List of Stanford University alumni

Following is a list of noble students and alumni of Stanford University.

Academia

Presidents and chancellors

Gene D. Block (A.B. 1970), 8th chancellor of University of California, Los Angeles
Derek Bok (A.B. 1951), 25th president of Harvard University
José Antonio Bowen (A.B., M.S., Ph.D. 1994), 11th president of Goucher College
Avishay Braverman (Ph.D. 1976), 5th president of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
John C. Bravman (B.S. 1979, M.S. 1981, Ph.D. 1985), 17th president of Bucknell University
William R. Brody (M.D. 1970, Ph.D. 1972), 13th president of Johns Hopkins University
Frederic Lister Burk (A.M. 1892), 1st president of San Francisco State University
Menzies Campbell (LL.M. 1967), 37th chancellor of the University of St Andrews
Nancy Cantor (Ph.D. 1978), 11th chancellor and president of Syracuse University
Brian Casey (J.D. 1988), 19th president of DePauw University
Joseph I. Castro (Ph.D. 1998), 8th chancellor of the California State University System, 9th president of the California State University, Fresno
Jean-Lou Chameau (Ph.D. 1981), 8th president of California Institute of Technology
France A. Córdova (A.B. 1969), 11th president of Purdue University
Paul Davenport (A.B. 1969), 9th president of the University of Western Ontario
Sean M. Decatur (Ph.D. 1995), 19th president of Kenyon College
Rolando Ramos Dizon (Ph.D. 1978), 20th president of De La Salle University
Michael V. Drake (A.B. 1974), 21st president of the University of California System, 15th president of the Ohio State University, and 5th chancellor of University of California, Irvine
Vartan Gregorian (A.B. 1958; Ph.D. 1964), 16th president of Brown University, president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, president of the New York Public Library, Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient^[1]
Claudine Gay, 30th president of Harvard University, the second woman and first African-American to hold the position
William Westley Guth (A.B. 1892), president of University of the Pacific and 3rd president of Goucher College
Jonathan Holloway (A.B. 1989), 21st president of Rutgers University
Kristina Johnson (B.S. 1981, M.S. 1981, Ph.D. 1984), 16th president of Ohio State University and US Undersecretary of Energy
Clark Kerr (A.M. 1933), 12th president of the University of California System and first chancellor of UC Berkeley
Heather Knight (Ph.D. 1991), 21st president of Pacific Union College
Amos Lapidot, President of Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
William P. Leahy (Ph.D. 1986), 25th president of Boston College
Lee Si-Chen (M.S. 1977, Ph.D. 1981), 10th president of National Taiwan University
Jonathan Levin (A.B. 1994, A.S. 1994), 13th president of Stanford University
Rick Levin (A.B. 1968), 22nd president of Yale University
Charles L. Littel (M.A 1926), founder and 1st president of Junior College of Bergen County and Centralia Junior College^[2]^[3]
Edna Ahgeak MacLean (Ph.D. 1995), 2nd president of Iḷisaġvik College
Thomas L. Magnanti (M.S. 1969, M.S. 1972, Ph.D. 1972), founding president of Singapore University of Technology and Design
Lynn Mahoney (A.B. 1986), 14th president of San Francisco State University
Alan G. Merten (M.S. 1964), 5th president of George Mason University
Bienvenido Nebres (M.S. 1967, Ph.D. 1970), 29th president of Ateneo de Manila University
Vincent Price (A.M. 1985, Ph.D. 1987), 10th president of Duke University
Edward John Ray (A.M. 1969, Ph.D. 1971), 13th president of Oregon State University
L. Rafael Reif (Ph.D. 1979), 17th president of MIT
Peter Salovey (A.B. 1980, A.M. 1980), 23rd president of Yale University
Robert N. Shelton (B.S. 1970), 19th president of the University of Arizona
Wallace Sterling (Ph.D. 1938), 5th president of Stanford University
Su Guaning (M.S. 1983, Ph.D. 1984), 2nd president of Nanyang Technological University
Donald Tresidder (A.B. 1919, M.D. 1927), 4th president of Stanford University
Steven C. Wheelwright (M.B.A. 1969, Ph.D. 1970), 9th president of Brigham Young University–Hawaii
Ray Lyman Wilbur (A.B. 1896, A.M. 1897), 3rd president of Stanford University and 31st United States Secretary of the Interior
Jason Wingard (A.B. 1995), 12th president of Temple University
Menahem Yaari (Ph.D. 1962), president of the Open University of Israel

Provosts

Jeffrey Scott Vitter (Ph.D. in CS 1980), provost at the University of Kansas

Deans

Oscar Brockett (A.M., Ph.D.), theater historian and dean of the College of Fine Art at the University of Texas in Austin
Steven R. David (A.M. 1975), professor of international relations, associate dean of academic affairs at Johns Hopkins University
Thomas L. Magnanti (M.S. 1969, M.S. 1972, Ph.D. 1972), former dean of the MIT School of Engineering
Sherman Mellinkoff (B.S. 1941, M.D. 1944), second dean of the School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles
David Schaberg (B.A.), dean of humanities at UCLA, winner of the 2003 Joseph Levenson Book Prize^[4]
Dale Schunk (Ph.D.), former dean of the School of Education, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Michael D. Smith (Ph.D. in EE 1993), dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science at Harvard University
Mac Van Valkenburg (Ph.D. 1952 EE), former dean of engineering college, UIUC
Peter Zemsky (Ph.D. 1995), dean of executive education and Eli Lilly chaired professor of strategy and innovation at INSEAD^[5]

Professors

David A. Aaker, professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business,
Ramesh K. Agarwal (Ph.D. in AA, 1975), William Palm Professor of Engineering at Washington University, computational fluid dynamicist
Susan Athey (Ph.D. in business school), winner of the John Bates Clark Medal (2007) in Economics of Technology and professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences at the Stanford Graduate School of Business
Cara Drinan (J.D. 2002), author and professor of law at Catholic University
Michelle Alexander (J.D. 1992), civil rights activist and professor of law at Ohio State University
Silvia Arrom (Ph.D. 1978), historian and professor emerita of Latin American Studies at Brandeis University
Lawrence J. Baack (Ph.D. 1973), historian specializing in modern European history; former vice chairperson of the History Department at University of Nebraska, Lincoln; visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley
Roger Boesche (B.A., Ph.D.), professor of the history of ideas at Occidental College^[6]
Edward Boyden (Ph.D.), MIT professor in Neurotechnology, faculty member in the MIT Media Lab, and coinventor of optogenetics
Ronald N. Bracewell AO (Ph.D. 1949), professor of electrical engineering, pioneer of radio astronomy, designed and operated the spectroheliograph used to map the temperature of the Sun during the NASA Moon landing
Hal Brands (B.A. 2005), professor of global affairs at Johns Hopkins University
Yolanda Broyles-Gonzalez (Ph.D. 1981), professor and chair of American ethnic studies at Kansas State University
David L. Brody, professor in Neurology at Washington University
Emmanuel Candès (Ph.D. 1998), professor in statistics at Stanford and the Alan T. Waterman Award winner
Albert Edward Caswell (A.B. 1908, Ph.D. 1911), physicist and chair of University of Oregon Department of Physics 1914–1949^[7]
KJ Cerankowski (Ph.D. 2014), assistant professor at Oberlin College and cofounder of the field of asexuality studies
Mung Chiang (B.S. 1999, M.S. 2000, Ph.D. 2003), professor of electrical engineering at Princeton University; 2013 Alan T. Waterman Award recipient
Marjorie Cohn (A.B. 1970), professor of law at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law
Steven D'Hondt (B.S. 1984), professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island
Miquel Faig (Ph.D. 1986), professor of economics at the University of Toronto Mississauga
J. Doyne Farmer (B.S. physics 1973), professor of mathematics at Oxford University and cofounder of the Prediction Company
Edward McNeil Farmer (A.B. 1923, A.M. 1926), professor in the Graphic Arts Department at Stanford University from 1923 to 1964^[8]
George E. Frakes (A.B. 1954), professor emeritus of history and geography at Santa Barbara City College
H. Bruce Franklin (Ph.D. 1961), professor of English and American studies at Rutgers University
Melissa Franklin (Ph.D. 1982), professor of physics at Harvard University who contributed to the discovery of the top quark^[9]
James Paul Gee (A.M. 1974, Ph.D. 1975), linguist, literacy researcher, and professor of literacy studies at Arizona State University
Larry Gladney (Ph.D. 1985), professor of physics at Yale University
Edray H. Goins (Ph.D. math 1999), professor and president of the National Association of Mathematicians
John Harsanyi (Ph.D. 1959), 1972 Nobel Prize winner in economics and professor at the University of California, Berkeley
Daniel Harrison (A.B. 1981), chairman of the Department of Music at Yale University
Bengt R. Holmström (M.S. operations research, Ph.D. business), economist at MIT and Nobel Prize winner in economics (2016)
bell hooks (A.B. 1973), Distinguished Professor in Residence at Berea College and writer on race, class, and gender
Mary-Louise Hooper (A.B. 1955), civil rights activist and journalist
Russell Jeung (B.A., M.A), professor of Asian American studies at San Francisco State University, cofounder of Stop AAPI Hate
Grace Y. Kao (B.A., M.A.), professor of ethics at Claremont School of Theology
David Kreps (Ph.D.), game theorist, economist, and professor at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University
Mark Lemley (A.B. 1988), professor at Stanford Law School, expert in patent law
David Lang (B.A.), professor of composition at the Yale School of Music
Lisa Lowe (A.B. 1977), professor of American Studies at Yale University
Jitendra Malik (Ph.D. 1985), computer science professor at UC Berkeley
Virginia Matzek (Ph.D.), associate professor in environmental studies and sciences at Santa Clara University
H. Brett Melendy (A.B. 1946, A.M. 1948, Ph.D. 1952), historian and administrator at San Jose State University and the University of Hawaiʻi
Paul Milgrom (M.S. statistics, Ph.D. business), professor in economics at Stanford, Nobel Prize winner in economics (2020)
Tom M. Mitchell (Ph.D. computer science), professor and head of the machine learning department at Carnegie Mellon University
Ricardo Felipe Munoz (B.A. 1972), Distinguished Professor of Clinical Psychology at Palo Alto University
Nils Nilsson (Ph.D. 1958 computer science), led the effort in developing Shakey the robot at SRI, professor of engineering, emeritus in computer science at Stanford University
Charles Ogletree (A.B. 1975, A.M. 1975), professor at Harvard Law School and founder of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and justice
Stephen Quake (M.S. 1991), professor of bioengineering and applied physics at Stanford, Lemelson–MIT Prize recipient, and cofounder of Helicos Biosciences
Joachim Remak (Ph.D. 1955), professor of history at the University of California, Santa Barbara
Bruce Reznick (Ph.D. 1976), mathematician at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, noted for number theory
Natalie Roe (Ph.D. 1989), director of the Physics Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Alvin E. Roth (Ph.D. operations research), professor of economics at Stanford University and Harvard University, 2012 Nobel prize winner in economics
John C. Rule (A.B., M.A., 1952), historian of 17th and 18th-century France at the Ohio State University
Stuart Russell (Ph.D. 1986 computer science), chair of computer science at UC-Berkeley, winner of IJCAI Computers and Thought Award
John Kenneth Salisbury, Jr. (Ph.D.), roboticist and professor emeritus at Stanford's Computer Science Department and Stanford School of Medicine's Department of Surgery^[10]
Mavis Sanders (A.M. 1992, Ph.D. 1995), research scholar^[11]
Gita Sen (Ph.D.), feminist economist, adjunct professor at Harvard University, and professor emeritus at Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
Gregory Shaver, mechanical engineer and an academic
Frank Shuffelton, literary scholar and who taught at the University of Rochester
Victoria Stodden (Ph.D., J.D.), associate professor of information sciences at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Nicholas B. Suntzeff (B.S. Mathematics 1974), Gruber Prize in Cosmology 2007, Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2015), University Distinguished Professor
Robert E. Swain (B.S. 1899), head of Stanford's Department of Chemistry and a founder of the Stanford Research Institute^[12]
Bette Talvacchia (Ph.D. 1981), professor of art history emeritus at the University of Connecticut
Carole Terry (D.M.A. 1977), professor of organ and harpsichord emerita at the University of Washington
Fred W. Turek, director of the Center for Sleep and Circadian Biology and professor in the Department of Neurobiology at Northwestern University
Michael S. Turner (Ph.D. 1978), cosmologist and professor of physics at the University of Chicago
Mark von Hagen (A.M. 1981, Ph.D. 1985), director of the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies at Arizona State University
Edith Brown Weiss (B.A.), professor of law at Georgetown University
Joel Westheimer, professor of citizenship education at the University of Ottawa
Oliver Williamson (MBA, 1960), Nobel Prize in economics (2009) and a professor at the University of California, Berkeley
Richard D. Wolff (A.M. 1964), Marxist economist and professor of economics emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
Shing-Tung Yau, former faculty member at Harvard University and Fields Medal recipient
David B. Yoffie, professor of international business administration at Harvard Business School
Kevin Zhu (Ph.D.), professor at the Rady School of Management, University of California, San Diego

Other scholarship and education

William Gorham (A.B. 1952), economist and president of the Urban Institute 1968–2000
Leslie P. Hume (A.M. 1971, Ph.D. 1979), historian and philanthropist
Charles V. Park (A.B. 1909), director of the Central Michigan University Libraries
Fred Swaniker (MBA 2004), founder of the pre-university African Leadership Academy and the African Leadership University

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Advocacy and nonprofits

Antonio Buehler (M.B.A. 2006), civil-rights leader battling police corruption
William George Carr, executive secretary of the National Education Association 1952–1967
Jan Crull Jr. (enrollee, summer quarter 1967), Native American Rights activist and iconoclastic filmmaker, first proposed the need for an Indian college fund as an aide to U.S. Congressman Paul Simon
Peter Dalglish, international children's rights advocate; founded Toronto-based Street Kids International (SKI)
Ann B. Friedman, founder of Planet Word, a museum of language arts in Washington, D.C.^[13]
David Harris (non-degreed), the leader in the movement against the Vietnam War
Harry Hay (1934, non-degreed), founder of the gay liberation movement
Denis Hayes (A.B. 1969, J.D. 1985), environmental activist and coordinator of the first Earth Day
Carol F. Henry, cofounder and president of the Los Angeles Opera
Mary-Louise Hooper (A.B. 1955), civil rights activist and journalist
Paul Rogat Loeb (non-degreed) social and political activist
Maura McNiel, supporter of feminism and women's rights
Rebekah Mercer (B.S., M.S. 1999), director of Mercer Family Foundation and conservative activist and donor
Gregory Minor (M.S. 1966), resigned from the General Electric nuclear reactor division in 1976 to protest the use of nuclear power, galvanizing anti-nuclear groups across the U.S.
Aya Mouallem (MS/Ph.D, Knight-Hennessy Scholar), co-founder, co-director, and current board advisory member of All Girls Code
Michael Murphy, cofounder of Esalen Institute
Dick Price, cofounder of Esalen Institute
Marc Rotenberg (J.D. 1987), president and executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center
James Rucker (B.S., 1991), cofounder of Color of Change
Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder of Special Olympics, sister of President John F. Kennedy
Piya Sorcar, founder and CEO of TeachAids
John Zerzan, green anarchist philosopher

