List of University of California, Irvine people

This page lists noted individuals associated with the University of California, Irvine.

Alumni

The following are noted alumni and students of the University of California, Irvine. When the information is known and available, degree and year are listed in parentheses.

Arts and Media

Art

• Dan Bayles (M.F.A. 2007) - abstract artist
• Chris Burden (M.F.A. 1971) - performance artist
• Barbara T. Smith (M.F.A. 1971) - performance artist

Film, Television, and Video

• Colet Abedi (B.A. English Literature) - writer and television producer
• Aras Baskauskas (B.A. 2002, Philosophy, M.B.A. 2004) - winner on TV reality show Survivor; CEO of TundraWear.com
• Nazanin Boniadi (B.S. 2003, Biological Sciences) - actress; official spokeswoman for Amnesty International
• Crista Flanagan (M.F.A. 2001) - actress, Mad Men
• Steve Franks (B.A. 1991) - writer and television producer
• Bob Gunton (B.A. 1968) - actor, The Shawshank Redemption, 24, Desperate Housewives; Tony-nominated for Broadway roles in Evita and Sweeney Todd
• Tyler Hoechlin (current student) - actor, star of 7th Heaven, is a current UC Irvine student athlete (baseball)
• Carrie Ann Inaba (attended) - actress/dancer, currently a judge on ABC's Dancing with the Stars
• Kelly Lin (attended, Economics and English & Comparative Literature) - Taiwanese actress, nominated for best actress for role in Mad Detective at 2007 Venice Film Festival
• Jon Lovitz (B.A. 1979, Theater) - actor and comedian, Saturday Night Live
• Andrea Lowell (attended, Biology) - model, Playboy, VH1's The Surreal Life #6
• Joseph McGinty Nichol a.k.a. McG (B.S. 1990, Psychology) - film director (Charlie's Angels, Terminator Salvation), co-creator of TV series The O.C.
• Jeff Meek (B.A. 1983, Drama) - actor on TV series including Raven (in the title role), As the World Turns and Mortal Kombat: Conquest
• Windell Middlebrooks (M.F.A. 2004, Drama) - actor, star of Body of Proof
• Grant Nieporte (B.A. 1995, Social Sciences) - film writer, credits include 2008 Will Smith film Seven Pounds
• Sophie Oda (currently attending)
• Kelly Perine (M.F.A. Acting, 1994), television actor (Between Brothers, The Parent 'Hood, One on One, etc.)
• Aurora Snow (attended, Theater Arts) - Pornographic Actress
• Phil Tippett (B.A., Fine Arts) - filmmaker whose credits include Star Wars, RoboCop and Jurassic Park
• Thuy Trang (attended, Civil Engineering) - actress, Trini from Power Rangers
• Byron Velvick (B.A. 1987, English) - star of The Bachelor, Season 6

Literature

• Nevada Barr (M.F.A. 1978) - author of Anna Pigeon Mysteries
• Michael A. Bellesiles (Ph.D. 1986) - controversial historian and author of Arming America, The Origins of a National Gun Culture
• Aimee Bender (M.F.A. 1998) - author of The Girl in the Flammable Skirt
• David Benioff (M.F.A. 1999) - author of The 25th Hour, husband of actress Amanda Peet
• Chelsea Cain (B.A. 1994, Political Science) - fiction writer
• Michael Chabon (M.F.A. 1987) - 2001 Pulitzer Prize-winning author for his novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
• Leonard Chang (M.F.A) - Korean-American writer of short stories and novels
• Joshua Ferris (M.F.A.) - author of Then We Came to the End which was nominated for the National Book Award and won the PEN/Hemingway Award
• Brian Flemming (B.A. 1998, English) - director and playwright
• Richard Ford (M.F.A. 1970) - Pulitzer Prize-winning author in Fiction for Independence Day
• Glen David Gold (M.F.A . 1998) - author of Carter Beats the Devil and Sunnyside
• Yusef Komunyakaa (M.F.A. 1980) - Pulitzer Prize-winning poet for Neon Vernacular
• T. Jefferson Parker (M.F.A. 1976) - fiction writer and author of Laguna Heat, Little Saigon, and Pacific Heat
• Alice Sebold (M.F.A. 1998) - bestselling novelist, author of The Lovely Bones
• Danzy Senna (M.F.A. 1996) - writer
• Maria Helena Viramontes (M.F.A. 1994) - Chicana fiction writer

