Alumni in the News -- April 2006
Features
Award-winning
Journalism Alum
Steffan Tubbs is Reporting in Iraq
Cal Poly grad Steffan Tubbs (Journalism, '92) is currently reporting
in Iraq. Tubbs is one of only 10 American radio reporters invited
to join a Pentagon-led trip in and around Baghdad. Tubbs
is a two-time winner of the Edward R. Murrow award for national
reporting and is a former correspondent for ABC News in Los Angeles.
He is currently co-anchoring Colorado’s Morning News at Newsradio
850 KOA in Denver, and blogging about his experiences in Iraq.
Click
here to go to his KOA blog
Considine Named to Board of Directors of Vatican Observatory
R.J. "Jim" Considine, Jr. has been elected to the Board
of Directors of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. Considine is
president and CEO of Ryder Stilwell, a wealth management and investment
company in Los Angeles. In addition to his Cal Poly degree (Business
Administration '68), he holds an MBA from the University of Southern
California. The
Vatican Observatory, one of the oldest astronomical research institutions
in the world, has its headquarters at the papal summer residence
in Castel Gandolfo, outside Rome. Its U.S. division, the Vatican
Observatory Research Group, is based in Tucson, Ariz. The VOF supports
the operations of the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT),
located on Mount Graham, near Tucson.
Visit the Vaticanobservatory.org
Web site
Architecture Alum's Research in Mexico Profiled in Sunday NY Times
Cal
Poly architecture alum Teddy Cruz (B. Arch '87) has studied the
shanty towns of Mexico for the past decade. His work and theories
were profiled in the Sunday New York Times March 12. Cruz, 43, a
San Diego architect, sees inspiration in the free-form shantytowns
springing up on hillsides arond the Mexican border city.
Read
the New York Times article
Harris Ranch Cattleman, Ag Alum Wood is Honored by Industry
David E. Wood, (Animal Science, '70) chairman of Harris Ranch Beef
Co. in Selma, was honored by the beef and meat industry in March.
The National Meat Association presented Wood with the E. Floyd Forbes
Award, given annually to recognize outstanding service to the association
and the meat industry. The organization's highest honor, the award
is named after the first president of the association's predecessor
organization, the Western States Meat Packers Association. Wood
was also given recognition in the Congressional Record by Rep. Jim
Costa, (D-Fresno), and received congratulatory letters that included
one from Sen. Dianne Feinstein, (D-Calif).
More
about Dave Wood
USDA Names Ag Alum Higgins to Head its California Rural Development
Benjamin Higgins (Ag Business '00) has been appointed director for
the U. S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development in California.
USDA Rural Development offers programs to support economic opportunity
and improvement in the quality of life of rural residents across
the U.S. As a venture capital entity, Rural Development has invested
over $63 billion nationwide. Higgins is currently executive vice
president of the California Cattlemen’s Association.
Read
more about Higgins' appointment
Ag Alum Writes a Book on How to Keep the Family Farm in the Family
Kevin Spafford (Ag Management '84) is now a Chico financial planner
who recently published a guide to successful farm succession titled
"Legacy by Design." Only 30 percent of the nation's 2.1
million farms will pass to a second generation, and less than 10
percent will reach a third, according to Spafford. With his financial
background in insurance and agriculture, Spafford said he has "spent
years watching farmers stumble through financial minefields rife
with hurt feelings and sibling rivalry that often lead to a lost
family farm." Now Spafford has written a 315-page paperback
trade book published by Maryland-based Marketplace Books. In workbook
style, it asks necessary family questions and offers practical checklists
and strategies to a new generation of aging farmers seeking to pass
down the family farm to a new generation.
Read the Sacramento
Bee story on the issue, and Spafford's book
Alumni Brothers' Dairy Construction Business Profiled
Brothers
Tony (Ag Business '97) and Matthew Bruno (Ag Business '98, M.B.A.
'00) were profiled in the Modesto Bee recently. The two have gone
into the family business: overseeing dairy construction from start
to finish, and supplying and equipping dairies.
Read
the Modesto Bee story
Horticulture Alum is Frequent Flyer to China in Quest for Perfect Seeds
Dana Richards (Environmental Horticulture, '85) has worked in the
flower-seed industry since graduating. After 20 years working for
some of the industry's best-known companies, Richards went out on
his own. He is now a production consultant for Danhua Group Ltd.,
and is spending a lot of time in Kunming, China, where Danhua maintains
flower-seed production operations for bedding and landscaping plants.
Richards and his career were profiled in the Santa Maria Times recently.
Read the Santa
Maria Times article
OCOB Alum McEntee appointed CFO at InnoPath Software
Business alum
Daniel McEntee (Business Administration '85) joined InnoPath Software
in San Jose as chief financial officer in March. He'll be responsible
for the administrative aspects of InnoPath's business, including
finance, accounting, tax, human resources, information technology,
procurement and contract management. In addition to his Cal Poly
degree, he earned a master's degree in business administration from
the UC Berkeley.
Read
the BusinessWire release
OCOB Alum Leaves Petroleum Industry to Run Theater Company
Donna Sellars (Business Administration '88) took over as director
of the San Luis Obispo Little Theatre in September. As
the theater’s top administrator, the 38-year-old Sellars handles
day-to-day finances, organizes rehearsal space, does the company's
marketing and more. She's also jumped into other areas, including
acting, singing, creating costumes and designing sets -- and more.
Read
the profile on Sellars in The Tribune