This is a list of people associated with Syracuse University, including founders, financial benefactors, notable alumni, notable educators, and speakers. Syracuse University has over 250,000 alumni representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and more than 170 countries and territories.^[1][2]

Founders

Jesse Truesdell Peck

• Jesse Truesdell Peck – first chairman of the university's board of trustees
• George F. Comstock
• George L. Taylor
• Charles Andrews

Notable benefactors

• John Dustin Archbold – oil
• Andrew Carnegie – steel
• George F. Comstock – real estate
• Joseph Lubin – real estate
• Donald Newhouse – publishing
• Samuel Irving Newhouse, Sr. – publishing
• Samuel Irving Newhouse, Jr. – publishing
• Eliphalet Remington – firearm^[3]
• Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage – philanthropist
• Lyman Cornelius Smith – firearm and typewriter magnate
• Thomas J. Watson – IBM
• Martin J. Whitman – investment advisor

Notable alumni

Arts and letters

Stephen Dunn

Joyce Carol Oates

• Nilo Alcala – composer, first Philippine-born recipient of the Aaron Copland House Residency Award^[4] and a Los Angeles Master Chorale commission^[5][6]
• Julia Alvarez – poet, novelist, and essayist
• Donna Alvermann – prominent professor and researcher in adolescent and media literacies^[7]
• Joe Amato – author
• Robb Armstrong – cartoonist of the comic strip Jump Start
• Brad Anderson – cartoonist of the comic strip Marmaduke
• Bonnie August – fashion designer
• Maltbie D. Babcock – 19th century clergyman and author
• Harriete Estel Berman – artist
• Nydia Blas – photographer
• James Bishop – painter^[8]
• Joel Brouwer – poet, educator, and journalist
• Gordon Chandler – sculptor^[9]
• Wendy Coakley-Thompson – novelist
• Stephen Crane – novelist; stayed only one semester, later admitting he came "more to play baseball than to study."^[10]
• Virginia Cuthbert – artist
• Mabel Potter Daggett – journalist and suffragist
• Aleš Debeljak – poet, essayist and sociologist
• Stephen Dunn – poet, winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
• Birgitta Moran Farmer – painter, winner of 1906 Hiram Gee Award in Painting^[11]
• Frances Farrand Dodge – watercolorist and landscape artist
• Paul Finkelman – historian
• Moses Finley – historian
• Carlisle Floyd – opera composer
• Scott Froschauer – artist^[12]
• Whitney Gaskell – novelist
• Sharon Gold – artist and professor
• William Pratt Graham – sixth chancellor of Syracuse University
• Clement Greenberg – art critic
• Henry Grethel – fashion designer
• Beth Gylys – poet and professor
• Wendy Anderson Halperin – illustrator and writer of children's picture books
• Beth Harrington – filmmaker and musician
• Michael Herr – writer and war correspondent
• Susan Joy Hassol – science communicator
• Morton L. Janklow – literary agent
• Shirley Jackson – novelist
• Betsey Johnson – fashion designer
• David N. Johnson – composer, organist, and professor
• Joseph S. Kozlowski – portrait artist
• Hilton Kramer – critic, "The Revenge of the Philistines"
• Barbara Kruger – collage artist
• Sol LeWitt – sculptor
• James F. Light – literary scholar
• Mark Lombardi – abstract painter
• Frederick D. Losey – Shakespearian scholar and elocutionist
• Jenni Lukac – contemporary artist
• John D. MacDonald – novelist
• Don Maloney – Japanophile author
• Barry N. Malzberg – science fiction writer
• Jerre Mangione – novelist, and scholar of the Italian-American experience
• Robert Mankoff – cartoonist and editor of The New Yorker
• Donald Martino – Pulitzer Prize-winning composer
• Clifton E. Marsh – historian of the African diaspora
• Scott McCloud – cartoonist and comics theorist
• Jay McInerney – novelist
• Aribert Munzner – painter
• Joyce Carol Oates – novelist
• Robert O'Connor – novelist
• Tom Perrotta – novelist and screenwriter
• John Pfahl – photographer and professor^[13]
• Salvador Plascencia – novelist
• Kim Ponders – novelist
• William Powhida – artist
• Mary Jo Putney – romance novelist
• Jim Ridlon – sports painter and sculptor, also a former professional football player
• M. J. Rose – author and book marketing executive
• William Safire – Pulitzer Prize-winning commentator and former New York Times columnist
• George Saunders – short-story writer
• Alice Sebold – novelist
• Henry Selick – director and animator
• Laurie Gwen Shapiro – novelist, director, Independent Spirit Award for Keep the River on Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale
• Esther Baker Steele – educator, author, traveler, philanthropist
• Anthony Veasna So – Cambodian-American short story writer
• Cheryl Strayed – novelist, memoirist, and essayist
• Elizabeth Strout – novelist
• William Tester – short story writer
• Dorothy Thompson – journalist
• Jack Tippit – cartoonist
• Ada Josephine Todd – author and educator
• Lori Weitzner – textile designer
• Stephanie Welsh – Pulitzer prize winning photographer turned midwife
• Ryan Van Winkle – poet
• Irene Vilar – author and literary agent
• Kate Vrijmoet – artist
• John A. Williams – novelist
• Howard Wyeth – drummer and pianist

