List of people from Ithaca, New York

This is a list of people who either were born in Ithaca, New York or who lived there other than when attending Cornell University or Ithaca College. The county in which Ithaca resides, Tompkins County, New York, is ranked 8th in all 3,144 U.S. counties for the highest density of culturally notable baby boomers.[1][2][3]

• Lavilla Esther Allen, writer, poet, reader
• A.R. Ammons, resident, poet, Cornell professor[4]
• Benedict Anderson, political scientist, writer, Cornell professor, author of Imagined Communities
• Liberty Hyde Bailey (1858–1954), resident, horticulturist, botanist and Cornell professor
• Iris Barbura (1912–1969), Romanian-born dancer, choreographer, and teacher of modern dance
• Josh Bard, native, professional baseball player, San Diego Padres, catcher[5]
• Hans Bethe, resident, physicist, Nobel Prize winner, Cornell professor, head of theoretical division of the Manhattan Project[6][7]
• Urie Bronfenbrenner, Cornell professor, Cornell board of trustees, founder of Head Start[8]
• Dustin Brown, native, ice hockey player, Stanley Cup champion, former captain of Los Angeles Kings[9]
• Marie and Annie Burns, residents, singer-songwriters[10]
• John H. Camp, former US Congressman[11]
• Stephen L. Carter, native, Yale professor, legal scholar and author[12]
• Philip N. Cohen, sociologist
• Alex Compton, professional basketball player[13][14]
• Anna Coogan, resident, singer-songwriter[15]
• Alonzo B. Cornell, native, Governor of New York, 1880–1882, son of Ezra Cornell[16]
• Ezra Cornell, resident, founder of Cornell University[17]
• Ann Coulter, resident, graduate of Cornell University, conservative author and commentator[18][19]
• Amasa Dana, former US Congressman[20]
• Buck Dharma, resident, co-founder and lead guitarist of Blue Öyster Cult[21]
• Asia Kate Dillon, native, actor, producer, director
• Johnny Dowd, resident, musician[22]
• Robert Earle, resident, broadcaster, GE College Bowl moderator (1962–1970)[23]
• Julius Eastman, composer, pianist and singer
• Adam C. Engst, native, resident, publisher of TidBITS and Take Control ebook series[24]
• Tonya Engst, native, resident, editor-in-chief of TidBITS and Take Control ebook series[25][26]
• Richard Feynman, resident, physicist, Cornell professor, Nobel Prize winner[27]
• Carl Frederick, resident, science-fiction author[28]
• Alice Fulton, resident, poet, Cornell professor, MacArthur Fellow[29][30]
• Juan Pablo Galavis, native, former professional soccer player, star of The Bachelor season 18[31][32]
• John H. Gear, native, Senator and Governor of Iowa[33][34]
• Greg Graffin, resident, lead singer of punk band Bad Religion[35]
• Alex Haley, native, author of Roots: The Saga of an American Family and the Autobiography of Malcolm X[36]
• Brian Hall, author
• Richard W. Hubbell, Wisconsin politician[37]
• Karel Husa, resident, Pulitzer-Prize winning composer[38][39]
• Ricky Jay, magician, historian, actor, writer and scholar[40][41][42]
• Jon Jones, resident, mixed martial artist, UFC light heavyweight champion[43][44]
• David Lee, resident, physicist, Cornell professor, Nobel Prize winner[45][46]
• David Lehman, resident, poet[47][48]
• J. Robert Lennon, resident, author of Mailman and Happyland[49][50]
• James L. Linderman, former Wisconsin State Assemblyman[51]
• Norman Malcolm, resident, philosopher, worked at Cornell[52]
• Beverly J. Martin, resident, teacher, and school administrator[53]
• Mary McDonnell, native, actress in Dances with Wolves, Independence Day, Battlestar Galactica[54][55][56]
• Matthew F. McHugh, resident, Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, New York's 27th congressional district, 1975–1983, New York's 28th congressional district, 1983–1993[57]
