15 Celebrities Who Have Taught as College Professors

You might look back on your college days and recall that one professor whose book sold slightly better than everyone else’s, making him a minor celebrity in your sleepy college town, but your teach has nothing on this list of actual, well-known celebrities who have taught courses at various prestigious universities. Here are 15 celebrities who have also moonlit as college professors.

Spike Lee

When not examining race relations in his various films or glaring at the Knicks via courtside seats, established film director Spike Lee does double duty teaching film at both NYU and Columbia University.

Al Gore

Former Vice President of the United States and current environmental activist (for which he’s won an Academy Award and a Nobel Prize), Al Gore is currently a “visiting professor” at Middle Tennessee State University and has previously enjoyed visiting professor status at UCLA, Fisk University, and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Stephen Hawking

The world’s most brilliant theoretical physicist/human Speak ‘n Spell, Stephen Hawking is on faculty at Cambridge as the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics (though he plans to retire in September of this year).

Dennis Green

Former coach of the Minnesota Vikings and the Arizona Cardinals, Dennis Green teaches a Sports Business Management course at San Diego State University. Students have expressed difficulty in jotting down notes in his preferred style of Xs, Os and dashes, but they nonetheless end each class by dumping a cooler of Gatorade over his head.

Salman Rushdie

The former Mr. Padma Lakshmi is not only a famous novelist and essayist, he’s also on faculty at Emory University as Distinguished Writer in Residence and houses his archive of written works at the university’s Woodruff Library.

Al Franken

A modern day Renaissance Man, this comedian, actor, author, and junior senator from Minnesota has taught at Harvard, his alma mater, proving that he’s good enough, smart enough, and doggone it, people like him enough to sleep through his lectures.

Leonard Maltin

Film historian and renowned movie critic Leonard Maltin teaches in the School of Cinematic Arts at USC, where presumably he devotes an entire semester to Elizabeth Berkley’s mesmerizing performance in the cinematic hit Showgirls.

Ernesto Zedillo

Former Mexican President, Economist, and Owner of a Seriously Cool Sounding Name, Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon is the Director of the Center for the Study of Globalization at Yale University in his ever-expanding quest to bring churros to all corners of the earth.

Maya Angelou

An acclaimed autobiographer and poet, Maya Angelou often teaches at Wake Forest University as the recipient of the first lifetime Reynolds Professorship of American Studies. She also may or may not dress up as the Demon Deacon at the school’s basketball games (okay, she probably doesn't).

Sherman Alexie

A famous author, director and comedian, Sherman Alexie is best known for his works about Native Americans, such as The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, Smoke Signals, and The Business of Fancydancing. He’s been an Artist in Residence and taught courses in American Ethnic Studies at the University of Washington.

Madeleine Albright

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is the Mortara Distinguished Professor of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, where she often lectures about political science, international relations, and how to be a grand old dame.

Jimmy Carter

Instead of spending his days golfing and forwarding emails to his loved ones from his AOL account, the former President of the United States founded the Carter Center at Emory University, where he often teaches as a University Distinguished Professor.

Milos Forman

An acclaimed film director, screenwriter and actor, Milos Forman has won the Academy Award twice for directing One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Amadeus. He’s a professor of film at Columbia University as well as co-chair of the university’s film division, where he likely sits in an office all day rubbing his Oscars with a Shamwow.

Jose Maria Aznar

The former Prime Minister of Spain is the Distinguished Scholar in the Practice of Global Leadership at Georgetown University, where he teaches about contemporary European politics and trans-Atlantic relationships.

Oprah Winfrey

The queen of daytime television has done it all. Not only has she hosted a long-running talk show, acted, produced, launched a world-renowned book club, started her own magazine, and served as a humanitarian, she’s also taught about the Dynamics of Leadership at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Sources:

• http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/67542-famous-professors.html
• http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/departments/college/?article=celebrityprofessors
• http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~cba/news/story/green.html
• http://www.collegedegree.com/library/college-choice/55-of-the-Hottest-College-Professors
• http://www.unewsonline.com/
• http://www.filmschool.org/top-film-schools.php
• http://en.wikipedia.org