Top 10 University of Pennsylvania Notable Alumni

Interested in studying at the University of Pennsylvania and wish to know about some of the notable alumni? To date, there are over 290,000+ University of Pennsylvania notable alumni base. If you also want to join UPenn's alumni base, check out the article about the top 10 University of Pennsylvania alumni and their major contributions.  

Instituted by Benjamin Franklin, the University of Pennsylvania is among the nine colonial colleges created before the announcement of freedom. Famously referred to as Penn University or UPenn, the University of Pennsylvania is a private Ivy League research institution chartered in 1755. Located in the University City neighbourhood of West Philadelphia, the university is recognized as one of the oldest advanced education institutions in the USA. 

In Fall 2024, Penn had 3,508 international students pursuing various level courses. According to the U.S. News & World Report ranking, in 2024, the University of Pennsylvania ranked at #7th among United States universities. The parameters considered for ranking include graduation and retention rates, student-to-faculty ratio, SAT or ACT scores, percentage of enrolled students featured in the top 10% of their high school class, alumni giving, etc. UPenn is recognised among the world’s most powerful research and teaching institutions; it has a research budget of around $1.1 billion and over 18,000 teaching staff. These reasons attract thousands of international students each year to take admission at the University of Pennsylvania across various UPenn courses.

Apart from this, more UPenn alumni comprise 290,000+ graduates since its inception and form a strong community of notable alumni of UPenn. Some of the notable alumni of UPenn include heads of state, Supreme Court justices, and United States Senators. In addition, some Nobel laureates, Guggenheim Fellows, and several CEOs have been associated with Pennsylvania University. Check out the article for more details on famous UPenn alumni and their details. 

Top 10 Notable UPenn Alumni

University of Pennsylvania Notable Alumni – One of the top universities in the US, the University of Pennsylvania is the reckoning force behind some of the best minds. The University of Pennsylvania's notable alumni include Anil Ambani, Donald Trump, Elizabeth Banks, Elon Musk, Ivanka Trump, John Legend, Noam Chomsky, Sachin Pilot, Sundar Pichai, Tory Burch, and many others. Read on to know about a few of the notable alumni of the University of Pennsylvania:

1. Elon Musk

Co-founder and CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, is a regular on the Forbes list of The World's Most Powerful People.  With a net worth of over $22 Billion, he is one of the richest persons in the world. Elon is also the co-founder, CEO and lead designer of Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) an organization that deals with advanced rockets and spacecraft for missions to and beyond the orbit of the Earth, to create a self-sustaining city on Mars.

He has also been previously associated with co-founding PayPal – the world's leading Internet payment system, and Zip2. Born and raised in Pretoria, South Africa, Musk received an economics degree from the Wharton School and a degree in physics from the College of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania. And, thus, a part of the renowned University of Pennsylvania notable alumni. 

2. Noam Chomsky

Born in Philadelphia, Noam Chomsky was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his B.A. (1949), M.A. (1951), and PhD (1955). Chomsky has been a famous University of Pennsylvania alumni because of key contributions to Linguistics. Chomsky was a social critic and a well-known leftist activist, and he is known for his work in the field of psycholinguistics. Notable literary works of Chomsky include Current Issues in Linguistic Theory (1964), Aspects of the Theory of Syntax (1965), Topics in the Theory of Generative Grammar (1966), Cartesian Linguistics (1966), Language and Mind (1968), Reflections on Language (1975), Logical Structure of Linguistic Theory (1975), and Knowledge of Language (1986). Along with his contribution to linguistics, Chomsky has also taught courses and lectured at many universities worldwide, including Oxford University. Although Chomsky’s work is primarily interesting to linguistics scholars, several theories have had popular applications in psychology. 

3. John Legend

Born in Ohio, US, John Legend is an American singer and songwriter who had offers flooding in from Harvard University plus Georgetown University and the like but settled at the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated with a bachelor’s in English magna cum laude from UPenn’s College of Arts and Sciences, with a specialization in African-American literature. Legend developed a penchant for music when he was very young, and at the age of four, he started performing for the church choir. He was the first African American person to win all four major North American entertainment awards: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. Thus, he is also a famous University of Pennsylvania alumni. 

