The following is a list of notable people associated with Pepperdine University, located in the American city of Malibu, California.

Notable alumni

Academia Mike Aamodt (B.A., 1978) – industrial and organizational psychology researcher Christopher Chetsanga (B.S., 1964) – Zimbabwean scientist who discovered two enzymes that repair damage to DNA Michael A. O'Donnell – adolescent wellness researcher Michael Shermer (B.A., 1976) – founder of The Skeptics Society Kirk Snyder (M.A., 1991) – LGBT business communication researcher

Business

Rick J. Caruso (J.D., 1983) – chief executive officer of Caruso Affiliated Benjamin de Rothschild (1984) – chairman of the Edmond de Rothschild Group Julia Hartz (B.A., 2001) – founder and CEO of Eventbrite George Randolph Hearst III (B.A. 1977) – publisher of the Times Union newspaper in Albany, New York and director of the Hearst corporation Sophia Hutchins (B.S., 2019) – chief executive officer of LUMASOL and executive director of the Caitlyn Jenner Foundation Rod Menzies (MBA, 1988) – entrepreneur Oscar Munoz (M.B.A., 1986) – president and CEO of United Airlines Greg Popovich (M.B.A. 1996) – owner of Castle Rock Winery Nicolette Rankin – entrepreneur Jeffrey Sprecher – founder and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange and current chairman of the New York Stock Exchange Dean Stoecker – founder, chairman and former CEO of Alteryx Robert Tchenguiz (LL.B., 1982) – London-based property tycoonThe MT Interview: Robert Tchenguiz Cem Uzan (B.A.) – owner of defunct Uzan Group Co, politician Neil Clark Warren (1956) – chairman and co-founder of eHarmony.com Kelly Zong (B.A., 2004) – president of the Hangzhou Wahaha Group founded by her father, Zong Qinghou

Entertainment Joseph Baena – actor and fitness model Les Baxter – soundtrack and exotica composer D.J. Caruso – film director Marshall Colt – actor, McClain's Law; later marriage and family therapist in San Diego Chace Crawford – actor, Gossip Girl, The Boys Andrew de Burgh – film director, Just One Drink Pat Dubar – singer, Mind Funk Cami Edwards – cast member, Laguna Beach Douglas Emerson – former child actor, The Blob and Beverly Hills, 90210 Kim Fields (1995) – actress, U.S. TV sitcoms The Facts of Life and Living Single Kimberly Forsyth – Miss Arkansas USA 2006 Brad Fuller – video game composer (M.S. technology management 2006) Lillian Glass – author, TV commentator, body language expert Madison Hildebrand – star of Bravo Channel's Million Dollar Listing Darby Hinton – actor, Daniel Boone Kelly Hu – Miss Teen USA 1985 and actress Ashley Jones – television actress, The Bold and the Beautiful Montell Jordan – R&B recording artist famous for his hit 1995 single, "This is How We Do It" Till Kahrs – recording artist, singer-songwriter, communication skills expert Nicole Kidman – actress Marlene King – television writer, creator of Pretty Little Liars John Lasseter – animator and chief creative officer of Pixar Entertainment Carla Laureano – RITA award-winning author of Five Days in Skye Coco Lee – member of K-pop duo CocoSori Jeff Loveness – screenwriter, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Rick and Morty, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Chloe Lukasiak – Dance Moms Kate Mansi – television actress, Days of Our Lives Rob Moore – vice chairman of Paramount Pictures Shana Morrison – singer/songwriter Tahj Mowry – television actor, the WB's Smart Guy and ABC Family's Baby Daddy Tamera Mowry – television actress, ABC and The WB Sister, Sister, Lifetime Television's Strong Medicine, and co-host and producer of The Real Tia Mowry – television actress, ABC and WB sitcom Sister, Sister, BET's The Game and Netflix's Family Reunion Brandy Norwood – Grammy Award-winning R&B artist, television, movie and Broadway actress, UPN sitcom Moesha, BET's The Game and Kennedy Center's Chicago Eric Christian Olsen – actor Mike Richards – executive producer, The Price Is Right, Let's Make a Deal, Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy! Elena Rossini – filmmaker, documentary film The Illusionists Meredith Salenger – actress George Schlatter – Emmy-winning television producer and director, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In Bui Simon – Miss Universe 1988 and Miss Thailand 1988 Francesca Marie Smith – voice actress, Helga Pataki on Hey Arnold! Matt "Money" Smith – southern California sports radio personality Clayton Snyder – actor, sitcom Lizzie McGuire Michael Waldron – screenwriter, Rick and Morty, Loki, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness David N. Weiss – screenwriter, The Rugrats Movie, Shrek 2, The Smurfs

