List of San Diego State University people

Academia

• Joan Bybee, professor emerita at the University of New Mexico, linguist; M.A. Linguistics
• David Daniel, professor emeritus of psychology at James Madison University
• Chukuka S. Enwemeka, emeritus distinguished professor, University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee; president and vice chancellor of James Hope University, Lagos, Nigeria.
• Tom Garrison, distinguished professor emeritus of marine science at Orange Coast College, author, writer of Emmy Award-winning Oceanus, M.S. Marine Biology
• Jacques Gauthier, paleotonlogist and professor at Yale University and Peabody Museum of Natural History; B.S. Zoology 1973, M.S. Biological Science 1980
• Arthur Jensen, professor emeritus of educational psychology at University of California, Berkeley; M.A. Psychology 1952
• Samuel Kounaves, professor of chemistry at Tufts University
• M. Brian Maple,professor of physics at University of California, San Diego; B.S. Physics 1963
• LaVerne E. Ragster, M.S., marine biologist; 4th president of the University of the Virgin Islands 2002–2009
• Robert Titzer, professor and infant researcher; teaching certificate
• Paul J. Zak, professor and founder of the Neuroscience as a Service (NaaS) platform Immersion

Art

• John Baldessari, conceptual artist; B.A., 1953; M.A., 1957^[1]
• Dan Corson, artist; B.A. Theater, 1986
• Amy Devers, furniture designer and TV personality (Freeform Furniture, Designer People, Trading Spaces, Home Made Simple); B.A. Furniture Design, 1997^[2]
• June Edmonds, painter and public artist
• Fred Holle, fine art painter and educator
• Bridgette Meinhold, artist and author with a focus on sustainability; B.S. Mechanical Engineering 2003
• Marisa Scheinfeld, photographer; M.F.A., 2011
• Suzy Spafford, cartoonist, creator of "Suzy's Zoo"; B.F.A., 1957
• Salvador Torres, artist and muralist, father of the Chicano Park murals; M.A. Painting and Drawing, 1973
• Don Weeke, fiber and gourd artist, M.S.W, 1976

Crime

• Duncan D. Hunter, US representative, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to misuse campaign funds^[3]
• Kristin Rossum, toxicologist convicted of the murder of her husband^[4]

Entertainment

• Lloyd Bryan Molander Adams, executive producer, channel executive and director
• K.D. Aubert, fashion model, actress and Fantanas member
• Jesse Billauer, quadriplegic, motivational speaker, surfer; B.A. Communications, 2002
• Haley Bishop, actress
• Luke Brugnara, businessman, casino mogul
• Justin Burquist, filmmaker and music video director
• Brian Patrick Butler, actor and filmmaker
• Russell Carpenter, cinematographer of Titanic; B.A. English, 1972^[5]
• Destin Daniel Cretton, filmmaker
• Adam Daniel, actor
• Erika De La Cruz, television host and media personality for Fashion Week; B.A. Film and Fashion
• DJ Rectangle, DJ/turntablist and Grammy Award-nominated dance/hip hop/club record producer; B.B.A.
• Fred Dryer, actor-producer and former NFL player
• Faye Emerson, actress
• Mickey Faerch, burlesque dancer and actress
• Matt Flynn, drummer of Maroon 5 (attended briefly)
• Courtney Friel, television host; B.A. Political Science, 2002
• Steve Froehlich, actor
• Vic Fuentes, lead singer of Pierce the Veil
• Ted Giannoulas, San Diego Chicken
• Bob Goen, media personality and Entertainment Tonight anchor-correspondent; B.A. Telecommunications and Film, 1976^[6]
• Crystal Harris, model
• Benjamin Howard, filmmaker
• Brion James, actor
• Darren Kavinoky, lawyer, TV personality
• Julie Kavner, actress; voice of Marge Simpson, The Simpsons; B.A. Drama, 1971
• Kathleen Kennedy, film producer; B.A. Telecommunications and Film, 1976
• Cy Kuckenbaker, filmmaker, 1998
• Akira Lane, actress, model, and pornographic film director
• George Lewis, NBC Nightly News correspondent
• Joe Liggins, R&B musician who wrote and recorded "The Honeydripper"
• Jim Lindberg, lead singer of punk band Pennywise (attended briefly)
• Art Linkletter (1912–2010), veteran entertainer; B.A. Teaching, 1934
• Cleavon Little, actor; B.A. Drama
• Manny MUA, YouTuber; B.A., 2013
• Abby Martin, journalist, RT TV network; 9/11 conspiracy theorist; activist with mediaroots.org; B.A. Political Science, 2006
• Peter Menefee, costume- and stage-designer
• Adam Montoya, Internet celebrity, known as SeaNanners; B.A., 2006^[7]
• Kathy Najimy, actress; voice of Peggy Hill on King of the Hill
• Gregory Peck, actor
• Lisa Dergan Podsednik, model
• Zach Porter, lead singer of pop band Allstar Weekend
• Marion Ross, TV actress (Happy Days)
• Michael Matteo Rossi, filmmaker^[8]
• Saweetie, rapper; attended SDSU for two years before transferring to the University of Southern California
• Wally Schlotter, chairman of the San Diego Film Commission 1978–1996
• Whitney Shay, blues singer, 2008^[9]
• Tammie Souza, television meteorologist; B.S. Biology
• Susanna Thompson, actress; B.A. Drama, 1980
• Alison Waite, model
• Carl Weathers, actor/former professional football player, Apollo Creed in Rocky
• Kimberly Weinberger, actress
• Raquel Welch, actress
• Steve Yuhas, radio broadcaster and television personality
• Jeanne Zelasko, sports journalist, Fox Sports

