Colgate University has produced a remarkable number of alumni who have made important contributions in areas such as journalism, business, entertainment, government, science, and sports.
There are easily recognizable names, such as 60 Minutes commentator and columnist Andy Rooney ’42, and others that are less so. Trivia buffs, for example, might not know that two Colgate alumni – Ed Werner ’71 and John Haney ’72 – invented the Trivial Pursuit game.
Here’s a “who’s who” of Colgate alumni.
(Editor’s note: (D) indicates deceased)
• (D) Charles Addams ’33, New Yorker cartoonist known for macabre drawings
• Ivy Austin ’79, actress (Garrison Keillor show)
• (D) Ernest Hamlin Baker ’12, illustrator with Time, including many “Man of the Year” covers
• Joe Berlinger ’83, producer (Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2; documentary Brother’s Keeper)
• David Brode ’68, stage producer (Into the Woods)
• (D) Robert J. Cenedella ’33, writer and actor (A Little to the East, The Guiding Light, Another World); founded Radio Writers Guild committee against the McCarthy-era blacklist
• Anthony Santa Croce ’69, producer, director, actor (Felicity, Profiler, Carnivale)
• Mel Damski ’68, director, producer, writer (Ally McBeal, The Practice, M*A*S*H)
• George Davis ’61, writer/teacher
• Theordore M. Griffin ’93, screenwriter (Ocean’s Eleven)
• Ray Hartung ’70, writer, director (Earth: the Final Conflict, Miami Vice)
• (D) Maurice Hindus ’25, author
• Yumi Iwama ’86, actor (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman; The New Swiss Family Robinson)
• Barnet Kellman ’69, director/producer (Once and Again, Ally McBeal, Felicity, Murphy Brown)
• (D) John Marks ’31, creator of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” etc.
• Robert K. Rodat ’75, screenwriter (Saving Private Ryan)
• John Romano ’70, writer/producer (Third Watch, Michael Hayes, Early Edition)
• Martin Ransohoff ’49, film producer (Martin Ransohoff Productions)
• Jeff Sharp ’89, producer (Proof, You Can Count on Me, Boys Don’t Cry)
• Woody Thompson ’89, creator, VH-1’s Pop Up Video
• Mel Watkins ’62, writer, editor, social commentator
• Lydia Woodward ’73, executive producer, screenwriter (Citizen Baines, ER, China Beach)
• Francesca Zambello ’78, opera director, manager
• Charles Beitz ’70, professor of politics, Princeton University
• (D) Eugene Bewkes ’19, former president of St. Lawrence University
• William Boyle ’55, former president of Keuka and Curry colleges
• Dr. Gerald Fischbach ’60, dean, VP of health and biomedical sciences, Columbia University
• Richard Janeway ’54, former executive VP for health affairs, Wake Forest University
• Ed Macias ’66, executive vice chancellor; dean of faculty, arts & sciences, Washington University
• Lionel Meno ’69, former Texas commissioner of education
• Richard J. Samuels ’73, Ford International Professor of political science and director of the MIT Center for International Studies
• Warren Anderson ’43, former CEO, Union Carbide
• Everett Baldwin ’54, retired CEO, Welch Foods
• E. Garrett Bewkes ’48, former chairman, president and CEO of American Bakeries Co.
• Lawrence Bossidy ’57, chairman, CEO, Honeywell International; former CEO, AlliedSignal Inc.
• Stephen B. Burke ’80, president of Comcast Cable
• Charles ‘Chase’ Carey ’76, president and CEO, DirecTV Group
• Bennett Cohen ’73, co-founder and president, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream
• Harrington Drake ’41, former CEO, Dun & Bradstreet
• Robert Duffy ’62, former owner, Duffy Broadcasting
• Cyrus Eaton ’41, chairman, Eaton Corp.
• (D) John M. Fox ’34, founder and president, Minute Maid Corp.; former president, United Fruit (Chiquita)
• (D) Curtiss Frank ’25, former president, Dun & Bradstreet
• Philip Geier ’57, chairman emeritus, Interpublic Group
• Harold Selmer Jensen ’34, research chemist held patents for Woolite, Griffin Shoe Polish
• Robert W. Jones ’72, vice chairman of investment banking, Morgan Stanley
• (D) Wm. Brian Little ’64, former limited partner, Forstmann Little & Co.
• Howard Love ’52, retired CEO, National Intergroup Inc.
• Jim Manzi ’73, former CEO, Lotus Development Corp.
• Harry Mariani ’59, president, Banfi Vintners
• J. Richard Munro ’57, former head of Time Inc.; director, Exxon Mobil
• Harry O’Neill ’50, vice chair, The Roper Organization
• (D) Wellington Powell ’21, former president, AT&T
• G. Kirk Raab ’59, former CEO, Genentech Inc.
