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
| 1977Gary Starr is chief executive officer for ZAPWORLD, a manufacturer and marketer of electric scooters, bicycles and motorcycles. Starr built his first electric car while at UC Davis and is recognized as one of the world's leading authorities on electric transportation. He was named one of the top 10 experts in the electric vehicle industry by Automotive News in 1994 and last year was chosen for Advertising Age's "marketing 100" for helping to create a market for electric vehicles. (appeared in the Fall 2001 issue) • Niniv Tamimi joined the commercial division of PMZ Real Estate, headquartered in Modesto. Tamimi had taken over his family's realty business, Tamimi Real Estate in Turlock, after his father's death in 1980; when he closed the firm in May, it was the oldest continuously active real estate office in Stanislaus County, having been founded in 1949. (appeared in the Fall 2001 issue) • Tim Wright, M.F.A., is a playwright, screenwriter and educator living in Los Angeles. Wright's play The Keeper of the Tales was published by Encore Performance Publishing in July and was performed at the Chester Playhouse in Chester, Nova Scotia. Encore is also publishing his play The Girl Who Married A Ghost for release in early September. In addition, Wright sold his screenplay Where's Little Louie, a suspense-thriller, to Clint Howard and Joel Madison, the producers of "Roseanne" and creators of UPN's "Malcolm and Eddie," and just completed a new screenplay based on Shakespeare's As You Like It with writer/director Tommy Lee Wallace, the director of Stephen King's It. He is also chair of the drama department at Westridge School for Girls in Pasadena. He writes that he'd enjoy hearing from classmates and can be contacted at TimPlayWright@aol.com. (appeared in the Fall 2001 issue) • Wesley Higaki was named director of university grants at Symantec Corp. in Cupertino. This is a new program to provide monetary and product grants to support university research in the area of information security. (appeared in the Summer 2001 issue) • Daniel Dorsa, Ph.D., was named vice president for research at Oregon Health & Science University. Dorsa was formerly a professor and associate dean of research at the University of Washington in Seattle. A neuroscientist, Dorsa will also continue his own studies on the effects of the hormone estrogen on brain neurons, including its possible protective effects against the development of Alzheimer's disease. (appeared in the Winter 2002 issue) • Patti Beemer was elected president of the National Organization of Mothers of Twins Clubs Inc., the largest multiple-birth support group in the United States. Beemer began working with mothers-of-multiples organizations after she and her husband, Dave '78, adopted their identical twin boys in 1983. They live in Colorado Springs, Colo. (appeared in the Spring 2002 issue) • Robert Kirchubel, a lieutenant colonel on active duty with the California Army National Guard, became the commander of the guard's 340th Forward Support Battalion in September. (appeared in the Spring 2002 issue) • Terry Lee was named vice president of corporate brands for Albertson's Inc. He had formerly served in a similar position for Safeway and then was chief operating officer of Troba Inc., an Internet customer service software company. (appeared in the Spring 2002 issue) • Scott Mackey's second book was recently published by The Brookfield Reader. A mystery novel geared toward teenage readers, Blood Runs Deep explores issues of race and family relations in a small Northern California town. Mackey's third book, another teen mystery, is scheduled for release later this year. Mackey lives in Sacramento with his wife, Barbara Turner '79, and their two children. (appeared in the Summer 2002 issue) • Jon Brandt, Ph.D., head of the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at North Carolina State University, was elected next year's president of the American Agricultural Economics Association. Brandt, who lives in Apex, N.C., served on the faculty at the University of Missouri-Columbia and Purdue University before joining North Carolina State. (appeared in the Fall 2002 issue) • Patricia Bailey, a senior public information representative in the UC Davis News Service, received an Award of Distinction from the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences for the media relations work she has provided for the college. (appeared in the Winter 2003 issue) • Delbert Gee was appointed judge of the Alameda County Superior Court. Gee had been a partner with Pacific West Law Group since 2001. He has also served as a mediator for the Bar Association of San Francisco Early Settlement Program and as a neutral arbitrator in medical malpractice and insurance coverage disputes. (appeared in the Winter 2003 issue) • Michael Ivie, associate professor at Montana State University, has been elected to the presidency of the Entomological Society of America. (appeared in the Winter 2003 issue) • An original adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet by Tim Wright, M.F.A., which was produced at Braun Center for the Performing Arts in Pasadena last year, is being published by Encore Performance Publishing. In addition, two of his award-winning two-act plays, And Learn To Fly and The Metro Girls, are being published by Stage One Entertainment in Essex, England. His newest play, A Nice Little Island: A Thriller, was produced in August at the Fairfield Civic Theatre in the North San Francisco Bay Area. Wright would like to hear from other UC Davis drama students at TimPlayWright@AOL.com. (appeared in the Winter 2003 issue) • Patrick Chavis, M.D. , was shot during a carjacking in July 2002, dying at age 50. Dr. Chavis worked as an obstetrician-gynecologist in an inner-city section of Los Angeles before switching his focus to cosmetic surgery, then losing his medical license in 1997 for malpractice. An African American who was admitted into the UC Davis medical school at the same time Allan Bakke was rejected, Dr. Chavis became embroiled in the affirmative action debate and was cited as an example of both its strengths and failings. (appeared in the Winter 2003 issue) • Two plays by Tim Wright, M.F.A., are being published this year by Stage One Entertainment & Promotions in England--Garland: An Unofficial Biography of Judy Garland and Grins. (appeared in the Spring 2003 issue) • Jay Yoo, J.D., is an assembly member in the South Korean government and adviser to the president-elect. (appeared in the Spring 2003 issue) • Robert Buderi was promoted to editor-in-chief of Technology Review, a magazine published by MIT. Before joining Technology Review, Buderi worked as a technology editor for BusinessWeek. He is the author of two books, The Invention That Changed the World and Engines of Tomorrow (both published by Simon & Schuster). (appeared in the Summer 2003 issue) • After spending two decades overseas in Malaysia, then England, Susan Keeney returned to California in 2000 and is now a fifth-grade teacher, living in the Bay Area, and author of Malay Phrase Book (Lonely Planet). She has three children, two in college, and one who'll be in high school next year. She'd like to hear from her Aggie classmates at susankeeney@aol.com. (appeared in the Summer 2003 issue) • Gary Novack, Ph.D., has been chosen to serve as an alumni member of the University of California Board of Regents. He has long been active with the foundation and alumni association at UC Santa Cruz, where he received his bachelor's degree. Novack founded and is the current president of the pharmaceutical and drug consulting company Pharma*Logic Development Inc. He and his wife, Dona '78, live in San Rafael. (appeared in the Summer 2003 issue) |