Cal Poly Selects Honored Alumni for 2001

SAN LUIS OBISPO -- Cal Poly has selected eight alumni -- all leaders in
their fields with close ties to the university -- to be honored during
Homecoming festivities Nov. 8-11.

Each of the university's six colleges and the University Center for
Teacher Education have named their Honored Alumni for 2001, two of whom
are Central Coast residents. In addition, the Cal Poly Alumni
Association has chosen a San Luis Obispo resident to receive the Honored
Alumni Distinguished Service Award. The eight honored alumni are:

· College of Agriculture: George P. Foster of Waterford
earned a Bachelor of Science degree in poultry science in 1969. He is
the son of Max and Verda Foster, founders of Foster Farms, the largest
poultry company in the western United States with annual sales in excess
of $1 billion and 10,000 employees. He and his wife are active in their
church community in Modesto and are helping the City of Hope orphanage
in Romania construct a modern creamery to provide nourishment to under-
privileged children. He is also the owner of the Tacoma Rainiers AAA
baseball club in Washington. Foster is a strong supporter of College of
Agriculture programs and has contributed to the college's student
scholarships, studio computer classrooms, poultry faculty positions and
poultry science complex operations. He has served as a member of Cal
Poly's Animal Science Department Advisory Council since 2000 and is
currently a member of the College of Agriculture Dean's Advisory
Council. His wife, Sue, is also a graduate of Cal Poly.

· College of Architecture and Environmental Design: Los
Angeles resident Emanuele Barelli earned a bachelor's degree in
architecture in 1970. He then also earned a Master of Science degree in
structural engineering with an emphasis in dynamics, finite element
analysis and earthquake engineering. A principal with B & B Associates
Inc., he is responsible for technical supervision and production of all
projects. Before forming B & B Associates, Barelli was president of
Barelli and Associates Inc. in Los Angeles. He has worked on
large-scale structural systems such as high-rise buildings, oil
platforms and nuclear-containment vessels. He has been responsible for
a wide variety of institutional, commercial, industrial and residential
projects with varying degrees of complexity, from small retail shops to
multistory hotels and office buildings. Barelli is president of the
College of Architecture and Environmental Design Foundation and serves
as a member of the college's Dean's Advisory Council and Cal Poly's
Alumni National Board of Directors.

· Orfalea College of Business: Michael W. Deisenroth, a Danville
resident, earned a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1976.
He began his career with Anixter as a communication cabling specialist.
He was promoted to regional business communication specialist and later
to network communication sales manager. He started his own company,
Comlink Marketing, in 1995, focusing on data networking products.
Although now semi-retired from Comlink, he remains active as a technical
consultant. In 2000 he joined SBC Communications, the parent company of
PacBell, as a technical specialist for high-speed data transport
products. He now is working with SBC as a business analyst on new
product methods and procedures. His wife, Sue, earned a bachelor's
degree in biology from Cal Poly in 1976. Both Mike and Sue are strong
supporters of Cal Poly. Mike serves on the Orfalea College of Business
Campaign Committee. The couple has two boys, one a sophomore in the
Orfalea College of Business, the other a high school senior applying to
Cal Poly for fall 2002.

· College of Engineering: Paul R. Bonderson Jr., from Sunol, is a 1975
electrical engineering graduate. He is vice president of engineering
and the co-founder of Brocade Communications Systems Inc., a leading
supplier of open fiber channel fabric systems that provide the
"intelligent backbone" for storage-area networks. Bonderson is
responsible for all product development and new technology and product
initiatives. He is credited with putting together the core team that
formed the company, and he was instrumental in developing the product
strategy, business strategy and business plan. Bonderson has more than
20 years of industry experience at Sun Microsystems, Data System Design
and Intel. While at Sun Microsystems, he served as director of central
technologies, overseeing all corporate mass-storage development. In
that capacity, he implemented Sun's first fiber-channel products. He
serves on the College of Engineering Dean's Advisory Council and the
college's Centennial Campaign Committee. Bonderson's recent commitment
of $6 million to Cal Poly is enabling the college to build a new
engineering student projects center.

