List of Bennington College people

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This list of notable people associated with Bennington College includes matriculating students, alumni, attendees, faculty, trustees, and honorary degree recipients of Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont.

Contents

Notable alumni

Architecture

NameClass yearNotabilityDegreeReference
Kevin Alter 1985associate dean for graduate programs, Sid W. Richardson Centennial Professor of Architecture; director of the Summer Academy in Architecture; and associate director of the Center for American Architecture and Design at The University of Texas at AustinB.A.
David Choi1996principal, CHOIDESIGN + Partners; winner of Coptic Church International Design Contest, Edge as Center CompetitionB.A.
Judith Munk artist and designer associated with Scripps Institution of OceanographyB.A.

Art administration

NameClass yearNotabilityDegreeReference
Deborah Borda 1971president and CEO, the Los Angeles Philharmonic; former president and CEO of the New York PhilharmonicB.A.
Dan Cameron 1979former director, visual arts, Contemporary Arts Center (New Orleans), Chief Curator of the Orange County Museum of ArtB.A.
Kathy Halbreich 1971associate director, The Museum of Modern Art (New York)B.A.
Maren Hassinger 1969director, the Rinehart School of Graduate Sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of ArtB.A.
Lindsay Howard art curator in New YorkB.A.
Harvey Lichtenstein 1953chair, Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Local Development Corporation; former executive director and president emeritus of the Board of Trustees, Brooklyn Academy of MusicB.A.
Matthew Marks 1985founder and owner, Matthew Marks GalleryB.A.
Sharon Ott 1972former artistic director, Seattle Repertory Theater; Tony and Obie Awards; faculty, Savannah College of Art & Design; executive board member, Stage Directors and Choreographers SocietyB.A.
Virlana Tkacz 1974founding director of Yara Arts GroupB.A.
Anne Waldman 1966director and cofounder, Jack Kerouac School, The Naropa Institute; the Dylan Thomas Memorial Prize and NEA fellowshipsB.A.

Aviation

NameClass yearNotabilityDegreeReference
Betty Haas Pfister aviatorB.A.

Business

NameClass yearNotabilityDegreeReference
Bruce Berman 1974chairman and CEO, Village Roadshow Pictures; executive producer, The Matrix, Ocean's Eleven, Analyze This, Mystic River, Charlie and the Chocolate FactoryB.A.
Deborah Borda 1971president and CEO, the Los Angeles Philharmonic; former president and CEO of the New York PhilharmonicB.A.
Ashley Gjøvik 2005former Apple Inc. employee; labor activist and whistleblower [1]
Judith Jones 1945vice president and senior editor, Knopf; author of The Tenth Muse: My Life with Food and The Pleasures of Cooking for OneB.A.

Dance/choreography

NameClass yearNotabilityDegreeReference
Liz Lerman 1969choreographer, founder/director, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange; 2002 MacArthur "Genius" Award winnerB.A.
Lisa Nelson 1971choreographer; former editor, Contact Quarterly; director of VideodaB.A.
Sara Rudner 1999director of dance, Sarah Lawrence College; former principal dancer, Twyla Tharp Dance; recipient of Bessie Award and Guggenheim grantB.A.

Education

NameClass yearNotabilityDegreeReference
Judith Butler 1978professor and chair of comparative literature and rhetoric, University of California, Berkeley; author, Gender TroubleB.A.
Sheila Miyoshi Jager 1984professor of East Asian Studies at Oberlin CollegeB.A. [2]
Ellen McCulloch-Lovell 1969president, Marlboro College; former deputy assistant to President ClintonB.A.
Sally Liberman Smith 1950founder/director, Lab School, Washington, DCB.A.

