Notable Alumni of Mount Holyoke College

Elaine Chao 1953–

Former US Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Transportation

Also attended: Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dartmouth College

Spouse: Mitch McConnell (University of Kentucky, University of Louisville)

Father: James S.C. Chao (St John's University (NY))

Lucy Stone 1818–1893

Abolitionist and women's suffrage advocate

Also attended: Oberlin College

Child: Alice Stone Blackwell (Boston University)

Frances Perkins 1880–1965

4th US Secretary of Labor, first female cabinet member

Attended until 1902

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

Laura Loomer 1993–

Far-right political activist

Also attended: Barry University

Maryanne Trump Barry 1937–2023

US federal judge, sister of Donald Trump

Bachelor of Arts

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

Sibling: Donald J. Trump (Fordham University, University of Pennsylvania)

Sibling: Robert Trump (Boston University)

Ella Grasso 1919–1981

83rd Governor of Connecticut

Mahua Moitra 1976–

Indian politician and former investment banker

Nita Lowey 1937–2025

US Representative from New York, 1989–2021

Bachelor of Science · Class of 1959

Olympia Brown 1835–1926

Suffragist and first woman ordained with denominational consent

Also attended: St. Lawrence University, Antioch University-Los Angeles, Antioch College

Child: Henry Parker Willis (University of Chicago)

Sibling: Arthur Brown (University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Antioch University-Los Angeles)

Kathleen Hicks 1970–

Former US Deputy Secretary of Defense

Bachelor of Arts · History, Politics · Class of 1991

Also attended: University of Maryland-College Park, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mónica Ridruejo 1963–

Spanish politician and businesswoman

Jemila Abdulai 1986–

Ghanaian blogger and digital marketer

Bachelor of Arts · French studies, Economics

Also attended: Johns Hopkins University

Margarita Forés 1959–2025

Filipino chef, Asia's Best Female Chef 2016

Virginia Apgar 1909–1974

Obstetrical anesthesiologist, inventor of the Apgar score

Zoology · Attended until 1929

Also attended: Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University in the City of New York, University of Pennsylvania

Father: Charles E. Apgar (Wesleyan University)

Helen Sawyer Hogg 1905–1993

Astronomer and pioneer of globular cluster research

Also attended: Harvard University

Spouse: Frank Scott Hogg (Harvard University)

Dorothy Hansine Andersen 1901–1963

Physician who first identified cystic fibrosis

Bachelor of Arts · Class of 1922

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

Margaret Morse Nice 1883–1974

Ornithologist known for song sparrow studies

Also attended: Clark University

Father: Anson D. Morse (Amherst College)

Elizabeth Holloway Marston 1893–1993

Attorney and psychologist, polygraph precursor developer

Also attended: Boston University, Harvard University

Spouse: William Moulton Marston (Harvard University)

Rachel Fuller Brown 1898–1980

Chemist, co-developed the antifungal nystatin

Also attended: University of Chicago, Harvard University

Emma P. Carr 1880–1972

Spectroscopist and chemical educator

Also attended: University of Chicago, Ohio State University-Main Campus

Jean E. Sammet 1928–2017

Computer scientist, developer of FORMAC and COBOL

Bachelor of Arts · Mathematics · Class of 1948

Also attended: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Columbia University in the City of New York

Martha Warren Beckwith 1871–1959

Folklorist and ethnographer

Cornelia Clapp 1849–1934

Zoologist, first American woman with a biology PhD

Attended until 1871

Also attended: University of Chicago, Syracuse University

Dolores Hayden 1945–

Yale professor emerita, urban historian and architect

Also attended: Harvard University

Jean Taylor 1944–

Mathematician and Rutgers professor emerita

Also attended: University of California-Berkeley, Princeton University

Spouse: Frederick J. Almgren, Jr. (Princeton University, Brown University)

Caroline L. Ransom 1872–1952

Egyptologist, first professionally trained American woman

Also attended: University of Chicago, Lake Erie College

Louise Freeland Jenkins 1888–1970

Astronomer who compiled a catalogue of nearby stars

Lucy Weston Pickett 1904–1997

Chemist and professor at Mount Holyoke College

Also attended: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Helen S. Mitchell 1895–1984

