100 Notable alumni of Boston University

Robert Brown Parker was an American writer, primarily of fiction within the mystery/detective genre. His most famous works include the 40 novels written about the fictional private detective Spenser. In the mid-1980s, based on the character of detective Spenser, ABC television network developed the television series Spenser: For Hire. A series of TV movies was also produced based on the...

Gary Faye Locke is an American politician, attorney, and former diplomat.

Noah Benjamin Lennox, also known by his moniker Panda Bear, is an American musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and co-founding member of the band Animal Collective. In addition to his work with that group, Lennox has released six solo LPs since 1999, with his 2007 album Person Pitch inspiring the chillwave genre and numerous other acts. His subsequent albums Tomboy (2011) and...

Anthony Michael Ruivivar is an American actor. He is known for playing Carlos Nieto on Third Watch and Alex Longshadow on Banshee. He also voiced Batman on Beware the Batman.

Scott Rosenberg is an American screenwriter, film producer, and actor.

Brett William Brown is an American professional basketball coach who is an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Brown is a former college basketball player who previously served as head coach for the Philadelphia 76ers from 2013 to 2020. Before that, Brown was an assistant on Gregg Popovich's staff on the Spurs. He...

Harold John Avery Russell was an American World War II veteran and actor. After losing his hands during his military service, Russell was cast in the epic drama film The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), which earned him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He was the first non-professional actor to win an Academy Award for acting and...

Nualphan Lamsam, nicknamed Madame Pang (Thai: มาดามแป้ง), is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Muang Thai Insurance, and the current (and first female) president of the Football Association of Thailand. This also makes her the first female president in the Asian Football Confederation.

James Phillip Rubin is an American former diplomat and journalist who served as U.S. assistant secretary of state for public affairs in the Clinton administration from 1997 to 2000. He wrote a regular column on foreign affairs for The Sunday Times of London, and has been diplomatic counselor to the secretary general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development...

Kim Stanley Robinson is an American science fiction writer best known for his Mars trilogy of novels. Many of his novels and stories have ecological, cultural, and political themes, featuring scientists as heroes. Robinson has won numerous awards, including the Hugo Award for Best Novel, the Nebula Award for Best Novel, and the World Fantasy Award. The Atlantic magazine has...

Warren David Blosjo Jr., known professionally as Warren Kole, is an American actor known for his role as LAPD Detective Wes Mitchell on the USA Network original series Common Law. He also played Roderick on the FOX original series The Following in its first season, and starred as FBI Agent Robert Stahl in the NBC crime drama Shades of Blue....

John Robert Eichel is an American professional ice hockey player who is a center and alternate captain for the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). Eichel was selected second overall in the 2015 NHL entry draft by the Buffalo Sabres. Before entering the league, Eichel was described at the age of 17 as "the new face of...

Brady Tkachuk is an American professional ice hockey player who is a left winger and captain for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). Tkachuk was chosen by the Senators as the fourth overall pick in the 2018 NHL entry draft. Prior to turning professional, Tkachuk played one season for the Boston University Terriers, earning All-Hockey East Rookie...

David Earl Garrison is an American actor and singer. He is best known for playing Steve Rhoades on the television series Married... with Children. He has also appeared in numerous theatrical roles, particularly that of The Wizard on both Broadway and in many tours of the musical Wicked.

Thomas Dwan Jr. is an American professional poker player who played online in the highest-stakes No-Limit Texas hold 'em and Pot-Limit Omaha games, primarily on Full Tilt Poker under the screen name "durrrr". Dwan has won prize money in live poker tournaments and has appeared on NBC's National Heads-Up Poker Championship, the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh seasons of Poker...

Kristine Leahy is an American television host and former sports reporter. She is most known as a former host on NBC's American Ninja Warrior. She was the former co-host and newswoman of Fox Sports 1's simulcast of The Herd with Colin Cowherd and was also a former anchor and reporter for KCBS-TV in Los Angeles.

William Sebastian Cohen is an American lawyer, author, and politician from the U.S. state of Maine. A Republican, Cohen served as both a member of the United States House of Representatives (1973–1979) and Senate (1979–1997), and as Secretary of Defense (1997–2001) under Democratic President Bill Clinton.

Jonathan Goldsmith is an American character actor. He began his career on the New York stage, then started a career in film and television. He appeared in several TV shows from the 1960s to the 1990s. He is best known for appearing in television commercials for Dos Equis beer, from 2006 to 2016 and 2026 to present, as the character...