• Howard B. Meek, educator; founded and was the first dean of Cornell University School of Hotel Administration
• Robert Moog, ex-resident (deceased 2005), engineer, pioneer of electronic music, inventor of the Moog synthesizer, creator of Moog Music originally named R. A. Moog Co. and Big Briar[58][59]
• Tim Moresco, native, professional football player, defensive back, New York Jets[60][61]
• Vladimir Nabokov, resident, Cornell professor, author of Lolita and other works[62][63]
• Benjamin Netanyahu, resident during portion of childhood (father is a Cornell professor), Prime Minister of Israel 1996-1999, 2009–present[64]
• Nicholas Nicastro, resident, novelist, filmmaker, graduate of Cornell University ('85)[65][66]
• Lonnie Park, native, musician, Grammy nominee[67][68]
• Roy H. Park, resident, media executive, founder of Park Communications and the Park Foundation[69]
• Harry Partch, resident, composer[70][71]
• Bre Pettis, native, entrepreneur, cofounder and CEO of MakerBot Industries[72][73][74]
• Stephen (Steve) Poleskie, resident, artist and writer, Cornell professor emeritus, work in Metropolitan Museum and Museum of Modern Art[75][76][77]
• Thomas Pynchon, resident, author, winner of the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction in 1973
• Robert C. Richardson, resident, physicist, Cornell professor, Nobel Prize winner[78][45]
• Kurt Riley, songwriter, performer, and rock and roll musician[79]
• Hank Roberts, resident, cellist and composer[80][81]
• Flora Rose (1874–1959), resident, scientist, nutritionist, and co-director of what would become New York State College of Human Ecology at Cornell
• Frank Rosenblatt, resident, psychologist and computer scientist, Cornell professor, and founder of Chateau Rosenblatt[82][83][84]
• Carl Sagan, resident, astronomer, Cornell professor, popularizer of science, and author and host of Cosmos[85][86][87][88]
• Nick Sagan, native, novelist and screenwriter, Cornell professor[89]
• Sasha Sagan, native, author, screenplay writer, film producer
• Tim Sale, native, comic book illustrator[90][91][92]
• Megan Shull, native, author of books for children and young adults[93]
• Father Robert S. Smith, resident, Catholic priest, author, and educator[94][95]
• Louisa Rachel Solomon, native before settling in Brooklyn, New York, singer in The Shondes
• Steve Squyres, resident, astronomer, Cornell professor, principal investigator of the Mars Exploration Rover Mission[96][97][98]
• Steven Strogatz, resident, mathematician, Cornell professor, author[99][100][101]
• Steven Stucky, resident, classical composer, Cornell professor, Pulitzer Prize winner[102][103][104]
• William H. Thomas, resident, geriatrician, novelist, Ashoka Fellow, Heinz Award winner, author of What are Old People For?[105][106]
• Henry S. Walbridge, former US Congressman[107]
• David Foster Wallace, native, novelist[108][109][110]
• Alfred Wells, former US Congressman[111]
• E.B. White, resident, novelist, author of Charlotte's Web and co-author of The Elements of Style[112][113][114]
• Robert R. Wilson, resident, physicist, head of the Cyclotron group of the Manhattan Project[115][116]
• Ludwig Wittgenstein, resident, philosopher, invited to live in Ithaca by his friend and pupil Norman Malcolm[117]
• Paul Wolfowitz, native, academic, Deputy Secretary of Defense (2001–2005), president of the World Bank (2005-2007)[118][119]
• Christopher Woodrow, resident, film producer[120]
• X Ambassadors, natives, band members Sam Harris, Casey Harris and Noah Feldshuh
• Alexi Zentner, resident, novelist, faculty member at Binghamton University;[121] his 2019 novel Copperhead is set in a fictional town which resembles Ithaca[122]

Alonzo B. Cornell Governor of New York, 1880–1882

The Burns Sisters playing in downtown Ithaca in 1987