· College of Liberal Arts: Margie H. "Peggy" Peterson of San Luis
Obispo earned a bachelor's degree in social sciences in 1959, a master's
degree in education, a general secondary credential, and a credential in
pupil personnel services. In 1988 she received the first Cal Poly
President's Arts Award, recognizing her many contributions to the
community and the university. She and her husband, Gerry, a retired Cal
Poly electronics teacher, have served the arts community with volunteer
work and financial contributions. They have been involved with the San
Luis Obispo Symphony, the Symphony Guild, Cal Poly Arts, the Vocal Arts
Ensemble and the Cuesta Master Chorale. She currently serves as a
member of the College of Liberal Arts Advisory Board.

· College of Science and Mathematics: L. Byron Culver, from Cardiff by
the Sea, earned a bachelor's degree in physical education with a general
secondary teaching credential in 1950. He began his career in education
at Imperial High School and went on to become that school's director of
athletics and varsity football coach. In 1957, he became president of
Culver Farms Inc., a diversified farming and cattle operation. He sold
Culver Farms in 1971 to Fresh Pick, a subsidiary of Purex Corp. In 1958
he formed Culver Enterprises Inc., a private holding company that owned
and managed commercial real estate properties until 1978. In 1971 he
founded Culver & Associates Inc., a real estate brokerage firm in Rancho
Santa Fe, where he still serves as president. He was one of two grand
marshals at the 2000 Cal Poly Homecoming Parade in San Luis Obispo.

· University Center for Teacher Education: Don M. Morris of Pismo Beach
earned a bachelor's degree in 1952 and a master's in 1959, both in
physical education. Morris attended Cal Poly on an athletic
scholarship. After earning a bachelor's degree, he volunteered for the
U.S. Navy and became a naval aviator. He served for 40 years in the
Navy Reserve, retiring in 1990 with the rank of commander. Upon
completing his Navy pilot tour of duty in 1957, he returned to Cal Poly
to earn his master's and went on to earn a doctorate from UCLA. A
longtime Cal Poly professor, Morris also served the university in a
number of other administrative capacities, including personnel director,
housing director and dean of extended education. He was recently
inducted into Cal Poly's Athletic Hall of Fame for setting records in
hurdling as a freshman. He serves on the board of directors of the Cal
Poly Alumni Association and the California State Senior Olympics.
Morris and his wife, Jean, have established three endowments at Cal
Poly: one in the University Center for Teacher Education, another in the
Kinesiology Department and a third in Intercollegiate Athletics.

· Honored Alumni Distinguished Service Award recipient: Everett M.
Chandler of San Luis Obispo is a former Cal Poly professor and dean of
students. He earned an A.B. degree from UC Berkeley in 1939, completed
graduate work at UC Berkeley in 1940, and earned a doctorate from
Michigan State University in 1969. From 1940 to 1941 he served as an
administrative analyst for the California State Personnel Board. After
a four-year stint in the U.S. Army Air Corps, he returned to work for
the state of California, this time as a management analyst. The job led
to his post as dean of students at Cal Poly from 1951 to 1978. Although
retired, he maintains strong ties to Cal Poly and supports the Athletics
and Ethnic Studies programs.

The Honored Alumni Award was established more than 30 years ago. It
recognizes alumni who have proved themselves exemplary in their fields
or in service to the university. This year marks the third presentation
of the Cal Poly Alumni Association's Distinguished Service Award, which
recognizes exceptional service to the university or the alumni
association.

The theme for Cal Poly's 2001 Homecoming is "A Centennial Homecoming" in
honor of the university's 100th anniversary. The public is invited to
join in many of the festivities Nov. 10, including the annual parade in
downtown San Luis Obispo at 10 a.m. and the Mustangs' football game
against Cal State Northridge at 3 p.m.

For more Homecoming information, a schedule of events, and a
registration form, call the Alumni Relations office at 756-2586 or check
its Web site at http://www.alumni.calpoly.edu/.

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