Sean Kanan is an American actor, producer, author, and martial artist, best known for his portrayals of Mike Barnes (in The Karate Kid Part III and Cobra Kai), A. J. Quartermaine (on General Hospital), and Deacon Sharpe (on The Bold and the Beautiful and The Young and the Restless).

Anne Sexton was an American poet known for her highly personal, confessional verse. She won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1967 for her book Live or Die. Her poetry details her long battle with bipolar disorder, suicidal tendencies, and intimate details from her private life, including relationships with her husband and children, whom one daughter later alleged she had...

Noureen DeWulf is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for her film roles in West Bank Story (2005), Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009), and The Back-up Plan (2010). She also starred as Lacey on the sitcom Anger Management (2012–2014).

Mary Wiseman is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Sylvia Tilly in the Paramount+ science fiction drama series Star Trek: Discovery.

Camille Guaty-Kaye is an American film and television actress. She portrayed Daisy in Gotta Kick It Up! (2002), Maricruz Delgado, Sucre's girlfriend, in Prison Break (2005–2007), and Walter O'Brien's sister, Megan, on the CBS series Scorpion (2014–2015).

Linda Park is a South Korean-born American actress. She is best known for playing communications officer Hoshi Sato in the science-fiction series Star Trek: Enterprise.

Jeffrey Allen "Skunk" Baxter is an American guitarist, known for his stints in the rock bands Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers during the 1970s and Spirit in the 1980s. More recently, he has worked as a defense consultant and advised U.S. members of Congress on missile defense. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as...

Christopher Paul O'Neill, KNO is a British-American financier and husband of Princess Madeleine, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland, with whom he has three children. He declined to become a Swedish citizen and accept any titles; he could then continue as a businessman with no royal duties.

Samuel Lincoln Seder is an American actor and progressive political commentator. His works include the film Who's the Caboose? (1997) as well as the television shows Beat Cops (2001) and Pilot Season (2004). He also appeared in Next Stop Wonderland (1998) and made guest appearances on Spin City (1997), Sex and the City (2000), America Undercover (2005), and Maron (2015)....

Ian Matthias Bavitz, better known by his stage name Aesop Rock, is an American rapper and producer from Long Island, New York. He was at the forefront of the new wave of underground and alternative hip-hop acts that emerged during the late 1990s and early 2000s. He was signed to El-P's Definitive Jux label until it went on hiatus in...

Cynthia Michele Watros is an American actress recognized for her roles in both daytime and primetime television. In 1994, she was cast in the regular role of Annie Dutton on Guiding Light, which earned her the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1998. In 2002, she was cast as Kellie on The Drew Carey...

Stephan Joseph Kornacki Jr. is an American political journalist, writer, and television presenter. Kornacki is a national political correspondent for NBC News. He has written articles for Salon, The New York Observer, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, New York Daily News, New York Post, The Boston Globe, and The Daily Beast. Kornacki was the multimedia anchor for...

Mark Manson is an American self-help author and blogger.

Michaela Watkins is an American actress and comedian. After several years performing with the Los Angeles comedy troupe The Groundlings, Watkins achieved widespread attention for her brief stint as a featured player on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live during its 34th season between 2008 and 2009. Since leaving SNL, she has starred on the Hulu series Casual...

Keith Matthew Tkachuk is an American former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) in an 18-year career with the Winnipeg Jets, Phoenix Coyotes, St. Louis Blues and Atlanta Thrashers, retiring in 2010. He is one of four American-born players to score 500 goals, and is the sixth American player to score 1,000 points. Tkachuk...

Russell Hornsby is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Edward "Eddie" Sutton on ABC Family's Lincoln Heights, as Luke on the HBO drama In Treatment, as Detective Hank Griffin on the NBC series Grimm, and as Lyons in the movie Fences. He also played Carl Gatewood in the Showtime TV series The Affair, and as Charles...

Jaime Ray Newman is an American actress, producer and singer. She is known for starring as Kristina Cassadine in the soap opera General Hospital, Mindy O'Dell in the drama series Veronica Mars, Kat Gardener in the fantasy series Eastwick, Lt. Laura Cadman in the science-fiction series Stargate Atlantis, Tess Fontana in the science-fiction series Eureka, Kat Petrova in the drama-thriller...

Craig Philip Bierko is an American actor.

Neal Town Stephenson is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction. His novels have been categorized as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, and baroque.

