Notable Alumni of Hampshire College

Updated

Hampshire College counts Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong'o, bestselling author and mountaineer Jon Krakauer, and tech and design leader Ian Spalter among its alumni. The college presents these graduates as examples of "leadership in hundreds of fields," so the names below are the ones it highlights rather than a complete list. If you are weighing whether to apply or are simply curious about the school's influence, these examples show the range of fields its graduates enter: film, writing, technology and design, and filmmaking.

Alumni Featured on the College's Website

Alum Class notation Field What the college says
Lupita Nyong'o 03F Film and writing Oscar-winning actress of 12 Years a Slave, model, and writer
Jon Krakauer 72F Writing and mountaineering Mountaineer and bestselling author of Under the Banner of Heaven
Ian Spalter 94F Technology and design Tech and design pro, currently head of Instagram Japan
Rhys Ernst 01S Filmmaking Filmmaker and coproducer of Amazon's Golden Globe-winning show Transparent

The class notations (03F, 72F, 94F, 01S) are the college's own shorthand for entering cohorts; the letter indicates the term of entry. The site does not spell out what each letter means, so treat these as entry markers rather than graduation years.

What the Selection Suggests

The four names span more than three decades of entering classes, from 1972 to 2003, and cover very different kinds of work:

  • Film and performance: Nyong'o's Oscar and Ernst's producing credit on a Golden Globe-winning series.
  • Publishing: Krakauer's bestselling books, alongside his mountaineering career.
  • Technology and design: Spalter's role leading Instagram in Japan.

The college frames this spread as evidence that its model, which it describes as built around students pursuing their own questions and original research with faculty guidance, prepares graduates for many fields rather than one track. That is the college's own claim; the alumni list illustrates it but does not prove it.

How to Use This If You Are Researching the College

  • If you want a fuller picture of outcomes, the four featured names are a starting point, not a survey. Ask the admissions office for graduating-class destinations or look for departmental alumni pages.
  • If you are comparing colleges by notable graduates, use the same test for each school: how many alumni are named, in which fields, and over what time span. Hampshire's own page names four.
  • If a specific field matters to you, check whether any featured alum works in it. Film, writing, tech and design, and filmmaking are represented here; other fields are not shown on this page.

One context note from the site: the college describes its May 2026 commencement as its "last full-scale graduation event" amid an "impending closure." That makes the alumni record above a snapshot of the college's history rather than a guide to its current programs, so confirm the college's operating status before relying on it for an application decision.