), author of A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier.
• Reginald Beasley (1988), radio personality & program director, touring nightclub DJ (under the name "Big Chicago" Reggie Beas).
• Alison Bechdel (1981), cartoonist (Dykes To Watch Out For) and graphic novelist (Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic).
• Robin Behn (1979), poet (Horizon Note).
• Arthur L. Benton (1931), neuropsychologist.
• Jacqueline Berrien (1983), associate director-counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and President Obama's nominee for chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
• Suzette Marie Bishop (1984), author (She Took off Her Wings and Shoes).
• Joani Blank (1959), founder of Good Vibrations.
• Richard Bliwas (1981), pianist and singer/songwriter.
• Geoffrey Blodgett (1953), historian and author of Cass Gilbert: The Early Years.
• Alex Blumberg (1989) producer, "This American Life."
• Eric Bogosian (1976), novelist, playwright (Talk Radio, SubUrbia) and actor (Law and Order: Criminal Intent).
• Wendy Brenner (1987), author of Phone Calls From the Dead.
• Noah Bopp (1996), Founder and Director, School for Ethics and Global Leadership^[1]
• Chris Brokaw (1986), rock drummer for Codeine, Come, Consonant.
• Avery Brooks (1970 and an additional honorary degree in 1996), actor in Uncle Tom's Cabin, American History X, Spenser: For Hire, best known for "Benjamin Sisko" in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
• Chris Broussard (1990), ESPN sports analyst.
• Antoinette Brown (1847), the first ordained female minister in the U.S.
• Paul Brown, newscaster/reporter for NPR; from 2001 to 2003 Brown was NPR's executive producer for weekend programming, also served as acting executive producer and acting senior producer of NPR's Talk of the Nation, and as acting senior producer at NPR's Morning Edition.
• Gabriel Brownstein (1988), novelist and author of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Apt. 3W and The Man from Beyond.
• Blanche K Bruce, second African-American Senator from Mississippi serving 1874–1881.
• Peter Buchman (1989), screenwriter for Jurassic Park III and Che (film).
• Alice Rowe Burks (1942), author of Who Invented the Computer?: The Legal Battle that Changed Computing History.
• James Burrows (1962), producer and creator of Cheers and Emmy award-winning director of Will & Grace, Wings, News Radio, among other series.
• Michael Byers (1991), novelist and author of The Coast of Good Intentions and Long for This World.

C

• Marc Canter (1980), co-founder of MacroMind (later Macromedia).
• Ben Calhoun (2001), political journalist for Chicago Public Radio.
• John Carroll (1984), historian.
• John Cazale (1954), actor in The Godfather and The Deer Hunter.
• Zoe Chace (2004), producer and journalist for NPR (various programs).
• Brian Chase (2000), drummer for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
• Tracy Chevalier (1984), novelist and author of Girl with a Pearl Earring , Falling Angels, and The Lady and the Unicorn.
• Kevin Clarke (1991), renowned political methodologist, and currently Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Rochester.
• Yvette Clarke (transferred to Medgar Evers College, did not earn degree), Democratic representative for New York's 11th congressional district, 2007–present.
• Kathleen Neal Cleaver (transferred to Barnard College) Senior Research Associate at Yale Law School known for her involvement in the Black Panther Party.
• Rachel Cline (1979), author of What to Keep.
• Henry Roe Cloud, Native American political leader.
• Stanley Cohen (1945), Nobel Physiology and Medicine laureate in 1986.
• Marc Cohn (1981), Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter.
• Johnnetta B. Cole (1957), first female African-American president of Spelman College, president of Bennett College 2002–07.
• John R. Commons (1888), well-known institutional economist and labor historian.
• Fanny Jackson Coppin (1865), influential African-American educator and missionary.
• Richard Cowan, posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor during World War II.
• Jacob Dolson Cox, politician and author.
• Paul Drennan Cravath, famous lawyer, partner of Cravath, Swaine & Moore, creator of the "Cravath System" and founding Vice-President of the Council on Foreign Relations.
• Alev Lytle Croutier, a Turkish-American author.

