Here follows a list of notable people associated with Occidental College in Los Angeles, California. This list includes alumni, attendees, faculty, and presidents of the university.
Notable graduates and attendees
Business and industry
Entertainment and the arts
- Ben Affleck, actor, director, screenwriter
- Stephen Beal, visual artist
- Ashly Burch, actress
- John Callas, writer, director, producer
- Sadie Calvano, actress
- August Coppola, academic, author, film executive and advocate for the arts
- Glenn Corbett, television actor
- Michael Angelo Covino, actor, filmmaker
- Gabriela Cowperthwaite, documentary filmmaker, Blackfish
- Will Friedle, actor
- Terry Gilliam, animator and comedian in Monty Python comedy troupe; filmmaker: Brazil, 12 Monkeys
- Joanna Gleason, actor
- Mike Hoover, cameraman, journalist, documentarian, winner of Academy and Emmy Awards
- Terry Kitchen, musician
- Lane 8, musician, producer
- Loren Lester, actor
- Thomas Murray, organist
- George Nader, actor
- Marcel Ophüls, filmmaker
- Emily Osment, actress; Class of 2015
- Cooper Raiff, actor, director
- Joe Rohde, Imagineer
- Peter Scolari, actor
- Jake Shears, lead singer of Scissor Sisters
- Anna Slotky, actress
- Dan Slott, comic book writer
- Kirsten Smith, screenwriter, Ten Things I Hate About You, Legally Blonde, The Ugly Truth
- Roger Guenveur Smith, actor
- Rider Strong, actor
- Taku Takahashi, musician
- Maurissa Tancharoen, actress, singer, dancer, television writer and lyricist
- Jesús Salvador Treviño, television director
- Tui St. George Tucker, composer
- Michael Whaley, actor, director, writer
- Luke Wilson, actor
Government, diplomacy, and law
- Kathy Augustine, politician from Nevada
- Alphonzo E. Bell, Jr., U.S. congressman
- David S. Cunningham, Jr., Los Angeles City Council member, 1973âÂÂ87
- Gloria Duffy, president and CEO of The Commonwealth Club, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, and Special Coordinator for Cooperative Threat Reduction
- Richard Falkenrath, former deputy homeland security advisor
- Robert Finch, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare 1969âÂÂ1970, Lieutenant Governor of California 1967âÂÂ1969
- U. Alexis Johnson, U.S. diplomat
- Jack Kemp, AFL and NFL player 1958âÂÂ1970, U.S. representative from New York 1971âÂÂ1989, U.S. Secretary Department of Housing and Urban Development 1989âÂÂ1993, Republican vice presidential nominee in 1996; awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom, 2009
- Kristina A Kvien, United States smbassador, U.S. Embassy of Armeni
- David M. Louie, attorney general of Hawaii
- Pete McCloskey, U.S. representative 1967âÂÂ83
- Jacqueline Nguyen, federal judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- Chris Norby, California State Assemblyman
- Barack Obama, 44th president of the United States
- Dennis R. Patrick, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, 1987âÂÂ1989
- Thomas M. Rees, U.S. congressman
- Janette Sadik-Khan, commissioner, New York City Department of Transportation
- Janis Lynn Sammartino, federal judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of California
- Mark S. Scarberry, professor of law at Pepperdine University School of Law
- Grant Woods, Arizona attorney general
Higher education and academia
Journalism
- Bessie Beatty (1886âÂÂ1947), reported on Russian Revolution
- Steve Coll, former Washington Post managing editor, Pulitzer Prize winner
- Andrea Elliott, reporter for The New York Times, Pulitzer Prize winner
- Chris Gulker, photographer
- Margot Mifflin, professor of journalism, feminist cultural critic
- James Andrew Miller, reporter for Washington Post, author of oral histories on ESPN, CAA
- Patt Morrison, NPR radio personality and columnist for the Los Angeles Times
- Sam Rubin, KTLA entertainment anchor, journalist; class of 1982
Literature and writing
Medicine
Science
Social action, philanthropy, and community service
- Howard Ahmanson, Jr, philanthropist, financier, and writer
- Angelica Salas, immigration activist
- Cameron Townsend, founder, Wycliffe Bible Translators and Summer Institute of Linguistics
- Rex Weyler, author, journalist, ecologist and co-founder of Greenpeace International; did not graduate
Sports and athletics
- Keith Beebe, football player
- Ron Botchan, five-time Super Bowl official for NFL 1980âÂÂ2002
- Olin Browne, PGA Tour winner
- Dean Cromwell, USC and Olympic track and field coach
- Luke Collis, arena football player
- Anna Dalton, long-distance runner
- Joe Faust, Olympic high jumper
- Justin Goltz, NFL/CFL quarterback
- Bob Gutowski, pole vaulter, 1956 Olympic silver medalist
- Jack Kemp, AFL and NFL star quarterback of Buffalo Bills
- Sammy Lee, two-time Olympic gold medalist in diving
- Jim Mora, Sr., coached NFL's New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts
- Vance Mueller, NFL running back
- Bill Redell, college and pro quarterback, high school coach
- Johnny Sanders, NFL general manager
- Danny Southwick, arena football player
- Jim Tunney, NFL official 1960âÂÂ1991; three Super Bowls
Notable faculty
- Linda Besemer (born 1957), James Irvine Distinguished Professor of the Arts 1987âÂÂ2009
- Peter Dreier, Dr. E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics and director of the Urban and Environmental Policy Department; director of Housing at the Boston Redevelopment Authority and senior policy advisor to Boston Mayor Ray Flynn for nine years
- Eric Garcetti, former assistant professor of Diplomacy and World Affairs; former mayor of Los Angeles
- George R. Goldner, art historian, Drue Heinz Chairman of the Department of Drawings and Paints of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Julia Holter, singer-songwriter, record producer, composer, artist; appointed Professor of the Practice of Songwriting in 2021
- Sara Rittenhouse Brown (1854âÂÂ1938), professor, English
- Martha Ronk, Price Professor of English Literature, 2005 PEN American Center Literary Award winner in poetry
- Janet Scheel, Ezra Frederick Scattergood Professor of Physics and chair of the Department of Physics
- Derek Shearer, director of the McKinnon Center for Global Affairs and Chevalier Professor of Diplomacy and World Affairs, former United States Ambassador to Finland
Presidents
The following persons have led Occidental College since 1887:
Table notes:
References