Harvard Notable Alumni: Influencers Across Business, Politics, Science
Cambridge, Massachusetts, is home to Harvard University, a private Ivy League research university. Founded in 1636, it is the oldest university in the United States and a world leader in research, teaching, and learning. Numerous undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs in fields like the arts, sciences, engineering, medicine, business, and design are offered on Harvard’s vast campus.
The university is well known for its distinguished professors, extensive library, and robust academic, innovative, and public service cultures.
In this guide, we highlight some of Harvard’s most prominent alumni who achieved notable success in their respective fields and made significant contributions to their countries and to the world.
Top 15 Harvard University Notable Alumni
1. Barack Obama
Graduated in: 1988-1991
Degree: Juris Doctor in Law
Notable Position: The President of the US
Barack Obama was a prominent personality in the history of politics. Barack is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 44th president of the United States (2009 – 2017). He is a member of the Democratic Party and the first African American president of the United States.
Obama served in the U.S. Senate, representing Illinois, from 2005 to 2008, and in the Illinois state senate from 1997 to 2004.
2. John F. Kennedy
Graduated in: 1936-1940
Degree: Bachelor of Arts in International Relations
Notable Position: The President of the US.
At the age of 43, John F. Kennedy became the youngest man elected as President in the history of American politics. From 1961 until his assassination in 1963, John Kennedy, who went by his initials JFK, served as the 35th president of the United States.
His foreign policy was mostly focused on Cuban and Soviet relations during the peak of the Cold War. Before becoming president, Kennedy, a Democrat, served as a representative of Massachusetts in both chambers of the US Congress.
3. William Henry Gates
Graduated in: 1973-1975
Degree: Started as a Pre-Law student and then stuffed it with Mathematics and graduate-level computer science.
Notable Position: CEO of Microsoft and Philanthropist
William Henry Gates III is a famous American businessman and philanthropist who is mostly famous as a co-founder of Microsoft, the software company, along with his childhood friend Paul Allen. He also served as the chairman, chief executive officer (CEO), president, and chief software architect of the firm.
Gates also held its highest share of individual stock until May 2014. He had been an early developer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s.
4. Mark Zuckerberg
Degree: Psychology and Computer Science
Notable Position: Founder of Facebook
Mark Zuckerberg is a business titan who has transformed the way people communicate and relate with one another by destroying the geographical boundary through online connectivity through his company. Facebook is pleased to be among the largest companies that have a total net worth of $695.60 billion.
Facebook, the company that he founded, allows people all over the world to connect, interact, and remain in touch nowadays. Meanwhile, he had been enrolled in the Harvard University graduate programs in the majors of Psychology and Computer Science. Facebook is a company that was formed in 2004 and has come to dominate our lives in significant ways and recently changed its name to its groundbreaking recently rebranded as Meta Platforms Inc. in 2021.
Note: Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard in 2004, after launching his platform, which was named Facebook.
5. Natalie Portman
Graduated in: 1999-2003
Degree: Psychology, Bachelor of Arts.
Notable position: Academy Award winner, actress.
One of the most famous alumni of Harvard is a successful American actress by the name Natalie Portman. She took a psychology course and graduated in 1999-2003. Throughout her career, she has won several awards, such as the British Academy Film Award and the Golden Globe Awards.
Not alone, but she also received an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award because of her performance in the 2010 movie, Black Swan. Similarly, she is among the renowned thespians who attended Harvard.
6. Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Degree: Law
Notable position: Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
Undoubtedly, among the list of famous people who attended Harvard, there are quite a number of members. Nevertheless, one of the most revered and fearless popular alumni of Harvard University is Ruth Bader Ginsburg, also known as the Notorious R.B.G. She was an agent of feminism and a champion of civil rights.
A Lawyer who dared no one and made the American Judiciary her own as she became the first Jewish female in history to serve the American Court and be the associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of America between 1993 and 2020.
7. Matt Damon
Notable position: Actor, Screenwriter, Producer
Actor, screenwriter, and producer Matthew Paige Damon is from the United States. In 2007, Forbes listed him as one of the most bankable celebrities, and in 2010, he was among the highest-grossing actors in history. The Academy Award, two Golden Globes, three British Academy Film Awards, and seven Primetime Emmy Awards are just a few of the honors and nominations he has garnered.
Note: Damon was a dropout student from Harvard (source: Wikipedia)
8. T.S. Eliot
Notable Position: Poet; 1948 Nobel Prize in Literature.
With pieces like Preludes, The Waste Land, and The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, renowned poet and Harvard alumnus T.S. Eliot revolutionized modern poetry. His avant-garde approach, which combined symbolism and intricacy, had a long-lasting impact on literature throughout the world.
9. Bush, George W.
Degree: MBA, 1975
Notable Role: 43rd President of the United States
In 1975, George W. Bush, the first American president to get an MBA, received his degree from Harvard Business School. He was honored for his dedication to public service throughout his tenure as the 43rd President of the United States, which marked the pinnacle of his political career.
10. Rattan Tata
Degree: Business, 1975
Notable Position: Chairman, Tata Group
A visionary industrialist and philanthropist, Ratan Tata graduated from Harvard Business School in 1975. As Chairman of the Tata Group, he expanded the company globally while driving innovation, technology, and social development in India.
11. Helen Keller
Notable Position: Deafblind Writer, Activist, and Lecturer.
Helen Keller was a renowned American writer, activist, and orator. Although she lost sight and hearing capabilities at the tender age of 19 months, she was in a position to do a lot in her life. Helen Keller wrote two autobiographies, The Story of My Life (1902) and Optimism (1903), which attracted national attention even before she graduated from college and gave her writing career a boost.
This is a renowned Harvard alumnus who studied at Radcliffe College of Harvard University when she became the first disabled graduate to get a bachelor’s degree in arts in the United States of America.
12. Robert Oppenheimer
Notable Position: Physicist, father of the atomic bomb.
J. Robert Oppenheimer, a famous American physicist (also known as the father of the atomic bomb), also became legendary since he contributed to the Manhattan Project. Among the most renowned Harvard graduates is J. Robert Oppenheimer due to the contributions he made in the field of physics and science, which earned him the prestigious Enrico Fermi Award by the Atomic Energy Commission. He died in the year 1963 of cancer.
13. Anand Mahindra
Degree: Film Making and Architecture.
Notable position: Chairperson of Mahindra.
Anand Mahindra is an Indian billionaire and the Chairman of the Mahindra Group based in Mumbai. Mahindra Group also deals with automotive, agribusiness, construction equipment, and real estate. Besides his business, Anand Mahindra is in the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) and is a member of the advisory council of the Singapore Economic Development Board.
14. Michelle Obama
Degree: Juris Doctor
Notable Position: Past First Lady, American Attorney, and Author.
We add to this list of famous Harvard graduates an American attorney-author, Michelle Obama. She was the wife of President Barack Obama and the First Lady of the United States of America between the year 2009 and 2017. Being a component of her educational preparation, Michelle Obama received her bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and her juris doctor degree from Harvard Law School, which makes her appearance on the list of famous Harvard alumni even more impressive.
15. Frank Delano Roosevelt
Notable Position: President of the United States.
Frank Roosevelt was the 32nd President of the United States of America. During the Great Depression, he served as the President of the country and was able to maneuver through the worst economic crisis in the history of the country by instituting the New Deal. Roosevelt studied at Harvard College, where he was a Fly Club member and the editor-in-chief of The Harvard Crimson. Being one of the most renowned graduates of Harvard, Roosevelt is recognized across the globe and his global leadership and influence.