Here follows a list of notable people associated with Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. This list includes the college's notable alumni, organized by their fields of endeavor, in addition to notable members of its faculty and a complete chronological list of the presidents of the college.
Distinguished graduates
Academia
Name Occupation Class yearC. Lawrence Evans Newton Family Professor of Government at William & Mary and former chair of the Legislative Studies Section of the American Political Science Association 1980John Allen Gable Executive director of the Theodore Roosevelt Association from 1974 to his death in February 2005; considered the world's leading authority on Theodore Roosevelt 1965Amos N. Guiora Professor of law at University of Utah and Israel Defense Forces Judge Advocate General's Corps (lt. col. ret.) 1979 Constantinos Patrides Professor of English Literature, University of Michigan 1952Aaron PerzanowskiThomas W. Lacchia Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School2001
Activism Name Occupation Class yearRon Link Former fire fighter and actor (patient advocate)Leopoldo LópezVenezuelan politician in Opposition to Chávez and Maduro1993
Business Name Occupation Class yearArjav Ezekiel Restaurateur and sommelierHugh ForrestMedia executive, co-CEO, SXSW1984
Law Name Occupation Class year James G. Carr Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio 1962 David Davis Senator, Supreme Court Justice 1832 James Gwin Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio 1976 Thomas Stanley Matthews Senator, Supreme Court justice 1840 Paul Niemeyer Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit 1962 Kathleen M. O'Malley Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio 1979 William Rehnquist Chief justice, Supreme Court of the United States (attended) Augustus J. Ricks Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio (attended) William F. Turner First chief justice of the Territory of Arizona 1842
History, literature, and journalism Name Occupation Class year Jim Bellows Journalist, newspaper editor 1947 Jenna Blum Writer 1992 Scott Carney Investigative journalist 2000 Caleb Carr Novelist, military historian 1977 Jay Cocks Film critic, Academy Award-nominated screenwriter 1966 Stephanie Danler Novelist 2006 E. L. Doctorow Novelist, cultural critic 1952 William Gass Writer, winner of the American Book Award 1947 David Goodwillie Novelist 1994 John Green Author; winner of Michael L. Printz Award for Looking for Alaska 2000 Saskia Hamilton Poet 1989 John Hattendorf Maritime historian 1964 Anthony Hecht Poet Laura Hillenbrand Writer, author of Seabiscuit: An American Legend (attended) Scott Kenemore Writer 2000 P. F. Kluge Writer 1964 Sarah Longwell Founder and publisher of The Bulwark 2002 Robert Lowell Poet; two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize; Poet Laureate 1947–1948 1940 Robie Macauley Writer, editor of Playboy 1941 Greg Melville Writer, journalist 1992 Robert Mezey Writer (attended) Alexa O'Brien Journalist, activist Riley Redgate Writer 2016 Ransom Riggs Writer 2001 Peter Taylor Writer, winner of Pulitzer Prize 1940 Daniel Torday Writer 2000 Fred Waitzkin Writer 1965 Andrew Welsh-Huggins Journalist, author Rachel DeLoache Williams Writer 2010 Matthew Winkler Co-founder and former editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News 1977 James Wright Poet, winner of Pulitzer Prize 1952
Military Name Occupation Class year Ralph P. Buckland Brigadier general, Union Army, during the Civil War John G. Mitchell Brigadier general, Union Army, during the Civil War 1859
Performing arts Name Occupation Class yearKnud AdamsDirector2009 Nick Bakay Actor, comedian 1981 Annie Blackman Musician 2020 Adam Davidson Academy Award-winning director 1986 Frank Dicopoulos Actor 1979Chris Eigeman Actor 1987 Allison Janney Actress, seven-time Emmy Award and Academy Award winner 1982 Wendy MacLeod Playwright, screenwriter 1981 Amy Malkoff Recording artist1988 Paul Newman Actor, Emmy Award and Academy Award winner 1949 Kris Osborn CNN anchor 1992 Alfred Humphreys Pease Composer Nicholas Petricca Lead singer of Walk The Moon2009 Josh Radnor Actor and filmmaker 1996 Justin Roberts Children's musician 1992 Jonathan Winters Actor and comedian (attended) Damian Young Actor 1983
Philanthropy Name Occupation Class year Kevin O'Donnell Director of the U.S. Peace Corps 1947