Education

Donna Shalala

• Molly Corbett Broad – President, American Council on Education
• Walter Broadnax – President, Clark Atlanta University
• George Campbell Jr. – former President, Cooper Union
• Mary Schmidt Campbell – President, Spelman College
• Kent John Chabotar – President, Guilford College
• R. Inslee Clark, Jr. – Director of Admissions, Yale College
• Michael Crow – President, Arizona State University
• Mark Emmert – President, University of Washington
• Paul Finkelman – President, Gratz College
• Welthy Honsinger Fisher – Founder, World Education and World Literacy Canada.
• A. Lee Fritschler – former President, Dickinson College (MPA'60 & PhD '65)
• Jonathan Gibralter – President, State University of New York at Farmingdale
• Shelley Haley – Professor of Classics and Africana Studies, Hamilton College
• Kermit L. Hall – former president, State University of New York at Albany, Utah State University
• Alice Ilchman – President, Sarah Lawrence College
• David Knapp – President, University of Massachusetts
• Barry Mills – President, Bowdoin College
• Sean O'Keefe – former Chancellor, Louisiana State University (LSU)
• L. Jay Oliva – former president, New York University
• Joseph Rallo – President, Angelo State University
• Mark Reckase – University Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Michigan State University
• Kenneth P. Ruscio – President, Washington and Lee University
• Donna Shalala – President, University of Miami
• Deborah F. Stanley – President, State University of New York at Oswego
• Mitchel Wallerstein – President, Baruch College

