List of University of California, San Diego people

The list of University of California, San Diego people includes notable graduates, professors and administrators affiliated with University of California, San Diego in the United States.

Notable Alumni

Source http://alumni.ucsd.edu/prominent/index.htm

Art and Architecture

*Joyce Cutler-Shaw, MFA 1972 (Visual Arts) - Award-winning artist of public sculpture and design
*Hung Liu, MFA 1986. (Visual Arts) Contemporary artist. [http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/ucsdandyou/40out.htm]
*Dan Santat, BS 1998 (Microbiology) - Author and illustrator, creator of Disney's "The Replacements"

Athletics

*Mark Allen, 1980 (Biology)- Six-time Ironman Triathlon World Chapter, inducted into the Ironman Hall of Fame; named the world’s fittest man by Outside magazine.
*Billy Beane. General manager of the Oakland Athletics.
*Holly Beck, 2001 (Psychology) -Professional surfer and model
*Randy Bennett, 1986 (Biology) - Saint Mary's College of California men's basketball head coach
*Jie Li, BA 2006, (Political Science), Winner of the US ING Cup, Open, Costen, Texas Open and many other championships
*Isabelle Tihanyi, 1989 (Communication) and Caroline Tihanyi, 1989 (Communication) - Founders of Surf Divas
*Julie Swail, 1995 (Economics) - Olympian (women’s water polo); UC Irvine head coach

Business

*Russell Shanks, 1990 (Computer Engineering) - Senior VP, Chief Technology Officer, Sony Online Entertainment
*Eric Judson, 1991 (Economics) - At San Diego Padres, Vice President of Development and Director of Ballpark Planning (PETCO Park)
*Garrett Gruener, BA, MA 1976. Co-founder of Ask-Jeeves.
*Ping Fu. Co-founder of Geomagic. Inc. Magazine 2005 Entrepreneur of the Year. [http://www.inc.com/magazine/20051201/ping-fu.html]
*Greg Papadopoulos, BA 1979. Executive VP and CTA of Sun Microsystems.
*Rusty Preisendorfer, 1978 (Visual Arts) - Rusty (surfboards and apparel) founder; known for worldwide for his trademark “R", Rusty started shops in La Jolla and Del Mar to have local retail space for his boards. His surfboards are sold around the world, his trademark one of the best known in the surf world. Rusty still owns a shop in La Jolla. (Sports Illustrated recently rated UCSD as the “Best School for Surfing” in the nation). [http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/ucsdandyou/40out.htm]
*Michael Robertson, BS. Founder of MP3.com, Lindows.com, and SIPphone.
*Philip Rosedale, BS. Founder and CEO of Linden Lab. Creator of virtual 3D world Second Life.
*Jason Snell, BA 1992 (Communications). Editorial director of "Mac Publishing" and editor of "Macworld".

Computer Science

*Guy “Bud” Tribble, 1975 (Physics)- Principal architect of the original Macintosh computer and co-founder of NeXt, Inc.
*Bill Atkinson, 1974 (Chemistry) - Co-developer of the Macintosh computer
*Michael Robertson, 1990 (Cognitive Science) - Founder of Mp3.com and Lindows.com
*Greg Papadopoulos, 1979 (AMES) - Vice president and chief technology officer at Sun Microsystems; founder of three technology companies while at MIT
*Steve Hart, MA 1980 (Mathematics) - Co-founder and vice president of engineering for ViaSat; recognized for excellence and growth by Forbes Inc. and BusinessWeek.
*Richard Kornfeld, 1982 (Electrical Engineering) - CEO and founder of Dot Wireless (acquired by Texas Instruments), a leader in providing CDMA development platform to manufacturers of cellular handsets and wireless data internet applicances. Former vice president of engineering at Qualcomm, where he helped the company grow from a twenty-person start-up to a world leader in telecommunications, currently employing over 7,000 people.
*Al Zollar, MA 1976 (Applied Mathematics) - President and CEO, Lotus Technologies, Inc.
*David E. Shaw, 1972 (Mathematics) - Founder of D. E. Shaw & Co.

