List of Teachers College, Columbia University alumni

Following is a list of notable alumni of Teachers College, Columbia University.

Mary Antin

Shirley Chisholm

Norman Cousins

Art Garfunkel

Martin Haberman

Lee Huan

John King Jr.

Anita Pollitzer

Diane Ravitch

Robert Sherman

Merryl Tisch

Art and architecture

• Charles Alston (M.F.A. 1931), artist
• Aaron Douglas (M.A. 1944), painter, illustrator, and major figure in the Harlem Renaissance
• Maude Kerns (M.A. 1906), pioneering abstract artist and teacher ^[1]
• Audrea Kreye (M.A.), metalsmith and jewelry designer
• Ryah Ludins (B.S. 1921; artist and art teacher
• Agnes Martin (B.A. 1942), artist
• Georgia O'Keeffe (1914), artist
• Raphael Montañez Ortiz (Ed.D. 1982), artist and founder of El Museo del Barrio
• Frank Shifreen (2001), artist; curator; teacher
• Elaine Sturtevant (M.A.), artist
• Marius Sznajderman, painter, printmaker, and scenic designer
• Hilda Taba (PhD 1932), architect; curriculum theorist; curriculum reformer and teacher educator
• Alma Thomas (M.A. 1934), expressionist painter and art educator
• Lynd Ward (1926), illustrator and artist known for his series of wordless novels using wood engraving

Academia

President

• Michael Apple (Ed.D. 1970), professor of educational policy studies
• Louis T. Benezet (PhD 1942), former president of Claremont Graduate University
• Zhang Boling (1917), founder and president of National Nankai University
• Paul G. Bulger (Ed.D. 1951), president of Buffalo State College
• Betty Castor (1963), President of the University of South Florida, member of the Florida Senate, and Florida Education Commissioner
• Margaret Mordecai Jones Cruikshank (1911), president of St. Mary's Junior College
• Bidhu Bhusan Das (M.A. 1947), university president/Vice Chancellor and ranking government official from India
• Marjorie Housepian Dobkin (M.A.), Barnard College professor and dean
• Edward C. Elliott (M.A.), educational researcher and president of Purdue University
• Claire Fagin (M.A.), the first woman to serve as president of an Ivy League university
• Abraham S. Fischler (Ed.D. 1959), academic; second president of Nova Southeastern University
• Edward Fitzpatrick (B.S. 1906; M.A. 1907; PhD 1911), president of Mount Mary College
• William Trufant Foster (PhD 1911), economist; first president of Reed College
• Susan Fuhrman (Ph.D. 1977), first female president of TC; former UPenn dean
• Mildred García (Ed.D. 1987), president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU)
• Gordon Gee (Ed.D. 1972), president of Ohio State University
• Andy Holt (PhD 1937), president of University of Tennessee
• George Ivany (M.A. 1962), president of the University of Saskatchewan
• Dock J. Jordan (A.B., 1925; M.A. 1928), president of Edward Waters University and Kittrell College
• J. Paul Leonard (1901–1995), university president, educator ^[2]
• Morris Meister (PhD 1921), first president of Bronx Community College and first principal of Bronx High School of Science
• Jiang Menglin (PhD), president of Peking University; minister of education for the Republic of China
• Mary Eileen O'Brien (M.A. 1983), president of Dominican University New York ^[3]
• Regina Peruggi (Ed.D. 1984), President of Kingsborough Community College
• Thomas Granville Pullen Jr. (Ed.M.; Ed.D. 1926), president University of Baltimore; Maryland State Superintendent of Education
• William Schuman (B.S. 1935; M.A. 1937), former president of the Juilliard School of Music and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
• Floyd Wilcox (M.A. 1920), third president of Shimer College
• John Davis Williams (Ed.D. 1940), chancellor of the University of Mississippi