Law and public service

Joe Biden

• Bob Antonacci – former NYS Senate Member, NYS Supreme Court Judge
• Andrew P. Bakaj – U.S. Attorney and lead counsel for the Whisteblower during the Impeachment Inquiry and the subsequent Impeachment of President Donald Trump
• Rostin Behnam - Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission
• Craig Benson – former New Hampshire Governor
• Joe Biden – 46th President of the United States, 47th Vice President of the United States, U.S. Senator from Delaware, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
• Beau Biden – former Attorney General of Delaware, son of Joe Biden
• Dave Bing – former Mayor of Detroit, NBA Hall of Famer
• Carolyn Bourdeaux – Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 7th district
• Jon Bramnick – current New Jersey Assembly Minority Leader
• Angus Cameron – former Senator from Wisconsin
• Gary Chan – Member of Legislative Council of Hong Kong since 2008
• George Fletcher Chandler – first Superintendent of the New York State Police
• John T. Connor – former US Secretary of Commerce
• David Crane – former Chief Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone
• Al D'Amato – former Senator from New York
• Willy De Clercq – former European Commissioner for Trade and External Relations, former Belgian Minister of Finance, Foreign Trade, and Budget; former Belgian Deputy Prime Minister
• John A. DeFrancisco – New York State Senator
• Robert Duffy – Mayor of Rochester, New York, Lt. Governor, New York State
• Kwabena Dufuor – Finance Minister of Ghana and former of Governor, Bank of Ghana
• Ronald A. George – Maryland State Delegate
• James E. Graves, Jr. – United States Court of Appeals Judge for the Fifth Circuit, formerly Mississippi Supreme Court Justice
• Stanley L. Greigg – member of the U.S. House of Representatives from northwestern Iowa^[19]
• David Gurfein – U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, and CEO of nonprofit organization United American Patriots
• Steve Hagerty – 21st mayor of Evanston, Illinois
• Arthur T. Hannett – former Governor of New Mexico
• Kathy Hochul – Congresswoman, New York, Governor, New York State (’80)^[20][21]
• John Katko – Congressman, New York^[22]
• Randy Kuhl – Congressman, New York
• Mordecai Lee – Wisconsin State Senator
• Belva A. Lockwood – (GC) First woman to receive her party's nomination for President of the United States, and the first woman to argue a case before the US Supreme Court
• Oren Lyons – Onondaga faithkeeper and global indigenous leader
• William Magnarelli – New York State Assemblyman
• Joanie Mahoney – Former Onondaga County Executive
• Neal P. McCurn – Senior Judge for the US District Court, Northern District of New York
• Theodore McKee – United States Court of Appeals Chief Judge for the Third Circuit
• Rodney C. Moen – Wisconsin State Senator
• Toby Moffett – Former US Congressman from Connecticut
• John H. Mulroy – former Onondaga County Executive
• Norman A. Mordue – Chief Judge for the US District Court, Northern District of New York
• Bismarck Myrick – former US Ambassador to the Republic of Liberia and Lesotho
• Sean O'Keefe – former NASA administrator
• Masahide Ota – former Governor of Okinawa, Japan
• John Prevas – Circuit Court Judge, City of Baltimore
• Elliott Portnoy – Chairman of SNR Denton
• Steven Rothman – Congressman, New Jersey
• Warren Rudman – former Senator, New Hampshire
• Frederick J. Scullin, Jr. – Senior Judge for the US District Court, Northern District of New York
• Donna Shalala – former Secretary, US Department of Health and Human Services, US House of Representatives from Florida
• Salvador del Solar – former prime minister of Peru
• Glenn T. Suddaby – Justice for the US District Court, Northern District of New York
• John H. Terry – former US Congressman
• Sandra L. Townes – Justice for the US District Court, Eastern District of New York
• Harry L. Twaddle – U.S. Army major general
• Deborah VanAmerongen – strategic policy adviser
• Mitchel Wallerstein – former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for counter-proliferation policy
• Ben Walsh – 54th Mayor of Syracuse
• George Warrington – NJ Transit president and former Amtrak president
• David P. Weber – former Assistant Inspector General for Investigations at the US Securities and Exchange Commission
• John P. White – former Deputy Secretary, US Department of Defense

