List of Occidental College people

Here follows a list of notable people associated with Occidental College in Los Angeles, California. This list includes alumni, attendees, faculty, and presidents of the university.

Business and industry

 * John Branca (entertainment industry lawyer)
 * Norton Clapp (an original owner of Space Needle)
 * Stephen Cooper (CEO of Warner Music Group)
 * W. Don Cornwell (CEO of Granite Broadcasting)
 * Marsha J. Evans (CEO of American Red Cross, Navy admiral)
 * Frank Hershey (automotive designer)
 * Arthur Peck (CEO of Gap Inc.)
 * Linda Bradford Raschke (commodities and futures trader)

Entertainment and the arts

 * Ben Affleck (actor, director, screenwriter)
 * Stephen Beal (visual artist)
 * Ashly Burch (actress)
 * John Callas (writer, director, producer)
 * Sadie Calvano (actress)
 * August Coppola (academic, author, film executive and advocate for the arts)
 * Glenn Corbett (television actor)
 * Gabriela Cowperthwaite (documentary filmmaker, Blackfish)
 * Will Friedle (actor)
 * Terry Gilliam (animator and comedian in Monty Python comedy troupe; filmmaker: Brazil, 12 Monkeys, others)
 * Joanna Gleason (actor)
 * Mike Hoover (cameraman, journalist, documentarian, winner of Academy and Emmy Awards)
 * Terry Kitchen (musician)
 * Loren Lester (actor)
 * Thomas Murray (organist)
 * George Nader (actor)
 * Marcel Ophüls (filmmaker)
 * Emily Osment (actress; Class of 2015)
 * Cooper Raiff (actor, director)
 * Joe Rohde (Imagineer)
 * Sam Rubin (journalist; class of 1982)
 * Peter Scolari (actor)
 * Jake Shears (lead singer of Scissor Sisters)
 * Anna Slotky (actress)
 * Dan Slott (comic book writer)
 * Kirsten Smith (screenwriter, Ten Things I Hate About You, Legally Blonde, The Ugly Truth)
 * Roger Guenveur Smith (actor)
 * Rider Strong (actor)
 * Taku Takahashi (musician)
 * Maurissa Tancharoen (actress, singer, dancer, television writer and lyricist)
 * Jesús Salvador Treviño (television director)
 * Tui St. George Tucker (composer)
 * Luke Wilson (actor)
 * Michael Whaley (actor, director, writer)

Government, diplomacy, and law

 * Kathy Augustine (U.S. politician from Nevada)
 * Alphonzo E. Bell, Jr. (U.S. Congressman)
 * David S. Cunningham, Jr. (Los Angeles City Council member, 1973–87)
 * Gloria Duffy (President and CEO of The Commonwealth Club, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, and Special Coordinator for Cooperative Threat Reduction)
 * Richard Falkenrath (former deputy homeland security advisor)
 * Robert Finch (Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare 1969–1970, Lieutenant Governor of California 1967–1969)
 * U. Alexis Johnson (U.S. diplomat)
 * Jack Kemp (AFL and NFL player from 1958 to 1970, U.S. Representative from New York 1971–1989, U.S. Secretary Department of Housing and Urban Development 1989–1993, Republican vice presidential nominee in 1996) Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom, 2009.
 * David M. Louie (Attorney General of Hawaii)
 * Pete McCloskey (U.S. Representative 1967–83)
 * Jacqueline Nguyen (federal judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit)
 * Chris Norby (California State Assemblyman)
 * Barack Obama (44th President of the United States)
 * Dennis R. Patrick (Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, 1987 - 1989)
 * Thomas M. Rees (U.S. Congressman)
 * Janette Sadik-Khan (commissioner, New York City Department of Transportation)
 * Janis Lynn Sammartino (federal judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of California)
 * Mark S. Scarberry (professor of law at Pepperdine University School of Law)
 * Kristina A Kvien (United States Ambassador, U.S. Embassy of Armenia)
 * Grant Woods (Arizona Attorney General)

Higher education and academia

 * Coit D. Blacker (Political Science Professor at Stanford University)
 * Glenn S. Dumke (history professor and chancellor of the California State University)
 * Sharon Gaber (President of the University of Toledo)
 * Karen L. Gould (President of Brooklyn College)
 * Lewis Sargentich (legal scholar at Harvard Law School)

