100 Notable alumni of
San Jose State University
Updated:
San Jose State University is 363rd in the world, 149th in North America, and 140th in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from San Jose State 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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Stevie Nicks
- Occupations
- recording artistfilm directorsingersinger-songwriterdiarist
- Biography
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Stephanie Lynn Nicks is an American singer-songwriter, known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist.
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Lindsey Buckingham
- Occupations
- composerrecord producersingerguitaristsinger-songwriter
- Biography
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Lindsey Adams Buckingham is an American musician, record producer, and the lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Fleetwood Mac from 1975 to 1987 and 1997 to 2018. In addition to his tenure with Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham has released seven solo studio albums and three live albums. As a member of Fleetwood Mac, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Buckingham was ranked 100th in Rolling Stone's 2011 list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Buckingham is known for his fingerpicking guitar style.
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Kurtwood Smith
- Occupations
- actortelevision actorcharacter actorfilm actordub actor
- Biography
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Kurtwood Larson Smith is an American actor. He is known for playing Clarence Boddicker in RoboCop (1987), Robert Griggs in Rambo III (1988), and Red Forman in That '70s Show (1998–2006) and That '90s Show (2023–2024), as well as for his many appearances in science fiction films and television programs (Lou Grant, Star Trek, The X-Files). He also starred in the seventh season of 24. He voiced Gene on Regular Show (2012–2017), portrayed Leslie Claret on Patriot (2015–2018), and Old Man Peterson on The Ranch (2017–2020).
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Jan Koum
- Occupations
- engineercomputer scientistprogrammer
- Biography
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Jan Borysovych Koum is a Ukrainian-American billionaire businessman and computer programmer. He is the co-founder and former CEO of WhatsApp, a mobile messaging app which was acquired by Facebook in 2014 for US$19.3 billion. According to Forbes, he has an estimated net worth of US$15.2 billion as of October 2023, making him one of the richest people in the world. Koum was ranked 44th on the Forbes' list of richest Americans in 2023 with a net worth of $15.1 billion.
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Kevin Pollak
- Occupations
- film actorcharacter actorscreenwriterpodcastertelevision actor
- Biography
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Kevin Elliot Pollak is an American actor, comedian, impressionist and podcast host. He has appeared in over 90 films; his roles include Sam Weinberg in Rob Reiner's A Few Good Men, Jacob Goldman in Grumpy Old Men and its sequel Grumpier Old Men; Todd Hockney in The Usual Suspects, Phillip Green in Martin Scorsese's Casino, and Bobby Chicago in End of Days.
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Christopher Darden
- Occupations
- lawyer
- Biography
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Christopher Allen Darden is an American lawyer, author, lecturer, and judicial candidate. He worked for 15 years in the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office, where he gained national attention as a co-prosecutor in the murder trial of O. J. Simpson.
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Joey Chestnut
- Occupations
- competitive eaterreality television participant
- Biography
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Joseph Christian Chestnut is an American competitive eater. As of 2024, he is ranked first in the world by Major League Eating.
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Omar Benson Miller
- Occupations
- actorfilm actorfilm directortelevision actorvoice actor
- Biography
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Omar Benson Miller is an American actor. He is known for his work as Walter Simmons on CSI: Miami (2009–2012), as Charles Greane on Ballers (2015–2019), as the voice of Raphael on Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2018–2020) and its 2022 film, and on the CBS comedy series The Unicorn (2019–2021).
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Gordon Moore
- Occupations
- engineerchemistphilanthropistphysicistentrepreneur
- Biography
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Gordon Earle Moore was an American businessman, engineer, and the co-founder and emeritus chairman of Intel Corporation. He proposed Moore's law which makes the observation that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit (IC) doubles about every two years.
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Dick Vermeil
- Occupations
- American football playerAmerican football coachwinegrowertelevision presenter
- Biography
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Richard Albert Vermeil is an American former football coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. He was the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles for seven seasons, the St. Louis Rams for three, and the Kansas City Chiefs for five. Prior to the NFL, he was the head football coach at Hillsdale High School from 1960 to 1962, Napa Junior College in 1964, and UCLA from 1974 to 1975. With UCLA, Vermeil led the team to victory in the 1976 Rose Bowl. Vermeil's NFL tenure would see him improve the fortunes of teams that had a losing record before he arrived and bring them all to the playoffs by his third season, which included a Super Bowl title with the Rams.