Science, engineering, innovation, medicine, and exploration

Eileen Collins

• Joseph A. Ahearn – Civil Engineer of the U.S. Air Force; member of the National Academy of Engineering
• Ishfaq Ahmad – Professor of Computer Science
• Betty Lise Anderson – Professor of Optical Science
• Albert Baez – developer of the X-ray reflection microscope, physics educator, and father of Joan Baez
• John Boardman – physics educator, social activist, and gaming authority
• Daniela Bortoletto – experimental particle physicist, Nicholas Kurti Senior Research Fellow at Oxford University
• Charles F. Brannock – inventor and manufacturer; inventor of the Brannock Device
• Rubin Braunstein – semiconductor physics, pioneer of LEDs
• Penny Budoff – physician and medical researcher; author of No More Hot Flashes and Even More Good News
• Marilyn Burns; mathematics educator and the author of over a dozen children's books on mathematics^[26]
• George Campbell Jr. – theoretical physicist who served as the eleventh president of Cooper Union
• Eileen Collins – NASA astronaut and first female Space Shuttle commander
• Alice Carter Cook – botanist and writer, first woman PhD in botany from an American university
• Tesfaye Dinka – Industrial Engineer and Prime Minister of Ethiopia from April to June 1991
• Nina Fedoroff – geneticist and molecular biologist; Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State. Recipient of the National Medal of Science in 2007; member of the National Academy of Sciences
• Joan Feynman – astrophysicist, younger sister of physicist Richard Feynman
• Robert Finn – mathematician and professor
• Edith M. Flanigen – chemist and inventor; winner of the 2014 National Medal of Technology and Innovation
• George E. Fox – biologist and chemical engineer; co-discoverer of the Archaea kingdom of organisms
• Jean Fréchet – chemist and professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley
• Barry Gingell – internist, nutritionist, computer scientist and AIDS activist
• Joshua N. Goldberg – pioneering researcher in general relativity, professor emeritus at Syracuse University
• Gabriela González – former spokesperson for the LIGO Scientific Collaboration. Winner of the National Academy of Sciences Award for Scientific Discovery (2017); member of the National Academy of Sciences
• Hermann Gummel – semiconductor device physicist; member of the National Academy of Engineering
• John J. Hopfield – spectroscopist and discoverer of the Hopfield bands of molecular oxygen (O₂)
• Robert Jarvik – inventor of the first permanently implantable artificial heart
• Hongxing Jiang – semiconductor physicist, inventor of the microLED display.
• Joel Lebowitz – statistical physicist; member of the National Academy of Sciences
• Jingyu Lin – semiconductor physicist.
• Gilles Martin – French engineer, founder and executive chairman of Eurofins Scientific
• William Ralph Maxon – botanist and pteridologist
• Evangelia Micheli-Tzanakou – pioneer in neuroelectric systems and biomedical engineering education
• Pericles A. Mitkas – computer scientist and Rector of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
• Story Musgrave – NASA astronaut
• V. Parmeswaran Nair – theoretical particle physicist, Distinguished Professor at the City University of New York
• Ezra T. Newman – theoretical physicist, winner of the 2011 Einstein Prize
• Joy Osofsky – clinical and developmental psychologist, professor of clinical psychology and psychiatry, psychoanalyst
• Yude Pan – forest ecologist
• Martin A. Pomerantz – astrophysicist, president emeritus of the Bartol Research Institute, and pioneer of Antarctic astronomy
• Pierre Ramond – string theorist; winner of the 2004 Oskar Klein Medal
• Harry Frederick Recher – ornithologist; winner of the 1994 D.L. Serventy Medal
• Mark Reed – nanotechnology pioneer, Harold Hodgkinson Chair at Yale University
• Elsa Reichmanis – optical and electronic materials; member of the National Academy of Engineering; 2001 recipient of the Perkin Medal
• Karin Rodland – cancer cell biologist; Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; Laboratory Fellow of the U.S. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
• Charles Rosen – robotics; co-founder of Ridge Vineyards
• Joel Rosenbaum – cell biologist; winner of the E. B. Wilson Medal
• Rainer K. Sachs – theoretical astrophysicist, co-discoverer of the Sachs–Wolfe effect
• Pantur Silaban – prominent Indonesian theoretical physicist
• Michael Streicher – developer of stainless steels; winner of the W. R. Whitney Award
• Sultan bin Salman – first Arab, first Muslim and the youngest person to travel to space
• Salvatore Torquato – theoretical scientist who does research at the interface of physics, chemistry, and engineering
• José W. F. Valle – Brazilian-Spanish theoretical physicist noted for work on the mass of neutrinos
• James Tour – organic chemist and nanotechnologist
• Clarence Abiathar Waldo – mathematician and educator known for his role in the 1897 Indiana Pi Bill affair
• Sigi Ziering – industrial physicist, businessman, and philanthropist

