100 Notable alumni of
University of California - Santa Barbara
Updated:
The University of California - Santa Barbara is 222nd in the world, 96th in North America, and 93rd in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from the University of California - Santa Barbara sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. 5 individuals affiliated with the University of California - Santa Barbara won Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, and Economics.
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Michael Douglas
- Occupations
- film produceractorfilm actortelevision actorproducer
- Biography
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Michael Kirk Douglas is an American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the AFI Life Achievement Award.
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Gwyneth Paltrow
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- In 1990 studied art history
- Occupations
- film actorscreenwriteractorstage actorfilm director
- Biography
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Gwyneth Kate Paltrow is an American actress and businesswoman. The daughter of filmmaker Bruce Paltrow and actress Blythe Danner, she established herself as a leading lady appearing in mainly mid-budget and period films during the 1990s and early 2000s, before transitioning to blockbusters and franchises. Her accolades include an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award.
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Benjamin Bratt
- Occupations
- film produceractorfilm actortelevision actorvoice actor
- Biography
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Benjamin Bratt is an American actor. He is known for playing Paco Aguilar in Blood In Blood Out. He had supporting film roles in the 1990s in Demolition Man (1993), Clear and Present Danger (1994), and The River Wild (1994). From 1995 to 1999, he starred as Detective Reynaldo Curtis on the NBC drama series Law & Order.
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Steve Aoki
- Occupations
- actorrecord producerclub DJdisc jockeycollector
- Biography
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Steven Hiroyuki Aoki is an American DJ and record producer. In 2012, Pollstar designated Aoki as the highest-grossing electronic dance music artist in North America from tours. In 2024, Gold House recognized him as one of the Most Impactful Asians.
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Alison Eastwood
- Occupations
- film directorfashion designerfilm producermodelfilm actor
- Biography
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Alison Eastwood is an American film director and actress.
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Jack Johnson
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- In 1997 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in film studies
- Occupations
- recording artistfilm directorsingerrecord producercomposer
- Biography
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Jack Hody Johnson is an American singer-songwriter. His music falls into genres like folk, surf-rock, and various other subgenres.
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Jerry Trainor
- Occupations
- film actorvoice actortelevision actoractor
- Biography
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Gerald William "Jerry" Trainor is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as "Crazy" Steve in Drake & Josh and Spencer Shay in the teen sitcom iCarly and its revival series of the same name, winning three Kids' Choice Awards for his performances. He also did voice work in T.U.F.F. Puppy as Dudley Puppy, for which he received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination. Since 2004, Trainor has worked primarily on the Nickelodeon network. Outside of this, he has had recurring and guest roles on young adult-oriented shows on the Disney Channel and Netflix as well as in the more mature shows Crossing Jordan and 2 Broke Girls.
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Aja Naomi King
- Occupations
- film actortelevision actorstage actoractor
- Biography
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Aja Naomi King is an American actress. King began her career in guest-starring roles on television, and starred in the short-lived CW medical comedy-drama series Emily Owens, M.D. (2012–2013). She also has starred in the films Four (2012) and Reversion (2015). After her breakthrough as Michaela Pratt in the ABC legal drama series How to Get Away with Murder (2014–2020), she received praise for portraying Cherry Turner in the historical film The Birth of a Nation (2016).
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Katy Tur
- Occupations
- writertelevision presenterjournaliststorm chaser
- Biography
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Katherine Bear Tur is an American author, and broadcast journalist working as a correspondent for NBC News. Tur is an anchor for MSNBC, where since 2021 she has hosted Katy Tur Reports. She has also reported for the NBC news platforms Early Today, Today, NBC Nightly News, Meet the Press, and WNBC-TV, and for The Weather Channel.
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Charissa Thompson
- Occupations
- television presentersports commentator
- Biography
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Charissa Jean Thompson is an American television host and sportscaster working for Fox Sports and Amazon Prime Video. Previously, Thompson worked for ESPN, Versus, as well as for GSN and the Big Ten Network. She was the co-host of SportsNation along with Marcellus Wiley until departing ESPN for Fox Sports in June 2013. She became the host of Fox Sports Live on the new Fox Sports 1 network when it debuted on August 17, 2013 (the first day of Fox Sports 1). She also was one of the American hosts of Ultimate Beastmaster. From 2014 to 2017, Thompson was a co-host on the syndicated entertainment news show Extra.