Faculty

• Randy E. Bennett (M.A. 1977; Ed.M., 1978; Ed.D. 1979), educational researcher
• Josephine Thorndike Berry (B.S. 1904, A.M. 1910), college professor and home economist
• John Seiler Brubacher (M.A.; PhD), educational philosopher; professor at Yale
• Edith Buchanan (Ed.D. 1953), nursing educator, professor, and principal of the College of Nursing, (now Rajkumari Amrit Kaur College of Nursing) New Delhi, India
• Arthur W. Chickering (PhD 1958), educational researcher in student development theory
• Satis N. Coleman (Ph.D. 1931), music educator and professor at Teachers College, Columbia University
• Erick Gordon (Ed.M. 1992), founding director of the Student Press Initiative at Teachers College, Columbia University
• Joan Dye Gussow (Ed.D. 1975), professor emerita and former chair of the Nutrition Education Program at Teachers College, Columbia University
• Margaret H'Doubler (1916), dance instructor who created the first dance major at the University of Wisconsin
• Martin Haberman (Ed.D. 1962), dean and distinguished professor at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
• Martha Hill (B.S. 1929), first director of dance at the Juilliard School
• Percy Hughes (M.A.; Ph.D.), leading fia gure in the Philosophy, Education, and Psychology Department at Lehigh University
• Seymour Itzkoff (Ph.D. 1965), professor emeritus of education and child study at Smith College
• Yoshi Kasuya (M.A. 1930, Ph.D. 1933), educator at Tsuda College in Kodaira, Tokyo
• William Heard Kilpatrick (PhD 1912), philosopher of education; professor of Teachers College, Columbia University
• Herbert Kliebard (Ed.D. 1963), historian of education and professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
• Julius B. Maller (PhD 1929), professor and research sociologist
• John C. McAdams (M.A.), associate professor of political science at Marquette University
• Jane Ellen McAllister (PhD 1929), college professor and first African American woman to earn a PhD in education in the United States
• Lin Mosei (PhD 1929), Dean of Arts at the National Taiwan University and the first Taiwanese to receive a PhD degree
• Jerome T. Murphy (M.A.), dean emeritus at the Harvard Graduate School of Education
• Kuo Ping-Wen (M.A. 1912; Ph.D. 1914), chancellor of the Shanghai College of Commerce
• Thomas S. Popkewitz (M.A. 1964), professor of curriculum theory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Louise M. Powell (B.S. 1922), nurse and educator who led the University of Minnesota School of Nursing during its formative years.
• Robert Bruce Raup (PhD 1926), philosophy of education professor emeritus and critic of the American education system
• Betty Reardon (Ed.D. 1985), founder and director of the Peace Education Center at Teachers College, Columbia University
• Agnes L. Rogers (PhD 1917), educational psychologist; professor of education
• Juanita Jane Saddler (M.A. 1935), dean of women at Fisk University
• Irma Salas Silva (Ph.D. 1930), head of the Department of Education of the University of Chile's Faculty of Philosophy and Education
• Rawley Silver (Ed.D. 1936), art therapist
• Lucy Diggs Slowe (M.A. 1915), first Blacthe k woman to serve as Dean of Women at an American University; one of the founders and first president of Alpha Kappa Alpha
• Samuel Totten (Ed.D. 1985), genocide scholar and professor at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
• William E. Warner (Ph.D. 1928), industrial arts professor at Ohio State University and founder of Epsilon Pi Tau honor society
• Joel Westheimer, professor of citizenship education at the University of Ottawa
• Marion Thompson Wright (Ph.D. 1940), professor at Howard University and first African-American woman in the United States to earn Ph.D. in Ha istory ^[4]

Activism

• Thelma C. Davidson Adair (M.A. 1945; Ed.D. 1959), advocate for human rights; peace; and justice
• Mary Antin (1902), immigration rights activist; author of The Promised Land
• Belle Moskowitz (attended in 1894), social activist
• Esther Peterson (M.A. 1930), consumer rights activist; 1981 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient
• Anita Pollitzer (1913), suffragette and national chairman of the NWP
• Henrietta Rodman (1904), teacher; feminist activist
• Jill Sheffield (M.A. 1963), women's reproductive rights advocate
• Leon Sullivan (M.A. 1947), civil rights leader and social activist; 1991 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient
• Ruth C. Sullivan (M.A. 1953), autism activist

