50 Notable alumni of Weill Cornell Medical College
Updated: June 16, 2026 EliteDegrees
Weill Cornell Medical College is ranked #6,150 in the world and #1,610 in United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 50 notable alumni from Weill Cornell Medical 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 Weill Cornell Medical College won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. Wilbur Downs
1913-1991 (aged 78)
biologist
virologist
Wilbur George Downs was a naturalist, virologist and clinical professor of epidemiology and public health at the Yale School of Medicine and the Yale School of Public Health.
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2. Connie Guion
1882-1971 (aged 89)
physician
Connie Myers Guion was an American professor of medicine. She was influential in developing health care systems for the poor in New York City and training programs for new health care professionals at Cornell Medical Center. She founded the Cornell Pay Clinic, which supported the poor in the city and brought in training. She was the first woman to be...
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3. John I. Gallin
1943-. (aged 83)
immunologist
John Isaac Gallin was an American medical researcher who contributed to the understanding of innate immunity but especially chronic granulomatous disease, a phagocyte disorder.
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4. George Foster Herben
1893-1966 (aged 73)
military personnel
George Foster Herben was an American physician. He spent his career in New York, predominantly treating tuberculosis. After interning at Brooklyn Hospital, Herben worked at the Loomis Sanitarium by Liberty, and then at the House of Rest at Sprain Ridge, a tuberculosis hospital and preventorium in Yonkers. At the House of Rest he variously served as physician in chief and...
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5. Morton Beiser
1936-. (aged 90)
psychiatrist
Morton Beiser is a Canadian professor, psychiatrist and epidemiologist known for his research in the fields of immigration and resettlement.
6. Hilda Crosby Standish
1902-2005 (aged 103)
physician
obstetrician
Hilda Crosby Standish was a pioneer in the birth control movement in the state of Connecticut. In 1935, she became medical director of the Maternal Health Center in Hartford, the state's first birth control clinic. Dr. Standish was inducted into the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame in 1994.
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7. John P. Donohue
1932-2008 (aged 76)
military officer
urologist
surgeon
John P. Donohue was an American physician. He was the Chairman of the Urology Department and Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Indiana University School of Medicine. He pioneered treatments for testicular cancer, including the nerve-sparing technique. His work with Dr. Lawrence Einhorn led to an increase in cure rate of testicular cancer from 5% to 90%. He studied under Wyland F....
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8. Leston Havens
1924-2011 (aged 87)
psychiatrist
psychotherapist
Leston Laycock Havens M.D. was an American psychiatrist, psychotherapist and professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
9. Carol Remmer Angle
1927-. (aged 99)
toxicologist
Carol Remmer Angle is an American pediatrician, nephrologist, and toxicologist. Angle is known as one of the nation's leading researchers on lead poisoning. She is professor emeritus at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska. Angle joined UNMC in 1954 and was one of the first women to serve as chair of an academic medical department (pediatrics). She...
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10. Lori L. Altshuler
1957-2015 (aged 58)
psychiatrist
Lori Altshuler was a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and held the Julia S. Gouw Endowed Chair for Mood Disorders. Altshuler was the Director of the UCLA Mood Disorders Research Program and the UCLA Women's Life Center, each being part of the Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA.
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11. Kristine Mann
1873-1945 (aged 72)
university teacher
psychologist
writer
Kristine Mann was an American educator and physician, with a particular interest in working women's health. She was an early practitioner of psychoanalysis in North America.
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12. Richard M. Ehrlich
1938-. (aged 88)
photographer
surgeon
Richard M. Ehrlich is a surgeon and photographer. Born in New York City on March 12, 1938, he obtained a BA in 1959 from Cornell University, where he was a member of the Quill and Dagger society. He has been a professor and physician for over 40 years, and has been recognized as a fine art photographer. The New York...
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13. Helen Farr Sloan
1911-2005 (aged 94)
painter
Helen Farr Sloan was a patron of the arts, educator, accomplished artist, and the second wife of artist John Sloan.
14. Albert Kapikian
1930-2014 (aged 84)
physician
virologist
Albert Zaven Kapikian was an Armenian-American virologist who developed the first licensed vaccine against rotavirus, the most common cause of severe diarrhea in infants. He was awarded the Sabin Gold Medal for his pioneering work on the vaccine. He is the 13th recipient of this recognition, awarded annually by the Sabin Vaccine Institute. Called the father of human gastroenteritis virus...
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15. Michel Kahaleh
researcher
Michel Kahaleh is an American gastroenterologist and an expert in therapeutic endoscopy.
16. John F. Kurtzke
1926-2015 (aged 89)
epidemiologist
professor
neurologist
John Francis Kurtzke was a neuroepidemiologist and Professor of Neurology at Georgetown University who is best known for his creation of the Expanded Disability Status Scale and for his research on multiple sclerosis (MS). After graduating from Cornell University Medical College in 1952, Dr. Kurtzke started his career in the field of Neurology as Chief of the Neurology Service at...