Film, Theatre, and Television

*James Avery, BA, 1976 (Theatre/Drama)- Stage, screen and television actor who co-starred with Will Smith on the hit TV show, “Fresh Prince of Bel Air".
*Yareli Arizmendi, MFA, 1992 (Theatre/Drama) - Actress in "Like Water For Chocalate"
*Lowell Bergman. Film / TV producer, journalist. [http://www.nndb.com/people/214/000116863/]
*Hart Bochner, BA. Film actor notably of "Breaking Away".
*Ricardo Chavira. Actor notably of "Desperate Housewives".
*Priti Gandi, 1994 (Communication) - Internationally renowned Opera diva.
*Michael Greif, MFA, 1985 (Theatre/Drama) - Director of “Rent” and former artistic director of La Jolla Playhouse
*Benicio del Toro, (dropped out). Actor notably of "Traffic". [http://www.nndb.com/people/087/000026009/]
*Kellie Waymire, MFA 1993. Actress.

Law and Politics

*Tim Roemer, 1979 (Political Science) - Five-term Democratic congressman, 3rd Congressional District, Indiana
*Steve Peace, 1976 (Political Science) - California State Senator, 40th Senate District, chair of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, California Journal of Legislator of the Year 2000; and producer of the 1970’s cult film, “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.”
*Abby Leibman, 1978 (Political Science) - Co-founder and executive director of the California Women’s Law Center and named one of California’s 100 Most Influential Attorneys by the Daily Journal Corporation.
*Timothy J. Roemer, BA 1979. Former Indiana Congressman and current president of the Center for National Policy.
*DeAnn Salcido, 1986 (Philosophy) - Superior Court Judge for San Diego County and co-founder of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund.
*Patricia Garcia, 1981 (Psychology) - Commissioner Family Law for San Diego County and co-founder of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund
*John Shoven, BA 1969. Hoover Institute senior fellow

Literature

*Debito Arudou, 1990 (IR/PS)- Author and Activist
*Rex Pickett, 1976 (Literature & Visual 2Arts) - Author of Sideways
*Sandra Dijkstra, Ph.D., 1977 (French Literature)- Literary agent who has helped bring authors like Amy Tan, Susan Faludi and LeLy Hayslip to prominence.
*Greg Benford, 1967 Ph.D (Astrophysics)- Nebula Award Winner
*David Brin, 1981 Ph.D (School of Engineering/AMES) -Nebula and Hugo Award Winner
*David Brin, MS 1978 / Ph.D 1981. Science fiction author notably of "Uplift", physicist. [http://www.nndb.com/people/732/000023663/]
*Raymond E. Feist, BA 1977(Communications). Author. [http://www.nndb.com/people/434/000044302/]
*Angela Davis, MA. Radical activist and philosopher. [http://www.nndb.com/people/185/000024113/]
*Mike Judge, BS 1985. Writer/producer notably of "Beavis and Butthead", "King of the Hill", and' "Office Space"
*Nancy Holder, 1976 (Communications)-Bram Stoker Award winner
*Aaron Krach, BA 1994 (Visual Arts)- Writer
*Virgil Nemoianu, Ph.D 1971 (Literature)- Essayist, literary critic, philosopher of culture
*Rex Pickett. Author of "Sideways".
*Kim Stanley Robinson, 1974 (Literature); Ph.D. 1982 (Literature) - Two-time Nebula and Hugo Award winner
*Vernor Vinge, 1971, Ph.D (Mathematics) - Hugo Award winner Science fiction author, computer scientist, and mathematician.

