List of Lafayette College people

Notable alumni and trustees

Academics and education

• George C. Heckman, class of 1845, president of Hanover College 1870–79
• Thomas Craig, class of 1875, early professor of mathematics at Johns Hopkins University
• James Bright, class of 1877, philologist, first person to receive a Ph.D. in English from Johns Hopkins
• James Cameron Mackenzie, class of 1878, educator
• James McKeen Cattell, class of 1880, the first professor of psychology in the United States
• Earl Gregg Swem, class of 1893, historian, bibliographer and librarian
• Joseph S. Illick, class of 1907, Dean of the New York State College of Forestry, 1944–51
• Ralph Cooper Hutchison, class of 1918, president of Washington & Jefferson College, 1931–45, and Lafayette College, 1945–57
• Frank Reed Horton, class of 1926, founder of the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity
• Nils Yngve Wessell, class of 1934, president of Tufts University, 1953–66
• Leonard Jeffries, class of 1959, Professor of Black Studies at the City College of New York
• Martin Jezer, class of 1961, progressive activist in New York and Vermont; leader of stutterers' self-help movement
• Barry Wellman, class of 1963, Professor of Sociology,. University of Toronto, 1967-2013; Co-Director, NetLab Network
• Joseph Rallo, class of 1971, Commissioner of Higher Education for the State of Louisiana.
• John Anderson Fry, class of 1982, former president of Franklin & Marshall College and current president of Drexel University

  Business

• Ario Pardee, trustee from 1865-1892, president of the trustees from 1881-1892. Coal magnate and philanthropist who donated the funds to create the engineering and science departments at Lafayette, namesake of Pardee Hall which he also funded
• James Gayley, class of 1876, Managing Director Carnegie Steel Company and first vice president of U.S. Steel, 1901–09
• Torrence Huffman, class of 1878, Banker; loaned the Huffman Prairie to the Wright Brothers
• Charles Bergstresser, class of 1881, one of the three founders of Dow Jones & Company
• Harrison Woodhull Crosby, commercialized the canned tomato
• Leslie Freeman Gates, class of 1897, president of the Chicago Board of Trade, 1919–20
• George B. Walbridge, class of 1898, co-founder and chairman of Walbridge Aldinger
• T. Frank Soles, class of 1904, chairman of the board of Talon, Inc., zipper manufacturer; trustee and donor of Soles Hall
• Fred Morgan Kirby, trustee from 1916–40, helped found the Woolworth's five and dime store chain
• Thomas J. Watson, trustee; donor; first chairman and CEO of IBM, 1914–56; computing pioneer; namesake of the Watson Computer
• Edward Jesser, class of 1939, former president of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce & New Jersey Bankers Association, chairman and CEO of Summit Bancorp
• Walter E. Hanson, class of 1949, chairman of KPMG.
• Sarkis Acopian, class of 1951, founded Acopian Technical Company, makers of the first solar radios.
• Arthur J. Rothkopf, class of 1955, retired senior vice president of U.S. Chamber of Commerce; president emeritus of Lafayette College
• Michael H. Moskow, class of 1959, CEO and president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
• Stephen D. Pryor, class of 1971, president of ExxonMobil Chemical Company
• Neil Levin, class of 1976, former executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, vice president of Goldman Sachs
• Chip Bergh, Class of 1979, CEO of Levi Strauss & Co.
• Angel L. Mendez, class of 1982, COO of HERE
• Fran Horowitz, class of 1985, president & chief merchandising officer of Abercrombie & Fitch Co.
• Alan Hoffman, class of 1988, senior vice president, PepsiCo.; former deputy chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden; Deputy Assistant to the U.S. President
• Hendrik J. Hartong III, class of 1989, CEO of Brynwood Partners
• William R. Wagner, class of 1989, CEO of LogMeIn
• Stephen Messer, class of 1993, founder of Rakuten Linkshare and angel investor
• Ian Murray, class of 1997, cofounder of Vineyard Vines
• Carson Conant, class of 1998, founder and CEO of Mediafly

