Pomona College: A Legacy of Notable Alumni
Pomona College, since its founding in 1887, has cultivated a rich tradition of academic excellence, fostering an environment where students are encouraged to explore their passions and make meaningful contributions to the world. The success of its graduates serves as compelling evidence of the soundness of Pomona’s educational philosophy. With 132 graduating classes, the college boasts a diverse and accomplished alumni network spanning various fields, from arts and entertainment to science, politics, and business. This article explores the remarkable achievements of some of Pomona College's most notable alumni, highlighting their diverse paths and lasting impact.
Insights into Graduate Success
Pomona College actively tracks the achievements of its graduates through various means. The Office of Institutional Research gathers data through surveys to inform the college's mission, including information about recent graduates and alumni who are five and 10 years out. The College's Career Development Office (CDO) collects data through the end of the calendar year to reflect opportunities obtained by recent graduates following The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) standards. For the Class of 2025, the knowledge rate was 83%. According to recent data, 60% of alumni were either pursuing or had completed an advanced degree within 10 years of graduating Pomona.
The Class of 2025 First Destination Report features data that was gathered through surveys and data mining. The First Destination Report Interactive Dashboard features verifiable data that was gathered through surveys and data mining.
Arts and Entertainment Luminaries
Pomona College has produced a remarkable number of influential figures in the arts and entertainment industries.
Kris Kristofferson: A 1958 graduate with a Bachelor of Arts, Kristoffer Kristofferson was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. Kristofferson was a pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, moving away from the polished Nashville sound and toward a more raw, introspective style. During the 1970s, he also embarked on a successful career as a Hollywood actor.
Richard Chamberlain: This actor and singer became a teen idol in the title role of the television show Dr. Kildare (1961-1966). George Richard Chamberlain is an American actor and singer. He subsequently appeared in several miniseries, such as Shōgun (1980) and The Thorn Birds (1983). Chamberlain has also performed classical stage roles and worked in musical theater.
Joel McCrea: Joel Albert McCrea was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he became best known.
Amanda Blake: Amanda Blake was an American actress best known for the role of the red-haired saloon proprietress "Miss Kitty Russell" on the western television series Gunsmoke. Along with her fourth husband, Frank Gilbert, she ran one of the first successful programs for breeding cheetahs in captivity.
Rosalind Chao: Rosalind Chao is an American actress, best known for playing Soon-Lee Klinger in the mid-1980s CBS show AfterMASH, Rose Hsu Jordan in the 1993 movie The Joy Luck Club, the recurring character Keiko O'Brien on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in the 1990s, and Dr. Kim on The O.C. in 2003. She also played Hua Li, Mulan's mother, in the live-action 2020 remake of Mulan. In 2024 she starred as Ye Wenjie in the Netflix production of 3 Body Problem.
Roy E. Disney: Roy Edward Disney was an American businessman. He was the longtime senior executive for the Walt Disney Company, which was founded by his uncle, Walt Disney, and his father, Roy O. Disney. At the time of his death, he held more than 16 million shares (about 1% of the company), and served as a consultant for the company, as well as director emeritus for the board of directors. During his tenure, he organized ousting of the company's top two executives: Ron W. Miller in 1984 and Michael Eisner in 2005.
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Robert Taylor: Robert Taylor was an American film and television actor and singer who was one of the most popular leading men of cinema.
Jason Beghe: Jason Deneen Beghe is an American actor. Since 2014, he has starred in the NBC TV series Chicago P.D. as Sergeant Hank Voight. He is also known for starring in the 1988 George A. Romero film Monkey Shines, playing Demi Moore's love interest in G.I. Jane, appearing as a police officer in the film Thelma & Louise, starring opposite Moira Kelly in the television series To Have & to Hold, and having recurring roles on Picket Fences, Melrose Place, Chicago Hope, American Dreams, Cane, and Californication.
