Famous People Who Went To Harvard

Which celebrities graduated from Harvard?

Introduction

Harvard is known for producing some of the world’s most influential people and is one of the most prestigious colleges in the United States.

The university, which is a research institution, has ten faculties, 11 academic units, and its main campus encompasses 209 acres, five kilometers west of Boston.

The Harvard Library, the largest academic library in the world, includes 180,000 serial titles, 20.4 million volumes, an estimated 10 million photographs, 400 million manuscript items, 5.4 terabytes of born-digital manuscripts and archives, and 124 million archived web pages.

List Of 12 Famous People Who Went To Harvard:

#1 Mira Sorvino

She is an American actress who over the course of her career has played an impressive mix of roles, including a scientist, a bubbly prostitute, Marilyn Monroe, and a master forger. For her performance in Woody Allen’s Mighty Aphrodite,  Sorvino won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress.

In 1989, Mira graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University, with a Bachelor’s degree in Chinese (East Asian Languages and Civilizations). Her honors thesis: “Anti-Africanism in the People’s Republic of China” about the Nanjing Anti-African protests, won the Harvard Hoopes Prize for writing.

#2 Dean Norris

He is an American actor who portrayed town councilman James “Big Jim” Rennie on the CBS series Under the Dome (the series was developed by Brian K. Vaughan and based on Stephen King’s 2009 novel of the same name) and DEA agent Hank Schrader on the AMC series Breaking Bad (the show initially aired on AMC for 5 seasons, from January 20, 2008 to September 29, 2013).

His character on Breaking Bad was a fan favorite, however, Dean wanted Hank Schrader to be killed off in the middle of Breaking Bad’s final season.

In 1985, Dean Norris graduated from Harvard College.

#3 John Lithgow

He is an American character actor, poet, author, musician, comedian, and singer who has received six Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, four Drama Desk Awards, and has been nominated for four Grammy Awards as well as two Academy Awards.

In 1967, Lithgow graduated with an Applied Baccalaureate magna cum laude from Harvard University. John later served on Harvard’s Board of Overseers.

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#4 Matt Damon

He is an American film producer, actor, and screenwriter who has received various accolades, including two Golden Globe Awards (from eight nominations) and an Academy Award (from five nominations). He has also been nominated for six Emmy Awards and three British Academy Film Awards.

Damon studied English and Theater at Harvard University from 1988 to 1992, but, Matt dropped out of Harvard 12 credits short of graduating to pursue his acting career.

#5 Amy Brenneman

She is an American writer, actress, and producer. Amy has appeared in a number of successful TV series and movies including Fear, Heat, The Jane Austen Book Club, and Daylight.

However, Amy rose to prominence after her performance as Detective Janice Licalsi in the ABC police drama series NYPD Blue. The show was inspired by Milch’s relationship with Bill Clark and was created by Steven Bochco and David Milch.

In 1986, Brenneman graduated from Harvard University, majoring in comparative religion.

#6 John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy, the 35th U.S. president, initiated the Alliance for Progress and negotiated the Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. A member of the Democratic Party, John represented Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate prior to becoming president.

In 1940, he earned a B.S. in international affairs from Harvard University. John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. Believed to have been shot by Lee Harvey Oswald, who was later killed by Jack Ruby. John F. Kennedy was the youngest man elected President and the youngest to die.

#7 Tommy Lee Jones

He is an American actor known for his roles in Men in Black, No Country for Old Men (a 2007 American neo-Western crime thriller film directed and written by Joel and Ethan Coen), The Fugitive, and Lincoln. Tommy has received 4 Academy Award nominations, winning Best Supporting Actor for his performance as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard in the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive.

In 1969, Jones graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Harvard University. Al Gore and Tommy Lee Jones were roommates while the two were students at Harvard University.

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#8 Barack Obama

He was the 44th president of the US. First elected to the presidency in 2008, Barack Obama won a second term in 2012. Obama previously served as a U.S. senator from Illinois from 2005 to 2008. A member of the Democratic Party, Barack was the first African American to be elected to the presidency.

In 1991, Barack Obama graduated with a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School.

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#9 Conan O’Brien

Writer and comedian Conan O’Brien rose to fame as the host of the talk show ”Late Night” and later the ”Tonight Show and Conan.”

O’Brien was a writer and president for the Harvard Lampoon during his tenure at the school. In 1985, he graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University.

At Harvard, Conan lived in Mather House and Holworthy Hall.

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#10 Natalie Portman

She is a film actress, writer, producer, and director with dual American and Israeli citizenship.

In a magazine interview, Natalie said that she was:

“different from the other kids. I was more ambitious. I knew what I liked and what I wanted, and I worked very hard. I was a very serious kid.”

It was not until 1999 that Portman received worldwide fame as Queen Amidala in the highly anticipated US$431 million-grossing prequel Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (a 1999 American epic space opera produced by Lucasfilm, and directed and written by George Lucas).

In 2010, Natalie won the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of a troubled ballerina in Black Swan. In 2005, Portman won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Closer, co-starring Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, and Jude Law, and directed by Mike Nichols.

In 2003, Portman graduated from Harvard University with an Applied Baccalaureate degree in psychology. In 1999, she declared in a TV interview that, with the exception of the Star Wars prequels, she would not act for the next 4 years in order to concentrate on studying at Harvard University.

#11 Mario Capecchi

He is an Italian-born molecular geneticist and a co-awardee of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology.

#12 Brian Schmidt

Brian Schmidt is the Vice-Chancellor of the Australian National University who received the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics with Adam Riess and Saul Perlmutter.

Here’s a quick recap of the famous people that went to Harvard:

1. Mira Sorvino
2. Dean Norris
3. John Lithgow
4. Matt Damon
5. Amy Brenneman
6. John F. Kennedy
7. Tommy Lee Jones
8. Barack Obama
9. Conan O’Brien
10. Natalie Portman
11. Mario Capecchi
12. Brian Schmidt

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