This list of Cornell University alumni includes notable education graduates, non-graduate former students, and current students of Cornell University, an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York.
For other disciplines, see List of Cornell University alumni.
Alumni Founders and leaders of academic institutions John Cranford Adams (B.A. 1926, Ph.D. 1935) – 2nd president of Hofstra University (1944–1964) Ilesanmi Adesida (postdoctoral researcher 1979–1984) – dean of College of Engineering (2005–2012) and provost (2012–2015) at University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign; member of National Academy of Engineering (2006) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science John Agresto (Ph.D. 1974) – president of St. John's College in Santa Fe (1989–2000) Joseph A. Alutto (Ph.D. 1968 organizational behavior) – dean of the SUNY Buffalo School of Management (1976–1990) and of Ohio State University's Max M. Fisher College of Business (1991–2007); executive vice president and provost of Ohio State University (2007–2013); interim president of Ohio State (2007, 2013–2014) Elam Jonathan Anderson (M.A. 1915) – president of Linfield College (1932–1938) and the University of Redlands (1938–1944) James A. Anderson (Ph.D. 1980) – chancellor and professor of psychology at Fayetteville State University (2008–) Alfred Atkinson (M.S. 1912) – 4th president of Montana State University (1919–1937) and 12th president of University of Arizona (1937–1947) Nadine Aubry (Ph.D. 1987 mechanical and aerospace engineering) – dean of the College of Engineering and University Distinguished Professor at Northeastern University; member of the National Academy of Engineering (2011) Joel D. Baines (Ph.D. 1988) – dean of Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine (2014–) Michael Barber (Ph.D. 1972) – vice chancellor (CEO) of Flinders University, Australia (2008–2014) James Francis Barker (mechanical engineering graduate 1893) – 2nd president of Rochester Institute of Technology (1916–1919) William S. Barker (M.A. 1959) – church historian who served as president of Covenant Theological Seminary (1977–1984) George Wells Beadle (Ph.D. 1930 genetics) – president of University of Chicago, 1961–1968 Steven D. Bennion (MPA) – president of Snow College (1982–1989), Brigham Young University–Idaho (then Ricks College) (1989–1997) and Southern Utah University (1997–2006) Sherwood Berg (M.A. 1948) – president of South Dakota State University (1975–1984) Katherine Bergeron (M.A., Ph.D.) – 11th president of Connecticut College (2014–) and former dean of the college at Brown University Ekanem Ikpi Braide (M.S., Ph.D., Parasitology) – founding vice chancellor of Federal University Lafia (2011–2016) Jamshed Bharucha (research associate 1982–1983) – 12th president of Cooper Union (2011–2015) Henry Bienen (B.S. 1960) – president of Northwestern University, 1995–2009 Claude Bissell (Ph.D. English Literature) – president of Carleton University (1956–1958) and the University of Toronto (1958–1971); Companion of the Order of Canada William Fremont Blackman (Ph.D. 1893) – 4th president of Rollins College (1902–1915) Edward J. Bloustein (Ph.D. 1954, LL.B. 1959) – president of Bennington College (1965–1971) and Rutgers University (1971–1989) John C. Bliss (A.B. 1889) – president of what is now State University of New York at New Paltz (1908–1923) John G. Bollinger (M.S. 1958 mechanical engineering) – former dean (1981–1999) and dean emeritus of College of Engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison; member of the National Academy of Engineering (1983) Karen Boroff (B.S. ILR) – dean of Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University Jonathan M. Brand (J.D. 1996) – president of Doane College (2005–2011) and of Cornell College (2011–) John Casper Branner (B.S. 1882) – president of Stanford University, (1913–15); geologist, member of the National Academy of Sciences (1905) Hilton Marshall Briggs (Ph.D.) – 13th president of South Dakota State University (1958–1975) Victor L. Butterfield (B.A. 1927, M.A. 1928) – 11th president of Wesleyan University (1943–1967) Colin G. Campbell (B.A.) – 13th president of Wesleyan University (1970–1988) Carlos Eugenio Chardón (B.A. 1919, M.S. 1921) – chancellor of the University of Puerto Rico (1931–1935) J. Richard Chase (Ph.D.) – president of Biola University (1970–1982) and Wheaton College (Illinois) (1982–1993) Amrik Singh Cheema (Ph.D. Agriculture Extension) – vice chancellor of the Punjab Agricultural University (1976–1981) Stanley Chodorow (B.A. 1964 government, Ph.D. 1968 history) – provost of the University of Pennsylvania (1994–1997) and Dean of Arts and Humanities at the University of California, San Diego Marc P. Christensen (B.S. 1993 engineering physics) – dean of Lyle School of Engineering at Southern Methodist University Lisa Staiano-Coico, aka Lisa S. Coico (Ph.D. 1981 Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences) – dean of New York State College of Human Ecology (2004–2007); provost of Temple University (2007–2010); president of City College of New York (2010–2016) Elizabeth Coleman (M.A.) – president of Bennington College (1987–2013) Stirling Colgate (B.S. 1948, Ph.D. 1951) – president of New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (1965–1974) and co-founder of Santa Fe Institute; member of the National Academy of Sciences Theodore B. Comstock (B.S. 1870, D.Sc. 1886) – first president of the University of Arizona (1894–1895) Roger B. Corbett (B.S., M.S., Ph.D.) – president of New Mexico State University (1955–1970) Edmund Cranch (B.A. 1945. Ph.D. 1951) – dean of Cornell University College of Engineering (1972–1978), president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (1978–1985) Steven C. Currall (Ph.D. 1990 organizational behavior) – president of the University of South Florida (2019−), provost and vice president for academic affairs at Southern Methodist University (2016–2019) and former dean of the