List of Mercy University alumni

Mercy University is an independent, coeducational institution serving nearly 9,000 students each year across campuses in Westchester, the Bronx, Manhattan, as well as online. It is a federally designated minority-serving institution and the largest private Hispanic Serving Institution in the state of New York. Mercy was founded in 1950 by the Sisters of Mercy. Mercy University had more than 70,000 alumni as of 2023. Here follows a partial list of some notable Mercy University alumni.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Academia

• Madeleine Blais, an American journalist, author and professor in the University of Massachusetts Amherst's journalism department. Pulitzer Prize winner.
• Paul Broadie, president of Housatonic Community College and Gateway Community College
• Julia Ching, professor of religion, philosophy and East Asian studies at the University of Toronto. She taught at Columbia and Yale before joining the University of Toronto faculty.
• Anthony Mullen, 2009 National Teacher of the Year award winner.
• Regina Peruggi, an American educator, who was the President of Kingsborough Community College from 2005 to 2014. Prior to that, she was president of Marymount Manhattan College and led the Central Park Conservancy.
• Teresa P. Pica, Professor of Education at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education
• Meisha Ross Porter, an American educator who served as the New York City Schools Chancellor
• Pamela Smart, American high school teacher
• Gregory Howard Williams, 27th President of the University of Cincinnati, and the 11th President of the City College of New York.
• Darlene Yee-Melichar, professor and coordinator of the gerontology program at San Francisco State University where she also serves as Director of Long-Term care Administration.

Government and civil service

Alumnus Jamaal Bowman served as the U.S. representative for New York's 16th congressional district.

• Jamaal Bowman, American politician and educator serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 16th congressional district since 2021.
• Maria del Carmen Arroyo,the former Council member for the 17th district of the New York City Council.
• Robert Cornegy, New York City Council Member for the 36th District, representing Bedford-Stuyvesant and northern Crown Heights in Brooklyn.
• Anna Cowin, former Lake County School District superintendent and served in the Florida State Senate.
• Pasquale J. D'Amuro, American terrorism authority, former intelligence agent and television analyst. In a career of 26 years he rose to the third position of the FBI.
• Mike Kavekotora, Namibian politician and member of parliament. He is the president of the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP)
• Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo III, Ghanaian traditional ruler who is the Omanhene (or paramount chief) of the Akuapem traditional area (Okuapeman) in Ghana.
• David Rosado, American politician from New York

Law

• Mary Donohue, an American retired educator, attorney, politician and Judge of the New York Court of Claims and a former two-term Lieutenant Governor of New York.
• Aulana L. Peters, a retired partner at the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
• James Reitz, American judge and politician from Putnam County, New York. He was an acting justice for the US Supreme Court's 9th Judicial District

Religion

• Reverend Troy P DeCohen, Senior Pastor of the Mount Vernon Heights Congregational Church in Mt. Vernon NY. He delivered the invocation at the 2016 New York State, State of the State Address in Albany.
• Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, Cuban-American theologian who served as professor emerita of ethics and theology at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey.

Activists

• Elaine Bartlett, activist
• Jeffrey Mark Deskovic, a lawyer and activist
• Donna Hylton, Jamaican-American activist
• Jon-Adrian Velazquez, American criminal legal reform activist
• Rosemary Dempsey, noted American Activist, has served many roles in second wave feminism, civil rights movements, and anti-war protests.

Arts and entertainment

Alumna Gabourey Sidibe, an Academy Award-nominated actress.

Alumna Mercedes Ruehl is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Tony Award.

• Gabourey Sidibe, Academy Award-nominated actress
• Olivia Peguero, contemporary landscape and botanical artist
• Leopoldo Minaya, poet
• Alicia Barney, a Colombian artist based in Cali who focuses her paintings and installation art on ecological questions and problems such as water pollution, deforestation and quality of life.
• Patricia Breslin, an American actress and philanthropist.
• Allys Dwyer, an American actress who became a college educator.
• Clarence Maclin, an American actor known for his role in Sing Sing
• Claire Porter, American choreographer/comedian known for blending comedic monologues with dance movement.
• Mercedes Ruehl, American screen, stage, and television actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award, two Obie Awards, and two Outer Critics Circle Awards.
• Myra Turley, an American film and television actress.

