Notable alumni and students of the University of California, Berkeley, United States, in the areas of arts and media. Alumni who also served as faculty are listed in bold font, with degree and year. Notable faculty members are listed at List of University of California, Berkeley faculty.
Architecture Ruth Bancroft – studied architecture for three years, graduating with a teaching certification in 1932; created the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, California and is known for her extensive collection of plants and her xeric landscape design Kofi Bonner – earned a Master of City Planning and a Master of Architecture; known for the heading the redevelopment of the city of Emeryville, California; director of economic development; interim city manager for Oakland, California Jonathan Browning – interior designer James C. Dodd, B.A. 1952 – first Black architect in Sacramento; founding member of National Organization of Minority Architects Hans Hollein, M. Arch. 1960 – architect, awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1985 Kathryn McCamant – credited with coining the English term "cohousing" and introducing the cohousing model to North America Julia Morgan, B.S. 1894 – architect, designed the Hearst Castle for newspaper businessman William Randolph Hearst Eric Owen Moss, M. Arch. 1968 – architect, famous for his contributions in theory and practice in contemporary architecture Vladimir Ossipoff, B.A. 1931 – Russia-born "master of modern Hawaiian architecture" Sigrid Lorenzen Rupp, graduated 1966 – German-born architect in Silicon Valley Sally Bould Stan, B.A. 1939 – residential and commercial architect in Northern California Kenneth Tsang – Hong Kong actor who graduated as an architect Takeo Uesugi – landscape architect, designer of Japanese gardens throughout the world Ella Lillian Wall Van Leer – architect, artist and women's rights activist; also known as the First Lady of Georgia Tech Peter Walker, B.S. 1955 – landscape architect, commissions include the World Trade Center Memorial and the Sony Center in Berlin Bernard Zimmerman B.A. 1953 – modernist architect and longtime educator at the Cal Poly Pomona College of Environmental Design
Books Amir Aczel, B.A. 1975, M.S. 1976 – popular mathematics writer, author of the bestseller "Information supplied by Reiters, Washington, D.C. for science bestsellers first published in hardback or paperback in the US within the past 12 months." Fermat's Last Theorem: Unlocking the Secret of an Ancient Mathematical Problem, former professor of history at Bentley College, Guggenheim Fellow in 2004 Christopher Andersen, B.A. 1971 – journalist, magazine editor and author of 18 New York Times nonfiction bestsellers including the No. 1 books The Day Diana Died and The Day John Died Robert Baer (attended) – former CIA case officer, author of the memoir See No Evil (2003), which served as the basis of the movie Syriana (2005); George Clooney's Academy Award-winning performance is loosely based on Baer Mischa Berlinski, B.A. 1998 – novelist, author of Fieldwork (2007) Vincent Bevins, B.A. 2006 – journalist, author of The Jakarta Method (2020) and If We Burn (2023) Kate Braverman, B.A. 1971 – poet, novelist; author of Lithium for Medea and Palm Latitudes David Brock, B.A. 1985 – political author (The Real Anita Hill , Blinded by the Right , The Republican Noise Machine ) Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, B.A. 1973, B.A. 1975, M.A. 1977, M.F.A. 1978 – multimedia artist; author of Dictee (1982) Jeff Chang, B.A. 1989 – hip-hop journalist and political activist; author of Can't Stop, Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation (2005; American Book Award) James Chapman, B.A. 1978 – novelist Beverly Cleary, B.A. 1938 – author of books for children and young adults Susann Cokal, Ph.D. 2001 – novelist, author of Mirabilis, The Kingdom of Little Wounds (Michael L. Printz Award Honor) Sara Davidson, 1962 – author Lucille Lang Day, B.A. 1971, M.A. 1973, Ph.D. 1979 – poet and author Tiffanie DeBartolo, B.A. 