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Art and architecture

Marguerite Blasingame, painter and sculptor
Barbara Bloemink, art historian and former director and chief curator of five art and design museums
Howell Chambers Brown (A.B. 1904), printmaker^[14]
Catherine Chalmers (B.S. 1979), artist and photographer
Jorge Cham (Ph.D. 2003), cartoonist of the webcomic Piled Higher and Deeper
Robbie Conal (M.F.A.), artist
Margo Davis, photographer
Richard Diebenkorn, painter
Laura Farabough (A.B.D. drama), performance artist
Paulette Frankl, courtroom artist and biographer
Serena Ho, painter
Brad Howe, sculptor
Beth Katleman, sculptor
Amy Kurzweil (B.A. 2009), cartoonist and graphic novelist
Harold Levitt, architect
Brenda Louie (M.F.A 1993), artist known for large, painterly abstractions and multimedia installations
Sanaz Mazinani (M.F.A. 2011), multidisciplinary artist^[15]
Robert Motherwell, painter
Joan Myers (1967), award-winning fine art photographer
Chris Onstad, author and illustrator of the webcomic Achewood
Kamau Amu Patton (M.F.A. 2007), multidisciplinary artist^[16]
Kameelah Janan Rasheed, artist, educator, and writer
Shirley Russell, painter and educator
Komal Shah, influential art collector^[17]
Catherine Eaton Skinner, multimedia artist
Sherri Smith (B.A. 1965), fiber artist and professor^[18]
Jacqueline Thurston (MA 1962), visual artist and writer^[19]
Jim Toomey, syndicated cartoonist

Astronauts

Eileen Collins (M.S. 1986), NASA astronaut, first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle and to command a Space Shuttle mission
Michael Fincke (M.S. 1990), NASA astronaut who held the American record for the most time in space
William Fisher (B.A. 1968), physician and a former NASA astronaut
Owen Garriott (M.S., Ph.D.), electrical engineer and NASA astronaut on Skylab, Skylab 3, and Spacelab-1
Susan Helms (M.S.), lieutenant general in the United States Air Force and a former NASA astronaut
Michael S. Hopkins (M.S.), United States Space Force colonel and former NASA astronaut
Mae Jemison (B.S., A.B., M.D.), NASA astronaut, doctor, first African-American woman to travel into space, and mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour
Tamara Jernigan (B.S., M.S.), NASA astronaut who completed five Space Shuttle missions
Gregory T. Linteris (M.S.), payload specialist on two NASA Space Shuttle missions
Ed Lu (Ph.D.), physicist and former NASA astronaut who flew on two Space Shuttle flights
Bruce McCandless II (M.S.), NASA astronaut who completed the first untethered spacewalk by using the Manned Maneuvering Unit
Barbara Morgan (B.A. 1973), participant in the Teacher in Space program and first teacher in space
Ellen Ochoa (M.S., Ph.D.), NASA astronaut and former director of the Johnson Space Center
Scott Parazynski (B.S., M.D.), physician, NASA astronaut, and veteran of five Space Shuttle flights and seven spacewalks
Sally Ride (B.A., B.S., M.S., Ph.D.), NASA astronaut who was the first American woman and the third woman to fly in space
Stephen Robinson (M.S. 1985, Ph.D. 1990), former NASA astronaut and chief of the Experimental Flow Physics Branch at Langley Research Center
Kathleen Rubins (Ph.D.), microbiologist and NASA astronaut
Steve Smith (B.S. 1981, M.S. 1982, MBA 1987), former NASA astronaut
Peter Wisoff (M.S. 1982, Ph.D. 1986), NASA astronaut and mission specialist and flew in four Space Shuttle missions

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Business

Company founders

Brian Acton (B.S. 1994), cofounder of WhatsApp
Toyin Ajayi (B.S), CEO and cofounder of Cityblock Health
Kurt Akeley (M.S. 1982, Ph.D. 2004), cofounder of Silicon Graphics
Sam Altman, cofounder of OpenAI
Michael Arrington (J.D., 1995), founder of TechCrunch
Diosdado Banatao (M.S.), venture capitalist; S3 Graphics, Chips and Technologies, and Mostron cofounder.
David Baszucki (G.M., 1985), cofounder and CEO of Roblox
Andy Bechtolsheim (Ph.D. CS/EE 1977–1982 – non-degreed), cofounder of Sun Microsystems
Aneel Bhusri, cofounder of Workday
Len Bosack (M.S. 1981), cofounder of Cisco Systems
Dean Bosacki (MBA), cofounder of Manhattan Partners
Sergey Brin (M.S.), Google cofounder
Orkut Büyükkökten, founder of social networking service Orkut
Tim Cadogan, CEO of GoFundMe, cofounder and former CEO of OpenX
Rachel Romer Carlson, founder and CEO of Guild Education
Morris Chang (Ph.D. electrical engineering), founder, chairman and CEO of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, 2010 winner of IEEE Medal of Honor
Tim Chen, cofounder and CEO of NerdWallet
Joe Coulombe, founder of Trader Joe's
James Coulter, cofounder of TPG Capital
Ray Dolby, audio engineer and founder of Dolby Labs
Tim Draper, venture capital investor
Helmy Eltoukhy (B.S., M.S., Ph.D.), cofounder and CEO of Avantome and Guardant Health
Jessica Ewing cofounder and CEO of Literati
Richard Fairbank (A.B., MBA), cofounder, chairman, and CEO of Capital One
David Filo (MS), Yahoo! cofounder
Doris F. Fisher, cofounder of Gap Inc.
Tully Friedman, founder of Friedman Fleischer & Lowe
Victor Grinich (Ph.D. 1953), one of the "traitorous eight" who founded Fairchild Semiconductor
Andrew Grove (Lecturer), founder and former CEO and chairman of Intel
Prerna Gupta (B.A. 2004), founder of Khu.sh
Ole Andreas Halvorsen (MBA 1990), cofounder of Viking Global Investors
Kevin Hartz, cofounder and CEO of Eventbrite
Reed Hastings (M.S. 1988), Netflix founder
Trip Hawkins (MBA), founder of Electronic Arts, 3DO, and Digital Chocolate
Gladys Heldman (MBA), founder of World Tennis and Virginia Slims Women's Tour
William Hewlett (B.E. 1934, M.E. electrical engineering), founder of Hewlett-Packard, National Medal of Science winner
Reid Hoffman, cofounder and executive chairman of LinkedIn
Elizabeth Holmes (non-degreed), founder of Theranos
Jensen Huang, cofounder of Nvidia
Jawed Karim, cofounder of YouTube
Stanley Kennedy Sr. (1912), founder and chairman of Hawaiian Airlines
Vinod Khosla (MBA), Sun Microsystems cofounder and Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers partner
Darren Kimura, inventor of micro concentrating solar power, founder of Sopogy
Phil Knight (MBA 1961), founder and former CEO of Nike
Mike Krieger, cofounder of Instagram
Do Kwon (B.S 2015), cofounder and CEO Terraform Labs who was charged with securities fraud, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy
Sandy Lerner (M.S. statistics and computer science 1981), cofounder of Cisco Systems
Richard Li (non-degreed), founder of STAR TV (Asia) and chairman of PCCW
Robert Mondavi (A.B. 1936), vintner and entrepreneur, co-founder of Robert Mondavi Winery and owner of Charles Krug Winery
Peter Mondavi (A.B. 1937), vintner and entrepreneur, co-founder of Robert Mondavi Winery and owner of Charles Krug Winery
Craig McCaw (A.B.), founder and CEO of McCaw Cellular and founder of Clearwire
Scott McNealy (MBA), cofounder, chairman, and former CEO of Sun Microsystems
Ren Ng (Ph.D. computer science), founder and chief executive officer of Lytro
Mark Oldman, Vault.com cofounder
John Overdeck (B.S., M.S.), cofounder and co-chairman of Two Sigma
David Packard (BA, MA electrical engineering 1934), Hewlett-Packard cofounder
Larry Page (M.S.), Google cofounder
Sundar Pichai (MS. 1994), CEO of Alphabet and Google
Azim Premji, founder and CEO of Wipro Technologies
Frank Quattrone (MBA '81), billionaire investment banker and founder of Qatalyst Partners
T.J. Rodgers (Ph.D.), founder and CEO of Cypress Semiconductor
Blake Ross, Mozilla Firefox cofounder
Harry M. Rubin, cofounder of Samuel Adams and GT Interactive
James Sachs (A.M. 1979), IDEO cofounder
Charles R. Schwab (1959, MBA 1961), founder, chairman, and CEO of Charles Schwab Corporation
David E. Shaw (Ph.D. 1980), founder of D. E. Shaw & Co.
Jeffrey Skoll (MBA 1995), first president of eBay and founder of Participant Media
Evan Spiegel, cofounder of Snapchat
Tom Steyer, founder of Farallon Capital
Aaron Swartz (non-degreed), cofounder of reddit
Kevin Systrom, cofounder of Instagram
Peter Thiel, PayPal cofounder of Clarium Capital
Alan Tripp (A.B. 1985, MBA 1989), founder of SCORE! Educational Centers and InsideTrack
Tim Westergren, cofounder of Pandora Media
Jerry Yang (b. 1968), Yahoo! cofounder
Min Zhu (b. 1948), founder and former CTO of WebEx
Sanjaya Mariwala, Executive Chairman and Managing Director of OmniActive Health Technologies Limited^[20]

Other business leaders

Jim Allchin (M.S.), co-president of Microsoft
Mukesh Ambani (MBA, non-degreed), Reliance Industries Limited chairman
John Arrillaga (A.B., MBA), Silicon Valley real estate developer
Steve Ballmer (MBA candidate, non-degreed9), CEO of Microsoft
Mary Barra (MBA 1990), chair and CEO of General Motors (2014–present)
Craig Barrett (B.S., Ph.D. 1964), past chairman of Intel, former CEO of Intel
Jeffrey Bewkes (MBA 1977), Time Warner president and COO
Paul Bilzerian (born 1950), financier convicted of securities fraud
R. Martin Chavez (Ph.D.), CFO of Goldman Sachs^[21]
Burton A. Dole, Jr. (BSME, MBA), president, CEO, and chairman of Puritan Bennett
Pat Dudley (B.A.), president and marketing director of Bethel Heights Vineyard
Caroline Ellison (B.S. 2016), CEO of Alameda Research who was charged with fraud
Carly Fiorina (1976), CEO of Hewlett-Packard 1999–2005
Paul Flaherty (M.S., Ph.D.), co-inventor of the AltaVista search engine
Scott Forstall (B.S., M.S.), former senior vice president of iPhone software at Apple Inc.
Bill Franke (B.A., 1959), chairman of Wizz Air and Frontier Airlines
Sarah Friar (MBA 2000), CEO of Nextdoor and former CFO of Block, Inc.
Dana Gioia (1973, MBA 1977), vice president at General Foods
John D. Goldman (M.B.A. 1975), CEO of Richard N. Goldman & Co. Insurance Services
Peter E. Haas Jr. (B.A., 1969), Levi Strauss & Co. executive
Christopher Hedrick (A.B. 1984), president and CEO of Intrepid Learning Solutions
John Hoke III (MBA), chief design officer, Nike, Inc.^{[citation needed]}
George H. Hume, president and CEO of Basic American Foods
Mamoru Imura, CEO of Vita Craft Corporation and Vita Craft Japan, inventor of RFIQin
Guy Kawasaki, venture capitalist
Kathryn Kennedy, winemaker and winery owner
Omid Kordestani (MBA), senior vice president of Google
Stephen D. Lebovitz (B.A. political science), CEO of CBL & Associates Properties^[22]
John C. Young (B.S., 1936, engineer degree, 1937), Chinatown San Francisco business and community leader
Victor Li (B.S., M.S. 1985), Hong Kong businessman
Mao Daolin (MS in EESOR), former CEO of Sina.com
Marissa Mayer (B.S. symbolic systems, M.S. computer science), CEO of Yahoo!
Stephen McLin (M.S. mechanical engineering, MBA), former Bank of America executive
Henry McKinnell (MBA, Ph.D.), chairman and former CEO of Pfizer
John Morgridge (MBA 1957), Cisco Systems chairman
Hiroaki Nakanishi (M.S. 1979), president of Hitachi
Rodney O'Neal, president and chief executive officer of Delphi Automotive
Huw Pill (Ph.D., 1995), chief economist of the Bank of England^[23]
Stan Polovets (MBA, 1989), energy executive and philanthropist
Ruth Porat, CFO of Alphabet Inc./Google. and former CFO of Morgan Stanley
Kirthiga Reddy, former managing director at Facebook India
John Turner Sargent, Jr., business associate of Doubleday and CEO of Holtzbrinck Publishing Group
Alan J. Viergutz, chairman of Grupo Centec and former president of the Venezuelan Oil Chamber
David Wehner, CFO of Facebook^[24]
Darryl Willis (M.S. 2007), BP vice president of claims featured in commercials about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

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Computer science and electrical engineering

