Notable Alumni of Stanford University

Can you imagine a world without Google? It would never have existed without Stanford graduate Larry Page. In fact, many of the things that define our culture today, from Instagram to Netflix, were invented by Stanford graduates.

The alumni of Stanford University (the second ranking university in the world, according to QS) have dazzled us in popular culture for decades. From the some of the most famous US presidents to award-winning actors and writers, many of Stanford graduates are household names.

While Elle Woods from Legally Blonde went to Harvard, Reese Witherspoon (the actress who played her) went to Stanford. Along with Witherspoon, famous Stanford alumni also include Elon Musk, John Steinbeck and Sandra Day O’Connor, the first female judge of the supreme court.

Oxford Royale Academy has put together a list of Stanford University’s most notable alumni. Let’s dive straight in, and discover the famous figures who attended this top university.

Who are the notable alumni of Stanford University?

 

Reese Witherspoon

Famous for playing dog-loving sorority queen Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, Reese Witherspoon¹ is a household name.

She dropped out of Stanford in 1996 to pursue acting, and did pretty well out of it! She now has a net worth of 240 million USD.

Full name	Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon
Nicknames	Baby Spoon, Little Spoon, Fork Knife and Spoon.
Birth Year	1976
Stanford Years	mid-1990s (dropped out in 1996 to pursue acting)
Known For	Academy Award-winning actress, known for “Legally Blonde”, “Big Little Lies” and “Wild”.
Wealth	$240 million
Industry	Acting
Relationships	Jim Toth (m.2011)
Favourite food	Fried chicken
Things you didn’t know	She was a wrestling cheerleader in high school.

 

John Steinbeck

Everyone knows John Steinbeck², whether you curl up every night with a copy of The Grapes of Wrath, or you struggled to stay awake while reading Of Mice and Men in school.

Famous and prolific American novelist John Steinbeck was famous for documenting the misery of migrant life during America’s Great Depression.

Full name	John Ernst Steinbeck Jr.
Nicknames	Giant of American Letters
Birth Year	1902
Stanford Years	1919 – 1925 (left without completing degree)
Known For	Famous American novelist who wrote classics like The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men
Wealth	$50 million dollars
Industry	Writing
Relationships	Carol Henning (m.1930 – 1943), Gwendolyn Conger (m. 1943 – 1948)
Favourite food	He often made ponsole from ‘a can of beans and a can of hominy’
Things you didn’t know	An early draft of his novel Of Mice and Men was eaten by his dog

 

 

Elon Musk

As second richest person in the world (March 2021), Elon Musk³ is never far from the headlines. Elon Musk started at Stanford in 1995. However, he dropped out after two days to pursue his internet start-up.

Musk is the CEO, CTO and chief designer of SpaceX.

Full name	Elon Reeve Musk
Nicknames	Not known, but his son X Æ A-Xii is nicknamed ‘Little X’
Birth Year	1971
Stanford Years	1995 (dropped out after two days to pursue his internet start-up)
Known For	Business magnate, industrial designer and engineer. CEO, CTO and chief designer of SpaceX.
Wealth	Net worth: 167.0 billion USD
Industry	Aerospace engineering , transport and healthcare, to name a few.
Relationship status	Justine Wilson (m.2000 – 2008), Talulah Riley (m.2010 – 2012, m. 2013 – 2016).
Favourite food	Doner kebab
Things you didn’t know	Despite being a billionaire, has lived on just 1$ a day.

 

Tiger Woods

Even if you don’t know sports, you know the name Tiger Woods⁴. One of the most famous golfers of all time, Woods the first African-American man to win the US Masters.

Woods enrolled in Stanford in 1994 on a golf scholarship and will enter the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2021.

Full name	Eldrick Tont Woods
Nicknames	Tiger and Urkel
Birth Year	1975
Stanford Years	Graduated: 1996
Known For	American professional golfer, one of the most famous athletes of all time
Wealth	Net worth: 800 million USD
Industry	Golf
Relationships	Elin Nordegren (m.2004 – 2010)
Favourite food	Mcdonald’s cheeseburges and Taco Bell
Things you didn’t know	His nickname ‘Tiger’ comes from his father’s army friend Col. Phong, who was also known as Tiger.