D

• Charles D'Ambrosio (1982), essayist, short story writer.
• Stephen Davenport (1953), author of Saving Miss Oliver's.
• Rennie Davis, a prominent anti-Vietnam war activist and one of the Chicago Seven.
• Carl Dennis, Pulitzer prize-winning poet of Practical Gods.
• Angel Desai (1994), actress, 2006 Company Revival, multiple other plays and television shows^[2]
• Robert Devereaux (1969), novelist and author of Santa Steps Out: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups.
• Michael Dirda (1970), Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reviewer, author.
• John Langalibalele Dube, first President of the African National Congress
• Kelly Dwyer (1986), novelist, author of Self-Portrait with Ghosts.
• Michael Duffy (1980), Assistant Managing Editor of Time.
• David Kellogg Lewis well known philosopher arguing for Possible Worlds.

E

• Chris Eldridge (2004), Guitarist, Punch Brothers; former guitarist, the Infamous Stringdusters.
• John Millott Ellis (1851), President of Oberlin College and abolitionist.
• Rhian Ellis (1990), novelist (After Life).
• Josh Emmons (1995), novelist (The Loss of Leon Meed, Prescription for a Superior Existence).

F

• George Fairchild (1862), third President of Kansas State University.
• Adrian Fenty (1992), Mayor of Washington, D.C..
• Lee Fisher (1973), Lieutenant Governor and former Attorney General of Ohio.
• Jim Fixx (1957), author of The Complete Book of Running.
• Peter Tyrrell Flawn (1947), geologist and former President of the University of Texas at Austin.
• Kate Fodor (1993), playwright (Hannah and Martin).
• Beth Fouhy (1983) Former executive producer at CNN; AP reporter, covered Hillary Clinton's campaign in 2007–8.
• Kim France (1987), editor of Lucky magazine.
• Darcy Frey (1983), non-fiction writer.
• Su Friedrich (1975), experimental filmmaker.
• Sara Hoskinson Frommer (1958), novelist and author of Witness in Bishop Hill: A Joan Spencer Mystery.
• Alan Furst (1962), novelist, author of Blood of Victory.

G

• Rhiannon Giddens (2000), instrumentalist (banjo, violin); member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, an African-American string band; operatic vocalist (soprano).
• Chester Gillette, an American convicted murderer, the basis for the fictional character Clyde Griffiths in the Theodore Dreiser novel, An American Tragedy, which in turn was the basis of the 1951 Academy Award-winning film A Place in the Sun.
• John Gofman (1939), a scientist involved in the Manhattan Project and an activist concerning issues with nuclear power and radiation danger.
• Myla Goldberg (1993), novelist (Bee Season, Wickett's Remedy).
• William Goldman (1952), novelist (The Princess Bride) and Academy Award-winning screenwriter (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's Men).
• Jason Myles Goss (2003), singer-songwriter.
• Elisha Gray, an inventor of the telephone.
• Denyce Graves, an accomplished American opera singer, sang the American Anthem during the 55th Presidential Inauguration for President George W. Bush.
• Melissa Fay Greene (1975), author (Last Man Out: The Story of the Springhill Mine Disaster).
• Jerry Greenfield (1973), co-creator of Ben & Jerry's ice cream.
• Linda Gregerson (1971), award-winning poet (Waterborne, Magnetic North).
• Dr. Jamie Grifo (1978), director of New York University Medical Center's division of reproductive endocrinology.
• Erwin Griswold (1925), lawyer, late Solicitor General of the United States and dean of Harvard Law School.
• Gary Grubb (1975), contraceptive developer (Norplant, Lybrel).

