When Dartmouth students graduate, they join a distinguished group of famous men and women both real and fictional. Dartmouth alumni are extremely diverse, ranging from conservative news personality Laura Ingraham '85 and General Electric Chief Executive Officer Jeffry Immelt '78 to entertainers such as Rachel Dratch '88 of "Saturday Night Live."
The U.S. government has seen numerous Dartmouth alumni occupy high ranks over the years. Such politicians include former U.S. Vice President Nelson Rockefeller '30 after whom Dartmouth's Rockefeller Center is named current Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner '83 and former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson '68. Geither attended Dartmouth following in the tradition of his father and grandfather, and majored in government and Asian Studies. At Dartmouth, Paulson was an All-American offensive lineman and majored in English.
A number of Dartmouth alumni have also found success in professional sports, from All-Star baseball players to gold medal Olympians. Over time, Dartmouth alumni have won over 20 Olympic medals. In 2006 alone, alumnae playing on Canada's women's ice hockey team including Gillian Apps '06, Cherie Piper '06 and Katie Weatherston '06 swept a record three gold medals.
With its traditionally frigid New Hampshire weather, it should not come as a surprise that Dartmouth has such a strong track record in the Winter Olympics. The cold climate, however, has also inspired non-athletic achievements. Winter Carnival, an annual celebration of winter activities, influenced F. Scott Fitzgerald and Budd Schulberg '36 to create the film "Winter Carnival" (1939) starring Ann Sheridan.
In addition to politics and athletics, graduates from the College on the Hill have also turned up in entertainment. "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," for example, was hosted by Fred Rogers, who attended the College from 1946 to 1948.
Pat Weaver '30 created the "The Today Show" and "The Tonight Show;" Budd Schulberg '36 wrote the screenplay for "On the Waterfront" (1954); Buck Henry '51 wrote the screenplay for "The Graduate" (1967); Shonda Rhimes '91 created "Grey's Anatomy" and Mindy Kaling '01 stars in "The Office."
Alumni have also created a template for students to follow Dartmouth was the chosen destination of McLovin' in "Superbad" (2007) and "National Lampoon's Animal House" (1978), by Chris Miller '63, was based on Dartmouth's Alpha Delta fraternity.
Although many people are aware of alumni like Rockefeller and Geithner, fictitious Dartmouth alumni like Thomas Crown of "The Thomas Crown Affair" (1968) and Nate's father on "Gossip Girl" should not be overlooked.
As Conan O'Brien said in his Commencement speech to the Class of 2011 this spring, Dartmouth has graduated more fictitious Americans than any other college. O'Brien mentioned Meredith Grey from "Grey's Anatomy," Pete Campbell from "Mad Men" and Michael Corleone from "The Godfather" (1972), but scoffed at certain real-life former students like Theodor Geisel '25.
"We are all tired of hearing about Dr. Seuss," he said.
Yet Dartmouth students still pride themselves on Geisel's legacy, and images from "Green Eggs and Ham" and "The Cat in the Hat" still pepper local bookshops.