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Paul Kantner
- Occupations
- banjoistsinger-songwriterrecording artistguitarist
- Biography
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Paul Lorin Kantner was an American rock musician. He is best known as the co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and a secondary vocalist of Jefferson Airplane, a leading psychedelic rock band of the counterculture era. He continued these roles as a member of Jefferson Starship, Jefferson Airplane's successor band.
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Tommie Smith
- Occupations
- coachsprinterAmerican football player
- Biography
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Tommie C. Smith is an American former track and field athlete and wide receiver in the American Football League. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, Smith, aged 24, won the 200-meter sprint finals and gold medal in 19.83 seconds – the first time the 20-second barrier was broken officially. His Black Power salute with John Carlos atop the medal podium caused controversy, as it was seen as politicizing the Olympic Games. It remains a symbolic moment in the history of the Black Power movement.
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Amy Tan
- Occupations
- children's writerscreenwriteressayistnovelistwriter
- Biography
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Amy Ruth Tan is an American author best known for her novel The Joy Luck Club (1989), which was adapted into a 1993 film. She is also known for other novels, short story collections, children's books, and a memoir.
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Dave Meltzer
- Occupations
- journalist
- Biography
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David Allen Meltzer is an American journalist who reports on professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Since 1983, Meltzer has been the publisher and editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON), a dirtsheet primarily addressing professional wrestling. He has also written for the Oakland Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, Yahoo! Sports, SI.com, and The National Sports Daily. He has extensively covered mixed martial arts since UFC 1 in 1993 and also covers the sport for SB Nation. He has been called "the most accomplished reporter in sports journalism" by Frank Deford of Sports Illustrated.
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Tom Smothers
- Occupations
- screenwritingmusiciantelevision presentercomediancomposer
- Biography
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Thomas Bolyn Smothers III was an American comedian, actor, composer, and musician, widely known as half of the musical comedy duo the Smothers Brothers, alongside his younger brother Dick. In the 1960s they were known for their network comedy and variety shows, The Smothers Brothers Show and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
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Coby Bell
- Occupations
- film produceractorfilm actormusiciantelevision actor
- Biography
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Coby Scott Bell is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Jesse Porter on the USA Network original series Burn Notice and professional football player Jason Pitts on The CW/BET comedy-drama The Game. He also co-starred as police officer Tyrone "Ty" Davis, Jr. on the NBC drama Third Watch and as Aaron in the Amazon original series Mad Dogs.
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Dick Smothers
- Occupations
- composertelevision actorracing driveractor
- Biography
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Richard Remick Smothers is an American actor, comedian, composer, and musician. He was half of the musical comedy team the Smothers Brothers, with his older brother Tom.
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Hamza Yusuf
- Occupations
- ʿālimwriterpodcasteruniversity teacher
- Biography
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Hamza Yusuf is an American Islamic scholar, neo-traditionalist, and co-founder of Zaytuna College. He is a proponent of classical learning in Islam and has promoted Islamic sciences and classical teaching methodologies throughout the world.
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Wang Hau-yu
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Wang Hao-yu is a Taiwanese politician.
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Tom Johnston
- Occupations
- singer-songwriterrecording artistguitaristsinger
- Biography
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Charles Thomas Johnston is an American musician. He is a guitarist and vocalist, known principally as a founder, guitarist, lead vocalist and songwriter for the rock group the Doobie Brothers, as well as for his own solo career. He has played off and on with the Doobie Brothers for 50 years, in several styles.
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Omid Kordestani
- Occupations
- businesspersonphilanthropistentrepreneurcomputer scientistmanager
- Biography
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Omid R. Kordestani is an Iranian-American businessman who was the executive chairman at Twitter from October 2015 to June 2020 and a board member of the company until October 2022. He was a senior vice president, the chief business officer, and most recently a special advisor to the chief executive officer and founders at Google from July 2014 to October 2015 and was a director of Vodafone from March 2013 to October 2014. Kordestani had also previously been at Google from May 1999 to April 2009, reaching the position of Senior Vice President for Worldwide Sales and Field Operations.
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Lou Henry Hoover
- Occupations
- politiciangeologistpresident
- Biography
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Lou Henry Hoover was an American philanthropist, geologist, and the first lady of the United States from 1929 to 1933 as the wife of President Herbert Hoover. She was active in community organizations and volunteer groups throughout her life, including the Girl Scouts of the USA, which she led from 1922 to 1925 and from 1935 to 1937. Throughout her life, Hoover supported women's rights and women's independence. She was a polyglot, fluent in Mandarin and well-versed in Latin, and was the primary translator from Latin to English of the complex 16th-century metallurgy text De re metallica.
