The following is a list of notable individuals associated with Barnard College through attendance as a student, service as a member of the faculty or staff, or as a recipient of the Barnard Medal of Distinction.
Notable alumnae
Academics and scientists Anne Anastasi (1928), psychologist known for her pioneering development of psychometrics, former president of the American Psychological Association, recipient of the National Medal of Science Naomi André (1989), professor of music at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Natalie Angier (1978), author, science journalist for The New York Times, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Beat Reporting Nina Ansary (1989), historian, author, one of the six UN Women Champions for Innovation, daughter of Iranian diplomat and philanthropist Hushang Ansary Cicely Applebaum Ryshpan (1904–2004), economist who worked with labor unions, the US federal government, various United Nations agencies, and the World Bank Jacqueline Barton (1974), Caltech chemist and MacArthur Fellows Program "genius grant" winner Jean Baum (1980), Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Rutgers University Annette Kar Baxter (1947), professor of history and American Studies at Barnard College (1952–1983), and pioneer in the study and teaching of Women's Studies Sally Benson (1977), professor of energy engineering at Stanford University Helen M. Berman (1964), Board of Governors; professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Rutgers University Martha Biondi (1985), professor of African American studies at Northwestern University Joan Birman (1948), mathematician and winner of the Chauvenet Prize Hazel Bishop (1929), chemist and inventor of innovative cosmetics Edyta Bojanowska (1993), professor of Slavic languages and literature at Yale University Hendrika B. Cantwell (1944), clinical professor of pediatrics, advocate for abused and neglected children Margaret I. Carman (1890–1976), teacher at Flushing High School Marian Chertow (1977), academic specializing in environmental resource management Susan Cole (1962), first female president of Montclair State University Frances Gardiner Davenport (1890–1891), historianIntroduction to European Treaties Bearing on the History of the United States and its Dependencies, vol. 2 (Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institution of Washington, 2010 edition) Stacey D'Erasmo (1983), author and critic, professor at Fordham University Jerrilynn Dodds (1973), art historian, former dean of Sarah Lawrence College Ingrith Johnson Deyrup-Olsen (1940), zoologist, daughter of The New School founder and first president Alvin Saunders Johnson Mabel Smith Douglass (1899), educator and namesake of Douglass Residential College of Rutgers University Carol Dweck (1967), professor of psychology at Stanford University Pam Eddinger (1982), president of Bunker Hill Community College Jessica Einhorn (1967), former dean of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies Hope Tisdale Eldridge (1925), physical educator, demographer and statistician at the United Nations Firth Haring Fabend (1959), novelist and historian Nancy Farriss (1959), historian, professor at the University of Pennsylvania Jessica Garretson Finch (1893), author, suffragette, founding president of Finch College Katherine Elizabeth Fleming (1987), provost of New York University Katherine Franke (1981), professor at Columbia Law School Ellen V. Futter (1971), president of Barnard College and the American Museum of Natural History Susan Gal (1970), anthropologist, professor at the University of Chicago Lynn Garafola (1968), dance historian Virginia Gildersleeve (1899), dean of Barnard College and delegate to the charter conference of the United Nations in 1945 Karen Goldberg (1983), Vagelos Professor of Energy Research at the University of Pennsylvania Nieca Goldberg (1979), doctor at the NYU Langone Medical Center Rebecca Goldstein (1972), philosopher, biographer, and novelist Ruth Gottesman (1952), professor of pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, philanthropist, wife of David Gottesman Monica Green (1978), medieval historian and professor of history at Arizona State University Maxine Greene (1938), educator, philosopher, activist; past president of the American Educational Research Association Patricia Greenspan (1966), professor of philosophy at the University of Maryland, College Park Miriam Griffin (1956), classical scholar at Somerville College, Oxford Ellen R. Gritz (1964), cancer researcher at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Ruth T. Gross (1941), pediatrician, first woman to hold an endowed chair at Stanford University Evelyn Byrd Harrison (1941), classical scholar, archaeologist, fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Martha Himmelfarb (1974), scholar of religion, professor at Harvard University Louise Holland (1893–1990), academic, philologist and archaeologist Lise Morjé Howard (1991), political scientist, professor at Georgetown University Judith Herzfeld (1967), professor of Biophysical Chemistry at Brandeis University Evelyn Hu (1969), Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering at Harvard University Jean Blackwell Hutson (1969), librarian, archivist, chief of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture Karla Jay (1968), pioneer of lesbian and gay studies Madlyn M. Kahr (1913–2004; B.A. 1933), art historian and educator; professor at the University of California, San Diego Frances Kamm (1960), philosopher, professor at Rutgers University Darcy Kelley (1970), neurobiologist, professor at Columbia University Linda K. Kerber (1960), feminist intellectual historian, professor at the University of Iowa Mirra Komarovsky (1926), sociologist; pioneer in the sociology of gender Mabel Lang (1939), archeologist and professor at Bryn Mawr College Linda Laubenstein, MD (1969), HIV/AIDS researcher Sylvia Lavin (1982), professor at the Princeton University School of Architecture