This is a list of people who either were born in
Ithaca, New York
Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named a ...
or who lived there other than when attending
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
or
Ithaca College
Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music and is set against the backdrop of the city of Ithaca (which is separate from the town), Cayuga Lake, waterfalls, and go ...
. The county in which Ithaca resides,
Tompkins County, New York
Tompkins County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 105,740. The county seat is Ithaca. The name is in honor of Daniel D. Tompkins, who served as Governor of New York and Vice President ...
, is ranked eighth in all 3,144 U.S. counties for the highest density of culturally notable
baby boomers
Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the Western demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964, during the mid-20th century baby boom. Th ...
.
*
Lavilla Esther Allen, native, author, and poet
*
A.R. Ammons
Archibald Randolph Ammons (February 18, 1926 – February 25, 2001) was an American poet who won the annual National Book Award for Poetry in 1973 and 1993.
Poetic themes
Ammons wrote about humanity's relationship to nature in alternately comic ...
, resident, poet, professor at Cornell University, and
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors.
The Nat ...
winner
*
Benedict Anderson
Benedict Richard O'Gorman Anderson (August 26, 1936 – December 13, 2015) was an Anglo-Irish political scientist and historian who lived and taught in the United States. Anderson is best known for his 1983 book '' Imagined Communities'', which e ...
, resident, political scientist, and historian known for his 1983 book ''
Imagined Communities'', which explored the origins of
nationalism
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
*
Liberty Hyde Bailey
Liberty Hyde Bailey (March 15, 1858 – December 25, 1954) was an American horticulturist and reformer of rural life. He was cofounder of the American Society for Horticultural Science.Makers of American Botany, Harry Baker Humphrey, Ronald Press ...
, resident, horticulturist, and professor at Cornell University; co-founder of the
American Society for Horticultural Science Founded in 1903, the American Society for Horticultural Science in Alexandria, Virginia is "the largest, most visible organization dedicated to advancing all facets of horticultural research, education, and application."
The ASHS's purpose is to pr ...
*
Iris Barbura
Iris Barbura (born November 4, 1912 in Arad, Romania; d. June 13, 1969 in Ithaca, New York) was a Romanian-German-American dancer, choreographer, and dance teacher.
Life and Work
Barbura began her dance studies in 1931 in Bucharest at the Natio ...
, resident, dancer, and choreographer
*
Josh Bard
Joshua David Bard (born March 30, 1978) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He is the bullpen coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB as a catcher for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red ...
, native, former professional baseball player, and coach for the
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
*
Hans Bethe
Hans Albrecht Bethe (; July 2, 1906 – March 6, 2005) was a German-American theoretical physicist who made major contributions to nuclear physics, astrophysics, quantum electrodynamics, and solid-state physics, and who won the 1967 Nobel Prize ...
, resident, physicist known for his work with the
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...
, professor at Cornell University, and
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
winner
*
Urie Bronfenbrenner
Urie Bronfenbrenner (April 29, 1917 – September 25, 2005) was a Russian-born American psychologist who is most known for his ecological systems theory.Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979).The ecology of human development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University ...
, resident, psychologist, and professor at Cornell University; co-founder of
Head Start
*
Dustin Brown, native, former professional ice hockey player, and
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
champion for the
Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...
*
Annie Burns, resident, musician, and founding member of
The Burns Sisters
The Burns Sisters are an American folk music group from Ithaca, New York. The group has performed and recorded with various siblings, most recently consisting of sisters Marie and Annie. They have toured with Arlo Guthrie providing backup vocals ...
*
Marie Burns, resident, musician, and founding member of The Burns Sisters
*
John H. Camp
John Henry Camp (April 4, 1840 – October 12, 1892) was a U.S. Representative from New York.
Born in Ithaca, New York, Camp attended the common schools, and was graduated from the Albany Law School in 1860.
He was admitted to the bar the same ...
, native, lawyer, and former U.S. congressman
*
Stephen L. Carter, native, professor of law at
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
, and best-selling novelist known for ''
The Emperor of Ocean Park
''The Emperor of Ocean Park'' is a 2002 novel by American author and law professor Stephen L. Carter. It is the first part of Carter's ''Elm Harbor'' series; two more novels in the series were published in 2007 and 2008. The book was Carter's f ...