  Engineering

• William Ashburner Cattell, class of 1884, civil engineer and railroad company president
• James Madison Porter III, class of 1886, professor of civil engineering and designer of Northampton Street Bridge
• William F. Durand, class of 1888, mechanical engineer and first civilian chair of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
• Edgar Jadwin, class of 1888, General, Chief of Engineers
• Don Lancaster, class of 1961, author, inventor, and microcomputer pioneer

  Entertainment

• Burr McIntosh, class of 1884, actor, author, and photographer.
• Joel Silver, head of Hollywood's Silver Pictures and producer of films including the Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, and The Matrix series
• Lorene Scafaria, screenwriter, playwright, actress and singer best known for her work on the 2008 film Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
• Jim Rosenhaus, class of 1986, broadcaster for the Cleveland Indians
• Beth Mowins, class of 1989, ESPN announcer and one of the first women color analysts on the network

  Government

• Isaiah D. Clawson, class of 1833, represented New Jersey's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives, 1855-59
• James Morrison Harris, class of 1833, U.S. Representative from Maryland, 1855–1861; Lafayette College trustee, 1865–72
• Alexander Ramsey, class of 1836, Governor of Minnesota, US Senator, Congressman, Secretary of War
• Nathaniel B. Smithers, class of 1836, U.S. Representative from Delaware, 1863–65
• Philip Johnson, class of 1844, U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania, 1861–63, 1863–67
• Henry Clay Longnecker, class of 1845, honorary degree in 1851, U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania 1859-61
• Henry Green, class of 1846, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
• Henry Martyn Hoyt, attended 1845–48, honorary law degree conferred in 1882, Governor of Pennsylvania, 1879–83
• Horatio Gates Fisher, class of 1855, US Representative from Pennsylvania, 1879–83
• Samuel McLean, non-graduate, received honorary degree in 1857, member of first Montana State Legislature, 1865–67
• Benjamin Franklin Junkin, entered 1837, A.M. in 1865, US Representative from Pennsylvania, 1859–1861
• Robert Porter Allen, class of 1855, Pennsylvania State Senator, 1875–78
• Allen Craig, class of 1855, Pennsylvania State Representative and Senator, 1865–67, 1879–82
• John W. Griggs, class of 1868, Governor of New Jersey, 1896–1898; US Attorney General, 1898–1901
• Frank J. Washabaugh, class of 1870, South Dakota jurist and legislator
• Laird Howard Barber, class of 1871, US Representative from Pennsylvania 1899–1901, lawyer
• Arthur Granville Dewalt, class of 1874, US Representative from Pennsylvania, 1915–21
• Isaac Barber, class of 1876, New Jersey State Senator 1896–99, 1902–05
• Russell Benjamin Harrison, class of 1877, Indiana legislator; consul to Portugal and Mexico; son of U.S. President Benjamin Harrison
• Edward Francis Blewitt, class of 1879, Pennsylvania State Senator, 1907-1910; great-grandfather to Joe Biden
• George Howell, class of 1880, US Representative from Pennsylvania, 1903–1904
• John R. Farr, class of 1885, U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania, 1911–19, and 1921
• Cyrus E. Woods, class of 1886, president pro tempore Pennsylvania State Senate 1901-07; U.S. Ambassador to Spain and Japan, 1921–24
