This is a list of notable people from

Santa Cruz County, California Santa Cruz County (), officially the County of Santa Cruz, is a county on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 270,861. The county seat is Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz County comprises the San ...

. It includes people who were born/raised in, lived in, or spent portions of their lives in Santa Cruz, or for whom Santa Cruz is a significant part of their identity, as well as music groups founded in Santa Cruz. This list is in alphabetical order.

Notable people from Santa Cruz, California

Academia

* Gerald M. Ackerman, art historian and professor *

Donna Haraway Donna J. Haraway is an American Professor Emerita in the History of Consciousness Department and Feminist Studies Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a prominent scholar in the field of science and technology studies. Sh ...

, feminist and professor *

David Haussler David Haussler (born 1953) is an American bioinformatician known for his work leading the team that assembled the first human genome sequence in the race to complete the Human Genome Project and subsequently for comparative genome analysis that d ...

, computer scientist and professor *

David A. Huffman David Albert Huffman (August 9, 1925 – October 7, 1999) was an American pioneer in computer science, known for his Huffman coding. He was also one of the pioneers in the field of mathematical origami. Education Huffman earned his bachelor's d ...

, computer scientist and professor *

Kevin Karplus Kevin Karplus is a professor emeritus at University of California, Santa Cruz, currently in the Biomolecular Engineering Department. He is probably best known for work he did as a computer science graduate student at Stanford University on the K ...

, bioinformatician and professor

Activists

Bettina Aptheker Bettina Fay Aptheker (born September 13, 1944) is an American political activist, radical feminist, professor and author. Aptheker was active in civil rights and anti-war movements of the 1960s and 1970s, and has since worked in developing femini ...

, political activist, radical feminist, professor and author *

Susie Bright Susannah Bright (born March 25, 1958) is an American feminist, author, journalist, critic, editor, publisher, producer, and performer, often on the subject of politics and sexuality. She is the recipient of the 2017 Humanist Feminist Award, and ...

, feminist writer, sexuality expert *

Rory Calhoun Rory Calhoun (born Francis Timothy McCown, August 8, 1922April 28, 1999) was an American film and television actor. He starred in numerous Westerns in the 1950s and 1960s, and appeared in supporting roles in films such as '' How to Marry a Milli ...

, actor *

Honey Lee Cottrell Honey Lee Cottrell (January 16, 1946 – September 21, 2015) was a lesbian photographer and filmmaker who lived most of her life in San Francisco, California. Her papers are part of the Human Sexuality Collection at Cornell University Library. E ...

, lesbian and feminist activist, photographer and filmmaker, died in Santa Cruz *

Angela Davis Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944) is an American political activist, philosopher, academic, scholar, and author. She is a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A feminist and a Marxist, Davis was a longtime member of ...

, political activist, scholar, and writer * Dorothy Granada, nurse, humanitarian, and peace and social justice activist who resided in Santa Cruz and who won the

International Pfeffer Peace Award The International Pfeffer Peace Award or Pfeffer Peace Award is one of the three peace awards presented by the United States Fellowship of Reconciliation (United States) (FOR), along with the Martin Luther King Jr. Award and the Nyack Area Peace Aw ...

in 1997 * bell hooks, PhD from UCSC *

John Hoyt John Hoyt (born John McArthur Hoysradt; October 5, 1905 – September 15, 1991) was an American actor. He began his acting career on Broadway, later appearing in numerous films and television series. He is perhaps best known for his film and TV ...

, actor *

Elissa Knight Elissa Knight (born April 15, 1975) is an American employee at Pixar and voice actress. As a voice actress, her first major role was in the 2006 film ''Cars'' as one of the twins known as Tia and as Eve in ''WALL-E'' 2008. Biography Knight wa ...

, actress * Frank Lima (aka The Great Morgani), street performer, accordionist *

Camryn Manheim Debra Frances "Camryn" Manheim (born March 8, 1961) is an American actress known for her roles as attorney Ellenor Frutt on ABC's '' The Practice'', Delia Banks on CBS's '' Ghost Whisperer'', Gladys Presley in the 2005 miniseries '' Elvis'', and ...

