List of people from Rhode Island

This is a list of prominent people who were born in the U.S. state of Rhode Island or spent significant periods of their lives in the state.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Academia

Elizabeth Buffum Chace

• Glen Bowersock (born 1936) – scholar of the ancient world and the history of ancient Greece, Rome and the Near East
• Robert Carothers (born 1942) – president of the University of Rhode Island
• Ronald Champagne – president of Elmira College, Merrimack College, and Shimer College
• Sarah Doyle (1830–1922) – educator and reformer
• Paula Fredriksen (born 1951) – historian and scholar of religious studies
• Henry Giroux (born 1943) – radical educator and cultural critic
• Neil Lanctot (born 1966) – historian
• Francis Leo Lawrence (1937–2013) – educator, scholar of French literature, and university administrator
• Edward T. Lewis (also known as Ted Lewis) – president of St. Mary's College of Maryland, president of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, writer and poet
• Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf (1830–1895) – founder and director of the Rhode Island School of Design
• Barry Mills (born 1950) – fourteenth president of Bowdoin College
• Wilfred Harold Munro (1849–1934) – historian
• Minton Warren (1850–1907) – classical scholar

Activism, civil rights, and philanthropy

• Elizabeth Buffum Chace (1806–1899) – activist in the anti-slavery, women's-rights, and prison-reform movements of the mid-to-late 19th century
• Abby Aldrich Rockefeller (1874–1948) – philanthropist
• Robert Ellis Smith (1940–) – publisher and consumer activist, Privacy Journal; civil rights journalist in Alabama
• Marjorie van Vliet (1923–1990) – teacher and aviator

Art, literature, and design

Gilbert Stuart

• Jacob M. Appel (born 1973) - novelist
• John Noble Barlow (1861–1917) – painter
• Lee Bontecou (born 1931) – sculptor and printmaker
• George M. Cohan (1878–1942) – playwright, composer and vaudeville performer
• Denise Duhamel (born 1961) – poet
• Judith Dupré – author
• C. M. Eddy, Jr. (1896–1967) – author
• Jeanpaul Ferro – poet, short fiction author, novelist
• John Hawkes (1925–1998) – novelist
• Greta Hodgkinson – ballet dancer
• Ann Hood (born 1956) – novelist and short story writer
• Raymond Mathewson Hood (1881–1934) – architect
• Galway Kinnell – Pulitzer Prize-winning poet
• Christopher La Farge –novelist and poet
• Jhumpa Lahiri – Pulitzer Prize-winning short fiction author and novelist
• H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937) – author
• Maxwell Mays (1918–2009) – painter
• David Macaulay (born 1946) – author
• Cormac McCarthy (born 1933) – novelist
• Don McGregor (born 1945) – comic book writer
• Edwin O'Connor (1918–1968) – novelist
• S.J. Perelman (1904–1979) – humorist, critic
• Peter Pezzelli (born 1959) – author
• David Plante (born 1940) – novelist
• George Schuyler (1895–1977) – author
• Gilbert Stuart (1755–1828) – painter
• Thomas Alexander Tefft (1826–1859) – architect
• Don Winslow (born 1953) – author

