Draft:List of University of Michigan female alumni

• Comment: Not sure how this passes WP:NLIST. ~WikiOriginal-9~ (talk) 23:40, 29 November 2023 (UTC)

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List of female University of Michigan alumni

This is a list of notable female-identifying alumni from the University of Michigan. They are sorted by the category of their most notable achievements. The University of Michigan classifies alumni as those 'who have completed at least one semester of a degree-granting program.'

Activists

• Huwaida Arraf (LSA 1998), Palestinian rights activist; co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement; chair of the Free Gaza Movement
• Octavia Williams Bates (BA 1887, LAW 1896), suffragist, clubwoman, author; focused on the political enfranchisement of women
• Jan BenDor (SOSW M.S.W.), women’s rights activist, member of Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame, ‘founding mother of the Rape Crisis Center movement in Michigan,’ active in the Michigan Women’s Task Force on Rape
• Mary Frances Berry (LAW: JD/Ph.D.), former chairwoman of United States Commission on Civil Rights, first African-American chancellor of the University of Colorado at Boulder
• Cindy Cohn (LAW: JD 1988), attorney for Bernstein v. United States, legal director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation
• Maureen Greenwood, human rights activist active in Russia, Director of Policy Initiatives, Women and Population Program at the United Nations Foundation
• Laura Packard (BS 1997), health care activist, founder of Health Care Voices, executive director of Health Care Voter, executive director of Get America Covered
• H. Anna Quinby, lawyer, editor, business manager, social reformer, first woman from Ohio admitted to practice law before the Supreme Court of the United States
• Eliza Read Sunderland (PH.B 1889; Ph.D. 1892), writer, educator, lecturer, women’s rights advocate, first president of the Western Women’s Conference
• Mary Chawner Woody, President, North Carolina Woman’s Christian Temperance Union
• Susan Lederman (BA 1958), President of the League of Women Voters

AAAI, ACM, IEEE Fellows and Awardees

• Frances Allen, ACM Fellow; was an American computer scientist and pioneer in the field of optimizing compilers; first woman to win the Turing Award; first woman to become an IBM Fellow
• Alexandra Duel-Hallen, professor of electrical and computer engineering at North Carolina State University known for her research in wireless networks; named an IEEE Fellow in 2011
• Stephanie Forrest, ACM/AAAI Allen Newell Award recipient
• Adele Goldberg, president of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) (1984 - 1986)
• Julia Hirschberg, IEEE Fellow, member of the National Academy of Engineering, ACM Fellow, AAAI Fellow
• Tara Javidi, IEEE Fellow
• Olgica Milenkovic, IEEE Fellow
• Yi Murphey, IEEE Fellow
• Judith S. Olson, ACM Fellow
• Jennifer Rexford, ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award recipient
• Anna Stefanopoulou, IEEE Fellow
• Louise Trevillyan, ACM SIGDA Pioneering Achievement Award

Aerospace

• Claudia Alexander (Ph.D. 1993), member of the technical staff at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory; the last project manager of NASA’s Galileo mission to Jupiter; project manager of NASA’s role in the European-led Rosetta mission to study comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko; once named University of Michigan’s Woman of the Year
• Aisha Bowe (BS, MS 2009), NASA aerospace engineer; CEO of STEMBoard, a technology company, recipient of the NASA Equal Employment Opportunity Medal
• Vania Jordanova (Ph.D. 1995), physicist, fellow of the American Geophysical Union
• Elizabeth Muriel Gregory ‘Elsie’ MacGill (COE: MSE) OC, known as the ‘Queen of Hurricanes’; first female aircraft designer, first woman to earn an aeronautical engineering degree, first woman in Canada to receive a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering

Art, architecture, and design

• Kathryn Osebold Galbraith, writer of children’s books
• Michele Oka Doner, American artist and writer
• Alison Ruttan (BFA 1976), American interdisciplinary artist and educator at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
• Marilyn Stokstad (Ph.D. 1957), Judith Harris Murphy Distinguished Professor of Art History Emeritus at the University of Kansas
• Martha Tedeschi (MA 1982), Elizabeth and John Moors Cabot Director of the Harvard Art Museums

