The Philolexian Society of Columbia University is one of the oldest college literary and debate societies in the United States. Following is a partial list of Philolexian Society members organized by area of notability.
Architecture and engineering
NameClassNotabilityJulian Clarence Levi1894ArchitectMaxwell, W. J. (1916). Catalogue of officers and graduates of Columbia university from the foundation of King's college in 1754. New York: The University of New York. p. 174 – via Internet Archive.William Barclay Parsons1879Civil engineer and founder of Parsons Brinckerhoff
Business
NameClassNotabilityHoratio Allen1823President of Erie Railroad, civil engineer, and inventorWilliam Backhouse Astor Sr.1811Business magnateWilliam Backhouse Astor Jr.1849Businessman, racehorse owner and breeder, and yachtsmanDouglas Black1915President of Doubleday and CompanyMaxwell, W. J. (1916). Catalogue of officers and graduates of Columbia University from the foundation of King's college in 1754. New York: The University of New York. p. 256 – via Internet Archive.Stuyvesant Fish1871Illinois Central Railroad presidentMaxwell, W. J. (1916). Catalogue of officers and graduates of Columbia university from the foundation of King's college in 1754. New York: The University of New York. p. 130 – via Internet Archive.Robert Goelet1860Businessman and yachtsmanJames Lenox1818President of the New York Chamber of Commerce, bibliophile, and philanthropistWard Melville1909Founding president of Thom McAn, Melville Corporation (CVS Health), and philanthropist behind Stony Brook UniversityJohn Lloyd Stephens1822Founder and vice president of the Panama Railroad Company, Special Ambassador to Central America, explorer, and authorJohn Aikman Stewart1840BankerMaxwell, W. J. (1916). Catalogue of officers and graduates of Columbia University from the foundation of King's college in 1754. New York: The University of New York. p. 1092 – via Internet Archive.William R. Travers1838Businessman and first president of the Saratoga Race CourseLawrence Wien1925Real instate investor and attorney who pioneered real estate syndicates
Clergy
NameClassNotabilityGeorge Washington Bethune1823Preacher-pastor in the Dutch Reformed ChurchJackson Kemper1809First missionary bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United StatesThomas Merton1938Trappist monk, writer, theologian, and poetJames B. Nies1882Episcopal minister and AssyriologistMaxwell, W. J. (1916). Catalogue of officers and graduates of Columbia university from the foundation of King's college in 1754. New York: The University of New York. p. 145 – via Internet Archive.Benjamin T. Onderdonk1809Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New YorkHenry Onderdonk1805Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of PennsylvaniaMarvin Vincent1854Presbyterian minister and professor
Education
NameClassNotabilityCharles Anthon1815 Classical scholar and educatorDonald Barr1941Dalton School headmasterWm. Theodore de Bary1941East Asian scholar and Columbia University provostJacques Barzun1927Historian, provost, and University Professor at Columbia UniversityRobert Fulton Cutting1871President of Cooper Union, financier, and philanthropistDixon Ryan Fox1911Union College presidentMaxwell, W. J. (1916). Catalogue of officers and graduates of Columbia University from the foundation of King's college in 1754. New York: The University of New York. p. 229 – via Internet Archive.Mott T. Greene1967Historian of science and academicFrank S. Hackett1899Educator, founder of Riverdale Country Day School, and pioneer in the Country Day School movementMaxwell, W. J. (1916). Catalogue of officers and graduates of Columbia University from the foundation of King's college in 1754. New York: The University of New York. p. 180 – via Internet Archive.Carl Hovde1950Columbia College DeanJames Hall Mason Knox1841Lafayette College presidentArthur MacMahon1912Political scientist and pioneer in the academic study of public administrationRobert Marshak1936City College of New York presidentBrander Matthews1871 Academic and literary criticParker Thomas Moon1913Political scientist and researcher on international peaceMaxwell, W. J. (1916). Catalogue of officers and graduates of Columbia University from the foundation of King's college in 1754. New York: The University of New York. p. 244 – via Internet Archive.Nathaniel F. Moore1802President of Columbia CollegeSteven Raphael1963economist, professor of public policy at Goldman School of Public Policy, and adjunct fellow at Public Policy Institute of CaliforniaEdwin R. A. Seligman1878Economist and academicMaxwell, W. J. (1916). Catalogue of officers and graduates of Columbia university from the foundation of King's college in 1754. New York: The University of New York. p. 139 – via Internet Archive.William Milligan Sloane1868Historian, professor at Princeton University, and coach of the first U.S. Olympic teamHoward Spodek1963Professor of history and geography and urban studies at Temple UniversityPaul van K. Thomson1940 Professor and vice president for academic affairs of Providence College, Catholic priest, and authorJohn Howard Van Amringe1860Mathematician and the first Dean of Columbia CollegeEugene Victor Wolfenstein1962Social theorist, psychoanalyst, and a professor of political science at University of California, Los Angeles
Entertainment
NameClassNotabilitySidney Buchman1923Film producer and Oscar-winning screenwriterI. A. L. Diamond1941Oscar-winning screenwriter Also confirmed in the Philolexian Foundation's member rolls: Bernard M. L. Ernst1905Magician and associate of Harry Houdini.Orrin Keepnews1943Grammy-winning record producerWilliam Ludwig1932Oscar-winning screenwriter and co-founder of the Writers Guild of AmericaRobert C. Schnitzer1927Actor, producer, educator, and theater administratorBen Stein1966Actor, comedian, and commentatorGarth Stein1987Academy Award-winning film producer, screenwriter, and novelistJohn La Touche1937Lyricist for Cabin in the Sky and The Golden ApplePollack, Howard, 'The Young Writer', The Ballad of John Latouche: An American Lyricist's Life and Work (New York, 2017; online edn, Oxford Academic, 23 Nov. 2017), accessed 23 July 2023.Kenneth Webb1906Film director, screenwriter, and composerMaxwell, W. J. (1916). Catalogue of officers and graduates of Columbia University from the foundation of King's college in 1754. New York: The University of New York. p. 210 – via Internet Archive.Gideon Yago2000MTV personality