''
*
Philip N. Cohen
Philip N. Cohen is an American sociology, sociologist. He is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park, and director of SocArXiv, an open archive of the social sciences.
Early life
Cohen grew up in Ithaca, New York an ...
, native, sociologist, and professor at the
University of Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
*
Alex Compton
Alexander M. Compton (born March 16, 1974) is a Filipino-born American retired basketball player and coach. He also served as the head coach of the Alaska Aces of the Philippine Basketball Association.
Early life and college career
Born in Mak ...
, resident, former professional basketball player, and coach for the
Philippine Basketball Association
The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...
*
Anna Coogan, resident, singer-songwriter
*
Alonzo Cornell
Alonzo Barton Cornell (January 22, 1832 – October 15, 1904) was a New York politician and businessman who was the 27th Governor of New York from 1880 to 1882.
Early years
Cornell was born in Ithaca, New York, on January 22, 1832. He was ...
, native, businessman, and politician who was the
27th governor of New York from 1880 to 1882; son of
Ezra Cornell
Ezra Cornell (; January 11, 1807 – December 9, 1874) was an American businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He was the founder of Western Union and a co-founder of Cornell University. He also served as President of the New York Agricul ...
*
Ezra Cornell
Ezra Cornell (; January 11, 1807 – December 9, 1874) was an American businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He was the founder of Western Union and a co-founder of Cornell University. He also served as President of the New York Agricul ...
, resident, businessman, politician, and philanthropist; co-founder of
Western Union
The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado.
Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the company chang ...
and Cornell University
*
Kyle Dake
Kyle Douglas Dake (born February 25, 1991) is an American freestyle wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler who currently competes at 74 kilograms. Dake is a four-time and the reigning World Champion, winning back-to-back titles twice, at ...
, native, four-time World Champion
freestyle wrestler
Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestling i ...
, and
Olympic
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
bronze medalist
*
Amasa Dana
Amasa Dana (October 19, 1792 – December 24, 1867) was an American lawyer and politician who served two non-consecutive terms as a U.S. Representative from New York from 1839 to 1841, and from 1843 to 1845.
Biography
Born in Wilkes-Barre, P ...
, resident, lawyer, and politician who served two non-consecutive terms as a U.S. congressman from New York from 1839 to 1841 and from 1843 to 1845
*
Buck Dharma
Donald Roeser (born November 12, 1947), known by his stage name Buck Dharma, is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is the sole constant member of hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult since the group's formation in 1967. He wrote and ...
, resident, musician, and founding member of
Blue Öyster Cult
Blue Öyster Cult ( ; sometimes abbreviated BÖC or BOC) is an American Rock music, rock band formed on Long Island in Stony Brook, New York, in 1967, and best known for the singles "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", "Burnin' for You", and "Godzilla ( ...
*
Asia Kate Dillon
Asia Kate Dillon (born November 15, 1984) is an American actor, best known for their roles as Brandy Epps in ''Orange Is the New Black'' and Taylor Mason in '' Billions''. Dillon identifies as non-binary and uses singular they pronouns. Their ...
, native, actor known for ''
Orange Is the New Black
''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama streaming television series created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Wo ...
'' and ''
Billions''
*
Johnny Dowd
Johnny Dowd (born March 29, 1948, in Fort Worth, Texas) is an American alternative country musician from Ithaca, New York. Typical of his style are experimental, noisy breaks in his songs and strong gothic (in the sense of dark and gloomy) elem ...
, resident,
alternative country
Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style ...
musician
*
Robert Earle, resident, broadcaster, and host of ''
G.E. College Bowl'' from 1962 to 1970
*
Julius Eastman, native, composer, pianist, and vocalist
*
Adam C. Engst, native, technology writer, and publisher of
TidBITS, the oldest Internet-based email newsletter
*
Noah Feldshuh, native, musician, and founding member of
X Ambassadors
X Ambassadors (also stylized XA) are an American pop rock band from Ithaca, New York. Its members currently include lead vocalist Sam Harris, keyboardist Casey Harris, and drummer Adam Levin. Russ Flynn is a touring member that plays guitar and ...
