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Undergraduate Alumni

Gallatin undergraduates are committed to distinctive and unique educational endeavors. This drive is nurtured by Gallatin faculty and advisers and allows students to develop the necessary skills to become creative thinkers and eclectic career-builders. Gallatin alumni include film directors, CEOs, composers, attorneys, journalists, physicians, architects, Academy and Tony Award-winners, best-selling authors, and more. Alumni work in a variety of fields from law, media, PR and marketing to film, fashion, non-profits, and journalism. Below you will find alumni from various Gallatin cohorts; click on their profile links to learn more about each of these amazing alums.

Benjamin Kubany
BA ’23 - Forensic Urbanism: Architecture, Urban Development, and Power

At GallatinReceived the Interdisciplinary Academic Excellence Award, served as a board member of the Albert Gallatin Founders Fund, and worked as a researcher at Gallatin's Urban Democracy Lab.

Post GallatinWorks as Analyst and Business Development Lead at James Lima Planning and Development, advising public, private, and nonprofit clients across North America on open space economics, affordable housing, public realm, and real estate strategies. 

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Thea Hurwitz
BA ’22 - Art in Real Life: Enabling Access and Meaningful Participation in Art Education

At GallatinStudied fine arts, art therapy, children's literature, and more to consider a creative arts pedagogy that was more welcoming and intuitive. 

Post GallatinWorks at the Brooklyn Public Library as a Programming Specialist for their Inclusive Services department, which serves children with disabilities.

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Ashley Battiste
BA ’21 - Computer Science and Ethical Technology

At GallatinServed as one of the founding members of STAC and editor-in-chief of STE(A)M Zine. Upon graduation she received the Alumni Reward. 

Post GallatinCurrently pursuing a master’s degree in Cybersecurity at Tandon, and working at IBM as an Advisory AI Applications Technical Specialist. She is a member of the Technology Ethics Advocacy Network and assists in developing ethical AI educational content. 

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Ryan Walker
BA ’23 - The Intersections of Photography, Journalism, and Visual Ethics

At GallatinParticipated in the photojournalism lab and, upon graduation, received the Interdisciplinary Academic Excellence Award.

Post GallatinWorks full-time for Major League Baseball as a photo coordinator, and part-time as a photo editor for an up-and-coming digital magazine focused on Black politics and culture.

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Tristan Donaldson
BA ’22 - Neuroanthropology

At GallatinIntegrated coursework and research experiences in neuroscience, psychology, anthropology, linguistics, and statistics to study concepts in brain evolution, brain development, and cognition from an interdisciplinary methodological perspective. 

Post GallatinHas been involved in research to develop medical applications of network neuroscience, neuroimaging, and neuromodulation at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital.

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Yagmur Akyurek
BA ’22 - Narrative and Place

At GallatinStudied literature, visual culture, and the environment; served as Editor-in-Chief of The Literacy Review and as an Editor for Confluence; received the Dean's Award for Summer Research and the Interdisciplinary Academic Excellence Award. 

Post GallatinCompleted a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Turkey, and is now an MFA candidate in poetry at NYU, where she is a Rona Jaffe fellow. 

Zixin Liu
BA ’22 - Unseen in Fairytales: The Narratology of Fairytales and its application in developing minds

At GallatinExplored the hidden components within fairytales through the lenses of sociology, literature, and psychology; eventually devised a literature tool that explains how marginalised populations are disregarded (i.e. "thrown away") and disappeared at the end (i.e. "happily ever after"). 

Post GallatinCurrently pursuing a master's degree in developmental psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University, where he conducted research in neuroscience and developmental psychology and presented posters at conferences. 

Jules Talbot
BA ’22 - Shakespeare in Adaptation

At GallatinStudied Shakespeare and Renaissance drama in text and performance; worked for the Gallatin Writing Program as graphic designer of The Literacy Review; received the Dean’s Award for Summer Research; and awarded BA Class Representative. 