Anthony Zerbe: Anthony Jared Zerbe is an American actor. His notable film roles include the post-apocalyptic cult leader Matthias in The Omega Man, a 1971 film adaptation of Richard Matheson's 1954 novel, I Am Legend; as an Irish Catholic coal miner and one of the Molly Maguires in the 1970 film The Molly Maguires; as a corrupt gambler in Farewell, My Lovely; as the leper colony chief Toussaint in the 1973 historical drama prison film Papillon; as Abner Devereaux in Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park; as villain Milton Krest in the James Bond film Licence to Kill; Rosie in The Turning Point; Roger Stuart in The Dead Zone; Admiral Dougherty in Star Trek: Insurrection; and Councillor Hamann in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions.
Will Hutchins: Will Hutchins is an American actor most noted for playing the lead role of the young lawyer Tom Brewster, in the Western television series Sugarfoot, which aired on ABC from 1957 to 1961 for 69 episodes.
George C. Wolfe: George Costello Wolfe is an American playwright and director of theater and film. His accolades include two Tony Awards for directing the play Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and the musical Bring in 'da Noise/Bring in 'da Funk. He served as Artistic Director of The Public Theater from 1993 until 2004.
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Scientific and Technological Innovators
Pomona College alumni have also made significant contributions to the fields of science and technology.
Jennifer Doudna: In 1985 graduated with bachelor's degree in chemistry. Jennifer Anne Doudna is an American biochemist who has pioneered work in CRISPR gene editing, and made other fundamental contributions in biochemistry and genetics. She received the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, with Emmanuelle Charpentier, "for the development of a method for genome editing." She is the Li Ka Shing Chancellor's Chair Professor in the department of chemistry and the department of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley. She has been an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute since 1997.
Norris Edwin Bradbury: Norris Edwin Bradbury, was an American physicist who served as director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory for 25 years from 1945 to 1970. He succeeded Robert Oppenheimer, who personally chose Bradbury for the position of director after working closely with him on the Manhattan Project during World War II. Bradbury was in charge of the final assembly of "the Gadget", detonated in July 1945 for the Trinity test.
Political and Social Leaders
Pomona College has a long-standing tradition of producing leaders who have shaped political discourse and social change.
Alan MacGregor Cranston: Alan MacGregor Cranston was an American politician and journalist who served as a United States Senator from California from 1969 to 1993, and as President of the World Federalist Association from 1949 to 1952.
Brian Emanuel Schatz: In 1994 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in philosophy. Brian Emanuel Schatz is an American educator and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Hawaii, a seat he has held since 2012. A member of the Democratic Party, Schatz served in the Hawaii House of Representatives from 1998 to 2006, representing the 25th legislative district; as the chairman of the Democratic Party of Hawaii from 2008 to 2010; and as the 12th lieutenant governor of Hawaii from 2010 to 2012.
Marianne Deborah Williamson: Marianne Deborah Williamson is an American author, speaker, and political activist. She began her professional career as spiritual leader of the Church of Today, a Unity Church in Warren, Michigan. Williamson has written several self-help books, including A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles in 1992, which became a New York Times Best Seller. She was launched into prominence by Oprah Winfrey, being a frequent guest on her daytime talk show and becoming known as her "spiritual advisor".
Myrlie Louise Evers-Williams: Myrlie Louise Evers-Williams is an American civil rights activist and journalist who worked for over three decades to seek justice for the 1963 murder of her husband Medgar Evers, another civil rights activist. She also served as chairwoman of the NAACP, and has published several books on topics related to civil rights and her husband's legacy. On January 21, 2013, she delivered the invocation at the second inauguration of Barack Obama.
Bernard Charnwut Chan: Bernard Charnwut Chan is a Hong Kong politician and businessman. He served as Non-official Convenor of the Executive Council from 2017 to 2022.
Business and Entrepreneurial Successes
Pomona College alumni have also achieved considerable success in the world of business and entrepreneurship.
Ted Field: Frederick Woodruff "Ted" Field is an American media mogul, record executive, entrepreneur and film producer.
