Academy of Achievement
Academy of Achievement
ORGANIZATION
Founded in 1961.
Official Website:
http://www.achievement.org/
Location:
Washington, DC
Founding Date:
1961
| Name | Occupation | Birth | Death | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | Basketball | 16-Apr-1947 | NBA records for most minutes, most points | |
| Peter Agre | Biologist | 30-Jan-1949 | Water channels of cell membranes | |
| Edward Albee | Playwright | 12-Mar-1928 | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | |
| Stephen E. Ambrose | Author | 10-Jan-1936 | 13-Oct-2002 | Band of Brothers |
| Julie Andrews | Singer | 1-Oct-1935 | Mary Poppins | |
| Maya Angelou | Poet | 4-Apr-1928 | 28-May-2014 | I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings |
| Philip Anschutz | Business | 28-Dec-1939 | Qwest billionaire | |
| Roger Bannister | Track and Field | 23-Mar-1929 | First to run a four-minute mile | |
| Mohamed El Baradei | Government | 17-Jun-1942 | UN International Atomic Energy Agency | |
| Ehud Barak | Head of State | 12-Feb-1942 | Prime Minister of Israel, 1999-2001 | |
| Paul Berg | Chemist | 30-Jun-1926 | Pioneer in recombinant DNA | |
| Yogi Berra | Baseball | 12-May-1925 | 22-Sep-2015 | New York Yankee malapropist |
| Jeff Bezos | Business | 12-Jan-1964 | Founder of Amazon | |
| Benazir Bhutto | Head of State | 21-Jun-1953 | 27-Dec-2007 | Former prime minister of Pakistan |
| Herbert W. Boyer | Biologist | 10-Jul-1936 | Recombinant DNA, first synthetic insulin | |
| Sergey Brin | Business | 21-Aug-1973 | Co-Founder of Google | |
| Willie Brown | Politician | 20-Mar-1934 | Mayor of San Francisco, 1997-2004 | |
| George H.W. Bush | Head of State | 12-Jun-1924 | 41st US President, 1989-93 | |
| James Cameron | Film Director | 16-Aug-1954 | Terminator, Titanic, and Avatar | |
| Benjamin S. Carson | Doctor | 18-Sep-1951 | Pediatric neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins | |
| Jimmy Carter | Head of State | 1-Oct-1924 | 39th US President, 1977-81 | |
| Steve Case | Business | 21-Aug-1958 | CEO of AOL, 1991-2001 | |
| Johnny Cash | Country Musician | 26-Feb-1932 | 12-Sep-2003 | The Man in Black |
| Francis Collins | Scientist | 14-Apr-1950 | Human Genome Project | |
| Denton Cooley | Doctor | 22-Aug-1920 | Pioneering heart surgeon | |
| Francis Ford Coppola | Film Director | 7-Apr-1939 | The Godfather | |
| Michael Crichton | Novelist | 23-Oct-1942 | 4-Nov-2008 | Jurassic Park |
| Sheryl Crow | Singer | 11-Feb-1962 | All I Wanna Do | |
| Olivia de Havilland | Actor | 1-Jul-1916 | Gone With the Wind | |
| Joan Didion | Author | 5-Dec-1934 | Slouching Toward Bethlehem | |
| Sam Donaldson | Journalist | 11-Mar-1934 | ABC newscaster, sheep rancher | |
| Rita Dove | Poet | 28-Aug-1952 | 7th US Poet Laureate, 1993-95 | |
| Michael Eisner | Business | 7-Mar-1942 | CEO of Disney, 1984-2005 | |
| Gertrude B. Elion | Scientist | 23-Jan-1918 | 21-Feb-1999 | Developed medicines for leukemia, herpes, AIDS |
| Larry Ellison | Business | 17-Aug-1944 | Founder of Oracle | |
| Julius Erving | Basketball | 22-Feb-1950 | Forward, Philadelphia 76ers | |
| Shelby Foote | Author | 17-Nov-1916 | 27-Jun-2005 | Shiloh |
| Milton Friedman | Economist | 31-Jul-1912 | 16-Nov-2006 | 1976 Nobel Prize for Economics |
| Carlos Fuentes | Novelist | 11-Nov-1928 | 15-May-2012 | La muerte de Artemio Cruz |
| Bill Gates | Business | 28-Oct-1955 | Co-Founder of Microsoft | |
| Frank Gehry | Architect | 28-Feb-1929 | Postmodern architect | |
| Rudy Giuliani | Politician | 28-May-1944 | Mayor of New York City, 1994-2001 | |
| Sheldon Glashow | Physicist | 5-Dec-1932 | Electroweak Theory | |
| Whoopi Goldberg | Actor | 13-Nov-1955 | Sister Act | |
| Maurice Goldhaber | Physicist | 18-Apr-1911 | 11-May-2011 | Neutrons |
| Alberto Gonzales | Government | 4-Aug-1955 | US Attorney General, 2005-07 | |