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John Carlos
- Occupations
- American football playersprinterathletics competitorCanadian football player
- Biography
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John Wesley Carlos is an American former track and field athlete and professional football player. He was the bronze-medal winner in the 200 meters at the 1968 Summer Olympics, where he displayed the Black Power salute on the podium with Tommie Smith. He went on to tie the world record in the 100-yard dash and beat the 200 meters world record (although the latter achievement was never certified). After his track career, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Canadian Football League but retired due to injury.
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Robert Graham
- Occupations
- photographermedalistarchitectprintmakersculptor
- Biography
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Robert Graham was a Mexican-born American sculptor based in the state of California in the United States. His monumental bronzes commemorate the human figure, and are featured in public places across America.
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Patrick Simmons
- Occupations
- composersingerguitarist
- Biography
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Patrick Simmons is an American musician best known as a founding member of the rock band The Doobie Brothers, with whom he was inducted as into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020. Born in Aberdeen, Washington, he has been the only consistent member of the band throughout their tenure.
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Brandon Clarke
- Enrolled in San Jose State University
- Studied in 2015-2017
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Brandon Clarke is a Canadian-American professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs and San José State University Spartans men's basketball team. He was drafted 21st overall by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2019 NBA draft and then immediately traded to the Grizzlies. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2020.
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Esther Wojcicki
- Occupations
- professorjournalistpedagogue
- Biography
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Esther Denise "Woj" Hochman Wojcicki is an American journalist, educator, and vice chair of the Creative Commons advisory council. Wojcicki has studied education and technology. She is the founder of the Palo Alto High School Media Arts Program in Palo Alto, California.
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Mike Honda
- Enrolled in San Jose State University
- In 1968 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- Peace Corpspolitician
- Biography
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Michael Makoto Honda is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in Congress from 2001 to 2017.
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Michael Forest
- Occupations
- aircraft pilotactortelevision actorfilm actorstage actor
- Biography
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Gerald Michael Charlebois, better known as Michael Forest, is an American actor who provides the voices for many animated titles, and played the god Apollo on Star Trek.
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Brian Krzanich
- Occupations
- engineerbusinesspersonentrepreneurchemist
- Biography
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Brian Matthew Krzanich is an American engineer who was CEO of Intel from May 2013 to June 2018. Krzanich joined Intel as an engineer in 1982 and served as chief operating officer (COO) before being promoted to CEO in May 2013. During Krzanich's term as CEO, Intel went through major restructurings and pulled out of the mobile chip market. Because of Krzanich's decisions, Intel also struggled to produce 10-nanometer chips, compared to chip manufacturers TSMC and Samsung, resulting in numerous delays and a loss of market share in the computer chip business to rivals like AMD.
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Ben Nighthorse Campbell
- Enrolled in San Jose State University
- In 1957 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- politicianjudokarancher
- Biography
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Ben Nighthorse Campbell is an American politician who represented Colorado's 3rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1987 to 1993 and was a United States Senator from Colorado from 1993 to 2005. He serves as one of 44 members of the Council of Chiefs of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Tribe. During his time in office, he was the only Native American serving in Congress. He was the last Native American elected to the U.S. Senate until the 2022 election of Cherokee Markwayne Mullin.
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Mary Blair
- Occupations
- painterconcept artistillustrator
- Biography
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Mary Blair was an American artist, animator, and designer. She was prominent in producing art and animation for The Walt Disney Company, drawing concept art for such films as Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Song of the South and Cinderella. Blair also created character designs for enduring attractions such as Disneyland's It's a Small World, the fiesta scene in El Rio del Tiempo in the Mexico pavilion in Epcot's World Showcase, and an enormous mosaic inside Disney's Contemporary Resort. Several of her illustrated children's books from the 1950s remain in print, such as I Can Fly by Ruth Krauss. Blair was inducted into the group of Disney Legends in 1991.
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Peter Ueberroth
- Occupations
- businesspersonfunctionarywater polo player
- Biography
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Peter Victor Ueberroth is an American sports and business executive known for his involvement in the Olympics and in Major League Baseball. A Los Angeles–based businessman, he was the chairman of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee which brought the games to Los Angeles in 1984. Ueberroth was named 1984's Time Man of the Year for his success in organizing the Olympic games.
