Welcome to the Los Angeles City College Foundation Distinguished Alumni Page! Here, we celebrate the remarkable achievements of our esteemed graduates who have excelled in their respective fields and made significant contributions to society. These distinguished alumni exemplify the values, dedication, and spirit of excellence that define the LACC community.
Through their professional accomplishments, community involvement, and unwavering commitment to making a difference, our distinguished alumni serve as inspiring role models for current and future students. Their stories reflect the transformative power of education and the lasting impact of their time at LACC.
Do you know a distinguished LACC alumnus?
If you would like to nominate someone to be included along with other distinguished alumni, please fill out and submit this online form: Distinguished Alumni Nomination Form
See more distinguished alumni below
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Entrepreneurs
Gene Bramson- real estate investor
John Hope Bryant (AKA John Bryant Smith)- founder of Bryant Group Companies
John Crean- founder of Fleetwood Enterprises
Brian Edwards- founder of ETI
Steven Lebowitz- business executive and philanthropist
Leonard Roth- investment consultant
Harry D. Schultz- investment advisor
Steven Markoff- educator and businessman
Richard Pink- attorney, MBA
Harvey Englander- Political Consultant
Florence Avognon- 2012 California Teacher of the Year
James Williams, Ph.D.- Community College District Chancellor; Community College President
Joseph A. Bagnall- educator, author, writer, producer, and documentarian
Lowell Bean, Ph.D.- Professor of Anthropology and author
Edward Diller- educator and author
Jack Ericson Eblen, Ph.D.- Professor of History and author
Maulana (Ron) Karenga, Ph.D.- Professor of Black Studies, activist and founder of Kwanzaa
Simon Karlinsky, Ph.D.- Professor of Slavic languages and literature, author
Margaret Martin, Ph.D.- Harmony Project Founder and Recipient of President’s Citizens Medal
Michael Schreiber, Ph.D.- Professor of Biomedical Communications, author and fitness expert
Rosalyn S. Heyman- Educator and Philanthropist
The Honorable Jo Anne Darcy- Santa Clarita Mayor and City Council member (Ret.)
Hal Bernson- Los Angeles City Council member
Tom LaBonge- Los Angeles City Council member
Louis R. Nowell- Los Angeles City Council member (former)
Bernard C. Parks- Los Angeles City Council member and former Chief of Police
Arthur K. Snyder- Los Angeles City Council member, lawyer
The Honorable Diane E. Watson- Member of Congress
Howard Caldwell- City Manager of Compton, CA
Communications
Pete Arbogast- radio announcer
Murray Fromson- broadcast journalist
Herbert G. Klein- newspaper executive
Paul Olden- radio announcer
Leonard Probst- drama critic
Ted Sobel- sports journalist
Tony Valdez- broadcast journalist
Clifton W. Winston- KJLH 102.3 FM Radio Air Personality
Actors
Bob Arbogast- radio broadcaster and voice actor
Alan Arkin- actor, Academy Award ® recipient
Billy Barty- actor and founder, Little People of America
Brenda Benet- actor
Barbara Billingsley- actor
Tommy “Butch” Bond- actor
Sufe Bradshaw- actress
Albert Brooks- actor, comedian and director
Charles D. Brooks, III– actor, director and playwright
Diana Canova- actor
Ralph Carter- actor
Dean Chekvala- actor
James Coburn- actor, Academy Award ® recipient
Clint Eastwood- actor; producer, Academy Award ® recipient; director
Mike Evans- actor
Laurence Fishburne- actor
Al Freeman, Jr- actor, Emmy ®
Morgan Freeman- actor, Academy Award® recipient;
Don Grady- actor
Debbie Shapiro Gravitte- actor, Tony Award ® recipient
Deidre Hall- actor
Mark Hamill- actor
Earl Hammond- actor, voice actor
Michael Harris- actor
Linda Hart- actor
Allen “Farina” Hoskins- actor
Jackie Joseph- actor
Margaret Kerry- actor
Sally Kellerman- actor, Academy Award® nominee
Shin Koyamada- actor, martial artist
Wallace Langham- actor
Ruta Lee- actor
Tony Maggio- actor
Whitman Mayo- actor
Angela McEwan- actor
James Mitchell- actor and dancer
Dickie Moore- actor
Wayne Morris- actor, WWII ace