1992 – author of God-Shaped Hole and How To Kill A Rock Star, and writer/director of Dream for an Insomniac Philip K. Dick (attended) – science fiction author whose stories were made into the movies Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, Paycheck, Screamers and A Scanner Darkly Joan Didion, B.A. 1956 – writer, author of Slouching Towards Bethlehem (1968), The White Album (1979), and The Year of Magical Thinking (2005) Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. Ph.D. 1984 – writer, author of The Mistress of Spices (1997), Sister of My Heart (1999) and The Palace of Illusions (2008) Robert Dunn, B.A. 1972 – novelist, publisher, musician Meg Elison, B.A. 2014 – novelist and essayist of feminist fiction and non-fiction; winner of the Philip K. Dick Award for The Book of the Unnamed Midwife, and Locus Award winner for "The Pill" Karen Joy Fowler, B.A. 1972 – writer, author of The Jane Austen Book Club (2004, later made into a movie of the same name starring Maria Bello, Emily Blunt, and Kathy Baker), We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves (shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2014) Jackson Gregory, B.L. 1906 – popular author of western and detective novels; many of his works were turned into movies between 1916 and 1944 Barbara Guest, B.A. 1943 – sole female member of the modernist New York School of poets; awarded the Frost Medal for Lifetime Achievement by the Poetry Society of America (1999) Agnes Newton Keith – author/memoirist of seven books about British North Borneo, today Sabah, Malaysia, before and during the Japanese occupation of the 1940s; Three Came Home was made into the Hollywood movie of the same name, starring Claudette Colbert Maxine Hong Kingston, B.A. 1962 – author, Senior Lecturer, recipient of 1997 National Humanities Medal awarded by President of the United States Bill Clinton Harry Lawton, B.A. 1949 – novelist, author of Willie Boy: A Desert Manhunt (1960), later made into a movie, Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here, starring Robert Redford Jack London (attended 1896–1897) – novelist best known for The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and The Sea-Wolf; Martin Eden provides a fictional account of his time at Cal Bryan Malessa, B.A. 1999 – novelist, author of The Flight (2007) and The War Room (2011) Daniel Marcus, Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering – Science Fiction author Greil Marcus, B.A. 1967, M.A. 1968 – cultural and music critic; author of Mystery Train (1975) and Lipstick Traces (1989) Terry McMillan, B.A. 1986 – author of Waiting to Exhale (1992; later made into a film of the same name starring Whitney Houston) and How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1996; later made into a film of the same name starring Angela Bassett) Dhan Gopal Mukerji – first successful Indian man of letters in the U.S. Viet Thanh Nguyen, B.A., Ph.D. 1997 – awarded Pulitzer Prize for the novel The Sympathizer Frank Norris (attended 1890–1894) – novelist; author of McTeague (1899), which became the basis for the classic 1924 silent film Greed Parker Palmer, Ph.D. 1970 – writer, author of The Courage to Teach (1997), Let Your Life Speak (2000), and A Hidden Wholeness (2004) Mary Pipher, B.A. 1969 – author, expert on culture and mental health; author of Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls, which was a best seller for over three years; author of the New York Times best seller The Shelter of Each Other: Rebuilding Our Families to Enrich Our Lives Rebecca N. Porter, B.A. 1909 – author, journalist, educator John V. Robinson, B.A. 1995 – photographer and folklorist, 2006 Guggenheim Fellow, author of several books, including Spanning the Strait: Building the Alfred Zampa Memorial BridgeSpanning the Strait: Building the Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge (2004) Anneli Rufus, B.A. 1981 – journalist and author of many books, including Party of One: The Loner's ManifestoParty of One: The Loner's Manifesto