List of Brandeis University people

Here follows a list of notable alumni and faculty of Brandeis University.

Academia

 * Eve Adler, Classicist, professor at Middlebury College
 * Amnon Albeck, Chemist, professor and University's Vice-Rector at Bar-Ilan University
 * Frederick Alt, Geneticist at Harvard Medical School and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.
 * Arjun Appadurai, Anthropologist and editor of Public Culture
 * Elliot Aronson, Social psychologist known for research on the theory of cognitive dissonance
 * Seyla Benhabib, Professor of political science and philosophy at Yale University
 * Bonnie Berger, Professor of applied mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 * Ilan Berman, Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council
 * David Bernstein, Law professor and blogger
 * Ruth Ben-Ghiat, History professor, New York University
 * Deborah Bial, Education strategist, Founder and President of Posse Foundation, MacArthur Fellow
 * Richard Burgin, Professor, fiction writer, critic, founder and editor of Boulevard literary magazine
 * Nancy Chodorow, Feminist sociologist and psychoanalyst
 * Arthur L.Caplan, Professor of Bioethics
 * Angela Davis, Political activist, academic and author
 * Donna Robinson Divine, Professor at Smith College
 * Jean Bethke Elshtain, Professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School, feminist, political philosopher
 * Daniel A. Foss, Sociologist
 * Perry A. Frey, Professor of biochemistry at University of Wisconsin–Madison
 * Robert Gallucci, President of the MacArthur Foundation
 * Sherwood Gorbach, Emeritus Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine
 * Herbert Gross, Professor of Mathematics, Bunker Hill Community College, Corning Community College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 * Evelyn Fox Keller, Historian and philosopher of science, MacArthur Fellow 1992
 * David Kertzer, Anthropologist at Brown University; Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Pope and Mussolini
 * Barak Kushner, Professor of East Asian History at the University of Cambridge
 * Yanna Krupnikov, political scientist
 * Deborah Lipstadt, History professor, Emory University
 * George Loewenstein, Professor of Economics and Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University
 * Roderick MacKinnon, Professor at Rockefeller University, Nobel Prize in Chemistry
 * Fatema Mernissi, Moroccan sociologist
 * Joseph S. Murphy, President of Queens College, President of Bennington College, and Chancellor of the City University of New York
 * Elisa New, Professor, Harvard University, wife of Lawrence Summers, former President of Harvard University
 * David Oshinsky, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, professor
 * Alicia Ostriker, Poet, professor at Rutgers University
 * Lawrence Rosen, Anthropologist and law professor
 * Philip Rubin, Cognitive scientist, CEO Emeritus, Haskins Laboratories
 * Paul Sally, Professor of mathematics, University of Chicago
 * Michael Sandel, Professor of political philosophy, Harvard University and former member of The President's Council on Bioethics
 * Lawrence Schiffman, Historian of ancient Judaism and Vice-Provost at Yeshiva University
 * Joan Wallach Scott, Historian of France and pioneer in the field of gender history
 * Milette Shamir, Israeli scholar of American literature and vice president of Tel Aviv University
 * Judith Shapiro, Former President, Barnard College
 * Elaine Showalter, Literary critic
 * Lawrence Solan, Professor of law at Brooklyn Law School
 * Hortense Spillers, Literary critic, Black feminist scholar and the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor at Vanderbilt University
 * Maurice R. Stein, Author of Blueprint for Counter Education (1970), founding dean of the School of Critical Studies at the California Institute of the Arts, and a professor of sociology at Brandeis University
 * Alan Taylor, Pulitzer-Prize-winning historian, professor at UC Davis
 * Fernando Torres-Gil, Associate Dean and professor of public policy, UCLA School of Public Affairs
 * Paul Townsend, Physicist, notable for work on String Theory
 * Karen Uhlenbeck, Mathematics professor, MacArthur Fellow, awarded Leroy P. Steele Prize for research, first woman to win the Abel Prize.
 * Judith G. Voet, Professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Swarthmore College, author of biochemistry textbooks
 * Theo Wallimann, Professor, Biochemist/Cell Biologist at ETH Zurich
 * Michael Walzer, Professor of social science at the Institute for Advanced Study
 * Edward Witten, Physicist, awarded Fields Medal in 1990
 * Rich Yampell, Grammarian, Klingon Language Institute
 * David B. Yoffie, Professor of International Business Administration at Harvard Business School
 * Julian E. Zelizer, Professor of American political history at Princeton University
 * Robert J. Zimmer, Former President, University of Chicago

