The list of influential individuals who began their educations with a foundation in Sociology and/or Anthropology is a long one. Here are some of the more recognizable names:
Sociology Majors
- Rev. Martin Luther King
- Roy Wilkins, former head of NAACP
- Rev. Jesse Jackson
- Rev. Ralph Abernathy
- Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, U.S. Senator of NY
- Shirley Chisholm, former Congresswoman from NY
- Maxine Waters, Congresswoman from Los Angeles
- Barbara Mikulski, US Senator from Maryland
- Tim Holden, Congressman from Pennsylvania
- Cardinal Theordore McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington, DC
- Saul Alinsky, father of community organizing
- Saul Bellow, novelist
- President Ronald Reagan
- Emily Balch, 1946 Nobel Peace Prize winner (a social worker and social reformer)
- Francis Perkins, social reformer and former Secretary of Labor
- Richard Barajas, Chief Justice, Texas Supreme Court
- Michelle Obama
- Dan Aykroyd, actor/Blues Brother
- Robin Williams, actor/comedian
- Paul Shaffer, bandleader on David Letterman Show (and before that, Saturday Night Live)
- James Blunt, singer
- Kalpen Suresh Modi, White House Liaison for Arts and Humanites (also known as actor Kal Penn from the television show “House” and the “Harold and Kumar” movies)
- Alonzo Mourning, former center of the Miami Heat
- Ahmad Rashad, sportscaster
Anthropology Majors
- Rick Bayless, celebrity chef
- Giada deLaurentis, celebrity chef
- Michael Crichton, author
- Tracy Chapman, singer
- Glenn Close, actress
- Zora Neale Hurston, author and anthropologist
- Kurt Vonnegut, author
- Prince Charles of England
- Stephen Riggio, CEO of Barnes & Noble
- Dr. Kathy Reichs, professor of forensic anthropology and author of the novels inspiring the “Bones” tv series
- Dr. Ann Durham, mother of President Barack Obama (she originally majored in Math, but returned to the University of Hawaii school to earn a PhD in Anthropology)
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