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Edi Gathegi
- Occupations
- film actortelevision actorstage actoractor
- Biography
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Edi Mūe Gathegi is a Kenyan-American actor. He appeared as a recurring character, Dr. Jeffrey Cole (aka "Big Love"), in the television series House, as Cheese in the 2007 film Gone Baby Gone, Laurent in the films Twilight and its sequel The Twilight Saga: New Moon, and as Darwin in X-Men: First Class. Gathegi also featured in the AMC series Into the Badlands as Baron Jacobee. He has also been a recurring character in the NBC television series The Blacklist as Matias Solomon, an operative for a covert organization. Gathegi reprised the role in the 2016–2017 season crime thriller, The Blacklist: Redemption. He has also played a leading role in Startup, a television drama series on Crackle. Since 2022, Gathegi has played engineer and entrepreneur Dev Ayesa in the Apple TV+ original science fiction space drama series For All Mankind. He is set to play the role of Mister Terrific in James Gunn's film Superman (2025).
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Robby Krieger
- Occupations
- songwritercomposersinger-songwriterguitarist
- Biography
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Robert Alan Krieger is an American guitarist and founding member of the rock band the Doors. Krieger wrote or co-wrote many of the Doors' songs, including the hits "Light My Fire", "Love Me Two Times", "Touch Me", and "Love Her Madly". When the Doors disbanded shortly after the death of lead singer Jim Morrison, Krieger continued to perform and record with other musicians including former Doors bandmates John Densmore and Ray Manzarek. In the 2023 edition of Rolling Stone's 250 greatest guitarists of all time, he was positioned at number 248.
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Andrew Schulz
- Occupations
- actorcomediantelevision actor
- Biography
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Andrew Cameron Schulz is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and podcaster. In addition to his stand-up, he is known for his work on MTV2's Guy Code and its two spinoffs, the Flagrant podcast with Akaash Singh, and The Brilliant Idiots podcast. Schulz's first Netflix special, Schulz Saves America, premiered on December 17, 2020.
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Harris Faulkner
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts in social communication
- Occupations
- journalisttelevision presenternews presenter
- Biography
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Harris Kimberley Faulkner is an American television host who joined the Fox News Channel in 2005. She anchors The Faulkner Focus, a daily daytime show, and hosts Outnumbered. Additionally, she hosts her own primetime political franchise called Town Hall America with Harris Faulkner. She has received six Emmy Awards, including the 2005 Upper Midwest Emmy Awards for Best Newscaster (nominee) and Best News Special (recipient).
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Jose M. Hernandez
- Occupations
- astronautengineerbusinessperson
- Biography
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José Moreno Hernández is a Mexican-American engineer and astronaut. He currently serves as a Regent of the University of California.
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Robert Ballard
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- In 1965 graduated with Bachelor of Science in chemistry and geology
- Occupations
- film directorgeologistnon-fiction writernaval officeroceanographer
- Biography
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Robert Duane Ballard is an American retired Navy officer and a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island who is noted for his work in underwater archaeology (maritime archaeology and archaeology of shipwrecks) and marine geology. He is best known by the general public for the discoveries of the wrecks of the RMS Titanic in 1985, the battleship Bismarck in 1989, and the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown in 1998. He discovered the wreck of John F. Kennedy's PT-109 in 2002 and visited Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana, who saved its crew.
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Reza Aslan
- Occupations
- Trekkiewriteruniversity teacherreligious studies scholartelevision producer
- Biography
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Reza Aslan is an Iranian-American scholar of sociology, writer, and television host. A convert to evangelical Christianity from Shia Islam as a youth, Aslan eventually reverted to Islam but continued to write about Christianity. He has written four books on religion: No God but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, Beyond Fundamentalism: Confronting Religious Extremism in the Age of Globalization, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, God: A Human History and in 2022 An American Martyr in Persia: The Epic Life and Tragic Death of Howard Baskerville.
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Peter Horton
- Occupations
- television directorfilm directordirectoractor
- Biography
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Peter Horton is an American actor and director. He played Professor Gary Shepherd on the television series Thirtysomething from 1987 until 1991.
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Barbara Rush
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- Studied in 1948
- Occupations
- film actortelevision actorstage actoractor
- Biography
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Barbara Rush was an American actress of stage, screen, and television. In 1954, she won the Golden Globe Award for most promising female newcomer for her role in the 1953 American science-fiction film It Came from Outer Space. Later in her career, Rush became a regular performer in the television series Peyton Place, and appeared in TV movies, miniseries, and a variety of other programs, including the soap opera All My Children and the family drama 7th Heaven, as well as starring in films such as The Young Philadelphians, The Young Lions, Robin and the 7 Hoods, and Hombre.
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Harvey Levin
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- reportertelevision producerlawyer
- Biography
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Harvey Robert Levin is an American television producer, legal analyst, journalist, and lawyer. He founded the celebrity news website TMZ in 2005, and later briefly served as the host of OBJECTified (2016–present), which aired on the Fox News Channel.