Hashim Sujono Djojohadikusumo: Hashim Sujono Djojohadikusumo is an Indonesian entrepreneur and politician who is the younger brother of Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto. In 2014, he was considered a billionaire. As of December 2020, Forbes estimates his net worth at $800 million.
Literary and Journalistic Voices
Pomona College has fostered a strong tradition of producing influential writers and journalists.
Douglas Jerome Preston: Douglas Jerome Preston is an American journalist and author. Although he is best known for his thrillers in collaboration with Lincoln Child (including the Agent Pendergast series and Gideon Crew series), he has also written six solo novels, including the Wyman Ford series and a novel entitled Jennie, which was made into a movie by Disney. He has authored a half-dozen nonfiction books on science and exploration and writes occasionally for The New Yorker, Smithsonian, and other magazines.
Paul Fussell Jr.: Paul Fussell Jr. was an American cultural and literary historian, author and university professor. His writings cover a variety of topics, from scholarly works on eighteenth-century English literature to commentary on America's class system. Fussell served in the 103rd Infantry Division during World War II and was wounded in fighting in France. Returning to the US, Fussell wrote extensively and held several faculty positions, most prominently at Rutgers University (1955-1983) and at the University of Pennsylvania (1983-1994). He is best known for his writings about World War I and II, which explore what he felt was the gap between the romantic myth and the reality of war; he made a "career out of refusing to disguise it or elevate it".
Ashlee Vance: In 1996-2000 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy. Ashlee Vance is an American reporter, writer, and filmmaker. He is known for his 2015 biography of Elon Musk, titled Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future.
Coaches and Athletes
- Michael Vincent Budenholzer: Michael Vincent Budenholzer is an American professional basketball coach who is the head coach of the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Other notable alumni
- Robert Towne: Robert Towne was an American screenwriter and director. He started writing films for Roger Corman, including The Tomb of Ligeia in 1964, and was later part of the New Hollywood wave of filmmaking.
- Twyla Tharp: Twyla Tharp is an American dancer, choreographer, and author who lives and works in New York City. In 1965 she formed the company Twyla Tharp Dance, which merged with American Ballet Theatre in 1988. She regrouped the company in 1991. Her work often uses classical music, jazz, and contemporary pop music.
- Seraphim Rose: Seraphim Rose, also known as Seraphim of Platina, was an American priest and hieromonk of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia who co-founded the Saint Herman of Alaska Monastery in Platina, California. He translated Eastern Orthodox Christian texts and authored several works. His writings have been credited with helping to spread Eastern Orthodox Christianity throughout the West; his popularity equally extended to Russia itself, where his works were secretly reproduced and distributed by samizdat during the Communist era, remaining popular today.
- Rick Strassman: Rick Strassman is an American clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. He has held a fellowship in clinical psychopharmacology research at the University of California San Diego and was Professor of Psychiatry for eleven years at the University of New Mexico. After 20 years of intermission, Strassman was the first person in the United States to undertake human research with psychedelic, hallucinogenic, or entheogenic substances with his research on N,N-dimethyltryptamine, also known as DMT. He is also the author of DMT: The Spirit Molecule, which summarizes his academic research into DMT and other experimental studies of it, and includes his own reflections and conclusions based on this research.
- David S. Ward: David Schad Ward is an American screenwriter and film director. He was nominated for two Academy Awards for his screenplays for the films The Sting (1973) and Sleepless in Seattle (1993), winning for the former. He was also nominated for a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, and two Writers Guild of America Awards.
- Sylvain White: Sylvain White is a French film director and screenwriter.
- James Turrell: James Turrell is an American artist known for his work within the Light and Space movement. He is considered the "master of light" often creating art installations that mix natural light with artificial color through openings in ceilings thereby transforming internal spaces by ever shifting and changing color.
- FanFan: Christine Fan, better known by her stage name FanFan or her Mandarin name Fan Wei-chi, is a Taiwanese-American singer-songwriter, TV presenter, record producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She sings mostly in Mandarin, but has also recorded in English. She speaks Mandarin fluently but is also proficient in English.
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