Here follows a list of notable alumni and faculty of Brandeis University.

Notable alumni

Academia Eve Adler, Classicist, professor at Middlebury College Amnon Albeck, Chemist, professor and University's Vice-Rector at Bar-Ilan University Frederick Alt, Geneticist at Harvard Medical School and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. Arjun Appadurai, Anthropologist and editor of Public Culture Elliot Aronson, Social psychologist known for research on the theory of cognitive dissonance Seyla Benhabib, Professor of political science and philosophy at Yale University Bonnie Berger, Professor of applied mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Steven L. Berk, Professor of medicine at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Ilan Berman, Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council David Bernstein, Law professor and bloggerDavid E. Bernstein's Home Page Ruth Ben-Ghiat, History professor, New York University Deborah Bial, Education strategist, Founder and President of Posse Foundation, MacArthur Fellow Richard Burgin, Professor, fiction writer, critic, founder and editor of Boulevard literary magazine Alexandra Chasin, Writer, Mellon Chair in Humanities with The Bard Prison Initiative Nancy Chodorow, Feminist sociologist and psychoanalyst Arthur L.Caplan, Professor of Bioethics Angela Davis, Political activist, academic and author Donna Robinson Divine, Professor at Smith College Jean Bethke Elshtain, Professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School, feminist, political philosopher Daniel A. Foss, Sociologist Perry A. Frey, Professor of biochemistry at University of Wisconsin–Madison Robert Gallucci, President of the MacArthur Foundation Sherwood Gorbach, Emeritus Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine Herbert Gross, Professor of Mathematics, Bunker Hill Community College, Corning Community College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Evelyn Fox Keller, Historian and philosopher of science, MacArthur Fellow 1992 David Kertzer, Anthropologist at Brown University; Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Pope and Mussolini Barak Kushner, Professor of East Asian History at the University of Cambridge Yanna Krupnikov, Political scientist Deborah Lipstadt, History professor, Emory University George Loewenstein, Professor of Economics and Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University Roderick MacKinnon, Professor at Rockefeller University, Nobel Prize in Chemistry Fatema Mernissi, Moroccan sociologist Joseph S. Murphy, President of Queens College, president of Bennington College, and Chancellor of the City University of New York Elisa New, Professor, Harvard University, wife of Lawrence Summers, former President of Harvard University David Oshinsky, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, professor Alicia Ostriker, Poet, professor at Rutgers University John A. Pojman, Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemistry at Louisiana State University. Lawrence Rosen, Anthropologist and law professor Philip Rubin, Cognitive scientist, CEO Emeritus, Haskins Laboratories Paul Sally, Professor of mathematics, University of Chicago Michael Sandel, Professor of political philosophy, Harvard University and former member of The President's Council on Bioethics Lawrence Schiffman, Historian of ancient Judaism and Vice-Provost at Yeshiva University Joan Wallach Scott, Historian of France and pioneer in the field of gender history Milette Shamir, Israeli scholar of American literature and vice president of Tel Aviv University Judith Shapiro, Former president, Barnard College Elaine Showalter, Literary critic Lawrence Solan, Professor of law at Brooklyn Law School Hortense Spillers, Literary critic, Black feminist scholar and professor at Vanderbilt University Maurice R. Stein, Founding dean of the School of Critical Studies at the California Institute of the Arts, and a professor of sociology at Brandeis University Alan Taylor, Pulitzer-Prize-winning historian, professor at UC Davis Fernando Torres-Gil, Associate Dean and professor of public policy, UCLA School of Public Affairs Paul Townsend, Physicist, notable for work on String Theory Karen Uhlenbeck, Mathematics professor, MacArthur Fellow, awarded Leroy P. Steele Prize for research, first woman to win the Abel Prize. Judith G. Voet, Professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Swarthmore College, author of biochemistry textbooks Theo Wallimann, Professor, Biochemist/Cell Biologist at ETH Zurich Michael Walzer, Professor of social science at the Institute for Advanced Study Edward Witten, Physicist, awarded Fields Medal in 1990 Rich Yampell, Grammarian, Klingon Language Institute David B. Yoffie, Professor of International Business Administration at Harvard Business School Julian E. Zelizer, Professor of American political history at Princeton University Robert J. Zimmer, Former president, University of Chicago

