1.  Cindy Crawford. OK, she didn’t graduate from college. Cindy left during her freshman year to pursue modeling. But, any high school valedictorian who earned a scholarship to study chemical engineering at Northwestern deserves a spot on this list.

Cindy Crawford

2.Lily Cole. Last year, she graduated at the top of her class at Cambridge, where she studied art history. She got a “double first” (a rare honor in England) despite a double workload of classes and modeling assignments.

3. Christy Turlington. The supermodel graduated cum laude from NYU in 1999, with a B.A. in Comparative Religion and Eastern Philosophy. Now she is at Columbia pursuing a Masters in Public Health.

Christy Turlington

4. Tyra Banks. The model-turned-TV host/producer graduated from Harvard’s Executive Education Owner/President Manager Program in February, giving her Ivy League alumnus status.

Tyra Banks at Harvard

5. Brooke Shields. The Calvin Klein kid who modeled practically since the day she was born took a break from her acting career to attend Princeton in the 80s. She majored in French Literature.

Brooke Shields

6. Iman. The Somali supermodel did more than break down racial barriers in fashion. She studied political science at the University of Nairobi and speaks five languages.

Iman

7. Sasha Pivovarova. The Russian beauty studied art at the St. Petersburg Art Institute before becoming a model.

Sasha Pivovarova and her art

8. Sara Ziff. The model who co-directed the documentary “Picture Me” and recently launched The Model Alliance graduated magna cum laude from Columbia, with a degree in political science.

Sara Ziff at Columbia

9. Sophie Patitz. The younger sister of supermodel Tatjana, Sophie had a stellar modeling career in the 90s but always dreamed of saving animals. She graduated from University of London’s Royal Holloway College with a degree in zoology last year and now works for International Animal Rescue.

Sophie Patitz (Pollmann) at Royal Holloway

10. Jill Johnson. A little known model who embarked on her career after graduating with honors from the University of Colorado, Boulder, Jill has a B.A. in English Literature and now writes for some little known blog. (She would not consider herself a “Beautiful Brain”—more like a haggard mom with a sieve-like memory—but she was struggling to fill the #10 spot.)

Jill, post-graduation pre-mom (i.e. a lifetime ago)