Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California, and the founding member of the Claremont Colleges consortium. Many notable individuals have been affiliated with the college as graduates, non-graduating attendees, faculty, staff, or administrators.
Since its founding in 1887, Pomona has graduated classes of students. The college enrolls approximately students as of the semester and has roughly 25,000 living alumni. The top industries for graduates include technology; education; consulting and professional services; finance; government, law, and politics; arts, entertainment, and media; healthcare and social services; nonprofits; and research.
Pomona employs faculty members as of the semester. The college has had presidents, the first four of whom were Congregational ministers. The current president, , took office in .
Notable alumni
Arts and letters
Visual art
Name Class year Notability 1934 California Scene Painting watercolor artist 1934 Illustrator 1948 Landscape painter 1951 Artist, known for minimalist and process art works 1953 Performance artist 1956 Sculptor 1956 Light and Space artist 1956 Artist, art historian, fellow of the Center for Advanced Visual Studies, known for steam sculpture 1956 Painter 1958 Sculptor, known for kinaesthetic sculptures, Governor General's Award in Visual Art recipient, Guggenheim Fellowship recipient 1959 Artist, professor emeritus at the School of Art, Art History, and Design University of Washington 1960s Illustrator, best known for her work on the U.S. editions of the Harry Potter books 1965 Light and Space artist, known for skyspaces and Roden Crater land art project 1966 Photographer and video artist 1969 Performance, sculpture, and installation artist 1972 Sculptor, educator 1973 Sculptor 1977 Sculptor 1999 Asian-American visual artist and arts administrator, artist-in-residence at Recology, Asian Cultural Council Individual Fellowship, artist-in-residence at de Young Museum, Artadia Awards recipient 2002 Director and photographer 2006 Writer, educator, and artist, Guggenheim Fellowship recipient, Creative Capital recipient 2007 Chinese-American multidisciplinary artist 2014 Multidisciplinary artist
Film and television
Name Class year Notability 1928 Film actor (Sullivan's Travels, Foreign Correspondent) 1930s Early computer animation filmmaker 1933 Film actor (Quo Vadis, Ivanhoe) Attended 1939–1943 Stop-motion clay animator and creator of Gumby Attended Actress (Gunsmoke) 1956 Film and theatre actor (Dr. Kildare, Shōgun, The Thorn Birds), three-time Golden Globe winner 1956 Academy Award–winning screenwriter (Chinatown; nominated for The Last Detail and Shampoo) 1958 Emmy-winning character actor (Will Penny, The Omega Man, Licence to Kill) 1967 Film director (Major League) and Academy Award–winning screenwriter (The Sting) 1970 Visual effects artist (won Academy Award for Star Wars and an Emmy for The Day After) 1971 Actor (The Right Stuff), husband of actress Wendy Phillips 1972 Film and television producer 1976 Two-time Tony Award–winning play director, playwright and film director (Nights in Rodanthe) 1977 Emmy Award–winning casting director 1978 Actress (The Joy Luck Club, Star Trek: The Next Generation) 1979 Media mogul and film producer 1979 Television writer (Star Trek franchise) 1983 Television writer and producer (Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan) 1984 Academy Award–winning screenwriter (Sideways); frequent writing partner of Alexander Payne 1991 Actor, wife of comedian Will Ferrell 1991 Television actor 1996 Television producer, director, screenwriter, author of Emerald Atlas and The Books of Beginning children's novel series 1996 Filmmaker 1998 Film director (Stomp the Yard) Nava Mau 2014 Emmy-nominated actress (Baby Reindeer)
Music
Name Class year Notability Attended 1928–1930 Avant-garde composer, musician, and poet 1935 Composer of electronic music 1938 Fourteen-time Grammy-winning conductor Transferred 1952 Grammy-winning record label executive and producer 1955 Norwegian publisher and chairman of Schibsted 1958 Writer, singer-songwriter, actor, and musician 1959 Composer and music scholar Auditor, Prolific musician, member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 1965 Soprano 1968 Composer 1977 Jazz musician 1980 Conductor, former director of Chanticleer 1988 Musician, The Oblivians; owner of Goner Records Attended 1990s American-born Taiwanese singer and actress 1999 Musician, We Are Scientists 2000 Musician, We Are Scientists 2004 Record label executive, CEO of Def Jam Recordings and co-founder of Keep Cool Records
Journalism and non-fiction writing
Name Class year Notability 1929 Two-time Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist for the Associated Press 1933 Foreign affairs correspondent for the Toronto Star 1947 Cultural and literary historian, known for criticism of the romanticization of war 1953 Historian of Scandinavian history 1958 CBS News correspondent 1967 Television journalist 1970 Executive editor of The New York Times and winner of the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting 1974 Author, editor, and academic, known for his writings on rural America 1974 NPR science correspondent 1975 Columnist for the Chicago Tribune and winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary 1979 Automotive technology writer 1984 Reporter for The New York Times 1992 Bangladeshi journalist and editor of the Dhaka Tribune 2000 Journalist, lawyer, and political staffer; founder of ThinkProgress 2000 Technology and business journalist, author 2002 Staff writer for The Atlantic, known for civil libertarian perspectives 2014 Mini crossword creator and editor for The New York Times
