Santa Clara University Alumni

International Students

12

% of international students in the university

1033

Total International Students in the university

Nestled in the heart of Silicon Valley, Santa Clara University is a Jesuit university known for its strong blend of engineering, business, law, and communication programs. Its alumni include CEOs, Nobel-linked innovators, political leaders, athletes, and creatives—all making waves globally. It’s a mid-sized university (~8,000 students) with ~100,000 alumni worldwide.

Alumni Name

Notable Achievement / Famous For

Degree

Graduating Year

Steve Nash

2× NBA MVP, Hall of Famer, Olympic coach

BA (Communications)

1996

Leon Panetta

U.S. Secretary of Defense, CIA Director, White House Chief of Staff

BA, JD (Law)

1960, 1963

Janet Napolitano

U.S. Homeland Security Sec., Governor of Arizona, President of UC

BA (Sociology/Anthro)

1979

Gavin Newsom

Governor of California, former Mayor of San Francisco

BA (Political Science)

1989

Jerry Brown

Former Governor of California (4 terms), Attorney General

BA

1959

Khaled Hosseini

Best-selling author (The Kite Runner)

BA (English)

1988

Brandi Chastain

1996 Olympic gold medalist; U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team

BA (Communication)

1991

Andy Ackerman

Emmy-winning TV director (Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm)

BA (Communications)

1978

Eric Bakowski

AI/ML innovator in diagnostic imaging

BS (Engineering)

N/A

Marcelo Claure

CEO of Sprint; prominent telecom entrepreneur

BA (International Business)

N/A

Brandon Beck

Co-founder & CEO of Riot Games (League of Legends)

BA (Marketing)

N/A

Brendan Eich

Creator of JavaScript; co-founder of Mozilla

BS (Computer Science)

1983

Chris Malachowsky

Co-founder of NVIDIA

MS (Electric Engineering)

1986

Jayshree Ullal

CEO of Arista Networks

BS (Electrical Engineering)

1986

Patrick Gelsinger

CEO of Intel; former CTO of Intel and EMC

BS (Electrical Engineering)

1983

Julie Sullivan

First woman and lay President of SCU

Honorary/University Leadership

2022

Daniel Nava

MLB player who hit a grand slam on his first major league pitch; 2013 World Series champ

BA (Unspecified)

2005

Everett Alvarez Jr.

U.S. Navy Commander; second-longest-held POW during Vietnam

BA

N/A

David Drummond

Former SVP & General Counsel of Google

BA (Law/Philosophy)

1985

Reza Aslan

Author and scholar (No god but God)

BA (Religious Studies)

N/A

Peter Oppenheimer

Former CFO of Apple, overseeing global finance

BS (Accounting/Economics)

N/A

Jorma Kaukonen

Jefferson Airplane guitarist; Rock & Roll Hall of Famer

BA (History)

N/A

Shemar Moore

Actor (Criminal Minds, host of Soul Train)

BA (Communications)

1992

Francisco Jimenez

Author & professor (The Circuit)

MA (English)

N/A

Ron Lagomarsino

Director in TV & theatre (Emmys, Drama Desk awards)

BA (Theatre/Communications)

N/A

Linda Gustavson

3× Olympic medalist, swimmer at 1968 Olympics

N/A (Attended)

N/A

 

Students

733

Yocketers Applied

567

Yocketers Admitted

3,487

Yocketers Interested

Santa Clara University admitted student profiles

IELTS

7

Profiles that got Into Santa Clara University

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Hema Mounika Bandaru
fall 2025
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IELTS 6.5

GRE 324

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Amrutha Padi
fall 2025
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IELTS 7.5

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Pragya Choudhary
spring 2025
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GRE 300

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Yukti Sharma
spring 2025
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GRE 324

TOEFL 112

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Girija B M
fall 2025
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IELTS 7.5

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Pavan Reddy Gottimukkula
fall 2025
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IELTS 7

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Sanjana Hiremath
fall 2025
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Prathap Reddy Lakku
fall 2025
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IELTS 8

GRE 305

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