Alumni in the News - May 2007
Alumna Inaugurated as University of North Texas President
University of North Texas formally installed Gretchen M. Bataille (B.S., English, 1966, M.A. Education, 1967) in April as the 14th president and the first woman to preside at the 116-year-old institution. UNT is the fourth largest public university in Texas with 33,500 students. The university's ceremony was an observation of a tradition dating back to the Middle Ages of ceremonially inaugurating a new president. It included ceremonies across campus and a black-tie Emerald Ball and reception. The gala ball served as a fundraiser for student scholarships, one of the new president's priorities.
More on UNT President Gretchen Bataille's inauguration
Read the Dallas Morning News story on Gretchen Bataille's inauguration and goals
Alumna Named California's First Female Fire Marshall
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the appointment of Katherine "Kate" Dargan in April. Pending confirmation by the state senate, Dargan (B.S., Natural Resources Management, 1989), 48, of Napa, will be California's first woman state fire marshal. She replaces Ruben Grijalva, who was appointed director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention (CDF). "Kate's expertise in the public safety field as a hands-on firefighter and in high level management positions within the department greatly qualifies her to fill this position," said Governor Schwarzenegger.
Dargan has over 30 years of experience with CDF.
Read the YubaNet story on Katherine Dargan | Read the Governor's Press Release
Alum, Former Professor Takes Post as California Undersecretary of Ag
After nearly 20 years as the administrator of the California Farm Bureau Federation George Gomes is joining the Schwarzenegger administration. Gomes (B.S., Ag Business, 1966, M.S., Ag Science, 1967) is now undersecretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, a post he was named to in March. Early in his career, Gomes taught agricultural management courses at Cal Poly.
Read the California Farm Bureau announcement about Gomes' appointment
Rutan, Branson Partner on 'Spaceliner' Service
One of Cal Poly's most noted alumni, Burt Rutan (B.S., Aero Engineering, 1965), has teamed with British entrepreneur Richard Branson to announce plans to carry people to space on Virgin Galactic. The duo are calling the service "Earth's first spaceline.” Rutan made headlines in 2006 by designing SpaceShipOne, the space-grazing aircraft which won the Ansari X-Prize. Now a high-end travel agency consortium called Virtuoso is one of only a dozen accredited Virgin Galactic agents in the state, with offices in Santa Barbara and Pismo Beach. Travelers can experience Rutan's engineering and an out-of-this-world itinerary for the price of a $200,000 ticket.
Read the Santa Maria Times story
on Virgin Galactic trips
Marketing Alumna is VP & Chief 'Style Officer' for Delta Airlines
If Delta Air Lines were a bit freer with its executive titles, Joanne Smith's might be "chief style officer." Smith (B.S., Business Administration, 1982) is Delta's vice president of marketing. She was recently promoted to her current post, which returns her to her roots. She got her first taste of the business 30 years ago as a flight attendant for a small California-based carrier. Now, she oversees Delta's 11,500 flight attendants and managers. At the same time, she oversees a 15-person department whose job is to help Delta offer distinctive, customer-friendly service.
Read the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Story on Joanne Smith
Agribusiness Alumna's Irrigation Analysis Business is Booming
Crop irrigation consultant Lisa Lombardi-Mellor spends her days out in the field -- sending radio waves horizontally through the soil at one foot increments.The moisture-measuring technique, called frequency domain reflectometry, takes some of the guesswork out of irrigation for the San Joaquin Valley growers who use her service, Precision Irrigation Management & Consulting Inc.
Lombardi-Mellor (B.S., Agricultural Business, 2001) is among the fourth generation in her family pursuing a career in agriculture.
Read the Stockton Record story on Lombardi-Mellor
Twins Get Matching ME Degrees -- Land Jobs at Lockheed Sunnyvale
Last June, both Kevin (B.S. Mechanical Engineering, 2006) and Ryan Quinley (B.S., Mechanical Engineering, 2006) graduated with honors from Cal Poly. Just when it appeared they would finally go their separate ways, the 24-year-old Quinley twins joined Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. in Sunnyvale. "When we started here, we were about 10 feet apart -- about one cubicle away from each other for the first month," Ryan Quinley said last week. "Now, we're in different buildings."