Athletics

Jack Capuano

Nap Lajoie

File:Davey Lopes 2013.jpg

Davey Lopes

File:VinnyPaz1994.jpg

Vinny Paz

A–G

• Lou Abbruzzi (1917–1982) – football player
• Pat Abbruzzi (1932–1998) – football player
• Bill Almon (born 1952) – baseball player
• Deon Anderson (born 1983) – football player
• Billy Andrade (born 1964) – golfer
• Demetrius Andrade (born 1988) – boxer
• Rocco Baldelli (born 1981) – baseball player
• Marvin Barnes (born 1952) – basketball player
• Elizabeth Beisel (born 1992) – Olympic swimmer (2008, 2012)
• Jeff Beliveau (born 1987) – baseball player
• Harvey Bennett (born 1952) – ice hockey player
• Bryan Berard (born 1977) – ice hockey player
• Will Blackmon (born 1984) – football player
• Brian Boucher (born 1977) – ice hockey player
• Pedro Braz (born 1985) – soccer player
• Ellison "Tarzan" Brown (1914–1975) – two-time Boston Marathon champion and U.S. Olympian
• Brian Burke (born 1955) – ice hockey executive
• Ernie Calverley (1924–2003) – basketball player
• Dave Capuano (born 1968) – ice hockey player
• Jack Capuano (born 1966) – ice hockey player, head coach
• Keith Carney (born 1970) – ice hockey player and U.S. Olympian (1998)
• Marissa Castelli (born 1990) – Olympic pairs figure skater (2014)
• Tom Cavanagh (1982–2011) – hockey player
• Malcolm Chance (1875–1955) – Hall of Fame tennis player
• Mike Cloud (born 1975) – football player
• Jill Craybas (born 1974) – tennis player
• Sara DeCosta (born 1977) – Olympic ice hockey player (1998, 2002)
• Ernie DiGregorio (born 1951) – basketball player
• Clark Donatelli (born 1967) – ice hockey player and U.S. Olympian (1988, 1992)
• Allen Doyle (born 1948) – professional golfer
• Anthony Durante (1967–2003) – professional wrestling
• Brad Faxon (born 1961) – golfer
• Claire Waters Ferguson (born 1935) – ice skating executive
• Melissa Fiorentino (born 1977) – boxer
• Tom Garrick (born 1966) – basketball player
• Dave Gavitt (born 1937) – basketball coach
• Billy Gonsalves (1908–1977) – soccer player
• Lou Gorman (1929–2011) – baseball executive

H–Z

• Gabby Hartnett (1900–1972) – baseball player
• Joe Hassett (born 1955) – basketball player
• P. H. Horgan III (born 1960) – golfer
• Tony Horton (born 1958) – physical fitness expert
• Robert Howard (1975–2004) – 1996 and 2000 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team
• John Hynes (born 1975) – ice hockey head coach
• Matt Hyson (born 1970) – wrestler
• Chris Iannetta (born 1983) – baseball player
• Jeff Jillson (born 1980) – ice hockey player
• Paul Konerko (born 1976) – baseball player
• Clem Labine (1926–2007) – baseball player
• Nap Lajoie (1874–1959) – Hall of Fame baseball player
• Clara LaMore (born 1924) – International Swimming Hall of Fame inductee
• Lou Lamoriello (born 1942) – ice hockey executive
• Rick Lancellotti (born 1956) – baseball player
• Brian Lawton (born 1965) – hockey player
• Ricky Ledo (born 1992) – basketball player
• Davey Lopes (born 1945) – baseball player and coach
• Peter Manfredo (born 1980) – boxer
• Ken McDonald (born 1970) – basketball player, coach
• Tom Mellor (born 1950) – hockey player and U.S. Olympian (1972)
• Bill Osmanski (born 1915–1996) – College Football Hall of Fame inductee
• Chuck Palumbo (born 1971) – wrestler
• Les Pawson (1905–1992) – two-time Boston Marathon winner
• Vinny Paz (born 1962) – boxer, five-time world champion
• Aileen Riggin (1906–2002) – swimmer
• Mathieu Schneider (born 1969) – professional ice hockey player
• Jamie Silva (born 1984) – football player
• Hank Soar (1914–2001) – football player
• Joe Soares – rugby player
• Mike Stefanik (born 1958) – NASCAR driver
• Bill Summers (1895–1966) – Major League Baseball umpire
• Chris Terreri (born 1964) – NHL goalie, two Stanley Cups and U.S. Olympian (1988)
• Mark Van Eeghen (born 1952) – NFL Pro Bowl running back
• Dan Wheeler (born 1977) – baseball player
• Mason Williams (born 1991) – baseball player
• Jeff Xavier (born 1985) – basketball player

