INTERNATIONAL HOUSE AND...
ALUMNI
Ashley Montagu ’36 (1905–1999) Montagu was a British-American anthropologist who fervently believed in racial equality and women’s rights. He is best known for his leading role in producing the 1950 UNESCO Statement on Race. Montagu lived at I-House in 1936 while receiving his Ph.D. in anthropology from Columbia University.
Ataloa Stone ’25 (1896–1967) Stone was a Native American concert vocalist, teacher, humanitarian, and American Indian culture preservationist. She was an early and integral force in American Indian art education and helped establish three major art colleges. She lived at I-House while studying Education at Columbia University.
John Bing Sing Pek ’68 Pek is an International Trustee, who has hosted scores of events for I-House alumni in China, Singapore, and California through the years. Pictured with longtime friend Patricia Cloherty ’67 Cloherty is a Life Trustee and venture capitalist, with a long history of active involvement with the House and its residents.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer ’31 (1906–1945) Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian, and anti-Nazi dissident. After being associated with the July 20th plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, he was executed on April 9, 1945, as the Nazi regime collapsed. He was a member of I-House while studying at the Union Theological Seminary.
René Jules Dubos ’29 (1901–1982) Dubos was a French American microbiologist, pathologist, environmentalist, and humanist. He won the Pulitzer Prize for his General Non-Fiction book, So Human an Animal, and coined the environmental maxim: "Think globally, act locally." Dubos lived at I-House while working at The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research.
Burl Ives ‘38 (1909–1999) Ives was an American singer, musician, actor, and author known for The Wayfaring Stranger's radio show, which popularized traditional folk songs. He voiced Sam the Snowman in the 1964 classic Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Ives lived and worked at I-House at various times throughout the 1930s and 1940s.
Leonard Cohen ’57 (1934–2016) Cohen was a Canadian born singer-songwriter, poet, and novelist. He was known for his poetic lyrics, iconic songs, and baritone voice. He lived at I-House in 1956 and 1957 while studying Classics at Columbia University.
Hyman Rickover ’28 (1900–1986) Rickover was a Navy admiral known as the “Father of the Nuclear Navy.” He served longer than any other naval officer in US history and was the first to receive two Congressional Gold Medals. Rickover lived at I-House while studying Engineering at Columbia University.
Carlos Romulo ’21 (1899–1985) Romulo was a Filipino author, diplomat, and Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist. A strong advocate of human rights and decolonization, he served as the first Asian president of the UN General Assembly. Romulo was a member of the Intercollegiate Cosmopolitan Club while he attended Columbia University.
Roscoe Lee Browne ’47 (1922–2007) Browne was an American character actor and director known for his rich voice and dignified bearing. Originally a track star, Browne began acting in the 1950s in the traditionally white New York theater world. He lived at I-House in 1947 while studying Comparative Literature at Columbia University.
Shirley Verrett ’56 (1931–2010) Verrett was an internationally renowned opera singer and concert recitalist considered one of the leading classical musicians of her time. She lived at I-House while attending Julliard from 1955 to 1956. In 1998, Verrett was honored at the Harry Edmonds Awards Gala, and is pictured here with the photographer Bill Cunningham.
Magda Trocmé ’25 (1901–1996) An Italian-born French woman who, with her husband André '25, started a nonviolent resistance movement that saved 5,000 men, women, and children from Nazi annihilation in Le Chambon, France during WWII. Trocmé lived at I-House while studying at the Columbia School of Social Work.
Tatsuro Toyoda ’58 (1929–2017) Japanese businessman with Flora Lewis ’42 (1922–2002) American journalist Leontyne Price ’52 (b. 1927) American opera star and Jerzy Kosinski ’57 (1933–1991) Polish American novelist honored as first recipients of the Harry Edmonds Awards for Lifetime Achievement at the Hotel Pierre in 1990.
Chinua Achebe ’63 (1930–2013) Nigerian author with Kathryn W. Davis ’31 (1907–2013) American philanthropist David J. Sainsbury ’70 (b. 1940) British businessman, and Wassily Leontief ’32 (1906–1999) Russian economist all honored at the Harry Edmonds Awards for Lifetime Achievement at the Rainbow Room in 1995.
Michi Nishiura Weglyn ’48 (1926–1999) Weglyn was a Japanese American author known for “Years of Infamy: The Untold Story of America's Concentration Camps.” Published in 1977, her book fueled a movement leading to reparations for Japanese Americans interned during World War II. She lived at I-House in 1948 while attending Barnard College.
Alan P. McLaine '56 (1931–1992) McLaine was a Canadian Foreign Service Officer and ambassador to Czechoslovakia. He and his wife Susan "Tudy" McLaine '57 (b. 1933) hosted the 1992 World Council of Alumni meeting in Prague. The McLaine East/Central European Leadership Program was named for them and stewarded by Tudy McLaine for 17 years.