Academics

• Laura Sumner, class of 1942 – numismatist
• Jane Kelley Adams, class of 1875 — educator
• Heloise Hersey, class of 1876 – professor of literature^[1]
• Emily Jordan Folger, class of 1879 – co-founder of the Folger Shakespeare Library
• Anita Florence Hemmings, class of 1897 – Vassar College's first African-American graduate
• Scottie Fitzgerald, class of 1942 – writer and journalist, only daughter of novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Ida Hill, class of 1901 – archaeologist, classical scholar and historian
• Belle Turnbull, class of 1904 – award-winning poet ^[2]
• Marion Coats Graves, class of 1907 - philosophy, first president of Sarah Lawrence College^[3]
• Edith Clarke, class of 1908 – America's first female professor of electrical engineering
• Ruth Wendell Washburn, class of 1913 – educational psychologist
• Chen Hengzhe, class of 1919^[4] – China's first female professor and a pioneer of vernacular literature
• Mildred H. McAfee, class of 1920 – president of Wellesley College and first director of WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service)
• Caroline F. Ware, class of 1920 – professor of history at American University and a New Deal activist
• Jean Schneider, class of 1921 – Pulitzer Prize for History winner; research associate of Leonard D. White
• Mary Bunting, class of 1931 – microbiologist and president of Radcliffe College
• Millie Almy, class of 1936 – American psychologist and "Grandame" of early childhood education.
• Susan Casteras, class of 1971 – professor of art history at the University of Washington
• Winifred Asprey, class of 1938 – pioneering mathematician and computer scientist
• Nancy Nichols Barker, class of 1946 – professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin
• Jean Briggs, class of 1951 – anthropologist and expert on Inuit languages^[5]
• Barbara W. Newell, class of 1951 – first female chancellor of the State University System of Florida, president of Wellesley College
• Eleanor M. Fox, class of 1956 - Walter J. Derenberg Professor of Trade Regulation in the New York University School of Law
• Margaret Dauler Wilson, class of 1960 – professor of philosophy at Princeton University
• Marcia P. Sward, class of 1961 – executive director of the Mathematical Association of America
• Ellen Rosand, class of 1961 – musicologist, historian, and opera critic
• Sau Lan Wu, class of 1963 – particle physicist and the Enrico Fermi Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
• Sandra Lach Arlinghaus, class of 1964 - mathematical geographer. Adjunct Professor, University of Michigan (Ann Arbor); Founder and Director Institute of Mathematical Geography.
• Susan W. Coates, MA 1968 – psychologist, Columbia University
• M. R. C. Greenwood, class of 1968 – health scientist, president of the University of Hawaii
• Nancy Dye, class of 1969 – president of Oberlin College
• Jo Ann Gora, class of 1969 – president of Ball State University
• Vera Schwarz, class of 1969 – Freeman Professor of East Asian Studies at Wesleyan University
• Eugenia Del Pino, class of 1969 – developmental biologist; first Ecuadorian citizen to be elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences (2006)
• Erica Funkhouser, class of 1971 – poet, professor at MIT
• Christopher W. Morris, class of 1971 – professor and chair of philosophy at the University of Maryland
• Gloria Cordes Larson, class of 1972 – politician and president of Bentley University
• Judith Malafronte, class of 1972 – mezzo-soprano on the faculty at Yale University, winner of the Grand Prize at the International Vocal Competition 's-Hertogenbosch
• Michael Kimmel, class of 1972 – sociologist; distinguished professor of sociology at the Stony Brook University; spokesperson of the National Organization for Men Against Sexism (NOMAS)
• Darra Goldstein, class of 1973 – founding editor of Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture; professor at Williams College
• Molly Nesbit, class of 1974 – modern and contemporary art historian^[6]
• Anthony Apesos, class of 1975 – painter and professor of fine arts at the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University
• Francisco Xavier Castellanos, class of 1975 – Director of Research at the NYU Child Study Center.
• Jane Margaret O'Brien, class of 1975 – professor of chemistry and president emerita of St. Mary's College of Maryland
• Richard L. Huganir, class of 1975 – professor and Director of the Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience; investigator with Howard Hughes Medical Institute
• Iris Mack, class of 1975 – writer, speaker, former MIT professor
• Jeffrey Schnapp, class of 1975 – former director of the Stanford Humanities Lab, faculty director at metaLAB (at) Harvard
• Rochelle Lieber, class of 1976 – professor of linguistics at the University of New Hampshire and co-editor in chief of the Language and Linguistics Compass
• Jyotsna Vaid, class of 1976 – professor of psychology at Texas A&M University
• Carole Maso, class of 1977 – novelist and essayist, professor of literary arts at Brown University
• Jamshed Bharucha, class of 1978 – former president of Cooper Union; cognitive neuroscientist
• Seamus Ross, class of 1979 – dean and professor at the iSchool at the University of Toronto; Founding Director of HATII
• John Carlstrom, class of 1981 – professor at the University of Chicago, MacArthur Award-winning astrophysicist
• Sarah Barringer Gordon, class of 1982 – Arlin M. Adams Professor of Constitutional Law and a professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania
• Heinz Insu Fenkl, class of 1982 – author, professor of English and Asian Studies at SUNY New Paltz
• Matthew Koss, class of 1983 – solid-state physicist and professor
• Valerie Martinez, class of 1983 - poet, retired professor of English and Creative Writing at Ursinus College, New Mexico Highlands University, College of Santa Fe, University of Miami, and Founding Director of Artful Life
• Mark Burstein, class of 1984 – executive vice president of Princeton University; president of Lawrence University
• Rebecca Reynolds, class of 1984 – poet, administrator and professor at Rutgers University
• Keith Scribner, class of 1984 – novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, essayist and professor at Oregon State University
• Alison Boden, class of 1984 – author, dean of religious life and the dean of the chapel at Princeton University.
• David B. Allison, class of 1985 – distinguished professor, Quetelet Endowed Professor of Public Health, UAB
• Andrea McCarren, class of 1985 – television journalist and educator, first teacher of broadcast journalism at Harvard University
• Tina Campt, class of 1986 – professor of women's studies at Barnard College
• Jennifer Summit, class of 1987 – professor of English, former chair of the Stanford University English Department
• Anne Brodsky, class of 1987 – professor in psychology and gender and women's studies at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County
• Seamus Carey, class of 1987 – president of Transylvania University
• Michael Witmore, class of 1989 – Director of the Folger Shakespeare Library^[7]
• Steven A. Cook, class of 1990 – Hasib J. Saabbagh Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations
• Greg Hrbek, class of 1990 – author and professor, Writer-in-Residence at Skidmore College
• Christina Maranci, class of 1990 – researcher, writer, translator, historian, and professor at Tufts University
• Maria Fadiman, class of 1991 – ethnobotanist and associate professor of geosciences at Florida Atlantic University
• Stacey M. Floyd-Thomas, class of 1991 – associate professor of ethics and society at the Vanderbilt University Divinity School
• Daniel Alexander Jones, class of 1991 – award-winning performance artist and playwright; assistant professor of theatre at Fordham University
• Sarah Churchwell, class of 1991 – professor of American literature and public understanding of the humanities at the University of East Anglia
• Kate Moorehead, class of 1992 – Episcopal priest and the tenth dean of St. John's Cathedral and the Diocese of Florida
• Matt Donovan, class of 1995 – poet, winner of a Whiting Award, chair of the creative writing department at Santa Fe University of Art and Design
• Erica Field, class of 1996 – economist, professor at Duke University, and winner of the Elaine Bennett Research Prize
• Emily Berquist, class of 1997 – assistant professor of history at California State University, Long Beach, writer, and historian
• Ross Benjamin, class of 2003 – translator of German literature
• John Figdor, class of 2006 – Humanist Chaplain at Stanford University
• Alice D. Snyder – class of 1909 (A.B.) and 1911 (A.M.), and Vassar College English professor from 1914 to 1943^[8]
• Helen L. Webster (1853-1928), philologist and educator, taught at Vassar College from 1889 to 1890 before leaving for Wellesley College

