NYU alumni have a lot to be proud of! NYU is a diverse educational and cultural community full of newsmakers and change-makers. Here are just a few of the reasons we're bursting with #VioletPride:

Click through the categories below to explore some of our many notable alumni.

Nobel Prizes and Laureates | Pulitzer Prizes | MacArthur Fellows | Academy Awards | Grammy Awards | Tony Awards | Emmy Awards

Nobel Prizes and Laureates

Nobel Prize in Physics
1994 | Clifford G. Shull (GSAS ’41)
1995 | Frederick Reines (GSAS ’44)

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
1967 | George Wald (WSC ’27)
1970 | Julius Axelrod (GSAS ’41)
2000 | Eric R. Kandel (MED ’56)

Nobel Prize in Peace
2005 | Mohamed M. El-Baradei (LAW ’74)

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Pulitzer Prizes

Autobiography
1997 | Frank McCourt (STEINHARDT ’57), Angela’s Ashes

Drama
1993 | Tony Kushner (TSOA ’84), Millennium Approaches
2004 | Douglas G. Wright (TSOA ’87), I Am My Own Wife
2005| John Patrick Shanley (STEINHARDT ’77), Doubt: A Parable

Poetry
2017 | Tyehimba Jess (GSAS ’04), Olio

Special Citation
1982 | Milton B. Babbitt (WSC ’35)

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MacArthur Fellows

1986 | Milton B. Babbitt (WSC ’35)

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Academy Awards

Best Original Song
1954, 1956, 1966 | Paul F. Webster (STERN ’27), Secret Love, Love is a Many-Splendored Thing, Shadow of Your Smile (respectively)

Best Original Song
1981 | Carole Bayer Sager (STEINHARDT ’65), Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)
1967 | Elmer Bernstein (STEINHARDT), Thoroughly Modern Millie

Best Short Film, Animated
2006 | John F. Cannizzaro (TSOA ’76), The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation

Best Writing Adapted Screenplay
1996 | Oliver Stone (TSOA ’71), Midnight Express
2005 | Jim Taylor (TSOA ’96), Sideways

Best Actor
1961 | Burton S. Lancaster (STEINHARDT ’31), Elmer Gantry

Best Director
1979, 1987 | Oliver Stone (TSOA ’71), Born on the Fourth of July, Plantoon (respectively)
2007 | Martin Scorsese (WSC ’64), The Departed
2008 | Joel D. Coen (TSOA ’78), No Country for Old Men

Best Original Screenplay
1988 | John Patrick Shanley (STEINHARDT ’77), Moonstruck
2007 | Michael D. Arndt (TSOA ’87), Little Miss Sunshine
2008 | Joel D. Coen (TSOA ’78), Fargo
2017 | Kenneth Lonergan (TSOA ’86), Manchester by the Sea

Best Picture
2008 | Joel D. Coen (TSOA ’78), No Country for Old Men

Best Adapted Screenplay
2008 | Joel D. Coen (TSOA ’78), No Country for Old Men

Best Supporting Actress
2001 | Marcia G. Harden (TSOA ’88), Pollock

Best Live Action Short Film
2011 | Lucas D. Matheny (TSOA ’10), God of Love (NYU thesis project)

Best Supporting Actor
1983 | Lou Gossett, Jr. (STEINHARDT ’56), An Officer and a Gentleman
2017 | Mahershala Ali (TSOA ’00), Moonlight

Best Production Design
2009| Victor J. Zolfo (TSOA ’85), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Sound Mixing
2011 | Lora Hirschberg (TSOA ’85), Inception

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Grammy Awards

Album of the Year

2000 | Clive J. Davis (WSC ’53), Supernatural

Rock Album
2000 | Clive J. Davis (WSC ’53), Supernatural

R&B Album
2009 | Clive J. Davis (WSC ’53), Jennifer Hudson

Pop Vocal Album
2006 | Clive J. Davis (WSC ’53), Breakaway

Trustees Award
2000 | Clive J. Davis (WSC ’53)

Lifetime Achievement Award
2015 | Wayne Shorter (STEINHARDT ’56)

Best Improvised Jazz Solo
2014 | Wayne Shorter (STEINHARDT ’56), Orbits

Best Jazz Instrumental Album
1995, 2004 | Wayne Shorter (STEINHARDT ’56), A Tribute to Miles, Algería (respectively)

Best Instrumental Composition
1988, 1998, 2004 | Wayne Shorter (STEINHARDT ’56), Call Sheet Blues, Aung San Suu Kyi, Sacajawea (respectively)

Best Improvised Jazz Solo
2000 | Wayne Shorter (STEINHARDT ’56), In Walked Wayne

Best Contemporary Jazz Album
1997 | Wayne Shorter (STEINHARDT ’56), High Life

Best Musical Theater Album
2013 | Steven M. Kazee (TSOA ’05), Once

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Tony Awards

Best Play
2005 | John Patrick Shanley (STEINHARDT ’77), Doubt
2022 | Craig Balsam (LAW ’86), Producer, Hangmen, The Lehman Trilogy
2022 | Amanda Dubois (STEINHARDT ’98), Producer, The Lehman Trilogy
2022 | Heni Koenigsberg (STEINHARDT ’74), Producer, The Lehman Trilogy
2022 | Dawn Smalberg (TSOA ’89), Producer, The Lehman Trilogy
2022 | Adam Zell (TSOA ’16), Producer, The Lehman Trilogy

