List of Kappa Alpha Theta members explained

This is a list of notable members of Kappa Alpha Theta, a North American college women's fraternity. This list includes both initiated and honorary members.

Academics

• Elva Bascom (Mu, Allegheny) – librarian, professor, writer on library science
• Mary Ritter Beard (Alpha, DePauw) – noted historian, campaigner for women's suffrage^[1]
• Molly Corbett Broad (Chi, Syracuse) – president of the University of North Carolina, 1997–2006
• Matilda Moldenhauer Brooks (Alpha Omega, Pittsburgh) – research scientist who discovered methylene blue^[1]
• Gertrude Simmons Burlingham (Chi, Syracuse) – mycologist, first woman to earn a Ph.D. from Columbia University through the program at the New York Botanical Garden in 1908^[1]
• Anna Botsford Comstock (Iota, Cornell) – first woman appointed to the faculty at Cornell
• Mary Lee Edward (Sigma, Toronto) – women's health pioneer and World War I hero
• Dian Fossey (Gamma Xi, San Jose State) – zoologist, first female primatologist, wrote Gorillas in the Mist
• Eilene Galloway (Alpha Iota, Washington University in St. Louis) – researcher and editor
• Edith Jordan Gardner (Phi Deuteron, Stanford) – educator and suffrage activist
• Elizabeth Gilmore Holt (Psi, Wisconsin) – art historian
• Samantha Joye (Delta Xi, UNC Chapel Hill) – oceanographer^[2]
• Karen Ordahl Kupperman (Alpha Mu, Missouri) – American historian
• Maud Menten (Sigma, Toronto) – physician, scientist
• Margaret Floy Washburn (Iota, Cornell) – first woman to receive a Ph.D. in Psychology

Arts and entertainment

• Sasha Alexander (Omicron, USC) – actress (NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles)
• Ann-Margret (Tau, Northwestern) – actress (State Fair, Viva Las Vegas, Grumpy Old Men)
• Valerie Bettis – (Alpha Theta, Texas-Austin) dancer/choreographer^[1]
• Susan Browning (Beta Phi, Penn State) – Tony Award-winning actress^[1]
• Melanie Chandra (Phi Deuteron, Stanford University - actress (Code Black)
• Sarah Clarke (Beta, Indiana) – actress (24)
• Nancy Coleman (Alpha Lambda, Washington) – actress
• Jane Connell (Omega, UC Berkeley) – actress
• Joan Ganz Cooney (Beta Delta, Arizona) – founder of the Children's Television Workshop and creator of Sesame Street
• DaNae Couch (Epsilon Epsilon, Baylor) – Miss Texas 2012
• Sheryl Crow (Alpha Mu, Missouri) – Grammy Award-winning singer
• Agnes de Mille (Beta Xi, UCLA) – Broadway choreographer
• Marietta DePrima (Tau, Northwestern) – actress
• Marion Dougherty (Beta Phi, Penn State) – casting director
• Patricia DuBose Duncan (Alpha Iota, Washington University in St. Louis) – artist
• Cindy Chupack (Tau, Northwestern) – Golden Globe & Emmy Award-winning screenwriter and producer^[1]
• Ronnie Claire Edwards (Alpha Omicron, Oklahoma) – actress
• Glenna Goodacre (Beta Omega, Colorado College) – sculptor of the Vietnam Women's Memorial, designer of U.S. gold one-dollar coin featuring Sacagawea
• Amy Grant (Alpha Eta, Vanderbilt) – singer, Grammy Award winner
• Dorothy Hart (Beta Tau, Denison) – actress
• Jennifer Jones (Tau, Northwestern) – Academy Award-winning actress
• Laura Lamson (Gamma deuteron, Ohio Wesleyan) – screenwriter
• Cinta Laura – (Epsilon Upsilon, Columbia) Indonesian movie and pop star
• Jacqui Malouf (Gamma Epsilon, Western Ontario) – television host, cook, author
• Stephanie March (Tau, Northwestern) – actress ()
• Rue McClanahan (Gamma Tau, Tulsa) – actress (The Golden Girls)
• Amy McKenzie (Beta Xi, UC Los Angeles) – producer, director, actress
• Karen Moncrieff (Tau, Northwestern) – actress, director, screenwriter
• Dora Mavor Moore (Sigma, Toronto) – actress, director
• Julie Moran (Gamma Delta, UGA) – former host of Entertainment Tonight; first female host of ABC's Wide World of Sports; current host of Insiders List on the Fine Living channel
• Carol Morris (Beta Kappa, Drake University) – Miss USA (1956), Miss Universe (1956)
• Mary Kay Place (Gamma Tau, Tulsa) – actress (Being John Malkovich, The Rainmaker)
• Skyler Samuels (Phi Deuteron, Stanford) – actress (Nine Lives of Chloe King, Scream Queens)
• Sara Schaefer (Beta Lambda, College of William & Mary) – comedian and host of MTV's Nikki & Sara Live
• Marlo Thomas (Omicron, USC) – actress and spokeswoman for St. Jude's Children's Hospital
• Kate Voegele (Gamma Upsilon, Miami (Ohio)) – singer/songwriter and One Tree Hill actress
• Jenna von Oÿ (Omicron, USC) – actress (Blossom)
• Maurine Dallas Watkins (Gamma, Butler) – playwright (Chicago (1926))
• Teal Wicks (Epsilon Sigma, UC Irvine) – singer/actress, best known for playing Elphaba in the musical Wicked
• Ashley Zais (Zeta Eta, Wofford College, SC) – Miss South Carolina USA 200^[3]