Arts and media

 * Kathy Acker, Novelist
 * Mitch Albom, Sports columnist for the Detroit Free Press, author of Tuesdays With Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven
 * Paula Apsell, Executive Producer of Nova, the longest-running science documentary series and winner of eight Emmy Awards
 * Ross Bauer, composer
 * Stanley Bing (aka Gil Schwartz), Author, columnist for Fortune and Esquire; Executive Vice President of CBS Corporation
 * Dan Blum, Novelist
 * Elizabeth Bruenig, writer and opinion columnist for The Washington Post
 * David Brudnoy, Talk radio host in Boston
 * Samrat Chakrabarti, British-American actor
 * Peter Child, Composer
 * Joe Conason, Political columnist for The New York Observer
 * David Crane, Co-creator, writer, and executive producer of television series Friends
 * Steven Culp, Actor
 * Tyne Daly, Actress, co-starred in TV series Cagney & Lacey
 * Stuart Damon (Stuart Michael Zonis), Actor, played Dr. Alan Quartermaine for thirty years on the TV soap opera General Hospital
 * Loretta Devine, Actress in TV series Boston Public and Grey's Anatomy, and films, including Crash
 * Josh Dibb (aka Deakin), Musician, member of Animal Collective
 * Alan Ehrenhalt, Senior editor of Governing, contributing writer to The New York Times
 * Thomas Friedman, Foreign affairs columnist for The New York Times; winner of the National Book Award and three Pulitzer Prizes
 * Lindsay Gardner, Media executive
 * Gary David Goldberg, Television writer and producer
 * Tony Goldwyn, Actor and director
 * Karen Lynn Gorney, Actress
 * Alexander Gould, Actor known for roles in Finding Nemo and Weeds
 * Debra Granik, Film director and screenwriter
 * Mark Halliday, Poet
 * Marshall Herskovitz, TV and film producer, director and screenwriter
 * Dan Hirschhorn, Time.com
 * Kay Hymowitz, Conservative commentator, Manhattan Institute scholar
 * Chuck Israels, Jazz musician, bassist
 * Margo Jefferson, The New York Times theater critic, winner of Pulitzer Prize for Criticism
 * Ha Jin, Novelist, winner of the 2000 PEN/Faulkner Award
 * Michael Kaiser, President, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
 * Myq Kaplan, Comedian
 * Marta Kauffman, Executive Producer and co-creator of the Emmy Award-winning television series Friends
 * Jesse Kellerman, Novelist and playwright, son of novelists Jonathan Kellerman and Faye Kellerman
 * Arghavan Khosravi, painter, sculptor and illustrator, attended the postbaccalaureate program in 2015.
 * Jon Landau, Music critic, manager and record producer
 * Susan B. Landau, Film and television producer (Cool Runnings, Mary and Rhoda)
 * Louise Lasser, Actress, ex-wife of Woody Allen
 * Abby Leigh, Artist
 * Mark Leyner, Postmodern novelist
 * Peter Lieberson, Composer
 * Charlene Liu, Artist
 * Steven Mackey, Composer
 * Michael McDowell, Novelist and script writer
 * Gates McFadden, Actress, best known as Dr. Beverly Crusher on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation
 * Kathleen McInerney, Voice actress, Ash Ketchum seasons 1–8 on Pokémon
 * Debra Messing, Actress in television series Will & Grace and The Starter Wife
 * Walter Mossberg, Wall Street Journal technology columnist
 * Josh Mostel, Actor, son of actor Zero Mostel
 * Susana Naidich, Argentine singer
 * Barry Newman, Actor
 * Marc Tyler Nobleman, Author
 * Anand Patwardhan, Documentary filmmaker
 * Martin Peretz, Editor-in-chief of The New Republic
 * Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Author, journalist, social activist, a founding editor of Ms. magazine
 * Patrik-Ian Polk, Writer-producer of Noah's Arc
 * Deborah Porter, Critic, non-profit director, founder of the Boston Book Festival
 * Tom Rapp, Singer/songwriter, previously of Pearls Before Swine
 * Guy Raz, Host of National Public Radio's All Things Considered
 * Theresa Rebeck, Playwright and novelist
 * Nancy Richler, Novelist
 * Nathan J. Robinson, Columnist and founding editor of Current Affairs
 * Harilyn Rousso, artist, psychotherapist, and disabled rights activist
 * Jeff Rubens, Bridge player, writer and editor
 * Richard Rubin, Actor, television personality, and reality star of Beauty and the Geek
 * David Ian Salter, Film editor of Toy Story 2 and Finding Nemo
 * Bill Schneider, CNN's senior political analyst
 * Bob Simon, CBS television correspondent for 60 Minutes
 * Arunoday Singh, Bollywood actor; grandson of Indian politician Arjun Singh
 * Sunny Singh, Writer
 * Daniel Smith, Writer
 * Laura J. Snyder, Historian, philosopher, and author
 * Paul Solman, Journalist for PBS
 * Christina Hoff Sommers, Author, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute
 * Karen Sosnoski, Author and filmmaker
 * Michael Sugar, Film and TV producer/Oscar winner for Spotlight
 * Gary Tinterow (B.A. 1976), art historian and curator
 * Eric Tuchman (B.A. 1984), Emmy Award-winning showrunner of The Handmaid's Tale
 * Jonathan Vankin, Senior Editor, Vertigo Comics
 * Robin Weigert, Actress, played Calamity Jane in Deadwood on HBO
 * Adam D. Weinberg, Director of Whitney Museum of American Art
 * Eliza Wyatt, Playwright, author, and sculptor

