List of Pomona College people

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Pomona College (/pəˈmoʊnə/ ^ⓘ pə-MOH-nə^[2]) is an elite^[3] private liberal arts college in Claremont, California, and the founding member of the Claremont Colleges consortium.^[4] Many notable individuals have been affiliated with the college as graduates, non-graduating attendees, faculty, staff, or administrators.

The class of 1894, Pomona's first graduating class, had 11 members.^[1]

Since its founding in 1887, Pomona has graduated 132 classes of students. The college enrolls approximately 1,690 students as of the spring 2025 semester^[5] and has roughly 25,000 living alumni.^[6] The top industries for graduates include technology; education; consulting and professional services; finance; government, law, and politics; arts, entertainment, and media; healthcare and social services; nonprofits; and research.^[7][8]

Pomona employs 276 faculty members as of the fall 2024 semester.^[9] The college has had 10 presidents, the first four of whom were Congregational ministers. The current president, G. Gabrielle Starr, took office in July 2017.^[10]

Notable alumni

Main category: Pomona College alumni

Arts and letters

Visual art

Dividing the Light, a 2007 skyspace on Pomona's campus by James Turrell, class of 1965

Name	Class year	Notability	Ref.
Milford Zornes	1934	California Scene Painting watercolor artist	[11]
Roger Edward Kuntz	1948	Landscape painter	[12]
Marcia Hafif	1951	Artist, known for minimalist and process art works	[13]
Barbara T. Smith	1953	Performance artist	[14]
Helen Pashgian	1956	Light and Space artist	[15]
Joan Brigham	1956	American Artist, art historian, fellow of the Center for Advanced Visual Studies, known for steam sculpture	[16]
James Strombotne	1956	Painter	[17]
Mowry Baden	1958	American Sculptor, known for kinaesthetic sculptures, Governor General's Award in Visual Art recipient, Guggenheim Fellowship recipient	[18]
Michael Spafford	1959	American Artist, Professor Emeritus at the School of Art, Art History, and Design University of Washington	[19]
Mary GrandPré	1960s[a]	Illustrator, best known for her work on the U.S. editions of the Harry Potter books	[20]
James Turrell	1965	Light and Space artist, known for skyspaces and Roden Crater land art project	[21][22]
Judy Fiskin	1966	Photographer and video artist	[23]
Chris Burden	1969	Performance, sculpture, and installation artist	[24][25][26]
Bret Price	1972	American sculptor, educator	[citation needed]
Peter Shelton	1973	Sculptor	[27]
Weston Teruya	1999	Asian American visual artist and Arts administrator, artist-in-residence at Recology, Asian Cultural Council Individual Fellowship, artist-in-residence at de Young Museum, Artadia Awards recipient	[citation needed]
Miko Lim	2002	Director and photographer	[28]
Kameelah Janan Rasheed	2006	American writer, educator, and artist, Guggenheim Fellowship recipient, Creative Capital recipient	[citation needed]
Kim Ye (multidisciplinary artist)	2007	Chinese American multidisciplinary artist	[citation needed]
Gray Wielebinski	2014	American multidisciplinary artist	[citation needed]

Film and television

Joel McCrea, class of 1928, appeared in more than 100 films, including many Westerns.^[29]

Robert Taylor, class of 1933, was one of the leading men of the Hollywood Golden Age.^[30]

Richard Chamberlain, class of 1956, became a teen idol for his starring role in Dr. Kildare.^[31]

