The list of Hofstra University people includes notable graduates, professors, and administrators affiliated with Hofstra University.
Academia David B. Allison, class of 1987, Distinguished Professor, Quetelet Endowed Professor of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham Steven Feld, class of 1971, anthropologist and ethnomusicologist Lawrence C. Levy (born 1950), executive dean of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University, and journalist Jonathan D. Moreno, BA 1973, professor at the University of Pennsylvania; senior fellow at the Center for American Progress; author Sharon Oster, BA 1970, professor of Management and Entrepreneurship at Yale School of Management Tina Park, trustee, Los Angeles Community College District Victor Ricciardi B.B.A. 1991, professor of business and author Steve Salbu (BA), dean emeritus of the Scheller College of Business at the Georgia Institute of Technology (2006–2014) Morton O. Schapiro, president of Northwestern University Robert Swirsky, author, lecturer, and computer scientist
Business Chris Albrecht, former president and CEO of Starz, LLC; former chairman of HBO Avi Arad, B.B.A. 1972, CEO of Marvel Studios Diane Garnick, investment manager, author Neil Gillis, B.S. 1986, music publishing executive; founder of Round Hill Music and CollectivRights Management Gerald Guterman (attended), real estate investor and developer; chairman and CEO of Guterman Partners, LLC Charles Kushner, J.D. 1979, billionaire real estate developer; founder and co-owner of Kushner Properties Ralph S. Larsen, B.B.A. 1962, chief executive officer of Johnson & Johnson from 1989 to 2002 Bernie Madoff, B.S. 1960, Wall Street investor convicted of multiple felonies related to the largest Ponzi scheme in history Kathryn V. Marinello, M.B.A. 1983, chairman, CEO, and a director of the Company for Stream Global Services Shawn Matthews, M.B.A., CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. James C. Metzger, B.A. 1983, chairman and CEO of the Whitmore Group, Ltd. Tommy Mottola, former chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment; attended but did not graduate Scott Ross, B.S. 1974, founder, chairman, and CEO of Digital Domain, Inc. Steven C. Witkoff, B.A. 1980, J.D. 1983, Special Envoy to the Middle East for U.S. President Donald Trump; real estate investor and developer, founder of the Witkoff Group, attorney Frank G. Zarb, B.B.A.1957, MBA 1962, former chairman of NASD, Inc. and the Nasdaq Stock Market and chairman of insurer AIG
Government, law and politics Bruce Blakeman, Nassau County executive, former adjunct professor Joseph Borg, J.D., securities commissioner of Alabama Jon Bramnick, J.D., represents District 21 in the New Jersey General Assembly Anutin Charnvirakul, BEng 1989, prime minister of Thailand Norm Coleman, former U.S. senator (R-Minnesota) Taylor Darling, member of the New York State Assembly Thomas DiNapoli, 1976, former New York state assemblyman; current New York State Comptroller Timothy S. Driscoll, justice of Supreme Court of New York, Nassau County Lenora Fulani, first woman and first African-American to appear on the ballot for U.S. president in all 50 states Owen H. Johnson, BA 1956, honorary JD '98, New York state senator (R) Peter S. Kalikow, MTA chairman Norm Kent, BA 1971, attorney, publisher (South Florida Gay News), radio talk show host (Norm Kent Show), chair of the board of National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) Ron Kovic, activist, paraplegic, author of Born on the Fourth of July Norman F. Lent, former U.S. congressman, New York (R) David A. Levy, former U.S. congressman, New York (R) Ed Mangano, Republican, Nassau County, New York county executive Hun Many, deputy prime minister of Cambodia Joseph Margiotta, former Nassau County, Long Island Republican chairman Mary Matalin, political consultant for the Republican Party; advisor to President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney (attended but did not graduate) Richard McCormack, BA 1970, member of the Vermont Senate Thomas McKevitt, BS, JD, represents District 17 in the New York State Assembly, which includes large portions of Nassau County Joseph Mondello, BA 1962, chairman, Nassau County (NY) Republican Committee Robert O. Muller, JD 1974, co-founder of International Campaign to Ban Landmines, the Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1997 Callistus Ndlovu, Zimbabwean politician; taught history and politician science at Hofstra between 1969 and 1980 David Paterson, first African-American governor of New York; former minority leader of the New York State Senate Evy Poumpouras, former U.S. Secret Service special agent Kathleen Riebe, member of the Utah State Senate Howard Safir, former New York City Police commissioner; former head of the United States Marshals Service Vincent Sapienza, former commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection Peter J. Schmitt, county legislator of Nassau County, New York's 12th District Luis R. Sepulveda, member of the New York State Senate, former member of the New York State Assembly Richard Socarides, J.D., head of public affairs for Gerson Lehrman Group, former White House advisor Maryanne Trump Barry, U.S. Court of Appeals judge Thomas C. Wales, assassinated federal prosecutor