Business

• William Vincent Campbell Jr. (Ed.M. 1974), board director for Apple Inc.; CEO for Claris; Intuit Inc. and GO Corporation
• Richard Robinson (attended, 1963), former CEO of Scholastic Corporation
• Carmen Rita Wong (M.A. 2000), personal finance expert

Education

• Millie Almy (M.A. 1945, Ph.D. 1948), psychologist and "Grandame of early childhood education"
• Florence E. Bamberger (PhD 1922), pedagogue; school supervisor; progressive education advocate
• Sarah Bavly (M.S. 1929; PhD 1947), Dutch-Israeli nutrition education pioneer in Israel
• June Dobbs Butts (Ed.D), educator, writer, and sex therapist ^[5]
• Katherine M. Cook (M.A. 1912), Chief, Division of Rural Education, Bureau of Education; Chief, Division of Special Problems, Office of Education, HEW
• Frank W. Cyr (PhD 1930), educator and author known for his contribution to school busing
• Sarah Louise Delany (B.A. 1920; Ed.M. 1925), the first African-American permitted to teach high school science in New York
• Florence Dunlop (Ph.D. 1935), a pioneer in education for special needs children
• Blanche General Ely (M.A. 1923), principal and founder of multiple schools in Broward County, Florida
• John D. Kendall (M.A.), promulgated the Suzuki Method in the United States
• Deborah Kenny (PhD 1994), CEO of Harlem Village Academies
• H. S. S. Lawrence (M.A.; Ed.D. 1950), Indian educationist
• Caroline Pratt (B.A. 1894), progressive educator; founder of City and Country School in the Greenwich Village
• Katharine Whiteside Taylor (PhD 1937), educator and pioneer for the cooperative preschool movement.
• Tao Xingzhi (1917), Chinese educator and author of children's literature

Entertainment

• Sara Benincasa (M.A.), comedian and author
• Donald Byrd (Ph.D. 1982), jazz and fusion trumpet player; music educator
• Ennis Cosby (Ed.M. 1995), murder victim and son of comedian Bill Cosby
• Arthur Cunningham (M.A. 1957), composer
• Patricia DiMango (M.A.), judge; star of CBS' Hot Bench
• William Patrick Foster (Ed.D. 1955), bandmaster, composer, and author
• Agnes Moore Fryberger, educational director of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra and of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
• Art Garfunkel (M.A. 1967), singer (Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame inductee); poet; and actor
• Samuel E. Goldfarb, composer
• Ellie Krieger (M.S. 1994), nutritionist; host of Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger and Ellie's Real Good Food
• Eda LeShan (B.S. 1944), writer; television host; counselor; educator; playwright
• Mort Lindsey (M.A. 1948; Ed.D. 1974), orchestrator; composer; pianist; conductor; musical director
• Margaret McFarland (PhD 1938), child psychologist, chief consultant to Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
• Annie-B Parson (M.A. 1983), dancer, choreographer, founder of Big Dance Theater
• Soon-Yi Previn (Ed.M.), wife of filmmaker Woody Allen
• David Randolph (M.A. 1942), conductor; music educator; radio host
• Helen Reichert (M.A. 1931), talk show personality; professor
• Marvin Rosen (Ed.M.; Ed.D.), pianist; educator; musicologist; Classical Discoveries radio host
• Angela Santomero (M.A.), television executive producer and creator
• Morton Schindel (M.A. 1947), educator and film producer
• Robert Sherman (M.A. 1953), radio broadcaster; author; educator
• Karl Struss (B.A. 1912), photographer and cinematographer; pioneer in 3D films
• Bobby Susser (M.A. 1987), children's songwriter; record producer; performer
• Ellen R. Thompson (M.A.) composer and music educator
• Marion Verhaalen, (Ed.D., 1971) composer and musicologist
• Ruth Westheimer (Ed.D. 1970), sex therapist known as "Dr. Ruth", talk show host, author, professor

