Physician

After graduating from Scarsdale High School, George McCracken matriculated at Williams College and Cornell University Medical College.  Following his residency and two years at the National Institute of Health, McCracken joined the pediatric faculty at the University of Texas.  With the exception of some visiting professorships, he has been there ever since.

Short Story Writer, Novelist

Gish Jen’s parents immigrated from Shanghai to New York in the 1940’s.  Jen was born in the U.S.A., grew up in Scarsdale, graduated from Harvard and spent a year at Stanford’s Business School.  Those experiences, particularly her years in Scarsdale, led her to reflect on the immigrant experience, ethnic identity and the American Dream. Jen remembers the struggle of her family to fit in to the culture of Scarsdale. 

Scientist

John Klineberg was a very strong student at Scarsdale High School, and his classmates recognized his academic success by voting him “Best Looking.”  Four years at Princeton, where he majored in engineering, followed.   Klineberg earned a masters degree and, in 1968, a doctorate in Engineering and Applied Science from the California Institute of Technology.  The title of his dissertation was, “The theory of laminar viscous-inviscid interactions in supersonic flow.”

Producer, Singer, Songwriter

John Leventhal formed his first band in Quaker Ridge Elementary School.  A few years later in Scarsdale High School, a new band with Robby Kaplan, Marc Shulman and Zev Katz with Leventhal on the guitar was a bright spot in their Scarsdale education.

Journalist

“You tell me whar a man gits his corn pone, en I’ll tell you what his ‘pinions is.”     Mara Liasson’s quote in the 1973 Bandersnatch  was prophetic.  Her career in journalism suggests she has been tracking down that “corn pone” ever since.

Playwright and Avant-Garde Theater Pioneer

Two years after Arthur Miller’s play, “The Crucible” appeared on Broadway, it was directed and produced by Richard Foreman at Scarsdale High School.  That play was one of many that Foreman mounted during his high school years.  After Scarsdale, Foreman attended Brown University and in 1962, received a Masters in Fine Arts in Playwriting from Yale.

Producer, Writer

At Scarsdale High School, Aaron Sorkin was deeply involved in the Drama Club, serving as Vice President his junior and senior years.  Sorkin continued his love of the stage at Syracuse University, where he earned a bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater.  Initially, Sorkin hoped to be an actor, but experience taught him that his special talents lay in writing.

Journalist

Linda Carpenter-Leavitt’s writing skills and her creativity were evident early. In 1954, when Carpenter-Leavitt was in third grade, the Greenacres Star, a small, local newspaper, ran a writing contest. She won first prize for her story about “Isabell the Alley Cat.” Four years later she captured the grand prize in Scarsdale’s window painting contest.

Scientist, Engineer, Computer Scholar

Under Ivan Sutherland’s name in the 1955 Bandersnatch are the following:
“Univac . . .The answer man . . Scientifically yours…” Sutherland was also the President of the Science Club in both his junior and senior years. While still in high school he took on a challenge involving SIMON, a relay-based computer with six words of two bit memory. Before Sutherland, SIMON could only add. After Sutherland, SIMON could divide. At the time, few high school students had written a computer program. Sutherland produced eight pages of paper tape to “teach” SIMON to divide.

Educator, Administrator, Lawyer

Roger Hull has devoted most of his professional life to education.  A graduate of Dartmouth College with a law degree from Yale University and a Doctor of Juridical Science from the University of Virginia, he began his career as an attorney in New York City.  In 1970, Hull was appointed to the Board of William & Mary, which triggered his interest in educational leadership, and, in 1971, he was appointed special counsel to the Governor of Virginia where he was in charge of the Governor’s legislative program.