Norman Abramson (Ph.D. electrical engineering), 2007 IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal winner, developed ALOHAnet
Anant Agarwal (Ph.D. electrical engineering), president of EdX at MIT
Ružena Bajcsy (Ph.D. computer science), winner of 2009 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Computer and Cognitive Science
Andy Bechtolsheim (non-degreed), designer of the first networked SUN workstation
Anant Bhardwaj (M.S. computer science), founder of Instabase
Lawrence M. Breed (M.S.), created the first computer animation language and Grace Murray Hopper Award winner
Sergey Brin (M.S.), developer of Google search and Marconi Prize winner
David Boggs (Ph.D.), co-inventor of Ethernet
Rodney Brooks (Ph.D. 1981), director of MIT computer science and artificial intelligence lab, winner of IJCAI Computers and Thought Award
Vint Cerf (B.S. 1965), Internet pioneer, co-inventor of TCP/IP internet protocol, and Turing Award and Marconi Prize-winner
Donald D. Chamberlin (M.S., Ph.D. electrical engineering), coinventor of SQL, and SIGMOD Edgar F. Codd Innovations Award winner
Surajit Chaudhuri (Ph.D. computer science), SIGMOD Edgar F. Codd Innovations Award winner
John M. Cioffi (Ph.D. electrical engineering), pioneer in Digital subscriber line, winner of Marconi Prize and IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal
Thomas M. Cover (Ph.D. electrical engineering 1964), information theorist
Donald Cox (Ph.D. electrical engineering), winner of the IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal
Steve Deering (Ph.D. electrical engineering), inventor of IP multicast
Whitfield Diffie (non-degreed), pioneer in public-key cryptography, noted for Diffie-Hellman-Merkle key exchange, and Marconi Prize winner
Ray Dolby (B.S. 1933), inventor of noise reduction system and winner of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation
Charles Stark Draper (A.B. 1922), engineer and inventor, often called "the father of inertial navigation"
Les Earnest, research scientist, created the first spell check and first cursive-writing recognizer
David Eppstein (B.S. 1984), computer scientist
Paul Flaherty (MS, Ph.D.), inventor of AltaVista search engine
Patri Friedman, software engineer at Google
Richard P. Gabriel (Ph.D.), computer scientist
Héctor García-Molina (Ph.D.), SIGMOD Edgar F. Codd Innovations Award winner
Craig Gentry (Ph.D.), 2010 Grace Murray Hopper Award winner; noted for solving homomorphic encryption
Edward Ginzton (Ph.D.), pioneer of microwave electronics and winner of IEEE Medal of Honor
Ian Goodfellow (B.S., M.S.), developer of generative adversarial networks
Susan L. Graham (Ph.D. computer science), IEEE John Von Neumann prize winner
William Webster Hansen (Ph.D.), pioneer of microwave electronics
Stephen E. Harris (M.S., Ph.D. electrical engineering), noted for "slow" light research
Martin Hellman (M.S. 1967, Ph.D. 1969 electrical engineering), a pioneer in public-key cryptography, noted for Diffie-Hellman-Merkle public key exchange, Marconi Prize winner
Charles Herrold, creator of the first radio station in the world
Ted Hoff (Ph.D. 1962), inventor of microprocessor, winner of Kyoto Prize, winner of National Medal of Technology and Innovation
John Hopcroft (Ph.D. 1964 electrical engineering), Turing Award-winning computer scientist
Taylor Howard (B.S. electrical engineering), inventor of the home satellite dish
Dan Ingalls (M.S. computer science), Grace Murray Hopper Award winner
Soren Johnson (A.B., M.S.), video-game designer
Leslie Kaelbling (Ph.D. computer science), winner of IJCAI Computers and Thought Award
Paul G. Kaminski (Ph.D. in AA, 1971), National Medal of Technology winner
Lydia Kavraki (Ph.D. computer science), 2000 Grace Murray Hopper Award winner
Alan Kay (Postdoc), Turing Award-winning computer scientist
Dan Klein (Ph.D. computer science), 2006 Grace Murray Hopper Award winner
Paul W. Klipsch (M.S. 1934), high-fidelity audio pioneer
Daphne Koller (Ph.D.), winner of ACM-Infosys Foundation Award, winner of IJCAI Computers and Thought Award
Douglas Lenat (Ph.D. computer science), winner of IJCAI Computers and Thought Award
Barbara Liskov (Ph.D.), first female Ph.D. in computer science in the US and Turing Award winner
John N. Little (M.E. 1980), co-creator of MATLAB
Albert Macovski (Ph.D.), the authority on computerized imaging systems with 150 patents
Theodore Maiman (M.E. electrical engineering, Ph.D. physics), inventor of the first working laser
Scott A. McGregor (B.A., M.S. 1978), lead developer of Windows 1.0 and CEO of Philips Semiconductors and Broadcom Corporation
Ralph Merkle (Ph.D. 1979, EE), pioneer in public key cryptography, noted for Diffie-Hellman-Merkle key exchange
Cleve Moler (Ph.D., M.E. 1980), co-creator of MATLAB
Roger Moore, Grace Murray Hopper Award winner
Hans Moravec (Ph.D. 1980), co-designer of Stanford CART, the first computer-controlled robot car
Allen Newell (B.S.), pioneer of artificial intelligence, Turing Award-winning computer scientist
Jim K. Omura (Ph.D. electrical engineering), IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal winner
Larry Page (M.S.), developer of Google search engine and Marconi Prize winner
Kumar Patel (Ph.D. electrical engineering), inventor of carbon dioxide laser, National Medal of Science winner
Donald Pederson (Ph.D. electrical engineering), pioneer in SPICE, winner of IEEE Medal of Honor
Amir Pnueli (Postdoc), Turing Award-winning computer scientist
Raj Reddy (Ph.D. 1966), Turing Award-winning computer scientist, founder of robotics institute at Carnegie Mellon University
Ronald Rivest (Ph.D. 1974), cryptographer, Turing Award-winning computer scientist
Mike Schroepfer (B.S. 1997, M.S. 1999), developer of the Firefox browser at Mozilla; vice president of engineering at Facebook
Edward Shortliffe (Ph.D.), Grace Murray Hopper Award winner, inventor of the Mycin
Charles Simonyi (M.S., Ph.D. 1977 computer science), inventor of Microsoft Word, former chief architect at Microsoft
Daniel Sleator (Ph.D.), computer scientist
Alfred Spector (Ph.D.), computer scientist
Robert Tarjan (Ph.D. 1972), Turing Award-winning computer scientist
Frederick Terman (B.S. chemistry, M.E. electrical engineering), "father of Silicon Valley", National Medal of Science winner
Russell Varian (Ph.D.), co-inventor of Klystron, the foundation of radar
Sigurd Varian (M.S.), co-inventor of Klystron, the foundation of
John Robert Woodyard (Ph.D. 1940), a pioneer in microwave electronics, inventor of "doping" in semiconductors

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Diplomacy

U.S. ambassadors

Michael J. Adler (A.M. 1989), 4th U.S. Ambassador to South Sudan (2022–present)^[25]
Michael R. Carpenter (A.B. 1993), 8th U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE (2021–present)^[26]
Bathsheba Nell Crocker (A.B. 1991), 20th U.S. Representative to the U.N. European Office (2021–present), 26th U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (2014–2017)|ref=^[27]
Eileen Donahoe (J.D. 1988, A.M. 1989), U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Council (2010–2013),^[28]
Karl Eikenberry (A.M. 1994), U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan (2009–2011)^[29]
March Fong Eu (Ed.D. 1954), 2nd U.S. Ambassador to Micronesia (1994–1996), 25th California Secretary of State^[30]
John Gavin (A.B. 1952), 22nd U.S. Ambassador to Mexico (1981–1986)^[31]
Gary A. Grappo (M.B.A. 1982), 11th U.S. Ambassador to Oman (2006–2009)^[32]
William Kennard (A.B. 1978) 18th U.S. Ambassador to the EU (2009–2013), 27th Chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (1997–2001)^[33]
Hans G. Klemm (A.M. 1996), 4th U.S. Ambassador to East Timor (2007–2010)^[34]
Lisa A. Johnson (A.B. 1989), 9th U.S. Ambassador to Namibia (2017–present)^[35]
Laurence W. Lane Jr. (A.B. 1942), 17th U.S. Ambassador to Australia (concurrently, 1985–1989), 5th U.S. Ambassador to Nauru (concurrently, 1985–1989)^[36]
Mark Lippert (A.B. 1997, A.M. 1998), 22nd U.S. Ambassador to South Korea (2014–2017)^[37]
Susan McCaw (A.B. 1984), 18th U.S. Ambassador to Austria (2006–2007)^[38]
Michael McFaul (A.B., M.A. 1986), 7th U.S. Ambassador to Russia (2012–2014)
William T. Monroe (A.B. 1972), 14th U.S. Ambassador to Bahrain (2004–2007)^[39]
Carlos R. Moreno (J.D. 1975), 9th U.S. Ambassador to Belize (2014–2017), Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court (2001–2011), Judge of the Central District of California (1998–2001)^[40]
Richard Morningstar (LL.M. 1970), 10th U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan (2012–2015), 14th U.S. Ambassador to the EU (1999–2001)^[41]
Herbert S. Okun (A.B. 1951), 3rd U.S. Ambassador to East Germany (1980–1983)^[42]
Louis O'Neill (A.B. 1990, A.M. 1992), U.S. representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and Head of Mission to Moldova (2006–2008)^[43]
Carlos Pascual (A.B. 1980), 28th U.S. Ambassador to Mexico (2009–2011), 4th U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine (2000–2003)^[44]
Susan Rice (A.B. 1986), 27th U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. (2009–2013)^[45]
Thomas T. Riley (B.S. 1972), 18th U.S. Ambassador to Morocco (2003–2009)^[46]
John Roos (A.B. 1977, J.D. 1980), 29th U.S. Ambassador to Japan (2009–2013)^[47]
Ronald P. Spogli (A.B. 1970), 30th U.S. Ambassador to Italy (concurrently, 2005–2009), 1st U.S. Ambassador to San Marino (concurrently, 2005–2009)^[48]
Robert H. Tuttle (A.B. 1965), 32nd U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom (2005–2009)^[32]
Beth Van Schaack (A.B. 1991) 7th U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice (2022–present)^[49]
James B. Warlick, Jr. (A.B. 1978), 16th U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria (2010–2012)^[50]
Earl Anthony Wayne (A.B. 1973), 29th U.S. Ambassador to Mexico (2011–2015), 29th U.S. Ambassador to Argentina (2007–2009)^[51]
Alice Wells (A.B. 1985), 23rd U.S. Ambassador to Jordan (2014–2017)^[52]
Alexa L. Wesner (A.B. 1994), 21st U.S. Ambassador to Austria (2013–2017)^[53]
William A. Wilson (B.S. 1936, M.S. 1937), 1st U.S. Ambassador to Vatican City (1984–1986)^[54]

Other U.S. diplomats

Goli Ameri (A.B. 1977, A.M. 1979), 12th U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, 2008–2009^[55]
Eric J. Boswell (A.B. 1970), 4th and 9th U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security, 1996–1998 and 2008–2012^[56]
Mallory Stewart (J.D. 2000), 5th U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance, 2022–present^[57]

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Entertainment

Film and television

Andy Adler, television personality
Aimee Allison, public affairs television and radio host, political activist
Maudy Ayunda, actress and singer-songwriter
Laura Bialis, movie director
Kevin Bleyer, writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Richard Boone, actor
Andre Braugher, actor
David Brown, movie producer
Phil Brown, actor
Sterling K. Brown, actor
Frank Cady, actor
Britton Caillouette, filmmaker
Gretchen Carlson, broadcast journalist and television personality on Fox & Friends
Melanie Chandra (B.S. 2006), actress known for Code Black
Barney Cheng, actor, director, writer, and producer
Jennifer Connelly (non-degreed), actress
Roger Corman, producer and director
Ted Danson (non-degreed), actor
Richard Engel (1996), NBC reporter and author
Allison Fonte, former Mouseketeer from The New Mickey Mouse Club
Dana Fox, screenwriter
Isabelle Fuhrman, actress
Jordan Gelber, actor
Nicholas Gonzalez, actor
Rebecca Hanover (B.A. 2001), television writer, winner of Daytime Emmy Award for her work on Guiding Light
Al Harrington (B.A. 1958), actor known for Hawaii Five-O
Ron Hayes, actor
Edith Head (A.M. 1920), costume designer
Colin Higgins, film screenwriter, director, actor, and producer
Ollie Johnston, pioneering Disney animator
Daryn Kagan, CNN ex-anchor
Jordan Kerner, film and television producer, former network and studio executive
Don King (1978), surfing photographer and cinematographer
Yul Kwon, winner of Survivor: Cook Islands
Heather Langenkamp, actress
Crystal Lee, Miss California 2013, First Runner-Up Miss America 2014
Robert Lehrer, actor
Warren Leight, Pulitzer Prize finalist, playwright, screenwriter, film director, and television producer
Rachel Maddow, MSNBC television host
Blake Masters, screenwriter, director, and producer
Ty McCormick, award-winning foreign correspondent
Alex Michel, producer and television personality, best known for The Bachelor
Avi Nash, actor
Lloyd Nolan (non-degreed), actor
Safiya Nygaard, YouTuber
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, director of two Academy Award-winning documentaries
Jack Palance, actor
Alexander Payne, film director
Danny Pintauro, actor
Rick Porras, movie producer
Megyn Price, actress
Issa Rae, actress, writer, director, and producer
Alex Rich, actor
Edward L. Rissien, film producer^[58]
Jay Roach, film director
Allen Rucker (M.A. 1977), writer and television producer, wrote an Emmy Award-winning documentary "Two Days in October"
Skyler Samuels, actress
Ben Savage, actor
Fred Savage, actor
Susan Shadburne, film director and screenwriter^[59]
Sam Simon, television writer and producer
Eliel Swinton, actor
Cynthia Wade, documentary filmmaker
Kathryn Wallace, documentary filmmaker
Sigourney Weaver, actress
Adam West (non-degreed), actor
Reese Witherspoon (non-degreed), actress
Hank Worden, actor
Alice Wu, writer and director of Saving Face
Richard Zanuck, movie producer

Music

Samuel Adams, composer
Ronald Barnes (M.A. 1961), carillonist and musicologist^[60]
Allette Brooks, musician
Torry Castellano, former drummer of The Donnas
Jack Conte musician, member of Pomplamoose
Kristine Meredith Flaherty, rapper best known by her stage name K.Flay
Sameer Gadhia, lead singer of Young the Giant
Larry Grenadier, jazz bassist
Dave Guard, folk singer and songwriter
Tom Harrell, jazz trumpeter and composer
Jidenna, hip hop and R&B artist^[61]
Mikel Jollett, lead singer of The Airborne Toxic Event
Kylee, singer
Natalie Knutsen, member of Pomplamoose
Andrew Robert Nielsen, rapper best known by his stage name MC Lars
Jon Nakamatsu, pianist
James Nash, musician
Bruce Robinson, singer/songwriter
Sandor Salgo, Carmel Bach Festival leader for thirty years
Anton Schwartz, jazz saxophonist
Daniel Seon Woong Lee (A.B. 2001, M.A. 2002), hip hop recording artist and record producer known as Tablo^[62]
Vienna Teng, musician
Christopher Tin, composer
Fei Xiang, singer

