Harvard University, ranked 4th among the top 10 universities in the world by the QS World Rankings 2024, is renowned for its academic excellence and extensive research. As an Ivy League school, the university has a rich tradition of producing world leaders, scientists and entrepreneurs such as J.F. Kennedy, Neil deGrasse Tyson and Natalie Portman. According to the Harvard Alumni Association, there are more than 400,000 alumni worldwide. Keep reading to learn more about famous Harvard University alumni and where they are now!
Notable Harvard University Alumni
Harvard graduates have made significant and creative contributions to society, the arts and sciences, business, and national and international politics for more than three and a half centuries. Harvard’s alumni include eight U.S. presidents, 188 surviving billionaires, 79 Nobel laureates, seven Fields Medal winners, nine Turing Award winners, 369 Rhodes Scholars, 252 Marshall Scholars, and thirteen Mitchell Fellows. Harvard students and alumni have won ten Academy Awards, 48 Pulitzer Prizes, 108 Olympic medals (including 46 gold), and founded many distinguished businesses around the world.
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Read also: Notable alumni of the National University of Singapore
Top 10 Notable Notable Harvard University Alumni
Let’s take a look at the 10 most famous Harvard University alumni:
John F. Kennedy
Source: Biography.com
JFK, or John Fitzgerald Kennedy, was an American politician who served as the 35th President of the United States from 1961 until his assassination at the end of his third year in office. He went to study at Harvard University and majored in government and international relations.
Barack Obama
Source: Encyclopedia Britannica.
Barack Hussein Obama II is an American politician, the 44th President of the United States of America from 2009 to 2017. He is a member of the Democratic Party of the United States and the first African American president of the United States of America. He graduated from Harvard Law School, where he became the first black president of the Harvard Law Review.
Natalie Portman
Source: Popsugar
Natalie Portman was born in Israel and is an American actress. She has had a long and successful film career, starring in both blockbusters and indie films and winning numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award and two Golden Globe Awards. After graduating from high school, the actress attended Harvard University in 1999 to pursue a bachelor’s degree in psychology , which she received four years later. She received her first Oscar nomination for the film Close a year after graduating.
Matt Damon
Source: Refinery29
Matt Damon is an American actor, producer and screenwriter. He is one of the highest-paid actors of all time, with the films he has starred in grossing over $3.88 billion in North America, making him one of Forbes’ top-earning celebrities. At the age of 18, he received a small role in Mystic Pizza (1988), and also entered Harvard University to study English.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Source: Biography
Neil deGrasse Tyson is a famous American astronomer, planetary scientist, writer and scientific popularizer. Among other schools, Tyson attended Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin and Columbia University. From 1991 to 1994, he worked as a research fellow at Princeton University. Tyson graduated from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts with a bachelor’s degree in physics in 1980.
Conan O’Brien
Source: Wikipedia
Conan Christopher O’Brien is an American comedian, writer, podcaster and producer. After receiving a degree in history and literature from Harvard University, he went on to work on the set of The Simpsons and host his own American talk show, Late Night with Conan O’Brien. O’Brien received a bachelor’s degree in American history from Harvard University. He was twice elected president of the Harvard Lampoon, a venerable parody publication (the only person to receive this honor was humorist Robert Benchley in 1912).
Tommy Lee Jones
Source: Biography.com
Tommy Lee Jones is a famous American actor and film director. In 1993, he won the Best Supporting Actor award for his role as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard in the thriller The Fugitive, for which he was nominated for four Academy Awards. Jones received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with honors in 1969, and his final dissertation was on the “mechanics of Catholicism” in the works of Flannery O’Connor. He studied playwright Robert Chapman at Harvard.
Michael Bloomberg
Source: Business Insider
Michael “Mike” Reubens Bloomberg is an American writer, politician, and philanthropist. Bloomberg LP, of which he is the majority owner and co-founder, is his company. He served as mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and in 2020 he ran for president of the United States as a Democrat. In 1966, he received a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School.
