| 1976After working as a fashion designer in New York, Paris and Columbus, Ohio, Nan Turner was glad to be back at UC Davis as a textiles graduate student. Scheduled to graduate in June, she pursued the masters’ degree to become qualified to teach at the college level. Her graduate thesis focused on World War II clothing restrictions. A paper she wrote, “Deprivation Fashion,” appeared in the British online Duck Journal for Research in Textiles last August. |
| 1977A new book by Derrick Bang, Vince Guaraldi at the Piano (McFarland Press, 2012) chronicles the career of the San Francisco-area jazz pianist best known for his work on the early Peanuts TV specials. • Donald Spivey, Ph.D., wrote If You Were Only White: The Life of Leroy “Satchel” Paige (University of Missouri Press, 2012). The biography explores the legacy of the legendary Negro Leagues baseball pitcher who pushed the boundaries of segregation. Spivey, a history professor at the University of Miami, is the author or editor of five other books. He lives in Palmetto Bay, Fla. |
| 1978Former Aggie football teammates Steve Green and Gary Prentice were delighted to run into each other last spring at the 2011 California Interscholastic Federation State Track and Field Championships in Clovis. They have a combined 60 years in education—Green teaches English and coaches football and track at Vacaville High, and Prentice, who was helping at the shot put ring, is a counselor at Clovis High School. • Steven Koike, M.S., a UC Cooperative Extension plant pathology farm advisor in Monterey County, received the 2011 Distinguished Service Award for Outstanding Research from the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The award recognized his work on the diseases and problems that affect coastal crops such as cool season vegetables, strawberry and ornamental plants, as well as his food safety research. |
| 1979Vicki (Nelson) Garcia and John Garcia run Marketing À La Carte in Benicia. Founded in 2006, the freelance marketing firm was named by DiversityBusiness.com as one of the top-100 women owned businesses in California of 2010. The Garcias’ team works with organizations and businesses from the San Francisco Bay area to Sacramento—among them the Cal Aggie Alumni Association. • Physician scientist David Kaslow joined PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health) in March as director of the nonprofit organization’s malaria vaccine initiative. He previously oversaw vaccine projects at Merck Research Laboratories and spent more than a decade as a scientist at the National Institutes of Health, where he founded the Malaria Vaccine Development Unit. • Carolyn Shelton recently received the Conservation Lands Alliance’s first Jeff Jarvis Conservation Leadership Award for her efforts in promoting science, education and research at the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah. She is assistant manager for science and visitor services at Grand Staircase, nearly 1.9 million acres of public land and the first monument established under the National Landscape Conservation System. • Debby Stegura was recently appointed to a four-year term as a trustee of the Palos Verdes Library District. She also serves on the board of directors of the Cal Aggie Alumni Association. |
| 1983Dennis McNeil was recently voted “2011 Best Male Cabaret Artist” in Broadway World’s Los Angeles Awards for his show, Me and My Big Mouth. The cabaret show is a new venture for the tenor, who has performed at the Met and New York City Opera, and sung for five U.S. presidents. He recently gave a concert with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, an accomplished pianist. McNeil continues to produce and perform around the world. His website is www.dennismcneil.com. • Terri Reynolds-Rogers completed her first year as an adjunct faculty member in the biology department at the University of Alaska. In addition to part-time teaching, she works full time for the Alaska state government, overseeing the long-term care nursing facility program. Her daughters are in college—Alyssa at the University of Arizona in Tucson, and Ariel at the University of Alaska. |
| 1986Patrick Sherwood, an executive vice president at Wells Fargo Bank and president of the Cal Aggie Alumni Association, joined the Oakland Zoo’s board of trustees in March. The Danville resident is one of four new board members. Another is Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of the Bay Area Council, who was a visiting faculty member this winter at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management. |
| 1987Tracy Stevens Kaplan wrote a song, “I Will Be Your Rising Sun,” and posted a YouTube video in March to mark the first anniversary of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Proceeds from sales of the song, available through iTunes, will go toward Japan’s recovery efforts. Kaplan, who had spent a year in Japan after graduating from UC Davis, made a return visit last November. She lives in Davis. To watch her video, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDMayVu9JG0. |
| 1988Peter Castles joined Sacramento outreach and branding firm Crocker & Crocker as its client services director. He provides strategic communications advice to government agencies and private-sector clients building transportation, utilities, water resources and energy infrastructure. |
| 1989Paul Koppisch, M.A., is a consultant to the CIA and the National Reconnaissance Office in northern Virginia, advising on mission-critical, public sector programs. His work includes program management, acquisition planning, organizational change, business transformation and training. In the past, he has consulted for a number of Department of Defense and civilian government clients, and held a variety of positions for top-ranked government contractors. |
| 1991Julie Barbour is in her second year as president of Placer County Master Gardeners, Master Composters (ceplacernevada.ucdavis.edu). The UC-trained volunteers help answer home growers’ questions. Barbour says, “It just goes to show that an urban geography degree can lead to anything.” She and her husband, Don, have three sons, and the oldest is looking to transfer to UC Davis next year. • Jennifer (Kaufman) Saavedra is a human resource executive strategist for Dell. She also serves on the board of directors of the company’s Hispanic employee resource group, Adelante. Before joining Dell in 2005, she spent several years as a consultant in employee selection and engagement strategies. She earned a doctorate in organizational psychology from Tulane University. |
| 19921992 Hollee King received her Masters in Public Administration from California State University, Northridge, in May. • Emily (Morton) Hirsch, died last November in Portland, Ore. She was 42. She was an avid bicyclist, chef and a proponent of nutrition. She is survived by her husband of 19 years, Justin; children Josie and Ethan; and mother, Laura Barnett. |
| 1993The Heart’s History, a second novel by Lewis DeSimone, M.A., was published by Lethe Press in May. The book follows a close circle of friends grappling with personal and political change. It drew praise from author Paul Lisicky as a “a novel of trouble and wonder.” |