Sports

Jim Brown

Larry Csonka

Paul Gait

• Will Allen – football player
• Doc Alexander – football player and coach
• Gary Anderson – football player, former NFL record holder
• Carmelo Anthony – basketball player, Portland Trail Blazers
• Julie Archoska – football player
• Michael Carter-Williams – basketball player, Orlando Magic
• Art Baker – football player
• John Barsha – football player
• Mathieu Beaudoin – football player
• Dave Bing – basketball player, current mayor of Detroit, Michigan
• Jim Boeheim – basketball player and coach, Syracuse University, member of the National Basketball Hall of Fame
• Nathan Bombrys – Managing Director of the Glasgow Warriors, a professional Scottish rugby union club
• Jim Brown – football player, lacrosse player, actor, member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame
• Keith Bulluck – football player
• Rob Burnett – football player
• Delone Carter – football player
• Irv Constantine – football player
• Derrick Coleman – basketball player
• Trevor Cooney – pro basketball player
• Rakeem Christmas – basketball player
• DaJuan Coleman – basketball player, free agent
• John Coleman – baseball player
• Jim Collins – football player
• Tom Coughlin – VP football operations, Jacksonville Jaguars
• Larry Csonka – football player
• Donovin Darius – football player
• Al Davis – NFL owner
• Ernie Davis – football player, Heisman Trophy winner
• John Desko – lacrosse coach
• Riley Dixon – NFL punter
• Sherman Douglas – basketball player
• Dennis DuVal – basketball player
• Randy Edsall – college football coach
• Joe Ehrmann – football player
• Tyler Ennis—basketball player
• David Falk – founder, SFX Basketball Group
• Jonny Flynn – basketball player
• Dwight Freeney – football player
• Jim Frugone – football player
• Gary Gait – lacrosse player
• Paul Gait – lacrosse player
• Jonah Goldman – MLB baseball player
• Jerami Grant – pro basketball player, Detroit Pistons
• Michael Gbinije — pro basketball player
• Donté Greene – pro basketball player
• Tim Green – football player
• Morlon Greenwood – football player
• Marvin Harrison – football player
• Jason Hart – basketball player
• Qadry Ismail – football player
• Tanard Jackson – football player
• Paul Jappe – football player
• Arthur Jones – football player; currently competing for the NFL on the Colts
• Chandler Jones – football player; currently playing for the Cardinals
• Tebucky Jones – football player
• Wesley Johnson – basketball player
• Daryl Johnston – football player
• Dwayne Joseph – football player
• Kris Joseph – basketball player, Brooklyn Nets
• Mark Kerr – NCAA Wrestling Champion; retired MMA fighter; 2-time UFC Heavyweight Tournament Winner^[27][28]
• Rob Konrad – football player
• Jim Konstanty – major league baseball pitcher
• Floyd Little – football player, Pro Football Hall of Fame
• Tyler Lydon – basketball player, Denver Nuggets
• John Mackey – former NFL tight end, has college award named after him
• Olindo Mare – football player, Carolina Panthers
• Doug Marrone – football coach
• Frank Matteo – football player
• Donovan McNabb – football player, Free Agent
• Gerry McNamara – basketball player
• Don McPherson – football player
• Dave Meggyesy – football player
• Fab Melo – basketball player
• Chris McCullough—basketball player
• Eddie Miller – basketball player
• Art Monk – football player; NFL Hall of Fame inductee
• Tim Moresco – football player
• Joe Morris – football player
• Larry Morris – football player
• Lawrence Moten – basketball player
• Tom Myers – football player
• Jim Nance – football player
• Ryan Nassib – football player, New York Giants
• Doc Oberlander – former baseball player^[29]
• Henry Obst – football player
• Louis Orr – basketball player
• Billy Owens – basketball player
• Markus Paul – football player
• Greg Paulus – football player and former Duke University basketball player
• Scott Pioli – NFL executive
• Casey Powell – lacrosse player
• Mikey Powell – lacrosse player
• Ryan Powell – lacrosse player
• Myer Prinstein – Olympic medalist
• Andy Rautins – basketball player
• Jim Ridlon – former professional football player and renowned sports painter and sculptor
• Jim Ringo – football player
• Victor Ross – lacrosse player
• Malachi Richardson—basketball player
• Mike Rotunda – professional wrestler
• Greg Sankey – Commissioner, Southeastern Conference
• Danny Schayes – basketball player
• Gerhard Schwedes – football player
• Scott Schwedes – football player
• Sam Sebo – football player
• Rony Seikaly – basketball player
• Wilmeth Sidat-Singh – football and basketball player
• Kaseem Sinceno – football player
• Walt Singer – football player
• Anthony Smith – football player
• Walt Sweeney – football player
• Kathrine Switzer – marathon runner
• Etan Thomas – basketball player
• Shamarko Thomas – football player
• David Tyree – football player
• Dion Waiters – basketball player
• John Wallace – basketball player
• Stan Walters – football player
• Hakim Warrick – basketball player, Phoenix Suns
• Dwayne Washington – basketball player
• Howard Washington – basketball player
• Otis Wilson – football player
• Ray Witter – football player
• Paul Young – Jamaican soccer player/manager
• Katie Zaferes – triathlete

