List of Hobart and William Smith Colleges alumni

Hobart and William Smith Colleges are private liberal arts colleges in Geneva, New York. Hobart was known as Geneva Academy from 1784 to 1822 and Geneva College from 1822 to 1852. Geneva Medical College was a department of the college from 1834 to 1871. Following are some of their notable alumni and alumnae.

Academia

Willis Adcock (1944), professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Texas at Austin^[1]
Willard Myron Allen, MD (1926), professor and chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Washington University School of Medicine
John D'Agata (1995), M.F. Carpenter Professor of English at the University of Iowa^[2]
William Watts Folwell (1857), first president of the University of Minnesota^[3]
John P. Grotzinger (1979), Fletcher Jones Professor of Geology at California Institute of Technology and chair of the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences^[4]
Moses Gunn, MD (1846), original faculty member and holder of the first chair of surgery at the University of Michigan Medical School.^[5] The Moses Gunn Research Conference is named in his honor.
Michael Ann Holly (1973), Starr Director of the Research and Academic Program at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute and Professor of Art History at the University of Rochester
Stephen Kuusisto (1978), University Professor of Disability Studies at Syracuse University^[6]
William Latimer (1985), president of Chestnut Hill College^[7]
Elizabeth J. Perry (1969), Henry Rosovsky Professor of Government at Harvard University, director of the Harvard-Yenching Institute, fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a corresponding fellow of the British Academy, and recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship
Edward Regan (1950), president of Baruch College from 2000 to 2004
David M. Robinson (1988), Robert H.N. Ho Professor in Asian Studies at Colgate University
Priscilla Schaffer (1964), Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at Harvard Medical School and the University of Pennsylvania Medical School^[8]
Theodore Sterling, MD (1848), Eleventh President of Kenyon College^[9]
Gregory J. Vincent (1983), president of Talladega College and former president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Ralph Wyckoff (1916), professor of Microbiology and Physics at the University of Arizona

Art

Janet Braun-Reinitz (1973), muralist
Arthur Dove, early American modernist often considered the first American abstract painter
Jonas Wood (1999), contemporary artist

Business

Abigail Johnson (1984), CEO and President of Fidelity Investments
Reynold Levy (1966), former president of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and former the Robin Hood Foundation
Warren Littlefield (1974), head of programming for Sony Pictures Television and the former president of NBC Entertainment
Dan Rosensweig (1983), business executive; president, and chief executive officer of Chegg.
William "Bill" Scandling (1949), founder of Saga Corporation (sold to Marriott Corporation in 1986).
Dana Telsey (1984), CEO, Telsey Advisory Group

Entertainment

Eric Bloom (1967), singer, songwriter, guitarist, and keyboardist, most recently of Blue Öyster Cult
Christian Camargo (Minnick) (1992), actor, various movies and series, including Dexter, Fast, Inc., All My Sons (Broadway)
Brad Falchuk (1993), television writer, director, and producer best known for American Horror Story and Glee
Alan Kalter (1964), actor, announcer of the Late Show with David Letterman
Christopher McDonald (1977), movie, television, and stage actor (Happy Gilmore, Requiem for a Dream, The Perfect Storm, Quiz Show)
Greg Mullavey (1955), actor (Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, The Rockford Files, Hawaii Five-O, iCarly)
Mark Neveldine (1995), screenwriter and director of films such as Gamer and Crank
Leslie Peirez (1992), television producer
John Trivers (1969), songwriter and bassist with Blue Öyster Cult
Brock Yates (1955), screenwriter of the film The Cannonball Run

Law

Jeffrey Amestoy (1968), Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court and Vermont Attorney General. As Chief Justice, authored the opinion in Baker v. Vermont, 744 A.2d 864 (Vt. 1999), which held that the state's denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples violated the Vermont Constitution.
Harold Baer Jr. (1954), Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Richard Brown (1953), Associate Justice of the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division and longest-serving District Attorney in New York City
Charles J. Folger (1836), Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals
Ward Hunt, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Herbert J. Stern (1958), Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and United States Attorney who prosecuted Malcolm X killers
John Paul Wiese (1962), Judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims
George Washington Woodward, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