Business

• Tory Burch (Beta Eta, University of Pennsylvania) – fashion designer
• Carolyn S. Chambers (Alpha Xi, Oregon) – owner and CEO of Chambers Communications Corporation^[1]
• Tracy Britt Cool (Zeta Xi) – business executive at Berkshire Hathaway
• Melinda Gates (Beta Rho, Duke) – former wife of Bill Gates; co-founder of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• Prerna Gupta (Phi Deuteron, Stanford) – CEO of Telepathic Inc.^[4]
• Elizabeth Holmes (Phi Deuteron, Stanford) – founder and former CEO of now-defunct Theranos, convicted of criminal fraud^[5]
• Marjorie Child Husted (Upsilon, Minnesota) – creator of Betty Crocker
• Dylan Lauren (Beta Rho, Duke) – owner of Dylan's Candy Bar and daughter of fashion designer Ralph Lauren
• Mary Wells Lawrence (Gamma Theta, Carnegie Mellon) – advertisement executive, founding president of Wells Rich Greene, first female CEO of a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange
• Kira Plastinina (Beta Sigma, Southern Methodist) – fashion designer
• Hope Skillman Schary (Alpha Delta, Goucher) – textile designer, founder and chief executive of Skillmill^[6]

Politics

• Karen Koning AbuZayd (Alpha, DePauw) – Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, 2005–2010
• Eva Bertrand Adams (Beta Mu, Nevada) – Director of the United States Mint 1961–1969^[1]
• Jean Spencer Ashbrook (Alpha Gamma, Ohio State) – United States House Representative from Ohio^[1]
• Frances Cleveland Axtell (Alpha, DePauw) – one of the first female State Representatives of Washington^[1]
• Nancy Kassebaum Baker (Kappa, Kansas) – former United States Senator; first woman elected to the United States Senate who had not succeeded her husband or first been appointed to fill an unexpired term
• Barbara Bodine (Gamma Rho, UC Santa Barbara) – United States Ambassador to Yemen^[1]
• Barbara Pierce Bush (Epsilon Tau, Yale University) – daughter of President George W. Bush; co-founder and president of the Global Health Corp.
• Laura Bush (Beta Sigma, Southern Methodist) – First Lady of the United States; wife of President George W. Bush
• Pearl Chase (Omega, UC Berkeley) – civic leader
• Lynne Cheney (Beta Omega, Colorado College) – chair, National Endowment for the Humanities; Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute; director, Reader's Digest; former co-host of CNN's Crossfire; Second Lady of the United States; wife of Vice President Dick Cheney
• Barbara Brandriff Crabb (Psi, Wisconsin) – Senior United States District Judge
• Anna Elizabeth Dickinson (Alpha, DePauw) – influential abolitionist and suffragist
• Joyce Fairbairn (Beta Chi, Alberta) – Canadian senator
• Mary Fallin (Beta Zeta, Oklahoma State) – first woman to be elected lieutenant governor of Oklahoma; 1st woman to be elected Governor of Oklahoma; U.S. House of Representatives
• Tillie K. Fowler (Delta Zeta, Emory) – United States Representative from Florida