Arts and entertainment

Directors, producers, and screenwriters

• Lillian Gallo, 1978 winner of a Crystal Award (established in 1977 to honor outstanding women who have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry
• Marcia Milgrom Dodge (BA 1977), director, choreographer, playwright, educator; Tony Award nominee for RAGTIME revival

National Book Award winners

• Jesmyn Ward, National Book Award for Fiction recipient for her novel Salvage the Bones, National Book Award recipient for Sing, Unburied, Sing; only two-time female winner of the award
• Gloria Whelan, National Book Award for Young People’s Literature recipient for the novel Homeless Bird

Emmy Award winners

• Ann B. Davis, two-time Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in The Bob Cummings Show
• Cathy Guisewite, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program recipient for the TV special Cathy, based on her cartoon strip on career women
• Christine Lahti, Primetime Emmy Award recipient for her role in Chicago Hope
• Margo Martindale, Primetime Emmy Award recipient for her role on Justified and two-time Emmy Award recipient for her role on The Americans
• Marilyn Suzanne Miller, two-time Emmy Award recipient for her work as one of the only three female writers on the original staff of Saturday Night Live and Emmy Award recipient for her work as a producer on The Tracey Ullman Show
• Gilda Radner, Emmy Award recipient for her work on Saturday Night Live

Golden Globe Award winners

• Madonna, Golden Globe Award for Best Actress recipient for her role in Evita
• Christine Lahti, Golden Globe Award recipient for her role in Chicago Hope, Golden Globe Award recipient for her role in No Place Like Home

Grammy Award winners

• Gabriela Lena Frank, Latin Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Music Composition recipient
• Madonna, seven-time Grammy Award winner for her solo studio albums
• Jessye Norman, Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo recipient, Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, three-time Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording recipient
• Gilda Radner, Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Recording recipient (posthumous)
• Jennifer Laura Thompson, Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album recipient for her role in Dear Evan Hansen

Tony Award winners

• Celia Keenan-Bolger, Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play recipient for her role as Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird
• Marian Mercer, Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical recipient for her role in Promises, Promises

Theater, film, and television

• Selma Blair, actress and multiple sclerosis advocate
• Erika Henningsen, Broadway actress known for originating the role of Cady Heron in Mean Girls
• Lucy Liu, actress known for her roles in Charlie’s Angels, Ally McBeal, and Elementary
• Ashley Park, Broadway actress known for originating the role of Gretchen Wieners in Mean Girls, which earned her a Tony nomination, as well as her television roles in Emily in Paris and Only Murders in the Building

Computers, engineering, and technology

• Katie Bouman (BS 2011), developer of the algorithm used in filtering the first images of a black hole taken by the Event Horizon Telescope
• Linda Zhang (BS 1996, MBA 1998, MS 2011), chief engineer for the Ford F-150 Lightning

Ada Lovelace Award and Grace Murray Hopper Award winners

• Dorothy E. Denning ACM Fellow; 2001 Augusta Ada Lovelace Award recipient for her contributions to national policy debates on cyber terrorism and information warfare
• Margaret Hamilton; 1986 Augusta Ada Lovelace Award recipient; Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient for her work leading to the development of of on-board flight software for NASA’s Apollo Moon missions
• Jennifer Rexford (MSE 1993; Ph.D. 1996), winner of ACM’s 2004 Grace Murray Hopper Award for outstanding young computer professional of the year

Educators

University presidents

• Joanne V. Creighton (Ph.D.), 17th president of Mount Holyoke College; provost and professor of English at Wesleyan University; Wesleyan University interim president 1994 - 95
• Phyllis Worthy Dawkins (MA), 18th president of Bennett College, acting president of Cheyney University of Pennsylvania
• Deborah Freund (MPH, MA, Ph.D.), president of Claremont Graduate University
• Harriet Nembhard (COE Ph.D.), president of Harvey Mudd College
• Alice Elvira Freeman Palmer (A.B. 1876), president of Wellesley College
• Beverly Daniel Tatum, president of Spelman College