• Wallace McCamant, class of 1888, Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1925–26
• Harry Arista Mackey, class of 1890, Mayor of Philadelphia 1928 - 31
• Frederic Antes Godcharles, class of 1893, Pennsylvania State Representative and Senator, 1900–08
• Isaac Clinton Kline, class of 1893, U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania from 1921–23, lawyer
• A. Mitchell Palmer, attended briefly and honorary degree conferred in 1919, 50th Attorney General of the United States, overseer of the Palmer Raids
• John D. Clarke, class of 1898, U.S. Congressman from New York
• William Huntington Kirkpatrick, class of 1905, U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania 1921-23
• Joseph F. Crater, class of 1910, Associate Justice of the New York Supreme Court
• Haydn Proctor, class of 1926, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey
• Wesley Lance, class of 1928, member of New Jersey General Assembly and New Jersey Senate; one of the drafters of the current, 1947 New Jersey State Constitution
• Robert B. Meyner, class of 1930, Governor of New Jersey 1954–62; competed against John F. Kennedy in the 1960 Democratic Party primary
• Winston L. Prouty, class of 1930, United States Representative and Senator from Vermont
• William H. Woodin, Trustee, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, 1933
• Wayne Dumont, class of 1935, former Acting Governor of New Jersey
• Wendell Good, class of 1935, Pennsylvania State Representative 1967-72
• Charles Timothy Slack, class of 1935, Pennsylvania State Representative 1961-70
• Arch A. Moore, Jr., attended in 1943, twice Governor of West Virginia
• Arthur Sohmer, class of 1948, Chief of Staff to former Vice President Spiro Agnew
• D. Bennett Mazur, member of the New Jersey General Assembly
• Fred Ashton, class of 1952, Mayor of Easton from 1967–75.
• Dennis Kux, class of 1952, U.S. Ambassador to Côte d'Ivoire, 1986–89
• William E. Simon, class of 1952, 63rd Secretary of the Treasury, president of the United States Olympic Committee
• Bob Smith, class of 1952, former Senator of New Hampshire
• Garrett E. Brown, Jr., class of 1965, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
• George F. Pott, Jr., class of 1965, Pennsylvania State Representative 1977-86
• Robert Pastor, class of 1969, former member of the United States National Security Council
• Joel A. Pisano, class of 1971, Federal Judge for District Court of New Jersey
• Marcia Bernicat, class of 1975, United States Ambassador to Bangladesh
• Robin L. Wiessmann, class of 1975, former Pennsylvania State Treasurer
• Craig Dally, class of 1978, Pennsylvania State Representative, 1997–2010
• Bruce L. Castor, Jr., class of 1983, Attorney General and first Solicitor General of Pennsylvania, former district attorney and county commissioner in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania; lawyer
• Doug Reichley, class of 1983, Pennsylvania State Representative 2003-12
• Robert Spagnoletti, class of 1984, former Attorney General of the District of Columbia
• Michael A. Raynor, class of 1984, former United States Ambassador to Benin
• Anthony Palumbo, class of 1994, member New York State Assembly, 2013–present
• Aaron Kaufer, class of 2011, Pennsylvania State Representative, 2015–present
• Travis Hutson, class of 2007, Florida State Senator 2012-present