H

• Richard N. Haass (1973), president of the Council on Foreign Relations and former Director of Policy Planning for the U.S. Department of State.
• Al Haig, jazz pianist.
• Charles Martin Hall (1885), co-discoverer of the electrolytic process of producing aluminium, founder of Alcoa, Inc. (and contributor to the American spelling of "aluminum").
• David Halperin (1973), author (One Hundred Years of Homosexuality).
• Jon Hamilton (1983), NPR science correspondent.
• Philip Hanawalt (1954), scientist, co-discoverer of DNA excision repair.
• Philip C. Hayes (1860), American Civil War general.
• Edward Haskell (1929), scientist and educator who dedicated his life to the unification of human knowledge into a single discipline.
• Janet Ruth Heller (1971), author (How the Moon Regained Her Shape)
• Ed Helms (1996), actor (The Office (US TV series)), comedian, correspondent on The Daily Show.
• Paul M. Herr (1978), social psychologist, Professor of Marketing at the University of Colorado, Leeds School of Business.
• Corin Hewitt (1993), American sculptor
• Joe Hickerson (1957), American folklorist.
• Ralph F. Hirschmann (1922–2009), biochemist who led synthesis of the first enzyme.^[3]
• Jonathan Holden (1963), poet (Knowing: New and Selected Poems).
• Michael Hollinger (1984), playwright (Red Herring)
• Keith Holzman (1957), author (The Complete Guide to Starting a Record Company).
• Cathy Park Hong (1998), poet (Translating Mo'um).
• David Hoose (1969), Music Director of the Cantata Singers & Ensemble in Boston since 1982.
• Paul Horn (1952), jazz flutist.
• Teresa Heinz Housel (1994), communication professor, cultural critic, and journalist.
• Edward Everett Horton, actor (The Front Page, Top Hat, Holiday), voice actor (Rocky & Bullwinkle). {Left his junior year}
• Ralf Hotchkiss (1969), co-founder and current (2006) Whirlwind Chief Engineer of Whirlwind Wheelchair International, 1989 MacArthur Foundation Fellow.
• Noelle Howey (1994), author (Dress Codes: Of Three Girlhoods––My Mother's, My Father's, and Mine).
• Tim Hurson (1967), speaker, writer, creativity theorist, author of Think Better: An Innovator's Guide to Productive Thinking
• Robert Hutchins, educational philosopher, president (1929–1945) and chancellor (1945–1951) of the University of Chicago

I

• Ernest Ingersoll, American naturalist.
• Bill Irwin (1973), actor in numerous shows and movies, including Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Rachel Getting Married, The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?, My Blue Heaven, and Eight Men Out, 1984 MacArthur Fellow, clown

J

• Charlene Drew Jarvis (1962), president of Southeastern University.
• Lisa Jervis (1993), creator and editor of Bitch magazine.
• Robert Jervis (1962), International Relations scholar and Columbia University professor.
• Benjamin Joffe-Walt (1980), writer, CNN Africa Print Journalist of the Year
• Barbara Johnson (1969), literary critic, professor at Harvard University.
• Chris Johnson (1990), filmmaker, photographer, PBS – "Voyage of the Odyssey" / earthOCEAN.tv
• Vernon Johns (1919), African-American preacher, PhD University of Chicago, predecessor of Martin Luther King Jr. at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, widely hailed as the father of the civil rights movement.

K

• Fred Kaplan (1976), journalist and Slate columnist.
• John Kander (1951), of the musical theater team Kander and Ebb (Cabaret and Chicago, among others).
• Maggie Keenan-Bolger (2006), actress and writer, wrote From the Inside, Out, co-founder of 4th Meal Productions, The Will Rogers Follies and The Music Man National tours
• James Kim (1992) , Senior CNET editor and technology analyst. Died in a snowstorm in the Bear Camp Road region in Oregon in late 2006.
• Daniel Kinsey (1935), Olympic champion (110 m hurdles).
• Alex Klein (1987), Grammy-winning oboist.
• Robert Knopf (1983), author of "The Theater and Cinema of Buster Keaton", and theater director.
• Jennifer Koh (1997), violinist (1994 International Tchaikovsky Competition winner).
• Anne O. Krueger (1953), award-winning economist, Deputy Director of the International Monetary Fund, and Oberlin trustee (1987–95).
• Robert Krulwich (1969), television and radio journalist.
• H. H. Kung (1906), Chinese banker and Premier of the Republic of China (1938–39).
• Robert Kuttner (1965), co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect, and one of five co-founders of the Economic Policy Institute.