Jeffrey Ross Lifschultz is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director and producer. He is nicknamed the "Roastmaster General" for his insult comedy, his multiple appearances at celebrity roasts held by the New York Friars Club, the Comedy Central Roast television series, and the Netflix historical comedy series Historical Roasts. In 2009 the Chicago Tribune called Ross "the new millennium Don...

Casey Morton Cott is an American actor, known for his role as Kevin Keller on The CW series Riverdale.

Kathryn Aselton is an American actress, film director and producer. She directed and co-starred in The Freebie, which was shown in the non-competition "Next" category at the Sundance Film Festival in 2010. She also starred in the FX sitcom The League for its seven-season run from 2009 to 2015, and in the first two seasons of FX's drama Legion.

Ayanna Soyini Pressley is an American politician who has served as the U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 7th congressional district since 2019. This district includes the northern three quarters of Boston, most of Cambridge, parts of Milton, as well as all of Chelsea, Everett, Randolph, and Somerville.

Katherine Whitton Baker is an American actress. Baker began her career in theater and made her screen debut in the 1983 drama film The Right Stuff. She received the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress and an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her performance in Street Smart (1987). Baker also has appeared in over 50 films,...

Yunjin Kim is a South Korean and American actress. She is best known for her role as North Korean spy Bang-Hee in the South Korean film Shiri (1999) and Sun-Hwa Kwon on the American television series Lost (2004–2010). Her other notable works include Seven Days (2007), Harmony (2010), and Ode to My Father (2014).

Irvin David Yalom is an American existential psychiatrist who is an emeritus professor of psychiatry at Stanford University, as well as author of both fiction and nonfiction.

William Henry Duke Jr., also known as Bill Duke, is an American actor and director. He is known for his work in action and crime drama, often as a character related to law enforcement. Dubbed the "Godfather of African American Cinema", he is known to direct films dealing with Black American experience and struggle.

Robert Carlo Mariano, known by the nickname Boston Rob, is an American television personality, known for appearing in the CBS reality show Survivor. He placed tenth in the show's fourth season Survivor: Marquesas, finished as the runner-up to his eventual wife Amber Brkich in the show's eighth season Survivor: All-Stars, came in 13th place in the show's 20th season Survivor:...

Catherine Elizabeth Pierson is an American singer, lyricist, and founding member of the B-52s. She plays guitar, bass and various keyboard instruments. In the early years, as well as being a vocalist, Pierson was the main keyboard player and performed on a keyboard bass during live shows and on many of the band's recordings, taking on a role usually filled...

Michelle Hurd is an American actress and secretary-treasurer of SAG AFTRA. Hurd has worked as a television character actress, she first appeared on the soap opera Another World (1991–1997) and earned recognition for playing Monique Jeffries in the legal drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999–2001). Afterwards, she led the drama series Leap Years (2001–2002) and held recurring roles...

Francis Lee Bailey Jr. was an American criminal defense attorney and author of "The Defense Never Rests."

Andrew Joseph Cohen is an American radio and television talk show host, producer, and writer. He is the host and executive producer of The Real Housewives franchise and Bravo's late night talk show, Watch What Happens Live! He also hosts a two-hour show with co-host John Hill twice a week on Sirius XM.

Kimberly Jayne Raver is an American actress. She is known for television roles such as Dr. Teddy Altman on ABC's medical drama Grey's Anatomy, Kim Zambrano on Third Watch, and Audrey Raines on 24.

Michael Charles Chiklis is an American actor, television producer, and director. He is best known for his roles as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Detective Vic Mackey on the FX police drama The Shield (2002–2008), for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2002 and Golden Globe Award for Best Actor...

Paul Michael Glaser is an American actor, director, and writer whose career has spanned five decades. He made his acting debut in the television series Love Is a Many Splendored Thing and went on to have many acting roles, appearing in The Waltons, The Streets of San Francisco, and Kojak. Glaser rose to prominence for his portrayal as Detective Dave...

Hong Chau is an American actress who is most known for her performance in the 2022 film The Whale, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and other supporting-actress awards. Her breakthrough role was in the 2017 film Downsizing, for which she was nominated for several supporting-actress awards. Variety wrote in 2022 that Chau...

Mariel Hemingway is an American actress. She began acting at age 14 with a Golden Globe-nominated breakout role in Lipstick (1976). For her performance in Woody Allen's comedy-drama film Manhattan (1979), Hemingway received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Alfre Woodard is an American actress. Known for portraying strong-willed and dignified roles on stage and screen, she has received various accolades, including four Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards as well as nominations for an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and two Grammy Awards. In 2020, The New York Times ranked her as one...

