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 1990s
| 1997Lauren Christina Poon, of Castro Valley, died in August 2008 at age 33 from a brain aneurysm. Dr. Poon received her M.D. degree from New York Medical College and became an anesthesiologist at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena. Devoted to medicine and serving others, Dr. Poon loved travel, tennis and good friends. Survivors include her parents, Millie Gee and Larry Poon; her brother, Stephen Poon; her sister, Alicia Poon '00, and brother-in-law, Keenan Wong '00; her grandparents and her companion, Robert Hill. (appeared in the Winter 2009 issue) • Lindsay Harrington is an associate attorney practicing civil litigation at Mason & Thomas law office in Davis. She actively participates as a member of Women Lawyers of Sacramento and mentors other female lawyers in the Sacramento area and attorneys-to-be at McGeorge School of Law. (appeared in the Spring 2009 issue) • MICHELLE MCCLIMAN, J.D., recently started her own practice in Ladera Ranch, the McCliman Law Firm, which concentrates on intellectual property, business and employment law. She also teaches intellectual property classes at Saddleback Community College and Coastline Community College, as well as civil trials and evidence, and contracts. (appeared in the Summer 2009 issue) • Troy Valdez, J.D., recently opened the employment law firm Valdez Dunson & Doyle in San Francisco after 12 years practicing with big firms. (appeared in the Fall 2009 issue) • Juli White, D.V.M, married Morgan Cavanaugh this year. Chris Hoolihan ’92, D.V.M. ’97, was a groomsman in their wedding. White and Cavanaugh are expecting their first child on Christmas Eve. (appeared in the Fall 2009 issue) • Ray Galan received the James E. Ferrell Chairman’s Award—given to only 10 employees nationwide each year—from Ferrellgas Partners, a propane retailer based in Reno, Nev. He has been working for Ferrellgas for 13 years and is currently the California and Northern Nevada region manager. (appeared in the Winter 2010 issue) • Karin Jaffe, M.A., Ph.D. ’02, is a tenured associate professor and chair of Sonoma State University’s anthropology department. She received the 2009–2010 Excellence in Teaching Award, given annually to teachers at Sonoma State who make an outstanding contribution to the education of students. (appeared in the Winter 2010 issue) • Lucy Okumu was selected to be a 2009 American Marshall Memorial Fellow by the German Marshall Fund. She will spend 24 days in Europe traveling to cities such as Brussels, Belgrade and Copenhagen and attend the 2009 Marshall Forum on Transatlantic Affairs in Berlin. Okumu is currently a policy and political strategist for Strategic Counsel in Los Angeles. (appeared in the Winter 2010 issue) • Dana Ann Gong, M.S., died of lupus in March in Salinas. She was 38. She lived in San Ramon with her family and worked as a food technologist and eventually a senior project leader at the National Food Laboratory in Dublin for 14 years. She was also a member of the Northern California Institute of Food Technologists. She enjoyed music and had been in many choirs since graduating from high school. She is survived by her husband, Lester; daughters, Natalie and Naomi; parents, Clarence and Marsha Wong; sister, Sharon Wong; and grandmother, Ellyn Lowe. (appeared in the Winter 2010 issue) • Neal Presa earned his doctorate in liturgical studies from Drew University in Madison, N.J. He serves as pastor of Middlesex Presbyterian Church in Middlesex, N.J. In February he traveled to the Vatican as part of a delegation of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches to meet with the Pontifical Council for promoting Christian unity. He and his wife, Grace, have two sons. (appeared in the Spring 2010 issue) • Kelly Neary has been awarded tenure as a biological sciences instructor at Mission College, effective this fall. In addition to teaching anatomy and physiology courses at the Santa Clara community college, she is director of operations for DepoExpress.com, a legal deposition summary company. (appeared in the Summer 2010 issue) • Fenglaly Lee By Elizabeth Stitt Occupation: Is an Obstetrician/Gynecologist at the Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno, a volunteer faculty member of the UCSF-Fresno OB/GYN Residency Program and a Mentor for the CSUF Health Careers Opportunities Program. Born with a purpose: Born into a Hmong family with eight other children in an underserved area of Fresno, Fenglaly Lee ’97, M.D. ’03, always wanted to return and give back to the community. She noticed at an early age that among many Hmong people there is “sometimes a large gap between what they think is healthy and actually what is,” Lee said—a gap that’s widened by the language barrier. Most medical terms do not have a direct translation into Hmong, so Lee has to explain a diagnosis by using pictures or further elaborating on the topic. As someone Hmong women can relate to, she started convincing the Hmong women in her community, who are traditionally distrusting of physicians, to get help. “I also believe that they are more comfortable with me because I am a woman, and I come from a similar background and had similar struggles,” she said. One of few: She’s the only Hmong OB/GYN in California, as well as one of the few female Hmong doctors in the country. “In the U.S., there’s one in Minnesota and one here in California—she’s an anesthesiologist also at UC Davis,” Lee said. “There’re a couple of us, finally.” Lee said Hmong women often have social and economic challenges that prevent them from pursuing professional careers. Hmong women usually marry young and are held responsible for raising children, taking care of the in-laws and maintaining the house. “I was lucky in the sense that my husband and family were so supportive,” said Lee, who got married at the age of 19. All three of her children were born while she was in school or during her residency, and she head help caring for them from her parents, in-laws and husband. Giving back: Currently she is working in downtown Fresno, where about 80 percent of her patients cannot afford medical care. “I really enjoy that population,” she said, because it gives her a chance to educate and change her community for the better. She has reached out to her area by talking at high schools and appearing on Hmong radio shows, promoting a healthy lifestyle. “It is my duty to serve all women,” she said. “However, I