 

 

Sigourney Weaver

Dubbed The Sci-Fi Queen, and famous for starring in the Alien franchise, Sigourney Weaver⁵ is a pioneer for women in science fiction films.

Weaver studied Literature at Stanford, graduating in 1971. She then attended Drama School in Yale, alongside her friend and actress Meryl Streep.

Full name	Susan Alexandra Weaver
Nicknames	Sigourney and The Sci-Fi Queen
Birth Year	1949
Stanford Years	Graduated: 1972
Known For	American actress and pioneer for action heroines in science fiction films
Wealth	Net worth: 60 million USD
Industry	Acting
Relationships	Jim Simpson (m.1984)
Favourite food	Anything from the Mary Poppins Cookbook except kedegree
Things you didn’t know	She changed her name after reading The Great Gatsby

 

Jennifer Connelly

Jennifer Connelly⁶ is world-famous for her starring performances in movies such as A Beautiful Mind, Labyrinth and Requiem for a Dream.

Connelly is no stranger to Ivy-League universities. She studied English at Yale University in 1988, before transferring to Stanford to study drama.

Full name	Jennifer Lynn Connelly
Nicknames	Jenny C
Birth Year	1970
Stanford Years	1990 (dropped out same year to pursue acting)
Known For	Child model and famous American actress
Wealth	20 million USD
Industry	Acting
Relationships	Paul Bettany (m.2003)
Favourite food	Sushi
Things you didn’t know	She holds herself to a standard that most actors cannot attain

 

Rishi Sunak

Did you know that the man currently responsible for the UK economy went to Stanford University? Rishi Sunak⁷, who is currently worth a dazzling £200 million, gained an MBA at Stanford and was also a Fulbright scholar there.

Full name	The Right Honourable Rishi Sunak MP
Nicknames	Dishy Rishi and the maharajah of the Yorkshire Dales
Birth Year	1980
Stanford Years	Graduated: 2006
Known For	Chancellor of the Exchequer
Wealth	200 million GBP
Industry	Investment banking, wealth management and politics
Relationship status	Akshata Murthy (m.2009)
Favourite food	Not known, but he’s a fan of The Bull pub in West Tanfield, Yorkshire.
Things you didn’t know	As a child he dreamed of being a Jedi knight

Mae Jemison

Dr Mae Jemison⁸ has managed to triple the achievements of most high-performing people in life. She is an outstanding engineer, astronaut and medical doctor, and she graduated from Stanford in 1977. As the first black woman to travel to space, she served as a mission specialist upon the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

Full name	Dr Mae Carol Jemison
Nicknames	None
Birth Year	1956
Stanford Years	Graduated: 1977
Known For	First black woman to travel into space, and famous engineer, astronaut and physician.
Wealth	2 million USD
Industry	Chemical engineering, space, medicine and research
Relationships	Mae Jemison has never married
Favourite food	Not known, but she ate oatmeal, chili and shrimp cocktail in space.
Things you didn’t know	She wanted to become an astronaut because of Star Trek

 

Herbert Hoover

Herbert Hoover⁹ is well known in history books as the 31st president of the United States.

Hoover is inevitably linked to America’s Great Depression. He came into power just in time for the Wall Street Crash of 1929.

Full name	Herbert Clark Hoover
Nicknames	Bert, The Grand Old Man, The Chief
Birth Year	1874
Stanford Years	Graduated: 1895
Known For	31st president of the United States
Wealth	83 million USD
Industry	Civil engineering, business, politics
Relationships	Lou Henry (m.1899 – 1944)
Favourite food	Sweet potatoes with marshmallows
Things you didn’t know	He became an orphan aged 9

 

 

John F. Kennedy

America’s 35th president, John F. Kennedy¹⁰ was infamously assassinated as he rode in a procession of motor cars through Dallas, Texas.

