Notable alumni of Wesleyan University include:

Academia

• Linda Brinen 1988 - Scientific and technical programs manager, Joint Center for Structural Genomics, Stanford University
• Gerald Holton 1941 - Professor emeritus, Harvard University, world's leading authority on life of Albert Einstein
• Beverly Daniel Tatum 1975 - President, Spelman College; author of Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?

Art

• Meredith Bergmann 1976 - Sculptor of Women's Memorial (Boston).
• Lyle Ashton Harris 1988 - Photographer, exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art
• Alan Shestack 1960 - Chief curator, National Gallery of Art
• Mark Steinmetz 1982 - Photographer, recipient of Guggenheim Fellowship
• Philip Trager 1956 - Photographer whose books include Villas of Palladio, Dancers, Persephone, and Changing Paris: A Tour Along the Seine

Business

• Joshua Boger 1973 - President and CEO, Vertex Pharmaceuticals
• Majora Carter 1988 - Founder and executive director, Sustainable South Bronx
• Richard Cavanagh 1968 - President and CEO, The Conference Board of New York
• Alan Dachs 1970 - President, The Fremont Group (investment arm of Bechtel Corp.); chairman of Wesleyan's board of trustees
• Ronald Daniel 1952 - Former Managing Partner, McKinsey & Company.
• Charles Exley, Jr. 1951 - Former chairman and CEO, NCR Corporation
• Houghton Freeman 1943 - Former Vice Chairman, AIG; Founder of AIU.
• Charles James 1976 - Vice president and general counsel, ChevronTexaco Corp.
• Herb Kelleher 1953 - Founder, chairman, and former president and CEO, Southwest Airlines
• Matt Kelley 1902 - Founder, president, and CEO, The Mavin Foundation
• Daphne Kwok 1984 - Executive director of the Asian Pacific Institute for Congressional Studies
• Eliza Leighton 1995 - Cofounder, Stand for Children
• John Lipsky 1968 - Chief economist and managing director, JP Morgan Chase
• Robert Patricelli 1961 - President and CEO, Women's Health, USA
• Anthony Richter 1984 - director of Central Asia and Middle East Initiatives of the Open Society Institute
• Tom Rogers 1976 - Chairman and CEO, Primedia
• David Skaggs 1964 - Executive director, Aspen Institute
• Laura Walker 1979 - President and CEO, WNYC
• Jeff Weitzen 1978 - Former president and CEO, Gateway 2000
• John Woodhouse 1953 - Senior chairman, Sysco Corp.
• Walter Wriston 1941 - Retired chairman, Citicorp
• Strauss Zelnick 1979 - Founder and president, ZelnickMedia
• Ezra Zilkha 1947 - President, Zilkha and Sons

Entertainment

• Miguel Arteta 1989 - Film director (Star Maps, Chuck and Buck, The Good Girl)
• John Perry Barlow 1969 - Lyricist for Grateful Dead, cofounder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
• Michael Bay 1986 - Film director (The Rock, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor)
• Jennifer Crittenden 1992 - Writer and/or producer for Seinfeld, The Drew Carey Show, and Everybody Loves Raymond
• Ed Decter 1979 - Screenwriter: There's Something About Mary
• Dana Delany 1978 - Emmy Award-winning actress whose credits include the television shows China Beach and Presidio Med and the films Tombstone and Fly Away Home
• Akiva Goldsman 1983 - Screenwriter for The Client, A Time to Kill, and A Beautiful Mind (Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar)
• The Highwaymen (David Fisher 1962, Steve Trott '62, Chan Daniels '62 [dec.], Steve Butts '62, and Bob Burnett '62) -- folk group with #1 single ("Michael" 1961).
• Jay Hoggard 1976 - Renowned jazz musician, vibraphonist
• David Kohan 1986 - Cocreator and executive producer of Will & Grace and Good Morning, Miami
• Laurence Mark 1971 - Producer of the films Jerry McGuire, As Good As It Gets, Finding Forrester
• Daisy von Scherler Mayer 1988 - Film director (Party Girl, Madeline, The Guru)
• Alix Olson 1997 - Performance artist and award-winning slam poet
• Paul Schiff 1981 - Producer of the films My Cousin Vinny and Rushmore
• Stephen Schiff 1972 - Screenwriter for Lolita, True Crime, and Unfaithful
• Stephen Trask 1989 - Composer and lyricist for the musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch
• Jon Turteltaub 1985 - Film director (Cool Runnings, Phenomenon, While You Were Sleeping, National Treasure)
• Paul Weitz 1988 - Director (with brother Chris Weitz, American Pie, About a Boy)
• Joss Whedon 1987 - Creator, producer, director, and writer for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly; screenwriter for Speed and Toy Story
• Bradley Whitford 1981 - Emmy-winning actor in television drama The West Wing
• David White 1970 - Executive director, producer, and founder of the Dance Theater Workshop
• Mike White 1992 - Screenwriter for Chuck and Buck, Orange County, and The Good Girl
• Dar Williams 1989 - Folksinger
• Christopher Wink 1983 - Founder of the Blue Man Group
• Frank Wood 1984 - Tony Award-winning actor (Side Man)