Activists and philanthropists

• Mary Louise Frost, class of 1866 – peace activist, editor
• Mary Boyce Temple, class of 1877 – preservationist and philanthropist
• Susie Forrest Swift, class of 1883 - editor, Salvation Army worker, Catholic nun
• Ethel Moore, class of 1894 – civic, education, and national defense work leader
• Marion Cothren, class of 1900 – suffrage and peace activist, children's author
• Emma Waldo Smith Marshall, class of 1900 – missionary in Burma, taught Greek at a Baptist seminary
• Gertrude Gogin, class of 1908 – YWCA national secretary for girls' programs, 1918-1927
• Eleanor Fitchen, class of 1934 – landmarks and environment in New York State
• Lucy Kennedy Miller, class of 1902 – prominent American suffragist
• Sylvia McLaughlin, class of 1939 – environmental pioneer
• Patsy Bullitt Collins, class of 1942 – prolific donor and philanthropist
• June Jackson Christmas, class of 1945 – founder of community psychiatric program Harlem Rehabilitation Center
• Anne Hendricks Bass, class of 1963 – philanthropist, art collector, documentary filmmaker
• Phyllis Lambert, class of 1947 – philanthropist and member of the Bronfman family
• Elizabeth Cushman Titus Putnam, class of 1955 – conservationist and winner of the Presidential Citizens Medal
• Barbara Coombs Lee, class of 1969 – activist and president of Compassion & Choices
• Jonathan Granoff, class of 1970 – president of the Global Security Institute
• Jessie Gruman, class of 1975 – author, founder and president of the Washington-based Center for Advancing Health
• Urvashi Vaid, class of 1979 – political activist
• Simon Greer, class of 1990 – president and CEO of Nathan Cummings Foundation, president and CEO of the Jewish Funds for Justice
• Ilyse Hogue, class of 1991 – former president of NARAL Pro-Choice America
• Ronit Avni, class of 2000 – award-winning filmmaker, founder and executive director of Just Vision
• Emily Kunstler, class of 2000 – activist and documentary filmmaker
• Alexandra Sicotte-Levesque, class of 2000 – founder of Journalists for Human Rights
• Eliza Kennedy Smith, class of 1912 – prominent American suffragist and government watchdog

