Prominent First-Generation Students
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Albert Einstein
Profession: Physicist
Known for: The Theory of Relativity, recipient of the1922 Nobel Prize for Theoretical Physics
Education: Teaching Degree from ETH University in Zurich, Switzerland
Family: Einstein’s father, who ran an electrical company with his brother, did not attend college.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Profession: U.S. Supreme Court Justice (1993-Present)
Known for: Second female justice appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, fierce advocate for gender equality
Education: B.A. from Cornell, Law degree from Harvard
Family: Ginsburg’s mother didn’t have the opportunity to attend college. Instead, she worked to help pay for her brother’s college education.
Oprah Winfrey
Professions: Talk show host, television network owner, actress, producer, and philanthropist.
Known for: Being the world’s only black billionaire (as of 2006), among many other accolades
Education: Bachelor’s from Tennessee State University
Family: Oprah’s mother, a housemaid, was an unmarried teenager when Oprah was born
Barney Frank
Profession: Former U.S. Congressman (1981-2013)
Known for: First openly gay member of Congress
Education: Undergraduate and Law degrees from Harvard
Family: Frank’s father ran a truck stop in Jersey City
Viet Thanh Nguyen
Profession: Novelist and Academic
Known for: 2016 Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction for The Sympathizer
Education: B.A. and Ph.D in English from UC Berkeley
Family: Nguyen’s family came to the U.S. as refugees in the 1970’s, eventually settling in San Jose, CA where his parents ran one of the city’s first Vietnamese grocery stores
John Lewis
Profession: U.S. Congressman (1987-Present)
Known for: Civil rights leadership; founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
Education: B.A. from Fisk University in Nashville, TN
Family: Lewis’ parents were sharecroppers
Thurgood Marshall
Profession: U.S. Supreme Court Justice (1967-1991)
Known for: First African-American justice appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court; Civil rights icon who fought segregation laws and won Brown v. Board of Education
Education: B.A. from Lincoln University, Law degree from Howard University
Family: Marshall’s father worked as a railroad porter
Sonia Sotomayor
Profession: U.S. Supreme Court Justice (2009-Present)
Known for: Third female and first Hispanic justice appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court
Education: Bachelor’s from Princeton, Law degree from Yale Law
Family: Sotomayor’s parents immigrated to the U.S. from Puerto Rico where they lived in a housing project in the Bronx
Elizabeth Warren
Profession: Massachusetts Senator
Known for: Passionate consumer advocacy
Education: Bachelor’s from University of Houston, Law degrees from Rutgers
Family: Warren’s mother worked in the catalog department at Sears, and her father was a maintenance man.
Michelle Obama
Profession: Lawyer and Writer
Known for: First African-American First Lady
Education: Bachelor’s from Princeton, Law degree from Harvard Law School
Family: Michelle Obama grew up in Chicago where her father worked for the water department and her mother was a homemaker
Colin Powell
Profession: Former Secretary of State, National Security Advisor, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and four-star General
Known for: First African-American Secretary of State and member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Education: B.A. City College of New York, MBA from George Washington University
Family: Powell’s parents immigrated to the U.S. from Jamaica. His father was a shipping clerk and his mother was a seamstress
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