Literature and journalism

• Pam Allyn (M.A. 1988), literacy expert
• Carolyn Sherwin Bailey (1896), author of Miss Hickory winner of the 1947 Newbery Medal
• Norman Cousins (B.A.), editor; peace activist
• Ella Cara Deloria (B.S. 1915), novelist and Yankton Sioux ethnologist
• Rudolf Flesch (PhD 1955), author who inspired Dr. Seuss to write The Cat in the Hat
• Neil Postman (M.A. 1955; Ed.D. 1958), author and cultural critic
• Miriam Roth (Ed.M.), Israeli writer and scholar of children's books; educator
• Grace Steele Woodward, writer and historian
• Tao Xingzhi (1917), Chinese educator and author of children's literature
• Anzia Yezierska (1905), novelist

Medicine and psychology

• Louie Croft Boyd (1909), nurse and hospital superintendent of nurses
• Augusta Fox Bronner (B.S. 1906; M.A. 1909; Ph.D. 1914), psychologist and co-director of the first child guidance clinic
• May Edward Chinn (B.S. 1921), the first black woman to graduate from Bellevue Hospital Medical College
• Peter T. Coleman (PhD), psychologist; executive director of the Morton Deutsch ICCCR and the AC4
• Diane DiResta (M.S. 1977), media trainer; speech coach; certified speech pathologist
• Patricia Lynne Duffy (M.A. 1981), synesthesia expert
• Albert Ellis (M.A. 1943; PhD 1947), cognitive behavioral therapist
• Haim Ginott, child psychologist and psychotherapist, and parent educator
• Edmund Gordon (Ed.D.), psychologist
• Tsuruko Haraguchi (PhD 1912), psychologist
• Virginia Henderson (B.S. 1932; M.A. 1934), nurse; researcher; theorist; the "first lady of nursing"
• Lois Holzman (Ph.D. 1977), psychologist, director, and co-founder of the East Side Institute
• David W. Johnson (Ed.D. 1966), social psychologist
• Imogene King (Ed.D.), pioneer of nursing theory development
• Eleanor C. Lambertsen (B.S. 1949; M.A. 1950; Ed.D. 1957), revolutionized nursing and health care organization and delivery
• Harriet Lerner (M.A.), clinical psychologist
• Ruth Lubic (B.S. 1959; M.A. 1961; Ed.D. 1979), leader of the nurse-midwifery movement in the US
• Rollo May (PhD 1949), existential psychologist
• Margaret McFarland (PhD 1938), child psychologist, chief consultant to Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
• Hildegard Peplau (M.A.; Ph.D.), nurse and nurse theorist who led the way toward the humane treatment of patients with behavior and personality disorders
• June Reinisch (M.A. 1970; PhD 1976), psychologist and director of the Kinsey Institute
• Carl Rogers (M.A. 1928; PhD 1931), psychologist
• Martha E. Rogers (M.A. 1945), nursing theorist; creator of the Science of Unitary Human Beings
• Celestine Smith (Ed.D. 1952), the first Black woman to become certified as a Jungian psychoanalyst, in 1964
• Ian K. Smith (M.A. 1993), physician and author
• Edward Thorndike (PhD 1898), psychologist
• Robert L. Thorndike (M.A. 1932; PhD 1935), psychologist
• Darlene Yee-Melichar (M.S. 1984; Ed.D. 1985), gerontologist
• Shirley Zussman (1937), sex therapist

Military

• Anna Mae Hays (B.S. 1958), the first woman in the U.S. Armed Forces to be promoted to a general officer rank
• Olivia Hooker (M.A. 1947), first African-American woman to serve in the U.S. Coast Guard
• Hazel Johnson-Brown (M.A. 1963), the first female African-American general in the United States Army