Post GallatinWorking onstage as an actor (recent credits: Huntington Theatre, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Lyric Stage Company), and offstage as an illustrator specializing in poster design for live theater (Red Bull Theater, Fiasco, SpeakEasy Stage).

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Anna Captain
BA ’23 - Rhetoric, Culture, and Political Communication

At GallatinServed as editor-in-chief and a senior editor for NYU Politics Society’s publication, In the Zeitgeist; cofounded Cocus, a food zine and social club for womxn in the food space; published work in Confluence; was a staff editor for The Literacy Review and a student teacher with the Great World Texts program. 

Post GallatinWorked as the editorial assistant for a wine magazine, recording the stories of sommeliers, beverage directors, and critics; established a monthly event, Gathermake, which invites young people from a variety of backgrounds to collaborate on creative projects and discuss intentional living in the digital age. 

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Sarika Doppalapudi
BA ’23 - Collective Memory in Public Spaces

At GallatinWas involved in the research programs and NYU Gallatin Wetlab; received the Dean's Award for Summer Research, the Gallatin Undergraduate Research Fund, the Horn Fund for Environmental Research, and the Leo Bronstein Homage Award. Much of her research at Gallatin focused on urban education, oral history, and textile arts.

Post GallatinWorks as a research fellow in the education department at the Whitney Museum, where she conducts research on improving museum accessibility and works as a museum educator. In her free time, she works as a textile artist. 

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Suhyla Behiry
BA ’22 - Power, Democracy, and Social Movements

At GallatinServed as a Member of the Gallatin Dean's Honors Society, a Gallatin City Government Fellow, and an NYU Leadership Honors Fellow; studied the intersection of identity and politics, social movements in the Middle East and the US, and power dynamics in international relations.

Post GallatinReceived her master's in Arab Studies from Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Services; conducted research on the impact of exile and diaspora on the political beliefs and identity of Arabs; created relationships with Arab embassies to provide students access to international leaders, spaces of decision-making and power. 

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Yejin Chang
BA ’22 - Reconstructing Asian American History through Literature

At GallatinServed as the managing editor of The Gallatin Review’s Prison Education Program section, editor-in-chief of The Literacy Review Volume 19, business manager and board member of Washington Square News, student teacher at the University Settlement Society, and vice president of the Gallatin Law Society. 

Post GallatinWorked as a research fellow for The Guardian US and as an alumni board member of the Washington Square News managing board. She began her legal education at the NYU School of Law and is a member of the J.D. class of 2026.

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Cheyenne Bryant
BA ’22 - In Search of Ghosts and Bones

At GallatinStudied Southern Black traditions rooted in art, healing, and historical remembrance, and searched for the human traces and spirit found in living objects; curated for the Gallatin Galleries and Gallatin Arts Festival; received the Richard J. Koppenaal Award for Distinguished Interdisciplinary Study.

Post GallatinWorks at the Center for Puppetry Arts in the Museum and Education departments where she teaches and writes about puppetry, dolls, and performing objects.

Sophie Spector
BA ’22 - Infectious Disease from an Interdisciplinary Perspective

At GallatinCombined microbiology and biomedical research with history, medical humanities, and public health, exploring pandemic diseases of the past and present in order to better prepare for the future.

Post GallatinResearching full-time on emerging mosquito-borne viruses at the Kenneth Stapleford lab at NYU Langone; will be continuing her lifelong interest in emerging diseases by pursuing a PhD in Harvard's virology program.

