California State University, Northridge

California State University, Northridge
Motto	Regionally Focused, Nationally Recognized
Established	1958
Type	Public university
Endowment	$63.6 million (2012)
President	Dianne F. Harrison
Academic staff	1,700
Students	36,070
Location	Northridge, Los Angeles, California, United States
Campus	Suburban, 353 acres (143 ha)
Former names	San Fernando Valley State College (1958–72)
Colors	Red & White
Nickname	Matadors
Mascot	Matty the Matador
Affiliations	California State University system
Website	www.csun.edu

California State University, Northridge (also known as CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States in the San Fernando Valley.

CSUN is a campus of the California State University system. It was founded first as the Valley satellite campus of Cal State Los Angeles amongst old walnut and citrus groves. It then became an independent college in 1958 as San Fernando Valley State College, with major campus master planning and construction. The University adopted its current name of California State University, Northridge in 1972.

CSUN offers a variety of programs including 134 different Bachelor's degrees, Master's degrees in 70 different fields, 3 Doctoral degrees including two Doctor of Education and a Doctor of Physical Therapy, and 24 teaching credentials. The university has over 200,000 alumni. It is also home to a summer musical theater/theater program known as TADW (TeenAge Drama Workshop) that leads teenagers through an intensive six-week training of the fine arts. Cal State Northridge is home to the National Center on Deafness, and each year the university hosts the International Conference on Technology and Persons with Disabilities.

History

Manzanitas Hall

Establishment

The establishment of CSUN began in 1952 with the proposal of a new satellite campus for Los Angeles State College (now known as California State University, Los Angeles). Thanks to Valley advocates, state officials decided in favor of a valley campus (originally planned in Baldwin Hills on 1955). In July 1958, the campus separated from the Los Angeles State College and was renamed San Fernando Valley State College with enrollment reaching 2,525 and tuition reaching $29 per semester. In 1959 the College had its first computer (a first among all State Colleges). In 1964, the Sierra Hall building Complex was completed and enrollment reached nearly 12,000. Due to complaints of low minority enrollment, the college decided to boost enrollment of Latinos and Blacks in 1967. In March 1968, Presidential candidates Robert F. Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy drew a crowd of 12,000 with student demonstrators burning draft cards. Later on in the year, the Black student Union held 30 staff members hostage. Nobody was hurt and the administration agreed to increase minority enrollment and to investigate discrimination complaints. Some of the students involved were prosecuted for false imprisonment.

1972–1988

The college officially names itself California State University, Northridge in June 1972. In 1975, the construction of the CSUN sculpture begins at the southeast corner of campus. By 1977, the enrollment at the university is 28,023 with tuition at $95. In 1981, the campus officially establishes the foreign exchange student program with Japan, China, Ukraine, South Korea, Taiwan, Brazil, and the Netherlands. In 1988, the campus had an enrollment of 31,575 with a $342 tuition rate.

1988–1997

In 1990 the campus established: the Marilyn Magaram Center for Food Science, Nutrition, and Dietetics; the Oviatt building east and west wings are added, and the CSU's only fully established astronomy department with planetarium.

The 1994 Northridge earthquake, caused $400 million dollars in damage which was the heaviest damage ever experienced by an American college campus at the time[18]. The epicenter of the quake is within two miles (3 km) of the campus. On that same month, then Vice President Al Gore visited the campus with promises of funds. The campus was heavily damaged by the earthquake, including entire sections of the main library, art building, etc., but classes continued in alternative structures. The art courtyard survived. Among the structures that were considered too heavily damaged for repair were the Fine Arts building, which was designed by Richard Neutra, and the South Library, which was the oldest permanent building on campus. Due to inadequate earthquake engineering, the parking structure next to the Matadome was completely destroyed, and is currently a grass field used for kinesiology instruction, though the driveway formerly used to enter the structure is still visible from Zelzah Avenue. As of August 22, 2007, the University has completed the rebuilding project.

