Skip directly to: Main page content

UC Davis Magazine

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

1970Ann Veneman, secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was named Agriculturalist of the Year by the board of directors of the California State Fair for her lifelong commitment to advancing California and U.S. agriculture. (appeared in the Fall 2003 issue)   Richard Zollinger was appointed senior director for development in the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science at Syracuse University in New York. Zollinger lives in Baldwinsville, N.Y. (appeared in the Fall 2003 issue)    Erin Dealey visits elementary schools to speak about writing and her 2002 book, Goldie Locks Has Chicken Pox (Atheneum)--a children's Book-of-the-Month main selection. (appeared in the Winter 2004 issue)    Larry Karns, M.S. '75, has been named senior project engineer in infrastructure services in the San Diego office of R.W. Beck, a consulting and engineering company. He has worked on water and wastewater projects in Europe, Asia, South America and Australia. (appeared in the Winter 2004 issue)    Cheryl (Chetani) McKinney, Cert. ’84, launched Innerlit Stone, Publisher (www.innerlitstone.org), with her author partner, Narayan. Their first title, Both Feet on the Land, chronicles in photos and poetry 20 years of life along a Yuba watershed creek. McKinney also teaches graphics and math at Marysville High School and has two college-age children, Sarah and Nathan. (appeared in the Summer 2004 issue)    Robert BonDurant, D.V.M. ’74, received the 2004 Alumni Achievement Award from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in recognition of his faculty leadership, community outreach and student mentorship. BonDurant is chair of the Department of Population Health and Reproduction at the school. (appeared in the Fall 2004 issue)    Terry Hill, M.A.T. ’77, has retired from teaching music after 35 years of high school instruction in Nova Scotia. He and his wife, Dianne, have three children. (appeared in the Fall 2004 issue)    A new book by Rita Rippetoe of Orangevale, Booze and the Private Eye: Alcohol in the Hard-Boiled Novel, published by McFarland & Co., examines the role of alcohol in detective fiction and changing societal attitudes toward drinking and alcoholism. (appeared in the Winter 2005 issue)    Ann Veneman, who recently resigned from her position as U.S. secretary of agriculture, received honorary membership in Sigma Alpha Sorority this fall. Fellow UC Davis alumnae nominated her to the national agricultural sorority. (appeared in the Winter 2005 issue)    John Kleppe, Ph.D., is a professor and chair of the electrical engineering department at the University of Nevada, Reno. Kleppe directs the Lemelson Center for Invention, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and teaches courses in product development. He has won a number of achievement awards, including Nevada Inventor of the Year honors. (appeared in the Spring 2005 issue)    Ann Pridgen joined the UC Davis School of Education development team as a director of major gifts. Pridgen was a classroom teacher for 15 years, worked in advancement for the United Way of the Bay Area as well as the Girl Scouts, and was most recently a senior vice president with the fund-raising consulting firm Netzel Associates. (appeared in the Spring 2005 issue)    Ann Veneman, former secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was named executive director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). (appeared in the Spring 2005 issue)    Erin Dealey has written a new children’s picture book, Little Bo Peep Can’t Get to Sleep (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster). She was joined at the UC Davis Bookstore on Picnic Day by children’s book authors Elizabeth “Betty” Provost ’57, Ginger Wadsworth ’67, Elaine Russell ’70, Carol Peterson ’76, Lynn E. Hazen ’77 and Ann Manheimer, J.D. ’82. They also shared their books at the Multicultural Children’s Fair at Hart Hall. (appeared in the Summer 2005 issue)    Alan Perkins, J.D. ’73, was named a judge for the Sacramento County Superior Court. Perkins has a background in conflict resolution, serving as a court-appointed and private mediator and arbitrator. (appeared in the Summer 2005 issue)    Brian Tom, J.D., whose family history in California dates back to the Gold Rush, has established the Chinese American Museum of Northern California in his hometown of Marysville. Now a resident of Piedmont, Tom helped found the Asian American studies department in 1969 when he was a student at UC Davis. (appeared in the Summer 2005 issue)    Douglas Cunningham died in March 2005 of melanoma. He was 67. A resident of Lafayette, Mr. Cunningham was a Contra Costa Superior Court judge for 22 years and an expert on Proposition 36 cases, which offer treatment to drug offenders rather than jail time. He is survived by his wife, Suzanne; his children, Scott, Brian and Dori; and his stepchildren, Jennifer and Christopher Fisher. (appeared in the Summer 2005 issue)    Noel John Williams, Ph.D. ’75, died of cancer at his home in El Dorado Hills in May 2005. He was 57 years old. Dr. Williams worked for the sustainable development firm CH2M Hill for 29 years, making significant contributions to environmental projects in California and worldwide. Survivors include his wife of 22 years, Phyllis, and his daughter, Kristanna. (appeared in the Fall 2005 issue)    Stephanie Allen founded WestAllen, a consulting company that helps lawyers, accountants and other professionals develop their practices, and is also a regular writer for law publications, most recently publishing articles in TheCompleteLawyer.com. (appeared in the Winter 2006 issue)    Laura Jane Coats has written, designed and provided photographs for The Sutter Buttes: A Peaceful Sanctuary (Peace Valley Press). The book features a poem by her great aunt, Anita Lang Laney, that pays homage to the small Sacramento Valley mountain range. (appeared in the Winter 2006 issue)    Jim Raisner, M.S. ’90, died in August 2005 at age 58. Mr. Raisner was an agricultural biologist with the Sonoma County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office, leading the glassy-winged sharpshooter program. Friends remember him as a knowledgeable and good-natured person who enjoyed new challenges. (appeared in the Winter 2006 issue)