Music

• Joey Burns - frontman of Calexico
• Clara Chung (B.A. 2009, Psychology) - American guitarist and singer
• Coco Lee (attended) - Chinese Pop Star
• Jeffrey Mumford (B.A. 1977) - classical music composer
• Aubrey O'Day (B.A. 2005, Political Science) - member of Danity Kane (Making the Band 3 contestant)
• Savitree Suttichanond (B.A. 2007, International Studies) - Thai singer and actress, Academy Fantasia Season 5
• Kaba Modern - Asian-American Dance Group established in 1992; 6 alumni dancers appeared on America's Best Dance Crew
• Teal Wicks (B.A. 2005, Drama) - American singer and stage actress, best known for playing the role of Elphaba in the San Francisco and Los Angeles productions of the musical Wicked.
• Vanness Wu - Taiwanese singer, actor, director, producer, member of F4 (band)
• Members of Farside (band) - hardcore punk band
• Members of Thrice - Hardcore/Rock Band

Athletics

Baseball

• Brady Anderson (attended, Economics) - former MLB outfielder for the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles, three-time American League all-star
• Dylan Axelrod (B.A. 2007, Social Ecology) - pitcher for the Chicago White Sox
• Doug Linton - former MLB pitcher
• Bryan Petersen - outfielder for the Florida Marlins
• Sean Tracey - former MLB pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox

Basketball

• Scott Brooks (B.A. 1987) - current head coach of the NBA team Oklahoma City Thunder; point guard on the 1994 NBA Champion Houston Rockets
• Steve Cleveland (B.A. 1976) - current men's head basketball coach at Fresno State University
• Tod Murphy (B.A. 1986) - former NBA player and third-round pick of the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1986 NBA draft; currently an assistant coach for the UCI Men's basketball team
• Tom Tolbert (transferred) - former NBA player and current color-commentator for ABC sports

Olympians

• Peter Campbell (B.A. 1982) - won two silver medals (1984 and 1988) Olympics (water polo)
• Jennifer Chandler - gold medalist in the 1976 Olympics (diving)
• Gary Figueroa (B.A. 1980) - silver medalist in the 1984 Olympics (water polo)
• Brad Alan Lewis (B.A. 1976) - gold medalist in the 1984 Olympics (rowing) Author of Assault on Casitas
• Greg Louganis (B.A. 1983) - four-time Olympic gold medalist (diving)
• Amber Neben (M.S. Biology) - U.S. National Road Race Champion, 2005 & 2006 Tour de l'Aude winner, 2008 World TT Champion and placed 33rd in the road race at the 2008 Olympics.
• Mike Powell - world Long jump record-holder; two-time Olympic silver medalist (track and field)
• Steve Scott (B.A. 1978) - American record holder for the indoor mile (3:58.7); world record holder for the most sub-four minute miles (136)

Soccer

• Carlos Aguilar - forward for the Rochester Rhinos of USL Professional Division
• Cameron Dunn - defender for the Los Angeles Blues of the USL Professional Division
• Brad Evans - midfielder for the Seattle Sounders of Major League Soccer and the United States men's national soccer team
• Irving Garcia - forward for the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer
• Anthony Hamilton (B.A. 2010, Literary Journalism) - forward for the Rochester Rhinos of the USL Professional Division
• Kenny Schoeni (B.A. 2006) - former goalkeeper for the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer
• David Sias (B.A. 2008, Economics) - former defender for the Austin Aztex of the USL Professional Division
• Spencer Thompson (B.A. 2010, Economics) - forward for the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer

Other

• David Baker (B.A. 1975) - commissioner of the Arena Football League, 1996 to present
• Shane del Rosario (B.A. Psychology) - professional mixed martial artist.
• Joe Lacob (B.S. Biological Sciences) - owner of NBA's Golden State Warriors.

