How Oberlin Measures Excellence

At Oberlin College and Conservatory, our excellence manifests itself in many ways, including in our graduates’ contributions to the arts, sciences, public service, music, and academia. This is a testament to our remarkable faculty and our shared belief that one person can change the world.

A significant number of our alumni pursue graduate degrees and research careers. Since the annual survey of earned research doctorates began in 1957, Oberlin graduates have earned more research doctorates—6,001—than the graduates of any other baccalaureate arts and sciences college. And Oberlin hasn’t slowed down. In the past five years, Oberlin graduates have earned 394 doctorates, placing us in the nation’s top three.

Nobel Prize Winners

Four Oberlin alumni have been honored with a Nobel Prize, including Joshua D. Angrist ’82 (economics) in 2021, Stanley Cohen ’45 (medicine) in 1986, Roger Sperry ’35, MA ’37 (medicine) in 1981, and Robert Millikan, Class of 1891, (physics) in 1923.

National Academy of Sciences

Oberlin has long been a national leader in educating scientists. Thirty alumni are members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), a society of distinguished scholars who are considered advisors to the nation on issues related to science and technology. Oberlin alumni represent 1 percent of the NAS membership. Recently named scholars include:

  • Elected in 2024: Lynne D. Talley ’76, Distinguished Professor of the Graduate Division at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego.

  • Elected in 2023: Joshua Angrist ’82, the Ford Professor of Economics at MIT, a cofounder and director of MIT’s Blueprint Labs, and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

  • Elected in 2022: Elena Bennett ’94, a systems ecologist known for her work on ecosystem services and multifunctional landscapes and a professor and Canada Research Chair in Sustainability Science in the Bieler School of Environment and Department of Natural Resource Sciences at McGill University. 

  • Elected in 2021: Ruth Shaw ’75, a geneticist in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior at the University of Minnesota and researcher of evolutionary processes in wild plant populations using quantitative genetics and population biology.

Pulitzer Prize Winners

Several Oberlin alumni hold the Pulitzer Prize, considered the highest national honor in print journalism, literary achievement, and musical composition. Recent honorees include:

MacArthur Fellows

Oberlin has produced more MacArthur Fellows than any other liberal arts college in the nation. Widely known as the “Genius Grant,” the MacArthur recognizes the creative contributions and potential of individuals of varying backgrounds spanning an array of disciplines. Each fellow receives a stipend of $800,000, with no strings attached. Fifteen Oberlin alumni have been named MacArthur Fellows; recent honorees include:

  • Awarded in 2024: Historian and professor Jennifer L. Morgan ’86, whose work explores the lives of enslaved women and deepens our understanding of the origins of race-based slavery in early America.

  • Awarded in 2023: Composer and pianist Courtney Bryan ’04, a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory whose works explore the African American experience through a range of musical and sociopolitical influences.

  • Awarded in 2022: Author Kiese Laymon ’98, a writer and educator whose works chronicle the Black experience through the lens of his Mississippi upbringing.

  • Awarded in 2017: Singer, instrumentalist, and songwriter Rhiannon Giddens ’00 (MacArthur). 

  • Awarded in 2014: Alison Bechdel ’81, a cartoonist whose groundbreaking memoir Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic became a Tony-Award winning musical.

Fulbright Awards

The Fulbright Program is the federal government’s flagship international academic exchange program, encompassing the popular English Teaching Assistant program and funding for projects geared toward study and research. Oberlin is a perennial leader in Fulbright honorees among undergraduate institutions.

  • Oberlin remains third on the all-time list of Fulbright honorees, with more than 265 recipients. 

  • Sixteen students from Oberlin were selected for Fulbright awards for the 2023-24 academic year—tied for second most in the country. 

  • For the 2024-25 academic year, 19 Oberlin students were selected for Fulbright awards, with 39 semifinalists overall, including 14 in the study and research category.

Peace Corps Volunteers

Oberlin ranks number one on the all-time list of Peace Corps volunteers among small colleges and universities; more than 500 alumni have served since the agency’s founding in 1961. Peace Corps volunteers support community-led development around the world in the areas of education, health, environment, agriculture, youth development, and community economic development.

Grammys, Oscars, Emmys, Tonys, and more

Oberlin alumni hold countless awards in the music, film, television, and theater industries. Among them are:

  • Lighting designer Natasha Katz ’81, who won Tony Awards for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2023), MJ the Musical (2022), Long Day’s Journey into Night (2016), The Glass Menagerie (2014), Once (2012), The Coast of Utopia (2007), and Aida (2000).

  • Producer Shane Boris ’04, who won an Academy Award in 2023 for Navalny, a documentary about the late Russian opposition leader.

  • Costume designer Montana Levi Blanco ’06, who won a Tony Award in 2022 for The Skin of Our Teeth.

  • Singer and multi-instrumentalist Rhiannon Giddens ’00 (Grammy), who won a Grammy Award in 2022 for Best Folk Album for They’re Calling Me Home. 

  • Soprano Denyce Graves ’85, who won a Grammy Award in 2021 for Best Opera Recording for the Metropolitan Opera’s recording of Gershwin: Porgy and Bess.

  • Actor Lena Dunham ’08, who received two Golden Globe Awards in 2013 for Best Music or Comedy TV Series and Best Actress in a TV Series for the HBO series Girls.

  • Daniel Radosh ’91, who won Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing for The Daily Show in 2011, 2012, and 2015.

  • Screenwriter Mark Boal ’95, who won two Academy Awards—Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay—in 2009 for The Hurt Locker.

  • Director Julie Taymor ’74, who won two Tony Awards in 1998 for Best Direction of a Musical and Best Costume Design for The Lion King.

  • James Burrows ’62, producer and creator of Cheers, who directed more than 1,000 episodes of television, including Friends, Frasier, Taxi, and the Emmy-winning shows Will & Grace, Wings, and News Radio.

Leaders in Business

Business and finance represents the third largest career sector for Oberlin graduates, who use their Oberlin perspective to build value for their organizations and effect positive change in the world around them. Among them are:

  • Ian Siegel ’95, cofounder and CEO of ZipRecruiter.

  • Jerry Greenfield ’73, cofounder of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.

  • Stephanie Rawlings-Blake ’92, chair of the Airbnb Housing Council, former mayor of Baltimore, and former president of the United States Conference of Mayors.

  • Alex Blumberg ’89, cofounder and CEO of the podcast network Gimlet Media and radio journalist best known for This American Life and Planet Money. 

  • Maxwell Ryan ’89, founder of Apartment Therapy, a lifestyle blog and publishing company focused on home design and decor.

  • Elizabeth Barajas-Román ’99, president and CEO of the Women’s Funding Network.