A sampling of alumni who have made major contributions to society. For a more complete list, please see the Hall of Distinguished Alumni.

Business

• Al de Molina (Rutgers Business School '88) is the chief executive officer of GMAC Financial Services.
• Sol Barer (Graduate School–New Brunswick '70, '74) is CEO and founder of Celgene Corporation in Summit, New Jersey. The company’s anticancer drugs were recently approved by the FDA, and the company also pursues stem cell research.
• Bernard Marcus (School of Pharmacy '54) is cofounder of Home Depot.

Economics

• Milton Friedman (Rutgers College '32) was a major voice against government intervention in the economy. For his pathbreaking work, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for economics in 1976.

Health and Medicine

• Selman A. Waksman (Rutgers College '15) was a major contributor to the advancement of modern medicine, isolating 22 antibiotics in his laboratory, including streptomycin, which revolutionized the treatment of tuberculosis. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 1952.
• Gary Cohen (Rutgers College '80, Rutgers Business School '83) is executive vice president of BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), a global medical technology company dedicated to improving health throughout the world. He recently received the B'nai B'rith International Distinguished Humanitarian Award.

Law

• Arthur Ngiraklsong (School of Law–Camden '74) is the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Palau.
• Virginia Long (School of Law–Newark '66), Jaynee LaVecchia (Douglass College '76, School of Law–Newark '79), and Barry T. Albin (Rutgers College '73) serve as New Jersey Supreme Court justices.

Public Service

• New Jersey State Senator Raymond J. Lesniak (Rutgers College '71) won the Memorial de Caen International Human Rights Competition for his speech "The Road to Justice and Peace," which focuses on abolishing the death penalty.
• Robert Menendez (School of Law–Newark '79) is a U.S. Senator and former Congressional Representative. He is the first Latino senator and representative from New Jersey.
• Joseph Roberts (Camden College of Arts and Sciences '77) is Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly.

Sports

• Darnell Stapleton (University College–New Brunswick '07), starting right guard for the Pittsburgh Steelers, became the sixth Scarlet Knight to earn a Super Bowl ring.
• David Stern (Rutgers College '63) has served as commissioner of the National Basketball Association since 1984.

The Arts

• James Gandolfini (Rutgers College '83) is starring in Tony-winner Yasmina Reza's hit play God of Carnage.
• Junot Díaz (Rutgers College '92) has been awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his acclaimed first novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which is filled with Rutgers references.
• Paul Robeson (Rutgers College '19), a brilliant singer and actor, All-American athlete, and well-known advocate for leftist causes, Robeson's career included starring roles in such classic plays as The Emperor Jones, Porgy and Bess, Othello, and Showboat.

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