In the aftermath of the 1994 earthquake, CSUN civil engineering faculty and students enthusiastically took part in the research on earthquake protection of building structures, in particular, in the field of seismic performance, vibration control, and base isolation.

On January 17, 1995, then President Bill Clinton visited the campus to commemorate the first anniversary since the quake.

1997–present

In April 1999, the Board of CSU trustees decided to give $27 million dollars to construct post-earthquake projects. The University opened the first Central American Studies program in the nation on May 2000. In fall 2006, the University had a 34,560 enrollment and a tuition of $1,260. The University in 2007, with clean energy advocates built the new 1 megawatt fuel cell power plant which was the largest of its kind in any university in the world.

California State University trustees on March 15, 2006 voted their unanimous approval of Envision 2035, the Cal State Northridge planning initiative that will help frame the university’s physical development for the next several decades. The vote approved the revised master plan as well as an increase in the campus’ master plan enrollment capacity from 25,000 to 35,000 full-time equivalent students (FTEs). That growth is equivalent to 1.6 percent annual growth over 30 years. The trustees also certified the final environmental impact report on the plan.

Specifically, the plan defines sites for about 1,900,000 square feet (180,000 m²) of future campus academic and support facilities to accommodate the increased FTE enrollment. Near-term projects will include a 1,700-seat performing arts center; a 163,000-square-foot (15,100 m²) arts, media and communications complex; a parking structure for nearly 2,000 spaces and a centrally located mass transit hub for students, faculty, staff and community members. It also proposes the development of about 600 on-campus faculty/staff housing units, mostly on the North Campus, and allows for student housing, parking and transportation sufficient to handle enrollment growth while maintaining desirable open space.

Academics

Colleges

Mike Curb College of Arts, Media & Communication College of Business & Economics Michael D. Eisner College of Education

College of Engineering & Computer Science College of Health & Human Development College of Humanities

College of Science & Mathematics College of Social & Behavioral Sciences Roland Tseng College of Extended Learning

Cal State Northridge faculty have been recognized for their high quality. Eight faculty members have been awarded prestigious Guggenheim Fellowships for research and creative activity, while 59 have won Fulbright awards to conduct research or teach abroad.

Admissions

Fall Freshman Statistics

	2013	2012	2011	2010	2009	2008
Freshman Applicants	29,865	29,339	25,824	23,024	20,662	23,298
Admits		13,566	16,075	16,926	14,984	17,411
% Admitted		46.2	62.2	73.5	72.5	74.7
GPA				3.13	3.13	3.09
Average SAT				935	937	926
*SAT out of 1600

The university draws its freshmen from the top one-third of California high school graduates. CSUN's admissions program is rated as "less selective" in most major fields, but admissions to "impacted" majors, such as accounting, music, computer science and cinema and television are more selective. For the fall of 2013, the university received a record 29,865 freshman applications.

The Roland Tseng College of Extended Learning is a division within the university aimed at addressing the educational needs of mid career professionals. The college develops and offers study opportunities which are designed to ensure that the individuals, communities and organizations served by the university achieve their lifelong learning goals.

CSUN's Chicana and Chicano Studies Department is the largest in California.

Rankings

University rankings
National
Forbes	457
Global
Regional
U.S. News & World Report	68 (West)
Master's University class
Washington Monthly	28

Recent rankings

CSUN consistently ranks in the top 25 for master's level universities based on the size of its foreign student population. Undergraduate Engineering program ranked fifth among California public colleges (Masters level colleges) and fourteenth among U.S. public colleges (U.S. News & World Report)^{[citation needed]}. College of Business and Economics has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Commerce for its vital role in promoting international trade in the Los Angeles area.^{[citation needed]} In 2011, CSUN ranked eighth in the nation that award bachelor’s degrees to minorities in the field of communications.^{[citation needed]} It also ranked eighth in nation for number of bachelor's degrees awarded to Latinos, ninth in the number of master's degrees, and ninth for number of Latino students enrolled (U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics). CSUN ranked second among 529 master's level universities in preparing students who later earn doctoral degrees (National Science Foundation).^{[citation needed]} The university ranked first in number of graduates who went on to earn Ph.D.s in the social sciences and psychology. Biology department is ranked fifth in USA.^{[citation needed]} It has the largest number of Central American, Armenian, and deaf students than any university in the USA.^{[citation needed]}

