The following is a list of individuals associated with Mount Holyoke College through attending as a student, or serving as a member of the faculty or staff.
Notable alumnae
Academics and scientists Clara Harrison Stranahan, 1849 – author; founder and trustee of Barnard College Harriet Newell Haskell, 1855 – educator and administrator Lucy Myers Wright Mitchell, 1864 – one of the first female classical archaeologists Cornelia Clapp, 1871 – zoologist and marine biologist Mary Cutler Fairchild, 1875 – pioneering librarian Alice Carter Cook, circa 1888 – botanist and later faculty, first female recipient of an American botany PhD Marian E. Hubbard, 1889 – zoology professor Alice Huntington Bushee, 1891 – Spanish literature professor at Wellesley College Martha Warren Beckwith, 1893 – anthropologist Abby Howe Turner, 1896 – founded Mount Holyoke's department of physiology Caroline Ransom Williams, 1896 – first female Egyptologist in North America Margaret Morse Nice, 1905 – ornithologist Alzada Comstock, 1910 – economics professor Mildred Sanderson, 1910 – mathematician Louise Freeland Jenkins, 1911 – astronomer Marion Elizabeth Blake, 1913 – classics professor Hazel E. Munsell, 1914 – chemist and researcher Helen G. Fisk, 1917 – vocational services educator Rachel Fuller Brown, 1920 – chemist who discovered Nystatin Mildred Trotter, 1920 – forensic anthropologist Elizabeth K. Worley, 1924 – zoologist, microbiologist Lucy Weston Pickett, 1925 – chemist Helen Sawyer Hogg, 1926 – astronomer Alice Standish Allen, 1929 – first female engineering geologist in North America Janet Wilder Dakin, 1933 – zoologist who was the youngest sister of Thornton Wilder and Charlotte Wilder Sara Anderson Immerwahr, 1935 – classical archaeologist Phoebe Stanton, 1937 – architectural historian, professor at Johns Hopkins University, and active in urban planning for the city of Baltimore. Virginia Griffing, 1940, physicist and chemist, first woman on the faculty of Catholic University of America's physics departmentVirginia F. Griffing. Physics Today 1 January 1964; 17 (1): 126. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3051343 Carolyn Shaw Bell, 1941 – economics professor Marie Mercury Roth, 1945 – synthetic organic chemist H. Catherine W. Skinner, 1952 – geologist and mineralogist Eva Moseley, 1953 – curator and archivist Mary McHenry, 1954 – professor of English credited with introducing African American literature to Mount Holyoke Margaret A. Dix, 1964 – British-Guatemalan botanist and taxonomist specializing in orchids Jane English, 1964 – physicist, translator, photographer Dolores Hayden, 1966 – professor of architecture, urbanism, and American studies Phyllis Young, 1966 – professor of Classical Studies Carolyn Collette, 1967 – professor of English Karen E. Rowe, 1967 – English professor at UCLA Susan Shirk, 1967 – professor of political science and former deputy assistant secretary of state for North Asia during the Clinton administration Lila M. Gierasch, 1970 – professor of chemistry, biochemistry and molecular biology Melissa McGrath, 1977 – astronomer; Chief Scientist at NASA Marshall Spaceflight Center Catherine Colello Walker, 2007 – planetary scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
Activists Lucy Stone (attended 1839) – women's rights activist Olympia Brown (attended 1854–55) – women's rights activist Helen Pitts, 1859 – women's rights activist, second wife of Frederick Douglass, and founder of the Frederick Douglass Memorial and Historical Association Eliza Read Sunderland (graduated 1865) – writer, educator, lecturer, women's rights advocate Hortense Parker, 1883 – daughter of African American abolitionist, John Parker and the first African American student to graduate from Mount Holyoke College Alice Bradford Wiles, 1873 – Chicago clubwoman Elizabeth Holloway Marston, 1915 – the inspiration for Wonder Woman Ruth Muskrat Bronson, 1925 – poet, educator, Indian rights activist Sybil Bailey