Name	Class year	Notability	Ref.
Joel McCrea	1928	Film actor (Sullivan's Travels, Foreign Correspondent)	[32][33]
John Whitney	1930s[a]	Early computer animation filmmaker	[34][35]
Robert Taylor	1933	Film actor (Quo Vadis, Ivanhoe)	[36][37]
Art Clokey	Attended 1939–1943	Stop-motion clay animator and creator of Gumby	[38][39][40]
Amanda Blake	Attended c. 1950[a]	Actress (Gunsmoke)	[41]
Richard Chamberlain	1956	Film and theatre actor (Dr. Kildare, Shōgun, The Thorn Birds), three-time Golden Globe winner	[42]
Robert Towne	1956	Academy Award–winning screenwriter (Chinatown; nominated for The Last Detail and Shampoo)	[42]
Anthony Zerbe	1958	Emmy-winning character actor (Will Penny, The Omega Man, Licence to Kill)	[43]
David S. Ward	1967	Film director (Major League) and Academy Award–winning screenwriter (The Sting)	[44]
Robert Blalack	1970	Visual effects artist (won Academy Award for Star Wars and an Emmy for The Day After)	[45][46]
Scott Paulin	1971	Actor (The Right Stuff), husband of actress Wendy Phillips	[47]
Lynda Obst	1972	Film and television producer	[48]
George C. Wolfe	1976	Two-time Tony Award–winning play director, playwright and film director (Nights in Rodanthe)	[49]
Allison Jones	1977	Emmy Award–winning casting director	[50][51]
Rosalind Chao	1978	Actress (The Joy Luck Club, Star Trek: The Next Generation)	[52]
Ted Field	1979	Media mogul and film producer	[53]
Paul Guay	1979	Screenwriter (Liar Liar, Heartbreakers, The Little Rascals)	[54][55]
Joe Menosky	1979	Television writer (Star Trek franchise)	[56]
Melissa Jo Peltier	1983	Television writer and producer (Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan)	[57]
Jim Taylor	1984	Academy Award–winning screenwriter (Sideways); frequent writing partner of Alexander Payne	[58]
Viveca Paulin	1991	Actor, wife of comedian Will Ferrell	[59]
Kelly Perine	1991	Television actor	[60]
John Stephens (TV producer)	1996	American Television Producer, Director, and Screenwriter, Author of Emerald Atlas and The Books of Beginning children's novel series	[61]
Jennifer Phang	1996	American Filmmaker	[62]
Alison Rosen	1997	Podcaster, writer, and television personality	[63]
Aditya Sood	1997	Film producer (The Martian, Deadpool, Deadpool 2)	[64][65][66]
Sylvain White	1998	Film director (Stomp the Yard)	[67]
Nava Mau	2014	Emmy-nominated actress (Baby Reindeer)	[68][69]

Music

Actor and musician Kris Kristofferson, class of 1958

Name	Class year	Notability	Ref.
John Cage	Attended 1928–1930	Avant-garde composer, musician, and poet	[70][71][72]
Vladimir Ussachevsky	1935	Composer of electronic music	[73]
Robert Shaw	1938	Fourteen-time Grammy-winning conductor	[74]
Chris Strachwitz	Transferred 1952	Grammy-winning record label executive and producer	[75]
Tinius Nagell-Erichsen	1955	Norwegian Publisher and Chairman of Schibsted	[76]
Kris Kristofferson	1958	Writer, singer-songwriter, actor, and musician	[43][77]
Douglas Leedy	1959	Composer and music scholar	[78]
Frank Zappa	Auditor, c. 1959	Prolific musician, member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame	[79]
Lucy Shelton	1965	Soprano	[80]
David Noon	1968	Composer	[81]
David Murray	1977	Jazz musician	[82]
Frank Albinder	1980	Conductor, former director of Chanticleer	[83]
Eric Friedl	1988	Musician, The Oblivians; owner of Goner Records	[84]
Christine Fan	Attended 1990s[a]	American-born Taiwanese singer and actress	[85]
Chris Cain	1999	Musician, We Are Scientists	[86]
Keith Murray	2000	Musician, We Are Scientists	[86]
Tunji Balogun	2004	Record label executive, CEO of Def Jam Recordings and co-founder of Keep Cool Records	[87]

Journalism and non-fiction writing

Bill Keller, class of 1970, won a Pulitzer for his reporting from the Soviet Union in the final years of the Cold War and served as executive editor of The New York Times from 2003 to 2011.^[88]

Name	Class year	Notability	Ref.
Relman Morin	1929	Two-time Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist for the Associated Press	[89][43][90]
Mark Gayn	1933	Foreign affairs correspondent for the Toronto Star	[91][92]
Paul Fussell	1947	Cultural and literary historian, known for criticism of the romanticization of war	[93][49]
H. Arnold Barton	1953	Historian of Scandinavian history	[94][95]
Terry Drinkwater	1958	CBS News correspondent	[96]
Doug McConnell	1967	Television journalist	[97][98]
Bill Keller	1970	Executive editor of The New York Times and winner of the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting	[99][88][100]
Verlyn Klinkenborg	1974	Author, editor, and academic, known for his writings on rural America	[101][102]
Joe Palca	1974	NPR science correspondent	[103]
Mary Schmich	1975	Columnist for the Chicago Tribune and winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary	[104][105][106]
Lynn Walford	1979	Automotive technology writer	[107]
Richard Pérez‑Peña	1984	Reporter for The New York Times	[108]
Zafar Sobhan	1992	Bangladeshi journalist and editor of the Dhaka Tribune	[109]
Judd Legum	2000	Journalist, lawyer, and political staffer; founder of ThinkProgress	[110][111]
Ashlee Vance	2000	Technology and business journalist, author	[112]
Conor Friedersdorf	2002	Staff writer for The Atlantic, known for civil libertarian perspectives	[113]
Joel Fagliano	2014	Mini Crossword Creator and Editor for The New York Times	[114]