Business

 * Leonard Asper, Chief Operating Officer, CanWest
 * Mitch Caplan, Former president and CEO, E*Trade Financial Corporation
 * Christie Hefner, Former Chairman & CEO, Playboy Enterprises, Inc., daughter of Hugh Hefner
 * Brian Hirsch, venture capitalist
 * Myra Hiatt Kraft, Philanthropist and late wife of Bob Kraft, owner of New England Patriots NFL football team
 * Suk-Won Kim, Chair of SsangYong Business Group, one of the largest companies in the Republic of Korea
 * Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson, Executive Vice President of Time Warner, former CEO and president of Sony Interactive Entertainment, responsible for the introduction of PlayStation
 * Bobby Sager, Philanthropist, photographer, former president of Gordon Brothers Group
 * Robert F.X. Sillerman, Media entrepreneur; CEO of CKX, Inc. (owner of Elvis Presley Enterprises and American Idol)
 * Donald Soffer, Real estate professional and a developer of Aventura, Florida.
 * Louise Sunshine, Real estate professional and founder of the Sunshine Group
 * Scott A. Travers, Noted numismatist and author.
 * Ellis Verdi, Advertising executive and co-founder of the DeVito/Verdi advertising agency

Government, law, politics and non-profits

 * Jack Abramoff, Republican activist; founder, International Freedom Foundation, former lobbyist (convicted of mail fraud, conspiracy to bribe public officials, and tax evasion)
 * Donna Arzt, Human rights attorney, law professor
 * Françoise Blime-Dutertre, French philosopher
 * Sidney Blumenthal, Adviser to President Bill Clinton and journalist
 * Naomi Reice Buchwald, United States District Court Judge, Southern District of New York
 * Jennifer Casolo, Peace activist
 * Bernard Coard, Grenadian politician who led the coup that ousted Maurice Bishop
 * Ruth Deech, Baroness Deech, Member of the House of Lords, UK
 * Gustavo Gelpi, United States District Court Judge, District of Puerto Rico
 * Geir Haarde, Prime Minister of Iceland
 * Wakako Hironaka, Member of the Diet of Japan, State Minister, Director-General of the Environment Agency (1993–94)
 * Abbie Hoffman, Social and political activist; co-founder of the Youth International Party ("Yippies")
 * Michael E. Horowitz, Inspector General for the United States Department of Justice
 * Otis Johnson, Mayor of Savannah, Georgia
 * Joette Katz, Associate Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court
 * Lisa Kubiske, United States Ambassador to Honduras
 * Robert Lasnik, United States District Court Judge, Western District of Washington
 * Osman Faruk Loğoğlu, Ambassador to the United States from the Republic of Turkey
 * Roslynn Mauskopf, United States District Court Judge, Eastern District of New York
 * Vineeta Rai, Indian Administrative Service officer; former Revenue Secretary, Government of India; voted one of 25 Most Powerful Women in Business in India
 * Rakesh Rajani, Tanzanian Civil Society Leader
 * Michael Ratner, President of the Center for Constitutional Rights, a non-profit human rights litigation organization
 * Lois Galgay Reckitt, executive director, Family Crisis Services of Portland, Maine
 * Lauren Rikleen, Author, lawyer, workplace expert
 * Edgar Romano, managing senior partner at the New York City law firm Pasternack Tilker Ziegler Walsh Stanton & Romano, LLP
 * Stanley Roth, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, 1997–2001
 * Dimitrij Rupel, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia
 * George Saitoti, Vice President of the Republic of Kenya
 * Ari Schwartz, Chief operating officer, Center for Democracy and Technology
 * Eli J. Segal, Assistant to the President of the United States 1993–1996
 * Daniel B. Shapiro, Former United States Ambassador to Israel
 * David Sinclair, Maine state representative
 * Daniel Sokatch, CEO of the New Israel Fund
 * Stephen J. Solarz, Former U.S. Representative from Brooklyn, New York
 * Beth Teper, Director of COLAGE (Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere)
 * Shen Tong, Student leader in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
 * Andrew H. Warren, State Attorney of Florida's 13th Judicial Circuit, Hillsborough County (1978–01)
 * Micah Zenko, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations
 * Gerald Zerkin, Attorney for Zacarias Moussaoui