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Robert Clinton
BA ’16 - The Sociology and Politics of Urban Agriculture

At GallatinStudied at NYU Accra and conducted research in Berlin, Germany, as a Gallatin Global Fellow in Urban Practice

Post GallatinA 2016 Marshall Scholar; Master of Science in Sustainable Urbanism and Master of Public Administration and Management from University College London. Worked as a 2020 Census Project Manager for City & County of San Francisco’s Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs

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Annabelle Attanasio
BA ’15 - An Investigation of Dramatic Writing through A Study of Theater and Film

At GallatinParticipated in the Gallatin Film Festival, mounted theatrical productions, and was a recipient of the Dean’s Award for Summer Research, the Gallatin Undergraduate Research Fund, and an NYU Green Grant

Post GallatinWrote and directed the feature film, Mickey and the Bear

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Rachel Hilson
BA ’18 - Writing and Performing Race

At GallatinPerformed in several theater productions, including Hamlet (2013), The Rape of Lucrece (2014), and Amphitryon (2015); member of the Gallatin Theatre Troupe as an actor and writer

Post GallatinActed in film and television productions, including Kings, This is Us, and Love, Victor

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Aaron Gartenberg
BA ’19 - Value and Values: The Intersection of Business and Sociology

At GallatinBuilt multiple businesses, including a multimedia film company, and promoted the Albert Gallatin Founder's Fund, a fund that supports entrepreneurial student projects

Post GallatinWorks as a investment strategist in business and media

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Julie-Ann Hutchinson
BA '15 - Ethics, Public Policy, and International Development

At GallatinWorked at the Economic Development Agency for the US Department of Commerce

Post GallatinHarvard’s Kennedy School, MA in Public Policy; worked for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation

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Joosje Duk
BA ’16 - Acting, Creative Writing, and Journalism

At GallatinFilmed, wrote, and directed Night (2016) as a senior project

Post GallatinFilmed, wrote, and directed the short film Thin Ice, the web pilot Gappies, the web series #FitGirls, and 2020’s Featured Extra. Wrote a feature screenplay, Sunshowers

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Zachary Fine
BA ’15 - Art History and Philosophy

At GallatinWorked as a research assistant for Professor A.B. Huber and published two Op-eds in the New York Times, in 2014 and 2015

Post GallatinA 2016 Rhodes Scholar; MSt in British and European History and an MSt in English and American Studies

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Josh Foulquier
BA ’15 - Entrepreneurship and the Evolution of Ethics

At GallatinSenior thesis, "Eudaimonia: Understanding the Good Life,"​ analyzed Aristotle's ethics and the evolution of our interpretation of ethics over time due to changes in art, media, and technology

Post GallatinOpened the Michelin-starred restaurant Sushi Noz

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Angie Liao
BA ’17 - Human Rights Law and Human Expression, with a minor in Social and Cultural Analysis

At GallatinRecipient of the Dean’s Award for Summer Research, NYU’s President’s Service Award, and sponsorship from the Women’s Foreign Policy Group; received a Gallatin Global Fellowship in Human Rights where she worked with Beijing’s largest public interest legal NGO

Post GallatinYale Law School, JD

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Melissa Bartow
BA ’19 - The Art of Entrepreneurship

At GallatinWhile a Gallatin sophomore, founded the company Wanna Date?, a vegan date spread

Post GallatinAppeared on a 2020 episode of Shark Tank and accepted an investment offer for her company, Wanna Date?

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Michael Abraham
BA ’17 - Gender Theory and Modern Poetics

At GallatinPresented “woman is perfect: The Poetry of H.D." at the Senior Symposium

Post GallatinYale University, PhD Program in Literature, with a focus on modern poetics, race, gender, and sexuality studies, post-Enlightenment formulations of reason and irrationality

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Fatoumata Waggeh
BA '13 - African Political Development, Colonial History, and Law

At GallatinA Gallatin Americas Scholar; also the recipient of the Gallatin Dean’s Award for Summer Research, which allowed her to travel to West Africa and explore the works of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights

Post GallatinUniversity of Pennsylvania Law School, JD

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Safia Elhillo
BA '13 - Poetry as a Tool in Therapy

At GallatinFounding member of Slam NYU, competed during the 2012 and 2013 national collegiate championships; appeared on Season 3 of Verses and Flow and was a finalist in the 2011 Women of the World Poetry Slam

Post GallatinMFA from the New School; The January Children won the Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets; Stanford University Stegner Fellow

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Alex Denker
BA ’13 - The Neuroscience of Art

