Simeon De Witt (1756–1834) was New York State’s long-serving Surveyor General, a Revolutionary War army geographer, planner of New York City’s grid street system, Erie Canal commissioner, and an early founder and land developer of Ithaca, New York.
Peter Van Winkle (1808–1872) was a Unionist U.S. Senator from West Virginia during the Civil War and one of the state’s first senators after its 1863 admission, previously serving in Virginia politics and constitutional conventions.
Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney (1899–1992) was an American businessman, aviation investor, film financier, government official, and philanthropist who helped found Pan American World Airways, built mining enterprises, served in federal posts, and supported major American arts institutions.
Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942) was an American sculptor, patron of the arts, and founder of the Whitney Museum of American Art, whose philanthropy and support of emerging artists shaped twentieth-century American art.
Walt Whitman (1819–1892) was an American poet, journalist, and essayist whose landmark work Leaves of Grass revolutionized modern poetry and established him as one of the most influential voices in American literature.
Janwillem van de Wetering (1931–2008) was a Dutch-born novelist and Zen memoirist known for his Amsterdam police detective series and philosophical writings inspired by Zen Buddhism and international experiences.
Charles Warner Wendell (1930–2015) was an American professor, historian, and genealogist whose scholarship and leadership helped advance the study of Dutch American history through organizations such as the Holland Society and the New Netherland Institute.
Barrett Wendell (1855–1921) was an American literary scholar and Harvard professor whose teaching and writings on English composition, American literature, and figures such as Cotton Mather shaped late nineteenth-century literary studies.
Loudon Wainwright III (b. 1946) is an American folk singer, songwriter, and actor known for humorous and autobiographical songs, including the hit “Dead Skunk,” and for a long recording career spanning dozens of albums.
Frans de Waal (1948–2024) was a Dutch-American primatologist and author whose research on chimpanzees and other primates reshaped understanding of empathy, cooperation, and conflict in animal and human behavior.
