Since Drexel’s establishment in 1891, hundreds of thousands of people have graduated and made their mark worldwide. In honor of The Triangle’s hundred-year anniversary, here are 100 notable Drexel alumni.
Maxfield Parrish, 1896 American painter and illustrator, best known for “Daybreak” and the mosaic “Dream Garden.”
Matilda Evans, 1897 First African American woman licensed to practice medicine in South Carolina.
Jessie Willcox Smith, 1898 American illustrator during the Golden Age of American illustration.
Lillie Rosa Minoka Hill, 1899 Second-ever female Native American physician.
Frank Schoonover, 1900 Illustrator for “Hopalong Cassidy” stories.
William Sidney Pittman, 1900 Architect who designed notable buildings in Washington, D.C. and Texas.
Rudolph Weaver, 1905 Architect and founding dean of three architecture schools.
Juan M. Arellano, 1911 Architect, best known for the Manila Metropolitan Theater.
Douglas Ellington, 1912 Architect known for his work in the Art Deco style; first American to win the Rougevin prize.
Albert Branson Maris, 1926 Previous US circuit judge, appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Elizabeth Gray Vining, 1926 American librarian and author who tutored Emperor Akihito of Japan in English while he was crown prince.
Lawrence G. Williams, 1932 United States Congressman from Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional district from 1966 to 1975.
Harold Shaub, 1939 Former CEO of Campbell Soup Company.
Cameron Snyder, 1941 Sportswriter, winner of Dick McCann Memorial Award.
Virginia Halas McCaskey, 1943 Principal owner of the Chicago Bears of the NFL.
Walter Golaski, 1946 Created the first practical artificial blood vessel.
Dorcas Bates Reilly, 1947 Inventor of the Green Bean Casserole.
Violet Oakley, 1948 First woman to receive the Gold Medal of Honor from the PA Academy of the Fine Arts.
Paul Baran, 1949 Known for his invention of packet switching in computer networks.
Albert Boscov, 1952 Former CEO of Boscov’s.
Normal Joseph Woodland, 1952 One of the inventors of the barcode.
Chuck Barris, 1953 Entertainer and creator of “The Gong Show,” spy thriller “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,” columnist for The Triangle.
Peter J. Liacouras, 1953 Former president of Temple University.
Toots Shor, 1955 Renowned saloon keeper in New York City.
Earle Mack, 1959 Former United States Ambassador to Finland.
Bennett S. LeBow, 1960 Businessman, former CEO and chairman of the board of Borders, and Chairman of the Board of Vector Group.
Stuart Damon, 1960s Portrayed Dr. Alan Quartermaine on “General Hospital” for 30 years.
Earl Lestz, 1961 Former President of Operations for Paramount Studios.
Albert Carnesale, 1961 Former chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles, and former Provost of Harvard University.
Robert Croneberger, 1962 American librarian named in “100 of the Most Important Leaders We Had in the 20th Century” by “American Libraries” magazine.
Eli Fromm, 1964 First recipient of the National Academy of Engineering’s Gordon Prize.
Alassane Ouattara, 1965 Current President of Côte d’Ivoire.
David Kresh, 1966 Poet and reference specialist at the Library of Congress.
John Roberts Reading, 1966 Member of the US House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.
Peter Mafany Musonge, 1967 Former Prime Minister of Cameroon.
George Campbell Jr., 1968 Previous president of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art.
Joseph Syrnick, 1969 CEO of Schuylkill River Development Corporation, former Chief Engineer to the City. Led building of the Schuylkill River Trail and revitalization of Schuylkill Banks. Honorary Drexel doctor.
Meinhardt Raabe, 1970 One of the last surviving Munchkin actors in “The Wizard of Oz,” portrayed the coroner who certified the death of the Wicked Witch of the East.
Raj Gupta, 1972 Former president and CEO of Rohm and Haas.
Larry Marion, 1972 Owner of Triangle Publishing; in 2025, Marion endowed The Triangle to ensure the student newspaper never stops operating again. Editor-in-chief 1972.
Susan Seidelman, 1973 Filmmaker whose film 1982 “Smithereens” was the first American independent film invited to Cannes Film Festival. Directed “Desperately Seeking Susan,” “Sex and the City” pilot.
James Philip Bagian, 1973 Former NASA astronaut of Armenian descent.
Ramani Ayer, 1973 Former CEO of The Hartford Financial Services.
Stuart Hameroff, 1973 Professor at University of Arizona, known for his study of consciousness.
Nicholas Howley, 1975 Co-Founder & Chairman of TransDigm Group.
Raphael Carl Lee, 1975 Professor at the University of Chicago; 1981 MacArthur Fellow.