Writing Name Class year Notability 1927 Author, humorist, professor 1927 Poet and translator 1949 Writer, critic, educator 1964 Nigerian poet, professor of philosophy at Wellesley College, owner of the Grolier Poetry Book Shop 1967Playwright and poet, recipient of the Richard Wilbur Award 1956 Indian writer 1962 Poet, cultural historian, cultural critic 1967 Author, professor of English and writer-in-residence at Connecticut College, recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship and Lambda Literary Award Attended 1969–1972 Poet and novelist, known for work on contemporary Native American identity 1970 Playwright and professor emerita at University of California, Los Angeles 1973 Japanese-American poet 1973 Writer, The Metaphysical Club (which won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for History) 1973 Poet, National Endowment for the Arts fellow, Guggenheim Fellow, Pushcart Prize winner, and Los Angeles Times Book Prize winner 1975 Poet, Regents Professor Emeritus at the University of North Texas 1976 Writer for The New Yorker and bestselling author of The Hot Zone 1978 Writer for The New Yorker and Smithsonian, bestselling thriller author 1984 Indian-American writer 1996 Children's book writer and illustrator, Caldecott Honor recipient 1968 Poet, president of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment, professor of English at the University of Mississippi 1996 Writer, lecturer in creative writing at Columbia University, Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award recipient 2002 Historical fiction novelist 2004 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, Caldecott Honor recipient 2006 Progressive blogger 2008 Fiction writer, Truman Capote Literary Trust fellow, associate professor at the University of Iowa 2009 Author, illustrator, and expert in workplace culture and emotions 2012 Writer and lawyer 2018 Carnegie Medal–winning author
Other
Name Class year Notability Preparatory school, transferred 1901 Chinese educator and publicist, Pomona's first Asian student, English department editor of The Commercial Press 1905 First state librarian of Louisiana and president of the American Library Association 1927 Librarian who opposed Japanese internment during World War II and supported children sent to camps 1938 Alaskan architect Transferred in 1956 Writer and comedian best known as a member of the Firesign Theatre Transferred in 1960 Emmy and Tony award-winning dancer and choreographer Attended 1970–1972 Author, spiritual leader, activist, and 2020 presidential candidate 1974 Video game designer and producer 1980 Video game designer and producer 1988 Owner and operator of the Vanguard News Network, an antisemitic, white supremacist website
Government and law U.S. senators and congresspeople
Name Class year Notability Transferred 1933 Democratic U.S. senator for California (1969–1993) Attended 1941–1943 Democratic U.S. representative for Colorado's 3rd district (1965–1979) 1963 Republican U.S. representative for California's 17th district (1979–1991) 1994 Democratic U.S. senator for Hawaii (2012–present)
Federal officials Name Class year Notability 1921 U.S. government official and diplomat who helped liberalize international agricultural trade 1953 U.S. assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs 1975 Inspector general of the United States Department of Agriculture 1986 Director of the Space Studies Board, director of the Science and Exploration Directorate at NASA Goddard 1983 U.S. foreign policy expert and assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs 1986 U.S. ambassador to South Sudan, former director of the Office of Afghanistan Affairs 1995 Diplomat, U.S. ambassador to Rwanda, deputy chief of mission to Kenya 1997 Diplomat and counselor for political affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine
State and city officials Name Class year Notability Preparatory school, First mayor of Beverly Hills, California 1968 Republican California senator 1971 Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives 1971 Democratic Nevada senator 1995 Member of the Maryland House of Delegates representing District 20, executive director of Community Mediation Maryland 1999 Democratic California Assemblyperson
Judges
Name Class year Notability 1924 Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Attended 1947–1950 Judge, United States District Court for the Central District of California, known for reforming treatment of alcoholism 1951 Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 1953 First Latino on the California Supreme Court, advocate for civil rights of farm workers; awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000 1969 Judge, United States District Court for the Central District of California 1972 Judge, United States District Court for the Central District of California 1977 Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit 1981 Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of California 1988 Judge, United States District Court for the Central District of California 1994 Judge, California Court of Appeal for the Second District; first Muslim judge in the state of California 1994 Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of California; first Korean-American judge appointed to Alameda County Superior Court
Diplomats Name Class year Notability Attended U.S. interwar diplomat, ambassador, proponent of the professionalization of the Foreign Service 1951 First Mexican-American to become U.S. ambassador to Mexico 1959 U.S. ambassador to Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, and Congo-Brazzaville 1983 U.S. assistant secretary of state, foreign policy expert Alt URL
Activists