Famous Morningside Heights Residents (At One Time Or Another)

Politicians:

PRESIDENT DWIGHT EISENHOWER was president of Columbia and lived in President's House on Morningside Dr., whose mansion-like interior the local Historic District people occasionally give tours of.

Civil rights leader THURGOOD MARSHALL lived in Morningside Gardens.

HARLAN FISKE STONE, FDR's Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, lived in the Coliseum Apartments at Riverside & 116th St.

Governor of New York and unsuccessful "Dewey Defeats Truman" presidential candidate THOMAS E. DEWEY went to Columbia Law School.

Congressman JERRY NADLER went to Columbia College and today represents us in Congress.

New Hampshire Republican Senator JUDD GREG, Columbia College'69.

California Governor GRAY DAVIS, Columbia Law '67.

Famed NY Senator JACOB JAVITZ studied at Columbia in the 20's.

Connecticut Congresswoman ROSA DELAURA, Columbia MA '66.

Michigan Congressman SANDER LEVIN, Columbia MA '54.

Governor GEORGE PATAKI of New York went to Columbia Law School.

Federal Reserve Bank Chairman ALAN GREENSPAN studied for a PhD in economics at Columbia until he ran out of money.

Clinton advisor GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS went to Columbia College and now teaches there.

Clinton Secretary of State MADELEINE ALBRIGHT.

PAT BUCHANAN went to the Columbia School of Journalism.

THOMAS SOWELL got his MA at Columbia.

Famed progressive congresswoman BELLA ABZUG.

Communist-turned anti-communist WHITAKER CHAMBERS attended Columbia College but didn't graduate. Later, he held some of his spying rendezvous along our section of the Riverside Park esplanade. He was friends at Columbia with MEYER SCHAPIRO, the dean of American art historians. Another famous leftie-gone-rightie, DAVID HOROWITZ, also went to Columbia.

New Jersey Senator FRANK LAUTENBERG went to Columbia College.

New Dealer and Roosevelt adviser REXFORD TUGWELL.

Rhode Island Senator CLAIRBORNE PELL.

NORMAN PODHORETZ went to Columbia College and lived on W. 105th St.

JEANNE KIRKPATRICK went to Columbia's School of International Affairs.

Billionaire ARMAND HAMMER went to Columbia.

DONNA SHALALA is Clinton's Secretary of Health and Human Services. She went to Columbia.

Notorious Clinton Adviser DICK MORRIS, who attended Columbia College.

Supreme Court Justice RUTH BADER GINSBURG used to teach at Columbia Law School.

HELEN GAHAGAN DOUGLAS, California congresswoman and famous first victim of Richard Nixon, was Barnard '24.

ZBIGNIEW BREZHINSKI was Jimmy Carter's National Security Adviser. He used to teach international affairs at Columbia.

SALIM SALIM, secretary-general of the Organization of African Unity, attended Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs.

CIA founder "WILD BILL" DONOVAN was Columbia College '05, Law '07.

Belgian Foreign Minister MARK EYSKENS lived in the International House of New York.

As did Nigerian president NNAMDI AZIKIWE.

Also Greek Prime Minister ANDREAS PAPANDREOU.

Controversial teacher-union president ALBERT SHANKER dropped out of Columbia's philosophy graduate school

ALEXANDER HAMILTON did not live here, as Columbia College was located down near Wall Street when he went there. But Hamilton Hall is named after him. FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT went to Columbia Law School, but didn't live in the neighborhood, preferring swank bachelor digs near his family's Midtown mansion.

Writers:

F. SCOTT FITZGERALD lived at 200 Claremont Ave. while working in advertising and writing This Side of Paradise, his memoir of Princeton.

JACK KEROUAC (421 W.118th St. et al.) was kicked out of Columbia for getting too intimate (for the standards of the 1950's) with ALLEN GINZBURG (536 W. 114th et al.), who also went there, and WILLIAM BURROUGHS lived on W. 115th for a while. Other local beats: LUCIEN CARR, LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI, and JOHN CLELLON HOLMES.

SAUL BELOW lived at 333 Riverside Drive (107th Street).

ERICA JONG went to Barnard.

Nobel laureate DEREK WALCOTT.

Nobelist poet JOSEPH BRODSKY.

LANGSTON HUGHES went to Columbia.

ZORA NEALE HURSTON went to Barnard.

South African novelist and Nobelist NADINE GORDIMER taught at Columbia.

PAUL AUSTER, whose New York Trilogy has some scenes set in the neighborhood. His novel "Moon Palace" is named after a Chinese restaurant that used to be on Broadway.

FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA, (a famous Spanish surrealist poet, for those of you who haven't heard of him) spent a term living in Columbia's Furnald Hall dormitory as a visiting student. His fine book Poeta in Nueva York has some poems in it that seem to have been inspired by the neighborhood; the American translation of the book has a picture of him on the cover sitting in front of the old sundial on College Walk.

Science-fiction great ISSAAC ASIMOV went to Columbia College.

Famous Catholic thinker THOMAS MERTON went to Columbia College.

Bombastic novelist HERMAN WOUK went to Columbia.

WALTER FARLEY, author of the Black Stallion books, was a freshman at Columbia when he wrote the first one.

EUDORA WELTY attended Columbia's Business School until she had to go back South to care for her sick mother.

MARY GORDON, author of the novels Final Payments and The Company of Women is Barnard '71.

CARSON MCCULLERS attended Columbia in 1924. She wrote The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and A Member of the Wedding.

TONY KUSHNER, who wrote the Broadway hit Angels In America, went to Columbia.