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Aftab Iqbal
- Occupations
- journalist
- Biography
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Aftab Iqbal is a Pakistani television host, journalist and businessman who founded an international Pakistani news channel, Aap Media Group. He is a former host of TV programs Hasb-e-Haal on Dunya News (2009–2010), Khabarnaak on Geo News (2010–2015), Khabardaar on Express News (2015–2018), Himaqatain (2018–2019) on 92 News, Khabarzar on Aap News (2019–2020), Khabaryar on Neo News (2020–2021), Khabardaar Season 2 on Express News (2021–2022) and Khabarhar on Samaa TV News (2022–2023). Since 2024, He is doing Khabarhar Season 2 on Web Digital Platforms.
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Gaylord Nelson
- Occupations
- environmentalistpoliticianlawyer
- Biography
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Gaylord Anton Nelson was an American politician from Wisconsin who served as a United States senator and governor. He was a member of the Democratic Party and the founder of Earth Day, which launched a new wave of environmental activism.
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Ray Dolby
- Enrolled in San Jose State University
- Studied in 1951
- Occupations
- inventorelectrical engineer
- Biography
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Ray Milton Dolby was an American engineer and inventor of the noise reduction system known as Dolby NR. He helped develop the video tape recorder while at Ampex and was the founder of Dolby Laboratories.
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James Tien
- Enrolled in San Jose State University
- In 1970 graduated with Master of Science in chemical engineering
- Occupations
- justice of the peacepoliticianentrepreneur
- Biography
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James Tien Pei-chun, GBS, OBE, JP is the former chairman and Leader of the Liberal Party (LP) and former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (Legco). Originally an entrepreneur, he was also a non-official member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong (Exco), member of Central and Western and Kwai Tsing District Council and Hong Kong member to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
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Shinichi Ishizuka
- Occupations
- mangaka
- Biography
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Shinichi Ishizuka is a Japanese manga artist. He made his debut in 2001 and began his first series, Gaku: Minna no Yama, a manga about mountain climbing, in Big Comic Original in 2003, where it was serialized until 2012. He also created Blue Giant, a manga about jazz, and its sequels, which have been serialized in Big Comic since 2013.
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Mahmoud Vaezi
- Occupations
- diplomat
- Biography
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Mahmoud Vaezi is an Iranian engineer, politician and former diplomat. He was minister of communication from 2013 until 2017 and chief of staff of the president of Iran from 2017 to 2021.
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Ron Conway
- Occupations
- investor
- Biography
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Ronald Crawford Conway is an American venture capitalist and philanthropist. He has been described as one of Silicon Valley's "super angels".
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Luis Valdez
- Occupations
- film directorscreenwriteractorplaywrightdirector
- Biography
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Luis Miguel Valdez is an American playwright, screenwriter, film director and actor. Regarded as the father of Chicano film and playwriting, Valdez is best known for his play Zoot Suit, his movie La Bamba, and his creation of El Teatro Campesino. A pioneer in the Chicano Movement, Valdez broadened the scope of theatre and arts of the Chicano community.
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Stanley Anderson
- Occupations
- actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Stanley Anderson was an American character actor who played Drew Carey's father on The Drew Carey Show.
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David Fales
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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David Daniel Fales is an American former professional football quarterback. He was selected by the Chicago Bears in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL draft. He played college football at San Jose State.
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Michael Whelan
- Occupations
- paintervisual artistillustrator
- Biography
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Michael Whelan is an American artist of imaginative realism. For more than 30 years, he worked as an illustrator, specializing in science fiction and fantasy cover art. Since the mid-1990s, he has pursued a fine art career, selling non-commissioned paintings through galleries in the United States and through his website.
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Ed Oates
- Years
- 1946-.. (age 79)
- Occupations
- computer scientist
- Biography
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Edward A. Oates is an American businessman. He co-founded Software Development Labs in August 1977 with Larry Ellison, and Bob Miner. Software Development Labs later became Oracle Corporation.
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Harry Edwards
- Occupations
- university teacherbasketball playerathletics competitorsociologist
- Biography
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Harry Thomas Edwards is an American sociologist and civil rights activist. After working as an assistant professor of sociology at San Jose State College, he completed his Ph.D. at Cornell University and is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. Edwards' career has focused on the experiences of African-American athletes.