Writing

Name	Class year	Notability	Ref.
Richard Armour	1927	Author, humorist, professor	[115]
Mary Custis Vezey	1927	American Poet and Translator	[116]
Betty Fussell	1949	Writer, Critic, Educator	[117]
Ifeanyi Menkiti	1964	Nigerian Poet, Professor of philosophy at Wellesley College, owner of the Grolier Poetry Book Shop	[citation needed]
Robert Daseler	1967	American playwright and Poet, recipient of the Richard Wilbur Award	[citation needed]
Ved Mehta	1956	Indian writer	[118]
William Irwin Thompson	1962	Poet, cultural historian, cultural critic	[119][120]
Ray Young Bear	Attended 1969–1972	Poet and novelist, known for work on contemporary Native American identity	[121]
Garrett Hongo	1973	Japanese-American poet	[122]
Louis Menand	1973	Writer, The Metaphysical Club (which won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for History)	[123][124]
Brenda Hillman	1973	American Poet, National Endowment for the Arts fellow, Guggenheim Fellow, Pushcart Prize Winner, and Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner	[125]
Richard Preston	1976	Writer for The New Yorker and bestselling author of The Hot Zone	[49]
Douglas Preston	1978	Writer for The New Yorker and Smithsonian, bestselling thriller author	[126]
Vikram Chandra	1984	Indian-American writer	[58][127]
Aaron Becker	1996	Children's book writer and illustrator, Caldecott Honor recipient	[128][129]
Ann Fisher-Wirth	1968	American Poet, President of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment, Professor of English at the University of Mississippi	[130]
Rebecca Curtis	1996	American Writer, lecturer in creative writing at Columbia University, Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award recipient	[131]
Michelle Moran	2002	Historical Fiction Novelist	[132]
Mac Barnett	2004	National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, Caldecott Honor recipient	[133]
Bennett Sims (author)	2008	American fiction Writer, Truman Capote Literary Trust fellow, Associate Professor at the University of Iowa	[134]
Liz Fosslien	2009	Author, illustrator, and expert in workplace culture and emotions	[135]
Julius Taranto	2012	Writer and lawyer	[136]
Tom Lin	2018	Carnegie Medal–winning author	[137]

Other

Self-help author Marianne Williamson, attended 1970 to 1972^[48]

Name	Class year	Notability	Ref.
Fong Foo Sec	Preparatory school,[b] transferred 1901	Chinese educator and publicist, Pomona's first Asian student, English department editor of The Commercial Press	[138][139]
Essae Martha Culver	1905	First state librarian of Louisiana and president of the American Library Association	[140]
Clara Breed	1927	Librarian who opposed Japanese internment during World War II and supported children sent to camps	[141][142]
Edwin B. Crittenden	1938	Alaskan architect	[143]
David Ossman	Transferred in 1956	Writer and comedian best known as a member of the Firesign Theatre	[144][42]
Twyla Tharp	Transferred in 1960	Emmy and Tony award-winning dancer and choreographer	[145][146]
Marianne Williamson	Attended 1970–1972	Author, spiritual leader, activist, and 2020 presidential candidate	[147][48]
Don Daglow	1974	Video game designer and producer	[148]
Eddie Dombrower	1980	Video game designer and producer	[148]
Alex Linder	1988	Owner and operator of the Vanguard News Network, an antisemitic, white supremacist website	[149]

Government and law

U.S. Senators and Congresspeople

U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D‑HI), class of 1994

Name	Class year	Notability	Ref.
Alan Cranston	Transferred 1933	Democratic U.S. Senator for California (1969–1993)	[150][151][152]
Frank Evans	Attended 1941–1943	Democratic U.S. Representative for Colorado's 3rd district (1965–1979)	[153][154]
Chip Pashayan	1963	Republican U.S. Representative for California's 17th district (1979–1991)	[153][155]
Brian Schatz	1994	Democratic U.S. Senator for Hawaii (2012–present)	[156][157][153][158]

Federal officials

Name	Class year	Notability	Ref.
Leslie A. Wheeler	1921	U.S. government official and diplomat who helped liberalize international agricultural trade	[159][160]
William B. Bader	1953	United States Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs	[161]
Esther Brimmer	1983	U.S. foreign policy expert and Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs	[162]
Eric Kneedler	1995	Diplomat, United States Ambassador to Rwanda, Deputy Chief of Mission to Kenya	[163]
David Holmes	1997	Diplomat and counselor for political affairs at the U.S Embassy in Ukraine	[164]