JERZY (Being There) KOZINSKI lived in International House.

As did (Things Fall Apart) CHINUA ACHEBE.

And MARK MATHABANE, author of Kaffir Boy.

PAUL ROBESON.

THE SULZBERGER FAMILY, who own The New York Times and therefore qualify as writers in some sense, gave Barnard the money for Sulzberger Hall and have sent various members to Columbia over the years, including ARTHUR OCHS SULZBERGER, publisher of the Times. Times Columnist FLORA LEWIS lived in International House. Former Times Editor MAX FRANKEL went to Columbia College.

As did R.J. MATSON, who delights us weekly with his cartoons in the New York Observer.

TAMA JANOWITZ, unfortunately.

GERALDO RIVERA.

Artists & Entertainers:

SUZANNE VEGA went to Barnard College. She has a hit song out called "Tom's Diner," though she really ought to know it's Tom's Restaurant. She also grew up in the neighborhood.

DUSTIN HOFFMAN used to live on 109th St. between Amsterdam and Broadway, north side of the street, and his landlady used to take care of him when he was broke.

ART GARFUNKEL and PAUL SIMON went to Columbia.

JOAN RIVERS went to Barnard College.

BELA BARTOK taught and composed at Columbia during the 1940's.

Singer LAURYN HILL attended Columbia College.

Composer PHILLIP GLASS attended the Julliard School of Music back when it was on 122nd St.

LOUISE POST of the band Veruca Salt went to Barnard.

Rap artist PETER NICE attended Columbia College.

As did MTV founder DAVID HOROWITZ.

TV biggie ROONE ARLEDGE was a member of Columbia College's Class of '52.

Opera star LEONTYNE PRICE lived in the International House of New York.

Actor GEORGE SEGAL went to Columbia College.

Comedian GEORGE CARLIN lived near Broadway on about West 122nd St.

LAURIE ANDERSON went to Barnard.

Pianist EMANUEL AX.

ISAMU NOGUCHI, a sculptor whose studio-museum in Long Island City is well worth a visit.

CECILE B. DE MILLE, the film director, has a plaque honoring him on his old apartment building on 114th St. between Broadway and Riverside Drive.

Architect I. M. PEI lived in the International House of New York. He nearly got to build two monstrous towers on Columbia's campus in the 1960's.

Another famous architect, MORRIS LAPIDUS, who is principally known for designing those big hotels in Miami and other tropical places, went to Columbia.

Yet another famous architect, ROBERT A.M. STERN, attended Columbia College and now (Sorry! he has just defected to be the new architecture dean at Yale. Rats!) teaches at the architecture school. He is currently building a fine building in our neighborhood.

GEORGE and IRA GERSHWIN lived at 501 W.110th St. from 1924-9, where they wrote Rhapsody in Blue .

Choreographer TWYLA THARP.

GEORGIA O'KEEFE studied at Columbia from 1914 to 1916.

Abstract expressionist ROBERT MOTHERWELL studied at Columbia.

UMA THURMAN's father is a professor of Buddhist religion at Columbia, and she grew up around here.

WOODY ALLEN didn't get into Columbia, to the everlasting embarrassment of the admissions office. He went to NYU. But he shoots a film on campus fairly often.

JAMES CAGNEY.

LOU GHERIG (if you classify sports as entertainment.)

EDDIE COLLINS, Columbia College '05, starred at Columbia and is now a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

SANDY KOUFAX studied in the School of General Studies in the 1950's.

Academics:

MARGARET MEAD was a professor of anthropology at Columbia.

As was FRANZ BOAS.

Anthropologist ASHLEY MONTAGUE lived in I-House.

Feminist firebrand and author of the book Sexual Politics KATE MILLET is a Columbia PhD.

As is MILTON FRIEDMAN.

And WILL DURANT, author of The Story of Civilization

STEVEN JAY GOULD got his PhD in Paleontology at Columbia.

Father of the great books movement MORTIMER ADLER went to Columbia College. He was refused a diploma for failing to complete the Phys. Ed. requirement.

Nobel Peace Prize winner and Columbia president NICOLAS MURRAY BUTLER.

Nobel Laureates in physics SAMUEL C. C. TING and LEON LEDERMAN

Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine KONRAD LORENZ, a famous psychologist.

I.I. RABI, the Nobelist in Physics, taught here and worked on the atomic bomb before the University of Chicago stole the Manhattan Project from Columbia due to fear of German submarines (puhleeze!) lurking in the Hudson.

JOHN DEWEY (famous American philosopher and father of progressive education) taught at Teachers College.

REINHOLD NEIHBUR (famous theologian) taught at Union Theological Seminary.

DIETRICH BONHOEFFER (the famous anti-Nazi German theologian) studied there, too.

DR. BENJAMIN SPOCK and DR. RUTH WESTHEIMER.

Others:

HYMAN RICKOVER, the father of the nuclear navy, went to Columbia.

JIM ROGERS, centimillionaire Wall Street pirate from the 80's and holder of the world long-distance motorcycle record, has a mansion on Riverside Drive at 108th St. and occasionally teaches at Columbia's business school. Sometimes, you can see his twin BMW motorcycles behind the fence in a glass enclosure, but don't say we told you to look.

Billionaire GEORGE SOROS lived in International House.

As did British supermarket billionaire DAVID SAINSBURY.

Billionaire investor WARREN BUFFET attended Columbia's business school.

Notorious (Eastern & Continental Airlines) corporate pirate FRANK LORENZO attended Columbia College.

MARTHA STEWART went to Barnard. Her grades in Home Economics are unknown.

AMELIA EARHART.

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