Find yourself. Lose yourself. Get your answers questioned and your questions answered. A Brandeis education is a vigorous exploration in critical analysis, creativity and self-expression.
Choosing a college (education) is a really big decision. There's so much to think about: size, location, campus community, professors, career services, majors, clubs. The good news is that the most important qualities of a Brandeis education never change: academic rigor, a welcoming, diverse community, innovation in teaching and learning.
Inquiry, scholarship, collaboration and a passion to improve human lives are the building blocks of our DNA. At Brandeis, students learn persistence, creativity, collaboration and critical thinking — and, of course, the joy of discovery.
Free pizza at midnight during finals. Clubs that range from a cappella groups to skydiving. If you can’t find your passion here, you can create it — and find other Brandeisians who want to join you.
Art makes things happen. It bridges cultures and forges understanding. It sparks conversation and inspires creativity. Since our founding, the arts have always played an important role in our commitment to global citizenship and social change.
There is no other place like Brandeis. As a medium-sized private research university with global reach, we are dedicated to first-rate undergraduate education while making groundbreaking discoveries. Our 235-acre campus is located in the suburbs of Boston, a global hub for higher education and innovation.
Deborah Bial ’87, education strategist; founder and president, Posse Foundation (MacArthur Fellow)
Josh Block ’95, CEO and president, The Israel Project
Alisa Gravitz ’77, president and CEO, Green America
Devika Mahadevan ’00, head, strategy and communication, Mann Deshi Foundation; director, Mumbai Mobile Creches
Rakesh Rajani ’89, director of democratic participation and governance, Ford Foundation
Julieanna Richardson ’76, H’16, founder, The HistoryMakers
Jay Ruderman ’88, president, Ruderman Family Foundation
Bobby Sager ’76, philanthropist
Sam Vaghar ’08, executive director and co-founder, Millennium Campus Network
Janice Burgess ’74, creator and executive producer, “The Backyardigans”
David Crane ’79 and Marta Kauffman ’78, co-creators, “Friends”
Tony Goldwyn ’82, film and TV actor and director (“Scandal,” “Ghost”)
Josh Gondelman ’07, comedian and writer, “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”
Debra Granik ’85, film director and screenwriter (“Winter’s Bone,” “Down to the Bone”)
Bonita Hamilton, MFA’04, actress (“Lion King”)
Michael Kaiser ’75, founder and co-chair, IMG Artists; president emeritus, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Myq Kaplan ’00, comedian
Jonathan Landau ’68, music producer and manager for Bruce Springsteen
Gary Lassin ’77, founder, Stoogeum (Three Stooges museum)
Debra Messing ’90, Emmy Award-winning actor (“Will & Grace,” “Mysteries of Laura,” “Smash”)
Anand Patwardhan ’72, documentary filmmaker
Theresa Rebeck, MA’83, MFA’86, PhD’89, Broadway playwright
Rosemary Rodriguez ’83, TV director (“Law & Order,” “The Good Wife”)
Kimerly Rorschach ’78, director and CEO, Seattle Art Museum
Michael Sugar ’95, movie producer (“Spotlight,” “Collateral Beauty,” “The Fifth Estate”)
Gary Tinterow ’76, director, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Adam Weinberg ’77, Alice Pratt Brown Director, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Mitch Albom ’79, “Tuesdays With Morrie,” “The Five People You Meet in Heaven”
Stacey Ballis ’92, “Inappropriate Men,” “Sleeping Over,” “Room for Improvement”
Edward Dolnick ’74, “The Clockwork Universe,” “The Forger's Spell,” “The Rescue Artist”
Ha Jin, MA’89, PhD’93, “Waiting,” “War Trash,” “Nanjing Requiem”
Jesse Kellerman, MFA’03, “Sunstroke,” “The Genius,” “Trouble,” “The Executor”
Stephen J. Cloobeck ’83, founder and former chairman and CEO, Diamond Resorts International; former chairman of the board of Brand USA
Jonathan Davis ’75, CEO and founder, The Davis Companies
Amy Kessler ’89, MA’90, senior vice president and head of longevity risk transfer, Prudential
