This is a list of notable Romanian-Americans, including both original immigrants from Romania who obtained American citizenship and their American descendants.
Academics Literary critics Matei Călinescu – professor at Indiana University Bloomington
Mathematicians Alexandra Bellow – mathematician, professor emeritus at Northwestern University Ana Caraiani – mathematician, member of the American Mathematical Society Ioana Dumitriu – mathematician, professor at the University of Washington Ciprian Foias – mathematician, distinguished professor at Texas A&M University Tudor Ganea – mathematician, known for his work in algebraic topology Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen – mathematician, statistician, and economist Matei Machedon – mathematician, professor at the University of Maryland Ciprian Manolescu – mathematician, professor at Stanford University Irina Mitrea – mathematician, professor at Temple University Mircea Mustață – mathematician, professor at the University of Michigan Florian Pop – mathematician, professor at the University of Pennsylvania Mihnea Popa – mathematician, professor at Northwestern University Sorin Popa – mathematician, professor at the University of California, Los Angeles Cristian Dumitru Popescu – mathematician, professor at the University of California, San Diego Ovidiu Savin – mathematician, professor at Columbia University Rodica Simion – mathematician, known for her work in combinatorics Ileana Streinu – mathematician, professor at Smith College Bogdan Suceavă – mathematician, professor at California State University Fullerton Dan-Virgil Voiculescu – mathematician, professor at the University of California, Berkeley Alexandru Zaharescu – mathematician, professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
Historians, sociologists and philosophers Eugene Borza – professor of history at Pennsylvania State University Ioan Petru Culianu – historian of religion Mircea Eliade – philosopher, writer, historian of religions Radu Florescu – emeritus professor of history at Boston College
Art Eugen Ciucă – sculptor Noche Crist – painter Christopher Georgesco – sculptor Cristian Gheorghiu – contemporary artist Ami James – tattoo artist De Hirsh Margules – painter (Romanian-Jewish descent) Alexandra Nechita – cubist painter
Architects Max Abramovitz – architect of Avery Fisher Hall, of Romanian-Jewish descent Haralamb H. Georgescu – architect
Business Micky Arison – chairman of Carnival Corporation and owner of NBA's Miami Heat Jeffrey Brotman – co-founder of Costco Wholesale Corporation (Romanian-Jewish descent) Safra Catz – CEO of Oracle Corporation Dan Dascalescu – entrepreneur, co-founder of Blueseed John DeLorean – engineer, founder of the DeLorean Motor CompanyMake it new John belfastexposed.org Peter Georgescu – chairman emeritus of Young & Rubicam Michael Horodniceanu – engineer and businessman, former president of MTA Capital Construction Stephanie Korey – co-founder and executive chairman of Away David Marcus – former president of PayPal, and current vice president of Messaging Products at Facebook Martin Bud Seretean – founder, and former CEO of Coronet Industries Anastasia Soare – CEO and founder of Anastasia Beverly Hills Christine Valmy – founded the first esthetician school in the United States
Entertainment Actors Sadie Alexandru – actress Lauren Bacall – actress (Romanian Jewish mother) Bob Balaban – actor (part Romanian-Jewish descent) Jillian Bell – actress and screenwriter Tim Conway – actor and comedian (Romanian mother) Melinda Culea – actress Illeana Douglas – actress Fran Drescher – actress and comedian (part Romanian-Jewish descent) Tim Dunigan – actor Jennifer Ehle – actress Lisa Ferraday – actress Ana Gasteyer – actress and comedian Joseph Gordon-Levitt – actor (part Romanian-Jewish descent) Oana Gregory – actress Dustin Hoffman – actor and filmmaker (part Romanian-Jewish descent) Harvey Keitel – actor and producer (Romanian Jewish mother) Tristan Leabu – actor Andrea Marcovicci – actress and singer Johnny Pacar – actor and singer David Pittu – actor Natalie Portman – Academy Award-winning actress (part Romanian-Jewish descent) Carl Reiner – comedian and actor (Romanian Jewish mother) Edward G. Robinson – actor (Romanian-Jewish descent) "In 1904, as a 10-year-old Romanian Jewish immigrant named Manny Goldenberg, he was debating whether to become a rabbi or a lawyer. Instead, to our good fortune as movie fans, he became Edward G. Robinson, the movie star." Sebastian Stan – actor Johnny Weissmuller – Olympic swimmer, water polo player and actor Ray Wise – actor (Romanian mother) Adrian Zmed – actor best known from the T.J. Hooker television series
Screenwriter, directors and producer of films and theatre Frieda Fishbein – literary and theatrical agent Stanley Kubrick – film director, screenwriter, producer and photographer; his father's parents and paternal grandparents were of Romanian Jewish descent Jean Negulesco – film director and screenwriter Petru Popescu – screenwriter from Hollywood and best-selling author Steve Sabol – film producer and one of the founders of NFL Films Andrei Șerban – director of theater and opera Erwin Stoff – film producer and founder of 3 Arts Entertainment
Singers and musicians Herb Alpert – lead singer, and horn player with Tijuana Brass (Romanian-Jewish descent) Lucian Ban – jazz piano player, composer Shelby Cinca – punk rock guitarist Sergiu Comissiona – conductor and musician Valery Gaina – guitarist, songwriter, composer Art Garfunkel – singer, poet, and actor (Romanian-Jewish descent) Angela Gheorghiu – soprano Alma Gluck – soprano Christina Grimmie – singer Harloe – singer Șerban Lupu – violinist Yolanda Marculescu – soprano Necro – rapper Margareta Paslaru – singer Irma Wolpe Rademacher – pianist Beverly Sills – soprano Yeat – rapper, singer, audio engineer (Romanian mother) Virginia Zeani – opera singer