Guggenheim fellows

• Sara Berry, American scholar of contemporary African political economies, co-founder of the Center for Africana Studies at Johns Hopkins University
• Victoria Chang, American poet and children’s writer
• Patricia Cheng, Chinese-American psychologist
• Laura Clayton, American pianist and composer
• Ada Ferrer, Cuban-American historian, Pulitzer Prize for History award recipient
• Mary Gaitskill, American novelist, essayist, and short story writer
• Amy Harmon, American journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner
• Susan Montgomery, distinguished American mathematician

Journalism, publishing, and broadcasting

• Roz Abrams, news co-anchor for CBS; reporter and anchor for almost 30 years
• Margaret Bourke-White (MDNG: 1922-24), photographer and journalist; first American female war photojournalist
• Ann Coulter (LAW: JD 1988), conservative author and attorney
• Raelynn Hillhouse (HHRS: MA, Ph.D. 1993), national security expert; novelist; political scientist
• Dana Jacobson (BA 1993), ESPN anchorwoman
• Ann Marie Lipinski, former editor of the Chicago Tribune; 1987 Pulitzer Prize winner for her work investigating the Chicago City Council
• Amy Sullivan, contributing editor for Time magazine covering religion and politics
• Margaret Wente, writer for The Globe and Mail, 2006 winner of the National Newspaper Award for column-writing
• Tracy Wolfson, reporter for CBS Sports, lead sideline reporter for the NFL on CBS
• Nicole Auerbach, senior writer for The Athletic covering college football and basketball, lead college football insider for NBC Sports

Law, government, and public policy

• Estefania Aldaba-Lim (Ph.D.), first female Filipino Cabinet secretary; social services and development secretary; first Filipino clinical psychologist; President of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines; first woman to become special ambassador to the United Nations (1979); UN Peace Medal recipient
• Andrea Barthwell (M.D. 1980), Deputy Director for Demand Reduction at the Office of National Drug Control Policy
• Lauren Underwood (BS 2008), Democratic US Congresswoman, IL-14, youngest Black woman to serve in Congress

Governors and Lieutenant Governors

• Martha Wright Griffiths (LAW: JD 1940), Congressional Representative; elected to the Michigan state house of representatives; elected as a Democrat to the 84th and to the nine succeeding Congresses (1955 - 1974); Lieutenant Governor of Michigan (1982 - 1991), first woman to serve on the House Committee on Ways and Means, first woman elected to the United States Congress from Michigan as a Democrat, first woman elected Lieutenant Governor of Michigan
• Harriett Woods (AB 1949), Missouri’s first female Lieutenant Governor

Mathematics

• Dorothy Elizabeth Denning, information security researcher; Patricia and Patrick Callahan Family Professor of computer science and director of the Georgetown Institute of Information Assurance; professor in the Department of Defense Analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School
• Sister Mary Celine Fasenmyer (Ph.D. 1946), mathematician noted for her work on hypergeometric functions and linear algebra; published two papers which expanded on her doctorate work and would be further elaborated into “WZ theory,” which allowed computerized proof of many combinatorial identities
• Cornelia Strong (M.A. 1931), professor of mathematics and astronomy at the Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina
• Marjorie Lee Browne (Ph.D. 1950), one of the first African-American women to earn a doctorate in mathematics

Manhattan Project

• Isabella Karle, American chemist instrumental in developing techniques to extract plutonium chloride, recipient of the Garvan-Olin Medal, Gregori Aminoff Prize, Bower Award, National Medal of Science, and the Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Award
• Carolyn Parker, physicist who worked on the Dayton Project, the polonium research and development arm of the Manhattan Project; first African-American woman to have gained a postgraduate degree in physics

