2012 titan magazine spring

T H E M A G A Z I N E O F C A L I F O R N I A S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y , F U L L E R T O N

S P R I N G 2 0 1 2 / T I TA N M AG.CO M

ReclaimingOurFuture

TITAN MAG.COM I SPRING 2012

TITANTitan is the magazine of Cal State

Fullerton, published by University

Advancement for alumni, friends and the

university community. We welcome your

observations, news and comments.

COVER STORY

14 Reclaiming Our Future Cal State Fullerton’s STEM Initiative employs a two-pronged approach that combines both teacher-preparation and higher-education components to boost study of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

As you may already know, in early January I was appointed interim president of Cal State Fullerton. I look forward to serving the university in this capacity until a new permanent president is selected by the CSU Board of Trustees and begins his or her tenure.

I know you join me in thanking Dr. Gordon for his transformational presidency – a time when our institution rose to national prominence and celebrated remarkable milestones. Fortunately for

us, after a short break, Dr. Gordon will return as a trustee professor and complete the fall semester before beginning a well-earned retirement.

It is my intention to continue to fulfill our educational mission as effectively as possible. Toward that end, I am pleased to share with you Titan Magazine’s cover story, which takes a look at one of several efforts that began under Dr. Gordon’s leadership.

The last moon landing in 1972 and the end of the Apollo program marked the beginning of a steady national decline in the number of students majoring in science, technology, engineering and mathematics – the “STEM” disciplines.

As our cover story reports, our failure to attract and retain students in these fields, the strengthening of the talent pool overseas, and a number of global economic factors have all contributed to a weakening of America’s once- powerful role in research and development.

An initiative led by the university and the Cal State Fullerton Philanthropic Foundation will help turn the tide by enhancing teacher education in STEM fields, strengthening the university’s STEM-related laboratory infrastructure, and expanding specialized programs to recruit students into STEM degree programs and prepare them for tomorrow’s workforce.

Our university is already a pioneer in developing programs that encourage students to enter these disciplines, and ensuring they have adequate preparation to be successful. The STEM initiative builds upon those strengths, embracing a comprehensive, integrated, multidisciplinary approach to be achieved through multiple efforts in two phases: A teacher-preparation component based in the College of Education, and higher-education components based in the colleges of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and Engineering and Computer Science.

I am encouraged about this new initiative as it is indicative of the great work we are doing on campus. I greet my appointment as president with enthusiasm, and I am eager to begin working with you to make our extraordinary university even better.

Sincerely,

Willie J. HaganInterim President California State University, Fullerton

President’s Viewpoint Investment in STEM Fuels Innovation

2 University News

3 Philanthropic Foundation

5 Titan Athletics

6 Alumni News

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, FULLERTON I TITAN

E D IT O RCathi Douglas ’80

A R T D IREC T O R Howard Chang ’00

PR O D U C TI O N PL A N N E R Andrea Kelligrew ’99

SE NI O R D IREC T O R, D E SI G N Mishu Vu

WRIT E R SMimi Ko Cruz ’91, Pamela McLaren ’79, Valerie Orleans ’80, Debra Cano Ramos ’84

CO N T RIBU T O R S Christine Amarantus ’11, Flor Edwards ’11, Marcia Escobosa ’94, Matthew Gush ’12, Marian Lockhart, Katie McGill, Kathy Pomykata ’80, Geri Silveira, Karen Tapia

PU B LISH E R S Dr. Willie J. Hagan Interim President

Pamela C. Hillman Vice President, University Advancement

Jeffrey D. Cook Associate Vice President, Strategic Communications

TITA N A DVIS O RY B OA RD Sherry Angel ’78, Elaine Beno ’82, Jeff Brody, David Ferrell ’78, Janine Fiddelke Arp ’80, Dianna Lopez Fisher, Michael Mahi ’83, Chris Meyer, Bobbi Rice ’82, Steve Scauzillo ’81, Paula Selleck, Andi Stein, Kelly Teenor ’86, ’96, Anne Valdespino, Greg Young ’90

University Operator 657-278-2011 I Titan Magazine 657-278-4850 I P.O. Box 6826, Fullerton, CA 92834-6826 I [email protected] I fullerton.edu I © 2012 California State University, Fullerton.Nonprofit standard postage paid at Fullerton, CA. I Report address errors to [email protected] or 657-278-7917.

