Notable Alumni of Whittier College

Business and Industry

F. Lynn Blystone '57, Chairman, President and CEO of Tri-Valley Corporation (AMEX ticker: TIV)

Tien Zee '61, Founder & Chairman, Intex Industries

Elden Smith '62, President and CEO, Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc.

Peter L. Harris '65, past CEO for the San Francisco 49ers, FAO Schwarz

Fred Anderson '66, Co-founder and managing director, Elevation Partners; former Executive Vice President and CFO for Apple, Inc.

Richard Gilchrist '68, President, Investment Properties Group, the Irvine Company

Joyce Brunelle '69, Chairman, Suntricity, Inc.

Richard Foos '71, Co-founder of Rhino Records, founder of Shout! Factory

Fred Wang '72, Director & Vice-Chairman of the Board, CDC Corporation

Michael Teel '74, President & CEO of Raley's/ Bel Air/ Nob Hill Foods (Supermarket chain)

Paul Bateman '79, President, Klein & Saks Group

Edwin Keh '79, CEO, Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel; former Senior Vice President, Global Procurement, Walmart

Matt Espe MBA '84, President, Armstrong World Industries

Mimi Kam '85, General Manager, Head of Human Resources & Corporate Communications Division, The Bank of East Asia, Ltd. (BEA)

Edward O. Petersen '93, Co-founder and executive vice president for sales and marketing, Intelius

Shakir Husain '98, Founder and CEO for Creative Chaos (Pvt), Ltd. (Pakistan)

Education and Advocacy

Robert M. Zemsky '62, Founding Director, Institute for Research on Higher Education, University of Pennsylvania, Chair of The Learning Alliance for Higher Education, Former Woodrow Wilson Fellow

Christopher Cross '62, Chairman of Cross & Joftus, LLC

Raymond Erickson '63, Founding Director, Aaron Copland School of Music, former Dean of Arts and Humanities, City University of New York Graduate School

Ray Mellado '71, Founder & CEO, Great Minds in STEM

Kristine Dillon '73, President, Consortium on Financing Higher Education, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Paul Ferguson '74, President, University of Maine in Orono 

Sandy Thorstenson '77, Superintendent of Schools, Whittier Union High School District

Anthony S. Tricoli '78, President, Georgia Perimeter College

M. Rene Islas '00, Vice President for B&D Consulting’s National Educational Practice, former Chief of Staff to the Assistant Secretary of Education

 

Entertainment, Arts, and Literature

Jessamyn West '23*, award-winning novelist, author of The Friendly Persuasion (1945)

Zilpha (Keatley) Snyder '48, Newbery award-winning children’s author

Arthur Allan Seidelman '58, Emmy-winning director and producer for television, film, and Broadway; director, "Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks" (release date: September 2014)

Guy Webster '62, noted celebrity photographer; co-founder, Guy Webster-Mike Taggart Motorcycle Museum

Robert "Bob" Porter '63, discographer, writer, record producer, Blues Hall of Fame Inductee, Grammy-winner, syndicated radio host "Portraits in Blue"

Timothy Clott '70, children’s television producer and studio executive

Fred Wang '71, chairman, Salon Films Group; honorary vice president, China Film Foundation; director of the board, Hong Kong International Film Festival Society

Cheryl Boone Isaacs '71, president, American Association of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences; owner, CBI Enterprises; 2014 NAACP Hall of Fame Award-winner

James Nash '72, Emmy-winning broadcast news director, producer, writer (CBS), Edward R. Murrow Award and Golden Mike Award-winner

Alma Martinez '84, stage, film, and television actress

John Murdy '89,  creative director, Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights (CA)

Mei-lan Stark '89, senior vice president, Intellectual Property, Fox Entertainment Group

Charles Bock '91, novelist, New York Times' Notable Book of the Year (2008)

Josh Freedom Du Lac '93, enterprise reporter, The Washington Post

Geoff Stults '97, television actor, Fox's "Enlisted," ABC's "Happy Town," CW’s “October Road"

Henry K. Priest '98, award-winning independent film producer, film festival director, and amateur wrestling technical advisor

Adam Pava '99, television comedy writer, producer, co-creator of Cartoon Network’s “Out of Jimmy’s Head"

James Adomian '01, stand-up comedian, actor, impressionist, CBS's "Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson," finalist on NBC's "Last Comic Standing"

Politics and Law

George E. Outland '28, United States Congressman

Richard M. Nixon '34, J.D., 37th President of the United States, credited with opening up foreign relations/international trade with China and establishing the Environmental Protection Agency, among others

