Alumni in the News -- November 2007

Features

Alumna is New President and CEO at Mendocino Software

Cal Poly alumna Kathleen Holmgren (B.S., Industrial Engineering, 1980) has been named President and CEO of Mendocino Software. Holmgren previously served as a former top storage executive at Sun Microsystems. Holmgren joins Mendocino after more than two decades at Sun, where she most recently was Senior Vice President of Sun’s Disk Systems Business and played a key role in Sun’s integration of Storage Technology Corp. In addition to her Cal Poly degree, she holds a Masters in Business Administration from Stanford University.
Read the Business Wire story | Read the East Bay Business Journal story | Freshnews story

Top Rodeo Bull Rider is June Cal Poly Grad

Ted Bert (B.S., Dairy Science, 2007), 25 has won nearly $98,000 so far this year and sits in fifth place in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association winnings list. Which means he's a lock to become the Modesto area's first bull rider since Ted Nuce in 1995 to qualify for the 49th Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. The Super Bowl of rodeo, the Wrangler Finals are set for Dec. 6-15 in Las Vegas.
Read the Modesto Bee story on Bert

Alumni Couple Head Michigan's Top Dairy

Aaron (B.S., Dairy Science, 1998) and Andrea Gasper (B.S., Dairy Science, 1998) do things well on their 1,000 acre dairy farm outside of Belding, Mich. So well, in fact, that they've been recognized by the Michigan Milk Producers Association as the 2007 Outstanding Young Dairy Cooperators. That means they'll be representing the 10 districts of Michigan at the young cooperative level at national events. Gasper earned a bachelor's degree in Dairy Science from California Polytechnic State University and promptly came back to Michigan - with new wife Andrea, whom he met while at Cal Poly.

GrC Grad is the Nation's New 'Ben Franklin'

Following in the footsteps of figures such as Benjamin Franklin, a Cal Poly graduate is now the nation’s 25th public printer. Robert C. Tapella, 42, (B.S., Graphic Communication, 1991) was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate as the new head of the Government Printing Office, a position established in the 1800s. He has been the agency’s chief of staff since 2004. “It’s the greatest honor that I’ve ever received,” Tapella told The San Luis Obispo Tribune in a telephone interview. “And it’s the toughest job that I will ever have.”
Read Tapella's Tribune interview | See the KSBY story

Alumna Teaches 'Soft Skills' Across Country -- and on 'Dr. Phil'

Tiffany Smith (B.S., Ag Business, 1998) has a solution to all of those nagging issues in the office: the tardy co-worker, the abrupt receptionist, the colleague who dresses inappropriately. Smith makes a living teaching "soft skills" that include communication, listening and knowing how to act in any kind of environment with a level of savvy and respectability -- all under the label of business etiquette. Since launching her 'Soft Skills' seminars, she's joined the 'Dr. Phil' talk show, where she does "etiquette makeovers."
Read the Fresno Bee story on Smith

Business Alumna Delivers Dorantes Lecture at Santa Barbara City College

Hilda Zacarias (B.S., Business Administration, 1989), councilwoman from the City of Santa Maria, will deliver the 17th annual Leonardo Dorantes Memorial Lecture. The topic of her presentation will be "Head-Start to Harvard and Home Again - The Making of a 'Si Se Puede' Activist." In June 2006, Zacarias received her Masters Degree in political advocacy and leadership from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where she received the prominent Littauer Fellow award upon graduation.
Read the SBCC News Story about Zacarias

Alum Helps SLO High Raise $30,000 for New Marching Band Uniforms

Until this fall, San Luis Obispo High School's Tiger band members had worn uniforms dating from the era of bell-bottoms and the Bee Gees. The replacements, purchased just last year, resulted from years of tireless effort by students, parents and community members. Many donors once blew brass and banged drums in the band -- including Cal Poly Alumni Association Board Member John Furtado Jr. (B.S., Natural Resources Management, 1982). Furtado, a San Luis Obispo High School and Cal Poly grad, said he was shocked to hear the school was using the same band uniforms he wore as a trumpet-playing sophomore.
Read more about the SLOHS band support

AgBusiness Alum aims to keep Lodi region on the wine map

Mark Chandler (B.S., Ag Business Management, 1979) is the executive director of the Lodi Woodbridge Winegrape Commission and has helped to build Lodi's reputation as an emerging wine region. Chandler's job is to tell the world about Lodi wine. And after 17 years of persistence, his efforts are paying off.
Read about Chandler

Biz Grad Helps Uncle Get a Grip on Digital Camera Industry

Anthony Bova found his diminutive digital camera awkward to hold. So he built a handle out of a short piece of plastic rod and a 1/4-inch bolt. "Everyone said, 'Wow, that is so cool. Where did you get that?' " Bova started a company, CamGrip, to manufacture the digital camera accessory, and is developing plans to boost production to as much as 750,000 units a month. Bova is the chief executive and his nephew, Cal Poly grad Bert Schenone, (B.S., Ag Business, 2004) is president.
Read the Stockton Record story

'Hepcat' Alumna Creates Poetry both Playful and Political

Alumna Dian Sousa (B.S., English, 1990) has been named San Luis Obispo County's Poet Laureate. Her works are more playful than political, according to reviews in the SLO Tribune. Sousa will read her works at the Nov. 16 SLO Poetry Festival. A definite hepcat in 1981, Sousa moved to the Central Coast, where she finished her studies at Cal Poly.
Read the SLO Tribune story on Sousa

