Notable Alumni

Innovators

Mark Zuckerberg (Harvard, 2006) Founder, Facebook Inc.

Chet Simmons (George Washington, 1950) –Founder of ESPN Inc.

Wolf Blitzer (SUNY Buffalo, 1970) – Journalist, Author, CNN Correspondent

Matt Van Horn (Arizona, 2006) – Founder of Lyft, a ridesharing app

Justin Mateen (Southern California, 2008) – Founder & CMO of Tinder, a dating app

David Yarus (Babson College) – Founder, JSwipe

Jeremy Smith (Illinois) – Creator of SpotHero, a parking app

Stanley Prusiner (Pennsylvania, 1962) –Nobel Prize Winner, Medicine ’97

H. Robert Horvitz (MIT, 1968) – Nobel Prize Winner, Medicine ’02

Richard Thaler (Case-Western, 1967) – Nobel Prize Winner, Economics ’17

Bernard Marcus (Rutgers) – Founder, Home Depot

Dr. Sanford Ziff (Miami, 1947) Z”L – Founder, Sunglass Hut

Merrill Hassenfeld (Pennsylvania, 1938) Z”L – Creator, Hasbro Toys (Deceased)

Bob Diener (Florida, 1979) – Founder, Hotels.com

Alan Galumbeck (Old Dominion, 1968) – Vice President of Technology, The Weather Channel

Perry Mendel (Emory, 1943) – Founder, Kinder Care Day Centers

Saul Zabar (Kansas, 1950) – Co-Owner, Zabar’s Specialty Food Store

Stanley Zabar (Pennsylvania, 1953) – Co-Owner, Zabar’s Specialty Food Store

Newton D. Becker (Kent State, 1952) – Founder, Becker CPA Review Course

Leaders

Josh Gottheimer – (Pennsylvania, 1997) United States Congressman

Ron Klein (Ohio State, 1979) – United States Congressman

Norm Sisiski (Virginia) Z”L – U.S. Congressional Representative of Virginia

Jerry Nadler (Columbia) – United States Congressman, New York’s 8th congressional district

Gary Bettman (Cornell, 1972) – Commissioner National Hockey League

Charles C. Moskowitz (NYU, 1914) Z”L – Former President/Treasurer, MGM Studios

Jack Stahl (Emory, 1975) – President of Revlon; former president of Coca-Cola

Michael A. Leven (Tufts, 1959) – President and COO of Las Vegas Sands

Boris Epshteyn (Georgetown, 2004) – Chief Political Analyst, Sinclair Broadcast Group

Herbert M. Baum (Drake, 1958) – Former CEO, Dial Corp., former president, Campbell Soup Company, former CEO Quaker State Corp.

Mensches

Howard Kohr – Executive Director, AIPAC

Howard Lorber (C.W. Post 1970) – CEO, Vector Group; Chairman, Nathan’s Famous

Sheldon G. Adelson – Founder and CEO, Las Vegas Sands Corp.

Jay Feinberg (Dickinson, 1990) – Founder and Executive Director, Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation

Rabbi Levi Shemtov (George Washington) – Director of Chabad, Washington, D.C.

Moishe Smith (U. of Ottowa) –Past International President of B’nai B’rith

Michael “Mickey” Schwerner (Cornell, 1965) – Civil rights worker killed on June 21, 1964, depicted in Mississippi Burning

Eric Fingerhut – Hillel President

Dan Mariaschin (New Hampshire, 1971) – Executive Director, B’nai B’rith International

Rabbi Stanley Davids (Case Western, 1961) – President of Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA)

Wayne Firestone (George Washington) – CEO, International Lifeline Fund. Former president, Genesis Prize Foundation. Former president/CEO of Hillel.