Film/theater/television

NameClass yearNotabilityDegreeCitation
Betty Aberlin 1963actress and poet, Mister Rogers′ NeighborhoodB.A.
Alan Arkin 1955actor, director, composer, author; film credits include Catch-22, The Russians Are Coming, Glengarry Glen Ross, Grosse Pointe Blank, The In-Laws, Little Miss Sunshine (Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor), Get SmartB.A.
John Billingsley 1982film and television actor with multiple credits, known for his role as Doctor Phlox on the television series Star Trek: Enterprise B.A.
Chris Bowen 1988senior performing director, Blue Man Group; Obie and Drama Desk AwardsB.A.
John Boyd 2003actor, Bones B.A. [3]
Carol Channing 1942Broadway and film actress; Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Hello, Dolly!; Golden Globe Award, Academy Award nominationB.A. [4]
Spencer Cox HIV/AIDS activistB.A.
Tim Daly 1979actor, Diner, Made in Heaven; TV credits include Witness to the Execution, Wings, The Fugitive, The Sopranos, Private Practice, Madam Secretary; Theatre World and Dramalogue awardsB.A.
Peter Dinklage 1991actor; film credits include Living in Oblivion, The Station Agent, Elf, Death at a Funeral, Saint John of Las Vegas, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, X-Men: Days of Future Past; TV credits include Nip/Tuck, 30 Rock, Game of ThronesB.A.
Camelia Frieberg Canadian film director and producerB.A. [5]
Mitchell Kriegman 1974Emmy award winning director and writer, The Book of Pooh, Bear in the Big Blue House, Clarissa Explains It AllB.A.
Mitch Markowitz 1975screenwriter, Good Morning Vietnam, Crazy People; TV credits include M*A*S*H,Too Close for Comfort, MonkB.A.
Alley Mills 1973The Wonder Years, The Bold and the Beautiful (Emmy and Golden Globe Award)B.A.
Barry Primus 1960actor/director/writer, Cagney & Lacey, The X-Files, LA Law; film credits include The Rose, American Hustle, Mistress, Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of DeathB.A.
Anne Ramsey 1951actress, The Goonies, Throw Momma from the Train (Academy Award nomination, Golden Globe Award nomination, two Saturn Awards)B.A.
Melissa Rosenberg 1986writer/producer; TV credits include The Agency, Boston Public, Dexter; film credits include Step Up, Twilight, New MoonB.A.
Suzanne Shepherd 1956actress; film credits include Working Girl, Goodfellas; TV credits include Law & Order, The SopranosB.A.
Jonathan Marc Sherman 1990playwright/actor plays written include: Women and Wallace, Things We Want and the musical The ConnectorB.A
Treva Silverman 1959TV writer, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Room 222, The Monkees, Captain NiceB.A. [6] [7]
Rider Strong 2009screenwriter, director, producer: Irish Twins; actor, Boy Meets WorldM.F.A.
Holland Taylor 1964actress; film credits include To Die For, The Truman Show, One Fine Day; TV credits include Bosom Buddies, The Practice (Emmy Award), Two and a Half MenB.A.
Justin Theroux 1993actor, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Duplex, Mulholland Drive, American Psycho, Tropic of Thunder: Rain of Madness; TV credits include Alias, Sex and the City, Six Feet Under, The Leftovers, John AdamsB.A.
Virlana Tkacz 1974theater directorB.A.
Jill Wisoff 1977film composer/actor; film credits include Welcome to the Dollhouse, Smart House, Creating KarmaB.A.

Government/public service

NameClass yearNotabilityDegreeCitation
Princess Yasmin Aga Khan 1973vice chairman of Alzheimer's and Related Disorders Association; president of Alzheimer's Disease InternationalB.A.
Ujwal Thapa 2000political activist, and co-founder of grassroots political party Bibeksheel Nepali B.A.

Journalism/broadcasting

NameClass yearNotabilityDegreeCitation
James Geary 1985former deputy editor of TIME magazine, Europe, Middle East, and AfricaB.A.
Roger Kimball 1975art critic and conservative social commentator; editor and publisher of New Criterion B.A.
Ted Mooney 1973senior editor, Art in America magazineB.A.
Wendy Perron 1969editor-in-chief, Dance MagazineB.A.
Alec Wilkinson 1974staff writer, The New Yorker; author of eight nonfiction books; Robert F. Kennedy Book AwardB.A.

