Viet Thanh Nguyen is a University Professor, Aerol Arnold Chair of English, and Professor of English, American Studies and Ethnicity, and Comparative Literature at the University of Southern California. He is the author of Race and Resistance: Literature and Politics in Asian America...Read more about Viet Thanh Nguyen (English '92 & '97)
Vanessa Morrison was named President or Streaming at Walt Disney Studios in March 2020. She previously served as President of Fox Family since 2017, after a decade as President of Twentieth Century Fox Animation. Her prior roles include Executive Vice President at Twentieth Century Fox (live...Read more about Vanessa Morrison (Rhetoric '90)
Tina Kremzner-Hsing is the Database & Digital Asset Manager at the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life. She grew up in Albany and Berkeley, CA, and went to UC Berkeley for her bachelor's degree (2016-2020). She majored in art history and minored in Chinese and Turkish languages. While...Read more about Tina Kremzner-Hsing (History of Art '20)
Tamara Keith has been a White House correspondent for NPR since 2014 and co-hosts the NPR Politics Podcast, the top political news podcast in America. In that time, she has chronicled the final years of the Obama administration, covered Hillary Clinton's failed bid for president from
Academy Award-winning producer Steve Starkey is a longtime collaborator with legendary filmmaker Robert Zemeckis. After producing Death Becomes Her, his first film with Zemeckis, Starkey went on to produce and win the Academy Award for Best Picture for the film Forrest Gump. Following...Read more about Steve Starkey ('75)
Sanna Lathan's career began after she appeared in the shows In the House, Family Matters, NYPD Blue, and Moesha. Lathan later garnered further prominence after starring in the 1998 superhero film Blade, which followed with film roles in The Best Man (1999), Love & Basketball (2000),...Read more about Sanaa Lathan (English '92)
As an undergraduate studying English at UC Berkeley, Samin took a detour into the kitchen at Chez Panisse restaurant that has happily determined the course of her life and career. Since 2000, she has pursued her twin passions of food and words with equal vigor, aiming to create work that...Read more about Samin Nosrat (English '01)
Patricia Cariño Valdez is an arts professional, curator, and consultant who fosters meaningful connections between collectors, artists, and institutions. She is the Founder of PCV Art Consulting, where she helps first-time collectors and professionals build sophisticated art collections, manage...Read more about Patricia Cariño Valdez (History of Art '10)
Nicole Yorkin is a television producer and writer known most recently for The Killing, a crime drama television series for which she served as co-producer with her writing partner Dawn Prestwich. Before that, she was an executive producer on the FX series The Riches with Eddie...Read more about Nicole Yorkin (English '80)
Matt Richtel is an American writer and journalist for The New York Times. He was awarded the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for a series on distracted driving.
Richtel also writes fiction and has authored several mystery/thrillers, including Dead on Arrival (William Morrow,...Read more about Matt Richtel (Rhetoric '89)
Liza Wachter is president, partner, and director of film and television for Spiegel and Grau, an independent publishing house launched in 2020. Previously, Ms. Wachter co-founded RWSG, a premier book-to-film agency that specialized in the representation of dramatic rights. Ms. Wachter currently...Read more about Liza Wachter (English '81)
Laura Wasser graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Rhetoric. She is one of the highest-profile divorce lawyers in the country. She has represented some of the biggest celebrities of the past generation: Britney Spears during her split with Kevin Federline, Angelina Jolie...Read more about Laura Wasser (Rhetoric '91)
Katherine "Kate" Mulleavy and Laura Mulleavy are American fashion designers and filmmakers who founded the fashion label Rodarte in 2005. In addition to their work in fashion, the sisters have also ventured into film, writing and directing their first feature, Woodshock (2017), as well as co-...Read more about Kate and Laura Mulleavy (History of Art and English '01)
John Yohan Cho was born in Seoul, South Korea, and moved to Los Angeles, California as a child. His father was a Christian minister. Cho was educated at Herbert Hoover High School at Glendale, before moving on to the University of California at Berkeley, where he studied English literature. Upon...Read more about John Cho (English '96)
Jill Foley is the founder and former VP of Peloton Apparel, where she built the brand from the ground up for the Peloton community. Before her role at Peloton, she served as an attorney for NYC's Administration for Children's Services and Sanctuary for Families, advocating for vulnerable...Read more about Jill Foley (Film '00)
Jerry Brown is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of State of California in 1970; Brown later served as mayor of Oakland from...Read more about Jerry Brown (Classics '61)
Recognized as one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Tech for five consecutive years, Jenny is a thought leader in HR, HCM, the Future of Work, and data analytics. Currently the Chief People Strategy Officer at BTS, Jenny supports internal
A Fresno, California native and first-gen college student, Jenna graduated from UC Berkeley in 2010 with a BA in German. She continued at Berkeley, completing an MA (2011) and PhD (2017) in German, with a focus on German-Jewish studies and Yiddish. After completing her PhD, Jenna diverted from...Read more about Jenna Ingalls (German '10)
James Schamus is an American screenwriter, producer, business executive, film historian, professor, and director. He is a frequent collaborator of Ang Lee, the co-founder of the production company Good Machine, and the co-founder and former CEO of motion picture production, financing, and...Read more about James Schamus (English '82)
Irene Yoon is the Executive Director of LARB, where she oversees the day-to-day operations and broader strategic vision and planning for the organization. For the last four years, Irene has also served as Director of the LARB Publishing Workshop. Irene is a writer and teacher who...Read more about Irene Yoon (English '17)
Heather Breaux graduated from UC Berkeley in 2020 with a double major in English Literature and French Literature. She has worked in communications in various capacities after graduation, most recently as a professional sailor and maritime journalist before landing her dream job as the creative...Read more about Heather Breaux (English and French '20)
A native of Flatbush, New York, Eric Kaplan began writing for Spy magazine and the Harvard Lampoon before getting his first television-writing job on The Late Show with David Letterman. His writing credits include Young Sheldon, THE BIG BANG THEORY, Futurama (for which he won an Emmy), Flight of...Read more about Eric Kaplan (Philosophy)
Eric Berridge is a two-time author, TED speaker, and co-founder and former CEO of Bluewolf, an IBM Company (acquired in 2016), a firm that he built over two decades as the original and preeminent consultancy for Salesforce.