*
Richard Feynman
Richard Phillips Feynman (; May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist, known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the physics of the superflu ...
, resident, physicist known for his work with the Manhattan Project, professor at Cornell University, and Nobel Prize winner
*
Carl Frederick
Carlton Frederick, better known as Carl Frederick, or Frithrik, is a science fiction author, theoretical physicist, and American business man living in Ithaca, New York. He has written numerous short stories that have appeared in '' Analog Sci ...
, resident, science fiction author, and theoretical physicist
*
Alice Fulton
Alice Fulton (born 1952) is an American author of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Fulton is the Ann S. Bowers Professor of English Emerita at Cornell University. Her awards include the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature, ...
, resident, author, and professor at Cornell University
*
Juan Pablo Galavis
Juan Pablo Galavis Guinand (; born August 5, 1981) is an American-born Venezuelan television personality and former professional soccer player. In 2013, he was chosen as the first Latino star of the ABC-TV reality show '' The Bachelor'' aft ...
, native, former professional soccer player, and star of ''
The Bachelor''
*
John H. Gear, native, politician who was the
11th governor of Iowa from and 1878 to 1882, and a
U.S. senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
from 1895 to 1900
*
George Gorse, native, art historian, educator, and professor at
Pomona College
Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became ...
*
Greg Graffin
Gregory Walter Graffin (born November 6, 1964) is an American singer and evolutionary biologist. He is most recognized as the lead vocalist and only constant member of punk rock band Bad Religion, which he co-founded in 1980. He embarked on a s ...
, resident, musician, and founding member of
Bad Religion
Bad Religion is an American punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1980. The band's lyrics cover topics related to religion, politics, society, the media and science. Musically, they are noted for their melodic sensibilitie ...
*
Alex Haley
Alexander Murray Palmer Haley (August 11, 1921 – February 10, 1992) was an American writer and the author of the 1976 book '' Roots: The Saga of an American Family.'' ABC adapted the book as a television miniseries of the same name and a ...
, native, author known for his 1965 book ''
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
''The Autobiography of Malcolm X'' was published in 1965, the result of a collaboration between civil and human rights activist Malcolm X and journalist Alex Haley. Haley coauthored the autobiography based on a series of in-depth interviews he ...
'', and his 1976 novel ''
Roots: The Saga of an American Family'', which
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
adapted into a
TV miniseries of the same name in 1977
*
Brian Hall, resident, writer, and author
*
Casey Harris, native, musician, and founding member of X Ambassadors
*
Sam Harris
Samuel Benjamin Harris (born April 9, 1967) is an American philosopher, neuroscientist, author, and podcast host. His work touches on a range of topics, including rationality, religion, ethics, free will, neuroscience, meditation, psychedelics ...
, native, musician, and founding member of X Ambassadors
*
Richard W. Hubbell, native, lawyer, and
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
politician
*
Karel Husa
Karel Husa (August 7, 1921 – December 14, 2016) was a Czech-born classical composer and conductor, winner of the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Music and 1993 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition. In 1954, he emigrated to t ...
, resident, classical composer, conductor, professor at Ithaca College, and
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
winner
*
Ricky Jay
Richard Jay Potash (June 26, 1946 – November 24, 2018) was an American stage magician, actor and writer. In a profile for ''The New Yorker'', Mark Singer called Jay "perhaps the most gifted sleight of hand artist alive". In addition to sleight ...
, resident, magician, actor, and writer
*
Jon Jones
Jonathan Dwight Jones (born July 19, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), in which he has competed in the light heavyweight division. He is a former two-time UFC L ...
, resident, mixed martial artist,
UFC Heavyweight Champion
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships.
Historical notes
At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classe ...
, and former two-time
UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships.
Historical notes
At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classe ...
*
David Lee, resident, physicist, professor at Cornell University, and Nobel Prize winner
*
David Lehman
David Lehman (born June 11, 1948[David Lehman]
at poets.org) is an American poet, non-fiction writer, and li ...