Business

• Andre Julian (B.A. 1991, Psychology, M.A. 1994, Social Ecology) - CFO of OpVest Wealth Management; analyst on Bloomberg Television
• Wright Massey (M.B.A. 1992) - CEO of Brand Architecture, Inc.
• Betsy McLaughlin (B.A.) - CEO of Hot Topic, Inc.

Military

• Leon J. LaPorte (M.B.A. 1977) - retired United States Army General who served as Commander, United States Forces Korea until 2006

Miscellaneous

• Generosa Ammon (B.A. 1981) - widow of Ted Ammon
• Khaldoun Baghdadi (B.A.) - prominent Palestinian-American attorney
• Sara Diamond (B.A. 1980) - prominent American sociologist
• David J.R. Frakt (B.A. 1990, History) - lawyer, law professor; noted for his appointment to defend Guantanamo detainee Mohammed Jawad
• Erin Gruwell (B.A. 1991) - high school teacher whose real-life story inspired the movie Freedom Writers
• Michael Ramirez (B.S. 1984) - 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in the Memphis Commercial Appeal; currently senior editor for Investor's Business Daily
• Lisa Marie Scott (attended) - Playboy centerfold, February 1995

Politics and Government

• Tim Donnelly (B.A. 1989) - California State Assemblyman representing the 59th assembly district
• Jeremy Harris (M.S. Environmental Biology) - former mayor of Honolulu
• Mark Keam (B.A. 1988, Political Science) - member of the Virginia House of Delegates representing the 35th district
• Bill Leonard (B.A. 1969, History) - former California State Senator
• Linda Newell (B.A.) - Colorado State Senator representing the 26th District
• Janet Nguyen (B.A. 1998, Political Science) - member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, first Vietnamese-American to hold county office in the United States
• Michael A. Rice (Ph.D. 1987, Comparative Psychology) - Rhode Island State Representative representing the 35th District
• Jose Solorio (B.S. 1992, Social Ecology) - California State Assemblyman, prior Councilmember of Ward 1 - City of Santa Ana
• Audra Strickland (B.A. 1996, Political Science) - California State Assemblywoman representing the 37th assembly district
• Van Tran (B.A. 1990, Political Science) - California State Assemblyman, first Vietnamese-American state legislator in the United States
• Karl Warkomski (B.S. 1990) - former mayor of Aliso Viejo, California

Science and Technology

• Paul Chien (Ph.D. 1971) - biologist known for research on the physiology and ecology of intertidal organisms
• Charles Falco (Ph.D. 1974) - experimental physicist; research resulted in the Hockney-Falco Thesis
• Roy Fielding (Ph.D. 2000) - Internet pioneer, creator of HTTP 1.1, co-founder of Apache Foundation
• Bart Kosko (Ph.D. 1987) - Hybrid intelligent system expert
• Lawrence L. Larmore (Ph.D. 1986) - online algorithms researcher, faculty member at UC Riverside and UNLV
• James D. McCaffrey (B.A. 1975) - Software engineer and author; see combinatorial number system and factorial number system
• Paul Mockapetris (Ph.D. 1982, Computer Science) - Internet pioneer, co-inventor of the Domain Name System
• Kathie L. Olsen (Ph.D. 1979, Neuroscience) - Chief Operating Officer of the National Science Foundation
• Andrew P. Ordon (B.S. 1972) - plastic surgeon; host of The Doctors
• Jim Whitehead, (Ph.D. 2000) - Originator of WebDAV, UCSC professor

Nobel Laureate Professors

• Frederick Reines, Nobel Prize Recipient, Physics, 1995
• Sherwood Rowland, Nobel Prize Recipient, Chemistry, 1995
• Irwin Rose, Nobel Prize Recipient, Chemistry, 2004

Faculty

Faculty who were also alumni are listed in bold font, with degree and year in parentheses.

