100 Notable alumni of Oberlin College
Updated: June 13, 2026 EliteDegrees
Oberlin College is ranked #1,138 in the world and #292 in United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from Oberlin College sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. Many individuals affiliated with Oberlin College won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. John Mercer Langston
1829-1897 (aged 68)
diplomat
lawyer
politician
John Mercer Langston was an African American abolitionist, attorney, educator, activist, diplomat, and politician. He was the founding dean of the law school at Howard University and helped create the department. He was the first president of what is now Virginia State University, a historically black college. He was elected a U.S. Representative from Virginia and wrote From the Virginia...
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2. Megan Marie Hart
1983-. (aged 43)
opera singer
Megan Marie Hart is an American operatic soprano from Eugene, Oregon, performing in leading operatic roles and concerts in America and Europe.
3. Jane Pratt
1962-. (aged 64)
journalist
fiddler
Jane Pratt is the founding editor of Sassy, Jane and xoJane. She is the host of the talk show Jane Radio on Sirius XM Radio.
4. Robert Maynard Hutchins
1899-1977 (aged 78)
university teacher
pedagogue
Robert Maynard Hutchins was an American educational philosopher. He was the 5th president (1929–1945) and chancellor (1945–1951) of the University of Chicago, and earlier dean of Yale Law School (1927–1929). His first wife was the novelist Maude Hutchins. Although his father and grandfather were both Presbyterian ministers, Hutchins became one of the most influential members of the school of secular...
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5. Ry Russo-Young
1981-. (aged 45)
film director
screenwriter
Ry Russo-Young is an American filmmaker and producer, originally from New York City. Her early independent work has been associated with the mumblecore genre, though she has gone on to direct wide-release feature films Before I Fall and The Sun Is Also a Star (2019) as well as high profile documentary projects Nuclear Family (2021), Call Her Alex (2025), and...
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6. Kiese Laymon
1974-. (aged 52)
writer
novelist
Kiese Laymon is an American writer. He is a professor of English and Creative Writing at Rice University. He is the author of three full-length books: a novel, Long Division (2013), and two memoirs, How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America (2013) and the award-winning Heavy: An American Memoir (2018). Laymon was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2022.
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7. Robert Krulwich
1947-. (aged 79)
journalist
Robert Louis Krulwich is a retired American radio and television journalist who co-hosted the radio show Radiolab and served as a science correspondent for NPR. He has reported for ABC, CBS, and Pacifica, with assignment pieces for ABC's Nightline and World News Tonight, as well as PBS's Frontline, NOVA, and NOW with Bill Moyers. TV Guide called him "the most...
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8. Bruce Catton
1899-1978 (aged 79)
historian
military historian
journalist
writer
Charles Bruce Catton was an American historian and journalist who wrote books concerning the American Civil War. As a narrative historian, Catton specialized in popular history, featuring interesting characters and historical vignettes, in addition to the basic facts, dates, and analyses. His books were well researched and included footnotes. He won the Pulitzer Prize for History and the National Book...
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9. Peter Staley
1961-. (aged 65)
LGBTQ rights activist
HIV/AIDS activist
Peter Staley is an American political activist, known primarily for his work in HIV/AIDS activism. As an early and influential member of ACT UP, New York, he founded both the Treatment Action Group (TAG) and the educational website AIDSmeds.com. Staley is a primary figure in the Oscar-nominated documentary How to Survive a Plague.
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10. John Langalibalele Dube
1871-1946 (aged 75)
writer
poet
journalist
politician
John Langalibalele Dube OLG was a South African essayist, philosopher, educator, politician, publisher, editor, novelist and poet. He was the founding president of the South African Native National Congress (SANNC), which became the African National Congress in 1923. He was an uncle to Dr Pixley ka Isaka Seme, with whom he founded SANNC. Dube served as the president of SANNC...
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11. Steven Isserlis
1958-. (aged 68)
children's writer
cellist
Steven John Isserlis CBE is a British cellist. An acclaimed soloist, chamber musician, educator, writer and broadcaster, he is widely regarded as one of the leading musicians of his generation. He is also noted for his diverse repertoire and distinctive sound which is partly from his use of gut strings.