In 2008, CSUN ranked ninth among top 20 undergraduate schools whole alumni pass the California Bar Exam (#1 among all the CSU campuses).^{[citation needed]} Jazz band won national first place in the College Big Band division of the Monterey Jazz Festival.^{[citation needed]} The Department of Music at California State University, Northridge is ranked among the top 25 accredited university programs in the nation.^{[citation needed]} In 2008, CSUN awarded President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction (Corporation for National and Community Service). In 2007 & 2008, CSUN team won first place out of 300 colleges and universities at the Model United Nations competition. In 2006, CSUN ranked eighteenth in nation of top public universities chosen by Jewish students (Reform Judaism).^{[citation needed]} In 2006, CSUN was ranked tenth in nation for the number of bachelor's degrees awarded to minority students, fifth in bachelors degrees awarded to Latino students, second in bachelor's degrees awarded to Latinos in social sciences, and fifth in bachelor's degrees to Asian Americans in education.^{[citation needed]}

CSUN awards more California Teaching Credentials than any other public institution (more than from all the University of California campuses combined). In 2005, CSUN ranked first out of the 177 colleges and universities in sending and receiving students in the National Student Exchange.^{[citation needed]} In 2003, CSUN's Northridge Singers were named "Choir of the World", taking the top prize during their debut appearance at an international music competition in Wales. In 2002, CSUN was one of only four universities in USA selected by the Carnegie Corporation of New York for exemplary teacher preparation programs. In 2001, the Department of Cinema and Television Arts was ranked #1 in the Western United States by the Association of Independent Feature Film Producers. In 2001, the Consumer Affairs Option in the Family & Consumer Sciences Department was ranked #1 in the Western United States by the Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals.

Campus

Locations of interest

The CSUN Botanic Garden is located in the southeast quad (near Zelzah & Nordhoff). It is part of the Biology Department for university curriculum, and also a regionally important demonstration garden and educational resource for the community. It has new focus projects for plants usable for regionally local sustainable landscaping using sustainable gardening techniques and studying and 'planting' ethnobotany insights and links. One of the few remaining historic (circa 1920s) orange groves is thriving on southeastern campus quad. The citrus industry was formerly had groves covering much of the San Fernando Valley. The rows of large eucalyptus trees, historic windbreaks for agricultural fields from the late 19th century, are found towering over the perimeters of the campus, surviving planners developing campus expansions with valor.

Oviatt Library

Main article: Oviatt Library

Oviatt Library in 2009.

The California State University, Northridge's Oviatt Library provides educational, cultural and information services and resources to the students and faculty. Its primary mission is to support and supplement classroom and independent learning; facilitate student and faculty research; and provide students with lifelong skills in identifying, locating, evaluating and synchronizing information.

All library materials are housed in the Delmar T. Oviatt Library, a 234,712-square-foot (21,805.5 m²) state-of-the-art facility. There are over 1,600 seats for in-house study. Of note are the Collaboratory with its 170 multipurpose computer workstations, 3 computer equipped library instruction labs, and 200 computer workstations devoted to library information resources. Specially equipped computer workstations are located throughout the Library for individuals with disabilities, including four assistive technology equipped study rooms for students. During Fall and Spring semesters, the building is open 90 hours a week. The Library maintains its own server and web pages providing access to online electronic information and archives 24 hours a day for students and the public at the Oviatt Library Digital Collections. The library also maintains its own AS/RS (Automatic Storage and Retrieval System).

