Featured Alumni

Joshua Lederberg, PhD ’41, ForMemRS, was an American molecular biologist known for his work in microbial genetics, artificial intelligence, and his pioneering work with Carl Sagan on exobiology for NASA. He graduated Stuyvesant at 15, and was just 33 years old when he won the 1958 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for proving that bacteria can exchange genetic material.

Tim Robbins ’76 is an actor and director. He has starred in such critically acclaimed films as Bull Durham, Robert Altman’s The Player, and The Shawshank Redemption. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Clint Eastwood’s Mystic River.

Paul Levitz SHS ’73, is a comic fan (The Comic Reader), editor (Batman among many titles), writer (Legion of Super-Heroes, Worlds’ Finest, and many others (including four NY Times Graphic Books Best Sellers), executive (30 years at DC, ending as President & Publisher), historian (75 Years of DC Comics: The Art Of Modern Myth-Making (Taschen, 2010)) and educator (including the American Graphic Novel at Columbia). He won two consecutive annual Comic Art Fan Awards for Best Fanzine, received Comic-con International’s Inkpot Award, the prestigious Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award, the Comics Industry Appreciation Award from ComicsPro and the Dick Giordano Humanitarian Award from the Hero Initiative. His Taschen book won the Eisner Award, the Eagle Award and Munich’s Peng Pris, and is being released in revised form as five volumes in 2013-5. He is currently working on a book on Will Eisner and the birth of the graphic novel for Abrams Comic Arts. Levitz also serves on the board of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Proof: Media for Social Justice, and Boom! Studios.

Eva Moskowitz ’82 is the founder and CEO of Success Academy Charter Schools, a network of 32 high-performing schools serving more than 9,000 students in New York City. Recognized nationally as a leader of education reform, she served on the New York Council and chaired the Education Committee prior to founding Success Academy in 2006. She holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and a PhD from Johns Hopkins University, and taught history at the University of Virginia, Vanderbilt University, and CUNY College of Staten Island.

Paul Reiser ’75, is an American comedian, actor, television personality, author, screenwriter and musician. He is most widely known for his role on the long-running television sitcom Mad About You.

Grace Meng ’93 is the Congresswoman representing New York’s 6th congressional district in the US House of Representatives. Prior to this appointment she served as a member of the New York State Assembly representing the 22nd assembly district. She holds a BA from the University of Michigan and a JD from Yeshiva University.

Richard Axel ’63 is a neuroscientist whose work on the olfactory system won him the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2004.

Kenneth Keller ’52 is President Emeritus of the University of Minnesota where he spent most of his academic career.  He was one of the pioneers in the development of the field of Biomedical Engineering and founded the University’s Center for Science, Technology and Public Policy.  Most recently, he has been Director of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies Bologna Center in Italy.  He holds both a BA and BS from Columbia University and a PhD from Johns Hopkins.

Roald Hoffmann ’55 is an American theoretical chemist who won the 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Thomas M. Chan is the Chief of Transportation for the New York City Police Department.  Prior to being appointed to this position, he served as the Chief of the NYPD’s Community Affairs Bureau.  Thomas holds a Bachelor of Science from St. John’s University and worked as a paramedic prior to joining the police force in 1982.  He is the first Asian-American to obtain both the two star and three star rank in the New York City Police Department.

Robert Fogel, PhD ’44 was an economic historian and scientist, and won the 1993 Nobel Prize in Economics. He is the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of American Institutions and the Director of the Center for Population Economics at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.

Saul B. Katz is Co-Founder and President of Sterling Equities. As Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Katz directs Sterling’s day-to-day real estate operations. Mr. Katz also presides over Sterling’s non-real estate affiliates and subsidiary companies, which range from financial institutions to manufacturing, consulting, entertainment and retailing enterprises. Mr. Katz is President of the New York Mets and the Brooklyn Cyclones. Mr. Katz serves as Chair of the Board of the North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System, as well as serving as a Board member of many nonprofit organizations and institutions. He is a Certified Public Accountant with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting, which he received from Brooklyn College.