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12. Luther Halsey Gulick
1892-1993 (aged 101)
political scientist
Luther Halsey Gulick was an American political scientist, Eaton Professor of Municipal Science and Administration at Columbia University, and Director of its Institute of Public Administration, known as an expert on public administration.
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13. Richard Theodore Greener
1844-1922 (aged 78)
librarian
lawyer
diplomat
classical scholar
Richard Theodore Greener was a pioneering African-American scholar, excelling in elocution, philosophy, law and classics in the Reconstruction era. In 1870, he became the first black undergraduate at Harvard University to receive a bachelor's degree. The previous year, Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School, and the Harvard School of Dental Medicine awarded degrees to their first black graduates in 1869.
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14. Larry Sweeney
1981-2011 (aged 30)
manager
amateur wrestler
professional wrestler
Alexander K. Whybrow was an American professional wrestler and manager, better known by his ring name Larry Sweeney. He performed primarily on the American independent circuit, but also competed in Canada, Mexico, Japan and Europe.
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15. Benjamin Wittes
1969-. (aged 57)
journalist
writer
Benjamin Wittes is an American legal journalist. He is editor in chief of Lawfare and senior fellow in governance studies at The Brookings Institution, where he is the research director in public law, and co-director of the Harvard Law School–Brookings Project on Law and Security. He works principally on issues related to American law and national security. Wittes was number...
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16. Lloyd Morrisett
1929-2023 (aged 94)
philanthropist
psychologist
Lloyd Newton Morrisett Jr. was an American experimental psychologist with a career in education, communications, and philanthropy. He was one of the founders of the Children's Television Workshop (now known as Sesame Workshop), the organization that created the children's television show Sesame Street, which Morrisett created with Joan Ganz Cooney from its debut from 1969 until his death in 2023....
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17. Brian Chase
1978-. (aged 48)
drummer
record producer
Brian William Chase is an American drummer and drone musician who plays in the New York rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs. He was ranked at No. 50 in Gigwise's list of The Greatest Drummers of All Time.
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18. Lucy Wainwright Roche
1981-. (aged 45)
singer
songwriter
Lucy Wainwright Roche is an American singer-songwriter. Preceded by two EPs, 8 Songs and 8 More, Roche released her debut album, Lucy in October 2010. In 2013, she starred as Jeri in the Stuff You Should Know television show.
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19. Alexander Perls
1976-. (aged 50)
record producer
Alexander Perls Rousmaniere is an American former musician, DJ, entrepreneur, and record producer. His songs are known for their mix of electronic, trance, and religiously themed lyrics and are entirely written, performed, and produced by Perls; notable projects include 009 Sound System and Aalborg Soundtracks.
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20. Shirley Graham Du Bois
1896-1977 (aged 81)
biographer
writer
playwright
orator
composer
Shirley Graham Du Bois was an American-Ghanaian writer, playwright, composer, and activist for African-American causes, among others. She won the Messner and the Anisfield-Wolf prizes for her works. She was also the wife of activist W. E. B. Du Bois.
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21. Charles Martin Hall
1863-1914 (aged 51)
inventor
chemist
Charles Martin Hall was an American inventor, businessman, and chemist. He is best known for his invention in 1886 of an inexpensive method for producing aluminium, which became the first metal to attain widespread use since the prehistoric discovery of iron. He was one of the founders of Alcoa, along with Alfred E. Hunt; Hunt's partner at the Pittsburgh Testing...
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22. Audrey Gelman
1987-. (aged 39)
entrepreneur
political adviser
Audrey Gelman is an American businessperson and political staffer. She is the founder of The Wing, a women's co-working space and social club founded in New York City in 2016. She founded The Six Bells Inn in 2025. She was the inspiration for Allison Williams's character Marnie on Girls.
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23. Alex Scally
1982-. (aged 44)
musician
guitarist
Alex Kristian Scally is an American multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. He is known as the co-writer, guitarist and backing vocalist of the dream pop band Beach House, with whom he has recorded eight studio albums.
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24. Donald Henderson
1928-2016 (aged 88)
epidemiologist
Donald Ainslie Henderson was an American physician, educator, and epidemiologist who directed a 10-year international effort (1967–1977) that eradicated smallpox throughout the world and launched international childhood vaccination programs. From 1977 to 1990, he was Dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Later, he played a leading role in instigating national programs for public health preparedness and response...
