25 Notable alumni of
Biola University
Updated:
Biola University is 1302nd in the world, 468th in North America, and 440th in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 25 notable alumni from Biola University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Noah Munck
- Occupations
- actorfilm actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Noah Bryant Munck is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Gibby in the Nickelodeon series iCarly and "Naked Rob" Smith in the ABC comedy series The Goldbergs. He also produces electronic music under the alias NoxiK and creates independent comedy videos on YouTube.
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Scott Derrickson
- Enrolled in Biola University
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts in humanities
- Occupations
- writerfilm directordirectorscreenwriterfilm producer
- Biography
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Scott Derrickson is an American filmmaker. He is best known for his work in the horror genre, directing films such as The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), Sinister (2012) and The Black Phone (2021). He is also known for the superhero film Doctor Strange (2016), based on the Marvel Comics character.
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Zach King
- Occupations
- screenwritermanufactureractorexecutive producerfilm producer
- Biography
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Zachary Michael "Zach" King is an American internet personality based in Los Angeles. He is most known for his "magic vines," which are six-second videos digitally edited to look as if he is doing magic. He calls his videos "digital sleight of hand." He began posting videos on YouTube in 2008 and in 2013 he started posting videos to Vine. King posted his first video to TikTok in 2016, and has since attracted over 90 million followers, making him the sixth most-followed individual on the platform.
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John Thune
- Enrolled in Biola University
- In 1983 graduated with Bachelor of Science in business
- Occupations
- directorpoliticiancongressional staffinternational forum participantexecutive director
- Biography
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John Randolph Thune is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from South Dakota, a seat he has held since 2005. Thune is in his fourth Senate term and is the Senate minority whip, a post he has held since 2021. A member of the Republican Party, Thune served three terms as the U.S. representative for South Dakota's at-large congressional district from 1997 to 2003.
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Nabeel Qureshi
- Occupations
- writermissionary
- Biography
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Nabeel Asif Qureshi was a Pakistani-American evangelical Christian apologist. Raised by a devout Ahmadi family, Qureshi converted to Christianity from Ahmadiyya Islam as a university student following several years of debate with a Christian friend.
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Judith Hill
- Occupations
- singer
- Biography
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Judith Glory Hill is an American singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, California. She has provided backing vocals for such artists as Michael Jackson, Prince, and Josh Groban. In 2009, Hill was chosen as Jackson's duet partner for the song "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" during his This Is It rehearsals. After Jackson's death in 2009, she, along with the rest of the This Is It cast members, performed at Jackson's memorial service and attracted global attention when she sang the lead on the song "Heal the World". Hill's rise to fame is recounted in 20 Feet from Stardom, a documentary film that tells the untold story of the backup singers behind some of the "greatest musical legends of the 21st century". She is also a featured artist on the film's soundtrack. She won the Grammy Award for Best Music Film for her performance in this film.
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Cassie Randolph
- Occupations
- speech and language therapistreality television participant
- Biography
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Cassandra Ann Randolph is an American television personality who came to national prominence in 2019, as the winner of season 23 of The Bachelor, starring Colton Underwood.
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Sikhanyiso Dlamini
- Occupations
- business executivepolitician
- Biography
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Princess Sikhanyiso Dlamini is a Swazi princess and politician. She is the eldest daughter of King Mswati III of Eswatini, and is the country's current Minister of Information and Communication Technology.
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Steve Bridges
- Occupations
- impressionistfilm actorcomedianactor
- Biography
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Stephen Lynn Bridges was an American comedian, impressionist, and actor who was known for his impressions of politicians, television characters and broadcasters including Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Barney Fife, Homer Simpson, Tom Brokaw, Paul Harvey, and Rush Limbaugh.
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Dennis Taylor
- Occupations
- film directorsongwritersingerfilm producer
- Biography
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Roland Stephen Taylor is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, music executive, film maker, assistant professor, and actor. A figure in what has come to be known as Christian alternative rock, Taylor enjoyed a successful solo career during the 1980s, and also served in the short-lived group Chagall Guevara. In contrast to many Christian musical artists, his songs have often taken aim at Christian hypocrisy or "error" with the use of satirical, sardonic lyrics. In 1997, he founded the record label Squint Entertainment, which fueled the careers of artists such as Sixpence None the Richer, Chevelle, and Burlap to Cashmere. Despite this success, Taylor was ousted from the label by its parent, Word Entertainment, in 2001. He has produced and written for numerous musical acts, one of the most consistent being Newsboys. As a film-maker, Taylor co-wrote, directed, and produced the feature films Down Under the Big Top, The Second Chance, and Blue Like Jazz. After a decade and a half of hiatus, Taylor returned to performing music in 2010 as the front-man for Steve Taylor & The Perfect Foil, a supergroup he founded with Peter Furler, Jimmy Abegg, and John Mark Painter. Along with a university residency and continued filmmaking, Taylor would resume work on unfinished Chagall Guevara material into the 2020s.