Business

Moses Brown

Laura Lang

• Zachariah Allen (1795–1882) – textile manufacturer, scientist, lawyer, writer, inventor and civil leader
• Everett M. "Busy" Arnold (1899–1974) – comic book publisher
• John Brown (1736–1803) – merchant and slave-trader, original owner of the John Brown House, co-founder of the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (later Brown University, named after his nephew)
• Moses Brown (1738–1836) – co-founder of the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (later Brown University, named after his nephew)
• Nicholas Brown, Jr. (1769–1841) – businessman and philanthropist for whom Brown University is named (co-founded by his uncles Moses Brown and John Brown as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations but renamed after Nicholas Brown Jr.'s financial contributions)
• Robert Crandall (born 1935) – former president and chairman of American Airlines
• Glenn Creamer - senior managing director of Providence Equity Partners
• Marcel Desaulniers (born 1945) – chef and director emeritus of the Culinary Institute of America
• Wylie Dufresne (born 1970) – celebrity chef, owner of wd~50 restaurant in the Manhattan borough of New York City
• Ann Smith Franklin (1696–1763) – publisher
• Darius Goff (1809–1891), Pawtucket textile mill owner
• Catherine Littlefield Greene (1755–1814) – wife of Nathanael Greene
• Laura Lang – former chief executive officer of Time Inc.
• Aaron Lopez (1731–1782) – slave merchant and philanthropist, wealthiest person in Newport
• Edward J. McElroy (born 1941) – labor union executive
• James McNerney (born 1949) – business executive
• Jonathan M. Nelson (born 1956) – businessman and investor, founder of Providence Equity Partners
• Carolyn Rafaelian – designer – philanthropist, and business woman, founder of Alex and Ani
• Henry J. Steere (1830–1889) – textile industrialist, philanthropist
• Aldo Tatangelo (1913—2008) – businessman and politician
• Judah Touro (1775–1854) – businessman
• Edward Valenti (born 1948) – Ginsu knife creator, author, entrepreneur
• William Kissam Vanderbilt (1849–1920) – member of the prominent American Vanderbilt family, original owner of Marble House in Newport
• William Vernon (1719–1806) – trader

Crime

• Thomas Tew (?–1695) – pirate

Film and television

Olivia Culpo

File:RH-Pop3A.jpg

Ruth Hussey, pictured with husband Bob Longenecker

Ted Knight

Seth MacFarlane

Meredith Vieira

A–L

• Norm Abram (born 1950) – carpenter and television performer
• Robert Aldrich (1918–1983) – film director
• Gianna Amore (born 1968) – model and actress
• Harry Anderson (born 1952) – actor, Night Court
• David Angell (1946–2001) – television producer
• Nadia Bjorlin (born 1980) – actress
• Colby Boothman (born 1992) - actor, Jurassic World, Star Wars Battlefront
• Ruth Buzzi (born 1936) – comedienne, Laugh-In
• Sean Callery (born 1964) – film and television composer
• Robert Capron (born 1998) – actor
• Marilyn Chambers (1952–2009) – adult film actress
• Harry Cicma (born 1982) – Emmy Award-winning sports anchor, professional tennis player
• Nicholas Colasanto (1924–1985) – actor and director, Cheers
• Michael Corrente (born 1959) – film director and producer
• Olivia Culpo (born 1992) – Miss Rhode Island USA 2012, Miss USA 2012, Miss Universe 2012
• Sam Daly (born 1984) – actor
• Viola Davis (born 1965) – Academy Award-nominated actress
• Charlie Day (born 1976) – actor, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
• Paul DelVecchio (born 1980) – actor
• Vin Di Bona (born 1944) – television producer
• Eddie Dowling (1895–1976) – actor
• Alice Drummond (born 1929) – actress
• Jack Duffy (1882–1939) – film actor
• Nelson Eddy (1901–1967) – actor and singer
• Susan Eisenberg (born 1964) – voice actress
• Mark Famiglietti (born 1979) – actor
• Bobby Farrelly (born 1958) – film director
• Peter Farrelly (born 1956) – film director
• Peter Frechette (born 1956) – actor
• Ava Gaudet – actor, singer
• Peter Gerety (born 1940) – actor
• Joanna Going (born 1963) – actress
• Spalding Gray (1941–2004) – actor and writer
• Richard Hart (1915–1951) – actor
• Elisabeth Hasselbeck (born 1977) – television personality
• Richard Hatch (born 1961) – reality-television contestant
• Jason Hawes (born 1971) – television actor
• David Hedison (born 1927) – actor
• Brian Helgeland (born 1961) – screenwriter, film producer and director
• Ruth Hussey (1911–2005) – Academy Award-nominated actress
• Thomas Harper Ince (1882–1924) – film producer, director, actor
• Richard Jenkins (born 1953) – Academy Award-nominated actor
• Joyce Jillson (1946–2004) – actress, author, and astrologer
• Van Johnson (1916–2008) – actor, The Caine Mutiny, Brigadoon
• Claudia Jordan (born 1973) – Miss Rhode Island Teen USA 1997
• Ted Knight (1923–1986) – actor, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Caddyshack
• Geoffrey Lewis (born 1935) – actor
• Eric Lutes (born 1962) – actor

