| 1976Vincent Punturere of Los Angeles is a chiropractor, who has recently enrolled in the 100 Year Lifestyle Certification program, which is a certification given by the California Chiropractic Association to help people live longer. He has run a private practice in Los Angeles since 1996. |
| 1977Lauren Kaplan was named the 2010 Teacher of the Year by the Solano County Office of Education. She is a speech and language pathologist for the county, where she has taught 3- to 14-year-old children with special needs for the past 29 years. She is active with the local teachers association and the California Speech/Language/Hearing Association, and she provides training for speech and language students at Sacramento State University. She lives in Vacaville with her husband of 23 years, Andre Fowler. |
| 1979Margaret (Mitchell) and Mark Landucci celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary in May. They met at church while attending UC Davis. Margaret teaches second graders at Leo G. Pauly Elementary in Bakersfield, and Mark teaches seventh grade science and math at Cecil Avenue Middle School in Delano. They live in Bakersfield and have three daughters—Elizabeth Landucci ’07, Rebecca and Mary. • The Cal Aggie Alumni Association awarded Terrence Smith an Emil M. Mrak International Award for his volunteer work at the Mae Tao Clinic in Thailand, where he treats displaced ethnic migrants and refugees from Burma. He has been volunteering internationally since 1999 in countries such as Mexico and Vietnam. When he is back home in Clarksburg, he is a part-time physician at the Davis Community Clinic. |
| 1980Richard Hanson, Ph.D., became the president of Bemidji State University and Northwest Technical College in Minnesota in July. He previously served as interim president of the North Dakota State University and president of Waldorf College. Allan Johnston, M.A., Ph.D. ’88, wrote Northport (Finishing Line Press), a collection of his poetry. He received first prize for poetry in the 2010 Outrider Press Literary Anthology poetry contest. • Greg Dawson of La Crescenta died of a heart attack in July at age 52. He was the director of audio for Age of Learning, a voice-over artist, master of ceremonies for the Pasadena Pops Philharmonic and the creator and performer of the Greggy Dee shows viewed throughout Southern California. He is survived by his wife, Melanie Holstra Dawson; their son, Connor; his parents, Patricia and Robert; and his siblings, Linda Dawson Elkman and Steven. |
| 1982Karen Hammer Thurston was awarded the Recycler of the Year by the Kootenai County Solid Waste Department in Idaho in April. She is the founder and director of Community Green Cross Inc., which recycles textiles from 16 thrift stores in the northern Idaho region. Since the program’s inception, they have recycled over 1.4 million pounds of textiles and books, and generated over $30,000 in donations. She lives in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, with her husband, John, and their two younger children, Shelby and Ian. Their older son is married and attends UC Riverside. • Dan Healy was elected to an open seat on the Solano County Superior Court. He has served as an adjunct professor of trial advocacy at the UC Davis law school since 1998. |
| 1984David Benning, Cred. ’85, a programmer for the ANR Analytical Lab at UC Davis, recently had his flute piece, Dancing Night Wind, published by Echelon Music. Steve Hammer joined the Joint U.S.–China Collaboration on Clean Energy as the executive director of its Energy Smart Cities Initiative, where he trains and assists Chinese mayors on urban sustainability issues. He continues to teach at Columbia University’s school of international and public affairs, and he is a consultant for the World Bank on energy policy matters. He is the co-editor of a book on cities and climate change that Cambridge University Press plans to release in late 2010. |
| 1985Jean-Xavier Guinard, M.S., Ph.D. ’91, becomes the new associate vice provost and executive director for the UC systemwide Education Abroad Program in October. He previously served as associate vice provost for international programs at UC Davis for three years, in addition to teaching sensory science in the food science and technology department since 1994. • Paul Thiebaud, who attended UC Davis from 1979 to 1985, died of cancer at 49 in June. The son of artist and UC Davis professor emeritus, Wayne Thiebaud, and his wife, Betty Jean, he spent his life immersed in the art world. He operated galleries in San Francisco and New York, which contained his father’s work as well as others. He also privately advised contemporary art collectors internationally. He is survived by his wife, Karen; two daughters; parents; half siblings, Matt and Mark Bult, Twinka and Mallary Thiebaud. |