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17. Elaine Jaffe
1943-. (aged 83)
pathologist
Elaine Sarkin Jaffe is an American pathologist and senior investigator at the National Cancer Institute specializing in hematopathology. She completed her medical education at Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania, receiving her M.D. degree from University of Pennsylvania in 1969. After an internship at Georgetown University she joined NCI as a resident in anatomic pathology, and has been a...
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18. Romeyn Beck Hough
1857-1924 (aged 67)
physician
explorer
inventor
botanist
Romeyn Beck Hough was an American physician and botanist, who is best known for creating The American Woods, a 14-volume collection of wood samples from forest species across North America. His botanical work was widely acclaimed at his time.
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19. Charles V. Paterno
1876-1946 (aged 70)
entrepreneur
Charles Vincent Paterno was an Italian-born American real estate developer. He was called the "Napoleon of the Manhattan Skyscraper Builders".
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20. Carlos Cordon-Cardo
1957-. (aged 69)
physician
researcher
oncologist
Carlos Cordon-Cardo is a Spanish-born American physician and scientist known for his research in experimental pathology and molecular oncology. He holds the "Irene Heinz Given and John LaPorte Given" Chair in Pathology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
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21. George Makari
1960-. (aged 66)
historian
psychiatrist
psychoanalyst
writer
George Jack Makari is a psychiatrist and historian. He serves as director of the DeWitt Wallace Institute of Psychiatry: History, Policy, and the Arts, which encompasses the Oskar Diethelm Library at Weill Cornell Medical College, where he is also a Professor of Psychiatry. Makari's work has been widely reviewed, and he is well known among historians of the mind sciences,...
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22. Lisa Staiano-Coico
1956-. (aged 70)
academic
Lisa Frances Staiano-Coico is an American microbiologist. She served as the 12th president of the City College of the City University of New York from 2010 to 2016.
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23. Jimmie C. Holland
1928-2017 (aged 89)
psychiatrist
university teacher
Jimmie Coker Holland was a founder of the field of psycho-oncology. In 1977, she worked with two colleagues to establish a full-time psychiatric service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The program was one of the first of its kind in cancer treatment, and trained its psychologists to specialize in issues specific to people with cancer.
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24. Alexander Langmuir
1910-1993 (aged 83)
biologist
epidemiologist
Alexander Duncan Langmuir was an American epidemiologist who served as Chief Epidemiologist of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 1949 to 1970, developing the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) as a training program for epidemiologists.
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25. Emily Barringer
1876-1961 (aged 85)
physician
gynecologist
surgeon
Emily Dunning Barringer was the world's first female ambulance surgeon and the first woman to secure a surgical residency.
26. Jay C. Buckey
1956-. (aged 70)
physician
astronaut
military officer
politician
Jay Clark Buckey Jr. is an American physician and astronaut who flew aboard one Space Shuttle mission (STS-90) as a Payload Specialist. Buckey briefly ran for the Democratic nomination to challenge New Hampshire Senator John E. Sununu, a first term Republican, when he was up for re-election in 2008. Buckey withdrew from the race when former Governor Jeanne Shaheen entered...
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27. James Peake
1944-. (aged 82)
military physician
surgeon
James Benjamin Peake is an American politician and former lieutenant general who served as the sixth secretary of veterans affairs from 2007 to 2009. In 2004, he retired from a 38-year United States Army career; having served as the 40th Surgeon General of the United States Army.
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28. Robert W. Holley
1922-1993 (aged 71)
biochemist
chemist
Robert William Holley was an American biochemist. He shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1968 (with Har Gobind Khorana and Marshall Warren Nirenberg) for describing the structure of alanine transfer RNA, linking DNA and protein synthesis.
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29. Margaret Hamburg
1955-. (aged 71)
physician
health administrator
politician
Margaret Ann "Peggy" Hamburg is an American physician and public health administrator, who is serving as the chair of the board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and co-chair of the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP). She served as the 21st Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from May 2009 to April 2015.
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30. Dean Edell
1941-. (aged 85)
medical writer
radio personality
ophthalmologist
Dean Edell is an American physician and broadcaster who hosted the Dr. Dean Edell radio program, a syndicated radio talk show which aired live from 1979 until December 10, 2010. He was also nationally syndicated in television as a medical news reporter and host of his own television shows including NBC's Dr. Dean.
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31. Ida S. Scudder
1870-1960 (aged 90)
missionary
physician
Ida Sophia Scudder was a third-generation American medical missionary in India. She sought to improve the plight of Indian women by fighting against bubonic plague, cholera and leprosy. In 1918, she started a teaching hospital, the Christian Medical College & Hospital, in Vellore, India.
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32. Nan Hayworth
1959-. (aged 67)
physician
businessperson
ophthalmologist
politician
Nan Alison Hayworth is an American ophthalmologist and former congresswoman for New York's 19th congressional district. A Republican, she was elected in 2010.