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25. Tom Frieden
1960-. (aged 66)
physician
Thomas R. Frieden is an American infectious disease and public health physician. He serves as president and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, a global initiative working to prevent epidemics and cardiovascular disease. Launched in 2017 as a five-year initiative, it became an independent non-profit organization in 2022.
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26. Alex Blumberg
podcaster
screenwriter
journalist
Alex Blumberg is an American entrepreneur, radio journalist, former producer for public radio and television, best known for his work with This American Life, Planet Money, and How to Save a Planet. He was the co-founder and CEO of the podcast network Gimlet Media.
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27. Blanche Bruce
1841-1898 (aged 57)
land owner
school superintendent
politician
farmer
businessperson
Blanche Kelso Bruce was an American politician who represented Mississippi as a Republican in the United States Senate from 1875 to 1881. Born into slavery in Prince Edward County, Virginia, he went on to become the first elected African American senator to serve a full term (Hiram R. Revels, also of Mississippi, was the first African American to serve in...
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28. Jad Abumrad
1973-. (aged 53)
radio personality
university teacher
Jad Nicholas Abumrad is an American radio host, composer, and producer.
29. Lorenzo Snow
1814-1901 (aged 87)
politician
writer
presbyter
Lorenzo Snow was an American religious leader who served as the fifth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1898 until his death. Snow was the last president of the LDS Church in the 19th century and the first in the 20th.
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30. Mary Church Terrell
1863-1954 (aged 91)
lecturer
writer
suffragist
women's rights activist
civil rights advocate
Mary "Mollie" Eliza Church Terrell was an American civil rights activist, journalist, teacher and one of the first African-American women to earn a college degree. She taught in the Latin Department at the M Street School (now known as Paul Laurence Dunbar High School)—the first African American public high school in the nation—in Washington, DC. In 1895, she was the...
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31. Joan Feynman
1927-2020 (aged 93)
astrophysicist
astronomer
physicist
Joan Feynman was an American astrophysicist and space physicist. She made contributions to the study of solar wind particles and fields, sun-Earth relations, and magnetospheric physics. She was known for creating a model that predicts the number of high-energy particles likely to hit a spacecraft over its lifetime, and for uncovering a method for predicting sunspot cycles. She was particularly...
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32. Anna J. Cooper
1858-1964 (aged 106)
writer
sociologist
suffragist
educator
political theorist
Anna Julia Cooper was an African American author, educator, and activist. Although born enslaved, Cooper pursued higher education at Oberlin College in Ohio, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1884 and a master's degree in mathematics in 1887. At the age of sixty-six, she completed her doctoral studies at the University of Paris, making her the fourth African...
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33. Gary Shteyngart
1972-. (aged 54)
novelist
writer
journalist
Gary Shteyngart is a Soviet-born American writer. He is the author of six novels (including The Russian Debutante's Handbook, Absurdistan, Super Sad True Love Story, Vera, or Faith), and a memoir. Much of his work is satirical.
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34. Wayne Wheeler
1869-1927 (aged 58)
lawyer
jurist
Wayne Bidwell Wheeler was an American attorney and longtime leader of the Anti-Saloon League. The leading advocate of the prohibitionist movement in the late 1800s and early 1900s, he played a major role in the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which outlawed the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages.
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35. Yvette Clarke
1964-. (aged 62)
politician
Yvette Diane Clarke is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 9th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she first entered Congress in 2007, representing New York's 11th congressional district until redistricting. Clarke represented the 40th district in Brooklyn on the New York City Council from 2002 to 2006.
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36. Ishmael Beah
1980-. (aged 46)
writer
soldier
Ishmael Beah is a Sierra Leonean author and human rights activist who rose to fame with his acclaimed memoir, A Long Way Gone. His novel Radiance of Tomorrow was published in January 2014. His most recent novel Little Family was published in April 2020.
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37. Julie Atlas Muz
1973-. (aged 53)
choreographer
beauty pageant contestant
dancer
actor
Julie Atlas Muz is a New York City-based performance artist, dancer, burlesque artist, stage director, and actress. In 2012, she married English actor Mat Fraser.