Entertainment and performing arts

Peter Falk

Lou Reed

Jerry Stiller

• Elfriede Abbe – sculptor^[30]
• Lynn Ahrens – musical theatre lyricist
• Martin Bandier – chairman and CEO of Sony/ATV
• Darryl Bell – actor
• Craig Borten – screenwriter
• Paul Bouche – TV Host "A Oscuras Pero Encendidos'; television producer
• Eric Bress – film director and screenwriter
• Tim Calpin – screenwriter
• Warren Casey – writer, lyricist, screenwriter
• Felix Cavaliere – singer with The Rascals
• Priscilla Chan – singer
• Clairo – singer-songwriter
• Dick Clark – host of American Bandstand; television producer
• Ken Goldstein – musician known as "Jack Dempsey"; author
• John Curran – film director and screenwriter
• Doug Davis – entertainment lawyer and Grammy Award-winning producer
• Taye Diggs – actor
• Eric J Dubowsky - Emmy and Grammy-winning musician and producer
• Heather Dubrow – actress; cast member on The Real Housewives of Orange County
• Zach Tyler Eisen – voice actor; voice of Aang on Avatar: The Last Airbender
• Peter Falk – actor
• Gary Farmer – actor
• Vera Farmiga – actress
• Wally Feresten – cue card supervisor for Saturday Night Live^[31]
• Judy Freudberg – screenwriter
• Jami Gong – stand-up comedian
• Carl Gottlieb – screenwriter; vice-president of the Writers Guild of America, West
• Peter Guber – CEO of Mandalay Entertainment and Co-owner of the Golden State Warriors
• Dan Gurewitch – writer
• Jay Harrington – actor
• Elizabeth Hendrickson – actress
• Bob Holz – musician
• Miriam Hopkins – actress
• Garland Jeffreys – musician
• Miss Jones – radio DJ and singer
• Irma Kalish – television writer
• Joe Klotz – film editor
• Lisa Lampanelli – comedian
• Frank Langella – actor Frost/Nixon
• Meg LeFauve – screenwriter Inside Out (2015 film), Captain Marvel (film)
• Sheldon Leonard – film and television actor, producer, director, and writer
• Riki Lindhome – actress
• Sam Lloyd – actor, musician
• Frank Marion – motion picture pioneer
• Andy Mineo – rapper, singer, producer, director, actor and minister
• Neal McDonough – actor
• Sterling Morrison – musician
• Jessie Mueller – Tony-winning actress
• Suzanne Pleshette – actress
• Mike Pollock – voice actor
• Lou Reed – musician
• Kevin Michael Richardson – actor
• Sam Roberts – radio broadcaster
• Doug Robinson – television producer
• Maria Sansone – television presenter
• Ken Schretzmann – film editor specializing in animated films; winner of the Ace Eddie Award for Toy Story 3.
• Reid Scott – actor
• Tom Everett Scott – actor
• Aaron Sorkin – Emmy- and Academy Award-winning screenwriter A Few Good Men, The Social Network, The West Wing, Moneyball
• Lexington Steele – actor, director, and owner of Mercenary Motion Pictures and Black Viking Pictures Inc.
• Jerry Stiller – actor
• Habib Tabani – Pakistani ghazal singer and industrialist
• Andrew Taggart - member of The Chainsmokers
• Arielle Tepper – Broadway producer
• Mark Tinker – television producer/director
• Stephen A. Unger – executive recruiter, media and entertainment business
• Jimmy Van Heusen – Academy Award-winning composer
• Bill Viola – video artist
• Michael H. Weber – screenwriter (500) Days of Summer, The Spectacular Now, The Fault in Our Stars, Paper Towns
• Peter Weller – actor
• Vanessa Williams – singer-songwriter, actress, dancer, Miss America
• Pete Yorn – musician