, actor

Actors and film production

ZaSu Pitts Zasu Pitts (; January 3, 1894 – June 7, 1963) was an American actress who starred in many silent dramas, including Erich von Stroheim's epic 1924 silent film ''Greed'', and comedies, transitioning successfully to mostly comedy films with the ...

, actress * Ruth Righi, actress, singer * Adam Scott, actor *

Grant Show Grant Alan Show (born February 27, 1962) is an American actor best known for his role on ''Melrose Place'' as Jake Hanson, which he played from 1992 to 1997. Since 2017, Show has portrayed tycoon Blake Carrington in the soap opera reboot ''Dyna ...

, actor *

Lex van den Berghe '' Survivor'' is an American reality television show, based on the Swedish program, '' Expedition Robinson''. Contestants are referred to as "castaways" and they compete against one another to become the "Sole Survivor" and win one million U.S. d ...

, '' Survivor'' contestant

Artists and designers

Cam Archer Cam Archer (born 1981) is an American independent filmmaker, photographer and sound designer, currently residing in Santa Cruz, California. ''Cinemad'' Career Archer's first success was with his 2003 student produced short film, ''bobbycrush'', a ...

, filmmaker and photographer *

Bathsheba Grossman Bathsheba Grossman (born 1966) is an American artist who creates sculptures using computer-aided design and three-dimensional modeling, with metal printing technology to produce sculpture in bronze and stainless steel. Her bronze sculptures a ...

, sculptor *

Scott Kurtz Scott R. Kurtz (born March 15, 1971) is an American webcomic artist. Known for creating the daily online comic-strip ''PvP'', Kurtz is among the first professional webcomic creators. Career Kurtz was born to a Catholic household in Watsonville, ...

, cartoonist *

Frans Lanting Frans Lanting (born 13 July 1951) is a Dutch National Geographic photographer, author and speaker. Life Lanting was born in Rotterdam in Netherlands. He studied economics at the Erasmus university in Rotterdam and later immigrated to the United St ...

, wildlife photographer *

Edmund McMillen Edmund Charles McMillen (born March 2, 1980) is an American video game designer and artist known for his Flash game visual style. His most notable works include 2010's side-scroller '' Super Meat Boy'' and 2011's roguelike game '' The Binding o ...

, video game designer *

Ed Penniman Ed Penniman is an American painter and graphic designer best known for his oil and watercolor paintings of the California's Central Coast. The American Institute of Graphic Arts selected his book design as one of the 50 best designed book covers ...

, artist * Suzanne Scheuer, artist, New Deal-era murals

Crime

Edmund Kemper Edmund Emil Kemper III (born December 18, 1948) is an American serial killer who murdered a total of 10 people, including a 15-year-old girl, as well as his own mother and her best friend, from May 1972 to April 1973, following his parole for m ...

, serial killer *

Herbert Mullin Herbert William Mullin (April 18, 1947 – August 18, 2022) was an American serial killer who killed 13 people in California in the early 1970s. He confessed to the killings, which he claimed prevented earthquakes. In 1973, after a trial to det ...

, serial killer

Entrepreneurs

Elihu Anthony Elihu Anthony (November 30, 1818 – August 15, 1905) was an American ''alcalde'', blacksmith, Business magnate, industrialist, Abolitionism, abolitionist, postmaster, and minister. He is considered a founding father of the city of Santa Cruz. He ...

, businessman during the Gold Rush-era and a founding father of the city of Santa Cruz * John Battendieri, businessman, founder Santa Cruz Organic *

James H. Clark James Henry Clark (born March 23, 1944) is an American entrepreneur and computer scientist. He founded several notable Silicon Valley technology companies, including Silicon Graphics, Netscape, myCFO, and Healtheon. His research work in comput ...

, entrepreneur and computer scientist *

Julia Hartz Julia Hartz (November 20, 1979) is an American entrepreneur, investor, and the co-founder and CEO of Eventbrite, a global ticketing and event technology platform. She is known for her leadership of Eventbrite during the COVID-19 pandemic and empow ...

, co-founder and CEO of

Eventbrite Eventbrite is an American event management and ticketing website. The service allows users to browse, create, and promote local events. The service charges a fee to event organizers in exchange for online ticketing services, unless the event is f ...

