List of Teachers College, Columbia University alumni

Following is a list of notable alumni of Teachers College, Columbia University.

Art and architecture

 * Charles Alston (M.F.A. 1931), artist
 * Aaron Douglas (M.A. 1944), painter, illustrator, and major figure in the Harlem Renaissance
 * Maude Kerns (M.A. 1906), pioneering abstract artist and teacher
 * Audrea Kreye (M.A.), metalsmith and jewelry designer
 * Ryah Ludins (B.S. 1921; artist and art teacher
 * Agnes Martin (B.A. 1942), artist
 * Georgia O'Keeffe (1914), artist
 * Raphael Montañez Ortiz (Ed.D. 1982), artist and founder of El Museo del Barrio
 * Frank Shifreen (2001), artist; curator; teacher
 * Elaine Sturtevant (M.A.), artist
 * Marius Sznajderman, painter, printmaker, and scenic designer
 * Hilda Taba (PhD 1932), architect; curriculum theorist; curriculum reformer and teacher educator
 * Alma Thomas (M.A. 1934), expressionist painter and art educator
 * Lynd Ward (1926), illustrator and artist known for his series of wordless novels using wood engraving

President

 * Michael Apple (Ed.D. 1970), professor of educational policy studies
 * Louis T. Benezet (PhD 1942), former president of Claremont Graduate University
 * Zhang Boling (1917), founder and president of National Nankai University
 * Paul G. Bulger (Ed.D. 1951), president of Buffalo State College
 * Betty Castor (1963), President of the University of South Florida, member of the Florida Senate, and Florida Education Commissioner
 * Margaret Mordecai Jones Cruikshank (1911), president of St. Mary's Junior College
 * Bidhu Bhusan Das (M.A. 1947), university president/Vice Chancellor and ranking government official from India
 * Marjorie Housepian Dobkin (M.A.), Barnard College professor and dean
 * Edward C. Elliott (M.A.), educational researcher and president of Purdue University
 * Claire Fagin (M.A.), the first woman to serve as president of an Ivy League university
 * Abraham S. Fischler (Ed.D. 1959), academic; second president of Nova Southeastern University
 * Edward Fitzpatrick (B.S. 1906; M.A. 1907; PhD 1911), president of Mount Mary College
 * William Trufant Foster (PhD 1911), economist; first president of Reed College
 * Susan Fuhrman (Ph.D. 1977), first female president of TC; former UPenn dean
 * Mildred García (Ed.D. 1987), president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU)
 * Gordon Gee (Ed.D. 1972), president of Ohio State University
 * Andy Holt (PhD 1937), president of University of Tennessee
 * George Ivany (M.A. 1962), president of the University of Saskatchewan
 * Dock J. Jordan (A.B., 1925; M.A. 1928), president of Edward Waters University and Kittrell College
 * J. Paul Leonard (1901–1995), university president, educator
 * Morris Meister (PhD 1921), first president of Bronx Community College and first principal of Bronx High School of Science
 * Jiang Menglin (PhD), president of Peking University; minister of education for the Republic of China
 * Mary Eileen O'Brien (M.A. 1983), president of Dominican University New York
 * Regina Peruggi (Ed.D. 1984), President of Kingsborough Community College
 * Thomas Granville Pullen Jr. (Ed.M.; Ed.D. 1926), president University of Baltimore; Maryland State Superintendent of Education
 * William Schuman (B.S. 1935; M.A. 1937), former president of the Juilliard School of Music and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
 * Floyd Wilcox (M.A. 1920), third president of Shimer College
 * John Davis Williams (Ed.D. 1940), chancellor of the University of Mississippi