| Doris Kearns Goodwin | Historian | 4-Jan-1943 | Team of Rivals | |
| Mikhail Gorbachev | Head of State | 2-Mar-1931 | Final leader of the Soviet Union | |
| Stephen Jay Gould | Biologist | 10-Sep-1941 | 20-May-2002 | Evolutionary scientist |
| John Grisham | Novelist | 8-Feb-1955 | The Firm | |
| David Halberstam | Journalist | 10-Apr-1934 | 23-Apr-2007 | The Powers That Be |
| Dorothy Hamill | Figure Skating | 26-Jul-1956 | Olympic figure skater, gold medal 1976 | |
| Scott Hamilton | Figure Skating | 28-Aug-1958 | Olympic ice skater | |
| Carlos Slim Helu | Business | 28-Jan-1940 | World's richest man, 2010 | |
| Edmund Hillary | Explorer | 20-Jul-1919 | 11-Jan-2008 | First to summit Mt. Everest |
| David Ho | Doctor | 3-Nov-1952 | AIDS researcher | |
| Susan Hockfield | Educator | 24-Mar-1951 | President of MIT | |
| Ron Howard | Actor | 1-Mar-1954 | Richie Cunningham on Happy Days | |
| John Hume | Politician | 18-Jan-1937 | Northern Ireland pol, Nobel recipient | |
| Jeremy Irons | Actor | 19-Sep-1948 | Dead Ringers | |
| John Irving | Novelist | 2-Mar-1942 | The World According to Garp | |
| Donald Johanson | Anthropologist | 28-Jun-1943 | Discovered "Lucy" fossils | |
| Philip Johnson | Architect | 8-Jul-1906 | 25-Jan-2005 | The Glass House |
| Chuck Jones | Cartoonist | 21-Sep-1912 | 22-Feb-2002 | Directed Bugs Bunny cartoons |
| James Earl Jones | Actor | 17-Jan-1931 | Voice of Darth Vader and CNN | |
| Quincy Jones | Music Producer | 14-Mar-1933 | Musician, Composer, Producer | |
| Hamid Karzai | Head of State | 24-Dec-1957 | President of Afghanistan | |
| Anthony Kennedy | Judge | 23-Jul-1936 | US Supreme Court Justice | |
| Jeong H. Kim | Business | c. 1961 | President of Bell Laboratories | |
| James Kimsey | Business | 1939 | AOL's founding CEO | |
| B. B. King | Musician | 16-Sep-1925 | 14-May-2015 | King of the Blues |
| Coretta Scott King | Activist | 27-Apr-1927 | 30-Jan-2006 | Widow of Dr. Martin Luther King |
| Larry King | Talk Show Host | 19-Nov-1933 | Larry King Live | |
| Charles Kuralt | TV Personality | 10-Sep-1934 | 4-Jul-1997 | On the Road |
| Robert B. Laughlin | Physicist | 1-Nov-1950 | Fractional quantum Hall effect | |
| Leon M. Lederman | Physicist | 15-Jul-1922 | Researcher of neutrinos | |
| John Lewis | Politician | 21-Feb-1940 | Congressman, Georgia 5th | |
| Maya Lin | Artist | 5-Oct-1959 | Designed Vietnam Veterans Memorial | |
| Raymond Loewy | Designer | 5-Nov-1893 | 14-Jul-1986 | Father of industrial design |
| George Lucas | Film Director | 14-May-1944 | Creator of Star Wars | |
| John D. MacArthur | Philanthropist | 6-Mar-1897 | 6-Jan-1978 | Philanthropist, MacArthur Foundation |
| Norman Mailer | Author | 31-Jan-1923 | 10-Nov-2007 | Armies of the Night |
| Wynton Marsalis | Jazz Musician | 18-Oct-1961 | Trumpeter | |
| Ernst Mayr | Biologist | 5-Jul-1904 | 3-Feb-2005 | Evolutionary biologist |
| Willie Mays | Baseball | 6-May-1931 | Baseball Hall of Famer | |
| Craig McCaw | Business | 11-Aug-1949 | Billionaire, Nextel | |
| Frank McCourt | Author | 19-Aug-1930 | 19-Jul-2009 | Angela's Ashes |
| David McCullough | Historian | 7-Jul-1933 | The American Experience | |
| James A. Michener | Novelist | 3-Feb-1907 | 16-Oct-1997 | South Pacific |
| Norm Mineta | Politician | 12-Nov-1931 | Congressman from California, 1975-95 | |
| Marvin Minsky | Scientist | 9-Aug-1927 | Father of Artificial Intelligence | |
| George J. Mitchell | Politician | 20-Aug-1933 | US Senator from Maine, 1980-95 | |
| N. Scott Momaday | Novelist | 27-Feb-1934 | House Made of Dawn | |
| Story Musgrave | Astronaut | 19-Aug-1935 | Spent 1281 hours in space | |
| Ralph Nader | Activist | 27-Feb-1934 | Unsafe at Any Speed | |
| Paul Nitze | Diplomat | 16-Jan-1907 | 19-Oct-2004 | US cold warrior |
| Antonia C. Novello | Doctor | 23-Aug-1944 | US Surgeon General, 1990-93 | |
