List of Stuyvesant High School people
This article lists notable people associated with Stuyvesant High School in New York City, New York, organized into rough professional areas and listed in order by their graduating class.
Significant awards
The lists below include alumni who have won significant awards in their fields of endeavor. Some of these are:- Joseph L. Mankiewicz – 1949, 1950 Academy Award for Best Director for A Letter to Three Wives and All About Eve
- Joshua Lederberg – 1958 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- Peter Lax – 1987 Wolf Prize in Mathematics
- Robert Fogel – 1993 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences
- Elias Stein – 1999 Wolf Prize in Mathematics
- Paul Cohen – 1966 Fields Medal
- Roald Hoffmann – 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- Richard Axel – 2004 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- Tim Robbins – 2003 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Mystic River
- Eric S. Lander - 2013 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences
Mathematics
- Samuel L. Greitzer – geometer, founding chairman of United States of America Mathematical Olympiad
- Peter Lax – fluid dynamics, differential equations; elected 1970 to the United States National Academy of Sciences, 1987 Wolf Prize, 1992 Steele Prize, 2005 Abel Prize
- Bertram Kostant – lie groups and representation theory; elected in 1978 to the United States National Academy of Sciences
- D. J. Newman – analytic number theory, long-time editor of problems section in the American Mathematical Monthly
- Harold Widom – integral equations, symplectic geometry, 2007 Wiener Prize
- Elias Stein – harmonic analysis; 1974 elected to United States National Academy of Sciences, 1993 Schock Prize, 1999 Wolf Prize, 2002 Steele Prize
- Paul Cohen – logic, Banach algebras, 1964 Bôcher Prize, 1966 Fields Medal, elected 1967 to the United States National Academy of Sciences
- Neil R. Grabois – commutative algebra
- Jeff Rubens – probability and statistics, co-editor of The Bridge World
- Melvin Hochster – commutative algebra, algebraic geometry, invariant theory; 1980 Cole Prize, elected in 1992 to the United States National Academy of Sciences
- James Lepowsky – lie theory ; Lepowsky's Ph. D advisor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology was Bertram Konstant
- Peter Shalen – low-dimensional topology, Kleinian groups, hyperbolic geometry
- Robert Zimmer – ergodic theory, dynamical cocycles
- Richard Arratia – probability, combinatorics
- David Harbater – algebraic geometry; NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, in 1994 Invited Lecturer to the International Congress of Mathematicians, 1995 Cole Prize
- Paul Zeitz – ergodic theory
- Jon Lee – mathematical optimization
- Noam Elkies – elliptic curves; youngest person ever to win tenure at Harvard; his musical compositions have been performed by major symphony orchestras
- Dana Randall – discrete mathematics, theoretical computer science
- Elizabeth Wilmer – Markov chains
- Michael Hutchings – topology, geometry
- Aleksandr Khazanov – Math Olympiad; Curry Fellowship; skipped college and became a PhD student at Pennsylvania State University
- Michael Develin – combinatorics, geometry; American Institute of Mathematics Fellow
Physics
- Joseph File – Fermi Foundation Awar
- Marshall Rosenbluth – theory of liquids, fusion; Fermi Award, United States National Academy of Sciences
- Rolf Landauer – physics of computation; elected in 1988 to the United States National Academy of Sciences, IBM Fellow
- Leo Sartori – high energy physics, relativity; negotiator for SALT II disarmanent talks
- Paul C. Martin statistical physics; elected in 1979 to the United States National Academy of Sciences
- Arthur J. Epstein – codiscovered the first magnet based on organic materials; recognized as the world’s leading expert in how polymers conduct electricity; Director of Ohio State University's Center for Materials Research
- Brian Greene – string theory, mirror symmetry, author of The Elegant Universe; Rhodes Scholarship|Rhodes Scholar
- Lisa Randall – high energy physics, Randall–Sundrum model, 2004 elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Chemistry
- Sheldon Datz – 2000 Fermi Award
- Benjamin Widom – phase transitions, stat. mechanics, elected in 1974 to the United States National Academy of Sciences
- Andrew Streitwieser, Jr. – organic chemistry, textbook author; elected in 1969 to the United States National Academy of Sciences, Sloan Fellow, Guggenheim Fellow
- Edward M. Kosower – biophysics, 1996 Rothschild Prize in Chemistry
- Gary Felsenfeld – physical chemistry, elected in 1976 to the United States National Academy of Sciences