Radio

Kris Atteberry, Twins Radio Network studio host
Elizabeth Farnsworth (A.M.), broadcast journalist
Donna Hanover, radio and television news anchor and personality

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Judiciary

U.S. Supreme Court

Stephen Breyer (A.B. 1959), associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1994–2022), chief judge of the First Circuit Court of Appeals (1990–1994), judge of the First Circuit Court of Appeals (1980–1990)^[63]
Sian Elias (J.S.M. 1972), 1st Female and 12th chief justice of New Zealand (1999–2019)^[64]
Anthony Kennedy (A.B. 1958), associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1988–2018), judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1975–1988)^[65]
Sandra Day O'Connor (A.B. 1950, LL.B. 1952), 1st Female associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1981–2006), judge of the Arizona Court of Appeals (1979–1981), 1st Female U.S. State Senate Majority Leader (1973–1975), Arizona State Senator (1969–1975)^[66]
William Rehnquist (A.B. 1948, A.M. 1948, LL.B. 1952), chief justice of the United States (1986–2005), associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1972–1986)^[67]

U.S. Court of Appeals

Carlos Bea (A.B. 1956, LL.B. 1958), judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (2003–2019)^[68]
Consuelo Callahan (A.B. 1972), judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (2003–present), associate justice of the California Third District Court of Appeal (1996–2003)^[69]
Richard Harvey Chambers (LL.B. 1932), chief judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1959–1976), judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1954–1959)^[70]
Daniel P. Collins (J.D. 1988), judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (2019–present)^[71]
Benjamin Cushing Duniway (LL.B. 1931), judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1961–1976), associate justice of the California First District Court of Appeal (1959–1961)^[72]
Allison H. Eid (A.B. 1987), judge of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals (2017–present), associate justice of the Colorado Supreme Court (2006–2017)^[73]^[74]
Raymond C. Fisher (LL.B. 1966), judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1999–2013)^[75]
Betty Binns Fletcher (A.B. 1943), judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1979–1998)^[76]
Michelle Friedland (B.S. 1995, J.D. 2000), judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals^[77]
Britt Grant (J.D. 2007), judge of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals (2018–present), associate justice of the Georgia Supreme Court (2017–2018)^[78]
Cynthia Holcomb Hall (A.B. 1951, LL.B. 1954), judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1984–1997), judge of the Central District of California (1981–1984)^[79]
Liam P. Hardy (M.S. 1996), judge of the Armed Forces Court of Appeals (2020–present)^[80]^[81]
James C. Ho (B.A. 1995), judge of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (2017–present)^[82]
Shirley Hufstedler (LL.B. 1949), 1st United States Secretary of Education (1979–1981), judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1968–1979), associate justice of the California Courts of Appeal (1966–1968)^[83]
Procter Ralph Hug Jr. (LL.B. 1958), chief judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1996–2000), judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1977–1996; 2000–2002)^[84]
Gilbert H. Jertberg (A.B. 1920, LL.B. 1922), judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1958–1967), judge of the Southern District of California (1955–1958)^[85]
Cheryl Ann Krause (J.D. 1993), judge of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals (2014–present)^[86]
Dal Millington Lemmon (A.B. 1908), judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1954–1958), judge of the Northern District of California (1947–1954)^[87]
Scott Matheson Jr. (A.B. 1975), judge of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals (2010–present)^[88]
Steven Menashi (J.D. 2008), judge of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals (2019–present)^[89]
Justin Miller (A.B. 1911, LL.B. 1914), judge of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals (1937–1945)^[90]
William Albert Norris (LL.B. 1954), judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1980–1994)^[91]
John B. Owens (J.D. 1996), judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (2014–present)^[92]
Florence Y. Pan (J.D. 1993), judge of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals (2022–present), judge of the District of Columbia (2021–2022)^[93]
Peter J. Phipps (J.D. 1998), judge of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals (2019–present)
judge of the Western District of Pennsylvania (2018–2019),^[94]
John M. Rogers (A.B. 1970), judge of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (2002–2018)^[95]
Pamela Ann Rymer (LL.B. 1964), judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1989–2011), judge of the Central District of California (1983–1989)^[96]
Oliver Seth (A.B. 1937), chief judge of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals (1977–1984), judge of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals (1962–1977)^[97]
Sri Srinivasan (A.B. 1989, M.B.A. 1995, J.D. 1995), chief judge of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals (2020–present), judge of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals (2013–2020)^[98]
Holly A. Thomas (A.B. 2000), judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (2022–present)^[99]

U.S. Federal District Court

Wayne Alley (A.B. 1952, LL.B. 1957), judge of the Western District of Oklahoma (1985–1999)^[100]
D. Brook Bartlett (LL.B. 1962), chief judge of the Western District of Missouri (1995–2000), judge of the Western District of Missouri (1981–1995)^[101]
Jesus Bernal (J.D. 1989), judge of the Central District of California (2012–present)^[102]
Benjamin Franklin Bledsoe (A.B. 1896), judge of the Southern District of California (1914–1925)^[103]
Rudi M. Brewster (LL.B. 1960), judge of the Southern District of California (1984–1998)^[104]
Laurie Smith Camp (A.B. 1974), chief judge of the District of Nebraska (2011–2018), judge of the District of Nebraska (2001–2011)^[105]
Tiffany Cartwright (B.A. 2007, J.D. 2010), judge of the Western District of Washington (2023–present)^[106]
Paul G. Cassell (A.B. 1979, J.D. 1984), judge of the District of Utah (2002–2007)^[107]
Deborah K. Chasanow (J.D. 1974), chief judge of the District of Maryland (2010–2014), judge of the District of Maryland (1993–2010)^[108]
Dana L. Christensen (A.B. 1973), chief judge of the District of Montana (2013–2020), judge of the District of Montana (2011–2013; 2020–present)^[109]
Samuel Conti (LL.B. 1948), judge of the Northern District of California (1970–1987)^[110]
Christopher R. Cooper (J.D. 1993), judge of the District of Columbia (2014–present)^[111]
Walter Early Craig (A.B. 1931, LL.B. 1934), chief judge of the District of Arizona (1973–1979), judge of the District of Arizona (1963–1973)^[112]
James Donato (J.D. 1998), judge of the Northern District of California (2014–present)^[113]
Gary Feinerman (J.D. 1991), judge of the Northern District of Illinois (2010–present)^[114]
Jeremy Fogel (A.B. 1971), judge of the Northern District of California (1998–2014), Director of the Federal Judicial Center (2011–2018)^[115]
Haywood Gilliam (J.D. 1994), judge of the Northern District of California (2014–present)^[116]
Irma Elsa Gonzalez (A.B. 1970), chief judge of the Southern District of California (2005–2012), judge of the Southern District of California (1992–2005; 2012–2013)^[117]
Joan B. Gottschall (J.D. 1973), judge of the Northern District of Illinois (1996–2012)^[118]
Thomas P. Griesa (LL.B. 1958), chief judge of the Southern District of New York (1993–2000), judge of the Southern District of New York (1972–1993)^[119]
Phyllis J. Hamilton (A.B. 1974), chief judge of the Northern District of California (2014–2021), judge of the Northern District of California (2000–2014)^[120]
Harry Lindley Hupp (A.B. 1953, LL.B. 1955), judge of the Central District of California (1984–1997)^[121]
Susan Illston (J.D. 1973), judge of the Northern District of California (1995–2013)^[122]
Rachel Kovner (J.D. 2006), judge of the Eastern District of New York (2019–present)^[123]
Fred Kunzel (A.B. 1925, LL.B. 1927), chief judge of the Southern District of California (1967–1969), judge of the Southern District of California (1959–1967)^[124]
Charles A. Legge (A.B. 1952, LL.B. 1954), judge of the Northern District of California (1984–2001)^[125]
David F. Levi (J.D. 1980), chief judge of the Eastern District of California (2003–2007), judge of the Eastern District of California (1990–2003)^[126]
Lawrence Tupper Lydick (A.B. 1938, LL.B. 1942), judge of the Central District of California (1971–1984)^[127]
Linda Hodge McLaughlin (A.B. 1963), judge of the Central District of California (1992–1999)^[128]
John Mendez (A.B. 1977), judge of the Eastern District of California (2008–2022)^[129]
Brian Morris (A.B. 1986, A.M. 1987, J.D. 1992), chief judge of the District of Montana (2020–present), judge of the District of Montana (2013–2020), associate justice of the Montana Supreme Court (2004–2013)^[130]
Kimberly J. Mueller (J.D. 1995), chief judge of the Eastern District of California (2020–present), judge of the Eastern District of California (2010–2020)^[131]
Sarala Nagala (B.A. 2005), judge of the District of Connecticut (2021–present)^[132]
S. James Otero (J.D. 1976), judge of the Central District of California (2003–2018)^[133]
Halil Suleyman Ozerden (J.D. 1998), judge of the Southern District of Mississippi (2007–present)^[134]
Robert Francis Peckham (A.B. 1941, LL.B. 1945), chief judge of the Northern District of California (1976–1988), judge of the Northern District of California (1966–1976)^[135]
Gene E. K. Pratter (A.B. 1971), judge of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (2004–present)^[136]
Mónica Ramírez Almadani (J.D. 2004), judge of the Central District of California (2023–present)^[137]
John Skylstead Rhoades Sr. (A.B. 1948), judge of the Southern District of California (1985–1995)^[138]
John Rolly Ross (LL.B. 1926), chief judge of the District of Nevada (1961–1963), judge of the District of Nevada (1954–1961)^[139]
George P. Schiavelli (A.B. 1970), judge of the Central District of California (2004–2008)^[140]
James V. Selna (A.B. 1967, LL.B. 1970), judge of the Central District of California (2003–2020)^[141]
Manish S. Shah (A.B. 1994), judge of the Northern District of Illinois (2014–present)^[142]
Fern M. Smith (A.B. 1972, J.D. 1975), judge of the Northern District of California (1988–2003)^[143]
Christina A. Snyder (J.D. 1972), judge of the Central District of California (1997–2016)^[144]
Gus J. Solomon (LL.B. 1929), chief judge of the District of Oregon (1958–1971), judge of the District of Oregon (1950–1958)^[145]
Richard G. Stearns (A.B. 1968), judge of the District of Massachusetts (1993–present)^[146]
Sunshine Sykes (A.B. 1997, J.D. 2001), judge of the Central District of California (2022–present)^[147]
Bruce Rutherford Thompson (LL.B. 1936), judge of the District of Nevada (1963–1978)^[148]
Hernán D. Vera (A.B. 1991), judge of the Central District of California (2023–present)^[149]
Vaughn Walker (LL.B. 1970), chief judge of the Northern District of California (2004–2010), judge of the Northern District of California (1989–2004; 2010–2011)^[150]
James Ware (J.D. 1972), chief judge of the Northern District of California (2010–2012), judge of the Northern District of California (1990–2010)^[151]
Stanley Alexander Weigel (A.B. 1926, LL.B. 1928), judge of the Northern District of California (1962–1982)^[152]
Claudia Ann Wilken (A.B. 1971), chief judge of the Northern District of California (2012–2014), judge of the Northern District of California (1993–2012)^[153]
David Keith Winder (LL.B. 1958), chief judge of the judge of the District of Utah (1993–1997), judge of the District of Utah (1979–1993)^[154]

State Supreme Court

Brent R. Appel (A.B. 1973, A.M. 1973), associate justice of the Iowa Supreme Court (2006–2022)^[155]
Alex Bryner (J.D. 1969), 14th chief justice of Alaska (2003–2006), associate justice of the Alaska Supreme Court (1997–2003; 2006–2007)^[156]
Walter L. Carpeneti (A.B. 1967), 16th chief justice of Alaska (2009–2012), associate justice of the Alaska Supreme Court (1998–2009; 2012–2013)^[157]
Wallace P. Carson, Jr. (A.B. 1956), 40th chief justice of the Oregon Supreme Court (1991–2005), associate justice of the Oregon Supreme Court (1982–1991; 2005–2006), Oregon State Senate Minority Leader (1975–1977), Oregon State Senator (1971–1977), Oregon State House Majority Leader (1969–1970), Oregon State Representative (1967–1971)^[158]
William P. Clark, Jr. (A.B. 1953), associate justice of the California Supreme Court (1973–1981), U.S. Deputy Secretary of State (1981–1982), U.S. National Security Advisor (1982–1983), 44th U.S. Secretary of the Interior^[159]
Cathy Cochran (A.B. 1966), judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (2001–2015)^[160]
Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar (Ph.D. 2000), associate justice of the California Supreme Court (2015–2021)^[161]^[162]
Patricia Guerrero (J.D. 1997), Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court (2022–present)^[163]^[164]
Joshua Groban (B.A. 1995), associate justice of the California Supreme Court (2019–present)^[165]
Barbara Durham (LL.B. 1968), 1st Female chief justice of the Washington Supreme Court (1995–1998), associate justice of the Washington Supreme Court (1985–1995, 1998–1999)^[166]
Ronald M. George (LL.B. 1964), 27th chief justice of California (1996–2011), associate justice of the California Supreme Court (1991–1996)^[167]
Joshua Groban (B.A. 1995), associate justice of the California Supreme Court (2019–present)^[165]
Charles E. Jones (LL.B. 1962), chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Court (2002–2005), associate justice of the Arizona Supreme Court (1996–2002)^[168]
Robert G. Klein (A.B. 1969), associate justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court (1992–2000)
Rebecca Love Kourlis (A.B. 1973, J.D. 1976), associate justice of the Colorado Supreme Court (1995–2006),^[169]
Steven H. Levinson (A.B. 1968), associate justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court (1992–2008),^[170]
Goodwin Liu (B.S. 1991), associate justice of the California Supreme Court (2011–present)^[171]
Monica Márquez (A.B. 1991), associate justice of the Colorado Supreme Court (2010–present)^[172]
Warren Matthews (A.B. 1961), 8th and 12th chief justice of Alaska (1987–1990, 1997–2000), associate justice of the Alaska Supreme Court (1977–1987, 1990–1997, 2000–2009)^[173]
Marshall F. McComb (A.B. 1917), associate justice of the California Supreme Court (1956–1977)^[174]
Ernest McFarland (A.M.1922, LL.B. 1924), chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Court (1968–1968), associate justice of the Arizona Supreme Court (1964–1968), 10th Governor of Arizona (1955–1959), 8th United States Senate Majority Leader (1951–1953), United States Senator (1941–1953)^[175]
Charles L. McNary (A.B. 1897), associate justice of the Oregon Supreme Court (1913–1915), United States Senator (1917–1944), United States Senate Minority Leader (1933–1944)^[176]
Lee Metcalf (A.B. 1936), associate justice of the Montana Supreme Court (1947–1953), U.S. Congressman (1953–1961), United States Senator (1961–1978
Carlos R. Moreno (J.D. 1975), 9th U.S. Ambassador to Belize (2014–2017), associate justice of the California Supreme Court (2001–2011), judge of the Central District of California (1998–2001)^[177]^[40]
William A. Neumann (LL.B. 1968), associate justice of the North Dakota Supreme Court (1993–2005)^[178]
Albert L. Rendlen, chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court (1983–1985), associate justice of the Missouri Supreme Court (1977–1983; 1985–1992)^[179]
Frank K. Richardson (A.B. 1935, LL.B. 1938), associate justice of the California Supreme Court (1974–1983)^[180]
Chase T. Rogers (A.B. 1979), 37th chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court (2007–2018)^[181]
Robert S. Smith (A.B. 1965), associate judge of the New York Court of Appeals (2004–2014)^[182]
Jacob Tanzer, associate justice of the Oregon Supreme Court (1980–1982)
judge of the Oregon Court of Appeals (1973–1975; 1976–1980)^[183]
Gordon R. Thompson (LL.B. 1943), chief justice of the Supreme Court of Nevada (1966–1968, 1973–1974), associate justice of the Nevada Supreme Court (1961–1965, 1969–1972, 1975–1980)^[184]
Donald Wright (A.B. 1929), 24th chief justice of California (1970–1977)^[185]