Adventurers and athletes

• Alice Huyler Ramsey, class of 1907 – first woman to cross the continent driving a car
• Ethan Zohn, class of 1996 – Survivor: Africa winner and philanthropist

Artists and architects

• Patty Prather Thum, class year unknown (19th century) – painter and art critic
• Ruth Maxon Adams, class of 1904 – architect
• Margaret Burnham Geddes, class of 1929 – architect and urban planner
• Elizabeth Bauer Mock, class of 1932 – influential advocate for modern architecture in the United States
• Linda Nochlin, class of 1951 – pioneer in the field of feminist art theory
• Mira Lehr, class of 1956 – artist
• Nancy Graves, class of 1961 – first woman to solo at the Whitney Museum of American Art
• Margaret McCurry, class of 1964 – architect
• Michael Portnoy, class of 1993 – multimedia artist, choreographer, musician, actor and curator
• Phyllis Lambert, class of 1947 – leading architect, creator of the Seagrams building in Manhattan, founder of the Canadian Centre for Architecture
• Mary Ping, class of 2000 – New York based fashion designer
• Clancy Philbrick, class of 2008 – contemporary artist
• Alexa Meade, class of 2009 – uses the human body as a canvas
• Ruth Inge Hardison – sculptor, artist, and photographer; studied music and creative writing
• Ruth Starr Rose – artist, lithographer, and serigrapher
• Elizabeth Coffin, class of 1870 – first person in the United States to receive their Master of Fine Arts
• Terry deRoy Gruber - Photographer and author
• Faith Holland, class of 2007

Business

• Mary F. Hoyt, class of 1880 – first woman to receive a position in the United States federal civil service
• Louise Seaman Bechtel, class of 1915 – head of the first children's book department in an American publishing house (Macmillan Co.)
• Martha Firestone Ford, class of 1946 – billionaire, chairman of majority owner of the Detroit Lions, boardmember Henry Ford Health System
• Martha Rivers Ingram, class of 1957 – chairman of Ingram Industries, multi-billionaire
• Nina Zagat, class of 1963 – co-founder of Zagat Survey
• Geraldine Laybourne, class of 1969 – creator of Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite; CEO of Oxygen Media
• Paula Madison, class of 1974 – former president of KNBC
• Ken Kaess, class of 1976 – former CEO of DDB Worldwide
• Robert Friedman, class of 1978 – president of Classic Media, New Line TV, and AOL, Interactive Marketing & TV
• Scott Kauffman, class of 1978 – former CEO of MDC Partners
• Phil Griffin, class of 1979 – president of MSNBC
• Lurita Doan, class of 1979 – founder of New Technology Management, Inc.
• James B. Rosenwald III, class of 1980 – co-founder and managing partner of Dalton Investments LLC
• Pamela Mars Wright, class of 1982 – Trustee of Vassar College, heir to the Mars fortune
• Mitch Feierstein, class of 1983 – investor, banker and writer
• Yannis Vardinoyannis, class of 1984 – billionaire; founding member of the Greek Super League and president in 2007; executive vice chairman of the independent oil refinery Motor Oil Hellas
• Jeanne Greenberg-Rohatyn, class of 1989 – owner of Salon 94
• Ian Gerard, class of 1990 – co-founder and CEO of Gen Art
• Caterina Fake, class of 1991 – founder of Flickr
• Elisabeth Murdoch, class of 1992 – CEO of Shine Limited, daughter of Rupert Murdoch
• Jon Fisher, class of 1994 – entrepreneur
• Lee Zalben, class of 1995 – founder of Peanut Butter & Co.
• Elisa Strauss, class of 1998 – proprietor of Confetti Cakes, a top New York City-based bakery specializing in custom designed cakes
• Katia Beauchamp, class of 2005 – founder and Co-CEO of Birchbox
• Yu Liu (or Eric Liu), class of 2008 – founder of One Cloud Technologies, later acquired by Alibaba Group^[9]

