Alumni

UCSC Sociology Alumni, we want to hear from you!

If you are a graduate of our program and would like to add your achievements to this webpage, or if you would like to make changes to your current listing, please keep us up to date on your achievements, careers, degrees, and awards by emailing us at socy@ucsc.edu.

PhD alumni
Undergraduate alumni


Sociology PhD Alumni
Academic and Professional Placements

2017
Ruben Espinoza
: Director of Latinx and Latin American Studies and Instructional Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Chapman University 
Claudia Lopez: Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, California State University, Long Beach
Christie McCullen: Instructor, Department of Sociology, University of California, Santa Cruz
Kirsten Rudestam: Visiting Instructor, Department of Sociology, Whitman College
Jimiliz Valiente-Neighbours: Assistant Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, Social Work, and Family Sciences, Point Loma Nazarene University

2015
Cody, Kevin
: Faculty, Environmental & Sustainability Studies Program, University of Northern Colorado
Kwan, Yvonne: Post-doc, Dartmouth Society of Fellows
Perkins, Tracy: Assistant Professor, Sociology and Anthropology, Howard University
Summers, Brandi
: Assistant Professor, African American Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University

2014

Christina Hatcher
: User Experience Researcher, Google
Derrick Jones: Adjunct Professor, Palo Alto University; Lecturer, San Jose State University
Kalinic, Ariana: Adjunct Professor, Sociology, Monterey Peninsula College and Instructor; Women's Studies, Cabrillo College

2013
Michael King: Assistant Professor, Sociology with teaching responsibilities in Criminology, SUNY-Oneonta
Shannon Williams: Executive Director, California State University, Sacramento, Institute for Social Research
Travis Williams: Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Science and Technology in Society, Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg
Susy Zepeda: Assistant Professor, Women and Gender Studies Program, University of California, Davis

2012
Thomas Heddleston: Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Adams State College, Alamosa
Nik Janos: Assistant Professor of Sociology, California State University, Chico
Nichole Zlatunich: Senior Program Advisor,  Futures Group

2011
L. Esthela Banuelos: Committee Analyst, Academic Senate, University of California, Santa Cruz
Stuyvesant Bearns Esteva: Lecturer, Sociology Department, University of California, Santa Cruz
Marcos Lopez: Assistant Professor, Sociology Department, Bowdoin College
Natalie Purcell: Patient Centered Care Program Director, Department of Veterans' Affairs, San Francisco VA Medical Center
& Assistant Professor, Social & Behavioral Sciences, UCSF
Anthony Villareal: Chair, Sociology Department, Monterey Peninsula College

2010
Rachel Bryant-Anderson: Lecturer, Sociology Department, University of California, Santa Cruz and San Jose State University
Rebecca Dolinsky: Program Manager and Research Analyst, Association of American Colleges and Universities
Sydney Hart: Associate Professor, Anthropology and Sociology, Wilbur Wright College
Steve Nava: Lecturer, Sociology Department, San Jose State University
Liana Gamber Thompson: Postdoctoral Scholar, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California

2009
Berna Zengin Arslan: Assistant Professor, School of Arts and Sciences, Özyeğin Universitesi, Istanbul
Sydney Hart: Department Co-Chair, Sociology & Anthropology, and Instructor (Tenured), Wilbur Wright Community College, Chicago
Joshua Hendrick: Assistant Professor of Sociology and Global Studies, Loyola University Maryland, Baltimore
John Moss: Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Guam

2008
Elizabeth Bennett: Instructor and Chair of Social Sciences, Central New Mexico Community College
Brian Gareau: Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Academic Planning, and Associate Professor of Sociology and International Studies, Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, Boston College
Marie Sarita Gaytan: Associate Professor, Sociology and Gender Studies, University of Utah
Tanya McNeill: Assistant Professor, Departments of Women's Studies and Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Lesleigh Owen: Instructor, School of Behavioral Sciences, Black Hills State University
Sadie Reynolds: Instructor, Sociology and Digital Bridge Academy, Cabrillo College
Inger Stark: Dean, Business, Mathematics & Sciences Division, Laney College, Oakland

2007
Stan Oden: Associate Professor, Department of Government, Sacramento State
Rebecca Scott: Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Missouri-Columbia