| 1986Brad Hicks, M.A. ’88, an Emmy Award-winning news anchor at Milwaukee’s WITI-TV, received the National Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio Television Digital News Association for the best hard news story in the U.S. and Canada for his report on a multigenerational family of child molesters. This follows an award for the best feature reporting in the nation from the Society of Professional Journalists for his series on the rise of heroin in the suburbs. |
| 1987Erik Olsen was promoted to chief winemaker for Constellation Wines U.S. He joined the company in 2007 after working for Beam Wine Estates as the vice president of winemaking for Clos du Bois for seven years. He was previously the head winemaker for 10 years at Chateau Ste. Michelle in Washington and an enologist for Simi Winery. He has produced more than 30 wines with ratings of 90 or better. |
| 1988Lee Foullon, M.A., had a life-saving kidney transplant in June. He lives in Falls Church, Va., with his wife, Zaneta. He sends his regards to Tyrone, Ron and Mike. |
| 1990James Van Pelt, M.A., won the Colorado Book Award in June for his new book, Radio Magician and Other Stories (Fairwood Press). His book, the winner of the “Genre Fiction-Sci/Fi/Fantasy” category, was selected from 146 works submitted. Chris Ransick, M.A., a past winner of the Colorado Book Award, was a judge for this year’s poetry category. • Scott Suneson, M.A., died in Rocklin in May after nine years of battling liver disease. He was 62. He is remembered for his passion for teaching, beginning as a UC Davis graduate teaching assistant and throughout his career as a part-time sociology faculty member at Sacramento State University, Sacramento City College, Yuba College and Sierra College. At Sierra College, he was awarded the Adjunct Faculty of the Year for three consecutive years. A longtime social-justice activist, he advocated for equity for part-time teachers at community colleges and encouraged his students to participate in public demonstrations. Mr. Suneson loved books, hiking, running, backpacking and traveling. He is preceded in death by his mother, Irene Niezoloski Suneson of Davis. Survivors include his wife, Sandra Anderson; father, Earl Suneson; sister, Melissa; children, Jeff Suneson and Lisa Rappaport; and four grandchildren. |
| 1991Elizabeth (Marshall) Dubrulle recently wrote Goffstown Reborn (History Press), about a New Hampshire town successfully reinventing itself over the course of 300 years. • Mary Lewis was named professor of history in July at Harvard University, where she has been on faculty since 2002. She was previously the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences. Lewis is working on her second book, Divided Rule: Sovereignty and Empire in French Tunisia. Her 2007 book, The Boundaries of the Republic: Migrant Rights and the Limits of Universalism in France, 1918–1940 (Stanford University Press), has received widespread praise. • Wayne Owen, Ph.D., was selected in June to lead the Wildlife, Fisheries, Ecology, Watershed and Subsistence program for the U.S. Forest Service in Juneau, Alaska. He was previously the ecosystems planning biologist for the Forest Service’s main office in Washington, D.C. He first began working for the service in Berkeley in 1987. • Troy Dalton, M.F.A., artist and teacher, died in June in Yolo County at 57 after years of declining health. He was well known for his large paintings of nude figures, often depicting biblical and mythological subjects. His work has been on exhibit in the U.S., Europe and Australia, and the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento honored him with a special exhibit in 2007. He taught at UC Davis, Chico State and San Francisco City College. He was also a photographer, sculptor, writer and poet. Mr. Dalton is survived by his daughter, Aven of Woodland; his sisters, Tory Green of Scotts Bluff, Neb., and Tana Farrar of Billings, Mont.; and his former wife, Donna Halverson. |
