# List of Cal Poly Pomona people

DO NOT ADD AN ALUMNUS OR PROFESSOR UNLESS THEY ARE NOTABLE AND CITABLE! IF YOU ADD AN ALUMNUS/PROFESSOR YOU MUST CITE THEM! IF YOU NEED HELP WITH THE CITATION FORMAT, LEAVE A MESSAGE ON THE DISCUSSION PAGE WITH THE PERSON'S NAME AND THE PLACE YOU FOUND THE INFORMATION (THE MORE DETAIL THE BETTER). SOMEONE WILL CITE IT FOR YOU IF NECESSARY. ALSO, PLEASE FOLLOW CITATION PRECEDENT. THANK YOU. This list of Cal Poly Pomona people includes notable matriculating students, and alumni that have graduated or are non-matriculating students of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, a public university, and one of the 23 general campuses of the California State University located in Pomona, California.

## Alumni
### Art & entertainment

| Alumni | Notability | Relationship to Cal Poly Pomona |
| American Artist | Alpert Award-winning artist | Student |
| Roy Conli | Academy Award winner for Best Animated Feature for the 2014 Walt Disney Animation Studios film Big Hero 6 at the 87th Academy Awards in 2015 | Student |
| Dr Disrespect | Popular livestreamer, esports streamer of the year | Student (basketball team) |
| Nguyen Cao Ky Duyen | Vietnamese-American personality and co-host of Thuy Nga's Paris by Night shows | Student |
| Kye Palmer | Trumpet player who performs with The Tonight Show Band | Student (B.S. Engineering) |
| Will Pan | American-born Taiwanese singer, rapper and drama actor; started his career as a host of Channel V programs | Student |
| Michael Steger | Actor; best known for his role as Navid Shirazi on The CW's teen drama series 90210 | Student |
| Carol Vaness | Metropolitan Opera soprano | Student (B.A. Music 1974) |
| Forest Whitaker | Academy Award-winning actor (Panic Room, The Crying Game, The Last King of Scotland), director (Waiting to Exhale) and host of UPN's revival of The Twilight Zone | Student |
| James Williamson | Guitarist for punk rock band The Stooges; later Vice President for Technology Standards for Sony | Student (B.S. Engineering 1982) |
| Larry Wilmore | Host of The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore; writer and actor for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Office; creator of The Bernie Mac Show | Student |
| Marc Wilmore | Writer for In Living Color, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and The PJs; writer and producer for The Simpsons | Student (Marketing) |

### Athletics

| Alumni | Notability | Relationship to Cal Poly Pomona |
| Dan Beebe | Former commissioner of the Ohio Valley Conference, 1989–2003, and Big 12 Conference, 2007–2011 | Student athlete |
| Jonathan Bornstein | Professional soccer player who plays as a left midfielder/defender for the United States men's national soccer team and Chicago Fire FC in the MLS | Student athlete |
| Chi Cheng | Olympic bronze medalist; world record setter; Taiwanese political leader; considered by many the top female Asian athlete of the 20th century | Student athlete (B.A. Kinesiology 1971) |
| Glenn Davis | Won the Maxwell Award in 1944 and the Heisman Trophy in 1946; among the runners-up in 1944 and 1945; named the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year in 1946 | Student athlete |
| Fred Ford | Football halfback for the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers of the American Football League | Student athlete |
| Roman Gabriel | Former NFL starting quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles; coach of the football team during its last years | Football coach |
| Dave Mirra | X Games multiple medalist, world record setter, considered by many the top BMX rider of the 20th century | Student athlete (1995) |
| Don Nomura | Baseball agent dealing primarily with Japanese baseball players such as Hideo Nomo | Student Athlete |
| Violet Palmer | First female referee in U.S. professional sports; NBA referee; member of 1985 and 1986 NCAA championship teams | Student athlete |
| Mark Peel | James Beard Foundation Award-nominated chef; founder of the La Brea Bakery | Student |
| Joe Prokop | Former professional football player for the New York Jets | Student athlete |
| Kim Rhode | Medalist in five separate Olympic Games, including three gold medals, for double trap shooting | Student athlete |
| Everett Sharp | Football offensive tackle in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins | Student athlete |
| Al Smith | Football linebacker for the Houston Oilers in the National Football League | Student athlete |
| Art Williams | Former professional basketball player; won an NBA Championship with the Boston Celtics in 1974 | Student athlete |
| Walter Ray Williams Jr. | Professional ten-pin bowler who holds the all-time PBA titles record with 47; seven-time PBA Player of the Year; six-time world horseshoe pitching champion; six-time ESPY Award winner | Student (B.S. Physics 1984) |
| Jim Zorn | NFL player; NFLPA's NFC Offensive Rookie of the Year (1976); starting quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks during their first seven seasons (1976–1983); head coach of the Washington Redskins in the National Football League (2008–2010) | Student athlete |