2006
John Ackerman: Professor, Institute for Legal Research, National Autonomus University of Mexico (UNAM) and Editor-in-Chief, Mexican Law Review
Barbara Barnes: Continuing Lecturer, Gender and Women's Studies, University of California, Berkeley
Julie Beck: Associate Professor, Criminal Justice, California State University East Bay
Claudia Chaufan: Assistant Adjunct Professor, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences/Institute for Health & Aging in the School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco
Sudarat Musikawong: Associate Professor of Sociology, Director for International Studies Minor Program, Siena College, Albany, NY

2005
Jack Fong: Assistant Professor of Sociology, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Jennifer Reck: Lecturer in Sociology and Human Sexuality Studies, San Francisco State University
Clare Sears: Associate Professor in Sociology, San Francisco State University
Sara Sutler-Cohen: Dean, Social Science Division and Tenured Sociology Instructor, Bellevue Community College; Programming Director, American Indian Film Festival

2004
Ernest Bustillos: Assistant Professor, Sociology Department, Pasadena City College
Geoffrey Dunn: Director: Dollar a Day, Ten cents a Dance (1984); Miss or Myth? (1987); Calypso Dreams (2004 & 2008); author: The Lies of Sarah Palin: The Untold Story Behind Her Relentless Quest for Power (2011).
Kyle Eischen: Assistant Dean for Academic Planning and Research, Division of Social Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz
Macarena Gomez-Barris: Professor and Chairperson of Social Science and Cultural Studies, Pratt Institute

2003
Andrew Jolivette: Professor and Department Chair, Ethnic Studies/Director Native American and Indigenous Studies, University of California, San Diego
Deborah Vargas: Associate Professor and Henry Rutgers Term Chair in Comparative Sexuality, Gender, and Race,  Department of Women's and Gender Studies, Rutgers University

2002
Akiko Naono: Associate Professor, Department of Cultural Studies, Kyushu University, Japan

2001
Lisa Bunin: Organic Policy Coordinator, Center for Food Safety, San Francisco
John Gulick: Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Celine-Marie Pascale: Professor of Sociology, American University

2000
Marc Flacks: Instructor, Sociology Department, Yuba College, Marysville
Cynthia Siemsen: Professor of Sociology, California State University, Chico

1999
Patricia Allen: Chair, Department of Food Systems & Society, Marylhurst University, Marylhurst, OR
Lynn Fujiwara: Associate Professor, chair, of Women's & Gender Studies & Ethnic Studies, University of Oregon, Eugene
Zsuzsanna Gille: Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Robert S. Oden:  Professor of Government, California State University, Sacramento
Gaspar Rivera-Salgado: Project Director, UCLA Institute for Research in Labor and Education

1998
Richard Gendron: Assistant Professor of Sociology, Assumption College, Worcester, MA
Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi: Associate Professor of History, LAS Global Studies, and African Studies, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Dennis Loo: Retired Professor of Sociology, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Elizabeth Wheatley: Associate Professor of Sociology, Grand Valley State University
Hal Aronson: co-founder and technology director, We Care Solar, Berkeley

1997
Delia Douglas:
Director of the Office of Anti-Racism, in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, at the University of Manitoba
Robert Thompson:
Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies, Oregon State University

1996
Valerie Kuletz:
2012 Resident Scholar, Special Collections & Archives Research Center, Oregon State University
David Sonnenfeld:
Professor and Chair, Dept of Environmental Studies, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York (SUNY-ESF)

1995
Wendy Chapkis: Professor of Sociology and Director of Women and Gender Studies, University of Southern Maine
Laura Corradi: Researcher and Professor, Department of Sociology and Political Science, University of Calabria
Jennifer Eichstedt: Professor of Sociology, California State University, Humboldt
Edward McCaughan:  Professor and Chair, Sociology Department, San Francisco State University
Josephine Mendez-Negrete: Associate Professor of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies, University of Texas, San Antonio
Susan Murray: Associate Professor of Sociology, San Jose State University
Alan Rudy: Associate Professor of Sociology, Central Michigan University