M–Z

• Seth MacFarlane (born 1973) – voice actor, creator of Family Guy, American Dad!, The Cleveland Show and Ted
• George Macready (1899–1973) – actor
• Mike Maronna (born 1977) – actor
• Jason Marsden (born 1975) – actor
• Louis B. Mayer (1884–1957) – film producer and MGM studio mogul
• Matt McCarthy (born 1979) – comedian, actor
• Ron McLarty (born 1947) – actor, playwright, novelist
• Michaela McManus (born 1983) – actress, Law & Order: SVU, One Tree Hill
• Caroline McWilliams (born 1945) – actress
• Debra Messing (born 1968) – actress, Will and Grace
• Shanna Moakler (born 1975) – Miss Rhode Island Teen USA 1992, Miss New York USA 1995, Miss USA 1995
• Mark Morettini (born 1962) – actor, Prison Break
• Christopher Murney (born 1943) – actor
• Arden Myrin (born 1973) – actress
• Vincent Pagano (born 1967) – actor
• Pauly D (born 1980) – television personality, DJ, cast member of Jersey Shore
• Ben Powers (1950–2015) – actor, Laugh-In
• Ford Rainey (1908–2005) – actor
• Don Reo – television producer
• Kali Rocha (born 1971) – actress
• Charles Rocket (1945–2005) – actor
• Josh Schwartz (born 1976) – television producer
• Dave Shalansky (born 1973), actor
• Christopher Stanley (born 1986) – actor, Henry Francis on Mad Men
• Mena Suvari (born 1979) – actress, American Beauty
• Aimee Sweet (born 1977) – model and actress
• Saucy Sylvia (born 1920) – comedian, singer, radio personality
• Erika Van Pelt – American Idol finalist
• Meredith Vieira (born 1953) – television personality
• David S. Ward (born 1945) – film director, Academy Award-winning screenwriter (The Sting)
• Desiree Washington (born 1973) – model
• James Woods (born 1947) – Academy Award-nominated actor

Journalism

• Allen Bestwick (born 1961) – sportscaster
• Angelo Cataldi – sportscaster
• David Hartman (born 1935) – actor, television personality
• Irving R. Levine (1922–2009) – journalist
• Walter Mossberg (born 1947) – columnist
• Al Rockoff – photographer
• A. O. Scott (born 1966) – film critic
• Jeff Stein (born 1944) – columnist, blogger
• Doug White (1944–2006) – television newscaster
• Jack White (1942–2005) – journalist

Military

Matthew C. Perry

• William Henry Allen (1784–1813) – U.S. Navy officer
• John Nicholas Brown II (1900–1979) – United States Assistant Secretary of the Navy (AIR)
• Ambrose Burnside (1824–1881) – U.S. Army officer
• Timothy Bush (1728–1815) – Continental Army officer
• Stephen Champlin (1789–1870) – U.S. Navy officer
• Godfrey Chevalier (1889–1922) – U.S. Navy officer
• Nathanael Greene (1742–1786) – Continental Army officer
• Esek Hopkins (1718–1802) – the only Commander in Chief of the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War
• Leon J. LaPorte (born 1946) – U.S. Army officer, former U.S. Forces Korea commander
• George Luz (1921–1998) – U.S. Army officer, member of the Band of Brothers
• Matthew C. Perry (1794–1858) – U.S. Navy officer
• Oliver Hazard Perry (1785–1819) – U.S. Navy officer
• Isaac P. Rodman (1822–1862) – U.S. Army officer
• James Mitchell Varnum (1748–1789) – general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War
• Samuel Ward, Jr. (1756–1832) – American Revolutionary War soldier and delegate to the secessionist Hartford Convention
• Frank Wheaton (1833–1903) – U.S. Army officer
• Abraham Whipple (1733–1819) – Continental Navy commander-in-chief