- Roald Hoffmann – geometric structure and reactivity of molecules, elected in 1972 to the United States National Academy of Sciences, 1973 Cope Award, 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Life sciences and medicine
- Paul S. Appelbaum
- Hyman Biegeleisen – physician and vein expert, pioneer of phlebology
- Philip H. Sechzer – anesthesiologist, pioneer in pain management; inventor of patient-controlled analgesia
- Joshua Lederberg – genetics; 1957 United States National Academy of Sciences, 1958 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1989 National Medal of Science, former President of Rockefeller University, 2006 Presidential Medal of Freedom
- Alvin Poussaint – clinical psychiatry
- Robert Ira Lewy – hematology, Baylor College of Medicine; developed early application of aspirin in heart disease; donated to the creation of the Stuyvesant High School library in 2006, the Dr Robert Ira Lewy Multimedia Center
- Richard Axel – biochemistry, 2004 Nobel Prize
- John Gordon Harold, MD – President, American College of Cardiology 2013–2014; Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute
- Eric Lander – computational biology; Westinghouse scholarship, Rhodes Scholar, MacArthur Fellow, co-director of Human Genome Project, 1997 United States National Academy of Sciences
- Uché Blackstock, emergency physician and equity advocate
Social sciences
- Lewis Mumford – historian of technology and science
- Igor Ansoff – business theorist, coined term "strategic management"
- Robert Fogel – economist, winner of 1993 Nobel Memorial Prize in economics
- Samuel P. Huntington – political theorist, author
- Thomas Sowell – economist
- Edward Von der Porten early nautical archaeologist; expert on Sir Francis Drake's visit to New Albion in 1579; expert in early Chinese export porcelains; author on the German Navy in WW II, Francis Drake and Chinese porcelains. Led efforts leading to the Drakes Bay National Historic and Archeological National Historic Landmark in 2012.
- John F. Banzhaf III – professor and practitioner of public interest law at George Washington University
- Michael Levin – philosopher, author of Why Race Matters
Technology
- Hans Mark – aerospace engineering; served as Deputy Administrator of NASA, and Secretary of the United States Air Force
- Ronald J. Grabe – astronaut
- Steven Rothman – computer architecture; codesigner of VAX architecture
- Richard Lary – computer architecture; co-designer of VAX architecture
- Bob Frankston – software; author of the spreadsheet VisiCalc
- Daniel Hirschberg – design of algorithms
- Steven M. Bellovin – leading authority on firewalls and Internet security; elected to National Academy of Engineering in 2001
- Omar Wasow – creator of BlackPlanet, Oprah's "tech guy", MSNBC Internet analyst
- Bram Cohen – author of BitTorrent
- Naval Ravikant - Entrepreneur, Investor; Co-Founder and former CEO of AngelList
Writers
Staff
- Frank McCourt – memorist and author; teacher of English and creative writing from 1972 until the late 1980s
Alumni
- Samuel Spewack – screenwriter, playwright, and double Tony Award-winner for Kiss Me, Kate and Academy Award nominee for My Favorite Wife
- Nick Meglin – longtime MAD Magazine editor, and playwright
- Marv Goldberg music critic and writer
- Eric Van Lustbader – writer, author of The Bourne Legacy and The Ninja
- David Lehman – writer, editor, critic, and professor of creative writing; series editor of The Best American Poetry; author of numerous books of poetry and literary criticism, including Poems in the Manner Of, Sinatra's Century, When a Woman Loves a Man, and Signs of the Times
- M. G. Sheftall – writer, author of Blossoms in the Wind: Human Legacies of the Kamikaze
- David Lipsky – novelist
- Matt Ruff – writer
- Laurie Gwen Shapiro – author and documentary director
- Jordan Sonnenblick – writer of young adult novels Drums, Girls, & Dangerous Pie, Notes from the Midnight Driver, Zen and the Art of Faking It, and Dodger and Me; student of Frank McCourt
- Arthur M. Jolly ' – Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting, playwright of Past Curfew and A Gulag Mouse; student of Frank McCourt
- Alissa Quart – critic, journalist, poet, and editor; author of Republic of Outsiders: The Power of Amateurs, Dreamers and Rebels, Hothouse Kids: The Dilemma of the Gifted Child, Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers, and Monetized
- Gary Shteyngart – author of The Russian Debutante's Handbook and Absurdistan
- Rebecca Pawel – writer
- Alexander Rosenberg – novelist and non-fiction writer
- Daniel Genis – writer, journalist, and ex-convict; columnist at Vice; author of The Last Beat: 1046 Books Behind the Wall
- Jessica Valenti – writer, online journalist, blogger, columnist and staff writer at The Guardian
- Ned Vizzini – author of The Other Normals, It's Kind of a Funny Story, Be More Chill, and Teen Angst? Naaah....
