List of New Trier High School alumni

This is a list of notable alumni from New Trier High School, a four-year high school in Winnetka, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago, including alumni from the former New Trier East and New Trier West high schools:

Business

 * Bobbi Brown, make-up artist, entrepreneur, author, and founder of a line of cosmetics
 * Douglas Conant, former chairman of Avon Products; former President and CEO of the Campbell Soup Company
 * Chris Cox (2000), Chief Product Officer (CPO) of Facebook
 * John Donahoe (1978), president and CEO of Nike (2020–present), president and CEO of eBay (2008–2015), chairman of PayPal (2015–present), CEO of ServiceNow (2017–2019)
 * Christie Hefner (1970), former CEO of Playboy Enterprises
 * Charles F. Knight (1953), chairman emeritus of Emerson Electric Co.
 * James McNerney (1967), president of GE Lighting (1995–97), president of GE Aircraft Engines (1997–2000), president and CEO of 3M (2000–05), CEO of Boeing (2005–15)

Film, television, and theater

 * Ann-Margret (1959), actress and entertainer
 * Adam Baldwin (1980), actor
 * Steve Barancik (1979), screenwriter
 * Ralph Bellamy (1922), actor
 * Beck Bennett (2003), Saturday Night Live cast member
 * Carlos Bernard (1980), actor
 * Mark Boone Junior (1973), actor
 * John Byrum (1965), film producer, director and screenwriter
 * Liz Callaway (1978), musical theatre actress
 * William Christopher, actor
 * Lisa Darr (1981), actress
 * Bruce Dern (1954), actor
 * Christine Ebersole (1971), actress and singer
 * James Eckhouse, actor
 * Neal Edelstein (1987), film director and producer
 * Dede Gardner (1986), film producer
 * Charlton Heston (1941), actor and political activist
 * Rock Hudson (1943), actor
 * Scott Jaeck (1973), actor
 * Jake Johnson (1996), actor, comedian, screenwriter
 * Mike Kelley (1985), television writer and producer
 * Virginia Madsen (1979), actress
 * Lauren Marcus (attended; transferred to another school), actress
 * Liesel Matthews (2002), actress and heiress
 * Kim Milford (1968), actor
 * Penelope Milford (1966), actress
 * John R. Montgomery (1975), television producer
 * Hugh O'Brian (did not graduate), actor
 * Jeffrey Price, member of screenwriting team with Peter S. Seaman
 * Maeve Quinlan (1982), actress, producer
 * Kevin Quinn (2015), actor and singer-songwriter
 * Betsy Randle (1968), actress
 * Mark Romanek (1977), music video and film director, writer, and producer
 * Charlotte Ross, (1986) actress
 * Tom Rubnitz, video artist
 * Mary Kate Schellhardt (1997), actress
 * Rusty Schwimmer (1980), actress
 * Michael Shannon, actor
 * Les Shapiro, NBC, CBS, ESPN sports journalist, Denver
 * Hal Sparks (1988), actor and comedian
 * David Strassman (West), performer and ventriloquist
 * Lili Taylor (1985), actress
 * Nico Tortorella (2006), actor
 * Paul Thomas (director) (born Phil Toubus) (1967), actor, director
 * Jim True-Frost (aka Jim True) (1984), actor
 * Rainn Wilson (1984), actor
 * Terence H. Winkless, film and TV producer, director and writer
 * Edward Zwick (1970), film and television director and producer

Steve Rozic (1974)

