READ Famous Barnard College Alumni

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List Rules People on this list must have gone to Barnard College and be of some renown.

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Joan Rivers Talk show host, Comedian, Television producer Joan Alexandra Molinsky, known as Joan Rivers, was an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and television host noted for her often controversial comedic persona — where she was ...more

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Cynthia Nixon Actor, Voice acting Cynthia Ellen Nixon is an American actress, best known for her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes. She has won two Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award and a Tony Award. Nixon began her acting career in 1979 in ...more

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Martha Stewart Business magnate, Publisher, Television producer Martha Helen Stewart is an American businesswoman, writer, and television personality. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she has gained success through a variety of business ...more

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Shari Lewis Film Producer, Screenwriter, Ventriloquist Sonia Phyllis Hurwitz better known as Shari Lewis was an American ventriloquist, puppeteer, and children's entertainer and television show host. She was best known as the original puppeteer of ...more

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Lauren Graham Television producer, Novelist, Actor Lauren Helen Graham is an American actress, producer and novelist. She is best known for playing Lorelai Gilmore on the WB Network dramedy series Gilmore Girls and Sarah Braverman on

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Patricia Highsmith Crime writer, Novelist, Cartoonist Patricia Highsmith was an American novelist and short story writer, most widely known for her psychological thrillers, which led to more than two dozen film adaptations. Her first novel, ...more

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Catherine de Castelbajac Corporate trainer, Model, Writer Catherine "Kate" de Castelbajac is a former model and fashion journalist who now works as an image consultant and educator. She is currently the founder of CdeC Academy of Santa ...more

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Eileen Ford Businessperson, Television producer Eileen Ford was an American model agency executive and co-founder, in 1946, with her husband, Gerard "Jerry" Ford, of Ford Models, one of the earliest and internationally best known ...more

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Zora Neale Hurston Anthropologist, Novelist, Author Zora Neale Hurston was an American folklorist, anthropologist, and author. Of Hurston's four novels and more than 50 published short stories, plays, and essays, she is best known for her 1937 ...more

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Jane Wyatt Actor Jane Wyatt was an American actress best known for her role as the housewife and mother on the NBC and CBS television comedy series, Father Knows Best, and as Amanda Grayson, the human mother of ...more

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Margaret Mead Cultural Anthropologist, Anthropologist, Professor Margaret Mead was an American cultural anthropologist who featured frequently as an author and speaker in the mass media during the 1960s and 1970s. She earned her bachelor degree at Barnard ...more

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Vinessa Shaw Model, Actor Vinessa Elizabeth Shaw is an American film actress and model. Shaw has starred in numerous motion pictures since the early 1990s and is currently a supporting cast member in the Showtime Drama ...more

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Christy Carlson Romano Songwriter, Musician, Author Christy Carlson Romano is an American actress and singer. She is known for her role in the sitcom Even Stevens and as the voice of the title character in the animated series Kim Possible. She ...more

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Jamie Babbit Television director, Television producer, Film Producer Jamie Babbit is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. She directed the films But I'm a Cheerleader, The Quiet and Itty Bitty Titty Committee. She has also directed episodes of ...more

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Natalie Angier Journalist, Writer, Social activist Natalie Angier is an American nonfiction writer and a science journalist for The New York Times.

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Jhumpa Lahiri Novelist, Author, Writer Jhumpa Lahiri is an Indian American author. Lahiri's debut short story collection, Interpreter of Maladies, won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and her first novel, The Namesake, was ...more

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Mia Sara Actor Mia Sara is an American actress known for her roles in films such as Legend, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Timecop.

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Suzanne Vega Record producer, Guitarist, Songwriter Suzanne Nadine Vega is an American songwriter and singer known for her eclectic folk-inspired music. Two of Vega's songs reached the top 10 of various international chart listings: ...more

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Lee Remick Actor Lee Ann Remick was an American film and television actress. Among her best-known films are Anatomy of a Murder, Days of Wine and Roses, and The Omen.

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Erica Jong Novelist, Author, Writer Erica Jong is an American author and teacher best known for her fiction and poetry, and particularly for her 1973 novel Fear of Flying. The book became famously controversial for its attitudes ...more

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Helen Gahagan Douglas Politician, Actor, Singer Helen Gahagan Douglas was an American actress and politician. She was the third woman and first Democratic woman elected to Congress from California; her election made California one of the ...more

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Laurie Anderson Musician, Screenwriter, Actor Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson is an American experimental performance artist, composer and musician who plays violin and keyboards and sings in a variety of experimental music and ...more

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Ellen Kushner Radio personality, Writer Ellen Kushner is an American writer of fantasy novels. From 1996 until 2010, she was the host of the radio program Sound & Spirit, produced by WGBH in Boston and distributed by Public Radio ...more

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Chelsea Peretti Comedian, Screenwriter, Actor Chelsea Vanessa Peretti is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and writer. She is known for portraying Gina Linetti on the FOX comedy series Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Paste named her Twitter one ...more

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Atoosa Rubenstein Editor Atoosa Rubenstein was the editor-in-chief of Seventeen magazine. She was also the founding editor of CosmoGIRL!. She is currently the founder of Big Momma Productions, Inc. and Atoosa.com.