Literature and journalism

Byron Andrews (1876), journalist for Chicago Inter Ocean and National Tribune, owner of the National Tribune newspaper and publishing company, and private secretary to President Ulysses S. Grant; received an honorary degree at Hobart in 1900
Melissa Bank (1982), author of The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing
Michael Burkard (1968), poet, recipient of the Whiting Award and the Jerome Shestack Poetry Award
John D'Agata (1995), essayist, author of The Lifespan of a Fact
Cynthia DeFelice (1973), author
Thomas Christopher Greene (1993), author
Evelyn Tooley Hunt (1926), originator of the American style of Haiku; her poem inspired the book The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Holman W. Jenkins Jr (1982), The Wall Street Journal editorial board member and policy commentator
Uzma Aslam Khan (1991), author
Jessica Knoll (2006), novelist, author of best-seller Luckiest Girl Alive
Stephen Kuusisto (1978), poet
Eric Lax (1966), author, biographer of Woody Allen and Humphrey Bogart
Taylor Lorenz (2007), journalist and columnist for The Washington Post
Hunter "Rip" Rawlings IV (1994), New York Times bestselling author of Red Metal
Milissa Rehberger (1993), news reporter for MSNBC
Laura Sydell (1983), digital culture correspondent for NPR
Ben J. Wattenberg (1955), host of the PBS program Think Tank
Bill Whitaker (1973), Emmy-winning CBS News correspondent for the CBS Evening News and 60 Minutes^[10]
Dorothy Wickenden (1976), executive editor of The New Yorker^[11]
Brock Yates (1955), editor-in-chief of Car and Driver magazine
Mark Zusman (1976), editor-in-chief of Willamette Week

Military

Edward Stuyvesant Bragg (1848), brigadier general of the Union Army
DeWitt Clinton Littlejohn, brigadier general of the Union Army
Frederick S. Lovell (1835), brigadier general of the Union Army
Robert Mitchell, MD (1845), surgeon of the 10th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment and the 27th Wisconsin Volunteers at the Battle of Perryville, the Battle of Stones River, and the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry
Albert J. Myer, MD (1847), father of the U.S. Army Signal Corps and a founding member of the International Meteorological Organization

Politics

Edward Stuyvesant Bragg (1848), United States Representative from Wisconsin
James Rood Doolittle (1834), United States Senator from Wisconsin
Peter Myndert Dox (1833); United States Representative from Alabama, 1869–1873
Charles J. Folger (1836), United States Secretary of the Treasury
Rodney Frelinghuysen (1969), United States Representative for New Jersey
Henry R. Gibson (1862), United States Representative for Tennessee's 2nd congressional district
Richard R. Kenney (1878), United States Senator from Delaware
Joseph M. Kyrillos (1982), New Jersey state senator
DeWitt Clinton Littlejohn, United States Representative from New York
Frederick S. Lovell (1835), 11th Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly
Alan Lowenthal (1962), United States Representative for California's 47th congressional district
Wanjira Mathai (1994), Managing Director for Africa and Global Partnerships at the World Resources Institute, named one of the TIME 100 Most Influential People in the World (2023)
Truman A. Merriman (1861), United States Representative for New York's 11th congressional district
Donald J. Mitchell (1949), United States Representative for New York's 31st congressional district
Robert Mitchell, MD (1845), member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
Edward Regan (1950), Comptroller of New York
David Rumsey, United States Representative from New York
Horatio Seymour (1823–1825) 18th Governor of New York, Democratic candidate for 1868 President
Ben Wattenberg (1955), speechwriter for Lyndon B. Johnson from 1966 to 1968 and adviser to Hubert Humphrey's 1970 Senate race
George Washington Woodward, United States Representative from Pennsylvania