4. Anil Ambani

A highly educated billionaire, Anil Ambani pursued his Bachelor’s in Science from the University of Mumbai and later went to the USA for his Master’s in Business Administration at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. And is a University of Pennsylvania notable alumni. Ambani joined Reliance, a conglomerate company founded by his late father, as the chief executive Officer in 1983. He currently heads the Reliance Group as its Chairman. Anil Ambani is married to Indian Bollywood Actress Tina Ambani, the managing director of Reliance Industries. They have two sons, Anmol and Anshul. The Ambanis are also associated with several philanthropic pursuits from the beginning. 

5. Sundar Pichai

Pichai Sundararajan, more famously recognized as Sundar Pichai, is an Indian-born American computer scientist and CEO at Google. Born in Chennai, India, Pichai has had humble beginnings. Pichai, who was pursuing his MS in Engineering and Materials Science, went on to pursue his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Following a short spell at the management consulting firm McKinsey & Co., Pichai joined Google in 2004 as the Head of Product Management and Development and, in 2015, was named CEO at Google. He has been a popular name globally and integral to the University of Pennsylvania notable alumni base. 

6. Donald Trump

The 47th President of the United States of America, Donald John Trump, had gone to the New York Military Academy, Fordham University in the Bronx. He was also an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance and Commerce, where he pursued an undergraduate course in economics. After passing out, he started working full-time for his father’s business. He became president of a conglomeration of Trump-owned corporations and partnerships in 1974. He then re-named it 'the Trump Organization'. It is said that during his tenure, he raised the U.S. military's budget, and during his reign, the terrorist organisation ISIS was defeated. Trump has become popular over time due to his key contributions and is also one of the most famous alumni of the University of Pennsylvania. 

7. Shakira

Born and brought up in Barranquilla, Shakira is a world-famous Columbian singer with many hits and a famous University of Pennsylvania alumni. The versatile queen of Latin music graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in the Ancient Philosophy course, which lasted four weeks. More than 70 million albums of hers have been sold across the world. At 14, she released her first album ‘Magia’. Her overnight fame can be credited to her third album ‘Pies Descalzos’ which topped the charts in eight nations. Her hit records include Hips Don’t Lie, Whenever Wherever, Waka Waka, Loca, La Tortura, etc. 

8. Elizabeth Banks

The ‘Hunger Games’ fame American actress is an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania and was an active member of the Delta Delta Delta Sorority. She graduated Magna cum Laude from there and thereafter joined the famous American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco to pursue an advanced training program. Elizabeth Banks relocated to New York and started working in theatre, after which she bagged a few roles on TV and in movies. The actress owns a production company named ‘Brownstone’ with her sportswriter husband Max Handelman. She is also counted among the notable alumni of University of Pennsylvania.

9. Jennifer Egan

She is an American novelist, journalist and writer born in Chicago and raised in San Francisco. Egan pursued a degree in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania. She has frequently contributed to the New York Times magazine. She bagged the Pulitzer Prize for her novel ‘A Visit from the Goon Squad' 2011. Another famous novel by her, titled ‘The Invisible Circus,’ was turned into a feature film that starred Cameron Diaz. In 2022, her cover story on homeless children won the Carroll Kowal Journalism Award. Thus, another renowned name in the University of Pennsylvania notable alumni base. 

10. Ivanka Trump

Ivanka Marie Trump, daughter of (present) US President - Donald Trump, is an entrepreneur, former senior adviser to the president, and author. Ivanka Trump is a famous University of Pennsylvania alumni. Before transferring to UPenn, she was studying at Georgetown University. Ivanka Trump helped drive forward policies catering to women's empowerment in the workplace, chiefly through the Women Who Work initiative. Before her father's administration, she co-established the Trump Organization's real estate development company, served as a Wharton graduate, and advocated for paid parental leave, women's economic empowerment, and tax reform. She founded the Ivanka Trump brand for fashion and accessories. Through their enterprises, she has attempted to connect politics and business with women in societal leadership. 

Famous Indian University of Pennsylvania Alumni

Some of the University of Pennsylvania notable alumni from India include:

• Aditya Mittal: President & CFO, Mittal Steel & Company
• Jayant Sinha: Former MoS for Finance & the MoS for Civil Aviation in the Government of India (Renowned Indian politician)
• Shweta Bachchan Nanda: Renowned Indian columnist, model, and author. 

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