Before they became famous, these public figures spent time in Pennsylvania classrooms.<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania is home to\u00a0dozens of colleges and universities<\/a>\u00a0that help students define their paths and grow as people. Many of these schools have also shaped famous names whose influence extends far beyond the classroom. We\u2019ve put together a list of eight public figures\u2014whom you may recognize from the TV screen or the history books\u2014who spent time in the commonwealth before stepping into the spotlight.<\/p>\n John Legend (University of Pennsylvania)<\/p>\n Singer-songwriter and pianist John Legend is one of only 28 people to have won each of the major performing arts awards\u2014an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony\u2014a status known by the acronym EGOT. He also went to college in Pennsylvania, enrolling at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia at the age of 16, when he was then known as John Stephens.<\/p>\n At Penn, he studied English with a focus on African American literature and was president of the a cappella group The Counterparts. He also met singer Lauryn Hill while at Penn and played piano on her acclaimed album \u201cThe Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.\u201d<\/p>\n In a\u00a0commencement address<\/a>\u00a0to the Penn graduating class of 2014, Legend explained how following graduation, he and got a typical office job, but \u201ccouldn\u2019t shake\u201d his passion for music. He said he \u201cfollowed the path that the Penn graduate was supposed to take,\u201d but wasn\u2019t happy until he committed entirely to music (and eventually adopted his stage name). In fact, it was his college roommate, a cousin of Kanye West, who\u00a0helped Legend<\/a>\u00a0get his big break.<\/p>\n Fred Rogers (University of Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary)<\/p>\n Beloved Pittsburgh neighbor Fred Rogers\u2014better known as Mister Rogers\u2014built his groundbreaking career in children\u2019s television after studying at both the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and the University of Pittsburgh\u2019s Graduate School of Child Development, earning degrees that shaped his gentle, psychologically informed approach to children\u2019s media.<\/p>\n As a Presbyterian minister, Rogers practiced his ministry by reaching children through the television screen. And at Pitt, Rogers\u00a0met professor and child psychologist Margaret McFarland<\/a>, who helped shape his thinking about child development\u2014and thus the overall philosophy of \u201cMister Rogers\u2019 Neighborhood,\u201d for which she served as a consultant for decades.<\/p>\n Quinta Brunson (Temple University)<\/p>\n Quinta Brunson, creator and star of the hit show \u201cAbbott Elementary,\u201d is a Philadelphia native who went to college locally at North Philly\u2019s Temple University. In 2024, Brunson became the first Black woman to win the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in more than 40 years, and just the second overall.<\/p>\n The actress and comedian explored comedy at Temple by participating in the student-produced sketch comedy show \u201cTemple SMASH<\/a>,\u201d which airs on Temple University Television. While she left school early to pursue a comedy career in Los Angeles, Temple awarded her an honorary degree in Fine Arts in 2024.<\/p>\n Andy Warhol (Carnegie Institute of Technology, now Carnegie Mellon University)<\/p>\n One of the most famous artists of the 20th century, Andy Warhol, graduated from Pittsburgh\u2019s Carnegie Institute of Technology\u2014now Carnegie Mellon University\u2014in 1949. He was reportedly the first in his family to attend college, and rather than fine art, he\u00a0studied commercial art<\/a>, a field that would influence much of the pop art\u2014like his Campbell\u2019s Soup cans series\u2014for which Warhol became known.<\/p>\n During his college years, Warhol joined the Modern Dance Club as the only male member, served as art editor of the student magazine Cano, and developed his signature\u00a0blotted line<\/a>\u00a0technique. Soon after graduating, Warhol moved to New York to begin his career.<\/p>\n Keegan-Michael Key (Pennsylvania State University)<\/p>\n Actor and comedian Keegan-Michael Key, who gained widespread recognition for being half of the sketch comedy dup \u201cKey and Peele,\u201d honed his artistry in Pennsylvania. After earning a bachelor\u2019s degree at the University of Detroit Mercy in Michigan, Key enrolled in Pennsylvania State University for the Master of Fine Arts in theater program.<\/p>\n Key returned to Penn State in 2014 to receive an Alumni Fellow Award and\u00a0told the Alumni Association<\/a>\u00a0that being back on campus felt \u201clike putting on a wonderful, comfortable pair of pants.\u201d He also said his Penn State education allowed him to look at comedy \u201cin a different way, in a historical context, that I didn\u2019t previously.\u201d<\/p>\n To this day, Key is a dedicated fan of Penn State football; he served as a\u00a0guest picker<\/a>\u00a0for ESPN\u2019s College GameDay in 2024 and regularly delighted the Nittany Lions community with his\u00a0impression<\/a>\u00a0of former head coach James Franklin.<\/p>\n Pope Leo XIV (Villanova University)<\/p>\n Did you know that the new pope is not only an American from Chicago, but that he also\u00a0went to college in Pennsylvania<\/a>? Pope Leo XIV, the first pope born in the U.S., attended Villanova University, a private Catholic school in the Philadelphia suburbs. At Villanova, he majored in mathematics explored the priesthood, and discovered a\u00a0love of driving<\/a>\u00a0(necessary for anyone regularly traveling between Chicago and Philadelphia by car). Unsurprisingly,\u00a0according to The New York Times<\/a>, some of the university church services that the future pope attended were \u201cinterrupted by shouts of \u2018Hoagie Man!\u2019 when a guy selling subs passed by.\u201d<\/p>\n Amelia Earhart (Ogontz School, now Penn State Abington)<\/p>\n Amelia Earhart, the famed aviator who in 1932 became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean\u2014and who tragically disappeared in her 1937 quest to become the first to circumnavigate the globe\u2014was one of the country\u2019s first celebrities. The famous pilot also\u00a0briefly attended<\/a>\u00a0school in Pennsylvania at Montgomery County\u2019s private Ogontz School for Young Ladies.<\/p>\n After enrolling at Ogontz in 1916, Earhart served as class vice president, joined the campus Red Cross chapter, butted heads with the headmistress in an effort to make sororities more inclusive, and was known to climb onto the dormitory roof to look at the stars. But before graduating in 1918, Earhart left Ogontz to join the war effort as U.S. participation in World War I ramped up.<\/p>\n The Ogontz School closed in 1950, and the site was donated to the Pennsylvania State University system. It\u2019s now known as Penn State Abington.<\/p>\n Tory Burch (University of Pennsylvania)<\/p>\n Fashion designer Tory Burch, founder of the eponymous women\u2019s fashion empire, is from Chester County\u2019s Valley Forge and attended the University of Pennsylvania, where she majored in art history and joined the sorority Kappa Alpha Theta. Even though she didn\u2019t study fashion, it was a major interest during her college years.<\/p>\n