L

• John Mercer Langston (1849), early civil rights activist.
• Rex Lee (1990), actor, best known for his role on Entourage.
• Richard Lenski (1977), biologist and 1996 MacArthur Fellow.
• Edmonia Lewis, sculptor.
• Romulus Linney (1953, honorary degree 1994), playwright.
• Dan London (1995), actor, Minority Report, Old Joy, Patch Adams.
• Tom Lopez (1989), computer/new media composer.

M

• John Edward Mack (1951), psychologist, author (A Prince of Our Disorder).
• David Maine (1985), novelist (The Preservationist).
• Michelle Malkin (1992), conservative columnist (Los Angeles Daily News, The Seattle Times), author (In Defense of Internment), political commentator.
• Rollo May (1930), psychologist, author.
• James McBride (1979), journalist (Boston Globe, The Washington Post), author (The Color of Water), musician.
• Catherine McBride-Chang 1989, Psychology. Prominent literacy researcher in the area of cross-cultural development of early literacy skills
• Megan McDonald (1981), writer of children's literature (Judy Moody, The Great Pumpkin Switch).
• John McEntire (1991), drummer (Tortoise).
• Charles Edward McGuire (1992), musicologist, professor of musicology at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music.
• Josh MacPhee (1996), political artist.
• George Herbert Mead (1883), philosopher, leading figure of American Pragmatism; his theories became the foundation of the symbolic interactionist school of sociology and social psychology.
• J. Hillis Miller (1948), literary critic (The Ethics of Reading, On Literature).
• Robert Millikan (1891), Nobel laureate (Physics, 1923) for measuring the charge of the electron.
• Jason Molina (1996), singer/songwriter with Songs: Ohia and Magnolia Electric Co.
• Eduardo Mondlane (1953), Mozambican political leader.
• Roger Montgomery (1949), Dean of Architecture, City Planning, and Landscape Architecture, University of California, Berkeley.
• Donn F. Morgan (1965), author (The Making of Sages: Biblical Wisdom and Contemporary Culture).
• Gregory Mosher (1971), Tony Award-winning director.
• Adam Moss (1979), editor of New York magazine.
• Thylias Moss (1981), poet, playwright, and 1996 MacArthur Fellow.

N

• Amy X. Neuburg (1984), classical and pop singer.
• Josh Neufeld (1989), cartoonist (Keyhole) and graphic novelist (A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge).
• Thomas Newkirk (1970), author (Misreading Masculinity: Boys, Literacy, and Popular Culture).
• Thisbe Nissen (1994), novelist (Out of the Girls Room and Into the Night, Osprey Island)
• L. L. Nunn, Founder of Telluride Association and Deep Springs College.

O

• Karen O singer, Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
• Peggy Orenstein (1983), author (Flux: Women on Sex, Work, Kids, Love, and Life in a Half-Changed World).
• Rich Orloff (1973), playwright (Big Boys).
• Dzvinia Orlowsky (1975), poet (Except for One Obscene Brush Stroke).
• Jena Osman (1985), poet (The Character).

