List of people from New Orleans

Academia

• Will W. Alexander, first president of Dillard University and head of the Commission on Interracial Cooperation
• Stephen Ambrose, historian and University of New Orleans professor
• William Balée, anthropologist and Tulane University professor
• Charles C. Bass, physician and researcher in tropical medicine and dental health
• Elizabeth Bass, physician, educator, and suffragist
• Stanhope Bayne-Jones, physician, member of US Surgeon General's Committee linking smoking to cancer
• Joan W. Bennett, biologist and former Tulane University professor
• Florence Borders, archivist and historian at the Amistad Research Center
• Cyril Y. Bowers, physician and endocrinology researcher
• Rick Brewer, president of Louisiana College since 2015; born in New Orleans in 1956
• Douglas Brinkley, historian, author and former University of New Orleans and Tulane University professor
• Brené Brown, professor of social work; author
• George E. Burch, pioneering physician, cardiovascular disease researcher, medical school professor
• John R. Conniff, educator and university administrator
• Scott Cowen, former president of Tulane University
• Richard Cusimano, historian and University of Louisiana at Lafayette distinguished professor
• Michael DeBakey, pioneer in heart surgery
• Albert W. Dent, president of Dillard University, chief executive of Flint-Goodridge Hospital
• James H. Dillard, educator, advocate for education of African-Americans
• John Duffy, medical historian
• Michael T. Dugan, educator and accounting scholar
• Joseph Ewan, botanist and biology professor
• Alcée Fortier, folklorist, historian, and university professor
• Mary L. Good, scientist and university professor
• Clifton H. Johnson, historian and founder of the Amistad Research Center
• Eamon Kelly, President of Tulane University
• Salman Khan, educator
• James A. Knight, psychiatrist, theologian, and medical ethicist
• Rudolph Matas, innovative surgeon at Tulane Medical School
• Gordon H. Mueller, historian and administrator at the University of New Orleans
• Ernest Lagarde literature and languages, professor and author
• Alton Ochsner, surgeon and medical researcher, founded the Ochsner Medical Center
• Max Rafferty, public school administrator and writer
• Andrew V. Schally, endocrinologist and Nobel Laureate
• Mary S. Sherman, cancer researcher and physician
• Royal D. Suttkus, biologist, founder of a major ichthyology collection
• Lewis Thomas, physician, researcher, and author of popular non-fiction
• Jeffrey Vitter, computer scientist and Purdue University dean
• Harold E. Vokes, zoologist and paleontologist

  Architecture

• Jean-Louis Dolliole, architect-builder who was a free person of color in the Antebellum era
• James Freret, architect, designed many 19th century homes in New Orleans
• William Alfred Freret, architect, supervising architect for federal building in the 19th century
• James Gallier Jr., architect, designed the French Opera House in New Orleans
• Moise H. Goldstein Sr., architect of extensive designs in the early 20th century
• Henry Howard, 19th century Irish-American architect
• Richard Koch, architectural preservationist and photographer
• Albert C. Ledner, 20th century architect
• Emile Weil, 20th century architect
• Leonard Spangenberg, 20th century architect
• Leon C. Weiss, architect commissioned by Huey P. Long
• Elizebeth Thomas Werlein, conservationist of the French Quarter of New Orleans

  Arts and literature

• Enrique Alferez, sculptor
• John James Audubon, painter, ornithologist, naturalist
• Vernel Bagneris, playwright, actor, director, singer, dancer
• Colette Bennet, writer, journalist, poet
• E. J. Bellocq, photographer
• Eloise Bibb Thompson, poet, fiction writer, and playwright
• Skip Bolen, photographer
• Roark Bradford, fiction writer
• Poppy Z. Brite, writer
• William S. Burroughs, writer
• George Washington Cable, writer
• Georgine Campbell, painter
• Truman Capote, writer
• John Churchill Chase, writer and cartoonist
• Kate Chopin, writer, feminist
• Marcus Bruce Christian, poet, folklorist and historian
• Ben Claassen III, illustrator and comics artist, DIRTFARM
• Margaret Clark, historian, writer, and educator
• Andrei Codrescu, poet and commentator
• Florestine Perrault Collins, photographer
• Alice Dalsheimer, poet
• Edgar Degas, artist
• Thomas Dent, poet and writer
• John Bull Smith Dimitry Creole author known for Le Tombeau Blanc
• George Washington Dixon, newspaper editor
• Alexander John Drysdale, artist
• Adolphe Duhart, writer and poet
• George Dureau, artist and photographer
• Caroline Durieux, artist and printmaker
• William Faulkner, writer
• Elissa Minet Fuchs, ballerina
• Daniel F. Galouye, science fiction writer
• Whitney Gaskell, writer, attended Tulane Law School which was the setting of her 2006 novel Testing Kate
• Rolland Golden, artist
• Shirley Ann Grau, writer
• Lafcadio Hearn, writer
• Knute Heldner, artist
• Lillian Hellman, writer
• George Herriman, Krazy Kat cartoonist
• Emma Churchman Hewitt, writer, journalist
• Walter Isaacson, writer, journalist, public policy analyst
• Charles Edward Kerbs, erotic artist and playwright
• Frances Parkinson Keyes, writer
• Grace King, writer
• Armand Lanusse, creole poet
• May Hyman Lesser, medical illustrator
• Dominique Lapierre, writer
• Elmore Leonard, author
• Michael Lewis, writer
• Shantrelle P. Lewis, curator
• Bunny Matthews, cartoonist
• Louis-Alphonse Maureau, painter
• Robert Bledsoe Mayfield, artist
• John McCrady, artist
• James Michalopoulos, artist
• Marie Madeleine Seebold Molinary, artist
• Gertrude Morgan, artist, musician, poet and preacher
• Sergio Rossetti Morosini, diplomat, painter, sculptor, filmmaker, naturalist
• Alice Dunbar Nelson, poet, journalist and political activist
• Isadora Newman, artist, poet, storyteller, sculptor
• David Ohle, writer
• Paul E. Poincy, artist
• Bart Ramsey, composer, author, singer and jazz musician
• Matthew Randazzo V, writer
• Anne Rice, writer of vampire tales and other Gothic fiction
• John T. Scott, artist and sculptor
• Kendall Shaw, abstract expressionist painter
• John Kennedy Toole, writer of A Confederacy of Dunces
• Sean Tuohy, sports commentator and restauranter
• Alexandrea Weis, author
• Lucille Western, actress
• Chris Wiltz, novelist
• William Woodward, painter