Journalism Alum Reminisces about Libraries -- including Kennedy

Donald Munro (B.S., Jour, 1986) is a fellowship-winning columnist and film reviewer for the Fresno Bee. One of Munro's most recent columns concerned libraries -- and why they deserve support. "Other libraries have played an important part in my life. As an undergraduate walking up to the towering five-story Robert E. Kennedy Library at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, I'd crane my neck to take in its sleek, modernist concrete contours. At graduate school, the imposing Butler Library at Columbia University, with its Greek columns, almost made me feel like royalty, and I'd spend hours wandering the dimly lighted stacks..."
Read the rest of Munro's column in the Fresno Bee

Biz Grad Liddell's Wrestling Chops Called Key to Ultimate Fighting Evolution

The history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title has been about the evolution of the American top-level wrestler turned mixed martial artist. Former champ Chuck Liddell (B.S. Business Administration, 1995) was a Division I wrestler at Cal Poly but he used his skills in a completely different manner than his predecessors. Liddell was a kickboxer, and his wrestling background came in handy because it enabled him to avoid takedowns and keep his fights standing.
Read the Yahoo! Sports story

J-Alum is Pop Music Critic at the Rocky Mountain News in Denver

The Rocky Mountain News popular music critic is Mark Brown (B.S., Journalism, 1985). Brown writes that got his job by virtue of a squandered youth and a large CD collection. A graduate of California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, he has lived in Denver on and off since 1988. He has written for the San Francisco Chronicle, MSNBC.com, the Orange County Register, Addicted to Noise, Trouser Press, Wall of Sound, Launch, Request and various other music-related publications.
Read Brown's Rocky Mountain News columns

Moving Up

Alum Heads Zaca Mesa Winery and Vineyards in Santa Barbara

Clay Brock (B.S., Ag Business Management, 1984) was recently profiled in Appellation America Magazine. Brock grew up in the Napa Valley and headed back to the vineyards after his Cal Poly graduation -- first in Napa and then on to the Central Coast, where he has been a fixture ever since. In 2001, Brock moved to Santa Barbara County to take over the helm at Zaca Mesa Winery and Vineyards.
Read the interview in Appellation America

Engineering Grad Named Vice President at Micrel

Scott Ward (B.S., Engineering Technology, 1977) has been named Vice President of Analog Business at Micrel Inc. The company is an industry leader in analog, high bandwidth communications and ethernet IC solutions. Ward was formerly Vice President of Micrel's Test Division. In his new role, he will report directly to Ray Zinn, Micrel's President and CEO. The company's analog business accounts for more than two-thirds of the Company's revenues worldwide.
Read the PR NewsWire story

DCM Venture Cap Firm Appoints Business Alum as General Counsel

Matthew C. Bonner (B.S., Business Administration, 1991) has been appointed General Counsel at DCM. Bonner earned a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. DCM, a leading early stage venture capital firm, has appointed Matthew C. Bonner as general counsel. In DCM's newly created position, Mr. Bonner is responsible for legal matters involving investments, fund operations, and domestic and international regulatory compliance. He also serves as an advisor to the firm's portfolio-company management teams.
Read the PR-Inside article on Bonner

New Nexiant CEO is Cal Poly Alum

Nexiant, a leading provider of MRO inventory management solutions for the industrial market, appointed Michael J. Hammons (B.S., Industrial Engineering, 1994) as its President and Chief Executive Officer in October. A regular industry speaker and published author, Hammons is a Certified Production and Inventory Control Manager (CPIM). In addition to his Cal Poly degree, he holds a MBA from Harvard Business School.
Read the PR-Inside story

Passings

Courtney Page Yates - Ran Olympic Torch Through Cal Poly

Cal Poly alumna Courtney Page Yates (B.S., Business Administration, 2005), died Oct. 16 surrounded by friends and family. Countless times during her 28 years, Courtney Yates had beaten medical odds with true grit, humor and sheer determination in her battle against cystic fibrosis. A high-school basketball and tennis star who directed plays, she graduated from Cal Poly and even learned to ride a wakeboard before undergoing a double-lung transplant seven years ago.

She married engineer Robert Yates and had a child with the help of a surrogate (her sister Melissa Page of Cambria). Donations to help defray the family’s medical expenses and start the Mackenzie Yates Education Fund can be made to Robert Yates, 1240 Norton Lane, Cambria CA 93428.
Read The Tribune news story on Courtney Yates
Read the 2002 Cal Poly Press Release on Courtney Page Yates and the Torch Run

Engineering Grad Tom Capener

Tom Capener (B.S., Civil Engineering, 1992) died Nov. 6 in the crash of a company-owned airplane in Garberville. Capener, 42, took a job as a project manager with Redding-based Ladd Construction, eventually becoming one of its owners.
Read the story in the Redding Record-Searchlight

Forester, Glider Pilot, Ski Patrolman Stewart Kissel

Stewart Kissel, 53, died recently in the crash of a glider airplane near Vail, Co. Kissel (B.S., Natural Resources Management, 1978) had worked for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management as a forester, then as a ski patrolman in Vail. He was an avid glider pilot.
Read the story in the Vail Daily