Shelley Morrison- actor
Stephen Nichols- actor
Jeanette Nolan- actor
Hugh O’Brian- actor, Golden Globe Award ® recipient
Edward Padilla- actor
Rosie Perez- actor and choreographer
Donna Reed- actor, Academy Award ® recipient
Maggie Roswell- actor
Alexis Smith- actor, Tony Award ® recipient
Louise Sorel- actor
Roy Thinnes- actor
Irene Tsu- actor
Robert Vaughn- actor, Emmy ® Award recipient
Stuart Whitman- actor
Cindy Williams- actor and producer
Esther Williams- actor, Golden Globe Award ® recipient
Mykelti Williamson- actor
Paul Winfield- actor, Emmy ® Award recipient
Jo Anne Worley- actor
Aron Kader- comedian
Victoria Vetri- actress and model
Don Grady- actor
Alex Henteloff- actor
Celia Kaye- actress
Mira del Sol- actress, entrepreneur, civic-leader, philanthropist
Joseph Stern- actor
Irene Tsu- actor
David White- actor
Tony Young- actor
Elliot Lewis- actor and director
Production
Ray Aghayan- costume designer, Emmy ® Award recipient
Rudy Behlmer- director and author
True Boardman- screenwriter and actor
Dan Bootzin- film editor, Emmy ® Award recipient
Lee Broda- producer
Charles Burnett- director and writer
Charles Campbell- sound engineer, Academy Award ® recipient
Victor DuBois- editor, Emmy ® Award nominee
Robert Elswit- cinematographer, Academy Award ® recipient
Gary Gray- director and producer
Maggie Greenwald- director and writer
Nick Grippo- caterer and author
Ray Harryhausen- producer, director and special effects artist; special Academy Award ® recipient
Albert Hughes- director, producer, screenwriter
Bruce Kimmel- director, producer, writer, actor and composer
Mimi Leder- director, Emmy ® Award recipient
Michael Lembeck- director, Emmy ® Award recipient; actor
William McCloud- camera operator, Emmy ® Award recipient
John Milius- screenwriter, producer and director
Karen Moncrieff- director
Sharon Oreck- producer and author
Gene Roddenberry- producer and screenwriter
Tarsem Singh- director
Gary Stockdale- composer for television shows
Kevin Tent- editor, Academy Award ® nominee
José Quintero, director
Zev Buffman- Broadway producer
Tamra Davis- producer
Ron Ellis- Academy Award winning filmmaker
Art
Don Bachardy- artist
Billy Al Bengston- painter and sculptor
Dianne Dillon- illustrator
Melvin Edwards- sculptor
Cristian Gheorghiu- contemporary artist and painter
Jason Laure- photographer and author
John Lees- artist and painter
Evangeline Juliet Montgomery- print-maker, metal smith and weaver
Ruth Orkin- photographer and filmmaker
John Riddle- commercial artist, sculptor and painter
Hisako Terasaki- artist and etcher
C. Westermann- printmaker and sculptor
Robert Williams– painter and cartoonist
Kerry James Marshall- artist
Daniel Marlos- LACC Visual and Media Arts Vice Chair
Doyle Lane– ceramist
Dance
Alvin Ailey- dancer and choreographer
Maria Bermudez- Flamenco dancer
Janet Collins- ballerina
Design
Frank Gehry- architect, Pritzker Architecture Prize recipient
Rudi Gernreich- fashion designer
Music
David Alpert- musician
Roy Ayers- jazz musician
Chesney Henry “Chet” Baker, Jr.- trumpeter and vocalist
Robert Bradley- blues musician
Stanley K. Burell aka M.C. Hammer- R&B musician
Jose “Pepe” Carlos- accordionist and requinto, Grammy ® recipient
Eric Dolphy- jazz musician
Jean Fenn- opera singer
Bob Florence- composer, band leader and educator
Don Friedman- jazz pianist
Jerry Goldsmith- composer, Academy Award ® recipient
Irene “DJ Irene” Gutierrez- electronic music DJ
Marisol Hernandez- singer, Grammy ® recipient
Earl Kim- composer
Leon Kirchner- composer
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller- songwriters and Hall of Fame producers, Grammy ® recipients
George London- opera singer and administrator
Lebo M- composer
Les McCann- jazz pianist and singer
Charles Mingus- jazz musician
Lennie Niehaus- composer
Marnie Nixon- vocalist
Odetta- folk singer
Dianne Reeves- jazz singer, Grammy ® recipient
Howard Rumsey- jazz musician
Robin Russell- drummer
Russ Titelman- music producer, Grammy ® recipient; songwriter
Jack Sheldon- jazz musician
Leonard Slatkin- conductor, National Medal of Arts recipient
