List of Occidental College people explained

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

• John Branca, entertainment industry lawyer
• Norton Clapp, an original owner of Space Needle
• Stephen Cooper, CEO of Warner Music Group
• W. Don Cornwell, CEO of Granite Broadcasting
• Marsha J. Evans, CEO of American Red Cross, Navy admiral
• Frank Hershey, automotive designer
• Arthur Peck, CEO of Gap Inc.
• Linda Bradford Raschke, commodities and futures trader

Entertainment and the arts

• Ben Affleck, actor, director, screenwriter
• Stephen Beal, visual artist
• Ashly Burch, actress
• John Callas, writer, director, producer
• Sadie Calvano, actress^[1]
• August Coppola, academic, author, film executive and advocate for the arts
• Glenn Corbett, television actor
• 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, 1973–87
• 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 1969–1970, Lieutenant Governor of California 1967–1969
• U. Alexis Johnson, U.S. diplomat

• Jack Kemp, AFL and NFL player 1958–1970, U.S. Representative from New York 1971–1989, U.S. Secretary Department of Housing and Urban Development 1989–1993, Republican vice presidential nominee in 1996; awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom, 2009
• Kristina A Kvien, United States Ambassador, U.S. Embassy of Armeni
• David M. Louie, Attorney General of Hawaii
• Pete McCloskey, U.S. Representative 1967–83
• 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, 1987–1989
• 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

• Coit D. Blacker, political science professor at Stanford University
• Glenn S. Dumke, history professor and chancellor of the California State University
• Sharon Gaber, president of the University of Toledo
• Karen L. Gould, president of Brooklyn College
• Lewis Sargentich, legal scholar at Harvard Law School

Journalism

• Bessie Beatty (1886–1947), 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

• Mark Dery, author and cultural critic
• M. F. K. Fisher, writer
• Robinson Jeffers, poet
• Scott O'Dell, author, Newbery Award winner
• Carrie Vaughn, writer
• Gladys Waddingham, teacher and local historian
• Rosalind Wiseman, writer

Medicine

• David G. Armstrong, physician/medical researcher
• Howard Judd, medical researcher

Science

• Brent Dalrymple, geologist and National Medal of Science winner
• William Goddard, engineer
• Edmund C. Jaeger, naturalist, author, teacher
• J. P. Mallory, archaeologist
• John E. McCosker, ichthyologist
• Fred Lawrence Whipple, astronomer

Social action, philanthropy, and community service

• Howard Ahmanson, Jr, philanthropist, financier, and writer
• 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 from 1980 to 2002
• Olin Browne, PGA Tour winner
• Dean Cromwell, USC and Olympic track and field coach
• Luke Collis, arena football player
• 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^[2]
• Danny Southwick, arena football player
• Jim Tunney, NFL official from 1960 to 1991; three Super Bowls

Notable faculty

• Peter Dreier, Dr. E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics and director of the Urban and Environmental Policy Department; was the Director of Housing at the Boston Redevelopment Authority and senior policy advisor to Boston Mayor Ray Flynn for nine years^[3]

• Eric Garcetti, former assistant professor of Diplomacy and World Affairs; currently 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^[4]
• Martha Ronk, Price Professor of English Literature, is a 2005 PEN American Center Literary Award winner in poetry
• Derek Shearer, director of the McKinnon Center for Global Affairs and Chevalier Professor of Diplomacy and World Affairs, former United States Ambassador to Finland^[5]

Presidents

• Samuel H. Weller (1887–1891)
• J. Melville McPherron (1892–1894)
• Elbert Nevius Condit (1894–1896)
• James W. Parkhill (1896–1897)
• Guy W. Wadsworth (1897–1905)
• William Stewart Young (1905–1906, acting)
• John Willis Baer (1906–1916)
• Thomas Gregory Burt (1916–1917)
• Silas Evans (1917–1920)
• Thomas Gregory Burt (1920–1921, acting)
• Remsen Bird (1921–1927, 1928–1945)
• Robert G. Cleland (1927–1928, acting)
• Arthur G. Coons (1945–1965)
• Richard C. Gilman (1965–1988)
• John Brooks Slaughter (1988–1999)
• Theodore R. Mitchell (1999–2005)
• Kenyon S. Chan (2005–2006, acting)
• Susan Westerberg Prager (2006–2007)
• Robert Skotheim (2008–2009)
• Jonathan Veitch (2009–2020)
• Harry J. Elam Jr. (2020–2024)
• Tom Stritikus (2024–present)

Notes and References

1. Web site: 'Mom' Star Sadie Calvano on Going to College. InStyle. Time Inc. Simon. Samantha. March 26, 2015. December 29, 2015.
2. News: Chargers Promote Sanders. February 17, 1976. The New York Times. UPI. February 7, 2022.
3. Web site: Occidental College. Peter Dreier. 8 November 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121021130024/http://employees.oxy.edu/dreier/. 21 October 2012. dead.
4. Web site: Julia Holter. Occidental College. 21 May 2022.
5. "Derek Shearer" (Archive). Occidental College. Retrieved on August 5, 2014.