  Business and economics

• Frank Abadie, businessman and horse race promoter.
• Micaela Almonester, 19th-century businesswoman and real estate developer
• Tom Benson, owner of the New Orleans Saints
• George Bissell, entrepreneur, founded the first oil company in the United States
• Isaac Delgado, businessman and philanthropist, benefactor of Delgado Community College
• Constant C. Dejoie Sr., business leader
• William C. Edenborn, railroad magnate, industrialist and inventor
• Charles E. Fenner, businessperson, co-founder of Fenner & Beane, a forerunner of Merrill Lynch
• Ruth Fertel, businesswoman, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse
• Avram Glazer, businessman and sports franchise owner
• Leon Godchaux, businessman and sugar merchant
• George A. Hero, entrepreneur known locally as the "Drainage King"
• Daniel Henry Holmes, 19th-century businessman
• Victor Kiam, entrepreneur
• Yvonne LaFleur, fashion designer, businesswoman
• Thomy Lafon, businessman, human rights activist
• Prosper Lamal, entrepreneur who started the usage of blue street tiles in New Orleans
• John McDonogh, shipping, land speculation, philanthropist and namesake of many New Orleans schools
• Alexander Milne, 18th-century businessman and entrepreneur
• Oliver Pollock, merchant, financier of the American Revolutionary War
• Benjamin M. Rosen, computer entrepreneur
• John G. Schwegmann, supermarket innovator
• Clay Shaw, businessman
• Edgar B. Stern Sr, businessperson and philanthropist
• Patrick F. Taylor, businessperson and philanthropist
• Judah Touro, businessman and philanthropist
• Martin de Villamil or Martin Villamil, businessman
• Philip P. Werlein, music publisher and retailer
• Samuel Zemurray, businessman and philanthropist

  Cuisine

• Edward Baquet, restaurateur and civil rights activist
• Owen Brennan, restaurateur
• Leah Chase, chef
• Al Copeland, restaurateur, Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits and Copeland's restaurants
• Ruth Fertel, restaurateur, Ruth's Chris Steak House
• Beulah Levy Ledner, pastry chef
• Austin Leslie, chef

  Crime

• Axeman of New Orleans, mysterious mass murderer
• Sylvestro Carolla, mafia boss
• Wilson Chouest, serial rapist and killer of two women in California
• Antoinette Frank, former police officer and triple-murderer
• Ivory Harris, drug trafficker and weapons trafficker
• Mary Jane Jackson, mid-19th century serial killer
• Jean Lafitte, pirate and brother of Pierre Lafitte
• Pierre Lafitte, pirate and brother of Jean Lafitte
• Delphine LaLaurie, socialite and sadist
• Carlos Marcello, businessman and mafia boss
• Lee Harvey Oswald, assassinated John F. Kennedy

  Fictional

• Mr. Bingle, snowman that assisted Santa Claus and worked at Maison Blanche Department Store
• Benjamin Button, man who is born old and grows young, in a film loosely adapted from an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story
• Louis de Pointe du Lac, vampire appearing in Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles
• Ignatius J. Reilly, hero of John Kennedy Toole's novel A Confederacy of Dunces
• Seymore D. Fair, 1984 Louisiana World Exposition Mascot, celebrity cartoon character, advocate for animal, people, and planet welfare
• Gambit, Marvel Comics superhero
• Marcel Gerard, vampire appearing in Julie Plec's The Originals
• Hazel Levesque, previous residence before moving and first death, appearing in Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan
• Morgus the Magnificent, mad scientist and horror movie host
• Dwayne Cassius "King" Pride, NCIS Supervisory Agent, NCIS: New Orleans
• Benjamin Sisko, Starfleet captain
• Princess Tiana, heroine of Disney's animated film The Princess and the Frog
• Alastor, sinner demon and one of the Overlords of Hell in the adult-animated musical series ''Hazbin Hotel''