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Academy of Achievement

ORGANIZATION

Founded in 1961.

Official Website:
http://www.achievement.org/

Location:
Washington, DC

Founding Date:
1961

NameOccupationBirthDeathKnown 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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