Business

• Charles Brandes, founder of Brandes Investment Partners; B.A. Economics, 1965
• Norman E. Brinker, founder of Steak & Ale, former president of Jack in the Box, restaurateur innovator; B.S. Management 1957^[10]
• Adelia Coffman, founding CFO of Qualcomm Incorporated; B.S. Accounting 1976^[10]
• Vince Ferraro, senior general management and marketing executive, ExecRank's 2012 list of top 50 CMOs; B.S. Business Administration
• Van Arsdale France, '34, founding employee training manager at Disneyland, co-creator of "Disney University"
• Maruta Gardner, educator and community activist; M.S. Administration and Supervision 1976
• Rick Hamada, CEO of Avnet; B.S. Finance 1982^[11]
• Chris R. Hansen, hedge fund manager, unsuccessfully tried to lure the Sacramento Kings to Seattle in 2013^[12]
• Nik Ingersöll, entrepreneur and designer^[13][14]
• W. Craig Jelinek, president and chief executive officer of Costco^[15]
• Peggy Johnson, former executive vice president of Qualcomm, former executive vice president of Business Development at Microsoft, current CEO of Magic Leap; B.S. Electrical Engineering^[16]
• Doug Manchester, real estate developer, namesake of Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel in San Diego, publisher of the San Diego Union Tribune; B.S. Finance 1965
• Sheryl Palmer, CEO of Taylor Morrison
• Robert O. Peterson, founder of Jack in the Box
• Sol Price, founder of Price Club (later merged with Costco); B.A. Philosophy 1936^[17]
• S. Donley Ritchey, former CEO and president of Lucky Stores and current director of The McClatchy Company; B.S. Accounting 1955, M.S. Management 1963^[18]
• Jim Sinegal, Costco chief executive officer, named to Time Magazine's 2006 list of the 100 most influential people; B.A. 1959
• James M. Sweeney, founder and former CEO, CareMark, Inc. (now CVS CareMark), B.S. 1969
• Russell Weiner, founder of RockStar Energy Drink; B.A. Political Science 1992^[19]
• Mike Wells, Prudential plc chief executive officer^[20]

Literature and journalism

• Greg Bear, science fiction author; B.A. English, 1973
• Darwin J. Flakoll, journalist, writer, and translater^[21]
• Sid Fleischman, author of children's books and screenplays; B.A. English
• Justin Halpern, author; B.A., 2003
• David Hasemyer, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist; B.A. Journalism 1979^[22]
• David McKenna, writer, American History X
• Andy Rathbone, author of ...for Dummies books, technology writer; B.A. Literature, 1986
• Constance Reid, author of several biographies of mathematicians and popular books about mathematics; B.A. 1938
• J. Michael Straczynski, writer; B.A. Psychology and Sociology, 1976
• Joan D. Vinge, author; B.A., 1971

