Notable Alumni

A

B

  • James P. Bagian – astronaut, physician (228th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1992
  • Edward W. Barankin – physicist (168th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1976
  • Albert C. Barnes – art collector, founder of Barnes Foundation educational art institution (92nd Class) – inducted posthumously into Hall of Fame 2009 
  • James G. Barnwell (16) served as librarian of the Library Company of Philadelphia, founded by Benjamin Franklin; teacher, school principal and founder of the Mary Gaston Barnwell Foundation – inducted to Hall of Fame 2015
  • Reds Bassman – football player
  • Edward Roy Becker – Federal Judge (194th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1986
  • Bernard Bell – Former Vice President, World Bank (150th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1988
  • John C. Bell, Jr. – Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania (75th Class)
  • Alvin Benedict – hotelier (176th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1979
  • Barry Bloom – infectious disease scientist, WHO (202nd Class) – inducted to Hall of Fame 2011
  • Jim Braude – talk radio host (225th Class)
  • Leo Braudy – cultural historian and film critic (211th Class)  – inducted to Hall of Fame 2015
  • Charles R. Bridges, MD, ScD (232) Physician, Professor, Cardiovascular Surgery Pioneer – inducted to Hall of Fame 2011
  • King Britt – DJ and record producer (245th Class)
  • Isadore Brodsky, MD – Medical Scholar and Inventor (189th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1995
  • William H. Brown, III – former Chairman of the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (185th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 2009
  • Lou Bruce – Major League Baseball outfielder (graduated 1899)
  • Doc Bushong – Major League Baseball catcher and dentist (graduated 1876)

C

  • George Campbell, Jr. – President of Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (220th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 2009
  • Dr. Howard Carlisle – educator (162nd Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1986
  • Robert B. Carney – Admiral, USN (118th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1976
  • Philip Casnoff – actor (226th Class)
  • Cassidy – rapper (would have been the 259th class, but he did not graduate from Central High School)
  • John J. Cebra (198) established a lab in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Florida and studied immunoglobulins, being credited with discovering the important functions of IgA and its role in antibody production – inducted to Hall of Fame 2015
  • Morris I. (“Moose”) Charlap – Broadway composer (186th Class)
  • Noam Chomsky – linguist and political activist (184th Class)
  • Ben Clime – professional football player
  • Mark B. Cohen – Pennsylvania state legislator (225th Class)
  • Dr. D. Walter Cohen – dentist, educator (181st Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1976
  • Frank “Tick” Coleman – one of the first three known African-American Eagle Scouts, educator (156th Class)
  • Joel Cook – U.S. Congressman, journalist (33rd Class)
  • Tarzan Cooper – basketball player for the New York Renaissance
  • Dr. William H. Cornog – educator (146th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1973
  • Bill Cosby – comedian and entertainer (left after 10th grade – 204th Class)
  • William B. Curry, Sr. – Corresponding Secretary, AACHS (125th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1982

D

E

  • Thomas Eakins – painter (38th Class) – inducted posthumously into Hall of Fame 2009
  • Joshua Eilberg – U.S. Congressman
  • Ira Einhorn – Environmental activist, convicted murderer
  • Arnold Eisen – Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary (228th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 2015
  • Lee Eisenberg – Editor-in-Chief, Esquire Magazine (221st Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1988
  • Charles Joseph Epstein, MD (196) Professor of Pediatrics, Geneticist – inducted into Hall of Fame 2001
  • Edwin M. Epstein (202) Professor Emeritus UC Berkeley – inducted to Hall of Fame 2011
  • Duane Eubanks – jazz trumpeter, and brother of guitarist Kevin Eubanks (245th Class)[citation needed]
  • Robin Eubanks – jazz trombonist, professor at Oberlin Conservatory, and brother of guitarist Kevin Eubanks (231st Class)

