epidemiologist, inventor of molecular tools for pathogen discovery
=== Literature and biography ===
Alice Walker, the author of The Color Purple, is an alumna. Ann Patchett, author of Bel Canto, is a graduate, as is Donna Raskin, book author and magazine writer; Constance Cappel, author; and Louise Glück, a poet and winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature. Alumna Nancy Huston is the author of numerous works and recipient of the Prix Femina in 2006 for the novel Lignes de faille (English translation: Fault Lines).
Elizabeth Eslami, Iranian American essayist, novelist, and short story writer.
Melissa Febos, award-winning author of Whip Smart, Abandon Me, and the national bestseller, Girlhood, is a graduate of the MFA program.
Carolyn Ferrell, short story writer and novelist.
Maggie Haberman, author and Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter.
Randa Jarrar, Arab-American writer and professor at Fresno State University.
Porochista Khakpour, Iranian American journalist, essayist, and novelist.
Playwright …
