Politics/law

• Richard Nixon, 37th president of the United States (Law school)
• Elizabeth Dole, United States Senator, North Carolina; Secretary of Transportation' Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission; President of the American Red Cross
• Ricardo Lagos, president of Chile
• Charlie Soong, Duke's first international student and patriarch of the Soong Dynasty
• Kenneth Starr, former United States Solicitor General, former U.S. appeals court judge (Law school)
• Eleanor Smeal, political activist, president of the National Organization for Women
• Denise Majette, U.S. Politician, served as U.S. Representative (Law school)
• Christine M. Durham, chief justice of the Utah Supreme Court

• Bob Wise, Governor of West Virginia
• John Koskinen, former Deputy Director, Office of Management and Budget
• Henry Hyde, US representative, Illinois
• Evelyn Murphy, former Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts
• Phiip Lader, former Ambassador to the Court of St. James, London
• Juanita M. Kreps, Secretary of Commerce

Business

• G. Richard Wagoner, Jr., President & CEO, General Motors Corporation
• Edmund Pratt, former CEO of Pfizer, philanthropist
• John A. Allison IV, Chairman and CEO, BB&T Corporation
• Peter Nicholas, Founder and Chairman of Boston Scientific Corporation
• John Mack, CEO of Credit Suisse First Boston
• Clay Felker, Founding Editor of New York Magazine
• Rik Kirkland, S/B Managing Editor, Fortune Magazine
• Andrew Busey, creator of iChat
• James L. Vincent, Chairman & CEO, Biogen, Inc.
• Melinda Gates, Wife of Bill Gates, co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
• Rex Adams, chairman of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), former VP of Mobil Corporation
• W. David Stedman, Business executive, philanthropist
• Edwin L. Jones, Jr., Engineer, president, J. A. Jones Construction Company
• Jeffrey Vinik, Chairman, President, and CEO of Vinik Asset Management

Academia/Research/Literature

• Robert Richardson, Nobel Laureate in physics, 1996
• Fred Brooks, engineer, developer of OS/360, Turing Award winner
• Reynolds Price, renowned author and professor of literature
• Pamela Gann, president of Claremont McKenna College
• Dr. Paul Farmer, infectious disease doctor, subject of Pulitzer-prize winning Tracy Kidder's biography Mountains Beyond Mountains
• Jerry F. Hough, political scientist, author, and professor
• Joseph B Rhine, psychologist and parapsychologist, recognized as founder of modern studies of psychical phenomena
• Ian Barbour, physicist, theologian, and recipient of the Templeton Prize in 1999
• Benjamin Chavis, civil rights activist, executive director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
• Hans Dehmelt, Nobel Laureate in physics, 1989
• Fred Chappell, North Carolina Poet Laureate, novelist
• Josephine Humphreys, award-winning novelist

• Robert Morris, notable psychologist, Koestler professor at the University of Edinburgh
• Jerome Bruner, renowned psychologist and professor
• Lorenz Eitner, renowned art historian
• Sylvia Earle, marine biologist, Chief Scientist of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration
• Willem J. Kolff, pioneer of artificial organs
• Stanley Hauerwas, theologian and author
• Anne Tyler, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and writer of short stories
• Juanita M. Kreps, professor, economist, Secretary of Commerce
• Lenox D. Baker, physician, public servant
• Dorothy Simpson, scientist, mathematician
• William C. Styron, author, Pulitzer Prize winner
• Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans, philanthropist
• Margaret Taylor Smith, author, social activist, Chair, Kresge Foundation
• Charles E. Brady, Jr., astronaut (Medical school)

Art/Media

• Annabeth Gish, actress, X-Files
• Michael Best, Former Principal Artist of the Metropolitan Opera
• René Echevarria, producer, The 4400, Dark Angel, Now and Then; screenwriter, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
• Kelly Goldsmith, actress, Survivor
• Randall Wallace, Author of the screenplays for Braveheart, The Man in the Iron Mask, Pearl Harbor, and We Were Soldiers
• Lee McGeorge Durrell, author, television presenter, zookeeper
• Judy Woodruff, NBC's White House correspondent and Washington correspondent for the MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour, anchor at CNN
• John Feinstein, sports journalist
• Laura Paresky, television designer/animator
• Kevin Gray, ("Phantom" on Broadway after Michael Crawford)
• Martin Kratt, Creator and star of PBS's ZOBOOMAFOO
• Sean McManus, President of CBS Sports
• Charlie Rose, Journalist, former CBS News Anchor, 60 Minutes correspondent
• Charles Randolph-Wright, Director, writer, and producer
• Dan Abrams, the Abrams Report on MSNBC
• Tucker Max, Underground internet celebrity

Athletics

• Tommy Amaker, University of Michigan head basketball coach
• Shane Battier, professional basketball player (jersey retired)
• Alana Beard, professional basketball player (jersey retired)
• Jay Bilas, ESPN sports commentator
• Carlos Boozer, professional basketball player
• Elton Brand, professional basketball player
• Jeff Capel, Virginia Commonwealth University head basketball coach
• Jenny Chuasiriporn, professional golf player
• Johnny Dawkins, Duke University assistant basketball coach (jersey retired)
• Charles Driesell, college basketball coach
• Mike Dunleavy, Jr., professional basketball player
• Danny Ferry, former professional basketball player, member of 2003 National Champion San Antonio Spurs (jersey retired)
• Mike Gminski, ESPN sports commentator (jersey retired)
• Grant Hill, professional basketball player (jersey retired)
• Nancy Hogshead, Olympic gold medal winner in swimming
• Mike Krzyzewski, (Not Duke Alumnus) Head Coach, Duke Men's Basketball Team
• Christian Laettner, professional basketball player (jersey retired)
• Corey Maggette, professional basketball player
• Quinton McCracken, professional baseball player, member of 2002 World Series Champion Arizona Diamondbacks
• Scott Schoneweis,Major League Baseball pitcher
• Quin Snyder, University of Missouri basketball coach
• Jim Spanarkel, basketball first round draft pick, commentator
• Drew Strojny,NFL football offensive tackle
• Mike Trombley,MLB pitcher
• Jason Williams, professional basketball player (jersey retired)
• Chris Duhon, professional basketball player (Chicago Bulls)