Janna Levin (1988), cosmologist and associate professor of Physics and Astronomy at Barnard College Helen Longino (1960), philosopher of science, professor at Stanford University Susan Lowey (1950), biophysicist and professor of the University of Vermont Susan Mailer (1971), psychoanalyst, writer, and academic, daughter of novelist Norman Mailer Joyce Lee Malcolm (1963), professor at Antonin Scalia Law School Rita Gunther McGrath (1981), business book author; Professor at the Columbia Business School Elizabeth M. McNally (1983), geneticist, professor at Northwestern University Eileen McNamara (1974), professor of journalism at Brandeis University; formerly Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist of The Boston Globe Margaret Mead (1923), anthropologist known for Coming of Age in Samoa Barbara Stoler Miller (1962), scholar of Sanskrit literature known for a translation of the Bhagavad Gita Nancy K. Miller (1961), literary scholar, feminist theorist and memoirist, professor at Graduate Center, CUNY Dorothy Miner (1926), art historian, curator at Walters Art Museum Gertrude Moakley (1926), librarian and Tarot scholar Margaret Good Myers (1920), economist, professor at Vassar College Cathryn Nagler (1979), immunologist, professor at the University of Chicago Eva Neer (1959), chemist, professor at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons Gertrude Neumark (1948), physicist and former professor of Columbia University Elissa L. Newport (1969), psycholinguist, professor at Georgetown University Barbara Novak (1950), art historian at Barnard College, 1982 National Book Award for Nonfiction finalist Aihwa Ong (1974), anthropologist and professor at University of California, Berkeley and 2001 MacArthur Fellow Anne Paolucci (1947), Italian-American writer, dramatist, professor at St. John's University in New York Elsie Clews Parsons (1896), first woman elected president of the American Anthropological Association Esther Pasztory (1965), scholar of Pre-Columbian Art at Columbia University Marjorie Perloff (1953), professor of English at Stanford University Helen Perlstein Pollard (1967), archaeologist, ethnologist, Mesoamericanist scholar, professor of anthropology at MSU Helen Ranney (1941), first woman to lead a university department of medicine in the U.S., be president of the Association of American Physicians, or serve as a Distinguished Physician of the Veterans Administration Amy Richards (1992), American historian and feminist activist Ida Rolf (1916), biochemist, founder of Rolfing Structural Integration Barbara Rose (1957), art historian and founding director of the Katzen Arts Center at American University; first wife of artist Frank Stella Ora Mendelsohn Rosen (1956), cell biology researcher Louise Rosenblatt (1920s), influential literary theorist and educator Joan Ruderman (1969), professor at Harvard University Mavis Sanders (1987), research scholar Myriam Sarachik (1954), physicist, professor at the City College of New York and recipient of the Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize in 2005 Naomi Scheman (1968), philosopher and professor of Philosophy and Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies Kim Lane Scheppele (1975), political scientist, professor at Princeton School of Public and International Affairs Rose Grundfest Schneider (1929), medical researcher, hematologist, geneticist and educatorHeredia-López, Diana. "The Legacy of Rose Grundfest Schneider: Pioneer in Hemoglobin Research", Texas State Historical Association, August 28, 2024. Accessed May 31, 2026. "Rose Grundfest attended Barnard College (an affiliate of Columbia University) and earned a bachelor of arts degree. After she graduated in 1929, the Great Depression prevented her from pursuing a master’s degree." Anna Schwartz (1933), economist Megumi Yamaguchi Shinoda (1908), first Asian American woman to graduate from Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and one of the first women of Japanese ancestry in the United States to receive a Doctor of Medicine degree Shuly Rubin Schwartz (1988), first female chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America Anne A. Scitovsky (1937), health economist, former member of the President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research Susan C. Scrimshaw (1967), medical anthropologist, former president of Simmons University and The Sage Colleges Samah Selim (1986), professor of Arabic literature at Rutgers University Louise Slade (1968), food scientist Vivian Sobchack (1961), cultural critic Maya Soetoro-Ng (1993), educator; half-sister of President Barack Obama Emma Dietz Stecher (1925), organic chemist and Barnard College professor Judith E. Stein (1965), art historian and curator Barbara J. Stoll (1971), former dean of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Barbara Lerner Spectre (1964), academic and scholar on Jewish studies Amy Sueyoshi (1993), historian and academic Susan Rubin Suleiman (1960), professor of French literature at Harvard University Hessy Levinsons Taft (1955), chemistry professor at St. John's University in New York Abigail Thernstrom (1958), political scientist and conservative scholar on race relations, voting rights and education who served on the United States Commission on Civil Rights Erin L. Thompson (2002), professor of art at John Jay College of Criminal Justice Judith Jarvis Thomson (1950), philosopher and professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology Merryl Tisch (1977), educator, chancellor, New York State Board of Regents; wife of James S. Tisch, heir to the Loews Corporation Nim Tottenham (1996), professor of psychology at Columbia University Jessie Ann Owens (1971), professor of music at University of California, Davis Diane E. Pataki (1993), professor at the University of Utah and recipient of the James B. Macelwane Medal in 2008 Lila Wallis (1947), physician, former president of the American Medical Women's Association and pioneer in women's health