, resident, poet, non-fiction writer, and literary critic
*
J. Robert Lennon
John Robert Lennon (born 1970) is an American novelist, short story writer, musician and composer.
Early life
Lennon was raised in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. He earned a B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania (1992) and an M.F.A. (19 ...
, resident, author known for his novels ''Mailman'' and ''
Happyland''
*
James L. Linderman, native, politician, and former Wisconsin State Assemblyman
*
Richard V. E. Lovelace
Richard Van Evera Lovelace is an American astrophysicist and plasma physicist. He is best known for the discovery of the period of the pulsar in the Crab Nebula (Crab pulsar), which helped to prove that pulsars are rotating neutron stars, for d ...
, resident, astrophysicist, plasma physicist, and professor at Cornell
*
Norman Malcolm
Norman Malcolm (; 11 June 1911 – 4 August 1990) was an American philosopher.
Biography
Malcolm was born in Selden, Kansas. He studied philosophy with O. K. Bouwsma at the University of Nebraska, then enrolled as a graduate student at Har ...
, resident, philosopher, and professor at Cornell University
*
Mary McDonnell
Mary Eileen McDonnell (born April 28, 1952) is an American film, stage, and television actress. She received Academy Award nominations for her roles as Stands With A Fist in '' Dances with Wolves'' and May-Alice Culhane in ''Passion Fish''. Mc ...
, native, actress known for her roles in ''
Dances with Wolves
''Dances with Wolves'' is a 1990 American epic western film starring, directed, and produced by Kevin Costner in his feature directorial debut. It is a film adaptation of the 1988 novel ''Dances with Wolves'' by Michael Blake that tells the s ...
'', ''
Passion Fish
''Passion Fish'' is a 1992 American drama film written and directed by John Sayles. The film stars Mary McDonnell, Alfre Woodard, Vondie Curtis-Hall, David Strathairn, Leo Burmester, and Angela Bassett.
It tells the story of a soap opera star, ...
'', ''
Independence Day
An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Man ...
'', ''
Donnie Darko
''Donnie Darko'' is a 2001 American science fiction psychological thriller film written and directed by Richard Kelly and produced by Flower Films. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Mary McDonnell, Katha ...
'', and ''
Battlestar Galactica
''Battlestar Galactica'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series), original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel se ...
''
*
Matthew F. McHugh, resident, lawyer, and politician who was a
Democratic member of the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
from 1975 to 1993
*
Howard B. Meek, resident, professor, and founder of the
Cornell University School of Hotel Administration
The Nolan School of Hotel Administration (SHA, more commonly known as the Hotel School) at Cornell University is a specialized business school in the SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University, a private university, private Ivy League un ...
*
Robert Moog
Robert Arthur Moog ( ; May 23, 1934 – August 21, 2005) was an American engineer and electronic music pioneer. He was the founder of the synthesizer manufacturer Moog Music and the inventor of the first commercial synthesizer, the Moog synthesi ...
, resident, engineer, and
electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...
pioneer; founder of the synthesizer manufacturer
Moog Music
Moog Music Inc. () is an American synthesizer company based in Asheville, North Carolina. It was founded in 1953 as R. A. Moog Co. by Robert Moog and his father and was renamed Moog Music in 1972. Its early instruments included the Moog synthesi ...
and the inventor of the first commercial
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
, the
Moog synthesizer
The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...
, which debuted in 1964
*
Tim Moresco, native, professional football player for the
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...
*
Vladimir Nabokov
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bo ...
, resident, author, and professor at Cornell University known for his 1955 novel ''
Lolita
''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a middle-aged literature professor under the pseudonym Humbert Humber ...
'', which ranked fourth on
Modern Library
The Modern Library is an American book publishing imprint and formerly the parent company of Random House. Founded in 1917 by Albert Boni and Horace Liveright as an imprint of their publishing company Boni & Liveright, Modern Library became an ...
's list of the
100 best novels
*
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
, resident, politician who served as
prime minister of Israel
The prime minister of Israel ( he, רֹאשׁ הַמֶּמְשָׁלָה, Rosh HaMemshala, Head of the Government, Hebrew acronym: he2, רה״מ; ar, رئيس الحكومة, ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief exec ...
