Reed College alumni

Reed College alumni
Name	Reed College alumni
Established	1908
Type	Private liberal arts college alumni
Location	Portland, Oregon
Notable	See article

Contents

Reed College alumni are graduates and former students associated with Reed College in Portland, Oregon, whose careers span literature, science, technology, law, politics, and the arts. Reed alumni have influenced institutions such as Harvard University, Stanford University, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, The New Yorker, and The New York Times, and have been recognized by awards including the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, the MacArthur Fellowship, and the National Medal of Science. The network includes figures connected to movements, organizations, and works across the 20th and 21st centuries.

Notable alumni

Humanities and letters: Graduates have produced work published in The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, The New York Times, and been finalists for the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the Man Booker Prize. Science and engineering: Alumni have contributed to research at NASA, National Institutes of Health, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, and companies such as Intel Corporation and IBM. They have collaborated with programs at Stanford University School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and California Institute of Technology. Technology and entrepreneurship: Alumni founders and executives have launched ventures that raised capital from Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and Benchmark. They have been involved with Google, Apple Inc., Facebook, Twitter, and Microsoft through product, research, or acquisition pathways. Law, policy, and public service: Alumni have served in roles connected to the U.S. Congress, state legislatures, think tanks such as Brookings Institution and American Enterprise Institute, and international organizations including the United Nations and the World Bank. Arts and media: Graduates have exhibited at MoMA, performed at the Metropolitan Opera, written for The New Yorker and The Atlantic, and worked in film and television with companies like Netflix, HBO, Warner Bros., and Paramount Pictures.

Reed-affiliated networks include local and regional chapters that engage with alumni through events at venues such as the Portland Art Museum and partnerships with institutions like Lewis & Clark College and Oregon State University. National organizations coordinate reunions in cities including New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and Los Angeles, and maintain connections to professional groups such as alumni associations tied to Harvard University, Stanford University, and Yale University collaborations. Alumni also participate in nonprofit governance alongside entities such as The Nature Conservancy, American Red Cross, and Human Rights Watch.

Alumni have been recipients of the Nobel Prize in sciences and literature-adjacent fields, the Pulitzer Prize for journalism and letters, the MacArthur Fellowship (“genius grant”), the National Medal of Science, the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, and fellowships from institutions including Guggenheim Foundation, Rhodes Trust, and Fulbright Program. They have been elected to academies such as the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and received honors from cultural bodies like the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution.

Alumni influence is visible in scholarship at Harvard University, policy formation at Congressional Research Service and State Department circles, technological development at Bell Labs-adjacent enterprises, and cultural production in outlets like The New Yorker and The New York Times. Their work has shaped research agendas at NIH and NSF-funded centers, informed litigation in federal courts including the United States Supreme Court, and contributed to public discourse through platforms like TED Conferences and academic symposia at AAAS meetings.

The college’s alumni relations and career services coordinate mentorship and recruiting with employers such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon (company), McKinsey & Company, and research institutions like Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Salk Institute. Career offices facilitate internships with media outlets including The New York Times and The Atlantic, fellowships funded by Fulbright Program and Rhodes Trust, and placements into graduate programs at Stanford University, MIT, Harvard University, and Oxford University.