The following is a list of notable alumni of Groton School.
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Note on sources The first official school history, Frank D. Ashburn's Fifty Years On: Groton School, 1884–1934 (1934) (hereafter "Ashburn"), provides a complete list of Groton alumni (including students who did not graduate) through 1934, as well as a non-exhaustive list of some of the more notable alumni. Ashburn's companion book Peabody of Groton (2d ed. 1967) provides a more extensive list of notable alumni but does not provide the years of their graduation. Where possible, graduation dates for names listed solely in Peabody of Groton have been cross-referenced with the list of graduates in Fifty Years On; otherwise, a question mark has been placed next to the presumptive graduation year (that is, four years before the individual graduated from college).
The second official school history, Acosta Nichols' Forty Years More: A History of Groton School, 1934–1974, does not contain a list of famous alumni, but it does contain a list of trustees, alumni association presidents, and summa cum laude graduates, some of which became famous in their own right.
The school also awards "Distinguished Grotonian" and "Cui Servire" prizes and maintains an Athletic Hall of Fame; the web pages for these awards include the graduation years for other (generally more recent) alumni.
Faculty
Andy Anderson (1980–present), 1986 & 1987 world champion in lightweight women's fours (coach); member of the National Rowing Hall of Fame Julian Coolidge (1897–1900), professor of mathematics at Harvard University Grafton D. Cushing (1888–89, 1892–1906), lieutenant governor of Massachusetts J. Clark Grew II (1967–69), Episcopal bishop of Ohio Danielle Tumminio Hansen (2015–16), professor of theology at Emory University Henry Clay Hodges Jr. (1892–94), United States Army major general (39th Infantry Division during World War I) John Hoyt (1927–29), actor Celene Ibrahim (2019–present), Islamic scholar Richard J. Kerry (1944–45), diplomat; father of John Kerry Henry Goddard Leach (1903–05), professor of Scandinavian civilization at the University of Kansas Temba Maqubela (2013–present), headmaster Theodor E. Mommsen (1942–46), professor of medieval history at Cornell University Lawrence M. Noble (1932–66), hockey player Remsen B. Ogilby (1902–04), president of Trinity College, Hartford Endicott Peabody (1884–1940), founder and headmaster George W. Rickey (1930–33), sculptor L. Hugh Sackett (1955–61, 1963–2018), archaeologist Ellery Sedgwick '90 (1894–96), editor-in-chief of the Atlantic Monthly Charles L. Slattery (1894–96), Episcopal bishop of Massachusetts William Greenough Thayer (1886–87, 1889–94), headmaster of St. Mark's School Timothy L. Towell (1961–63), U.S. ambassador to Paraguay Arthur H. Woods (1893–1909), New York City police commissioner
A David C. Acheson (1939), United States attorney for the District of Columbia Dean Acheson (1911), United States secretary of state; winner of the 1970 Pulitzer Prize for History J. Thayer Addison Jr. (1905), vice president of the National Council of the Episcopal Church; professor at Episcopal Theological School Frederick Lewis Allen (1908), editor-in-chief of Harper's; author of Only Yesterday Joseph Wright Alsop IV (1894), politician and insurance executive Joseph Wright Alsop V (1928), newspaper columnist Stewart Alsop (1932), newspaper columnist Ayi Kwei Armah (1960), writer Hugh Auchincloss (1967), immunologist; former acting director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Hugh D. Auchincloss (1916), stockbroker and lawyer James C. Auchincloss (1904), United States congressman from New Jersey Louis Auchincloss (1935), author, winner of the National Medal of Arts
B Stanton Babcock (1922), United States Army major general (VIII Corps; 2d Armored Division) Gaspar G. Bacon (1904), lieutenant governor of Massachusetts Robert L. Bacon (1903), United States congressman from New York C. Tracy Barnes (1929), CIA officer; helped plan the Bay of Pigs invasion Francis M. Bator (1943?), deputy United States National Security Advisor; professor of political economy at Harvard Kennedy School Paul M. Bator (1947?), deputy United States solicitor general; professor at Harvard Law School and the University of Chicago Law School Donald Beer (1953), 1956 Olympic gold medalist in men's eights (rowing) Francis Biddle (1905), United States attorney general; chief American justice of the Nuremberg trials George Biddle (1904), artist Hiram Bingham IV (1921), diplomat; helped Varian Fry evacuate Jews during the Holocaust Jonathan Brewster Bingham (1932), United States congressman from New York Richard M. Bissell, Jr. (1928), CIA deputy director for Plans; helped plan the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the U-2 spy plane William McCormick Blair Jr. (1936), United States ambassador to the Philippines and Denmark Edward "Pete" Bowditch Jr. (1899), aide-de-camp to General John J. Pershing during World War I; All-American football player at Harvard Archibald Manning Brown (1889), architect, notably the Harlem River Houses and the Brooklyn Children's Museum F. Gordon Brown Jr. (1900), one of only four four-time consensus All-American college football players; College Football Hall of Fame J. Carter Brown (1951), director of the National Gallery of Art James Bundy (1977), dean of the Yale School of Drama McGeorge Bundy (1936), United States National Security Advisor; dean of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences William Bundy (1935), foreign affairs advisor to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson George Butler (1962?), documentary filmmaker, notably Pumping Iron
