List of people from Ithaca, New York facts for kids

This is a list of people who either were born in Ithaca, New York or who lived there other than when attending Cornell University or Ithaca College. The county in which Ithaca resides, Tompkins County, New York, is ranked eighth in all 3,144 U.S. counties for the highest density of culturally notable baby boomers.

Dustin Brown

Alex Haley

Jon Jones

Mary McDonnell

Carl Sagan

David Foster Wallace

X Ambassadors

• Lavilla Esther Allen, native, author and poet
• A.R. Ammons, resident, poet and professor at Cornell
• Benedict Anderson, resident, political scientist and historian known for his 1983 book Imagined Communities, which explored the origins of nationalism
• Liberty Hyde Bailey, resident, horticulturist and professor at Cornell; co-founder of the American Society for Horticultural Science
• Iris Barbura, resident, dancer and choreographer
• Josh Bard, native, former professional baseball player and coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers
• Hans Bethe, resident, physicist; Cornell professor known for his work with the Manhattan Project; Nobel Prize winner
• Urie Bronfenbrenner, resident, psychologist; Cornell professor and co-founder of Head Start
• Dustin Brown, native, former professional ice hockey player and Stanley Cup champion for the Los Angeles Kings
• Annie Burns, resident, musician and founding member of The Burns Sisters
• Marie Burns, resident, musician and founding member of The Burns Sisters
• John H. Camp, native, lawyer and former U.S. congressman
• Stephen L. Carter, native, professor of law at Yale University and best-selling novelist
• Philip N. Cohen, sociologist and professor at the University of Maryland
• Alex Compton, former professional basketball player and coach for the Philippine Basketball Association
• Anna Coogan, resident, singer-songwriter
• Alonzo Cornell, native, politician and businessman who was the 27th Governor of New York from 1880 to 1882; son of Ezra Cornell
• Ezra Cornell, resident, businessman, politician, and philanthropist; co-founder of Western Union and Cornell University
• Kyle Dake, native, four-time World Champion freestyle wrestler and Olympic bronze medalist
• Amasa Dana, resident, lawyer and politician who served two non-consecutive terms as a U.S. congressman from New York from 1839 to 1841 and from 1843 to 1845
• Buck Dharma, resident, musician; founding member of Blue Öyster Cult
• Asia Kate Dillon, native, actor best known for their role in Orange Is the New Black and Billions
• Johnny Dowd, resident, alternative country musician
• Robert Earle, resident, broadcaster and host of G.E. College Bowl from 1962 to 1970
• Julius Eastman, native, composer, pianist, and vocalist
• Adam C. Engst, native, technology writer and publisher of TidBITS, the oldest Internet-based email newsletter
• Noah Feldshuh, musician and founding member of X Ambassadors
• Richard Feynman, resident, physicist known for his work with the Manhattan Project; Cornell professor; Nobel Prize winner
• Carl Frederick, resident, science-fiction author
• Alice Fulton, resident, poet, Cornell professor, MacArthur Fellow
• Juan Pablo Galavis, native, former professional soccer player, star of The Bachelor season 18
• John H. Gear, native, Senator and Governor of Iowa
• George Gorse, art historian
• Greg Graffin, resident, lead singer of punk band Bad Religion
• Alex Haley, native, author know for The Autobiography of Malcolm X in 1965 and Roots: The Saga of an American Family in 1976, which ABC adapted into a television miniseries of the same name
• Brian Hall, resident, writer and author
• Casey Harris, musician and founding member of X Ambassadors
• Sam Harris, musician and founding member of X Ambassadors
• Richard W. Hubbell, Wisconsin politician
• Karel Husa, resident, classical composer and conductor; winner of the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Music
• Ricky Jay, magician, historian, actor, writer and scholar
• Jon Jones, resident, mixed martial artist and UFC Heavyweight Champion; former two-time UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
• David Lee, resident, physicist, Cornell professor, Nobel Prize winner
• David Lehman, resident, poet
• J. Robert Lennon, resident, author of Mailman and Happyland
• James L. Linderman, former Wisconsin State Assemblyman