At GallatinCo-chair of the Gallatin Senior Symposium and conducted neuroscience and brain-imaging research on aesthetics at the NYU Center for Brain Imaging

Post GallatinMA and a PhD in Neuroscience and Animal Behavior, Emory University; worked as a Science Policy Analyst at the National Institutes of Mental Health

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Phillip Picardi
BA ’12 - Beauty

At GallatinInterned for Teen Vogue, Vogue, and GQ Magazines

Post GallatinEditorial Director and Cultural Consultant and former Chief Content Officer at Teen Vogue and Editor-in-Chief of Out Magazine

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Kate Fritz
BA '10 - Environmental Politics, Political Theory, and China Studies

At GallatinReceived NYU President’s Service Award for environmental leadership; a Reynolds Scholar and a Udall Foundation Scholar at Gallatin; recipient of a Richard J. Koppenaal Award for Distinguished Interdisciplinary Study; learn more about Kate in our Why Gallatin? video feature

Post GallatinNYU School of Law, JD

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Mallory Blair
BA ’10 - Creativity and Commerce

At GallatinServed as music chair for NYU’s Program Board, interned at a boutique market research agency, and served as on-air talent for MTVu and Paper magazine’s Paper TV

Post GallatinCo-founder and CEO of Small Girls PR

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Jon Chan
BA '12 - Complex Systems and Emergent Behavior

At GallatinStarted Gallatin’s student entrepreneurship competition, the Albert Gallatin Founders Fund; served as president of the Gallatin Business Club; represented NYU as an Admissions Ambassador; awarded the Gallatin Special Service Award
 

Post GallatinEngineering Manager at Stack Overflow; founder of Bento

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Lauren Bille
BA ’09 - Designing Societies: Politics, Institutions, and Culture

At GallatinEdited and published One Mic, a Lyrics on Lockdown Anthology

Post GallatinCo-Founder and CEO of Allbodies

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David Burstein
BA ’12 - Intersection of film, technology and politics with a focus on youth and social change

At GallatinMade the film World Class in Abu Dhabi and wrote Fast Future: How the Millennial Generation is Shaping Our World

Post GallatinFounded the non-profit Run for America and served as Managing Director at the Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma at Mount Sinai and the James Peters Bronx VA

Emma Kaywin
BA '10 - The Philosophy of the Abnormal

At GallatinCo-founded the Gallatin Honors Program with Kate Fritz (BA ’10).

Post GallatinColumbia University MA and an EdD in Health Education; member of the Recent Alumni Council; learn more about Emma in our Why Gallatin? video feature

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Rachel Tipograph
BA ’09 - Entertainment Business and New Media

At GallatinInterned for Miramax Films, Showtime Networks, The Gersh Agency, New Line Cinema, and NBC Universal

Post GallatinFounder and CEO of MikMak and former Global Director of Digital and Social Media, Gap Inc.

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Daniel Seara
BA ’14 - The Human in Science

At GallatinSummer Research Associate; gave a TEDxGallatin talk (later called the Senior Symposium) titled, "Science as a Creative Endeavor"

Post GallatinYale University, PhD in theoretical biophysics

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Eric Fuchs-Stengel
BA '14 - Ecological Sustainability and Social Change; minor in Environmental Studies

At GallatinResearched water scarcity and rural farming in Bhutan; was named the 2013 New Jersey Environmentalist of the Year and a 2013 Governor's Environmental Excellence Award; internships included AmeriCorps and City Growers

Post GallatinExecutive Director of Mahwah Environmental Volunteers Organization (MEVO)

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Maya Berry
BA ’06 - Cultural Anthropology, Latin American and Caribbean History, Dance, Languages, and Post-Colonial Studies

At GallatinStudied abroad in Cuba with Tisch’s Summer Dance Program; traveled to Vietnam and Brazil as a Gallatin Scholar; co-founded Gallatin’s Dancers/Choreographers Alliance (DCA)