Drama, film, and television

• Frances Sternhagen, class of 1951 – Tony Award-winning actress
• Zuzana Justman, class of 1954, documentary filmmaker and writer
• Toni Grant, class of 1964 – psychologist and radio host
• Rebecca Eaton, class of 1969 – Emmy Award-winning executive producer of Masterpiece on PBS; listed among Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World" (2011)
• Margaret Lazarus, class of 1969 – Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker
• Ann Northrop, class of 1970 – journalist and activist; co-host of TV news program Gay USA
• Meryl Streep, class of 1971 – Academy Award-winning actress
• Mary Nissenson, class of 1974 – Peabody award-winning TV news reporter
• Eben Fiske Ostby, class of 1977 – animator, vice president of software at Pixar
• Chip Reid, class of 1977 – CBS Chief White House Correspondent
• Phil Griffin, class of 1979 – president of MSNBC
• Lloyd Braun, class of 1980 – media executive, president of ABC (2002–2004)
• Marion Lipschutz, class of 1980 – film director and co-founder of Incite Pictures
• Hung Huang, class of 1984 – fashion figure, publisher; listed among Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World" (2011)^[10]
• Jon Tenney, class of 1984 – actor
• Sakina Jaffrey, class of 1984 – actress
• Yvonne Welbon, class of 1984 – documentary filmmaker
• Andrew Zimmern, class of 1984 – chef and TV personality
• Lisa Kudrow, class of 1985 – Emmy Award-winning actress
• Jonathan Littman, class of 1985 – multiple Emmy Award-winning producer; president of Jerry Bruckheimer Television
• Hope Davis, class of 1986 – actress
• Dan Bucatinsky, class of 1987 – Emmy Award-winning actor, writer, and producer
• Paul Zehrer, class of 1987 – film and television director, writer, producer, and editor
• Kerri Green, class of 1989 – actress and producer
• Carlos Jacott, class of 1989 – actor and writer
• Saar Klein, class of 1989 – Academy Award-nominated film editor
• Tanya Wright, class of 1989 – actress
• John Gatins, class of 1990 – Academy Award-nominated screenwriter, Real Steel and Flight^[11]
• Jonathan Karl, class of 1990 – ABC News Senior Political Correspondent, author
• Erika Amato, class of 1991 – singer, actress
• Noah Baumbach, class of 1991 – Academy Award-nominated writer, director
• Benjamin Busch, class of 1991 – actor, author, Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps
• Stacy London, class of 1991 – television host, author, and magazine editor
• Jason Blum, class of 1991 – producer of films, including Get Out and Academy Award-winning Whiplash
• Eddie Schmidt, class of 1992 – Academy Award-nominated documentary filmmaker
• Catherine Kellner, class of 1992 – actress and producer
• Judd Ehrlich, class of 1993 – director and producer
• Monica Macer, class of 1993 – writer and producer
• Carrie Kei Heim, class of 1994 – child actress, now an attorney
• Erin Daniels, class of 1995 – actress
• Lecy Goranson, class of 1996 – actress
• Ethan Zohn, class of 1996 – Survivor: Africa winner and philanthropist
• Jessi Klein, class of 1997 – Emmy Award-winning writer and comedian
• Angela Goethals, class of 1999 – actress
• Marguerite Moreau, class of 1999 – actress
• Jonathan Togo, class of 1999 – actor
• Matthew Newton, class of 1999 – actor
• Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen, class of 2000 – two-thirds of the devised theatre company The Debate Society^[12] and co-creators, writers, and producers of the HBO series Somebody Somewhere
• Justin Long, class of 2000 – actor, Apple Computer spokesperson
• Bradford Louryk, class of 2000 – Broadway artist and actor
• Penny Lane, class of 2001 – documentary director and producer, Our Nixon; assistant professor at Colgate University
• Shaka King, class of 2001-Academy Award-nominated film producer, screenwriter, and director of Judas and the Black Messiah
• Alexa Alemanni, class of 2002 – actress
• Adnan Malik, class of 2003 – Pakistani actor and filmmaker
• Julia Weldon, class of 2005 – actress
• Jonás Cuarón, class of 2005 – co-writer of Gravity
• Grace Gummer, class of 2008 – actress
• Sasha Velour, class of 2009 – winner of RuPaul's Drag Race (season 9)
• Aviva Drescher, American television personality
• Shaka King, Academy Award-nominated film director, screenwriter, and film producer
• Jeff Davis – writer and creator of police procedural drama Criminal Minds and MTV's Teen Wolf
• Kerri Green – actress, director
• Lisa Lassek – film producer and editor
• Jay Severin – commentator and talk radio host
• Sandy Stern – film producer, known for his work on the films Pump Up the Volume, Being John Malkovich, and Saved!
• Lisa Zane – actress
• Thomas Dean Donnelly – screenwriter of films such as Sahara and an upcoming adaption of the Uncharted video games
• Tom Gorai – film producer
• Alysia Reiner – actress in Orange is the New Black
• Lester Lewis, television writer and television producer, The Larry Sanders Show
• Lilli Cooper, class of 2012 – Tony-nominated actress in Tootsieand SpongeBob SquarePants, The Broadway Musical
• Ethan Slater-Tony-nominated actor in SpongeBob SquarePants, The Broadway Musical
• Malinda Kathleen Reese, YouTube personality, actress and singer^[13]
• Raphael Raph Korine, Big Brother UK Runner Up in 2017, also studied in Zurich and Paris^[14]