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38. Peter Baker
1967-. (aged 59)
journalist
political analyst
Peter Eleftherios Baker is an American journalist and author. He is the chief White House correspondent for The New York Times and a political analyst for MS NOW. He was a reporter for The Washington Post for 20 years. He has covered six presidencies, from Bill Clinton through Donald Trump.
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39. Roger Sperry
1913-1994 (aged 81)
university teacher
neurologist
psychologist
physiologist
physician
Roger Wolcott Sperry was an American neuropsychologist, neurobiologist, cognitive neuroscientist, and Nobel laureate who, together with David H. Hubel and Torsten Nils Wiesel, won the 1981 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work with split-brain research. A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Sperry as the 44th most cited psychologist of the 20th century.
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40. Paolo Bacigalupi
1972-. (aged 54)
science fiction writer
fantasy author
writer
children's writer
novelist
Paolo Tadini Bacigalupi is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He has won the Hugo, Nebula, John W. Campbell Memorial, Compton Crook, Theodore Sturgeon, and Michael L. Printz awards, and has been nominated for the National Book Award. His fiction has appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Asimov's Science Fiction, and the environmental journal High Country...
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41. François Clemmons
1945-. (aged 81)
singer
television actor
François Scarborough Clemmons is an American singer, actor, writer and teacher. He is known for his appearances as "Officer Clemmons" on the PBS television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood from 1968 to 1993.
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42. Edwin O. Reischauer
1910-1990 (aged 80)
linguist
historian
university teacher
japanologist
diplomat
Edwin Oldfather Reischauer was an American diplomat, educator, and professor at Harvard University. Born in Tokyo to American educational missionaries, he became a leading scholar of the history and culture of Japan and East Asia. Together with George M. McCune, a scholar of Korea and several Korean linguists, in 1939 he developed the McCune–Reischauer romanization of the Korean language.
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43. Kathleen Neal Cleaver
1945-. (aged 81)
activist
lawyer
journalist
professor
Kathleen Neal Cleaver is an American law professor and activist known for her involvement with the Black Power movement and the Black Panther Party.
44. Lucy Stone
1818-1893 (aged 75)
abolitionist
writer
women's rights activist
suffragist
editor
Lucy Stone was an American orator, abolitionist and suffragist who was a vocal advocate for and organizer of promoting rights for women. In 1847, Stone became the first woman from Massachusetts to earn a college degree. She spoke out for women's rights and against slavery. Stone was known for using her birth name, after marriage, contrary to the custom of...
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45. Moses Fleetwood Walker
1856-1924 (aged 68)
inventor
baseball player
Moses Fleetwood Walker, sometimes nicknamed Fleet Walker, was an American professional baseball catcher credited with being the first black man to play major league baseball. A native of Mount Pleasant, Ohio, and a star athlete at Oberlin College as well as the University of Michigan, Walker played for semi-professional and minor league baseball clubs before joining the Toledo Blue Stockings...
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46. John Wesley Powell
1834-1902 (aged 68)
writer
geographer
geologist
botanical collector
botanist
John Wesley Powell was an American geologist, U.S. Army soldier, explorer of the American West, professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions. He is famous for his 1869 geographic expedition, a three-month river trip down the Green and Colorado rivers, including the first official U.S. government-sponsored passage through the Grand Canyon.
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47. Mark Boal
1973-. (aged 53)
film producer
television actor
film screenwriter
screenwriter
television director
Mark Boal is an American journalist, screenwriter, and film producer. Boal initially worked as a journalist, writing for outlets like Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Salon, and Playboy. Boal's 2004 article "Death and Dishonor" was adapted for the film In the Valley of Elah, which Boal also co-wrote.
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48. Adrian Fenty
1970-. (aged 56)
politician
Adrian Malik Fenty is an American politician who served as the mayor of the District of Columbia from 2007 to 2011.
49. Stephanie Rawlings-Blake
1970-. (aged 56)
lawyer
politician
Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake is an American politician and attorney who served as the 50th Mayor of Baltimore from 2010 to 2016, the second woman to hold that office. She has also served as secretary of the Democratic National Committee and as president of the United States Conference of Mayors.
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50. Kelly AuCoin
1967-. (aged 59)
actor
television actor
Kelly AuCoin is an American actor who has appeared in film, television, and theater. He is best known as "Dollar" Bill Stearn on Billions (Showtime) and Pastor Tim on The Americans (FX). He has had recurring roles on several other American television series, including The Girl from Plainville (Hulu), WeCrashed (Apple TV+), The Endgame (NBC), House of Cards (Netflix), and...