Faculty

 * Randy E. Bennett (M.A. 1977; Ed.M., 1978; Ed.D. 1979), educational researcher
 * Josephine Thorndike Berry (B.S. 1904, A.M. 1910), college professor and home economist
 * John Seiler Brubacher (M.A.; PhD), educational philosopher; professor at Yale
 * Edith Buchanan (Ed.D. 1953), nursing educator, professor, and principal of the College of Nursing, (now Rajkumari Amrit Kaur College of Nursing) New Delhi, India
 * Arthur W. Chickering (PhD 1958), educational researcher in student development theory
 * Satis N. Coleman (Ph.D. 1931), music educator and professor at Teachers College, Columbia University
 * Erick Gordon (Ed.M. 1992), founding director of the Student Press Initiative at Teachers College, Columbia University
 * Joan Dye Gussow (Ed.D. 1975), professor emerita and former chair of the Nutrition Education Program at Teachers College, Columbia University
 * Margaret H'Doubler (1916), dance instructor who created the first dance major at the University of Wisconsin
 * Martin Haberman (Ed.D. 1962), dean and distinguished professor at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
 * Martha Hill (B.S. 1929), first director of dance at the Juilliard School
 * Percy Hughes (M.A.; Ph.D.), leading fia gure in the Philosophy, Education, and Psychology Department at Lehigh University
 * Seymour Itzkoff (Ph.D. 1965), professor emeritus of education and child study at Smith College
 * Yoshi Kasuya (M.A. 1930, Ph.D. 1933), educator at Tsuda College in Kodaira, Tokyo
 * William Heard Kilpatrick (PhD 1912), philosopher of education; professor of Teachers College, Columbia University
 * Herbert Kliebard (Ed.D. 1963), historian of education and professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
 * Julius B. Maller (PhD 1929), professor and research sociologist
 * John C. McAdams (M.A.), associate professor of political science at Marquette University
 * Jane Ellen McAllister (PhD 1929), college professor and first African American woman to earn a PhD in education in the United States
 * Lin Mosei (PhD 1929), Dean of Arts at the National Taiwan University and the first Taiwanese to receive a PhD degree
 * Jerome T. Murphy (M.A.), dean emeritus at the Harvard Graduate School of Education
 * Kuo Ping-Wen (M.A. 1912; Ph.D. 1914), chancellor of the Shanghai College of Commerce
 * Thomas S. Popkewitz (M.A. 1964), professor of curriculum theory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
 * Louise M. Powell (B.S. 1922), nurse and educator who led the University of Minnesota School of Nursing during its formative years.
 * Robert Bruce Raup (PhD 1926), philosophy of education professor emeritus and critic of the American education system
 * Betty Reardon (Ed.D. 1985), founder and director of the Peace Education Center at Teachers College, Columbia University
 * Agnes L. Rogers (PhD 1917), educational psychologist; professor of education
 * Juanita Jane Saddler (M.A. 1935), dean of women at Fisk University
 * Irma Salas Silva (Ph.D. 1930), head of the Department of Education of the University of Chile's Faculty of Philosophy and Education
 * Rawley Silver (Ed.D. 1936), art therapist
 * Lucy Diggs Slowe (M.A. 1915), first Blacthe k woman to serve as Dean of Women at an American University; one of the founders and first president of Alpha Kappa Alpha
 * Samuel Totten (Ed.D. 1985), genocide scholar and professor at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
 * William E. Warner (Ph.D. 1928), industrial arts professor at Ohio State University and founder of Epsilon Pi Tau honor society
 * Joel Westheimer, professor of citizenship education at the University of Ottawa
 * Marion Thompson Wright (Ph.D. 1940), professor at Howard University and first African-American woman in the United States to earn Ph.D. in Ha istory

Activism

 * Thelma C. Davidson Adair (M.A. 1945; Ed.D. 1959), advocate for human rights; peace; and justice
 * Mary Antin (1902), immigration rights activist; author of The Promised Land
 * Belle Moskowitz (attended in 1894), social activist
 * Esther Peterson (M.A. 1930), consumer rights activist; 1981 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient
 * Anita Pollitzer (1913), suffragette and national chairman of the NWP
 * Henrietta Rodman (1904), teacher; feminist activist
 * Jill Sheffield (M.A. 1963), women's reproductive rights advocate
 * Leon Sullivan (M.A. 1947), civil rights leader and social activist; 1991 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient
 * Ruth C. Sullivan (M.A. 1953), autism activist

Business

 * William Vincent Campbell Jr. (Ed.M. 1974), board director for Apple Inc.; CEO for Claris; Intuit Inc. and GO Corporation
 * Richard Robinson (attended, 1963), former CEO of Scholastic Corporation
 * Carmen Rita Wong (M.A. 2000), personal finance expert

Education

 * Millie Almy (M.A. 1945, Ph.D. 1948), psychologist and "Grandame of early childhood education"
 * Florence E. Bamberger (PhD 1922), pedagogue; school supervisor; progressive education advocate
 * Sarah Bavly (M.S. 1929; PhD 1947), Dutch-Israeli nutrition education pioneer in Israel
 * Frank W. Cyr (PhD 1930), educator and author known for his contribution to school busing
 * Sarah Louise Delany (B.A. 1920; Ed.M. 1925), the first African-American permitted to teach high school science in New York
 * Florence Dunlop (Ph.D. 1935), a pioneer in education for special needs children
 * Blanche General Ely (M.A. 1923), principal and founder of multiple schools in Broward County, Florida
 * John D. Kendall (M.A.), promulgated the Suzuki Method in the United States
 * Deborah Kenny (PhD 1994), CEO of Harlem Village Academies
 * H. S. S. Lawrence (M.A.; Ed.D. 1950), Indian educationist
 * Caroline Pratt (B.A. 1894), progressive educator; founder of City and Country School in the Greenwich Village
 * Tao Xingzhi (1917), Chinese educator and author of children's literature