### Business

| Alumni | Notability | Relationship to Cal Poly Pomona |
| Beny Alagem | Entrepreneur; founder of Packard Bell Electronics; owner of the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Santa Monica, California | Student (1970s) |
| Jack Dangermond | Founder of ESRI consulting firm, the largest manufacturer and seller of GIS in the world | Student (1967) Honorary Doctorate (2005) |
| Eddy Hartenstein | Co-president of Tribune Company; publisher and CEO of the Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Times Magazine | Student (B.S. Aerospace Engineering 1971) |
| Kevin Lyman | Creator of touring music and extreme sports festivals called the Warped Tour, the Taste of Chaos and the Mayhem tours | Student (Recreation Administration) |
| Satoshi Nakamoto | Alleged founder of bitcoin digital currency | Student (B.S. Physics) |
| Paul Tollett | Along with brother Perry Tollett, founder of Coachella and Stagecoach, and developers for the Pomona Fox Theater and The Glass House in Pomona | Student (Chemical Engineering) |
| Perry Tollett | Along with brother Paul Tollett, founder of Coachella and Stagecoach, and developers for the Pomona Fox Theater and The Glass House in Pomona | Student (Chemical Engineering) |
| Bob Weis | Architect and former president of Walt Disney Imagineering | Student (Architecture) |
| Corrinne Yu | Game programmer | Student (1980s) |

### Education

| Alumni | Notability | Relationship to Cal Poly Pomona | Citation |
| Stewart Donaldson | Author, psychologist, evaluation research scientist | Student (B.A. Behavioral Science 1984) |
| Alan Haskvitz | National Teacher's Hall of Fame educator | Student (B.A. Education 1972) | |

### Government

| Alumni | Notability | Relationship to Cal Poly Pomona |
| Jim Brulte | Former Republican leader of the California State Senate | Student (B.A. Political Science 1980) |
| Jonathan D. Farrar | Chief of Mission of the United States Interests Section in Havana, Cuba (USINT) | Student (B.A. Political Science 1978) |
| Fiona Nave | Member of the Montana House of Representatives | Student (B.S. in applied mathematics) |
| Geoffrey Okamoto | Economist and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury | Student (B.S. Business Administration, Computer Information Systems 2008) |
| Richard Pombo | Republican member of the United States House of Representatives | Student (attended three years) |
| Marie Royce | Republican Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs under President Donald Trump, recipient of 1994 Distinguished Alumni Award | Student (B.S. Marketing Management and Human Resources 1984), Former Faculty |
| Hilda Solis | Democratic United States Secretary of Labor under President Barack Obama, former member of the United States House of Representatives | Student (B.A. Political Science 1979) |