especially feel a need to reach out to my community.” “It is my duty to serve all women…. By overcoming the language and cultural barriers, I can provide better patient education, promote health awareness, and dispel myths.” (appeared in the Summer 2009 issue) • Tracy Caldwell was featured in the 2007 fall edition. AGGIE IN SPACE Tracy Caldwell, Ph.D. ’97, soared into space in August working as a mission specialist aboard the space shuttle Endeavour, which visited the International Space Station to hand off and help install hardware. Caldwell, who turned 38 during the trip, said that her particular contributions to the team included her organizational skills and her background in construction. As a teen she worked as an electrician for her father’s contracting company and, since then, went on to acquire not only a doctorate in physical chemistry, but the ability to speak Russian and fly planes. She also knows American Sign Language. Before the mission, she said that she looked forward to sharing her experiences on her return—particularly with kids. “I think kids would be surprised to find out how much I struggled with learning…. I wasn’t always the smartest person. I just worked really hard…. And wit just that desire alone, you can achieve anything.” Caldwell is UC Davis’ second astronaut. Fellow alum Steve Robinson ’78 has flown on three space shuttle missions. (appeared in the Fall 2007 issue) • Tamara Rose was featured in the 2010 summer edition. Tamara Rose by Ada McAdow ’91 Occupation: Veterinarian, part owner of a bakery and musher in Fairbanks, Alaska. North to Alaska: The call of adventure and quiet space took Tamara Rose, M.S. ecology ’97 and D.V.M. ’02, from her Bay Area home to Fairbanks, where she recently competed in the legendary Iditarod Great Sled Race. On March 6, Rose and her team of 16 sled dogs set off on a journey of 1,161 miles through Alaska’s sparsely populated interior and along the shore of the Bering Sea. They reached the finish line in Nome in 12 days, 39 minutes and 29 seconds. Belly rubs and night sledding: “I’m pretty tight with my dogs,” Rose said. “They all like belly rubs and kisses. I’ve worried that this might take the competitiveness out of them, but it doesn’t. These dogs like to run and like to pull and that’s that.” During the race, Rose and her team passed through the Farewell Burn, a treacherous, windswept stretch of trail often bare of snow and littered with tussocks—bowling ball-sized clumps of frozen grass that can wreak havoc on sleds and dog paws. “That is the only spot that scared me,” said Rose. “I went through there at night, and the dogs love to run at night; they were nut jobs going fast and I was trying to keep the sled upright and slow them down between tussocks, without ripping the break pad off the sled. It was a challenge.” Moved to tears: Sledding along the Bering Sea coast was one of the most memorable moments of the Iditarod for Rose. “I ran from Kaltag to Unalakleet through the rolling hills at night, but approached the coast during the morning light. The coast was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen, and it just brought tears to my eyes.” Rose and her team were all Iditarod rookies, and she’s proud not only of their finishing time, but that they ended the race in good health. “My dogs ran strong and looked great at the finish. This was very important to me, even more important than finishing. Fans run out from Nome and watch the finishers during the last stretch, and I had several people comment [on] how good the dogs looked.” Check out Rose’s blog for picture, videos and more details about the Iditarod Great Sled Race of 2010:trosedogs.blogspot.com. “Mushing is a common sport here. We have a good friend who I started helping on the weekends and that was that. It’s just such a great combination of animals and the outdoors.” (appeared in the Summer 2010 issue) • Marc Facciotti received the Young Alumnus Award from the Cal Aggie Alumni Association. A UC Davis assistant professor of biomedical engineering, he mentors local high school, undergraduate and graduate students, and advises a student design team. The first course he designed and taught, protein engineering, received high remarks from students. (appeared in the Fall 2010 issue) • Monterey Gardiner, Ph.D. ’04, was awarded the Mike Mansfield Fellowship by the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation in July. It is a two-year governmental exchange program. Beginning in the fall, he will spend his first year learning about Japan and its language in Washington, D.C., followed by a year in Japan working for a Japanese agency or ministry. There he plans to study sustainable energy solutions. Gardiner is a physical scientist and technology development manager at the U.S. Department of Energy. (appeared in the Fall 2010 issue) • Hilary Mark and Aaron McCarty welcomed daughter Penelope Sarah Jane to their family in May. She joins her big brother, Sam, and two dogs, Yolo and Mustang Sally. They regularly attend the Davis Farmer’s Market on weekends. (appeared in the Fall 2010 issue) • Alison DeJung and her husband, Jason Goldheim, welcomed their first child, Samuel, in March. Alison received a Master of Nonprofit Administration degree from the University of San Francisco in 2007, and is now a program officer for education at the Stuart Foundation. (appeared in the Fall 2010 issue) • Patrick Len, Ph.D., is a guest moderator for the Center for Astronomy Education “Astrolrner” listerv, a discussion group for improving college-level astronomy teaching and learning. He teaches introductory astronomy and physics at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo. His wife, Heather McElroy ’02, is a research assistant at Santa Cruz Biotechnology in Paso Robles. (appeared in the Winter 2011 issue) • Phil Covell, M.B.A., is a business analyst for Forest Trends in Latin America and Africa. The nonprofit group helps conserve forests around the world by developing ecological services and industries in surrounding communities. Covell and Forest Trends helped develop a REDD project (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) that gives states in Mexico and Brazil carbon credits for protecting their rainforests. Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and governors from states in Mexico and Brazil signed the agreement at the Governors’ Global Climate Summit Meeting at UC Davis in November. (appeared in the Spring 2011 issue) |