Entertainment

 * Sara Benincasa (M.A.), comedian and author
 * Donald Byrd (Ph.D. 1982), jazz and fusion trumpet player; music educator
 * Ennis Cosby (Ed.M. 1995), murder victim and son of comedian Bill Cosby
 * Arthur Cunningham (M.A. 1957), composer
 * Patricia DiMango (M.A.), judge; star of CBS' Hot Bench
 * William Patrick Foster (Ed.D. 1955), bandmaster, composer, and author
 * Agnes Moore Fryberger, educational director of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra and of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
 * Art Garfunkel (M.A. 1967), singer (Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame inductee); poet; and actor
 * Samuel E. Goldfarb, composer
 * Ellie Krieger (M.S. 1994), nutritionist; host of Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger and Ellie's Real Good Food
 * Eda LeShan (B.S. 1944), writer; television host; counselor; educator; playwright
 * Mort Lindsey (M.A. 1948; Ed.D. 1974), orchestrator; composer; pianist; conductor; musical director
 * Margaret McFarland (PhD 1938), child psychologist, chief consultant to Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
 * Annie-B Parson (M.A. 1983), dancer, choreographer, founder of Big Dance Theater
 * Soon-Yi Previn (Ed.M.), wife of filmmaker Woody Allen
 * David Randolph (M.A. 1942), conductor; music educator; radio host
 * Helen Reichert (M.A. 1931), talk show personality; professor
 * Marvin Rosen (Ed.M.; Ed.D.), pianist; educator; musicologist; Classical Discoveries radio host
 * Angela Santomero (M.A.), television executive producer and creator
 * Morton Schindel (M.A. 1947), educator and film producer
 * Robert Sherman (M.A. 1953), radio broadcaster; author; educator
 * Karl Struss (B.A. 1912), photographer and cinematographer; pioneer in 3D films
 * Bobby Susser (M.A. 1987), children's songwriter; record producer; performer
 * Ellen R. Thompson (M.A.) composer and music educator
 * Marion Verhaalen, (Ed.D., 1971) composer and musicologist
 * Ruth Westheimer (Ed.D. 1970), sex therapist known as "Dr. Ruth", talk show host, author, professor

Literature and journalism

 * Pam Allyn (M.A. 1988), literacy expert
 * Carolyn Sherwin Bailey (1896), author of Miss Hickory winner of the 1947 Newbery Medal
 * Norman Cousins (B.A.), editor; peace activist
 * Ella Cara Deloria (B.S. 1915), novelist and Yankton Sioux ethnologist
 * Rudolf Flesch (PhD 1955), author who inspired Dr. Seuss to write The Cat in the Hat
 * Neil Postman (M.A. 1955; Ed.D. 1958), author and cultural critic
 * Miriam Roth (Ed.M.), Israeli writer and scholar of children's books; educator
 * Grace Steele Woodward, writer and historian
 * Tao Xingzhi (1917), Chinese educator and author of children's literature
 * Anzia Yezierska (1905), novelist

Medicine and psychology

 * Louie Croft Boyd (1909), nurse and hospital superintendent of nurses
 * Augusta Fox Bronner (B.S. 1906; M.A. 1909; Ph.D. 1914), psychologist and co-director of the first child guidance clinic
 * May Edward Chinn (B.S. 1921), the first black woman to graduate from Bellevue Hospital Medical College
 * Peter T. Coleman (PhD), psychologist; executive director of the Morton Deutsch ICCCR and the AC4
 * Diane DiResta (M.S. 1977), media trainer; speech coach; certified speech pathologist
 * Patricia Lynne Duffy (M.A. 1981), synesthesia expert
 * Albert Ellis (M.A. 1943; PhD 1947), cognitive behavioral therapist
 * Haim Ginott, child psychologist and psychotherapist, and parent educator
 * Edmund W. Gordon (Ed.D.), psychologist
 * Tsuruko Haraguchi (PhD 1912), psychologist
 * Virginia Henderson (B.S. 1932; M.A. 1934), nurse; researcher; theorist; the "first lady of nursing"
 * Lois Holzman (Ph.D. 1977), psychologist, director, and co-founder of the East Side Institute
 * David W. Johnson (Ed.D. 1966), social psychologist
 * Imogene King (Ed.D.), pioneer of nursing theory development
 * Eleanor C. Lambertsen (B.S. 1949; M.A. 1950; Ed.D. 1957), revolutionized nursing and health care organization and delivery
 * Harriet Lerner (M.A.), clinical psychologist
 * Ruth Lubic (B.S. 1959; M.A. 1961; Ed.D. 1979), leader of the nurse-midwifery movement in the US
 * Rollo May (PhD 1949), existential psychologist
 * Margaret McFarland (PhD 1938), child psychologist, chief consultant to Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
 * Hildegard Peplau (M.A.; Ph.D.), nurse and nurse theorist who led the way toward the humane treatment of patients with behavior and personality disorders
 * June Reinisch (M.A. 1970; PhD 1976), psychologist and director of the Kinsey Institute
 * Carl Rogers (M.A. 1928; PhD 1931), psychologist
 * Martha E. Rogers (M.A. 1945), nursing theorist; creator of the Science of Unitary Human Beings
 * Celestine Smith (Ed.D. 1952), the first Black woman to become certified as a Jungian psychoanalyst, in 1964
 * Ian K. Smith (M.A. 1993), physician and author
 * Edward Thorndike (PhD 1898), psychologist
 * Robert L. Thorndike (M.A. 1932; PhD 1935), psychologist
 * Darlene Yee-Melichar (M.S. 1984; Ed.D. 1985), gerontologist
 * Shirley Zussman (1937), sex therapist

