Careers

What can English majors do? The first things that come to mind are teaching, graduate school and writing, but because English majors have learned how to write, analyze material and communicate effectively they work in many different fields. Below are just some of many well-known English majors.

Famous English Majors

Actors

• Edward Burns
• Brett Butler
• Chevy Chase
• Joan Cusack
• Matt Damon
• Vin Diesel
• David Duchovny
• Harrison Ford
• Jodie Foster
• James Franco
• Heather Graham
• Famke Janssen
• Tommy Lee Jones
• Paul Newman
• Gwyneth Paltrow
• David Hyde Pierce
• Christopher Reeve
• Susan Sarandon
• Julia Stiles
• Emma Thompson
• James Van Der Beek
• Sigourney Weaver
• Reese Witherspoon
• Renee Zellweger

Astronauts

• Sally Ride

Cartoonists

• Cathy Guisewite

Directors

• James Cameron
• Kimberly Peirce
• Martin Scorsese
• Steven Spielberg

Football Coaches

• Marty Shottenheimer

Government

• Carol Browner, former EPA Director
• Mario Cuomo, former Governor of New York
• Henry Paulson, former Secretary of the Treasury
• Donald Regan, former President of Merrill Lynch; former Secretary of the Treasury
• Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court Justice
• Pete Wilson, former Governor of California

Journalists

• Russell Baker
• Dave Barry
• Richard Rodriguez
• Diane Sawyer
• Helen Thomas
• Bob Woodward

Management

• Michael Eisner, former Disney CEO
• A. Bartlett Giamatti, former President, Yale University; former Commissioner of Baseball
• Kathryn Fullerr, World Wildlife Fund Director
• Michael Lynne, Chairman of New Line Cinema
• Herb Scannell, President, Nickelodeon, MTV Networks

Musicians

• Don Henley
• Chris Isaak
• Mark Knopfler
• Kris Kristofferson
• Randy Owen
• Paul Simon
• Sting

Nobel Laureates in Medicine

• Harold Varmus

Radio

• Garrison Keillor

Television

• Joy Behar
• Linda Bloodworth-Thomason
• Johnny Carson
• Ken Jennings, record-setting Jeopardy winner
• Conan O'Brien
• Joan Rivers
• Brandon Tartikoff
• Grant Tinker
• Barbara Walters

Wives of Presidents

• Laura Bush

Writers

• Douglas Adams
• T. Coraghessan Boyle
• Gwendolyn Brooks
• Tom Clancy
• Allen Ginsberg
• Joseph Heller
• David Henry Hwang
• Stephen King
• Jhumpa Lahiri
• Bobbie Ann Mason
• Arthur Miller
• Toni Morrison
• Joyce Carol Oates
• Philip Roth
• Dr. Seuss (a.k.a. Theodor Geisel)
• Amy Tan
• John Updike
• Eudora Welty