Reed Hastings Wilmot Reed Hastings Jr. (born October 8, 1960) is an American billionaire businessman. He is the co-founder, chairman, and co-chief executive officer (CEO) of Netflix, and sits on a number of boards and non-profit organizations. A former member ...

, founder of

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

Philippe Kahn Philippe Kahn (born March 16, 1952) is an engineer, entrepreneur and founder of four technology companies: Borland, Starfish Software, LightSurf Technologies, and Fullpower Technologies. Kahn is credited with creating the first camera phone, ...

, creator of the camera-phone / cellphone-camera and mathematician * Jack O'Neill, credited with developing first surfing wet suits * Lorenzo "Larry" Ponza, inventor of the modern baseball pitching machine * Fred Swanton, creator of what is now the

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is an oceanfront amusement park in Santa Cruz, California. Founded in 1907, it is California's oldest surviving amusement park and one of the few seaside parks on the West Coast of the United States. Description ...

Musicians

Giovanni Amighetti Giovanni Amighetti (born 21 February 1971 in Parma, Italy) is a contemporary Italian musician. He studied classical piano and began playing with avantgarde band Fondamenta and AREA drummer Giulio Capiozzo in late eighties. With the world music ...

, contemporary music composer (honorary citizen) * Bob Brozman, guitarist and ethnomusicologist *

Cornelius Bumpus Cornelius Bumpus (May 7, 1945 – February 3, 2004) was an American woodwind, brass and keyboard player and vocalist from Santa Cruz, California. Biography Bumpus began his musical career playing alto saxophone at ten for his school band, and by ...

, saxophonist for bands

Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in 1970 in San Jose, California, known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies. Active for five decades, with their greatest success in the 1970s, ...

and Steely Dan *

David Cope David Cope (born May 17, 1941 in San Francisco, California) is an American author, composer, scientist, and former professor of music at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC). His primary area of research involves artificial intellige ...

, composer *

Sasha Dobson Sasha Dobson (born March 31, 1979) is an American jazz singer from Santa Cruz, California. Early life Dobson comes from a musical family. Her father, Smith Dobson (Smith Weed Dobson IV, 1947–2001) was a pianist who recorded with Mark Murphy ...

, jazz singer *

James Durbin __NOTOC__ James Durbin FBA (30 June 1923 – 23 June 2012) was a British statistician and econometrician, known particularly for his work on time series analysis and serial correlation. Education The son of a greengrocer, Durbin was born in W ...

, singer and guitarist; ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

'' finalist * Remy and Pascal Le Boeuf, twin jazz musicians *

Tom Lehrer Thomas Andrew Lehrer (; born April 9, 1928) is an American former musician, singer-songwriter, satirist, and mathematician, having lectured on mathematics and musical theater. He is best known for the pithy and humorous songs that he recorded in ...

, musician and satirist * Bob Lowery, blues singer and guitarist * David Lowery, guitarist, Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker *

Chris Rene Christopher Rene (previously René; born December 25, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and producer. He was in a band called Diversion and also had a solo career, releasing the album ''Soul'd Out''. Chris auditioned for the fi ...

, musician, singer-songwriter * Derek Sherinian, keyboardist for

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...

, the band

KISS A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

, and the band Dream Theater *

Skip Spence Alexander Lee "Skip" Spence (April 18, 1946 – April 16, 1999) was a Canadian-born American singer, songwriter, and musician. He was co-founder of Moby Grape, and played guitar with them until 1969. In the same year, he released his only s ...

, musician, singer-songwriter. Co-founder of

Moby Grape Moby Grape is an American rock band founded in 1966, known for having all five members contribute to singing and songwriting, and who collectively merged elements of folk music, blues, country, and jazz with rock and psychedelic music. They were ...

. * Gertrude Auld Thomas, opera singer and composer *

Ted Templeman Edward John "Ted" Templeman (born October 24, 1942) is an American record producer. Among the acts he has a long relationship with are the rock bands Van Halen and the Doobie Brothers and the singer Van Morrison; he produced multiple criticall ...

, drummer for

Harpers Bizarre Harpers Bizarre was an American sunshine pop band of the 1960s, best known for their Broadway/sunshine pop sound and their cover of Simon & Garfunkel's " The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)." Career Harpers Bizarre was formed out of t ...