## Faculty
### Active faculty

| Faculty | Notability |
| Gabriel Georgiades | Professor of aerospace engineering and author; has been the Regional Chair, Chair-Elect, VC of Education and Advisory Committee representative; former "Evolution of Flight" Program Officer for the San Gabriel Valley Region of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics |
| Alvaro Huerta | Joint professor of Urban & Region Planning and Ethnic & Women’s Studies, community organizer, writer, and recipient of the American Planning Association's Paul Davidoff award |
| Christoph Kapeller | Architecture lecturer; founding member of Norwegian firm Snohetta; design leader for the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria, Egypt |
| Thomas Keith | Filmmaker, educator, and anti-sexism activist |
| Nancy Kyes | Adjunct theater lecturer; former actress; frequent collaborator of filmmaker John Carpenter |
| Renford Reese | Professor of Political Science; author; founder and director of the "Colorful Flags" program aimed at reducing ethnic and racial tensions, servicing 17 school districts and a variety of law enforcement, social service, and other agencies in Southern California |
| Louis Rosenberg | Entrepreneur, author, screenwriter, inventor, and professor |
| Hilda Solis | Member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Democratic United States Secretary of Labor under President Barack Obama; former member of the United States House of Representatives; scholar-in-residence starting in 2014 |

### Retired, deceased, and former faculty

| Faculty | Notability |
| Virginia Hamilton Adair (deceased) | Poet, author of Ants on the Melon |
| Aaron Betsky | Served as visiting instructor in the Department of Architecture |
| Paul Caligiuri | Head soccer coach and National Soccer Hall of Fame player whose 1990 "Goal Heard Round the World" (sic) launched the United States into the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 40 years; resigned as head coach after the 2008 season |
| Craig Ellwood | Lecturer at the Department of Architecture; influential Mid Century Modern architect |
| Ray Kappe | Former faculty; founding Chair of the Department of Architecture; later founded the Southern California Institute of Architecture |
| Saul Landau | Director of digital media programs, noted internationally for his films and writing on domestic policy and cultural issues; recipient of a 1980 Emmy |
| John T. Lyle | Professor of landscape architecture; namesake of the Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies at Cal Poly Pomona and the Lyle plaza at the entrance to Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies at Oberlin College |
| Thom Mayne | Former professor in the Department of Architecture; principal of Morphosis; Pritzker Prize laureate; co-founder of Southern California Institute of Architecture |
| Ronald Muldrow (deceased) | Jazz guitarist and former member of the music faculty |
| Richard Neutra | Lecturer in the early days of the Department of Architecture; influential Mid Century Modern architect featured on the cover of Time magazine |
| Donald H. Pflueger | Historian, educator, prolific author of local stories; a founding member of the Glendora Historical Society and Pomona Valley Historical Society; served on the board of directors of the Historical Society of Southern California |
| James Pulliam | Modernist, instructor and campus architect; designed the bookstore, W. Keith and Janet Kellogg Art Gallery, and student union building (Bronco Student Center) |
| Michele Saee | Visiting instructor in the Department of Architecture, 1998–1999 |
| Raphael Soriano | Noted modernist architect who experimented with steel in residential construction; appointed Special Sessions Instructor |
| Takeo Uesugi (deceased) | Professor emeritus in Landscape Architecture noted for his work in Japanese gardens; designed the garden at The Washington Center in Washington, D.C., among other notable landmarks |
| Martín Vásquez | Assistant association football (soccer) coach in 1999 and 2000; head coach of C.D. Chivas USA, in Major League Soccer (MLS) |
| Michael Woo | Dean of the College of Environmental Design; former Los Angeles city councilman; in 1993 became the first Asian American to run for mayor of a major city; garnered 46 percent of the vote but lost the race for mayor of Los Angeles to Richard Riordan |
| Richard Saul Wurman | Former Dean of the College of Environmental Design, founder of the TED conference, credited with coining the term "information architect" |
| Bernard Zimmerman | Modernist architect, architecture instructor for over 30 years, helped co-found the department along with Ray Kappe |