Graduate School of Management at UC Davis (2009–2014); Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Paul D'Anieri (M.A., Ph.D. 1991) – dean of University of Florida College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (2008–2014); executive vice president and provost of University of California, Riverside (2014–) Thomas B. Day (Ph.D. 1957 physics) – 6th president of San Diego State University (1978–1996) William W. Destler (Ph.D. 1972 applied physics) – president of Rochester Institute of Technology (2007–2017) Cathy Dove (MBA) – former vice president of Cornell Tech; 10th president of Paul Smith's College 2014–present Faye Duchin (B.A. 1965 experimental psychology) – dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1996–2002) Hu Dunfu (B.A. 1909 mathematics) – Chinese mathematician who co-founded the Chinese Mathematical Society and served as its first president; He co-founded Utopia University in March 1912, which became one of the most reputable private universities in China, and served as its president for 20 years (1912–1928, 1941–1945) Clyde A. Duniway (A.B. 1892) – president of the University of Montana (1908–1912), the University of Wyoming (1913–1917) and Colorado College (1917–1924) Edward D. Eddy (B.A. 1944, Ph.D. 1956) – provost of the University of New Hampshire (1955–1960) and Pennsylvania State University (1977–1983); president of Chatham University (1960–1977) and University of Rhode Island (1983–1991) Henry Turner Eddy (Ph.D. 1872) – president of the University of Cincinnati (1874–1875, 1884, 1889–1891) Roger O. Egeberg (B.A. 1925) – dean of the University of Southern California School of Medicine, assistant secretary of Health and Scientific Affairs in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare Kristin Esterberg (M.A. 1988, Ph.D. 1991 sociology) – provost and academic vice president at Salem State University (2009–2014); president of the State University of New York at Potsdam (2014–) Gregory L. Fenves (B.S. 1979) – dean of the Cockrell School of Engineering (2008–2013), executive vice president and provost (2013–2015) and the 29th president of the University of Texas at Austin (2015–2020), 21st president of Emory University (2020–); member of National Academy of Engineering (2014) Glenn W. Ferguson (B.A. Economics 1950, MBA 1951) – chancellor of Long Island University (1969–1970), president of Clark University (1970–1973), the University of Connecticut (1973–1978), the American University of Paris (1992–1995) and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City (1983), U.S. diplomat Daniel Fischel (B.A. 1972) – former dean of the University of Chicago Law School (1999–2001) and Lee and Brena Freeman Professor of Law and Business, emeritus at the University of Chicago Daniel Mark Fogel (B.A. 1969 English, M.F.A. 1974 creative writing, Ph.D. 1976 English) – president of the University of Vermont (2002–2011) George K. Fraenkel (Ph.D. 1949) – physical chemist, chairman of the chemistry department (1965–1968) and Dean of Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (1968–1983) at Columbia University Sharon Gaber (Ph.D.) – provost of the University of Arkansas (2009–2015), president of the University of Toledo (2015–) Zvi Galil (Ph.D. 1975) – president of Tel Aviv University (2007–2009); dean of the Fu Foundation School of Engineering & Applied Science at Columbia University (1995–2007) and of Georgia Tech's College of Computing since April 9, 2010; member of the National Academy of Engineering (2004), fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2005) and of the ACM (1995) Maria Gallo (B.S. Agronomy) – 13th president of Delaware Valley University (2016–) James C. Garland (Ph.D. 1968 physics) – 20th president of Miami University (1996–2006) Charles Garside (Law School graduate, 1923) – former president of the State University of New York (1951–1952) John W. Gilmore (B.S. 1898, MSA 1906) – president of the University of Hawaii, 1908–1913 Milton Glick (postdoctoral fellow 1965–1967) – president of the University of Nevada, Reno (2006–2011) Joseph Glover (B.A. 1974 mathematics) – provost of the University of Florida 2008–present Jeffrey P. Gold (B.S.E 1974, M.D. 1978) – chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center (2014–) and the University of Toledo Health Sciences Campus (2010–2014) Richard Alton Graham (B.S. 1942 mechanical engineering) – president of Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont (1975–1976); equal rights leader who served as founding commissioner of the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (1965–1966) John C. Green (Ph.D. 1983) – dean of the Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences (2017–) and interim president (2018–) at the University of Akron Wang Guosong (M.S. 1931, Ph.D. 1933) – co-founder of the Chinese Society for Electrical Engineering in 1934; head of the electrical engineering of Zhejiang University, vice president (1950–1951, 1952–1957) and acting president (1951–1952) of Zhejiang University Carl A. Hanson (Ph.D. 1948 ILR) – president of the Gettysburg College (1961–1977) Zhang Hanying (M.S. 1925) – president of what is now Tianjin University (1948–1949) Fred Harvey Harrington (B.A. 1933) – president of the University of Wisconsin–Madison (1962–1970) Franklin S. Harris (Ph.D.) – president of Brigham Young University (1921–1945) and Utah State University (1945–1950) William Williams Henderson (M.A. 1905) – president of what is now Weber State University (1910–1914) Albert Ross Hill (Ph.D. 1896 philosophy) – president of the University of Missouri (1908–1921) Carl McClellan Hill (M.S., Ph.D.) – president of Kentucky State University (1962–1975) and Hampton University (1976–1978) Linnaeus N. Hines (attended Graduate School, 1899) – president of Indiana State University (1921–1934) and Ball State University (1921–1924) Jerome H. Holland (B.S. 1939, M.S. 1941) – president of Delaware State University (1953–60) and Hampton University (1960–70); U.S. diplomat