A Nobel laureate, a Treasury Secretary, and a WNBA first-round pick from one 690-student day school.
In This Guide
Quick Answer for Busy Parents
Newark Academy’s alumni include Nobel laureate economist Richard H. Thaler, former Treasury Secretary William E. Simon, presidential counsel Lanny J. Davis, entrepreneur Arthur Klebanoff, and WNBA player Jocelyn Willoughby. For a day school of 690 students, that range across economics, government, law, business, and professional athletics is unusual. It reflects a school that has never optimized for a single kind of success.
The Alumni Who Defined Newark Academy’s Reputation
Richard H. Thaler, Class of 1963
Thaler won the 2017 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for work showing that people make economic decisions in psychologically predictable, systematically irrational ways. He is one of the founders of behavioral economics, a field that did not exist when he was a student and that now shapes public policy, finance, and the design of retirement systems worldwide. Building a discipline rather than climbing an existing one is a particular kind of intellectual temperament.
William E. Simon, Class of 1946
Simon served as United States Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Nixon and Ford, steering economic policy through the turbulence of the 1970s, and went on to become a major figure in investment management and philanthropy. His career traces the full arc from public service to private enterprise to large-scale giving.
Lanny J. Davis, Class of 1963
An attorney and public affairs consultant, Davis served as Special Counsel to President Bill Clinton and has spent decades advising political figures, corporations, and nonprofit organizations. His career sits at the intersection of law, communication, and public argument, which is precisely the terrain Newark Academy’s Harkness-style discussion culture prepares students for.
Arthur Klebanoff, Class of 1965
Klebanoff built a career as an entrepreneur and investor in financial services while sustaining a long commitment to educational and charitable initiatives. His path illustrates something the school takes seriously in its mission language: professional accomplishment treated as a platform rather than a destination.
Jocelyn Willoughby, Class of 2016
Willoughby played collegiately at the University of Virginia and was selected in the first round of the 2020 WNBA Draft. She is the most recent of these graduates by half a century, and the clearest evidence that Newark Academy’s 27 varsity teams across 16 sports are not a decorative program.
| Alumnus | Class | Field | Distinction |
| Richard H. Thaler | 1963 | Economics | 2017 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences |
| William E. Simon | 1946 | Government and finance | U.S. Secretary of the Treasury |
| Lanny J. Davis | 1963 | Law and public affairs | Special Counsel to President Bill Clinton |
| Arthur Klebanoff | 1965 | Business and philanthropy | Financial services leadership |
| Jocelyn Willoughby | 2016 | Professional athletics | First-round 2020 WNBA Draft pick |
What the Alumni Record Actually Tells You
Prestige lists are easy to misread. The useful signal in Newark Academy’s alumni record is not that graduates become famous. It is the spread. A behavioral economist, a Treasury Secretary, a presidential counsel, a financial services entrepreneur, and a professional athlete do not share a template. They share a habit of thinking independently and a willingness to work in territory that was not already mapped for them.
That pattern is worth weighing against schools whose alumni distinction clusters tightly in one field. A school that produces only investment bankers is optimizing for something narrow. Newark Academy’s record suggests an institution that identifies what a particular student is actually built for and then gets out of the way. For parents, the practical implication is that a child whose strengths are unconventional is less likely to be flattened here.
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How That Shows Up in the School Today
The mechanisms are visible in the current program. Newark Academy teaches through Harkness-style discussion, where students carry the argument rather than receive it. The Six C’s framework names critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, character development, and cultural competency as explicit graduation skills. More than 60 Upper School clubs and 18 in the Middle School mean students can pursue something genuinely narrow and still find company. The IB Diploma Program, June Terms, and Capstone push students into extended independent work rather than survey coverage.
None of that guarantees a Nobel Prize. It does explain why the alumni record looks the way it does, and it tells you what kind of student thrives here: one with a real interest and the self-direction to chase it.
The Long View
Alumni lists are a lagging indicator of a school’s culture, which makes them one of the more honest things a family can study during a search. Newark Academy’s list says the school has been willing to let students become specific versions of themselves for a very long time. If that matches what you want for your child, the application is worth doing properly.
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