This is a list of notable alumni of Connecticut College.
Literature and poetry
Michael Collier ('76): Poet Laureate of Maryland, 2001–2004; Director of The Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, Middlebury College Dobby Gibson ('93): poet Aracelis Girmay ('99): poet Cecelia Holland ('65): novelist Gayl Jones ('72): novelist, poet, playwright William Lychack ('88): novelist Luanne Rice ('77): novelist
Authors and writers Sloane Crosley ('00): best-selling author; essayist; publicist with Vintage Books David Grann ('89): journalist and best-selling and staff writer at The New Yorker Joshua Green ('94): senior national correspondent at Bloomberg Businessweek and a weekly columnist for the Boston Globe Jazmine Hughes ('12): writer and editor; currently a story editor at The New York Times Magazine Nan Kempner ('52): socialite, contributing editor of Vogue Elizabeth Peer ('57): journalist; first female foreign bureau chief at Newsweek A. B. Stoddard ('89): journalist, political commentator, associate editor of The Hill
Academia Edward Burger ('85): professor of mathematics, Williams College Deborah Carr ('88): distinguished professor of sociology, Boston University, member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences Martha Chen: lecturer in public policy, Harvard Kennedy School Cynthia Enloe ('60): research professor of international relations and women's studies, Clark University Haden Guest ('93): director of the Harvard Film Archive, and lecturer at Harvard University David Haussler ('75): professor at University of California, Santa Cruz, member of National Academy of Sciences and American Academy of Arts and Sciences Roxanne Johnson: chemist working at United States Environmental Protection Agency Mark Samuels Lasner: Senior Research Fellow at the University of Delaware Shelley Taylor ('68): social psychologist, pioneer in health psychology, winner of Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from APA Ellen Vitetta ('64): director, Cancer Immunobiology Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center National Acad. Sciences; Institute of Medicine; American Acad. Arts and Sciences
Design, art, and art history Agnes Gund: philanthropist, art patron and collector, advocate for arts education Christine Y. Kim: associate curator of contemporary art at Los Angeles County Museum of Art; former associate curator at the Studio Museum in Harlem Peter Som ('93): fashion designer, winner of the 2002 Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation prize Marcia Tucker: first female curator of the Whitney Museum; founding director of the New Museum of Contemporary Art
Television and radio H. Jon Benjamin ('88): actor, comedian and writer best known for his voice-over roles Molly Cheek ('73): It's Garry Shandling's Show Lee Eisenberg ('99): writer and producer for The Office and the film Year One Chris Gifford ('81): co-creator of the Peabody Award-winning children's series Dora the Explorer Scott Lowell: actor, Queer as Folk Leland Orser ('82): actor Christof Putzel ('01): award-winning journalist and correspondent for Al Jazeera America Joan Rivers: actress, comedian; attended CC briefly, then transferred to Barnard College Susan Saint James: actress, Kate & Allie; attended CC, did not graduate Sam Seder: writer, actor, political commentator, radio host on Air America Alec Sulkin ('95): writer and executive producer on Family Guy, The Orville and the 85th Academy Awards Wellesley Wild ('94): writer and executive producer on Family Guy, The Orville and the 85th Academy Awards
Film, theater and dance Chrystelle Trump Bond: dancer, choreographer, author, and dance historian Ted Chapin ('72): president and executive director, Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization Charles Chun ('90): actor; has appeared in Criminal Minds, Scrubs, Everybody Loves Raymond, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide and How I Met Your Mother David Dorfman (MFA '81): Professor of Dance, chair of Dance Department, choreographer of modern dance Sean Fine ('96): winner of Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) for Inocente; director of Academy Award-nominated feature documentary War/Dance Jeffrey Finn ('92): Broadway producer, nominated for 2005 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play for On Golden Pond Matthew Gentile ('12): film director and screenwriter, American Murderer Judy Irving ('68): Emmy Award and Sundance-winning filmmaker Raja Feather Kelly ('09): dancer and choreographer and serves as the artistic director of the New Brooklyn Theatre Leland Orser ('82): actor and director known for Taken, Taken 2 and Se7en Estelle Parsons ('49): stage, film, and television actor; winner of 1967 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Bonnie and Clyde Kevin Wade ('76): screenwriter, Working Girl, Meet Joe Black
