Masters

Successful people understand the importance of passion in a teacher. They know, often from personal experience, that a great teacher can change a life. Our growing list of “masters” who want to help us support our strongest teachers includes Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winners, academic superstars, MacArthur “geniuses,” artists, policy makers, politicians, and business leaders.

  • Jon Agee

    Award-winning children’s book writer and illustrator.

  • Alash Ensemble

    Trio of master throat singers from Tuva.

  • Alan Alda

    Oscar nominated actor and visiting professor at Stony Brook University.

  • Yazmany Arboleda

    Artist and co-founder of limeSHIFT, a creative agency that brings artists into public and private communities.

  • Isobel Armstrong

    Fellow of the British Academy. Currently teaching at Princeton.

  • Billy Aronson

    Emmy Award-winning co-creator of Peg + Cat.

  • Charles Bailyn

    Professor of Astronomy and Physics at Yale University.

  • Dan Barber

    Chef and co-owner of Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns.

  • James G. Basker

    President of the Gilder Lehrman Institute, and Professor of Literature, Barnard College.

  • Robert Battle

    Artistic Director, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

  • Manjul Bhargava

    Fields Medalist and Professor of Mathematics, Princeton University.

  • Mark Bittman

    Food expert, author, and former columnist for The New York Times.

  • Rubén Blades

    Actor, activist, composer, and singer with 13 Grammy Awards.

  • Casey Nelson Blake

    P​rofessor of ​History​ and ​Director​ of the Center for American Studies,​ Columbia University.

  • Ron Blake

    A member of NBC’s Saturday Night Live Band and serves on the faculty at the Juilliard School.

  • David Blight

    Professor of American History at Yale University and ​D​irector of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery.

  • Cory Booker

    Junior United States Senator from New Jersey.

  • Christopher Brown

    Professor of History at Columbia University.

  • Brenda Jo Brueggemann

    Professor of English and Disability Studies, University of Connecticut.

  • Frank Bruni

    New York Times columnist and author.

  • Rika Burnham

    Head of Education at the Frick Collection, winner of the James D. Burke Prize for achievement in the arts.

  • Sylvain Cappell

    Professor of Mathematics, Courant Institute, New York University.

  • Robert Carsen

    Opera director with productions at the Met, La Scala, Covent Garden, and elsewhere.

  • Martin Chalfie

    Nobel laureate and Professor of Biology, Columbia University.

  • Kartik Chandran

    Environmental engineer at Columbia University and MacArthur “genius.”

  • Roz Chast

    New Yorker cartoonist and author and illustrator of award-winning books.

  • Susan Choi

    Novelist and recipient of the Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship and the PEN/W.G. Sebald award.

  • Ta-Nehisi Coates

    Journalist, National Book Award-winner, and a MacArthur “genius.”

  • Kenneth Cole

    Fashion designer and activist.

  • Billy Collins

    Former Poet Laureate of the United States.

  • Gail Collins

    New York Times columnist and author.

  • Cecilia A. Conrad

    Economist and Vice President of the MacArthur Fellows Program.

  • James L. Cott

    United States magistrate judge for the Southern District of New York.

  • Alice Crary

    Chair of the Department of Philosophy at The New School.

  • David M. Darst

    Managing Director and Chief Investment Stategist at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.

  • Andrew Delbanco

    Professor of American Studies at Columbia University and recipient of National Humanities Medal.

  • Dickson Despommier

    Professor of Microbiology and Public Health (emeritus), Columbia University.

  • Paul Engelmayer

    United States district judge for the Southern District of New York.

  • Ernesto Estrella

    Spanish poet and former Assistant Professor of Contemporary Poetry at Yale University.

  • Oskar Eustis

    Artistic Director, The Public Theater.

  • David Ferriero

    The Archivist of the United States.

  • Stuart Firestein

    Chair of Columbia University’s Department of Biological Sciences.

  • Eric Foner

    American historian and DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University.

  • Richard A. Friedman

    Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Director of the Psychopharmacology Clinic at Weill Cornell.

  • Phil Galdston

    Songwriter, producer, and Master Teacher in Songwriting at NYU.

  • Maria Garlock

    Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University.

  • Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

    Author and Alfonse Fletcher University Professor, Harvard University.

  • Roberto G. Gonzales

    Professor of Sociology, Harvard University.

  • Stephen Greenblatt

    Harvard Professor of English, winner of the Pulitzer and a National Book Award.

  • Maxine Greene

    Educational philosopher, author, and teacher.

  • Rinne Groff

    Playwright and founding member of Elevator Repair Service.

  • Elizabeth Harman

    Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Philosophy and Human Values at Princeton University.

  • George Hart

    Research professor at Stony Brook University and interdisciplinary sculptor, mathematician, computer scientist, and educator.

  • Hazmat Modine

    NYC American-roots band formed in late 1990s.

  • Samuel D. Hodge, Jr.

    Temple University professor in both Law and Medical Schools.

  • Roald Hoffmann

    Nobel laureate and Professor of Chemistry, Cornell University.

  • Bob Holman

    Poet and founder of the Bowery Poetry Club.

  • Sara Hook

    Choreographer and Professor of Dance at the University of Illinois.

  • Alexandra Horowitz

    Author and Professor of Psychology, Barnard College.

  • Amy Hungerford

    Professor of English and Divisional Director of Humanities at Yale University.

  • Bobby Hurley, Sr.

    Hall of Fame basketball coach.

  • Kenneth T. Jackson

    Author and Professor of American History, Columbia University.

  • Dale Jamison

    Professor of Environmental Studies and Philosophy at NYU.

  • Shelly Kagan

    Clark Professor of Philosophy at Yale University.

  • Joshua Katz

    Professor of Classics, Princeton University.

  • Brian Kernighan

    Professor of Computer Science, Princeton University.

  • Philip Kitcher

    John Dewey Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University.

  • The Kronos Quartet

    American string quartet that specializes in contemporary and new music.

  • Stephen Krupin

    Senior speechwriter for President Obama and lecturer at Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

  • David Lang

    Pulitzer Prize-winning composer.

  • Charles Liu

    Professor of Astrophysics, CUNY Staten Island.

  • David Madigan

    Executive Vice President and Dean of Faculty of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Statistics, Columbia University.

  • Taylor Mali

    Four-time national Poetry Slam champion.

  • Sharon Marcus

    Professor of English, Columbia University.

  • David McCullough

    Winner of two Pulitzers, two National Book Awards, and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

  • Bill McKibben

    Writer, environmentalist, and climate change prophet.

  • Meredith Monk

    Composer, singer, director, MacArthur “genius.”

  • Bill Morrison

    Filmmaker, Guggenheim Fellow.

  • Bill Moyers

    Emmy Award winning broadcast journalist.

  • Khalil Muhammad

    Professor of History, Race and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School.

  • Paul Muldoon

    Princeton University Professor in the Humanities and Pulitzer Prize-winner.