Wesleyan University
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Wesleyan University, founded in 1831, is a small, private, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Wesleyan shares a common Methodist heritage with Ohio Wesleyan University (and with about a dozen other U.S. colleges and universities named after John Wesley), though both Wesleyan and Ohio Wesleyan University are now independent highly selective institutions. Originally an all-male Methodist college, its first attempt at co-education lasted from 1872 to 1912; the departure of the female students led directly to the foundation of nearby Connecticut College. Women were gradually readmitted to Wesleyan starting in 1970. Perhaps best known for the liberal arts, it does also offer a wide variety of sciences, which dominate the graduate programs available. It is one of the "Little Three" along with Amherst College and Williams College. The college is well known for its social activism and also its high percentage of students from minority backgrounds. It was a pioneer in world music, and one of the first American universities outside of Los Angeles and New York City to offer a program in Linda Brinen 1988 - Scientific and technical programs manager, Joint Center for Structural Genomics, Stanford University
Art
- Meredith Bergmann 1976 - Sculptor of Women's Memorial (Boston).
- Lyle Ashton Harris 1988 - Photographer, exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art
- Alan Shestack 1960 - Chief curator, National Gallery of Art
- Mark Steinmetz 1982 - Photographer, recipient of Guggenheim Fellowship
- Philip Trager 1956 - Photographer whose books include Villas of Palladio, Dancers, Persephone, and Changing Paris: A Tour Along the Seine
Business
- Joshua Boger 1973 - President and CEO, Vertex Pharmaceuticals
- Majora Carter 1988 - Founder and executive director, Sustainable South Bronx
- Richard Cavanagh 1968 - President and CEO, The Conference Board of New York
- Alan Dachs 1970 - President, The Fremont Group (investment arm of Bechtel Corp.); chairman of Wesleyan's board of trustees
- Charles Exley, Jr. 1951 - Former chairman and CEO, NCR Corporation
- Charles James 1976 - Vice president and general counsel, ChevronTexaco Corp.
- Herb Kelleher 1953 - Founder, chairman, and former president and CEO, Southwest Airlines
- Matt Kelley 1902 - Founder, president, and CEO, The Mavin Foundation
- Daphne Kwok 1984 - Executive director of the Asian Pacific Institute for Congressional Studies
- Eliza Leighton 1995 - Cofounder, Stand for Children
- John Lipsky 1968 - Chief economist and managing director, JP Morgan Chase
- Robert Patricelli 1961 - President and CEO, Women's Health, USA
- Anthony Richter 1984 - director of Central Asia and Middle East Initiatives of the Open Society Institute
- Tom Rogers 1976 - Chairman and CEO, Primedia
- David Skaggs 1964 - Executive director, Aspen Institute
- Laura Walker 1979 - President and CEO, WNYC
- Jeff Weitzen 1978 - Former president and CEO, Gateway 2000
- John Woodhouse 1953 - Senior chairman, Sysco Corp.
- Walter Wriston 1941 - Retired chairman, Citicorp
- Strauss Zelnick 1979 - Founder and president, ZelnickMedia
- Ezra Zilkha 1947 - President, Zilkha and Sons
Entertainment
- Miguel Arteta 1989 - Film director (Star Maps, Chuck and Buck, The Good Girl)
- John Perry Barlow 1969 - Lyricist for Grateful Dead, cofounder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Michael Bay 1986 - Film director (The Rock, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor)
- Jennifer Crittenden 1992 - Writer and/or producer for Seinfeld, The Drew Carey Show, and Everybody Loves Raymond
- There's Something About Mary
- Dana Delany 1978 - Emmy Award-winning actress whose credits include the television shows China Beach and Presidio Med and the films Tombstone and Fly Away Home
- Akiva Goldsman 1983 - Screenwriter for The Client, A Time to Kill, and A Beautiful Mind (Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar)
- The Highwaymen (David Fisher 1962, Steve Trott '62, Chan Daniels '62 [dec.], Steve Butts '62, and Bob Burnett '62) -- folk group with #1 single ("Michael" 1961).