Sports Fred Arbanas (1939–2021) – American football player Danny Barbir (born 1998) – soccer player Nadia Comăneci (born 1961) – Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics (defected to the US in 1989) Sam Cosmi (born 1999) – American football player Nick Denes (1906–1975) – American football and basketball coach Annaliese Dragan (born 2005) – rhythmic gymnast Eric Ghiaciuc (born 1981) – American football player John Ghindia (1925–2012) – American football player and coach Bill Goldberg (born 1966) – American football player and undefeated wrestler (Romanian-Jewish descent)Bill Goldberg, Steve Goldberg (2000) I'm Next: The Strange Journey of America's Most Unlikely Superhero, Crown Publishing Group, p. 160–161 Hroniss Grasu (born 1991) – American football player Hank Greenberg (1911–1986) – Baseball Hall of Famer (Romanian-Jewish descent) Lou Groza (1924–2000) – Pro Football Hall of Famer Ernie Grunfeld (born 1955) – basketball player and former general manager of the Washington Wizards Red Holzman (1920–1998) – NBA Hall of Fame coach and former player (Romanian Jewish mother) Sabrina Ionescu (born 1997) – basketball player for the New York Liberty; college honors at the University of Oregon include multiple national player of the year awards in 2019 and 2020 Andrei Iosivas (born 1999) – wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL) Fred Lebow (1932–1994) – founder of the New York City Marathon Dominique Moceanu (born 1981) – US Olympic gymnast Corina Morariu (born 1978) – former professional tennis player, reached the world No. 1 ranking in doubles in 2000 Gheorghe Mureșan (born 1971) – former NBA player; lives in USA Stephen Negoesco (1925–2019) – soccer coach Betty Okino (born 1975) – US Olympic gymnast Sam Paulescu (born 1984) – American football player Nick Roman (1947–2003) – American football player Dolph Schayes (1928–2015) – NBA Hall of Famer player and coach Bud Selig (born 1934) – commissioner of Major League Baseball Charley Stanceu (1916–1969) – baseball player Mark Suciu (born 1992) – professional skateboarder Otmar Szafnauer (born 1964) – Team Principal of the Alpine F1 Team Kevin Youkilis (born 1979) – Major League Baseball player; first baseman for the Boston Red Sox
Law Alexander Bickel – legal scholar and expert on the United States Constitution (Romanian-Jewish descent) David Sam – senior judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah Timothy Stanceu – chief United States judge of the United States Court of International Trade
Media/journalism Rukmini Callimachi – journalist, The New York Times Chip Caray – sports broadcaster for Fox Sports South Harry Caray – former baseball broadcaster Liz Claman – anchor of the Fox Business Network show Countdown to the Closing Bell Horace Dediu – technology journalist Steve Fainaru – investigative journalist and senior writer for ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine John Florea – photojournalist for Life magazine Lisa Kennedy – host of the Kennedy show on the Fox Business Network Dan Moldea – author and investigative journalist George Puscas – sports reporter for the Detroit Free Press Marc Stein – sports reporter for The New York Times (Romanian-Jewish descent) Brian Unger – journalist and commentator for NPR
Military Nicolae Dunca – captain in the 12th New York Infantry Regiment in the American Civil War Eugen Ghica-Comănești – captain in the 5th New York Volunteer Infantry in the American Civil War George Pomutz – brevet brigadier general, commanded the 15th Iowa Infantry Regiment in the American Civil War Alexander Vraciu – World War II Navy pilot; ace
Politics Steven Fulop – current mayor of Jersey City (Romanian-Jewish descent) Michael Gruitza – former Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Joseph Kissmann – former leader of the General Jewish Labour Bund in Romania, member of the Parliament of Romania Chris Lauzen – Illinois state senator of District 25 (1993–2013) Dan Negrea – United States Representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council and an Alternate Representative of the United States to the United Nations General Assembly appointed by Donald Trump Mihaela Plesa – Texas state representative from District 70 (2023–) John Rakolta – former U.S. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates appointed by Donald Trump Ben Toma – 55th speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives Adrian Zuckerman – former U.S. ambassador to Romania appointed by Donald Trump, first U.S. ambassador born in Romania
Religion John Michael Botean – Romanian Greek-Catholic bishop Nathaniel Popp – Romanian Orthodox archbishop Vasile Louis Puscas – Romanian Greek-Catholic bishop Alexander Ratiu – former Romanian Greek Catholic priest and authorWho's who in Romanian America: Serban C. Andronescu, Compiler; American Institute for Writing Research Corp., Editor; By Serban Andronescu, American Institute for Writing Research, American Institute for Writing Research, Published by Andronescu-Wyndill, 1976, 188 pages Valerian Trifa – former archbishop of Romanian Orthodox Church of America and Canada
Sciences Rodica Baranescu – mechanical engineer known for her research in automotive diesel engines Adrian Bejan – mechanical engineer, Benjamin Franklin Medal laureate"Adrian Bejan - The Franklin Institute". The Franklin Institute. Retrieved 11 December 2017. George de Bothezat – engineer, businessman, and pioneer of helicopter flight Mircea Dincă – chemist Diana Fosha – psychologist Viviana Gradinaru – neuroscientist Dan Graur – scientist Liviu Librescu – material scientist, and professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Virginia Tech Alexander Marmureanu – surgeon and academic Mihai Nadin – researcher in electrical engineering Horațiu Năstase – physicist and professor in the high energy physics group at Brown University Paul Negulescu – biologist George Emil Palade – Nobel Prize-winning biologist