Religion

Leigh Richmond Brewer (1863), Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Montana
Albert Arthur Chambers (1950), seventh Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Springfield
Michael B. Curry (1975), first African American Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church, presided at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
Thomas Frederick Davies, Sr. (1889), third Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan 1889 – 19
Isaiah DeGrasse, minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church
Oliver J. Hart (1913), Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania
Arthur Wheelock Moulton (1897), Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah
George Elden Packard (1966), Episcopal Suffragan Bishop of the Armed Forces
William Persell (1965), Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago
Robert Rusack (1947), fourth Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles
Edward R. Welles (1850), third Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee

Science and medicine

Willis Adcock (1944), inventor of the silicon transistor, member of the team that developed the atomic bomb
Willard Myron Allen, MD (1926), co-discoverer of progesterone with George W. Corner. Allen received the first Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry in 1935.
Darrick E. Antell, MD (1973), New York plastic surgeon known for his studies on aging and twins
Elizabeth Blackwell, MD (1849), first woman awarded a Doctor of Medicine degree in the United States
Harry Coover (1941), inventor of super glue
Robert Peter Gale, MD (1966), leukemia and bone marrow disorders expert; coordinated medical relief efforts for victims of the Chernobyl nuclear power accident
John P. Grotzinger (1979), mission leader and project scientist for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory
Matt Lamanna (1997), paleontologist responsible for several major discoveries
Ralph Walter Graystone Wyckoff (1916), pioneer inventor of X-ray crystallography

Sports

Frank Dwyer (1889), Major League Baseball player
Jeremy Foley (1974), athletics director at the University of Florida
Fred King (1937), the first Hobart Statesman to play in the NFL
Ali Marpet (2015), NFL football player, left guard on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that won Super Bowl LV, and member of 2022 Pro Bowl Team.
Nate Milne (2003), head football coach, Muhlenberg College
Pierre McGuire (1983), two-time Stanley Cup winner; hockey commentator for NBC Sports Network
Kent Smack (1997), 2004 Athens Olympic rower for Team U.S.A.
Jon Wallach (1989), sports broadcaster, WEEI, WBZ-FM (The Toucher and Rich Show)

References

^ Association, Texas State Historical. "Adcock, Willis Alfred". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
^ "Lives of Consequence". www.hws.edu. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
^ "W.W. Folwell". www.hetwebsite.net. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
^ "John P. Grotzinger | Lives of Consequence | Hobart and William Smith". www.hws.edu. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
^ "Moses Gunn". michiganmedicine.org. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
^ "Stephen Kuusisto". The Poetry Foundation. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
^ "Latimer '85 Named President of Chestnut Hill College". www.hws.edu. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
^ "Priscilla Schaffer" (PDF). fa.hms.harvard.edu. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
^ "Theodore Sterling". digital.kenyon.edu. Retrieved April 14, 2025.
^ "60 Minutes' Bill Whitaker to receive the RTDNF First Amendment Award". CBS. CBS News. February 14, 2017. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
^ "Dorothy Wickenden". hws.edu. Retrieved November 27, 2019.

[1] Association, Texas State Historical. "Adcock, Willis Alfred". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved January 8, 2025.

[2] "Lives of Consequence". www.hws.edu. Retrieved January 8, 2025.

[3] "W.W. Folwell". www.hetwebsite.net. Retrieved January 8, 2025.

[4] "John P. Grotzinger | Lives of Consequence | Hobart and William Smith". www.hws.edu. Retrieved January 8, 2025.

[5] "Moses Gunn". michiganmedicine.org. Retrieved March 18, 2025.

[6] "Stephen Kuusisto". The Poetry Foundation. Retrieved January 8, 2025.

[7] "Latimer '85 Named President of Chestnut Hill College". www.hws.edu. Retrieved January 8, 2025.

[8] "Priscilla Schaffer" (PDF). fa.hms.harvard.edu. Retrieved March 18, 2025.

[9] "Theodore Sterling". digital.kenyon.edu. Retrieved April 14, 2025.

[whitaker-10] "60 Minutes' Bill Whitaker to receive the RTDNF First Amendment Award". CBS. CBS News. February 14, 2017. Retrieved September 11, 2017.

[11] "Dorothy Wickenden". hws.edu. Retrieved November 27, 2019.

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