In This IssueSpring 2012 / VOLUME 11, NUMBER 2

8 Jack Bedell

10 Titan Entrepreneurs

2 University News

3 Philanthropic Foundation

5 Titan Athletics

6 Alumni News

22 Milestones: A CSUF Philanthropic

Foundation Retrospective

24 Class Notes

28 Titan Profile: Sam Calavitta ’98

COVERAstronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson ’93

observes Earth through the Cupola

Module of the International

Space Station.

Image by NASA

TITAN PRIDE

IN FOCUS


2

University NewsFor more university news, please visit www.fullerton.edu/news.

Willie J. Hagan, vice presi-dent for administration and chief financial officer of Cal State Fullerton, was named as interim president of the university effective January 9. Hagan will serve in the capacity until a permanent president begins at the campus. CSU Trustees announced a search that began in October for a new president to succeed President Milton Gordon, who retired after serving as president of the university since 1990.

Hagan joined Cal State Fullerton in 1996, overseeing the university’s administrative functions and has provided increasing levels of service to the campus during a period of unprecedented growth. From

2000 to 2003, he also served as interim vice president of university advancement and was instrumental in the reorganization of that division. Beginning in 2005, Hagan assumed responsibility for university financial operations, serving as the chief financial officer for the university.

Hagan holds a doctorate in psychology from the University of Connecticut and a master of fine arts degree from UCLA. Before coming to CSUF, he served as associate vice president for administration at the University of Connecticut, and as a lobbyist for the University of Connecticut and the Connecticut Board of Governors for Higher Education at the state and federal level.

TEN ARE HONORED AS VOLUNTEERS OF THE YEAR

At a special November lunch ceremony, Cal State Fullerton recognized 10

individuals for giving of their time and talents in service as this year’s

Volunteers of the Year. “Volunteer-ism is an attribute that we encourage among our students here at Cal State

Fullerton,” said Steven Murray, acting vice president for academic affairs. “It is

our hope that our students will follow the examples set by the outstanding

volunteers that are here today.”

The university’s Volunteers of the Year are

honored for their service. Pictured left to

right are: (front) Tam Nguyen, Lis Leyson,

Ingrid Shutkin, Margaret T. Starks and Verne

Wagner; (back), Cal Queryl, Rosalina Davis,

Karen Dudley, Joyce Ono and James Friel.

Willie J. Hagan, vice president for administration and

chief financial officer, has been named interim president

of Cal State Fullerton.

WILLIE J. HAGAN NAMED INTERIM CSUF PRESIDENT


3Philanthropic Foundation

For more information, please visit fullerton.edu/foundation.

University New

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ROBITAILLE CHAIR OF RISK AND INSURANCE NAMEDCal State Fullerton’s Mihaylo College of Business and Economics has named

Professor Stephen P. D’Arcy as the first to be accorded the title Robitaille Chair in Risk and Insurance. The endowed chair is the second for both the university and Mihaylo

College and stems from a fundraising drive launched by the CSUF Center for Insurance Studies.

Frank Robitaille, past president of independent insurance agency Armstrong/Robitaille/Riegle, is the largest contributor to the center’s ongoing program campaign, with donations totalling more than $1.5 million.

CSUF LISTED AMONG BEST BUSINESS SCHOOLSCal State Fullerton’s Mihaylo College of Business and Economics has been included in The Princeton Review’s 2012 issue of “Best 294 Business Schools” released in October. This is the sixth consecutive year the college has been included.

CSUF NINTH IN NATION FOR DIVERSITYCal State Fullerton was ranked ninth in the nation for the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded to minority students.

The annual ranking of colleges and universities was published in Diverse Issues in Higher Education and was based on 2009-10 data from the U.S. Department of Education.