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51. James McBride
1957-. (aged 69)
jazz musician
screenwriter
novelist
saxophonist
journalist
James McBride is an American writer and musician. He is the recipient of the 2013 National Book Award for fiction for his novel The Good Lord Bird.
52. Elisha Gray
1835-1901 (aged 66)
inventor
engineer
Elisha Gray was an American electrical engineer who co-founded the Western Electric Manufacturing Company. Gray is best known for his development of a telephone prototype in 1876 in Highland Park, Illinois. Some recent authors have argued that Gray should be considered the true inventor of the telephone because Alexander Graham Bell allegedly stole the idea of the liquid transmitter from...
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53. John Kander
1927-. (aged 99)
composer
screenwriter
film score composer
motorcyclist
John Harold Kander is an American composer, known largely for his work in the musical theater. As part of the songwriting team Kander and Ebb (with lyricist Fred Ebb), Kander wrote the scores for 15 musicals, including Cabaret (1966) and Chicago (1975), both of which were later adapted into acclaimed films. He and Ebb also wrote the standard "New York,...
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54. Jon Theodore
1973-. (aged 53)
drummer
Jon Philip Theodore is an American drummer. He has been the current drummer for Queens of the Stone Age since 2013, and is also known for being the drummer for the Mars Volta from 2001 to 2006.
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55. Rex Lee
1969-. (aged 57)
film actor
actor
television actor
Rex Lee is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Lloyd Lee in the HBO series Entourage (2005–2011), as Mr. Wolfe in ABC's sitcom Suburgatory (2011–2013) and as Elliot Park in the sitcom Young & Hungry (2014–2018).
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56. Richard N. Haass
1951-. (aged 75)
diplomat
university teacher
Richard Nathan Haass is an American diplomat. He was president of the Council on Foreign Relations from July 2003 to June 2023, prior to which he was director of policy planning for the United States Department of State and a close advisor to Secretary of State Colin Powell in the George W. Bush administration. In October 2022, Haass announced he...
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57. Edward Everett Horton
1886-1970 (aged 84)
singer
television actor
film actor
voice actor
stage actor
Edward Everett Horton, Jr. was an American character actor and comedian. He had a long career in film, theater, radio, television, and voice work for animated cartoons.
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58. Judy Kuhn
1958-. (aged 68)
actor
television actor
activist
voice actor
stage actor
Judy Kuhn is an American actress, singer and activist, known for her work in musical theatre. A four-time Tony Award nominee, she has released four studio albums and sang the title role in the 1995 film Pocahontas, including her rendition of the song "Colors of the Wind", which won its composers the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
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59. Josh Ritter
1976-. (aged 50)
singer
songwriter
singer-songwriter
recording artist
musician
Joshua B. Ritter is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and author who performs and records with the Royal City Band. Ritter is known for his distinctive Americana style and narrative lyrics. In 2006, he was named one of the "100 Greatest Living Songwriters" by Paste magazine.
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60. Kenneth Waltz
1924-2013 (aged 89)
philosopher
political scientist
university teacher
politician
Kenneth Neal Waltz was an American political scientist who was a member of the faculty at both the University of California, Berkeley, and Columbia University and one of the most prominent scholars in the field of international relations. He was a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War.
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61. Julie Taymor
1952-. (aged 74)
film director
director
costume designer
scenographer
film producer
Julie Taymor is an American director and writer of theater, opera, and film. Her stage adaptation of The Lion King debuted in 1997 and received eleven Tony Award nominations, with Taymor receiving Tony Awards for her direction and costume design. Her 2002 film Frida, about Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, was nominated for five Academy Awards, including a Best Original Song...
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62. Henrietta Swan Leavitt
1868-1921 (aged 53)
astronomer
Henrietta Swan Leavitt was an American astronomer. Her discovery of how to effectively measure vast astronomical distances led to a shift in the understanding of the scale and nature of the universe.