State Court of Appeal

Richard W. Abbe (A.B. 1950), associate justice of the California Second District Court of Appeal, Division Six (1982–1990)^[186]
Mary Kay Becker (A.B. 1966), judge of the Washington Court of Appeals, Division I (1994–2019)
C. C. Bridgewater (A.B. 1966), judge of the Washington Court of Appeals, Division II (1994–2010)
George A. Brown (LL.B. 1948), justice of the California Fifth District Court of Appeal (1972–1987); associate justice (1971–1972)
Christopher Cottle (A.B. 1962), justice of the California Sixth District Court of Appeal (1993–2001); associate justice (1988–1993)
Elena J. Duarte (J.D. 1992), associate justice of the California Third District Court of Appeal (2010–present)
Gerold C. Dunn (A.B. 1934, LL.B. 1938), associate justice of the California Second District Court of Appeal, Division Four (1968–1977)^[187]
Peter Eckerstrom (J.D. 1986), chief judge of the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division Two (2014–2019); judge of the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division Two (2003–2014; 2019–present)
John Joseph Ford (A.B. 1928), residing justice of the California Second District Court of Appeal, Division Three (1966–1977), associate justice of the California Second District Court of Appeal, Division Three (1959–1966)^[188]
Elizabeth A. Grimes (J.D. 1980), associate justice of the California Second District Court of Appeal, Division Eight (2010–present)^[189]
Rick Haselton (A.B. 1976), chief judge of the Oregon Court of Appeals (2012–2015); judge of the Oregon Court of Appeals (1994–2012)
Diane Johnsen (J.D. 1982), judge of the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One (2006–2020)
Daniel J. Kremer (A.B. 1960, LL.B. 1963), justice of the California Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division One (1985–2003)
James A. McIntyre (LL.B. 1963), associate justice of the California Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division One (1996–2016)
Richard M. Mosk (A.B. 1960), associate justice of the California Second District Court of Appeal, Division Five (2001–2016)^[190]
Dennis M. Perluss (A.B. 1970), presiding justice of the California Second District Court of Appeal, Division Seven (2003–present)
associate justice of the California Second District Court of Appeal, Division Seven (2001–2003)^[191]
Fred R. Pierce (A.B. 1921), justice of the California Third District Court of Appeal (1962–1971); associate justice (1961–1962)
Stuart R. Pollak (A.B. 1959), justice of the California First District Court of Appeal, Division Four (2018–present); associate justice of the First District, Division Three (2002–2018)
William A. Reppy (A.B. 1934), associate justice of the California Second District Court of Appeal, Division Five (1968–1972)^[192]
Richard M. Sims Jr. (A.B. 1931), associate justice of the California First District Court of Appeal, Division One (1964–1978)
William A. Thorne Jr. (J.D. 1977), judge of the Utah Court of Appeals (2000–2013)
Robert Y. Thornton (A.B. 1932), judge of the Oregon Court of Appeals (1971–1983)
Kathryn Doi Todd (A.B. 1963), associate justice of the California Second District Court of Appeal, Division Two (2001–2013), First female Asian American judge in the history of the United States (1978)^[193]
Walton J. Wood (A.B. 1901), associate justice of the California Second District Court of Appeal, Division Two (1935–1945), first public defender in the history of the United States (1914–1921)^[194]

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Law

Attorney

Luke Cole (A.B. 1984), environmental lawyer, cofounder of the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment
Casey Gwinn, San Diego City Attorney (1996–2004)
William Kaplan (J.S.D. 1988), lawyer, arbitrator, law professor, and author
Kalpana Kotagal (A.B. 1999, B.S. 1999), employment attorney and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commissioner
Caroline D. Krass (A.B. 1989), General Counsel of the Department of Defense
Cheryl Mills| (J.D. 1990), 29th Counselor of the U.S. State Department, 2009–2013^[195]
Michael Nava (J.D. 1981), lawyer and advocate of the need to open the legal profession to traditionally underrepresented groups
Neil Papiano (A.B. 1956, A.M. 1957), attorney for President Ronald Reagan, Elizabeth Taylor, and Walter Matthau
Anthony Romero (J.D. 1990), first openly gay man and first Latino director of the American Civil Liberties Union
J. Tony Serra (A.B. 1957), radical civil rights attorney

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Literature and journalism

Journalism

Gary Allen, journalist and author
Ryan Blitstein, journalist
Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Washington Post editor and author
Bob Cohn, journalist
Alice Rogers Hager (1894–1969), journalist; president, Women's National Press Club
Aljean Harmetz, journalist and film historian
Sally Jenkins, author and sports journalist
Ted Koppel (A.M.), journalist
Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times bureau chief in Washington, D.C., author, and broadcast commentator
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinay, journalist
Daniel Pearl, journalist
Gary Shilling, financial analyst and commentator with Forbes, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal
Noah Smith (B.S. 2003, Physics), former Bloomberg columnist; blogger and commentator on economics and current events
Joel Stein, columnist for the Los Angeles Times
Nicholas Thompson, editor in chief of Wired and historian

Writers

Ann Bannon (Ph.D. linguistics), pulp fiction author
Elif Batuman (Ph.D. comparative literature), author of The Idiot and The Possessed
Brit Bennett (A.B. 2012), author
Stewart Brand, writer and editor
H. W. Brands (A.B. 1975), author and historian
Ethan Canin (A.B. 1982), author
Thad Carhart, author
Victor Cheng (A.B, A.M.), author and blogger
Erskine Childers, author and United Nations official
Michael Cunningham, author
Simin Daneshvar (Ph.D.), novelist and story writer
Ram Dass (Ph.D. 1957), author and spiritual teacher
Allen Drury (A.B. 1939), Pulitzer Prize-winning author
Selden Edwards (A.M. education), best-selling novelist
Carlos Fonseca Suárez (B.A. comparative literature), novelist
Allegra Goodman (Ph.D. English literature), novelist
Robin Lee Graham, co-wrote Dove about sailing the world alone as a teenager
Alexander Greendale (M.A.), playwright^[200]
Yaa Gyasi (A.B. English), novelist
Sam Harris (A.B. 2000), author
Robert Hass (A.M., Ph.D.), U.S. Poet Laureate
George V. Higgins (A.M.), crime novelist
Douglas Hofstadter, Pulitzer Prize winner and author
David Henry Hwang (1979), playwright
Arturo Islas (A.B. 1960, A.M. 1965, Ph.D. 1971), fiction writer
Fenton Johnson (A.B., 1975), author of fiction and nonfiction
Ken Kesey (A.M.), author
Iris Krasnow (A.B. 1976), author specializing in relationships and personal growth
Alan Lelchuk (M.A. 1962, Ph.D. 1965), writer and professor at Dartmouth College
William Harjo LoneFight, Native American author and expert in the revitalization of Native American languages and cultural traditions
Dhan Gopal Mukerji, novelist and winner of the Newbery Medal
Siddhartha Mukherjee (B.S. 1993), author, scientist and Pulitzer Prize winner
Ted Nace (A.B. 1978), author noted for the critique of corporate personhood
Scott O'Dell, author
Robert Pinsky (Ph.D.), U.S. Poet Laureate
Chip Rawlins, non-fiction author
Richard Rodriguez (A.B.), author
Edward Rutherfurd, novelist
Vikram Seth (non-degreed), poet and author
Curtis Sittenfeld, author
Anthony Veasna So (B.A. 2014), short story writer
John Steinbeck (non-degreed), winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
Gene Stone (A.B. 1973), author
Hans Otto Storm, novelist
Mark Sundeen, novelist and magazine writer
Scott Turow (A.M.), author
Alok Vaid-Menon, poet
Brian Wansink (Ph.D. 1990), author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think
Jesmyn Ward (B.A., M.A.), author
Mona Williams (B.A.), children's author, memoirist, oral storyteller, and writing teacher
Albert Wilson (M.S.), author, botanist, and landscape architect
Tanaya Winder, poet
Tobias Wolff (A.M.), short story and memoir writer, professor at Stanford University
John Zerzan (A.B., 1965), nonfiction author and primitivist
Richard Zimler (A.M. 1982), author

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Medicine

James B. Aguayo-Martel (M.D. 1981, M.P.H. 1981), physician, surgeon, and inventor of NMR microscopy and Deuterium NMR spectroscopy
Jeremy M. Berg (B.S. 1980), director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences
David Benaron (postdoc), former professor in pediatrics and neonatology, digital health entrepreneur, specialist in medical imaging, monitoring and analysis, and co-inventor of "glowing mice" imaging technique
T. Brian Callister (A.B. 1983), physician and health care policy expert
Francine Coeytaux, founder of the Pacific Institute for Women's Health^[201]
Kenneth L. Davis, president and chief executive officer of Mount Sinai Medical Center
Katherine A. Flores (B.S. 1975), professor at UCSF School of Medicine and founder of a program to recruit and train LatinX doctors
David A. Karnofsky (A.M. 1936, M.D. 1940), medical oncologist known for the Karnofsky score
Stephen LaBerge (Ph.D. 1980), psychophysiologist specializing in the scientific study of lucid dreaming
Reed M. Nesbit (A.B. 1921, M.D. 1924), urologist and pioneer of transurethral resection of the prostate
Oliver Press, cancer researcher and physician^[202]
Marcia Stefanick (Ph.D. 1982) director of the Stanford Women's Health and Sex Differences in Medicine Center
Nicholas Tatonetti (Ph.D. 2012), bioscientist who is vice chair of operations in the Department of Computational Biomedicine and associate director of computational oncology in the Cancer Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
David Alvra Wood (M.D. 1930), first director of the University of California, San Francisco Cancer Research Institute^[203]^[204]

Military

Scott D. Anderson (1987), Air National Guard F-16 pilot and general aviation test pilot
Jeff Cooper, United States Marine Corps veteran of World War II and the Korean War, considered the creator of the "modern technique" of handgun shooting
Clifford B. Drake (A.M. 1951), Marine Corps major general
William G. Joslyn (B.A. 1943), major general in the Marine Corps
John A. Macready (1912), aviator; the only three-time winner of the Mackay Trophy
Charles A. Ott, Jr. (1941), United States Army major general and director of the Army National Guard
Paul Sohl, United States Navy rear admiral
Derek Tournear, Director of the Space Development Agency

Miscellaneous

Auburn Calloway, attempted hijacker
Chelsea Clinton (A.B. 2001), First Daughter of the United States
Paul Draper, winemaker at Ridge Vineyards
Lou Henry Hoover, First Lady of the United States
Ann O'Leary (A.M. 1997), senior policy advisor, Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, 2016; chief of staff to California Governor Gavin Newsom
Theodore Streleski, murderer of Stanford professor Karel deLeeuw in 1978
Gayle Wilson (A.B. 1964), First Lady of California

Politics

Presidents, vice presidents, and prime ministers

Mohammad Reza Aref (M.S. 1976, Ph.D. 1980), 2nd First Vice President of Iran^[205]
Taro Aso (Graduate student 1963–1965), 59th Prime Minister of Japan^[206]
Ehud Barak (M.S. 1979), 10th Prime Minister of Israel^[207]
Chang San-cheng (MASc 1977), 27th president of the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China^[208]
Yukio Hatoyama (Ph.D. 1976), 60th Prime Minister of Japan^[209]
Herbert Hoover (A.B. 1895), 31st president of the United States^[210]
John F. Kennedy (M.B.A, dropped out), 35th president of the United States^[211]
Ricardo Maduro (A.B. 1967), 28th president of Honduras^[212]
John Atta Mills (J.D. 1971), 3rd president of Ghana^[213]
Kyriakos Mitsotakis (A.M. 1993), Prime Minister of Greece (2019–present),^[214]
Jorge Serrano Elías (A.M. 1973), 29th president of Guatemala^[215]
Rishi Sunak (M.B.A. 2006), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (2022–2024)^[216]
Alejandro Toledo (A.M. 1972, A.M. 1974, Ph.D. 1993), 92nd president of Peru^[217]
Mohamed Waheed Hassan (M.A. 1982, M.A. 1985, Ph.D. 1987), 5th president of Maldives^[218]

Royalty

Alfred Achebe (B.S. 1966), 21st Obi of Onitsha, Nigeria^[219]
Kesang Choden Wangchuck (B.A. 2004), Princess of Bhutan^[220]
Prince Moulay Hicham of Morocco (M.A. 1997), Prince of Morocco^[221]
Philippe of Belgium (A.M. 1985), 7th King of the Belgians^[222]
Sonam Dechen Wangchuck (B.A. 2003), Princess of Bhutan^[223]
Prince William of Gloucester (post-baccalaureate 1964), British Prince, grandson of George V