Stockdale, 1946 – founded the National League of Families of American Prisoners and MIAs in S.E. Asia; Lecturer; widow of '92 U.S. vice-presidential nominee, Adm. James Stockdale Nancy Skinner Nordhoff, 1954 – environmentalist and philanthropist; designated a Women's History Month Honoree by the National Women's History Project in 2006 Gloria Johnson-Powell (Gloria Johnson), 1958 – child psychiatrist; important figure in the Civil Rights Movement and first African-American woman to attain tenure at Harvard Medical School Rose Dugdale – political activist and prominent member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) Jody Cohen, 1976 – first female rabbi in Connecticut history; leader in the Women's Rabbinic Network and Union for Reform Judaism Lynn Pasquerella, 1980 – medical ethicist; president, Mount Holyoke College; president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities Louise C. Purington, 1864 – physician and temperance activist Mallika Dutt, 1983 – executive director of Breakthrough, an international human rights organization Kavita Ramdas, 1985 – president and CEO, Global Fund for Women Marcia Hofmann, 2000 – digital rights attorney and activist Mei Lum, 2012 – Chinese-American artist, activist, and entrepreneur
Actors, musicians, dancers and performers Elizabeth Eaton Converse – later known as Connie Converse, 1946 – singer and songwriter Caitlin Clarke (Katherine Clarke), 1974 – actress Michelle Hurst, 1974 – actress, known for her role as Miss Claudette on the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black Nancy Gustafson, 1978 – opera singer Melinda Mullins, 1979 – actress Donna Kane, 1984 – actress Geneva Carr, 1988 – actress, Tony Award nominee, main cast member in CBS television series Bull Kimberly Hebert Gregory, 1994 – actress Zeb Bangash, 2004 – part of Pakistani music duo Zeb and Haniya Zoe Weizenbaum, 2014 – actress, known for her roles in Memoirs of a Geisha and 12 and Holding Sho Madjozi, 2015 – South African rapper Chmba, 2017 – Malawian DJ and social entrepreneur
Artists Esther Howland, 1847 – artist noted for her role in popularizing St. Valentine's Day cards Minerva J. Chapman, 1880 – painter Sarah A. Worden 1883–1891 – painter, art instructor Jane Hammond, 1972 – artist Susan Mohl Powers, 1966 – sculptor, painter Susan Jane Walp, 1970 – painter Maia Cruz Palileo, 2001 – artist Zehra Laila Javeri (year unknown) – artist
Athletes Stacy Apfelbaum – rowing cox; gold medal winner at the 1984 World Rowing Championships Margaret Hoffman, 1934 – swimmer who participated in both the 1928 Summer Olympics and 1932 Summer Olympics (200 m breaststroke) Imogene Opton Fish, 1955 – alpine skier who was captain of the U.S. women's 1952 Winter Olympics ski team Michele Drolet, 1976 – blind cross-country skier who was the first American woman to ever earn a Paralympic cross-country skiing medal – bronze at the 1994 Winter Paralympics Harriet (Holly) Metcalf, 1981 – executive director and founder of Row As One Institute who won a gold medal in rowing at the 1984 Summer Olympics Mary Mazzio, 1983 – filmmaker and Olympic athlete who participated in rowing at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olga Maria Sacasa, 1984 – cyclist; first woman to represent Nicaragua in cycling, at the 1992 Summer Olympics Katheryn Curi, 1996 – cyclist who placed first at the National Road Race Championships in Park City, Utah in June 2005
Businesswomen Elaine Greene – literary agent and founder of Elaine Greene Agency, later Greene & Heaton Maria J. Forbes (1853) – manager, Lunalilo Home Jean Picker Firstenberg, 1958 – director and CEO of the American Film Institute Mary Duffy, 1966 – feminist fashion expert, spokeswoman, entrepreneur, author, and motivational speaker, expanding concepts of beauty for the majority of women who do not fit ideal stereotypes popularized by fashion and media Big Beauties/Little Women, Ford Models Barbara J. Desoer, 1974 – CEO for Citibank N.A.; member of its board of directors Eileen Kraus, 1960 – trailblazing female banker and president of Connecticut National Bank Vicki Roberts, 1980 – attorney, on-air legal commentator, television and film personality Barbara Cassani, 1982 – first leader of London's successful bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics Sara Menker, 1982 – CEO, businesswoman, and food sustainability advocate Sheila Lirio Marcelo, 1993 – founder and CEO of Care.com
