List of College of William & Mary alumni
The College of William & Mary, located in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States, was founded in 1693 by a royal charter issued by King William III and Queen Mary II. It is a public research university and has more than 94,000 living alumni.
Alumni of William & Mary have played important roles in shaping the United States. Three of the country's first ten presidents were educated there, one more than Harvard University's two. The school is also the alma mater of four United States Supreme Court justices. Because the school was one of the few colleges existing in the Colonies, many colonial era notables enrolled including four signers of the Declaration of Independence and the first president of the Continental Congress, Peyton Randolph.
This list of alumni includes those who graduated, transferred to another school, dropped out, or were fully educated at the college but never received an academic degree. This list uses the following notations:
- Year # – recipient of a William & Mary Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, or Bachelor of Business Administration degree
- * Note: A question mark represents an unverifiable value for the digit it replaced. For instance, the "?" in "179?" means that no specific year can be found, but the general decade can be traced.
- Juris Doctor – recipient of a William & Mary Law School degree or the historical equivalent such as Doctor of Laws or Bachelor of Civil Law
- Master of Business Administration – recipient of a Mason School of Business degree or the historical equivalent
- Master of Education – recipient of a Graduate School of Education degree or the historical equivalent
- Master of Arts, Master of Science or Doctor of Philosophy – recipient of indicated degree from an Arts and Sciences graduate program or the historical equivalent
State and local government
State courts
Virginia Supreme Court
The Virginia Supreme Court has been known by other names since its creation. Most recently, the Virginia Supreme Court was known as the Supreme Court of Appeals until 1970. Regardless of name used, this sub-list is limited to members of the highest court of the state. Other state judges can be found in the following sub-list dedicated to Other positions.| Name | Year | Notability | Ref. |
| 1808 | Member of Virginia House of Delegates ; justice of the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals | ||
| 1798 | Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals | ||
| 1793 | Governor of Virginia ; justice of the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals | ||
| 1768 | Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals | ||
| Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals | |||
| 1763 | Member of the Continental Congress ; an original justice of the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ; chief justice of the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals | ||
| 1928 | Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals | ||
| 1980 | Chief deputy Virginia attorney general ; judge of Virginia Court of Appeals ; justice of the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals | ||
| 1752 | Member of the Continental Congress ; judge of the General Court of Virginia ; an original justice of the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals | ||
| 1979 | Member of the Virginia House of Delegates ; member of the Virginia Senate ; 46th attorney general of Virginia ; justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia | ||
| 1777 | Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals | ||
| 1901 | Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals | ||
| 1824 | Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals | ||
| 1846 | Member of Virginia House of Delegates ; delegate to Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America ; representative for Virginia to the Confederate Congress ; justice of the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals | ||
| 1770 | Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court ; chief justice of Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ; U.S. Senator for Virginia | ||
| 1798 / J.D. 1801 | Law professor at the College of William and Mary ; justice of the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ; author of the College of William and Mary honor pledge | ||
| 1772 | Lawyer and professor of law at William & Mary; Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals judge ; U.S. district court judge |
Arts and media
Writers
| Name | Year | Notability | Ref. |
| 1992 | Author, professor, playwright, and former radio host | ||
| Ph.D. 2012 | Author, professor, playwright, and former radio host | ||
| / Ph.D. 2007 | Author of texts on classical education | ||
| 1992 | Author and illustrator | ||
| 2009 | #1 New York Times bestselling author of children's and young adult novels | ||
| 1974 | Writer, author of nine novels, including Father of Frankenstein, which was adapted into Academy Award-winning film Gods and Monsters | ||
| 1985 | Professor and author of a number of books, including How to Cuss in Western: And Other Missives from the High Desert and Rants from the Hill: On Packrats, Bobcats, Wildfires, Curmudgeons, a Drunken Mary Kay Lady, and Other Encounters with the Wild in the High Desert | ||
| 2004 | Science journalist | ||
| 1990 | Writer, sportswriter and comic book writer; wrote The Face of the River and Jam | ||
| 1898 | Regionalist author; favorite of Mark Twain | ||
| Author of account of colonial life leading up the American Revolution, The Diary of Colonel Landon | |||
| 1978 | Poet; current poet-in-residence at William & Mary | ||
| 1978 | Poet and translator, winner of the Richard Wilbur Award and the Willis Barnstone Translation Prize | ||
| 2017 | Journalist and podcast host | ||
| 1994 | Political Journalist for PBS NewsHour | ||
| 1975 / M.A. 1981 | New York Times, Washington Post, L.A. Times, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of narrative nonfiction; honors include Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, American Library Association Nonfiction Book of the Year, Christopher Award, and New York Times Notable Book of the Year list | ||
| 1980 | Author of children's and young adult novels; winner of the 2010 National Book Award for Mockingbird | ||
| 1989 | Best-selling author of For Women Only: What You Need to Know About the Inner Lives of Men | ||
| 1994 | Opinion writer, talk radio host | ||
| 1996 | Author of novels A Paris Apartment and I'll See You in Paris | ||
| 1978 | Poet, essayist, novelist and critic | ||
| 1982 | Screenwriter and television producer who has written for numerous television shows, including The Simpsons and The PJs | ||
| 2001 | Author, university professor; writer and producer of two documentary feature films | ||
| 1991 | Poet, editor, author and professor at the University of Richmond | ||
| 1978 | Author of romantic historical novels | ||
| 1988 | Television writer and best-selling novelist; author of A Stolen Tongue, The Dress Lodger, and Witches on the Road Tonight | ||
Ph.D. 1999 | New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today best-selling author of historical fiction | ||
| 1989 | Novelist, poet, author of Panorama, The Luckless Age, and Little Black Daydream | ||
| 1984 | Investigative reporter at The New York Times | ||
| 1968 | Author | ||
| Sportswriter and reporter at Stamford Advocate, Grantland, and ESPN; associated with use of advanced metrics in sports | |||
| 1949 | Author of more than 50 novels including detective novels, historical novels, and fictionalized biographies including Colossus, The Memoirs of Christopher Columbus, The Lighthouse at the End of the World, and The Death and Life of Miguel de Cervantes | ||
| J.D. 2008 | Author of More Than Just a Pretty Face and The Bad Muslim Discount | ||
| 1987 | Children's picture book author and creator of Vampirina | ||
| 2000 | Staff writer at The New Yorker and author | ||
| 1996 | New York Times bestselling author of Gaining Ground and Growing Tomorrow | ||
| 1967 | Lawyer; writer; winner of Pulitzer Prize for autobiography Fortunate Son | ||
| 1947 | Author; photographer; historian | ||
| 1976 / J.D. 1980 | Writer; wrote War of the Rats, on which the movie Enemy at the Gates is partially based | ||
| 1995 | Author of the book Looker; poet | ||
| 1904 / LL.D. 1931 | Author; creator of The Virginia Quarterly Review and William & Mary's Alma Mater | ||
| Author of The Golden Age trilogy and other science fiction and fantasy novels | |||
| 1994 | Poet, critic, editor, and translator |