The Oviatt Library has a physical collection containing 1.3 million volumes, of which over one million are books, and over 245,000 bound periodical volumes. The Library subscribes to 25,000 online journals, 1,779 print journals, 200 online databases and more than 13,000 ebooks. The microform collection contains 3.1 million pieces. There are over 12,500 sound recordings, 10,000 film and video recordings and nearly 60,000 pictures and other graphic materials. The Special Collections & Archives' holdings exceed 4,000 feet (1,200 m) of materials. The library also has a large collection of materials on Human Sexuality—possibly the "second largest private collection on human sexuality" behind the Kinsey Institute. In addition, the Teacher's Curriculum Center provides a circulating collection of curricular materials for education students and local educators.

The Library is heavily used with 8.2 million uses of its web pages annually, an annual gate count of 1.4 million, and over a half a million interactions per year with Library personnel.

Other Collections

Other campus departments and centers with collections:

• The Aronstam Library, devoted to communication studies research and scholarship for Communication Studies Department undergraduate, graduate, and faculty members
• The National Center on Deafness Library, housed in Chisolm Hall
• The Geography Department's Map Library, housed in Sierra Hall
• The Script Library in Manzanita Hall features over 800 screenplays

Transportation

CSUN Parking

• Lots B1 and B2, B3 parking structure & B5 parking structure, located off of Darby Street.
• Lot B6, located off Plummer Street, Lot E6 on Halsted Street.
• Lots G3 and G4, and G3 parking structure, located off Zelzah Street.

CSUN public transportation

CSUN is served by

Metro Bus Lines

• 152 North Hollywood Station via Fallbrook Ave.: Roscoe Blvd (Connection needed at Reseda Bl with Line 240/741)
• 158 Chatsworth Station: Sherman Oaks via Devonshire St & Woodman Av
• 166 Chatsworth Station: Sun Valley via Nordhoff St, Osborne St
• 167 Chatsworth Station: Studio City via Plummer St, Coldwater Canyon Av
• 168 Chatsworth Station: Pacoima via Lassen St & Paxton St
• 239 Sylmar Station: Encino via Rinaldi St, Zelzah Av, Lindley St, White Oak Av
• 240 Northridge: Universal City Station via Reseda Bl, Ventura Bl
• 353 North Hollywood Station via Roscoe Bl.: Lankershim Bl. Limited (Connection needed at Reseda Bl with Line 240/741)
• 364 Chatsworth Station: Sun Valley via Nordhoff St, Osborne St Limited
• 741 Northridge: Tarzana via Reseda Bl Rapid-Limited

Lines 240/741 connects with the Metro Orange Line at Reseda Station. The Metro Orange Line (Warner Center – Van Nuys – North Hollywood) connects with the Metro Red Line (North Hollywood – Hollywood – Downtown Los Angeles) & Santa Clarita Bus Line 757 at North Hollywood Station.

AVTA Bus Line

• 787 West San Fernando Valley: Lancaster/Palmdale Express.

Route Stops at Plummer St & Reseda Bl.

LADOT Bus Lines

• DASH Northridge: serves Northridge Metrolink Station, Northridge Fashion Mall, and Reseda Community.
• 419 Chatsworth: Mission Hills – Downtown Los Angeles via Devonshire St Express

Metrolink/AMTRAK Shuttle

• CSUN: Northridge Station.

Proposed: CSUN Transit Center

In a presentation to the San Fernando Valley Governance council, CSUN revealed the proposal for a Transportation Center on Vincennes Street between Darby St and Etiwanda Ave. The Transit Center will most likely look like that of North Hollywood Red Line Station. The Center will give access to Metro, LADOT and other bus services. The transit center will also include bicycle parking and a CSUN Tram stop as well.

Metro is already including bus line changes to serve the Transit Center in its June 2010 service changes.

National Center on Deafness

The National Center on Deafness was established in 1978 as a way to serve deaf students at the university. Support services such as sign language interpreters, real-time captioners, and notetakers are coordinated from this center, as well as serving as a location of academic advisement and gathering of deaf students. For the 2008 Fall semster, approximately 200 deaf students are served by the National Center on Deafness.