Military

• Robert Cardenas, retired brigadier general; B.A. 1972
• Thomas J. Haynes, Air National Guard general
• William J. Marks, USN commander, spokesman for the Defense Intelligence Agency; M.A. Mass Communication and Media Studies, 2007
• Merrill McPeak, retired Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force; B.A. Economics, 1957
• James E. McPherson, retired Navy officer, former 39th Judge Advocate General of the Navy; Bachelor of Public Administration, 1977
• Eugene P. Wilkinson, first commanding officer of the USS Nautilus (SSN-571), the world's first nuclear submarine; B.S. Chemistry, 1938
• Donald Erwin Wilson, U.S. Navy admiral; B.S. Accounting, 1954; M.S. Management, 1955
• Scott H. Swift, U.S. Navy retired admiral; B.A. 1979; served as the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet from May 27, 2015 to May 17, 2018

Politics and government

• Muhammed Al-Jasser, PhD (at UCR), Saudi Arabian economist who served as the Minister of Economy and Planning and chairman of Saudi Telecom; B.A. Economics 1979^[23]
• David Alvarez, San Diego City Council member
• Karen Bass, mayor of Los Angeles
• Roger Benitez, U.S. federal judge; B.A., 1974
• Clair Burgener, U.S. representative from California, 1973–1983
• Ken Calvert, U.S. representative from California; B.A., 1975^[24]
• Ammar Campa-Najjar, Democratic candidate
• John Duarte, U.S. representative from California; B.A. Finance, 1989
• Kevin Faulconer, mayor of San Diego; B.A. Political Science, 1990
• Dusty Foggo, former CIA official
• Georgette Gomez, San Diego City Council member
• Mike Gotch, California state assemblyman and San Diego City Council member
• Shirley Horton, assemblywoman 2002–2008
• Duncan D. Hunter, former member of Congress, California; convicted felon^[25]
• Brian Jones (born 1968), politician serving in the California State Senate
• Steven T. Kuykendall, former member of Congress, California; M.B.A., 1974^[26]
• Bill Lowery, lobbyist and former member of Congress^[27]
• Mark Meckler, political activist
• Rodney Melville, US judge
• Celeste Rodriguez, California state assemblywoman
• Robin Robinson, Bucks County Recorder of Deeds
• Mary Salas, California state assemblywoman
• Lori Saldana, California state assemblywoman
• Jerry Sanders, former mayor of San Diego, former chief of police
• Glenn E. Trowbridge (born 1943), Republican member of the Nevada Assembly^[28]
• Howard Wayne, assemblyman 1996–2002
• Leon Williams, San Diego City Council member (1969–1982), San Diego County Board of Supervisors supervisor (1982–1994), first Black member of both institutions^[29]
• Bob Wilson, former member of Congress, namesake of Bob Wilson Naval Hospital^[30]

Science

• Belle Benchley, director of San Diego Zoo
• Laurance Doyle, SETI astronomer; M.S. Astronomy
• Gordon Eugene Martin, pioneering piezoelectric materials researcher for underwater sound transducers^[31]
• Ellen Ochoa, PhD (from Stanford University), first Latina astronaut; B.S. Physics 1980
• Mark M. Phillips, PhD (from UC Santa Cruz), US astronomer and cosmologist, Gruber Prize Laureate of 2007 for the discovery of dark energy and the accelerating universe, member of the High-Z Supernova Search Team; B.S. Astronomy 1973
• Bernard Rimland, PhD, autism researcher and founder of the Autism Society of America; M.S. Psychology
• J. Michael Scott, PhD (from Oregon State University), senior scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey; M.S. Marine Biology
• Gina Simmons Schneider, PhD, psychoanalyst, writer; B.A. Psychology 1983

Sports

Retired and former faculty

• Nathalia Crane, poet, deceased professor of English
• Thomas B. Day, physicist, deceased president of SDSU 1978–1996^[41][42]
• Suzette Haden Elgin, author, retired linguistics professor
• Jerry Farber, civil rights activist and former child actor, professor emeritus of English & Comparative Literature
• Clinton Jencks, PhD, retired professor of Economics
• Lev Kirshner, soccer player and soccer coach
• Noel Loomis, deceased science fiction and mystery writer, English instructor
• Peter Neumeyer, author, retired literature professor
• John V. Pavlik, founding director of the SDSU School of Communication
• Anna Prieto Sandoval, Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation chairwoman, and teacher of the Kumeyaay language
• Jerome Sattler, retired professor of psychology
• Vernor Vinge, PhD, science fiction writer and visionary, retired professor of mathematics
• Joy Zedler, ecologist and botanist, founder of SDSU Pacific Estuarine Research Laboratory