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Solomon Mercado
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Solomon Jemuel Rayos Mercado is a Filipino-American former professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Known as the "Sol-Train", he had an impressive PBA rookie season and eventually became a reliable point guard for most of the teams he played for.
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George Bell
- Years
- 1957-.. (age 67)
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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George Bell, born in 1957 in Portsmouth, Virginia, is the tallest man in the United States at 7 feet 8 inches as recognized by Guinness World Records. He was a deputy sheriff in Norfolk, Virginia, he played college basketball at Morris Brown College, Biola University with the Harlem Wizards and Harlem Globetrotters show teams.
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Daniel B. Wallace
- Occupations
- theologianwriter
- Biography
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Daniel Baird Wallace is an American professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also the founder and executive director of the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts, the purpose of which is digitizing all known Greek manuscripts of the New Testament via digital photographs.
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Danny Yamashiro
- Occupations
- autobiographerreligious writermissionaryresearchermotivational speaker
- Biography
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Daniel Keauhou Matsu Yamashiro, also known as D. K. M. Yamashiro, is an American clergyman, author, radio and podcast host, researcher, Christian media personality, and a chaplain at MIT who survived a 400-foot (120-meter) fall from the ridge of the Nuʻuanu Pali in Honolulu, Hawaii, at 18. He is the first researcher to present aggregate data on childhood trauma as it relates to American presidents. Yamashiro also produced the first comprehensive study on American presidents that investigates the influence of religious development from a lens of trauma.
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Todd Worrell
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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Todd Roland Worrell is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played all or part of eleven seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball, serving as those teams' closer for most of his seasons from 1985 through 1997. During his playing career, Worrell was a three-time National League (NL) All-Star.
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Josh Staumont
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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Joshua Tyler Staumont is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Kansas City Royals. He made his MLB debut in 2019.
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David Eastman
- Occupations
- politicianparamedicfirefightermilitary officer
- Biography
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David C. Eastman Jr. is a Republican member of the Alaska House of Representatives, currently representing District 27. He originally represented District 10 from 2017 until 2022. His career has been marked by various controversial statements and political positions.
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Mark Joseph
- Years
- 1968-.. (age 56)
- Occupations
- music historiancomposerrecord producerfilm producer
- Biography
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Mark Joseph is an American multimedia producer, author, and founder/CEO of MJM Entertainment Group and Bully! Pulpit. He lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife and children.
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Aaron Sams
- Occupations
- teacher
- Biography
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Aaron Sams is one of the developers of the flipped classroom model for education, which seeks to remove lecture from classroom onto video so that teachers can dedicate class time to more interactive activities and extra help. Sams developed the idea with fellow chemistry teacher Jonathan Bergmann at Woodland Park High School, at first to help students who fell behind and later to completely change the structure of their classes. The popularity of the online videos with both students and those outside their classes has led Sams to speak at conferences and train teachers in the method. He was also awarded the 2009 Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching for his work.
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Trevor Oaks
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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Trevor Scott Oaks is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 7th round of the 2014 MLB Draft. He played one season in Major League Baseball (MLB) in 2018 for the Kansas City Royals.
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Harry Rimmer
- Years
- 1890-1952 (aged 62)
- Occupations
- pastorevangelist
- Biography
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Harry Rimmer was an American evangelist and creationist. He is most prominent as a defender of creationism in the United States, a fundamentalist leader and writer of anti-evolution publications.
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Russ Hiebert
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
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Russel "Russ" Hiebert is a Canadian lawyer, politician and businessman. He was the Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada for South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale from 2004 to 2015. He was born in Steinbach, Manitoba. He has a BA from Biola University, and an MBA and LL.B from the University of British Columbia. Hiebert was a practicing lawyer and small businessman prior to entering Parliament. He is married with four children.
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Dennis Linthicum
- Years
- 1950s
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Dennis Linthicum is an American politician serving in the Oregon Senate. A member of the Republican Party, he has served in the senate since 2017.
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Robert Pierce
- Occupations
- basketball coach
- Biography
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Robert Pierce is an American former professional basketball coach. He was the head coach for Sun Rockers Shibuya (1997-2001), Shiga Lakestars (2008-2010), Akita Northern Happinets (2010-2011), and the Sendai 89ers (2011-2013) in Japan and a former college basketball assistant coach for University of Southern California. He can speak English, Japanese, Spanish, Chinese and Korean languages. Currently he is a Director of Instruction for the Five-Star Sports China, coaches the international school of Beijing men's basketball team, and serves for the Miami Heat of the NBA as the scout in China.
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Adam Christing
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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Adam Christing is an American comedian, author, and motivational speaker from La Mirada, California. He is the founder and president of Clean Comedians, an organization composed of comedians, speakers, and entertainers who refrain from using objectionable material and profanity during their performances.
