List of Pomona College people
Pomona College (/pəˈmoʊnə/ pə-MOH-nə[2]) is an elite{{#section:Pomona College|reputation reference}} private liberal arts college in Claremont, California, and the founding member of the Claremont Colleges consortium.[3] Many notable individuals have been affiliated with the college as graduates, non-graduating attendees, faculty, staff, or administrators. Since its founding in 1887, Pomona has graduated 131 classes of students. The college enrolls approximately 0 students as of the spring 2025 semester and has roughly 25,000 living alumni.[4] The top industries for graduates include technology; education; consulting and professional services; finance; government, law, and politics; arts, entertainment, and media; healthcare and social services; nonprofits; and research.[5][6] Pomona employs faculty members as of the spring 2025 semester. The college has had presidents, the first four of whom were Congregational ministers. The current president, , took office in January 2025.
Notable alumni
Arts and letters
Visual art
Name | Class year | Notability | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Milford Zornes | 1934 | California Scene Painting watercolor artist | [7] |
Roger Edward Kuntz | 1948 | Landscape painter | [8] |
Marcia Hafif | 1951 | Artist, known for minimalist and process art works | [9] |
Barbara T. Smith | 1953 | Performance artist | [10] |
Helen Pashgian | 1956 | Light and Space artist | [11] |
James Strombotne | 1956 | Painter | [12] |
Mary GrandPré | 1960s[lower-alpha 1] | Illustrator, best known for her work on the U.S. editions of the Harry Potter books | [13] |
James Turrell | 1965 | Light and Space artist, known for skyspaces and Roden Crater land art project | [14][15] |
Judy Fiskin | 1966 | Photographer and video artist | [16] |
Chris Burden | 1969 | Performance, sculpture, and installation artist | [17][18][19] |
Peter Shelton | 1973 | Sculptor | [20] |
Miko Lim | 2002 | Director and photographer | [21] |
Film and television
Music
Name | Class year | Notability | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
John Cage | Attended 1928–1930 | Avant-garde composer, musician, and poet | [59][60][61] |
Vladimir Ussachevsky | 1935 | Composer of electronic music | [62] |
Robert Shaw | 1938 | Fourteen-time Grammy-winning conductor | [63] |
Chris Strachwitz | Transferred 1952 | Grammy-winning record label executive and producer | [64] |
Kris Kristofferson | 1958 | Writer, singer-songwriter, actor, and musician | [36][65] |
Douglas Leedy | 1959 | Composer and music scholar | [66] |
Frank Zappa | Auditor, c. 1959 | Prolific musician, member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame | [67] |
Lucy Shelton | 1965 | Soprano | [68] |
David Noon | 1968 | Composer | [69] |
David Murray | 1977 | Jazz musician | [70] |
Frank Albinder | 1980 | Conductor, former director of Chanticleer | [71] |
Eric Friedl | 1988 | Musician, The Oblivians; owner of Goner Records | [72] |
Christine Fan | Attended 1990s[lower-alpha 1] | American-born Taiwanese singer and actress | [73] |
Chris Cain | 1999 | Musician, We Are Scientists | [74] |
Keith Murray | 2000 | Musician, We Are Scientists | [74] |
Tunji Balogun | 2004 | Record label executive, CEO of Def Jam Recordings and co-founder of Keep Cool Records | [75] |
Journalism and non-fiction writing
Name | Class year | Notability | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Relman Morin | 1929 | Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the Associated Press | [77][36][78] |
Mark Gayn | 1933 | Foreign affairs correspondent for the Toronto Star | [79][80] |
Paul Fussell | 1947 | Cultural and literary historian, known for criticism of the romanticization of war | [81][42] |
H. Arnold Barton | 1953 | Historian of Scandinavian history | [82][83] |
Terry Drinkwater | 1958 | CBS News correspondent | [84] |
Doug McConnell | 1967 | Television journalist | [85][86] |
Bill Keller | 1970 | Executive editor of The New York Times and winner of the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting | [87][76][88] |
Verlyn Klinkenborg | 1974 | Author, editor, and academic, known for his writings on rural America | [89][90] |
Joe Palca | 1974 | NPR science correspondent | [91] |
Mary Schmich | 1975 | Columnist for the Chicago Tribune and winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary | [92][93][94] |
Lynn Walford | 1979 | Automotive technology writer | [95] |
Richard Pérez‑Peña | 1984 | Reporter for The New York Times | [96] |
Zafar Sobhan | 1992 | Bangladeshi journalist and editor of the Dhaka Tribune | [97] |
Judd Legum | 2000 | Journalist, lawyer, and political staffer; founder of ThinkProgress | [98][99] |
Ashlee Vance | 2000 | Technology and business journalist, author | [100] |
Conor Friedersdorf | 2002 | Staff writer for The Atlantic, known for civil libertarian perspectives | [101] |
Writing
Name | Class year | Notability | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Richard Armour | 1927 | Author, humorist, professor | [102] |