Espionage

• Elizabeth Bentley, class of 1930 – American spy for the Soviet Union

Fashion

• Louisa Gummer, class of 2013, model; daughter of Meryl Streep

Music

• Elizabeth Bristol Greenleaf, class of 1917 – collector of folk songs
• Jane O'Leary, class of 1968 – musician and composer
• Karen Petersen, class of 1976 - recording engineer, producer
• Jamie Broumas, class of 1981 – jazz singer, vocal instructor and arts administrator
• Jonathan Elliott, class of 1984 – Classical composer
• Drew Zingg, class of 1981 – guitarist for Steely Dan
• Joseph Bertolozzi, class of 1981 – composer and musician with works ranging from full symphony orchestra to solo gongs
• Amy Powers, class of 1982 – Emmy-nominated lyricist, songwriter and producer
• Alan Licht, class of 1990 – guitarist, composer, writer
• Erika Amato, class of 1991 – singer (Velvet Chain)
• Linda Lister, class of 1991 – soprano, soloist, professor at the University of Evansville
• Howard Fishman, class of 1992 – singer, guitarist, bandleader and composer
• Rachael Yamagata, class of 1996 – singer-songwriter
• Jamie Christopherson, class of 1997 – musician known for scoring movies and video games
• Amanda Forsythe, class of 1998 – award-winning soprano; particularly admired for her interpretations of baroque music and the works of Rossini
• Sam Endicott, class of 1999 – singer (The Bravery) and John Conway, class of 2000, keyboardist in The Bravery
• Brian Grosz, class of 1999 – alt-folk musician, member of Skabba the Hut
• Hayley Taylor, class of 1999 – singer-songwriter and actress whose songs have been featured on many popular television shows, including How I Met Your Mother, Royal Pains, and Pretty Little Liars
• The Hazzards – ukulele-based band, best known for their cult hit single "Gay Boyfriend"
• Victoria Legrand, class of 2003 – singer (Beach House)
• Genghis Tron, classes of 2005 and 2006 – band composed of Vassar graduates
• MS MR, class of 2010 – pop duo composed of Max Hershenow and Lizzy Plapinger

Politics and law

• Harriot Eaton Stanton Blatch, class of 1878 – suffragette and daughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton
• Ōyama Sutematsu, class of 1882 – first Japanese woman to earn a college degree
• Crystal Eastman, class of 1903 – co-author of the Equal Rights Amendment
• Inez Milholland, class of 1909 – suffragist; known as the martyr of the women's suffrage movement
• Elinor Morgenthau, class of 1913 – Democratic party activist and spouse of Henry Morgenthau Jr.
• Catherine Bauer Wurster, class of 1926 – urban housing reformer
• Katherine Elkus White, class of 1928 – Democratic Party politician and diplomat, who served as Mayor of Red Bank, New Jersey (1951–1956), chairwoman of the New Jersey Highway Authority (1955–1964), and United States Ambassador to Denmark (1964–1968)
• Lydia Stevens, class of 1939 – Connecticut House of Representatives (1988, 1990) as a Republican, president of the Greenwich Broadcasting Company
• Emily W. Sunstein, class of 1944 – campaigner, political activist and biographer
• Patricia M. Byrne, class of 1946 – U.S. Ambassador to Burma
• Frances Farenthold, class of 1946 – Texas State Legislator and human rights activist
• Julie Finley, United States ambassador
• Pauline Newman, class of 1947 – Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• Anne Armstrong, class of 1949 – first female Counselor to the President; Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1976–1977); recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
• Selwa Roosevelt, class of 1950 – Chief of Protocol of the United States for almost seven years (1982–1989)—longer than anyone has ever served in that position.
• Sylvia Bacon, class of 1952 – judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia; considered by both Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan as a potential nominee to the Supreme Court of the United States, at a time when no women had yet been appointed to the Court
• Sarah Goddard Power, class of 1957 – Democratic Party activist and University of Michigan Regent
• Patricia Fleming, class of 1957 – first director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP)
• Pamela Ann Rymer, class of 1961 – Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Julia Donovan Darlow, class of 1963 – attorney and member of the University of Michigan Board of Regents
• Diana Gribbon Motz, class of 1965 – Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Margaret Milner Richardson, class of 1965 – IRS commissioner (1993–1997)
• Bobbie Kilberg, class of 1965 – Republican operative who has worked for Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush, president and CEO of the Northern Virginia Technology Council.
• Susan Combs, class of 1966 – Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
• Linda Fairstein, class of 1969 – prosecutor in the "Preppie Murder" trial of Robert Chambers and head of sex crimes unit in the Central Park jogger case; author
• Catherine Abate, class of 1969 – New York state senator, president and CEO of the Community Healthcare Network
• Margarita Penón Góngora, class of 1970 – First Lady of Costa Rica (1986–1990); advocate and promoter of the principal Gender Equality Law approved by Congress in 1989
• Betsy McCaughey, class of 1970 – 72nd Lieutenant Governor of New York (1995–1998), influential critic of Bill Clinton's healthcare proposal
• Linda R. Greenstein, class of 1971 – legislator and politician, New Jersey State Senate, 14th district
• Robert H. Edmunds Jr. – Associate Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court
• Vicki Miles-LaGrange, class of 1974 – first African-American female to become a United States Attorney
• Richard W. Roberts, class of 1974 – Judge, United States District Court for the District of Columbia
• Nancy Killefer, class of 1975 – government consultant
• Jeffrey Goldstein, class of 1977 – Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance (2010–2011), managing director of the World Bank
• Alison Renee Lee, class of 1979 – South Carolina Circuit Judge in the Fifth Judicial Circuit and is a nominee for United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina.
• Rick Lazio, class of 1980 – United States Representative
• Bala Garba Jahumpa, class of 1980 – Gambian politician and diplomat
• Lee A. Feinstein, class of 1981 – U.S. Ambassador to Poland (2009–2012).
• Benson Whitney, class of 1982 – U.S. Ambassador to Norway
• Cheryl Kagan, class of 1983 – Maryland House of Delegates from 1995 to 2003
• Sherrilyn Ifill, class of 1984 - President and Director-Counsel of NAACP Legal Defense Fund
• Marc Thiessen, class of 1989 – White House speechwriter (2004–2009)
• Alfonso H. Lopez, class of 1992 – Virginia State Delegate
• Carrie Goldberg, class of 1999 – attorney who specializes in sexual privacy violations
• Deborah L. Wince-Smith – president of the Council on Competitiveness