Film and television shoots

Because of its proximity to Hollywood, the campus has been an attractive spot for dozens of films and television shows, most recently American Idol in 2013. Others include Arrested Development, Ringer, Chuck, Dexter, My Name Is Earl, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Commander in Chief, Van Wilder, Six Feet Under, The Karate Kid, Battlestar Galactica, The Office, McMillan & Wife, Son in Law, Bring It On: Fight to the Finish, The Glass Bottom Boat, Legally Blonde 2, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Roswell, The Nick Cannon Show, Quincy, M.E., Georgia Rule, and Sky High (where the Oviatt Library is prominently featured). Recently, the Barry Levinson directed What Just Happened filmed at the Oviatt Library and featured Robert De Niro and Sean Penn. The pilot of the remake of the television series "Knight Rider" filmed a car chase on campus, acting as Stanford University. During spring break 2008, the library acted as Starfleet Academy for Star Trek (the 2009 version). The parking lots to the north of the campus were featured in the movie, Superbad.

Groups and organizations

Demographics of student body

	Undergraduate
African American	9.0%
Asian American	12.7%
White American	29.2%
Hispanic American	30.2%
Native American	0.4%
International	5.4%
Ethnicity unreported/unknown	13.1%

Media

• KCSN radio
• The Daily Sundial: college newspaper
• Valley View News: student television station
• Scene Magazine: student-created magazine
• Northridge Magazine

CSUN Model United Nations

CSUN at NMUN 2007

The Political Science Department's Model United Nations received first-place honors at the National Model United Nations Conference of 2000, 2007, 2008, and 2010 in New York. The team has also won first place awards in the international conferences in Xian, China (2008) and in Ecuador (2010).

Athletics

Main article: Cal State Northridge Matadors

See also: Cal State Northridge Matadors men's basketball

CSUN fields 16 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Before moving up to Division I the university won 30 national titles at the Division II level. CSUN joined the Big Sky Conference in 1996 and was a member for five years. CSUN then joined the Big West Conference in the summer of 2001. However the Men's and Women's Track and Field teams and the Men's Volleyball team compete in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation instead of the Big West. CSUN fields both Men's and Women's teams in Basketball, Cross Country, Golf, Soccer, Track and Field, and Volleyball. CSUN also has Baseball and Softball and Women's Tennis and Water polo teams. CSUN has seen some sports dropped due to Title IX mandates including Football and Men's Swimming in 2001 and 2010 respectively.

The men's basketball team made it to three Big Sky championship games in 1997, 2000 and 2001. CSUN beat Eastern Washington in 2001 to advance to their first NCAA Tournament. CSUN was seeded 13th in the Midwest Region but lost to the number four seed Kansas in the round of 64. CSUN has played in two Big West championship games in 2004 and 2009. CSUN beat Pacific in 2009 and was seeded 15th in the Western Region of the NCAA Tournament. CSUN lost to the number two seed Memphis in the round of 64. Men's Soccer reached the 3rd Round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament, knocking out Big West Conference rival UC Santa Barbara in the 2nd Round. Both the Men's and Women's Track & Field teams won Big West titles in 2007. Men's Volleyball reached the Final Four in 2010 but lost to Penn State.

The Men's Basketball team, Women's Basketball team, Men's Volleyball team and Women's Volleyball team play in the 1,600 seat Matadome located in Redwood Hall.

CSUN's sports teams are known as the Matadors, which was suggested in 1958 by student submissions. The Matador was chosen over four other finalists. They included the Apollos, Falcons, Rancheros and Titans. The Matador is said to reflect the region's Spanish heritage. CSUN is the only university in the country to have the Matador as their mascot.

Student organizations

The University is home to many fraternal organizations including thirteen North-American Interfraternity Conference members such as Lambda Chi Alpha, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Zeta Beta Tau Kappa Sigma, Sigma Chi, Pi Kappa Alpha, Pi Kappa Phi, Sigma Phi Epsilon and Sigma Alpha Epsilon, along with seven National Panhellenic Conference members, which includes Alpha Omicron Pi, Alpha Xi Delta, Alpha Phi, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Zeta, Kappa Kappa Gamma and Phi Mu.

The campus has seven United Sorority and Fraternity Council members, such as Gamma Zeta Alpha Fraternity and Lambda Theta Nu Sorority, two Armenian Greek Council members, seven National Pan-Hellenic Council members. There are also many political and cultural clubs on campus including Chabad at CSUN where the heart of Jewish life lies Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, Students for Justice in Palestine, MEChA and the Hip-Hop Think Tank.

Notable alumni and former students

• Paula Abdul: Entertainer; singer, dancer, judges for television series American Idol and The X Factor. (1980)
• Richard Alarcon: Former California State Senator and Los Angeles City Council member. (1971)
• Ariane Andrew: Wrestler. (2005)
• Judy Baca: Artist, civil rights activist (1964)
• Todd Baker: producer, The Howard Stern Show on In Demand
• Mark Balderas: Musician, keyboardist and songwriter with the rock band Human Drama. (1977)
• Gene Baur: President and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary.
• Jim Berk: CEO, Participant Media (An Inconvenient Truth, Waiting for Superman, The Soloist, Good Night & Good Luck)
• Jessica Boardman: World famous opera singer.
• Stephen Bollenbach: Co-Chairman & CEO of Hilton Hotels. (1960)
• Sherdrick Bonner: Athlete; quarterback for the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League (1986)
• Lyman Bostock: Athlete; star outfielder for the Minnesota Twins and California Angels (1968)
• Marcus Brady: Athlete; quarterback for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (1997)
• Deanne Bray: Actress (1989)
• Richard Bullock: United States Marine and CIF Champion Football Coach
• Joan Chen: Actress, Filmmaker (1979)
• Morris Chestnut: Film and television actor (1987)
• Karin Anna Cheung: Actress (1992)
• Marc Cohen: Radio Personality
• Kevin Corcoran: Actor, entertainment producer-director (1967)
• Frank Cubillos: Artist, Athlete; forward and attacking midfielder for the Hollywood Kickers of the Western Soccer Alliance
• Mike Curb: Musician, record company executive, 42nd Lieutenant Governor of California (1962)
• Jamshid "Jimmy" Delshad: Mayor of Beverly Hills (1958)
• John Densmore: Musician; former drummer of The Doors (1962)
• Bobby Diamond: Los Angeles attorney and former film and television actor (1961)
• Daryl Dragon: Musician, "The Captain" of Captain and Tennille fame (1960)
• Richard Dreyfuss: Actor (1965)
• Jenna Elfman: Film and television Actor, Dharma and Greg series star.
• Mike Elizondo: Record producer (Eminem, Alanis Morissette, Pink, Natasha Bedingfield)
• Robert Englund: Actor best known for his role as Freddy Krueger
• Christine Essel: Senior Vice President, Paramount Pictures
• Greg Evans: Cartoonist, artist
• Robert Fick: Athlete; catcher and first baseman for the Washington Nationals
• Shannon Fill: Actor; played "Ensign Sito Jaxa" in Star Trek: The Next Generation film.
• James Fortune: Musician; Gospel singer (1996)
• Sean Franklin: Professional soccer player; defender for Los Angeles Galaxy
• Teri Garr: Film Actor, comedian, Academy awards nominee. (1962)
• David Gerrold: Science fiction author and screenwriter
• Tod Goldberg: Author and journalist
• Gordon Goodwin: Big band composer, arranger, and saxophonist
• Bill Griffeth, Sue Herera, and Ron Insana: Actors; from the cable TV network CNBC
• Florence Griffith Joyner: Athlete; Olympic track and field champion
• Gene Haas: NASCAR team owner, Haas Automation, Inc. president
• D.J. Hackett: Athlete; wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers
• Bill Handel: KFI morning talk show host, attorney
• Alyson Hannigan: Actress (1992)
• Phil Hartman: Film and television Actor, comedian, and producer. (1966)
• Scott Horowitz: Space Shuttle astronaut
• Helen Hunt: Film and television actress (1981)
• Ron Insana: CNBC Analyst
• Kalani: Musician; percussionist
• Ana Kasparian: Internet personality, co-host of The Young Turks. (2004)
• Fred Katz, jazz cellist
