Mercersburg Academy - Notable Alumni

Notable Alumni

Mercersburg has produced many outstanding individuals, including 48 Olympians (and nine gold medalists), seven Rhodes Scholars, several Fulbright Scholars, a Nobel Prize winner, two Academy Award winners, two Emmy Award winners, and a Golden Globe winner.

Medal of Honor recipients

• Joel T. Boone 1909
• Eugene B. Fluckey 1930
• Ralph Talbot 1916

Nobel Prize recipient

• Burton Richter 1948 (for physics, 1976)

Olympic gold medalists

• Robert Leavitt 1903
• Ted Meredith 1912
• Allen Woodring 1918
• Harry Glancy 1924
• Bill Carr 1929
• Charles Moore Jr. 1947
• Richard Saeger 1982
• Betsy Mitchell 1983
• Melvin Stewart 1988

Academy Award winners

• James Stewart 1928
• Benicio del Toro 1985

Rhodes Scholars

• Robert N. Cunningham Jr. 1921
• Edward F. D'Arms 1921
• Laurence A.L. Scott 1924
• Dudley L. Harley 1927
• James M. Tunnell 1928
• Robert H. Michelet 1930
• Cresson H. Kearny 1933

Others

• Joe Birmingham 1904 - former Major League Baseball player; first manager of the Cleveland Indians
• Wilbert W. White Jr. 1907 - decorated World War I flying ace
• Stewart H. Appleby 1909 - former U.S. congressman from New Jersey
• John Coolidge 1924 and Calvin Coolidge II '25 - sons of President Calvin Coolidge
• Bump Hadley 1924 - former major-league pitcher and Boston Red Sox television broadcaster
• John Payne 1932 - actor, Miracle on 34th Street
• Walter Farley 1935 - author, The Black Stallion series
• Harry Hughes 1944 - former governor of Maryland
• H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest 1949 - founder of Suburban Cable (sold to Comcast in 2000) and member of the Forbes 400
• Dick Thornburgh 1950 - former governor of Pennsylvania and United States Attorney General
• Bill Baldwin 1953 - science-fiction author, The Helmsman series
• Nicholas Taubman 1953 - U.S. Ambassador to Romania; former CEO of Advance Auto Parts
• Dick Cass 1964 - president, Baltimore Ravens (National Football League)
• Dean Taylor 1969 - vice president-baseball operations/assistant general manager, Kansas City Royals
• Peggy Northrop 1972 - editor-in-chief, Reader's Digest
• John E. Jones III, 1973, U.S. District Judge who decided the Dover Intelligent Design Case
• Jim Irsay 1978 - owner, Indianapolis Colts
• William Davies 1979 - screenwriter, Flushed Away, Twins, Grumpy Old Men
• Michael Davies 1985 - executive producer, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Wife Swap, Power of 10
• Luke Ebbin 1985 - composer and Grammy-nominated record producer
• Sean Kanan 1985 - actor, The Karate Kid, Part III, General Hospital, The Bold and the Beautiful
• Vanessa Branch 1990 - actress, Pirates of the Caribbean, Orbit Gum commercials; was Miss Vermont 1994
• Gabriel Hammond 1997 - founder of SteelPath Advisors/Alerian
• Rebecca Lowe 1999 - TV sportscaster, ESPN UK (formerly with the BBC and Setanta Sports)
• Emily Maynard 2004 - winner of The Bachelor (Season 15), star of The Bachelorette (season 8)
• Josh Edgin 2006 - pitcher, New York Mets
• Vincent Rey 2006 - linebacker, Cincinnati Bengals
• Christian Binford 2011 - pitcher, Kansas City Royals organization