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Moshe Kasher
- Occupations
- actorscreenwriterpodcastertelevision actorcomedian
- Biography
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Mark Moshe Kasher is an American stand-up comedian, writer and actor based in the Los Angeles area. He is the author of the 2012 memoir Kasher in the Rye: The True Tale of a White Boy from Oakland Who Became a Drug Addict, Criminal, Mental Patient, and Then Turned 16. In 2009, iTunes named Kasher "Best New Comic" and his comedy album Everyone You Know Is Going to Die, and Then You Are! was ranked one of the top 20 comedy albums on iTunes that same year. He was also named "Comic to Watch in 2010" by Punchline Magazine.
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Shuji Nakamura
- Occupations
- engineerinventorphysicistprofessor
- Biography
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Shuji Nakamura is a Japanese-American electronic engineer and inventor of the blue LED, a major breakthrough in lighting technology. Nakamura specializes in the field of semiconductor technology, and he is a professor of materials science at the College of Engineering of the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).
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Chanel Miller
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts in literature
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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Chanel Miller is an American writer based in San Francisco, California and New York City. She was known anonymously after she was sexually assaulted on the campus of Stanford University in January 2015 by Brock Allen Turner. The following year, her victim impact statement at his sentencing hearing went viral after it was published online by BuzzFeed, being read 11 million times within four days. Miller was referred to as "Emily Doe" in court documents and media reports until September 2019, when she relinquished her anonymity and released her memoir Know My Name: A Memoir. The book won the 2019 National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiographies and was named in several national book lists of the year. She is credited with sparking national discussion in the United States about the treatment of sexual assault cases and victims by college campuses and court systems, a topic she addresses as a public speaker.
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Lo Bosworth
- Occupations
- film actorwriterentrepreneuractor
- Biography
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Lauren Ogilvie "Lo" Bosworth is an American former reality television personality, founder and CEO of Love Wellness, and author. Bosworth rose to prominence as a cast member of Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County and The Hills, which documented the lives of her and her friends.
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Gregg Araki
- Occupations
- film directorfilm producerscreenwritercinematographerdirector
- Biography
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Gregg Araki is an American filmmaker. He is noted for his involvement with the New Queer Cinema movement. His Teenage Apocalypse film trilogy, consisting of Totally F***ed Up (1993), The Doom Generation (1995) and Nowhere (1997), has been heralded as a cult classic. His film Kaboom (2010) was the first winner of the Cannes Film Festival Queer Palm.
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Ron Wyden
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- Studied in 1967-1969
- Occupations
- basketball playerpolitician
- Biography
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Ronald Lee Wyden is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Oregon, a seat he has held since 1996. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the United States House of Representatives from 1981 until 1996. He is the dean of Oregon's congressional delegation and serves as the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee. Known for his libertarian-leaning stances within the Democratic Party, Wyden has been a prominent advocate for privacy rights, internet freedom, and limiting government surveillance, positioning him as a defender of civil liberties.
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Richard Serra
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- In 1961 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- television producervideo artistartistdraftspersonsculptor
- Biography
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Richard Serra was an American artist known for his large-scale abstract sculptures made for site-specific landscape, urban, and architectural settings, and whose work has been primarily associated with Postminimalism. Described as "one of his era's greatest sculptors", Serra became notable for emphasizing the material qualities of his works and exploration of the relationship between the viewer, the work, and the site.
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Andrew D. Huberman
- Occupations
- university teacherpodcasteracademicneuroscientist
- Biography
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Andrew David Huberman is an American neuroscientist and podcaster. He is an associate professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Since 2021, he has hosted the popular health and science focused Huberman Lab podcast. The podcast has attracted criticism for promoting poorly supported health claims. Huberman has promoted and partnered with health supplement companies.
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Joseph C. Wilson
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- In 1972 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- businesspersonwhistleblowerpolitical adviserwriterdiplomat
- Biography
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Joseph Charles Wilson IV was an American diplomat who was best known for his 2002 trip to Niger to investigate allegations that Saddam Hussein was attempting to purchase yellowcake uranium; his New York Times op-ed piece, "What I Didn't Find in Africa"; and the subsequent leaking by the Bush/Cheney administration of information pertaining to the identity of his wife Valerie Plame as a CIA officer. He also served as the CEO of a consulting firm he founded, JC Wilson International Ventures, and as the vice chairman of Jarch Capital, LLC.
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Gabe Vincent
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Gabriel Nnamdi Vincent is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Nigerian national basketball team. He played college basketball for the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos. Undrafted out of college, Vincent signed with the Stockton Kings of the NBA G League before joining the Miami Heat on a two-way contract. With Miami, he reached the NBA Finals in 2020 and 2023 before signing with the Lakers.