  Arts and Humanities

• J. Elfreth Watkins Sr., class of 1874, Curator United States National Museum
• Frederick Starr, class of 1882, anthropologist
• Edwin Atlee Barber, classes of 1887 and 1893, Director Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art
• Snowden Ashford, class of 1888, Washington D.C.'s first municipal architect
• Harold H. Bender, class of 1903, professor of philology at Princeton University
• Barry Wellman, class of 1963, sociologist; founder of International Network for Social Network Analysis
• Brent Glass, class of 1969, director of Smithsonian National Museum of American History

  Literature and poetry

• John Martin Crawford, class of 1871, translated the Finnish epic Kalevala into English; Consul-general of the United States to Russia under President Benjamin Harrison
• Stephen Crane, author of The Red Badge of Courage; attended for one semester before leaving to focus exclusively on his writing
• Dominique Lapierre, class of 1952, author
• Martin Jezer, class of 1961, activist and author
• Jay Parini, class of 1970, poet and Middlebury College professor
• Ross Gay, class of 1996, poet
• M. K. Asante, Jr., class of 2004, professor, author, and filmmaker
• Michael S. Schmidt, class of 2005, author and two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington correspondent for The New York Times

  Medicine

• Philip S. Hench, class of 1916, winner of Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1950
• Haldan K. Hartline, class of 1923, winner of Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1967
• Orvan Hess, class of 1927, physician noted for his early use of penicillin and development of the fetal heart monitor
• C. Harmon Brown, class of 1952, pioneer in women's sports medicine; Olympic track and field coach

  Military

• Andrew Porter, class of 1838, honorary degree in 1865, Brigadier General U.S. Army
• Theophilus Francis Rodenbough, class of 1854, Brigadier General U.S. Army; Medal of Honor recipient
• Charles A. Wikoff, class of 1855, most senior ranking United States Army officer killed in the Spanish–American War
• Stephen Wilson Pomeroy, class of 1861, "The Unknown Scout" who alerted Governor Curtin of General Lee's amassing army at Gettysburg
• Duncan Stephen Walker, class of 1862, Brigadier General U.S. Army, great-great-grandson of Benjamin Franklin
• Peyton C. March, class of 1884, Army Chief of Staff during World War I
• General George H. Decker, class of 1924, Chief of Staff of the United States Army, 1960–62
• David Showell, class of 1951, member of the Tuskegee Airmen; a football player while at Lafayette; his exclusion led to the 1949 Sun Bowl controversy

  Religion and theology

• William Henry Green, class of 1840, president of The College of New Jersey, professor of Biblical and Oriental Literature in Princeton Theological Seminary
• John Douglas Bemo, non-graduate 1843–46, nephew of Osceola Chief of the Seminoles; responsible for baptizing over 5,000 Native Americans in the Oklahoma Territory
• W.A.P. Martin, class of 1860, Presbyterian missionary and translator
• James Isaac Good, class of 1872, clergyman

  Sciences

• James H. Coffin, Lafayette College vice president and treasurer 1846–73, pioneer in meteorology
• William Harkness, attended 1854–56, astronomer
• William McMurtrie, class of 1871 and first Ph.D. in chemistry awarded at Lafayette ; Chief Chemist for the United States Department of Agriculture, 1873–78; president of American Chemical Society in 1900
• Maynard Bixby, class of 1876, discoverer of bixbyite and explorer
• Eugene C. Bingham, Chemistry Professor 1916–39, pioneer in rheology; namesake of Bingham plastic, fluid, and stress, and the Bingham Medal
• S. Donald Stookey, class of 1938, inventor of Corningware earned his master's degree in chemistry in the 1930s
• Jay Weiss, class of 1962, professor of psychiatry Emory University School of Medicine, MacArthur Fellow