Biochemist and nutritionist

Also attended: Yale University

Emily Dickinson 1830–1886

Poet

Attended until 1848

Father: Edward Dickinson (Yale University)

Chloé Zhao 1982–

Chinese filmmaker, director, screenwriter and producer

Also attended: New York University

Susan Kare 1954–

Designer of original Apple Macintosh interface elements

Bachelor of Arts · Art · Class of 1975

Also attended: New York University

Sibling: Jordin Kare (University of California-Berkeley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Julia Phillips 1944–2002

Film producer, first woman to win Best Picture Oscar

Spouse: Michael Phillips (Dartmouth College, New York University)

Wendy Wasserstein 1950–2006

Playwright and Cornell University professor-at-large

History · Attended until 1971

Also attended: Yale University, CUNY--City College

Sibling: Bruce Wasserstein (Harvard University, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor)

Ayesha Harruna Attah 1983–

Ghanaian-born fiction writer

Bachelor of Science · Biochemistry

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

Michelle Hurst 1942–

Actress in Orange Is the New Black

Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman 1852–1930

Author best known for the novel Pembroke

Deborah Harkness 1965–

Historian and author of All Souls Trilogy

Bachelor of Arts · Class of 1986

Also attended: University of California-Davis, Northwestern University

Tahmima Anam 1975–

Bangladeshi-born British novelist and columnist

Social anthropology

Also attended: Harvard University

Sho Madjozi 1992–

South African rapper, singer and poet

Creative work · Bachelor of Arts

Suzan-Lori Parks 1963–

Playwright, screenwriter and novelist

Creative writing

Connie Converse 1924–1974

Singer-songwriter

Sibling: Philip Converse (University of Iowa, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor)

Joan Jonas 1936–

Pioneer of video and performance art

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

Sonali Gulati 1972–

Indian American independent filmmaker and educator

Minerva J. Chapman 1858–1947

Painter known for miniature portraits

Also attended: School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Rita Banerji 1967–

Indian author, photographer and gender activist

Also attended: George Washington University

Carol Higgins Clark 1956–2023

Mystery novelist

Bachelor of Arts

Mother: Mary Higgins Clark (Fordham University)

Judith Tarr 1955–

Fantasy and science fiction author

Also attended: Yale University

Ruth Muskrat 1897–1982

Cherokee poet, educator and Indian rights activist

Also attended: University of Kansas, Northeastern State University, Northern Oklahoma College

Caitlin Clarke 1952–2004

Actress in Dragonslayer and Broadway's Titanic

Also attended: Yale University

Glenda Hatchett 1951–

Television judge, lawyer and court show host

Also attended: Emory University

Barbara Trentham 1944–2013

Model and actress

Virginia Hamilton Adair 1913–2004

Poet, author of Ants on the Melon

Bachelor of Arts · English · Class of 1933

Also attended: California State Polytechnic University-Pomona, Harvard University

Zehra Laila Javeri 1971–

Pakistani artist

Bingyi 1975–

Artist, curator, scholar and architectural designer

Also attended: Yale University

Harriet Metcalf 1958–

Rower, 1984 Olympic women's eight gold medalist

Also attended: Harvard University

Barbara Smith 1946–

Black feminist activist and scholar

Nancy Kissinger 1934–2026

Philanthropist, wife of Henry Kissinger

Also attended: Harvard University

Spouse: Henry Kissinger (Harvard University, CUNY--City College)

Kavita Ramdas 1962–

Feminist activist, former Open Society Foundations director

Also attended: Princeton University

Tashi Zangmo 1963–

Executive director of the Bhutan Nuns Foundation

Attended until 1999

Also attended: University of Massachusetts-Amherst

Alice Gordon Gulick 1847–1903

Missionary teacher in Spain

Sibling: Anna Adams Gordon (Mount Holyoke College)