F

  • Douglas J. Feith – former U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, a major architect of the 2003 invasion of Iraq (230th Class)
  • Alvan R. Feinstein, MD – Professor of Medicine, Yale University (177th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1988
  • Norman Fell – actor on Three’s Company (176th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1976
  • Samuel Simeon Fels – manufacturer, philanthropist (72nd Class) – inducted posthumously into Hall of Fame 2009 
  • Lee Felsenstein – personal computer pioneer and activist (219th Class)
  • Joseph M.Field (192) founder of Entercom Communications Corporation, violinist, philanthropist – inducted to Hall of Fame 2011
  • Louis Filler – historian, writer, and professor at Antioch College (151st Class, 1929)
  • Larry Fine – Larry of the Three Stooges (132nd Class) – inducted posthumously into Hall of Fame 2009 
  • Paul J. Fink, MD (189) Psychiatrist – inducted into Hall of Fame 1998
  • Richard J. Fox (184) real estate developer- inducted into Hall of Fame 2006
  • Robert A. Fox (188) Investor – inducted into Hall of Fame 2006
  • Phillip Frost – physician, pharmaceuticals executive, philanthropist (200th Class) – inducted to Hall of Fame 2011
  • Charles Lewis Fussell – landscape artist (34th Class, 1857)

G

  • Ellis A. Gimbel (79), businessman and philanthropist, chairman of the board of the Gimbel Brothers Department store chain – inducted to Hall of Fame 2015
  • Howard Gittis, Esq. (197) Attorney – inducted into Hall of Fame 2006
  • William Glackens – painter, co-founder of the Ashcan School art movement (92nd Class) – inducted posthumously into Hall of Fame 2011
  • W. Wilson Goode, Jr. – Philadelphia City Councilman at Large, son of former mayor W. Wilson Goode (241st Class)
  • Barry B. Goldberg, MD (204) Director, Ultrasound Research and Education Institute – inducted into Hall of Fame 2006
  • E. Urner Goodman – early leader of the Boy Scouts of America (114th Class)
  • Oscar Goodman – mayor of Las Vegas, mob defense lawyer (left after 10th grade)
  • Charles Goren – bridge player and author (132nd Class) – inducted posthumously into Hall of Fame 2011
  • Simon Gratz (18) Educator, Founder  P.A.F.A – inducted posthumously into Hall of Fame 2011
  • Shelly Gross – theatrical producer, author (170th Class)- inducted into Hall of Fame 1986
  • Richard Grossman – jazz pianist (204th Class) – inducted to Hall of Fame 2015
  • Lee Guber – theatrical producer (170th Class)- inducted into Hall of Fame 1986
  • Daniel Guggenheim – industrialist and philanthropist (66th Class) – inducted posthumously into Hall of Fame 2009 
  • Simon Guggenheim – industrialist, financier, philanthropist, U.S. Senator for Colorado (87th Class) – inducted posthumously into Hall of Fame 2009 

H

  • Eric M. Hammel – military historian, writer and publisher (221st Class)
  • Stephen J. Harmelin, Esq. (206) Attorney – inducted into Hall of Fame 2006
  • John F. Harbeson – architect with H2L2 (111th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1976
  • Joe Harris – mathematician at Harvard University
  • Joseph Smith Harris – President of the Reading Railroad (24th Class)
  • William J. Harvey III – religious leader (156th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1992
  • Ralph Horwitz (223) senior vice president for Clinical Evaluation Sciences and senior adviser to the chairman of research &; development for GlaxoSmithKline; professor emeritus of medicine and epidemiology at Yale University – inducted to Hall of Fame 2015
  • Dr. Joseph S. Hepburn – chemist, historian (108th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1976
  • Quiara Alegría Hudes – playwright and author (254th Class) – inducted to Hall of Fame 2011

I

J

  • Major Jackson – poet and professor at University of Vermont (245th Class)

K

  • Louis Kahn – architect (134th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1973
  • Alex Karp – CEO of Palanitr Technologies Inc.
  • Sam Katz – perennial Philadelphia Republican mayoral candidate (226th class)
  • Bernard M. Kauderer – Vice Admiral, USN (192nd Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1986
  • Ted Kaufman – U.S. Senator from Delaware (206th class)
  • Charles Keinath – college basketball player and coach
  • Seymour Kety, MD – physiologist (158th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1973
  • Alexander Kendrick – broadcast journalist (149th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1976
  • Daniel Kevles – historian of science at Yale and California Institute of Technology
  • A. Eugene Kohn, FAIA, RIBA, JIA (190) Architect – inducted into Hall of Fame 2006
  • Mark Kramer – jazz pianist (220th class)
  • Joseph L. Kun – Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas judge

