List of University of California, San Diego people

Notable alumni

Art and architecture

• Lizet Benrey, BA, contemporary artist
• Micha Cárdenas, MFA, 2009, contemporary artist
• Joyce Cutler–Shaw, MFA, 1972, multidisciplinary artist
• Moyra Davey, MFA, 1988, contemporary artist
• Micol Hebron, did not graduate, contemporary artist
• Hung Liu, MFA, 1986, contemporary artist
• Elle Mehrmand, MFA, 2011, contemporary artist
• Jesse Mockrin, MFA, 2011, contemporary artist
• Margaret Noble, BA, 2002, conceptual artist and sound artist
• Dan Santat, BS, 1998, author and illustrator, winner of 2015 Caldecott Medal

  Athletics

• Geoff Abrams, MD, 2006, tennis player
• Mark Allen, BS, 1980, six-time Ironman Triathlon World Champion, inducted into the Ironman Hall of Fame; named the world's fittest man by Outside magazine
• Billy Beane, BA, 1985, general manager of the Oakland Athletics
• Randy Bennett, BS, 1986, Saint Mary's College of California men's basketball head coach
• Lynn Kramer, BS, 1989, champion slalom racer and 2024 Skateboarding Hall of Fame inductee
• Alon Leichman, BS, 2016, Olympian, member of the Israel national baseball team, and assistant pitching coach for the Cincinnati Reds
• Jie Li, BA, 2006, winner of the US ING Cup, Open, Costen, Texas Open and many other championships
• Shlomo Lipetz, BA, 2005, Israeli baseball player
• Bob Natal, BS, 1987, MLB catcher, Montreal Expos, Florida Marlins National League
• Mike Saipe, Major League Baseball pitcher
• Julie Swail, BA, 1995, Olympian ; UC Irvine head coach
• Shay Whitcomb, BA, 2019, MLB infielder

  Business

• Garrett Gruener, BS, 1976, co-founder of Ask Jeeves
• Gary E. Jacobs, BA, 1979, businessman and minority owner of the Sacramento Kings
• Greg Papadopoulos, BA, 1979, executive VP and CTA of Sun Microsystems
• Robert J. Pera, MS, 2002, founder of Ubiquiti Networks, owner of the Memphis Grizzlies
• Michael Robertson, BS, 1989, founder of MP3.com, Lindows.com, and SIPphone
• Philip Rosedale, BS, 1992, founder and CEO of Linden Lab, creator of virtual 3D world Second Life
• Jason Snell, BA, 1992, editorial director of Mac Publishing and editor of Macworld
• Nick Woodman, BA, 1997, founder and CEO of GoPro

  Computer science

• Bill Atkinson, BS, 1974, co-developer of the Macintosh computer
• Ryan Dahl, BS, 2003, inventor and original author of Node.js
• Michael I. Jordan, PhD, 1985; Distinguished Professor of EECS at UC Berkeley
• David E. Shaw, BS, 1972, founder of D. E. Shaw & Co.
• Guy "Bud" Tribble, BS, 1975, principal architect of the original Macintosh computer and co-founder of NeXt, Inc.

  Film, theatre, and television

• Beth Accomando, BA, 1982, film critic
• Ngozi Anyanwu, MFA, 2013, television actor and Humanitas Award-winning playwright
• Yareli Arizmendi, MFA, 1992, actor in Like Water for Chocolate
• James Avery, BA, 1976, stage, screen and television actor who co-starred with Will Smith on the TV show Fresh Prince of Bel Air
• Rachel Axler, MFA, 2004, Emmy Award-winning writer for The Daily Show and Parks and Recreation
• David Barrera, MFA, 1994, ALMA Award-nominated actor for 24
• Quincy Tyler Bernstine, MFA, 1999, Obie Award-winning actor, Tony Award nominee
• Marsha Stephanie Blake, MFA, 2001, Emmy Award-nominated actor for When They See Us
• Hart Bochner, BA, 1979, film actor, notably of Breaking Away
• Robert Buckley, BS, 2003, actor, best known for One Tree Hill
• Danny Burstein, MFA, 1990, Tony Award-winning actor, three-time Grammy Award nominee
• Zoë Chao, MFA, 2011, actress and star of several televisions shows and films
• Ricardo Chavira, MFA, 2000, actor, notably of Desperate Housewives
• Charlet Chung, BA, 2006, voice actor, notably of Overwatch
• Steve Cosson, MFA, 2001, Obie Award-winning artistic director of The Civilians
• Benicio del Toro, did not graduate, actor, notably of Traffic
• Maria Dizzia, MFA, 2001, Tony Award nominee In the Next Room
• Emily Donahoe, MFA, 2004, Obie and Helen Hayes award-winning actor
• Mary Catherine Garrison, MFA, 1999, series regular on Somebody Somewhere
• Johnny Ray Gill, MFA, 2010, series regular on Underground and BrainDead
• Michael Greif, MFA, 1985, director of Rent and former artistic director of La Jolla Playhouse, three-time Tony Award nominee
• Matt Hoverman, MFA, 1996, Daytime Emmy Award-winning writer
• Zora Howard, MFA, 2017, Pulitzer Prize for Drama finalist for STEW
• Daniel Humbarger, BA, 2006, stand-up comedian
• Naomi Iizuka, MFA, 1992, author of over two dozen plays, including Language of Angels
• Chane't Johnson, MFA, 2001, television and film actor; coach of Denzel Whitaker
• Ty Granderson Jones, MFA, 1982, film and television actor with credits including Con Air
• Mike Judge, BS, 1985, animator and director best known for Beavis and Butt-Head, Office Space, King of the Hill, and Silicon Valley; graduation speaker for the class of 2009
• Anne Kauffman, MFA, 1999, Obie Award-winning director
• Sagan Lewis, MFA, 1977, series regular on St. Elsewhere
• Melanie Marnich MFA, 1998, writer for Big Love, Jerome Fellowship from The Playwrights' Center, and Golden Globe winner
• Jefferson Mays, MFA, 1991, Tony Award winner, I Am My Own Wife
• Silas Weir Mitchell, MFA, 1995, character actor and star of Grimm
• Owiso Odera, MFA, 2005, actor on The Originals, Lortel Award nominee
• Toby Onwumere, MFA, 2015, star of Sense8
• Joy Osmanski, MFA, 2003, most notable credits include Duncanville and Santa Clarita Diet
• Neil Patel, MFA, 1991, Broadway designer of Side Man, winner of Obie and Helen Hayes awards
• Jeanne Paulsen, MFA, 1978, Tony Award nominee, The Kentucky Cycle
• Dileep Rao, BA, 1995, film actor in Avatar, Inception
• PJ Raval, BA, filmmaker
• Maria Striar, MFA, 1995, founder and artistic director of Clubbed Thumb
• Caridad Svich, MFA, 1988, Obie Award for Lifetime Achievement
• Michael Swaim, BA, 2007, actor, comedian, filmmaker, podcaster
• Milana Vayntrub, BA, 2008, actress, comedian, and writer
• Kellie Waymire, MFA, 1993, best known for Star Trek: Enterprise and roles on Six Feet Under, and One Life to Live
• John Wesley, MFA, 1977, actor known for roles on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Martin
• Wong Fu Productions filmmaking trio: Wesley Chan, Ted Fu, and Philip Wang, BA, 2006
• Jimmy O. Yang, BS, 2009, actor and stand-up comedian, best known for Silicon Valley and Patriots Day
• Lauren Yee, MFA, 2012, Whiting Award winner, produced at Playwrights Horizons and Atlantic Theatre Company
• Paloma Young, MFA, 2006, Tony Award winner, ''Peter and the Starcatcher''

