# List of Occidental College people

Here follows a list of notable people associated with Occidental College in Los Angeles, California. This list includes alumni, attendees, faculty, and presidents of the university.

## Notable graduates and attendees
### Business and industry

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

### Entertainment and the arts

* Ben Affleck, actor, director, screenwriter
* Stephen Beal, visual artist
* Ashly Burch, actress
* John Callas, writer, director, producer
* Sadie Calvano, actress
* August Coppola, academic, author, film executive and advocate for the arts
* Glenn Corbett, television actor
* Gabriela Cowperthwaite, documentary filmmaker, Blackfish
* Will Friedle, actor
* Terry Gilliam, animator and comedian in Monty Python comedy troupe; filmmaker: Brazil, 12 Monkeys
* Joanna Gleason, actor
* Mike Hoover, cameraman, journalist, documentarian, winner of Academy and Emmy Awards
* Terry Kitchen, musician
* Lane 8, musician, producer
* Loren Lester, actor
* Thomas Murray, organist
* George Nader, actor
* Marcel Ophüls, filmmaker
* Emily Osment, actress; Class of 2015
* Cooper Raiff, actor, director
* Joe Rohde, Imagineer
* Peter Scolari, actor
* Jake Shears, lead singer of Scissor Sisters
* Anna Slotky, actress
* Dan Slott, comic book writer
* Kirsten Smith, screenwriter, Ten Things I Hate About You, Legally Blonde, The Ugly Truth
* Roger Guenveur Smith, actor
* Rider Strong, actor
* Taku Takahashi, musician
* Maurissa Tancharoen, actress, singer, dancer, television writer and lyricist
* Jesús Salvador Treviño, television director
* Tui St. George Tucker, composer
* Michael Whaley, actor, director, writer
* Luke Wilson, actor

### Government, diplomacy, and law

* Kathy Augustine, politician from Nevada
* Alphonzo E. Bell, Jr., U.S. Congressman
* David S. Cunningham, Jr., Los Angeles City Council member, 1973–87
* Gloria Duffy, president and CEO of The Commonwealth Club, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, and Special Coordinator for Cooperative Threat Reduction
* Richard Falkenrath, former deputy homeland security advisor
* Robert Finch, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare 1969–1970, Lieutenant Governor of California 1967–1969
* U. Alexis Johnson, U.S. diplomat
* Jack Kemp, AFL and NFL player 1958–1970, U.S. Representative from New York 1971–1989, U.S. Secretary Department of Housing and Urban Development 1989–1993, Republican vice presidential nominee in 1996; awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom, 2009
* Kristina A Kvien, United States Ambassador, U.S. Embassy of Armeni
* David M. Louie, Attorney General of Hawaii
* Pete McCloskey, U.S. Representative 1967–83
* Jacqueline Nguyen, federal judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
* Chris Norby, California State Assemblyman
* Barack Obama, 44th president of the United States
* Dennis R. Patrick, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, 1987–1989
* Thomas M. Rees, U.S. Congressman
* Janette Sadik-Khan, commissioner, New York City Department of Transportation
* Janis Lynn Sammartino, federal judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of California
* Mark S. Scarberry, professor of law at Pepperdine University School of Law
* Grant Woods, Arizona Attorney General

### Higher education and academia

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

### Journalism

* Bessie Beatty (1886–1947), reported on Russian Revolution
* Steve Coll, former Washington Post managing editor, Pulitzer Prize winner
* Andrea Elliott, reporter for The New York Times, Pulitzer Prize winner
* Chris Gulker, photographer
* Margot Mifflin, professor of journalism, feminist cultural critic
* James Andrew Miller, reporter for Washington Post, author of oral histories on ESPN, CAA
* Patt Morrison, NPR radio personality and columnist for the Los Angeles Times
* Sam Rubin, KTLA entertainment anchor, journalist; class of 1982

### Literature and writing

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

### Medicine

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

### Science

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

### Social action, philanthropy, and community service

* Howard Ahmanson, Jr, philanthropist, financier, and writer
* Cameron Townsend, founder, Wycliffe Bible Translators and Summer Institute of Linguistics
* Rex Weyler, author, journalist, ecologist and co-founder of Greenpeace International; did not graduate

### Sports and athletics

* Keith Beebe, football player
* Ron Botchan, five-time Super Bowl official for NFL from 1980 to 2002
* Olin Browne, PGA Tour winner
* Dean Cromwell, USC and Olympic track and field coach
* Luke Collis, arena football player
* Joe Faust, Olympic high jumper
* Justin Goltz, NFL/CFL quarterback
* Bob Gutowski, pole vaulter, 1956 Olympic silver medalist
* Jack Kemp, AFL and NFL star quarterback of Buffalo Bills
* Sammy Lee, two-time Olympic gold medalist in diving
* Jim Mora, Sr., coached NFL's New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts
* Vance Mueller, NFL running back
* Bill Redell, college and pro quarterback, high school coach
* Johnny Sanders, NFL general manager
* Danny Southwick, arena football player
* Jim Tunney, NFL official from 1960 to 1991; three Super Bowls

## Notable faculty

* Peter Dreier, Dr. E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics and director of the Urban and Environmental Policy Department; was the Director of Housing at the Boston Redevelopment Authority and senior policy advisor to Boston Mayor Ray Flynn for nine years
* Eric Garcetti, former assistant professor of Diplomacy and World Affairs; currently mayor of Los Angeles
* George R. Goldner, art historian, Drue Heinz Chairman of the Department of Drawings and Paints of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
* Julia Holter, singer-songwriter, record producer, composer, artist; appointed Professor of the Practice of Songwriting in 2021
* Martha Ronk, Price Professor of English Literature, is a 2005 PEN American Center Literary Award winner in poetry
* Derek Shearer, director of the McKinnon Center for Global Affairs and Chevalier Professor of Diplomacy and World Affairs, former United States Ambassador to Finland

## Presidents

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