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Kevin de León
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Kevin Alexander Leon, known professionally as Kevin de León and colloquially as KDL, is an American politician who served as the Los Angeles City Council member for District 14 from 2020 until 2024. A member of the Democratic Party, he was defeated in the 2018 United States Senate election in California against incumbent Senator Dianne Feinstein and came in third place with just 7.79% of the vote in the 2022 Los Angeles mayoral election.
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Beverly Archer
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm actoractor
- Biography
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Beverly Archer is an American actress and writer who is perhaps best known for her television roles as Iola Boylen on Mama's Family and as Gunnery Sgt. Alva Bricker on Major Dad.
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Don Hertzfeldt
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- Studied in 1998
- Occupations
- directorscreenwriterwriterfilmmakerfilm director
- Biography
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Don Hertzfeldt is an American animator, writer, and independent filmmaker. He is a two-time Academy Award nominee who is best known for the animated films It's Such a Beautiful Day, the World of Tomorrow series, ME, and Rejected. In 2014, his work appeared on The Simpsons. Eight of his short films have competed at the Sundance Film Festival, a festival record. He is also the only filmmaker to have won the Sundance Film Festival's Grand Jury Prize for Short Film twice.
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Alie Ward
- Occupations
- television presenterpodcastertelevision actorjournalistscience communicator
- Biography
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Alison Ann "Alie" Ward is an American writer, actress, and television and podcast host. Born in California, Ward graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a degree in cinema. In 2016, she won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing Special Class for the CBS series Innovation Nation. In 2022, the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards named her podcast Ologies “Best Science Podcast”, and the Webby Awards honored Ward as “Best Podcast Host.”
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Faisal bin Fahd
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Faisal bin Fahd Al Saud was the president of Youth Welfare in Saudi Arabia from 1975 to 1999. He was a member of the House of Saud, a son of King Fahd, and one of the grandsons of Saudi's founder King Abdulaziz.
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Josh Elliott
- Occupations
- sports commentatoractornews presenter
- Biography
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Josh Elliott is an American television journalist who most recently worked for CBS News. He has previously worked as the news anchor for ABC's Good Morning America, a sports anchor for NBC Sports and Today, and was a co-anchor for the live telecast of ESPN's morning edition of SportsCenter.
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James Nunnally
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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James William Nunnally is an American professional basketball player for Zhejiang Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).
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Jenna Lee
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts in English studies and global studies
- Occupations
- journalistpresentercolumnist
- Biography
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Jennifer Anne "Jenna" Lee is an American journalist and former anchor on Fox News, where she co-hosted Happening Now with Jon Scott. Lee had previously co-anchored Fox Business' early-morning business news program, Fox Business Morning, with Connell McShane.
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Teri Reeves
- Occupations
- stage actorfilm actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Teri Lynn Reeves is an American theater and television actress. Her television credits include Chicago Fire, Battleground, and NCIS.
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Michael Young
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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Michael Brian Young is an American former professional baseball infielder who played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies, and Los Angeles Dodgers. Since 2014, Young has worked in the Rangers’ front office as a Special Assistant to the General Manager. Originally a second baseman, the versatile Young was a five-time All-Star at shortstop, once at third base, and once as a combination designated hitter / utility infielder. He was the 2005 American League (AL) batting champion.
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David Woodard
- Occupations
- composerconductorwriter
- Biography
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David James Woodard is an American conductor and writer.
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Forrest Galante
- Occupations
- television personalitybiologist
- Biography
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Forrest Galante is an American outdoor adventurer and television personality. He primarily seeks out animals on the brink of extinction. He is the host of the television shows Extinct or Alive on Animal Planet and "Mysterious Creatures with Forrest Galante," as well as multiple Shark Week shows.
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Jason Lezak
- Occupations
- swimmer
- Biography
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Jason Edward Lezak is an American former competitive swimmer and swimming executive. As a swimmer, Lezak specialized in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle races. His pro career lasted for nearly fifteen years, spanning four Olympic games and eight Olympic medals.
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Harry Glicken
- Occupations
- geologist
- Biography
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Harry Glicken was an American volcanologist. He researched Mount St. Helens in the United States before and after its 1980 eruption, and was very distraught about the death of volcanologist David A. Johnston, who was Glicken's mentor and supervisor in Spring 1980 at Mount St. Helens. Glicken was initially assigned to the USGS observation post in the weeks leading up to the eruption but was called away the night before the eruption.
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Amy Gumenick
- Occupations
- film actoractortelevision actor
- Biography
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Amy Jaclyn Gumenick is a Swedish-American actress, best known for her roles as Natalee Holloway in the television film of the same name (2009) and its sequel, as the young Mary Winchester in Supernatural (2008–10), as Carrie Cutter / Cupid in Arrow (2014–2019) and as Philomena Cheer in Turn: Washington's Spies (2014–17).