Science and medicine

• Christine Ladd-Franklin, class of 1869 – psychologist
• Ellen Swallow Richards, class of 1870 – chemist
• Frances Fisher Wood, class of 1874 - educator and scientist
• Ellen Churchill Semple, class of 1882 – geographer
• Alice G. Bryant, class of 1885 - otolaryngologist and inventor
• Antonia Maury, class of 1887 – astronomer
• Margaret Floy Washburn, class of 1891 – psychologist
• Millicent Todd Bingham, class of 1902 – geographer
• Ruth Benedict, class of 1909 – anthropologist
• Edith Banfield Jackson, class of 1916 – behavioral pediatrician
• Mary Calderone, class of 1925 – physician
• Harriet Guild, class of 1920 – physician
• Grace Hopper, class of 1928 – computer scientist
• Grace Lotowycz, class of 1938 - botanist; alpinist; Women Airforce Service Pilots
• Marian Koshland, class of 1942 – immunologist who discovered that the differences in amino acid composition of antibodies explains the efficiency and effectiveness with which they combat a huge range of foreign invaders
• June Biedler, class of 1947 biomedical scientist
• Vera Rubin, class of 1948 – astronomer
• Beatrix Ann (McCleary) Hamburg, class of 1944 – first African American admitted to Vassar; psychiatrist, medical researcher
• Lois Haibt, class of 1955 – computer scientist
• Heather Lechtman, class of 1956 – materials scientist and archaeologist; Director of the Center for Materials Research in Archaeology and Ethnology (CMRAE) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Macarthur Award winner
• Olga F. Linares, class of 1958 – anthropologist and senior researcher at STRI
• Patricia Goldman Rakic, class of 1959 – neuroscientist
• Bernadine P. Healy, class of 1965 – cardiologist; Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (1991–1993), dean of Ohio State University Medical School; president of the American Red Cross (1999–2001)
• Valerie Rusch, class of 1971 – thoracic surgeon, Miner Family Chair for Intrathoracic Cancers and Vice Chair for Clinical Research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• Ellen Kovner Silbergeld, class of 1967 – engineer
• Alice F. Healy, class of 1968 – psychologist
• Claudia L. Thomas, class of 1971 – surgeon, helped form the Students' Afro-American Society (SAS) and pushed for the Black Studies program at Vassar
• Anne B. Young, class of 1969 – neuroscientist
• Jeffrey Brenner, class of 1990 – founder and executive director of Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers; 2013 MacArthur Award ("Genius Grant") winner
• Maria Fadiman, class of 1991 – ethnobotanist

