Notable Alumni of Swarthmore College

Alice Paul 1885–1977

Suffragist who led campaign for the 19th Amendment

Also attended: American University, Georgetown University, University of Pennsylvania

Michael Dukakis 1933–

Former governor of Massachusetts

Also attended: Harvard University

Spouse: Kitty Dukakis (Boston University, Lesley University)

Robert Zoellick 1953–

11th President of the World Bank Group

Also attended: Harvard University

Christiana Figueres 1956–

Costa Rican diplomat, former UN climate change chief

Father: José Figueres Ferrer (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Mother: Karen Olsen Beck (Columbia University in the City of New York, University of Mary Washington)

Carl Levin 1934–2021

US senator from Michigan, 1979 to 2015

Attended until 1956

Also attended: Harvard University, Oakland University

Sibling: Sander Levin (University of Chicago, Harvard University)

Chris Van Hollen 1959–

US senator from Maryland

Bachelor of Arts · Philosophy · Class of 1982

Also attended: Georgetown University, Harvard University

Josh Green 1970–

Governor of Hawaii and physician

Bachelor of Science · Anthropology · Class of 1992

Also attended: The Pennsylvania State University

Alexander Mitchell Palmer 1872–1936

50th US Attorney General, led the Palmer Raids

Joseph R. Grundy 1863–1961

Textile manufacturer and US senator

Phil Weiser 1968–

Governor-elect of Colorado, state attorney general

Bachelor of Arts · Political science, Economics · Class of 1990

Also attended: New York University

Charles R. Miller 1857–1927

Republican governor of Delaware

Also attended: University of Pennsylvania

Ken Hechler 1914–2016

Former U.S. Representative from West Virginia

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

James Hormel 1933–2021

Former ambassador to Luxembourg and philanthropist

Also attended: University of Chicago

Oleg Troyanovsky 1919–2003

Soviet diplomat, ambassador to Japan and China

William Cameron Sproul 1870–1928

27th governor of Pennsylvania

Molly Yard 1912–2005

Feminist and former president of NOW

Maochun Yu 1962–

Naval Academy professor, former Pompeo China policy adviser

Also attended: University of California-Berkeley

Patrick Awuah, Jr. 1965–

Founder and president of Ashesi University

Also attended: University of California-Berkeley, Babson College

Mohammed bin Faisal Al Saud 1937–2017

Saudi prince and banker, son of King Faisal

Also attended: Menlo College

Sibling: Turki bin Faisal Al Saud (Georgetown University, Princeton University)

Sibling: Saud bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (Princeton University)

Iqbal Quadir 1958–

Entrepreneur who founded Grameenphone

Sibling: Kamal Quadir (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Oberlin College)

Sally Ride 1951–2012

First American woman in space

Also attended: University of California-Los Angeles, Stanford University

Spouse: Steven Hawley (University of California-Santa Cruz, University of Kansas)

John C. Mather 1946–

Astrophysicist, 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics

Also attended: University of California-Berkeley

David Baltimore 1938–2025

Biologist, 1975 Nobel laureate, former Caltech president

Bachelor of Arts · Chemistry · Class of 1960

Also attended: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The Rockefeller University

Spouse: Alice S. Huang (Johns Hopkins University, Wellesley College)

Christian B. Anfinsen 1916–1995

American biochemist

Also attended: Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania

John Hopfield 1933–

Physicist known for the Hopfield network

Bachelor of Arts · Physics · Class of 1954

Edward C. Prescott 1940–2022

Economist; 2004 Nobel economics laureate

Also attended: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Case Western Reserve University

Howard Temin 1934–1994

Discoverer of reverse transcriptase, Nobel laureate

Also attended: California Institute of Technology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Sibling: Peter Temin (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Swarthmore College)

Sandra Faber 1944–

Astrophysicist, emerita professor at UC Santa Cruz

Bachelor of Arts · Class of 1966

Also attended: Harvard University

Robert D. Putnam 1941–

Political scientist, Harvard Kennedy School professor

Also attended: Yale University

Nancy Roman 1925–2018

Astronomer, NASA's first chief of astronomy

Bachelor of Arts · Class of 1946

Also attended: University of Chicago

Carol Gilligan 1936–

Feminist psychologist and NYU professor

Also attended: Harvard University

Spouse: James Gilligan (Harvard University)

