| 1993Ann (Rennick) Mueller recently moved to Bangkok, Thailand, with her husband, John. • Mark Nunez, D.V.M., became president of the California Veterinary Medical Association in June. He owns the Animal Medical Center in Van Nuys, a small animal practice, and lives in Burbank. |
| 1994J.R. Campbell, M.F.A. ’96, is the new director of the School of Fashion at Kent State University in Ohio. The school has more than 1,100 students at campuses in Ohio, New York City and Florence, Italy. Campbell was previously a research fellow and coordinator at the Center for Advanced Textiles at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland for five years. • Kevin Martens, D.V.M. ’96, was named technical services veterinarian in July for the Nutrition Physiology Co., providing support in the Western U.S. for products the company makes for dairy producers. He previously owned and managed Two Hats Veterinary Service in Oregon and New Mexico. • Cathy (Salita) Phillips and Jeff Phillips ’96 welcomed their second child, Jake Preston, in March. Their daughter, Katelyn, is 4. |
| 1995Carla Bittel wrote Mary Putnam Jacobi and the Politics of Medicine in Nineteenth-Century America (University of North Carolina Press), a biography of a pioneering female physician in the late 1800s who used science to dispel misconceptions about women. Bittel is an associate professor of history at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. • Darlene (Cagampan) Alvarez and her husband, Jose, welcomed their second child, Mia, in March. Inspired by their 6-year-old daughter, Jennifer, Darlene recently published a children’s book, Drink Your Pasta, Eat Your Milk! In 2007, Darlene released her first collection of poetry, The Quiet Child. The book includes her poem, “Krush,” which won Best Love Poem in the 1995 California Aggie/Praxis Poetry Contest. • Gary Thorn and Shannon (Hensley) Thorn ’96 welcomed their third child, Holden Jackson, in May. Their daughter, Callie Noelle, was born in December 2004, and their first son, Evan Grey, was born in July 2006. The family lives in Durham, N.C. Gary works as a technical writer for Systems Documentation Inc., and Shannon is a freelance medical writer and editor. |
| 1997Troy Valdez, J.D., recently opened the employment law firm Valdez Dunson & Doyle in San Francisco after 12 years practicing with big firms. • 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. |
| 1998Angelo Moreno, M.A. ’01, was awarded this year’s Sacramento Music Educators Outstanding Achievement Award from the Sacramento News & Review in February. He is the director of the Davis Joint Unified School District secondary orchestral program, as well as a director for the Sacramento Youth Symphony. |
| 2000Erin MacDougall, Ph.D., is a Seattle-based public health professional working in the areas of healthy eating and active living, childhood obesity prevention and food policy. She was recently awarded a Food and Society Policy Fellowship to advance media coverage of food policy and public health. In September, she married Steven Walters near Seattle. • Anne Henderson and Aaron Perkins planned to marry in September near Grass Valley. They live in Sacramento, where Henderson works for an architectural firm and Perkins is in management. • Bartt Gunter married Sepideh Reghabi in August. In attendance was her sister, Bahar Reghabi, who studied in a UC Davis master’s program from 1997 to 2000. • Aaron Maguire, J.D., and Jennafer (Casterton) Maguire welcomed their first child, Madeline Rose, in April. Aaron was recently appointed as a deputy legislative affairs secretary for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and previously worked in the attorney general’s office. They live in Sacramento. |
| 2002Christopher Kwan is a proposal writer at Computer Sciences Corporation in Falls Church, Va., and has started a dual master’s degree program in government and business at Johns Hopkins University. He lives in Washington, D.C. • Tim Lee
By Elizabeth Stitt
Occupation: Comedian
Evolution of a comedian: After receiving his doctorate in ecology, Tim Lee decided to do something a little different with his degree. Instead of writing books, he wrote jokes. “I spent six years at UC Davis grinding out my Ph.D., so obviously I’m a masochist,” he said. “Once that was finished, the only way to keep up that level of mental pain was to start over in comedy.” For the past six years, Lee has been a touring comedian known for blending science and laughs and has shared the stage with the likes of Robin Williams and Dave Chapelle.
The science of funny: According to Lee, science and comedy have a lot in common. “In both, you create ideas and test them,” Lee said. “In science your ideas are reviewed by an audience of your peers. In comedy it’s an audience drinking beers. The comedy audience is easier to please, but more violent when disappointed.” Originally afraid of public speaking, Lee has performed in front of audiences of up to 7,000 and large festivals like the Las Vegas and DC Comedy festivals—a long way from his first show in a San Francisco laundromat. “Telling jokes in front of a crowd is a real thrill,” Lee said. “You can see their skepticism when you take the stage and hopefully their smiles when you leave.”
On the laugh track: Lee’s career has taken him to places all over the country, including Hawaii and Washington, D.C., and his next performances will be in Mill Valley and Seattle in October. As he becomes more involved with the world of comedy, Lee proves you can’t take the science out of the trained ecologist. “I just finished a script for a film about an awkward scientist who learns how to meet women by studying animal behavior.”
For videos of Lee and further information, visit www.powerpointcomedian.com.
“The worst part about being a comedian is lonely nights in quiet hotel rooms. The comedians with kids will tell you that’s the best part.”
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| 2003Matthew James Laye received his Ph.D. in medical physiology from the University of Missouri, Columbia. He currently works for the Center of Inflammation and Metabolism in Copenhagen, Demark. • Kaja Shonick married Benjamin Glahn last May in Salzburg, Austria. Claire Shonick ’06 was the maid of honor. Kaja Shonick received her doctorate in history in 2008 from the University of Washington, and she and her husband work at the Salzburg Global Seminar. |
| 2006Koosha Toofan competes as a natural bodybuilder. He recently placed second at the Model America Championship in Orange County. A project engineer, he was the project manager for a solar company recognized by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. |