; son of a professor at Cornell University
*
Nicholas Nicastro, resident, writer, filmmaker, and film critic
*
Yen Ospina, resident, muralist
*
Lonnie Park, native, musician, and three-time
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
-winner
*
Roy H. Park, resident, entrepreneur, and media mogul; founder of Park Communications and the
Park Foundation
The Park Foundation is an American nonprofit foundation founded in 1966 by entrepreneur and media mogul Roy H. Park.
The foundation supports a variety of liberal and environmental causes, and has been a major supporter of the anti-fracking movem ...
*
Harry Partch
Harry Partch (June 24, 1901 – September 3, 1974) was an American composer, music theorist, and creator of unique musical instruments. He composed using scales of unequal intervals in just intonation, and was one of the first 20th-century com ...
, resident, composer, music theorist, and creator of unique musical instruments
*
Bre Pettis
Bre Pettis (born 1972/1973) is an American entrepreneur, video blogger and creative artist. Pettis is best known as the co-founder and former CEO of MakerBot Industries, a 3D printer company now owned by Stratasys.
Early life and education
Pe ...
, native, entrepreneur, video blogger, and creative artist; co-founder and CEO of
MakerBot Industries
MakerBot Industries, LLC is an American desktop 3D printer manufacturer company headquartered in New York City. It was founded in January 2009 by Bre Pettis, Adam Mayer, and Zach "Hoeken" Smith to build on the early progress of the RepRap Proje ...
*
Steve Poleskie
Stephen 'Steve' Poleskie (born 1938 in Pringle, Pennsylvania) was an artist and writer. The son of a high school teacher, Poleskie graduated from Wilkes University in 1959 with a degree in Economics. A self-taught artist, Poleskie had his first on ...
, resident, artist, and professor at Cornell University whose work is featured in numerous museums, including the
Metropolitan Museum
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, the
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
, and the
Whitney Museum
The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude ...
*
Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, genres and themes, including history, music, scie ...
, resident, author known for his 1973 novel ''
Gravity's Rainbow
''Gravity's Rainbow'' is a 1973 novel by American writer Thomas Pynchon. The narrative is set primarily in Europe at the end of World War II and centers on the design, production and dispatch of V-2 rockets by the German military. In particular, ...
'', which won the
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors.
The Nat ...
*
Robert C. Richardson, resident, physicist, professor at Cornell University, and Nobel Prize winner
*
Kurt Riley, resident, songwriter, and musician
*
Hank Roberts
Hank Roberts (born March 24, 1954, Terre Haute, Indiana) is an American jazz cellist and vocalist. He plays the electric cello, and his style is a mixture of rock, jazz, avant-garde, folk, and classical influences. He emerged with the downtown N ...
, resident, jazz cellist, and vocalist
*
Flora Rose, resident, scientist, nutritionist, and professor at Cornell University who was co-director of what would become the
New York State College of Human Ecology
The New York State College of Human Ecology at Cornell University (HumEc) is a statutory college and one of four New York State contract colleges located on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, New York. The College of Human Ecology is compila ...
*
Frank Rosenblatt
Frank Rosenblatt (July 11, 1928July 11, 1971) was an American psychologist notable in the field of artificial intelligence. He is sometimes called the father of deep learning.
Life and career
Rosenblatt was born in New Rochelle, New York as son o ...
, resident, psychologist, computer scientist, and professor at Cornell University known in the field of
artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...
*
Carl Sagan
Carl Edward Sagan (; ; November 9, 1934December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, and science communicator. His best known scientific contribution is research on ext ...
, resident, astronomer, popularizer of science,
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
-winning author of ''
The Dragons of Eden
''The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence'' is a 1977 book by Carl Sagan, in which the author combines the fields of anthropology, evolutionary biology, psychology, and computer science to give a perspective on ho ...
'', and presenter of the
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
-winning TV series ''
Cosmos
The cosmos (, ) is another name for the Universe. Using the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity.
The cosmos, and understandings of the reasons for its existence and significance, are studied in ...