Science

 * Larry Abbott, Senior Fellow at Janelia Farms (HHMI); co-director, Columbia Center for Theoretical Neuroscience; member of the National Academy of Sciences
 * V. Balakrishnan, Indian theoretical physicist
 * Eric R. Braverman, Physician
 * Adam Cheyer, AI and CS scientist, co-founder of Siri, the company behind Apple's personal assistant on iOS
 * Sharon K. Davis, senior scientist and head of the Social Epidemiology Research Unit at the National Human Genome Research Institute
 * Judith Rich Harris, Psychologist
 * Arthur G. Hunt, Plant and soils scientist
 * Leslie Lamport, Computer scientist and inventor of LaTeX document preparation system
 * Beatrice B. "BeBe" Magee, Chemist
 * Janet Akyüz Mattei, Astronomer, former director of the American Association of Variable Star Observers
 * Siddhartha Roy, Structural biologist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
 * Philip Rubin, Cognitive scientist, CEO Emeritus, Haskins Laboratories; White House science advisor in Obama administration
 * Robert H. Singer, Senior Fellow at Janelia Farm Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chair of Anatomy and Structural Biology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine
 * Ron Sun, Professor of Cognitive Sciences and Computer Science, RPI
 * Drew Weissman, Physician-scientist and Nobel laureate
 * Patrick Tufts, Computer scientist and inventor
 * Rachel Zimmerman, Space scientist, inventor of the Blissymbol Printer, which simplifies communication for users with physical disabilities

Sports

 * Nelson Figueroa, Major League Baseball pitcher
 * Jeffrey Lurie, Owner of Philadelphia Eagles NFL football team
 * Tim Morehouse, Fencer, silver medal winner in men's team sabre at the 2008 Summer Olympics
 * Sam Shankland, 2018 US Chess Champion

Crime, political crimes, and terrorism

 * Naomi Jaffe, Social and political activist, member of the Weather Underground organization
 * Katherine Ann Power, Anti-war activist and former fugitive from justice
 * Susan Edith Saxe, Anti-war activist and former fugitive from justice
 * Aafia Siddiqui, Neuroscientist (alleged al-Qaeda operative), convicted of assaulting and attempting to kill U.S. soldiers and FBI agents
 * Laura Whitehorn, Member of the Weather Underground organization, participated in the Battle of Boston during the Boston busing crisis