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
2017 | Mimi L. Lien (TSOA ’03), Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
2012 | Steven M. Kazee (TSOA ’05), Once

Best Featured Actor in a Play
1999 | Frank R. Wood (TSOA ’87), Sideman

Best Lead Actress in a Play
1993 | Stephen N. Spinella (TSOA ’82), Angels in America: Millennium Approaches
1994 | Stephen N. Spinella (TSOA ’82), Angels in America: Perestroika
2012 | Nina Matijcio (TSOA ’09), Venus in Fur

Best Lead Actor in a Musical
1977 | Barry Bostwick (TSOA ’77), The Robber Bridegroom

Best Lead Actress in a Musical
1994, 1996 | Donna Murphy (TSOA ’81), Passion, The King and I (respectively)
2004 | Idina Menzel (TSOA ’93), Wicked

Best Featured Actress in a Musical
2011 | Natalie M. James (TSOA ’03), Les Misérables

Best Musical

2017 | Caitlin Clements (TSOA ’13), Dear Evan Hansen
2017 | Carole L. Rothman (TSOA ’72), Dear Evan Hansen
2017 | Wendy Radus Federman (STERN ’79), Dear Evan Hansen
2017 | Hunter Arnold (STERN ’13), Dear Evan Hansen
2017 | William F. Roland (STEINHARDT ’11), Dear Evan Hansen
2017 | Molly Mickler Smith (TSOA ’02), Dear Evan Hansen
2022 | Hunter Arnold (STERN ’13), Producer, A Strange Loop
2022 | Ilana Glazer (LS ’07, CAS ’09), Producer, A Strange Loop
2022 | Kayla Greenspan (STEINHARDT ’12), Producer, A Strange Loop
2022 | Barbara Whitman (GAL ’88), Producer, A Strange Loop
2022 | Marc Platt (LAW ’82), Producer, A Strange Loop

Best Revival of a Musical
2017 | Wendy Radus Federman (STERN ’79), Hello, Dolly!
2017 | Heni H. Koenigsberg (STEINHARDT ’74), Hello, Dolly!
2022 | Scott Abrams (TANDON ’84), Producer, Company
2022 | Hunter Arnold (STERN ’13), Producer, Company
2022 | Wendy Federman (STERN ’79), Producer, Company
2022 | Sean Patrick Flahaven (TSOA ’97), Producer, Company
2022 | Christopher Ketner (STEINHARDT ’09), Producer, Company
2022 | Heni Koenigsberg (STEINHARDT ’74), Producer, Company
2022 | Adam Zell (TSOA ’16), Producer, Company

Best Revival of a Play
2022 | Carole Rothman (TSOA ’72), Producer, Take Me Out

Best Lighting Design of a Play
2017 | Jane F. Cox (TSOA ’98), August Wilson’s Jitney

Best Book of a Musical
2004 | Jeffrey D. Whitty (TSOA ’97)
2022 | Michael R. Jackson (TSOA ’03, ’05), A Strange Loop

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Emmy Awards

Outstanding Supporting Actress
1997, 1999 | Kristen A. Johnston (TSOA ’89), Third Rock from the Sun

Outstanding Guest Actor - Drama Series
1977 | Lou Gossett, Jr. (STEINHARDT ’56), Roots

Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program
1991, 1998 | Billy Crystal (TSOA ’70), The Academy Awards

Outstanding Writing - Variety Series
1990, 1991, 1992 | Billy Crystal (TSOA ’70), The Academy Awards (2), Billy Crystal: Midnight Train to Moscow (respectively)

Outstanding Performance - Special Events
1989 | Billy Crystal (TSOA ’70), The Grammys

Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics
2007 | Andy Samberg (TSOA ’00), Saturday Night Live

Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction Program
2016 | Joanna Fang (TSOA ’14), Cartel Land

Outstanding Supporting Actor
2016 | Sterling K. Brown (TSOA ’01), The People v. OJ Simpson

Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special
2016 | Justin L. Wilkes (TSOA ’99), What Happened, Miss Simone?

Outstanding Short Form Variety
2016 | Justin L. Wilkes (TSOA ’99), Park Bench with Steve Buscemi

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
2008, 2009 | Alex Baldwin (TSOA ’94), 30 Rock

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
2004 | Drea D. deMatteo (TSOA ’96), The Sopranos
1998 | Camryn F. Manheim (TSOA ’98), The Practice

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
2003 | Debra L. Messing (TSOA ’93), Will & Grace

Outstanding Reality-Competition Program
2015, 2016, 2017 | Kyra E. Thompson (TSOA ’86), The Voice

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series
2017 | Aziz Ansari (STERN ’04), Master of None

Outstanding Drama Series
2013, 2014 | Vince Gilligan (TSOA ’89), Breaking Bad

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