| Trevor Nunn | Theater Director | 14-Jan-1940 | Royal Shakespeare Company, 1968-86 | |
| Joyce Carol Oates | Author | 16-Jun-1938 | Author of over 40 novels | |
| Pierre M. Omidyar | Business | 21-Jun-1967 | Founder of eBay | |
| Larry Page | Business | 26-Mar-1973 | Co-Founder of Google | |
| Roy H. Park | Philanthropist | 15-Sep-1910 | 25-Oct-1993 | Media mogul, Park Foundation |
| Rosa Parks | Activist | 4-Feb-1913 | 24-Oct-2005 | Wouldn't sit in the back of the bus |
| Linus Pauling | Chemist | 28-Feb-1901 | 19-Aug-1994 | Scientist and peacenik |
| Shimon Peres | Head of State | 16-Aug-1923 | President of Israel | |
| Hy Peskin | Photographer | 5-Nov-1915 | 2-Jun-2005 | Sports photojournalist |
| William D. Phillips | Physicist | 5-Nov-1948 | Trapped atoms with laser light | |
| Colin Powell | Government | 5-Apr-1937 | US Secretary of State, 2001-05 | |
| Dan Rather | Journalist | 31-Oct-1931 | Former CBS Anchorman | |
| Catherine B. Reynolds | Philanthropist | c. 1957 | Prominent benefactor | |
| Sally Ride | Astronaut | 26-May-1951 | 23-Jul-2012 | First American woman in space |
| Sonny Rollins | Jazz Musician | 7-Sep-1930 | Tenor sax master | |
| David M. Rubenstein | Business | c. 1949 | Director of the Carlyle Group | |
| Jonas Salk | Scientist | 28-Oct-1914 | 23-Jun-1995 | Discoverer of the first polio vaccine |
| Robert Schuller | Religion | 16-Sep-1926 | 2-Apr-2015 | World's most upbeat televangelist |
| Norman Schwarzkopf | Military | 22-Aug-1934 | 27-Dec-2012 | Leader in Persian Gulf War |
| Charles Simonyi | Computer Programmer | 10-Sep-1948 | Hungarian notation | |
| Frederick W. Smith | Business | 11-Aug-1944 | Founder and CEO of Federal Express | |
| Stephen Sondheim | Composer | 22-Mar-1930 | West Side Story | |
| Martha Stewart | Business | 3-Aug-1941 | Professional housekeeper, insider trader | |
| James Stockdale | Military | 23-Dec-1923 | 5-Jul-2005 | H. Ross Perot's would-be Vice President |
| Robert S. Strauss | Diplomat | 19-Oct-1918 | 19-Mar-2014 | US Ambassador to Russia, 1991-92 |
| Amy Tan | Author | 19-Feb-1952 | The Joy Luck Club | |
| Julie Taymor | Film Director | 15-Dec-1952 | Across the Universe | |
| Edward Teller | Physicist | 15-Jan-1908 | 9-Sep-2003 | Father of the Hydrogen Bomb |
| Twyla Tharp | Dancer | 1-Jul-1941 | Choreographer | |
| Desmond Tutu | Religion | 7-Oct-1931 | Archbishop of Cape Town | |
| John Updike | Novelist | 18-Mar-1932 | 27-Jan-2009 | Rabbit, Run |
| Gore Vidal | Author | 3-Oct-1925 | 31-Jul-2012 | Visit to a Small Planet |
| Lech Walesa | Head of State | 29-Sep-1943 | Polish labor leader, president | |
| Herschel Walker | Football | 3-Mar-1962 | NFL Running back, 1986-97 | |
| Mike Wallace | Journalist | 9-May-1918 | 7-Apr-2012 | Veteran 60 Minutes correspondent |
| James Watson | Scientist | 6-Apr-1928 | Co-Discoverer of DNA | |
| Andrew Weil | Author | 8-Jun-1942 | New age ethnopharmacologist | |
| Sanford I. Weill | Business | 16-Mar-1933 | CEO of Citigroup, 1998-2003 | |
| Ed Whitacre, Jr. | Business | 4-Nov-1941 | Chairman and CEO of General Motors, 2009-10 | |
| Elie Wiesel | Activist | 30-Sep-1928 | Anti-Holocaust and human-rights activist | |
| Lenny Wilkens | Basketball | 28-Oct-1937 | Winningest coach in NBA history | |
| Oprah Winfrey | Talk Show Host | 29-Jan-1954 | The Oprah Winfrey Show | |
| Tom Wolfe | Author | 2-Mar-1931 | Bonfire of the Vanities | |
| John Wooden | Basketball | 14-Oct-1910 | 4-Jun-2010 | Winningest-ever college basketball coach |
| Bob Woodward | Journalist | 26-Mar-1943 | Broke the Watergate story | |
| Chuck Yeager | Aviator | 13-Feb-1923 | Test pilot, first to break speed of sound | |
| Robert Zemeckis | Film Director | 14-May-1952 | Back To The Future | |
| Ahmed H. Zewail | Chemist | 26-Feb-1946 | Femtochemistry |
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