The following is a list of notable alumni of Cranbrook Kingswood School and its predecessors, Cranbrook School for Boys and Kingswood School for Girls.
1930s William Talman (1932), actor Florence Knoll (1934), designer; former head of Knoll Bob Bemer (1936), computer pioneer; co-inventor of ASCII; named COBOL William Henry Scott (1939), historian
1940s Natalie Zemon Davis (1945), historian Barbara Lea (1947), singer Daniel Ellsberg (1948), leaker of the Pentagon Papers
1950s Alan K. Simpson (1950), U.S. senator (R-Wyoming), 1979–1997 Ward Just (1953), author Ivan Boesky (Class of 1955 but left prior to senior year), arbitrageur; convicted felon; an inspiration for character Gordon Gekko in the film Wall Street Pete Dawkins (1955), Heisman Trophy winner, Rhodes Scholar; former Army Brigadier General; former Vice Chairman of Citigroup Private Bank Martha Henry (1955), American-Canadian actress Thomas McGuane (1958), writer, essayist Edmund White (1958), author Raymond Sokolov (1959), journalist
1960s Joel E. Cohen (1961), mathematical biologist Tod Williams (1961), architect Michael Barone (1962), pundit and political commentator Charles Bigelow (1963), type designer; former professor of digital typography at Stanford University; co-designer of Lucida family of typefaces Taro Yamasaki (1964), Pulitzer Prize winner for photojournalism Mitt Romney (1965), U.S. senator from Utah; former governor of Massachusetts; Republican Party nominee for president of the United States in 2012 Mary Fisher (1966), founder of Family AIDS Network; speaker at the 1992 Republican National Convention; daughter of businessman and philanthropist Max Fisher Ann Romney (1967), wife of Mitt Romney (1965) Cynthia Grissom Efird (1967), U.S. ambassador to Angola 2004–2007 Reed Slatkin (1967), co-founder of EarthLink; convicted felon Bing Gordon (1968), chief creative officer, Electronic Arts Michael Kinsley (1968), journalist; commentator; founder of Slate; former editorial page editor of the Los Angeles Times Sven Birkerts (1969), author
1970s Kathryn Kolbert (1970), civil rights lawyer; former president of People For the American Way Brad Leithauser (1971), author Henry Tang (1971), former Chief Secretary for Administration of Hong Kong Scott McNealy (1972), CEO of Sun Microsystems Kenneth Dart (1972), venture capitalist, investor; co-owner of Dart Container Lisa Frank (1972), founder of Lisa Frank Inc. Dey Young (1973), actress Michael Eric Dyson (Class of 1976 but left after 2 years; did not graduate), author and radio host Dan Dickerson (1976), radio play-by-play announcer for the Detroit Tigers Bill Prady (1977), television writer and producer (The Muppets, Dharma & Greg, The Big Bang Theory) Jennifer Clement (1978), writer and president of PEN International Douglas Sills (1978), actor David Trott (1978), U.S. representative for Michigan's 11th congressional district 2015–2019 Amy Denio (1979), musician Bob Woodruff (1979), co-anchor of ABC World News Tonight
1980s Rob Edwards (1981), television and feature film screenwriter and producer Robbie Buhl (1982), racecar driver Tim Westergren (1984), founder of Pandora Radio; included in TIME magazine's 2010 list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World Eric Fanning (class of 1986, left prior to graduation), 22nd Secretary of the Army Brad Keywell (1987), managing partner and co-founder of Lightbank; co-founder and director of Groupon, Mediaocean, and Echo Global Logistics Ronald Machen (1987), United States attorney for the District of Columbia Jay Adelson (1988), former CEO of Digg Glenn Kessler (1988), screenwriter and television producer (Damages) Alexi Lalas (1988), professional soccer player; played in the 1992 Summer Olympics and 1994 World Cup; National Soccer Hall of Fame Renée Elise Goldsberry (1989), actress (Hamilton; Ally McBeal) Ari Schwartz (1989), former senior director for Cybersecurity on the United States National Security Council Staff at the White House
1990s Elizabeth Berkley (Class of 1990 but left prior to senior year), actress Selma Blair (1990), actress Todd A. Kessler (1990), screenwriter, television producer, and director Rafał Trzaskowski (1991), mayor of Warsaw, Poland https://schools.cranbrook.edu/news-detail?pk=1343273 Elissa Slotkin (1994), politician and former CIA analyst serving as the U.S. senator from Michigan since 2025 Jaime Ray Newman (1996), actress Jay Penske (Class of 1997, left prior to senior year), media and publishing entrepreneur; owner of WWD, Fairchild Publications, Variety Magazine, and other media brands
2000s Jamie Hodari (2000), co-founder and CEO of Industrious Ivan Krstić (2004), IT security engineer Casey Wellman (2006), professional hockey player (NHL) Andrew Miller (2007), professional hockey player (NHL)
2010s Patrick Brown (2010), professional hockey player (NHL) Chase Sui Wonders (2014), actress
References