1994
Michael Goldman: Associate Professor, Sociology Department and Institute for Global Studies, University of Minnesota
Amanda Konradi: Affiliate Associate Professor, Sociology Department, Loyola University Maryland, Baltimore
Shunta Mori: Associate Professor, Shizuoka Institute of Science and Technology, Japan  

1993
Christy Ponticelli
:
Associate Chair of Sociology, Associate Professor, University of South Florida; Co-Chair, CCRT
Lynet Uttal:
Professor, Counseling Psychology, School of Education, University of Wisconsin, Madison/Therapist (APSW), Journey Mental Health Center
M. Yegenoglu-Mutman
:
Professor, Istanbul Bilgi University, Program in Cultural Studies and Institute of Social Sciences

1992
Hulya Gurtuna:
Lecturer, Department of Sociology, San Francisco State University
Peter Ibarra:
Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, University of Illinois, Chicago
Mahmut Mutman
: Professor, Department of Cinema and Television, and Co-ordinator, M.A. Program in Cultural Studies, Istanbul Şehir University, Istanbul 

1991
Satish Deshpande:
Professor of Sociology, Dehli School of Economics, Delhi University
Bristow Hardin
: Adjunct Professor of Sociology, American University
Margaret Villanueva: Professor, Department of Ethnic & Women's Studies, St. Cloud State University, St, Paul; Member, Chicano Latino Affairs Council, State of Minnesota

1990
Daniel Faber: Professor of Sociology and Director of the Northeastern Environmental Justice Research Collaborative, Northeastern University
Michael Webber: Dean, The University of San Francisco School of Management

1989
Angela Garcia: Professor, Sociology and Global Studies Departments, Bentley University, Waltham, MA. Author of An Introduction to Interaction: Understanding Talk in Formal and Informal Settings (Bloomsbury Academic 2013) and How Mediation Works: Resolving Conflict Through Talk (Cambridge University Press, 2019)

1988
Scott Coltrane: Dean, College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Sociology, University of Oregon
Joost Hiltermann: Chief Operating Officer, International Crisis Group, Brussels
Karen Hossfeld: Associate Professor of Sociology, San Francisco State University
Michael Omi: Associate Professor of Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley

1986
Beth Ghiloni-Wage
: Associate Professor, School of Business, Central Connecticut University
Bruce Luske: Professor of Sociology Emeritus, Marist College, Poughkeepsie, New York
Carol Ray: Professor of Sociology, San Jose State University
Garry Rolison: Associate Professor of Sociology, California State University, San Marcos

1985
Laura Enriquez: Professor of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley

1984
Wendy Luttrell: Professor in Urban Education and Social-Personality Psychology at the Graduate Center, City Univeristy of New York
Maxine Myers (White): Former Director of Cabrillo College Women's Center (deceased)

1983
Herman Gray: Professor, Department of Sociology, University of California, Santa Cruz
Douglas Murray: Professor of Sociology, Colorado State University

Inaugural Sociology PhD Recipient, Ilene J. Philipson
The Sociology Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz granted its first Ph.D. to Ilene J. Philipson. After completing her degree here, Dr. Philipson earned a second doctorate in clinical psychology, authored Ethel Rosenberg: Beyond the Myths and On The Shoulders of Women: The Feminization of Psychotherapy, and coedited Women, Class and the Feminist Imagination. In addition to having a private practice in Berkeley, Dr. Philipson is an affiliated scholar at the Beatrice M. Bain Research Group at the University of California, Berkeley, and a clinical psychologist at Pacific Applied Psychology Associates.


Sociology Undergraduate Alumni

Sociology has graduated over 2,800 majors. A substantial number of our undergraduate alumni have become counselors, lawyers, managers and social workers. The largest number have become public school teachers, most in California (statistics from UCSC Alumni Office, 2000). Others have pursued a variety of notable careers. Some of their achievements are as follows:

Doctoral Fellowships

Adele Barrett: Stanford University; Educational Policy Program (2000).
Carrie Lee
:
Vanderbilt University, organizer of the American Sociological Association's Sex and Gender Section's Roundtable Session (1997).
Nili Kirschner
:
University of California, Berkeley (1997).
Paz Oliverez
:
University of Southern California; Educational Policy, Planning and Administration, full-tuition & stipend (1999).
Sarah Rodriguez
:
University of California, Santa Barbara (1997).