HISTORY INITIATIVE AWARDED MUCH-COVETED GRANTThe National Endowment for the Humanities has offered a $425,000 matching grant to Cal State Fullerton to support the relocation, expansion and enhance-ment of the Center for Oral and Public History. The $3.5 million project is one of two components of the Bringing the Past to Life history initiative spearheaded by the foundation.

The NEH grant is “a resounding vote of confidence in the Center for Oral and Public History,” noted National Humanities Medalist and American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellow Jacquelyn Dowd Hall, former director of the Southern Oral History Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “COPH already is among the best programs in the nation,” Hall said. “With this grant, it is poised to make a major leap forward. Once it has secured the archival and learning space it needs, it will be second to none in preserving the priceless stories of the past and pioneering new ways of using these stories in teaching and learning, both within and beyond the university.”

VAN HARTE SUPPORTS INITIATIVES AND OTHER EFFORTSRecent gifts from foundation board member Jeff Van Harte ’80, who recently made donations to three of the board’s five strategic initiatives — Meeting California’s Health Care Challenges, STEM and the Bringing the Past to Life history initiative — signal gaining momentum for fundraising efforts around these important programs. Van Harte also made significant donations to the university’s golf program, the tutoring center in the Mihaylo College, and created a $100,000 Student-Managed Investment Fund in the Mihaylo College Department of Finance. “Diverse, cross-campus giving like that demonstrated by Jeff makes him the latest example of being a true university citizen,” said Pam Hillman, vice president for University Advancement and executive director of the foundation.

TASK FORCE MEMBERS NAMED FOR HEALTH CARE INITIATIVENew task force members have been named for both projects of the foundation’s Meeting California’s Health Care Challenges initiative.

The nursing component, titled Confronting the Emerging Nursing Crisis, is chaired by Kerri Ruppert Schiller ’82 of CHOC Children’s. Additional nursing task force members include Terri Cammarano ’85 of Hoag Memorial Hospital; Deloras Jones of the California Institute for Nursing & Health Care; Steve Mihaylo ’69 of Crexendo, Inc.; John E. Miller of Merrill Lynch; Denise Giambalvo of Kaiser Permanente Orange County; Doug Simao of Ernst & Young; and several representatives from the university’s School of Nursing.

The assistive-technology component, titled Helping Our Seniors Amid the Silver Tsunami, is chaired by Joan Waltman ’85 of Partnerships in Change. Additional task force members include Lynn Daucher, formerly of the California State Assembly and the California Department of Aging; Jacqueline Dupont of Dupont Residential Care; Jan and Mike Frazier of Frazier Architects; Anthony Sandoval ’88 of Western Seniors Housing; David Slomovic of Sunnycrest Senior Living; Steve Wheeler of Ideal Life, Inc.; and several administrators, faculty members, and consultants from across the university.


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ENERGY-SAVING PROGRAM RECEIVES TOP AWARDCal State Fullerton’s Green Campus Program received a top award at the California Higher Education Sustainability Conference.

CSUF was awarded a Best Practices in Student Energy Efficiency Award. The University of California Office of the President selected award winners.

Recent projects of the Green Campus include assisting a lighting retrofit in McCarthy Hall and the Clayes Performing Arts buildings and developing course guides that provide students with a list of classes related to sustainability.

Members of Green Campus, from left, President Doug Moody, Vanessa Robles, Haroon

Rahmani and Keyur Ajmera, review a blueprint showing locations of light fixtures in

Pollak Library.

CSUF PROFESSOR AWARDED FOR TEACHING EXCELLENCEMabel T. Kung, professor of information systems and decision sciences, was presented with the 2010-2011 Carol Barnes Excellence in Teaching Award. The honor acknowledges faculty members who demonstrate academic rigor and teaching consistent with the goals and mission of the CSU system.

Kung’s professional career at Cal State Fullerton, which spans some 30 years, has been filled with “excellent teaching combined with superb scholarly research and service activities aimed at enhancing and improving teaching and learning,” said former President Milton A. Gordon.

Kung teaches some of the most difficult core courses in the business curriculum and still manages to engage and challenge her students, said James L. Dietz, former acting associ-ate vice president for academic affairs.

