University of New England

....which of the people pictured here studied philosopy in college?

.....all of them.

.... 2 of the members of the current supreme court were philosophy majors?

....on the GRE (Graduate Record Exam) philosophy majors have the highest mean verbal score of all majors, the second highest mean analytic score of all majors, and the highest mean quantitative score of all humanities and social science majors? (Source: Educational Testing Service).

....10 Nobel laureates were philosophy majors?

....philosophy students are admitted to medical school at a higher rate than students from almost any other discipline, including biology and chemistry majors?  (Source: Medical School Admission Requirements, 2002-2003, Association of American Medical Colleges).

....philosophy majors outperform business majors, and most other majors, on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) including  all business majors, all humanities majors, and all social sciences majors?  (Source: Graduate Management Admission Council)

....  philosophy students  outperform almost all their peers on the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), including pre-law and political science majors?  (Source:Law School Admission Council).

Here are a few examples of well-known former philosophy students:

Religion: Pope John Paul II, Albert Schweitzer, Cardinal Bernadin (late cardinal of Chicago)

Fine art:  Freeman Patterson, Robert Motherwell

Writers: T.S. Eliot, James Michener, Iris Murdoch, Alexander Solzhenitsin, Umberto Eco, Ken Follett, Susan Sontag, David Foster Wallace, Elie Wiesel, Mary Higgins Clark, Philip K. Dick, Rebecca Goldstein, Peter Hoeg, Robert Musil, Chaim Potok, Yann Martel,  Pearl Buck, Arthur Davis, Michael Frayn, Ira Levin,  Rudolph Euken.

Entertainment: Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, , Harrison Ford, Woody Allen, Steve Martin, Gene Siskel, Alex Trebek, Dennis Miller, Jay Leno,  George Carlin, Joan Rivers, Susan Sarandon, Dave Thomas, Chris Hardwick, Jimmy Kimmel, Amy Madigan, Stephen Colbert

Musicians and Composers: Kim Thayill, Neal Peart, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Brad Roberts

Filmmakers: Peter Lynch, Patricia Rozema, Wes Craven, Wes Anderson, Ethan Coen, Deepa Mehta.

Sports: Bruce Lee, Phil Jackson and Aaron Taylor (OT, Notre Dame and Green Bay Packers), John Elway (quarterback, Denver Broncos), Mick Schmidt (former Philadelphia Philly), Phil Jackson (NBA coach, LA Lakers), Mike Brierley (Captain of the England Cricket Team in the 1980s was previously a university philosophy professor).

Law: Justice Stephen Breyer (U.S. Supreme Court), Carol Heckman (first female U.S. magistrate in the Western District), Justice David Souter (U.S. Supreme Court)

Military: General Wesley Clark (former supreme allied commander), Kristen Baker (first female brigade commander, United States Military Academy)