WEB Dubois
Source: openDemocracy
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, born in the United States, was a sociologist, socialist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, novelist, author, and editor. Du Bois attended Harvard College as a junior and received a second bachelor’s degree in 1890. In 1895, he graduated from Harvard University with a PhD, making him the first African American to do so.
Margaret Atwood
Source: Wikipedia
Margaret Eleanor Atwood was born in Canada and is a poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, educator, environmental activist and inventor. She is the author of the popular book The Handmaid’s Tale, which was adapted into a television series. After receiving a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, she graduated from Radcliffe College at Harvard University. In 1961, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English (magna cum laude), with a concentration in philosophy and French. In 1961, Atwood began her graduate studies at Radcliffe College, Harvard University, on a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship.
Read also: Notable alumni of the University of Toronto
Notable Harvard University Alumni
Here are famous Harvard University alumni in various fields such as business, science, technology, mathematics, medicine, psychology, etc.
Science, technology, medicine and mathematics
| Name | Fame |
| Roger Adams | Pioneering organic chemist |
| Howard H. Aiken | Harvard Mark I designer and computer scientist |
| James Gilbert Baker | Astronomer, optician |
| John Bartlett | Minister, founder of Massachusetts General Hospital |
| Manjul Bhargava | Mathematician, Fields Medal winner |
| Craig Call Black | Paleontologist |
| Francine D. Blau | Economist at the National Bureau of Economic Research, the first woman to receive the IZA Prize in Labor Economics. |
| Hilary Bloomberg | Professor of Psychiatric Neurology |
| Dan Bricklin | Creator of VisiCalc |
| Fred Brooks | Turing Award winner |
Business
| Name | Fame |
| Bill Ackman | CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management |
| Darius Adamczyk | CEO of Honeywell |
| William McPherson Allen | Boeing CEO |
| Adam Aron | CEO of AMC Theaters |
| J. Paul Austin | CEO of Coca-Cola Company |
| Charles Francis Adams Jr. | President of the Union Pacific Railroad |
| Marcus Agius | Chairman of Barclays PLC |
| A. Charles Bailey | CEO of Toronto-Dominion Bank |
| Steve Ballmer | President and CEO of Microsoft |
| Jim Balsillie | CEO of Research in Motion |
Law
| Name | Fame |
| Sofia Akuffo | Chief Justice of Ghana |
| Solomon Areda Waktolla | Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration and Deputy President of the Federal Supreme Court of Ethiopia. |
| Mary Arden, Lady Arden of Heswall | Judge of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom |
| Richard Reeve Baxter | Judge of the International Court of Justice |
| Kwamena Bentsi-Enchil | Judge of the Supreme Court of Ghana |
| Harry Blackmun | US Supreme Court Justice |
| Peter Blanchard | New Zealand Supreme Court Judge |
| Louis Brandeis | US Supreme Court Justice |
| William J. Brennan | US Supreme Court Justice |
| Stephen Breuer | US Supreme Court Justice |
Military
| Name | Fame |
| John Abizaid | US Army General and Commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM) |
| Douglas Campbell | Soldier, World War I ace |
| Earl Cock Jr. | US Army officer during World War II, recipient of the Silver Star Medal and National Commander of the American Legion (1950–51). |
| George Downing | English soldier, diplomat |
| Peter Fanta | US Navy Admiral |
| Manning Force | Union Army general, Medal of Honor recipient, judge, and author. |
| David Gurfein | Lieutenant Colonel of the United States Marine Corps and CEO of the non-profit organization United American Patriots. |
