• B - Business
• C - College
• DDS - Dental School
• G - Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
• L - Law Center
• M - School of Medicine
• MPP - Masters Degree (Institute of Public Policy)
• MSFS - School of Foreign Service (graduate)
• SFS - School of Foreign Service (undergraduate)
• SLL- School of Language and Linguistics (now Faculty of Languages and Linguistics)
• SSCE - School of Summer and Continuing Education

Law, government, and politics

• Thomas Ambro (C'1972, L'1975) - Judge, United States Court of Appeals
• Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, (SFS'1968) - president of the Philippines
• William W. Belknap (L'1851) - U.S. Secretary of War (deceased)
• Pat Buchanan, (C'1961), advisor to Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan, nationally syndicated political pundit, a regular on The McLaughlin Group
• George Cortelyou, (L'1895), Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Commerce and Labor, and Postmaster General (deceased)
• Alfredo Cristiani (B'1968) - former president of El Salvador
• Bill Clinton (SFS'1968) - 42nd President of the United States
• Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. (L'1979) - director, Office of Management and Budget
• Robert Gates (G'1974) - former director of the Central Intelligence Agency
• Gen. James L. Jones (F'1966) - commandant, U.S. Marine Corps
• Mickey Kantor, (L'1968) - former Secretary of Commerce
• Franklin L. Lavin (SFS'1979, G'1985) - Ambassador to Singapore
• John Lynch-Staunton (C'1953) - Canadian politician, first leader of the Conservative Party of Canada
• Terry McAuliffe (L'1984) - Chairman, Democratic National Committee
• Mike McCurry (G'1985) - Press Secretary for Pres. Bill Clinton
• William McDonough (G'1962) - president and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
• Marc Morial (L'1983) - mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana
• Andrew Natsios, (C'1971) - administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development
• John Podesta (L'1976) - former chief of staff, White House
• Michael Powell (L'1993) - commissioner, Federal Communications Commission
• Charles Rossotti (C'1962) - commissioner, Internal Revenue Service
• Antonin Scalia (C'1957) - Supreme Court justice
• James C.Y. Soong (L'197-) - Taiwanese politician; Chairman of Taiwan People First Party
• John Sirica (L'1926) - Chief Judge, United States District Court for the District of Columbia (deceased)
• George Tenet (SFS'1976) - former director of the Central Intelligence Agency
• Edward Douglass White (C'1863) - Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (deceased)

Members of the U.S. Senate

• Alan Bible (L'1934), D-Nevada (deceased)
• J. Caleb Boggs (L'1937) - R-Delaware (deceased)
• Dennis Chavez (L'1920), D-New Mexico (deceased)
• Richard Durbin (SFS'1966; L'1978), D-Illinois
• Philip A. Hart (C'1934) - D-Michigan (deceased)
• Patrick Leahy (L'1964), D-Vermont
• George Mitchell (L'1961), D-Maine - (retired, former Majority Leader)
• Lisa Murkowski (C'1980), R-Alaska

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives

• Bob Barr (L'1977), R-Georgia (retired)
• Michael Castle (L'1964), R-Delaware
• John Dingell, (C'1949, L'1952) - D-Michigan
• Lane Evans (L'1978), D-Illinois
• Mike Ferguson (MPP'1995), R-New Jersey
• Martin Frost (L'1970), D-Texas (retired)
• Stephanie Herseth (C'1993, G'1996, L'1997), D-South Dakota
• Steny Hoyer (L'1966), D-Maryland
• Henry Hyde (C'1947), R-Illinois
• William Jefferson (L'1996), D-Louisiana
• Mark Steven Kirk (L'1992), R-Illinois
• Charlie Norwood (DDS'1969), R-Georgia
• Chris Van Hollen (L'1990), D-Maryland
• Peter Visclosky (L'1982), D-Indiana
• Rick White (L'1980), R-Washington (retired)
• Frank Wolf (L'1965), R-Virginia
• Albert Wynn (L'1977), D-Maryland

Governors

• Francis A. Keating II (C'1966), R-Oklahoma (retired)
• Jim McGreevey (L'1981), D-New Jersey (retired)
• Don Siegelman (L'1972), D-Alabama (retired)

