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.

Presidents of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Notable alumni

Business

• John J. Albright (1868), businessman and philanthropist
• Marshall Brain (1983), founder of HowStuffWorks.com
• Dan Buckley (1991), president of Marvel Entertainment
• Gary Burrell, founder of Garmin
• George Lewis Capwell Cronin (1925), businessman and founder of the Ecuadorian baseball & soccer team Club Sport Emelec
• Nicholas M. Donofrio (1967), director of research at IBM, trustee
• Joseph Gerber (1947), founder of Gerber Scientific
• William Gurley (1839), and Lewis E. Gurley, brothers and founders of Gurley Precision Instruments
• J. Erik Jonsson (1922), co-founder and former president of Texas Instruments Incorporated, and mayor of Dallas
• William Meaney (1982), president & CEO of Iron Mountain
• William Mow (1959), founded apparel maker Bugle Boy in 1977
• Sean O’Sullivan (1985), along with three other RPI students (Laszlo Bardos, Andrew Dressel, and John Haller), founded MapInfo on the RPI campus
• Nicholas T. Pinchuk (1968), chairman & CEO of Snap-on
• Curtis Priem (1982), NVIDIA co-founder; architect of the first PC video processor and many that followed; trustee
• John Rigas, co-founder of Adelphia Communications
• Sheldon Roberts (1948), member of the "traitorous eight" who created Silicon Valley; co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Amelco
• 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 (1968), former CEO of Motorola

Humanities, arts, and social sciences

• Zachary Barth, video game designer (founder of Zachtronics), creator of Infiniminer
• Felix Bernard, composer of the Christmas song "Winter Wonderland"
• Julie Berry, children's author
• Charles Amos Cummings, architect and historian
• Warren Davis (1977), video game designer/programmer (co-creator of Q*bert)
• David Duquette, philosophy professor
• Bobby Farrelly, film director, writer and producer, Dumb and Dumber, Shallow Hal, There's Something About Mary
• Fitzedward Hall (1901), Orientalist
• David Hayter, Canadian voice actor
• Ned Herrmann, creator of the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument
• Lily Hevesh, YouTuber and domino artist (attended RPI for less than a year before dropping out to pursue domino art full time)
• Tyler Hinman (2006), multiple winner of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament
• Erin Hoffman, game designer and author
• Joe Howard, Jr. (1857), reporter and war correspondent
• Jennifer & Kevin McCoy (1994), artists who both graduated from RPI
• Meera Nanda, writer, philosopher of science, and faculty, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
• Mary Pride (1974), Christian author
• Samuel Wells Williams, 19th-century linguist

Invention and engineering

• Truman H. Aldrich (1869), civil engineer, also briefly a US State Representative
• B. Jayant Baliga (1971, 1974), inventor of the insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT)
• Garnet Baltimore (1881), first African-American engineer and Garnet D. Baltimore Lecture Series honoree
• Virgil Bogue (1868), chief engineer of Union Pacific Railroad and Western Maryland Railway constructions
• Peter Bohlin 1958, architect of the famous 5th Avenue Apple Store
• Bimal Kumar Bose (1932), electrical engineer
• 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; the "father of modern TV"
• Theodore N. Ely (1896), railroad executive
• George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. (1881), inventor of the Ferris wheel
• Lois Graham (1946), first woman to receive an engineering degree from RPI, and the first woman in the U.S. to receive a PhD in mechanical engineering
• 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
• Henry Wilson Hodge (1885), director of railroads for the American Expeditionary Force during World War I
• Marcian Hoff (1958), "father of the microprocessor"
• Dorothy Hoffman (1949), first woman to serve as president of any scientific society in the US, elected president of American Vacuum Society in 1974
• Frank Hursey (1977), inventor of QuikClot
• 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
• David L. Noble (1940), inventor of the floppy disk
• Ralph Peck (1937), geotechnical engineer
• Emil H. Praeger (1915), designer of Shea and Dodger Stadiums, Tappan Zee Bridge, Arecibo Telescope and a renovation of the White House
• George Brooke Roberts (1849), civil engineer, 5th president of the Pennsylvania Railroad
• Washington Roebling (1857), chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge
• Mortimer Rogoff (1943), first to patent an electronic navigational chart and set up industry standards
• James Salisbury (1844), physician and inventor of the Salisbury Steak
• Steven Sasson (1973), engineer and inventor of the digital camera
• Robert "RJ" Scaringe (2005), CEO & founder of Rivian
• John F. Schenck (1961), physician and co-inventor of the first clinically viable high-field MRI scanner at General Electric
• Massood Tabib-Azar, chemical engineer
• Raymond Tomlinson (1963), inventor of the email system
• Alan M. Voorhees (1947), city planner and traffic forecaster; former Rensselaer trustee; 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

