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• Notable Alumni

From authors to Olympians, CEOs to renowned scientists, actors to presidents, and public servants to business owners, William & Mary graduates have shown success in every field. Across the board, our highly successful alumni credit their experiences at William & Mary for shaping and inspiring their future work.

We count four U.S. presidents among our alumni — so far:

• Thomas Jefferson
• James Monroe
• John Tyler
• George Washington

And while it would be impossible to list them all — though there's a long list of our notable alumni on Wikipedia — here's a sampling of impressive folks we're also proud to call our own:

Entertainment

• Glenn Close '74, D.A. '89
  • Actress: Fatal Attraction, 101 Dalmatians
  • Majors: Theatre, Speech & Dance
• Jon Stewart '84, D.A. '04
  • Comedian and television host: Former host of The Daily Show, current host of The Problem with Jon Stewart
  • Major: Psychology
• Charles "Chip" Esten '87
  • Actor: Outer Banks, Nashville
  • Major: Economics
• Bill Lawrence '90
  • Screenwriter: Cougar Town, Ted Lasso
  • Major: English
• Patton Oswalt '91
  • Comedian, Actor: Ratatouille, The King of Queens
  • Major: English
• Cord Jefferson '04
  • Writer, Director: American Fiction, Watchmen
  • Major: Sociology

Government/Public Service

• Robert Gates '65, L.H.D. '98
  • Former U.S. secretary of defense, W&M's 24th chancellor
  • Major: History
• Michael Powell '85, D.P.S. '02
  • Former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, member of ROTC Hall of Fame
  • Major: Government
• Jen Psaki '00
  • Former White House press secretary
  • Major: English
• Ike Irby M.P.P. '17, Ph.D. '17
  • Senior advisor for policy to the vice president
  • Major: Marine Science

Business

• Joe Plumeri '66, D.P.S. '11
  • Top 100 Most Influential People in Finance
  • Major: History
• Rob Estes '74
  • CEO and president of Estes Express Lines
  • Major: Business – Management
• Caitlin Smallwood '88
  • Vice president of data science and engineering, search and assistant for Google; formerly vice president of data and insights at Netflix
  • Major: Mathematics
• Mark Smucker '92
  • CEO of The J.M. Smucker Co.
  • Major: Geology
• Stephanie Coleman Linnartz M.B.A. '97
  • President and CEO of Under Armour
  • Major: Business – Marketing
• Todd Boehly '96
  • Co-owner and chairman of Chelsea Football Club, part owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, chairman of MRC, which manages Billboard, Rolling Stone, and the Hollywood Reporter
  • Major: Business – Finance
• Maybelline Mendoza '07, M.B.A. '14
  • Brand manager for Sprite, The Coca-Cola Co.
  • Majors: Business – Marketing and Hispanic Studies
• Pocket Sun '13
  • Co-founder and managing partner, SoGal Ventures
  • Major: Business — Marketing, International Business concentration

Athletics

• Jill Ellis '88, L.H.D. '16
  • Former championship-winning head coach of the U.S. Women's Soccer National Team
  • Major: English
• Mike Tomlin '95, L.H.D. '08
  • Head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers
  • Major: Sociology
• Sean McDermott '98
  • Head coach of the Buffalo Bills
  • Major: Business — Finance
• Nathan Knight '20
  • Power forward/center for the Minnesota Timberwolves
  • Major: Data Science

Sciences

• Ellen Stofan '83, D.Sc. '16
  • Former director of the National Air and Space Museum, current under secretary for science and research at The Smithsonian
  • Major: Geology
• Melissa Moore '84
  • Chief scientific officer emeritus for Moderna Inc.
  • Majors: Biology and Chemistry

Want to read more about what our recent alumni are doing? Check out You Belong, our blog from the Young Guarde (alumni who graduated in the last 10 years).