Arts and media Kathy Acker, Novelist Mitch Albom, Sports columnist for the Detroit Free Press, author of Tuesdays With Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven Paula Apsell, Executive Producer of Nova, the longest-running science documentary series and winner of eight Emmy Awards Ross Bauer, composer Stanley Bing (aka Gil Schwartz), Author, columnist for Fortune and Esquire; Executive Vice President of CBS Corporation Dan Blum, Novelist Elizabeth Bruenig, Opinion writer for The Atlantic David Brudnoy, Talk radio host in Boston Samrat Chakrabarti, British-American actor Peter Child, Composer Joe Conason, Political columnist for The New York Observer David Crane, Co-creator, writer, and executive producer of television series Friends Steven Culp, Actor Tyne Daly, Actress, co-starred in TV series Cagney & Lacey Stuart Damon (Stuart Michael Zonis), Actor, played Dr. Alan Quartermaine for thirty years on the TV soap opera General Hospital Loretta Devine, Actress in TV series Boston Public and Grey's Anatomy, and films, including Crash Josh Dibb (aka Deakin), Musician, member of Animal Collective Alan Ehrenhalt, Senior editor of Governing, contributing writer to The New York Times Thomas Friedman, Foreign affairs columnist for The New York Times; winner of the National Book Award and three Pulitzer Prizes Lindsay Gardner, Media executive Gary David Goldberg, Television writer and producer Tony Goldwyn, Actor and director Karen Lynn Gorney, Actress Alexander Gould, Actor known for roles in Finding Nemo and Weeds Debra Granik, Film director and screenwriter Mark Halliday, Poet Marshall Herskovitz, TV and film producer, director and screenwriter Dan Hirschhorn, Political journalist, editor-in-chief at Quartz Kay Hymowitz, Conservative commentator, Manhattan Institute scholar Chuck Israels, Jazz musician, bassist Margo Jefferson, The New York Times theater critic, winner of Pulitzer Prize for Criticism Ha Jin, Novelist,Interviews (Page 1) - Powell's Books winner of the 2000 PEN/Faulkner Award Michael Kaiser, Former president, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Myq Kaplan, Comedian Marta Kauffman, Executive Producer and co-creator of the Emmy Award-winning television series Friends Jesse Kellerman, Novelist and playwright, son of novelists Jonathan Kellerman and Faye Kellerman Arghavan Khosravi, painter, sculptor and illustrator, attended the postbaccalaureate program in 2015. Jon Landau, Music critic, manager and record producer Susan B. Landau, Film and television producer (Cool Runnings, Mary and Rhoda) Louise Lasser, Actress, ex-wife of Woody Allen Abby Leigh, Artist Mark Leyner, Postmodern novelist Peter Lieberson, Composer Charlene Liu, Artist Steven Mackey, Composer Michael McDowell, Novelist and script writer Gates McFadden, Actress, best known as Dr. Beverly Crusher on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation Kathleen McInerney, Voice actress, Ash Ketchum seasons 1–8 on Pokémon Debra Messing, Actress in television series Will & Grace and The Starter WifeDebra Messing Biography - TV.com Walter Mossberg, Wall Street Journal technology columnist Josh Mostel, Actor, son of actor Zero Mostel Susana Naidich, Argentine singer Barry Newman, Actor Marc Tyler Nobleman, Author Anand Patwardhan, Documentary filmmaker Martin Peretz, Editor-in-chief of The New Republic Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Author, journalist, social activist, a founding editor of Ms. magazine Patrik-Ian Polk, Writer-producer of Noah's Arc Deborah Porter, Critic, non-profit director, founder of the Boston Book Festival Tom Rapp, Singer/songwriter, previously of Pearls Before Swine Guy Raz, Host of National Public Radio's All Things Considered Theresa Rebeck, Playwright and novelist Nancy Richler, Novelist Nathan J. Robinson, Columnist and founding editor of Current Affairs Rosemary Rodriguez, film and TV director including of The Good Wife and Jessica Jones Harilyn Rousso, artist, psychotherapist, and disabled rights activist Jeff Rubens, Bridge player, writer and editor Richard Rubin, Actor, television personality, and reality star of Beauty and the Geek David Ian Salter, Film editor of Toy Story 2 and Finding Nemo Amelia Schimmel, Public Address Announcer for the Athletics, Bay FC and San Jose Barracuda Bill Schneider, CNN's senior political analyst Bob Simon, CBS television correspondent for 60 Minutes Arunoday Singh, Bollywood actor; grandson of Indian politician Arjun Singh Sunny Singh, Writer Daniel Smith, Writer Laura J. Snyder, Historian, philosopher, and author Paul Solman, Journalist for PBS Christina Hoff Sommers, Author, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute Karen Sosnoski, Author and filmmaker Michael Sugar, Film and TV producer/Oscar winner for Spotlight Gary Tinterow Art historian and curator Eric Tuchman Emmy Award-winning showrunner of The Handmaid's Tale Jonathan Vankin, Senior Editor, Vertigo Comics Robin Weigert, Actress, played Calamity Jane in Deadwood on HBO Adam D. Weinberg, Director of Whitney Museum of American Art Eliza Wyatt, Playwright, author, and sculptor

Business Leonard Asper, Chief Operating Officer, CanWest Mitch Caplan, Former president and CEO, E*Trade Financial Corporation Christie Hefner, Former Chairman & CEO, Playboy Enterprises, Inc., daughter of Hugh Hefner Brian Hirsch, venture capitalist Myra Hiatt Kraft, Philanthropist and late wife of Bob Kraft, owner of New England Patriots NFL football team Suk-Won Kim, Chair of SsangYong Business Group, one of the largest companies in the Republic of Korea Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson, Executive Vice President of Time Warner, former CEO and president of Sony Interactive Entertainment, responsible for the introduction of PlayStation Bobby Sager, Philanthropist, photographer, former president of Gordon Brothers Group Robert F.X. Sillerman, Media entrepreneur; CEO of CKX, Inc. (owner of Elvis Presley Enterprises and American Idol) Donald Soffer, Real estate professional and a developer of Aventura, Florida. Louise Sunshine, Real estate professional and founder of the Sunshine Group Scott A. Travers, Noted numismatist and author. Ellis Verdi, Advertising executive and co-founder of the DeVito/Verdi advertising agency

Government, law, politics and non-profits Jack Abramoff, Republican activist; founder, International Freedom Foundation, former lobbyist (convicted of mail fraud, conspiracy to bribe public officials, and tax evasion) Donna Arzt, Human rights attorney, law professor Françoise Blime-Dutertre, French philosopher Sidney Blumenthal, Adviser to President Bill Clinton and journalistForbes.com Naomi Reice Buchwald, United States District Court Judge, Southern District of New York Devin Carney, Connecticut State Representative Jennifer Casolo, Peace activist Bernard Coard, Grenadian politician who led the coup that ousted Maurice Bishop Ruth Deech, Baroness Deech, Member of the House of Lords, UK