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. 7 individuals affiliated with the University of California - Santa Barbara won Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, and Economics.
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Michael Douglas
- Occupations
- television actorproducerfilm produceractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Michael Kirk Douglas is an American retired 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
- businesspersonfilm actortelevision producersongwriterstage actor
- 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 primarily 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
- television actorvoice actorfilm produceractorfilm 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 NYPD Detective Rey Curtis on the NBC drama series Law & Order, for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
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Steve Aoki
- Occupations
- club DJdisc jockeycollectoractorrecord producer
- 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. He has collaborated with artists such as will.i.am, Alan Walker, Afrojack, LMFAO, Tini, Linkin Park, AGNEZ MO, Iggy Azalea, Grandson, Lil Jon, Blink-182, Taking Back Sunday, Laidback Luke, BTS, Monsta X, (G)I-dle, Louis Tomlinson, Backstreet Boys, Rise Against, Vini Vici, Lauren Jauregui, and Fall Out Boy and is known for his remixes of artists such as Kid Cudi.
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Alison Eastwood
- Occupations
- film producermodelfilm actordesignerfilm director
- 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
- composerrecord producerguitaristsingersurfer
- Biography
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Jack Hody Johnson is an American singer-songwriter. He plays a variety of styles including pop, rock, acoustic, folk and surf rock.
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Jerry Trainor
- Occupations
- comediantelevision actorfilm actorvoice actormusician
- 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 (both on Nickelodeon) and its Paramount+ 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
- television actorstage actoractorfilm actor
- 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-Dokoupil is an American author and broadcast journalist working as a correspondent for MS NOW. She has anchored daytime news coverage for the network since 2017; her show has been named Katy Tur Reports since 2021. 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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Edi Gathegi
- Occupations
- television actorstage actoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Edi Mūe Gathegi is a Kenyan-American actor. He had his breakthrough playing Dr. Jeffrey "Big Love" Cole on the fourth season of the television series House (2007), followed by his roles as Cheese in the 2007 film Gone Baby Gone, vampire Laurent in the films Twilight and its sequel The Twilight Saga: New Moon, and as Darwin in X-Men: First Class. He played cover operative Matias Solomon on The Blacklist, which he reprised for the spinoff series The Blacklist: Redemption.
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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 in December 2020. He has been described as part of the manosphere, but these are not beliefs that he shares.
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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, GSN and the Big Ten Network. She was the co-host of SportsNation along with Marcellus Wiley until leaving 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. 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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Robby Krieger
- Occupations
- composersinger-songwriterguitaristsongwriter
- 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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Harris Faulkner
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts in mass communication
- Occupations
- television presenternews presenterjournalist
- Biography
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Harris Kimberley Faulkner is an American conservative television news anchor and 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.
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Jose M. Hernandez
- Occupations
- engineerbusinesspersonastronaut
- 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
- geologistnon-fiction writernaval officeroceanographeracademic
- 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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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
- television actorstage actoractorfilm actor
- 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
- television producerlawyerreporter
- 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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Reza Aslan
- Occupations
- writeruniversity teacherreligious studies scholartelevision produceropinion journalist
- 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 five 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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Moshe Kasher
- Occupations
- screenwriterpodcastertelevision actorcomedianactor
- 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 electronics engineer and co-inventor of the blue LED, a major breakthrough in lighting technology. For this achievement, Nakamura, together with Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano, received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014.
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Andrew D. Huberman
- Occupations
- university teacherneuroscientistpodcaster
- 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. He has been the host of the popular health and science focused podcast Huberman Lab since 2021. He has drawn criticism from scientists for promoting dietary supplements and for making poorly evidenced health claims.
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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. Upon the death of Representative Don Young in 2022, Wyden became the dean of the West Coast's Congressional delegation. 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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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 and artist based in San Francisco and New York City. She was known anonymously in People v. Turner as "Emily Doe" after she was sexually assaulted while unconscious 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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Gregg Araki
- Occupations
- film producerscreenwritercinematographerdirectorfilm editor
- 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 inaugural winner of the Queer Palm at the Cannes Film Festival.
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Lo Bosworth
- Occupations
- writerentrepreneuractorfilm actor
- 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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Richard Serra
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- In 1961 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- draftspersonsculptorvisual artistpaintertelevision producer
- 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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Gabe Vincent
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Gabriel Nnamdi Vincent is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Hawks 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 Los Angeles Lakers.
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Joseph C. Wilson
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- In 1972 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- political adviserwriterdiplomatbusinesspersonwhistleblower
- 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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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 ran and was defeated in the 2018 United States Senate election in California against incumbent Senator Dianne Feinstein and came in third place with 7.79% of the vote in the 2022 Los Angeles mayoral election.