L

  • Monsignor William Lallou – religious leader (103rd Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1973
  • Cato T. Laurencin – surgeon, professor, chemical engineer (235th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 2009
  • Conrad C. Lautenbacher – Navy Vice Admiral (213th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1998
  • Dr. I.M. Levitt – Director Emeritus, Fels Planetarium (146th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1988
  • Thomas F. Lewis – member, U.S. House Of Representatives (1942)
  • Betty W. Liu (250) Financial Journalist, Bloomberg TV Anchor – inducted to Hall of Fame 2011
  • Alain LeRoy Locke – author, philosopher, first African-American Rhodes Scholar (107th Class) – inducted posthumously into Hall of Fame 2009 
  • Walter P. Lomax, Jr., MD (192) Physician, Healthcare Management – inducted to Hall of Fame 2011
  • Jerome Lowenthal – classical pianist, chair of Juilliard School Piano Department (192nd Class)
  • J. Paul Lyet – industrialist (164th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1973

M

  • John Macionis – Olympic Silver Medal Swimming (160th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1992
  • Lawrence S. Margolis – United States federal court judge – inducted into Hall of Fame 2009
  • John Marzano – Major League Baseball catcher and broadcast analyst (240th Class)
  • Gary K. Michelson – orthopedic spinal surgeon (225th Class)
  • Jeffrey Milarsky – conductor of contemporary music (243rd Class)
  • Roger M. Milgrim – intellectual property lawyer and treatise author (202nd Class)
  • Samuel Brown Wylie Mitchell – founder of Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity
  • Anthony P. Monaco, MD – Professor of Surgery, Harvard University (191st Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1988
  • Louis J. Mordell – mathematician at University of Cambridge (111th Class)
  • Joel Myers – founder of AccuWeather (208th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1998

N

O

P

  • Dr. Robert H. Page, PE (183) Professor Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering- inducted into Hall of Fame 2001
  • Robert E. Pattison – former Governor of Pennsylvania (55th Class)
  • Thomas May Peirce – founder of Peirce College (32nd Class)
  • David Pincus – clothing manufacturer, art collector (181st Class)  – inducted to Hall of Fame 2015
  • Edward N. Polisher, Esq. – attorney, philanthropist (132nd Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 192
  • Ramon L. Posel – founder of Ritz Theaters (186th Class)
  • Neil R. Powe (231) chief of medical services at San Francisco General Hospital and the Constance B. Wofsy distinguished professor and vice-chairman of medicine, University of California, San Francisco – inducted to Hall of Fame 2015
  • Hilary Putnam – philosopher (182nd Class)

R

  • Jed S. Rakoff – United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York (215th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 2015
  • David Raksin – composer “Grandfather of Film Music” (153rd Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1979
  • Conyers Read – historian(1899)
  • Ralph T. Reed – former CEO of American Express (114th Class) – inducted posthumously into Hall of Fame 2011
  • William Reed – sprinter (247th Class)
  • David L. Reich – academic anesthesiologist and professor; President & Chief Operating Officer of the Mount Sinai Hospital, and President of Mount Sinai Queens (236th Class)
  • Allen Rosenberg – attorney, lecturer, member U.S. Olympic Committee (192nd Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 2001
  • Eugene H. Rotberg – international banker (188th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1979
  • Arnold Roth – cartoonist, humorist (186th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1976
  • Solomon Kal Rudman – radio and television pioneer, publisher, philanthropist (188th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1986
  • Leo Stanton Rowe – US Assistant Secretary of the Treasury (89th Class)