Read the Sacramento Bee story on the Quinley twins
Alumni Couples' 'Petunia Pickel Bottom'
Baby Apparel Firm Booming
DeNai Jones (B.S., Liberal Studies, 1997, Elementary Education Credential 1998) is President & Founder of "Petunia Pickel Bottom," a baby apparel company which launched originally with designer diaper bags. Husband Braden Jones (B.S., Business Administration, 1999) is the company's CFO. Petunia Pickle Bottom has grown from three to 20 employees, and the company and its products have been featured in Fit Pregnancy, Parenting, Earnshaw's, Inside Style, Us, Pregnancy and People magazines, among others. DeNai Jones was recently interviewed for a story in the coming July edition of "Redbook" magazine.
Read more about DeNai and Braden Jones
and their company
Animal Science Alumna is Denver Zoo Educator
Zoo educator Dawn Mazzagetti (B.S., Animal Science, 1999) uses live animals as well as skins, tracks, skulls, even droppings on the job every day. It's her job as an educator with the Denver Zoo in Colorado to illustrate how remarkably animals adapt to their environment.
Read the Glenwood Springs Post-Independent story about Mazzagetti
Alum Blends Agriculture, Journalism in Teaching at Cal Poly Brock Center
The Brock Center for Agricultural Communication, now in its 15th year at Cal Poly, takes a broad view of the skill sets needed by students in today's agriculture industry. Agriculture students can pick up the technical-writing skills they will need in communication while journalism students can learn to appreciate the industry. Instructors at the center have found that agriculture students may lack objectivity about their subject, while journalism students may not understand the scope of the agriculture industry, he added. Brock Center Professor Richard Gearhart (B.S., Journalism, 1991) teaches students at the Brock Center.
Read the profile on the Brock Center in the Capital Press
CAED Alum Named to SF Architecture Firm
Timoteo G. Hernaez (B.S., Architecture, 1979), a veteran architect who has specialized for 25 years in the design of medical center projects, has joined the San Francisco offices of SmithGroup, one of the nation's leading architecture and engineering firms. As a project director at SmithGroup, he will complement senior leadership for the firm's growing practice in the healthcare sector.
Read the Daily Business News story
Passings: Daily Breeze Web Editor, Jazz Critic Tony Tranfa
Tony Tranfa, the Torrance Daily Breeze’s Web site editor and frequent jazz critic during his 24 years at the newspaper, died April 18 following a brief illness. Tranfa, 49, was a graduate of Ernest Righetti High School in Santa Maria. At Cal Poly, Tranfa, 49, (B.S., Journalism, 1979) worked on the Mustang Daily from 1976 to 1979, and was a guitarist, composer and arranger on its university jazz band from 1975 to 1977.
Read the Daily Breeze obituary
Alum Writes About Taking Web 2.0 'Back to the Future'
Engineer Tom Gibbs (B.S., Engineering Science, 1980) is a contributing columnist for 'The Grid' and wrote this month about the emergence of Web 2.0 and its likely future -- even without using "The Doc's" Delorean. Gibbs is managing partner at Vx Ventures, a global consulting and investment partnership that focuses on the application of new IT architectures. He previously served as director of worldwide strategy and planning in the solutions market development group at the Intel.
Read Gibbs' Column
Business Alum Named CFO at Software Firm
Composite Software, Inc., a leader in SOA data services, in early March announced the appointment of Steve Vattuone as chief financial officer. Vattuone (B.S., Business Administration, 1990) brings over 15 years of experience in enterprise software and consulting services to the software company.
Read the News Release about Steve Vattuone
Alumna Heads Calaveras County Tourism Effort
Calaveras Visitors Bureau's Executive Director Lisa Reynolds (B.S., NRM, 1994) was profiled in the Calaveras Enterprise recently. Reynolds runs the bureau which promotes Calaveras tourism to bring more visitors - and more money - to the county. "Our goal is to bring people in and make them aware of the area," said Reynolds. "Hopefully they have a wonderful time and keep coming back."
Read more about Lisa Reynolds
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