Notable faculty and staff, past and present

 * John B. Anderson: United States Congressman, third-party candidate for President of the United States in 1980
 * Stuart Altman: Healthcare policy economist, member of the Institute of Medicine
 * Alexander Altmann: Professor of Jewish Philosophy and History of Ideas
 * Teresa Amabile: Social and organizational psychologist
 * Robert J. Art: International politics
 * Kathleen Barry: Feminist and sociologist
 * Leonard Bernstein: Composer and conductor
 * Frank Bidart: Poet, awarded Bollingen Prize
 * Egon Bittner: Sociologist and police science scholar
 * Michael Brenner: Professor for Jewish history and culture
 * Bernadette Brooten: Professor of Christian studies, member of the MacArthur Fellows Program
 * Olga Broumas: Poet
 * David Buchsbaum (emeritus): Member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences
 * Mary Baine Campbell: Poet and critic
 * Carolyn Cohen: Member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences
 * Saul Cohen (emeritus): Member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences
 * Frank Conroy: Memoirist, fiction writer, and director of the Iowa Writers' Workshop
 * Lewis A. Coser: Sociologist, one of the founders of Dissent magazine
 * J.V. Cunningham: Poet and literary critic
 * Pamela Dellal: Mezzo-soprano
 * Stanley Deser (emeritus): Member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences
 * Mark Feeney: Pulitzer Prize-winning arts critic for The Boston Globe
 * Irving Fine: Composer
 * David Hackett Fischer: Pulitzer Prize-winning historian
 * Mickey Fisher: Basketball coach and Brandeis Athletic Director
 * Benny Friedman: Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback; Brandeis Athletic Director and last football coach
 * Lawrence "Larry" Fuchs: Founder of the American Studies Department at Brandeis and immigration policy expert
 * Paul Georges: Member of National Academy Museum
 * Ray Ginger: Historian noted for his biography of Eugene V. Debs
 * Eugene Goodheart: Literary critic
 * Arthur Green: Jewish spirituality and thought
 * Allen Grossman: Poet, awarded Bollingen Prize and MacArthur Fellowship "genius" grant
 * Jeff Hall (emeritus): member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
 * Timothy J Hickey: Computer scientist
 * Anita Hill: Lawyer and social policy expert
 * Heisuke Hironaka: Mathematician, Fields Medal winner
 * Michelle Hoover: Writer-in-residence, author
 * Irving Howe: Political theorist, editor and founder of Dissent
 * Hugh Huxley (emeritus): Member of the National Academy of Sciences
 * Ray Jackendoff (emeritus): Member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences
 * Paul Jankowski: Historian
 * Gish Jen: Member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences
 * William Jencks: Biochemist
 * Charles Kadushin, psychologist known for social network analysis and study on Jewish populations
 * William E. Kapelle: Medieval historian
 * Dorothee Kern: Biochemist, former basketball player for the East Germany national team
 * Jytte Klausen: European politics, author of The Cartoons that Shook the World
 * Walter Laqueur: Historian and political commentator
 * Max Lerner: Author, syndicated columnist, and editor
 * Alvin Lucier: Composer of experimental music
 * Alasdair MacIntyre: Philosopher
 * Kanan Makiya: Iraqi dissident, advocate of the 2003 invasion of Iraq
 * Herbert Marcuse: Social theorist and member of the Frankfurt School
 * Eve Marder: Neuroscientist
 * Abraham Maslow: Psychologist noted for humanistic approach
 * Eileen McNamara: Pulitzer Prize- winning columnist for the Boston Globe
 * Pauli Murray: Feminist, civil rights advocate, lawyer, and ordained priest
 * Ulric Neisser: Pioneer in development of cognitive psychology
 * Irene Pepperberg: Psychologist noted for research on cognition in animals, particularly for her work with Alex, a grey parrot
 * Gregory Petsko: Biochemist
 * James Pustejovsky: Linguist, proposer of Generative Lexicon theory
 * Philip Rahv: Literary and social critic, editor and founder of Partisan Review
 * David Rakowski: Music, runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize for Music (1999, 2002)
 * Robert Reich: United States Secretary of Labor, 1993–1997
 * Margret Rey: Author and illustrator of children's books, notably the Curious George series
 * Adrienne Rich: Poet, essayist and feminist
 * Philip Rieff: Sociologist and cultural critic
 * Jehuda Reinharz: Former President of Brandeis University and current Richard Koret Professor of Modern Jewish History, and Director of the Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry at Brandeis.
 * Eleanor Roosevelt: First Lady of the United States
 * Michael Rosbash: Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
 * Rosie Rosenzweig: Resident scholar
 * Dennis Ross: Special envoy/ambassador to Middle East under President Bill Clinton
 * Jonathan Sarna: Historian of American Judaism
 * Nahum Sarna: Biblical scholar, father of Jonathan Sarna
 * Morrie Schwartz: Sociologist; subject of Mitch Albom's bestselling novel, Tuesdays with Morrie
 * Arnold S. Shapiro: Mathematician
 * Thomas M. Shapiro: Sociologist, author
 * Mitchell Siporin: Artist
 * Thomas Sowell: Economist, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution
 * Marie Syrkin: Poet and author
 * Andreas Teuber: Philosophy professor, actor
 * Samuel O. Thier: President of both Massachusetts General Hospital and Brandeis University
 * Gina G. Turrigiano: Neuroscientist, winner of the MacArthur "Genius" Award
 * Claude Vigée: Poet
 * Kurt Heinrich Wolff: Sociologist
 * Franz Wright: Poet, awarded Pulitzer Prize
 * Yehudi Wyner: Composer, awarded Pulitzer Prize
 * Leslie Zebrowitz: Social psychologist