Film, theater, television, and radio Scott Aharoni, film producer and director; Bardo, Leylak, Psycho Therapy: The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write About a Serial Killer Avi Arad, film producer; founder of Marvel Studios; producer of the Spider-Man and X-Men films James Stacy Barbour, actor Brian Barry, SAG actor, X-Files, I Am Legend Lou Berger, 1972, head writer for children's television show Sesame Street; winner of 10 Emmys for outstanding writing James Caan (attended), actor, The Godfather Godfrey Cambridge (attended), actor, comedian, Watermelon Man Clifford Chapin, voice actor Margaret Colin, actress Alan Colmes, talk radio host, former co-host of Fox News Channel's Hannity & Colmes Ryan Colucci, film producer, director and writer; Battle for Terra, Suburban Cowboy, With You, Orient City: Ronin & The Princess Francis Ford Coppola, Academy Award-winning director, producer and writer of classics including The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Apocalypse Now, Patton, The Outsiders, American Graffiti Peter Dante, played lacrosse at Hofstra; actor; The Waterboy, Big Daddy, Grandma's Boy Robert Davi, actor; Licence to Kill, Die Hard, The Goonies, Wiseguy John DeBella, disc jockey, WMGK Philadelphia Elizabeth Dennehy, actress Rosemarie DeWitt, actress; granddaughter of James Braddock Meredith Eaton-Gilden, actress and psychologist Steven Epstein, Sony Classical music producer Joe Frank, radio monologuist and playwright Peter Friedman, actor Lisa Glasberg, "Lisa G", radio and TV personality, The Howard Stern Show Adam Green, filmmaker, writer, director; Hatchet, Spiral, and Frozen Ellie Greenwich, songwriter, "Leader of the Pack", "Be My Baby", "Chapel of Love" Steven Haft, film producer and later senior executive at AOL and Time Inc Rashad Haughton, writer, film director, actor, screenwriter; brother of singer, actress and model Aaliyah Monica Horan, actress, Everybody Loves Raymond Dan Ingram, disc jockey, WCBS-FM, New York Anthony Ingrassia, playwright, producer and director Madeline Kahn, Tony Award winner for Best Actress, The Sisters Rosensweig; twice nominated for an Academy Award; Paper Moon, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety Lainie Kazan, actress, starred in My Big Fat Greek Wedding Francis Kenny, cinematographer, 2012 ASC Presidents Award Norm Kent, BA 1971, attorney, publisher, radio talk show host, WFTL Donnie Klang, solo artist, Making the Band 4 Dennis Latos, film producer director and writer; Bardo, The Untimely Gift, Leylak Frederic Lebow, screenwriter, While You Were Sleeping George Loros, actor Charles Ludlam, playwright Tom McGowan, actor Joe Morton, actor, Terminator 2, American Gangster Katie Nolan, sports personality and television host Lisa Ortiz, voice actress, The Slayers, Pokémon, Sonic X Corey Rae, actress, model, writer, and activist Andrew Rea, YouTuber and filmmaker, Binging with Babish Anwar Robinson, American Idol Top 10 finalist Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson, NBA columnist, host on MSG Networks, CBS Sports Radio Robbie Rosen, B.S. 2016, American Idol contestant and EDM vocalist Philip Rosenthal, creator, producer and writer, Everybody Loves Raymond Scott Ross, producer; executive; founder of Digital Domain; General Manager of Industrial Light and Magic Susan H. Schulman, theater director Leslie Segrete, designer on TLC's While You Were Out and Trading Spaces Mike Starr, screen and stage actor; Goodfellas, Dumb and Dumber, Summer of Sam, The Natural, The Bodyguard, The Black Dahlia Joey Styles, play-by-play announcer for Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment Susan Sullivan, actress Steven Tsapelas, writer and filmmaker Eliot Wald, B.A. 1967, television and film writer Mickey Waldman, received her Juris Doctor in 1981; WBAI radio host and producer Christopher Walken, attended as a dance student but did not graduate; Academy Award-winning actor Jay Wallace, president of Fox News
Art, literature, and print media Emily Austin, social media influencer, sports journalist Jean Butler, dancer and choreographer August Darnell, aka Kid Creole, co-founder of Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band, and later, Kid Creole and the Coconuts Gene Demby, journalist, reporter at NPR and host of the Code Switch podcast Nelson DeMille, authorStrickland, Carol. "Novelist Uses The Island's Gold Coast As A Setting For A Clash of Cultures", The New York Times, April 8, 1990. Accessed December 13, 2007. "Mr. De Mille was born in Jamaica, Queens, and educated at Elmont High School and Hofstra University, and so he knows the area well, although he calls himself a member in good standing of the middle class." Stephen Dunn, Pulitzer Prize for poetry, 2001; former varsity basketball player Marilyn French, feminist, author of The Women's Room Pamela Geller, blogger, author, political activist, and commentator Patricia Reilly Giff, children's literature author, teacher Brenda Janowitz, writer and attorney Charlie Kadau, senior editor, Mad Magazine Madeline Kahn, Broadway Tony Award winner; appeared in television shows and movies including Blazing Saddles and High Anxiety Larry Keigwin, dancer and choreographer; choreographed Broadway's If/Then Donald S. Kellermann, journalist and opinion researcherMartin, Douglas. "Donald S. Kellermann, Who Led Public Research Group, Dies at 83", The New York Times, November 14, 2010. Accessed November 15, 2010. Olivia, R&B singer Robert Phillips, classical guitarist Bob Rozakis, writer, editor, director of production at DC Comics Laurie Rozakis, writer of the Complete Idiots books Michelle Sakhai, painter Ron Shandler, national baseball analyst, writer George Vecsey, sportswriter for The New York Times
Military Charles W. Dryden, lieutenant colonel and member of Tuskegee Airmen in World War II; Congressional Gold Medal recipient
Technology Jeff Pulver, internet entrepreneur Lance Ulanoff, former editor-in-chief of PCMag
Other Michael Franzese (attended), former Mafia Captain in the Colombo crime family Kira Kazantsev, Miss America 2015; majored in political science, global studies and geography
Sports Baseball Randy Levine, Hofstra Law School, 1980; senior counsel at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld, LLP; president of the New York Yankees Jen Pawol, baseball umpire; previously an All-American softball player for the Hofstra Pride softball team Ken Singleton, former New York Mets, Montreal Expos, and Baltimore Orioles player; current YES Network commentator (did not graduate) Don Taussig (born 1932), Major League Baseball player
Basketball
Kenny Adeleke (born 1983), Nigerian basketball player