This page lists notable alumni and former students, faculty, and administrators of the College of Wooster.
Alumni
Academia Karl Taylor Compton, Philosophy (1908), president of MIT 1930–1948; member of the National Academy of Sciences Wayne A. Cornelius, Political Science (1967), founder of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at the University of California, San Diego Fred Eastman, B.A. (1908), theologist, professor, playwright, author, and journalist; chair of dept. of religious drama and literature at Chicago Theological Seminary (1926–1952)Marquise-Who's Who, Inc. (1989). Who's Who in America With World Notables, Vol. IX 1985-1989. St. Louis: The Von Hoffman Press. p. 275. ."Fred Eastman Services Set; Noted Teacher; Headed Department at Seminary". Chicago Tribune. April 6, 1963. Sec. 2A, p. 12. Retrieved October 1, 2024. Frederick Hinitt, Doctor of Divinity (1902), Presbyterian pastor; president of Centre College and Washington & Jefferson College Isaac C. Ketler, Presbyterian scholar, founder of Grove City College Kimberly Bracken Long, B. Mus. (1981), Presbyterian pastor; writer; associate professor of Worship at Columbia Theological Seminary Shannon Boyd-Bailey McCune (1935), geographer and university administrator; president of the University of Florida and the University of Vermont Merton M. Sealts, Jr., English (1937), Emerson and Melville scholar Ronald Takaki, History (1961), historian, ethnographer, professor of ethnic studies at the University of California, Berkeley J. Campbell White, president of Wooster, 1915–1919 Wendell L. Wylie, orthodontist Courtney Young, English (1996), librarian and past president of the American Library Association, 2014–2015 Nancy Zahniser, pharmacologist
Business Victor J. Andrew, Physics (1926), founder of Andrew Corporation. George Fitch, Economics (1970), politician and business consultant; co-founder of the Jamaican bobsled team, which debuted at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta Stanley Gault, Geology (1948), former CEO of Rubbermaid and Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company Charles F. Kettering, inventor of electric automobile starter motor; vice president of General Motors Research Corporation; namesake of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; attended but did not graduate Blake Moore, History (1980), NFL lineman for the Cincinnati Bengals and Green Bay Packers; CEO of Allianz Global Investors R.J. Thomas, president of the United Auto Workers Bill Townsend, Art (1986), Internet entrepreneur, politician, founder and chairman of the Amati Foundation
Education Margaret Lee Chadwick, founder and headmistress of the Chadwick School, and author
Government W. Thomas Andrews (1963), Pennsylvania state senator John Carwile, U.S. ambassador to Latvia (2019–present) Ted Celeste, member of the Ohio House of Representatives John Dean, Political Science (1961), White House counsel (1970–1973) to President Richard Nixon Eugene A. DePasquale, Political Science (1993), Pennsylvania auditor general David Dudley Dowd Jr. (1951), United States federal judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio Charlie Earl, former Ohio state representative; candidate in the 2014 Ohio gubernatorial election Mark F. Giuliano, deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Donald Kohn, Economics (1964), vice chairman of the Board of Governors of the United States Federal Reserve Ping-Wen Kuo (1911), Chinese educator and statesman William Moore McCulloch, chair of the United States House Committee on the Judiciary, forced Civil Rights Act of 1964 through Congress John McSweeney (1912), member of the United States House of Representatives John T. Morrison (1887), sixth governor of Idaho, 1903–1905 Norman Morrison, Religion (1956), pacifist, Vietnam War protester Solomon Oliver Jr., Philosophy and Political Science (1969), U.S. District Court chief judge for the Northern District of Ohio Carl V. Weygandt (1912), chief justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio
Journalism Vince Cellini, Speech (1981), host of The Golf Channel; former anchor for CNN Sports Robert X. Cringely, real name Mark Stephens, History (1975), technology journalist for Public Broadcasting Service Alfred William Edel, History (1957), news anchor for ABC Radio News and Voice of America Daniel Howes, History (1983), business columnist for The Detroit News Mary Sifton Pepper (1883), journalist and translator on The Jesuit Relations