State and city officials

Name	Class year	Notability	Ref.
Silsby Spalding	Preparatory school,[b] c. 1904	First mayor of Beverly Hills, California	[166][167]
Mark Wyland	1968	Republican California Senator	[168]
Ellen Bard	1971	Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives	[169]
Tick Segerblom	1971	Democratic Nevada Senator	[170][171]
Cristina Garcia	1999	Democratic California Assemblyperson	[172]

Judges

Name	Class year	Notability	Ref.
James Marshall Carter	1924	Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit	[173][174]
Harry L. Hupp	Attended 1947–1950	Judge, United States District Court for the Central District of California, known for reforming treatment of alcoholism	[175][176][177]
Stephen Reinhardt	1951	Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit	[178]
Cruz Reynoso	1953	First Latino on the California Supreme Court, advocate for civil rights of farm workers; awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000	[179]
George H. Wu	1969	Judge, United States District Court for the Central District of California	[180]
Christina A. Snyder	1972	Judge, United States District Court for the Central District of California	[181]
Richard G. Taranto	1977	Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit	[182][183]
Kimberly J. Mueller	1981	Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of California	[184]
Michelle Williams Court	1988	Judge, United States District Court for the Central District of California	[185]
Halim Dhanidina	1994	Judge, California Court of Appeal for the Second District; first Muslim judge in the state of California	[186]
Eumi K. Lee	1994	Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of California; first Korean-American judge appointed to Alameda County Superior Court	[187]

Diplomats

Name	Class year	Notability	Ref.
Hugh S. Gibson	Attended c. 1900	U.S. interwar diplomat, ambassador, proponent of the professionalization of the Foreign Service	[188][189]
Julian Nava	1951	First Mexican-American to become the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico	[190]
Kenneth L. Brown	1959	U.S. ambassador to Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, and Congo-Brazzaville	[191]
Esther Brimmer	1983	U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, foreign policy expert	[192]

Activists

Civil rights activist Myrlie Evers-Williams, class of 1968

Name	Class year	Notability	Ref.
Virginia Prince	1935	Transgender rights activist and founder of Transvestia magazine	[193][194][195]
Myrlie Evers‑Williams	1968	Activist, first full-time chairperson of the NAACP	[196][197]
John Payton	1973	Civil rights attorney and president of NAACP Legal Defense Fund (co-founded Black Student Union at Pomona)	[198][199]
Susan Morton Blaustein	1975	Founder and Director of WomenStrong International, lecturer at Columbia University, Guggenheim Fellowship recipient	[200]
Martina Vandenberg	1990	Activist, Rhodes Scholar, Truman Scholar, founder and president of the Human Trafficking Legal Center	[201]
Kafi D. Blumenfield	1993	Nonprofit executive, activist, and civic leader	[202][203]
Debra Cleaver	1999	Activist, Non Profit Executive and founder of Vote.org	[204]

Military

James Howard, class of 1937, was the only fighter pilot in the European Theater to receive the Medal of Honor in World War II.^[205]

Name	Class year	Notability	Ref.
James H. Howard	1937	Brigadier general, member of the Flying Tigers during World War II and Medal of Honor recipient	[206][207][205]
Verne Orr	1937	U.S. Secretary of the Air Force, 1981–1985	[208]