C Francis Cabot (1943), venture capitalist; founder of The Garden Conservancy; chairman of the New York Botanical Garden Bill Camp (1982), actor, notably The Queen's Gambit and The Night Of Cass Canfield (1915), book publisher; president of Harper and Row Henry Chauncey (1923), founder of Educational Testing Services Henry "Sam" Chauncey Jr. (1953), Yale University administrator Emory Clark (1956), 1964 Olympic gold medalist in men's eights (rowing) Ben Coes (1985), investor and novelist S. Sloan Colt (1910), chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; chairman of Bankers Trust Hamilton Coolidge (1915), World War I flying ace Jim Cooper (1972), United States congressman from Tennessee Edwin Corning Sr. (1902), lieutenant governor of New York Erastus Corning 2nd (1928), mayor of Albany, New York Seymour Cromwell (1952), 1964 Olympic silver medalist and 1966 World Championship silver medalist in men's double sculls (rowing) Eliot Cross (1902), architect John Walter Cross (1896), architect Laurence Curtis (1912), United States congressman from Massachusetts Alexander Cushing (1932), founder of Squaw Valley Ski Resort (now Palisades Tahoe); host of the 1960 Winter Olympics Bronson M. Cutting (1906), United States senator from New Mexico C. Suydam Cutting (1908), explorer; first American to visit Lhasa W. Bayard Cutting Jr. (1895), diplomat
D Daniel P. Davison (1943), president of the United States Trust Company F. Trubee Davison (1914), director of personnel for the Central Intelligence Agency; United States Army Air Corps brigadier general John Putnam Demos (1955), professor of history at Yale University Charlie Devens (1928), baseball player (New York Yankees) Benjamin Dibblee (1895), national championship-winning football coach and two-time All-American at Harvard C. Douglas Dillon (1927), United States Secretary of the Treasury; United States ambassador to France Allen Dines (1939?), speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives Henry Francis du Pont (1899), founder of the Winterthur Museum Frederick C. Dumaine Jr. (1920), president of Avis Rent-a-Car and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
E
Robert Wales Emmons Jr. (1890), sailor; captained the team that won the 1920 America's Cup
F Isabelle Kinsolving Farrar (1998), sailing world champion in the 470 and International One Design competitions Ned Freed (1978?), co-author of the email attachment Internet standard (MIME RFCs 2045–2049) Vinton Freedley (1910), theater and television producer, notably Anything Goes
G Ives Gammell (1911), artist Peter Gammons (1963), sportswriter; winner of the BBWAA Career Excellence Award Alex Gansa (1978), television producer, notably Homeland; two-time Emmy Award winner William Tudor Gardiner (1910), governor of Maine Sumner Gerard Jr. (1934), United States ambassador to Jamaica John B. Goodenough (1940), winner of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (development of the lithium-ion battery) Ward Goodenough (1937), professor of anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania Maggie Goodlander (2005), U.S. House Representative from New Hampshire Marshall Green (1935), United States ambassador to Indonesia, Australia, and Nauru; United States Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs; accompanied President Nixon on his 1972 visit to China Joseph Grew (1898), United States ambassador to Japan; secretary of the U.S. delegation at the Treaty of Versailles; Under Secretary of State Charles Grimes (1953), 1956 Olympic gold medalist in men's eights (rowing) Ashbel Green Gulliver (1915), dean of Yale Law School Gordon Gund (1957), principal owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers and San Jose Sharks Fred Gwynne (1944), actor, notably The Munsters and My Cousin Vinny
H Frederick Hale (1892), United States senator from Maine Pierpont M. Hamilton (1916), United States Army Air Forces major general; recipient of the Medal of Honor Charles Barney Harding (1918), founder of Smith, Barney & Co.; chairman of the New York Stock Exchange; chairman of the New York Botanical Garden and the Arthritis Foundation William Barclay Harding (1926), chairman of Smith, Barney & Co. Huntington "Tack" Hardwick (1911), co-founder of the Boston Garden; All-American football player for Harvard; College Football Hall of Fame E. Roland Harriman (1913), railroad magnate and philanthropist W. Averell Harriman (1909), United States Secretary of Commerce; United States ambassador to the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom; governor of New York Percy Haughton (1895), four-time national championship-winning football coach at Harvard; College Football Hall of Fame Stuart Heintzelman (1895), United States Army major general; commandant of the United States Army Command and General Staff College Michael "Mick" Hely-Hutchinson (left 1943), 8th Earl of Donoughmore; head of Perdio Radio Stephen A. Higginson (1979), circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit George Holding (1986), United States congressman from North Carolina; United States attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina Dwight N. Hopkins (1972), professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School George Howe (1904), professor of architecture at Yale University
I
Christopher Isham (1971), investigative reporter
J
James Jackson (1900), businessman and Massachusetts State Treasurer Pierre Jay (1888), chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
K Alexander Karwoski (2008), 2017 World Championship silver medalist in men's eights (rowing) Gregory G. Katsas (1982), circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Thomas Forrest Kelly (1960), professor of music at Harvard University Francis Keppel (1934), United States Commissioner of Education; dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education David Key (1918), United States ambassador to Burma Howard Kingsbury (1922), 1924 Olympic gold medalist in men's eights (rowing) Peter Kunhardt (1971), documentary filmmaker
L Oliver La Farge (1920), anthropologist and novelist, notably Laughing Boy; winner of the 1930 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Christopher Landau (1981?), United States deputy secretary of state and ambassador to Mexico