Politics Name Occupation Class year Bridget A. Brink U.S. ambassador to Slovakia (2019–2022) and Ukraine (2022–2025) Tricia ShimamuraCommissioner of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (2026-)2011 Sally Cluchey Maine state senator 2008 David Davis Senator, Supreme Court justice 1832 Henry Winter Davis US congressman for Maryland's 3rd and 4th district 1837Lizzie Pannill FletcherUS congresswoman for Texas' 7th district, 2019–present1997Dan Frankel Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1999–present1978 Barry Goode California judge, former legal officer for California Gov. Gray Davis 1969 Bill Harsha Member of the United States House of Representatives, 1961–1981 1943 Rutherford B. Hayes President of the United States 1842 Thomas Stanley Matthews Senator, Supreme Court justice 1840 Anthony Banning Norton Publisher of newspapers in Ohio and Texas, Know Nothing Texas state representative 1840 Olof Palme Prime Minister of Sweden 1948 Diana SchaubPresident's Council on Bioethics; professor of Political Science at Loyola University, Maryland John W. Snow Secretary of the Treasury (attended) Zack Space Congressman, Ohio Congressional District 18 1983 Edwin Stanton Secretary of War during the Lincoln administration 1834 Peter Stautberg Member of Ohio House of Representatives 1993 Evan B. Stotsenburg President pro tempore of the Indiana Senate, Indiana attorney general Tommy Vietor National security spokesman for Barack Obama 2002
Religion Name Occupation Class year Rev. James P. deWolfe Fourth Episcopal bishop of Long Island, 1942–1966; charter member of the Sigma Pi fraternity's Lambda chapter at Kenyon, Pgs. 268-269 1917 Rev. William Crane Gray First Episcopal bishop of Southern Florida, 1893–1913 1859 Rev. S. Arthur Huston Episcopal bishop of Olympia, 1925–1944 1900 Rev. Arthur C. Lichtenberger 21st presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church; in 1961 he became the first Episcopal leader to meet with a pope; posthumously received the Founders Award from Sigma Pi fraternity in 2010, Pg. 144 1923 Rev. Donald MacAdie Suffragan bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, 1958–1963 1922 Rev. Arthur R. McKinstryFormer Episcopal bishop of Delaware; 1948 Lambeth Conference attendee; officiated the marriage of Lyndon B. Johnson to Lady Bird Johnson; charter member of the Sigma Pi fraternity's Lambda chapter at Kenyon, Pg. 182 Ph.B., 1918 and M.A., 1920 Rev. Philip McNairy Episcopal bishop of Minnesota, 1971–1977 1932 Rev. Joseph Schereschewsky Anglican bishop of Shanghai, China, 1877–1884 Rev. George R. Selway Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan, 1964–1972 1929 Rev. William E. Swing Episcopal bishop of California, 1980–2006 1958 Rev. Charles D. Williams Fourth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan, 1906–1915 1883/4
Sciences Name Occupation Class year Carl Djerassi Creator of the birth control pill; winner of the National Medal of Science 1943 Rolla Dyer Developer of the typhus vaccine; director of the National Institutes of Health 1907 Harvey Lodish Professor, co-founder of Genzyme Corporation 1962
Sports Name Occupation Class year Chris Creighton Football coach, Eastern Michigan University 1990 Don McNeill Tennis player 1940 John Rinka Basketball player and coach 1970 Shaka Smart Men's basketball head coach, Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Texas at Austin, Marquette University 1999 Bill Veeck MLB owner and baseball player (attended)
Visual arts Name Occupation Class year Carl Andre Artist (attended) Claire Beckett Photographer Jim Borgman Cartoonist, known for Zits 1976 Meg Cranston Artist 1982 Eric Gaskins Fashion designer Graham Gund Architect 1963 David Horvitz Artist C. Cameron Macauley Photographer and film producer 1949 Jonathan Mannion Photographer and director 1993 Coles Phillips Artist 1904 Bill Watterson Cartoonist, known for Calvin and Hobbes 1980 Victoria Wyatt Art
Notable faculty members Virgil Aldrich, Philosophy Chauncey Colton, Homiletics Katherine Elkins, integrated program for Human Studies Robert O. Fink, Classics Bruce Haywood, German; provost Judy Holdener, Mathematics Jed Hoyer, Kenyon baseball coach; executive vice president and general manager, Chicago Cubs Lewis Hyde, English Randall Jarrell, English P. F. Kluge, English Perry Lentz, English Robie Macauley, English Wendy MacLeod, Theater George E. McCarthy, Sociology Otto Nikodym, Mathematics Paul Radin, Anthropology John Crowe Ransom, English Charles Ritcheson, History Richard G. Salomon, History Benjamin Schumacher, Physics Carol Schumacher, Mathematics Joan Slonczewski, Biology Anna Sun, Sociology, Asian Studies Denham Sutcliffe, English Allen Tate, English
Visiting faculty John Kinsella, English Claire Messud, English Barry Unsworth, English Katharine Weber, English James Wood, English
Presidents of the college
Philander Chase (1825–1831) Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1832–1840) David Bates Douglass (1840–1844) Samuel Fuller (acting, 1844–1845) Sherlock A. Bronson (1845–1850) Thomas M. Smith (1850–1854) Lorin Andrews (1854–1861) Benjamin L. Lang (acting, 1861–1863) Charles Short (1863–1867) James Kent Stone (1867–1868) Eli Todd Tappan (1868–1875) Edward C. Benson (acting, 1875–1876) William B. Bodine (1876–1891) Theodore Sterling (1891–1896) William Foster Peirce (1896–1937) Gordon Keith Chalmers (1937–1956) Frank E. Bailey (acting, 1956–1957) F. Edward Lund (1957–1968) William G. Caples (1968–1975) Philip H. Jordan Jr. (1975–1995) Reed S. Browning (acting, 1989) Robert A. Oden Jr. (1995–2002) Ronald A. Sharp (acting, 2002–2003) S. Georgia Nugent (2003–2013) Sean M. Decatur (2013–2022) Jeff Bowman (acting, 2022–2023) Julie Kornfeld (2023–)
References