Contact: Jo Ann Lloyd
805-756-1511; jlloyd@calpoly.edu
Cal Poly Names 2004 Honored Alumni, Distinguished Service Award Recipient
SAN LUIS OBISPO – Cal Poly will recognize eight outstanding alumni at the annual Honored Alumni Awards Banquet set for Friday, Oct. 15, as part of Homecoming 2004.
Each year, Cal Poly honors seven Honored Alumni, one from each of the
university’s academic colleges: Agriculture, Architecture and Environmental
Design, Orfalea College of Business, Education,
Engineering, Liberal Arts, and Science and Mathematics. The Honored Alumni
Award, established more than 30 years ago, is the highest honor bestowed
upon Cal Poly alumni by the university’s Alumni Association.
In addition, one graduate is selected to receive the Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes exceptional service to Cal Poly and the Alumni Association. This year marks the sixth presentation of the Distinguished Service Award. Wes Witten, a 1949 aerospace engineering alumnus and resident of Reno, Nev., is this year’s recipient.
The 2004 Honored Alumni are:
College
of Agriculture -
Gene Starkey, B.S., Dairy Science, 1952.
Following graduation, Starkey earned a Ph.D. and spent several years teaching
in the Midwest. In 1978 he returned to Cal Poly to serve as department
head of Dairy Science, a position he held until he retired in 1991. During
his tenure at Cal Poly, he oversaw the creation of the Dairy Products
Technology Center (DPTC) and the construction of two facilities -- one
for the DPTC and one for the Dairy Cattle Instruction Center. He has served
numerous organizations in a variety of capacities, including advisor for
Alpha Gamma Rho; member of the American Dairy Science Association for
40 years and president of the Production Section; secretary of the California
Creamery Operators Association; volunteer on the College of Agriculture’s
Harmon Toone Memorial Campaign Committee; Advisory Committee member for
the Cal Poly Retired Faculty and Staff Association; past president of
the Retired Faculty and Staff Club; member Cal Poly Centennial Scholarship
Committee; and secretary-treasurer of the California Creamery Operators
Association. He is author of “Rich Heritage,” a history of
the Dairy Science Department at Cal Poly. He lives in San Luis Obispo.
College
of Architecture and Environmental Design -
Mark Montoya, B.S., Construction Management, 1984.
Montoya is vice president, residential division manager of Morley Builders
in Santa Monica. After graduating from Cal Poly, he completed the executive
program studies at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Immediately
after graduation from Cal Poly, he joined Morley Builders as its first
full-time project engineer hired right out of college. He progressed up
through the ranks, from project manager to project executive, then to
his current position as vice president. He is responsible for all residential
projects under the Morley Builders umbrella of general contracting work.
Montoya said his most fulfilling projects have been those he oversaw to
create several thousand housing units for the elderly and low-income families.
His projects include Casa Heiwa, a 100-unit senior and low-income housing
community in Los Angeles’s Little Tokyo neighborhood; the 705-unit
Playa Vista Fountain
Park Apartments, Westchester; the Jewish Community Center Campus, Long
Beach; the Loyola Marymount University Jesuit House and Leavey Student
Apartments, Westchester; and the Leslie and Susan Gonda Diabetes and Genetic
Research Center, Duarte. Montoya serves as the chair of the CAED Advisory
Council and is a member of the Construction Management Industry Advisory
Committee. He is also a frequent guest lecturer at Cal Poly and arranges
student tours of Morley sites, including the Cathedral of Our Lady of
the Angels and the Getty Villa Museum in Malibu. He is an
advocate for the Los Angeles Conservancy historical group and is a California
state licensed contractor. He lives in San Marino.
Orfalea
College of Business -
Thomas deRegt, B.S., Business Administration, 1980.
He started his career in banking at Security Pacific National Bank’s
real estate group. After 10 years in the mortgage industry, he became
involved with real estate development and investment. In 1989 he formed
a development partnership, deRegt Development, Inc., based in Monterey.
He serves as president/principal of various entities, including deRegt
Development Inc., New Cities Development Group, BayRock Residential LLC,
Valley Community Homes, Inc., and Pasadera Country Club,LLC. He is involved
in all aspects of land development, multi-family housing, single family
housing and commercial development. Notable projects include the Almaden
Winery neighborhood in San Jose, featured in the June 1994 issue of Professional
Builder, which consisted of 151 lots of detached single family homes,
and the Pasadera Country Club in Monterey, a 565-acre development with
252 residential units and an 18-hole private golf club. He is past president
of the Bay Area Mortgage Association, a member of the Urban Land Institute,
a member of the Board of Trustees of the Chartwell School, and a member
of the Business Advisory Council for Cal Poly’s Orfalea College
of Business. He is a resident of Carmel.
College
of Education -
Nanci Bell, B.S., Education, 1965/M.A., Education, 1981.