Brian Lash ’78, founder, Target Logistics
Olaf Olafsson ’85, executive vice president of international and corporate strategy, Time Warner
Simon Sinek ’95, business consultant and author (“Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action”)
Sam Sisakhti, MA’07, founder and CEO, UsTrendy
Perry Traquina ’78, former CEO, Wellington Management investment firm
Tom Watanabe ’73, former president/CEO, Nikken Global
Lan Xue ’90, MA’91, founder, Hong Kong-based hedge fund
Arthur Caplan ’71, Drs. William F. and Virginia Connolly Mitty Professor and founding head of the Division of Medical Ethics, NYU School of Medicine
Angela Davis ’65, distinguished professor emerita in the history of consciousness and feminist studies departments, University of California, Santa Cruz; political and social activist
Deborah Lipstadt, MA’72, PhD’76, Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies, Emory University (profiled in movie “Denial”)
Michael Sandel ’75, Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government Theory, Harvard University
Jonathan Sarna ’75, MA’75, University Professor and Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History, Brandeis University
Judith Shapiro ’63, former president, Barnard College
Fernando Torres-Gil, Heller MSW’72, Heller PhD’76, professor and director of Center for Policy Research on Aging, University of California, Los Angeles
Julian Zelizer ’91, professor of history and public affairs, Princeton University; political commentator
Robert Zimmer ’68, president, University of Chicago
Geir Haarde ’73, Iceland’s U.S. ambassador; former prime minister
Michael Horowitz ’84, inspector general, U.S. Department of Justice
Lisa Kubiske ’75, deputy assistant secretary for international finance and development, U.S. Department of State
Haile Menkerios ’70, former head of United Nations Office to the African Union and special representative to the African Union
Dimitrij Rupel, PhD’76, former minister of foreign affairs, Slovenia
Daniel Shapiro ’91, former U.S. ambassador to Israel
Thomas Friedman ’75, foreign affairs columnist, The New York Times (three-time Pulitzer Prize winner), and author (“The World Is Flat,” “Flat, Hot and Crowded”)
Walt Mossberg ’69, co-founder and editor-at-large, Recode (Loeb award winner)
Guy Raz ’96, host and editorial director of “TED Radio Hour,” “How I Built This” and “Wow in the World,” National Public Radio
Greg Zuckerman ’88, special writer, Wall Street Journal, and author (“The Frackers,” “The Greatest Trade Ever”)
Paul Anastas, MA’87, PhD’89, Teresa and H. John Heinz III Professor in the Practice of Chemistry for the Environment; professor of epidemiology; and director, Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering, Yale University
Debbie Berebichez ’96, physicist, STEM advocate
Bonnie Berger ’83, Simons Professor of Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; first woman in MIT math department to earn tenure
Adam Cheyer ’88, co-founder, Siri voice-activated personal assistant
Susan Band Horowitz, PhD’63, co-inventor of cancer-fighting drug Taxol
Leslie Lamport, MA’71, PhD’72, principal researcher, Microsoft, and developer of LaTeX (Turing Award winner)
Roderick MacKinnon ’78, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Professor, The Rockefeller University (Nobel laureate)
Eve Marder ’69, Victor and Gwendolyn Beinfield Professor of Neuroscience, Brandeis; member of advisory board for President Barack Obama’s BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) initiative
Edward Witten ’71, Charles Simonyi Professor of Mathematical Physics, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University (Fields Medalist)
Nelson Figueroa ’98, former pitcher, Major League Baseball; TV analyst, SNY
Jeffrey Lurie, PhD’87, owner, Philadelphia Eagles
Tim Morehouse ’00, Olympic medal-winning fencer
To thee, Alma Mater,
We’ll always be true.
All Hail to thy standard,
The white and the blue.
Proclaiming thy future,
Recalling thy past.
Our hopes spring from mem’ries
Eternally cast.
With sorrows we’ll leave thee,
New worlds to create.
May deeds of thy children
Make thee forever great!