S

  • Marvin Samson (211) entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded Samson Medical Technologies; chairman of the board of trustees of the  Franklin Institute – inducted to Hall of Fame 2015
  • Ralph Sanders – Professor Emeritus, National Defense University (183rd Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1988
  • Shunsuke Sato – world-renowned young violinist (261st Class)
  • Morton Livingston Schamberg – modern artist
  • Ralph Schlosstein (227) Co-founder BlackRock, Inc. – inducted into Hall of Fame 2009
  • Bernard G. Segal, Esq. – attorney (149th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1979
  • Robert Serber – physicist on Manhattan Project (146th
  • Joseph Shallit – mystery novelist (156th Class)
  • Arthur M. Shapiro – ecologist (220th Class)  – inducted to Hall of Fame 2015
  • Bree Sharp – singer and songwriter (252nd Class)
  • Lee M. Silver – professor of molecular biology, Princeton University (227th Class)
  • Richard Bruce Silverman – chemistry professor, inventor of Lyrica (221st Class) – inducted to Hall of Fame 2011
  • John French Sloan – painter (92nd Class) – inducted posthumously into Hall of Fame 2011
  • Joseph Smukler, Esq. (185) Attorney, Philanthropist, Humanitarian – inducted into Hall of Fame 2001
  • Richard S. Sokolov, Esq. (226) International Real Estate Developer – inducted into Hall of Fame 2006
  • Bernard Spain (198) Entrepreneur, Philanthropist – inducted into Hall of Fame 2009
  • Ben Stahl – labor and civil rights activist
  • Julie Stevens – actress, film director and producer (246th Class)
  • Frank R. Stockton – writer and humorist (19th Class)
  • Charles Stone III – film and ad director (243rd Class)

T

  • John Baxter Taylor, Jr. – track and field athlete, first African-American Olympic gold medalist (107th Class) – inducted posthumously into Hall of Fame 2009 
  • Teller (Raymond Joseph) – entertainer, Penn & Teller (224th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 2001
  • Dr. Howard Temin – geneticist, Nobel Laureate (196th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1976
  • Elihu Thomson – inventor, one of the founders of the General Electric Company (55th Class)
  • Richard B. Teitelman – judge (223rd Class)
  • Dylan Tichenor – film editor (245th Class)
  • Arthur Tracy – vaudeville performer, singer, actor, “The Street Singer” (130th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1986

V

  • William Scott Vare – U.S. Congressman (1912-1927), Pennsylvania State Senator (1922-1923), U.S. Senator Elect (1927-1929), Republican political boss in Philadelphia

W

  • Bernard M. Wagner, MD (182) Pioneer in Toxicologic Pathology – inducted into Hall of Fame 2006
  • Phil Walker – Guard on the 1977-1978 NBA champion Washington Bullets (231st class)
  • John Wallowitch – composer, songwriter and cabaret performer (181st Class)
  • Louis J. Weichmann – one of the chief witnesses for the prosecution in the conspiracy trial of the Abraham Lincoln assassination
  • Andrew Weil, MD – physician, author, proponent of integrative medicine (212th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 2000
  • Edward Weinberger – TV producer and writer (204th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1976
  • Judge Leo Weinrott – Jurist (121st Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1979
  • Judge Charles R. Weiner – Jurist (174th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1976
  • Stephen William White – translator of Jules Verne and secretary of the Northern Central Railway (31st class)
  • R. Seth Williams – District Attorney of Philadelphia (244th Class)
  • Alan Wolfe – political scientist and sociologist (213th Class) – inducted to Hall of Fame 2011
  • Bernard Wolfman, Esq. – legal scholar (176th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1976
  • Alexander Woollcott – drama critic for The New Yorker (110th Class)
  • Jeremiah Wright – former Senior Pastor of the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago (211th Class)
  • Richard J. Wurtman, MD – Physician and Researcher (199th Class) – inducted into Hall of Fame 1995
  • Ed Wynn (until age 15) – entertainer, actor, comedian, producer (110th Class) – inducted posthumously into Hall of Fame 2009 

Y

Z

  • Melvin B. Zisfein – Deputy Director, National Air & Space Museum – inducted in Hall of Fame 1979

 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_alumni_of_Central_High_School_(Philadelphia,_Pennsylvania)