James Madison High School (Brooklyn)
James Madison High School is a public high school in Midwood, Brooklyn. It serves students in grades 9 through 12 and is in Region 6 of the New York City Department of Education.
Established in 1925, the school has many famous graduates, among them the late United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Judge Judy Sheindlin, two sitting U.S. senators, Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer and former Senator Norm Coleman. Dr. Murray Goldstein (pioneer in osteopathic medicine, former assistant surgeon general of the United States Public Health Services, director of stroke and neorological research NIH
In January 2024, the school building was temporarily turned into a shelter for asylum seeking migrant families, and students from the school were temporarily switched over to remote learning.
Notable teachers
Notable alumni
Notable alumni of James Madison High School include:- Cal Abrams, Major-League Baseball player.
- Elaine Abrams, physician, professor and public health expert.
- Maury Allen, sportswriter.
- Roger Andewelt, attorney, federal judge US Court of Federal Claims
- Arthur Ashkin, Nobel Prize winner, physics.
- Julius Ashkin, Manhattan Project physicist.
- Gary Becker, Nobel Prize winner, economics.
- Paul Bender, attorney, author, judge, law professor, and former Dean of the Arizona State University College of Law.
- Mimi Benzell, opera singer.
- Walter Block, Austrian School economist, anarcho-capitalist theoretician, professor of economics
- Harry Boatswain, former professional NFL football player.
- Andrew Dice Clay, comedian.
- Stanley Cohen, Nobel Prize winner, medicine.
- Norm Coleman, former US Senator.
- Paul Contillo
- Robert Dallek, historian.
- Roy DeMeo, mobster.
- Harry Eisenstat, Major League Baseball player
- Devale Ellis, professional football player.
- Harvey Feldman US Diplomat: known for planning the 1972 Nixon trip to China, US Ambassador to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, Alternative US Representative to the United Nations
- Sandra Feldman, President of the American Federation of Teachers.
- Stan Fields US biologist: discovered the two-hybrid system
- Norman Finkelstein political scientist, activist, professor, author.
- Sonny Fox, TV personality.
- Kevin Francis, CFL player
- Fran Fraschilla, American basketball commentator and former college basketball coach
- Leonard Frey, actor.
- Joseph S. Fruton, born Joseph Fruchtgarten, Jewish Polish-American biochemist and historian of science.
- David Frye, comedian.
- Sid Ganis, motion picture executive.
- William Gaines, founding publisher of Mad magazine.
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice, US Supreme Court.
- Richard D. Gitlin – National Academy of Engineering, co-inventor of DSL while at Bell Labs
- Lila R. Gleitman, 2017 Rumelhart prize recipient
- Marty Glickman, Olympian and broadcaster.
- Ron Haigler, basketball player.
- Stanley Myron Handleman, comedian.
- Deborah Hay, Dancer, artist
- Ellis Horowitz, computer scientist, professor
- Garson Kanin, writer and director of plays and films.
- Stanley Kaplan, test preparation entrepreneur.
- Buddy Kaye, songwriter, musician, producer, author and publisher.
- Donald Keene, Japanese scholar, historian, writer, and translator.
- Carole King, singer and songwriter.
- Paul L. Krinsky, U.S. Navy rear admiral.
- Martin Landau, Academy Award-winning actor.
- Rudy LaRusso, five-time All-Star NBA basketball player.
- Mell Lazarus, cartoonist.
- Andrew Levane, professional basketball player.
- David Lichtenstein, billionaire real estate investor
- Elaine Malbin, opera singer.
- Marvin Miller, MLB players union executive director.
- Bruce Morrow, radio personality.
- Herbert S. Okun, diplomat.
- Martin Lewis Perl, Nobel Prize winner, physics.
- Sylvia Porter, economist and journalist.
- Deborah Poritz, N.J. Attorney General then Chief Justice, N.J. Supreme Court.
- Shais Rishon, rabbi, activist, and writer.
- Chris Rock, comedian and actor.
- Norman Rosten, poet, playwright and novelist.
- Dmitry Salita, professional boxer.
- Murray Saltzman, Reform Jewish rabbi.
- Bernie Sanders, US Senator, as well as a 2016 and 2020 U.S. presidential candidate.
- Larry Sanders, British politician and brother of Bernie Sanders.
- Babe Scheuer, American football player
- Harvey Schlesinger, US District Judge for the Middle District of Florida
- Ted Schreiber, Major League Baseball player.
- Chuck Schumer, U.S. Senate Majority Leader
- Irwin Shaw, playwright, screenwriter and novelist.
- Judith Sheindlin, television personality.
- Janis Siegel, vocalist for Manhattan Transfer and winner of ten Grammys.
- Barry Simon, IBM Professor of Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at Caltech.
- Robert Solow, Nobel Prize winner, economics.
- Irving Terjesen, All-American college basketball player for NYU and early professional.
- Frank Torre, professional baseball player.
- Sidney Verba, political scientist.
- Stephen Verona filmmaker.
- David Wohl television and film character actor.
- Larry Zicklin, Neuberger & Berman Chairman of the Board
- Joel Zwick, film, television and theater director.