Shawna Yang Ryan, B.A. 1998 – novelist, author of Water Ghosts (2009), Green Island (2016), professor at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Louis Sachar, B.A. 1976 – author, Holes (1998), Sideways Stories From Wayside School series Mona Simpson, B.A. 1979 – novelist (Anywhere But Here, later made into a film of the same name starring Susan Sarandon and Natalie Portman), Guggenheim Fellow, professor at Bard College; sister of Steve Jobs (co-founder of Apple Computer) Rebecca Solnit, M. Jour. 1984 – author, cultural historian, and activist; books include Wanderlust: A History of Walking (2000) and River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West (2003) Irving Stone, B.A. 1923 – novelist, Lust for Life (1934, later made into an Academy Award-winning film of the same name starring Kirk Douglas as Vincent van Gogh) and The Agony and the Ecstasy (1961; later made into a film of the same name starring Charlton Heston as Michelangelo) Steven L. Thompson, B.A. – novelist, author of The Wild Blue: The Novel of the U.S. Air Force William T. Vollmann (attended) – novelist Edith Wherry B.A. 1907 – novelist, author of The Red Lantern Shawn Wong, B.A. 1971 – novelist, author of American Knees (1995; made into the film Americanese, released in 2009) Yang Mu, Ph.D. 1971 – poet, essayist, translator of English poetry into Chinese, first Taiwanese winner of Cikada Prize and Newman Prize for Chinese Literature, professor emeritus of Comparative Literature at University of Washington, author of Hawk of the Mind Charles Yu, B.A. 1997 – science-fiction author and writer on TV shows such as Westworld and Here and Now
Comic strips Scott Adams, M.B.A. 1986 – creator of Dilbert Rube Goldberg, B.S. 1904 – cartoonist and namesake of Rube Goldberg machines, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1948(also listed in Pulitzer Prizes section) Stephan Pastis, B.A. 1989 – creator of Pearls Before Swine Matt Richtel, B.A. 1989 – co-author of the comic strip Rudy Park under the pen name "Theron Heir"; winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting (also listed in Pulitzer Prizes section) Betty Swords – cartoonist Adrian Tomine, B.A. 1996 – comic artist, Optic Nerve; regular illustrator for The New Yorker and other magazines
Fine art Gerald M. Ackerman, B.A. 1952 – art historian Natalia Anciso, M.A. 2015 – visual and installation artist and educator Bruce Ariss, B.A. 1934 – painter, muralist, writer, illustrator, editor as well as theater and set designer, amateur playwright and actor, and overall icon on the Monterey Peninsula John Baldessari – conceptual artist Dean Byington, M.A. 1987, M.F.A. 1988 – visual artist Melanie Cervantes, B.A. 2004 – artist, printmaker, and activist Enrique Chagoya, MFA 1987 – artist, printmaker, and professor at Stanford University Davi Cheng – visual artist Vittoria Chierici – artist Robert Colescott, B.A. 1949, M.A. 1952 – artist, educator, and first African American painter to have a solo exhibit at the Venice Biennale Warrington Colescott, B.A. 1942, M.A. 1947 – artist, educator, and professor emeritus at University of Wisconsin–Madison Jay DeFeo, B.A. 1950 – painter Claire Falkenstein, B.A. 1930 – sculptor, painter, print-maker and jewelry designer known for her large-scale abstract metal and glass sculptures Sean Go, B.A. Economics, B.A. Geography, B.S. Business Administration – Filipino pop artist Joseph Goldyne, B.A. – printmaker, painter Hilary Harkness, B.A. – painter Ester Hernandez, B.A. 1976 – visual artist Gilah Yelin Hirsch – multi-disciplinary artist Tom Holland – abstract artist Arthur Johnsen, B.A. 1974 – painter, especially of Hawaiiana Richard Keyes, M.A. Painting, 1958 – professor emeritus at Long Beach City College, after a 30-year career there teaching life drawing and painting Thomas Kinkade, B.A. – painter Thomas W. Lentz, M.A. 1978 – art historian Taro Masushio, B.A. – artist, writer Malaquías Montoya, B.A 1969 – artist and professor emeritus at UC Davis Hushidar Mortezaie – collagist and fashion designer