CAMPUS NAVIGATION IMPROVESVisitors to Cal State Fullerton will notice something different, as the university has launched an ambitious new signage project. “The new signs will aid in visitors and campus members finding their way around campus,” said Jay Bond, associate vice president of facilities management. The Academic Senate approved a resolution to implement a comprehensive, campuswide signage program to provide better guidance and to unify the campus. Signage also is a key part of the Titan Pride initiative.

STRATEGIC PLAN APPROVEDBefore his retirement, President Milton A. Gordon approved a campuswide, integrated strategic plan that outlines five themes – academic excellence, student success, intellectual climate, human resources, technology and facilities, and capacity building – in planning for the university’s future.

Beginning in 2008, development of the document was guided by Michael C. Parker, interim director of university planning and chief information technol-ogy officer and professor of counseling emeritus. He initiated a series of forums to lay a foundation for the plan. A Strategic Planning Steering Committee was formed earlier this year to analyze feedback from campus constituents, compile information from Parker’s efforts, prepare a draft plan and make presentations to various groups.

“As we use this plan to identify and implement strategies over the next five years, I invite the campus community to study the meaningful themes and directions outlined,” said Gordon in his introduction within the document. “These themes encompass Cal State Fullerton’s core values and define our path for the coming years.”


5Titan Athletics FORMER FOOTBALL COACH DIESFormer Cal State Fullerton and Fullerton College football coach Gene Murphy

died October 29 in Los Angeles. He was 72. Murphy coached at CSUF from 1980 through 1992,

when the program ended. Since 1993 he had coached at Fullerton College, most recently in a consulting role to Head Coach Tim Byrnes.

Most notable among his former players are quarter-back Damon Allen, pro football’s No. 2 all-time passing yardage leader, and Mike Pringle, the all-time leading rusher in the Canadian Football League. Murphy was

inducted into Cal State Fullerton’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009.He is survived by a 15-year-old daughter, Aileen, and her mother, Christine

McCarthy, as well as two adult sons, Tim and Mike, and four grandchildren.

HUNDREDS PAY TRIBUTE TO CSUF ATHLETES AND SUPPORTERSMore than 250 members and friends of the Cal State Fullerton athletics family celebrated this year’s Titan Athletics Hall of Famers on Oct. 1.

Honorees in the Class of 2011, from left, included one coach, Lynn Rogers (gymnas-tics), and three former players, Bruce Bowen (basketball), Susan Lewis-Newton (softball) and Brent Mayne (baseball). Two philanthropists, Jerry and Merilyn Goodwin, are not pictured. Prior to the ceremony, attendees recognized the 40th anniversary of an airplane crash that killed assistant football coaches Bill Hannah, Dallas Moon and Joe O’Hara on a scouting mission to San Luis Obispo.

TITAN ATHLETICS NEWS BRIEFSFormer Titan baseball player Kirk Saarloos (1998-2001) returns to his alma mater as pitching coach. n Head Athletic Trainer Julie Max received the Distinguished Trainer Award from the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine. The award honors an athletic trainer for distinguished service to the National Athletic Trainers Association and to the athletic training profession. n Seniors Nick Posthuma and Kevin Venegas are ranked in the Top 100 professional soccer prospects among 2011 collegians by TopDrawerSoccer.com. n Titan golfers have a new short game practice facility in the Titan Sports Complex, funded entirely by donors. n Former Titans playing Major League Baseball, including Justin Turner with the New York Mets, Vinnie Pestano of the Cleveland Indians, Mark Kotsay with the Milwaukee Brewers and Ricky Romero of the Toronto Blue Jays, have been interviewed about their careers and can be seen as “Titans in the Bigs,” at http://vimeo.com/fullertontitans.

For more information, please visit fullertontitans.com.

University New

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FORENSICS PROGRAM HOSTS ANNIVERSARY REUNIONThe Forensics Program will host a 50th anniversary reunion for squad members this year. Forensics alumni from through-out California and beyond are expected to participate.

In its 50-year history, the Forensics Program has qualified 40 teams for the National Debate Tournament, the nation’s most prestigious debate event. On more than a dozen occasions, Fullerton debaters have advanced to the elimination rounds at the national tournament. They have also garnered numerous speaker awards in debate competition.