William James O'Reilly Jr. is an American conservative commentator, journalist, author, and television host.

Uzoamaka Nwanneka "Uzo" Aduba is an American actress. Her accolades include three Emmy Awards and five Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition to nominations for three Golden Globe Awards and one Tony Award. She is one of only two actors to win an Emmy Award in both the comedy and drama categories for the same role, the other being Ed...

Olivia Frances Culpo is an American model, actress, and media personality. Culpo has won Miss Rhode Island USA, Miss USA 2012, and Miss Universe 2012.

Alicia Roanne Witt is an American actress and musician. She first came to fame as a child actress after being discovered by David Lynch, who cast her in Dune (1984) as Alia and Twin Peaks (1990) as Gersten Hayward. Witt was a regular on Cybill Shepherd's sitcom Cybill (1995–1998) for four seasons, playing the title character's daughter, Zoey Woodbine. She...

Ginnifer Goodwin is an American actress. She starred as Margene Heffman in the HBO drama series Big Love (2006–2011), Snow White / Mary Margaret Blanchard in the ABC fantasy series Once Upon a Time (2011–2018), Judy Hopps in Zootopia (2016) and its 2025 sequel, and Beth Ann Stanton in Why Women Kill (2019).

Howard Allan Stern is an American broadcaster, comedian, and media personality. He is best known for his radio show, The Howard Stern Show, which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from 1986 to 2005. He has broadcast on SiriusXM since 2006.

Jay Scott Greenspan, known professionally as Jason Alexander, is an American actor and comedian. Over the course of his career, he has received an Emmy Award and a Tony Award as well as nominations for four Golden Globe Awards. He gained stardom for his role as George Costanza in the NBC sitcom Seinfeld (1989–1998), for which he won a Screen...

Emily Erin Deschanel is an American actress. She played Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan in the Fox crime procedural series Bones (2005–2017).

Joan Chandos Baez is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more than 30 albums.

Shraddha Kapoor is an Indian actress who primarily works in Hindi films. One of India's highest-paid actresses, Kapoor has been featured in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list since 2014 and was featured by Forbes Asia in their 30 Under 30 list of 2016.

Julie Anne Smith, known professionally as Julianne Moore, is an American actress. She is particularly known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled and vulnerable women. Prolific in independent films and blockbusters since the early 1990s, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, two Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. She is one...

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist who has served since 2019 as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

Marisa Tomei is an American actress. She gained prominence for her comedic performance in My Cousin Vinny (1992), which earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She received further nominations in the category for In the Bedroom (2001) and The Wrestler (2008).

Martin Luther King Jr. was an American civil rights activist and Baptist minister who was a leader of the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. He advanced civil rights for people of color in the United States through the use of nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience against Jim Crow laws and other forms of legalized discrimination,...

Shari Ellin Redstone is an American heiress, businesswoman, and media executive. She was the non-executive chairwoman of Paramount Global (predecessor of Paramount Skydance Corporation) and chairwoman, president and CEO of National Amusements, and a former vice chair of CBS Corporation and Viacom. Through National Amusements, Redstone and her family held majority voting power over Paramount Global and its subsidiaries –...

Leigh Daniel Avidan, also known by his stage name Danny Sexbang, is an American musician, internet personality, actor, and comedian. He is one half of the musical comedy duo Ninja Sex Party with Brian Wecht, as well as the co-host of the Let's Play webseries Game Grumps with Arin Hanson. He is also part of the more rap-based comedy music...

Leonard Simon Nimoy was an American actor and director, famous for playing Spock in the Star Trek franchise for almost 50 years. This includes originating Spock in the original Star Trek series in 1966, then Star Trek: The Animated Series, the first six Star Trek films, Star Trek: The Next Generation, the 2009 Star Trek film, and Star Trek Into...

Jeffrey Robert Lurie is an American businessman, documentary film producer, and, since 1994, owner of the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). The Eagles have won two Super Bowls under his tenure as owner.

Jenna Nicole Mourey, better known as Jenna Marbles, is an American former YouTuber. Over the span of ten years, her YouTube channel has accumulated approximately 1.8 billion video views and, at its peak, over 20 million subscribers. After apologizing for a series of accusations involving content in her older videos, Marbles announced her indefinite hiatus from the platform in 2020.

Sarah Elizabeth Marston was an American attorney and psychologist. She is credited, with her husband William Moulton Marston, with the development of the systolic blood pressure measurement used to detect deception, the predecessor to the polygraph.

