Alumni in the News - May, 2009
Top Stories
Las Vegas Headliner, Former Mustang Baseball Standout
Danny Gans Passes Away at 52
Former Cal Poly baseball player Danny Gans, named "Las Vegas Entertainer of the Year" for 11 consecutive years, died early Friday, according to United Press International. Gans was 52. The cause of death was not immediately known, although the Las Vegas Review Journal reported Gans had apparently died in his sleep. He is survived by his wife, Julie (B.S., Home Ec, 1980), and three children. Gans (Physical Education, 1978) billed himself as a "musical impressionist" who delighted audiences with his takes on legendary Vegas Strip entertainers, the UPI report said. He was the top attraction at the Mirage for more than a dozen years until February when he moved to Encore, the new Wynn hotel-casino that opened late last year.
Read more on GoPoly.com, the Cal Poly Athletics Web
Read the story in the San Jose Mercury News
Read the story and see video of Gans performing on E! online
Read the Los Angeles Times obituary
Read the New York Times obituary
Read the Daily Breeze story
Read the 2008 Cal Poly Magazine interview with Gans
Colorado State University's New Dean of Agricultural Science is Cal Poly Alum
Craig Beyrouty (B.S., Soil Science, 1977) will lead Colorado State University's Agricultural Sciences Department as its newly hired dean. He will join the Colorado State faculty and campus at Ft. Collins in July. Beyrouty told the campus newspaper his primary goals are to familiarize himself with Colorado State's new administration and faculty. In addition to his Cal Poly degree, Beyrouty received his doctoral and master's degrees in soil sciences from Purdue University, where he served as Agronomy Department chairman before taking the job at Colorado State University.
Read the story on Beyrouty in the campus Rocky Mountain Collegian news web
Astronaut Alum Chamitoff Speaks at Cal Poly, and in San Jose
Astronaut and Cal Poly engineering alum Greg Chamitoff (B.S., Electrical Engineering, 1984) was back on campus May 8. He didn't have to take any tests -- he toured campus, met with students and spoke to the public. Earlier in April, Chamitoff visited with high school students in his hometown, San Jose. Chamitoff lived on the International Space Station for six months in 2008. He served on the station with two Russian cosmonauts, acting as the station’s flight engineer and science officer. He returned to Earth in November on shuttle mission STS-126 after 183 days in space.
Read about Chamitoff's appearance at Cal Poly
See the Video Interview of Chamitoff aboard the Space Station in 2008
Read about Chamitoff's talk in San Jose in the San Jose Mercury News
Cal Poly Alum, Coaching Great John Madden Retires from Broadcasting
Famed football coach and Cal Poly alum John Madden (B.S., Physical Education, 1959, M.A., Education, 1961) announced on April 16 that he was retiring from his long career as a football commentator.
Madden began his career at Cal Poly, where he was an offensive and defensive lineman on the football team before becoming a pro football coach. His 'second career' after coaching was broadcasting. On his retirement from broadcasting in April, sports writers and fans reflected on his career; one called him "the heart and soul of this rough and tumble" game. Madden was named the (then Oakland) Raiders head coach at age 32, in 1969. He went on to win seven division titles and Super Bowl XI in 1977. After retiring as the Raiders coach, he began network broadcasting in 1979 and won 16 Emmys. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.
Read the Time Magazine story on Madden's retirement from broadcasting
Read the San Jose Mercury News interview with Madden on retiring
Read the Philadelphia Daily News story on Madden retiring
Read the San Francisco Chronicle story on Madden's retirement
Read the Madden Tribute Story on BleacherReport.com
Central Coast Alumna Running for State Assembly Seat
Santa Maria City Councilwoman Hilda Zacarias (B.S., Business) will run for the state Assembly in 2010, joining a growing list of candidates seeking the 33rd District seat being vacated by Sam Blakeslee at the end of his term. In addition to her Cal Poly degree, Zacarias earned a master’s degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where she attended on fellowship.
Read the story in the SLO Tribune
See Zacarias in a Video on Cal Poly's volunteer tax preparation program (VITA)
Eagles Linebacker Gocong Shares His Science Background
Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Chris Gocong traded the football field for the classroom May 6 to help teach a science lesson. Gocong helped Berlin Community Middle School. sixth grade teacher Jim Winkelspecht and Gocong prepared the lesson together. True to Gocong's engineering roots, it involved model bridges. Local reporters were on hand to cover the classroom science event.
Read the story in the Philadelphia Inquirer
Business Alumna-Turned-Actress Learning How to Kick Up Her Heels in TV Pilot
Angie Ruiz (B.S., Business Administration, 1997) has landed a role on the pilot for a new TV series called The Genesis Files. She's spent this spring learning to punch, kick and run after bad guys in high heels. The Salinas-raised actress had a part in the British drama "Flashbacks of a Fool" -- along with 007 actor Daniel Craig. Ruiz got into acting after graduating from Cal Poly and heading to San Francisco, where she landed a role in the romantic comedy "40 Days and 40 Nights."