JFK, as he is famously known, is also known for the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Full name	John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Nicknames	JFK and Jack
Birth Year	1917
Stanford Years	1940 (dropped out)
Known For	35th president of the United States, death by assassination
Wealth	10 million USD
Industry	Military and politics
Relationship status	Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (m.1963)
Favourite food	He was partial to lamb chops, steak, seafood, baked beans and corn muffins
Things you didn’t know	One of his legs was 4 inches longer than the other

Larry Page

The world as we know it today wouldn’t exist without Larry Page^11..He invented the search engine by which we maintain our livelihoods, raise our children, and make everyday decisions – Google.

Page dreamed of creating a search engine which curated and ranked all the pages on the internet, and that’s exactly what he did. He went to Stanford in the mid 1990s and met Sergey Brin in 1996. Together, they co-founded Google.

Full name	Lawrence Edward Page
Nicknames	Not known, but interestingly, Google’s name was originally BackRub.
Birth Year	1973
Stanford Years	Mid 1990s
Known For	Co-founder of Google
Wealth	69.4 billion USD
Industry	Computer Science and Engineering
Relationship status	Lucinda Southworth (m.2007)
Favourite food	Not known, but the head chef for Google, Charlie Ayers, used to make recipes such as ‘Google Hot Sauce’ and ‘Mystical Granola’.
Things you didn’t know	He got the idea for Google in a dream

 

Fred Savage

Fred Savage¹² is a famous child actor, who played Kevin Arnold in the American television series The Wonder Years. He has earned several awards and nominations, such as People’s Choice Awards and Young Artist Awards.

Full name	Frederick Aaron Savage
Nicknames	Freddy
Birth Year	1976
Stanford Years	Graduated: 1999
Known For	Famous American actor
Wealth	14 million USD
Industry	Acting
Relationships	Jennifer Lynn Stone (m.2004)
Favourite food	Italian food, and wolfberries and limes.
Things you didn’t know	By the age of 12, he was the youngest person ever to be nominated for an Emmy

Peter Thiel

As the billionaire who co-founded Paypal, Peter Thiel¹³ has money to spare. He is currently worth 3.2 billion USD. Thiel studied Philosophy at Stanford, before graduating with a degree in Law.

While at Stanford, Thiel founded a newspaper called The Stanford Review, to criticise the University’s stance on political correctness.

Full name	Peter Andreas Thiel
Nicknames	Not known
Birth Year	1967
Stanford Years	Graduated: 1989
Known For	Founder of Paypal
Wealth	3.2 billion USD
Industry	Venture capitalism
Relationships	Matt Danzeisen (m.2017)
Favourite food	Not known, but according to Vanity Fair, Thiel served a ‘disappointing’ amount of edamame and sushi at a party.
Things you didn’t know	He’s invested a lot of money in 3D printed meat.

 

Reed Hastings

If you’ve ever stayed up until the sun rises, bingeing on Netflix documentaries, you have this man to thank. Reed Hastings¹⁴ is the founder and CEO of the streaming giant Netflix. Netflix has transformed the way we consumed television and film, leaving Hastings a billionaire.

Full name	Wilmot Reed Hastings Jr
Nicknames	The Animal (because of how uncompromising he was at work)
Birth Year	1960
Stanford Years	Graduated: 1988
Known For	Founder and CEO of Netflix
Wealth	Net worth: 5.8 billion USD
Industry	Tech & Entertainment, software development
Relationships	Patricia Ann Quillin
Favourite food	Not known
Things you didn’t know	He is embarrassed not to have read the book Anna Karenina yet

 

Issa Rae

Issa Rae¹⁵ is an extraordinarily talented American actress writer and producer. She is famous for her work on the YouTube series Awkward Black Girl.

Rae is also famous for co-writing and starring in the HBO television series Insecure. She has received two Golden Globe award nominations for Best Actress and two primetime Emmy Awards nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

Full name	Jo-Issa Rae Diop
Nicknames	Not known, but Issa Rae is an abbreviation of her full name
Birth Year	1985
Stanford Years	Graduated: 2007
Known For	Famous American actress, writer and producer.
Wealth	4 million USD
Industry	Acting
Relationship status	Louis Diame (engaged)
Favourite food	Favorite snacks include popcorn and chocolate
Things you didn’t know	Her birth name Jo-Issa is a combination of her grandmothers’ names, Isseu and Joyce.