Military

• Harold J. Greene (1980), major general, U.S. Army, highest ranking casualty of the War in Afghanistan
• William L. Haskin (1861), U.S. Army brigadier general
• Arthur L. McCullough, U.S. Air Force general
• Ario Pardee Jr. (1858), Union Army veteran who attained the rank of brigadier general by brevet
• 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 1970–1974
• Walter L. Sharp, general, U.S. Army; commander of United Nations Command, commander of ROK-US Combined Forces Command and commander of U.S. Forces Korea (2008–2011); former director of the Joint Staff (2005–2008)
• Franklin Guest Smith, Union Army veteran who attained the rank of brigadier general
• Blake Wayne Van Leer (1953), commander and captain in the U.S. Navy; led SeaBee program and led the nuclear research and power unit at McMurdo Station during Operation Deep Freeze
• Peter D. Vroom (1862), inspector general of the U.S. Army
• Arthur E. Williams, lieutenant general, U.S. 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; former military assistant to the secretary of defense; trustee

Politics and public service

• J. Frank Aldrich (1877), U.S. representative from Illinois
• Truman H. Aldrich (1869), U.S. representative from Alabama (1896–1897)
• William Beidelman, Union Army second lieutenant, second mayor of Easton, Pennsylvania
• Myles Brand (1964), president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association
• George R. Dennis, 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, 1981–1985
• Richard Franchot, U.S. representative from New York (1861–1863)
• Arthur J. Gajarsa (1962), judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 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, U.S. state representative of California, 1917–1921
• Richard Linn (1965), judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• George Low, manager of NASA's Apollo 11 project; president of RPI (1976–1984); namesake of RPI's Low Center for Industrial Innovation
• Hani Al-Mulki (MA, PhD), former prime minister of Jordan
• John Olver (1958), Massachusetts state representative (D) since 1991
• Ely S. Parker, Civil War statesman, author of Appomattox Courthouse agreement
• Clarkson Nott Potter (1843), U.S. representative from New York, surveyor, lawyer, and president of the American Bar Association
• Mark Shepard (1994), Vermont state senator
• Clement Hall Sinnickson, U.S. state representative from New Jersey, 1875–1879
• Peter G. Ten Eyck, New York state representative
• Mike ter Maat, 2024 Libertarian Party vice presidential nominee
• Tony Tether (1964), director of DARPA, 2001–2009
• W. Aubrey Thomas, U.S. 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
• James Cantor (1988), neuroscientist, sex researcher
• Ronald Collé (1972), nuclear physicist at NIST
• George Hammell Cook (1839), state geologist of New Jersey
• Edgar Cortright (1949), former NASA official
• Ebenezer Emmons (1826), geologist, author of Natural History of New York (1848) and American Geology
• David Ferrucci (1994), computer scientist, developed IBM Watson AI Jeopardy player
• 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 1973 Nobel Prize in Physics for discoveries on tunneling phenomena in semiconductors; Institute Professor of Science
• Morton Gurtin (1955), mathematical physicist
• James Hall (1832), geologist and paleontologist
• Jon Hall (1977), executive director of Linux International
• Peter E. Hart, group senior vice president of the Ricoh company; artificial intelligence innovator
• Edward C. Harwood, economist
• Hermann A. Haus (1951), optical communications researcher, pioneer of quantum optics
• Eben Norton Horsford (1838), "father of food science" and author, discovered baking powder
• Douglass Houghton (1829), Michigan's first state geologist; namesake of a Michigan city, county, and lake
• Robert Kennicutt (1973), astronomer
• Richard Klein (1966), astronomer
• David Korn (1965), computer programmer who created the Korn Shell
• Richard Mastracchio (1987), NASA astronaut, flew on STS-106 Atlantis, 2000
• Mark T. Maybury, chief scientist of U.S. Air Force
• Nimai Mukhopadhyay, physics
• Pat Munday (1981), environmentalist
• Heidi Jo Newberg (1987), professor of astrophysics at RPI
• James "Kibo" Parry, satirist, Usenet personality, and typeface designer
• Henry Augustus Rowland (1870), first president of the American Physical Society; Johns Hopkins University's first physics professor
• Mark Russinovich, Windows software engineer
• Peter Schwartz, futurist and writer
• Marlan Scully, physicist known for work in quantum optics
• Robert C. Seacord, computer security specialist and author
• Andrew Sears, computer science professor at UMBC
• 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, later the American Cancer Society
• Chauncey Starr (1935), pioneer in nuclear energy
• John L. Swigert Jr. (1965), astronaut, member of Apollo 13; recipient of 1970 Presidential Medal of Freedom; elected to U.S. House of Representatives for Colorado, 1982
• Dennis Tito (1964), 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, NASA astronaut
• Chris Wysopal, also known as Weld Pond (1987), member of the hacker think tank L0pht Heavy Industries, founder of Veracode