  Sports

• Harry Hempstead, class of 1891, Owner of the New York Giants, National League baseball team.
• George Barclay, class of 1898, inventor of the football helmet, outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Beaneaters
• Charles Rinehart, class of 1898, College Football Hall of Fame member
• Dick Wright, catcher for the Brooklyn Tip-Tops
• Fritz Scheeren, class of 1914, pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates
• Ty Helfrich, class of 1915, second baseman for the Brooklyn Tip-Tops
• Al Bedner, class of 1921, NFL player
• George Seasholtz, class of 1922, NFL player for the Milwaukee Badgers and the Kenosha Maroons
• Frank Schwab, class of 1923, College Football Hall of Fame member
• Al LeConey, class of 1923, 1924 Summer Olympics gold medalist in the 4 × 100 meter relay, later featured on a U.S. postal stamp
• Charlie Berry, Jr., class of 1924, College Football Hall of Fame member; the only man to officiate World Series, NFL Championship, and College All-Star game in the same year; catcher for the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Athletics, Chicago White Sox; NFL leading scorer in 1925 for the Pottsville Maroons
• Joe Marhefka, class of 1924, NFL player for Pottsville Maroons
• Matt Brennan, class of 1925, NFL player
• Frank Grube, class of 1926, catcher for the White Sox and St. Louis Browns
• Frank Kirkleski, class of 1927, NFL player for the Pottsville Maroons
• George Wilson, class of 1929, College Football Hall of Fame member and previous NCAA scoring record holder
• Adam J. Cirillo, class of 1933, head football coach of Brooklyn Technical High School, won 10 New York City Public School Athletic League championships
• Frank Hiller, class of 1942, pitcher for the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds
• Pete Carril, class of 1951, former Princeton University men's basketball head coach and Sacramento Kings assistant coach
• Alexander K. 'Whip' Buck, class of 1952, co-owner of the Philadelphia Phillies from 1981 until his death in 2010
• Pete Carril, Class of 1952, head coach of Princeton University; enshrined in both the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame and the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame
• Tracy Tripucka, class of 1972, three-time men's basketball All-American, New York Knicks draft selection, collegiate assistant coach
• Peter Simon, class of 1975, co-owner of the NHL's New Jersey Devils, name inscribed on the Stanley Cup
• Joe Maddon, class of 1976, two-time World Series Champion ; current manager of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs.
• George Tiger, class of 1981, midfielder for Pittsburgh Spirit, 1984–1985
• Jeff Mutis, class of 1988, first-round draft pick in the 1988 Major League Baseball Draft by the Cleveland Indians; played for the Florida Marlins, pitcher
• Blake Costanzo, class of 2006, linebacker and special teams specialist for the NFL's Chicago Bears and formerly the San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns, and Buffalo Bills
• Walt Zirinsky, American football player

  Notable faculty

• Jacob E. Cooke, Henry McCracken Professor of History, 1962-90, and editor of The Federalist
• Guy Consolmagno, assistant professor, physics and astronomy
• Tom Davis, college men's basketball coach, 1971–77
• Clement Eaton, chair of history department, 1931–42
• Terry Jonathan Hart, visiting lecturer of engineering
• George Junkin, first president of Lafayette College
• Chawne Kimber, mathematician and quilter
• John Kincaid, Robert B. & Helen S. Meyner Professor of Government and Public Service and Director of the Meyner Center for the Study of State and Local Government, 1994-present
• Butch van Breda Kolff, college men's basketball coach, 1952–56
• Francis March, first professor of English Literature at any American college or university
• Herb McCracken, head football coach
• Edward Mylin, head football coach
• Bruce Allen Murphy, Supreme Court Scholar
• Theodore Roethke, poet, served on faculty prior to his publication and fame
• Steve Spagnuolo, football coach, defensive line/special teams 1984–86
• Jock Sutherland, head football coach 1919–23
• Lee Upton, poet, writer in residence, professor of English
• Hal Wissel, college men's basketball coach, 1967–71
• Tim Lenahan, Men's Soccer Coach, 1998–2001
• Gary Williams, Men's Head Soccer Coach and Assistant Basketball Coach, 1972–77

  Presidents of Lafayette College

• George Junkin, 1832–1841, 1844–1848
• John William Yeomans, 1841–1844
• Charles William Nassau, 1849–1850
• Daniel V. McLean, 1850–1857
• George Wilson McPhail, 1857–1863
• William Cassady Cattell, 1863–1883
• James Hall Mason Knox, 1883–1890
• Traill Green, 1890–1891
• Ethelbert Dudley Warfield, 1891–1914
• John Henry MacCracken, 1915–1926
• Donald B. Prentice, 1926–1927
• William Mather Lewis, 1927–1945
• Ralph Cooper Hutchison, 1945–1957, class of 1918
• Guy Everett Snavely, 1957–1958
• K. Roald Bergethon, 1958–1978
• David Ellis, 1978–1990
• Robert I. Rotberg, 1990–1993
• Arthur J. Rothkopf, 1993–2005, class of 1955
• Daniel Weiss, 2005–2013
• Alison Byerly, 2013–present