Music
- Thelonious Monk – jazz pianist and composer
- Julius Hegyi – conductor and violinist
- Tom Dowd – pioneer recording engineer, 1992 Grammy Award
- Walter Becker – co-founder of Steely Dan
- Richard Lloyd – guitarist for punk band Television and Matthew Sweet
- William Wittman Grammy Award for best musical theater album
- Kevin Wimmer – folk musician, Grammy-nominated in 2007 with Racines
- Kate Schellenbach – musician with the Beastie Boys and Luscious Jackson
- Asher Lack – front-man, principal songwriter and founder of the band Ravens & Chimes
- Rebecca Rossi – piano, vocals with Ravens & Chimes
- Heems – rapper, member of Das Racist and Swet Shop Boys
Film
- James Cagney – actor and dancer
- J. Edward Bromberg – actor
- Joseph L. Mankiewicz – four-time Oscar-winning producer
- Sheldon Leonard – Emmy-winning actor, producer, and director
- William Greaves – Emmy-winning filmmaker
- Ben Gazzara – Emmy Award-winning actor
- Simon Kornblit – former Executive Vice President of worldwide marketing for Universal Pictures; actor
- Ron Silver – actor, director
- Paul Reiser – actor and producer
- Tim Robbins – actor, screenwriter, director, producer; won Academy Award for Mystic River
- Lucy Liu – actress
- James Bohanek – Broadway and television actor
- Heather Juergensen – actress and writer
- Louis Ozawa Changchien – actor
- Billy Eichner – actor and comedian Billy on the Street, Difficult People, Parks and Recreation
- Kelly Karbacz – actress
- Malcolm Barrett – actor
- Telly Leung – Broadway and television actor
- Emily Carmichael – director, screenwriter, and animator
- Jonah Meyerson – actor
Journalism, radio, and television
- Jan Merlin – film, television, and Broadway actor; Emmy Award
- Vladimir Posner – self-proclaimed independent journalist, author, Soviet propaganda and television personality. Hosts his own show on Channel One, a state-owned TV network in Russia
- Bernie Brillstein – producer and manager, Emmy winner
- Barry Schweid – longtime politics and international affairs reporter for the Associated Press
- Robert Siegel – radio journalist, All Things Considered
- Len Berman – Emmy Award-winning NBC sportscaster
- Sam Rosen – NFL announcer and play-by-play announcer for the NHL team, New York Rangers
- Sam Marchiano – MLB.com sportcaster and host; daughter of longtime sports news anchor, Sal Marchiano
- Mike Greenberg – ESPN sportscaster; co-host of the Mike and Mike show on ESPN Radio
- Hanna Rosin – journalist
- Jon Caramanica —pop music critic for The New York Times
- Billy Eichner – Emmy-nominated host of Billy on the Street, actor
- Harry Siegel – author, political consultant and journalist
- Jessica Valenti – feminist blogger and writer
- Reihan Salam – conservative writer at The Atlantic and Forbes.com, and blogger for The American Scene
- Adriana Diaz – 2006 Miss New York USA
Educators
- Peter Sammartino – founder and first president of Fairleigh Dickinson University
- Albert Shanker – served as President of the United and American Federations of Teachers; 1998 Presidential Medal of Freedom
- John Tietjen – served as President of Concordia Seminary and Christ Seminary-Seminex
Business
- Leopold P. Oberst – New York Telephone Company executive
- Jack Nash – chairman of Oppenheimer & Company
- Saul Katz – president of the New York Mets
- Jeffrey Loria – former owner of Florida Marlins; former owner of Montreal Expos
- Arthur Blank – founder of The Home Depot; owner of the Atlanta Falcons
- Paul Levitz – president of DC Comics
- Drew Nieporent – restaurateur