Notable educators

• William Alston – philosopher
• Julia Alvarez – poet, novelist, and essayist
• Richard Arnowitt – theoretical physicist
• Donna Arzt – attorney and legal scholar
• Abhay Ashtekar – theoretical physicist and creator of the Ashtekar variables for quantum gravity; member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences
• Ernst Bacon – prolific composer
• A. P. Balachandran – theoretical particle physicist.
• Peter Bergmann – won the Einstein Prize for research on quantum gravity
• Catherine Bertini – United Nations under-secretary-general, winner of the 2003 World Food Prize
• Raymond Thayer Birge - physicist, subsequent president of the American Physical Society and chair of the University of California, Berkeley physics department
• Howard Boatwright – Music School dean
• Philip Booth – poet
• Mark Bowick – theoretical physicist noted for work in particle physics and condensed matter physics
• Zachary Braiterman – philosopher and religious studies scholar
• Arthur C. Brooks
• Lori Brown – architect and associate professor
• Horace Campbell – Department of African American Studies and Department of Political Science
• Simon Catterall – theoretical physicist specializing in elementary particles
• Massimo Carmassi – architect.
• Bill Cole – musician, author (Department of African American Studies)
• Raymond Carver – short story writer
• David Crane – former Chief Prosecutor for Special Court of the Sierra Leone
• Teresa Abi-Nader Dahlberg – academic administrator and engineering professor
• Junot Diaz – writer
• Geoffrey C. Fox – theoretical physicist and computer scientist
• Tess Gallagher - poet, essayist, short story writer
• Joshua N. Goldberg – theoretical physicist noted for work on general relativity
• John Langston Gwaltney – African American professor of anthropology, author of Drylongso: A Self Portrait of Black America.
• Per Brinch Hansen – computer scientist
• Douglas Holtz-Eakin – former Director of the U.S. Congressional Budget Office (2003–2005), and chief economic policy adviser to U.S. Senator John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign
• Henry Kandrup – theoretical astrophysicist
• Mary Karr – writer and poet.
• Bruce Kingma – economist and academic entrepreneur
• Arthur Komar – theoretical physicist
• Louis Krasner - violinist
• Edgar Lane – Professor of political science
• Melvin Lax – theoretical physicist and member of the National Academy of Sciences
• Cristina Marchetti – theoretical physicist specializing in soft condensed matter physics; member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences
• Donald Marolf – theoretical physicist who has worked on quantum gravity and relativity
• Roscoe C. Martin (1903–1972) – Professor of Political Science at Syracuse University from 1949 to 1972
• Janis Mayes – author, literary critic
• Daniel Patrick Moynihan – Senator from New York, political scientist
• Ivan Meštrović – sculptor and artist
• Micere Mugo – poet and playwright (Department of African American Studies, Department of Literature)
• Ei-ichi Negishi – chemist, winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize
• Romita Ray – art historian
• Fritz Rohrlich – theoretical physicist, pioneer of quantum electrodynamics
• Alexander Rosenberg – philosopher and novelist
• Peter Saulson – experimental physicist noted for work on gravitational wave astronomy
• George Saunders – writer
• Milton Sernett – historian, author (Department of African American Studies, Department of History)
• Delmore Schwartz – poet
• Harry Schwartz – Soviet specialist, The New York Times editorial writer
• Huston Smith – religious studies scholar
• Lee Smolin – theoretical physicist noted for work on quantum gravity
• Rafael Sorkin – theoretical physicist noted for work on quantum gravity
• Sheldon Stone - elementary particle physicist, winner of the Panofsky Prize
• Eileen Strempel – soprano, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Associate Professor of Fine Arts.
• George Sudarshan – theoretical physicist, winner of the Dirac Prize
• Robert Thompson – media historian
• Mark Trodden – theoretical cosmologist
• Douglas Unger – novelist
• Gabriel Vahanian – theologian, noted figure in the Death of God movement in 1960s
• Peter Van Inwagen – philosopher
• Kameshwar C. Wali – theoretical physicist, author
• Johan Wiklund – Entrepreneurship professor and the Al Berg Chair at the Whitman School
• Frances Willard – 19th century educator, temperance reformer, and women's suffragist
• Tobias Wolff – writer