National Theater Institute alumni (accredited by Connecticut College) Greg Allen Emily Bergl Adam Bock (The Receptionist) Gordon Clapp (NYPD Blue) Jack Coleman (Heroes) Rachel Dratch (SNL) Chris Elliott (SNL) Paul Hodes Kristina Klebe John Krasinski (The Office) Jeremy Piven (Grosse Point Blank, PCU) Michael Portnoy Sam Robards Kate Robin (Six Feet Under) Mark Teschner
Music Sean Greenhalgh ('01): member of indie rock band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Robbie Guertin ('02): member of indie rock band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Vance Gilbert ('79): singer-songwriter, folk musician Chris Harford: singer, songwriter Alec Ounsworth ('00): member of indie rock band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Lee Sargent ('00): member of indie rock band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Tyler Sargent ('00): member of indie rock band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Henrik Takkenberg ('90): musician, songwriter, producer
Government, law and public policy Debo Adegbile ('91): lawyer in private practice who also serves as a Commissioner for the United States Civil Rights Commission Esther Batchelder (1919): nutritionist, home economist, head of Food and Nutrition division of the US Department of Agriculture Helen Lehman Buttenwieser ('27): lawyer, member of Lehman family Nina F. Elgo ('84): judge of the Connecticut Appellate Court Marie L. Garibaldi ('56): associate justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey Catherine Gregg: philanthropist and First Lady of New Hampshire (1953–1955) Mary Ann Handley: Connecticut state senator Dorcas Hardy ('68): commissioner of the Social Security Administration Joanne Head: New Hampshire state representative Bruce Hoffman ('76): corporate chair in Counterterrorism and Counterinsurgency, director of the RAND Corporation's Washington Office, professor at Georgetown University Jay Hooper ('16): Vermont State Representative Joan R. Kemler ('47): first woman to serve as Connecticut State Treasurer (1986–87) Suzi Oppenheimer ('56): New York state senator Erik Raven ('96), United States Under Secretary of the Navy Sean Spicer ('93): 30th White House Press Secretary Jay Stamper ('95): Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate from South Carolina Susan Thomases ('65): attorney, presidential adviser Patricia McGowan Wald ('48): U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia judge; member of International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia; member of the Iraq Intelligence Commission Kimba Wood ('66): federal judge, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
Business Tim Armstrong ('93): CEO of America Online (AOL); former Google Inc. vice president, Advertising Sales Ethan Brown (?): CEO of Beyond Meat Alice Rogoff: former wife of David Rubenstein
Athletics Anita DeFrantz ('74): former vice president of the International Olympic Committee, member of bronze medal U.S. women's eight-oared shell, 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics Jim Gabarra ('82): Olympic soccer player Jeff Idelson ('86): former director of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum AJ Marcucci ('21): professional soccer player for New York Red Bulls Jan Merrill ('79): Olympic long-distance runner Rand Pecknold ('90): current head coach of the Quinnipiac University Men's Ice Hockey team Tim Young ('92): Olympic silver medalist in quadruple sculling Maggie Shea ('11): Olympic sailor
Other notable people associated with Connecticut College Blanche Boyd: Professor of English and Writing Pauline Hamilton Dederer: Professor of Biology Edward Harkness: Conn College benefactor, Standard Oil heir and advocate of the Harkness Table method Barkley Hendricks: Professor of Art Carl Kimmons ('73): US Navy officer; first person to rise through the Navy's ranks from mess attendant to commissioned officer Lillian Rosanoff Lieber: mathematician and author William Meredith: winner of the Pulitzer Prize for poetry, and Professor of English at the college, 1955–1983 William Wuyke: former Venezuelan Olympian; strength and conditioning coach
Presidents
Frederick Henry Sykes: president, 1913–1917 Benjamin T. Marshall: president, 1917–1928 Katherine Blunt: president, 1929–1943, 1945–1946 Dorothy Schafer: president, 1943–1945 Rosemary Park: president, 1947–1962 Charles E. Shain: president, 1962–1974 Oakes Ames: president, 1974–1988 Claire L. Gaudiani: president, 1988–2001 David K. Lewis: interim president, 2001 Norman Fainstein: president, 2001–2006 Leo Higdon: president, 2006–2013 Katherine Bergeron: president, 2014–2023 Leslie Wong: interim president, 2023–2024 Andrea Chapdelaine: president, 2024–present
References
External links Notable alumni, Connecticut College