List of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute people
This is a list of people associated with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, including Presidents, Institute leaders, Trustees, Alumni, Professors and Researchers. For a list of the highest elected student leaders at RPI see List of RPI Grand Marshals.
This is an incomplete list that may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.
Presidents of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Notable alumni
Business
- Marshall Brain, founder of HowStuffWorks.com.
- Gary Burrell, founder of Garmin.
- Nicholas M. Donofrio, (1967), director of research at IBM, trustee.
- J. Erik Jonsson, (1922), co-founder and former president of Texas Instruments Incorporated, and mayor of Dallas.
- Joseph Gerber, (1947), founder of Gerber Scientific.
- William Gurley, (1839), and Lewis E. Gurley, brothers and founders of Gurley Precision Instruments.
- John M. Lockhart, (1887), industrialist, donated $5 million under the name "Builder" (for the Class of '87 Gym and four other buildings)[1]
- William Mow, (1959) Founded apparel maker Bugle Boy in 1977.
- Curtis Priem, (1982) NVIDIA co-founder, architect of first PC Video Processor, and many that followed, trustee.
- Sheldon Roberts, (1948), member of the "traitorous eight" that created Silicon Valley; co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Amelco.
- John Rigas, co-founder of Adelphia Communications.
- Sean O’Sullivan, (1985), along with three other RPI students (Laszlo Bardos, Andrew Dressel, and John Haller) founded MapInfo on the RPI campus.
- Bert Sutherland, manager of Sun Microsystems laboratories.
- William H. Wiley (1866), Civil War artillery commander, co-founder of publisher John Wiley and Sons, and US State Representative.
- Edward Zander, former CEO of Motorola.
Humanities, arts, and social sciences
- Bobby Farrelly, director, writer and producer of such films as Dumb and Dumber, Shallow Hal and There's Something About Mary
- Charles Amos Cummings, architect and historian
- Fitzedward Hall, (1901), American Orientalist
- David Hayter, Canadian Voice Actor
- Ned Herrmann, creator of the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument
- Erin Hoffman, game designer and author
- James Flaherty, actor and stand-up comedian.
- Joe Howard, Jr., (1857), reporter and war correspondent
- Jennifer & Kevin McCoy, (1994), artists who both graduated from RPI.
- Mary Pride, (1974), Christian author
- Meera Nanda, writer, philosopher of science, and faculty Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Samuel Wells Williams, 19th century linguist
- Tyler Hinman, (2006), multiple winner of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.
Invention and Engineering
- Truman H. Aldrich, (1869), civil engineer, also briefly a US State Representative
- Garnet Baltimore, (1881), engineer and Garnet D. Baltimore Lecture Series honoree.
- Peter Bohlin, 1958, Architect of the famous 5th Avenue Apple Store.
- Virgil Bogue, (1868), chief engineer of Union Pacific Railroad and Western Maryland Railway constructions
- Leffert L. Buck, (1968), civil engineer and a pioneer in the use of steel arch bridge structures, including the Williamsburg Bridge in NYC.
- Alexander Cassatt, (1859), civil engineer and railroad executive.
- George Hammell Cook, (1839), State Geologist of New Jersey.
- Dr. Allen B. Dumont (1924), perfected the cathode ray tube and is considered the "father of modern TV"
- Theodore N. Ely, (1896), railroad executive
- George W. G. Ferris (1881), inventor of the Ferris wheel
- Frederick Grinnell, (1855), inventor of the modern fire sprinkler.
- Walter Lincoln Hawkins, (1931), African American inventor of plastic telephone wire.
- Beatrice Hicks, (1965), co-founder of Society of Women Engineers.
- Marcian Hoff, (1958), the "father of the microprocessor"
- J. Christopher Jaffe, (1949), leader in architectural acoustic design. Taught acoustics at the Juilliard School, City University of New York, and Rensselaer.
- Theodore Judah, (1837) visionary of the transcontinental railroad.
- Robert Loewy, (1947), Aeronautical engineer
- William Metcalf, (1858) Steel manufacturing pioneer.
- Keith D. Millis (1938), metallurgical engineer and inventor of ductile iron.
- Emil H. Praeger, (1915), designer of Shea and Dodger Stadiums, Tappan Zee Bridge, Arecibo Telescope and a renovation of the White House[2]
- Washington Roebling, (1857), chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge.
- George Brooke Roberts, (1849), civil engineer, 5th president of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
- James Salisbury, (1844), physician and inventor of the Salisbury Steak.
- Steven Sasson, (1973), engineer and inventor of the digital camera.
- Raymond Tomlinson, (1963), inventor of the electronic mail (email) system.
- Alan M. Voorhees, (1947), city planner and traffic forecaster. Also a former Rensselaer trustee and principal supporter for the Voorhees Computing Center at Rensselaer.
- John Alexander Low Waddell, (1871), civil engineer and prolific bridge builder.
