Notable Alumni
According to the Rensselaer Alumni Association, there are around 90,000 RPI graduates currently living in the United States, and another 4,378 living abroad. In 1995 the Alumni Association created the Rensselaer Alumni Hall of Fame.
Several notable 19th century civil engineers graduated from RPI. These include the visionary of the transcontinental railroad, Theodore Judah, Brooklyn Bridge engineer Washington Roebling, George W. G. Ferris (who designed and built the original Ferris Wheel) and Leffert L. Buck, the chief engineer of the Williamsburg Bridge in New York City.
Many RPI graduates have made important inventions, including Allen B. DuMont ('24), creator of the first commercial television; Keith D. Millis ('38), inventor of ductile iron; Ted Hoff ('58), father of the microprocessor; Raymond Tomlinson ('63), often credited with the invention of e-mail; inventor of the digital camera Steven Sasson and Curtis Priem ('82), designer of the first graphics processor for the PC, and co-founder of NVIDIA.
In addition to NVIDIA, RPI graduates have also gone on to found or co-found major companies such as John Wiley and Sons, Texas Instruments, Fairchild Semiconductor, PSINet, MapInfo, Adelphia Communications, Level 3 Communications, Garmin, and Bugle Boy. Several RPI graduates have played a part in the U.S. space program: George Low (B.Eng. 1948, M.S. 1950) was manager of the Apollo 11 project and served as president of RPI, and astronauts John L. Swigert, Jr., Richard Mastracchio, Gregory R. Wiseman, and space tourist Dennis Tito are alumni.
Political figures who graduated from RPI included federal judge Arthur J. Gajarsa (B.S. 1962), DARPA director Tony Tether, Representative John Olver of Massachusetts's 1st congressional district, and Senators Mark Shepard of Vermont and George R. Dennis of Maryland.
Notable hockey players include NHL Hockey Hall of Famer and 5-time NHL All Star Adam Oates (1985), Stanley Cup winner and former NHL All Star Mike McPhee (1982), two-time Calder Cup winner Neil Little (1994), former NHL All Rookie Joé Juneau (1991), and former NHL All Star Daren Puppa (1985).
Other notable alumni include 1973 Nobel Prize in Physics winner Ivar Giaever (Ph.D. 1964); director of Linux International Jon Hall (M.S. 1977); NCAA president Myles Brand (B.S. 1964); adult stem cell pioneer James Fallon; director Bobby Farrelly (1981), and David Ferrucci, lead researcher on IBM's Watson/Jeopardy! project.
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Famous quotes containing the word notable:
“a notable prince that was called King John;
And he ruled England with main and with might,
For he did great wrong, and maintained little right.”
—Unknown. King John and the Abbot of Canterbury (l. 2–4)