Notable alumni

Communication alumni have been successful wherever they go after graduating from Northwestern.

A few notable alumni:

Mike Adamle (71) - sports anchor, WBBM-Ch. 2 Chicago; former pro football player
Katrina Adams (88) - former pro tennis player
Michael Alvarez (02) - director of communication relations, Illinois Department of Employment Security
Ann-Margret (63) - actress
Andrew Barrett-Weis (92) - director of current programs, Warner Brothers Television
Karim Bartoletti (94) - executive producer, FilmMaster
Warren Beatty (59) - actor, Academy Award-winning producer
Richard Benjamin (60) - actor/director
Greg Berlanti (94) - screenwriter, Dawson's Creek; creator and writer, Everwood
Eric Bernt (86) - screenwriter
Craig Bierko - Tony Award-nominated actor
Bill Bindley (84) - writer, director
Jeffory Blackard (81) - founder and CEO, Blackard Development
Richard Block (73) - associate head of the School of Drama, Carnegie Mellon University
Robert Borden (89) - executive producer, George Lopez
Zach Braff (97) - actor/writer/director
Clancy Brown (81) - actor
Charles Busch (76) - actor, Tony Award-award nominated playwright
Robert Olen Butler (67) - author and winner of Pulitzer Prize for literature
Bruno Campos (95) - actor
Adam Chase (90) - former writer, executive producer, Friends
Rory Joseph Clark (76) - president and CEO, Process Corporation
Cheryl Coffey-Curry (87) - director of affiliate relations, Harpo, Inc.
Stephen Colbert (87) - host, Comedy Central's The Colbert Report; reporter, Comedy Central's The Daily Show
Christopher Corbett (73) - journalist, former news editor and reporter, Associated Press
Stephanie Shemin D'Abruzzo (93) - Tony Award-nominated actress
Laura Eason (89) - artistic director, Lookingglass Theatre Company
Gregg Edelman (80) - Tony Award-nominated actor
Debi Feinman (78) - senior partner, WorldWide Client Service Director at Ogilvy & Mather
Barbara Gaines (68) - founder and artistic director, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre
Tom Galantich (83) - actor
Frank Galati (65) - Tony Award-winning, Oscar-nominated director; writer, actor, and retired Northwestern professor
Barry Gardner (98) - professional football player
Ana Gasteyer (89) - actress
Richard Gephardt (62) - former U.S. Congressman
David Gersh (70) - president and owner, Gersh Agency
Ileen Getz (83) - actress
Eric Gilliland (84) - writer/producer
Joy Gregory (88) - scriptwriter
Michael Greif (81) - director, Rent
Napoleon Harris (02) - professional football player
Deborah Hayes (71) - director of audiology, speech pathology, and learning services at the Children's Hospital-Denver
Heather Headley (97) - Tony Award-winning actress, star of "Aida" and "Lion King," Grammy-nominated R&B singer
Marg Helgenberger (82) - Emmy Award-winning actress
Charlton Heston (45) - Academy Award-winning actor
David Hollander (90) - screenwriter and TV producer
Richard Hopple (69) - chairman and CEO, Unicast Communications Corporation
Chris Hughes (95) - sports information director, California State University
Laura Innes (79) - actress
Donald J. Jackson (65) - founder, chairman, and CEO, Central City Productions
Brian d'Arcy James (90) - Tony Award-nominated actor
Jennifer Jones (40) - Academy Award-winning actress (also known as Phylis Isley)
Alex Kent (94) - president and founder, Symphonic Wireless
Tom Keramides (83) - vice president, Leo Burnett USA
Richard Kind (78) - actor
Rikki Klieman (70) - anchor, Court TV
Jeff Kurland (75) - costume designer
Sherry Lansing (66) - former chairman, Paramount Pictures
Martha Lavey (79) - artistic director, Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Brad Lawer (89) - co-founder, Chopper Films
Cloris Leachman (48) - Academy Award-winning actress
Harry Lennix (86) - actor
Richard Lewis (83) - director
John Logan (83) - playwright and scriptwriter
Shelley Long (71) - Emmy Award-winning actress
Tim Louis (86) - co-founder, Desert Voices Oral Learning Center
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (82) - actress
Renetta McCann (78) - CEO, Starcom North America
Grace McKearney (74) - writer and producer for the Lifetime television network
Laverne McKinnon (87) - executive vice president of drama development, CBS Broadcasting, Inc.
Susan Messing (86) - performer, teacher, and director at Second City, ImprovOlympic, and the Annoyance Theatre
Seth Meyers (96) - actor
Newton Minow (49) - attorney, former FCC chairman
Judi Sheppard Missett (66) - CEO and founder, Jazzercise
Jason Moore (93) - Tony Award-winning director, Avenue Q
Megan Mullally (81) - actress
Dermot Mulroney (85) - actor
John Musial - founding member and director, Lookingglass Theatre Company
Margaret Nagle (83) - actress, Emmy-nominated screenwriter
Patricia Neal (47) - Academy Award-winning actress
George Newbern (86) - actor
Agnes Nixon (44) - soap opera inventor
Denis O'Hare (84) - Tony Award-winning actor
Dana Olsen (80) - screenwriter
Jerry Orbach (56) - actor
Danita Patterson (90) - president, Destiny Outreach, Inc.
Stephen Peck (68) - documentary filmmaker
Michael Pellerin (87) - partner, Kurtti/Pellerin; produced The Lord of the Rings DVD trilogy
Paula Prentiss (59) - actress
John Quaintance (93) - writer, Joey
Charlotte Rae (48) - actress
Tony Randall (41) - actor
Tony Roberts (61) - actor
Tina Rosenberg (81) - editorial board, The New York Times; Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning author
Jeri Ryan (90) - actress
Kate Johnson Santhuff (83) - vice president, 3rd Wave communications company
Alexis Sarkisian (71) - Emmy Award-winning television producer, international marketing executive
Rebecca Schnur (87) - director of communications, Maine Hospital Association
David Schwimmer (88) - actor
Melvin Sembler (52) - U.S. Ambassador to Italy
Jon Shapiro (87) - IMAX film producer
Peter Shapiro (95) - IMAX film producer
Kate Shindle (99) - actress; Miss America, 1998
Francesca Spinelli (74) - senior vice president of people, PETsMART
Joseph Staten (94) - director of cinematics, Bungie
Peter Strauss (69) - actor
Nicole Sullivan (91) - actress
Ira Ungerleider (90) - former producer, writer, Friends
Allison Teichner Wallach (90) - vice president of original programming, Lifetime Television Network
Harry Wappler (58) - former chief meteorologist, KIRO-TV
Lois Weisberg (46) - commissioner, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs
Jim Weitzer (96) - actor
Dawn Westlake (86) - actress/writer/producer; president, Ron de Caña Productions
Kimberly Williams (93) - actress
Rachael Yamagata (97) - singer, songwriter
Mary Zimmerman (82) - Northwestern professor, Tony Award-winning director

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Some notable alumni

Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert

Zach Braff

Zach Braff

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

David Schwimmer

David Schwimmer