Gillian Welch’s (Porter ’90, art) career as a singer-musician has been an odyssey of sorts. She learned to play the guitar, drums, piano, and ukulele, and listened to everything from her parents’ ...

Kathryn Sullivan (Cowell ’73, Earth sciences) has gone places that most humans will never see in their lifetime. Sullivan was the first American woman to walk in space, the first woman to reach the ...

Leo Merle (Rachel Carson ’20, molecular, cell, and developmental biology) represented Team USA at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, competing in the T38 mid-distance race.

Sharhonda Bossier (Oakes ’05 politics and legal studies) (MA ‘06, education) is the CEO of nonprofit organization, Education Leaders of Color, committed to multi-racial solidarity, and using their ...

Bonnie Garmus (Rachel Carson ’79, aesthetic studies/creative writing), author of the smash-hit novel Lessons in Chemistry, drew on many lessons learned at UC Santa Cruz on her way to finding the ...

Kauchani Bratt (Cowell ’23, philosophy) made his acting debut in the Netflix movie Rez Ball, which started streaming September 2024. The film centers around a high school basketball team rich in ...

For Artemis Patrick (Oakes ’93, economics), leading the innovative beauty retailer Sephora North America has meaning that goes far beyond skin-deep.

As a member of UCSC’s pioneering class in 1965, Bill Dickinson (Cowell ’68, philosophy) is considered to be the first former foster youth to attend the university. Over three decades later, he founded ...

The first in his family to go to college, Abel Pineda (Oakes ’14, sociology) became the youngest person ever elected to the San Pablo City Council, and in 2022 became the youngest ever elected as the ...

As the former editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics, Axel Alonso (Cowell ’87, sociology) once oversaw a world of superheroes, villains, and megalomaniacs who want to take over the world.

Famed folk singer–songwriter and storyteller John Craigie (Crown ’02, mathematics) credits UC Santa Cruz with expanding his mind, confidence, and creativity.

With a long history in California leadership and politics, and as one of the students in the second graduating class at UC Santa Cruz, Art Torres (Stevenson ’68, politics) brought a distinctive ...