- Robert H. Widmer, (1938), aeronautical engineer and designer of the B-58 supersonic bomber[3][4]
Military
- Harold J. Greene, (1980), major general, U.S. Army, highest ranking casualty of War in Afghanistan
- Arthur L. McCullough, US Air Force general
- Ario Pardee, Jr., (1858), Commander during the civil war
- L. Scott Rice, (1980), major general, U.S. Air Force; commander of Massachusetts Air National Guard
- Thomas R. Sargent III, vice admiral, U.S. Coast Guard; Vice Commandant from 1970 to 1974
- Walter L. Sharp, General, US Army; Commander, United Nations Command, Commander, ROK-US Combined Forces Command and Commander, U.S. Forces Korea from June 3, 2008 to July 14, 2011. Previously, Director of the Joint Staff from 2005 to June 2008.
- Arthur E. Williams, lieutenant general, US Army Corps of Engineers; Chief of Engineers in 1992
- Ronald J. Zlatoper, (1963), Chief of Naval Personnel, Battle Group Commander in Desert Storm and Desert Shield, and former Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense. Trustee.
Politics and public service
- Truman H. Aldrich, (1869), United States Representative from Alabama (1896–1897)
- J. Frank Aldrich, (1877), United States Representative from Illinois.
- Myles Brand, (1964), president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association
- George R. Dennis, was a United States Senator from Maryland
- Francis Collier Draper, (1854), Toronto lawyer, Toronto Police Chief
- Thomas Farrell, (1912), Deputy Commanding General of the Manhattan Project
- Nariman Farvardin,(1983), Provost of the University of Maryland
- Lincoln D. Faurer, (1964), director of the National Security Agency and chief, Central Security Service, 1981 to 1985.
- Richard Franchot, US Representative from New York, (1861–1863).
- Arthur J. Gajarsa, (1962), Federal judge, trustee.
- Naeem Gheriany, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Libya.
- Thomas J. Haas,(1983), current president of Grand Valley State University.
- John Hammond, US Representative from New York, iron manufacturer
- Walter F. Lineberger, US State Representative of California, 1917-1921.
- Richard Linn, (1965), Federal judge.
- George Low, manager of National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Apollo 11 project. President of RPI (1976 to 1984). The Low Center for Industrial Innovation on campus is named after him.
- John Olver, (1958), Massachusetts State Representative (D), since 1991.
- Ely S. Parker, Civil War Statesman, author of Appomattox Courthouse agreement.
- Clarkson Nott Potter, (1843), US Representative from New York, surveyor, lawyer. and President of the American Bar Association
- Mark Shepard, (1994), Vermont State Senator
- Clement Hall Sinnickson, US State Representative from New Jersey, 1875-1879.
- Peter G. Ten Eyck, New York State Representative
- Tony Tether, (1964), director of DARPA, 2001–2009
- W. Aubrey Thomas, US State Representative from Ohio, 1900-1911.
- De Volson Wood, (1857), First president of the American Society for Engineering Education .
Science and technology
- David Adler, (1956), physicist.
- Don L. Anderson, (1955), geophysicist.
- James Curtis Booth, (1832), Chemist
- Ronald Collé, (1972), nuclear physicist at NIST.
- George Hammell Cook, (1839), state geologist of New Jersey.
- Edgar Cortright, (1949), former NASA official
- Mark Jason Dominus, Perl programmer, founder of Kibology (Kibo was also a graduate)
- Ebenezer Emmons, (1826), Geologist, author of Natural History of New York (1848) and American Geology
- Asa Fitch, (1827), entomologist.
- Alan Fowler, (1951), physicist, NAS member
- Claire M. Fraser, (1977), President and Director of The Institute for Genomic Research.
- Jeffrey M. Friedman, discovered leptin, a key hormone in the area of human obesity.
- Ivar Giaever, (1964), shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1973 for discoveries on tunneling phenomena in Semiconductors. Currently an Institute Professor of Science
- Morton Gurtin, (1955), mathematical physicist.
- James Hall, (1832), geologist and paleontologist
- Jon Hall, (1977), Executive Director of Linux International
- Edward C. Harwood, Economist
- Eben Norton Horsford, (1838), "father of food science" and author, discovered baking powder.
- Peter E. Hart, group senior vice president of the Ricoh company and artificial intelligence innovator.
- Hermann A. Haus, (1951), optical communications researcher, pioneer of quantum optics.
- Douglass Houghton, (1829), Michigan's first state geologist. A Michigan city, county, and lake honor his name.
- Robert Kennicutt, (1973), astronomer
- Richard Klein, (1966), Astronomer
- James "Kibo" Parry, satirist, Usenet personality, and typeface designer.
- David Korn, (1965), computer programmer who created the Korn Shell
- Richard Mastracchio, (1987), NASA Astronaut, flew on STS-106 Atlantis (September 8–20, 2000).
- Mark T. Maybury, Chief Scientist of US Air Force
- Pat Munday,(1981), Environmentalist
- Heidi Jo Newberg, (1987), professor of astrophysics at RPI
- Henry Augustus Rowland, (1870), first president of the American Physical Society and Johns Hopkins University's first physics professor.
