Featured Alumni

Grace Meng ’93 is the Congresswoman representing New York’s 6th congressional district in the US House of Representatives. Prior to this appointment she served as a member of the New York State Assembly representing the 22nd assembly district. She holds a BA from the University of Michigan and a JD from Yeshiva University.

Richard Axel ’63 is a neuroscientist whose work on the olfactory system won him the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2004.

Kenneth Keller ’52 is President Emeritus of the University of Minnesota where he spent most of his academic career.  He was one of the pioneers in the development of the field of Biomedical Engineering and founded the University’s Center for Science, Technology and Public Policy.  Most recently, he has been Director of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies Bologna Center in Italy.  He holds both a BA and BS from Columbia University and a PhD from Johns Hopkins.

Roald Hoffmann ’55 is an American theoretical chemist who won the 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Thomas M. Chan is the Chief of Transportation for the New York City Police Department.  Prior to being appointed to this position, he served as the Chief of the NYPD’s Community Affairs Bureau.  Thomas holds a Bachelor of Science from St. John’s University and worked as a paramedic prior to joining the police force in 1982.  He is the first Asian-American to obtain both the two star and three star rank in the New York City Police Department.

Robert Fogel, PhD ’44 was an economic historian and scientist, and won the 1993 Nobel Prize in Economics. He is the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of American Institutions and the Director of the Center for Population Economics at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.

Saul B. Katz is Co-Founder and President of Sterling Equities. As Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Katz directs Sterling’s day-to-day real estate operations. Mr. Katz also presides over Sterling’s non-real estate affiliates and subsidiary companies, which range from financial institutions to manufacturing, consulting, entertainment and retailing enterprises. Mr. Katz is President of the New York Mets and the Brooklyn Cyclones. Mr. Katz serves as Chair of the Board of the North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System, as well as serving as a Board member of many nonprofit organizations and institutions. He is a Certified Public Accountant with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting, which he received from Brooklyn College.

Robert L. Weinberg, LL.B ‘49 was the valedictorian of his class and placed first in the State in the 1949 State Regents Scholarship Examination. Bob was also president of the SHS student government (then called the G.O.). Bob graduated from Yale College, where he was president of the Yale Political Union, and from Yale Law School, where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal. He received a Fulbright Scholarship to the London School of Economics where he earned a Ph.D. (Econ) degree, and served as president of the LSE Students Union. Bob spent his entire career in law practice at the same place: in 1960 Bob joined the Law Offices of Edward Bennett Williams, the leading criminal defense attorney of his generation, and in 1967 became the most junior of the seven original partners who formed the Washington, D.C. law firm of Williams and Connolly. For 35 years, Bob litigated criminal, civil and administrative cases at the Williams firm and office. Bob was active in professional organizations, serving two years as President of the District of Columbia Bar and five years as president of the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, and many years as a delegate to the ABA House of Delegates. Following retirement at 65, Bob has continued to teach law. He is an Adjunct Professor at GWU and a Visiting Lecturer at U.Va., Law Schools.

Dr. Amol Sarva SHS ’94, is an American technology entrepreneur who co-founded Peek and Virgin Mobile USA. He is currently developing a new cognitive enhancement technology called Halo Neuro and an application for better discussions called Knotable. He’s an advisor to Fon, the world’s largest wifi network. He also advises Payfone (mobile payments), Work Market (platform for labor resources), and Ouya (open source game console). Amol’s Ph.D. is from Stanford University and B.A. is from Columbia University. At Stuyvesant he was a city, state and national champion in debate and team captain.

Gary Shteyngart ’91 is the acclaimed author of the novels The Russian Debutante’s Handbook, Absurdistan, and Super Sad True Love Story. His latest book is Little Failure: A Memoir.

Bram Cohen ’93 is the author of the peer-to-peer BitTorrent protocol, the founder of BitTorrent, and the co-founder of the CodeCon conference.

Lucy Liu ’86 is an actor. She was nominated for an Emmy and a SAG Award for her work on Ally McBeal, and has starred in such successful films as Charlie’s Angels, Kill Bill, Chicago, and Kung-Fu Panda. She currently co-stars as Joan Watson on the hit series Elementary.