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Juli Inkster
- Occupations
- golfersports commentator
- Biography
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Juli Inkster is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. With a professional career spanning 29 years to date, Inkster's 31 wins rank her second in wins among all active players on the LPGA Tour; she has over $14 million in career earnings. She also has more wins in Solheim Cup matches than any other American, and is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Inkster is the only golfer in LPGA Tour history to win two majors in a decade for three consecutive decades by winning three in the 1980s, two in the 1990s, and two in the 2000s.
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Evan Low
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Evan Low is an American politician who served in the California State Assembly from 2014 to 2024. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented the 26th Assembly district, which encompasses parts of Silicon Valley, including Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and portions of northern and western San Jose. He was a member of the California Legislative LGBT Caucus (and served as chair from 2017 to 2018 and 2021 to 2022), and served as Chair of the California Asian American & Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus.
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April Yao
- Enrolled in San Jose State University
- Graduated with master's degree
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Yao Ching-ling is a Taiwanese politician who is currently serving as magistrate of Taitung County. A member of the Kuomintang, she was elected as a member of Taitung County Council in 2005 and became speaker in 2010.
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Lee Patrick Brown
- Occupations
- politicianpolice officer
- Biography
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Lee Patrick Brown is an American politician, criminologist and businessman; in 1997 he was the first African-American to be elected mayor of Houston, Texas. He was re-elected twice to serve the maximum of three terms from 1998 to 2004.
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Neeru Khosla
- Biography
-
Neeru Khosla is the co-founder and chair of the non-profit CK12 Foundation.
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Lee Evans
- Occupations
- sprinter
- Biography
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Lee Edward Evans was an American sprinter. He won two gold medals in the 1968 Summer Olympics, setting world records in the 400 meters and the 4 × 400 meters relay, both of which stood for 20 and 24 years respectively. Evans co-founded the Olympic Project for Human Rights and was part of the athlete's boycott and the Black Power movement.
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Robert Scoble
- Occupations
- computer scientisttechnology evangelistwritertelevision producerblogger
- Biography
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Robert Scoble is an American blogger, technical evangelist, and author. Scoble is best known for his blog, Scobleizer, which came to prominence during his tenure as a technology evangelist at Microsoft. He later worked for Fast Company as a video blogger, and then Rackspace and the Rackspace-sponsored community site Building 43 promoting breakthrough technology and startups.
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Bryan Mantia
- Occupations
- drummer
- Biography
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Bryan Kei Mantia, known professionally as Brain, is an American rock drummer. He has played with bands such as Primus, Guns N' Roses, Praxis, and Godflesh, and with other performers such as Tom Waits, Serj Tankian, Bill Laswell, Bootsy Collins, and Buckethead. He has also done session work for numerous artists and bands.
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Patricia A. McKillip
- Occupations
- writerscience fiction writerchildren's writernovelist
- Biography
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Patricia Anne McKillip was an American author of fantasy and science fiction. She wrote predominantly standalone fantasy novels and has been called "one of the most accomplished prose stylists in the fantasy genre". Her work won many awards, including the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2008.
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Pat Hughes
- Occupations
- sports commentator
- Biography
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Vergil Patrick Hughes is an American sportscaster. He has been the radio play-by-play announcer for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB) since 1996. The 2022 season marked the 40th consecutive year that Hughes served as an MLB announcer.
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Joe Trippi
- Occupations
- consultantpolitician
- Biography
-
Joseph Paul Trippi is an American political strategist. A member of the Democratic Party, Trippi most notably served as campaign manager of Howard Dean's 2004 presidential bid, and has served as a political commentator for CNN since 2018. He has worked on a number of prominent gubernatorial and United States Senate campaigns, including the successful bids of Jerry Brown for Governor of California and Doug Jones for U.S. Senate in Alabama.
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Michael Deaver
- Occupations
- politicianlobbyist
- Biography
-
Michael Keith Deaver was a member of President Ronald Reagan's White House staff who served as White House Deputy Chief of Staff under James Baker III and Donald Regan from January 1981 to May 1985.
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Bill Brown
- Biography
-
William Walter Brown was an American pioneer rancher in central Oregon. He owned two large ranches between Burns and Prineville, Oregon. Together, his properties comprised one of the largest privately owned sheep and horse operations in the United States. He was known as the Horse King of the West and the Millionaire Horse King because over 10,000 horses carried his Horseshoe Bar brand. Brown was also a well-known philanthropist who gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to a wide range of religious and educational institutions.
