Volume 30 · Number 1 · Fall 2012
Alumni Profiles
Where they are now
Christopher Jones ’05 chose to attend UC Davis because of our “coaches’ dedication to maintaining the ‘student’ in student-athlete.” Today, the former Aggie football player is doing his residency in orthopedic surgery at Duke University in Durham, N.C., and helping to care for student-athletes throughout North Carolina.
He is one of 47 alumni featured on a new UC Davis website about recipients of the University Medal. The prize, established in 1965, is given each year to a graduating senior for excellence in undergraduate studies, outstanding community service and the promise of future scholarship and contributions to society.
Charles Setchell ’75
Occupation: Senior shelter and settlements adviser for the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA)
Charles Setchell, right, with a colleague in Haiti.
Mr. Shelter: Since joining USAID/OFDA in 1998, Setchell has been helping shelter refugees of major disasters around the world, including the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the 2004 Asian tsunami, the 2005 Pakistan earthquake and 1998’s Hurricane Mitch in Central America. His work has also taken him from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, with stops in Darfur, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan and the Philippines along the way. Any time the U.S. has responded to crises that displaced people from their homes, Setchell has contributed to efforts to get roofs over their heads. That specialty has earned him the nickname “Mr. Shelter.” Setchell also works to promote safer homes and communities through improved urban planning and housing construction. “We can make a very substantial impact on communities,” he says. “Everyone has compassion and expertise. Combine those, and you can do a lot.”
The right place: Setchell said he decided to attend UC Davis because it was one of the few campuses in California that offered an undergraduate program in urban planning. “UC Davis is a place of very intensive learning,” he said. “As soon as I arrived, I knew I was at the right place.” He said his education also offered hands-on experience; a course during his senior year gave him the opportunity to tour several California communities and assess the planning needs of each. After graduating, Setchell served as a Peace Corps volunteer urban planner in the Philippines, earned a graduate degree in city planning from UC Berkeley and worked as an urban planner in the U.S., Thailand and Indonesia for a number of years before joining USAID/OFDA.
Return to campus: This past spring, Setchell visited UC Davis for the first time since his graduation 37 years ago. He spoke with students about his experiences and talked about international development career opportunities at several venues, including the Internship and Career Center, student and faculty meetings, an urban and regional planning classroom, and a Peace Corps event at International House Davis. Setchell said he hoped his talks encouraged students to consider careers in international humanitarian assistance.
“[T]he need for creative responses to disaster events, and the mitigation of those events, will likely increase in the coming years.”
Winemaker profile: Janis Akuna, Andis Wines
“Success in any business starts with passion,” Janis Akuna ’72 says in describing her dual careers in financial planning and wine.
Janis Akuna
Akuna is vice president and a senior investment management consultant with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. “I absolutely love that I can help people make the right decisions about their money,” she says.
Her passion for helping customers came together with her appreciation for wine in 2008, when she co-founded Andis Wines in Amador County’s Shenadoah Valley. Winemaking is a competitive business, but Akuna says, “It’s a lifestyle that involves meeting wonderful people, eating wonderful food and, of course, drinking wonderful wine.”
Akuna directs the operational and philanthropic activities, contributes to the marketing and sits on the tasting/blending panel. The winery is already earning recognition for its Zinfandel, Barbera, Grenache, Sauvignon blanc, Petite Sirah and other wines.
“Our goal at Andis Wines is to build the brand by consistently making the most delicious wines,” she says. “As a relatively new winery, we are fortunate to have in place an experienced team from the best winemaker and cellar staff to the best tasting room manager and sales staff.”
Akuna splits her time between living in California and Hawaii. She recently attended the weeklong UC Davis Executive Wine Program. “It is an excellent program for anyone in the wine industry or anyone contemplating going into the wine industry,” she says.
Akuna values and maintains the friendships she made while attending UC Davis. Being involved with the Cal Aggie Alumni Association also keeps her connected to campus. “Becoming a lifetime member was one of the smartest decisions I made,” she says.
For more information about the UC Davis Alumni Wine Program, visit alumni.ucdavis.edu.
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