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60 notable alumni U.S. News #54

Notable Alumni of Dickinson College

Notable alumni of Dickinson College include James Buchanan (15th President of the United States), Rosie O'Donnell (Comedian, actress and television personality) and Frances Conroy (Actress known for Six Feet Under).

College data and admissions

Alumni list

Politics and law

Business

Science and academia

Arts and media

  • Rosie O'Donnell 1962–

    Comedian, actress and television personality

    Also attended: Boston University

  • Frances Conroy 1953–

    Actress known for Six Feet Under

    Also attended: The Juilliard School, Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater

  • Stuart Pankin 1946–

    Actor, voice of Earl Sinclair in Dinosaurs

    Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

  • Clarence Muse 1889–1979

    Actor and director; first African American to star in a major studio film

  • Jennifer Haigh 1968–

    Novelist and short story writer

  • Moncure Daniel Conway 1832–1907

    Abolitionist minister and radical writer

    Also attended: Harvard University

  • Jennifer Ringley 1976–

    Internet personality, widely regarded as first camgirl

  • John Langdon 1946–2026

    Graphic designer and ambigram artist

  • Susan Stewart 1952–

    Poet, literary critic and Princeton professor emerita

    Also attended: Johns Hopkins University, University of Pennsylvania

  • Douglas Harper 1960–

    Creator of the Online Etymology Dictionary

    Bachelor of Arts

  • Jennifer L. Holm 1968–

    Children's writer; three-time Newbery Honor recipient

    Sibling: Matthew Holm (The Pennsylvania State University)

  • Kim Soo-min 1994–

    Miss Korea 2018 and actress

  • William Henry Wahl 1848–1909

    Scientific editor and journalist

  • Sidney George Fisher 1809–1871

    Philadelphia lawyer, diarist and political essayist

    Child: Sydney George Fisher (Trinity College, Harvard University)

  • Harry Danner

    Operatic tenor and actor

  • Kass Fleisher 1959–2023

    Writer and university teacher

  • George B. Murphy Jr. 1906–1986

    Newspaper editor, journalist and civil rights leader

  • Francess Lantz 1952–2004

    Children's librarian turned fiction writer

    Also attended: Simmons University

Sports

  • John Carroll 1955–

    Basketball coach, former Boston Celtics head coach

  • Andrew Kerr 1878–1969

    College football coach, led Stanford and Colgate

Other fields

  • Kermit Gosnell 1941–2026

    Philadelphia abortion doctor convicted as serial killer

    Also attended: Thomas Jefferson University

  • Robert Samuel Maclay 1824–1907

    Methodist missionary to China, first president of Aoyama Gakuin

    Child: Edgar Stanton Maclay (Syracuse University)

  • George Washington Bethune 1805–1862

    Dutch Reformed pastor and hymnwriter

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

  • John Fletcher Hurst 1834–1903

    Methodist bishop, first chancellor of American University

  • John Goucher 1845–1922

    Methodist pastor and co-founder of Goucher College

  • George David Cummins 1822–1876

    Anglican bishop and founder of Reformed Episcopal Church

  • John Clarke Young 1803–1857

    Fourth president of Centre College and pastor

    Attended until 1823

    Also attended: Princeton Theological Seminary

  • Richard Armstrong 1805–1860

    Presbyterian missionary and educator in Hawaii

    Also attended: Princeton Theological Seminary

    Child: William Nevins Armstrong (Yale 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 Dickinson College (people who attended both).