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David Gorodyansky
- Occupations
- chief executive officer
- Biography
-
David Gorodyansky is an American entrepreneur and angel investor best known as the CEO of AnchorFree, a company he co-founded in 2005 with Eugene Malobrodsky. AnchorFree is the developer of Hotspot Shield, a virtual private network provider. In 2019, Fast Company named AnchorFree the 13th most innovative company in the world and the #1 most innovative security company. AnchorFree's most recent fundraising round (2018) brought in $295 million, bringing total funding to $358 million. Gorodyansky has also invested in GlobeIn, an online exotic arts and crafts marketplace, and Venturocket, an job matching website. He is chairman of AnchorFree and GlobeIn.
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Tate Forcier
- Occupations
- Canadian football playerAmerican football player
- Biography
-
Robert Patrick "Tate" Forcier is a former American football quarterback. He was a starting quarterback for the 2009 Michigan Wolverines football team ahead of Denard Robinson, and Robinson's backup for the 2010 Michigan Wolverines football team. He left the program in January 2011 when head coach Rich Rodriguez was replaced by Brady Hoke. He missed the January 1, 2011 Gator Bowl after being ruled academically ineligible and was no longer enrolled at the university when the new term began following the semester break. On February 9, 2011, Forcier announced his transfer to the University of Miami. He originally intended to redshirt the 2011 season and play for the Miami Hurricanes football team in the 2012 and 2013 season but instead transferred to San Jose State University to play for the Spartans football team. He soon withdrew from the San Jose State football program. He then attended training camp with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League.
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Linda Le
- Occupations
- modelcostume designercosplayer
- Biography
-
Linda Le is an American cosplayer, costumer, model, artist and Internet personality of Vietnamese descent. She is also known as Vampy Bit Me, or just Vampy or Vamp; "Vampy" is also a name she has given to her own fictional character persona.
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Titus Kaphar
- Occupations
- film directorfilm producerpainterdraftspersonfilm actor
- Biography
-
Titus Kaphar is an American contemporary painter and filmmaker whose work reconfigures and regenerates art history to include African-American subjects. His paintings are held in the collections of Museum of Modern Art, Brooklyn Museum, Yale University Art Gallery, New Britain Museum of American Art, Seattle Art Museum, Mississippi Museum of Art, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and University of Michigan Museum of Art.
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Bill Walsh
- Occupations
- American football coachnon-fiction writertelevision presenter
- Biography
-
William Ernest Walsh was an American professional and college football coach. He served as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers and the Stanford Cardinal, during which time he popularized the West Coast offense. After retiring from the 49ers, Walsh worked as a sports broadcaster for several years and then returned as head coach at Stanford for three seasons.
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Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
-
Jeanne Toyo Wakatsuki Houston was an American writer. Her writings primarily focused on ethnic identity formation in the United States of America. She is best known for her autobiographical novel Farewell to Manzanar that narrates her personal experiences in World War II incarceration camps. The book has been credited with sharing the story of the Japanese American incarceration with generations of young people.
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Carlos Torres
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
-
Carlos Ephriam Torres is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies, New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, Washington Nationals, and Detroit Tigers, and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Yomiuri Giants.
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Chang Chia-juch
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Chang Chia-juch is a Taiwanese politician who was the Minister of Economic Affairs of Taiwan from 2013 to 2014.
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Arnnon Geshuri
- Occupations
- psychologistbusiness executive
- Biography
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Arnnon Geshuri is an American corporate executive. He was vice president of human resources at Tesla, Inc. from 2009 until 2017, senior director of human resources and staffing at Google from 2004 to 2009, and vice president of people operations and director of global staffing at E-Trade Financial Corporation circa 2002. 2023-24 he was the Chief People Officer at Teladoc Health. Starting mid-2024, he is the Chief People Officer at Snowflake Inc..
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Lyn Nofziger
- Occupations
- writerpolitical adviserspokespersonjournalist
- Biography
-
Franklyn Curran "Lyn" Nofziger was an American journalist, conservative Republican political consultant and author. He served as press secretary in Ronald Reagan's administration as Governor of California, and as a White House advisor during the Richard Nixon administration and again during the Reagan presidency.
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Randy Johnson
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
-
Randall Glenn Johnson is a former Major League Baseball third baseman. He played three full seasons in the Majors, from 1982 through 1984, for the Atlanta Braves. He also played two seasons in Japan, 1987 and 1988, for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. He served as the minor league field coordinator for the San Diego Padres from 2010-2015. He is now a major league scout for the Detroit Tigers and is in his 40th year in professional baseball.