Them Are Us Too Them Are Us Too was an American dream pop and darkwave band, consisting of Kennedy Ashlyn and Cash Askew. The duo formed in 2012 while both were students at University of California, Santa Cruz. After signing to Dais Records, they released their deb ...

, music duo which formed while both members (Cash Askew and Kennedy Ashlyn Wenning) were students at UC Santa Cruz *

Oliver Tree Oliver Tree Nickell (born June 29, 1993) is an American singer, record producer, and comedian. Born in Santa Cruz, California, Tree signed to Atlantic Records in 2017 after his song "When I'm Down" went viral and released his debut studio album ' ...

, musician *

Lu Watters Lucius Carl Watters (December 19, 1911 – November 5, 1989) was a trumpeter and bandleader of the Yerba Buena Jazz Band. Jazz critic Leonard Feather said, “The Yerba Buena band was perhaps the most vital factor in the reawakening of public i ...

, jazz trumpeter, founder of

Yerba Buena Jazz Band Lu Watters & the Yerba Buena Jazz Band is the name of an American traditional jazz revival band founded by Lu Watters in 1940. Yerba Buena was the original name of San Francisco, California. Notable members included singer and banjoist Clancy Hay ...

Scott Weiland Scott Richard Weiland (; né Kline, October 27, 1967 – December 3, 2015) was an American singer and songwriter. During a career spanning three decades, Weiland was best known as the lead singer of the rock band Stone Temple Pilots from ...

, vocalist for bands

Stone Temple Pilots Stone Temple Pilots (also known by the initialism STP) is an American rock band from San Diego, California, that originally consisted of Scott Weiland (lead vocals), brothers Dean (guitar) and Robert DeLeo (bass, backing vocals), and Eric Kr ...

and

Velvet Revolver Velvet Revolver was an American hard rock supergroup consisting of Guns N' Roses members Slash (lead guitar), Duff McKagan (bass, backing vocals) and Matt Sorum (drums, backing vocals), alongside Dave Kushner (rhythm guitar) formerly of pun ...

* Joy Williams, musician *

George Winston George Winston (born December 26, 1949) is an American pianist, guitarist, harmonicist, and record producer. He was born in Michigan and raised mainly in Montana ( Miles City and Billings), as well as Mississippi and Florida. He is best known fo ...

, pianist

Music bands

Arsonists Get All The Girls Arsonists Get All the Girls was an American avant-garde metal band from Santa Cruz, California. Founded in 2005, the band was known for taking influence from varying genres, particularly in their early years for fusing extreme metal with variou ...

(experimental deathcore) *

A Band of Orcs A Band of Orcs is an American metal band formed in Santa Cruz, California, in 2007. The current band line up includes five members known only as: Cretos Filthgrinder, Gahzgûhl Coffinfeeder, Srig Foehammer, Oog Skullbasher and Gronk!. The band cl ...

(death metal) *

Bassnectar Lorin Gabriel Ashton, better known under his stage name Bassnectar (born February 16, 1978), is an American DJ and record producer. Biography Ashton grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and attended Bellarmine College Preparatory. He initiall ...

(electronic/dubstep) *

Blackbird Raum Blackbird Raum is a folk punk band from Santa Cruz, California, formed in 2004. They are known for their frantic live shows and anarchist politics. They have toured Europe and the U.S. 2004-2007: Formation and demos Blackbird Raum was formed ...

(acoustic punk) *

Bl'ast Blast (stylized as BL'AST!) is an American punk rock band formed in 1983 in Santa Cruz, California. After breaking up in 1991, they reunited in 2001 and again in 2013. To date, Blast has released three original studio albums (the latest being ...

(punk) *

Brain Drill Brain Drill was an American technical death metal band formed in 2005 from Ben Lomond, California founded by guitarist and songwriter Dylan Ruskin. They released 2 albums while signed to Metal Blade Records and self released their final third a ...

(technical death metal) * The Call (rock) * Camper Van Beethoven (alternative) * The Chop Tops (rockabilly) *

Comets on Fire Comets on Fire were an American noise rock band from Santa Cruz, California, United States. The band was formed in 1999 by guitarist and vocalist Ethan Miller and longtime friend bassist Ben Flashman, who were seeking to create rhythmically a ...