- Mark Russinovich, Windows software engineer.
- Peter Schwartz, Futurist and writer
- Robert C. Seacord, computer security specialist and author
- Andrew Sears, computer science professor at UMBC
- Marlan Scully, Physcist known for work in quantum optics
- Kip Siegel, (1948), Physicist, professor of physics at the University of Michigan
- George Soper, (1895), managing director of the American Society for the Control of Cancer, which later became the American Cancer Society
- Chauncey Starr, (1935), pioneer in Nuclear Energy
- John L. Swigert Jr. (1965), Astronaut, Member of Apollo 13. Recipient of Presidential Medal of Freedom,1970. State Representative for Colorado,1982.
- Dennis Tito, (1964), American millionaire and the first space tourist to pay for his own ticket.
- Michael Tuomey, (1835) State Geologist of South Carolina and Alabama
- Chris Welty, (1995), computer scientist.
- Gregory R. Wiseman, selected June 2009 as NASA astronaut.
- Chris Wysopal (Weld Pond) (1987), member of the hacker think tank L0pht Heavy Industries, Founder of Veracode.
Sports
- John Carter, (1986), NHL forward from 1986–1993
- Erin Crocker, (2003), female NASCAR driver
- Kevin Constantine, (1980), Head Coach of Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League, NHL Head Coach of the San Jose Sharks from 1993–1995, the Pittsburgh Penguins from 1997–2000, and the New Jersey Devils from 2001–2002, recipient of USA Hockey's Distinguished Achievement Award
- Don Cutts, (1974), NHL and International Hockey League (1945–2001) goaltender from 1974–1984
- Tim Friday, (1985), NHL defenseman for the Detroit Red Wings from 1985–1986
- Joé Juneau, (1991), NHL forward from 1991–2004, selected to the 1993 NHL All-Rookie Team, top scorer at the 1992 Winter Olympics while playing for the Canadian Olympic hockey team
- Ken Hammond, (1985), NHL defenseman from 1985–1993
- Michael E. Herman, (1962), President of the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball from 1992–2000
- Neil Little, (1994), NHL Scout for the Philadelphia Flyers organization, Goaltending Coach for the Philadelphia Phantoms of the American Hockey League from 2007–2008, AHL goaltender from 1994–2005, won the '97-98 and '04-05 Calder Cup with the Philadelphia Phantoms, inducted into the Philadelphia Phantoms Hall of Fame in 2006
- Andrew Lord (2008), professional ice hockey player
- Mike McPhee, (1982), NHL forward from 1983–1994, won the '85-86 Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens, played in the 1989 NHL All Star Game
- Matt Murley, (2002), NHL forward from 2003–2008
- Kraig Nienhuis, (1985), NHL forward from 1985–1988
- Adam Oates, (1985), Co-Head Coach of the New Jersey Devils, Head Coach of the Washington Capitals from 2012-2014, Assistant Coach for the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2009–2010 and the New Jersey Devils from 2010–2012, NHL forward from 1985–2004, played in the 1991-1994 and 1997 NHL All Star Games, inducted into the NHL Hockey Hall of Fame as a player in 2012
- Matt Patricia, (1996), Defensive Coordinator for the New England Patriots
- Brian Pothier, (2000), NHL defenseman from 2000–2010
- Daren Puppa, (1985), NHL goaltender from 1985–2000, played in the 1990 NHL All Star Game
- Brad Tapper, (2000), NHL forward for the Atlanta Thrashers from 2000–2003
- Graeme Townshend, (1989), Player Development Coordinator for the San Jose Sharks, NHL forward from 1990–1994
Faculty
Past
- Sharon Anderson-Gold : Science and Technology Studies
- Bimal Kumar Bose, (1971–1976) : Electrical Engineering
- Amos Eaton, (1824–1842) : First Professor, Geology
- George Hammell Cook, (1842–1846) : Senior Professor, Geology
- Michael James Gaffey, (1984–2001), planetary science
- Sorab K. Ghandhi, (1963–1992), Electronic Materials, Microelectronics
- Benjamin Franklin Greene, (1846–1859) : third senior professor and first director of RPI.
- James Hall (1833–1850) : Geology and Chemistry
- Granville Hicks, (1929–1935) : English
- Edith Hirsch Luchins, : Mathematics
- Matthew A. Hunter, Metallurgy, first to isolate Titanium metal
- Annette Kolodny : English
- Matthew Koss, (1990–2000): Physics
- James D. Meindl, (1986–1993) : Microelectronics
- E. Bruce Nauman, (1981–2009) : Chemical Engineering
- Henry Bradford Nason : Chemistry
- Stephen Van Rensselaer : Founder of the institute
- Robert Resnick, (1956–1993): Physics
- George Rickey: Architecture
- Neil Rolnick : Music, founder of iEAR
- Henry Augustus Rowland, (1870?-1876) : Physics
- Lee Segel, (1960–1973) : Mathematics
- Robert H. Wentorf, Jr., : Chemical Engineering
Current
External links and references
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