known for his work as a founding member of The Doobie Brothers Gordon Smedt – pop artist and painter (studied graphic design and illustration at SJSU from 1982–1984; graduated from Art Center College of Design)Wayne Thiebaud — painter (studied at SJSU from 1949–1950; graduated from Sacramento State University)Cal Tjader — Grammy Award-winning jazz musician (studied at SJSU; graduated from San Francisco State University)Michael Whelan — artist and illustrator specializing in imaginative realism; Science Fiction Hall of Fame inductee Authors Lorna Dee Cervantes — poet, Pulitzer Prize nominee William J. Craddock — novelist, author of Be Not Content and Twilight CandelabraCarmen Giménez Smith — poet, American Book Award winner James D. Houston — co-author of Farewell to Manzanar; author of Continental Drift, Snow Mountain Passage, and others; Lurie Distinguished Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at SJSU in Spring 2006 Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston — co-author of Farewell to ManzanarJayne Ann Krentz — New York Times bestselling author Ella Leffland — novelist (Rumors of Peace) and short story writer (Last Courtesies and Other Stories) Edwin Markham — poet Patricia A. McKillip — novelist Sandra McPherson — poet Robert Scoble — blogger, author, and social media pioneer Amy Tan — novelist; author of The Joy Luck ClubAviation Jason Dahl — airline pilot and United Airlines Flight 93 captain who died in the September 11 attacks Business Terry Alderete — businesswoman Helder Antunes — Senior Director, Cisco Systems; chairman of the board, OpenFog Consortium James F. Boccardo — trial lawyer, businessman, and philanthropist Finis Conner — founder, Conner Peripherals and co-founder of Seagate Technology Ron Conway — billionaire angel investor and philanthropist; co-founder and former CEO of Altos Computer Systems Robert Frankenberg — former CEO, Novell Carl Guardino — President and CEO, Silicon Valley Leadership Group Omid Kordestani — Senior Vice President, Google Brian Krzanich — CEO, CDK Global and former CEO, Intel Corporation Jenny Ming — CEO, Charlotte Russe; former CEO of Old Navy Gordon Moore — co-founder, Intel Corporation (studied two years at SJSU; graduated from U.C. Berkeley)Louis Nguyen — Chairman and CEO, Saigon Asset Management Ed Oates — co-founder, Oracle Corporation Daniel R. Scoggin — founder and CEO, TGI Fridays Mike Sinyard — founder and CEO, Specialized Bicycle Components James E. Thompson — founder and chairman, Crown Worldwide Group Film, theatre, and TV Coby Bell — actor; best known for his role as NYPD officer Tyrone Davis, Jr. on the NBC drama