Academic Placements - University of California

Adalberto Aguirre Jr.: Professor of Sociology, University of California-Riverside (1973; Ph.D. Stanford University, 1977).
Paul Almeida
:
Professor and Chair, University of California-Merced. 2009 winner Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Article Award American Sociological Association, Section on Labor and Labor Movements. 2004 winner of the Best Published Article American Sociological Association, Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements. (1991; Ph.D. University of California-Riverside, 2001).
Scott Coltrane
:
Associate Professor and Chair of Sociology, University of California-Riverside (1974; Ph.D. University of California-Santa Cruz, 1988).
Timothy McDaniel
:
Professor of Sociology, University of California-San Diego. Author of The Agony of the Russian Idea ( Princeton University Press, 1996); Autocracy, Modernization and Revolution in Russia and Iran (Princeton University Press, 1991); Autocracy, Capitalism and Revolution in Russia (University of California Press, 1988). (1972; Ph.D. University of California-Berkeley, 1979).
Denise A. Segura
:
Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for Chicano Studies, University of California-Santa Barbara (1976; Ph.D. University of California-Berkeley, 1986).
Victoria Smith
:
Associate Professor of Sociology, University of California-Davis. Author of Managing in the Corporate Interest: Control and Resistance in an American Bank (University of California Press, 1990). Recipient of the UC-Davis 1998 Outstanding Mentor Award and the Society for the Study of Social Problems Labor Studies Division's 1999 Distinguished Publication Award for "The Fractured World of the Temporary Worker: Power, Participation, and Fragmentation in the Postindustrial Workplace," (Social Problems, 1998). (1979; Ph.D. University of California-Berkeley, 1987).

Academic Placements - Other Public U.S. Universities

Jamie Borromeo: Lecturer, University of Hawaii, Hawaii Community College, Entrepreneurship and Financial Literacy (M.S. Education, Johns Hopkins University; Doctorate in Business Administration, St. Mary's College of California).Benjamin Brewer: Professor of Sociology, James Madison University (PhD Sociology, The Johns Hopkins University, 2005).
Trudie Coker: Associate Professor of Sociology, Florida Atlantic University (1980; Ph.D. Vanderbilt University, 1991).
Gloria Cuadraz
:
Associate Professor of Sociology, Arizona State University West (1980; Ph.D. University of California-Berkeley, 1993).
Steven J. Gold: Professor and Associate Chair of Sociology, Michigan State University, (1977; Ph.D. University of California-Berkeley, 1985).
Sharon Ruth Hays
:
Associate Professor of Sociology and Studies in Women and Gender, and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Sociology, University of Virginia; recipient of American Sociological Association's Culture Studies 1997 Distinguished Book Award for her book, The Cultural Contradictions of Motherhood, Yale, 1996 (1977; Ph.D. University of California-San Diego 1993).
Richard Hogan
:
Professor of Sociology, Purdue University (1974; Ph.D. University of Michigan, 1982).
Anne E. Kane
:
Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Texas (1978; Ph.D. University of California-Los Angeles, 1994).
Roberto P. Korzeniewicz
:
Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Maryland (1980; Ph.D. SUNY Binghamton, 1989).
Robert K. Schaeffer
:
Professor of Sociology, San Jose State University (1975; Ph.D. SUNY Binghamton, 1985).
Carol Schmid
:
Professor of Sociology, Guilford Technical Community College, North Carolina (1969; Ph.D. McMaster University, 1978; J.D. North Carolina Central University, 1991).
Margaret R. Somers: Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Michigan (1971; Ph.D. Harvard University, 1986).