After graduating from Cal Poly, Bell accepted a position in a research
project at San Miguel Elementary School which, she says, changed the direction
of her life. It was there that she met her current business partner, Pat
Lindamood. They opened an office together, and Bell became the primary
learning therapist, working with students of all ages with weaknesses
in language and literacy. In 1986, the partners formed Lindamood Bell
Learning Processes, an organization with more than 40
learning centers worldwide. While working in a private clinical setting
with children and adults diagnosed with dyslexia, hyperlexia or autism,
Bell’s interest in sensory mechanisms for cognition peaked, and
she returned to Cal Poly to earn a master’s degree in education,
with a specialization in reading. She is recognized internationally for
pioneering research on the relationship between mental imagery and the
acquisition of language and literacy skills. She has been featured in
Newsweek, The Economist and The Wall Street Journal and on television
on CNN and Oprah. She is also founder and owner of Gander Publishing,
which produces all of her learning materials. Bell lives in San Luis Obispo.
College
of Engineering -
Paul Martin, B.S., Aerospace Engineering, 1968.
After graduating from Cal Poly, Martin earned a master’s degree
from UCLA. He is senior vice president of Government and Advanced Development
Programs for Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., where he oversees military production
and advanced development for projects such as the Black Hawk,
Naval Hawk and Presidential Marine One, as well as several classified
programs. Prior to joining Sikorsky, Martin worked for Lockheed Martin,
leading the design of the YF-22 advanced tactical fighter prototype aircraft.
He served in the U.S. Air Force and Federal Aviation Administration, directing
or participating in the experimental flight testing of several fighter,
transport and rotary-wing aircraft. He spent two years at FAA headquarters
in Washington, D.C., where he was responsible for developing airworthiness
standards for the Concord Super Sonic Transport. He is active in a number
of professional organizations and is a charter member and past director
of the Society of Flight Test
Engineers. Martin serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council for Cal
Poly’s College of Engineering and is chairman of the Board of the
American Helicopter Society. He is a graduate of the Industrial College
of the Armed Forces and the U.S. Air Force Pilot School, Flight Test Engineers
Curriculum. He hails from Redding, Conn.
College
of Liberal Arts -
Gretchen Bataille, B.S., English, 1966/M.A., Education, 1976.
Bataille continued her education, earning a doctorate in English from
Drake University. She serves as senior vice president for academic affairs
for the 16-campus University of North Carolina system. She is responsible
for academic program planning, research and international programs. The
system has 182,000 students and includes five research campuses, two land-grant
universities, two medical schools, five Historically Black Colleges and
Universities, and the UNC-Pembroke, a traditionally Native American institution.
Before joining UNC, Bataille served as provost and academic vice president
at Washington State University, provost of the College of Letters and
Science at the UC
Santa Barbara, associate dean for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
at Arizona State University, and chair of the Department of English at
ASU. She has taught classes nearly every year she has been in higher education
and has secured grants totaling nearly $2 million. She is a noted scholar
in the field of Native American literature and the author of 11 books
and numerous publications. Her professional career has involved issues
of diversity, civil rights and ethnic studies. She
is a full professor with tenure in the Department of English at the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She resides in Chapel Hill, N.C.
College
of Science and Mathematics -
Dianne Wilson-Graham, B.S., Physical Education, 1979
M.S., Physical Education, 1986.
Wilson-Graham is a physical education consultant for the California Department
of Education. Prior to her current position, she served as the Physical
Education Department chair for Sequoia Middle School. She was also a physical
education teacher at Sequoia Middle School and an
adjunct faculty member at Pepperdine University. Wilson-Graham has received
numerous awards of distinction, including being named the National Middle
School Physical Education Teacher of the Year, the Southwest District
Middle School Physical Education Teacher of the Year, the California Middle
School Physical Education Teach of the Year, and the Southern California
Middle School Physical Education Teacher of the Year. She was presented
with an Honorary Service Award from the
California PTA and an Honor Award for significant contributions to the
field of physical education by the California Association for Health,
Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD). She has served as
the California State team chair for Action for Healthy Kids; a federated
council member for the California Interscholastic Federation; an executive
committee member, Healthy Schools, Healthy People; founder, California
Physical Education Summit; and special advisor to the Ventura/Santa Barbara
Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. She is also an
author whose titles include, “Let’s Talk, A Guide to Implementing
the Physical Education Framework” and “Building Success with
Biomechanics.” She lives in Newbury Park.
Distinguished
Service Award -
Wes Witten, Aerospace Engineering, 1949.
R ecipient Witten is retired from ARCO, where he served as vice president
of operations in Anchorage, Alaska. Witten arrived at Cal Poly in September
1945 as a 17-year-old freshman. He was assigned to Jesperson Dorm and
lived there for four years. At that time, Cal Poly had 175 civilian students
and 500 Navy Preflight students on campus. That number grew to about 3,000
World War II Veterans who enrolled at Cal Poly courtesy of the G.I. Bill.
Following graduation, he worked as an engineer with PG&E before embarking
on a 30-year career with ARCO. During a 20-year time span, he worked to
develop, construct and operate the Trans Alaska Pipeline. He is an avid
Cal Poly volunteer and supporter. He is a charter member of the President’s
Cabinet and the Baker Forum. He has been a member of the Cal Poly Alumni
Association board of directors since 1979, serving in many capacities
including president. He has chaired the task force for the Professional
Development Center and served as a member of the University Governance
Steering Committee. Witten is involved with Rotary; SCORE, Counselors
to America's Small Business; the Red Cross; National Council of Juvenile
and Family Court Judges.
# # #