Literature and the arts Pierce Brown – author of the sci-fi dystopian Red Rising series Sharon M. Draper – realistic fiction and young-adult fiction novelist Jamie J. Quatro – literary fiction writer Rebecca Zanetti – romance novelist

Fine arts Kevin A. Short – painter and printmaker

Media Michelle Fields (B.A., 2011) – political reporter Stefan Holt (B.A., 2009) – news anchor for WNBC-TV, New York Adam Housley (B.A. 1994) – national correspondent for Fox News Channel, Los Angeles correspondent, former Milwaukee Brewers and Detroit Tigers baseball player; Emmy winner Ash Perez – comedian, writer, and actor from The Try Guys and BuzzFeed Zafar Sobhan – editor of the Dhaka Tribune Anna Song (B.A., 1999) – KATU investigative reporter, weekend anchor (1999–present), 2007 Emmy for Human Interest News Series, 2007 Regional Edward R. Murrow award for investigative reporting Bill Weir – co-anchor of ABC News' Nightline Joel Widzer (B.S., 1986) – author and correspondent, MSNBC

Politics and government André Birotte Jr. (J.D., 1991) – judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, 2014–present Rod Blagojevich (J.D., 1983) – governor of Illinois, 2003–2009 Jeffrey Boyd (J.D., 1991) – justice of the Supreme Court of Texas, 2012–present; former editor-in-chief of the Pepperdine Law Review Mike Cernovich (J.D., 2004) – political commentator and social media personality Talis Colberg (J.D., 1983) – attorney general of Alaska, 2006–2009 Paris Dennard (B.A., 2005) – Republican Party political strategist Chris DeRose (J.D., 2005) – clerk of the Superior Court of Maricopa County, Arizona, 2018–2019 Jennifer Dorsey (J.D., 1997) – judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada, 2013–present Colleen Graffy (B.A., 1979) – U.S. deputy assistant secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, 2005–2009 Ivan Doly Gultom (1991) – member of the People's Representative Council of Indonesia, 2017–present James Hahn (B.A., 1972; J.D., 1975) – mayor of Los Angeles, 2001–2005; judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, 2008–present Janice Hahn – U.S. representative, 2011–2016, California's 36th Congressional District and California's 44th Congressional District; supervisor of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, 2016–present Brian Jack (B.A., 2010) – White House political director, 2019–2021 Ted Kanavas – state senator, Wisconsin State Senate, 2001–2011 Michelle King – superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District, 2016-2018 LA Times, "Who Is the new LA Unified Superintendent Michelle King?" January 11, 2016 The Daily News, Former LA Unified Superintendent Michelle King dies at age 57, February 2, 2019 Joel Kleefisch (B.A., 1993) – state representative, Wisconsin State Assembly, 2005–2019 Helen Shores Lee (M.A.) – Judge for 10th Judicial Circuit of Alabama Jami Miscik (1980) – director of the Office of International Affairs, CIA Khalid Abdul Muhammad – African-American black nationalist who came to prominence as a leader in the Nation of Islam and then the New Black Panther Party; after a racially inflammatory 1993 speech at Kean College, was condemned and removed from his position in the Nation of Islam by Louis Farrakhan Danielle Outlaw – chief of the Portland Police Bureau Bernard C. Parks – Los Angeles city councilman, 8th District, former Los Angeles police chief Todd Russell Platts (J.D., 1991) – U.S. congressman from Pennsylvania, 2001–2013 Amb. Pierre-Richard Prosper (J.D., 1989) – United States ambassador-at-large for War Crimes Issues Robin Sax (J.D., 1997) – author, legal analyst, victim advocate, former prosecutor for Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office Diana Shaw – acting inspector general of the Department of State Arthur K. Snyder – Los Angeles City Council member, 1967–1985 Michelle Steel (B.S., 1997) – U.S. representative, 2021–present, CA-48 Kinga Tshering (MBA) – Bhutanese politician and businessman Widiyanti Putri Wardhana – Minister of Tourism of Indonesia, 2024–present Brandon Williams (B.A., 1990) – U.S. representative, 2023–present, NY-22 Kimberly Yee – Arizona state treasurer, 2019–present