Carrie Lee Smith: Associate Professor of Sociology, Millersville University (1996; Ph.D. Vanderbilt University, 2004)

Academic Placements - Private and International Institutions

Ricky Bluthenthal: Associate Dean for Social Justice & Professor of Preventive Medicine (with tenure), University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine (PhD, Sociology, UC Berkeley).Robert C. Bulman: Associate Professor of Anthropology and Sociology, Saint Mary's College of California (1989; PhD University of California Berkeley, 1999).
James Robert Elliott
:
Assistant Professor of Sociology, Tulane University (1989; Ph.D. University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1997).
Betty Farrell
:
Professor of Sociology, Pitzer College (1971; Ph.D. Harvard University, 1982; Fall 2000 University of Chicago Visiting Professor).
Ari Kelman: Jim Joseph Professor of Education and Jewish Studies at the Stanford Graduate School of Education (2012; Ph.D. American Studies NYU, 2003).
Thomas H. Koenig
:
Professor of Sociology, Northeastern University (1971; Ph.D. University of California-Santa Barbara, 1979).
Rosemary Gartner: Professor of Sociology and Law, and Director, Centre of Criminology, University of Toronto. Recipient of UT's 1991 Oswald Hall Outstanding Teaching Award. Appointed to the United States' National Consortium on Violence Research in 1999 (1974; Ph.D. University of Wisconsin, 1985).
Annette Lareau: Associate Professor of Sociology, Temple University. Recipient of the American Sociological Association's Willard Waller Award for Distinguished Scholarship for her book, Home Advantage: Social Class and Parental Intervention in Elementary School (1974; Ph.D. University of California Berkeley, 1984).
Robert Moorehead: Associate Professor in the College of International Relations at Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto (1989; Ph.D. University of California-Davis, 2010).
Bruce Podobnik: Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Lewis and Clark University (1991; Ph.D. Johns Hopkins University, 2000).
Thomas Ehrlich Reifer: Professor, Sociology, University of San Diego (MA & Ph.D, Sociology, SUNY Binghamton)
Becky Thompson
:
Associate Professor of Sociology, Simmons College, Boston, MA (1982; Ph.D. Brandeis University, 1991).
Ronald Weitzer
:
Professor of Sociology, George Washington University (MA & Ph.D. University of California-Berkeley, 1985).

OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS

Laura Allen: Attorney, Feminist Majority Foundation (1986).
Philip K. Armour
:
Associate Professor of Social Science, University of Texas at Dallas (1970).
Deborah Faye Carter
:
Assistant Professor of Education, Indiana University (1991).
Kenneth J. Doctor
:
Vice President for News Editorials, Knight-Ridder, Inc. (1971).
Geoff Dunn: Director, Community Television, Santa Cruz; currently completing a Ph.D. in Sociology at UCSC (1977).
Elaine P. Enarson: Applied Sociologist, British Columbia (1971; Ph.D. University of Oregon, 1981).
Jon M. Hussey
:
Research Professor, Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill (1985; Ph.D. University of Washington, 1995).
Patrick Lapid: Economist, Office of Research, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Ph.D., Economics, University of California-Berkeley, 2017 M.A., Economics, San Francisco State University, 2011)
Stephanie Linkogle: Lecturer, Department of Sociology, University of Manchester (1988; Ph.D. Cultural Studies, University of Birmingham, UK).
Kay Mohlman: Lecturer, Department of Sociology, National University of Singapore (1979; Ph.D. University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1994).
Kent Nagano
:
Music Director and Conductor, The Berkeley Symphony (1974).
Ronald Elliott Pomerantz
:
Captain, San Jose Fire Department (1973).
Jennifer Prado
:
Deputy Public Defender, Riverside County Public Defender's Office (1994).
Scott Roseman
:
Founder and Owner, New Leaf Community Markets, Santa Cruz County (1979).
Judy Rothschild
:
Director of Research, The National Jury Project (1976; Ph.D. University of California - Berkeley).
Stephen I. Schwartz
:
Director and Head of The Bulletin of The Atomic Scientists (1987).
Julia Sokoloff
:
Physician, Family Practice, Group Health Co-op (1982).
David L. Talbot
:
Managing Editor, Image magazine, San Francisco Examiner (1973).
Steven P. Wallace
:
Associate Professor of Public Health, University of California-Los Angeles (1979). Ph.D. University of California-San Francisco, 1987. Formerly Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Missouri.

Please note: If you are a graduate of our program and would like to add your achievements to our webpage, or if you would like to make changes to your current listing, please keep us up to date on your achievements, careers, degrees, and awards via this online form.