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Christopher Gavigan
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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Christopher Gavigan is an American entrepreneur, author, and one of the co-founders of The Honest Company. He is also the founder and CEO of Prima and CEO of Healthy Child Healthy World.
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Beverly Archer
- Occupations
- film actoractorscreenwriter
- Biography
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Beverly Archer is an American actress and writer who is perhaps best known as Iola Boylen on Mama's Family and Gunnery Sgt. Alva Bricker on Major Dad.
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Saint Levant
- Occupations
- singersongwriterrapper
- Biography
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Marwan Abdelhamid, known professionally as Saint Levant (French: [sɛ̃ ləvɑ̃]; Arabic: سانت ليفانت), is a Palestinian singer-songwriter and rapper. A multilingual artist, he is best known for his song "Very Few Friends".
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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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Don Hertzfeldt
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- Studied in 1998
- Occupations
- filmmakerfilm directorcinematographeranimatordirector
- 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. Nine 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." In 2025, Time Magazine included Ologies on its list of "The 100 Best Podcasts of All Time."
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James Nunnally
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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James William Nunnally is an American professional basketball player for AEK Athens of the Greek Basketball League (GBL) and the FIBA Champions League. He played college basketball for the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos.
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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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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 and Mysterious Creatures with Forrest Galante on Animal Planet, and has appeared on multiple Shark Week shows.
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Teri Reeves
- Occupations
- film actortelevision actorstage 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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Skip Schumaker
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
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Jared Michael "Skip" Schumaker is an American professional baseball manager and former outfielder and second baseman who currently serves as the manager of the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Cincinnati Reds, and has previously managed for the Miami Marlins.
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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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Jenna Lee
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts in English studies and global studies
- Occupations
- presentercolumnistjournalist
- 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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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 had to leave the night before the eruption, in order to attend a work appointment.
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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 who competed for the University of California, Santa Barbara. Lezak specialized in the 50 and 100-meter freestyle races, and represented the United States in four Olympic Games where he won eight Olympic medals.
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Carla Simón
- Occupations
- film screenwriterscreenwriterfilm director
- Biography
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Carla Simón Pipó is a Spanish film director. Most known for her films Summer 1993 (2017) and Alcarràs (2022), for the latter she received the Golden Bear at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival.
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Amy Gumenick
- Occupations
- film actoractortelevision actor
- Biography
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Amy Jaclyn Gumenick is a Swedish-American actress. She appeared as Natalee Holloway in the television film of the same name (2009) and its sequel, the young Mary Winchester in Supernatural (2008–10), Carrie Cutter / Cupid in Arrow (2014–19) and Philomena Cheer in Turn: Washington's Spies (2014–2017).
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Jared Huffman
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- In 1986 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- volleyball playerbeach volleyball playerlawyerpolitician
- 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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Grady Booch
- Occupations
- computer scientistsoftware developerengineer
- 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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Carol Greider
- Occupations
- geneticistbiologistbiochemistmolecular biologist
- 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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Walter Kohn
- Occupations
- university teacherchemistphysicist
- 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 understanding 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
- hydrogeologistteacherastronaut
- 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 Caribbean and Puerto Rican origin, and the twelfth of fifteen people of Ibero-american heritage to have flown to space as a NASA astronaut.
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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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Alan Williams
- Occupations
- basketball player
- Biography
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Alan Travis Williams is an American professional basketball player for the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins of the Japanese B.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 writerpoetnovelist
- 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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Milan St. Protić
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- Studied in 1982
- In 1987 graduated with Doctor of Science
- Occupations
- historiandiplomatuniversity teacherpolitician
- 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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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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Herbert Kroemer
- Occupations
- physicistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Herbert Kroemer was a German–American solid-state physicist who, along with Zhores Alferov, received the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics "for developing semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed- and opto-electronics." He was Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research into transistors was a stepping stone to the later development of mobile phone technologies.
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Carol Folt
- Occupations
- scientistbiologistecologistdean
- Biography
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Carol Lynn Folt is an American ecologist and academic administrator who served as the 12th president of the University of Southern California from July 2019 to June 2025. 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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Edward Feser
- Occupations
- philosopher
- Biography
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Edward Charles Feser is an American Catholic philosopher. He is a Professor of Philosophy at Pasadena City College in Pasadena, California.
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Kazu Kibuishi
- Occupations
- comics artistwriterillustratoranimatorgraphic artist
- 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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Mykel Hawke
- Occupations
- actorsoldierwriter
- 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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Alexei Filippenko
- Occupations
- astrophysicistastronomerphysicistuniversity teacher
- 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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Michel Devoret
- Occupations
- physicist
- Biography
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Michel Henri Devoret is a French-American physicist. He is Professor of Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Professor Emeritus of Applied Physics at Yale University. He serves as the Chief Scientist for Quantum Hardware at Google Quantum AI. He is known for the development of various superconducting quantum computing architectures, including the quantronium, the transmon, and the fluxonium.