Music and Entertainment

*Milo Aukerman, Ph.D. Lead singer of punk rock band Descendents.
*Chad Butler. Drummer of the rock band, Switchfoot.
*Nathan East, 1978 (Music) - Considered one of the world’s leading bass guitarists. A long time member of the Eric Clapton Band and recorded, performed or written songs with artists such as Anita Baker, Elton John, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson, Babyface, Al Jarreau, David Benoit, and Sting.
*Aria Giovanni. Erotic model and pornographic actor.
*Jon Foreman, Thurgood Marshall College. Guitarist of rock band Switchfoot. He wrote a song called "Chem 6A," referring to his freshman chemistry course.
*Tim Foreman. Bassist of rock band Switchfoot.
*Paul Phillips. Professional poker player

Public Service

*George Blumenthal, Ph.D (Physics) - Acting chancellor of University of California- Santa Cruz.

cience, Technology, Medicine, and Mathematics

*Gregory Benford, MS 1965. Science fiction author and physicist. He was also on the faculty of University of California- Irvine.
*Craig Venter, 1972, 1975 (Biology, School of Medicine) - President of Celera Genomics, the first private firm to decode the human genome.
*David Goeddel, 1972 (Chemistry) - The first full-time scientist and director of Genentech’s molecular biology department, responsible for cloning five major drugs that helped propel the firm into prominence as the nation’s premier biotech company. He was co-founder, president and CEO of Tularik, Inc., a biotech company that focuses on transcription factors (the non-protein switches that turn genes on and off) to regulate genes involved in specific human diseases; Tularik was acquired by Amgen for $1.3 billion in 2004 [cite web|url=http://www.amgen.com/media/media_pr_detail.jsp?year=2004&releaseID=509295|title=Amgen to Acquire Tularik for $1.3 Billion|date=2004-03-29|author=Amgen|publisher=Amgen] He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (the first UCSD undergraduate alumnus to be so honored); a fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; a recipient of the Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry and the Scheele Medal from the Swedish Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
*Walter Munk, Ph.D., 1947 (SIO, Doc. of Philosophy) - A renowned oceanographer who has made fundamental contributions to understanding various ocean waves and tides and the mechanism of ocean circulation. He was also the first to shed light on the influence of the atmospheric and oceanic motions on the rotation of the earth.
*Zachary Fisk, Ph.D. 1969 (Physics) - Leading condensed matter physicist in the country. Member of the National Academy of Sciences and American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
*Captain Eleanor “Connie” Mariano, M.D., 1977 (Biology) - Physician to the President of the United States; Commander/White House Medical Unit; first military woman to be named White House physician and first woman director of the White House Medical Unit.
*Brian Druker, 1977 (Chemistry), 1981 (SOM) - Oncologist/chief investigator who developed a new drug for leukemia treatment
*Wolfgang Berger, Ph.D. 1968 (SIO) - One of the world’s top paleoceanographers, recognized for his pioneering work in deciphering the geological history of the oceans and its climatic implications.
*George Perry (neuroscientist), Ph.D. 1979 (SIO) - Leading researcher in Alzheimer's disease, specifically recognized for his work with oxidative stress mechanisms.
*George DeVries, 1984 (Psychology) - President and CEO, American Specialty Health Plans, the nation’s largest health care organization for complementary and alternative health care; appointed by President Clinton to the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy.
*John DoBak, M.D. 1992 (SOM) - Inventor who holds twelve issues patents for medical devices; CEO of INNERCOOL Therapies; founder, vice president and chief technology officer of CryoGen, Inc.; one of the MIT Technology Review’s Top 100 Inventors for 1999.
*Gerald Joyce, Ph.D. 1984 (Biology)- Researcher, Scripps Institute
*Paul Bender, Ph.D. 1988 (Electrical Engineering) - Vice president of technology for Qualcom; one of the MIT Technology Review’s Top 100 Innovators for 1999. Using a protocol called Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), he developed new equipment to take maximum advantage of the technology, including a sophisticated processing system on a single chip that reduced the mass and cost of cell phones.
*Lloyd Shabazz, 1977, M.D. (Biology) - Cancer Treatment Centers of America; one of the few Americans involved in clinical cancer research and patient care across a broad range of cancer specialties, specifically hematology (blood). Dr. Shabazz is also an expert in tumors (breast, colorectal and lung), and hematologic (leukemia, lymphoma) cancers.
*Robert Todd Carroll, Ph.D. 1974 (Philosophy) - Professor of philosophy at Sacramento City College and author of the "Skeptic's Dictionary".
*Khaled Hosseini, M.D., 1993 (Biology) - Afghan-American novelist and physician. His 2003 debut novel, The Kite Runner, was a #1 New York Times bestseller.
*Maurizio Seracini, 1973. Bioengineering.
*Dan Thomassen, BS. Chemist and adviser to the distinguished advisory group of 2007.
*Susumu Tonegawa, Ph.D. Nobel Prize recipient for medicine for his work on antibody diversity.
*Craig Venter, Ph.D. 1975. Biologist involved in the Human Genome Project.
*Chu Ching-wu, Ph.D 1990 (Physics). US News World Reports Researcher of the Year.

