Well if we are counting middle names too, then my immediate family has a boatload of Tonys. lol.
My physics teacher in high school went to Stanford
An in-law is a very successful film and TV writer and director, started as a child actor and…dropped out of high school to work. No college, no HS diploma.
Syracuse. Joe Biden.
A TV writer/producer associated with a long list of hit shows, whose name I see frequently in credits, was an friend-of-a-friend at Northwestern. Currently she is working on Modern Family.
“Prestigious” is such a subjective term. Do I count the disgraced politician as the most prestigious person I know? How about the superstar athletes who played with my son and went to state schools or skipped college completely? Or the insanely talented director/producer who is the son-in-law of my mom’s high school friend (from small-town central Illinois) and who would have been where he is today regardless of what college he went to?
I, personally, think that specific college has relatively little to do with the ultimate success of the most talented (and successful) people that I know. But…does going to a prestigious college help the rest of us (and the kids of the rest of us)? Probably. On the other hand, does it guarantee “success”? Probably not.
If we’re going to start mentioning classmates in college we barely “knew,” I’ll share that I was frequently mistaken for “the girl from Beverly Hills,” based on our “Pig Book” (Penn’s freshman directory) photos.
She’s now a Hollywood producer and won an Oscar for Best Picture back in the 90s. And I waste my life on CC. 
So, yeah, Wharton undergrad.
Smartest- Wesleyan
Richest- idk
Morehouse BS, Case Western MD/PhD
Was the 16th Surgeon General
Interesting idea for a thread. I hope the kids at home are reading this to prove that you can do great things from almost any starting point. I hate the word “prestige” and I don’t even know how to define that in a person, so I will go with the person who’s intellect I most respect. His creativity flows like a fire hose.
Rochester Institute of Technology (engineer).
Reading the most recent posts, it looks like this thread is descending into a name-dropping contest.
It’s not about you, people.
A former classmate of mine is a really amazing swimmer, super kind, and studious. He’s going to Harvard as a pre-med student.
My friend’s mom went to Syracuse. She’s not exactly rich, but I don’t know anyone (personally) who graduated from a top-tier school.
My aunt is basically a genius, but she went to William Paterson. (My dad’s family is very anti-oos).
My mom who went to SUNY Cobleskill, SUNY Oneonta, and the College of St Rose. My all time favorite teacher went to UAlbany.
I don’t really know any especially prestigious people. I know I wouldn’t crack anyone’s list.
I guess it’s a toss-up between Rutgers, UConn, Ohio State, Illinois, West Virginia, and Maryland.
I have met some smart people over the years but the smartest guy I ever meet got his degree from Princeton. I meet him on a city bus in Houston TX while I was a student at the UofH. He looked just like a 60’s hippy and I originally thought he was homeless. He actually was a advocate for the homeless and worked for a shelter. He was passionate about helping the homeless and had a way of speaking that simply drew you in. He was rich in wisdom and cared little about money. That chance meeting has stuck with me for life.
Brilliant and successful: UG University of Houston, JD Rutgers. Brilliant and successful bankruptcy professor my DH had the privilege of studying with, and who I got to know through a Gilbert & Sullivan theater group.
Brilliant: BS molecular bio and biochem, Michigan State, MS biochem and MFA/Music, UMich, JD Yale. Now law school professor. True Renaissance man. Clerked after law school on same federal circuit court as DH.
Brilliant: Princeton UG, MS London School of Economics, JD UVA, PhD University of London. Long-time law professor at Emory who left us far too soon. Was my BF the summer before my senior year of HS.
Will win the Nobel Prize one day: BS chem and MD, UCSD. Changed the game in molecularly-targeted chemo drugs. Has enabled many, many people to see their kids grow up. Saved my life.
Stonehill College (in Mass.). He had a nutty childhood, did not speak until he was almost 5. (He says he had nothing to say). He is brilliant, successful, athletic, funny and self-deprecating.
@CountingDown you know EW?! Wow! She is my favorite.
Yup! Met her in 1987 when she was at Penn Law. She was so down-to-earth and friendly. Her Penn business card is on our bulletin board. DH ran into her at a meeting a couple of years ago and she still remembered him. Their regulatory interests overlap to a fair degree.