- Waldemar Haffkine1860Bacteriologist who developed the first effective vaccines against cholera and bubonic…
- Wallace Shawn1943Actor and playwright, voice of Rex in Toy Story.
- Wallis Annenberg2009Chair of the Annenberg Foundation, which has given more than $1bn
- Walt Rostow1916Economic historian and strategist
- Walter Annenberg1908Publisher (TV Guide, Triangle Publications), philanthropist
- Walter Becker1950Guitarist-bassist and co-founder of Steely Dan.
- Walter Benjamin1892Philosopher and critic whose essays on language and translation remain influential.
- Walter Blumenfeld1882Psychologist who pioneered applied and experimental psychology in Peru
- Walter Bodmer1936Geneticist who advanced human population genetics and helped launch the Human Genome…
- Walter Burle Marx1902Conductor and composer
- Walter Damrosch1862Conductor and composer
- Walter Elsasser1904Geophysicist who formulated the dynamo theory explaining the origin of Earth's magnetism
- Walter Feit1930Group theory
- Walter Gilbert1980DNA Sequencing
- Walter Gordon1893Physicist
- Walter Haas1916Owned the Oakland Athletics
- Walter Heitler1904Physicist known for the Heitler–London theory of the chemical bond
- Walter Jacobs1883Chemist who pioneered the development of chemotherapeutic drugs
- Walter Kaufmann1921Philosopher and influential translator and interpreter of Nietzsche
- Walter Kent1943Composed 'I'll Be Home for Christmas' and 'The White Cliffs of Dover'
- Walter Kohn1923Physicist, co-founder of density functional theory
- Walter LippmannProfiled in Thinkers of the 20th Century
- Walter Matthau1920Oscar-winning actor of comedy and drama
- Walter Mischel1930Personality psychologist known for the marshmallow test of self-control
- Walter Mosley1990American novelist best known for the Easy Rawlins detective series (Devil in a Blue Dress)
- Walter Munk1917Physical oceanographer who co-invented ocean acoustic tomography and advanced ocean and…
- Walter Reisch1953Screenwriter of Ninotchka, Gaslight and Titanic (Academy Award 1953)
- Walter Rothschild1908Zoologist who assembled the largest natural history collection ever gathered by one…
- Walter Rudin1921Analysis
- Walter Susskind1913Conductor and pianist
- Walther Mayer1887Topology
- Wanda Landowska1879Polish-French harpsichordist who led the 20th-century revival of the harpsichord and of…
- Wassily Leontief1905Developed input-output economic analysis
- Wendelin Werner1968Probability
- Wendy Freedman2024Astronomer who measured the expansion rate of the universe (Hubble constant)
- Wendy PerronWendy Perron is a dance writer, educator, teacher, performer, and choreographer.
- Wendy Wasserstein1950Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright ('The Heidi Chronicles')
- Werner Cahnman1902Sociologist of ethnicity and historical sociology
- Werner Fenchel1905Convex analysis
- Werner Israel1931Physicist
- Werner Rogosinski1894Analysis
- Werner Wolff1904Psychologist known for research on expressive behavior and personality
- Wertheimer family (Chanel)Owners of Chanel
- Wesley Clark1944US Army General, NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe
- Wilfred Josephs1927Classical and film composer
- Wilhelm Jerusalem1854Philosopher and psychologist influential in education
- Wilhelm Reich1897Psychoanalyst and social philosopher
- Wilhelm Steinitz1886First undisputed World Chess Champion (1886) and father of the modern positional school…
- Wilhelm Stekel1868Early psychoanalyst known for work on dreams and symbolism
- Will AronsonTony Award — Best Musical
- Will Eisner1940Creator of The Spirit (1940)
- Will Herberg1901Sociologist of religion
- Willi Hoffer1897Psychoanalyst known for research on early childhood development
- William A. BarnettEconomist
- William BaumolEconomist
- William Browder1934Topology
- William Castle1914Master of horror showmanship ('House on Haunted Hill', 'Homicidal')
- William Cohen1940US Secretary of Defense (1997-2001), Senator for Maine
- William Cooper1982Co-creator of data envelopment analysis and goal programming
- William Dameshek1900Hematologist who introduced the concept of myeloproliferative disorders.