Music

Eileen Farrell

Sage Francis

Kristin Hersh

• Greg Abate (born 1947) – jazz musician
• AraabMuzik (born 1989) – record producer and DJ
• Dicky Barrett (born 1964) – popular musician known as frontman of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and announcer for Jimmy Kimmel Live!
• David Blue (1941–1982) – singer-songwriter
• John Cafferty – musician known for work with The Beaver Brown Band and for the Eddie and the Cruisers soundtrack
• Blu Cantrell (born 1976) – musician
• Wendy Carlos (born 1939) – composer and electronic music pioneer
• George M. Cohan (1878–1942) – entertainer, singer, dancer, subject of the film, Yankee Doodle Dandy
• Bill Conti (born 1942) – film music composer, Rocky
• Bill Cowsill (1948–2006) – musician
• Tanya Donelly (born 1966) – musician
• Eileen Farrell (1920–2002) – opera singer
• Sage Francis (born 1976) – musician
• Billy Gilman (born 1988) – musician
• Lukasz Gottwald (born 1973) – songwriter
• Bobby Hackett (1915–1976) – jazz musician
• Scott Hamilton (born 1954) – jazz tenor saxophonist
• Kristin Hersh (born 1966) – musician
• Jon B. (born 1974) – musician
• Jesse Leach (born 1978) – popular musician
• Mapei (born 1983) – recording artist
• Dave McKenna (1930–2008) – jazz pianist
• Nico Muhly (born 1981) – contemporary classical music composer
• David Narcizo (born 1966) –musician
• David Olney (born 1948) – musician
• Jeffrey Osborne (born 1948) – musician
• Mike Renzi (born 1946) – pianist
• Duke Robillard (born 1948) – blues musician
• Kim Schifino – musician
• Mike Stud (born 1988) – rapper, former athlete
• Erika Van Pelt (born 1985) – singer
• Don Wise (born 1942) – tenor saxophonist, music producer, songwriter

Politics and government

See also: List of Governors of Rhode Island, List of Justices of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, List of lieutenant governors of Rhode Island, List of United States Representatives from Rhode Island, and List of United States Senators from Rhode Island

John Chafee

David Cicilline

J. Howard McGrath

Claiborne Pell

Lincoln Chafee

A–L

• Lincoln Almond (born 1936) – former governor
• Thomas Angell (1618–1694) – co-founder of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
• Jonathan Earle Arnold (1814–1869) – member of the Wisconsin Territorial Council
• Peleg Arnold (1751–1820) – lawyer, tavern-keeper, jurist, and statesman
• Joshua Babcock (1707–1783) – physician, American Revolution general, state Supreme Court justice, and postmaster
• Latimer Whipple Ballou (1812–1900) – member of the United States House of Representatives
• Sullivan Ballou (1829–1861) – state representative and U.S. Army officer
• Oliver Belmont (1858–1908) – charter member of the Rhode Island Society of Sons of the Revolution, United States Representative for New York
• Charles R. Brayton (1840–1910) – politician and lobbyist whom The New York Times called the "Blind Boss of Rhode Island"
• Samuel W. Bridgham (1776–1740) – first mayor of Providence
• Frank Caprio (born 1936) – judge and television performer
• John Chafee (1922–1999) – U.S. Senator
• Lincoln Chafee (born 1953) – U.S. Senator, governor of Rhode Island, presidential candidate
• Vincent "Buddy" Cianci, Jr. (born 1941) – former mayor of Providence
• David Cicilline (born 1961) – U.S. Representative and Mayor of Providence (first openly gay mayor of a U.S. State capital)
• William Coddington (1601–1678) – magistrate of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Judge of Portsmouth, Judge of Newport, Governor of Portsmouth and Newport, Deputy Governor of the entire (four-town) colony, and then Governor of the colony
• Thomas Corcoran (1900–1981) – member of President Franklin Roosevelt's "Brain Trust" during the New Deal and an advisor to President Lyndon B. Johnson
• Percy Daniels (1840–1916) – Populist politician
• Edward D. DiPrete (born 1934) – former governor of Rhode Island
• Thomas Donilon – National Security Adviser under President Barack Obama
• Thomas A. Doyle (1827–1886) – Mayor of Providence for eighteen years
• Job Durfee (1790–1847) – U.S. Congressman
• Elisha Dyer, Jr. (1839–1906) – 45th Governor of Rhode Island, mayor of Providence
• William Ellery (1727–1820) – a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Rhode Island
• Arthur Fenner (1745–1805) – fourth Governor of Rhode Island
• Theodore Foster (1752–1828) – one of the first two United States Senators from Rhode Island
• Samuel Gorton (1593–1677) – settled the area of Shawomet (later called Warwick)
• Daniel L. D. Granger (1852–1909) – U.S. Representative and mayor of Providence
• Theodore F. Green (1867–1866) – United States Senator, 57th Governor of Rhode Island, and namesake of Rhode Island's largest airport, T. F. Green Airport
• Christopher R. Hill (born 1952) – diplomat, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
• Stephen Hopkins (1707–1785) – Governor of Rhode Island, RI Supreme Court justice, Signatory of the Declaration of Independence
• Ambrose Kennedy (1875–1967) – U.S. Congressman
• Pat LaMarche (born 1960) – Green Party presidential candidate
• William C. Lovering (1835–1910) – U.S. Congressman