Business

Senior Disney executive Roy E. Disney, class of 1951

Name	Class year	Notability	Ref.
Russell K. Pitzer	1900	Citrus farmer, founder of Pitzer College	[209][210]
Frank R. Seaver	1905	Lawyer, naval officer, oil drilling executive, and philanthropist; first president of the Associated Students of Pomona College	[211][212]
Donald McKenna	1929	Businessperson and philanthropist, known for donations to Claremont McKenna College	[213]
R. Stanton Avery	1932	Inventor of modern stickers, founder of Avery Adhesives	[214]
Elmer P. Wheaton	1933	Aerospace and marine engineer and executive at the Douglas Aircraft Company and the Lockheed Missiles and Space Company	[215]
Charles Scripps	1943	Chair of the board of the E. W. Scripps Company	[216][217]
Richard C. Seaver	1946	Oil drilling executive and philanthropist	[218][219]
Roy E. Disney	1951	Executive at The Walt Disney Company; nephew of Walt Disney	[89][220]
Frank Wells	1952	President of The Walt Disney Company and mountaineer	[221][179]
Burton Smith	Transferred 1959	Computer architect, co-founder of Cray, and Microsoft Fellow	[222][223]
Kent Brownridge	1962	General manager of Rolling Stone and CEO of Dennis Publishing and Alpha Media	[224][225][226]
Linda G. Alvarado	1973	CEO of Alvarado Construction; co-owner of the Colorado Rockies	[227]
Cathy Corison	1975	Winemaker	[228]
Hashim Djojohadikusumo	1976	Indonesian entrepreneur and brother of former Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto	[229]
Lynn Forester de Rothschild	1976	CEO of E.L. Rothschild	[230][231]
Kiki Ramos Gindler	1983	American philanthropist, president and board of directors of the Center Theatre Group	[232]
Libby Armintrout	1986	Philanthropist and sister of Bill Gates	[233]
Bernard C. Chan	1988	Convenor of the Hong Kong Executive Council and President of Asia Financial Holdings	[234]
Adam Zbar	1991	Venture Capitalist, CEO and Founder of Hamsa	[235]
Osman Kibar	1992	Billionaire founder of biotech firm Samumed	[236][237]
Laszlo Bock	1993	Former Senior Vice President, People Operations, Google, and co-founder and CEO of Humu	[238][239][240]
Adam Bowen	1998	Billionaire co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Juul	[241][242][243]
Jane Chen	2000	Taiwanese American Co-founder and CEO of Embrace Global	[244]
Nick Friedman	2005	President and co-founder of College Hunks Hauling Junk	[245][246]
Maya Horgan Famodu	2012	Founder of Ingressive and named in Forbes Africa's "30 Under 30" list in 2018	[247]

Science

Jennifer Doudna, class of 1985, won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her work on CRISPR-based gene engineering, one of the most significant discoveries in the history of biology.^[248][249]

Name	Class year	Notability	Ref.
Edmund Jaeger	Attended 1900s	Desert ecologist	[250]
Wilson Popenoe	Attended 1910–1911	Agricultural explorer, influential in bringing the avocado to North America	[251][252]
Hugo Benioff	1921	Seismologist, known for work charting deep ocean earthquakes	[253]
M. Stanley Livingston	1926	Physicist, co-inventor of the cyclotron	[254]
Norris Bradbury	1929	Physicist, director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1945 to 1970	[255]
Roger Revelle	1929	Oceanographer, one of the first scientists to study global warming, and primary founder of the University of California, San Diego	[256][257][258]
Xiao Guangyan	1942	Chinese petrochemist who researched catalysts used in petroleum processing	[259]
Robert Gomer	1944	Physical chemist, known for work in surface science and nuclear non-proliferation advocacy	[260]
Jean Mill	1948	Conservationist and creator of the Bengal cat breed	[261][262]
M. Frederick Hawthorne	1949	Inorganic chemist, known for work on clusters of boron hydrides; National Medal of Science recipient	[263][264]
Edward A. Knapp	1954	Physicist, director of the National Science Foundation	[265]
Ann Hardy	1955	Computer scientist, known for pioneering work on time-sharing	[266]
Ed Krupp	1961	Archeoastronomer, science educator, and director of the Griffith Observatory	[267][268]
Thomas D. Pollard	1964	Cell biologist and biophysicist	[103][269]
Sarah Elgin	1967	Biochemist, geneticist, and science educator	[103]
J. Andrew McCammon	1969	Physical chemist	[103]
Steven Clarke	1970	Biochemist	[270]
Moses Chao	1972	Biochemist, known for work on nerve growth factor	[271]
Sharon K. Inouye	1977	Geriatrician, known for work on delirium	[272]
Keith Horne (astronomer)	1977	Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, American Astronomer, Emeritus Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of St Andrews, known for discovery of Qatar-1b, recipient of the Herschel Medal	[273]
Anna María Nápoles	1980	Behavioral epidemiologist and science administrator	[274]
Emil Kakkis	1982	Medical geneticist; founder and CEO of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc.	[275][276]
Jennifer Doudna	1985	Biochemist, known for pioneering work in CRISPR gene editing; won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry	[248][277][249][278]
Thomas McDade	1991	Biological anthropologist	[279]
Amalie Frischknecht	1992	Polymer physicist	[280]
Katherine Pollard	1995	Director of the Gladstone Institute, Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatisics at the University of California, San Francisco, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub investigator, fellow of the California Academy of Sciences, fellow of the International Society for Computational Biology, fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science	[281]
Amie Boal	2002	American Chemist, Nicholas and Gelsa Pelick Family Chair in Science at Pennsylvania State University	[282]

Religion

Russian Orthodox hieromonk Seraphim Rose, class of 1956 (oil portrait by Andrey Mironov)