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Skip Schumaker
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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Jared Michael "Skip" Schumaker is an American former professional baseball outfielder and second baseman, coach, and manager, most recently of the Miami Marlins from 2023 to 2024. He played in MLB for the St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Cincinnati Reds. He previously served as a bench coach for the Cardinals and San Diego Padres, and currently serves as a senior advisor for the Texas Rangers.
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Grady Booch
- Occupations
- engineercomputer scientistsoftware developer
- Biography
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Grady Booch is an American software engineer, best known for developing the Unified Modeling Language (UML) with Ivar Jacobson and James Rumbaugh. He is recognized internationally for his innovative work in software architecture, software engineering, and collaborative development environments.
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Jared Huffman
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- In 1986 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- politicianvolleyball playerbeach volleyball playerlawyer
- Biography
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Jared William Huffman is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 2nd congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Huffman represented the 6th district in the California State Assembly from 2006 to 2012. He chaired the Assembly Water, Parks & Wildlife Committee and the Assembly Environmental Caucus. He was elected to Congress in 2012 with more than 70% of the vote, defeating Republican nominee Dan Roberts. His congressional district covers the North Coast from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border.
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Carol Greider
- Occupations
- molecular biologistgeneticistbiologistbiochemist
- Biography
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Carolyn Widney Greider is an American molecular biologist and Nobel laureate. She is a Distinguished Professor of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
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Carla Simón
- Occupations
- film directorscreenwriter
- Biography
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Carla Simón Pipó is a Spanish film director. Both her 2017 debut feature Summer 1993 (Catalan: Estiu 1993) and her second feature, Alcarràs (which won the Golden Bear at the 72nd Berlinale, the first Catalan-language film to do so), were submitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to represent Spain for Best International Feature Film at the 90th and 95th Academy Awards, respectively.
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Walter Kohn
- Occupations
- physicistuniversity teacherchemist
- Biography
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Walter Kohn was an Austrian-American theoretical physicist and theoretical chemist. He was awarded, with John Pople, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1998. The award recognized their contributions to the understandings of the electronic properties of materials. In particular, Kohn played the leading role in the development of density functional theory, which made it possible to calculate quantum mechanical electronic structure by equations involving the electronic density (rather than the many-body wavefunction). This computational simplification led to more accurate calculations on complex systems as well as many new insights, and it has become an essential tool for materials science, condensed-phase physics, and the chemical physics of atoms and molecules.
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Joseph M. Acaba
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- In 1990 graduated with bachelor's degree in geology
- Occupations
- astronauthydrogeologistteacher
- Biography
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Joseph Michael Acabá is an American educator, hydrogeologist, and NASA astronaut. In May 2004, he became the first person of Puerto Rican ancestry to be named as a NASA astronaut candidate, when he was selected as a member of NASA Astronaut Training Group 19. He completed his training on February 10, 2006, and was assigned to STS-119, which flew from March 15 to 28, 2009, to deliver the final set of solar arrays to the International Space Station. He is the first person of Puerto Rican origin, and the twelfth of fifteen people of Ibero-american heritage to have flown to space.
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Alan Williams
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Alan Travis Williams is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Goyang Sono Skygunners of the Korean Basketball League. He played college basketball for UC Santa Barbara before beginning his professional career with the Qingdao DoubleStar Eagles of the Chinese Basketball Association in 2015.
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Ellen Hopkins
- Occupations
- writerchildren's writernovelist
- Biography
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Ellen Louise Hopkins is a novelist who has published several New York Times bestselling novels that are popular among the teenage and young adult audience.
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Salud Carbajal
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- In 1990 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Salud Ortiz Carbajal is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 24th congressional district since 2017. He is a member of the Democratic Party, and his district covers Santa Maria, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara.
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Herbert Kroemer
- Occupations
- physicistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Herbert Kroemer was a German-American physicist who, along with Zhores Alferov, received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2000 for "developing semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed- and opto-electronics". Kroemer was professor emeritus of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara, having received his Ph.D. in theoretical physics in 1952 from the University of Göttingen, Germany, with a dissertation on hot electron effects in the then-new transistor. His research into transistors was a stepping stone to the later development of mobile phone technologies.
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Milan St. Protić
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- Studied in 1982
- In 1987 graduated with Doctor of Science
- Occupations
- university teacherpoliticianhistoriandiplomat
- Biography
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Milan St. Protić is a Serbian historian, politician and diplomat who served as the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to the United States, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. He was also the Mayor of Belgrade in 2000/01.
