Dartmouth College - Alumni

Alumni

Dartmouth's alumni are known for their devotion to the College. Most start by giving to the Senior Class Gift. According to a 2008 article in The Wall Street Journal, Dartmouth graduates also earn higher median salaries at least 10 years after graduation than alumni of any other American university surveyed.

By 2008, Dartmouth had graduated 238 classes of students and has over 60,000 living alumni in a variety of fields.

Nelson A. Rockefeller, 41st Vice President of the United States and 49th Governor of New York, graduated cum laude from Dartmouth with a degree in economics in 1930. Over 164 Dartmouth graduates have served in the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives, such as Massachusetts statesman Daniel Webster. Cabinet members of American presidents include Attorney General Amos T. Akerman, Secretary of Defense James V. Forrestal, Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, former Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson, and the current Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner. C. Everett Koop was the Surgeon General of the United States under President Ronald Reagan. Two Dartmouth alumni have served as justices on the Supreme Court of the United States: Salmon P. Chase and Levi Woodbury. Eugene Norman Veasey (class of 1954) served as the Chief Justice of Delaware.

In literature and journalism, Dartmouth has produced nine Pulitzer Prize winners: Thomas M. Burton, Richard Eberhart, Robert Frost, Paul Gigot, Jake Hooker, Nigel Jaquiss, Martin J. Sherwin, David K. Shipler, and Joseph Rago.

Other authors and media personalities include ABC Senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper, novelist/screenwriter Budd Schulberg, political analyst Dinesh D'Souza, radio talk show host Laura Ingraham, commentator Mort Kondracke, and journalist James Panero. Norman Maclean, a former professor at the University of Chicago and author of A River Runs Through It and Other Stories, graduated from Dartmouth in 1924. Theodor Geisel, better known as children's author Dr. Seuss, was a member of the class of 1925.

In the area of religion and theology, Dartmouth alumni include priests and ministers Ebenezer Porter, Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs, Caleb Sprague Henry, Arthur Whipple Jenks, Solomon Spalding, and Joseph Tracy; and rabbis Marshall Meyer, Arnold Resnicoff, and David E. Stern. Hyrum Smith, brother of Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith also attended the college in his teens. He was Patriarch of the LDS Church.

Dartmouth alumni in academia include Stuart Kauffman and Jeffrey Weeks, both recipients of MacArthur Fellowships (commonly called "genius grants"). Dartmouth has also graduated three Nobel Prize winners: Owen Chamberlain (Physics, 1959), K. Barry Sharpless (Chemistry, 2001), and George Davis Snell (Physiology or Medicine, 1980). Educators include the current chancellor of the University of California, San Diego Marye Anne Fox (PhD. in Chemistry, 1974), founding president of Vassar College Milo Parker Jewett, founder and first president of Bates College Oren B. Cheney, founder and first president of Kenyon College Philander Chase, first professor of Wabash College Caleb Mills, and former president of Union College Charles Augustus Aiken. Nine of Dartmouth's 17 presidents were alumni of the College.

Dartmouth alumni serving as CEOs or company presidents include Charles Alfred Pillsbury, founder of Pillsbury Company and patriarch of Pillsbury family, Sandy Alderson (San Diego Padres), John Donahoe (eBay), Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. (IBM), Charles E. Haldeman (Putnam Investments), Donald J. Hall, Sr. (Hallmark Cards), Jeffrey R. Immelt (General Electric), Gail Koziara Boudreaux (United Health Care), Grant Tinker (NBC), and Brian Goldner (Hasbro).

In film, entertainment, and television, Dartmouth is represented by Budd Schulberg, Academy Award winning screenwriter of On the Waterfront, Michael Phillips, who won the Academy Award for best picture as co-producer of The Sting, Rachel Dratch, a cast member of Saturday Night Live, Shonda Rhimes creator of Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice and Scandal, film director and producer Jethro Rothe-Kushel ("The Oscars"), VP of Fox Searchlight, Zola Mashariki, Chris Meledandri Executive Producer of Ice Age, Horton Hears a Who!, and Despicable Me, and the titular character of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Fred Rogers. Other notable film and television figures include Sarah Wayne Callies (Prison Break), Mindy Kaling (The Office), Emmy Award winner Michael Moriarty, Andrew Shue of Melrose Place, Aisha Tyler of Friends and 24, Dan Rush the director of Everything Must Go and Connie Britton of Spin City, The West Wing and Friday Night Lights.

A number of Dartmouth alumni have found success in professional sports. In baseball, Dartmouth alumni include All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner Brad Ausmus and All-Star Mike Remlinger. Professional football players include former Miami Dolphins quarterback Jay Fiedler, linebacker Reggie Williams, three-time Pro Bowler Nick Lowery, quarterback Jeff Kemp, and Tennessee Titans tight end Casey Cramer. Dartmouth has also produced a number of Olympic competitors. Adam Nelson has won silver medals in the shotput in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2004 Athens Olympics to go along with his gold medal in the 2005 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki. Kristin King and Sarah Parsons were members of the United States' 2006 bronze medal-winning ice hockey team. Cherie Piper, Gillian Apps, and Katie Weatherston were among Canada's ice hockey gold medalists in 2006.

Dick Durrance and Tim Caldwell competed for the United States in skiing in the 1936 and 1976 Winter Olympics, respectively. Arthur Shaw, Earl Thompson, Edwin Myers, Marc Wright, Adam Nelson, Gerry Ashworth, and Vilhjálmur Einarsson have all won medals in track and field events. Former heavyweight rower Dominic Seiterle is a member of the Canadian national rowing team and won a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the men's 8+ event.