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63. Rollo May
1909-1994 (aged 85)
psychologist
psychotherapist
writer
Rollo Reece May was an American existential psychologist and author of the influential book Love and Will (1969). He is often associated with humanistic psychology and existentialist philosophy, and alongside Viktor Frankl, was a major proponent of existential psychotherapy. The philosopher and theologian Paul Tillich was a close friend who had a significant influence on his work.
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64. Robert A. Millikan
1868-1953 (aged 85)
physicist
university teacher
Robert Andrews Millikan was an American experimental physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1923 "for his work on the elementary charge of electricity and on the photoelectric effect."
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65. Rennie Davis
1940-2021 (aged 81)
peace activist
businessperson
Rennard Cordon Davis was an American anti-war activist who gained prominence in the 1960s. He was one of the Chicago Seven defendants charged for anti-war demonstrations and large-scale protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. He had a prominent organizational role in the American anti–Vietnam War protest movement of the 1960s.
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66. Diona Reasonover
1992-. (aged 34)
screenwriter
television actor
film director
actor
Diona Reasonover is an American actress. She starred as Charmaine Eskowitz in the television show Clipped, and since 2018 has portrayed Kasie Hines in the crime drama series NCIS.
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67. David Miller
1973-. (aged 53)
actor
musician
opera singer
David Miller is an American tenor. Since 2004, he has been a member of the successful classical crossover group Il Divo, who have sold over 30 million copies worldwide. As well, Miller shared a Tony Award with the other members of the ensemble cast of Baz Luhrmann's 2002 revival of La bohème in 2003.
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68. Jason Molina
1973-2013 (aged 40)
singer
guitarist
singer-songwriter
Jason Andrew Molina was an American musician, singer and songwriter. Raised in northern Ohio, he came to prominence performing and recording as Songs: Ohia, both in solo projects and with a rotating cast of musicians in the late 1990s. Beginning in 2003, he garnered a further indie following for his releases with the band Magnolia Electric Co.
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69. H. H. Kung
1881-1967 (aged 86)
banker
businessperson
politician
Kung Hsiang-hsi, also known as Dr. Chauncey Kung, was a Chinese banker and government official influential in China's politics and economy of the 1920s through the 1940s. His wife was Soong Ai-ling, the eldest of the three Soong sisters; the other two married President Sun Yat-sen and President Chiang Kai-shek. Together with his brother-in-law, T. V. Soong, he was highly...
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70. Jerry Greenfield
1951-. (aged 75)
entrepreneur
Jerry Greenfield is an American businessman, philanthropist, and activist. He is a co-founder of Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings, Inc.
71. Edmonia Lewis
1844-1907 (aged 63)
artist
sculptor
Mary Edmonia Lewis, also known as "Wildfire", was an American sculptor.
72. Thornton Wilder
1897-1975 (aged 78)
writer
playwright
novelist
screenwriter
Thornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, for the novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and for the plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a U.S. National Book Award for the novel The Eighth Day.
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73. Alison Bechdel
1960-. (aged 66)
novelist
comics artist
cartoonist
Alison Bechdel is an American cartoonist. Originally known for the long-running comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For, she came to critical and commercial success in 2006 with her graphic memoir Fun Home. Fun Home was subsequently adapted as a musical, which won a Tony Award for Best Musical in 2015. In 2012, she released her second graphic memoir Are...
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74. Liz Phair
1967-. (aged 59)
singer
guitarist
composer
singer-songwriter
recording artist
Elizabeth Clark Phair is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Phair was raised primarily in the Chicago area. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1990, she attempted to start a musical career in San Francisco; however, she returned to her home in Chicago, where she began self-releasing audio cassettes under the name Girly-Sound. The tapes led...
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75. George Herbert Mead
1863-1931 (aged 68)
philosopher
sociologist
psychologist
university teacher
George Herbert Mead was an American philosopher, sociologist, and psychologist, primarily affiliated with the University of Chicago. He was one of the key figures in the development of pragmatism. He is regarded as one of the founders of symbolic interactionism, and was an important influence on what has come to be referred to as the Chicago School of Sociology.
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76. Marc Cohn
1959-. (aged 67)
composer
singer-songwriter
singer
musician
Marc Craig Cohn is an American singer-songwriter. He is best known for the song "Walking in Memphis", which was a Top 40 hit from his 1991 album Marc Cohn and was nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Vocal at the 34th Annual Grammy Awards. Cohn won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1992. His other...