Photo courtesy Angie-Ruiz.com
Read More about Ruiz in the Monterey County Weekly Story
Alum Astronaut Gibson Speaking at Indiana Tech Commencement
Robert “Hoot” Gibson (B.S., Aero Engineering, 1969) will be the guest speaker at Indiana Tech’s Commencement ceremony on May 16. In his 18 years as an astronaut, Gibson flew five space flights, four of them as the mission commander, aboard the Space Shuttles Challenger, Columbia, Atlantis and Endeavor.
Read the Ft. Wayne Daily News story on Gibson
Landscape Architect Helps Louisiana Stay in Touch with History While Growing
Landscape Architecture alumna Randalle Moore (B.S., Landscape Architecture, 1980) and her husband Patrick Moore have turned their landscape design company into a force to keep Louisiana cities connected to their heritage while growing. Today, their company, Moore Planning Group, includes landscape architects and site planners. The duo and their firm have 13 Louisiana cities, five towns and three parishes among their clients.
Read about Moore and her firm on the WBRZ News Web
Food Science Alum Running for School Board in Salem
Ag alum Rick Kimball (B.S., Food Science) is running for a seat on the Salem-Keizer Schools Board in Oregon.
Read about it in the Keizer Journal
Journalism Grad Getting Laughs in his Career: Stand-Up Comedy
Eric Schwartz (B.S., Broadcast Journalism) told the Pasadena Star-News he's been a stand-up comic ever since he could stand up. As he reached adolescence, he branched out into music - and used his bar-mitzvah money to do it.
Read the full story on Schwartz in the Pasadena Star-News
Food & Wine
Alumni Father and Son Specialize in Grape Rootstock, Make Wine
Craig (B.S., Ornamental Horticulture. 1991) and Nancy Stoller own Sextant winery and have opened a tasting room in San Luis Obispo. The couple live in Bakersfield, where they work for the family businesses. Sunridge Nurseries, which specializes in grape rootstock. Craig Stoller's father, a soil scientist and also a Cal Poly alum, founded the rootstock company.
Read the San Francisco Chronicle story on Sextant Winery and the Stollers
AgBiz Alum is New VP of Operations at The Inventure Group
Alex Rembert (B.S., Ag Business, 1983) was recently named the Vice President of Operations at The Inventure Group, Inc. The company makes and markets specialty food products under several well-known brand names, and has manufacturing facilities in Arizona, Indiana and Washington. Rembert comes to The Inventure Group with more than 20 years of experience with Frito-Lay, including serving as its Director of Operations for its Pacific Northwest region. He'll be relocating with his family from Chicago to Phoenix.
Read about Rembert on StockHouse.com
Career Moves
Two Alumni In Running for Seat on California State Bar
Two Cal Poly alumni are among 18 lawyers running for five open seats on the State Bar Board of Governors. They are Clark E. Gehlbach (B.S., Mechanical Engineering, 1989), a Placer County deputy district attorney, and John T. Nejedly (B.S., Construction Management, 1989), a solo practitioner from Walnut Creek.
Read about them on the State Bar Web site
Alumna Named Western Region Manager for Allflex USA
To support sales and marketing efforts in the states of California, Arizona and Nevada, Shauna Trusas (B.S., Animal Science, 2003) has been promoted to western regional manager. Allflex is a leader in livestock identification. At Cal Poly, Trusas concentrated on livestock production and agricultural communications.
Read the story on Cattle Network.com
Ag Business Alum Joins Heritage Oaks Bank
Bill Filippin (B.S., Ag Business, 1988) has joined Heritage Oaks Bank as senior vice president of its Commercial Lending Group. In addition to his Cal Poly Degree, Filippin is also a graduate of the Graduate School of Banking at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Read more about Filippin in the Santa Maria Times
Newspaper Launches New Blog By Journalism Alum
Joe Tarica (B.S., Journalism, English 1993) is now blogging for the San Luis Obispo Tribune. His blog, "Joetopia' is just that -- the world according to Joe. It's Tarica's take on current events, life and more. Tarica is the presentation editor at Tribune, where he oversees the production side of the newsroom, including photographers, designers and copy editors.
More on Tarica on the SLO Tribune
Awards
Engineering Alum Named CIO Of the Year in San Diego
Erik Quade (B.S., Business Administration, MIS, 2000), is the Chief Information Officer of Technology Integration Group in San Diego. He was named the Technology Executive of the Year in the large private enterprise category by the San Diego Business Journal. The award was given at a ceremony April 23 at the Torrey Pines Hilton in La Jolla and was attended by more than 700 people.