Music

NameClass yearNotabilityDegreeCitation
Chris Barron 1990lead singer, Spin Doctors B.A.
Alex Bleeker 2008member of the band Real Estate and Alex Bleeker and the FreaksB.A.
Mountain Man indie folk singing trio consisting of Molly Sarlé, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, and Amelia Meath [8]
Lisa Sokolov 1976jazz vocalist, improviser and composer; originator, Embodied VoiceWork; director, The Institute for Embodied VoiceWork in New York; associate professor, NYU's Tisch School of the ArtsB.A.
Michael Starobin 1979orchestrator on Broadway for Sunday in the Park with George, Assassins, Falsettos, Guys and Dolls, King Lear, Visiting Mr. Green, Next to NormalB.A.
Will Stratton 2009singer/songwriterB.A.
Elizabeth Swados 1973composer, writer, director; three-time Obie winnerB.A.
James Tenney 1958experimental composer; Roy E. Disney Family Chair in Musical Composition, CalArtsB.A.
Joan Tower 1961composer; Asher Edelman Professor of Music, Bard College; Grammy Award recipientB.A.
Susannah Waters 1986soprano, profiled in Opera News; NYC Opera debut 1997 in Handel's XerxesB.A.
Anthony Wilson 1990composer/arranger, guitarist; toured with Diana KrallB.A.

Science/medicine

NameClass yearNotabilityDegreeCitation
Barrie Cassileth 1959Laurance S. Rockefeller Chair in Integrative Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer CenterB.A.
Joan Hinton 1942nuclear physicist, China activistB.A.
Jennifer Mieres 1982director, nuclear cardiology; associate professor, New York University School of MedicineB.A.

Sports

NameClass yearNotabilityDegreeCitation
Martha Rockwell 1966 Olympic cross-country skier B.A.

Visual arts

NameClass yearNotabilityDegreeCitation
Ralph Alswang 1987official White House photographer, Clinton administrationB.A.
Susan Crile 1965painter; faculty, Hunter CollegeB.A.
Helen Frankenthaler 1949painter; pioneer in abstract expressionismB.A.
Anna Gaskell 1992photographer; named as one of three Best and Brightest art photographers in America by Esquire magazineB.A.
Maren Hassinger 1969installation, sculpture, and performance artist also working in video; director of the Rinehart School of Sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art B.A.
Sally Mann 1973photographer; named one of "America's best photographers" by TIME magazine; author, Deep South, Proud FleshB.A.
Jill Nathanson painter, color field painting B.A. [9]
Robert Perkins poet and artistB.A.
Anne Poor painter and war correspondent in World War IIB.A.
Tom Sachs 1989installation artist; work appeared in New York Times Magazine, Elle Décor magazine, The New York Post, GQB.A.
Marian Zazeela 1960light-artist, designer, painter and musicianB.A.
Jane Zweibel 1981painter, mixed media art, sculptureB.A. [10]