J. Stanley Sanders '63, J.D., Partner and attorney for The Sanders Firm LLP, Rhodes Scholar, former Los Angeles mayoral candidate

Abdullah Alireza '68, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Robert D. Durham '69, J.D.,  Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, partner in Bennett & Durham

Albert Jacquez '77, Principal, Strategic Solutions Washington; former chief executive for the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation; former chief of staff for California Congressman Esteban Torres

Hon. Gilbert Ochoa '81, J.D., Superior Court Judge, State of California, County of San Bernardino

Adrienne Cisneros '81, former Director, Office of Civil Rights and Diversity, U.S. Department of Energy, member of the White House Advance Team (President G.W. Bush)

Tony Strickland '93, former California State Senator, 19th District (2008 -2012) and Assemblyman, 37th District (1998 - 2004)

Misty Sanford '00, J.D., Founder & Vice President of Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust (LANLT); Partner, Munger, Tolles & Olson; Founder & Treasurer,For People of Color, Inc.

Science, Medicine, and Biotechnology 

Howard House '30, M.D.*, "Father of Modern Otology," Founder of House Ear Institute

Jeanine Hull Heron '60, Ph.D., Principal Investigator, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHHD); Director & CEO, Talking Fingers, Inc.; Founder, first Head Start Program

James Galloway '66, Ph.D., Tyler Prize-winner for Environmental Achievement, American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow, American Geophysical Union Fellow, Chair for the International Nitrogen Initiative

Nathaniel G. Pitts '69, Director (Ret.), Office of Integrative Activities, National Science Foundation (NSF)

Steve Johnson '75, Director, Forensic Crime Laboratory, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office; former Commanding Officer, Los Angeles Police Department Scientific Investigation Division

Michael Moran '84, M.D., FACC, FSCAI, President & CEO, Cardiovascular Institute, Laguna, LLC; former Medical Director, Cardiac Rehabilitation and Risk Factor Modification Program, Harvard School of Medicine; Designer/Director, Cardiovascular Catheterization & Intervention Lab,  South Coast Medical Center

Dean Salisbury '85, M.D., Director, Clinical Neurophysiology Research Lab, University of Pittsburgh; former Director, Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Elizabeth Y. Kay-Im '89, Section Manager, Instrument Software & Science Data Systems, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Adam Rosenberg '92, J.D., former CEO, Link Medicine; principal in Faber Daeufer & Rosenberg PC

Jonnie Capiro '01, M.S., Zookeeper (large African mammals), San Diego Wild Animal Park

Kalina Gospodinova '04, Research Technician, Phoenix Mars Landing Mission

Social Advocacy and Service

Martin Ortiz '48*, Pioneering Latino advocate, founder of the Center of Mexican American Affairs

Linda Biehl '65, Founder & President, Amy Biehl Foundation Trust, South Africa; recipient of the Felton Humanitarian Award (U.S.) and Order of O.R. Tambo (South Africa)

Hiroko Tatebe '73, Founder & CEO, Global Organization for Leadership and Diversity (GOLD)

Elizabeth Reich '75, President & CEO, Make-A-Wish Foundation Arizona

Melanie Brunson '76, Executive Director, American Council for the Blind

Jennifer Waltzer '80, Chief Administrative Officer, Autism Speaks

Andrea Shorter '88, Co-chair, Bayard LGBT Rustin Coalition; President, San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women; former Deputy Director of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice

Erik Stegman '04, J.D., Manager, Half in Ten Campaign, Center for American Progress; former Counsel, Committee on Indian Affairs, U.S. Senate

Alex Sheldon '08, LGBT Movement Research Analyst, Movement Advancement Project; Program Analyst, Project Education South Sudan; Designer, LGBT "Safe Zone" Training Course, Peace Corps; co-founder Open Minds, Open Books Project, Dominica

Sports

Anthony "Tony" Malinosky '32*, former Major League Baseball player, Brooklyn Dodgers

Tom Tellez '55, Olympic Track & Field Coach (for Gold Medalists Carl Lewis, Joe DeLoach, Leroy Burrell, among others)

Jim Colborn '68, Coordinator of Pacific Rim Operations for Texas Rangers (American League Baseball); former Major League Baseball pitcher, pitching coach

Russ Purnell '70, Special Teams Coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars (National Football League), coached two Superbowl-winning teams--Indianapolis and Baltimore 

Jim Skipper '73, former Assistant Head Coach, Carolina Panthers (National Football League)

Doug Locker '79, President & General Manager, Vancouver Stealth (National Lacrosse League)