Post GallatinNYU, MA in Performance Studies; University of Texas at Austin, PhD in Social Anthropology; Postdoctoral Associate at Institute of Sacred Music, Yale University; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Assistant Professor

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Will Creeley
BA '03 - Political Memory and the Burden of History

At GallatinStudent Council Member; Student speaker at the Gallatin School Graduation Ceremony and the main NYU Commencement Exercises

Post GallatinNYU School of Law, JD; Legal Director for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a nonpartisan organization dedicated to defending student and faculty rights

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Sara Moonves
BA ’07 - Journalism and Photography

At GallatinInterned at Vogue magazine

Post GallatinFirst female Editor-in-Chief of W Magazine

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Dariely Rodriguez
BA ’03 - Legal Studies and Latin American/Latinx Studies

At GallatinStudied in Cuba and South Africa through the NYU Tisch Open Arts Program
 

Post GallatinHofstra University, JD; Director of the Economic Justice Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights under Law; former Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Bureau of the State of New York’s Office of the Attorney General

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Julian Cyr
BA ’08 - Public Policy and Community Health

At GallatinLed initiative to create community-based model of on-campus HIV screening and prevention

Post GallatinYoungest member of the Massachusetts Senate, representing Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket

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Adam Mosseri
BA ’05 - Information Design

Post GallatinHead of Instagram; former Head of Product at Facebook, Vice President of Product Management, and Design Director for Facebook Mobile App

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Alex Pall
BA ’08 - The Commoditization of Art Throughout History

Post GallatinDJ, Producer, and founder of Grammy Award-winning band The Chainsmokers

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Kristoffer Diaz
BA '99 - Dramatic Writing, Literature, and History

At GallatinAlbert Gallatin Scholar; NYU Florence study away; co-chair and multi-year participant of the Gallatin Arts Festival

Post GallatinNYU Tisch School of the Arts, MFA, Dramatic Writing; Brooklyn College, MFA, Performing Arts Management; The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and winner of the 2011 OBIE Award for Best New American Play; 2015 Guggenheim Fellow in the field of Drama and Performance Art; writer and showrunner for Glow and Rent: Live; Gallatin faculty member

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Jennifer Clement
BA ’82 - English Literature and Anthropology

Post GallatinUniversity of Southern Maine, MFA, Literature; President of PEN International; Gun Love awarded a 2016 Guggenheim Fellowship, named a 2018 New York Times Editor’s Choice Book, a 2019 National Book Award finalist, and a TIME magazine top 10 books of 2019

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Keli Goff
BA ’01 - The Political Role of Theatre and Film in the United States

At GallatinVisited Frederick Douglass’s House in Washington, DC, with the Gallatin Dean's Scholars program

Post GallatinColumbia University, MS, Strategic Communications; producer, nominated for two Emmy Awards for the Netflix documentary Reversing Roe; NAACP Image Award Winner for Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series for Being Mary Jane; columnist for The Daily Beast and Huffington Post; NPR contributor; author of Party Crashing: How the Hip-Hop Generation Declared Political Independence and The GQ Candidate

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Midori Goto
BA '00 - Psychology and Gender Studies

Post GallatinNYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study, MA; celebrated concert violinist; named 1988 Artist of the Year by the Japanese government, awarded the 2001 Avery Fisher Prize, and the 2010 Kennedy Center Gold Medal in the Arts; Judge Widney Professor of Music Chair at the University of Southern California; founder, Midori & Friends, a nonprofit dedicated to bringing music to children in New York City

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Michelle Dorrance
BA ’01 - Concepts of American Race in Relationship to Democracy in American Culture

Post GallatinInternationally renowned tap dancer, performer, choreographer, teacher, and director; founder and Artistic Director of Dorrance Dance; awarded a 2015 MacArthur Award; 2011 recipient of the Bessie Award

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John Ridley
BA '87 - East Asian Languages

Post GallatinWinner of the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for 12 Years a Slave; creator and showrunner of the critically acclaimed ABC series American Crime; writer and director of the documentary film Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982–1992; author of seven novels and regular contributor to The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and NPR’s Morning Edition; co-founder, Nō Studios