Name	Class year	Notability	Ref.
Charles E. Fuller	1910	Clergyman and radio evangelist who founded the Fuller Theological Seminary	[283]
Gladwyn M. Childs	1919	Minister, missionary, and anthropologist	[284]
Seraphim (Eugene) Rose	1956	Russian Orthodox hieromonk	[285]
Nancy Raabe	1977	Lutheran pastor and composer	[286]
Megan Traquair	1985	Eighth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California	[287][288]

Academia

College presidents

Anthropologist David P. Barrows, class of 1894, conducted extensive ethnographic research on Native Americans.^[289]

Name	Class year	Notability	Ref.
David Prescott Barrows	1894	Ninth president of the University of California, anthropologist, major general in the California National Guard, and first editor of The Student Life	[290][291][289]
David Outcalt	1956	Chancellor, University of Wisconsin–Green Bay and University of Alaska Anchorage	[292][293]
John V. Lombardi	1963	Fifth president of the Louisiana State University System	[294]
R. Stanton Hales	1964	10th president of the College of Wooster and two-time U.S. badminton men's singles champion	[295][26]
Eileen Wilson‑Oyelaran	1969	17th president of Kalamazoo College	[296]
Thomas E. Crow	1969	Rosalie Solow Professor of Modern Art at the New York University Institute of Fine Arts	[citation needed]
Anne M. Houtman	1983	20th president of Earlham College	[297][298][299]
Thomas J. Minar	1985	16th president of Franklin College in Indiana	[300]
Erika H. James	1991	Dean of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania	[238][301]

Professors and academics

A statue depicting Chinese sociologist Chen Hansheng, class of 1920, conducting a field interview with a peasant farmer in Baoding

Name	Class year	Notability	Ref.
Carl Irving Wheat	1915	Lawyer, historian, and cartographer of the American West	[302]
Chen Hansheng	1920	Chinese sociologist considered a father of Chinese modern social science	[303]
Robert Lawson Vaught	1945	American Mathematician, founder of model theory	[304]
David Keirsey	1947	Psychologist who developed the Keirsey Temperament Sorter personality questionnaire	[305]
Ellis Batten Page	1947	Professor and scientist, widely acknowledged as the father of automated essay scoring	[306]
John K. Roth	1962	Holocaust studies scholar, Claremont McKenna College	[307]
Lawrence G. Sager	1963	Alice Jane Drysdale Sheffield Regents Chair and Former Dean, University of Texas School of Law	[308]
Mary Lindenstein Walshok	1964	American educational sociologist, associate vice chancellor for Extended Studies and Public Programs and professor of sociology at University of California, San Diego	[309]
Charles E. Phelps (professor)	1965	economist, University Professor and Provost Emeritus at the University of Rochester	[310]
Adela Collins	1967	New Testament scholar, Buckingham Professor Emeritus of New Testament Criticism and Interpretation at Yale Divinity School	[311]
Laurel Beckett	1968	American biostatistician in Alzheimer's disease, Professor Emerita at University of California, Davis	[312]
James Miller (academic)	1969	Professor of Liberal Studies and Politics, and Faculty Director of Creative Publishing & Critical Journalism at The New School, Guggenheim Fellow, editor for Daedalus, and NEH fellow	[313]
Roger Maddux	1969	Mathematics and Computer Science professor, Iowa State University	[314]
Michael Starbird	1970	Mathematics professor, University of Texas at Austin	[315]
Ingrid D. Rowland	1974	Historian of European architecture at the University of Notre Dame	[103][316]
Robyn R. Warhol	1977	Chair of the Department of English at Ohio State University and literary critic who helped develop feminist narrative theory	[317]
Alison Brysk	1981	International Human Rights Scholar at University of California, Santa Barbara, fellow for the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars	[318]
Marla Stone	1982	Historian of Fascism at Occidental College, Andrew W. Mellon Humanities Professor at the American Academy in Rome	[319]
Matthew K. Franklin	1983	Cryptographer and professor of computer science at the University of California, Davis	[320]
Joanne B. Freeman	1984	Historian of early American history at Yale University	[321][322]
Caroline Winterer	1988	Historian of pre-20th-century American history at Stanford University	[323]
Vijay Prashad	1989	History professor at Trinity College in Connecticut	[324]
Tamily Weissman‑Unni	1992	Neurobiology professor at Lewis & Clark College	[325]
Catherine Sugar	1992	American biostatistician at University of California, Los Angeles, fellow of the American Statistical Association	[326]
Amy Lyford	1993	Art Historian at Occidental College	[327]
Daniel Ziblatt	1995	Director of the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies and Eaton Professor of the Science of Government at Harvard University	[328]
Cynthia Wyels	1996	Mathematician, co-director of the Alliance for Minority Participation	[329]
Omayra Ortega	2001	Mathematician, President of the National Association of Mathematicians	[330]
Hilary Parker	2008	American Biostatistician, senior data analyst at Stitch Fix, co-host of Not So Standard Deviations, Data Scientist for the 2020 Biden Campaign	[331]