  Journalism

• Mona Kosar Abdi, BA, 2011, multimedia journalist with WSET ABC 13, the Al Jazeera Media Network
• Katie Hafner, BA, 1979

  Law and politics

• Jessica Caloza, BA, California state assemblywoman
• Nicola T. Hanna, BA, JD, 1984, U.S. attorney for the Central District of California
• Steve Peace, BA, 1976, California state senator, 40th Senate District, chair of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee; producer of the 1970s cult film Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
• Timothy J. Roemer, BA, 1979, former Indiana congressman and current president of the Center for National Policy
• John Shoven, BA, 1969, Hoover Institute senior fellow

  Literature

• Debito Arudou, MPIA, 1990, author and activist
• Greg Benford, Ph.D., 1967, Nebula Award winner
• David Brin, MS, 1978; Ph.D., 1981, Nebula and Hugo Award Winner; science fiction author, notably of Uplift; physicist
• Robert Todd Carroll, Ph.D., 1974, publisher of The Skeptic's Dictionary and fellow for Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
• Susann Cokal, BA, 1986, author, Michael L. Printz Award Honor winner
• Angela Davis, MA, 1968, radical activist and philosopher
• Suzette Haden Elgin, PhD, 1973, science fiction author
• Raymond E. Feist, BA, 1977, author
• Nancy Holder, BA, 1976, Bram Stoker Award winner
• Khaled Hosseini, MD, 1993, Afghan-American novelist and physician; his 2003 debut novel, The Kite Runner, was a #1 New York Times bestseller
• Aaron Krach, BA, 1994, writer
• Virgil Nemoianu, Ph.D., 1971, essayist, literary critic, philosopher of culture
• Rex Pickett, BA, 1976, author of Sideways
• Kim Stanley Robinson, BA, 1974; Ph.D., 1982, two-time Nebula and Hugo Award winner
• Alan Russell, BA, 1978, Lefty Award winner and bestselling crime fiction author
• Vernor Vinge, Ph.D., 1971, Hugo Award-winning science fiction author, computer scientist, and mathematician
• Andy Weir, Astounding Award for Best New Writer-winning science fiction author and computer programmer best known for The Martian and Artemis
• Kirby Wright, BA, 1983, poet and writer

  Music and entertainment

• Mark Applebaum, Ph.D., 1996, composer, former professor of music at Stanford University
• Milo Aukerman, Ph.D., 1992, lead singer of punk rock band Descendents
• Em Beihold, BA, 2020, singer and songwriter
• Chaya Czernowin, Ph.D., 1993, composer, Walter Bigelow Rosen Professor of Music at Harvard University
• Steven Dehler, BA, 2010, model, actor, and dancer
• Paul Dresher, MA, 1976, composer, guitarist, and improviser
• Nathan East, BA, 1978, bass guitarist
• David Felder, Ph.D., 1983, composer, SUNY Distinguished Professor at the University at Buffalo
• Jon Foreman, did not graduate, guitarist of rock band Switchfoot
• Tim Foreman, did not graduate, bassist of rock band Switchfoot
• Ben Gleib, BA, 2000, actor and comedian
• Maria Ho, BA, 2005, professional poker player
• David Evan Jones, Ph.D., composer, professor of Music, and Porter College Provost at UC Santa Cruz
• Kelly Kim, BA, 1998, professional poker player
• Anthony Neely, BS, 2008, mandopop singer
• Paul Phillips, BS, 1996, professional poker player
• Nicky Youre, BA, 2021, singer and songwriter