(psychedelic/noise/rock) * Craig's Brother (punk) * Decrepit Birth (death metal) * Deth Specula (first live music concert broadcast over the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

) * The Devil Makes Three (folk/punk) *

Dirty Penny Dirty Penny was an American glam metal band from Santa Cruz, California, United States. Their music is identified as glam or sleaze metal, with their influences being Mötley Crüe, AC/DC, Skid Row, Judas Priest, Poison, and Guns N' Roses. Dirt ...

(Hard Rock/Glam Metal) *

The Ducks The Ducks (formerly known as the Jeff Blackburn Band) were a short-lived American hard rock supergroup formed in the summer of 1977 by singer-songwriter Jeff Blackburn. The band included Bob Mosley (an original member of Moby Grape), Canadian ...

(rock) *

Estradasphere Estradasphere was an American experimental band that originated in Santa Cruz, California, during the late 1990s. The band, which in its last incarnation was based in Seattle, consisted of six multi-instrumentalists from a variety of musical back ...

(experimental) * The Expendables (reggae) * Good Riddance (punk) *

The Holy Sisters of the Gaga Dada The Holy Sisters of the Gaga Dada were an eclectic band originally from Santa Cruz, California, US, formed in 1981. They were voted "Best Alternative Rock Band of the Year" by ''LA Weekly''. The collaboration of keyboardist Mary Jean Shaffer and ...

(pop rock) *

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

(dubstep/EDM) *

Nuclear Whales Saxophone Orchestra The Nuclear Whales Saxophone Orchestra were a group of six American saxophonists who played as a saxophone ensemble in recordings and live performance. "Nuclear Whales Saxophone Orchestra" Ron Wynn, Allmusic They were based in Santa Cruz, Californi ...

Slow Gherkin Slow Gherkin is an American ska punk band from Santa Cruz, California, United States. Slow Gherkin was formed in 1993 by AJ Marquez, Zack "ZK" Kent, Phil Boutelle, and James Rickman; they released their first album, ''Double Happiness'', which ...

(ska/punk) * Sound Tribe Sector 9 (electronic/psychedelic rock) * Spot 1019 (country blues punk rock) *

Swingin' Utters Swingin' Utters (often typeset as $wingin' Utter$, and originally called Johnny Peebucks and the Swingin' Utters) is a Californian punk rock band that formed in the late 1980s.Bush, JohnSwingin' Utters Biography, Allmusic, retrieved September 30 ...

(punk) *

( pop) *

World Entertainment War World Entertainment War was an American funk rock band, formed in 1986. They recorded four records before disbanding in 1993, and then played reunion concerts in 2000 and 2001, and again in 2009. The band describes itself as “a benevolent medi ...

(tribal funk)

Writers and poets

* Ralph Abraham, mathematician *

, feminist and author *

Ellen Bass Ellen Bass (born June 16, 1947) is an American poet and co-author of '' The Courage to Heal''. Life Bass grew up in Pleasantville, New Jersey, where her parents owned a liquor store. Her family later moved to Ventnor City, New Jersey. She atte ...

, poet * Peter S. Beagle, novelist * Jennifer Otter Bickerdike, music writer and lecturer *

Rob Brezsny Rob Brezsny is an American astrologer, author, and musician. His weekly horoscope column "Free Will Astrology" – formerly "Real Astrology" – has been published since 1980, and by 2010 was syndicated in around 120 periodicals. Caree ...

, astrologer, poet, writer, and musician *

Norman O. Brown Norman Oliver Brown (September 25, 1913 – October 2, 2002) was an American scholar, writer, and social philosopher. Beginning as a classical scholar, his later work branched into wide-ranging, erudite, and intellectually sophisticated cons ...

, scholar, writer, and social philosopher *

Jonathan Franzen Jonathan Earl Franzen (born August 17, 1959) is an American novelist and essayist. His 2001 novel '' The Corrections'', a sprawling, satirical family drama, drew widespread critical acclaim, earned Franzen a National Book Award, was a Pulitzer Pr ...