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Jane Rosenthal
BA ’77 - Film and Television

At GallatinProduced The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas at The Actors Studio

Post GallatinCo-founder, CEO, and executive chair of Tribeca Enterprises, a media company that encompasses Tribeca Productions, the Tribeca Film Festival, Tribeca Studios, and the Tribeca Film Institute; recipient of the 2011 Jane Jacobs Medal for Lifetime Leadership; producer of film and television, including the comedy franchise Meet the Parents; producer and Emmy nominee for When They See Us; producer and Oscar nominee for Best Picture for The Irishman

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Alphonso Saville
BA ’02 - African American/Black Studies and Creative Writing

At GallatinCompleted independent studies at New York Theological Seminary

Post GallatinMemphis Theological Seminary, MA; Religious Studies; Emory University, PhD, Religious Studies, Africana Studies; Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow for the Study of American Religion and Slavery, Georgetown University

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Christy Turlington Burns
BA ’99- Comparative Religion and Eastern Philosophy

At GallatinStudied Renaissance Art and Literature in Florence, Italy; attended Gallatin Humanities Seminar in Italy

Post GallatinColumbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, MPH; founder Every Mother Counts, a non-profit organization devoted to making pregnancy and childbirth safe for every mother; directed the film No Woman, No Cry; author of Living Yoga: Creating a Life Practice (Hyperion 2002); 2014 Time 100 list of the world’s most influential people

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Barbara Whitman
BA ’88 - Liberal Arts

Post GallatinColumbia University, MFA, Theatre Management and Producing; Tony Award-winning producer of The Humans, Fun Home, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and producer of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Next to Normal

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Christina Ryan
BA ’98 - Biology and Dance

At GallatinAn Albert Gallatin Scholar
 

Post GallatinPennsylvania State University College of Medicine, MD and PhD Medicine and Immunology; pediatric hospitalist, Saint Barnabas Medical Center, Livingston, NJ

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Cary Goldstein
BA ’96 - Poetry and Religions

At GallatinCo-recipient of the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Poetry Prize; Editor, The Gallatin Review and The Minetta Review
 

Post GallatinHead of curation at WaitWhat; adjunct professor in the Graduate Writing Program at Columbia University; Advisory Editor of The Paris Review; VP/Executive Director of Publicity and a Senior Editor at Simon & Schuster

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Cooper Parson

At GallatinStudied financial balances and investor relations, combining business, management, finance, history and sociology. Served as the President of the Albert Gallatin Founders Fund, Co-President of New Major Records, tutor for the Gallatin Writing Center, and Gallatin Ambassador. Winner of the Interdisciplinary Academic Excellence Award.

Post GallatinClient Advisory Analyst at PGIM Fixed Income, a global asset manager offering active solutions across all fixed income markets.

Sammy Tavassoli

At GallatinStudied the intersections between neuroscience, psychology, and storytelling. Research has been focused on the links between storytelling, selfhood, and consciousness, conducting EEG studies on the temporal dynamics of whole-brain states in resting state and during narrative viewing. Served as editor for Gallatin’s journal of art and research—“Confluence”, editor for the Washington Square News (Under the Arch), Japanese Cultural Association (JCA) Head of Outreach, Society for Undergraduate Neuroscience member, coordinator for the Nihongo Language Table program.

Also served as a contributor to the Gallatin Literacy Review, Gallatin Review, Gallatin Mental Health Arts Festival, & Gallatin Mental Health StudioActivities and societies. Graduated Summa Cum Laude, awarded honors for interdisciplinary senior project entitled, “The Land of Dreams and Memories,” a multi genre personal narrative about traveling through the memory centers of the brain, most notably, the hippocampus.

Post GallatinPhD student in Johns Hopkins University’s Psychological & Brain Sciences Program in the laboratory of Prof. Janice Chen.  2023 Senior symposium speaker.