Politics and government

• Muhammad Fadhel al-Jamali (M.A. 1930; PhD 1934), Prime Minister of Iraq
• Hafizullah Amin (M.A.), president of Afghanistan
• Nahas Gideon Angula (M.A. 1978; Ed.M. 1979), Prime Minister of Namibia
• William Ayers (Ed.M.; Ed.D. 1987), founder of Weather Underground; professor of education
• C. Louise Boehringer (B.S. 1911), the first female to be elected to office in Arizona
• Peter L. Buttenwieser (Ph.D.), Democratic donor and fundraiser
• Betty Castor (1963), Florida Senate, Florida Education Commissioner, and President of the University of South Florida
• P. C. Chang (PhD), philosopher and diplomat
• Shirley Chisholm (M.A. 1952), first African American woman elected to Congress and former US presidential candidate
• Betsy Gotbaum (M.A. 1967), Public Advocate for New York City
• Lee Huan (M.A.), premier of the Republic of China
• Kevin Jennings (M.A. 1994), former assistant deputy secretary at the U.S. Department of Education
• Thomas Kean (M.A. 1963), former governor of New Jersey
• John King Jr. (Ed.M.; Ed.D. 2008), 10th United States secretary of education, 15th [[Chancellor of the State University of New York]]
• Guillermo Linares (Ed.D.), the first Dominican elected to public office in the US
• Olga A. Mendez (M.A. 1960), the first Puerto Rican woman elected to a US state legislature
• Jiang Menglin (PhD), president of Peking University; minister of education for the Republic of China
• Chester Earl Merrow (1937), educator; U.S. Representative from New Hampshire
• Yvonne B. Miller (M.A. 1962), the first African-American woman to be elected to the Virginia state house
• Richard P. Mills (Ed.D. 1977), former commissioner of education for Vermont and New York
• Diane Ravitch (PhD 1975), historian of education; former U.S. Assistant secretary of education
• Tian-Ming Sheu (Ed.D. 1993), president of the National Academy for Educational Research in Taiwan
• Hu Shih (PhD 1917), Chinese diplomat
• Merryl Tisch (Ed.D.), chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents, presiding over University of the State of New York and the New York State Education Department
• Deborah Wolfe (M.S. 1938; Ed.D. 1945), education chief of the US House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor

Religion

• Barnett R. Brickner (M.A.), rabbi
• Carl Henry Clerk (1926), fourth Synod Clerk of the Presbyterian Church of the Gold Coast
• Minnie Vautrin (M.A. 1919), educator and missionary
• Moshe Weinberger, rabbi and author

Science

• George Albert Llano (M.A. 1939), polar explorer and lichenologist with the National Academy of Sciences

Sports

• Clarence Gaines (M.A. 1950), hall of fame basketball coach of Winston-Salem State University
• Maya Lawrence (M.A. 2010), Olympic fencer
• Sid Luckman, quarterback in the Pro Football Hall of Fame
• Adolph Rupp (M.A.), hall of fame basketball coach of the University of Kentucky
• Henry Wittenberg (M.A.), Olympic wrestling champion

References

1. Trenton, Patricia; D'Emilio, Sandra (1995). Independent Spirits: Women Painters of the American West, 1890–1945. University of California Press. pp. 126–130. ISBN   978-0520202030.
2. "J. Paul Leonard, TC Educator, India Expert, Is Dead at Age 93". Columbia University Record . Vol. 20, no. 22. March 31, 1995. ISSN   0747-4504 . Retrieved August 4, 2022.
3. "Mary Eileen O'Brien to Retire From Presidency of Dominican University in Orangetown, New York". Women In Academia Report. October 27, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
4. Encyclopedia of New Jersey. Lurie, Maxine N., 1940–, Mappen, Marc. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. 2004. ISBN   0813533252. OCLC   57590112.
5. "June Dobbs Butts's". The History Makers. Retrieved January 3, 2026.