College presidents Susan Tolman Mills, 1845 – co-founder and first president of Mills College Ada Howard, 1853 – first president of Wellesley College Abbie Park Ferguson, 1856 – founder and president of Huguenot College Sarah Ann Dickey, 1869 – founder of Mount Hermon Female Seminary Florence M. Read, 1909 – former president, Spelman College Yau Tsit Law, 1916 – dean of women, Lingnan University Pauline Tompkins, 1941 – former president, Cedar Crest College Barbara M. White, 1941 – former president, Mills College Alice Stone Ilchman 1957 – former president, Sarah Lawrence College Elizabeth Topham Kennan, 1960 – former president, Mount Holyoke College Carol Geary Schneider, 1967 – president, Association of American Colleges and Universities Nancy J. Vickers, 1967 – president, Bryn Mawr College Elaine Tuttle Hansen, 1969 – president, Bates College Lynn Pasquerella, 1980 – president, Mount Holyoke College Vivian Blanche Small 1896, BA; 1912, Litt.D. – president, Lake Erie College Leocadia I. Zak, 2018 – president, Agnes Scott College Patricia Draves, 2024 – president, Monmouth College
Computer scientists and graphic designers Jean E. Sammet, 1948 – computer scientist who developed the FORMAC programming language Susan Kare, 1975 – original designer of many of the interface elements for the original Apple Macintosh.
Doctors, nurses and psychologists Nancy M. Hill, 1859 – Civil War nurse and one of the first female doctors in the U.S. Seraph Frissell, 1869 – physician, medical writer Mary Phylinda Dole, 1886, 1889 – became a doctor at a time when it was difficult for women to do so Dorothy Hansine Andersen, 1922 – doctor involved in cystic fibrosis research (first to identify the disease) Virginia Apgar, 1929 – doctor who developed the Apgar score for evaluating newborns; anesthesiologist Florence Wald 1938 – nurse, leader of the U.S. hospice movement Ellen P. Reese, 1948 – psychologist Abby Howe Turner – professor of physiology and zoology who founded the department of physiology at Mount Holyoke Gloria Johnson-Powell (Gloria Johnson), 1958 – child psychiatrist; an important figure in the Civil Rights Movement and the first African American woman to attain tenure at Harvard Medical School
Filmmakers, broadcast presidents, and producers
Martha Atwell (attended, 1918–1919) – radio directorHowes, Durward, ed. (1937). American Women : The Official Who's Who Among the Women of the Nation, Vol. II (1937–38). Los Angeles, CA: American Publications, Inc. p. 26. 435906904."Personal Notes". Holyoke Transcript-Telegram. June 24, 1922. p. 7. Retrieved June 3, 2023. Dulcy Singer, 1955 – former Emmy Award-winning producer of Sesame Street Julia Phillips (Julia Miller), 1965 – Hollywood producer and author Debra Martin Chase, 1977 – Hollywood producer Mary Mazzio, 1983 – filmmaker and Olympic athlete who participated in rowing at the 1992 Summer Olympics Sonali Gulati, 1996 – filmmaker and director of the film Nalini by Day, Nancy by Night Chloé Zhao, 2005 – Academy Award winner, director/filmmaker
Journalists Janet Huntington Brewster, 1933 – philanthropist, writer, and radio broadcaster; wife of Edward R. Murrow Beth Karas, 1979 – senior reporter, CourtTV Dari Alexander, 1991 – co-anchor of WNYW's weeknight 6 p.m. newscast, and previously a reporter and part-time anchor for the Fox News Channel
Judges Maryanne Trump Barry, 1958 – judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit; older sister of 45th president of the United States Donald Trump