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152 notable alumni U.S. News #2

Notable Alumni of Amherst College

Notable alumni of Amherst College include Calvin Coolidge (30th President of the United States), Dan Brown (Author of The Da Vinci Code) and Albert II, Prince of Monaco (Prince of Monaco).

College data and admissions

Alumni list

Politics and law

Business

Science and academia

Arts and media

  • Dan Brown 1964–

    Author of The Da Vinci Code

  • Burgess Meredith 1907–1997

    Actor and filmmaker

  • David Foster Wallace 1962–2008

    Novelist and essayist, author of Infinite Jest

    Bachelor of Arts · English studies, Philosophy · Class of 1985

    Also attended: University of Arizona, Harvard University

  • Jeffrey Wright 1965–

    Actor; Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe winner

    Also attended: New York University

  • David O. Russell 1958–

    Film director, screenwriter and producer

  • Harlan Coben 1962–

    Writer, winner of the Edgar Award

  • Stephen Collins 1947–

    Former actor, starred in 7th Heaven

  • Hamish Linklater 1976–

    Actor known for Midnight Mass and Legion

    Spouse: Jessica Goldberg (The Juilliard School, New York University)

  • Jim Steinman 1947–2021

    Composer, lyricist and record producer

  • Richard Wilbur 1921–2017

    Poet and literary translator

    Also attended: Harvard University

  • Scott Turow 1949–

    Writer and lawyer

    Also attended: Harvard University, Stanford University

  • John Michael Higgins 1963–

    Actor and comedian

  • Larry Miller 1953–

    American actor and comedian

  • Ken Howard 1944–2016

    Film, television and stage actor

    Also attended: Yale University

    Spouse: Margo Howard (Brandeis University)

  • Lauren Groff 1978–

    Novelist, author of Fates and Furies

    Also attended: University of Wisconsin-Madison

  • Rob Brown 1984–

    Actor in Finding Forrester and Coach Carter

  • James Merrill 1926–1995

    Poet, 1977 Pulitzer Prize winner

    Father: Charles E. Merrill (Amherst College, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor)

  • Julie Powell 1973–2022

    Author of Julie & Julia, based on her blog

  • Kanzō Uchimura 1861–1930

    Japanese author and founder of the Nonchurch Movement

    Also attended: Hartford International University for Religion and Peace

  • Douglas Kennedy 1915–1973

    Actor in more than 190 films

  • Caroline Thompson 1956–

    Screenwriter of Edward Scissorhands and Corpse Bride

    Also attended: Harvard University

    Spouse: Henry Bromell (Amherst College)

  • Aubrey Dollar 1980–

    Actress known for Guiding Light

    Also attended: Boston University

  • Susannah Grant 1963–

    American screenwriter, director, and producer

    Also attended: American Film Institute Conservatory

  • Zach Cherry 1987–

    Actor known for Severance

  • Gilbert Emery 1875–1945

    Actor and playwright in over 80 films

  • Teller 1948–

    Magician, half of Penn & Teller

  • Charles C. Mann 1955–

    Journalist and author of 1491

  • George Lessey 1875–1947

    Silent-era actor and director

  • Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor 1875–1966

    First full-time editor of National Geographic

    Father: Edwin A. Grosvenor (Amherst College)

    Child: Mabel H. Grosvenor (Johns Hopkins University, Mount Holyoke College)

  • Lyndsey Scott 1984–

    Model and iOS app developer

    Theatre, Physics

  • David Eisenhower 1948–

    Author and grandson of President Eisenhower

    Also attended: George Washington University

    Spouse: Julie Nixon Eisenhower (Catholic University of America, Smith College)

    Father: John Eisenhower (Columbia University in the City of New York, The United States Military Academy at West Point)

  • William Rutherford Mead 1846–1928

    Architect, founding partner of McKim, Mead & White

    Also attended: Norwich University

  • John Davis 1954–

    Film producer and founder of Davis Entertainment

    Also attended: Bowdoin College, Harvard University

    Father: Marvin Davis (New York University)

    Mother: Barbara Davis (Adelphi University)

  • Aparna Nancherla 1982–

    Stand-up comedian and actress

  • Agnieszka Graff 1970–

    Polish writer, translator and feminist activist

  • Jonatha Brooke 1964–

    Folk rock singer-songwriter and guitarist

  • Sarah Danielle Madison 1974–2014

    Television and film actress

  • John W. Dower 1938–

    Historian, author of Embracing Defeat

    Bachelor's degree · Class of 1959

    Also attended: Harvard University

  • Debby Applegate 1968–

    Biographer and 2007 Pulitzer Prize winner

    Also attended: Yale University

  • Robert Brustein 1927–2023

    Theater critic, founder of Yale Repertory Theatre

    Also attended: Yale University, Columbia University in the City of New York

    Child: Peter Beinart (Yale University)

  • Chris Bohjalian 1962–

    Novelist, author of over twenty novels

  • Edward Clark Potter 1857–1923

    Sculptor of the New York Public Library lions

  • Henry Bromell 1947–2013

    Novelist, screenwriter and director

    Spouse: Caroline Thompson (Amherst College, Harvard University)

  • Clyde Fitch 1865–1909

    Popular Broadway playwright

  • Bill Keith 1939–2015

    Banjoist who developed the melodic banjo style

  • Radhika Jha 1970–

    Indian novelist and journalist

    Also attended: University of Chicago

  • Fred Karlin 1936–2004

    Film score composer

  • Jenna Lamia 1975–

    Actress and showrunner of The Perfect Couple

    Also attended: New York University

  • Sheridan Gibney 1903–1988

    Screenwriter and playwright

  • Nancy Oliver 1955–

    Screenwriter who worked on Six Feet Under

    Also attended: Florida State University, University of Massachusetts-Amherst

  • Matt Besser 1967–

    Comedian and Upright Citizens Brigade co-founder

    Spouse: Danielle Schneider (New York University)

  • Joseph Moncure March 1899–1977

    Poet and screenwriter, author of The Wild Party

  • Alexandra Juhasz 1964–

    Feminist writer, media theorist and filmmaker

    Also attended: New York University

Sports

  • Don Cohan 1930–2018

    Sailor and Olympic medalist

    Also attended: Harvard University

  • Rich Thompson 1984–

    Australian former Major League Baseball relief pitcher

Other fields

  • Henry Ward Beecher 1813–1887

    Congregationalist clergyman and abolitionist social reformer

    Father: Lyman Beecher (Yale University)

    Sibling: Charles Beecher (Bowdoin College)

  • Elijah Coleman Bridgman 1801–1861

    First American Protestant missionary to China

  • B. Alan Wallace 1950–

    Buddhologist, author and translator

    Also attended: University of California-San Diego, Stanford University

  • Joseph Hardy Neesima 1843–1890

    Japanese missionary, founder of Doshisha University

From Wikidata “educated at” records (including people who attended without graduating), ordered by the number of Wikipedia language editions. Degrees and years follow Wikidata and are left out where it has none.

Alumni network

Colleges that share the most alumni with Amherst College (people who attended both).