Read about the awards in the San Diego Business Journal
Two Alums Make 'Best of the West' Journalism Awards List
Two Cal Poly alumni recently won awards in the annual 'Best of the West' journalism competition. Donald Munro (B.S., Journalism, 1986), a reporter for the Fresno Bee, took second in the Feature Writing/Arts and Entertainment category. His winning feature, titled "Wonder Boy," was a pice on author William Saroyan as a pop icon of his time. San Jose Mercury News reporter Julia Prodis Sulek (B.S., History, 1986) took third place in Feature Writing, Long Form. Her story, "What Would You Take?" included five vignettes on the objects that people took with them as they escaped wildfires.
Go to the 2009 Best of the West awards results:
http://bestofthewestcontest.org/2009contestresults.html
Ag Business Grad, Politician, Ag Tech Pioneer Named High School's Alumni of the Year
William “Bill” Maze (B.S., Ag Business, 1968) is a successful farmer with deep roots in Tulare County and an established politician in the Central Valley. In April he was named his high school alma mater's Alumnus of the Year. After earning his degree at Cal Poly, Maze went to work as a statistician for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1968. Maze credits Cal Poly motto of “Learn By Doing” for placing him on the cutting edge of the convergence of technology and agriculture.
Read the story in the Foothills Sun-Gazette
Passings
Profile on Passing of Mel Kaufman, Pro Football Player and Alum
Former Redskins pro football player and Cal Poly alum Mel Kaufman died suddenly at age 50 in April. After his passing, the San Luis Obispo Tribune ran a feature profile on Kaufman (B.S., Social Science, 1984) and his career April 23. Cal Poly will honor Kaufman in a jersey ceremony and by naming an annual award after him. In addition to being a member of Cal Poly Athletics' Hall of Fame, Kaufman was also serving as the Mustangs' first-year linebackers coach.
Read the story on Kaufman in the SLO Tribune
Former Student Affairs Administrator, WOW Pioneer Robert William Walters
Robert William Walters, former Student Affairs Administrator and "WOW/Week of Welcome" shepherd, died May 2. He came to San Luis Obispo in 1970, and spent the next 30 years at Cal Poly, primarily as the Assistant Director of Student Affairs. He helped shape the university's Week of Welcome ("WOW") program, which has since become a model followed by numerous colleges and universities around the country.
Read Walters' obituary in The SLO Tribune
Cal Poly Animal Science Supporter Ed Biaginni
Edward C. Biaggini, long time rancher and banker in San Luis Obispo County, died Sunday, April 19. His family has set up the Ed Biaggini Memorial Scholarship Fund through the Cal Poly Animal Science Department. Donations can be made to the fund and mailed to the department, Attn: Andy Thulin, 1 Grand Ave., Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407.
Read Biaginni's obituary in the SLO Tribune
Former Poultry Unit Manager Earle Polinsky
Earle Polinsky, 75, passed away Sunday, April 26, 2009, at his home in Arroyo Grande surrounded by his family. In 1984, he came to Cal Poly to manage the Poultry Unit. In acknowledgement of his contributions to students, he received the Cal Poly Collegiate FFA Blue and Gold Award.
Read the obituary in the SLO Tribune
David G. Lopez
David G. Lopez (B.S., Engineering Technology, 1987), 46, passed away Saturday, April 18, at Arroyo Grande Community Hospital. He and his family have been Central Coast residents for the past 27 years.
Read the SLO Tribune Obituary
Kathy Morris
Kathy Morris passed away on Tuesday, April 21 in Crescent City at the age of 64. She majored in math at Cal Poly, and is still remembered for her Girl Scout leadership in the Pasadena area
Read the obituary in The Daily Triplicate
Lavergne Anthony Sarmento
LaVergne Anthony Sarmento, 77, native of San Luis Obispo, passed away Friday, May 1. He graduated from San Luis High School and Cal Poly and served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War on the USS Manchester.
Read the obituary in the SLO Tribune
John Meszaros
John Meszaros, 94, was born in Virginia in July 1914 and passed away peacefully Thursday, April 23, 2009. Meszaros (B.S., Industrial Engineering, 1960) had been a resident of San Luis Obispo for more than 50 years and was a U.S. Navy veteran.
Read the obituary in the SLO Tribune
Charles E. Dofflemyer Jr.
Charles E. Dofflemyer Jr. (Agriculture Science) died April 7 at a San Andreas convalescent hospital. He was 79. After he graduated from Cal Poly he worked as an agricultural chemist for J.R. Simplot in Tulare County for 31 years.
Read the obituary in the Tulare Union Democrat