Writing

NameClass yearNotabilityDegreeCitation
Mohammed Naseehu Ali 1995author; book, The Prophet of Zongo StreetB.A.
Claire Blatchford 1966author and deafness advocate; book, Turning: Words Heard from WithinB.A.
Carolyn Cassady 1944author; book, Off the Road: My Years with Cassady, Kerouac, and GinsbergB.A.
Jaime Clarke 1997novelist and editorMFA
Kiran Desai 1993author; books, Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard (New York Times Notable Book) and Inheritance of Loss (winner of the 2006 Man Booker Prize for fiction)B.A.
Gretel Ehrlich 1967author; books, Arctic Heart: A Poem Cycle, Islands, The Universe, Home, This Cold Heaven: Seven Seasons in Greenland, The Future of Ice: A Journey into Cold; Whiting Creative Writing award, Guggenheim fellowshipB.A.
Jill Eisenstadt 1985novelist; books, From Rockaway and Kiss OutB.A.
Bret Easton Ellis 1986author; books, Less Than Zero, The Rules of Attraction, American Psycho, Lunar Park, The InformersB.A.
Lynn Emanuel 1972poet; books, Hotel Fiesta, The Dig, Then, Suddenly; National Poetry Series Award, Pushcart Prize, NEA, professor at University of Pittsburgh B.A.
Elizabeth Frank 1967author; Pulitzer Prize for Louise Bogan: A Portrait; Cheat and Charmer: A Novel, Joseph E. Harry Chair in Modern Languages and Literature, Bard CollegeB.A.
M. B. Goffstein 1962author-illustrator; books, Natural History, An Artist, Fish for Supper, Artists' Helpers Enjoy the Evenings, Biography of Miss Go Chi: Novelettos & PoemsB.A.
Tod Goldberg 2009author; books, Gangsterland, Living Dead Girl, Other Resort Cities, Burn Notice seriesM.F.A.
Sandra Hochman 1957poet and novelist, books, Manhattan Pastures, Jogging: A Love Story, Playing Tahoe; 1963 Yale Series of Younger Poets AwardB.A.
Katharine Holabird 1969writer; author of Angelina Ballerina booksB.A.
Barbara Howes 1937poet; wife of William Jay Smith B.A.
Jonathan Lethem 1986author; books, You Don't Love Me Yet, The Fortress of Solitude, Motherless Brooklyn (National Book Critics Circle Award), 2005 MacArthur "Genius" Award winner, Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse, Chronic City, appointed Disney professor of creative writing at Pomona College B.A.
Cynthia Macdonald 1950poet; books, Amputations, (W)holes, I Can't RememberB.A.
Kathleen Norris 1969author of Dakota: A Spiritual Geography, The Cloister Walk, Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith (New York Times Notable Book), and Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life; Guggenheim fellowshipB.A.
Michael Pollan 1976author; books, In Defense of Food, The Omnivore's Dilemma, The Botany of Desire (New York Times bestseller), Second Nature: A Gardener's Education, and A Place of My Own: The Education of an Amateur BuilderB.A.
Mary Ruefle 1974poet and essayist; books, Madness Rock and Honey (National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist), A Little White Shadow, Among the Musk Ox People; recipient of William Carlos Williams Award B.A.
Eva Salzman 1982poet; books, The English Earthquake, Bargain with the WatchmanB.A.
Reginald Shepherd 1988poet, books, Some Are Drowning, Wrong, OtherhoodB.A.
Donna Tartt 1986author; 2014 Pulitzer Prize Winner for The Goldfinch; books, The Secret History, The Little FriendB.A.
Anne Waldman 1966poet, books, Marriage: A Sentence, In the Room of Never Grieve, professor at Naropa University B.A.
Thisuri Wanniarachchi 2016author; books, Colombo Streets, The Terrorist's DaughterB.A.
Susan Wheeler 1977poet; books, Smokes, Bag o' Diamonds, Meme; Norma Farber First Book Award and finalist for National Book Award; Director of Creative Writing at Princeton University B.A.

Fictional characters

Fictional WorkDateFictional PersonDegreeReference
Cheers 1982 Diane Chambers, a bartender in BostonB.A.
Sinister ~1992The film's protagonist, Ellison Oswalt, a true crime writer, graduated from Bennington.B.A.
V. 1963Rachel Owlglass, a wealthy woman from Long Island's Five Towns, graduated from Bennington.B.A.

Notable current faculty

Notable former faculty

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References

  1. ↑ Gjøvik, Ashley (July 24, 2021). "Ashley Gjøvik" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 25, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Sheila Miyoshi Jager". Oberlin College. 24 October 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  3. ↑ "After Bennington". Archived from the original on 2015-03-11. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  4. ↑ Bernstein, Jacob (February 22, 2013). "Surviving AIDS, but Not the Life That Followed". The New York Times . Retrieved October 7, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Crusading producer passionate about film: She isn't afraid to confront the mandarins and accountants". Toronto Star , June 19, 1994.
  6. ↑ Wollman, Jane (October 14, 1990). "NEW YORKER TO WATCH A Shy and Gentle Comedy-Writing Force: [CITY Edition]". Newsday. ProQuest   278244391. After earning a BA at Bennington, Silverman landed a job proofreading for Esquire...
  7. ↑ "Bennington College Confers Degrees Upon 62 Graduates". Rutland Daily Herald. June 29, 1959. p. 2. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
  8. ↑ Hart, Otis (September 13, 2018). "Sail Away, Sail Away On Mountain Man's 'Magic Ship'". NPR Music.
  9. ↑ Halasz, Piri (February 6, 2021). "Translucence: Jill Nathanson at Berry Campbell". artcritical.
  10. ↑ "Exploring Female Identity with Jane Zweibel". Create! Magazine. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  11. 1 2 3 Wilson, Oceana. "LibGuides: Bennington College History: Drama: Faculty". libraryguides.bennington.edu. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
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