 

Sandra Day O’Connor

Sandra Day O’Connor¹⁶ is fairly extraordinary, as the first woman Justice of the Supreme Court of America. She graduated from Stanford Law School in 1952.

Sandra Day O’Connor had trouble finding work as a lawyer, because at the time, firms would only hire men. She was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Reagan, on August 19th, 1981.

 

Full name	Sandra Day O’Connor
Nicknames	The FWOTSC (The First Woman of The Supreme Court
Birth Year	1930
Stanford Years	Graduated: 1952
Known For	First woman Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Wealth	Somewhere between $4.2 million and $15.2, according to a 2002 article
Industry	Law
Relationships	John Jay O’Connor (m.1952)
Favourite food	Her favourite McDonald’s food s a Big Mac
Things you didn’t know	In Gilmore Girls, Sandra Day O’Connor is said to have attended Chilton School (in real life she attended Radford School in Texas)

 

Jennifer Katharine Gates

Jennifer Katharine Gates¹⁷ might be best known as the daughter of billionaire and Microsoft creator Bill Gates, but she is extremely accomplished in her own right.

Gates graduated from Stanford in 2018 with a degree in Human Biology. She is also a very talented horse rider and performer (equestrian)

 

Full name	Jennifer Katharine Gates
Nicknames	Jenni
Birth Year	1996
Stanford Years	Graduated: 2018
Known For	Bill Gates’ daughter, accomplished equestrian
Wealth	20 million USD
Industry	Equestrian
Relationships	Nayel Nassar (engaged)
Favourite food	Not known, but her dad Bill Gates’ favourite food is a burger.
Things you didn’t know	She will barely inherit anything from her father’s fortune.

 

Kevin Systrom

Kevin Systrom¹⁸ pretty much invented the way we take photos today. He got the idea for Instagram when his girlfriend at the time refused to publish photos of herself that were taken on an iPhone camera. This gave him the idea for Instagram and Instagram filters, and the rest is history.

Instagram has given rise to many of the world’s popular influencers today, and is now worth around 100 billion USD. Systrom graduated from Stanford in 2006.

 

Full name	Kevin Systrom
Nicknames	Not known
Birth Year	1983
Stanford Years	Graudated: 2006
Known For	Co-founded instagram
Wealth	1.1 billion USD
Industry	Computer programming
Relationships	Nicole Schuetz (m.2016)
Favourite food	Fine food
Things you didn’t know	He came up with the idea for Instagram when he girlfriend was unwilling to post her photos because they didn’t look good enough when taken with an iPhone camera.

 

Viktor Koo

Viktor Koo¹⁹ is famous for founding video website Youku. When Youku merged with Tudou in 2012, it became one of China’s top video portals.

Koo graudated from Stanford in 1994, returning to China to start his technology empire.

Full name	Victor Wing Cheung Koo or Gu Yongqiang
Nicknames	Sea turtle
Birth Year	1966
Stanford Years	Graduated: 1994
Known For	Co-founding Youku and creating one of China’s premiere video portals
Wealth	Net worth: 1.1. billion USD
Industry	Business, technology and entrepreneurship
Relationships	Not known
Favourite food	Not known
Things you didn’t know	Along with other famous Chinese tech executives, Koo is called a ‘sea turtle’ because it is homonymous with the word for a person who goes overseas and comes back to China

 

Sam Yagan

Sam Yagan²⁰ transformed online dating as we know it today, by creating the dating site OkCupid. He was the CEO of Match, the group that owns Tinder and Hinge – dating apps that have taken millennial culture by storm.

Yagan graduated from Stanford in 2005 and created OkCupid because he disliked the dating culture of introducing yourselves to strangers in bars. He also created SparkNotes, making him the saviour of many students before their exams.