Ted Nelson 1937–

Information technology pioneer who coined hypertext

Also attended: Harvard University

Mother: Celeste Holm (University of Chicago)

Eben Moglen 1959–

Columbia law professor and free software advocate

Also attended: Yale University

David Lewis 1941–2001

Philosopher who taught at Princeton University

Also attended: Harvard University

Gerard K. O'Neill 1927–1992

Physicist and space activist, Princeton professor

Also attended: Cornell University

Andre Gunder Frank 1929–2005

Economic historian and dependency theory proponent

Also attended: University of Chicago

Charlotte Moore Sitterly 1898–1990

Astronomer known for spectroscopic studies of the Sun

Bachelor of Arts · Mathematics · Class of 1920

Also attended: University of California-Berkeley

Michael Hardt 1960–

Political philosopher, co-author of Empire

Also attended: University of Washington-Seattle Campus

Arlie Russell Hochschild 1940–

Professor emerita of sociology at UC Berkeley

Also attended: University of California-Berkeley

Spouse: Adam Hochschild (Harvard University)

Maxine Singer 1931–2024

Molecular biologist and Carnegie Institution leader

Bachelor of Arts · Class of 1952

Also attended: Yale University

Child: Amy Singer (Princeton University, Swarthmore College)

Isabel Briggs Myers 1897–1980

Co-creator of the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator

Father: Lyman James Briggs (Johns Hopkins University, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor)

Robert P. George 1955–

Princeton legal scholar and political philosopher

Also attended: Harvard University

Antoinette Sayeh 1958–

Liberian economist, former IMF Deputy Managing Director

Also attended: Tufts University

Alan Valentine 1901–1980

University of Rochester president, 1924 Olympic rugby champion

Ian Barbour 1923–2013

Scholar of science and religion

Also attended: Yale University, University of Chicago, Duke University

Ronnie Hsia 1953–

Historian and professor at Pennsylvania State University

Also attended: Yale University, Harvard University

James A. Michener 1907–1997

Writer of more than 40 books, mostly family sagas

Bachelor of Arts · English, History · Class of 1929

Also attended: University of Northern Colorado

Spouse: Mari Yoriko Sabusawa (Antioch University-Los Angeles, Antioch College)

Jonathan Franzen 1959–

Novelist, author of The Corrections

Stephen Lang 1952–

Actor known for Colonel Quaritch in Avatar

Father: Eugene Lang (Columbia University in the City of New York, New York University)

Child: Lucy Lang (Columbia University in the City of New York, Swarthmore College)

Diane di Prima 1934–2020

Poet associated with the Beat movement

Rudy Rucker 1946–

Mathematician and science fiction author, cyberpunk founder

Beth Littleford 1968–

Actress and comedian, early Daily Show correspondent

Malcolm Browne 1931–2012

Journalist who photographed a monk's self-immolation

Kenneth Turan 1946–

Former Los Angeles Times film critic

Steven Gilborn 1936–2009

Actor and educator, played Harold Morgan on Ellen

Also attended: Stanford University

Forrest Compton 1925–2020

Actor known for The Edge of Night

Also attended: Yale University

Ben Bagdikian 1920–2016

Journalist, news media critic and professor

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

Drew Pearson 1897–1969

Syndicated columnist and radio host

Father: Paul Martin Pearson (Northwestern University)

Norman Rush 1933–

Novelist and National Book Award winner

David Linde 1960–

Film producer and CEO of the Sundance Institute

Adam Haslett 1970–

Novelist, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist

Also attended: Yale University, University of Iowa

Josef Joffe 1944–

Former publisher-editor of Die Zeit

Also attended: Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University

Elizabeth Martínez 1925–2021

Chicana feminist, activist and author

Frances Wilson Grayson 1891–1927

American aviator