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Norma Merrick Sklarek Architect Norma Merrick Sklarek was an African-American architect who accomplished many firsts for black women in architecture.

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Juliet Stuart Poyntz Juliet Stuart Poyntz was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and a founding member of the Communist Party of the United States. After resigning from active work with the party, ...more

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Flora Wovschin Flora Don Wovschin, was a suspected Soviet spy who later renounced her American citizenship. She was born in New York City. Her mother was Maria Wicher and her stepfather was Enos Wicher. She ...more

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Judith Coplon Judith Coplon Socolov was an alleged KGB spy whose trials, convictions and successful appeals had a profound influence on espionage prosecutions during the McCarthy era. In 1949, three major ...more

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Marion Davis Berdecio Marion Davis Berdecio, born Marion Davis, was a recruit of the Soviet intelligence in USA. Marion Davis Berdecio worked on the staff of the Office of Naval Intelligence at the United States ...more

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Jeane Kirkpatrick Politician, Diplomat Jeane Duane Kirkpatrick was an American ambassador and an ardent anti-communist. She was a long-time Democrat, who turned Republican in 1985. After serving as Ronald Reagan's foreign policy ...more

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Twyla Tharp Television director, Theatre Director, Choreographer Twyla Tharp is an American dancer, choreographer, and author who lives and works in New York City. In 1966, she formed her own company Twyla Tharp Dance. Her work often utilizes classical music, ...more

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Maya Soetoro-Ng Writer, Teacher Maya Kassandra Soetoro-Ng is the maternal half-sister of President Barack Obama. Formerly a high school history teacher, she is a university instructor in Hawaii.

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Jessica Einhorn Jessica P. Einhorn served as Dean of Washington's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns Hopkins University from 2001 until 2012. Einhorn succeeded Paul Wolfowitz, ...more

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Jacqueline Barton Chemist, Professor, Biophysical Chemist Jacqueline Kapelman Barton New York City, NY, is an American chemist. She worked as a Professor of Chemistry at Hunter College, and at Columbia University before joining the California Institute ...more

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Alexis Stewart Radio personality, Presenter Alexis Gilbert "Lexie" Stewart is an American television host and radio personality. She is the only child of Martha Stewart and her ex-husband Andrew. She was the co-host of Whatever ...more

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Tory Dent Commentator, Poet, Art critic Tory Dent was an eminent American poet, art critic, and commentator on the AIDS crisis.

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June Jordan Activist, Poet, Journalist June Millicent Jordan was a Caribbean-American poet and activist.

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Vanessa Daou Poet, Songwriter, Singer Vanessa Daou is an American singer, songwriter, poet, visual artist and dancer. Most notably a musician, her work is known among electronica, nu jazz and trip hop circles for her trademark ...more

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Anna Quindlen Journalist, Novelist, Author Anna Marie Quindlen is an American author, journalist, and opinion columnist whose New York Times column, Public and Private, won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1992. She began her ...more

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Beth Seidenberg Venture capitalist Beth joined Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers in May 2005 to work in the life sciences area.For the past 20 years, she has focused her career on introducing new innovative treatments for AIDS, ...more

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Lis Wiehl Legal analyst, Author, Lawyer Lis Wiehl is an American author and legal analyst for Fox News. She is an adjunct professor of law at New York Law School, and formerly was an associate professor at University of Washington Law ...more

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Daphne Merkin Literary critic, Novelist, Essayist Daphne Miriam Merkin is an American literary critic, essayist and novelist. Merkin is a graduate of Barnard College. She also attended Columbia University's graduate program in English ...more

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Carol Dweck Professor, Psychologist, Author Carol S. Dweck is the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. She graduated from Barnard College in 1967 and earned a Ph.D. from Yale University in 1972. She ...more

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Ellen V. Futter Businessperson, Lawyer Ellen Victoria Futter is president of the American Museum of Natural History. She previously served as president of Barnard College for 13 years.

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Ann Brashares Novelist, Author, Writer Ann Brashares is an American writer of young adult fiction. She is best known as the author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. Brashares was born in Alexandria, Virginia and grew ...more

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Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal Television producer, Film Producer, Screenwriter Naomi Gyllenhaal is an American screenwriter. She has written the screenplays for several feature films, including Running on Empty, Losing Isaiah, and most recently Bee Season. She played the ...more

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Hope Portocarrero Hope Portocarrero, also known as Madame Somoza was the First Lady of Nicaragua, the wife of dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle and mother of Anastasio Somoza Portocarrero. She was named to the ...more

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Edwidge Danticat Novelist, Author, Essayist Edwidge Danticat is an actress.

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June Bingham Birge Author, Playwright June Bingham Birge was an author and playwright. Born as June Rossbach in White Plains, New York.She was the daughter of Mabel Limburg and Max J.H. Rossbach. She was the grand niece of New York ...more