Military

 * Anna Mae Hays (B.S. 1958), the first woman in the U.S. Armed Forces to be promoted to a general officer rank
 * Olivia Hooker (M.A. 1947), first African-American woman to serve in the U.S. Coast Guard
 * Hazel Johnson-Brown (M.A. 1963), the first female African-American general in the United States Army

Politics and government

 * Muhammad Fadhel al-Jamali (M.A. 1930; PhD 1934), Prime Minister of Iraq
 * Hafizullah Amin (M.A.), president of Afghanistan
 * Nahas Gideon Angula (M.A. 1978; Ed.M. 1979), Prime Minister of Namibia
 * William Ayers (Ed.M.; Ed.D. 1987), founder of Weather Underground; professor of education
 * C. Louise Boehringer (B.S. 1911), the first female to be elected to office in Arizona
 * Peter L. Buttenwieser (Ph.D.), Democratic donor and fundraiser
 * Betty Castor (1963), Florida Senate, Florida Education Commissioner, and President of the University of South Florida
 * P. C. Chang (PhD), philosopher and diplomat
 * Shirley Chisholm (M.A. 1952), first African American woman elected to Congress and former US presidential candidate
 * Betsy Gotbaum (M.A. 1967), Public Advocate for New York City
 * Lee Huan (M.A.), premier of the Republic of China
 * Kevin Jennings (M.A. 1994), former assistant deputy secretary at the U.S. Department of Education
 * Thomas Kean (M.A. 1963), former governor of New Jersey
 * John King Jr. (Ed.M.; Ed.D. 2008), 10th United States secretary of education
 * Guillermo Linares (Ed.D.), the first Dominican elected to public office in the US
 * Olga A. Mendez (M.A. 1960), the first Puerto Rican woman elected to a US state legislature
 * Jiang Menglin (PhD), president of Peking University; minister of education for the Republic of China
 * Chester Earl Merrow (1937), educator; U.S. Representative from New Hampshire
 * Yvonne B. Miller (M.A. 1962), the first African-American woman to be elected to the Virginia state house
 * Richard P. Mills (Ed.D. 1977), former commissioner of education for Vermont and New York
 * Diane Ravitch (PhD 1975), historian of education; former U.S. Assistant secretary of education
 * Tian-Ming Sheu (Ed.D. 1993), president of the National Academy for Educational Research in Taiwan
 * Hu Shih (PhD 1917), Chinese diplomat
 * Merryl Tisch (Ed.D.), chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents, presiding over University of the State of New York and the New York State Education Department
 * Deborah Wolfe (M.S. 1938; Ed.D. 1945), education chief of the US House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor

Religion

 * Barnett R. Brickner (M.A.), rabbi
 * Carl Henry Clerk (PGDip. 1926), fourth synod clerk of the Presbyterian Church of the Gold Coast
 * Minnie Vautrin (M.A. 1919), educator and missionary
 * Moshe Weinberger, rabbi and author

Science

 * George Albert Llano (M.A. 1939), polar explorer and lichenologist with the National Academy of Sciences

Sports

 * Clarence Gaines (M.A. 1950), hall of fame basketball coach of Winston-Salem State University
 * Maya Lawrence (M.A. 2010), Olympic fencer
 * Sid Luckman, quarterback in the Pro Football Hall of Fame
 * Adolph Rupp (M.A.), hall of fame basketball coach of the University of Kentucky
 * Henry Wittenberg (M.A.), Olympic wrestling champion