St. Mark's School (Massachusetts) - Notable and Famous Alumni

Notable and Famous Alumni

Although perhaps best known for educating generations of business titans and chief executive officers of major corporations, St. Mark's School has had numerous illustrious alumni who don't fit the mold of great wealth. The school has been particularly well represented in the arts and letters. Poet Robert Lowell wrote for the school literary magazine while a student, as did Lost Generation literary figure Harry Crosby. Artist William Congdon began painting there. Henry Demarest Lloyd, a notable nineteenth century progressive and generally considered the father of investigative journalism, studied at St. Mark's. Journalism has historically been particularly well represented at the school, with a number of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists having begun their writing careers there. Tom White, designer of the "Scoop" Tostitos attended before going on to graduate from Ithaca College. Former CBS news chief and the Nation editor Blair Clark, Washington Post editor Benjamin Bradlee, and most recently comedian Mike Birbiglia, Motley Fool financial publisher David Gardner, are alumni.

The Forbes family of the Forbes Magazine publishing empire includes a number of St. Markers. The Pulitzer publishing family also counted generations of St. Mark's graduates, including Joseph Pulitzer III, who credited St. Mark's with awakening his appreciation of the arts. St. Markers have become senior Episcopal clergy and parish priests. The school has produced senators, representatives, governors, and senior diplomats, and of course St. Markers are heavily represented in academia, education, finance, the law, and business. Story Musgrave is a St. Marker who is now a retired astronaut. Daniel Howell who is also a St. Marker is now a successful venture capitalist and sends his daughters Riley and Christine to St. Mark's. Many former St. Mark's students and teachers have gone on to become headmasters in their own right—St. Mark's current headmaster is himself an alumnus of the school.

The Pomfret School was founded by a disgruntled St. Mark's headmaster William E. Peck who left Southborough after disagreement with the board of trustees of St. Mark's.