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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 1980s

1981Stratton Sclavos is the chair and chief executive officer of VeriSign, a Mountain View-based firm that secures online transactions for over 400,000 Web sites. Sclavos and his wife, Jody, have two children, ages 14 and 16. (appeared in the Spring 2005 issue)   Joaquín Galván, M.Ed. ’93, received a UC Davis Chancellor’s Achievement Award for Diversity and Community for his contributions as a member of the campus’ staff. Galván has worked on campus for more than 20 years with the Chicana/o studies program, the Learning Skills Center and with the Special Transitional Enrichment Program, which helps incoming freshmen adjust to college life. He also volunteers with the Cal Aggie Alumni Association’s Chicano/Latino chapter. (appeared in the Summer 2005 issue)    Stephen Val Milton is the Argonne National Laboratory project director for the Linac Coherent Light Source, which will become the first X-ray-free electron laser when it becomes operational in 2009. The laser will make possible new research into states of matter, chemical reactions and biological processes. Milton lives in Chicago with his wife, Sandra Biedron. (appeared in the Summer 2005 issue)    Anesthesiologist Dean Berkus, Res., recently joined the permanent staff of the Specialty Surgical Center in Beverly Hills. His wife of 18 years is a registered nurse at the Encino Specialty Surgical Center. They have a 15-year-old daughter. (appeared in the Fall 2005 issue)    Michael Evans was named vice president of the Asia Pacific division of KRATON Polymers LLC, a global specialty chemicals company headquartered in Houston, to help expand the company in the region. (appeared in the Fall 2005 issue)    After 20 years with HP and Agilent Technologies, Gene Endicott has become vice president of Ziegler Associates, a Sacramento-based strategic public affairs and communications consulting firm started in 2003 by Jay Ziegler ’84. He lives in Roseville with his wife, Trisa, and children Andrew and Julia. (appeared in the Winter 2006 issue)    David Masiel, M.A. ’88, has written a second novel, titled The Western Limit of the World (Random House)—an adventure story about the piracy of a chemical tanker. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed 2182 Kilohertz (Random House, 2003). (appeared in the Winter 2006 issue)    Katie Hunt, Ph.D., leader of technology partnerships at Rohm and Haas in Spring House, Pa., was named president-elect of the American Chemical Society. Hunt began her three-year term on the society’s board of directors this year and will head the organization in 2007. (appeared in the Spring 2006 issue)    Jim Staylor is the president of Staylor-Made Communications Inc. The San Diego firm recently published an instructional DVD titled How to Keep Your DO-IT-YOURSELF VIDEO from Looking Like You Did It Yourself. Staylor has received seven Telly awards for his video projects. (appeared in the Spring 2006 issue)    Pete Grossgart was named vice president of sales for Marine Terminals Corp., an Oakland-based stevedore and marine terminal operator. (appeared in the Summer 2006 issue)    Pamela Emery, Cred. ’82, recently joined the Western Plant Health Protection Association in Sacramento as director of programs. She had worked for the previous 16 years as curriculum specialist for the California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom and, for 10 years before that, as a middle-school science and mathematics teacher. Emery lives in Winters with her two sons, ages 11 and 15. (appeared in the Fall 2006 issue)    Larry Blunt died unexpectedly in June 2006 in Woodland at age 51. Mr. Blunt, a production assistant, had worked for 13 years at Pioneer Seed in Woodland and had lived in Yolo County for 33 years. His passion was antique mechanics, and he had restored equipment featured at the Sacramento Discovery Museum History Center. Survivors include his mother, Irene Kuopus, and siblings James, Yvette, David, Teresa and Janice Blunt. (appeared in the Fall 2006 issue)    Robert Hodges, an intellectual property attorney with Needle & Rosenberg in Atlanta, was included in The Best Lawyers in America, 2007 edition. Hodges, who leads the firm’s biotechnology practice, also has a Ph.D. in biochemistry. (appeared in the Winter 2007 issue)    Steven Medley, J.D., died in a car crash in October 2006 at age 57. After four years of practicing law, he returned to Yosemite National Park, where he had been a seasonal ranger, and become president of the Yosemite Association. Dedicating himself to educating the general public about the park, Mr. Medley edited and produced more than 50 publications for the association. Survivors include his wife, Jane, and sons, Charlie, Joe and Andy. (appeared in the Winter 2007 issue)    Mark Swinney was elected president of The First Church of Christ, Scientist. He has served as a teacher of Christian Science; managing editor of Journal, the Christian Science Sentinel and The Herald of Christian Science; the original editor of the organization’s Web site; and a member of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship. Swinney and his wife, Renée, live in Bradenton, Fla., and have two children. Swinney practices and teaches in both Florida and Albuquerque, N.M. (appeared in the Fall 2007 issue)    Kent Bradford, Ph.D., was honored by the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences as “Outstanding Faculty.” Bradford, a UC Davis professor of plant sciences, is described by colleagues as one of the hardest working faculty members on campus. (appeared in the Winter 2008 issue)    Keith Mathews, M.A., has been named president of St. Francis Central Coast Catholic High School in Watsonville. Mathews was a member of the institution’s founding board of directors. He has spent 28 years in Catholic education and was most recently with the Archbishop Mitty High School in San José. (appeared in the Winter 2008 issue)    Kim McCann-Lawson, M.F.A., became program director of Short Center South, a fine arts-based program for adults with developmental disabilities, in fall 2006. She retired from her position as resident director of the Sacramento Shakespeare Festival after 22 years with the group. (appeared in the Winter 2008 issue)    Patricia (Koker) Rozee, M.A., Ph.D. ’84, professor of psychology and women’s studies at California State University, Long Beach, was awarded the 2007 Christine Ladd Franklin Award from the Association for Women in Psychology for outstanding service to the organization. (appeared in the Spring 2008 issue)    Melissa Nixon, D.V.M., recently received an award from the Tower of Hope, a charity that provides service dogs to the disabled, in recognition of her volunteer work in veterinary disaster relief. She is the author of Help Us Get Them to Safety! and First Responders Guide to Animal Care and has served in capacities as diverse as incident commander, triage veterinarian and logistics chief. (appeared in the Summer 2008 issue)