EDEEducationDataExplorer
College-Specific

History of the University of Pennsylvania Alumni

The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. Its history began in 1740 when a group of Philadelphians organized to erect a great preaching hall for George Whitefield, a traveling evangelist. The building was designed and constructed by Edmund Woolley and was the largest building in Philadelphia at the time, drawing thousands of people the first time in which it was preached.

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Members

Members

Showing 120 of 20

Ivanka Trump

University of Pennsylvania — Class of ~2003 (est.)

Other

American businesswoman, socialite and political advisior (born 1981)

John Legend

University of Pennsylvania — Class of ~2000 (est.)

Arts & Entertainment

American singer-songwriter

Elizabeth Banks

University of Pennsylvania — Class of ~1996 (est.)

Arts & Entertainment

American actress (born 1974)

Elon Musk

University of Pennsylvania — Class of ~1993 (est.)

Business

businessman and entrepreneur (born 1971)

Ai Weiwei

University of Pennsylvania — Class of ~1979 (est.)

Arts & Entertainment

Chinese Conceptual artist (born 1957)

Toomas Hendrik Ilves

University of Pennsylvania — Class of ~1975 (est.)

Politics

Estonian politician and diplomat, fourth president of Estonia (born 1953)

Donald Trump

University of Pennsylvania — Class of ~1968 (est.)

Politics

President of the United States (2017–2021; since 2025)

Ahmed Zewail

University of Pennsylvania — Class of ~1968 (est.)

Science

Egyptian chemist

Candice Bergen

University of Pennsylvania — Class of ~1968 (est.)

Arts & Entertainment

American actress

Thomas J. Sargent

University of Pennsylvania — Class of ~1965 (est.)

Business

American economist

Hideki Shirakawa

University of Pennsylvania — Class of ~1958 (est.)

Science

Japanese scientist (1936-)

Ei-ichi Negishi

University of Pennsylvania — Class of ~1957 (est.)

Science

Japanese chemist (1935 - 2021)

Edmund Phelps

University of Pennsylvania — Class of ~1955 (est.)

Business

American economist

Warren Buffett

University of Pennsylvania — Class of ~1952 (est.)

Business

American investor, entrepreneur and businessman

George E. Smith

University of Pennsylvania — Class of ~1952 (est.)

Science

Nobel prize winning American physicist

Noam Chomsky

University of Pennsylvania — Class of ~1950 (est.)

Other

American linguist and activist (born 1928)

I. M. Pei

University of Pennsylvania — Class of ~1939 (est.)

Engineering

Chinese-American architect (1917–2019)

Christian B. Anfinsen

University of Pennsylvania — Class of ~1938 (est.)

Science

American biochemist (1916–1995)

Ezra Pound

University of Pennsylvania — Class of ~1907 (est.)

Arts & Entertainment

American poet and critic (1885–1972)

William Henry Harrison

University of Pennsylvania — Class of ~1795 (est.)

Politics

president of the United States in 1841