Artists & Entertainment

Charles C. Moskowitz Z”L (NYU, 1914) – Former President/Treasurer, MGM Studios

Gene Wilder Z”L (Iowa, 1955) – Actor/Producer/Director

Paul Simon (Queens, 1963) – Singer/Composer

Art Garfunkel (Columbia, 1964) – Singer/Composer

Hoody Allen aka Steven Markowitz (Pennsylvania, 2010) – Rapper, Singer, Songwriter

Richard Lewis (Ohio State, 1969)  – Actor/Comedian

Jerry Lewis Z”L, Comedian/Chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association

Frank Gehry (Southern California, 1952) – American Architect

Randy and Jason Sklar (Michigan, 1994) – Actors, comedians; hosts of Cheap Seats on ESPN Classic as well as the Sklarbro Country and Dumb People Town podcasts

Scott Wolf (George Washington, 1991) – Actor

Matt Weitzman (American, 1989) – Co-Creator and Co-Executive Producer of American Dad

Neil Goldman (Yale, 1993) – Television Writer, executive producer, Family Guy, Scrubs, Worst Week

James L. Brooks (New York University, 1958) – Academy award and Emmy Award winning producer/director

Leonard J. Goldberg (Pennsylvania, 1955) – Executive Producer, ‘Blue Bloods’. Former President, 20th Century Fox. Former Head of Programming, ABC.

Adam Richman (Emory, 1996) – Creator and star of Man vs. Food

Zachary Tyler Eisen (Syracruse, 2015) – American voice actor, voiced ‘Aang’ in the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender

Jeff Cohen (UC – Berkeley) – Attorney/Child Actor who played Chunk in The Goonies

Fred Silverman (Syracuse, 1958) – Independent Producer, Former President NBC Television

Irving Azoff (Illinois, 1970) – Chairman of LiveNation Entertainment

Michael Albert (MIT, 1969) – Political activist, economist, co-founder/co-editor of Z Magazine

Richard H. Frank (Illinois, 1964) – President, Disney Studios (1985-1994)

Steve Friedman (Illinois, 1968) – Former Executive Producer, NBC’s Today Show

Alan Jacobson (Queens College, 1982) – USA Today Bestselling Author

The World of Sports

Jerry Reinsdorf (George Washington, 1957) – Owner of Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox

Michael Reinsdorf (Arizona, 1989) – President and COO of Chicago Bulls

Gary Bettman (Cornell, 1974) – Commissioner of the NHL

Steve Koonin (Georgia, 1979) – CEO of Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club

Steve Stone (Kent State, 1969) – CY Young Winner 1980 Orioles, Chicago Cubs Announcer

Jim Pollak (Indiana, 1986) – 1992 Olympian; 1990 Goodwill Games gold medalist; four-time US National Champion in cycling

Michael Yormark (Maryland, 1988) – President of ROC Nation Sports

Ron Carner – President of Maccabi Games in Israel

Myles Brand (RPI, 1964) Z”L – Former President, NCAA

David Markin (Bradley, 1953) – Former Chairman of U.S. Tennis Association

Jason Bedrick (Babson College, 2005) – Member of the New Hampshire State Legislature

Ken Chertow (Penn State, 1989) – American Wrestler

Steve Koonin (Georgia, 1979) – Former President of Turner Broadcasting; CEO and part-owner of the Atlanta Hawks

Michael Yormark (Maryland, 1988) – President of the Florida Panthers

Martin Leaf (Illinois, 1947) – Family owner and founder of Leaf Candies and Donruss Baseball Cards

Public Service

Alan Baker (U. Ottawa) – Current Israel Ambassador to Canada

Haim Divon (U. Ottawa, 2002) – Former Israel Ambassador to Canada

Eliyahu Ben-Elissar (Johns Hopkins) – Former Israeli Ambassador to the United States

Josh Mandel (Ohio State, 2000) – State Representative of Ohio

Honorable Irwin Colter (McGill) – Former Canadian Minister of Justice

Scott Arogeti (Georgia, 2006) – Former Jewish Liaison to the White House

Allyn Kilsheimer (George Washington, 1963) – Structural Engineer who orchestrated the rebuilding of the Pentagon after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks

John E. Wallace, Jr. (Delaware, 1964) – New Jersey Supreme Court Justice, appointed May 20, 2003