U.S. President Barack Obama entered Harvard Law School in 1988 and eventually became the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. During his time at the school, he also played basketball on the black law students' association team.
Source: NPR
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore graduated cum laude from Harvard in 1969 with a degree in government. He wrote a great senior thesis titled, "The Impact of Television on the Conduct of the Presidency, 1947-1969."
Source: Biography.com
Ben Bernanke, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, graduated summa cum laude in 1975 with a degree in economics. He earned a 1590 out of 1600 on his SATs.
Source: Forbes
Bill Gates began studying at Harvard in 1973 and decided to major in applied math. He dropped out two years later to found Microsoft with his friend Paul Allen. One of Gates' former roommates told Harvard Magazine that Gates would study for 36 hours at a time, with 10 hour breaks in between.
Source: Harvard Magazine
Comedian Conan O'Brien graduated in 1985 with a degree in American History. He was president of Harvard's parody magazine "The Harvard Lampoon" twice.
Source: Biography.com
Dean Norris, best known for his role as Hank Schrader on the show "Breaking Bad," graduated in 1985 with a concentration in social studies. He was the first member of his family to attend college.
Sources: NPR and Harvard Magazine
Former U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt entered Harvard in 1900, and he was heavily involved in extracurriculars. Roosevelt was president of the Harvard CRIMSON newspaper, secretary of the glee club, and one of the founders of the political society.
Source: The Harvard Crimson
Former U.S. President George W. Bush graduated from Harvard Business School in 1975. He is the only U.S. president to graduate with an M.B.A. from the school.
Source: New York Times
Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger graduated summa cum laude in 1950 and then pursued a Ph.D in the Department of Government at the school. He taught at Harvard from 1954–1969.
Source: Biography.com
Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, attended Harvard Business School in 1980 and met his wife, Judy, through the program. His daughter also attended the business school.
Source: Harvard Magazine
NBA player Jeremy Lin graduated from Harvard in 2010 with a degree in economics. He scored 1,483 points for the Harvard Crimson basketball team, the fifth most in the school's history.
Source: Newsday
Jill Abramson, former New York Times executive editor, graduated magna cum laude in 1976 with a degree in History. She will return to Harvard in the fall of 2014 to teach undergraduate narrative nonfiction classes.
Sources: Adweek and New York Times
Former U.S. President John F. Kennedy graduated cum laude in 1940. He wrote his thesis about why Britain was unprepared to fight Germany in World War II, and it ended up being published as a book titled, "Why England Slept."
Source: The Harvard Crimson
Author John Updike graduated from Harvard in 1954, and like Conan O'Brien, he was president of "The Harvard Lampoon." He has won two Pulitzer Prizes, as well as several National Book Awards.
Source: The Harvard University Gazette
Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, graduated from Harvard in 1975 and studied at Harvard Law School. Blankfein grew up in a housing project in Brooklyn and applied to Harvard after being urged to do so by a college representative. Harvard gave him enough financial aid to make his studies possible.
Source: Harvard Alumni
Mark Zuckerberg enrolled at Harvard in 2002 and created Facebook before dropping out to pursue the website full time. While at Harvard, he also created a program called Course Match, which allowed students to choose classes based on what other people were taking.
Source: Biography.com
Actor Matt Damon began his Harvard career in 1988 but took time off during his sophomore year to film the TV movie "Rising Son." Because of his acting interruptions, he never earned enough credits to graduate. However, he received the 2013 Harvard Arts Medal in recognition of his work in the entertainment industry.
Sources: CNN and Daily Mail
Politician and businessman Mitt Romney studied at Harvard from 1971 to 1975, earning a joint degree in its law and business schools. He was 24 when he began his studies, and was already married and had a child. Before entering Harvard, he did Mormon missionary work in France.
Source: NPR
Natalie Portman graduated in 2002 with a degree in psychology. Portman was considered exceptionally bright by her professors; in her "neuropsychology and the law" seminar, she received an A+ for her paper on lie detection, and that professor later hired her as a research assistant.
Source: The Harvard Crimson
Ralph Waldo Emerson entered Harvard in 1817 and graduated 30th in a class of 59 students. Between classes, he taught at children's schools to earn money.
Rashida Jones, best known for her role as Ann Perkins on "Parks and Recreation," graduated from Harvard in 1997 with degrees in religion and philosophy. She once planned on becoming a judge or the president.
Source: The Guardian
Sumner Redstone, Chairman of the Board of Viacom and CBS Corporation, graduated from Harvard in 1944 after just two and a half years. During his time there, he was chosen by his Japanese history professor to work on breaking Japan's military and diplomatic codes with a special intelligence group.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt attended Harvard in 1876 and originally chose to study natural history. However, after his father died of stomach cancer in 1878, Roosevelt decided to pursue a degree in history and government to honor his memory.
Source: National Park Service
Tommy Lee Jones graduated cum laude from Harvard in 1969 with a degree in English literature. He was roommates with future U.S. Vice President Al Gore.
Source: New York Times
Renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma attended Harvard when he was only 16 years old. He told Harvard Magazine that his favorite classes were German literature in translation, anthropology, fine arts, and a course on Dotoevsky.
Source: Harvard Magazine