M–Z

• James McAndrews (1862–1942) – U.S. Congressman
• William McCormick (born 1939) – diplomat, United States Ambassador to New Zealand
• J. Howard McGrath (1903–1966) – Governor of Rhode Island, U.S. Solicitor General, U.S. Senator, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and Attorney General of the United States
• Edwin D. McGuinness (1856–1901) – first Irish-Catholic mayor of Providence
• Florence K. Murray (1916–2004) – officer in Women's Army Corps, first female state senator in Rhode Island, first female judge in Rhode Island, and first female member of the Rhode Island Supreme Court
• Dee Dee Myers (born 1961) – White House Press Secretary
• Annette Nazareth (born 1956) – commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
• Joseph R. Paolino, Jr. – U.S. Ambassador to Malta, former Mayor of Providence
• John O. Pastore (1907–2000) – Governor of Rhode Island, U.S. Senator
• Claiborne Pell (1918–2009) – U.S. Senator, diplomat, sponsor of Pell grants
• Aram J. Pothier (1854–1928) – Governor of Rhode Island, banker
• Jack Reed (born 1949) – U.S. Senator
• Dennis J. Roberts (1903–1994) – 63rd Governor of Rhode Island
• Christopher Robinson (1806–1889) – congressman
• James Y. Smith (1809–1876) – mayor of Providence and 29th Governor of Rhode Island
• William Sprague (1799–1856) – 14th Governor, a U.S. Representative, and a U.S. Senator
• William H. Sullivan (born 1922) – U.S. Ambassador
• Bruce Sundlun (1920–2011) – former governor
• Charles Tillinghast James (1805–1862) – U.S. Senator
• Pat Toomey (born 1961) – U.S. Senator for Pennsylvania
• Samuel Ward (1725–1776) – Supreme Court Justice, Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and a delegate to the Continental Congress
• William West (1733–1816) – American Revolution general, Lieutenant Governor, RI Supreme Court justice, anti-federalist leader
• Sheldon Whitehouse (born 1955) – state Attorney General, U.S. Senator
• Charles C. Van Zandt (1830–1894) – former governor

Religion

• William Ellery Channing (1780–1842) – Unitarian theologian
• John Clarke (1609–1676) – Baptist minister, co-founder of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, author of its influential charter, and a leading advocate of religious freedom in the Americas
• Maurice Davis (1921–1993) – Rabbi and human-rights activist
• Ernest Fortin (1923–2002) – Assumptionist and professor of theology and Boston College
• Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe (1808–1895) – Episcopal Church bishop
• Anne Hutchinson (1591–1643) – theologian, religious dissident and colony co-founder
• James Manning (1738–1791) – American Baptist minister, co-founder and first president of the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (now Brown University)
• Edwards Amasa Park (1808–1900) – theologian
• Ezra Stiles (1727–1795) – Congregationalist minister and co-founder of the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (now Brown University)
• Roger Williams (1603–1684) – theologian and colony founder

Science

Sherwood C. ("Woody") Spring

• Aaron T. Beck (born 1921) – psychiatrist
• George Brayton (1830–1892) – mechanical engineer
• Rita Charon (born 1949) – physician
• Solomon Drowne (1753–1834) – physician, academic and surgeon during the American Revolution
• Sylvester Gardiner (1707–1786) – physician
• Stuart Gitlow (born 1962) – psychiatrist
• Nathanael Herreshoff (1848–1938) – naval engineer
• Domina Jalbert (1904–1991) – inventor
• Melanie Sanford (born 1975) – chemist
• Sherwood C. Spring (born 1944) – astronaut
• Robert Henry Thurston (1839–1903) – first president of the ASME
• Frank E. Winsor (1870–1939) – civil engineer

See also

• List of early settlers of Rhode Island

by educational institution affiliation

• List of Brown University people
• List of Bryant University alumni
• List of Rhode Island School of Design people

by location

• List of people from Cranston, Rhode Island
• List of people from Newport, Rhode Island
• List of people from Pawtucket, Rhode Island
• List of people from Providence, Rhode Island