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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 1990s

1990Matthew Dudman, M.B.A. '93, is an associate with the Sacramento law firm Weintraub Genshlea & Sproul. Darrell Mariz recently joined the Law Offices of Aaron B. Booth in Los Angeles, focusing on civil litigation, construction law and construction defects defense. After graduating from UC Davis, Mariz obtained a law degree from Tulane Law School in New Orleans, La., and worked in civil litigation at Wilner, Klein & Siegel in Beverly Hills. He says that he "would welcome any contacts from friends from UC Davis." (appeared in the Spring 2000 issue)   Eric Tresser was named vice president, division finance officer at Bank of the West in San Francisco. After graduating from UC Davis, Tresser received his M.B.A. from the University of Maryland and worked at World Savings and Loan Association, Charles Schwab and Co. and the Franklin Trust Co. (appeared in the Spring 2000 issue)    Julia Couzens, M.F.A., had a recent exhibition of her work, Julia Couzens--Drawings, Paintings & Objects: 1990-1999, at UC Davis' Richard L. Nelson Gallery. One of her sculptures, Vertical Red Insomnia, was also presented in collaboration with a dance performance by the Ruth Rosenberg Dance Ensemble in Sacramento. Couzens, who teaches art at California State University, Sacramento, was appointed to the Crocker Art Museum's board of trustees and serves as co-chair of the museum's newly organized Collectors Guild. (appeared in the Summer 2000 issue)    Greg Burt, M.D., has returned to Davis to work with Sutter West Medical Group after graduating from medical school at Tulane University in New Orleans, completing a residency at UC San Francisco and fulfilling a three-year military medical obligation in Lemoore. His specialty is internal medicine. He and his wife, Melanie, have three children. (appeared in the Fall 2000 issue)    Jim Davis is deputy bureau chief of the San Francisco office of the451.com, a global technology news service. Before his current position, Davis worked as a senior staff writer for CNETNews.com. (appeared in the Fall 2000 issue)    Richard Engel, Cred. '91, director of student recruitment and outreach for UC Davis' College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, received the 2000 Award of Distinction from the college in October. Engel, who joined the college's dean's office in July, previously coordinated agricultural literacy and education programs in 58 California counties for California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom. (appeared in the Winter 2001 issue)    David Patrick, assistant professor of chemistry at Western Washington University in Bellingham, was named one of 59 recipients nationwide of the 2000 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. The award is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on scientists and engineers who are in the early stages of their research careers. Patrick was honored for his liquid crystal research and his commitment to education. (appeared in the Winter 2001 issue)    Nisan Steinberg, Ph.D., recently joined Sidley & Austin, an international law firm, as an associate in its Los Angeles Intellectual Property Practice Group. Steinberg received a J.D. from the University of Southern California Law School in 1998. (appeared in the Winter 2001 issue)    John Alban, M.S., owns Alban Vineyards with his wife, Lorraine, producing roughly 5,000 cases of wine annually. The Albans live in Edna Valley. (appeared in the Spring 2001 issue)    Suzanne Lehmkuhl-Beste was recently featured in the San Jose Mercury News in an article titled "How I Stay Fit." Lehmkuhl-Beste has been running since the second grade and, after setting records at Acalanes High School in Lafayette, went on to receive All-American honors in cross-country and track while attending UC Davis. In addition to running, Lehmkuhl-Beste works as a senior systems engineer at CoSine Communications in Redwood City. She lives in Mountain View with her husband, Russ, and daughter, Alida. (appeared in the Spring 2001 issue)    L. Craig Nierman has established the Nierman Law Offices in Iowa City, Iowa. Nierman graduated in 1999 from the University of Iowa College of Law with High Distinction after working in claims for State Farm Insurance for seven years. He has also been admitted to the Order of the Coif, the national legal honor society. (appeared in the Spring 2001 issue)    Ben Smith IV was named vice president of EDS and A.T. Kearney's venture development group for the western United States, where he invests EDS's corporate development, early stage and joint venture funds alongside top tier venture funds. Smith lives in Scott's Valley with his wife, Susan Wood '95, and their two children. (appeared in the Spring 2001 issue)    Mike Buck joined Sacramento law firm McDonough Holland & Allen in June. He focuses on environmental regulatory compliance and enforcement matters. He was also recently appointed a member of the Sacramento Environmental Commission by the Sacramento board of supervisors and was named to the U.S. delegation attending the Department of Defense's Partnership for Peace Environmental Conference in Poland. (appeared in the Fall 2001 issue)    Kim Darling writes that "it took two years after getting my credential to find the right teaching job, but I did in the fall of 2000!" She teaches sixth-grade language arts and history at Ralston School in Belmont. Friends can contact her at forherda@yahoo.com. (appeared in the Fall 2001 issue)    John Leckie, a captain in the U.S. Air Force stationed at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas, was recognized as the 882 Training Group's Company Grade Officer of the Quarter. He is director of Air Education and Training Command's first Learning and Development Center, responsible for the training of thousands of airmen each year. (appeared in the Fall 2001 issue)    Graca Vicente, Ph.D., was appointed associate professor of chemistry at Louisiana State University. Her husband, Kevin Smith, former vice chancellor for research at UC Davis, was named LSU's new vice chancellor for research and dean of its graduate school. (appeared in the Fall 2001 issue)    Julia Couzens completed a public art commission in the newly opened Sheraton Grand Hotel in Sacramento. The work, titled Trace Elements, consists of two acrylic paintings, which are installed in the lobby atrium. (appeared in the Summer 2001 issue)    Connie Melendy was appointed assistant vice provost for academic personnel at UC Davis. Before this she was assistant dean in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, where she had worked since 1994, and served as the management services officer in the Department of Environmental Design. (appeared in the Summer 2001 issue)    Barbara Wiswell was appointed vice president and branch manager of the Galt office of Farmers & Merchants Bank. As part of the California Agricultural Leadership program, Wiswell traveled to China, Tibet, Uzbekistan and Iran in February as an ambassador for California agriculture. (appeared in the Summer 2001 issue)    Pfc. John Spangler recently completed basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego. (appeared in the Summer 2002 issue)