• Francisco J. Ayala – 2001 National Medal of Science, 2010 Templeton Prize, Founding Director of the Bren Fellows Program, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and of Philosophy.
• Pierre Baldi – Chancellor's Professor of Computer Science and director of the Institute for Genomics and Bioinformatics
• Gregory Benford – science fiction author of Galactic Center Saga and physicist
• Leo Chavez – anthropologist and author
• Erwin Chemerinsky – founding dean of the Donald Bren School of Law, lawyer, law professor and United States constitutional law and civil procedure scholar
• Ralph J. Cicerone – Former chancellor, current National Academy of Sciences president
• Robert Cohen – Noted acting teacher and author
• Rui de Figueiredo – Research Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Mathematics
• Jacques Derrida (1986 - 2004 [his death]) – philosopher
• Paul Dourish – Professor of Informatics
• Nikil Dutt – Chancellor's Professor of Computer Science
• David Eppstein – Professor of Computer Science
• Walter M. Fitch – Professor of Molecular Evolution
• Matthew Foreman – Professor of Mathematics
• Robert Garfias – musicologist, awarded the Order of the Rising Sun
• Michael T. Goodrich – Chancellor's Professor of Computer Science
• Louis A. Gottschalk – acclaimed neuroscientist, Professor Emeritus
• Dan Hirschberg – Professor of Computer Science
• Hamid Jafarkhani – Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
• Ramesh Jain – Bren Professor of Computer Science
• Elizabeth Loftus – psychologist, Distinguished Professor in the School of Social Ecology
• R. Duncan Luce – cognitive psychologist, 2003 National Medal of Science, Distinguished Research Professor of Cognitive Science
• George Marcus – Chancellor's Professor of Anthropology
• James McGaugh – Research Professor of Neurobiology and Behavior, former Director of the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
• Donald McKayle – Choreographer
• Penelope Maddy – Distinguished Professor of Logic and Philosophy of Science and Mathematics, famous for her work in philosophy of mathematics
• David B. Malament – Distinguished Professor of Logic and Philosophy of Science, best known for his work in the philosophy of physics.
• J. Hillis Miller – Literary Critic
• Bonnie Nardi – Professor of Informatics
• Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o – author of (A Grain of Wheat), Distinguished Professor in the School of Humanities and director of the International Center for Writing and Translation
• Curt Pringle – mayor of Anaheim, former speaker of the California State Assembly
• R. Radhakrishnan – Chancellor's Professor of English and Comparative Literature
• Frederick Reines – (faculty 1966-1998, deceased) Nobel laureate, Physics 1995
• Irwin Rose – Nobel laureate (Chemistry 2004)
• F. Sherwood Rowland – Nobel laureate (Chemistry 1995), Research Professor in Chemistry and Earth System Science
• Donald G. Saari – Distinguished Professor of Mathematics and Economics
• Dr. William Sears, – Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, author of the Sears Parenting Library
• Patricia Seed – Professor of History
• Barry Siegel – Pulitzer Prize winner
• Brian Skyrms – philosophy of science expert, Distinguished Professor of social science
• David A. Snow – Distinguished Professor of Sociology
• George Sperling – cognitive psychologist, Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science
• Grover C. Stephens – (faculty 1964-2003 deceased) Professor and dean of Biological Sciences
• Lee Swindlehurst – Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
• Rein Taagepera (until 1991) – Estonian politician and political scientist
• Edward O. Thorp – author (Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One), professor of mathematics
• Martin Wattenberg – political scientist
• Douglas R. White – Social anthropologist and network sociologist, author of (Network Analysis and Ethnographic Problems
• Geoffrey Wolff – co-director of nationally acclaimed creative writing program

Other notable affiliates

• Tom Jennings – creator of FidoNet^{[citation needed]}
• Larry Coon (staff) – basketball writer^{[citation needed]}