ETH Zurich Admitted Student Profiles & Alumni

Albert Einstein

Theoretical physicist; Nobel Prize in Physics (1921)

Diploma in Physics

1900s

John von Neumann

Polymath; founded game theory & computer architecture

Diploma in Chemical Engineering

1920s

Alfred Werner

Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1913); configuration chemistry pioneer

Studied chemistry

c. 1890s

Richard R. Ernst

Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1991); developed FT-NMR spectroscopy

PhD Chemistry

1962

Kurt Wüthrich

Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2002); NMR methods for proteins

PhD Biophysics (ETH)

N/A

Felix Bloch

Nobel Prize in Physics (1952); foundational NMR work

Studies in Physics

c. 1940s

Werner Arber

Nobel Prize in Medicine (1978); discovered restriction enzymes

Chemistry/Physics studies

c. 1950s

Vladimir Prelog

Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1975); stereochemistry

Studied Chemistry

c. 1940s

Tadeus Reichstein

Nobel Prize in Medicine (1950); hormone chemistry

Studied Chemistry/Medicine

c. 1940s

Peter Debye

Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1936); dipole models

Engineering diploma

1905

Georg Cantor

Mathematician; founder of set theory and Cantor’s theorem

Studies in Mathematics

c. 1860s

Jacques Herzog

Architect; co‑founded Herzog & de Meuron (Pritzker Prize 2001)

Diploma in Architecture at ETH

c. 1970s

Pierre de Meuron

Architect; co‑founded Herzog & de Meuron; Pritzker and Royal Gold Medal winner

Diploma in Architecture at ETH

1970s

Santiago Calatrava

Architect & engineer; known for flowing, biomorphic structures

Diploma in Architecture

c. 1960s

Peter Zumthor

Pritzker Prize-winning architect

Studied Architecture

c. 1960s

Othmar Ammann

Civil engineer; designed NYC bridges

Studied Civil Engineering

c. 1900s

Rudolf Kálmán

Invented Kalman Filter; pioneer in control theory

Professor of Electrical Engineering

N/A

Raffaello D’Andrea

Co‑founder of Kiva Systems (Amazon Robotics), drone entrepreneur, ETH professor

PhD/Education roles at ETH

N/A

Uǫrs Hölzle

SVP Engineering at Google; software infrastructure leader

Studies at ETH

N/A

Philippe Kahn

Inventor of the first camera phone

Studies in Engineering/CS

N/A

Wernher von Braun

Rocket pioneer; architect of Saturn V and Apollo program

Studies at ETH

c. 1930s

Felix Bloch (duplicate)

Removed duplicate entry

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Kurt Wüthrich (duplicate)

Removed duplicate entry

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Mai Thi Nguyen‑Kim

Popular science communicator, chemist

Studied Chemistry

c. 2020

Thomas J. Watson

Former IBM CEO

Studied at ETH

c. 1900s

Hans Albert Einstein

Civil engineer; son of Albert Einstein

Diploma in Civil Engineering

c. 1920s