 

Full name	Sam Yagan
Nicknames	The “Nerd King of Online Dating” according to CNN Money.
Birth Year	1977
Stanford Years	Graduated 2005
Known For	Created SparkNotes and co-founded OKCupid
Wealth	Net worth: at least 31.2 million USD
Industry	Internet entrepreneurship
Relationships	Jessica Droste Yagan (m. 2003)
Favourite food	Not known
Things you didn’t know	He got the idea for OKCupid because he hated meeting people in bars when he was single.

 

Jacqueline Novogratz

Jacqueline Novogratz²¹ is a famous American entrepreneur and author.

As the founder and CEO of Acumen, a non-profit global venture capitalist fun, she uses entrepreneurial approach is to address the widespread problem of global poverty.

She earned an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1991

 

Full name	Jacqueline Novogratz
Nicknames	Not known
Birth Year	1961
Stanford Years	Graduated: 1991
Known For	Founder and CEO of Acumen, a non-profit fund which addresses global poverty
Wealth	Not known
Industry	Entrepreneurship
Relationship	Chris Anderson (m.)
Favourite food	Not known
Things you didn’t know	She once saw a boy in Rwanda wearing a sweater she donated to Goodwill a decade earlier. This inspired her to write her book The Blue Sweater.

 

Jeffrey Skoll

Jeffrey Skoll²² has taken the world by storm as an engineer, billionaire Internet entrepreneur and film producer. He attended Stanford university is business school in 1993.

We have Skoll to thank for the eBay we know today. He wrote the business plan that allowed the company to emerge as an Internet shopping giant.

Full name	Jeffrey Stuart Skoll
Nicknames	Not known
Birth Year	1965
Stanford Years	Graduated: 1995
Known For	Canadian engineer, billionaire internet entrepreneur and film producer
Wealth	5.5 billion USD
Industry	Engineering, entrepreneurship and film production
Relationships	Stephanie Swedlove (m. 2014)
Favourite food	Not known
Things you didn’t know	He paid for his college through money he earned pumping gas.

Mary Barra

Mary Barra²³, Chairman and CEO of General Motors company, as famous as the first female CEO of a major automaker.

She graduated from Stanford in 1990, and has a net worth of at least 58.4 million USD.

Full name	Mary Teresa Barra
Nicknames	Not known
Birth Year	1961
Stanford Years	Graduated: 1990
Known For	Chairman and CEO of General Motors Company (first female CEO of a major automaker).
Wealth	Net worth: at least 58.4 million USD
Industry	Business and engineering
Relationship status	Tony Barra (m.)
Favourite food	Not known
Things you didn’t know	Her favourite cars are the Chevrolet Camaro and the Pontiac Firebird

 

Penny Pritzker

Penny Pritzker²⁴ is one of the worlds few female billionaires. She is famous as an American businesswoman entrepreneur and civic leader.

President Barack Obama nominated her as United States Secretary of Commerce. She graduated from Stanford in 1985.

Full name	Penny Sue Pritzker
Nicknames	Not known
Birth Year	1959
Stanford Years	Graduated: 1985
Known For	American billionaire, businesswoman, entrepreneur and civic leader.
Wealth	Net Worth: 2.7 billion USD
Industry	Business and entrepreneurship
Relationships	Brian Traubert
Favourite food	Not known
Things you didn’t know	Her mother suffered badly with depression

 

 

Ted Koppel

Ted Koppel²⁵ is well known for being the managing director and news anchor for ABC News Nightline, one of the most honoured broadcasts in television.

A renowned American broadcast journalist, Koppel graduated from Stanford in 1962.

Full name	Edward James Martin Koppel
Nicknames	Teddy Red Cop
Birth Year	1940
Stanford Years	graduated: 1962
Known For	American broadcast journalist, best known as the anchor for Nightline
Wealth	30 million USD
Industry	Broadcast journalism
Relationships	Grace Anne Koppel (m. 1963)
Favourite food	Not known
Things you didn’t know	He says he’s too ugly to be narcissistic

 

Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney²⁶ famously ran for Presidential candidate against Obama in 2008.

Romilly is a politician and businessman who served as 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007.

