Class Notes Archive 1931-2014
Class Notes are searchable back to our spring 2000 issue. You can browse the notes by decade (click on a decade to view its class notes):
Class notes from the 1970s
| 1975Philip Mellen, Ph.D., was awarded the title of professor emeritus by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors—an award conferred for exemplary service. Mellen, a resident of Blacksburg, Va., served for 24 years as a professor of foreign languages and literature at Virginia Tech, receiving the university’s William E. Wine teaching award in 1996. (appeared in the Summer 2005 issue) • Frank Ercoli heads the trauma and critical care services at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs. He also founded the annual Palm Springs Smooth Jazz Festival, which raises money for Hanson House, a home-away-from-home for the families of critically ill patients. Ercoli has received numerous honors, including the 2003 Riverside County Medical Association’s Physician of the Year award. (appeared in the Fall 2005 issue) • Philip Satre, J.D., former president and chief executive officer of Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., was elected to Stanford University’s board of trustees for a five-year term. (appeared in the Fall 2005 issue) • Jeffrey Blanck recently formed the law firm Winograd & Blanck Ltd., which specializes in employment, education, civil rights and transportation litigation. The firm is located in Reno, Nev. (appeared in the Winter 2006 issue) • Diane Cousineau, Ph.D., has co-authored Artists’ Estates: Reputations in Trusts (Rutgers University Press). Cousineau has taught English and American literature at the University of Delaware, the U.S. Naval Academy, Washington College and at universities in France. She lives in Chestertown, Md., with her husband, Tom, and two sons. (appeared in the Winter 2006 issue) • Bill DuBois recently retired as a battalion chief after 30 years of service to the El Centro fire department. He lives in rural El Centro on his family farm and serves the community as a flight paramedic and pilot for the Imperial County sheriff’s office. (appeared in the Winter 2006 issue) • Mary Lee (Gragg) Lusby, division head for the General Education Department at Nebraska Methodist College, received the Faculty Senate Peer Recognition Award for 2003–04. She is also the Nebraska/Iowa support group leader for the Alopecia Areata Foundation, which supports individuals suffering from the autoimmune disorder. (appeared in the Winter 2006 issue) • Ahmad Faruqui, M.A., Ph.D. ’79, is vice president of the Palo Alto-based economic consulting firm Charles River Associates. He and Stephen George, M.A. ’76, Ph.D. ’79, recently finished a study with the California Public Utilities Commission and the California Energy Commission exploring new pricing systems for utilities. Their recommendations could help avoid future energy crises. (appeared in the Spring 2006 issue) • Carlos Gutiérrez, Ph.D., was named 2005 U.S. Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Gutiérrez, a professor of chemistry at California State University, Los Angeles, has been honored many times for his teaching, including a 1996 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. (appeared in the Spring 2006 issue) • Greg Ledbetter, D.V.M. ’77, M.P.V.M. ’79, was named state veterinarian and interim administrator of the division of animal industries for the Idaho State Department of Agriculture. Ledbetter works as a veterinarian and a dairy farmer in Jerome, Idaho. He and his wife, Jane, have three children. (appeared in the Spring 2006 issue) • Hans Ostrom, M.A. ’78, Ph.D. ’82, recently published The Coast Starlight: Collected Poems 1976–2006 (Dog Ear Publishing). Ostrom is chair of the Department of English at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash. (appeared in the Spring 2006 issue) • Alan Watahara died in October 2005 following a battle with cancer. He was 52 years old. An attorney, Mr. Watahara was a tireless advocate for neglected youth; he was the founder and president of the California Partnership for Children and was the principal of the Watahara Group, which provides legal counsel to nonprofit organizations. His work was recognized in 1998 with a Heroes in Healthcare Award from the Wallace A. Gerbode Foundation. (appeared in the Spring 2006 issue) • Steven Baltzell was hired as a manager at the San Diego office of RGL–Forensic Accountants & Consultants. Baltzell has over 27 years experience investigating and evaluating liability and economic damage issues in court cases. (appeared in the Summer 2006 issue) • Michael Davis recently moved to the University of Missouri School of Medicine as a professor of pharmacology and physiology, after spending the past 20 years on the faculty of Texas A&M University. Davis’ research group studies the physiology and pathophysiology of blood vessels with funding from the National Institutes of Health. (appeared in the Summer 2006 issue) • Kim Kavrell Savit, one of the first graduates of UC Davis’ international relations department, has retired from the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Savit served for the last three years as the senior professional staff member for the Middle East, Central and South Asia. Previously, she had served for over 20 years with the U.S. Department of State and Department of Defense. Savit has three adult children, and she and her husband, Mark, recently moved from Washington, D.C., to Denver, Colo. (appeared in the Summer 2006 issue) • Lucy Tolmach, M.S., is the director of horticulture for Woodside’s Filoli gardens, part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. She oversees planting of the 654-acre estate and garden, which turned 30 this year. (appeared in the Summer 2006 issue) • David Wolfe, M.S. ’81, Ph.D. ’84, professor of plant ecology at Cornell University, spoke at a climate change symposium organized by the New York Botanical Garden in September. Wolfe joined a panel of speakers that included former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. Wolfe is an authority on the effects of climate change and rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide on plants, soils and ecosystems. (appeared in the Winter 2007 issue) • Paulette Meyer recently received a Jefferson Award from the American Institute for Public Service. In 1988, Meyer founded San Francisco’s Women’s Initiative for Self Employment, a nonprofit organization that enables low-income women to start or expand a business. The organization received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Microenterprise Development in 2001. Meyer also serves on the board of the Center for Community Change in Washington, D.C. She lives in San Francisco with her husband of 32 years, David Friedman, a structural engineer. (appeared in the Spring 2007 issue) • Bruce Kennedy, M.S. ’80, is president of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science, a professional organization of 12,000 people involved in biomedical investigations. Kennedy works at Cal Poly Pomona, where he ensures regulatory compliance of both animal and human studies and also teaches laboratory animal management. He and his wife, Marty (Young) Kennedy ’78, an avid walker, have three children. (appeared in the Fall 2007 issue) • Ken Strongman, a mediator who has conducted over 200 mediations, recently qualified for the appellant mediation panel of the California Court of Appeal. He also is an adjunct professor at John F. Kennedy University in Pleasant Hill. (appeared in the Fall 2007 issue) |