Athletics

NBA Championship head coach of the San Antonio Spurs Gregg Popovich coached the Pomona men's basketball team from 1979 to 1987.^[332][333]

Name	Class year	Notability	Ref.
Harry Kingman	1913	Pitcher for the New York Yankees	[334]
Charles Daggs	1923	Olympic track and field athlete	[335]
Robert Maxwell	1925	Olympic hurdler and two-time national champion	[336]
Earl J. Merritt	1925	Head football coach of the Sagehens from 1935 to 1958	[337][73]
David G. Freeman	1942	Seven-time U.S. national badminton champion	[338][339]
Betty Hicks	1947	Golfer, 1941 Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year	[340]
Darlene Hard	1961	Grand Slam–winning tennis player	[146]
Marilyn Ramenofsky	1969	Olympic silver medalist swimmer, and former women's 400-meter freestyle world record holder	[22]
Penny Lee Dean	1977	Long-distance swimmer and world record-holder for the fastest swim across the English Channel in 1978; later coached the Pomona women's swimming and diving team for more than 25 years	[182][49][51]
Mike Budenholzer	1992	Head coach of the Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee Bucks, and Phoenix Suns	[341][342]
Will Leer	2007	Professional track and field athlete specializing in the 1500 meters	[343]
Andrew Palmer (racing driver)	2014	American Racing Driver	[344]
Daniel Rosenbaum	2019	Professional basketball player in the Israeli National League	[345]