Notable commencement speakers and honored guests

• 2022 – David Muir, Journalist and the anchor of ABC World News Tonight
• 2020 – Kathy Hochul, Congresswoman, New York, Governor, New York State (’80)
• 2018 – Mary C. Daly, Economist and President San Francisco Fed
• 2018 – Kathrine Switzer, Athlete, Author and Activist (’68, G’72)
• 2017 – Vernon Jordan, African-American Lawyer, Business Executive, and Civil Rights Activist
• 2016 – Donald Newhouse, President, Advance Publications
• 2015 – Mary Karr, Poet and Essayist
• 2014 – David Remnick, Editor-in-Chief, New Yorker
• 2013 – Nicholas Kristof, New York Times Columnist
• 2012 − Aaron Sorkin, American screenwriter, producer, and playwright
• 2011 – J. Craig Venter, American biologist and entrepreneur, President of J. Craig Venter Institute
• 2010 – Jamie Dimon, CEO JPMorgan Chase & Co.
• 2009 – Joseph R. Biden Jr., Vice President of the United States of America
• 2008 – Bob Woodruff, ABC News journalist
• 2007 – Frank McCourt, author/Pulitzer Prize winner
• 2006 – Billy Joel, composer and singer
• 2005 – Jane Goodall, primatologist, ethologist and anthropologist
• 2004 – Phylicia Rashad, actress
• 2003 – Bill Clinton, former U.S. president, 1993–2001
• 2002 – Rudolph Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City, 1994–2001
• 2001 – Eileen Collins, American astronaut
• 2000 – Ted Koppel, American journalist
• 1999 – Charles Schumer, U.S. Senator (D-NY), 1999–present
• 1998 – Robert Fulghum, author, essayist
• 1996 – Steve Kroft, journalist, long-time correspondent60 Minutes^[34]
• 1995 – Donna Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human Services, 1993–2001
• 1994 – Kurt Vonnegut, novelist
• 1990 – William Safire, journalist
• 1989 – Daniel Patrick Moynihan, U.S. Senator (D-NY)
• 1988 – Malcolm Forbes, publisher of the Forbes magazine
• 1986 – Mario Cuomo, Governor of New York
• 1983 – Daniel Boorstin, Director, Library of Congress
• 1982 – Ted Koppel, journalist
• 1981 – Alexander Haig, U.S. Secretary of State, 1981–1982
• 1980 – Bill Moyers, journalist
• 1979 – Tom Brokaw, journalist
• 1978 – William Safire, journalist
• 1973 – Edward M. Kennedy, U.S. Senator (D-MA), 1962–2009
• 1969 – William F. Buckley, journalist
• 1968 – Walter Cronkite, journalist
• 1966 – Nelson Rockefeller, Governor of New York, 1959–1973
• 1965 – Robert F. Kennedy, U.S. Senator (D-NY), 1965–1968
• 1964 – Lyndon B. Johnson, then U.S. President^[35]
• 1961 – Ayn Rand, novelist
• 1960 – Harry S. Truman, former U.S. president, 1945–1953
• 1959 – Robert Frost, poet
• 1957 – John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senator (D-MA), 1953–1960
• 1937 – Herbert Hoover, former U.S. president, 1929–1933
• 1930 – Franklin D. Roosevelt, Governor of New York, 1928–1932

See also

• Chancellor of Syracuse University

References