Wayne Gattinella, 1976 Former CEO of WebMD.
Elaine Garzarelli, 1977 Financial analyst credited with predicting Black Monday, the stock market crash of 1987.
Pat Munday, 1978 Environmentalist writer, awarded the Liebig-Woehler Freundschaft Prize.
Anne Stevens, 1980 Previous CEO of GKN Aerospace.
Howard Michael Benson, 1980 American record producer who produced My Chemical Romance, Kelly Clarkson.
Michael J. Hennigan, 1982 CEO of Marathon Petroleum.
Dana Dornsife, 1983 CEO of Lazarex Cancer Foundation.
Christopher Ferguson, 1984 Boeing Commercial Astronaut.
Michael Baum, 1985 Founder and CEO of Splunk.
Jack Wall, 1986 Video game composer, most well-known for “Call of Duty.”
David Shulkin, 1986 Former US Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
Moshe Kam, 1987 49th president of IEEE and dean of the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Paul William Richards, 1987 Contributed significantly to the construction of the International Space Station.
Frank Masley, 1989 First Olympic Flagbearer in US luge history.
Malik Rose, 1989 First NBA player from Drexel.
Chris McKendry, 1990 American journalist and ESPN sports anchor.
Christina Visco, 1990 CEO of Terraleaf, entrepreneur and businesswoman in the cannabis Industry.
Richelle Parham, 1991 Former vice president and CMO of eBay.
Jiang Mianheng, 1991 Previous Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and President of ShanghaiTech University.
Lin Bin, 1992 Chinese-American billionaire entrepreneur, co-founder and vice chairman of Xiaomi.
Jamey Lamanna, 1994 CIO of Apollo Global Management.
John Gruber, 1996 Creator of the computer markup language Markdown.
Elizabeth McCracken, 1997 Author of “Here’s Your Hat,” “What’s Your Hurry,” and professor of creative writing at the University of Texas at Austin.
Sandra Lee, 1998 Dermatologist also known as “Dr. Pimple Popper,” who gained popularity for her YouTube channel.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 2001 Wrote acclaimed novels, influential feminist essays, and talks.
Celeste Riley, 2002 Youngest mayor of Moorestown, New Jersey.
Tom Fulp, 2002 Creator of the popular website Newgrounds.
Corinne Trang, 2003 Award-winning author of several cookbooks, such as “Authentic Vietnamese Cooking: Food from a Family Table.”
Steven Ward, 2003 Was the host and executive producer of the show “Tough Love.”
Jeff Parke, 2003 Professional soccer player with the Seattle Sounders.
Ashley Howard, 2004 College basketball coach, assistant coach at Villanova, and head coach at La Salle.
Travis Mohr, 2004 Gold and silver medal winner in the 2004 Summer Paralympics.
Sarah Stolfa, 2004 Won the New York Times Photography Contest for College Students in 2004.
Zach Makovsky, 2006 Wrestler who competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Erica Deuso, 2007 Mayor of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, and the first openly transgender mayor in PA.
Lindsay Walters Clifton, 2007 Former White House Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Press Secretary.
Christine Dorfler, 2009 Executive Vice President and CFO of the NFL.
Andrew Aversa, 2009 CEO of Impact Soundworks.
Moogega Cooper, 2009 Astronomer, lead of Planetary Protection for the Mars 2020 Mission.
Damion Lee, 2010 NBA Player for ten years.
Victoria Napolitano, 2010 Former youngest-ever mayor of Moorestown, NJ. Republican.
Katherine McNamara, 2013 Actress in many TV shows and films, such as Clary Fray in “Shadow Hunters,” “Maze Runner,” and “The Thundermans.”
Robert Church, 2013 Lacrosse player; fifth overall pick in the 2013 NLL Entry Draft.
Malcolm Kenyatta, 2015 Pennsylvania State Representative for the 181st District.
Rafael Ilishayev, 2015 Co-founder of Gopuff.
Sean Huber, 2015 Guitarist, drummer, and vocalist; member of Modern Baseball and Steady Hands.
Jake Eqald, 2016 Guitarist and vocalist for Slaughter Beach, Dog.
Ian Farmer, 2016 Bassist and vocalist; member of Modern Baseball and Slaughter Beach, Dog.
Justin Best, 2019 Olympic rower and gold medalist.
Evan Ehlers, 2019 Founder of nonprofit Sharing Excess, Forbes 30 under 30.
Patrick Nielson, 2020 Founder and CEO of FeetFinder.
Catilyn McGonigal, 2021 Founder of Ascribe Magazine.
Jun Yuh, 2024 Personal Branding & Content Strategist.
Amari Williams, 2024 NBA player with the Boston Celtics.