This list of Oberlin College and Conservatory People contains links to Wikipedia articles about notable alumni of and other people connected to Oberlin College, including the Conservatory of Music and the Graduate School of Theology.
Notable alumni
Award winners
Nobel laureates
Joshua Angrist (B.A. Economics 1982), Nobel laureate (Economic Sciences 2021), shared with David Card and Guido W. Imbens "for their methodological contributions to the analysis of causal relationships." Stanley Cohen (M.A. zoology, 1945), Nobel (Physiology and Medicine, 1986), for "discoveries of growth factors" Robert Millikan (B.A. 1891), Nobel laureate (Physics, 1923) "for his work on the elementary charge of electricity and on the photoelectric effect" Roger Wolcott Sperry (B.A. English 1935, M.A. psychology 1937), neurobiologist who studied split-brain research, Nobel laureate (Medicine, 1981), "for his discoveries concerning the functional specialization of the cerebral hemispheres"
Pulitzer Prize
Carl Dennis (transferred to University of Chicago, University of Minnesota), Pulitzer Prize-winning poet of Practical Gods; Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize Michael Dirda (BA 1970), Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reviewer, author Du Yun (BM 2001), composer, winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Music for opera Angel's Bone. Emily Nussbaum (BA 1988), winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism Christopher Rouse (BM 1971), winner of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Music for Trombone Concerto Vijay Seshadri (BA 1974), winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for 3 Sections George Walker (1941, honorary degree 1983), composer, first African American to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music (1996, for Lilacs) Thornton Wilder (transferred to Yale), playwright and novelist; three Pulitzer Prizes — for the novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and for two plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth; U.S. National Book Award for the novel The Eighth Day Franz Wright (BA 1977), recipient of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Walking to Martha's Vineyard
French Legion of Honor
Katharine Wright (1893), Legion d'Honneur Business Owner, Financier and Sister of aviation pioneers Wilbur and Orville Wright.