- David Coleman – CEO of the College Board
- Boaz Weinstein – hedge fund manager
- Ronn Torossian – CEO of 5W Public relations
- Amol Sarva – on founding team of Virgin Mobile; founder of Wireless Founders Coalition for Innovation; founder and CEO of Peek
Politics
- Moe Fishman – co-founder and Executive Secretary/Treasurer of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade
- Sy Schulman – civil engineer and urban planner, Mayor of White Plains, New York
- Howard Golden – served as Brooklyn Borough President
- Serphin Maltese – longstanding New York State Senator
- Roy Innis – served as national chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality; member of the National Rifle Association's governing board
- Bob Moses – organizer of 1964 Freedom Summer; MacArthur Fellow
- Bernard W. Nussbaum – law; served on the United States House Committee on the Judiciary during the Watergate impeachment inquiry, served as counsel to President Bill Clinton
- Richard Ben-Veniste – law; assistant prosecutor on the Watergate Task Force, served on the 9/11 Commission
- Harvey Pitt – Chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission
- Ted Gold – political activist and Weathermen member
- Dick Morris – political consultant
- Jerrold Nadler – U.S. Congressman
- Eric Holder – law; United States Attorney General in President Barack Obama's administration
- John Tsang Chun-wah – Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
- David Axelrod – senior advisor to Barack Obama's campaign
- Alan Jay Gerson – served on New York City Council
- Eva Moskowitz – served on New York City Council
- Jessica Lappin – served on New York City Council
- Grace Meng – U.S. Congresswoman
Sports
- Herbert Vollmer – 1924 Olympic bronze medalist in water polo
- Ray Arcel – member of International Boxing Hall of Fame
- Herbert Cohen – Olympic fencer; coached the fencing team
- Frank Hussey – sprinter; 1924 Olympic gold medalist
- Albert Axelrod – 1960 Olympic bronze medalist in foil fencing
- Nat Militzok – NBA basketball player
- Harold Goldsmith – Olympic foil and épée fencer
- Jack Molinas – former NBA player and key figure in the NCAA point shaving scandal
- Charlie Scott – former NBA player and Olympic gold medalist in 1968
- Robert Hess – Chess Grandmaster
- Nzingha Prescod – two-time Olympic foil fencer
Other
- Otto Soglow – Reuben Award-winning New Yorker cartoonist and creator of The Little King comic strip; dropped out of Stuyvesant to support his family
- George Kisevalter – Central Intelligence Agency operations officer; handled Major Pyotr Popov, the first Soviet GRU agent run by the CIA, and Colonel Oleg Penkovsky
- Charles Biro – comic book artist, writer and editor best known for creating the crime genre comic with Crime Does Not Pay
- Morton Sobell – convicted spy
- Max Elitcher – friend of Sobell and witness at the trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
- Charles Dryden – member of the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II
- George Segal – sculptor
- Edwin Torres – judge and author
- John Schoenherr – mammologist and illustrator
- Randolph Jackson – judge and author
- Denny Chin – Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- Karin Immergut – former US Attorney; nominated by President Trump on June 7, 2018 to be a United States District Judge
- Victoria Kolakowski – judge on the Alameda County Superior Court; transgender activist
- Rebecca Sealfon – winner of 1997 Scripps National Spelling Bee
- Arvind Mahankali – winner of 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee