List of California Institute of Technology people

The California Institute of Technology has had numerous notable alumni and faculty.

Notable alumni

Alumni who went on to become members of the faculty are listed only in this category.

Physics and Astronomy

• Carl D. Anderson, BS 1927, PhD 1930, faculty – Nobel laureate in physics (1936) for proving the existence of positrons
• Chung-Yao Chao, PhD 1930 – first scientist to capture positrons through electron-positron annihilation; father of atomic energy enterprise of China
• Sidney Coleman, PhD 1962 – theoretical physicist
• William A. Fowler, PhD 1936, faculty – Nobel laureate in physics (1983) for his studies of the nuclear reactions in stars
• Donald A. Glaser, PhD 1950 – Nobel laureate in physics (1960) for the invention of the bubble chamber
• James E. Gunn, PhD 1966 – astronomer, Crafoord laureate (2005)
• Steven E. Koonin, BS 1972 - seventh provost of Caltech, current Undersecretary for Science, Department of Energy
• Mark M. Mills, PhD 1948 – nuclear physicist, developer of atomic weapons, and deputy director of Livermore
• Frank Oppenheimer, PhD 1939 – Manhattan Project physicist, founder of the Exploratorium
• Douglas D. Osheroff, BS 1967 – Nobel laureate in physics (1996) for discovering the superfluidic nature of ³He
• Joseph Polchinski BS 1975, String theorist
• Wade Regehr PhD, Applied Physics. Professor of Neurobiology Harvard Medical School Dept of Neurobiology.
• Leo James Rainwater, BS 1939 – Nobel laureate in physics (1975) for finding the shapes of certain atomic nuclei
• Allan Sandage, PhD 1953 – astronomer, Crafoord laureate (1991)
• William Shockley, BS 1932 – Nobel laureate in physics (1956) for invention of the transistor
• Paul Steinhardt, BS 1973 - Albert Einstein Professor in Science and Director of the Princeton Center for Theoretical Science at Princeton University, Dirac Medal for inflationary model of universe
• Charles H. Townes, PhD 1939 – Nobel laureate in physics (1964) for contributions to planetary thermal radiation; patented the maser
• Kip Thorne, BS 1962, faculty – gravitational physicist
• Kenneth G. Wilson, PhD 1961 – Wolf Prize laureate (1980), Nobel laureate in physics (1982) for his theory of phase transitions in matter
• Robert W. Wilson, PhD 1962 – Nobel laureate in physics (1978) for discovering the cosmic microwave background radiation (shared medal)
• Stephen Wolfram, PhD 1979 – Founder of Wolfram Research, Inc. (makers of Mathematica) and author of A New Kind of Science
• Kamaloddin Jenab, PhD – pioneer of nuclear physics in Iran.
• James C. Fletcher, PhD 1948 – served as the 4th and 7th Administrator of NASA.
• Edward Fredkin, undergraduate studies (1952) – early pioneer of digital physics with contributions in reversible computing and cellular automata.

Chemistry

• Arnold Beckman, PhD 1928 – Inventor of the pH meter, founder of Beckman Instruments and financier of the first "silicon" company in Silicon Valley, Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory
• William A. Goddard, III, PhD 1965, faculty – theoretical chemist
• Edwin Mattison McMillan, BS 1928, MS 1929 – Nobel laureate in chemistry (1951)
• William Lipscomb, PhD 1946 – Nobel laureate in chemistry (1976)
• Linus Pauling, PhD 1925, faculty – Nobel laureate in chemistry (1954) and peace (1962)
• Kenneth Pitzer, BS 1935 – winner of the National Medal of Science, third president of Rice University, sixth president of Stanford University, Director of Research for U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (1949–1951)
• Donald Voet, BS 1960 – Associate professor of chemistry at University of Pennsylvania and co-author of several biochemistry textbooks

Biology and Medicine

• Leland H. Hartwell, BS 1961 – Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine (2001)
• David Ho, BS 1974 – AIDS researcher
• Norman Horowitz, PhD 1939, faculty – biochemist and advocate of unmanned space exploration
• Edward B. Lewis, PhD 1942, faculty – Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine (1995)
• Howard M. Temin, PhD 1960 – Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine (1975)
• C. C. Tan, PhD 1936 – father of Chinese (modern) genetics

Mathematics and Computer Science

• Robert Dilworth, BS 1936, PhD 1939, faculty – mathematician, famous for Dilworth's theorem
• Michael Aschbacher, BS 1966, faculty – winner of the Cole Prize in Algebra (1980)
• Serge Lang, BS 1946 – Mathematician, known for his work in number theory and for his mathematics textbooks, including the influential Algebra. Received Steele Prize in 1999.
• Fernando J. Corbató, BS 1950 – Computer scientist, recipient of the 1990 Turing Award
• Juris Hartmanis, PhD 1955 – Computer scientist, recipient of the 1993 Turing Award
• Donald Knuth, PhD 1963 – Computer scientist, creator of TeX typesetting language, and author of The Art of Computer Programming, recipient of the 1974 Turing Award
• Benoît Mandelbrot, Eng 1949 – Pioneer of fractal geometry
• John McCarthy, BS 1948 – Computer scientist, inventor of the Lisp programming language and recipient of the 1971 Turing Award
• Andrew Odlyzko, BS, MS 1971 – mathematician, demonstrated the Montgomery-Odlyzko Law
• John Platt PhD 1989 – Computer scientist
• Irving S. Reed, BS 1944, PhD 1949 in mathematics – achieved fame in computer science as the co-inventor of Reed-Solomon error correction, also worked in early digital computer design (the MADDIDA)
• Robert Tarjan, BS 1969 – Computer scientist, recipient of the 1986 Turing Award
• Edward Felten, BS 1985 – Computer scientist, worked on proof-carrying authentication, Java security, and the SDMI challenge.
• Matthew Cook, PhD 2005 – Computer scientist, proved that the Rule 110 cellular automaton is Turing-complete.
• Walter Bright, BS 1979 – Computer scientist, developed first native C++ compiler (Zortech C++), first classic strategic computer wargame (Empire), and designed the D programming language.
• Tsutomu Shimomura, undergraduate studies – Computational physicist and computer security expert, tracked down and helped the FBI arrest hacker Kevin Mitnick
• Lloyd R. Welch, PhD 1958 – information theorist, co-inventor of the Baum-Welch algorithm
• Ivan Sutherland, MS 1960 – Computer scientist and internet pioneer, recipient of the 1988 Turing Award for the invention of Sketchpad, an early predecessor to the graphical user interface. Also a professor at Caltech from 1974 to 1978.
• Bradley Efron, BS 1960 – Statistician, recipient of 2005 National Medal of Science, well-known for this work on bootstrap resampling technique.

Engineering

• Robert L. Behnken, MS 1993, PhD 1997 – NASA Astronaut, flew on STS-123
• Frank Borman, MS 1957 – NASA Astronaut, commanded Gemini 7 and Apollo 8 space missions
• Gregory Chamitoff, MS 1985 – NASA Astronaut, flew on STS-124 and staying on Expedition 17 on the International Space Station
• Regina E. Dugan, PhD 1993 - 19th Director of DARPA, first female director.
• Richard G. Folsom, BS 1928, MS 1929, PhD 1933, President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1958–1971)
• C. Gordon Fullerton, BS 1957, MS 1958 – Space Shuttle astronaut and test pilot
• Edward Gibson, MS 1960, PhD 1964 – NASA astronaut, flew on Skylab 4
• Tsien Hsue-shen, PhD 1939 – Father of China's rocket program
• York Liao, BS 1967 – inventor of liquid crystal displays. Co-founder and Executive Director, Varitronix.
• Paul MacCready, MS 1948, PhD 1952 – Father of Human Powered Flight, invented the Gossamer Condor and the Gossamer Albatross
• Carver Mead, BS 1956, MS 1957, PhD 1959, faculty – pioneer in microelectronics and computer science
• Richard Miller, PhD 1976 - President of Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
• Simon Ramo, PhD 1936 – co-founder of TRW and developed ICBMs
• Garrett Reisman, MS 1992, PhD 1997, NASA Astronaut, Flew on STS-123 and was part of expedition 16 on the International Space Station. Returned to Earth on STS-124.
• Harold Rosen, MS 1948, PhD 1951 – developer of Syncom family of communication satellites; winner National Medal of Technology 1985
• Richard A. Searfoss, MS 1979 – NASA Astronaut, flew on STS-58 and STS-76, commander of STS-90
• Edward E. Simmons, BS 1934, MS 1936 – inventor of the strain gauge
• Ian Waitz, PhD 1991 - Dean of Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Geology and Planetary Science

• Hiroo Kanamori, PhD 1964, faculty – seismologist, recipient of the Kyoto Prize.
• Charles Francis Richter, PhD 1928, faculty – seismologist, creator of the Richter scale
• Harrison Schmitt, BS 1957 – astronaut and US Senator, the only geologist to have ever walked on the moon
• Eugene Merle Shoemaker, BS 1947, MS 1948, faculty – astrogeologist, co-discoverer of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9

Business

• Sabeer Bhatia, BS 1991 – Co-founder of Hotmail
• Chester Carlson, BS 1930 – Inventor of the photocopier, the foundation of Xerox
• Yuan-Cheng Fung, PhD 1948 – Founder of Biomechanics
• Cleve Moler, BS 1961 – Inventor of MATLAB, co-founder of MathWorks, influential in the field of numerical analysis
• Gordon E. Moore, PhD 1954 – co-founder of Intel Corp. and author of Moore's law
• Bill Gross, BS 1984 – founder of business incubator Idealab which was influential in the dot-com era.
• Charlie Munger, undergraduate studies – investor and vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Corporation.

Economics

• Robert Barro, BS 1965 – economist
• Robert C. Merton, MS 1967 – Nobel laureate in economics (1997)
• Vernon L. Smith, BS 1949 – Nobel laureate in economics (2002)

Politics

• Erdal İnönü, PhD 1951 – Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey between 1991 and 1993
• Mustafa A.G. Abushagur, PhD 1984 – interim Deputy Prime Minister of Libya from 2011
• Moshe Arens, MS 1953 – former Israeli defense minister and foreign minister
• Steingrímur Hermannsson, MS 1952 – former Prime Minister of Iceland
• John M. Poindexter, PhD 1964 – Director of DARPA Information Awareness Office, National Security Advisor to Ronald Reagan
• Eberhardt Rechtin, BS 1946, PhD 1950 – Director of DARPA, Assistant Secretary of Defense, chief engineer of Hewlett-Packard, and president of The Aerospace Corporation

Other fields

• Bert Acosta, undergraduate studies – early aviator
• David Brin, BS 1973 – science fiction author
• L. Sprague de Camp, BS 1930 – science fiction author
• Frank Capra, BS 1918 – filmmaker, director of such classics as It's a Wonderful Life, winner of six Academy Awards.
• Jess Collins, BS 1948 – visual artist
• Virgil Griffith, graduate student – computer hacker, affiliated with the Santa Fe Institute
• Jim Hall, BS 1958 – race car driver and founder of the Chaparral racing team
• N. Katherine Hayles, MS 1966– critical theorist
• Herman Kahn, graduate studies – futurist and military strategist
• Robert J. Lang, PhD – physicist and renowned origami master
• Alan Lightman, PhD 1974 – physicist and novelist
• Sandra Tsing Loh, BS 1983 – writer, performer, musician, humorist
• Tyson Mao, BS 2006 – Rubik's Cube solver, TV star
• Harold McGee, BS (EN) 1973 – pioneer in science-based approach to cooking
• Larry Niven, undergraduate studies – science fiction writer
• William Luther Pierce, graduate studies 1950s – white nationalist, founder of the National Alliance, author of The Turner Diaries
• Huck Seed, undergraduate studies – American professional poker player and winner of the main event of the 1996 World Series of Poker.
• Joe Trela, BS 1997 – third contestant to win the $1 million Grand Prize on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
• Harry Turtledove, undergraduate studies – historian and fiction writer
• Mark S. Wrighton, PhD 1972 – Chancellor of Washington University
• Aza Raskin, graduate studies – a design expert, interface guru, and entrepreneur.

Notable faculty

Members of the faculty are listed under the name of the academic division to which they belong.

Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy

The Feynman section at the Caltech bookstore, a tribute to his enduring impact.

• Jamal Nazrul Islam - Physicist, Mathematician, Cosmologist, Astronomer
• Robert Bacher – nuclear physicist and member of the Manhattan Project
• Harold Brown – physicist, president of Caltech (1969–77), U.S. Secretary of Defense (1977–81)
• Richard Ellis – extragalactic astronomer and cosmologist
• Richard Feynman – Nobel laureate in physics (1965)
• Murray Gell-Mann – Nobel laureate in physics (1969) and co-founder of Santa Fe Institute
• David Goodstein – director of The Mechanical Universe, Vice-Provost of Caltech
• George Ellery Hale – astronomer
• Robert A. Millikan – Nobel laureate in physics (1923)
• Rudolf Mössbauer – Nobel laureate in physics (1961)
• Hirosi Ooguri – theoretical physicist
• Robert Oppenheimer – physicist, director of the Manhattan Project
• H. David Politzer – Nobel laureate in physics (2004)
• John Preskill – physicist
• Herbert John Ryser – mathematician, leading figure in Combinatorics
• Maarten Schmidt – discovered quasars
• John H. Schwarz – physicist, string theory pioneer
• Barry Simon – mathematical physicist
• Maria Spiropulu – particle physicist
• Charles C. Steidel – astronomer, MacArthur Fellow (2002)
• Richard C. Tolman – mathematical physicist
• Kip Thorne – theoretical physicist
• Mark B. Wise – theoretical physicist
• Fritz Zwicky – astronomer, produced the first evidence of dark matter

Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

• John D. Roberts – Physical chemist, one of the pioneers of NMR as a tool to study organic compounds, winner of the National Medal of Science (1990) and the Priestley Medal (1987)
• Jacqueline Barton – Bioinorganic chemist and MacArthur Fellow (1991)
• Harry Gray – Inorganic chemist, winner of National Medal of Science (1986), the Wolf Prize in Chemistry (2004), the Priestley Medal (1991) and founding director of the Beckman Institute
• Robert H. Grubbs – Nobel laureate in chemistry (2005)
• Nathan Lewis – George L. Argyros Professor and Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis
• Rudolph Marcus – Nobel laureate in chemistry (1992)
• Arthur A. Noyes – Chemist
• John H. Seinfeld – Chemical Engineer
• Ahmed H. Zewail – Nobel laureate in chemistry (1999)

Biology

• David J. Anderson – Neurobiologist, Member of the National Academy of Sciences
• David Baltimore – Virologist, Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine (1975), President of Caltech (1997–2006)
• George Wells Beadle – Geneticist, Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine (1958), President of the University of Chicago (1961–1968)
• Seymour Benzer – Geneticist, Crafoord laureate in biosciences (1993)
• Pamela J. Bjorkman – Pioneering structural and cell biologist
• Max Delbrück – Biophysicist and pioneering molecular biologist, Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine (1969)
• Renato Dulbecco – Virologist, Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine (1975)
• Christof Koch – Neuroscientist
• Thomas Hunt Morgan – Pioneering geneticist, Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine (1933)
• Wheeler J. North – Marine scientist
• James Olds – Neuroscientist
• Roger W. Sperry – Neuroscientist, Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine (1981)

Engineering and Applied Science

• Theodore von Kármán – expert in aeronautics and rocket-scientist
• George W Housner – Caltech professor emeritus who was called the father of earthquake engineering

Geological and Planetary Sciences

• Don L. Anderson – Crafoord laureate in geosciences (1998)
• Clair Cameron Patterson – determined the age of the Earth, exposed lead pollution
• Gerald J. Wasserburg – Crafoord laureate in geochemistry (1986)
• Michael E. Brown – discovered many trans-Neptunian objects

Humanities and Social Sciences

• Colin F. Camerer – economist
• Charles Plott – economist
• Preston McAfee – economist
• J. Morgan Kousser – historian
• Abraham Kaplan – philosopher and social scientist