Ved Mehta | 1956 | Indian writer | [103] |
William Irwin Thompson | 1962 | Poet, cultural historian, cultural critic | [104][105] |
Ray Young Bear | Attended 1969–1972 | Poet and novelist, known for work on contemporary Native American identity | [106] |
Garrett Hongo | 1973 | Japanese-American poet | [107] |
Louis Menand | 1973 | Writer, The Metaphysical Club (which won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for History) | [108][109] |
Richard Preston | 1976 | Writer for The New Yorker and bestselling author of The Hot Zone | [42] |
Douglas Preston | 1978 | Writer for The New Yorker and Smithsonian, bestselling thriller author | [110] |
Vikram Chandra | 1984 | Indian-American writer | [51][111] |
Tom Lin | 2018 | Carnegie Medal–winning author | [112] |
Other
Name | Class year | Notability | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Fong Foo Sec | Preparatory school,[lower-alpha 2] transferred 1901 | Chinese educator and publicist, Pomona's first Asian student, English department editor of The Commercial Press | [113][114] |
Essae Martha Culver | 1905 | First state librarian of Louisiana and president of the American Library Association | [115] |
Clara Breed | 1927 | Librarian who opposed Japanese internment during World War II and supported children sent to camps | [116][117] |
Edwin B. Crittenden | 1938 | Alaskan architect | [118] |
David Ossman | Transferred in 1956 | Writer and comedian best known as a member of the Firesign Theatre | [119][35] |
Twyla Tharp | Transferred in 1960 | Emmy and Tony award-winning dancer and choreographer | [120][121] |
Marianne Williamson | Attended 1970–1972 | Author, spiritual leader, activist, and 2020 presidential candidate | [122][41] |
Don Daglow | 1974 | Video game designer and producer | [123] |
Eddie Dombrower | 1980 | Video game designer and producer | [123] |
Alex Linder | 1988 | Owner and operator of the Vanguard News Network, an antisemitic, white supremacist website | [124] |
Government and law
U.S. Senators and Congresspeople
Name | Class year | Notability | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Alan Cranston | Transferred 1933 | Democratic U.S. Senator for California (1969–1993) | [125][126][127] |
Frank Evans | Attended 1941–1943 | Democratic U.S. Representative for Colorado's 3rd district (1965–1979) | [128][129] |
Chip Pashayan | 1963 | Republican U.S. Representative for California's 17th district (1979–1991) | [128][130] |
Brian Schatz | 1994 | Democratic U.S. Senator for Hawaii (2012–present) | [131][132][128][133] |
Federal officials
Name | Class year | Notability | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Leslie A. Wheeler | 1921 | U.S. government official and diplomat who helped liberalize international agricultural trade | [134][135] |
William B. Bader | 1953 | United States Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs | [136] |
Esther Brimmer | 1983 | U.S. foreign policy expert and Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs | [137] |
David Holmes | 1997 | Diplomat and counselor for political affairs at the U.S Embassy in Ukraine | [138] |
State and city officials
Name | Class year | Notability | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Silsby Spalding | Preparatory school,[lower-alpha 2] c. 1904 | First mayor of Beverly Hills, California | [140][141] |
Mark Wyland | 1968 | Republican California Senator | [142] |
Ellen Bard | 1971 | Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives | [143] |
Tick Segerblom | 1971 | Democratic Nevada Senator | [144][145] |
Cristina Garcia | 1999 | Democratic California Assemblyperson | [146] |
Judges
Diplomats
Name | Class year | Notability | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Hugh S. Gibson | Attended c. 1900 | U.S. interwar diplomat, ambassador, proponent of the professionalization of the Foreign Service | [160][161] |
Julian Nava | 1951 | First Mexican-American to become the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico | [162] |
Kenneth L. Brown | 1959 | U.S. ambassador to Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, and Congo-Brazzaville | [163] |
Activists
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Virginia Prince | 1935 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Myrlie Evers‑Williams | John Payton | Kafi D. Blumenfield
Military
Business
ScienceReligion
AcademiaCollege presidents
Professors and academics
Athletics
Notable faculty
Presidents of Pomona CollegeFrom 1888 to 1890, trustee Charles B. Sumner was the college's "financial agent with supervisory authority", and assumed many of the duties of a president.[283][349][350] The subsequent presidents are:
│ 1890 │ 1900 │ 1910 │ 1920 │ 1930 │ 1940 │ 1950 │ 1960 │ 1970 │ 1980 │ 1990 │ 2000 │ 2010 │ 2020 Presidents of Pomona College (1887–present) See alsoNotesReferences
External linksWikimedia Commons has media related to Pomona College people.
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