Notable Alumni
Caltech has over 20,000 living alumni of whom 17 are Nobel Prize-winning scientists and has produced leaders in almost every field imaginable.
Following is a brief sampling of notable former Techers.
- Moshe Arens, former Israeli minister of defense and foreign affairs
- Arnold O. Beckman, founder and chairman emeritus, Beckman Instruments
- David Brin, science-fiction writer (Startide Rising; The Postman; Foundation's Triumph)
- Frank Capra, film director (It Happened One Night; Lost Horizon; It's a Wonderful Life)
- Chester F. Carlson, inventor of Xerography (photocopying)
- James E. Hall, founder and president, Jim Hall Racing
- Steingrimur Hermannsson, former prime minister, Iceland
- David Ho, director, Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center; 1996 Time magazine Man of the Year
- Alan P. Lightman, theoretical physicist-cum-novelist and essayist (Einstein's Dreams; Dance for Two; Good Benito)
- Sandra Tsing Loh, writer/performer (Depth Takes a Holiday; Aliens in America; If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home by Now)
- Ruben F. Mettler, retired chairman and CEO, TRW Inc.
- Gordon E. Moore, chairman emeritus and cofounder, Intel Corp.
- Arati Prabhakar, former director, National Institute of Standards and Technology
- Allen E. Puckett, chairman emeritus, Hughes Aircraft Co.
- Simon Ramo, cofounder, TRW Inc.
- Joseph Rhodes, former state representative, deputy secretary of commerce, and member of the Public Utility Commission, Pennsylvania
- Benjamin M. Rosen, chairman of the board, Compaq Computer Corp.
- Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 17 astronaut; former U.S. senator
- T. A. Wilson, chairman emeritus, Boeing Company
- Dean E. Wooldridge, cofounder, TRW Inc.
- Mark S. Wrighton, chancellor, Washington University, St. Louis