''
*
Nick Sagan
Nicholas Julian Zapata Sagan (born September 16, 1970) is an American novelist and screenwriter. He is the author of the science fiction novels '' Idlewild'', ''Edenborn'', and '' Everfree'', and has also written scripts for episodes of '' Star ...
, native, novelist, screenwriter, and professor at Ithaca College; son of Carl Sagan
*
Sasha Sagan, native, author, TV producer, filmmaker, and podcaster; daughter of Carl Sagan
*
Tim Sale, native,
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...
-winning
comics artist
A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and g ...
known for his work on the
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
characters
*
Eugene Schuyler
Eugene Schuyler (February 26, 1840 – July 16, 1890) was a nineteenth-century American scholar, writer, explorer and diplomat. Schuyler was one of the first three Americans to earn a Ph.D. from an American university; and the first American tra ...
, native, scholar, writer, explorer, and diplomat; son of George Schuyler
*
George Schuyler
George Samuel Schuyler (; February 25, 1895 – August 31, 1977) was an American writer, journalist, and social commentator known for his conservatism after he had initially supported socialism.
Early life
George Samuel Schuyler was born in ...
, resident, businessman, author, politician, and member of the prominent
Schuyler family
The Schuyler family ( /ˈskaɪlər/; Dutch pronunciation: xœylər was a prominent Dutch family in New York and New Jersey in the 18th and 19th centuries, whose descendants played a critical role in the formation of the United States (especiall ...
who was
New York State Treasurer The New York State Treasurer was a state cabinet officer in the State of New York between 1776 and 1926. During the re-organization of the state government under Governor Al Smith, the office was abolished and its responsibilities transferred to the ...
from 1864 to 1865
*
Walter Schuyler, native, officer in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
who attained the rank of
brigadier general
Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...
; son of George Schuyler
*
Father Robert Smith, resident,
Catholic priest
The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...
, author, and educator who was director of the
Cornell Catholic Community The Cornell Catholic Community is the Catholic organization and parish at Cornell University, providing worship services and community for Catholic students. Its current director is Father Daniel McCullin.
Origin and early years
In 1888, Catholic s ...
*
Louisa Rachel Solomon
Louisa Rachel Solomon is the lead singer of The Shondes, an indie punk band from Brooklyn, NY. Solomon is known for being a Jewish musician who is outspoken about opposing the occupation of Palestine. She is best known for her emotional live pe ...
, native, musician, and lead singer of
The Shondes
The Shondes are a rock band from Brooklyn, NY, best known for their combination of feminist punk, rock, pop, Jewish influences, and ties to political activism. The Shondes formed in 2006 and have released two demos and five full-length studio ...
*
Steve Squyres
Steven Weldon Squyres (born January 9, 1956) is an American geologist and planetary scientist. He was the James A. Weeks Professor of Physical Sciences at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. His research area is in planetary sciences, with a f ...
, resident, astronomer, professor at Cornell University, and principal investigator of the
Mars Exploration Rover Mission
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphe ...
*
Cynthia Morgan St. John
Cynthia Morgan St. John (, Morgan; October 11, 1852 – August 10, 1919) was an American Wordsworthian, book collector, and author. In her day, she owned the largest and most valuable Wordsworth library in the U.S. she was engaged in collecting ...
, native,
Wordsworthian,
book collector
Book collecting is the collecting of books, including seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever books are of interest to a given collector. The love of books is '' bibliophilia'', and some ...
, and author
*
Steven Strogatz
Steven Henry Strogatz (), born August 13, 1959, is an American mathematician and the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Applied Mathematics at Cornell University.
He is known for his work on nonlinear systems, including contributions to the study o ...
, resident, mathematician, and professor at Cornell University
*
Steven Stucky
Steven Edward Stucky (November 7, 1949 − February 14, 2016) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer.
Life and career
Stucky was born in Hutchinson, Kansas. At age 9, he moved with his family to Abilene, Texas, where, as a teenager, he ...