, novelist and essayist *

Laurie Garrett Laurie Garrett (born 1951) is an American science journalist and author. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism in 1996 for a series of works published in '' Newsday'' that chronicled the Ebola virus outbreak in Zaire. Bi ...

, American science journalist and author, UCSC graduate * Steven Hassan, author, mental health expert and cult exit counselor *

Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...

, author of science fiction * Dennis Holt, poet, linguist, and translator * James D. Houston, novelist *

Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston (born September 26, 1934) is an American writer. Her writings primarily focus on ethnic identity formation in the United States of America. She is best known for her autobiographical novel ''Farewell to Manzanar'' that n ...

, novelist * Laurie R. King, novelist *

Noah Levine Noah Levine (born 1971) is an American Buddhist teacher and author, son of American Buddhist teacher and poet Stephen Levine. As a counselor known for his philosophical alignment with Buddhism and punk ideology, he identifies his Buddhist belie ...

, author and Buddhist teacher *

Morton Marcus Morton Marcus (1936–2009) was a poet and author having published more than 500 poems in literary journals across the country, including Poetry (Chicago), TriQuarterly, Ploughshares, Chelsea, The Chicago Review, The Iowa Review, Zyzzyva, Po ...

, poet, teacher * Lia Matera, mystery writer * Josephine Clifford McCracken, writer *

James Alan McPherson James Alan McPherson (September 16, 1943 – July 27, 2016) was an American essayist and short-story writer. He was the first African-American writer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and was included among the first group of artists who re ...

, essayist * Liza Monroy, novelist, memoirist, essayist, and educator. *

Adrienne Rich Adrienne Cecile Rich ( ; May 16, 1929 – March 27, 2012) was an American poet, essayist and feminist. She was called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century", and was credited with bringing "the ...

, poet, writer, feminist *

William James Royce William James Royce is an American playwright/director, screenwriter, and novelist. Career Television William Royce began his television career writing for the NBC television series '' In the Heat of the Night'', starring Emmy Award winn ...

, playwright/director, screenwriter, and novelist * Robert Sward, poet *

Robert Anton Wilson Robert Anton Wilson (born Robert Edward Wilson; January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007) was an American author, futurist, psychologist, and self-described agnostic mystic. Recognized within Discordianism as an Episkopos, pope and saint, Wilson ...

, author, novelist,

essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal ...

, editor, playwright,

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

futurist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities abo ...

, and self-described agnostic mystic.

Scientists

Frank Drake Frank Donald Drake (May 28, 1930 – September 2, 2022) was an American astrophysicist and astrobiologist. He began his career as a radio astronomer, studying the planets of the Solar System and later pulsars. Drake expanded his interests ...

, astrophysicist * Sandra M. Faber, astrophysicist * Alison Galloway, forensic anthropologist *

Jim Kent William James Kent (born February 10, 1960) is an American research scientist and computer programmer. He has been a contributor to genome database projects and the 2003 winner of the Benjamin Franklin Award. Early life Kent was born in Hawa ...

, bioinformatician *

Jerry Nelson Jerry L. Nelson (July 10, 1934 – August 23, 2012) was an American puppeteer, best known for his work with The Muppets. Renowned for his wide range of characters and singing abilities, he performed Muppet characters on ''Sesame Street'', ' ...

, astronomer * Ted Taylor, theoretical physicist with a focus on nuclear energy and disarmament advocate

Sports

Walmer Martinez Walmer Osmar Gómez Martínez (born 17 August 1998) is a professional footballer who plays for USL Championship club Monterey Bay FC. Born in the United States, he represents the El Salvador national team. Early life Martinez was born in Santa ...

USL The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

player *

Brendon Ayanbadejo Oladele Brendon Ayanbadejo (; born September 6, 1976) is a former American football linebacker and special teamer who played in Canadian Football League (CFL) and the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons. He played college footb ...

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

player and activist *

Haley Jones Haley Jones (born May 23, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Dream of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played her American collegiate basketball for the Stanford Cardinal of the Pac- ...

, basketball player *

Obafemi Ayanbadejo Obafemi Devin Ayanbadejo (; born March 5, 1975) is a former American football running back, fullback and special teams player. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 1997. In 1998 as a member of the Minnesota Vikings ...

