This is a list of people associated with the New York University Graduate School of Arts and Science, a school within New York University (NYU) founded in 1886 by Henry Mitchell MacCracken.
| Saul Bellow | Writer | Professor | 1976 Nobel Prize in Literature | |
| Harold Bloom | Literary critic | Berg Professor of English | 1985 MacArthur Fellow | |
| Faye D. Ginsburg | Scholar | Professor of Anthropology | 1994 MacArthur Fellow | |
| Galway Kinnell | Poet | Professor | 1982 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry | |
| Wassily Leontief | Economist | Professor 1975–1999 | 1973 Nobel Prize in Economics | |
| Otto Loewi | Pharmacologist | Professor 1940–1961 | 1936 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine | |
| Ruth Watson Lubic | Scholar | Adjunct Professor | 1993 MacArthur Fellow | |
| Paule Marshall | Writer | Professor of English | 1992 MacArthur Fellow | |
| Robert S. Mulliken | Physicist, chemist | Professor 1926–1928 | 1966 Nobel Prize in Chemistry | |
| Rita P. Wright | Scholar | Professor of Anthropology | 1988 MacArthur Fellow |
(*did not graduate)
| Julius Axelrod | Biochemist | M.Sc. 1941 | 1970 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine | |
| Friedrich Hayek | Economist | Postgraduate, 1923–1924 | 1974 Nobel Prize in Economics | |
| Frederick Reines | Physicist | Ph.D. 1944 | 1995 Nobel Prize in Physics | |
| Clifford Shull | Physicist | Ph.D. 1941 | 1994 Nobel Prize in Physics |
| Dorothy Rabinowitz | Journalist and commentator | Ph.D. 1960 | 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary | |
| James Ford Rhodes | Historian | 1865- * | 1918 Pulitzer Prize for History for History of the Civil War, 1861–1865 | |
| Harold C. Schonberg | Music critic, journalist | M.A., 1939 | 1971 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism | |
| John Patrick Shanley | Playwright | M.A., 1977 | 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Drama | |
| Neil Simon | Playwright | 1944–1945* | 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama (Lost in Yonkers) |
| Gloria Allred | Feminist, lawyer | M.A., 1971 | ||
| Anne M. Tatlock | Chairman, president and CEO of Fiduciary Trust Company International.[1] | Masters in Economics | ||
| David Antin | Poet | M.A., 1966 | PEN Los Angeles Award for Poetry | |
| Rita Mae Brown | Author | M.A., 1964 | Rubyfruit Jungle | |
| Lawrence Joseph DeNardis | M.A., 1960; Ph.D., 1989 | United States House of Representatives | ||
| Stavros Dimas | Politician | M.A., 1969 | European Commissioner for the Environment | |
| William Henry Draper, Jr. | Diplomat | M.A., 1917 | Under Secretary of War and the Army | |
| Robert Patrick John Finn | Diplomat | M.A. | U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan | |
| Yury Gitman | Artist | M.A. | Inventor of electronic art | |
| Joseph Heller | Author | M.A. in English 1945 – * | Catch-22 | |
| Bernard Herrmann | Composer | Student under Percy Grainger at NYU | Academy Award 1941, All That Money Can Buy | |
| Heather M. Hodges | Diplomat | M.A. | U.S. Ambassador to Moldova | |
| Rush Holt | M.S. 1974, Ph.D. 1981 | United States House of Representatives (1999–) | ||
| Meir Kahane | Founder of the U.S. Jewish Defense League | M.A., 1957 | Leader of the Kach political party in the Israeli Knesset | |
| Abby F. Kohnstramm | Senior VP, IBM | M.A., M.B.A. | ||
| Elodie Lauten | Composer | M.A., 1986 | ||
| Evelyn Lear | Soprano | Grammy Award 1966 for her performance of Berg's Wozzeck | ||
| John McGrath | Artistic Director | Ph.D., 1999 | Artistic Director and CEO of the Manchester International Festival | |
| Raymond Joseph McGrath | M.A., 1968 | United States House of Representatives (1981–1993) | ||
| Janet Mock | Writer | M.A. 2006[2] | GLAAD Media Stephen F. Kolzak Award 2020,[3] Shorty Award for Best in Activism 2016[4] | |
| Leonard Peikoff | Philosopher | M.A., 1957, Ph.D., 1964 | Leading advocate of Objectivism | |
| B. Caroll Reece | M.A., 1916 | United States House of Representatives (1921–1961) | ||
| J.D. Salinger | Author | coursework* | Catcher in the Rye | |
| Agnes Varis | Entrepreneur | M.A., 1977, M.B.A., 1979 | Founder of Aegis Pharmaceuticals | |
| Ocean Vuong | Author | M.F.A., 2016[5] | MacArthur "Genius" Grant 2019, Whiting Award 2016, T.S. Eliot Prize 2017[6] | |
| Judith Weis | Marine Biologist | M.A., 1964, Ph.D., 1967 | ||
| Saul Williams | Poet | M.A., 1995 | Amethyst Rock Star | |
| John Woodruff | Athlete | M.A., 1941 | Olympic gold medalist, 1936 | |
| Minoru Yamasaki | Architect | M.A., 1951 | Works include the World Trade Center | |
| Mary Carlin Yates | Diplomat | M.A., Ph.D. | U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Ghana |