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Sig Mejdal
- Years
- 1965-.. (age 60)
- Occupations
- statistician
- Biography
-
Sig Mejdal is the assistant general manager for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball.
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Béla H. Bánáthy
- Enrolled in San Jose State University
- Studied in 1963
- Occupations
- writerlinguistprofessor
- Biography
-
Béla Heinrich Bánáthy was a Hungarian-American linguist, and Professor at San Jose State University and UC Berkeley. He is known as founder of the White Stag Leadership Development Program, established the International Systems Institute in 1982, and was co-founder of the General Evolutionary Research Group in 1984.
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Cindy Chavez
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Cindy Chavez is an American politician serving as the Manager of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, since 2024. She previously served on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors from 2013 to 2024 and on the San Jose City Council, where she was also Vice Mayor. She ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of San Jose twice, in 2006 and 2022.
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Stu Inman
- Occupations
- sports executivebasketball playerbasketball coach
- Biography
-
Stuart Kirk Inman was an American basketball player, coach and executive. He was selected in the sixth round of the 1950 NBA draft from San Jose State University by the Chicago Stags; however, he did not play in the NBA.
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Mark Hubbard
- Occupations
- golfer
- Biography
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Mark Hubbard is an American professional golfer.
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Eddy Howard
- Occupations
- jazz musiciansingersongwriter
- Biography
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Edward Evan Duncan Howard was an American vocalist and bandleader who was popular during the 1940s and 1950s.
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Edward Soriano
- Enrolled in San Jose State University
- Graduated with bachelor's degree
- Occupations
- military personnel
- Biography
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Edward Soriano is an American retired lieutenant general. He is the highest-ranking Filipino American officer to have served in the United States military, and the first promoted to a general officer. Born in the Philippines, Soriano moved with his family to the United States and graduated from Salinas High School before being commissioned as an officer through Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps at San Jose State University.
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Sanjoy
- Occupations
- record producerdisc jockeycomposersongwriter
- Biography
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Sanjoy Deb, known primarily by his stage name Sanjoy, is an American musician, electronic music producer and DJ. He primarily produces in the EDM genre and is influenced by Bollywood.
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Cecilia Aguiar-Curry
- Years
- 1954-.. (age 71)
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Cecilia Aguiar-Curry is an American politician serving in the California State Assembly. She is a Democrat representing the 4th Assembly District, encompassing Wine Country and the western parts of the Sacramento Valley.
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Christos Papanikolaou
- Occupations
- athletics competitor
- Biography
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Christos Papanikolaou is a retired Greek pole vaulter. On 25 October 1970, he set the world record at 5.49 m (18 ft 0 in), significant to Americans as the first man to pole vault 18 feet. He competed at the 1964, 1968 and 1972 Olympics and finished in 18th, 4th and 11th place, respectively. He won a silver medal at the 1966 European Championships. He was a two-time champion at the Mediterranean Games. He was named the Greek Athlete of the Year, for the years 1965, 1966, 1967, and 1970.
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Liz Climo
- Occupations
- animatorcartoonistcomics artistillustrator
- Biography
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Liz Climo is an American cartoonist, animator, children's book author, and illustrator. She is best known for her webcomics, which she posts regularly to her website, The Little World of Liz, and her Rory the Dinosaur children's book series. She has also been animating on the television series The Simpsons since 2003.
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Yosh Uchida
- Occupations
- judoka
- Biography
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Yoshihiro Uchida was an American judo coach, businessman, and educator who was best known for his contributions to judo. Uchida had been the head judo coach at San Jose State University for over 70 years, and had played a leading part in the development of the university's judo program. His brother George Uchida was the 1972 US Olympic judo coach. He turned 100 in April 2020, and died on June 27, 2024, at the age of 104.
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Pasquale Esposito
- Born in
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Italy - Occupations
- opera singer
- Biography
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Pasquale Esposito is an Italian-born American tenor. He has released ten albums and has toured internationally.
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Andre Chachere
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
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Andre Maleek Chachere is an American professional football safety for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the San José State Spartans.
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Aisha Wahab
- Occupations
- IT consultantpolitician
- Biography
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Aisha Wahab is an American politician who has been a member of the California State Senate from the 10th district since 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the first Muslim elected to the California State Senate. Wahab served on the Hayward City Council from 2018 to 2022 and was one of the first Afghan-Americans elected to public office, alongside New Hampshire state representative Safiya Wazir.