• Barbara Hackman Franklin (Beta Phi, Penn State) – 29th U.S. Secretary of Commerce; CEO of Barbara Franklin Enterprises
• Jenna Bush Hager (Alpha Theta, University of Texas) – daughter of President George W. Bush^[7]
• Margaret Hance (Beta Delta, Arizona) – first female mayor of Phoenix, Arizona
• Nancy Hanks (Beta Rho, Duke) – 1st woman to serve as the Chairman of the United States National Endowment for the Arts
• Victoria Reggie Kennedy (Alpha Phi, Tulane) – wife of the late Senator Ted Kennedy^[8]
• Susan King (Alpha Theta, University of Texas) – Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from Abilene, Texas^[9]
• Cindy Hensley McCain (Omicron, USC) – executive director of the World Food Programme, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture, and wife of 2008 presidential candidate Senator John McCain
• Claire McCaskill (Alpha Mu, Missouri) – U.S. Congress Senator from Missouri
• Jeanne Milliken Bonds (Delta Xi, UNC Chapel Hill) – politician; served as mayor of Knightdale, Deputy Director of the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts, and Regional Manager of Community Development for North and South Carolina for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
• Adelaide Sinclair (Sigma, Toronto) – Canadian public servant
• Shanta Vasisht – Indian parliamentarian
• Elizabeth Warren (Gamma Kappa, George Washington University) – United States Senator from Massachusetts
• Gretchen Whitmer (Beta Pi, Michigan State University) – 49th governor of Michigan

Sports

• Lucille Ash (Beta Omega, Colorado) – Olympic figure skater
• Pauline Betz (Gamma Gamma, Rollins) – tennis player^[10]
• Louise Brough (Omicron, Southern California) – tennis player^[1]
• Madonna Buder (Alpha Iota, Washington University in St. Louis) – Catholic religious sister, Senior Olympian and triathlete record holder^{[11] [12]}
• JoAnne Carner (Delta Epsilon, Arizona State) – professional golfer
• Ann Curtis (Omega, UC Berkeley) – Olympic gold medalist, swimming (1948)
• Sasha DiGiulian (Epsilon Upsilon, Columbia) – world champion rock climber
• Kathy Ellis (Beta, Indiana) – Olympic swimmer
• Jane Fauntz (Delta, Illinois) – Olympic bronze medalist swimmer and diver
• Aria Fischer (Phi Deuteron, Stanford) – Olympic gold medalist water polo player
• Makenzie Fischer (Phi Deuteron, Stanford) – Olympic gold medalist water polo player
• Linda Gustavson (Beta Pi, Michigan State) – Olympic swimmer and world record holder
• Shirley Fry Irvin (Gamma Gamma, Rollins) – tennis player
• Helen Jacobs (Omega, UC Berkeley) – tennis player
• Pamela Kruse (Beta Pi, Michigan State) – Olympic silver-medalist swimmer
• Barbara McIntire (Gamma Gamma, Rollins) – golfer
• Christen Press (Phi Deuteron, Stanford) – 2015 Women's World Cup champion for the US
• Kerri Strug (Beta Xi, UCLA) – Olympic gymnast
• Chierika Ukogu (Phi Deuteron, Stanford) – Olympic rower for Nigeria