John Williams- composer, Academy Award ® recipient
La Monte Young- composer
Pamela Courson- singer
Herb Geller- jazz musician
David Liebe Hart- outsider musician, street performer, artist, actor, puppeteer
Florence LaRue- leader singer of “The 5th Dimension”
Howard Leese- rock musician and producer
Ed Thigpen- jazz drummer
Michele Zukovsky- principal and solo clarinet of the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Photography
Kenneth E. Washington
Writing
Byron Barton- author and illustrator
Kurt Boone- author and poet
Charles Bukowski- poet and author
Ed Bullins- playwright, Obie Award recipient
Carlos Casteneda- author
Alvaro Cardona-Hine- poet, composer and author
Joanne de Longchamps- poet and artist
Charles Eastman- playwright and screenwriter
Charles Gordone- playwright, Pulitzer Prize recipient; actor, Obie Award recipient; director
Jim Harmon- author and producer
Michael S. Harper- poet, former Poet Laureate of Rhode Island
Bryan Malessa- author
Diane Redfield Massie- author and illustrator
Terry McMillan- author
David Meltzer- poet, musician and educator
Alejandro Murguía- poet, current Poet Laureate of San Francisco
Pat Parker- poet and activist
Carolyn See, Ph.D.- author and educator
Justin Tanner- playwright
Quincy Troupe- poet; former Poet Laureate of California
Leonard Buschel- writer and substance abuse counselor
Aerospace
Dean Chapman, Ph.D.- NASA, Director of Astronautics
Jovita Jenkins- software designer for missile, communications and space systems
Robert Leighton, Ph.D.- Astrophysicist, Rumsford Prize and James Craig Watson Medal Recipient
Seymour ‘Sy’ Liebergot- former NASA Flight Controller during the Apollo program
Chemistry
Thomas Bruice, Ph.D.- research bioorganic chemist, professor and author
Starling Trimble, B.S.- industrial chemist and patent holder
Fred Wudl, Ph.D.- research chemist, professor and author
Environmental
Eugene Coan, Ph.D.- environmental scientist and author
Hematology and Radiobiology
Eugene Cronkite, M.D.- research hematologist, professor and author
Horticulture
Barbara Joe Hoshizaki, M.S.- horticulturist, educator and author
Physics
Lawrence Johnston, Ph.D.- physicist
Baseball
Don Buford- major league baseball player
Larry Demery- major league baseball player
Dennis Gilbert- LACC Hall of Fame baseball inductee, sports agent and entrepreneur
Terry Humphrey- major league baseball player
Kevin Millar- major league baseball player, sports journalist
Ken Rudolph- major league baseball player
Emmet Ashford-umpire
Basketball
Larry Friend- professional basketball player
Rico Harris- former Harlem Globetrotter
Football
Don Bishop- professional football player
Ron Botchan- football coach
Milt Davis- professional football player
Vince Evans- professional football player
Reggie Haynes- professional football player
Woodley Lewis- professional football player
Raymond May- professional football player
Willie Williams- football player
Michael Douglass- professional football player
Rod Martin- former all-pro player for the Oakland Raiders
Harry Thompson- football player
Track
Jeff Williams- sprinter
Wrestling
Jose “Pepper” Gomez- professional wrestler and bodybuilder
Armed Forces
Lieutenant Susan Ahn Cuddy- U.S. Navy, First Asian-American Female Navy Officer, First Female gunnery officer, WWII
Joseph A. Czyzyk- U.S. Navy Veteran and Aviation Executive
Major General Eugene L. Hudson (Ret.)- U. S. Air Force
Lieutenant General Herbert R. Temple, Jr (Ret.)- Chief of the National Guard Bureau
Economics
Lawrence Klein, Ph.D.- economist, Nobel Prize recipient in Economics
Judiciary
The Honorable Lourdes Baird- U. S. District Court (Ret.)
The Honorable Leo Holt- Cook County (IL) Circuit Court (Ret.)
The Honorable Vaino Hassan Spencer
Law
Lula Ballton- lawyer and professor
John Branca- entertainment attorney
Albert L. Gordon- lawyer and gay rights advocate
Howard Weitzman- entertainment attorney
Nonprofit
Ruben Hernandez- founder, Unification of Disabled Latin Americans
Religion
Sheik Qazi Asad- LAPD chaplain
Robert Sirico- Roman Catholic priest, founder of the Acton Institute