, resident, classical composer, professor at Cornell University, and Pulitzer Prize winner
*
William H. Thomas, resident, geriatrician, and
Heinz Award
The Heinz Awards are individual achievement honors given annually by the Heinz Family Foundation. The Heinz Awards each year recognize outstanding individuals for their innovative contributions in three areas: the Arts, the Economy and the Enviro ...
winner for the Human Condition; author of ''What are Old People For?: How Elders Will Save the World''
*
Henry S. Walbridge, resident, lawyer, and politician who was a U.S. Congressman from 1851 to 1853
*
David Foster Wallace
David Foster Wallace (February 21, 1962 – September 12, 2008) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and university professor of English and creative writing. Wallace is widely known for his 1996 novel '' Infinite Jest'', whi ...
, native, author known for his 1996 novel ''
Infinite Jest
''Infinite Jest'' is a 1996 novel by American writer David Foster Wallace. Categorized as an encyclopedic novel, ''Infinite Jest'' is featured in ''TIME'' magazine's list of the 100 best English-language novels published between 1923 and 2005.
...
'', which ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' cited as one of the 100 best novels
*
Alfred Wells
Alfred Wells (May 27, 1814 – July 18, 1867) was a U.S. Representative from New York.
Biography
Alfred Wells was born in Dagsboro, Sussex County, Delaware on May 27, 1814. He pursued classical studies, and later studied law in the offic ...
, resident, lawyer, and politician; co-owner of the
''Ithaca Journal and Advertiser'', district attorney of Tompkins County from 1845 to 1847, and U.S. Congressman from 1859 to 1861
*
E.B. White
Elwyn Brooks White (July 11, 1899 – October 1, 1985) was an American writer. He was the author of several highly popular books for children, including ''Stuart Little'' (1945), '' Charlotte's Web'' (1952), and ''The Trumpet of the Swan'' ...
, resident, author known for several popular books for children, including ''
Charlotte's Web''; writer and contributing editor to ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' and a co-author of ''
The Elements of Style
''The Elements of Style'' is an American English writing style guide in numerous editions. The original was written by William Strunk Jr. in 1918, and published by Harcourt in 1920, comprising eight "elementary rules of usage", ten "elementary p ...
''
*
Robert R. Wilson
Robert Rathbun Wilson (March 4, 1914 – January 16, 2000) was an American physicist known for his work on the Manhattan Project during World War II, as a sculptor, and as an architect of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), ...
, resident, physicist known for his work with the Manhattan Project, and professor at Cornell University; architect of the
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), located just outside Batavia, Illinois, near Chicago, is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory specializing in high-energy particle physics. Since 2007, Fermilab has been operat ...
*
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian-British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He is considere ...
, resident, philosopher who is considered by some to be the greatest philosopher of the 20th century
*
Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Dundes Wolfowitz (born December 22, 1943) is an American political scientist and diplomat who served as the 10th President of the World Bank, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia, and former dean of Johns Hopkins SA ...
, native, political scientist, and diplomat; served as
U.S. ambassador to Indonesia
This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to the Republic of Indonesia.
Indonesia had been a Dutch colony since 1800 as a part of the Dutch East Indies. The Dutch were expelled in March 1942 by the Japanese occupation of Indonesia. Aft ...
,
U.S. deputy secretary of defense
The deputy secretary of defense (acronym: DepSecDef) is a statutory office () and the second-highest-ranking official in the Department of Defense of the United States of America.
The deputy secretary is the principal civilian deputy to the se ...
, and the 10th president of the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
*
Christopher Woodrow
Christopher Woodrow is an American entrepreneur, financier, and movie producer. He is the founder and chairman at Media Capital Technologies, a specialty finance and asset management company focused on strategic investments in premium content.
...
, native, Hollywood movie producer known for ''
Birdman'', ''
Black Mass'', and ''
Hacksaw Ridge
''Hacksaw Ridge'' is a 2016 biographical war film directed by Mel Gibson and written by Andrew Knight and Robert Schenkkan, based on the 2004 documentary ''The Conscientious Objector'' directed by Terry Benedict. The film focuses on the World Wa ...
''
*
Alexi Zentner, resident, author known for his novel ''Copperhead'', which is set in a fictional town that resembles Ithaca
References
{{Ithaca, New York
Ithaca, New York
Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named a ...
Ithaca
Ithaca most commonly refers to:
*Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey''
*Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca
*Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College
Ithaca, Ithaka ...
People from Ithaca, New York