| Pierpont M. Hamilton | US Air Force General in World War II, Medal of Honor recipient. |
| Walter Newell Hill | Medal of Honor recipient and General of the United States Marine Corps. |
| Henry S. Heidekoper | Union Army officer, Medal of Honor recipient |
Journalism
| Name | Fame |
| Jill Abramson | Former executive editor of the New York Times |
| Jacqueline Alemany | CBS News White House Reporter |
| Christian Alfonsi | Author of the book “Circle in the Sand”, dedicated to the Gulf War and the Iraq War. |
| Jonathan Alter | Former editor-in-chief of Newsweek |
| Melissa Block | Host of NPR’s All Things Considered |
| Ben Bradley | Executive editor of the Washington Post during the Watergate scandal |
| Warren T. Brooks | A Detroit News columnist specializing in economic reporting. |
| James Brown | sports commentator |
| Leslie T. Chang | Journalist (former Wall Street Journal correspondent in Beijing, China; author of Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China) |
| Susan Chira | Foreign editor of The New York Times since 2004. |
Literature
| Name | Fame |
| Horatio Alger Jr. | Writer |
| Tahmima Anam | Writer |
| Michael J. Arlen | Writer, journalist, critic |
| Margaret Atwood | Writer |
| Peter Benchley | Writer |
| Robert Benchley | comedian |
| John Behrendt | Writer |
| Robert Bly | Poet |
| Marita Bonner | Harlem Renaissance writer, essayist, poet |
| Bill Branon | Writer |
Cinema, theater and television
| Name | Fame |
| Tatyana Ali | Actress, singer |
| Darren Aronofsky | Film director and screenwriter |
| Ronald Bass | Screenwriter |
| S.N. Berman | Playwright, screenwriter |
| Roberts Blossom | Actor, poet |
| Andy Borowitz | Comedian, film actor |
| Josh Brener | Actor |
| Amy Brenneman | Actress |
| Bill Brown | Experimental director |
| Nestor Carbonell | Actor |
Art, architecture and engineering
| Name | Fame |
| Barbara Bestor | Architect |
| Anna Campbell Bliss | Artist and architect |
| Charles Bulfinch | Architect |
| Rika Burnham | Museum educator, dancer, PROSE Award winner |
| Geoffrey Chadsey | Artist |
| Keith Cordsen | Photographer, Artist |
| Allan Crite | Artist |
| Hardy Cross | Civil Engineer |
| Joseph Goldine | Artist, engraver, curator |
| Galgee | The Pakistani artist and trained engineer is known for his paintings and Islamic calligraphy. |
athletics
| Name | Fame |
| Craig Adams | NHL player, Pittsburgh Penguins |
| Eugene Belisle | Two-time gold medalist at the 1896 Summer Olympics. |
| Matt Birk | NFL center |
| Brian Burke | NHL general manager |
| Dick Button | Figure skater, two-time Olympic champion, five-time world champion and seven-time national champion from 1948 to 1954. |
| Ellery Harding Clark | Silver medalist at the 2008 Summer Olympics in fencing. |
| Emily Cross | Silver medalist at the 2008 Summer Olympics in fencing. |
| Clifton Dawson | NFL player, Indianapolis Colts |
| Gillian Dempsey | Hockey player |
| Eli Dershwitz | World junior saber champion 2015, member of the US fencing team at the 2016 Summer Olympics. |
Three lies of Harvard
Articles on the topic:
| Notable Wharton alumni | Notable Northwestern University Alumni |
| Notable alumni of the University of Göttingen | Notable alumni of Cranfield University |
| Notable alumni of Boston University | Education of Nelson Mandela |
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are the most famous Harvard alumni?
Here are famous Harvard graduates:
Natalie Portman,
Jane N. Fraser,
Amy E. Hood,
Mary K. Herods.
Who are the famous Indian Harvard alumni?
Here are the famous Indian graduates of Harvard:
Ashish Nanda
Suhel Seth
Jayant Sinha.
Who are the famous Harvard alumni?
Here are famous Harvard graduates:
Mark Zuckerberg,
Bill Gates,
Robert Frost.
Interested in joining the prestigious Harvard University Distinguished Alumni Association? If so, then we can help you with this. Consider joining a free consultation with Leverage Edu if you are planning to study abroad .