Media

• Carolina Bermudez (Delta Epsilon, Arizona State) – radio personality on WHTZ Z100 (New York), the biggest Top 40 station in the world
• Ally Blake (Theta Theta, North Carolina State University) – broadcast meteorologist at WMAR-2 News in Baltimore, MD; former meteorologist at WKYT-TV in Lexington, KY
• Deb Carson (Epsilon Epsilon, Baylor) – national sports anchor and on-air personality, Fox Sports Radio
• Kelly Corrigan (Epsilon Psi, Richmond) – author
• Harriet Doerr (Phi Deuteron, Stanford) – writer
• Isabelle Holland (Alpha Phi, Tulane) – author
• Amy Holmes (Epsilon Mu, Princeton) – journalist, news anchor
• Suzanne La Follette (Alpha Sigma, Washington State) – author, journalist, and libertarian feminist advocate
• Kate Lehrer (Gamma Psi, Texas Christian) – novelist, book reviewer, writer
• Jean Marzollo (Gamma Zeta, Connecticut) – children's author and illustrator
• Mary Margaret McBride (Alpha Mu, Missouri) – widely followed radio commentator, journalist, author (1935–1955)
• Alexi McCammond (Epsilon Phi, Chicago) – political reporter, Axios^[13]
• Judith Miller (Alpha Gamma, Ohio State) – journalist
• Kate Millett (Upsilon, Minnesota) – feminist and author
• Anne Marie Pace (Beta Lambda, William and Mary) – children's book author, author of the Vampirina Ballerina series^[14]
• Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (Psi, Wisconsin) – author (The Yearling)
• Kate Snow (Iota, Cornell) – anchor for Good Morning America
• Melissa Stark (Delta Chi, Virginia) – news reporter, Monday Night Football
• Ida Tarbell (Mu, Allegheny College) – journalist

Miscellaneous

• Jennifer Bertrand (Kappa, University of Kansas) – winner of HGTV Design Star season three
• Neilia Hunter Biden (Chi, Syracuse) – teacher, first wife of Joe Biden
• Katie Lee Joel (Gamma Upsilon, Miami University Ohio) – chef, restaurant critic, former wife of Billy Joel
• Dorothy Liebes (Omega, UC Berkeley) – "mother of modern weaving"
• Marion Manley (Delta, Illinois) – received the Gold Medal Award in 1973 from the Florida Association of the American Institute of Architects
• Edith McAllister (University of Texas at Austin) — civic leader and philanthropist in San Antonio, Texas^[15]
• Julia Morgan (Omega, UC Berkeley) – designed the Hearst Castle, first woman to receive the AIA Gold Medal
• Carol Morris (Beta Kappa, Drake) – second Miss USA to win the Miss Universe title, in the pageant's fifth edition in 1956
• Shelby Ringdahl (Gamma Psi, TCU) – 2013 Miss Missouri winner and 2014 Miss America semifinalist
• Tiffany Trump (Beta Eta, University of Pennsylvania) – socialite, law school graduate, daughter of Donald Trump^[16]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Kappa Alpha Theta – Notable Thetas . Kappa Alpha Theta . 2015-01-07.
2. Web site: Delta Xi North Carolina. . Kappa Alpha Theta. September 9, 2023.
3. Web site: January 30, 2007 . House Resolution 3367 . South Carolina Legislature Online . 2008-04-23.
4. https://content.fortune.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/show_temp-15.pdf
5. Web site: Khorram . Yasmin . 2021-12-02 . Elizabeth Holmes relies on her tight entourage of friends as fraud trial nears its end . 2022-05-27 . CNBC . en.
6. Web site: Young . Noraleen DuVall . Women's History Month: Thetas in Business . Kappa Alpha Theta . March 1, 2017.
7. Web site: 2007 . History of Kappa Alpha Theta . Kappa Alpha Theta – Alpha Theta Chapter . 2007-12-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061121115143/http://texastheta.org/History.html# . 2006-11-21 . dead .
8. Web site: Time to Marry? Right, Said Ted : People.com. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090602023320/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20112307,00.html. 2009-06-02.
9. Web site: Susan King's Biography. votesmart.org. March 12, 2014.
10. Web site: July 2, 2000. Wimbledon belatedly honors past champion. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel . 2007-08-27.
11. https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FKXLY4News%2Fvideos%2F1180124478676490%2F&show_text=0&width=560
12. Web site: Life Loyal.
13. Web site: McCammond . Alexi . Alexi McCammond (Axios) Wiki: Engaged, Parents, Teeth, Age . November 29, 2022 . thebiography.org.
14. Web site: The Flat Hat October 6, 2015. 6 October 2015 .
15. News: June 16, 1940 . Couple's Troth Pledged . The San Antonio Light.
16. Web site: From Ivanka Trump to John Legend, here's where Penn's most famous alumni lived on campus.