P

• Suzanne Paola (1980), poet (Lives of The Saints) and memoirist.
• Liz Phair (1989), singer/songwriter.
• Paul Pierson (1981), well known political scientist, professor of political science at the University of California, Berkeley.
• Sarah Pirtle (1971), children's musician and educator.
• John Wesley Powell, geologist and Civil War soldier.
• Jane Pratt (1984), creator of Sassy and Jane magazines.
• Nancy Priddy, singer-songwriter, perhaps best known for providing back-up vocals on Leonard Cohen's debut album, Songs of Leonard Cohen.
• Lia Purpura (1986), poet (Stone Sky Lifting), essayist (Increase, On Looking).

Q

• Willard V. O. Quine (1930), philosopher and logician.

R

• Stephanie Rawlings Blake (1992), President of the Baltimore City Council
• Marni Raab, singer/actress (Most notably Christine in the Phantom of the Opera on Broadway and the National Tour)
• Daniel Radosh (1991), journalist and blogger.
• David Rees (1994), cartoonist (My New Fighting Technique is Unstoppable, Get Your War On).
• Edwin O. Reischauer (1931) Ambassador to Japan, 1961–1966
• Tim Riley (1983), author (Tell Me Why: The Beatles: Album by Album, Song by Song, the Sixties and After), NPR critic.
• Matthew Rinaldi (1969), civil rights worker, political organizer, author of "Olive Drab Rebels" 1974. Famous for political work in Mississippi with Oprah Winfrey's grandparents Elmore and Beatrice.
• Josh Ritter (1999), singer/songwriter.
• Anita Roberts (1964), molecular biologist (made pioneering observations of TGF beta).
• Elisabeth Robinson (1983), novelist (The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters).
• Lucy Wainwright Roche (2003), musician, half-sister of Rufus Wainwright.
• Wilfred Roberts (1963), musician, principal bassoonist of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.
• Dick Rodstein (1971), award-winning narrator and voice actor.
• Martha Root (1890s), Hand of the Cause in the Bahá'í Faith.
• Carl T. Rowan (1947), journalist.
• S. J. Rozan (1972), novelist (Reflecting the Sky).
• John C. Russell (1985), playwright (Stupid Kids).
• Paul Russell (1978), novelist (The Coming Storm).
• Oren Rudavsky (1979), filmmaker (Hiding and Seeking, And Baby Makes Two, The Treatment).
• Seth Rudetsky (1988), Broadway actor, pianist, writer, radio host
• Michael Rudman (1960), award-winning theater director

S

• Greg Saunier, drummer of San Francisco-based band, Deerhoof.
• Alex Scally (2004), guitarist in Beach House.
• William Sanders Scarborough (1875), classical scholar.
• Kathleen Schalch, general assignment reporter on NPR's national desk.
• David Schlesinger (1982) Editor-in-Chief, Reuters news, Thomson Reuters.
• Thom Schramm, (1992), poet and editor of Living in Storms.
• Kathy Lou Schultz (1990), poet (Some Vague Wife).
• William F. Schulz (1971), former Executive Director of Amnesty International USA.
• Julie Schumacher (1981), novelist (Grass Angel, The Body is Water).
• Robert E. Scott, (1965), law professor and notable contract law scholar at Columbia Law School, Board of Visitors at College of William and Mary
• Elizabeth Searle (1983), novelist (Celebrities in Disguise).
• Stephen W. Sears (1954), author (Gettysburg).
• John S. Service (1931) Foreign Service Officer, China Hand
• Vijay Seshadri (1974), poet (The Long Meadow).
• Tanya Shaffer (1988), author (Somebody's Heart is Burning: A Woman Wanderer in Africa).
• Sonia Shah (1993), investigative journalist.
• Matthew Sharpe (1984), novelist (Nothing is Terrible, The Sleeping Father, Jamestown).
• Gary Shteyngart (1995), novelist (The Russian Debutante's Handbook, Absurdistan : A Novel).
• Arthur Simone (1999), actor (Jigsaw), improv comedian (Coldtowne), painter.
• George Smith (1987), ESPN investigative reporter, Division III Track & Field All-American.
• Lorenzo Snow, Mormon prophet, fifth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
• Donald J. Sobol (1948), author of Encyclopedia Brown series.
• Michael J. Sorrell (1988), president, Paul Quinn College in Dallas, Texas
• Robert Spano (1983), music director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
• Alix Spiegel NPR reporter, covering social policy; founding producer of This American Life; writer for the New Yorker and the New York Times.
• Roger Wolcott Sperry (1935 and 1937), neurobiologist and Nobel laureate (Medicine, 1981).
• Larry Squire (1963), Distinguished Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology at University of California, San Diego, a world expert in the field of memory, Past President of the Society for Neuroscience.
• Matthew Stadler (1981), novelist (Allan Stein).
• Sue Standing (1974), poet (False Horizon).
• Durham Stevens (1871), assassinated diplomat to Japan.
• Brooke Stevens (1980), author (Tattoo Girl).
• William Grant Still, composer.
• Lucy Stone (1847), feminist and abolitionist.
• Anna Louise Strong (1905), activist and author.
• Dick Sudhalter (1960), jazz musician and critic
• Jon Swan (1950), playwright, poet, librettist, and journalist.
• Larry Sweeney (2003), professional wrestler.