Writers

• Carol Brightman – author
• Celeste Gold Broughton – writer
• Patricia Buckley Bozell – author and publisher
• Marion Hamilton Carter - educator, journalist, author
• Elizabeth Williams Champney, class of 1869 – author of Three Vassar Girls series
• Barbara Culliton, science journalist and editor
• Dorothy Deming, nurse and author
• Rebecca Odes - author and co-founder of Gurl.com
• Mary Harriott Norris, class of 1870 – author and dean of women
• Mary Parker Woodworth, class of 1870 – writer and speaker
• Maria Brace Kimball, class of 1872 – educator, elocutionist, writer
• Eva March Tappan, class of 1875 – author
• Amy Wentworth Stone, class of 1898, – children's book author
• Jean Webster, class of 1901 – author of Daddy Long Legs
• Agnes de Lima, class of 1908 – author of Our Enemy the Child
• Elizabeth Page, class of 1912 – author of The Tree of Liberty (1939)
• Edna St. Vincent Millay, class of 1917 – poet
• Nora Benjamin Kubie, class of 1920 – children's writer
• Lois Long, class of 1922 – writer for The New Yorker
• Angelica Gibbs, class of 1930 – short story writer for The New Yorker and novelist
• Marie Rodell, class of 1932 – literary agent and author who managed the publications of much of environmentalist Rachel Carson's writings, as well as the first book by Martin Luther King Jr.
• Mary McCarthy, class of 1933 – novelist, critic
• Elizabeth Bishop, class of 1934 – Poet Laureate of the United States from 1949 to 1950
• Eleanor Ruggles (1916-2008) class of 1938, biographer^[15]
• Ruth Stiles Gannet, class of 1944 – author of the My Father's Dragon series
• Shana Alexander, class of 1945 – first woman staff writer and columnist for Life magazine
• Sue Kaufman, class of 1947 – author best known for the novel Diary of a Mad Housewife
• Charlotte Curtis, class of 1950 – New York Times editor^[16]
• Alexandra Ripley, class of 1955 – writer best known for Scarlett (1991), the sequel to Gone with the Wind
• Jane Kramer, class of 1959 – journalist for The New Yorker
• Mary Oliver, class of 1959 – poet
• Gloria Guardia, class of 1962 – novelist and critic
• Barbara McMartin, class of 1964 – mathematician who became an environmentalist and author of books on the Adirondack Mountains
• Penelope Casas, class of 1965 – food writer, cookbook author and expert on the cuisine of Spain
• Susan Gordon Lydon, class of 1965 – feminist writer known for "The Politics of Orgasm"
• Reggie Nadelson class of 1966 – mystery novelist and biographer
• Lucinda Franks, class of 1968 – writer for The New York Times and The New Yorker
• Sally Gibson, class of 1968 – author, archivist and heritage consultant
• Mindy Aloff, class of 1969 – editor, journalist, essayist, and dance critic
• Jane Smiley, class of 1971 – novelist
• Esther Friesner, class of 1972 – science fiction and fantasy author
• Paula Volsky, class of 1972 – fantasy author
• Marian Thurm, class of 1974 – author of short stories and novels, has taught Creative Writing at Yale and Columbia
• Elizabeth Spires, class of 1974 – poet and children's book writer
• Paco Underhill, class of 1975 – environmental psychologist and business writer
• Judith Regan, class of 1975 – publisher
• Michael Gross, class of 1975 – writer and editor
• Karen Petersen, class of 1976, poet, short story writer and journalist
• Avery Cardoza, class of 1977 – writer, gambler and publisher
• Lucette Lagnado, class of 1977 – journalist and novelist
• David Wong Louie, class of 1977 – writer and essayist
• Janet McDonald, class of 1977 – writer of young adult fiction
• Michael Specter, class of 1977 – journalist for The New Yorker and The New York Times
• Leonard Steinhorn, class of 1977 – author of The Greater Generation: In Defense of the Baby Boom Legacy; political analyst
• Victoria Strauss, class of 1977 – fantasy and science fiction author
• Josip Novakovich, class of 1978 – writer and professor
• Eric Marcus, class of 1980 – non-fiction writer
• Melissa Holbrook Pierson, class of 1980 – writer and essayist of non-fiction
• Peter Spiegelman, class of 1980 – crime fiction author and former Wall Street executive
• Ned Balbo, class of 1981 – poet
• Heinz Insu Fenkl, class of 1982 – writer, editor and translator
• Kimberly Quinn, class of 1982 – journalist, commentator and magazine publisher and writer
• Matthew Kauffman, class of 1983 – Hartford Courant journalist
• Valerie Martinez, class of 1983 - poet, retired professor of English and Creative Writing at Ursinus College, New Mexico Highlands University, College of Santa Fe, University of Miami, and Founding Director of Artful Life
• A. V. Christie, class of 1985 – poet
• David Oliver Relin, class of 1985 – journalist and co-author of the book Three Cups of Tea
• Scott Westerfeld, class of 1985 – author of the Uglies series, among other novels^[17]
• Thomas Beller, class of 1987 – author
• Evan Wright, class of 1987 – author, best known for Generation Kill
• Mariah Fredericks, class of 1988 – author
• Adam Langer, class of 1988 – author
• Elizabeth Gaffney, class of 1988 – novelist and editor
• Sydney Pokorny, class of 1988 – writer, editor, columnist and activist
• Rebecca Stead, class of 1989 – author of children's literature
• Andy Towle, class of 1980 – blogger and media commentator, editor-in-chief of Genre magazine
• Richard Miniter, class of 1990 – investigative journalist and bestselling author
• Jen Van Meter, class of 1990 – comic book writer best known for her Oni Press series Hopeless Savages as well as series at Marvel and DC Comics
• Nunzio DeFilippis, class of 1991, and Christina Weir, class of 1992 – husband and wife comic book writing team
• Greg Rucka, class of 1991 – comic book writer
• Daphne Kalotay, class of 1992 – novelist, short story writer, and professor
• Meghan Daum, class of 1992 – author, essayist, and journalist
• Renee Gladman, class of 1993 – author, poet, and visual artist
• Sarah Gray Miller, class of 1993 – editor in chief of lifestyle and decorating magazine Country Living
• Megan Crane, class of 1994 – novelist
• Katherine Center, class of 1994 – author
• Andrew J. Porter, class of 1994 – short-story writer, novelist, and professor
• Joe Hill, class of 1995 – novelist, Heart-Shaped Box; son of Stephen King
• Jeremy Jackson, class of 1995 – author of several novels and cookbooks
• Ryan Singel, class of 1995 – blogger, co-founder of Contextly and Threat Level
• Carolyn Mackler, class of 1995 – author
• Rachel Simmons, class of 1996 – Rhodes Scholar and author
• Taije Silverman, class of 1996, poet
• Owen King, class of 1999 – author; son of Stephen King
• Melissa Walker, class of 1999 – author
• Stephen Motika, class of 1999 – poet, editor, and publisher
• Jesse Ball, class of 2000 – poet and author
• Shaenon K. Garrity, class of 2000 – webcomics writer and artist
• Aimee Friedman, class of 2001 – writer of young adult fiction
• Alexandra Berzon, class of 2001 – writer
• Shelby Bach, class of 2008 – author
• M.J. Alexander
• Augusta Clawson
• Geri Doran – poet
• Michael Scharf – poet and critic
• Jane Mead – writer
• Delia Sherman – fantasy writer and editor
• Kimberly McCreight – author and lawyer
• Rosianna Halse Rojas – writer, video blogger, social media manager and online personality
• Michael Wolff, class of 1975 – author of Fire and Fury