Notable faculty

Main category: Pomona College faculty

Astronomer Frank Brackett, Pomona professor 1888–1933

Author David Foster Wallace, Pomona professor 2002–2008

Novelist Jonathan Lethem, Pomona professor 2011–present

Poet Claudia Rankine, Pomona professor 2006–2015

Name	Active tenure	Notability	Ref.
Edwin C. Norton	1888–1926	First dean of Pomona	[346]
Frank Brackett	1888–1933	Mathematics and astronomy professor	[347][348][349]
Phebe Estelle Spalding	1889–1927	English professor, author, first female Pomona faculty member	[350][290]
Albert John Cook	1894–1911	Entomologist	[351]
Alice Mary Dowd	1904–1905	Educator, author	[352]
Hannah Tempest Jenkins	1905–1926	Painter, helped establish Pomona's art department and founded the Rembrandt Club	[353]
Fannie Charles Dillon†	1910–1913	Composer	[354]
Alfred Woodford†	1915–1955	Founder of Pomona's geology department	[355][356][357]
Philip A. Munz	1917–1944	Botanist who began the Pomona College Herbarium and was director of the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden	[358]
Ralph Lyman	1917–1948	Longtime head of Pomona's music department	[359][360]
Jerry Voorhis	1930–1935	Democratic U.S. Representative for California's 12th district (1937–1947)	[361]
John H. Kemble	1936–1977	Maritime historian	[362]
Henry Cord Meyer	1945 c. 1945–1964	Historian of central Europe	[363]
W. Conway Pierce	1945–1953	Chemist	[364]
Corwin Hansch	1946–1988	Chemist	[365]
Jean Walton	1949–1979	Dean of women who reformed Pomona's residential life and co-founded its women's studies program	[366]
James Grant	1950–1959	Painter, sculptor	[367]
Karl Kohn	1950–1994	Composer	[368][369][370]
Frederick Sontag	1952–2009	Philosopher and theologian	[118]
Leonard Pronko	1957–2014	Leading Western expert on Japanese dance-drama kabuki, awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure in 1986	[371][372]
Lewis Baltz	1960 c. 1960s	Photographer	[373]
Michael Armacost	1960s	Diplomat, ambassador to Japan and the Philippines, and president of the Brookings Institution	[374]
Stanley Crouch	1969 c. 1969–c. 1975	Cultural critic known for coverage of jazz, novelist, and English professor	[375][376]
Gerald M. Ackerman	1971–1989	Art history professor	[377]
George Gorse	1980–present	Art history professor	[378]
Steven Koblik	1972–1992	President of Reed College, President of the Huntington Library	[379]
Martha Andresen Wilder	1972–2006	Scholar of Renaissance literature	[380][381]
Bobby Bradford	1974–2021	Jazz musician	[382][383]
Robert Mezey	1976–2000	Poet and translator	[384][385]
Frank Gibney	1979 c. 1979–c. 2006	Journalist known for humane postwar portraits of Japan and founder of the Pacific Basin Institute; awarded the Order of the Rising Sun in 1976	[386][387]
Gregg Popovich	1979–1988	Head basketball coach of the NBA's San Antonio Spurs	[332][333]
Karl Benjamin	1979–1994	Abstract painter	[388]
Everett L. Bull†	1981–2020 c. 2020	Computer scientist	[389]
Thomas Leabhart	1982–present	Corporeal mime	[390][391]
Samuel H. Yamashita	1983–present	Historian and Asian studies scholar	[392]
Kenneth B. Wolf	1985–present	Scholar of medieval studies	[393][394]
Eleanor P. Brown†	1986–present	Economist, co-editor for the Review of Economics of the Household	[395]
Susana Chavez‑Silverman	1989–present	Creative nonfiction writer on Latin American culture	[396]
Shahriar Shahriari	1989–present	Mathematician	[397]
Larissa Rudova	1991–present	Yale B. and Lucille D. Griffith Professor of Modern Languages	[398]
Katherine Hagedorn	1993–2013	Ethnomusicologist and Santería priestess	[399][400]
Ami Radunskaya	1994–present	Mathematician, president of the Association for Women in Mathematics	[401]
Cecilia Conrad	1995–2012	Economist, managing director of the MacArthur Fellows Program	[402][403][404]
Peter Thielke	2001–present	American Historian of Modern Philosophy	[405]
David Foster Wallace	2002–2008	Essayist and novelist, author of Infinite Jest	[406][407]
Jo Hardin†	2002–present	Statistician and Fellow of the American Statistical Association	[408]
Robert R. Gaines	2003–present	Geologist, acting president, dean of the college	[409]
Oona Eisenstadt	2004–Present	Canadian-American, religious studies Scholar, Fred Krinsky Professor of Jewish Studies and Professor of Religious Studies	[410]
Kim Bruce†	2005–2021	Computer scientist	[411]
Erin M. Runions	2005–Present	Canadian-American, religious studies Scholar, Nancy J. Lyon Professor of Biblical History and Literature	[412]
Claudia Rankine	2006–2015	Poet	[413][414]
Susan McWilliams Barndt	2006	Political Theorist, co-editor of American Political Thought	[415]
Sandeep Mukherjee	2006-2021	Indian-American Artist	[416]
Meredith Landman	2010 c. 2010–2018	Linguist	[417]
Jonathan Lethem	2011–present	Novelist, author of Fortress of Solitude	[418][407][419]
Amanda Hollis-Brusky	2011–present	Constitutional Law Scholar, editor for The Monkey Cage	[420]
Cameron Munter	2013–2015	Diplomat, ambassador to Serbia and Pakistan	[421][422]
Edray Goins	2018–present	Mathematician, President of the National Association of Mathematicians, Preserver of the Mathematicians of the African Diaspora	[423]
Lise Abrams	2018–present	Cognitive psychologist	[424]
† Also an alumnus of the college

Presidents of Pomona College

From 1888 to 1890, trustee Charles B. Sumner was the college's "financial agent with supervisory authority", and assumed many of the duties of a president.^{[348][425][426]} The subsequent presidents are:

#	Image	Name	Term start	Term end	Academic expertise	Ref.
1		Cyrus G. Baldwin	1890	1897	Congregational minister	[427][428]
2		Franklin La Du Ferguson	1897	1901	Congregational minister	[427][429]
3		George A. Gates	1902	1909	Congregational minister	[427][430]
4		James A. Blaisdell	July 1, 1910	June 30, 1927	Congregational minister	[427][431]
5		Charles K. Edmunds	July 1, 1928	June 30, 1941	Physics	[427][32][432]
6		E. Wilson Lyon	July 1, 1941	June 30, 1969	History	[427][433][434]
7		David Alexander	July 1, 1969	June 30, 1991	Theology	[427][26][435]
8		Peter W. Stanley	July 1, 1991	June 30, 2003	History	[427][436][437]
9		David W. Oxtoby	July 1, 2003	June 30, 2017	Chemistry	[438][439]
10		G. Gabrielle Starr	July 1, 2017	present	Literature, Neuroscience	[440][441]

See also

• List of Claremont Colleges people

Notes

1. The specific year is not known.
2. Pomona operated a preparatory department, which taught pre-college level courses, from its founding until 1911.^[165]