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Mykel Hawke
- Occupations
- writeractorsoldier
- Biography
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Mykel Hawke is a retired U.S. Army Special Forces officer, author, and television and film personality. He is perhaps best known for the television programs he created on Discovery Channel called Man, Woman, Wild and One Man Army. He left Discovery to work on two new programs: Lost Survivors for Travel Channel and Elite Tactical Unit for Outdoor Channel.
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Carol Folt
- Occupations
- scientistbiologistecologistdean
- Biography
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Carol Lynn Folt is an American ecologist and academic administrator, currently serving as the 12th president of the University of Southern California since July 2019. She previously served as the 11th chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 2013 to 2019 and as interim president of Dartmouth College from 2012 to 2013.
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Michael Boxall
- Occupations
- association football player
- Biography
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Michael Joseph Boxall is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays as a defender for Major League Soccer club Minnesota United and the New Zealand national team.
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Kazu Kibuishi
- Occupations
- graphic artistcomics artistwriterillustratoranimator
- Biography
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Kazuhiro "Kazu" Kibuishi is a Japanese-born American graphic novel author and illustrator. He is best known for being the creator and editor of the comic anthology Flight and for creating the webcomic Copper. He is also the author and illustrator of the Amulet series.
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Alexei Filippenko
- Occupations
- university teacherastrophysicistastronomerphysicist
- Biography
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Alexei Vladimir "Alex" Filippenko is an American astrophysicist and professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley. Filippenko graduated from Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta, California. He received a Bachelor of Arts in physics from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1979 and a Ph.D. in astronomy from the California Institute of Technology in 1984, where he was a Hertz Foundation Fellow. He was a postdoctoral Miller Fellow at Berkeley from 1984 to 1986 and was appointed to Berkeley's faculty in 1986. In 1996 and 2005, he was a Miller Research Professor, and he is currently a Senior Miller Fellow. His research focuses on supernovae and active galaxies at optical, ultraviolet, and near-infrared wavelengths, as well as on black holes, gamma-ray bursts, and the expansion of the Universe.
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Edward Feser
- Occupations
- philosopher
- Biography
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Edward Charles Feser is an American Catholic philosopher. He is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Pasadena City College in Pasadena, California.
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Tony Cárdenas
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- In 1986 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- real estate agentpoliticianinsurance broker
- Biography
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Antonio Cárdenas is an American politician who served as the United States representative for California's 29th congressional district from 2013 to 2025.
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Leroy Chiao
- Occupations
- engineerastronautuniversity teacherentrepreneurmotivational speaker
- Biography
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Leroy Russel Chiao is an American chemical engineer, retired NASA astronaut, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, and engineering consultant. Chiao flew on three Space Shuttle flights, and was the commander of Expedition 10, where he lived on board the International Space Station from October 13, 2004 to April 24, 2005. He is also a co-author and researcher for the Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity project.
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Bruce Allen
- Occupations
- university teacherastrophysicistastronomerphysicist
- Biography
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Bruce Allen is an American physicist and director of the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Hannover Germany and leader of the Einstein@Home project for the LIGO Scientific Collaboration. He is also a physics professor at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and the initiator / project leader of smartmontools hard disk utility.
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Yau-Man Chan
- Occupations
- table tennis playerreality television participant
- Biography
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Yau-Man Chan is a Malaysian table tennis player, technology executive, and reality television participant. He was the fourth-place finisher in the reality television series Survivor: Fiji. He returned to the show in Survivor: Micronesia, where he was the third contestant to be ousted. He was born in Hong Kong to ethnic Chinese parents and raised in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
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Dillon Tate
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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Dillon Michael Tate is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays. He played college baseball at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Texas Rangers selected Tate in the first round of the 2015 MLB draft and traded him to the New York Yankees during the 2016 season. He was traded to the Orioles close to the 2018 trade deadline and made his MLB debut with them in 2019.
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Matt Welch
- Occupations
- punditbloggerauthorjournalist
- Biography
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Matthew Lee Welch is an American blogger, journalist, author, and libertarian political pundit.
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Alan J. Heeger
- Occupations
- university teacherengineerphysicistchemist
- Biography
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Alan Jay Heeger is an American physicist, academic and Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry.
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Chris Pontius
- Occupations
- association football player
- Biography
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Christopher Richard Pontius is an American former professional soccer player.
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Wayne Isham
- Occupations
- music video directorfilm director
- Biography
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Wayne Isham is an American film director and music video director who has directed films and music videos of many popular artists.