• Richard V. E. Lovelace, astrophysicist and plasma physicist at Cornell.
• Norman Malcolm, resident, philosopher, worked at Cornell
• Mary McDonnell, native, actress known for her roles in Dances with Wolves, Passion Fish, Independence Day, Donnie Darko, and Battlestar Galactica
• Matthew F. McHugh, resident, Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, New York's 27th congressional district, 1975–1983, New York's 28th congressional district, 1983–1993
• Howard B. Meek, resident, professor and founder of Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration
• Robert Moog, ex-resident (1934-2005), engineer, pioneer of electronic music, inventor of the Moog synthesizer, creator of Moog Music originally named R. A. Moog Co. and Big Briar
• Tim Moresco, native, professional football player, defensive back, New York Jets
• Vladimir Nabokov, resident, Cornell professor, author of Lolita and other works
• Benjamin Netanyahu, resident, politician who served as prime minister of Israel; son of Cornell professor
• Nicholas Nicastro, resident, writer, filmmaker, and film critic
• Yen Ospina, resident, muralist
• Lonnie Park, native, musician, Grammy nominee
• Roy H. Park, resident, entrepreneur and media mogul; founder of Park Communications and the Park Foundation
• Harry Partch, resident, composer
• Bre Pettis, native, entrepreneur; co-founder and CEO of MakerBot Industries
• Stephen (Steve) Poleskie, resident, artist and writer, Cornell professor emeritus, work in Metropolitan Museum and Museum of Modern Art
• Thomas Pynchon, resident, author, winner of the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction in 1973
• Robert C. Richardson, resident, physicist, Cornell professor, Nobel Prize winner
• Kurt Riley, songwriter, performer, and rock and roll musician
• Hank Roberts, resident, cellist and composer
• Flora Rose (1874–1959), resident, scientist, nutritionist, and co-director of what would become New York State College of Human Ecology at Cornell
• Frank Rosenblatt, resident, psychologist and computer scientist, Cornell professor, and founder of Chateau Rosenblatt
• Carl Sagan, resident, astronomer, popularizer of science, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Dragons of Eden and Cosmos
• Nick Sagan, native, novelist and screenwriter; professor at Ithaca College; son of Carl Sagan
• Sasha Sagan, native, author, TV producer, filmmaker, and podcaster; daughter of Carl Sagan
• Tim Sale, native, comic book illustrator
• Eugene Schuyler, American diplomat
• George W. Schuyler, New York State Treasurer
• Walter S. Schuyler, U.S. Army brigadier general
• Megan Shull, native, author of books for children and young adults
• Robert S. Smith, resident, Catholic priest, author, and educator
• Louisa Rachel Solomon, native, musician and lead singer of The Shondes
• Steve Squyres, resident, astronomer, Cornell professor, principal investigator of the Mars Exploration Rover Mission
• Cynthia Morgan St. John, native, Wordsworthian, book collector, and author
• Steven Strogatz, resident, mathematician, Cornell professor, author
• Steven Stucky, resident, classical composer, Cornell professor, Pulitzer Prize winner
• William H. Thomas, resident, geriatrician, novelist, Ashoka Fellow, Heinz Award winner, author of What are Old People For?
• Henry S. Walbridge, lawyer and politician; U.S. Congressman from 1851 to 1853
• David Foster Wallace, native, author widely known for his 1996 novel Infinite Jest, which Time magazine cited as one of the 100 best English-language novels
• Alfred Wells, lawyer and politician; co-owner of the Ithaca Journal and Advertiser; district attorney of Tompkins County from 1845 to 1847; U.S. Congressman from 1859 to 1861
• E.B. White, resident, author known for his novel Charlotte's Web; co-author of The Elements of Style
• Robert R. Wilson, resident, physicist known for his work with the Manhattan Project; architect of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
• Ludwig Wittgenstein, resident, notable 20th century philosopher, invited to live in Ithaca by his friend and pupil Norman Malcolm
• Paul Wolfowitz, native, served as U.S. deputy secretary of defense and president of the World Bank
• Christopher Woodrow, native, Hollywood movie producer known for Birdman, Black Mass, and Hacksaw Ridge
• Alexi Zentner, resident, author known for his novel Copperhead, which is set in a fictional town that resembles Ithaca