Journalism

 * Bessie Beatty (1886-1947), reported on Russian Revolution
 * Steve Coll (former Washington Post managing editor, Pulitzer Prize winner)
 * Andrea Elliott (reporter for The New York Times, Pulitzer Prize winner)
 * Chris Gulker (photographer)
 * Margot Mifflin (professor of journalism, feminist cultural critic)
 * James Andrew Miller reporter for Washington Post, author of oral histories on ESPN, CAA
 * Patt Morrison (NPR radio personality and columnist for the Los Angeles Times)
 * Sam Rubin (KTLA entertainment anchor)

Literature and writing

 * Mark Dery (author and cultural critic)
 * M. F. K. Fisher (writer)
 * Robinson Jeffers (poet)
 * Scott O'Dell (author, Newbery Award winner)
 * Carrie Vaughn (writer)
 * Gladys Waddingham (teacher and local historian)
 * Rosalind Wiseman (writer)

Medicine

 * David G. Armstrong (physician/medical researcher)
 * Howard Judd (medical researcher)

Science

 * Brent Dalrymple (geologist and National Medal of Science winner)
 * William Goddard (engineer)
 * Edmund C. Jaeger (naturalist, author, teacher)
 * J. P. Mallory (archaeologist)
 * John E. McCosker (ichthyologist)
 * Fred Lawrence Whipple (astronomer)

Social action, philanthropy, and community service

 * Howard Ahmanson, Jr (philanthropist, financier, and writer)
 * Cameron Townsend (founder, Wycliffe Bible Translators and Summer Institute of Linguistics)
 * Rex Weyler (author, journalist, ecologist and co-founder of Greenpeace International; did not graduate)

Sports and athletics

 * Keith Beebe, football player
 * Ron Botchan, five-time Super Bowl official for NFL from 1980 to 2002
 * Olin Browne, PGA Tour winner
 * Dean Cromwell, USC and Olympic track-and-field coach
 * Luke Collis, arena football player
 * Joe Faust, Olympic high jumper
 * Justin Goltz, NFL/CFL quarterback
 * Bob Gutowski, pole vaulter, 1956 Olympic silver medalist
 * Jack Kemp, AFL and NFL star quarterback of Buffalo Bills
 * Sammy Lee, two-time Olympic gold medalist in diving
 * Jim Mora, Sr., coached NFL's New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts
 * Vance Mueller, NFL running back
 * Bill Redell, college and pro quarterback, high school coach
 * Johnny Sanders, NFL general manager
 * Danny Southwick, arena football player
 * Jim Tunney, NFL official from 1960 to 1991; three Super Bowls

Notable faculty

 * Martha Ronk, Price Professor of English Literature, is a 2005 PEN American Center Literary Award winner in poetry.
 * Peter Dreier, Dr. E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics and director of the Urban and Environmental Policy Department, was the Director of Housing at the Boston Redevelopment Authority and senior policy advisor to Boston Mayor Ray Flynn for nine years.
 * Eric Garcetti, former assistant professor of Diplomacy and World Affairs; currently mayor of Los Angeles
 * George R. Goldner, art historian, Drue Heinz Chairman of the Department of Drawings and Paints of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
 * Julia Holter, singer-songwriter, record producer, composer, artist; appointed Professor of the Practice of Songwriting in 2021.
 * Derek Shearer, director of the McKinnon Center for Global Affairs and Chevalier Professor of Diplomacy and World Affairs, is former United States Ambassador to Finland.

Presidents

 * Samuel H. Weller (1887–1891)
 * J. Melville McPherron (1892–1894)
 * Elbert Nevius Condit (1894–1896)
 * James W. Parkhill (1896–1897)
 * Guy W. Wadsworth (1897–1905)
 * William Stewart Young (1905–1906, acting)
 * John Willis Baer (1906–1916)
 * Thomas Gregory Burt (1916–1917)
 * Silas Evans (1917–1920)
 * Thomas Gregory Burt (1920–1921, acting)
 * Remsen Bird (1921–1927, 1928–1945)
 * Robert G. Cleland (1927–1928, acting)
 * Arthur G. Coons (1945–1965)
 * Richard C. Gilman (1965–1988)
 * John Brooks Slaughter (1988–1999)
 * Theodore R. Mitchell (1999–2005)
 * Kenyon S. Chan (2005–2006, acting)
 * Susan Westerberg Prager (2006–2007)
 * Robert Skotheim (2008–2009)
 * Jonathan Veitch (2009–2020)
 * Harry J. Elam Jr. (2020–present)