## University presidents

The following people have served as presidents of Cal Poly Pomona:
| # | Name | Term |
| 1 | Julian A. McPhee | 1938–1966 |
| 2 | Robert C. Kramer | 1966–1977 |
| 3 | Hugh O. LaBounty | 1977–1991 |
| 4 | Bob H. Suzuki | 1991–2003 |
| 5 | J. Michael Ortiz | 2003–2014 |
| 6 | Soraya M. Coley | 2015–present |

## Honorary degrees

Cal Poly Pomona has conferred 27 honorary doctorate degrees since 1969.
| Name | Degree | Year | Notes |
| Emory W. Morris | Doctor of Humane Letters | 1969 | Philanthropist |
| Gwynna M. Morris | Doctor of Humane Letters | 1969 | Philanthropist |
| Russell G. Mawby | Doctor of Science | 1989 | Philanthropist |
| Bill Cosby | Doctor of Humane Letters | 1992 | Actor, Rescinded 18 November 2015 |
| James A. Collins | Doctor of Humane Letters | 1992 | Businessman and philanthropist |
| Michi Nishiura Weglyn | Doctor of Humane Letters | 1993 | Author |
| Charles Brown Voorhis (posthumous) | Doctor of Laws | 1995 | Philanthropist |
| Norman Williamson Jr. | Doctor of Letters | 1995 | Philanthropist and descendant of W.K. Kellogg |
| Charles R. Oliver | Doctor of Science | 1996 | Philanthropist |
| W.K. Kellogg (posthumous) | Doctor of Humane Letters | 1998 | Founder of Kellogg's and philanthropist |
| Will Keith Kellogg II | Doctor of Humane Letters | 1998 | Philanthropist |
| Julia Child | Doctor of Humane Letters | 2000 | Chef, author, and television personality, host of The French Chef |
| Jack Dangermond | Doctor of Humane Letters | 2005 | Business executive and environmental scientist, co-founder of the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) |
| Stuart Sperber | Doctor of Science | 2007 | Businessman, co-founder of Valley Crest Tree Company |
| Andrew Cherng | Doctor of Humane Letters | 2008 | Founder and chairman of the board for Panda Express Restaurant Group |
| Richard N. Frank | Doctor of Humane Letters | 2009 | Entrepreneur, chairman of Lawry's Restaurants, Inc. |
| Sarah L. Ludwick | Doctor of Humane Letters | 2010 | Philanthropist |
| Arthur J. Ludwick | Doctor of Science | 2010 | Philanthropist |
| Don B. Huntley | Doctor of Science | 2009 | Businessman, farmer, owner of Huntley Moore Farms |
| Ronald R. Simons | Doctor of Humane Letters | 2012 | Cal Poly Pomona administrator |
| Joan Robinson-Berry | Doctor of Science | 2019 | Philanthropist and vice president of engineering, modifications and maintenance for Boeing Global Services |
| Ronald W. Gregoire | Doctor of Humane Letters | 2014 | Philanthropist |
| Eddy W. Hartenstein | Doctor of Science | 2014 | Businessman and alumnus |
| Paul Anka | Doctor of Fine Arts | 2013 | Singer, songwriter, and actor |
| Hae Park | Doctor of Humane Letters | 2013 | Philanthropist |
| Diane G. Miller | Doctor of Science | 2019 | Director of Global Cyber Education and Workforce Development at Northrop Grumman |
| Bob Weis | Doctor of Humane Letters | 2021 | President of Walt Disney Imagineering |
| Violet Palmer | Doctor of Humane Letters | 2022 | NBA Referee and alumnus |
| Larry Gates | Doctor of Science | 2022 | Philanthropist and alumnus |
| Clark D. Rucker | Doctor of Science | 2023 | Retired Boeing executive and alumnus |
| Sean Yu | Doctor of Humane Letters | 2023 | Businessman, philanthropist and alumnus |
| David and Ruth Singelyn | Doctor of Humane Letters | 2024 | Philanthropists and alumni |