Journalism and letters

 * Elizabeth Brackett (1959), television news correspondent
 * Shams Charania (2012), NBA reporter, previously for Yahoo Sports The Vertical, currently for The Athletic and Stadium
 * Ann Compton (1965), television news reporter and correspondent
 * Chet Coppock (1966), radio sportscaster
 * Brian D'Amato (1976), novelist and sculptor
 * Alan Goldsher (1984), novelist and ghostwriter
 * Walter Jacobson (1955), local television news personality
 * Geoffrey A. Landis (1973), engineer and Hugo and Nebula Award-winning science fiction author
 * Edward Lifson (1974) award-winning journalist, for National Public Radio and other outlets, and architecture writer
 * John Lippman, television executive and the acting director of Voice of America
 * Archibald MacLeish (did not graduate), writer and three-time Pulitzer Prize winner
 * Nell Minow (1970), film critic and author in the field of corporate governance
 * Stephen Moore (1978), economics writer, journalist and commentator
 * Henry H. Neff (1991), author and illustrator
 * Juliet Law Packer (1970), television writer
 * Chris Plante, television reporter, host of eponymous radio show
 * Dan Ponce (1995) WGN-TV/News/Anchor; Founder, "Straight No Chaser" a cappella music group.
 * Ian Punnett (1978), radio personality and writer
 * Sarah Ruhl (1992), playwright
 * Thomas A. Stewart (1966), business journalist and editor
 * John Stossel (1965), author, commentator and investigative journalist
 * Penelope Trunk (1985), author, blogger, and entrepreneur
 * Scott Turow (1966), lawyer and novelist
 * Donovan Webster (1977), journalist, author, editor, and filmmaker

Law

 * Richard Clifton (1968), Senior United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
 * Martha Minow (1972), former Dean of Harvard Law School
 * Dean A. Pinkert (1974), trade lawyer; former member of the United States International Trade Commission

Music

 * David Charles Abell (1976), conductor
 * Mike Bloomfield (did not graduate), rock and blues guitarist
 * Jaimie Branch (2001), jazz trumpeter
 * Andy Brick (1983), composer and conductor
 * Ann Hampton Callaway (1976), singer and songwriter
 * Marshall Chess, music executive and producer
 * Kristine Flaherty (2003), rapper
 * Katie Gavin (2011), lead singer of the band, MUNA
 * Jeff Harnar (1977), cabaret singer
 * Erwin Helfer (1954), boogie woogie and jazz innovator, performer, and educator
 * Al Jourgensen (attended), musician
 * Kate Liu (2012), pianist, 3rd prize winner of XVII International Chopin Piano Competition
 * Louis The Child, musical duo composed of Robert Hauldren (2015) and Frederic Kennett (2016)
 * Gary Novak, (1987) session drummer
 * Sean O’Keefe (1998), record producer, mixer and engineer
 * Liz Phair (1985), singer-songwriter
 * Matthew Polenzani (1986), lyric tenor opera singer
 * Dave Samuels (1966), jazz vibraphonist who played with Spyro Gyra and the Caribbean Jazz Project
 * John Baker Saunders (1973), founding member and bassist for the grunge rock supergroup Mad Season
 * William Susman (1978), composer of concert and film music
 * Joe Trohman (2002), guitarist for the bands The Damned Things and Fall Out Boy
 * Peter Van de Graaff (1979), musician, bass baritone and classical radio host on WFMT
 * Matt Walker (1987), rock musician and former drummer for The Smashing Pumpkins
 * Linda Waterfall, folk musician and singer-songwriter
 * Aaron Weinstein (2003), jazz violinist
 * Pete Wentz (attended), bassist for the bands Black Cards and Fall Out Boy
 * The Ying Quartet, string quartet started by four siblings who are all alumni: David (1981), Tim (1983), Phillip (1986), and Janet (1988)

Politics and government

 * Judy Biggert (1955), U.S. Representative
 * Bob Dold (1987), U.S. Representative
 * Rahm Emanuel (West, 1977), U.S. Representative, White House Chief of Staff and Mayor of Chicago, United States Ambassador to Japan
 * David H. Hoffman (1984), federal prosecutor and Chicago's inspector general
 * Fred Karger (1968), political consultant and Republican gay rights advocate
 * Mark Kirk (1977) U.S. Representative and Senator
 * Thomas Miller (1966), U.S. Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina (1999–2001) and Greece (2001–04)
 * Charles H. Percy (1937), U.S. Senator
 * Michael S. Rogers (1977), U.S. Navy four-star admiral and former director of the National Security Agency
 * Carol Ronen (1962), Illinois State Representative and State Senator
 * Donald Rumsfeld (1950), U.S. Representative, White House Chief of Staff and U.S. Secretary of Defense
 * Jack Ryan, former candidate for U.S. Senate in Illinois
 * James D. Swan, Wisconsin State Senator
 * Richard S. Williamson (1967), U.S. Ambassador and diplomat
 * Edgard D. Kagan (1985), U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia
 * Alaina Teplitz (1987), U.S. Ambassador to Nepal (2015-2018), U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka (2018-2021)