, NFL player and older brother of Brendon *

Trent Dilfer Trent Farris Dilfer (born March 13, 1972) is a former American football quarterback and analyst who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He is best known as the starting quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens during their Su ...

player,

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

sportscaster * Reggie Stephens, professional football player for the New York Giants *

Nate Doss Nate Doss is a former professional disc golfer who won three world championships (2005, 2007, 2011). With his win in 2011, Doss became only the second person with three MPO world championships, after Ken Climo's 12. In addition to his three wo ...

, professional disc golfer and three-time PDGA World Champion * Lynden Gooch, professional soccer player for

Sunderland A.F.C. Sunderland Association Football Club (, ) is an English professional football club based in the city of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. Formed in 1879, Sunderland play in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club has won six t ...

Glenallen Hill Glenallen Hill (born March 22, 1965) is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. Hill played with the Toronto Blue Jays (1989–91), Cleveland Indians (1991–93), Chicago Cubs (1993–94, 1998–2000), San Francisco Giants (1995–97 ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player * Johnny Johnson, NFL player *

Ernie Lombardi Ernesto Natali Lombardi (April 6, 1908 – September 26, 1977), was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher for the Brooklyn Robins, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Braves, and New York Giants during ...

player *

Casey McGehee Casey Michael McGehee (born October 12, 1982) is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played in NPB for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles and Yomiuri Giants, and also played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, ...

, Major League Baseball player * Jay Moriarity, surfer * Stephen Quadros, MMA play-by-play broadcaster *

Luke Rockhold Luke Skyler Rockhold (born October 17, 1984) is an American retired mixed martial artist. He is best known for his time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he competed in the Light Heavyweight and Middleweight division. ...

, mixed martial artist, former Strikeforce and UFC middleweight champion *

Chris Sharma Chris Omprakash Sharma (born 23 April, 1981) is an American rock climber who is considered one of the greatest and most influential climbers in the history of the sport. He dominated sport climbing for the decade after his 2001 ascent of '' Real ...

, rock climber *

Ken Westerfield Kenneth Ray Westerfield is a pioneering Frisbee disc player. He is a Hall of Fame inductee in freestyle, ultimate and disc golf, and was also voted top men's player in the 1970-75 Decade Awards. Westerfield produced numerous tournaments, wor ...

, disc sports ( Frisbee) pioneer, competitor, promoter

Other

* Matt Mahurin, film director and photographer * Marisa Miller, ''Sports Illustrated'' and ''Victoria's Secret'' model * Nikki Silva, Peabody Award-winning radio producer * Lorette Wood, first female city councilwoman and first female Mayor of Santa Cruz

Attended University of California, Santa Cruz

* Richard Bandler, author * Jello Biafra, vocalist for the Dead Kennedys * Adragon De Mello, child prodigy * Cary Fukunaga, Emmy Award-winning film director * Gus Hansen, professional poker player * Victor Davis Hanson, historian * Miranda July, filmmaker, author, performance artist * David Lowery, vocalist for Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker *

, actor * Kent Nagano, conductor * Huey P. Newton, activist and leader of the Black Panthers * Bradley Nowell, lead singer and guitarist for Sublime (band), Sublime * Marti Noxon, television and film writer * Norman Packard, chaos theory physicist * Joe Palca, National Public Radio science reporter * Dana Priest, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist * Jason Roberts (author), Jason Roberts, author * Rebecca Romijn, model and actor * Maya Rudolph, actor * Andy Samberg, writer and comedian * Akiva Schaffer, Emmy Award-winning comedy writer * Brenda Shaughnessy, poet * Kathryn Dwyer Sullivan, astronaut * Amy Tan, author * Rubén Valtierra, keyboardist for Weird Al Yankovic, producer, composer * Ally Walker, actor * Gillian Welch, musician * Rich Wilkes, director and screenwriter * Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube * Ron Yerxa, film producer

References

{{reflist Lists of people by city in the United States, Santa Cruz People from Santa Cruz, California, *List Lists of people from California, Santa Cruz

Notable people from Santa Cruz, California

Academia

Activists

Actors and film production

Artists and designers

Crime

Entrepreneurs

Musicians

Music bands

Writers and poets

Scientists

Sports

Other

Attended University of California, Santa Cruz

See also

References