• Carole Palermo ’83, executive v.p. of corporate communications, MTV Networks
• Jack Shafer ’66, former division president, Allied Domecq (Dunkin Donuts, Baskin-Robbins)
• Lorie Slutsky ’75, president, N.Y. Community Trust
• Van Smith ’50, chairman, Ontario Corp.
• Ed Werner ’71 and John Haney ’72, inventors of Trivial Pursuit
• (D) W. Bradford Wiley ’32, chairman emeritus, John Wiley & Sons
• Warren Anderson ’37, former majority leader of New York State Senate
• A. Peter Burleigh ’63, U.S. ambassador to the Phillipines
• E. Virgil Conway ’51, chairman of the board, MTA, New York City
• James Courter ’63, former N.J. congressman and candidate for governor
• (D) Perry Duryea Jr. ’42, former minority leader/speaker of New York State Assembly
• Louis Frey ’55, former congressman from Florida
• Alan Frumin ’68, U.S. Senate parliamentarian
• James Holmes ’65, former U.S. ambassador to Latvia, now State Department special adviser
• (D) Charles Evans Hughes 1884, chief justice, U.S. Supreme Court 1930-41
• D. Brian McKay ’67, former Nevada attorney general
• Peter Peyser ’43, former U.S. congressman 1971-77, 1979-83
• (D) Adam Clayton Powell ’30, N.Y. congressman
• (D) William P. Rogers ’34, former U.S. secretary of state, attorney general
• Jack J. Schramm ’53, former Missouri House of Representatives member, candidate for lieutenant governor; former senior administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Peter Tarnoff ’58, former U.S. undersecretary of state
• Ken Bader ’71, senior producer, The World (WGBH, PRI, BBC)
• Ken Baker ’92, author; former People journalist
• Gloria Borger ’74, U.S. News & World Report, Washington Week, CBS special correspondent
• Monica Crowley ’90, Richard Nixon biographer; political and international affairs analyst, FOX
• Sheila Norman-Culp ’80, Associated Press general supervisor
• Jeff Fager ’73, executive producer, 60 Minutes
• Thomas A. Dine ’62, president, Radio Free Europe
• Howard Fineman ’70, chief political correspondent, senior editor, Newsweek
• Chris Hedges ’79, war correspondent, New York Times
• Michael Hiltzik ’73, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Los Angeles Times
• G. Bruce Knecht ’80, foreign correspondent, Asia, Wall Street Journal
• Craig Neff ’79, assistant managing editor, Sports Illustrated
• Linda Pattillo ’78, CNN correspondent
• Kevin Phillips ’61, publisher, American Political Research Corp.
• Andy Rooney ’42, CBS-TV: 60 Minutes commentator, columnist
• Brian Rooney ’74, ABC News correspondent
• Stephanie Rosenbloom, New York Times reporter
• Priit Vesilind ’64, senior writer, National Geographic
• Bob Woodruff ’83, ABC News foreign correspondent
• James Ault ’49, retired Methodist bishop
• David Ball ’50, bishop of Albany, N.Y., diocese (Episcopal)
• Roger Ferlo ’73, former Episcopal rector of The Church of St. Luke in the Fields, N.Y.C.
• (D) Harry Emerson Fosdick 1900, pastor/author
• Richard Schaper ’67, former Lutheran pastor (Rhodes Scholar)
• R. Peter Altman ’55, president, American Pediatric Surgical Association
• (D) Oswald Avery 1900, helped lead groundbreaking DNA research
• Harvey Berger ’72, CEO, Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc.
• Dr. Henry Nadler ’57, former vice president, American Health Care Systems
• Dr. Bernard Siegel ’53, surgeon, author, speaker
• H. Guyford Stever ’38, former head of National Science Foundation/NASA
• Mark van Eeghen ’74, former running back, Oakland Raiders
• Rich Erenberg ’84, former running back, Pittsburgh Steelers
• Andrew S. Esocoff ’79, director of ABC Sports’ Monday Night Football
• (D) Dan Fortmann ’36, Hall of Fame guard, Chicago Bears in ’30s
• Adonal Foyle ’98, center, Golden State Warriors
• Howard Ganz ’63, attorney for Major League Baseball; partner in Proskauer, Rose LLP
• Marvin Hubbard ’68, former fullback, Oakland Raiders
• Howard Katz ’71, former president, ABC Sports
• Andy McDonald 2000, Anaheim Mighty Ducks
• Mark Murphy ’77, former safety, Washington Redskins
• Steve Poapst ’91, Chicago Blackhawks
• Eugene Robinson ’85, safety, played for Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons, Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks
• Ken Schanzer ’66, president of NBC Sports
• Ernest Vandeweghe ’49, former surgeon for L.A. Lakers
• Douglas Wilson ’57, ABC Sports producer (figure skating)
For more information about any of these alumni, or to update this list, please contact the Communications Department at 315.228.7417.