Science and technology

 * Bruce Alberts (1956), biochemist, president of the National Academy of Sciences and editor in chief of the journal Science
 * Lise Eliot (1980), professor of neuroscience and author
 * Ellen Fetter (1957), computer scientist
 * Todd Golub (1981), cancer researcher, director of the cancer program at the Broad Institute
 * Mary-Claire King (1963), geneticist
 * Geoffrey A. Landis, aerospace engineer and author
 * Michael Peskin (West, 1969), physicist
 * Martin Rocek (1971), physicist
 * Rafael Sorkin (valedictorian 1963), physicist
 * Jack Steinberger (1938), co-recipient of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physics (he donated his Nobel medal to the New Trier science department)
 * Kenneth S. Suslick (1970), chemist
 * Clifford Tabin (1972), geneticist, chairman of the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society

Sports

 * Trish Andrew (1989), basketball player for Michigan
 * Ross Baumgarten (1973), baseball pitcher
 * Ben Braun (1971), men's collegiate basketball coach, University of California (1996–2008), Rice (2008–14)
 * Pete Burnside (1948), baseball pitcher
 * John Castino (1973), baseball infielder
 * Al Culver, NFL offensive tackle
 * Rick Hahn (1989), MLB general manager of the Chicago White Sox (2012-23)
 * Mike Huff (1981), baseball outfielder
 * Dave Jauss, baseball coach and scout
 * Robert Jeangerard, basketball player, 1956 Olympics gold medalist
 * Matt Kaskey (2015), offensive tackle for the Carolina Panthers
 * Chuck Lindstrom, baseball catcher and coach
 * Matt Lottich (2000), basketball player for Stanford
 * Clay Matthews (1974), NFL linebacker (1978–93)
 * Chuck Mercein (1961), NFL running back
 * Phoebe Mills, athlete, gymnastics bronze medalist in 1988 Summer Olympics
 * John Moore (2009), NHL player
 * Mike Pyle (1957), NFL center
 * Jack Riley (1933), Olympic wrestler and NFL offensive tackle
 * Fred Schmidt, swimmer
 * Charlie Tilson (2011), MLB outfielder for Chicago White Sox
 * Emma Vlasic (2015), ice hockey forward
 * Alex Vlasic (did not graduate), Chicago Blackhawks defenseman
 * Tommy Wingels (2006), NHL player

Visual arts

 * Ivan Albright, painter associated with magic realism
 * Stieg Hedlund (1983), game development leader, designer, artist, and writer
 * Dewitt Jones, photographer and film producer known for his association with the National Geographic Society
 * Nancy Spero (1944), feminist artist
 * Ryan Zoghlin (1985), artist and photographer

Others

 * Liz Crokin, columnist and conspiracy theorist
 * Laurie Dann (1975), perpetrator of a school shooting in Winnetka
 * Ari Emanuel, talent agent and founder of the Endeavor Agency
 * Anna Halprin (Ann Schuman) (1938), modern dancer
 * Sharon Percy Rockefeller, former First Lady of West Virginia and the chief executive officer of WETA-TV
 * Benjamin Nathaniel Smith, white supremacist spree killer
 * Larry Sweeney (1999), real name Alex Whybrow, professional wrestler and manager
 * Charlie Trotter (1977), chef, restaurateur and author
 * Brad Will (1988), anarchist, activist, and documentary filmmaker who was killed in Mexico