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Barbara Bodine
- Occupations
- diplomat
- Biography
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Barbara K. Bodine is an American international relations scholar and former diplomat. She currently serves as the Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy and Director of the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at the School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University. Bodine previously directed the Scholars in the Nation's Service Initiative (SINSI) and lectured at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
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Finn E. Kydland
- Occupations
- university teachereconomistscientistprofessor
- Biography
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Finn Erling Kydland is a Norwegian economist known for his contributions to business cycle theory. He is the Henley Professor of Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He also holds the Richard P. Simmons Distinguished Professorship at the Tepper School of Business of Carnegie Mellon University, where he earned his PhD, and a part-time position at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH). Kydland was a co-recipient of the 2004 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, with Edward C. Prescott, "for their contributions to dynamic macroeconomics: the time consistency of economic policy and the driving forces behind business cycles."
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Larry Dierker
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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Lawrence Edward Dierker is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher, manager, and broadcaster. During a 14-year baseball career as a pitcher, he pitched from 1964 to 1977 for the Houston Colt.45s/Astros and the St. Louis Cardinals.
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Robert Duggan
- Years
- 1944-.. (age 81)
- Occupations
- business executive
- Biography
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Robert W. Duggan is an American billionaire, entrepreneur, philanthropist, biotech executive and health care executive. He is the former CEO of biopharmaceutical company Pharmacyclics and was previously CEO of surgical systems maker Computer Motion from 1997 to 2003. Bob is the majority shareholder and is on the boards of directors of Pulse Biosciences and Summit Therapeutics, where he is also CEO.
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Ryan Spilborghs
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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Ryan Adam Rene Jean Spilborghs is an American baseball broadcaster for ROCKIES.TV & SiriusXM's MLB Network Radio, and a former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Colorado Rockies and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Saitama Seibu Lions.
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Jordan Maron
- Occupations
- Minecraft YouTuber
- Biography
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Jordan Maron, known online as CaptainSparklez, is an American YouTuber and Twitch streamer mainly known for his Minecraft videos. As of December 2024, his main YouTube channel has over 11.4 million subscribers.
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Lois Capps
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- Studied in 1990
- Occupations
- nurse educatorpoliticiannurseprofessorbureaucrat
- Biography
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Lois Ragnhild Capps is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for California's 24th congressional district from 1998 to 2017. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, numbered as the 22nd District from 1998 to 2003 and the 23rd from 2003 to 2013, includes all of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties and a portion of Ventura County.
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Mark di Suvero
- Occupations
- sculptorvideo artistlithographer
- Biography
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Marco Polo di Suvero, better known as Mark di Suvero, is an abstract expressionist sculptor and 2010 National Medal of Arts recipient.
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Dacher Keltner
- Occupations
- university teacherpsychologist
- Biography
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Dacher Joseph Keltner is a Mexican-born American professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, who directs the Berkeley Social Interaction Lab.
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Adam Gray
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- In 2000 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Adam Channing Gray is an American politician who is a member of the United States House of Representatives from California's 13th congressional district after defeating Republican incumbent John Duarte in the 2024 election. A Democrat, he previously served in the California State Assembly and represented the 21st Assembly district, encompassing all of Merced County and portions of Stanislaus County. He was a candidate in the 2022 election for California's 13th congressional district, narrowly losing in the general election to Duarte.
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Cynthia Breazeal
- Occupations
- computer scientistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Cynthia Breazeal is an American robotics scientist and entrepreneur. She is a former chief scientist and chief experience officer of Jibo, a company she co-founded in 2012 that developed personal assistant robots. Currently, she is a professor of media arts and sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the director of the Personal Robots group at the MIT Media Lab. Her most recent work has focused on the theme of living everyday life in the presence of AI, and gradually gaining insight into the long-term impacts of social robots.
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James Paul Gee
- Occupations
- linguist
- Biography
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James Gee is a retired American researcher who has worked in psycholinguistics, discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, bilingual education, and literacy. Gee most recently held the position as the Mary Lou Fulton Presidential Professor of Literacy Studies at Arizona State University, originally appointed there in the Mary Lou Fulton Institute and Graduate School of Education. Gee has previously been a faculty affiliate of the Games, Learning, and Society group at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and is a member of the National Academy of Education.
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Chade-Meng Tan
- Years
- 1971-.. (age 54)
- Occupations
- engineer
- Biography
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Chade-Meng Tan, known informally as Meng, is an author, philanthropist, motivator, and former software engineer. He was previously employed at Google and greeted celebrities who visited the Google campus. He retired from Google as its "Jolly Good Fellow" at the age of 45. He co-founded the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute, along with Marc Lesser, and is co-chair of One Billion Acts of Peace, which was nominated eight times for the Nobel Peace Prize. He is also an adjunct professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in the National University of Singapore, and a graduate from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
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Rob Friend
- Occupations
- association football player
- Biography
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Robert Douglas Friend is a Canadian former professional soccer player, the president and co-founder of Vancouver FC, the ceo and co-founder of Pacific FC, the founder of Toca Football Canada, the co-founder of Canadian Premier League, the managing partner of SixFive Sport Fund also DRG Investment Group, and currently appointed as chief executive officer for Malaysia national team.