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77. Willard Van Orman Quine
1908-2000 (aged 92)
philosopher of science
analytic philosopher
university teacher
mathematician
epistemologist
Willard Van Orman Quine was an American logician and philosopher in the analytic tradition, recognized as "one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century". He was the Edgar Pierce Chair of Philosophy at Harvard University from 1956 to 1978.
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78. Michelle Malkin
1970-. (aged 56)
columnist
pundit
writer
journalist
blogger
Michelle Malkin is an American conservative political commentator. She was a Fox News contributor and in May 2020 joined Newsmax TV. Malkin has written seven books and founded the conservative commentary website Twitchy and the conservative blog Hot Air.
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79. Will Chase
1970-. (aged 56)
television actor
stage actor
actor
film actor
Frank William Chase is an American actor, director, and singer, best known for his work on Broadway and for his role as country superstar Luke Wheeler on ABC's Nashville.
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80. William Goldman
1931-2018 (aged 87)
screenwriter
novelist
writer
playwright
film screenwriter
William Goldman was an American novelist, screenwriter and playwright who wrote 16 novels and numerous screenplays in a career spanning seven decades. He received the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and Best Screenplay from the BAFTAs and Golden Globes for his first original screenplay, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), and he received the Academy Award for Best...
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81. Jerry Rubin
1938-1994 (aged 56)
entrepreneur
businessperson
Jerry Clyde Rubin was an American social activist, anti-war leader, and counterculture icon during the 1960s and early 1970s. Despite being known for holding radical views when he was a political activist, he ceased holding his more extreme views at some point in the 1970s and instead opted for a successful career as a businessman. In the 1960s, during his...
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82. Avery Brooks
1948-. (aged 78)
film director
pedagogue
television actor
voice actor
theatrical director
Avery Franklin Brooks is an American actor, director, singer, narrator and educator. He is best known for his television roles as Captain Benjamin Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, as Hawk on Spenser: For Hire and its spinoff A Man Called Hawk, and as Dr. Bob Sweeney in the Academy Award–nominated film American History X. Brooks has delivered a...
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83. Karen O
1978-. (aged 48)
recording artist
singer
Karen Lee Orzolek is an American musician who is the lead vocalist of the indie rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs. She was a key artist of the 2000s garage rock and post-punk revivals, noted for her energetic performances and eccentric fashion. In her solo career, Karen O has released two albums, collaborated with numerous artists and composed for several film...
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84. Sinclair Lewis
1885-1951 (aged 66)
writer
playwright
novelist
journalist
Harry Sinclair Lewis was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930, he became the first author from the United States (and the first from the Americas) to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was awarded "for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of characters." Lewis...
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85. Bobby McFerrin
1950-. (aged 76)
beatboxer
animator
university teacher
recording artist
conductor
Robert Keith McFerrin Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, and conductor. His vocal techniques include singing fluidly but with quick and considerable jumps in pitch—for example, sustaining a melody while also rapidly alternating with arpeggios and harmonies—as well as scat singing, polyphonic overtone singing, and improvisational vocal percussion. McFerrin performs and records regularly as an unaccompanied solo vocal artist and...
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86. Bill Irwin
1950-. (aged 76)
television actor
mime artist
theatrical director
clown
playwright
William Mills Irwin is an American actor, choreographer, clown, and comedian. He began as a vaudeville-style stage performer and has been noted for his contribution to the renaissance of American circus during the 1970s. He has made a number of appearances on film and television, and he won a Tony Award for his role in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?...
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87. Eric Bogosian
1953-. (aged 73)
stage actor
actor
writer
novelist
film actor
Eric Michael Bogosian is an American actor, playwright, monologuist, novelist, and historian. Descended from Armenian-American immigrants, he grew up in Watertown and Woburn, Massachusetts, and attended the University of Chicago and Oberlin College. His play Talk Radio was a finalist for the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Bogosian also wrote and starred in the 1988 film adaptation, winning the Silver...
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88. Hsiao Bi-khim
1971-. (aged 55)
diplomat
politician
Hsiao Bi-khim is a Taiwanese politician and diplomat who has served as Vice President of the Republic of China since 2024, serving under President Lai Ching-te. She was the Taiwanese representative to the United States from 2020 to 2023, and formerly served as a legislator of the Legislative Yuan from 2002 to 2008 and again between 2012 and 2020.