Medicine and dentistry

• Susan Anderson, one of the first female physicians in Colorado
• Elissa P. Benedek (MD 1960), child and adolescent psychiatrist, forensic psychiatrist
• Alexa Canady (AB 1971, MED: MD 1975), became first African-American female neurosurgeon in the United States when she was 30; chief of neurosurgery at Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit for almost 15 years
• Vine Cynthia Colby Foster (B.Ph. 1876), pioneering female physician
• Lucy Mabel Hall-Brown (MED: MD 1878), first woman ever received at St. Thomas’ Hospital’s bedside clinics
• Alice Hamilton (MED: MD 1893), specialist in lead poisoning and industrial diseases; known as the “Mother of Industrial Health,” in 1919 became the first woman on the faculty at Harvard Medical School; the first woman to receive tenure there; winner of the Lasker Award
• Nancy M. Hill (MED: MD 1874), Civil War nurse, one of the first female doctors in the USA
• Jessica Rickert, first female Native American dentist in America, member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, direct descendant of the Indian chief Wahbememe (Whitepigeon)
• Ida Gray, first African-American woman to earn a dental degree in the United States
• Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali (SPH 1966), one of the first female doctors in Malaysia

NASA

• Elisa Quintana (Ph.D.), member of the NASA Kepler Mission Team at NASA Ames Research Center; worked as a scientific programmer developing the Kepler pipeline

Newsmakers

• Martha “Mamah” Borthwick (BA 1892), mistress of architect Frank Lloyd Wright until her murder at his studio
• Janet Guthrie (COE: BSc 1960), inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2006; first woman to race in the Indianapolis 500; the only woman to ever lead a Nextel Cup race; top rookie in five different races in 1977, including the Daytona 500 and at Talladega
• Carol Jantsch (BFA 2006), sole female tuba player on staff with a major US orchestra, believed to be the first in history; the youngest member of the Philadelphia Orchestra

Pulitzer Prize winners

• Natalie Angier (MDNG), Pulitzer Prize for Beat Reporting recipient for her science journalism for The New York Times

Science

• Isabella Abbott (MS 1942), ethnobotanist, specialized in algae; more than 200 algae owe their discovery and scientific names to her
• Rajeshwari Chatterjee (Ph.D. 1953), pioneer in Indian microwave engineering
• Christine L. Clouser (M.S., Ph.D.), American virologist
• Carol McDonald Connor (Ph.D. 2002), educational psychologist with contributions to early literacy and reading comprehension research
• Clara H. Hasse (Ph.B. 1903), botanist
• Diane Larsen-Freeman (Ph.D.), linguist
• Antonia Novello (MED: 1974), first female US Surgeon General
• Marie Tharp (MS), oceanographic cartographer whose work paved the way for the theories of plate tectonics and continental drift
• Catherine Troisi (Ph.D. 1980), epidemiologist
• Kathleen Weston (BS 1929), world renowned toxicologist, worked on the Salk polio vaccine

Sports

Basketball

• Trish Andrew, UM record holder for rebounds and blocks (both single-season and career)
• Leigha Brown, one of five UM players to surpass 1,000-plus points and 300-plus assists, current professional basketball player in Spain
• Vonnie DeLong, UM women’s basketball season leader in assists (156)
• Diane Dietz, UM’s 2nd all-time scoring leader with 2,076 points, set Big Ten single-game scoring record with 45 points in 1982, inducted into Athletic Hall of Honor in 1996
• Katelynn Flaherty, all-time leading point-scorer in Michigan basketball history, man or woman, with 2,776 career points
• Naz Hillmon, first player in Michigan basketball history, man or woman, to have 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career, current professional basketball player in Australia
• Pollyanna Johns Kimbrough, led UM in scoring and rebounds three straight years, holds UM records for career shooting percentage (.552), single-season shooting percentage (.662), and career rebounding percentage (9.6 per game), played six seasons in the WNBA
• Krista Phillips, played for Team Canada in the 2012 Summer Olympics
• Jennifer Smith, led the Big Ten conference with an average of 21.3 points per game in 2003-04
• Stacey Thomas, played six seasons in the WNBA
• Hallie Thome, three-time All-Big Ten first team and third all-time in UM women’s basketball in scoring (2,081) and rebounding (885) and second all-time in blocks (202)
• Sierra Thompson, UM women’s basketball all-time leader in games player (141), minutes played (4,776), assists (553), and free throw percentage (.897)
• Anne Thorius, second-team All-Big Ten player in 1999 and 2000
• Phillis Wheatley Waters, thought to be the first African-American women’s basketball player at UM