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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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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 has served as the U.S. representative for California's 13th congressional district since 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the California State Assembly from 2012 to 2022, representing the 21st district, which includes all of Merced County and portions of Stanislaus County.
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Leroy Chiao
- Occupations
- university teacherentrepreneurmotivational speakerengineerastronaut
- Biography
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Leroy 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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Tony Cárdenas
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- In 1986 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- insurance brokerreal-estate agentpolitician
- 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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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. Tate played college baseball at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Texas Rangers selected him 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
- bloggerauthorjournalistpundit
- Biography
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Matthew Lee Welch is an American blogger, journalist, author, and libertarian political pundit.
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Bruce Allen
- Occupations
- astrophysicistastronomerphysicistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Bruce Allen is an American physicist and director at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Hannover, Germany, and founder and leader of the distributed volunteer computing project Einstein@Home project. He is an honorary physics professor at Leibniz University Hannover, an adjunct physics professor at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and also the initiator / project leader of smartmontools hard disk utility.
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CaptainSparklez
- 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 January 2026, his main YouTube channel has over 11.4 million subscribers.
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Robert Duggan
- Occupations
- business executive
- Biography
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Robert W. Duggan is an American billionaire entrepreneur, biotech 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. Duggan is the majority shareholder and CEO of Pulse Biosciences and Summit Therapeutics.
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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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Alan J. Heeger
- Occupations
- engineerphysicistchemistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Alan Jay Heeger is an American physicist, academic and Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry.
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Barbara Bodine
- Occupations
- diplomat
- Biography
-
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
- economistscientistprofessoruniversity teacher
- 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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Chris Pontius
- Occupations
- association football player
- Biography
-
Christopher Richard Pontius is an American former professional soccer player.
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Larry Dierker
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
-
Lawrence Edward Dierker is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) 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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Ryan Spilborghs
- Occupations
- baseball player
- Biography
-
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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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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Rob Friend
- Occupations
- association football player
- Biography
-
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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Cynthia Breazeal
- Occupations
- computer scientistuniversity teacher
- Biography
-
Cynthia Breazeal is an American AI and robotics scientist and entrepreneur. She is a pioneer of social robotics and human-robot interaction. She is the former chief scientist and chief experience officer of Jibo, a company she co-founded in 2012 that developed companion robots for the family at home. Currently, she is a professor of media arts and sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she is the director of the Personal Robots Group at the MIT Media Lab, dean for digital learning at MIT Open Learning, and director of the MIT RAISE Initiative. Her work has explored the theme of living everyday life in the presence of AI and, in recent years, has been a leader in AI literacy for youth.
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Lois Capps
- Enrolled in the University of California - Santa Barbara
- Studied in 1990
- Occupations
- nurseprofessorbureaucratteachernurse educator
- Biography
-
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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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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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 55)
- Occupations
- engineer
- Biography
-
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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Benjamin H. Bratton
- Occupations
- university teacherdesignersociologist
- 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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Cori Close
- Occupations
- basketball playerbasketball coach
- Biography
-
Cori Rashel Close is an American college basketball coach who has served as the head women's basketball coach for the UCLA Bruins since 2011. Before UCLA, she spent time as an assistant coach at Florida State University and her alma mater, UC Santa Barbara (UCSB). She was a star player for UCSB, serving as a team captain during the 1992 and 1993 seasons while leading them to the NCAA tournament both years.
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Jack Bannon
- Occupations
- film actoractortelevision actor
- Biography
-
John James Bannon was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Art Donovan on Lou Grant, a role he played for the duration of the series, from 1977 to 1982.
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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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Peidong Yang
- Occupations
- university teacherchemistphysicist
- Biography
-
Peidong Yang is a Chinese-American chemist, material scientist, and businessman. He is the S.K. and Angela Chan Distinguished Professor of Energy, as well as a Professor of Chemistry and a Professor of Materials Science at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley). He is also a Senior Faculty Scientist at the Materials and Chemical Sciences Division at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the Director of the California Research Alliance by BASF and the Director of the Kavli Energy Nanoscience Institute at UC Berkeley.
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Yngve Slyngstad
- Occupations
- chief executive officereconomist
- Biography
-
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
-
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, usually playing the center position. An experienced player, Taylor has played professionally overseas in Europe, Asia, and Africa in 13 basketball seasons between 2005 and 2015.
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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
-
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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Delaine Eastin
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
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
-
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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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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Dr 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.