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Soledad Puértolas
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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Soledad Puértolas Villanueva is a Spanish writer, and on 28 January 2010 was named an inmortal or member of the Real Academia Española. She is a recipient of the Premio Planeta de Novela.
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Benjamin H. Bratton
- Occupations
- sociologistuniversity teacherdesigner
- Biography
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Benjamin H. Bratton is an American philosopher of technology known for his work spanning social theory, computer science, speculative design, artificial intelligence, and for his writing on "planetary scale computation."
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Yngve Slyngstad
- Occupations
- chief executive officereconomist
- Biography
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Yngve Slyngstad was the former CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) which is the part of the Norwegian Central Bank that is responsible for managing The Government Pension Fund - Global. In 2021 he was appointed as the CEO and senior partner of Aker Asset Management (AAM).
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Lindsay Taylor
- Occupations
- basketball playerbasketball coach
- Biography
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Lindsay Corine Taylor is an American former professional basketball player. She played in the WNBA, KBSL, LFB, WKBL, Polish Women's League, WCBA, and Angola Women's Basketball League. A very experienced player, she also played professionally overseas in 13 basketball seasons. Standing 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) tall she usually played the center position (normally the tallest player on the team).
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Delaine Eastin
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Delaine Andree Eastin was an American politician and educator from California. A professor by education, she was the first woman to be elected California State Superintendent of Public Instruction (1995–2003) since the office was first held in January 1851. Eastin represented parts of Alameda County and Santa Clara County in the California State Assembly between 1986 and 1994. She was a member of the Democratic Party.
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Marc Grossman
- Occupations
- diplomat
- Biography
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Marc Isaiah Grossman is an American former diplomat and government official. He served as United States Ambassador to Turkey, Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs, and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. He was most recently the United States Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan and is currently a Vice Chairman of The Cohen Group, a business strategic advisory firm headed by former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen, and a Vice Chair of the German Marshall Fund board of trustees.
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Norris Cochran
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Norris Whitehouse Cochran IV is an American government official who served as the acting United States Secretary of Health and Human Services from January to March 2021, having also served in this role previously in 2017. He serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Budget, and was Acting Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources in the United States Department of Health and Human Services throughout most of the Trump administration.
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Dan Kennedy
- Occupations
- association football player
- Biography
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Daniel Hoffard Kennedy is an American former professional soccer player who played as goalkeeper.
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Viral B. Shah
- Born in
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India - Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- In 2007 graduated with Doctor of Philosophy in computational science
- Occupations
- computer scientist
- Biography
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Viral B Shah is an Indian computer scientist, best known for being a co-creator of the Julia programming language. He was also actively involved in the initial design of the Aadhaar project in India which provides a 12-digit unique identity number to each Indian resident based on their biometric and demographic data. Based on his experiences implementing Aadhaar and other complex technology projects in government, he co-authored the book Rebooting India with Nandan Nilekani.
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Denis Dutton
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- Graduated with Doctor of Philosophy in philosophy
- Occupations
- university teacherphilosopher
- Biography
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Denis Laurence Dutton was an American philosopher of art, web entrepreneur, and media activist. He was a professor of philosophy at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. He was also a co-founder and co-editor of the websites Arts & Letters Daily, ClimateDebateDaily.com, and cybereditions.com.
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Michael Aquino
- Years
- 1946-2019 (aged 73)
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- In 1980 graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- political scientistauthormilitary officereditorpriest
- Biography
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Michael Angelo Aquino was an American political scientist, military officer and Satanist. He was the founder and high priest of the Temple of Set. Aquino was also a specialist in psychological warfare for military intelligence and an officer in the U.S. Army.
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Blair Hull
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Blair Hull is an American businessman, investor, and Democratic politician.
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Dick Tuck
- Occupations
- military personnel
- Biography
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Richard Gregory Tuck was an American political consultant, campaign strategist, advance man, and political prankster.
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Thomas Gilovich
- Occupations
- writeruniversity teacherpsychologist
- Biography
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Thomas Dashiff Gilovich is an American psychologist who is the Irene Blecker Rosenfeld Professor of Psychology at Cornell University. He has conducted research in social psychology, decision making, and behavioral economics, and has written popular books on these subjects. Gilovich has collaborated with Daniel Kahneman, Richard Nisbett, Lee Ross and Amos Tversky. His articles in peer-reviewed journals on subjects such as cognitive biases have been widely cited. In addition, Gilovich has been quoted in the media on subjects ranging from the effect of purchases on happiness to people's most common regrets, to perceptions of people and social groups. Gilovich is a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