Cabinet secretaries and ministers

Xavier Becerra (A.B. 1980, J.D. 1984), 25th U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, 33rd California Attorney General, U.S. Congressman (1993–2017)^[196]
Avishay Braverman (Ph.D. 1976), Israeli Minister of Minorities (2009–2011)^[224]
John Bryson (A.B. 1965), 37th U.S. Secretary of Commerce^[225]
Julian Castro (B.A. 1996), 16th U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development^[226]
Warren Christopher (LL.B. 1949), 63rd U.S. Secretary of State^[227]
William P. Clark, Jr. (A.B. 1953), 44th U.S. Secretary of the Interior, U.S. National Security Advisor (1982–1983), U.S. Deputy Secretary of State (1981–1982)
Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court (1973–1981)^[228]
William Denman Eberle (A.B. 1945), 4th U.S. Trade Representative, 1971–1975^[229]
John S. Herrington (A.B. 1961), 5th U.S. Secretary of Energy^[230]
Regina Ip (M.S. 1987, M.A. 2006), Secretary for Security of Hong Kong (1998–2003)^[231]
Sally Kosgei (A.M. 1975, Ph.D. 1980), Kenyan Minister of Agriculture (2010–2013), Kenyan Minister for Higher Education (2008–2010)^[232]
William J. Perry (B.S. 1949, M.S. 1950), 19th U.S. Secretary of Defense^[233]
Penny Pritzker (M.B.A. 1984, J.D. 1984), 38th United States Secretary of Commerce^[234]
Jyotiraditya Scindia (M.B.A. 2001), 37th Indian Minister of Steel (2022–present), 39th Indian Minister of Civil Aviation (2021–present), 29th Indian Minister of Power (2012–2014)^[235]
Susan Schwab (A.M. 1977), 15th U.S. Trade Representative, 2006–2009^[236]
Julie Su (A.B. 1991), acting U.S. Secretary of Labor (2023–present)^[237]
R. James Woolsey, Jr. (A.B. 1963), 16th U.S. Director of Central Intelligence^[238]

U.S. Senators

Max Baucus (A.B. 1964, LL.B. 1967), United States Senator^[239]
Jeff Bingaman (LL.B. 1968), United States Senator^[240]
Cory Booker (A.B. 1991, A.M. 1992), United States Senator^[241]
Frank Church (A.B. 1947, LL.B. 1950), United States Senator^[242]
Kent Conrad (A.B. 1971), United States Senator^[243]
Alan Cranston (A.B. 1936), United States Senator^[244]
Paul Fannin (A.B. 1930), United States Senator; 11th Governor of Arizona,^[245]
Dianne Feinstein (A.B. 1955), United States Senator; 38th Mayor of San Francisco^[246]
Mark Hatfield (A.M. 1948), United States Senator, 29th Governor of Oregon^[247]
Josh Hawley (B.A. 2002), United States Senator, 42nd Missouri Attorney General^[197]
Carl Hayden (A.B. 1900), United States Senator; President pro tempore of the United States Senate^[248]
Charles B. Henderson (A.B. 1893), United States Senator^[249]
Henry M. Jackson (A.B. 1936), United States Senator^[250]
Ernest McFarland (A.M. 1922, LL.B. 1924), United States Senator, 8th United States Senate Majority Leader, 10th Governor of Arizona^[251]
Charles L. McNary (A.B. 1897), United States Senator, 3rd United States Senate Minority Leader, Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court^[176]
Jeff Merkley (A.B. 1979), United States Senator^[252]
Lee Metcalf (A.B. 1936), United States Senator; U.S. Congressman, Associate Justice of the Montana Supreme Court^[253]
Mitt Romney (attended), United States Senator, 70th governor of Massachusetts, 2012 U.S. presidential nominee^[254]
Adam Schiff (A.B. 1982), United States Senator; United States Congressman^[255]
Tina Smith (A.B. 1980), United States Senator, 48th Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota^[256]
Thomas M. Storke (A.B. 1898), United States Senator^[257]
Tim Wirth (Ph.D. 1973), United States Senator^[258]
Ron Wyden (A.B. 1971), United States Senator^[259]

U.S. House of Representatives

Robert Badham (A.B. 1951), United States House of Representatives^[260]
Xavier Becerra (A.B. 1980, J.D. 1984), United States House of Representatives, 25th U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services; 33rd Attorney General of California^[196]
Judy Biggert (A.B. 1959), United States House of Representatives^[261]
Ernest K. Bramblett (A.B. 1925), United States House of Representatives,^[262]
Hamer H. Budge (A.B. 1933), United States House of Representatives,^[263]
Joaquin Castro (A.B. 1996), United States House of Representatives,^[264]
Cal Dooley (A.M. 1987), United States House of Representatives^[265]
Jennifer Dunn (A.B. 1963), United States House of Representatives^[266]
Don Edwards (A.B. 1936, LL.B. 1939), United States House of Representatives^[267]
Eric Fingerhut (J.D. 1984), United States House of Representatives,^[268]
Arthur M. Free (A.B. 1901, LL.B. 1903), United States House of Representatives^[269]
Anthony Gonzalez (M.B.A. 2014), United States House of Representatives, football player^[270]
Daniel Hamburg (A.B. 1970), United States House of Representatives^[271]
Josh Harder (B.A. 2008), United States House of Representatives^[272]
Peter Hoagland (A.B. 1963), United States House of Representatives^[273]
Steve Horn (A.B. 1953, Ph.D. 1958), United States House of Representatives^[274]
Chrissy Houlahan (B.S. 1989), United States House of Representatives^[275]
Michael Huffington (A.B. 1970, B.S. 1970), United States House of Representatives^[276]
Mondaire Jones (B.A. 2009), United States House of Representatives^[277]
Joseph P. Kennedy III (B.S. 2003), United States House of Representatives^[278]
Jim Kolbe (M.B.A. 1967), United States House of Representatives^[279]
Clarence F. Lea (A.B. 1897), United States House of Representatives^[280]
Mike Levin (B.A. 2001), United States House of Representatives^[281]
Ted Lieu (A.B. 1991, B.S. 1991), United States House of Representatives^[282]
Dan Lipinski (M.S. 1989), United States House of Representatives^[283]
James F. Lloyd (A.B. 1958), United States House of Representatives^[284]
Zoe Lofgren (A.B. 1970), United States House of Representatives^[285]
Bob Mathias (A.B. 1953), United States House of Representatives, two-time Olympic gold medalist^[286]
Pete McCloskey (A.B. 1950, LL.B. 1953), United States House of Representatives^[287]
Lee Metcalf (A.B. 1936), United States House of Representatives, United States Senator, Associate Justice of the Montana Supreme Court^[253]
Will Rogers, Jr. (A.B. 1935), United States House of Representatives^[288]
Adam Schiff (A.B. 1982), United States House of Representatives, United States Senator^[255]
Jim Sensenbrenner (A.B. 1965), United States House of Representatives^[289]
Burt L. Talcott (A.B. 1942, LL.B. 1948), United States House of Representatives^[290]
Charles M. Teague (A.B. 1931, LL.B. 1934), United States House of Representatives^[291]
William I. Traeger (A.B. 1901), United States House of Representatives, Sheriff of Los Angeles County, USC Trojans football head coach^[292]
Victor Veysey (Ph.D. 1942), United States House of Representatives^[293]
Doug Walgren (LL.B. 1966), United States House of Representatives^[294]
David Wu (B.S. 1977), United States House of Representatives^[295]
Ed Zschau (M.B.A. 1963, M.S. 1964, Ph.D. 1967), United States House of Representatives^[296]

Governors

Doug Burgum (M.B.A 1980), 33rd governor of North Dakota
Gray Davis (A.B. 1964), 37th governor of California^[297]
Jim Doyle (non-degreed), 44th governor of Wisconsin^[298]
John V. Evans (A.B. 1951), 27th governor of Idaho^[299]
Paul Fannin (A.B. 1930), 11th governor of Arizona and United States Senator^[300]
Mark Hatfield (A.M. 1948), 29th governor of Oregon and United States Senator^[301]
Goodwin Knight (A.B. 1919), 31st governor of California^[302]
Scott M. Matheson (LL.B. 1952), governor of Utah^[303]
Ernest McFarland (A.M. 1922, LL.B. 1924), 10th governor of Arizona and 8th United States Senate Majority Leader^[304]
Dixy Lee Ray (Ph.D. 1945), 17th (and first female) governor of Washington^[305]
Mitt Romney (attended), 70th governor of Massachusetts, 2012 U.S. Presidential nominee, and United States Senator^[254]
Olene Walker (A.M. 1954), 15th (and first female) governor of Utah^[306]
Hidehiko Yuzaki (M.B.A. 1995), governor of Hiroshima Prefecture^[307]

Lieutenant governors

Doug Chin (A.B. 1988), 13th lieutenant governor of Hawaii^[308]
Bill Halter (A.B. 1983), 14th lieutenant governor of Arkansas^[309]
Brian Krolicki (A.B. 1983), 33rd lieutenant governor of Nevada^[310]
Loren Leman (A.M. 1973), 10th lieutenant governor of Alaska^[311]
Gail Schoettler (A.B. 1965), 44th lieutenant governor of Colorado^[312]

State legislators

Tom Adelson (A.B. 1988), former Oklahoma State Senator
Juan Arambula (A.M. 1978), former California State Assembly
Josh Becker (J.D. 1998, M.B.A. 1998), California State Senator
Mary Kay Becker (A.B. 1966), former Washington State Representative
Andy Berke (A.B. 1990), Mayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee and former Tennessee State Senator
Julie Bunn (A.M. 1985, Ph.D. 1993), former Minnesota House of Representatives
Brian Bushweller (A.M. 1970), Delaware Senate
Capri Cafaro (A.B. 1996), former Ohio Senate Minority Leader
Wilma Chan (A.M. 1994), former California State Assembly Majority Leader
Charles Coiner (A.B. 1965), former Idaho Senate
William A. Collins (M.B.A. 1959), former Connecticut House of Representatives and Mayor of Norwalk, Connecticut
Eric Croft (B.S. 1986), former Alaska House of Representatives
Richard J. Dolwig (LL.M. 1938), former California State Senate
Andy Fleischmann (A.M. 1989), Connecticut House of Representatives
Mary Alice Ford (A.B. 1956), former Oregon House of Representatives
Nolan Frizzelle, former California State Assembly
Lorena Gonzalez (A.B. 1993), California State Assembly
Gary K. Hart (A.B. 1965), former California State Senator
Jon Hecht (A.B. 1981), Massachusetts House of Representatives
Barry Keene (A.B. 1962, LL.B. 1964), former California State Senator
Beth Kerttula (A.B. 1978), former Alaska House of Representatives Minority Leader
Patricia Lantz (A.B. 1960), former Washington House of Representatives
Stephen R. Leopold (A.B. 1966), former Wisconsin State Assembly
Sally J. Lieber (A.B. 2000), former California State Assembly
Michael Machado (A.B. 1970), former California State Senator
Milton Marks (A.B. 1941), former California State Senator
George W. Milias (A.M. 1950), former California State Assembly
Becky Morgan (M.B.A. 1978), former California State Senator
Robert W. Naylor (A.B. 1966), former California State Assembly Minority Leader
Nicholas C. Petris (LL.B. 1949), former California State Senator
Curren Price (A.B. 1972), California State Senator and Los Angeles City Council
Albert S. Rodda (A.B. 1933, Ph.D. 1951), former California State Senator
Ira Ruskin (A.M. 1983), former California State Assembly
Brandon Shaffer (A.B. 1993), former president of the Colorado Senate
Alan Sieroty (A.B. 1952), former California State Senator
Joe Simitian (A.M. 2000), former California State Senator
Robert S. Stevens (A.B. 1939, LL.B. 1942), former California State Senator
William A. Sutherland (A.B. 1895, LL.B. 1898), former California State Assembly
Cynthia Thielen, Hawaii House of Representatives
Peter Wirth (A.B. 1984), New Mexico Senate Majority Leader

Other U.S. federal and state officials

Christine Abizaid (M.A. 2010), 7th Director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center (2021–present)
Jaime Areizaga-Soto (A.M. 1994, J.D. 1994), 11th U.S. Chairman of the Board of Veterans' Appeals (2022–present)
Kurt DelBene (M.S. 1983), U.S. Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Information and Technology and Chief Information Officer
Lawrence Clayton (A.B. 1914), member of the board of governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve System (1947–1949)
Gabe Camarillo (J.D. 2002), 35th United States Under Secretary of the Army (2022–present)
Stacey Dixon (B.S. 1993), 6th U.S. Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence (2021–present)
Richard W. Fisher (M.B.A. 1975), president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Glen Fukushima (A.B. 1972), deputy assistant United States Trade Representative (1988–1990)
Keith Hennessey (B.A.S. 1990), 7th director of the U.S. National Economic Council (2007–2009)
Valerie Jarrett (A.B. 1978), senior advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama (2009–2017)
Kristina M. Johnson (B.S. 1979, M.S. 1981, Ph.D. 1984), U.S. Undersecretary of Energy (2009–2010), 16th president of Ohio State University (2020–present) and provost of Johns Hopkins University (2007–2009)
Kathleen Matthews (A.B. 1975), chair of the Maryland Democratic Party (2017–2018)
Gautam Raghavan (B.A. 2004), director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office (2022–present)
Catherine Sandoval (J.D. 1990), California Public Utilities Commissioner (2011–2017)
Vice Admiral James Stockdale (A.M. 1962), independent U.S. Vice Presidential candidate in the 1992 presidential election with Ross Perot and the highest-ranking naval officer held as a prisoner of war in Vietnam
Tony Tether (M.S. 1965, Ph.D. 1969), former director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
Kevin Warsh (A.B. 1992), member of the board of governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve System (2006–2011)
Jared Weinstein (M.B.A. 2011), special assistant and personal aide to U.S. President George W. Bush (2006–2009)
Pete Williams (A.B. 1974), NBC reporter, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs (1989–1993)

Local officials

Chelsea Cook, City Councillor for Durham, North Carolina
Matt Gonzalez (J.D. 1990), president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors (2003–2005)
Wilder W. Hartley, Los Angeles City Councilman (1939–1941)
John C. Holland, Los Angeles City Councilman (1943–1967)
Bob Ronka, Los Angeles City Councilman (1977–1981)
Michael Tubbs (B.A. 2012, M.A. 2012), 79th Mayor of Stockton, California (2017–2021)
Carmen Vali-Cave (A.B. 1987), Ph.D. 1994), first mayor of Aliso Viejo, California
Girmay Zahilay (B.A. 2009), King County Councilman (2020–present)