Sports

• John Carter (1986), NHL forward 1986–1993
• Kevin Constantine (1980), NHL head coach of the San Jose Sharks 1993–1995, the Pittsburgh Penguins 1997–2000, and the New Jersey Devils 2001–2002; recipient of USA Hockey's Distinguished Achievement Award
• Erin Crocker (2003), NASCAR driver
• Don Cutts (1974), NHL and International Hockey League (1945–2001) goaltender 1974–1984
• Oren Eizenman (born 1985), Israeli-Canadian ice hockey player
• Andrew Franks (2015), NFL placekicker for the Miami Dolphins since 2015
• Tim Friday (1985), NHL defenseman for the Detroit Red Wings 1985–1986
• Ken Hammond (1985), NHL defenseman 1985–1993
• Michael E. Herman (1962), President of the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball 1992–2000
• Joé Juneau (1991), NHL forward 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
• Jason Kasdorf (2016), NHL goalie for the Buffalo Sabres since 2016
• Neil Little (1994), NHL scout for the Philadelphia Flyers organization; goaltending coach for the Philadelphia Phantoms of the American Hockey League 2007–2008; AHL goaltender 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 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 2003–2008
• Kraig Nienhuis (1985), NHL forward 1985–1988
• Adam Oates (1985), co-head coach of the New Jersey Devils 2014–2015; head coach of the Washington Capitals 2012–2014; assistant coach for the Tampa Bay Lightning 2009–2010 and the New Jersey Devils 2010–2012; NHL forward 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), senior football advisor New England Patriots
• Brian Pothier (2000), NHL defenseman 2000–2010
• Daren Puppa (1985), NHL goaltender 1985–2000, played in the 1990 NHL All Star Game
• Brad Tapper (2000), head coach of the Adirondack Thunder of the ECHL; NHL forward for the Atlanta Thrashers 2000–2003
• Graeme Townshend (1989), head coach of the Jamaican Men's National Ice Hockey Team; player development coordinator for the San Jose Sharks 2004–2008, NHL forward 1990–1994

Faculty

Past

• Sharon Anderson-Gold, Science and Technology Studies
• George C. Baldwin (1967–1977), Nuclear Engineering
• Bimal Kumar Bose (1971–1976), Electrical Engineering
• George Hammell Cook (1842–1846), senior professor, Geology
• Richard DiPrima (1957–1984), Fluid Dynamics
• Amos Eaton (1824–1842), first 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
• Matthew A. Hunter, Metallurgy, first to isolate titanium metal
• Annette Kolodny, English
• Matthew Koss (1990–2000), Physics
• Robert J. Linhardt (–2025), Bioengineering
• Edith Hirsch Luchins, Mathematics
• James D. Meindl (1986–1993), Microelectronics
• Henry Bradford Nason, Chemistry
• E. Bruce Nauman (1981–2009), Chemical Engineering
• Gina O'Connor (1988–2018), Business
• Pauline Oliveros, Music
• Robert Resnick (1956–1993), Physics
• George Rickey, Architecture
• Neil Rolnick, Music, founder of iEAR
• David Rosowsky, Civil Engineering
• Henry Augustus Rowland (1870?–1876), Physics
• Lee Segel (1960–1973), Mathematics
• Stephen Van Rensselaer, founder of the institute
• William A. Wallace (1935–2025), Decision Sciences and Engineering Systems
• Robert H. Wentorf, Jr., Chemical Engineering

Current

• Robert A. Baron, Psychology
• Laura K. Boyer, Science and Technology Studies
• Selmer Bringsjord, Artificial Intelligence, Logic
• Linnda R. Caporael, Science and Technology Studies
• Jonathan Dordick, Biochemical Engineering
• Evan Douglis, Architecture
• Faye Duchin, Economics
• Ron Eglash, Science and Technology Studies
• Peter Fox, Earth and Environmental Science, Computer Science, Cognitive Science
• Ivar Giaever, Physics Professor Emeritus
• Wayne D. Gray, Cognitive Science
• Juergen Hahn, Biomedical Engineering
• James Hendler, Computer Science
• Xavier Intes, Biomedical Engineering
• Nikhil Koratkar, Nanotechnology
• Deborah McGuinness, Computer Science
• Don Millard, Electrical Engineering, Electronic Media
• David Musser, Computer Science
• Leik Myrabo, Spacecraft Propulsion
• Satish Nambisan, Management
• Heidi Jo Newberg, Astrophysics
• Sal Restivo, Science and Technology Studies
• Morgan Schaller, Earth and Environmental Science
• Michael Shur, Semiconductor Electronics
• Ron Sun, Cognitive Science
• Boleslaw Szymanski, Computer Science
• Jeff Trinkle, Computer Science
• Ge Wang, Biomedical Engineering
• E. Bruce Watson, Earth and Environmental Science
• Langdon Winner, Science and Technology Studies
• Houman Younessi, Systems Engineering (Hartford)
• George Xu, Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear
• Xi-Cheng Zhang, Physics and Terahertz Technology

References