Law
NameClassNotabilityWillard Bartlett1869Chief Judge of the New York Court of AppealsSamuel Blatchford1837Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United StatesEdgar M. Cullen1860Chief Judge, New York Court of AppealsMaxwell, W. J. (1916). Catalogue of officers and graduates of Columbia university from the foundation of King's college in 1754. New York: The University of New York. p. 119 – via Internet Archive.James W. Gerard1890Justice of the New York Supreme Court and U.S. Ambassador to GermanyArthur Lazarus Jr.1946American Indian rights lawyerJohn Henry Livingston1869LawyerMaxwell, W. J. (1916). Catalogue of officers and graduates of Columbia university from the foundation of King's college in 1754. New York: The University of New York. p. 128 – via Internet Archive.John McKeon1825U.S. House of Representatives and United States Attorney for the Southern District of New YorkEdward Mitchell1861U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and member of the New York State AssemblyFrederic de Peyster1816LawyerBenjamin Aymar Sands1874LawyerMaxwell, W. J. (1916). Catalogue of officers and graduates of Columbia university from the foundation of King's college in 1754. New York: The University of New York. p. 133 – via Internet Archive.Theodore Sedgwick1827U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New YorkCharles H. Tuttle1899United States Attorney for the Southern District of New YorkMaxwell, W. J. (1916). Catalogue of officers and graduates of Columbia University from the foundation of King's college in 1754. New York: The University of New York. p. 182 – via Internet Archive.Paul Windels1908lawyer and Corporation Counsel of New York CityMaxwell, W. J. (1916). Catalogue of officers and graduates of Columbia University from the foundation of King's college in 1754. New York: The University of New York. p. 218 – via Internet Archive
Literature and journalism
NameClassNotabilityJames Warner Bellah1923Western writer"Class Notes". Columbia College Today (Fall): 27. 1995 – via Internet Archive.Elliott V. Bell1925BusinessWeek publisher, a financial writer for The New York Times, and New York State Superintendent of BanksJohn Berryman1936poet, scholar, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for PoetryRandolph Bourne1912Essayist and criticMcAlister Coleman1909Journalist, author, and political activistMaxwell, W. J. (1916). Catalogue of officers and graduates of Columbia University from the foundation of King's college in 1754. New York: The University of New York. p. 220 – via Internet Archive.David Cort1924foreign news editor of LifeEvert Augustus Duyckinck1835Biographer and publisherJason Epstein1949Co-founder of The New York Review of Books, co-founder of Library of America, and founder of Anchor BooksEdgar Fawcett1867Novelist and poetWilliam Dudley Foulke1869Literary critic, journalist, poet, and reformerAllen Ginsberg1948Poet, author, and winner of the National Book AwardRobert Giroux1936Publisher, chairman and editor-in-chief of Farrar Straus & GirouxRobert Gottlieb1952Editor-in-chief of Simon & Schuster, president and editor-in-chief of Alfred A. Knopf, and editor of The New YorkerAlfred Harcourt1904Publisher and co-founder of Harcourt Brace;John Hollander1950PoetRichard Howard1951Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and translatorJoyce Kilmer1908Poet and literary criticMaxwell, W. J. (1916). Catalogue of officers and graduates of Columbia University from the foundation of King's college in 1754. New York: The University of New York. p. 216 – via Internet Archive.Gustav Kobbé1877Music critic and authorHenry Demarest Lloyd1867Pioneer muckraking journalist and progressive political activistDestler, Chester McArthur. "A 'Plebian' at Columbia: 186 .Jay Michaelson1993Writer, journalist, professor, rabbi, commentator on CNN, and a columnist for Rolling StoneJohn L. O'Sullivan1831Magazine editor and columnist who coined the phrase manifest destiny and U.S. Minister to PortugalSam Quinones1964Journalist and authorEd Rice1940Author, publisher, photojournalist, and painterHenry Morton Robinson1923NovelistGarth Stein1987Novelist and Academy Award-winning film producerGeorge Templeton Strong1838DiaristRalph de Toledano1938Editor of Newsweek and the National Review, journalist, author, poet, and novelistThomas Vinciguerra1985Journalist, editor, author, and founding editor of The WeekWalter Wager1944NovelistSamuel Ward1831Poet and lobbyist
Medicine, science, and math
NameClassNotabilityCornelius Rea Agnew1849Surgeon and medical director of the New York Volunteer HospitalGavin Arthur1924Sexologist, astrologer, actor, and magazine publisherRobert N. Butler1949Pulitzer Prize-winning gerontologistAchenbaum, W. Andrew, 'The Formative Years', Robert N. Butler, MD: Visionary of Healthy Aging (New York, NY, 2013; online edn, Columbia Scholarship Online, 19 Nov. 2015), accessed 23 July 2023.James Chapin1916ornithologist and curator of the American Museum of Natural HistoryOliver Wolcott Gibbs1841Chemist and president of the National Academy of SciencesEmory McClintock1859actuaryMaxwell, W. J. (1916). Catalogue of officers and graduates of Columbia university from the foundation of King's college in 1754. New York: The University of New York. p. 118 – via Internet Archive.
Military
NameClassNotabilityJohn Chrystie1806War of 1812 veteran and namesake of Chrystie Street in ManhattanAlfred Thayer Mahan1858Military theorist, United States naval officer, president of the Naval War College, and historian
Politics