Non-U.S. political officials

Diana Buttu (J.S.M. 2000, J.S.D. 2008), Palestinian political advisor
Menzies Campbell, British Liberal Democrat Leader (2006–2007)
Lena Kolarska-Bobińska (post-doctoral fellow in 1974–1976), a Polish Member of the European Parliament (2009–present)
John Lipsky (M.A., Ph.D.), acting managing director (CEO), International Monetary Fund, 2011; first deputy managing director (second-in-command, IMF, 2006–11)
Sribharat Mathukumilli, Indian educationist and politician
Steven W. Mosher (A.M. 1977, A.M. 1978), Commission on Broadcasting to the People's Republic of China (1991–1992)
Syed Murad Ali Shah, Chief Minister of Sindh, Pakistan (2016–present)
Michael Stephen (J.S.M. 1971), member of Parliament of the United Kingdom (1992–1997)
Martti Tiuri (M.S. 1956), member of Parliament of Finland (1983–2003)

Religion

Phil Ashey, B.A. 1978, third bishop of the Diocese of Western Anglicans
Robert W. McElroy, M.A. 1976, Ph.D. 1989, American Roman Catholic Cardinal-designate, sixth bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego
Katharine Jefferts Schori, B.S. 1974, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States (2006–2015)
Gene Scott, Ph.D. 1957, pastor, religious broadcaster
Vanessa Southern, Unitarian minister and progressive advocate^[313]^[314]
Bill Thompson, B.A. 1968, first bishop of the Diocese of Western Anglicans

Science

Janet Zaph Briggs (A.B. 1931, M.S. 1933), metallurgist; first woman to earn a mining engineering degree at Stanford
John Chowning (Ph.D.), father of digital music synthesizer, inventor of frequency modulation (FM) algorithm
Eric Allin Cornell (B.S. 1985), Nobel Prize in Physics
Merton Davies (B.S. 1937), space scientist
Karl Deisseroth (Ph.D. 1998, M.D. 2000), neuroscientist, psychiatrist, and bioengineer; known for creating, developing, and applying the technologies of optogenetics and CLARITY, and for coining the names of these fields
Delzie Demaree (Ph.D. 1932), botanist
Thomas Dibblee, geologist
Bradley Efron (Ph.D. 1960), a leading statistician, inventor of bootstrap sampling, 2005 National Medal of Science winner
Marcus Feldman (Ph.D. 1970), theoretical population geneticist
Jerome Friedman (postdoc), Nobel Prize in Physics (1990)
Ulysses S. Grant IV (Ph.D. 1929), geologist and paleontologist; grandson of President Ulysses S. Grant
Robert H. Grubbs (Postdoc), winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Nick M. Haddad (B.S. Biology, 1981), ecologist and conservation biologist
Theodor W. Hänsch (Postdoc and longtime faculty member), winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics
Dudley R. Herschbach (B.S. math, M.S. chem 1955), Nobel Prize winner in chemistry (1986)
Fazle Hussain (M.S. 1966, Ph.D. 1969), physicist; Cullen Distinguished Professor; Fluid Dynamics Award of AIAA, Fluid engineering Award of ASME and Fluid Dynamics Prize winner; member of US National Academy of Engineering and US National Research Council
Henry Kendall (postdoc), Nobel Prize in Physics (1990)
Roger D. Kornberg (Ph.D. 1972), winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Helena Chmura Kraemer (Ph.D. 1963), biostatistician
Esther Lederberg (A.M. 1946), pioneer of bacterial genetics; contributions include the discovery of lambda phage, the transfer of genes between bacteria by specialized transduction, the development of replica plating, and the discovery of bacterial fertility factor F
Charles Lieber (Ph.D. 1985 Chem.), nanoscientist
Phil Ligrani (Ph.D. 1980), eminent scholar in propulsion and professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Alabama in Huntsville^[315]
Mariangela Lisanti (Ph.D.), theoretical physicist
A. Louis London, professor of mechanical engineering, expert on heat exchange
Theodore Harold Maiman (MS in EE, Ph.D. in physics), inventor who built the first working laser, Japan Prize winner, Wolf Prize winner, inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame
Ximena McGlashan (1916), entomologist, butterfly farmer
Cai Mingjie (Ph.D. 1990), molecular biologist; now driving a taxi in Singapore^[316]
Paul L. Modrich (Ph.D. 1973), Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2015)
Bradford Parkinson (Ph.D. 1966), inventor of Global Positioning System (GPS), inducted into National Inventors Hall of Fame
Kumar Patel (M.S., Ph.D., EE), inventor of carbon dioxide laser (the most widely used laser), IEEE Medal of Honor winner, National Medal of Science winner
Calvin Quate (Ph.D. 1950), inventor of the atomic force microscope, IEEE medal of honor winner
Christina Riesselman, paleoceanographer researching Southern Ocean response to changing climate.
Victor Scheinman (Ph.D.), inventor of the programmable robot arm
Randy Schekman (Ph.D. in biochemistry), winner of 2002 Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research, 2013 Nobel Prize in Medicine
Elba Serrano (Ph.D. 1982), neuroscientist and Regents professor of biology at New Mexico State University, recipient of Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring
Oscar Elton Sette (B.S. Zoology 1922, Ph.D. Biology 1957), fisheries scientist, pioneer of fisheries oceanography and modern fisheries science
K. Barry Sharpless (Ph.D. 1965), two-time Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner (2001 and 2022)
William Shurtleff, researcher and popularizer of soyfoods
James Spudich (Ph.D. in chemistry), 2012 Lasker Award for 1980s discoveries related to biological motors
Max Steineke (AB 1921), chief geologist of CASOC responsible for the discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia
Richard E. Taylor (Ph.D. 1962), Nobel Prize in Physics (1990)
Ronald Vale (Ph.D. in neural science), 2012 Lasker Award for 1980s discoveries related to biological motors
Oswald Garrison Villard Jr. (Ph.D., EE), father of "over the horizon" radar
Grace Wahba (Ph.D. 1966), statistician, developed generalized cross-validation and formulated Wahba's problem
Michael Webber (M.S. 1996, Ph.D. 2001), mechanical engineer and public speaker on energy policy
Carl Wieman (Ph.D. 1977), Nobel Prize in Physics (2001)

Sports

Baseball

Rubén Amaro, Jr., Major League Baseball outfielder, former Phillies General Manager, and coach^[317]
Chuck Armstrong (J.D. 1967), president of the Seattle Mariners
Bob Boone, retired Major League Baseball catcher and manager; played for the Philadelphia Phillies and the California Angels^[318]
Eric Bruntlett, retired Major League Baseball infielder; played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astros and the New York Yankees^[319]
Jason Castro, Major League Baseball catcher for the Houston Astros^[320]
Sam Fuld, Major League Baseball outfielder for the Oakland Athletics and General Manager for the Philadelphia Phillies^[321]
John Gall, retired Major League Baseball outfielder and first baseman^[322]
Ryan Garko, Major League Baseball outfielder, first baseman and designated hitter; played for the Cleveland Indians, the San Francisco Giants, and the Texas Rangers^[323]
Jody Gerut, retired Major League Baseball outfielder; played for the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Cubs^[324]
Shawn Green (attended), retired Major League Baseball right fielder and outfielder; played for the Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks^[325]
Jeremy Guthrie, Major League Baseball pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles and Kansas City Royals^[326]
Brian Hall, retired Minor League Baseball second baseman; played for Toronto Blue Jays
Jeffrey Hammonds, retired Major League Baseball outfielder; played for the Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds and the Colorado Rockies^[327]
Rick Helling, retired Major League Baseball pitcher^[328]
Brian Johnson, retired Major League Baseball catcher; played for the San Diego Padres, Detroit Tigers and the San Francisco Giants^[329]
Bob Kammeyer, retired Major League Baseball pitcher; played for the New York Yankees^[330]
Jim Lonborg, retired Major League Baseball pitcher; played for the Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers and the Philadelphia Phillies^[331]
Andrew Lorraine, Major League Baseball pitcher; player for the California Angels, Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, and Milwaukee Brewers^[332]
Jed Lowrie, Major League Baseball infielder with the Oakland Athletics^[333]
John Mayberry Jr., Major League Baseball outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies^[334]
David McCarty, retired Major League Baseball first baseman and outfielder; played for the Minnesota Twins, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, Kansas City Royals, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Oakland Athletics and the Boston Red Sox
Jack McDowell, retired Major League Baseball pitcher; played for the Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians^[335]
Mike Mussina, retired HOF Major League Baseball pitcher; played for the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Yankees^[336]
Carlos Quentin, Major League Baseball outfielder for the San Diego Padres^[337]
Greg Reynolds, Major League Baseball pitcher; played for the Colorado Rockies^[338]
Bruce Robinson, retired Major League Baseball catcher; played for Oakland A's and the New York Yankees^[339]
Ed Sprague, retired Major League Baseball third baseman and current head baseball coach at the University of the Pacific; played for the Toronto Blue Jays, Oakland Athletics and the Pittsburgh Pirates^[340]
Michael Taylor, Major League Baseball outfielder for the Oakland Athletics^[341]
Brodie Van Wagenen (A.B. 1996), general manager of the New York Mets
Justin Wayne, retired Major League Baseball pitcher; played for the Florida Marlins^[342]

Basketball

Jennifer Azzi, ABL and WNBA
Curtis Borchardt and his wife Susan King Borchardt
Mike Bratz, former NBA player^[343]
Fran Belibi
Cameron Brink, current WNBA player; top WNBA draft pick in 2024
Anthony Brown (B.A. 2014), basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
Greg Butler
Josh Childress
Jarron Collins
Jason Collins, first openly gay active male athlete in a major North American professional team sport
Landry Fields
Kristin Folkl
Dan Grunfeld
Sonja Henning, ABL and WNBA
Casey Jacobsen
Teyo Johnson, basketball and football
Adam Keefe
Brevin Knight
Brook Lopez
Robin Lopez
Todd Lichti
Hank Luisetti
Mark Madsen
Carolyn Moos
Vanessa Nygaard
Chiney Ogwumike, current WNBA player; top WNBA draft pick and Rookie of the Year in 2014
Nneka Ogwumike, current WNBA player; top WNBA draft pick and Rookie of the Year in 2012, and WNBA MVP in 2016
Josh Owens (B.A. 2012), basketball player for Hapoel Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
Angie Paccione
Kate Paye, current Stanford women's basketball head coach
Nicole Powell, WNBA
Olympia Scott, WNBA
Kate Starbird
Andrew Vlahov, four-time Olympian for Australia
Jamila Wideman
Candice Wiggins, WNBA
Lindsey Yamasaki (2002), volleyball and basketball, WNBA
George Yardley, Basketball Hall of Fame member

Football

Frankie Albert (1942), former quarterback in the National Football League; played for the San Francisco 49ers^[344]
Jon Alston (2006), linebacker in the National Football League; played for the St. Louis Rams^[345]
Lester Archambeau (1990), retired defensive end in the National Football League; played for the Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons and the Denver Broncos^[346]
Oshiomogho Atogwe (2005), free safety in the National Football League; played for the St. Louis Rams and the Washington Redskins^[347]
Brad Badger (1997), guard and tackle in the National Football League; played for the Washington Redskins, Minnesota Vikings and the Oakland Raiders^[348]
David Bergeron (2005), linebacker in the National Football League; plays for the Carolina Panthers^[349]
Colin Branch (2003?), free safety of the National Football League; played for the Carolina Panthers^[350]
John Brodie (1956), retired quarterback in the National Football League; played for the San Francisco 49ers, had a second career as a Senior PGA Tour professional golfer^[351]
Greg Camarillo (2006), wide receiver in the National Football League; played for the San Diego Chargers and the Miami Dolphins^[352]
Kirk Chambers (2004), offensive tackle in the National Football League; played for the Cleveland Browns^[353]
Trent Edwards (2007), quarterback in the National Football League; plays for the Philadelphia Eagles^[354]
John Elway (A.B. 1982), retired Hall of Fame National Football League quarterback and current executive vice president of football operations for the Denver Broncos^[355]
Zach Ertz (2012), tight end for the Washington Commanders; previously played for the Arizona Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles and won Super Bowl LII
Toby Gerhart (2010), running back in the National Football League; plays for the Minnesota Vikings^[356]
Darrien Gordon (1993), retired defensive back in the National Football League; played for the San Diego Chargers, Denver Broncos and the Oakland Raiders^[357]
Jerry Gustafson (1956), BC Lions^[358]
Coby Fleener (2012), tight end in the National Football League; plays for the Indianapolis Colts^[359]
Kwame Harris (2003), offensive tackle in the National Football League; played for the San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Raiders^[360]
Emile Harry, retired wide receiver in the National Football League; played for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Rams^[361]
Eric Heitmann (2002), center in the National Football League; played for the San Francisco 49ers^[362]
Tony Hill (1977?), three-time Pro Bowl National Football League wide receiver; played for the Dallas Cowboys^[363]
James Lofton (1978), retired wide receiver in the National Football League; played for the Green Bay Packers and the Los Angeles Raiders, was the NCAA champion in the long jump in 1978 while attending Stanford University^[364]
Erik Lorig (2009), fullback in the National Football League; plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers^[365]
Bryce Love (2019), running back in the National Football League; plays for the Washington Redskins; 2017 winner of the Doak Walker Award^[366]
Andrew Luck (2012), former quarterback for the National Football League's Indianapolis Colts (2012–2018); selected first overall in the 2012 NFL draft; four-time Pro Bowler^[367]
John Lynch (1993), retired strong safety in the National Football League and current NFL on Fox color commentator; played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers^[368]
John Macaulay, San Francisco 49ers center^[369]
Ken Margerum (1981), retired wide receiver in the National Football League; played for the Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers^[370]
Christian McCaffrey (2016), running back for the San Francisco 49ers and the Carolina Panthers; NCAA record holder for all-purpose yards in a single season (2015); 2015 Heisman Trophy finalist
Ed McCaffrey (1991), retired wide receiver in the National Football League; played for the New York Giants, San Francisco 49ers and the Denver Broncos^[371]
Jim Merlo (1973), retired linebacker in the National Football League; played for the New Orleans Saints^[372]
Trent Murphy (2013), outside linebacker in the National Football League; played for the Washington Redskins and Buffalo Bills^[373]
Brad Muster (1989), retired fullback in the National Football League; played for the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints^[374]
Darrin Nelson (1982), retired running back and kick returner in the National Football League; played for the Minnesota Vikings^[375]
Ernie Nevers (1925), former fullback for the Duluth Eskimos and the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League; former pitcher for the St. Louis Browns of Major League Baseball^[376]
Hank Norberg (1942), end for the San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears^[377]
Babatunde Oshinowo (2006), defensive tackle in the National Football League; played for the Cleveland Browns^[378]
Jim Plunkett (1970), retired quarterback in the National Football League, 1970 Heisman Trophy winner; played for the New England Patriots, San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders^[379]
Jon Ritchie (1997), retired fullback in the National Football League; played for the Oakland Raiders and the Philadelphia Eagles^[380]
T.J. Rushing (2006), cornerback and return specialist; played for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League^[381]
Richard Sherman (2011), cornerback in the National Football League; plays for the San Francisco 49ers^[382]
Alex Smith (2005), tight end in the National Football League; plays for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League^[383]
Donnie Spragan (1999), linebacker in the National Football League; played for the New Orleans Saints and the Green Bay Packers^[384]
Will Svitek (2005), offensive tackle for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League^[385]
Leigh Torrence (2005), cornerback in the National Football League; played for the Green Bay Packers and the Atlanta Falcons^[386]
Chris Walsh (1992), retired wide receiver in the National Football League; played for the Buffalo Bills and Minnesota Vikings^[387]
Bob Whitfield (1992), retired tackle in the National Football League; played for the Atlanta Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars and the New York Giants^[388]
Tank Williams (2002), safety in the National Football League; played for the Tennessee Titans and the Minnesota Vikings^[389]
Coy Wire (2002), linebacker and safety in the National Football League; played for the Buffalo Bills^[390]
Kailee Wong (1998), retired linebacker in the National Football League; played for the Minnesota Vikings and the Houston Texans^[391]