Attended, but did not graduate

• Anthony Bourdain (graduated from The Culinary Institute of America), chef, writer
• Janet Cooke, journalist forced to return a Pulitzer Prize for a fabricated story (claimed to have had a degree but did not)^[18]
• Mike D (Michael Diamond), rapper (Beastie Boys)
• Jane Fonda (graduated from The Actors Studio), actress
• Katharine Graham (graduated from the University of Chicago), publisher of The Washington Post
• Anne Hathaway (graduated from New York University), actress
• Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (graduated from George Washington University), First Lady
• Mark Ronson DJ
• Curtis Sittenfeld (graduated from Stanford University), author
• Anne-Marie O'Connor, (graduated from University of California at Berkeley), journalist, award-winning author of "The Lady in Gold, the Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimt's Masterpiece, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer"
• Neil Strauss (graduated from Columbia College), author and journalist
• Rachael Yamagata (graduated from Northwestern University), singer

Fictional

As a famous and historically important college, Vassar has attracted much attention in fictional works. A partial list of cultural references to Vassar can be found here: Vassar College in popular culture.

Anthropology Department

• Martha Warren Beckwith
• Ruth Benedict
• Martha Kaplan
• Margaret Mead, visiting lecturer
• Colin Turnbull, visiting lecturer

Art Department

• Leila Cook Barber, art historian.^[19]
• Alfred H. Barr Jr.
• C.K. Chatterton
• Gregory Crewdson
• Richard Krautheimer
• Brian Lukacher
• Elias Lyman Magoon, visiting lecturer
• Molly Nesbit
• Linda Nochlin
• Lewis Pilcher
• Harry Roseman
• Concetta Scaravaglione
• Carolee Schneemann, visiting lecturer
• Andrew Tallon
• Oliver Samuel Tonks
• Henry Van Ingen

Dance Department

• Miriam Mahdaviani
• John Meehan (dancer)

Drama Department

• Jean Arthur
• Larry Atlas
• Catherine Filloux
• Hallie Flanagan
• Shona Tucker

English Department

• Donald Foster
• Eamon Grennan
• Hua Hsu
• Michael Joyce
• Amitava Kumar
• Kiese Laymon
• Thomas Mallon
• Gabriela Mistral
• Mary Mitchell
• Paul Russell
• Nancy Willard

History Department

• Robert K. Brigham
• James H. Merrell
• Lucy Maynard Salmon

Mathematics Department

• Winifred Asprey
• Louise Duffield Cummings
• Grace Hopper

Music Department

• Gustav Dannreuther
• Karen Holvik
• Ernst Krenek
• Annea Lockwood
• Harold Meltzer
• Quincy Porter
• John Solum
• Richard Wilson

Philosophy Department

• Giovanna Borradori
• David Kelley
• Mitchell Miller
• Uma Narayan

Physics and Astronomy Department

• Debra Elmegreen
• Caroline Furness
• Maud Worcester Makemson
• Maria Mitchell
• Mary Watson Whitney

Political Science Department

• Mary Lyndon Shanley
• Peter Stillman

Psychology Department

• Margaret Floy Washburn
• Diana Zuckerman

Other departments

• Alida Avery, Physiology and Hygiene
• Harriet Isabel Ballintine, Athletics and Physical Education
• Mark Dion, visiting lecturer
• Liza Donnelly, The New Yorker staff cartoonist; American Culture and Women's Studies
• Heinz Insu Fenkl, writer, editor, folklorist, and translator; visiting faculty
• Louise Holland, Academic, philologist and archaeologist
• Geoffrey A. Jehle, Economics
• Abby Leach, Greek
• Hannah Lyman, first lady principal of Vassar College
• Richard Möller, Coach of the Soccer team
• Joseph Nevins, Geography
• Aaron Louis Treadwell, Zoology
• Adelaide Underhill, librarian
• Helen Worthing Webster, Physiology and Hygiene