Journalism

• Maria Mercader, an American journalist and news producer who worked for CBS News for over three decades. For her work producing a CBS feature report about computer spam, Mercader won a business Emmy Award in 2004.
• Dorothy Kilgallen, an American columnist, journalist, and television game show panelist.

Authors

• Sandra Uwiringiyimana, author
• Joan Wolf, author of more than 15 historical novels.
• Camille Marchetta, a former London literary agent, is a novelist, television writer and producer best known for her work on 1980s prime time soap operas Dallas, Dynasty and Falcon Crest.

Sports

Alumnus Garvin Alston, an American professional baseball right-handed pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB).

• Garvin Alston, retired American professional baseball right-handed pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB)
• Dewey Bozella, former amateur boxer
• Laura Creavalle, professional female bodybuilder
• Rob DiToma, head baseball coach at Fairleigh Dickinson University.
• Simone Forbes, Jamaican sportswoman, having represented Jamaica in no less than five sports
• Stan Jefferson, former center and left fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Mets among others
• Brian Sweeney, former MLB pitcher
• Wesley Walker, former NFL wide receiver
• Mookie Wilson, former MLB outfielder/ coach.
• Joel Serrano, Puerto Rican footballer
• Michael Collins, an American former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder. Collins played for at least twelve teams in nearly half a dozen leagues over his seventeen-year career. He also earned two caps with the United States national team in 1988. Collins currently serves as president and general manager of California United Strikers FC.
• Jude Flannery, an American triathlete who won six consecutive US national championships between 1991 and 1996. She died after a collision with a car while training in 1997.

Business

• George Gallego, a world ranked para-triathlete and entrepreneur
• Michele Quirolo, President and chief executive officer of The Visiting Nurse Association of Hudson Valley
• Carolyn Kepcher, businesswoman who was one of the judges on the NBC television program The Apprentice.
• Walter Anderson, former publisher and CEO of Parade Magazine
• Noreen Culhane, an American businesswoman and current executive vice president of the New York Stock Exchange, directing their Global Corporate Client Group.
• Anne Sweeney, American businesswoman. She currently serves as a member of the board of directors at Netflix, LEGO A/S, and the board of trustees at the Mayo Clinic and the J.P. Getty Trust. She was formerly the co-chair of Disney Media Networks and President of the Disney–ABC Television Group, and the President of Disney Channel from 1996 to 2014.

Science and medicine

Alumna Emmeline Edwards served as the director of the division of extramural research at the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.

Alumna Paule Valery Joseph is the 2022 National Academy of Medicine and American Academy of Nursing Fellow.

• Paule Valery Joseph, an American nurse and researcher at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. She is the 2022 National Academy of Medicine American Academy of Nursing Fellow.
• Emmeline Edwards, neurochemist serving as director of the division of extramural research at the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. She previously researched the neural mechanisms of complex behaviors and characterization of a genetic model of affective disorders at the University of Maryland, College Park. From 2000 to 2010, Edwards was deputy director of the extramural program at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
• Mary Jane Perry, an American oceanographer known for the use of optics to study marine phytoplankton.
• Kathleen Ethier, American social psychologist and public health official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2016, she was appointed the Director of CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health in the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention.
• Margaret C. Snyder, American social scientist
• Emmeline Edwards, neurochemist serving as director of the division of extramural research at the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. She previously researched the neural mechanisms of complex behaviors and characterization of a genetic model of affective disorders at the University of Maryland, College Park. From 2000 to 2010, Edwards was deputy director of the extramural program at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
• Mary Jane Perry, an American oceanographer known for the use of optics to study marine phytoplankton.
• Kathleen Ethier, American social psychologist and public health official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2016, she was appointed the Director of CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health in the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention.
• Margaret C. Snyder, American social scientist

Military

• Patricia Ann Tracey, retired United States naval officer and the first woman to be promoted to the rank of vice admiral in the United States Navy. She held the positions of chief of naval education and training (CNET) (1996–98), Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Personnel Policy (1998–2001), and director of navy staff from 2001 until the time of her retirement on October 1, 2004.