Most of us students know that our school is relatively new; Millennium Brooklyn was only founded in 2011. But some might not know that the building it’s located in has a long history; it was built in 1902, after all. Imagine the hundreds of students that have sat in the same classrooms you’ve sat in. Here are four of the most notable of your predecessors.

Zaid Abdul-Aziz

 John Jay High School Class of ‘65*

Drafted in 68’ to the Cincinatti Royals, Zaid ‘The Kangaroo’ Zaid Abdul-Aziz spent ten seasons in the NBA, variously part of the the Royals, Milwaukee Bucks, Seattle SuperSonics, Houston Rockets, Buffalo Braves, and Boston Celtics. He retired in 1978 with a career total of 4,557 points and 4,065 rebounds. He is currently a Drug and Alcohol Abuse Counselor in Seattle

Thelma Ritter

John Jay High School Class of ‘19*

Six-time Academy Award nominee, Thelma Ritter is probably best known for her role as Birdie in 1950’s All About Eve. A Brooklyn native, Ritter during her 20-year acting career, racked up a record six nominations for Best Supporting Actress as well as a Tony Award. She died in 1969.

Isidor Isaac Rabi

John Jay High School Class of ‘15*

Winner of the 1944 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of nuclear magnetic resonance, Isaac Rabi was born in Austria-Hungary, his family emigrating to New York less than a year later. After a brief stint in the Manhattan Project (though later opposing the development of the hydrogen bomb), he chaired Columbia’s physics department from 45’-49’ before serving as chairman of the President’s Science Advisory Committee. He died in 1988 after a long battle with cancer; after being examined with an MRI, a technology he had laid the groundwork for, he remarked “I never thought my work would come to this.”

Henny Youngman

John Jay High School Class of ‘23*

Crowned by a forgotten newspaper columnist, the King of the One-Liners, Henny Youngman, was born in London and emigrated to the United States. After breaking into radio in 1937, he soon became one of the most well-known comedic personalities in the country. At his peak, he performed more than 200 shows a year, remarking “I get on the plane. I go and do the job, grab the money and I come home and I keep it clean. Those are my rules. Frank Sinatra does the same thing, only he has a helicopter waiting. That’s the difference.”

And there you have it; four of John Jay Campus’ notable Alumni.

*Cited from An Architectural Guidebook to Brooklyn