Literature Debra Allbery, English (1979), poet (Walking Distance), winner of the 1990 Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize Frederic Lauriston Bullard (1891), Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the Boston Herald; Lincoln historian; writer (Famous War Correspondents) Mary Crow, English (1955), Poet Laureate of Colorado Stephen R. Donaldson, English (1968), New York Times bestselling science fiction author (Thomas Covenant) John Lawrence Goheen (1906), missionary, agriculturist, writer (Glimpses of Ichalkaranji) David Means, English (1984), short story writer (Assorted Fire Events), winner of 2000 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction
Performing arts James B. Allardice, Emmy Award-winning television writer Caitlin Cary, English (1990), alt-country musician, member of the band Whiskeytown J.C. Chandor, Cultural Film Studies (1996), film director Darius Scott Dixson (DIXSON), Academy Award-nominated songwriter and music producer, "Be Alive", contestant on The Voice Divya Gopikumar, Psychology (2008), South Indian actress Duncan Jones (aka Zowie Bowie or Joey Bowie), Philosophy (1995), British film director of Moon and Source Code; son of rock musician David Bowie Debi Smith, Psychology (1976), folk singer/songwriter and member of the Four Bitchin' Babes
Religion Elizabeth Eaton, Music Education (1977), Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) 2013–present Sophia Lyon Fahs (1897), honorary degree (1961), writer, liberal religious activist, and educator
Science Martha Chase (1950), geneticist; performed the Hershey–Chase experiment in 1952, proving that genetic information is transmitted by DNA and not protein. Arthur Holly Compton, Physics (1913), Nobel Prize-winning physicist; member of the National Academy of Sciences; Chancellor of Washington University 1945–1953 Helen Murray Free, Chemistry (1945), elected president of the American Chemical Society in 1993; inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2000 Elizebeth Friedman, America's first female cryptologist; attended briefly but transferred elsewhere George E. Goodfellow (1876), physician, authority on gunshot wounds, first surgeon to perform a perineal prostatectomy Tim McCreight, Art (1973), artist and metalsmith; president of the Society of North American Goldsmiths (1993–1994) James V. Neel, Biology (1935), Distinguished Professor of Human Genetics University of Michigan; Albert Lasker Award winner, National Medal of Science winner, National Academy of Sciences member; "father of modern human genetics" Stephen J. Page (1993), biomedical researcher, author, clinician, academic, and expert on motor recovery and care after stroke James C. Stevens, Chemistry (1975), Distinguished Fellow at Dow Chemical; inventor of constrained geometry catalyst for polyolefin manufacture; member of the National Academy of Engineering George W. Thorn, Biology (1927), chief of Medicine, Bringham & Woman's Hospital Harvard University; NAS Public Welfare Medal winner; chairman emeritus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute John Travis, Chemistry (1965), preventive medicine physician, founder of first wellness center in US Emily A. Buchholtz, Paleontology, vertebrate paleontologist
Sports Charles Follis (1902*), first black professional football player; played for a team in the Ohio League (which later became the NFL) Reggie Minton, Physical Education (1963), deputy executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches; head basketball coach United States Air Force Academy (1985–2000) Lamont Paris, (1996), basketball coach; head coach of University of South Carolina and the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga Kyle Rooker, (2000), linebacker for Wooster 1997–2000, currently the head coach for the North Park Vikings football team since 2019. Larry Shyatt, Physical Education (1973), basketball coach; head coach of Clemson University and the University of Wyoming; assistant coach of the Dallas Mavericks (2016–2019)
Faculty and administrators Daniel Bourne, poet, professor of English Joanne Frye, writer, professor of English and Women's Studies Jack Gallagher, composer, Olive Williams Kettering Professor of Music William Gass, novelist (The Tunnel), professor of philosophy and English R. Stanton Hales, president of Wooster (1995–2007), national US badminton champion Dario Hunter, rabbi Jack Lengyel, head football coach and lacrosse coach 1966–1970; head football coach at Marshall University 1971–1974 Hayden Schilling, professor of history Orange Nash Stoddard, professor of natural history Anthony Tognazzini, writer, professor of Creative Writing Charles F. Wishart, president of Wooster (1921–1944) Susanne Woods, president-elect of Wooster (1995) Josephine Wright, musicologist, Josephine Lincoln Morris Professor of Black Studies
References