Golf

Gymnastics

Amy Chow, Olympic gold medalist
Nancy Goldsmith, Israeli Olympic gymnast
Ivana Hong, U.S. Olympic team alternate and 2007 World Champion
Carly Janiga, NCAA champion in uneven bars, 2010
Heather Purnell, captain of the 2004 Canadian Olympic Team
Jennifer Sey, former U.S. National Gymnastics Champion
Samantha Shapiro, five-time member of the USA Gymnastics National Team, 2007 U.S. junior uneven bars champion, 2008 U.S. junior uneven bars, and balance beam champion
Kerri Strug, Olympic gold medalist

Poker

Diego Cordovez (A.B., M.S.), World Series of Poker Champion
Ben Yu, poker player, World Series of Poker bracelet winner

Rowing

Adam Kreek, rowing, Canadian National Team
Elle Logan, two-time gold medal-winning rower in 2008 Beijing Olympics and in 2012 London Olympics
Kent Mitchell, two-time Olympic champion, two-time national champion, member of Stanford Hall of Fame
Jamie Schroeder, rowing, U.S. National Team

Rugby

Kaleiwahine Kim, US Women's Eagles Canada Cup, Australia & Fiji Tour, 1998 World Cup Silver Medal and 1995 and 1996 Collegiate All-American

Soccer

Nicole Barnhart, National Women's Soccer League and US national team; currently plays for Washington Spirit
Rachel Buehler, former National Women's Soccer League and US national team; formerly played for Portland Thorns FC (retired)
Tierna Davidson, National Women's Soccer League and United States Women's National Team; currently plays with Chicago Red Stars
Todd Dunivant, Major League Soccer; currently plays for Los Angeles Galaxy
Simon Elliott, New Zealand national soccer team player; Chivas USA
Julie Foudy, former US national team soccer player
Adam Jahn, currently plays for San Jose Earthquakes
Roger Levesque, former Major League Soccer soccer player
Camille Levin, soccer player
Chad Marshall, Major League Soccer; currently plays for Columbus Crew
Ryan Nelsen, New Zealand international soccer player; formerly with D.C. United in MLS, now with Blackburn Rovers in English Premiership
Mariah Nogueira, former National Women's Soccer League; formerly played for Seattle Reign FC (retired)
Teresa Noyola, Nadeshiko League Japan women's league and Mexico national team; currently plays for FC Kibi International University Charme
Kelley O'Hara, National Women's Soccer League and US national team; currently plays for NJ/NY Gotham FC
Christen Press, Damallsvenskan, National Women's Soccer League and US national team; currently plays for Angel City FC
Ali Riley, Damallsvenskan and New Zealand national team; currently plays for ACFC
Lindsay Taylor, former National Women's Soccer League; played for Washington Spirit
Ben Zinn, international soccer player and academic at Georgia Tech

Skating, ice

Nick Bravin, Olympic fencer
John Coyle (B.S. 1986 Engineering), Olympic speed skater, silver medalist at the 1994 Winter Olympics as a member of the men's 5,000-meter relay team
Rachael Flatt (B.S. 2015), ice skater in 2010 Winter Olympics
Eric Heiden (B.S. 1984, M.D. 1991), speed skater, 5 gold medals at 1980 Lake Placid Olympics; cycling, competed in 1985 Giro D'Italia, 1986 Tour de France
Debi Thomas (B.S. Engineering 1989), figure skater, bronze medalist at the 1988 Winter Olympics

Swimming

Elin Austevoll, member of the 1996 Norwegian Olympic team
Randall Bal
Elaine Breeden, member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic team
Maya DiRado, double gold medal winner in the 2016 Summer Olympics
Jason Dunford, member of the 2008 Kenyan Olympic team
Janet Evans, four-time Olympic gold-medalist
Catherine Fox, double gold medal winner in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta
John Hencken
Morgan Hentzen, gold medalist at the 2003 Pan American Games
Misty Hyman, gold medalist in the 2000 Olympic Games
Jenna Johnson, three-time medalist in the 1984 Olympic Games
Janel Jorgensen, member of the 1988 U.S. Olympic team in Seoul, South Korea
Tara Kirk
Katie Ledecky (Class of 2020), eight-time Olympic gold medalist^[392]
Simone Manuel, double gold medal winner in the 2016 Summer Olympics
Peter Marshall
Lea Loveless Maurer, formerly head coach of Stanford Cardinal women's swimming and diving team
John Moffet, member of the 1980 and 1984 United States Olympic teams
Pablo Morales, two-time gold medalist 1992 Olympics, medalist in 1984 Olympics
Anthony Mosse (OBE BA (Hons) & MBA), Olympic medalist, 1988
Andrea Murez, Israeli-American Olympic swimmer for Israel
Lia Neal, swimmer, two-time Olympic medalist
Susan Rapp, medalist 1984 Olympics, member 1980 Olympic team
Brian Retterer
Markus Rogan
Gabrielle Rose
Jeff Rouse
Summer Sanders
Julia Smit, member of the 2008 Olympic team
Jenny Thompson
Ben Wildman-Tobriner, double gold medal winner in the 2007 World Aquatics Championships, 2008 Gold Medal Olympic swimmer, former world record holder

Tennis

Track and field

Mike Boit (M.S. 78), bronze medal at 1972 Munich Olympics in 800m track
Russell Wolf Brown, professional miler
Jillian Camarena-Williams, shot put, 2008 Beijing Olympics
Ian Dobson, track and field, 2008 Olympics
Ryan Hall, cross country, track and field
Regina Jacobs, cross country, track and field
Bob Mathias (1953), decathlon, gold medal at 1948 and 1952 Olympics; U.S. Congressman
Steven Solomon, track and field, 2012 Olympics
Toby Stevenson, pole vault

Volleyball

Scott Fortune (1988), gold medal at 1988 Seoul Olympics, team captain of bronze medal team at 1992 Barcelona Olympics
Alix Klineman (2011), bronze medal at the 2011 Pan American Games
Ogonna Nnamani (B.A.S. 2005), 2004 Olympian, winner of 2005 Honda-Broderick Cup
Beverly Oden (1993), 1996 Olympian, 1990 AVCA Player of the Year, 1985 Honda-Broderick Award
Kim Oden (1986), 1988, 1992 Olympic team captain, Player of the Decade for 1980s AVCA's All-Decade Team
Kathryn Plummer (2020), silver medal at 2024 Paris Olympics, 2017 and 2018 AVCA Player of the Year
Jon Root (1986), gold medal at 1988 Seoul Olympics
Erik Shoji (2009), bronze medal at 2016 Rio Olympics
Kawika Shoji (2007), bronze medal at 2016 Rio Olympics
Logan Tom (2003), professional beach volleyball, 2000 Olympian
Kerri Walsh Jennings (1999), 2004, 2008, and 2012 Olympic gold medalist in beach volleyball

Water polo

Tony Azevedo
Ellen Estes, Olympic water polo player
Ashley Grossman, water polo player
Brenda Villa, Olympic water polo player

Other sports

Alexandra Botez (B.A. 2017), chess player and commentator
Malin Burnham, sailor, youngest skipper to win a World Championship in the International Star Class
Steve Fossett (B.S.), sailor, aviator, and adventurer who was the first person to circumnavigate the globe solo in a balloon
Matt Gentry (B.A. 2004), wrestler, 2008 Canadian Olympic team member, 2004 NCAA Div. I National Champion
Ari Greenberg, world junior bridge champion
Sara Lowe, artistic swimming, Olympic bronze medalists and Pan American Games champion.
Alexander Massialas (B.S. 2016 Mechanical Engineering), Olympic fencer, 2016 silver medalist in individual Men's Foil, 2020 bronze medalist in Team FoilDorian "Doc" Paskowitz, surfer and physician
Daniel Naroditsky (B.A. 2019 History), Chess Grandmaster, internet personality and commentator, rated top 150 in the World, top 20 in the U.S., and top 75 in blitz and rapid
Ramona Shelburne, softball player and sportswriter
Sami Jo Small (B.S. Engineering 1998), Olympic and professional women's ice hockey goalie, Stanford University Men's Hockey, Pac-8 Conference (ACHA) MVP,^[393] silver medalist, 1998 Winter Olympics; gold medalist, 2002 Winter Olympics and 2006 Winter Olympic
Walter A. Starr, Jr., mountaineer (1924)
Josh Thomson (attended), wrestler,^[394] current mixed martial artist in the Ultimate Fighting Championship Lightweight Division^[395]

Notable current students

Rachel Grant, climate activist
Sophia Kianni, climate activist, UN advisor
Ethan Josh Lee, Korean-American actor
Simone Manuel, swimmer, four-time Olympic medalist and two-time Olympic gold medalist
David Mazouz, actor
Elizabeth Price, gymnast
Maggie Steffens, water polo, gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Tan Sze En, Singaporean gymnast
Eileen Gu, freestyle skiing, Olympic medalist (2 gold, 1 silver)

Fictional alumni

In film

In The American President, President Andrew Shepherd mentions that he went to Stanford.^[396]
In Antitrust, the main character is depicted as a Stanford graduate.^[396]
In Avatar, Grace Augustine wears a Stanford T-shirt.^[397]
In Challengers, two of the main characters attend Stanford while the third main character visits them on campus^[398]
In Die Hard, Joseph Yoshinobu Takagi graduated from Stanford Law School in 1962.^[399]
In Double Indemnity (1944), the storyline is about a wife who conspires with her lover to kill her husband in Palo Alto on his way to a Stanford reunion.^[396]
In The Family Plan, attending Stanford is a key theme throughout including the final scene.^[400]
In The Internship, characters portrayed by Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson seek help from fictional Stanford Professor Charles Xavier.^[401]
In Legally Blonde, the storyline was inspired by Amanda Brown's real-life experience as a student at Stanford Law School.^[402] Character Warner Huntington III is revealed to have attended Stanford.^[403]
In Mother of the Bride, all four main characters are noted to have attended Stanford, a centerpiece of the storyline.^[404]

In literature

In East of Eden (1952) by John Steinbeck, Aron Trask (aka Aaron Trask) is enrolled at Stanford University when he runs away to join the U.S. Army during World War I.
In the Left Behind series (1995–2007) by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, character Chloe Steele attended Stanford.

In television

In 24, Kate Warner and President Wayne Palmer have Stanford degrees.^[396]^[405]
In 9-1-1, character Darius states his intention to go to Stanford^[406] in Seasons 3 and 6. Stanford is also mentioned in Season 2 Episode 2, where it is mentioned that the basketball team's top recruits wanted to go to either "Duke or Stanford"^[407]
In Castle, character Detective Kate Beckett attended Stanford as a pre-law undergrad.
In Chuck, the main character Chuck Bartowski is presented as a Stanford dropout, and Stanford plays a central role in the theme.^[396]
In Cobra Kai, character Miguel Diaz is accepted to Stanford in the series finale.^[408]
In Dharma & Greg, main character Greg Montgomery graduated from Stanford Law School.
In Entourage, character Lloyd Lee received his MBA from Stanford.
In Grey's Anatomy, character Cristina Yang holds a Doctor of Medicine from Stanford,^[409] where her former boyfriend Colin Marlowe was a professor.^[396]
In How I Met Your Mother, character Stella (Ted's almost bride) attended Stanford as both an undergrad and medical school graduate.
In Just Shoot Me!, character Maya Gallo attended Stanford.
In M*A*S*H, character Captain B. J. Hunnicutt graduated from Stanford.^[396]
In The Morning Show, character Stella Bak attended Stanford. There is a 2023 episode named "The Stanford Student".^[410]
In Landman, Jerry Jones plays himself describing his business revolving around Stanford and his daughter attending.^[411]
In MythBusters, several scenes were filmed at Stanford and included real Stanford students.^[401]
In Parenthood, character Julia Braverman-Graham attended Stanford for law school.^[412]
In Scandal, character Quinn Perkins (also known as Lindsay Dwyer) graduated from Stanford Law School.^[413]
In Star Trek, character Jonathan Archer studied at Stanford.^[396]
In Supernatural, character Sam Winchester (portrayed by Jared Padalecki) was studying law at Stanford.
In The West Wing, character Joey Lucas (portrayed by Marlee Matlin) graduated from Stanford and character Surgeon General Millicent Griffith (portrayed by Mary Kay Place) graduated from Stanford.
In The X-Files, character Dana Scully earned her medical degree from Stanford University.^[414]
In Zero Day, the President of the United States (played by Angela Basset) prominently wears at Stanford sweatshirt.

References

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