Notable Alumnae

Notable “Alumnae”

Smith “alumnae” are well represented on film and television.

Susan (Candice Bergen), Carnal Knowledge
Joanne Kramer (Meryl Streep), Kramer vs. Kramer
Mrs. X (Laura Linney), The Nanny Diaries
Charlotte York (Kristin Davis), Sex and the City
Emily Gilmore (Kelly Bishop), The Gilmore Girls
Ainsley Hayes (Emily Procter), The West Wing
Dr. Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), Grey’s Anatomy
Alice Washington (Cybill Shepherd), Mrs. Washington Goes to Smith
Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), Veep

Real Smith alumnae have been portrayed on film as well.

Julia Child ’34 (Meryl Streep), Julie & Julia
Penny Chenery ’43 (Diane Lane), Secretariat
Sylvia Plath ’55 (Gwyneth Paltrow), Sylvia

Famous chefs, Pulitzer Prize winners, political columnists, environmental researchers, film directors, venture capitalists, physicists, poets, playwrights, CEOs?Smith women apply their learning throughout their lives in thousands of professions and communities.

You may have heard of our famous graduates, such as Julia Child, Gloria Steinem and Sylvia Plath. But there are many more stories of leadership and success that demonstrate where the Smith experience can take you.

She Went to Smith

If you’re still not sure where a Smith education can take you, consider our outstanding record of alumnae achievement. These women are among our accomplished alumnae.

Otelia Cromwell 1900, educator, author; first African American woman to receive a degree from Yale
Margaret Mitchell ’22, author of Gone With the Wind
Anne Morrow Lindbergh ’28, aviator and author of Gift from the Sea
Julia Child ’34, star of TV’s “The French Chef”
Madeleine L’Engle ’41, award-winning author of A Wrinkle in Time
Betty Friedan ’42, author of The Feminine Mystique
Nancy Reagan ’43, former First Lady of the United States
Marylin Bender Altschul ’44, author and former editor of Business World and the New York Times’ business and finance section
Barbara Bush ’47, former First Lady of the United States
Xie Xide ’49, physicist and former president of Fudan University in China
Sylvia Plath ’55, poet; author of The Bell Jar and Ariel
Gloria Steinem ’56, founder of Ms. magazine and noted feminist writer
Jane Yolen ’60, award-winning children’s book author
Marilyn Carlson Nelson ’61, former chairman and CEO of the Carlson Companies and former chair of the National Women’s Business Council
Sally Quinn ’63, author and commentator
Victoria Chan Palay ’65, neurobiologist and former Olympic athlete
Molly Ivins ’66, political columnist and commentator
Jane Harman ’66, director, president and CEO of the Woodrow Wilson Center and former nine-term U.S. representative from California
Juliet Taylor ’67, casting director for more than 100 movies, including Taxi Driver and Woody Allen’s films
Rochelle Braff Lazarus ’68, chairman emeritus of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide
Sandy Skoglund ’68, installation artist, photographer and sculptor
Laura Tyson ’69, professor at the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley; former head of the National Economic Council

Pearl Yau Toy ’69, physician and professor of laboratory medicine at the University of California in San Francisco
Shelley Hack ’70, actress ( Annie Hall, Charlie’s Angels )
Julie Nixon Eisenhower ’70, author of Special People and Pat Nixon: The Untold Story
Marilynn Davis ’73, assistant secretary for administration at the Department of Housing and Urban Development for the Clinton administration
Yolanda King ’76, actress, producer, lecturer
Christine McCarthy ’77, chief financial officer of the Walt Disney Company
Pamela Craig ’79, partner in Accenture, the world’s largest management information consulting firm
Lauren Lazin ’82, award-winning independent filmmaker (Tupac: Resurrection) and producer
Margaret Edson ’83, teacher and author of the Pulitzer Prize?winning play Wit
Tammy Baldwin ’84, U.S. Senator from Wisconsin
Kathleen Marshall ’85, Tony Award-winning Broadway choreographer and director
Sherry Rehman ’85, founding chair of the Jinnah Institute and vice president of the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians
Maria Maggenti ’86, film and television screenwriter and director ( The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love )
Jane Nielsen ’86, CFO of Ralph Lauren Corporation
Thelma Golden ’87, director and chief curator at the Studio Museum in Harlem
Farah Pandith ’90, adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations; senior fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government
Simran Sethi ’92, environmental journalist and educator
Devin Alexander ’93, chef, cookbook author and chef of NBC’s “The Biggest Loser”
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy ’02, investigative television reporter and Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker