Share your news with an SJSU Alumni Association membership renewal! Not a member? Consider joining today! Thanks to our members, the SJSU Alumni Association provides a variety of events and activities in addition to supporting student scholarships. Learn more by visiting the Alumni Association Web site or call 408-924-6515.
'50s | '60s | '70s | '80s | '90s | '00s | Marriages | Births | In Memoriam
Gerry Olsen, '55 Journalism, who presented four parliamentary law workshops for California Garden Club members, received the organization's 2008 Man of the Year Award. A retired public information officer for the Ventura County Community College District, he is a professional registered parliamentarian with the National Association of Parliamentarians.
Ian "Scotty" Paterson, '57 Business, of San Mateo, retired after 60 years in the construction industry. During his career, he worked on major construction projects in Alaska, New Mexico and California.
Phillip Boyce, '66 Business, a banking veteran, assumed the role of chairman of Valley Community Bank's Board of Directors in August. He founded Pacific Valley Bank in 1975, which became Pacific Western Bank, a $1.4 billion bank that served Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. He also serves as chairman of the Valley Foundation and the Silicon Valley Children's Fund and sits on the board of directors of SJSU's Tower Foundation.
Roger Bylund, '67 Political Science, who was assistant superintendent of elementary education in the Mount Diablo School District, accepted the post of superintendent of the Paradise Unified School District. He began his career in education as an elementary school teacher.
Charlie Lostaunau, '68 Sociology, is the new president of the San José chapter of the American GI Forum. An ex-paratrooper, veteran of the Vietnam War and recipient of a Purple Heart, he intends to recruit young veterans from wars in the Middle East to the organization and to form alliances with other veterans groups. The San José chapter was formed in 1959. The first American GI Forum was started in Texas in 1948 to counteract discrimination against Latino vets in military benefits, education, housing, banking and medical care.
Susan Mason, '69 Theatre Arts, a professional dramaturg and critic, received one of four Outstanding Professor awards from Cal State L.A. in recognition of her excellence in teaching and her professional achievements. A resident of Santa Monica, she has directed six theatre productions at the university, published widely in her field and served for three years as the performance review editor of Theatre Journal. This spring and summer she is teaching as a Fulbright lecturer at Tsuda College and Kyoritsu University in Tokyo.
Barbara Thorp, '66 MA Education, sent news that her son, the late Deron Thorp, '02 MBA, was posthumously honored with installation in the Cupertino High School Hall of Fame in May 2008. A marketing analyst at Cisco Systems, Deron founded the humanitarian organization ShipAid and personally delivered medication and educational supplies, as well as clothing and athletic equipment, to the people of Lesotho, South Africa. Deron died in November 2006.
Al Vogel, '68 Biology, of Chico, taught high school biology, chemistry and physics for 31 years, 16 of those years at Chico High School before his 2002 retirement. He now devotes his energies full-time to growing 350 varieties of fruits, nuts and vegetables which he sells at Chico's Farmers' Market at the stall labeled "Al's Pretty Good Produce."
Guadalupe Almaraz, '78 Social Work, is new chairman of California's Agricultural Labor Relations Board, which oversees collective bargaining for the state's agriculture industry. He previously served as deputy chief of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, a division in which he had worked for more than 30 years.
Bob Cancilla, '77 MS Criminal Justice Administration, was appointed interim director of Campus Safety & Security at the DeAnza campus for the Foothill/DeAnza Community College District. In 1999, he retired as a lieutenant in the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office after 33 years of service. He later worked as an assistant sheriff in the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office. He owns and operates Bob Cancilla & Associates, a criminal justice consulting company based in San Carlos.
Joe Cardinalli, '71 BA, '74 MA, Theatre Arts, who retired last year after a 33-year career with the city of San José, Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services, has begun another chapter in his professional career. After serving as interim director of CSU Monterey Bay's World Theatre, he has accepted the post on a permanent basis.
Michael McCall, '77 Art, is founder and president of San Francisco's McCall Design Group, an architectural firm founded in 1989. He also holds a master's degree in architecture from the University of Texas at Austin.
Salli McQuaid, '77 MA Art, of Woodlands, Texas, a fine art quilt artist, has contributed work to a traveling exhibition titled "SAQA: A Sense of Time." McQauid's quilt, "Heartbreak Hotel," was displayed at Houston's International Quilt Festival in November and in 2009 will be shown in international quilt festivals held in Chicago and Long Beach.
Debbi Preston, '72 BA, '74 MA, English, of Diamond Springs, Calif., published a hiking guide targeted for "dog lovers, experienced and novice hikers, and nature lovers everywhere," she reports. 48 Dog-Friendly Trails (AuthorHouse, 2008) offers month-by-month suggestions for hiking with your favorite canine in California's foothills and the Sierra Nevada. Suggested hikes take one day or less and are ranked in difficulty. For more information, visit 48dogfriendlytrails.com.
Laura Tsuyuki, '71 Etymology, co-owns and operates the River Nursery & Flower Shop in Watsonville, a family business started by her father. On the first Sunday in November, the family holds an annual open house. "Our customers are our family friends too, and this is our way of bringing everyone together for an afternoon of socializing," Tsuyuki told the Register-Pajaronian.
Ruth Bates, '88 MBA, who has worked in the marketing and finance departments at Tandem Computers and Compaq Computers, recently joined Thunderbird Real Estate in Capitola. She has served on the board of Friends of the Del Mar and has worked as a volunteer for the Santa Cruz Art League and for the Santa Cruz Film Festival.
Marcos Breton, '86 Journalism, Sacramento Bee columnist and commentary specialist on KFBK Radio (1530 AM, Sacramento), made a 2008 guest appearance on ESPN's "The Sports Reporters," the first SJSU grad to appear on the show. Other panel guests included Michael Kay, play-by-play broadcaster for the New York Yankees, and Mike Lupica, sports columnist for the New York Daily News.
Beverly Wynia Hammond, '82 BA Music, '95 MA TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages), taught instructors from Cambodia, Canada, Africa, Kazakhstan and Maui how to teach ESL during a TESOL 2008 summer session at the University of the Nations, Kona-Kailua, Hawaii.
Emily Harrison, '87 MPA, assistant city manager for the city of Palo Alto, is Santa Clara County's new deputy county executive. She was hired as Palo Alto's finance director in 1987 and promoted to assistant city manager in 1997. Although looking forward to the challenges of her new job, she regrets, she told the press, leaving her co-workers. "This sounds probably kind of corny, but after 20 years here, I know everybody. I know their kids."
Tim Hicks, '87 MA Biology, who served as interim principal of Avery Middle School in 2006-2007, returned to that position for the 2008-2009 school year. In 1960, he taught in Eskimo villages in Alaska as a member of the Peace Corps. In 1974, he moved to Calaveras County to serve as Valley Springs Elementary School's vice principal.
Linda Montalto, '80 MA Art, exhibited a series of acrylic abstract paintings at Moon News, a bookstore in Half Moon Bay. She also works with local architectural firms to create landscape and garden designs.
Beverly Rayner, '85 Art, a 2006-2007 Rydell Visual Arts Fellow, exhibited recent work at Pacifica's Sanchez Art Center, curated by Susan Hillhouse of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History. Rayner, who attended the Sheffield City Polytechnic School of Art and Design in England as well as SJSU, combines photographs with found objects to create her artwork.
Russell Woodmansee, '87 Industrial Design, was appointed vice president of Operations and Quality Assurance at Hammerhead Systems, headquartered in Mountain View.
Mike Baxter, '97 Art, is principal of Milpitas Community Day School. During his 35-year career in education, he has been a teacher and administrator in the Alum Rock Union School District as well as in the Milpitas Unified School District.
Robert Bertini, '91 Civil Engineering, was promoted to full professor of civil and environmental engineering/urban studies and planning at Portland State University. He is also director of the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium, a National University Transportation Center representing a partnership among Portland State University, the University of Oregon, Oregon State University and the Oregon Institute of Technology.
Edesa Bitbadal, '96 Political Science, served as a Clinton delegate at the 2008 Democratic Convention in Denver. Born in Iran, she is currently chief of staff for San José City Councilman Kansen Chu. Initially a computer science major, she switched to political science after taking Professor Steven Van Beek's class. She has also worked for local politicians Elaine Alquist and Linda Lezotte.
Mike Carr, '93 Civil Engineering, was promoted to principal engineer at Murray, Smith & Associates, Inc., a Pacific Northwest consulting/engineering firm that specializes in public infrastructure engineering. From the firm's Portland office, he manages water, wastewater, stormwater and street improvement projects and also leads MSA's Stormwater Group. Founded in 1980, MSA also has offices in Everett, Wash. and Boise, Idaho.
Olga de Santa Anna, '99 MA Education, a native of Venezuela, is principal of Mintie White Elementary School in Watsonville and teaches water aerobics at Spa Fitness. Her 36-year teaching career began at Santa Barbara Elementary School. She moved to Santa Cruz in 1981 to work at Bayview Elementary as the sixth-grade bilingual instructor.
Brian Duggan, '91 BA Liberal Studies, '93 MA Education, published Saluki: The Desert Hound and the English Travelers Who Brought It to the West (McFarland, 2008), described as a "human/canine adventure set against the formation of the modern Middle East." Duggan is director of Learning Services at CSU Stanislaus.
Dan McClure, '98 MA Kinesiology, is chief executive of the Sunnyvale nonprofit Generations Community Wellness and the mastermind behind the organization's "Donate Your Fat to Charity" campaign. Participants are challenged to undertake a 40-day regimen of eating more fruits and vegetables, coupled with more exercise. For every pound lost, folks pledge to contribute a certain dollar amount that supports Generations' health and fitness programs for children and seniors throughout Silicon Valley, the Second Harvest Food Bank and Church World Service.
Maj. Dan Nichols, U.S. Air Force Reserve, '92 Aeronautical Engineering, a C-17 evaluator pilot with the 729th Airlift Squadron, has logged in more than 5,000 hours flying from California to bases in Afghanistan and Iraq to pick up wounded soldiers and transport them to bigger hospitals near Ramstein Air Base in Germany. He is only the fifth pilot to log 5,000 hours in the C-17 Globemaster. "It's a good thing to get people back to their families; it's good to bring these guys home," Nichols told The Willow Glen Resident. "It's also very humbling to see some of the sacrifices that people have made."
Phyllis Perez, '90 Speech Communications, retired in October as Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors clerk after 43 years of public service. She was appointed to the post of clerk in 1993.
Scott Southward, '91 Journalism, is the new associate vice president of Communications and Public Affairs at New Mexico State University. Prior to the New Mexico move, he served as public relations director at San Diego State University Research Foundation.
Julia Bradshaw, '07 MFA Photography, is an assistant professor of photography at CSU Fresno.
Dorothy Kaplanis, '08 Justice Studies, joined the Monterey County Sheriff's Office as a deputy recruit last August. She previously worked as an intern at the Sheriff Office's Operations Bureau.
Veronica Miranda-Pinkney, '07 MA Educational Administration, instructional coach and English Learner Program coordinator at Bachrodt Academy, was recognized as San José Unified School District Teacher of the Year. A leader in migrant education, she was also honored at the California Department of Education's 29th annual Migrant Education Parent Conference in April. In July, she served as a state delegate to the National Education Association Representative Assembly in Washington, D.C.
Todd Parker, '07 MA Kinesiology, moved east to Philadelphia to accept a position as exercise physiologist and coach at Cadence Cycling & Multisport Centers. He published two articles in Triathlete Magazine in 2008 and also graced the cover of the October edition of Bicycling Magazine.
Yana Ungermann-Marshall, '07 MLS, who teaches at Glendale Community College, signed copies of her recent release, Flintridge, at Flintridge Bookstore & Coffeehouse and at Around the World Books. Flintridge is her second publication with Arcadia Publishing in the company's Images of America: California series. Her first recounted the local history of La Cañada. Ungermann-Marshall has also penned a children's book, Gilda Gets Wise (Booksurge, 2008).
Tammy Krikorian, '04 Journalism, a reporter for the Reno Gazette-Journal, wed Chris Gabel, also a journalist based in Reno, on July 19, 2008, in a ceremony at Plumas Pines Golf Resort in Graeagle, Calif.
Sally Morales-Pedreiro, '95 International Studies, announced the birth of her first child, a daughter, Christina Rose, born July 4, 2008.
Silvia Revilla, '07 MA Geography, and husband, Enrique Ulffe, welcomed their first child, Sebastian, on Aug. 6, 2008. Revilla, who lives with her family in Overland Park, works as a planner for the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority.
Sara Sargent Anhorn, '90 Business, at age 40, in August 2008.
Dorothy Baim, '35 Education, at age 95, on July 14, 2008, in Modesto.
Michael Benkly, Earth Sciences, on June 10, 2008, in Royal Palm Beach, Fla.
Rosalyn Bloom, '65 BA, '74 MA, Education, at age 81, on July 6, 2008, in Everett, Wash.
William F. Boothe, '52 Education, at age 79, on Sept. 13, 2008, in Saratoga.
Delia Bravo-Carney, '84 Criminal Justice Administration, on Nov. 21, 2008, in San José.
Lester Cavala, '35, at age 94, on April 10, 2008, in San Francisco.
Susanne Cazaly, Education, at age 76, on Aug. 2, 2008, in San Francisco.
Louise Chaney, '47 Business, at age 85, on Nov. 5, 2008, in Auburn.
Marjorie Christiansen, '89 Speech Pathology, on Oct. 20, 2007.
Frank Cieciorka, '64 Fine Arts, at age 69, on Nov. 24, 2008, in Alderpoint.
Earl Connolley, '49 Teaching Credential, at age 81, on July 10, 2008.
Edward Duke, '50 BS, '72 MS, Cybernetic Systems, at age 88, on March 22, 2008.
Patricia Leong Eager, '74 Microbiology, at age 55, on June 8, 2006, in Houston, Texas.
Emma Eckman, Teaching Credential, at age 93, on Aug. 22, 2008, in Gonzales.
Elizabeth Eddy, Education, at age 77, on April 17, 2008, in Granada Hills.
Robert Graham, Art, at age 70, on Dec. 27, 2008, in Santa Monica.
Marjorie Singleton Herron, '43 Home Economics.
Robert Hosfeldt, '59 Radio/TV/Film, at age 75, on Dec. 15, 2008, in Santa Cruz.
Marion Beatrice Iverson, Education, at age 96, on June 25, 2008, in Salinas.
Robert A. Jones, Education, at age 84, on July 22, 2008, in Palo Alto.
William Kiely Jr., '62 Mathematics, at age 75, on Aug. 22, 2008.
Georgianna "Doddie" Kann Knopf, '39, at age 91, on Nov. 23, 2008, in Morgan Hill.
Robert W. Lawrence, '49 Business, at age 85, on Nov. 8, 2007.
Ruth Watson Lawson, '72 MLS, on Aug. 24, 2008.
Olan Lewis, '60 Art Education/Spanish, at age 76, on Sept. 30, 2008, in Santa Barbara.
Burton Lowe, Political Science, at age 87, on Oct. 15, 2008, in Oceano.
Francesca Rosso Mehner, MA Art History, on Aug. 27, 2008, in Los Altos Hills.
Stuart Miller Jr., '50, at age 79, on Aug. 6, 2008, in Santa Cruz.
Martin Mullins, MA Education, at age 92, on Oct. 24, 2008, in Chico.
Milton Munro, '47, at age 85, in July 2008, in Fresno.
Kim Nelson, Material Science, at age 55, on July 21, 2008, in Palo Alto.
Theodora (Teddy) Nelson, Business Administration, at age 68, on July 13, 2008, in Los Altos.
Joan Nuhfer, Accounting, at age 65, on Sept. 28, 2008, in Santa Clara.
Patrick O'Laughlin, English, at age 60, on Nov. 9, 2008, in Los Gatos.
Catherine Parker, '63 Education, at age 78, on July 31, 2008, in Logan, Utah.
Peggy Pasqua, '80 Anthropology/History, on July 22, 2008, in Saratoga.
Gus Pinoris, '48 Math, at age 85, on Sept. 8, 2008, in San José.
Willa Hanstock Powelson, '66 Social Science, at age 64, on Oct. 8, 2008, in Salinas.
David Powers, '72 Biology, at age 61, on July 13, 2008, in San José.
Beverly Pressman, '92 Music, at age 59, on July 18, 2008, in Santa Clara.
Michael Richey, Management, at age 46, on Sept. 30, 2008, in Modesto.
Barry Rilliet, '65 Social Science, at age 64, on July 23, 2008, in Carmel.
Bert Robinson, '46 MA Physical Education, at age 86, on Sept. 14, 2008, in Campbell.
David Roman, '71 Marketing, at age 69, on April 14, 2008, in Carmel.
Helen Santana, '30 Education, on April 28, 2008.
Roger Scaife, Chemistry, on Oct. 9, 2008.
Mary Sellnow, '46 Physical Education, on July 26, 2008.
Eugene Sincich, Chemistry, at age 62, on Oct. 19, 2008, in Pinole.
Gerald Small, '78 Advertising, at age 52, on Sept. 27, 2008, in Sacramento.
Robert Somerville, '55 Radio/TV/Film, at age 79, on Aug. 12, 2008, in San Francisco.
Reed Surber, '41, on July 18, 2008.
Alexander Szaszy, '63 MA Education, at age 87, on April 20, 2008, in Carmel.
Helen Wilson, Home Economics, at age 92, on July 30, 2008, in Carson City, Nev.
The date of Thomas Culala's death was incorrectly reported in the fall 2008 issue. He died December 29, 2007. We apologize for the error.
Read more articles from Washington Square Spring 2009.
Read articles, watch videos and tell us what you think. Join us on Facebook.
print
email