Gymnastics

• Mary Elise Ray, first-team All-American, 2002, 2003, and 2004; bronze medalist at 2000 Summer Olympics
• Beth Wymer, first-team All-American, 1992, 1993, 1994, and 1995

Softball

• Jenny Allard, first-team All-American and Big Ten Player of the Year in 1989, inducted into the Athletic Hall of Honor in 2008, current head coach of the Harvard softball team
• Patti Townsend, first-team All-American in 1993, Big Ten Player of the Year in 1992 and 1993
• Michelle Gardner, Big Ten Player of the Year in 1988, current head coach of the Indiana softball team
• Amanda Chidester, first-team All-American in 2011, Big Ten Player of the Year in 2010 and 2011, holds UM record for career home runs
• Traci Conrad, first-team All-American in 1997 and 1998, first player to win two Big Ten batting titles, holds Big Ten record with 345 career hits
• Samantha Findlay, first-team All-American in 2007, MVP of the 2005 Women’s College World Series, holds UM records for home runs in RBIs in a career (219), career slugging percentage (.677), and RBIs in a season (77)
• Sara Griffin, first team All-American in 1995, 1996, and 1998, compiled a win-loss record of 106-19 at Michigan
• Tiffany Haas, first team All-American in 2005, led the 2005 national championship team in hits
• Kelsey Kollen, first-team All-American in 2001
• Kelly Kovach, first-team All-American in 1995, Academic All-American in 1994, Big Ten Pitcher of the Year in 1992 and 1995
• Jessica Merchant, captain of the 2005 Michigan team that won the 2005 Women’s College World Series; Offensive Player of the Year in National Pro Fastpitch in 2006
• Vicki Morrow, Big Ten Player of the Year in 1987; Big Ten All-Decade Team; inducted into the Athletic Hall of Honor in 2004
• Nikki Nemitz, first-team All-American in 2009
• Jennie Ritter, USA Softball’s Player of the Year and first-team All-American in 2005; three victories for USA Elite Team at the Canada Cup; led the Elite Team to a gold medal at the Intercontinental Cup
• Sierra Romero, Big Ten Player of the Year as a freshman in 2013; broke UM’s single-season home run record
• Alicia Seegert, set Big Ten records for batting average (.418 in 1984), hits, total bases, and RBIs; inducted into the Athletic Hall of Honor in 2006
• Kellyn Tate, All-Big Ten player in 1996, 1997, and 1998; won the Women's Pro Softball League batting title in 1998
• Jordan Taylor, compiled a 31-4 record as a freshman in 2008; co-Big Ten Player of the Year in 2010 with a 26-3 record and a 1.42 ERA
• Haylie Wagner, unanimously selected as Big Ten Pitcher of the Year in 2012 after compiling a 32-7 record and a 1.53 earned run average as a freshman

Swimming and Diving

• Virginia “Ginny” Duenkel, inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame for swimming in 1985
• Maxine “Micki” King, inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame for diving in 1978

Track and field

• Katie McGregor (BA 1999), eight-time NCAA All-American; three-time NCAA champion; three-time Big Ten Conference champion; has won four USATF national championships in distance races since 2005
• Penny Neer, first female athlete from UM to win a national title in a track and field event, winning the discus at the 1982 AIAW outdoor championship; two-time AIAW All-American and three-time Big Ten Conference discus champion
• Tiffany Adaez Porter, world medalist for the 100 meter hurdles representing Great Britain
• Lisa Larsen Weidenbach Rainsberger, won the Boston and Chicago marathons; last American woman to win the Boston Marathon; finished 4th in the Marathon Olympic Trials three times in 1984, 1988, and 1992

Water polo

• Elizabeth “Betsey” Armstrong, Olympic gold medalist representing the United States for water polo as a water polo goalkeeper, leading goalkeeper in Olympic water polo history

Olympians

• Meryl Davis, ice dancing; with partner Charlie White, won 2009 US championship, 2010 Vancouver Olympics silver medal, and 2014 Sochi Olympics gold medal