Distinguished faculty

*Eleanor Antin - Professor Emeritus of Visual Arts
*Percival Bazeley - Member of the Salk Polio vaccine team.
*Sydney Brenner - Nobel laureate in Medicine (2002)
*Geoffrey R. Burbidge -Professor known mostly for his alternative cosmology theory, which contradicts the Big Bang theory.
*Margaret Burbidge - First to study and identify quasars. Carnegie fellowship winner (1947)
*Lin Chao - Professor of Biology
*Patricia Churchland - neurophilosopher
*Paul Churchland - philosopher of mind and philosopher of science
*Francis Crick - Nobel laureate in Physiology/Medicine (1962)
*Paul Crutzen - Nobel laureate in Chemistry (1995)
*Chaya Czernowin - Celebrated Israeli composer and former professor of composition
*Diana Deutsch - Professor of Psychology, known for her research on the psychology of music
*Bram Dijkstra - Professor of English Literature (1966-2000)
*Renato Dulbecco - Nobel laureate in Physiology/Medicine (1975)
*Jeffrey Elman - Psycholinguist and pioneer in the field of neural networks
*Robert F. Engle - Nobel laureate in Economics (2003)
*Robert Erickson - Composer
*Ronald M. Evans - Discovered steroid & nuclear receptors. Lasker Award winner
*Manny Farber - Film critic and painter
*Gilles Fauconnier- Inventor of the modern day theory of conceptual blending.
*David Noel Freedman - General editor of the Anchor Bible
*Y.C. Fung - Considered the father of bioengineering
*Fred Gage - Prominent neuroscientist and stem cell biologist. Discovered human adult neural stem cells.
*Adele Goldberg - Associate Professor of Linguistics (1997-1998)
*Lawrence S.B. Goldstein - First to characterize kinesin molecular motors. Head of UCSD stem cell research program
*Maria Goeppert-Mayer - Nobel laureate in Physics
*Joseph Goguen - Professor of Computer Science and Engineering
*David M. Goodblatt - Endowed Chair of Judaic Studies
*Fan Chung Graham - mathematician, Akamai Professor in Internet Mathematics
*Ronald Graham - mathematician, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering
*Clive W.J. Granger - Nobel laureate in Economics (2003)
*Mikkal Herberg - Senior consultant with PFC Energy, an international energy consulting firm in Washington, D.C. and as research director on energy issues at The National Bureau of Asian Research. Professor of International Studies/Pacific Relations. [http://www.irps.ucsd.edu]
*Deborah Hertz - Wouk Chair in Modern Jewish Studies.
* [http://irps.ucsd.edu/faculty/faculty-directory/robert-hooper.htm Robert Hooper] - Southeast Asia Program Director in Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, Award Winning Producer for PBS, Professor of IR/PS. [http://irps.ucsd.edu/faculty/faculty-directory/robert-hooper.htm]
* Gretchen Hofmann professor of ecological physiology of marine organisms
*Edwin Hutchins - Developed distributed cognition and cognitive ethnography. Mac Arthur Foundation Award Winner (1985)
*Irwin M. Jacobs - Former professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Chairman of Qualcomm
*Gabriel Jackson, Fulbright historian, author, and former department chairman
*Fredric Jameson, American literary critic and Marxist political theorist
*Chalmers Johnson, Professor Emeritus of History
*David K Jordan- Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, Provost of Warren College, Interim Provost of Sixth College, Alumni Association Distinguished Teaching Award 2008 recipient [http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/awards/04-08TopAwardRecipients.asp] [http://weber.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/index2cv.html]
*William Loomis, Distinguished Professor of Biology [http://www-biology.ucsd.edu/faculty/loomis.html]
*Allan Kaprow - Professor Emeritus of Visual Arts
