ALUMNI ASSOCIATION RECOGNIZES 2009 HONORED ALUMNI
Cal Poly grads who’ve gone on to successful careers in diverse industries such as California agriculture, education, publishing, architecture and recycling were recognized at Homecoming in October as this year’s Honored Alumni.
Recipients of the award this year included:
- Ed Boutonnet (CRSC ’62), president and CEO of Ocean Mist Farms
- Wallace B. Gordon (ARCH ’79, ’80), president of Deems Lewis McKinley Architects of San Francisco
- Darran S. Littlefield (BUS ’85), co-founder and partner of Point B Solutions Group, LLC, headquartered in Seattle, Wash
- Arlene Chandler, (EDUC ’63) who served as Cal Poly’s associate dean of women and taught sociology, marriage and family relations and child development at Cuesta Community College, where she served as Chair of the Human Development Division
- Jon Monett (ENG, ’64) chairman of Quality of Life Plus (QL+), a company he founded to generate research, development and innovations to aid and improve the quality of life for those injured in the line of duty
- Paul L. Cousineau (GRC ’85) director of Innovation and Continuous Improvement for Dow Jones, publisher of the Wall Street Journal and Barron’s
- Robert H. Davis (MATH ’65) president of Rubber Recovery Inc., a California-based scrap and tire processing and recycling company.
Meanwhile, Manfred Sander (ASCI ’53) received the Distinguished Service Award for 20 years of service to the university, including work on the Cal Poly Alumni Association Board, long-time service for the Rodeo Boosters, participation on the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences Advisory Council and other philanthropic and fundraising activities.
Read on for what some of this year’s honorees had to say about their awards and their Cal Poly experiences:
“I came to Cal Poly almost 50 years ago having been raised on the philosophy of learn by doing from my dad, who made sure I knew how to do every job on the farm from the time I was 12 years old. Cal Poly’s learn-by-doing philosophy has served me in my career and in my organization, and it will continue to make Cal Poly one of the leading agricultural institutions in the world.”
Ed Boutonnet
BS, Crop Science, 1962
College of Agriculture, Food & Environmental Sciences
“The quality of an architect is closely linked to the quality of our education. Possessing a Cal Poly architecture degree immediately validates my credentials with clients and among all design professionals. Whenever the issue of educational background is broached by a client and I inform them I am a graduate of Cal Poly Architecture, it’s a done deal.”
Wally Gordon
BS, Architecture, 1979/BAR, 1980
College of Architecture & Environmental Design
“After being hired by a large consulting company, I was placed in an intensive training course with 250 new hires from around the world. I was one of two Cal Poly graduates that finished the class in the top 5 percent. This didn’t happen because we were smarter or worked harder; it was simply because Cal Poly’s incredible learn-by-doing educational experience translated so well to the working world. It was easy for us to excel.”
Darran Littlefield
BS, Business, 1985
Orfalea College of Business
“I was lucky to be able to attend Cal Poly. The foundation built during my time here endures and has helped me succeed in business, my community, in charitable activities and in life. The philosophy of learning by doing is simple and effective. Please don’t change this. To this day, when I have to learn something new, I do it this way. It sets up your graduates for a lifetime of learning.”
Paul Cousineau
BS, Graphic Communications, 1985
College of Liberal Arts
