Alumni & Outcomes

After four years at Columbia, you will join the ranks of pioneers and leaders who have shaped industry, politics, culture and academia in the United States and around the world. Columbia has always been ahead of its time, with alumni pushing the limits of science, inventing new technologies and changing the way we live. From Barack Obama (CC '83), the first African-American elected President of the United States, to Richard Axel (CC '67), the 2004 Nobel Laureate in Physiology and Medicine, Columbians have always been pioneers. 

With over 250,000 living alumni across all schools, Columbia alumni are in every state and in over 180 countries. By selecting Columbia you are joining a family of individuals, scholars and leaders – people who make a difference.

Undergraduate alumni have made a great impact on the world in many diverse fields. Read below to see what the future may hold for you.

Alumni come back to celebrate the annual class day, offering congratulations and support to the new graduates.

Academia

Hundreds of Columbians have gone on to academia, such as American historians and Bancroft Prize winners Sean Willentz (CC ’72) and Eric Foner (CC ’63, PhD ’69). Jacques Barzun (CC ’27, PhD ’32) helped develop Columbia’s Core Curriculum and was once on the cover of Time Magazine. Robert Merton (EN ’66), Nobel Prize winner and Harvard Business School professor, was an Engineering Mathematics major at Columbia before he went on to develop influential theories in financial economics.

Architecture and Urban Development

Rockefeller Center, once owned by Columbia, is now controlled by Tishman-Speyer

Living in the middle of New York City, Columbians have always been integral to the development of the city’s architecture and infrastructure. Continuing this tradition, Robert A.M. Stern (CC ’60) is dean of the Yale School of Architecture and heads his own firm that recently built the much lauded 15 CPW Building. Barry Bergdoll (CC ’77) splits his time between teaching in Columbia’s Art History department and serving as the Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art. On the business end, Jerry Speyer (CC ’62), Chair Emeritus of the Board of Trustees, is CEO of Tishman-Speyer, one of the largest real estate developers in the world.

Athletes

With former students like Hall of Fame baseball player Lou Gehrig and football standout Sid Luckman (CC ’39), Columbia has produced star athletes who have gone on to win Olympic medals and more. Former NFL star Marcellus Wiley (CC ’97) was First-Team All-American for the Lions. Christina Teuscher (CC ’00), an Olympic gold medal swimmer, won the prestigious Honda-Broderick Cup as the female collegiate athlete of the year in 2000. Current Chair of the Board of Trustees Bill Campbell was captain of the football team and later head coach before he went on to be CEO of Intuit and serve on the boards of many organizations, including Apple.

Business

John W. Kluge funds Columbia’s Kluge Scholars

Many Columbians have made significant headway in the business world as entrepreneurs and astute managers. John W. Kluge (CC ’37) built the first independent network of television stations that is the basis of the Fox Network. In the world of sports business, Columbia alums Randy Lerner (CC ’84) and Robert Kraft (CC ’63) are owners of the Cleveland Browns and New England Patriots respectively, as well as leading their own companies. Vikram Pandit (EN ’74) is currently a University Trustee and CEO of Citigroup, the largest financial institution in the world.

Inventors and Engineers

A rich history of innovators includes the likes of William Barclay Parsons (CC 1879, EN 1882), lead designer of the New York subway system, and Edwin Armstrong (EN ’13), inventor of FM Radio. This enterprising spirit lives on with Kai-Fu Lee (EN ’83), head of Google China, as well as Michael Massimino (EN ’84), a mechanical engineer who took his skills into outer space as a NASA astronaut.

Literature

The campus where the Beats first met not only produced Allen Ginsberg (CC ’48) and Jack Kerouac (CC ’44), but also fostered the writings of novelists Paul Auster (CC ’69) and Pulitzer Prize-winning Herman Wouk (CC ’34) and of Tony-Award winning playwrights Tony Kushner (CC ’78) and Terrance McNally (CC ’60).  Aravind Adiga (CC '97) is the latest Columbia author to gain prominence; his debut book White Tiger is the recepient of the Man Booker Prize, the British Commonwealth's highest prize awarded annually for fiction

Media and Publishing

Columbia has long been a powerhouse in the world of media and publishing. Undergraduates have gone on to found the most important publishing houses in the country, including Harcourt & Brace (both CC 1904), Simon (CC ’20) & Schuster (CC ’21), Alfred A. Knopf (CC ’12), and Bennett Cerf (CC ’19), the founder of Random House. This tradition continues today with Marcus Brauchli (CC '83),  the current Executive Editor at the Washington Post; Janice Min (CC ’90), Editor-in-Chief of Us Weekly magazine and Adweek Magazine’s 2005 Editor of the Year; John MacArthur (CC ’78), an award-winning journalist and current President and Publisher of Harper’s magazine; Claire Shipman (CC ’86), noted broadcast journalist on ABC News; and George Stephanopoulos (CC '82), host of ABC's Sunday morning news show This Week with George Stephanapolous.

Performing Arts

There is a long list of actors, directors and writers who once graced Columbia stages, including Academy Award-winners Herman Mankiewicz (CC ’17), Joseph Mankiewicz (CC ’28) and I.A.L. Diamond (CC ’41). Current performing artists include actors Julia Stiles (CC ’05), Maggie Gyllenhaal (CC ’98), Dan Futterman (CC ’89), Matthew Fox (CC ’89) and Brian Dennehy (CC ’60); and directors Brian De Palma (CC ’62) and Jim Jarmusch (CC ’75).

Politics

Columbia's legacy in politics is rich, beginning with Alexander Hamilton (King’s College 1778), America's first Secretary of the Treasury, and John Jay (KC 1764), America’s first Chief Justice.  This legacy continues today with President Barack Obama (CC ’83), Senator Judd Gregg (CC ’69), and Attorney-General Eric Holder (CC'73). The previous Attorney-General, Michael Mukasey (CC '63), is also an alum.  In 2008, College alumnus Ben Jealous (CC '97) became the youngest President and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).  Columbians have played significant roles outside of the United States as well.  Johan Jorgen Holst (CC ’60) was the Foreign Minister of Norway and played an important role in the Oslo Accords.  The current President of Estonia is Tomas Hendrik Ilves (CC ’72), an ardent supporter of bringing the Core Curriculum to Eastern Europe.

Sciences

Some of the world's greatest scientific minds were honed at Columbia, evidenced by the 39 graduates and the 50 current or former faculty who have been awarded Nobel Prizes. Fifteen Nobel laureates hold undergraduate degrees, including 2004 winner Richard Axel (CC '67), currently a Professor of Biochemistry at Columbia. Other Columbia innovators include Harold Brown (CC '45), former Secretary of Defense for the Carter administration after serving as an influential physicist and President of the California Institute of Technology. Joel Moses (CC '62), the current Provost at MIT and Dean of Engineering, earned his undergraduate degree at Columbia in mathematics.