Business

• Charles Cawley (C'1962) - chairman and CEO, MBNA Bank of America
• James D. Farley (SFS'1950) - vice chairman, Citigroup, Inc.
• Nicholas C. Forstmann (B'1969) - partner, Forstmann Little & Company
• Ken Hakuta (B'1972) - "Dr. Fad", inventor and CEO, Allherb.com Foundation
• Jules Kroll (L'1966) - president, Kroll-O'Gara Company
• Ted Leonsis (C'1977) - president and CEO, AOL Interactive Properties; majority owner, Washington Capitals hockey team
• Philip Marineau (C'1968) - president and CEO, Levi Strauss & Co.
• Robert Emmett McDonough (SFS'1949) - founder and vice chairman, Remedy Temp, Inc.
• Edmond Villani (C'1968) - vice chairman, Deutsche Asset Management
• Marcus Wallenberg (SFS'1980) - president and CEO, Investor AB

Entertainment, media and culture

• John Barrymore (C'1898) - actor (deceased)
• Stuart Bloomberg (C'1972) - chairman, ABC Entertainment
• William Peter Blatty (C'1950) - author of The Exorcist
• Margaret Edson (G'1992) - Pulitzer Prize winning author of "Wit"
• Robert Gant - actor
• Linda Gradstein (SFS'1985) - correspondent, National Public Radio (NPR)
• John Guare (C'1960; H'1991) - author and playwright
• Malcolm Lee (C'1992) - director, The Best Man and Undercover Brother
• Jonathan Nolan (C'1998) - author of Memento
• Maria Shriver, (C'1977) - NBC - TV news commentator and wife of Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger
• Greta Van Susteren (L'1979, L'1982) - anchorwoman, FOX News

Science and medicine

• Antonia Novello (Hospital fellow '1975) - physician, former U.S. Surgeon General
• John J. Ring (C'1949; M'1953) - former president, American Medical Association
• Vera Rubin (G'1954) - astronomer
• Solomon Snyder (C'1959, M'1962) - neuroscientist

Religion, social action and education

• Joan Claybrook (L'1973) - president, Public Citizen
• John J. DeGioia (C'1979, G'1995) - 48th president, Georgetown University
• Robert M. Hayes (C'1974) - founder, Coalition for the Homeless
• Rev.Daniel K. Lahart, S.J., president of Strake Jesuit College Preparatory School, Houston, TX (B'1983)
• Leo J. O'Donovan, S.J. (C'1956) - 47th president, Georgetown University
• Rev. Brian Paulson, S.J., president of St. Ignatius College Preparatory School, Chicago, Illinois (SFS'1981)
• Most Rev. Thomas J. Rodi, Bishop, Diocese of Biloxi, Mississippi (C'1971)
• Sister Kathleen Ross, SNJM, founding President, Heritage College, Toppenish, Washington (G'1971)
• Anthony Paul Kennedy Shriver (C'1988) - President, Best Buddies International
• Rev. John Whitney, S.J., (C'1980) - provincial of the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus

Sports

• Ruben Boumtje Boumtje (C'2001) - professional basketball player
• Katy Button (SFS'1994) - general manager, Washington Freedom
• Patrick Ewing,(C'1985) - former professional basketball player
• Othella Harrington (C'1996) - professional basketball player, Chicago Bulls
• Jaren Jackson (B'1989) - former professional basketball player
• Alonzo Mourning (C'1992) - former professional basketball player, best known with Miami Heat now with Toronto Raptors
• Dikembe Mutombo (SLL'1991) - professional basketball player with several teams, most recently Houston Rockets
• Carmen Policy (L'1966) - president, Cleveland Browns
• Don Reid (C'1995) - former professional basketball player
• Paul Tagliabue (C'1962) - commissioner, National Football League
• Jahidi White (C'1998) - professional basketball player, Charlotte Bobcats
• Jerome Williams (C'1996) - professional basketball player, New York Knicks
• Reggie Williams (C'1987) - former professional basketball player
• David Wingate (C'1986) - former professional basketball player

Other

• Felipe de Borbon, Prince of Asturias (MSFS'1995) - Crown Prince of Spain
• Jan Karski (G'1952) - Polish diplomat, resistance leader during World War II (deceased)
• Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece (FLL'1993) - son of ex-King Constantine II of Greece, first cousin of Crown Prince Felipe.