Mary Elizabeth "Tipper" Gore is an American social issues advocate. She was the second lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001 through her marriage to the 45th vice president, Al Gore in 1970, from whom she separated in 2010.

William John Simmons III is an American podcaster, sportswriter, and cultural critic who is the founder and CEO of the sports and pop culture website The Ringer. Simmons first gained attention with his website as "The Boston Sports Guy" and was recruited by ESPN in 2001, where he eventually operated the website Grantland and worked until 2015. At ESPN, he...

Park Jae-sang, better known as Psy, is a South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has received numerous accolades, including an American Music Award, a World Music Award, 10 MAMA Awards. He is the founder of the talent agency P Nation.

Marc David Maron is an American stand-up comedian, writer, actor, musician, and former radio presenter and podcaster.

Melissa Anne Hortman was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 61st speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, she represented northern parts of the Twin Cities metropolitan area in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2005 to 2025, serving as the House minority leader from 2017 to 2019 and as speaker...

Paul Reubens was an American actor and comedian, widely known for creating and portraying the character Pee-wee Herman.

Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis is an American actor. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.

David Edward Kelley is an American television writer, producer, and former attorney. He has created and/or produced a number of television series including Doogie Howser, M.D., Picket Fences, Chicago Hope, The Practice and its spin-off Boston Legal, Ally McBeal, Boston Public, Goliath, Big Little Lies, and Big Sky. Kelley is one of very few screenwriters to have created shows that...

Tobin Bell is an American actor. Appearing in over 100 titles during a five-decade career, he is most recognized for his role as John Kramer / Jigsaw in the Saw franchise.

John Ethan Phillips is an American actor. He is best known for his television roles as Neelix on Star Trek: Voyager (1995–2001) and PR man Pete Downey on Benson (1979–1986). His film roles include Critters (1986) and its sequel Critters 3 (1991), as well as The Island (2005), Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), and Irrational Man (2015).

Keiko Sofía Fujimori Higuchi is a Peruvian politician and business administrator. Fujimori is the eldest daughter of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori and Susana Higuchi. From August 1994 to November 2000, she held the role of First Lady of Peru, during her father's administrations. She has served as the leader of the Fujimorist political party Popular Force since 2010, and...

Nilanjana Sudeshna "Jhumpa" Lahiri is a British-American author known for her short stories, novels, and essays in English and, more recently, in Italian.

James Roosevelt I, known as "Squire James", was an American businessman, politician, horse breeder, and the father of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States.

Terry Serpico is an American film and television actor.

Christine Chubbuck was an American television news reporter who worked for stations WTOG and WXLT-TV in Sarasota, Florida. She is best known for being the first person to die by suicide on a live television broadcast.

Norman Vincent Peale was an American Protestant clergyman, and an author best known for popularizing the concept of positive thinking, especially through his best-selling book The Power of Positive Thinking (1952). He served as the pastor of Marble Collegiate Church, New York, from 1932, leading this Reformed Church in America congregation for more than a half century until his retirement...

Stephen Humphrey Bogart is an American writer, producer, and businessman. He is one of the two children of actor Humphrey Bogart and actress Lauren Bacall, and authored three semi-autobiographical books about his family.

Shweta Bachchan Nanda is an Indian columnist, author, and former model. She has been a columnist for Daily News and Analysis and Vogue India, and is the author of the bestselling novel Paradise Towers. She has worked as a model for television advertisement, and in 2018 launched her own fashion label, MXS.

Stephanie Marie McMahon Levesque is an American businesswoman and retired professional wrestler. She is known for her various roles within WWE between 1998 and 2023.

Shane Brandon McMahon is an American businessman and retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in WWE.

Barbara Charline Jordan was an American lawyer, educator, and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate since Reconstruction, the first southern African-American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and one of the first two African Americans elected to the U.S. House from the former Confederacy since 1901,...

Makarios III was a Greek Cypriot prelate and politician who served as Archbishop of the Church of Cyprus from 1950 to 1977 and as the first president of Cyprus between 1960 and July 1974, with a second term between December 1974 and 1977. He is widely regarded as the founding father or "Ethnarch" of the Republic of Cyprus, leading its...

Michael Weatherly Jr. is an American television actor, producer, director, and musician, known for playing the roles of Logan Cale in the television series Dark Angel (2000–2002), Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo in NCIS (2003–2016, 2024) and in NCIS: Tony & Ziva (2025), and Dr. Jason Bull in Bull (2016–2022).