T

• Richard Tatum (1988), award-nominated stage and voice actor, Associate Artistic Director of the Ark Theatre Company[1], Los Angeles.
• Julie Taymor (1974), Emmy and Tony award-winning theatrical and cinematic director, filmmaker, screenwriter (Frida, Titus, Broadway's The Lion King, Across the Universe).
• Jon Theodore (1996), Ex-drummer for the Mars Volta.
• Michael Teig (1990), poet (Big Back Yard).
• Jim Tucker (1981), translator.
• Jen Trynin (1986), rock singer/songwriter.

U

• Peter Ullian (1988), playwright (The Flight of the Lawnchair Man).
• Emory Upton studied at Oberlin for two years before being admitted to West Point in 1856.

V

• Dominique H. Vasseur (1973) art historian, curator of European art, author of Edna Boies Hopkins Color Woodblock Prints.
• John Vinocur (1961), senior correspondent for The International Herald Tribune.

W

• George Walker (1941, honorary degree 1983), composer, Pulitzer Prize for Music 1996.
• Moses Fleetwood Walker (1881), first African-American player in baseball's major leagues.
• Geoffrey Ward (1962), author (The West: An Illustrated History and The War: An Intimate History, 1941-1945).
• Bruce Weigl (1973), poet (Archeology of the Circle: New and Selected Poems).
• Paul Wennberg (1985), chemist and 2002 MacArthur Fellow.
• William Drake Westervelt (1871 and 1874; honorary degree 1926), Hawaiian historical writer.
• C. Martin Wilbur (1931), historian, Sinologist.
• Thornton Wilder, novelist (The Bridge of San Luis Rey), playwright (Our Town).
• Harrison A. Williams (1941), U.S. senator and congressman from New Jersey.
• Warren Wilson, namesake of Warren Wilson College in North Carolina.
• Jonah Winter (1984), poet (Amnesia).
• Christopher Robin "Kit" Woolsey (1964), bridge internationalist and writer (Matchpoints) and backgammon expert.
• John Wray (1993), novelist (The Right Hand of Sleep, Lowboy).
• Franz Wright (1977), Pulitzer prize winning poet (Ill Lit: Selected & New Poems, Walking to Martha's Vineyard).
• Katharine Wright, sister of Orville and Wilbur Wright.
• Michelle Wright (1990), author (Becoming Black: Creating Identity in the African Diaspora).
• Willard Warch (1931), Oberlin professor of music and theory.

Z

• James Zemaits (1990), head of Sotheby's 20th-century-design department.
• David Zinman (1958), music director of the Zürich Tonhalle Orchestra and the Aspen Music Festival and School.
• Stephen Zunes (1979), University of San Francisco professor of politics, and political activist.

Contents: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Z

References