Today, Eric is CEO of Coastal, a top Salesforce consultancy...Read more about Eric Berridge (English '90)
Elizabeth Cantillon is a producer and principal of Bisous Pictures In 2022, she completed a film adaptation of Jane Austen's Persuasion starring Dakota Johnson. You can stream it on Netflix.
A Los Angeles native, Elizabeth has extensive experience working
Doug Freeman was the Chief Operating Officer at Patagonia, Inc. (through 2021 until he retired), where he provides strategic leadership and operational expertise across key areas such as product development, sourcing, and social and environmental responsibility
David Peterson is a language creator and author. David is best known for having created the Dothraki and High Valyrian languages for HBO’s Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon. Since then, he has gone on to create languages for many television series and films, including Syfy’s Defiance,...Read more about David J. Peterson (English and Linguistics '03)
David Corvo worked at NBC News for more than 20 years as a producer and executive. In his role as senior executive producer for Primetime News, he produced the news magazine Dateline NBC and other series and news specials. Mr. Corvo previously was an executive at CBS News and was executive...Read more about David Corvo (English '72)
Daniel James Brown grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and attended Diablo Valley College, the University of California at Berkeley, and UCLA. In 2024, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Washington.
He taught writing at San Jose State University and
Chris Silbermann is president and founding partner of ICM Partners, one of the largest Hollywood talent and entertainment agencies, representing such stars as Beyonce, Ellen DeGeneres, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Michael Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson, and Spike Lee. Chris Silbermann is president and...Read more about Chris Silbermann (English '89)
Chris Pine is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as James T. Kirk in the Star Trek reboot film series (2009–2016) and Steve Trevor in the DC Extended Universe films Wonder Woman (2017) and Wonder Woman 1984 (2020).
Pine rose to prominence for his roles in the romantic...Read more about Chris Pine (English '02)
Charles Huang is co-founder of RedOctane and co-creator of Guitar Hero, which was the best-selling video game in the world in 2007 and 2008. In 2006, Charles and his brother, Kai, were listed among the top 50 producers in new media by the Producers Guild of America New Media Council. He...Read more about Charles Huang (Asian Studies and Economics '93)
Brian Duck grew up in Los Angeles where he attended Hamilton Academy of Music, playing viola in the orchestra and working on the stage crew for their musical productions. During this time he went to Saturday High School at Art Center in Pasadena, where he studied life drawing, painting, and...Read more about Brian Duck (Dance and Performance Studies '02)
Bettina Duval serves as the president of BRDBND, a telecommunications hardware manufacturer. She co-founded Friends of the University of California, a political action committee advocating for the University of California. Additionally, she founded CALIFORNIA WOMEN’S LIST...Read more about Bettina Duval (Rhetoric '82)
Arden is the Chief People Officer at General Motors, a position she has held since 2023. Arden is Senior Vice President at General Motors, overseeing Human Resources, Facilities, Security, and Charitable Giving. Her organizations play a critical role in fostering a culture of innovation,...Read more about Arden Hoffman (Rhetoric '93).
Andrea Wishom is President of Skywalker Holdings where her responsibilities include the fiduciary, philanthropic, and creative aspects of a diversified family office. With a distinguished career as an award-winning veteran media executive spanning over two decades, she has emerged as a leader at...Read more about Andrea Wishom Young (English '91)
Amy Merrill is an artist and activist working at the intersection of creative communications, technology and social change.
Her design studio Eyes Open leads digital communications for purpose-driven individuals and organizations,...Read more about Amy Merrill (English and Music '05)
Alice Waters is an American chef, restaurateur, food writer, and author. In 1971, she opened Chez Panisse, a restaurant in Berkeley, California, famous for its role in creating the farm-to-table movement and for pioneering California cuisine.
Waters has authored the books Chez Panisse...Read more about Alice Waters (Humanities '67)