Law

• Russell Hardin 1964 - Attorney, Hardin, Beers, Hagstette & Davidson, and lead Houston attorney for Arthur Andersen's defense against lawsuits brought by Enron shareholders
• Hon. Terry Hatter 1954 - Federal judge, Los Angeles
• Hon. Anthony Scirica 1962 - Circuit judge, United States Court of Appeals, Third District (Philadelphia)
• Theodore Shaw 1976 - Associate director-counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund
• Hon. Stephen Trott 1962 - Federal Appellate Court judge, 9th Circuit

Literature

• Amy Bloom 1975 - Author of Come to Me, Love Invents Us, and A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You
• Robin Cook 1962 - Medical mystery writer whose books include Abduction, Chromosome 6, Coma, Shock, and many other bestsellers
• Ted Fiske 1959 - Educational writer, creator of The Fiske Guide to Colleges
• William H. Gass
• Daniel Handler 1992 - Author (under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket) of A Series of Unfortunate Events children's book series
• Sebastian Junger 1984 - Author of The Perfect Storm and Fire
• Robert Ludlum 1951 - The late writer whose books include The Bourne Identity, The Matarese Circle, and many others
• C. Richard (Rick) Nicita 1967 - Cochairman, Creative Artists Agency
• Charles Olson 1932 - modernist poet
• Dr. Michael Palmer 1964 - Medical mystery writer whose books include Side Effects, Flashback, Extreme Measures, and Natural Causes
• Sara Shandler 2002 - Author of Ophelia Speaks: Adolescent Girls Write About Their Search for Self

Medicine

• Dr. Herbert Benson 1957 - Founding president of the Mind/Body Medical Institute; author of The Relaxation Response
• Dr. Laman Gray, Jr. 1963 - Artificial heart surgeon
• Dr. Jay Levy 1960 - AIDS researcher and educator; professor, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
• Emelie Marcus 1982 - Editor of the scientific journal Cell.

News

• Eric Asimov 1979 - Restaurant columnist and editor, The New York Times; nephew of Isaac Asimov
• William Blakemore 1965 - Correspondent, ABC News
• Ethan Bronner 1976 - Assistant editorial page editor, The New York Times
• Dominique Browning 1977 - Editor-in-chief, House & Garden Magazine
• Jane Eisner 1977 - Columnist, Philadelphia Inquirer
• Alberto Ibargüen 1966 - Publisher, The Miami Herald, Chair of PBS Board of Directors
• Brooks Kraft 1987 - Nationally recognized photojournalist whose pictures of the White House and President Bush have appeared in Time Magazine.
• Alex Kotlowitz 1977 - Journalist, activist, author of There Are No Children Here
• Caroline Little 1981 - COO of Washington Post.Newsweek Interactive
• Randall Pinkston 1972 - Emmy Award-winning television journalist
• C. Sumner (Chuck) Stone 1948 - Professor of journalism at University of North Carolina; former editor, Philadelphia Daily News
• Michael Yamashita 1971 - Photographer, National Geographic
• John Yang 1980 - Correspondent, ABC News

Politics

• Gerald Baliles 1963 - Former governor of Virginia
• John Hickenlooper 1974 - Mayor of Denver, Colorado.
• Robert E. Hunter 1962 - Former United States ambassador to NATO, now president of the Atlantic Treaty Organization

Science

Kenneth G. Carpenter 1976, MA 1977, Project Scientist for Hubble Space Telescope Operations [6] 

Sports

• Bill Belichick 1975 - Head coach, New England Patriots, winner of 2002, 2004, and 2005 Super Bowls
• Ambrose Burfoot 1968 - First collegian to win the Boston Marathon; executive editor, Runner's World Magazine
• Jeff Galloway 1967 - Celebrated runner and author of Galloway's Book on Running
• Bill Rodgers 1970 - Renowned runner, winner of four New York and four Boston marathons