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89. Lena Dunham
1986-. (aged 40)
film director
writer
film producer
actor
film actor
Lena Dunham is an American writer, director, actress, and producer. She is the creator, writer, and star of the HBO television series Girls (2012–2017), for which she received several Emmy Award nominations and two Golden Globe Awards. Dunham also directed several episodes of Girls and became the first woman to win the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing...
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90. Ed Helms
1974-. (aged 52)
television director
film actor
banjoist
television producer
voice actor
Edward Parker Helms is an American actor and comedian. From 2002 to 2006, he was a correspondent on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He played paper salesman Andy Bernard in the NBC sitcom The Office (2006–2013), and starred as Stuart "Stu" Price in The Hangover trilogy. He later starred in the comedy series Rutherford Falls (2021–2022), which...
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91. Corey Stoll
1976-. (aged 50)
television actor
stage actor
actor
film actor
Corey Daniel Stoll is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Congressman Peter Russo in the first season of the Netflix political thriller series House of Cards (2013–2016), for which he received a Golden Globe nomination in 2013, and Dr. Ephraim Goodweather on the FX horror drama series The Strain (2014–2017). From 2020 to 2023, he...
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92. Tony Musante
1936-2013 (aged 77)
television actor
stage actor
actor
film actor
Anthony Peter Musante Jr. was an American actor, best known for the TV series Toma as Detective David Toma, Nino Schibetta in Oz (1997), and Joe D'Angelo in As the World Turns (2000–2003). In movies, he achieved fame relatively early in his career, starring or having significant roles in such films as Once a Thief (1965), The Incident (1967), The...
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93. James Lawson
1928-2024 (aged 96)
pastor
human rights defender
missionary
university teacher
James Morris Lawson Jr. was an American activist and university professor. He was a leading theoretician and tactician of nonviolence within the Civil Rights Movement. During the 1960s, he served as a mentor to the Nashville Student Movement and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. He was expelled from Vanderbilt University for his civil rights activism in 1960, and later served...
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94. William Grant Still
1895-1978 (aged 83)
composer
oboist
conductor
film score composer
William Grant Still Jr. was an American composer of nearly two hundred works, including five symphonies, four ballets, nine operas, and more than thirty choral works, art songs, chamber music, and solo works. Born in Mississippi and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, Still attended Wilberforce University and Oberlin Conservatory of Music as a student of George Whitefield Chadwick and then...
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95. Anna Louise Strong
1885-1970 (aged 85)
poet
writer
peace activist
activist
trade unionist
Anna Louise Strong was an American journalist and activist, best known for her reporting on and support for communist movements in the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. She wrote over 30 books and varied articles.
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96. Stanley Cohen
1922-2020 (aged 98)
endocrinologist
physiologist
biochemist
university teacher
Stanley Cohen was an American biochemist who, along with Rita Levi-Montalcini, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1986 for the isolation of nerve growth factor and the discovery of epidermal growth factor.
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97. Lynn Shelton
1965-2020 (aged 55)
television actor
film director
actor
film screenwriter
film producer
Lynn Shelton was an American filmmaker, known for writing, directing, and producing such films as Humpday and Your Sister's Sister. She was associated with the mumblecore genre.
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98. Joshua Angrist
1960-. (aged 66)
university teacher
economist
econometrician
Joshua David Angrist is an Israeli American economist and Ford Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Angrist, together with Guido Imbens, was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 2021 "for their methodological contributions to the analysis of causal relationships".
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99. Tracy Chevalier
1962-. (aged 64)
novelist
screenwriter
writer
Tracy Rose Chevalier is an American-British novelist. She is best known for her second novel, Girl with a Pearl Earring, which was adapted as a 2003 film starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth.
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100. Eduardo Chivambo Mondlane
1920-1969 (aged 49)
explorer
anthropologist
politician
Eduardo Chivambo Mondlane was a Mozambican revolutionary and anthropologist who was the founder of the Mozambican Liberation Front (FRELIMO). He served as the FRELIMO's first leader until his assassination in 1969 in Tanzania. An anthropologist by profession, Mondlane also worked as a history and sociology professor at Syracuse University before returning to Mozambique in 1963.
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