Religion Paul Egertson (B.A., 1955) – bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Sports

Alex Acker (2005) – professional basketball player (2005–06; 2008–09 Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Clippers) Brandon Armstrong (2001) – former professional basketball player (2001–04; New Jersey Nets) Sarah Attar – Olympic 800 meter runner Dain Blanton (1994) – 2000 Olympic gold medalist in beach volleyball Ricardo Brown (1980) – basketball player drafted in 1979 by Houston Rockets; Southern California Player of the Year in 1979; played professional basketball in the Philippine Basketball Association (1983–90); member of PBA Hall of Fame (2009) and Pepperdine University Hall of Fame (1995) Richard Cho – former general manager of Portland Trail Blazers Doug Christie (1992) – retired professional basketball player (1992–2007; Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Sacramento Kings, Orlando Magic, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Clippers) Bob Ctvrtlik (1985) – 1988 Olympic gold medal volleyball team member, member of International Olympic Committee Yakhouba Diawara (2005) – power forward for the Miami Heat Craig Edwards – former professional tennis player, semi-finalist in doubles at 1980 Australian Open Eddie Edwards – former professional tennis player, 42 ATP singles, 40 ATP doubles Barry Enright (2007) – pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks Jim Everett – former NFL QB, received his MBA from Pepperdine Mike Fetters – former professional baseball player (1989–2004; California Angels, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Arizona Diamondbacks and Minnesota Twins) Greg Genske – sports agent Brad Gilbert (1982) – former world #4 tennis player; prominent coach of Andre Agassi, Andy Murray Jason Gore (2000) – PGA Tour professional golfer, 1 PGA Tour win, 7 Korn Ferry Tour wins; chief of players for the PGA Tour Dan Haren – professional baseball player; 2007 A.L. All Star Starting Pitcher (Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) Ginger Helgeson-Nielsen – former professional tennis player who holds the all-time match winning percentage at Pepperdine Kim Hill (2013) – USA Volleyball National Team Adam Housley (1994) – former professional minor league baseball player, drafted by the Montreal Expos Katherine Hull (2003) – professional golfer Daniel Johnson (2008) – professional basketball player (Adelaide 36ers, Australasian NBL) Dennis Johnson (1976) – Basketball Hall of Famer, former professional basketball player (1977–90; Seattle SuperSonics, Phoenix Suns and Boston Celtics) Danielle Kang – 6-time LPGA Tour winner, including 2017 Women's PGA Championship Chad Kreuter – former professional baseball player (1988–2003; Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners, Chicago White Sox, Anaheim Angels, Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Dodgers) Jennifer Lacy – professional basketball player, Phoenix Mercury and Atlanta Dream Robert Lansdorp – professional tennis coach who coached several players to #1 in the world Martin Laurendeau – former professional tour tennis player Mike Leach – head football coach at Texas Tech 2000–2009, Washington State 2012–2019 and Mississippi State 2020–2022 Noah Lowry – professional baseball player (San Francisco Giants)