*Igor Koutsenok - Director of Center for Criminality, Addiction Research, Training and Application, Professor of Psychiatry (School of Medicine) [http://www.attc.ucsd.edu/trainers.html]
*Charles David Keeling - First alerted the world to the anthropogenic contribution to the "greenhouse effect" and global warming. Discoverer of the Keeling Curve
*Barbara Kruger - Renowned artist and Professor of Visual Arts
*Ronald Langacker - creator of cognitive grammar, Professor of Linguistics (1966–2003), Professor Emeritus and Research Professor (2003– )
*George Lewis - Professor of Music, noted jazz trombone player, MacArthur Fellowship winner (2002)
*Arend Lijphart - Research Professor Emeritus of Political Science, elected to the American Academcy of Arts and Sciences in 1989, President of the American Political Science Association from 1995 to 1996, and recipient of the prestigious Johann Skytte Prize in Political Science in 1997.
*Richard Madsen - Director of Council on East Asian Studies, Professor/Chair of Sociology [http://sociology.ucsd.edu/faculty/Madsen.htm]
*Babette Mangolte - French cinematographer and Professor of Visual Arts
*Herbert Marcuse - philosopher, and mentor to Angela Davis
*Harry Markowitz - Nobel laureate in Economics (1990)
*Andrew Mattison - late co-founder of the University of California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research
*Mario Molina - Nobel laureate in Chemistry
*Eileen Myles - Poet and Professor of Literature
*Donald Norman - Professor Emeritus of Cognitive Science and Psychology (1966- ), Co-inventor of the iMac,Fact|date=October 2007 and founder of Contextual design.
*Pauline Oliveros - Composer
*George Emil Palade - Nobel laureate in Physiology/Medicine (1974), Professor of Medicine in Residence and Dean for Scientific Affairs (Emeritus)
*Ramon Pinon- Author, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biology [http://www.uscibooks.com/pinon.htm]
*Richard Popkin - Professor of Philosophy
*Vilayanur S. Ramachandran - neuroscience and psychology
*Roger Revelle -- Oceanographer, scholar, namesake of Roger Revelle College
*Roger Reynolds - Pulitzer Prize in Music (1989)
*Sally Ride - Professor of Physics, former astronaut
*Marshall Rosenbluth - Professor of Physics, member of the National Academy of Sciences, developer of the Metropolis algorithm, "Pope of Plasma Physics"
*Michael G. Rosenfeld - Professor of Medicine, HHMI, discovered the PIT-1 gene and defined transcriptional control of pituitary development. Winner of McKnight, Oppenheimer, and Koch awards
*Herbert Schiller - Professor Emeritus of Communication (1970-2000)
*Terry Sejnowski - Professor of Biological Sciences and Adjunct Professor in the Departments of Neurosciences, Psychology, Cognitive Science, and Computer Science and Engineering
*Martin Sereno- Interdiscplinarian, Professor of Cognitive Science, First to propose the theories linking evolution between cell biology and language, first to link the visual system with language production.
*Kartik Seshadri - Professor of Indian Classical Music
*John G. Stoessinger- internationally recognized political analyst and a prize-winning author of ten leading books on world politics; guest lecturer in international relations - political science.
*Avrum Stroll - Professor of Philosophy
*Leó Szilárd (1898-1964) - Hungarian physicist, Professor at the Salk Institute
*Chinary Ung - Grawemeyer Award-winning composer
*Harold Urey - Nobel laureate in Chemistry
*Donald Wesling- Inventor of grammetrics
*Herbert F. York - Enrico Fermi Award (2000)
*Efim Zelmanov - Fields Medal recipient, Professor of Mathematics
*William Lerach- guest lecturer on securities and corporate law. A leading securities lawyer in the United States.

References