Mark Allen, BS (Biology), 1980, six-time Ironman Triathlon World Champion, inducted into the Ironman Hall of Fame; named the world's fittest man by Outside magazine
Jessica Caloza, BA (International relations), California state assemblywoman
Nicola T. Hanna, BA, JD, 1984, U.S. attorney for the Central District of California
Steve Peace, BA (Political Science), 1976, California state senator, 40th Senate District, chair of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee; producer of the 1970s cult film Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
David Brin, MS (Applied Physics), 1978; Ph.D. (Space Science), 1981, Nebula and Hugo Award Winner; science fiction author, notably of Uplift; physicist
Khaled Hosseini, MD (Medicine), 1993, Afghan-American novelist and physician; his 2003 debut novel, The Kite Runner, was a #1 New York Times bestseller
David Goeddel, BS (Chemistry), 1972, first full-time scientist and director of Genentech's molecular biology department; co-founder, president and CEO of Tularik, Inc.
Gerald Joyce, Ph.D. (Biology), 1984, scientist, Salk Institute; inventor of the in vitro evolution technology; director of the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation
Eleanor Mariano, BS (Biology), 1977, former director, White House Medical Unit; first Filipino American to reach the rank of rear admiral in the U.S. Navy
Naomi Miyake, Ph.D. (Psychology), 1982, cognitive psychologist recognized for her contributions to the science of learning
Walter Munk, Ph.D. (Oceanography), 1947, oceanographer
Bruce Ovbiagele, MAS (Leadership of Healthcare Organizations), 2012, physician, academician, editor, and hospital leader
Michael Petach (Mechanical Engineering), notable work revolved around developing cryocoolers and the traveling-wave thermoacoustic electric generator, a technology that enhances the efficiency of power generation for spacecraft
Jed E. Rose, Ph.D. (Neurosciences), 1978, professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, co-inventor of the nicotine patch, president and CEO of the Rose Research Center
Steven E. Wilson, BA (Biology), 1974; MS (Molecular Biology and Biochemistry), 1977; MD (Medicine), 1984, director of corneal research, staff cornea and refractive surgeon, Cleveland Clinic; inventor of topical losartan treatment for corneal scarring/fibrosis
Ronald Graham, Computer Science and Engineering, mathematician, one of the principal architects of the rapid development worldwide of discrete mathematics
Fredric Jameson, Comparative Literature, literary critic and Marxist political theorist
Henrik Wann Jensen, Computer Science, developed first technique for efficiently simulating subsurface scattering in translucent materials; winner of an Academy Award for Technical Achievement in 2004 from the Academy of Motion Picture and Sciences
Allan Kaprow, Visual Arts, painter, assemblagist and pioneer in establishing the concepts of performance art
Harvey Karten, Neuroscience, National Academy of Sciences member, neuroscientist
Charles David Keeling, Oceanography, first alerted the world to the anthropogenic contribution to the "greenhouse effect" and global warming; discoverer of the Keeling Curve
William Lerach, guest lecturer, taught securities and corporate law; a leading securities lawyer in the US; his life was the subject of Circle of Greed: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Lawyer Who Brought Corporate America to its Knees
Arend Lijphart, Political Science, elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1989; president of the American Political Science Association 1995–1996; recipient of the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science, 1997
Donald Norman, Cognitive Science and Psychology, co-founder and first chair of Cognitive Science; author of User Centered System Design; VP of Apple; National Academy of Engineering
Pauline Oliveros, Music, composer, central figure in the development of post-war electronic art music
↑"Our Contributors". India International Centre Quarterly. 19 (3). New Delhi, India: India International Centre: 193–196. 1992. Retrieved May 24, 2026.
↑"Mme ENFEL, née HOAREAU". Bulletin officiel des annonces civiles et commerciales (in French). France: 5. 1981. Retrieved May 24, 2026.
↑Collins, Allan M. (2015). "Tributes to Dr. Naomi Miyake". Cognitive Studies: Bulletin of the Japanese Cognitive Science Society. 22 (4): 508–509. doi:10.11225/jcss.22.504.
↑Bates, Gerri (2007). "These Hallowed Halls: African American Women College and University Presidents". The Journal of Negro Education. 76 (3): 373–390. ISSN0022-2984. JSTOR40034579.