- Jay Hoggard 1976 - Renowned jazz musician, vibraphonist
- David Kohan 1986 - Cocreator and executive producer of Will and Grace and Good Morning, Miami
- Laurence Mark 1971 - Producer of the films Jerry McGuire, As Good As It Gets, Finding Forrester
- Daisy von Scherler Mayer 1988 - Film director (Party Girl, Madeline, The Guru)
- Alix Olson 1997 - Performance artist and award-winning slam poet
- Paul Schiff 1981 - Producer of the films My Cousin Vinny and Rushmore
- Stephen Schiff 1972 - Screenwriter for Lolita, True Crime, and Unfaithful
- Stephen Trask 1989 - Composer and lyricist for the musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch
- Jon Turteltaub 1985 - Film director (Cool Runnings, Phenomenon, While You Were Sleeping)
- Paul Weitz 1988 - Director (with brother Chris Weitz, American Pie, About a Boy)
- Joss Whedon 1987 - Creator, producer, director, and writer for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly; screenwriter for Speed and Toy Story
- Bradley Whitford 1981 - Emmy-winning actor in television drama The West Wing
- David White 1970 - Executive director, producer, and founder of the Dance Theater Workshop
- Mike White 1992 - Screenwriter for Chuck and Buck, Orange County, and The Good Girl
- Dar Williams 1989 - Folksinger
- Christopher Wink 1983 - Founder of the Blue Man Group
- Frank Wood 1984 - Tony Award-winning actor (Side Man)
Law
- Russell Hardin 1964 - Attorney, Hardin, Beers, Hagstette & Davidson, and lead Houston attorney for Arthur Andersen's defense against lawsuits brought by Enron shareholders
- Hon. Terry Hatter 1954 - Federal judge, Los Angeles
- Hon. Anthony Scirica 1962 - Circuit judge, United States Court of Appeals, Third District (Philadelphia)
- Theodore Shaw 1976 - Associate director-counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund
- Hon. Stephen Trott 1962 - Federal Appellate Court judge, 9th Circuit
Literature
- Amy Bloom 1975 - Author of Come to Me, Love Invents Us, and A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You
- Robin Cook 1962 - Medical mystery writer whose books include Abduction, Chromosome 6, Coma, Shock, and many other bestsellers
- Ted Fiske 1959 - Educational writer, creator of The Fiske Guide to Colleges
- William H. Gass
- Daniel Handler 1992 - Author (under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket) of A Series of Unfortunate Events children's book series
- Sebastian Junger 1984 - Author of The Perfect Storm and Fire
- Robert Ludlum 1951 - The late writer whose books include The Bourne Identity, The Matarese Circle, and many others
- C. Richard (Rick) Nicita 1967 - Cochairman, Creative Artists Agency
- Dr. Michael Palmer 1964 - Medical mystery writer whose books include Side Effects, Flashback, Extreme Measures, and Natural Causes
- Eric Asimov 1979 - Restaurant columnist and editor, The New York Times; son of Isaac Asimov
- William Blakemore 1965 - Correspondent, ABC News
- Ethan Bronner 1976 - Assistant editorial page editor, The New York Times
- Dominique Browning 1977 - Editor-in-chief, House & Garden Magazine
- Jane Eisner 1977 - Columnist, Philadelphia Inquirer
- Alberto Ibarg¨en 1966 - Publisher, The Miami Herald, Chair of PBS Board of Directors
- Brooks Kraft 1987 - Nationally recognized photojournalist whose pictures of the White House and President Bush have appeared in Time Magazine.
- Alex Kotlowitz 1977 - Journalist, activist, author of There Are No Children Here
- Caroline Little 1981 - COO of Washington Post.Newsweek Interactive
- Randall Pinkston 1972 - Emmy Award-winning television journalist
- C. Sumner (Chuck) Stone 1948 - Professor of journalism at University of North Carolina; former editor, Philadelphia Daily News
- Michael Yamashita 1971 - Photographer, National Geographic
- John Yang 1980 - Correspondent, ABC News
Politics
- Gerald Baliles 1963 - Former governor of Virginia
- John Hickenlooper 1974 - Mayor of Denver, Colorado.
- Robert Hunter 1962 - Former United States ambassador to NATO, now president of the Atlantic Treaty Organization
Sports