 

Full name	Willard Mitt Romney
Nicknames	Fancy Cheesebag (in high school)
Birth Year	1947
Stanford Years	Graduated: 1966
Known For	Former presidential candidate against Obama, junior United States senator.
Wealth	190 – 250 million USD
Industry	Politics and business
Relationships	Anne Davis (m. 1969)
Favourite food	Hot Dog
Things you didn’t know	He voted to convict Trump and called him an ‘autocrat’

 

Phil Knight

Nike is one of those brands that you grow up hearing about as part of your daily life. Phil Knight²⁷ is the co-founder and chairman emeritus of Nike Inc., as well as being a former CEO of the company.

Knight was ranked by Forbes as the 26th richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of 39.2 billion USD.

Full name	Philip Hampson Knight
Nicknames	Buck
Birth Year	1938
Stanford Years	Graduated: 1962
Known For	Co-founder and former CEO of Nike
Wealth	48.6 billion USD
Industry	Business and entrepreneurship
Relationships	Penny Knight (m.1968)
Favourite food	Not known
Things you didn’t know	He used his wife’s waffle iron to create the first pair of Nike shoes with traction

 

Ted Danson

Ted Danson²⁸ famously played the character of Sam Malone in the hit NBC sitcom Cheers.

He is also famous for starring in films such as Three Men and a Baby, and as Dr John Becker on the CBS sitcom Becker. He has been nominated for 18 prime-time Emmy awards and 11 Golden Globe awards nominations.

Full name	Edward Bridge Danson
Nicknames	Not known
Birth Year	1947
Stanford Years	Early 1970s (transferred to Carneige Mellon)
Known For	American actor and producer who played lead character Sam Malone in NBC Sitcom Cheers.
Wealth	80 million USD
Industry	Acting
Relationships	Mary Steenburgen (m.1995), Casey Coates (m.1977-1993), Randy Danson (m.1970 – 1975).
Favourite food	Mashed potatoes
Things you didn’t know	He didn’t think he was cut out for the role of Sam Malone after watching the Cheers pilot

 

Cory Booker

Cory Booker²⁹ is an American politician attorney and author who has served as a junior United States Senator for New Jersey since 2013.

Booker is also famous as the first African American US senator from New Jersey. He was previously the mayor of New York from 2016 to 2013. He graduated from Stanford in 1991.

Full name	Cory Anthony Booker
Nicknames	Not known
Birth Year	1969
Stanford Years	Graduated: 1991
Known For	United States Senator, attorney and author
Wealth	1.5 million USD
Industry	Law and Politics
Relationships	Rosario Dawson (domestic partner)
Favourite food	Booker is a vegan, whose favourite comfort food vegan place is HipCityVeg.
Things you didn’t know	He staged a ten day hunger strike and lived in a tent to draw attention to urban development issues in the city

 

 

Rachel Maddow

Rachel Maddow³⁰ is best known as the humorous and incisive host MSNBC’s ‘The Rachel Maddow show’. A liberal political journalist, she is well known for the criticisms of Donald Trump and the far-right.

Maddow is also extremely intelligent, graduating from Stanford in 1994. She was also a Rhodes scholar at the University of Oxford.

Full name	Rachel Anne Maddow
Nicknames	Not known
Birth Year	1973
Stanford Years	Graduated: 1994
Known For	American television news programme host and liberal political commentator
Wealth	25 million USD
Industry	Journalism
Relationships	Susan Mikula (partner)
Favourite food	Not known, but when journalist Kate Krader had dinner her, Maddow enjoyed bo ssam, Momofuko pork buns and fried chicken.
Things you didn’t know	Maddow has suffered from cyclical depression since she was a teenager

 

Julie Foudy

Julie Foudy³¹ is a famous Olympic gold medalist and American retired soccer midfielder.

Foudy is also a two time winner of the FIFA women’s World Cup. She graduated from Stanford in 1994.

Full name	Julie Maurine Foudy
Nicknames	Loudy Foudy
Birth Year	1971
Stanford Years	Graduated: 1994
Known For	Famous American soccer midfielder
Wealth	14 million USD
Industry	Sports
Relationships	Ian Sawyers (m.1995)
Favourite food	Not known
Things you didn’t know	She is certain that the first female US president will have played sport

 

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