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33. Robert H. Lustig
1957-. (aged 69)
physician
endocrinologist
university teacher
pediatrician
Robert H. Lustig is an American pediatric endocrinologist. He is professor emeritus of pediatrics in the division of endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where he specialized in neuroendocrinology and childhood obesity. He is also director of UCSF's WATCH program (Weight Assessment for Teen and Child Health), and president and co-founder of the non-profit Institute for Responsible...
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34. Ruth Westheimer
1928-2024 (aged 96)
sniper
university teacher
television actor
voice actor
sociologist
Karola Ruth Westheimer, better known as Dr. Ruth, was a German and American sex therapist and talk show host.
35. Mae Jemison
1956-. (aged 70)
children's writer
physicist
professor
engineer
actor
Mae Carol Jemison is an American engineer, physician, and former NASA astronaut. She became the first African-American woman to travel into space when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1992. Jemison joined NASA's astronaut corps in 1987 and was selected to serve for the STS-47 mission, during which the Endeavour orbited the Earth for...
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36. Avery August
1964-. (aged 62)
immunologist
Avery August is a Belizean-born American scientist who is currently a professor of immunology and vice provost at Cornell University.
37. William C. Menninger
1899-1966 (aged 67)
psychiatrist
William Claire Menninger was a co-founder with his brother Karl and his father of The Menninger Foundation in Topeka, Kansas, an internationally known center for treatment of behavioral disorders.
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38. Steve Pieczenik
1943-. (aged 83)
writer
psychiatrist
novelist
science fiction writer
Steve R. Pieczenik is a Cuban-American psychiatrist, author, publisher, and conspiracy theorist. In 1976, he was made Deputy Assistant Secretary of State under Henry Kissinger, Cyrus Vance and James Baker. He was later a consultant of the United States Department of State.
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39. Janet G. Travell
1901-1997 (aged 96)
cardiologist
physician
Janet Graham Travell was an American physician and medical researcher.
40. Anthony Fauci
1940-. (aged 86)
physician
researcher
immunologist
Anthony Stephen Fauci ForMemRS is an American physician-scientist and immunologist who served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) from 1984 to 2022, and the chief medical advisor to the president from 2021 to 2022. Fauci was one of the world's most frequently cited scientists across all scientific journals from 1983 to 2002. In...
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41. Philip Levine
1900-1987 (aged 87)
hematologist
scientist
pathologist
Philip Levine was an American poet best known for his poems about working-class Detroit. He taught for more than thirty years in the English department of California State University, Fresno and held teaching positions at other universities as well. He served on the Board of Chancellors of the Academy of American Poets from 2000 to 2006, and was appointed Poet...
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42. Elizabeth Nabel
cardiologist
scientist
Elizabeth Nabel is an American cardiologist and Executive Vice President of Strategy at ModeX Therapeutics and OPKO Health. Prior to this role, she served as President of Brigham Health and its Brigham and Women's Hospital, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Director of the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
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43. C. Everett Koop
1916-2013 (aged 97)
pediatric surgeon
physician
Charles Everett Koop was an American pediatric surgeon and public health administrator who served as the 13th surgeon general of the United States under President Ronald Reagan from 1982 to 1989. According to the Associated Press, "Koop was the only surgeon general to become a household name" due to his frequent public presence around the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s.
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44. Ellen S. Baker
1953-. (aged 73)
astronaut
physician
Ellen Louise Shulman Baker is an American physician and a former NASA astronaut. Baker is a veteran of three shuttle flights and logged more than 686 hours in space. Baker served as Chief of the Education/Medical Branch of the NASA Astronaut Office until her retirement in 2011 after more than 30 years of service to NASA.
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45. Bruce R. Korf
1944-. (aged 82)
physician
researcher
geneticist
Bruce Richard Korf is a medical geneticist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In April 2009, he began a two-year term as president of the American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG), a professional organization.
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46. Prabhjot Singh
1982-. (aged 44)
Prabhjot Singh is an American scientist, physician and healthcare researcher.
47. Peter J. Hotez
1958-. (aged 68)
writer
vaccinologist
university teacher
pediatrician
Peter Jay Hotez is an American scientist, pediatrician, and advocate in the fields of global health, vaccinology, and neglected tropical disease control. He serves as founding dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine, Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine, where he is also Director of the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine...
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48. Robert Jay Lifton
1926-2025 (aged 99)
writer
peace activist
psychiatrist
historian
university teacher
Robert Jay Lifton was an American psychiatrist and author, chiefly known for his studies of the psychological causes and effects of wars and political violence, and for his theory of thought reform. He was an early proponent of the techniques of psychohistory.
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49. Gerald Fischbach
1938-. (aged 88)
neuroscientist
Gerald D. Fischbach is an American neuroscientist. He received his M.D. from the Weill Cornell Medicine in 1965 before beginning his research career at the National Institutes of Health in 1966, where his research focused on the mechanisms of neuromuscular junctions. After his tenure at the National Institutes of Health, Fischbach was a professor at Harvard Medical School from 1972...
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50. Bettina Warburg
1900-1990 (aged 90)
psychiatrist
psychoanalyst
Bettina Warburg was a psychiatrist and a member of the Warburg family banking dynasty.