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60 notable alumni U.S. News #121

Notable Alumni of SUNY at Albany

Notable alumni of SUNY at Albany include Harvey Milk (First openly gay elected official in California), Awkwafina (Actress and rapper) and Juan Orlando Hernández (President of Honduras from 2014 to 2022).

College data and admissions

Alumni list

Politics and law

  • Harvey Milk 1930–1978

    First openly gay elected official in California

    Mathematics · Attended until 1951

  • Juan Orlando Hernández 1968–

    President of Honduras from 2014 to 2022

    Master's degree · Public administration · Class of 1996

    Spouse: Ana Rosalinda García Carías (SUNY at Albany)

  • Lee Zeldin 1980–

    Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency

    Bachelor of Arts · Class of 2001

    Also attended: Albany Law School

  • William Freeman Vilas 1840–1908

    Lawyer and U.S. senator from Wisconsin

    Also attended: Albany Law School, University of Wisconsin-Madison

  • Abdirahman Farole 1945–

    Former President of Puntland

  • John M. McHugh 1948–

    21st United States Secretary of the Army

    Master of Public Affairs · Class of 1977

    Also attended: Utica University

  • Ginny Brown-Waite 1943–

    U.S. Representative for Florida's 5th district, 2003–2011

    Bachelor of Science · Class of 1976

    Also attended: Russell Sage College, Empire State University

  • Mike Arcuri 1959–

    Former U.S. representative for New York

    Bachelor of Arts · Class of 1981

    Also attended: New York Law School

  • Michael Forbes 1952–

    Former US Representative from New York

  • William Levi Dawson 1886–1970

    Chicago congressman, first Black committee chair

    Attended until 1905

    Also attended: Illinois Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, Fisk University

  • Susan Molinari 1958–

    Former US representative for Staten Island

    Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts · Class of 1982

    Spouse: Bill Paxon (Canisius University, Fordham University)

    Father: Guy Victor Molinari (New York Law School, Wagner College)

  • James Manning Tyler 1835–1926

    Vermont congressman, lawyer and judge

    Also attended: Albany Law School

  • Rosa Clemente 1972–

    Independent journalist; Green Party vice presidential candidate

    Also attended: Cornell University

  • Christine Kehoe 1950–

    Former California state senator, Democrat

  • Inga Rhonda King 1960–

    St Vincent and Grenadines ambassador to the UN

  • Harriet Burton Laidlaw 1873–1949

    Social reformer and suffragist

    Also attended: Illinois Wesleyan University, Barnard College

  • Ana Rosalinda García Carías 1969–

    Honduran lawyer and former First Lady

    Spouse: Juan Orlando Hernández (SUNY at Albany)

  • Luo Ying-shay 1951–2021

    Former Minister of Justice of Taiwan

  • Gerald Jennings 1948–

    74th mayor of Albany, New York

    Also attended: SUNY Brockport

  • Catherine Bertini 1950–

    2003 World Food Prize laureate

    Bachelor of Arts · Class of 1971

Business

  • Hamdi Ulukaya 1972–

    Founder and CEO of Chobani

  • Monte Lipman 1964–

    Founder and CEO of Republic Records

Science and academia

Arts and media

  • Awkwafina 1988–

    Actress and rapper

  • Edward Burns 1968–

    Actor and filmmaker, known for The Brothers McMullen

    Also attended: CUNY Hunter College, SUNY Oneonta

    Spouse: Christy Turlington (Columbia University in the City of New York, New York University)

  • Priya Anand 1986–

    Indian actress and model

  • D. B. Woodside 1969–

    Actor known for Suits and Single Ladies

    Also attended: Yale University, New York Film Academy

  • Theo Rossi 1975–

    Actor in Sons of Anarchy

  • Frank Whaley 1963–

    Actor, director and screenwriter

  • John Ortiz 1968–

    Actor, known for Fast & Furious

  • Harold Gould 1923–2010

    Character actor in Rhoda and The Golden Girls

    Also attended: Cornell University

  • Jessica Valenti 1978–

    Feminist writer and co-founder of Feministing

    Also attended: Tulane University of Louisiana, SUNY at Purchase College

  • Brandon Jay McLaren 1982–

    Canadian actor

  • Gregory Maguire 1954–

    Novelist, author of Wicked

    Also attended: Simmons University, Tufts University

  • Ellen Datlow 1949–

    Science fiction, fantasy and horror editor and anthologist

  • Stephen Adly Guirgis 1950–

    Playwright, screenwriter, director and actor

  • Augusta Braxton Baker 1911–1998

    Librarian and storyteller in children's literature

    Also attended: University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus

  • Vincent J. Donehue 1915–1966

    Director known mainly for theater work

  • Josh Ostrovsky 1985–

    Social media personality known as The Fat Jewish

    Also attended: New York University

  • Stitch Yu 1994–

    Taiwanese and Hong Kong actress and programme host

Sports

  • Ashley Massaro 1979–2019

    WWE professional wrestler and model

  • Bouna Coundoul 1982–

    Senegalese goalkeeper and coach

  • Jamar Wilson 1984–

    American-Finnish basketball player and executive

  • Steward Ceus 1987–

    Haitian-American soccer goalkeeper

  • Tara VanDerveer 1953–

    Former Stanford women's basketball head coach

    Attended until 1972

    Also attended: Indiana University-Bloomington

  • Gerardo Suero 1989–

    Dominican basketball player

  • Jason Siggers 1985–

    Professional basketball player

    Also attended: New Mexico Junior College

Other fields

  • Jamie Gold 1969–

    Poker player, 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event winner

  • Terry R. LaValley 1956–

    Catholic bishop of Ogdensburg

  • Adele Marion Fielde 1839–1916

    Baptist missionary, social activist and scientist

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 SUNY at Albany (people who attended both).