- William Davidson1922Owned the Detroit Pistons
- William Feller1906Probability theory
- William Finn1992Composer-lyricist of Falsettos
- William Fox1915Founded Fox Film Corporation (20th Century Fox)
- William Friedkin1971Director of The French Connection, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best…
- William Friedman1891Founder of modern statistical cryptanalysis
- William Gelbart1946Physical chemist known for soft matter and virus physical chemistry
- William Goldman1969Two-time Academy Award screenwriter: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the…
- William HoffmanFormer Chief of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of…
- William James Sidis1909Child prodigy — youngest person ever admitted to Harvard, at 11 (1909)
- William Kahan1933Architect of IEEE floating-point arithmetic
- William Kannel1923Cardiologist who led the Framingham Heart Study and coined the term 'risk factor'
- William Kapell1922Classical pianist
- William Kentridge2010South African artist of animated charcoal films
- William Klemperer1927Physical chemist known for molecular spectroscopy and interstellar chemistry
- William Kraft1923Composer and percussionist
- William Kruskal1919Statistics
- William Kunstler1919Radical civil rights attorney who defended the Freedom Riders in Mississippi (1961) and…
- William Labov1927Founder of variationist sociolinguistics, studying language change in social context.
- William Landes1939Law and economics scholar
- William Lauder1986Executive chairman (2009-2024) of The Estée Lauder cosmetics company
- William Ludwig1955Co-wrote Interrupted Melody (Academy Award 1955)
- William Nierenberg1919Oceanographer who directed the Scripps Institution of Oceanography
- William Nordhaus1941Nobel laureate (2018) who integrated climate change into long-run macroeconomic analysis
- William Pleeth1916Classical cellist
- William PressComputer & information scientist
- William S. Paley1928Built CBS into a leading American broadcast network
- William Schuman1910Classical composer
- William Shatner1966Canadian-American actor, Captain Kirk in Star Trek
- William Steig1907Cartoonist and children's author who created 'Shrek!' and 'Doctor De Soto'.
- William Stein1972Ribonuclease Structure
- William Steinberg1899Orchestra conductor
- William Stern1871Psychologist and philosopher of personalism, originated the concept of IQ
- William WeisbergerPhysicist (particle physics, Adler-Weisberger sum rule)
- William Wyler1902Three-time Oscar-winning director of Ben-Hur.
- William Zev Hassid1897Biochemist who elucidated the biosynthesis of carbohydrates and cellulose
- Willian FellnerEconomist
- Willie GilbertTony Award — Best Musical
- Willy Marckwald1864Chemist known for stereochemistry and radioactivity research
- Wilma Shore1913Wilma Shore was a writer and teacher most active between the 1940s and the 1960s.
- Winona Ryder1994American actress (Heathers, Girl Interrupted, Stranger Things)
- Witold Hurewicz1904Introduced higher homotopy groups in topology
- Władysław Natanson1864Physicist
- Wladyslaw Szpilman1911Pianist and composer
- Włodzimierz HolsztyńskiComputer & information scientist
- Wolf LadejinskyEconomist
- Wolf Mankowitz1955British screenwriter of A Kid for Two Farthings and The Millionairess
- Wolfgang Doeblin1915Probability theory
- Wolfgang Panofsky1919Physicist
- Wolfgang Pauli1945Discovery of the exclusion principle governing electron behavior
- Wolfgang Rindler1924Physicist
- Wolfgang StolperEconomist
- Wolfgang Yourgrau1908Physicist and philosopher of science
- Woody Allen1977Film Director
- Wyatt Russell2021Actor: U.S. Agent in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Lodge 49 and Monarch: Legacy of…