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Helder Antunes
- Occupations
- computer scientistbusinessperson
- Biography
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Hélder Fragueiro Antunes is a Portuguese-American executive, computer scientist, entrepreneur, and former racecar driver. A Cisco Systems executive for over twenty years, as well as founder and first Chairman of the OpenFog Consortium, Antunes cis chief executive officer of Crowdkeep. His car racing career in the 1980s and '90s made him one of the most preeminent open road racers at the time.
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Jim Beall
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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James Thomas Beall Jr. is an American politician who served in the California State Senate from 2012 to 2020. A Democrat, he represented the 15th Senate District, which encompasses the South Bay and Silicon Valley.
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John Powell
- Occupations
- athletics competitordiscus thrower
- Biography
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John Gates Powell was an American track and field athlete who specialized in the discus throw. He set a world record at 69.08 meters in 1975, and his personal best of 71.26 meters ties him for ninth place in the all-time performers list.
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Hal Plotkin
- Occupations
- journalist
- Biography
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Hal Wayne Plotkin is an American journalist and activist. He is currently the senior open policy fellow at Creative Commons.
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William J. Borucki
- Occupations
- planetary scientistphysicistmeteorologist
- Biography
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William J. Borucki (born 1939) is a space scientist who worked at the NASA Ames Research Center. Upon joining NASA in 1962, Borucki joined the group conducting research on the heat shield for Apollo program spacecraft. He later turned his attention to the optical efficiency of lightning strikes in the atmospheres of planets, investigating the propensity that these lightning strikes could create molecules that would later become the precursors for life. Subsequently, Borucki's attention turned to extrasolar planets and their detection, particularly through the transit method. In light of this work, Borucki was named the principal investigator for NASA's Kepler space telescope mission, launched on March 7, 2009 and dedicated to a transit-based search for habitable planets. In 2013, Borucki was awarded the United States National Academy of Sciences's Henry Draper Medal for his work with Kepler. In 2015 he received the Shaw Prize in Astronomy.
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Viliami Fehoko
- Enrolled in San Jose State University
- Studied communication studies
- Occupations
- American football player
- Biography
-
Viliami Taopa Fehoko Jr. is an American professional football defensive tackle for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the San Jose State Spartans and was named the 2022 Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year prior to being selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL draft.
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Greg Massialas
- Occupations
- fencer
- Biography
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Gregory David Massialas is an American foil fencer and fencing coach.
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Ray Norton
- Occupations
- athletics competitorAmerican football player
- Biography
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Otis Ray Norton is a former American sprinter who competed in the 1960 Olympics in Rome.
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Hank Pfister
- Occupations
- tennis player
- Biography
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Hank Pfister is a former tennis player from the United States, who won two singles titles (1981, Maui and 1982, Newport) during his professional career. The right-hander reached his highest individual ranking on the ATP Tour on May 2, 1983, when he became world No. 19.
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Carol Liu
- Occupations
- teacherpolitician
- Biography
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Carol Jean Liu is an American politician who is a former member of the California State Senate. A Democrat, she represented Senate District 25, which includes portions of the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys.
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Mike Swain
- Occupations
- judoka
- Biography
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Michael Lee Swain is one of the most successful American judoka. He competed in countless international competitions. He is now the VP of Martial Arts at Dollamur, Sports LP where he develops and sells Martial Arts equipment and continues to be a spokesperson and board member for USA Judo.
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André LaMothe
- Occupations
- computer scientistengineer
- Biography
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André LaMothe is a computer scientist, author, hardware engineer, and game programmer, known for writing books about game development.
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Joseph Fil
- Enrolled in San Jose State University
- Graduated with Bachelor of Science in anthropology
- Biography
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Major General Joseph Frederick Fil Jr. was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army in June 1976. He is a Distinguished Military Graduate of San José State University. He has served in Army units in the United States, Germany, Belgium and Iraq.
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Pierre Zalloua
- Occupations
- biologist
- Biography
-
Pierre Zalloua is a Lebanese biologist. His contributions to biology include numerous researches in genetic predisposition to diseases such as type 1 diabetes and β-thalassemia. He is most noted for taking part in the National Geographic Society's Genographic Project.
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Paul Fong
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Paul J. Fong is an American politician. He is a former Democratic California State Assembly member from the 28th district.