• Thom Kaufman: Geneticist and professor (NAS)
• Adam Kennedy: Athlete; second baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers
• David C. Lane: Author/Professor of Philosophy and Sociology
• Ralph Larkin: Sociologist
• Charlotte Laws: Author, Politician and Animal Rights Advocate
• Lillian Lehman: Film and television actor
• Minnette Gersh Lenier: teacher who used magic to improve students’ learning skills
• Nicole Linkletter: Cycle 5 America's Next Top Model Winner
• Olympia LePoint: American author, professional public speaker and award-winning rocket scientist
• Linda Lingle: Former Governor of Hawaii
• Kameron Loe: Athlete; pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers (1999)
• Ken Lubas: Photographer, Photojournalist
• Andy Luckey: Television Producer, Children's Book Author & Illustrator
• Cheech Marin: Actor, comedian, co-star of Cheech and Chong film and television team
• Rory Markas: Play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
• Charles Martin Smith: Actor
• Paul McCracken: NBA and Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball player
• Eva Mendes: Actress (1992)
• Mohamed Morsi: 5th President of Egypt
• Don Hahn: Film producer, film director. Best known for being the producer of Beauty and the Beast (1991 Academy Awards—Best Picture), The Lion King and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
• Esha Momeni: Iran detainee
• David Mullich: Game designer and producer
• Wendi Deng Murdoch: Media executive, wife of News Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch
• Kevin Murray: former California State Assemblyman and Senator
• Robert Newman: Actor, on Guiding Light television series
• Charles Noski: AT&T Corporation CFO
• Cubby O'Brien: Musician; drummer, original member ("Mouseketeer") of The Mickey Mouse Club (1955–59)
• William Paparian: lawyer and former mayor of Pasadena, California
• Steve Pavlina: Self-development professional
• Chuck Pfarrer: Screenwriter, Author, former SEAL Team commander
• Eve Plumb: Actress; "Jan" on the The Brady Bunch television series (1976)
• Jim Pons: Musician; bass guitarist and singer for The Leaves, The Turtles, and The Mothers of Invention (1961)
• Daniel Ramos: Graffiti Artist better known as Chaka
• Rick Rollens: former Secretary, California State Senate, Autism health and research activist
• Anita Sarkeesian: Blogger, media critic (2002)
• Kentaro Sato: Musician; Composer
• Mark Saul: Actor, in All That, Grey's Anatomy, and The Social Network
• Scott Shaw: Author, actor, filmmaker (1976)
• Lloyd Sherr: Voice actor
• Amanda Simpson: Test Pilot, first openly transgender female presidential appointee
• Willie Sims: Professional soccer player; former forward for New England Revolution
• Leland Sklar: Musician; Session Bassist
• Barry Smolin: KPFK radio D.J., Musician, Teacher
• Lee Soo-Man: Founder and Chairman of SM Entertainment
• Andy Summers: Musician; guitarist with The Police
• Serj Tankian: Musician; System of A Down
• James Taranto: Columnist for the Wall Street Journal
• Jeri Taylor: Co-creator of Star Trek: Voyager
• Brian J. Terwilliger: Producer/Director of One Six Right (1994)
• Jason Thompson: Athlete, first baseman for the Detroit Tigers, California Angels, Pittsburgh Pirates & Montreal Expos
• Tim Toyama: Playwright, producer
• C. Richard Tracy: Ecologist and professor
• Carol Vaness: Opera singer
• Diane Warren: Musician; Grammy-winning songwriter, music publisher
• Alan R. Weiss: Software and Semiconductor CEO and libertarian activist
• Frank K. Wheaton: Sports agent and personal manager
• Larry Wilcox: Actor
• Debra Winger: Film and Stage Actor
• Alex Yemenidjian: Chairman/CEO of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.

See also

• Cal State Northridge Matadors men's basketball
• California State University
• CSUN Botanic Garden
• Oviatt Library
• San Fernando Valley

External links

• Official website
• Official Athletics website