Fullerton debaters have gone on to earn law and doctoral degrees, work for political campaigns, assist with nonprofit organizations, serve in the ministry and pursue a variety of other advocacy professions.

For more information about the reunion, please contact Robert Gass at 657-278-6269 or [email protected] or John Reinard at 657-278-3618 or [email protected].

At the National Debate Tournament in March 1993

at the University of Northern Iowa are, back row,

from left: CSUF debate team members and coaches

Jeanine Congalton, Chris Daley, Robert Gass and

Caleb Feeler; front row, from left: Eric Garcia, Greg

West and Heather Reynolds.


6

WE ARE CSU AND PROUD OF IT! The California State University is the country’s largest university system. Comprising 23 campuses, 412,000 students and 2.6 million alumni, it is a powerful network of dynamic individuals. The CSU Mixer at Dave & Buster’s in Arcadia on November 8 harnessed the strength of CSU alumni to bring together more than 200 CSU graduates from the campuses of Fullerton, Dominguez Hills, Long Beach, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Pomona. Initiated by alumni volunteers from Cal State Fullerton, this event promoted

networking among the campuses and built a web of connections for CSU graduates.

Alumni networking is key at any campus and is strengthened when multiple campuses come together to promote connections throughout the entire CSU family. The best part of this event is that a few engaged alumni came up with the

concept and brought it to fruition. “That’s the power of the CSU!” said Aaron Moore, director of Alumni Relations for the CSU Office of the Chancellor.

Dianna Fisher, executive director of the Cal State Fullerton Alumni Association, was equally excited about the collaboration. “The CSU Mega Mixer was an amazing demonstration of the power of the CSU alumni network,” Fisher said. “Graduates diverse in occupations and experience came together to help each other through professional outreach. I’m very proud of the Titan leadership who rallied other CSU schools to collaborate on such an effort.”

Dorissa Martinez ’00, Cal State Fullerton Alumni Association board member and president of the Hispanic/Latino Chapter, was similarly enthusiastic. “It was such a pleasure to meet so many CSU alumni. I am a very proud Titan,” Martinez said. “It was an amazing turnout, and we are already in talks to hold similar events in the future.”

The organizer of the CSU Mixer was Thuan Lam ’06, Cal State Fullerton Alumni Association board member and president of the Business Finance Chapter. “What was once a dream is now a reality,” Lam said. “It just goes to show that with enough Titan Pride we can accomplish anything. Go Titans!” fullerton.edu/alumni/event/CSUmixer

EXCLUSIVE SAVINGS ON AUTO AND HOME INSURANCE FOR TITAN ALUMNI

The Cal State Fullerton Alumni Association has partnered with Liberty Mutual to offer alumni an auto and home insurance benefit program. Participants can save hundreds of dollars on quality, comprehensive auto and home insurance. Here’s how:n Receive exclusive group savings on

already competitive rates;n Save even more on home insurance

when you insure both your car and home;

n Earn additional discounts based on your driving experience, car and home safety features; and more.

Whether you have an accident, need to file a claim or have routine business, Liberty Mutual offers flexible, convenient service and support. Liberty Mutual is one of the top 10 insurance companies in the nation and is ranked No. 82 on the Fortune 100 list.

To get a free, no-obligation quote, please call 888-960-2146 or visit LibertyMutual.com/fullerton.

These savings and discounts are available where state laws and regulations allow and may vary by state. To the extent permitted by law, applicants are individually under-written and not all applicants may qualify.

Alumni NewsFor the latest news and upcoming events of the Alumni Association, please visit www.fullerton.edu/alumni.

The power of the California State University system was on display

in November at a CSU Mixer, which drew alumni and staff from

six different campuses.


7Alumni Association

ALUMNI LOUNGE REDESIGNED WITH TITAN PRIDE IN MINDStudy lounge, walkway, napping spot or meeting place, the Alumni Lounge in the Titan Student Union has served many purposes for students, alumni and the campus community for the past 35 years.

Thanks to a collaboration of the Titan Student Center’s Governing Board, Alumni Relations office and the Cal State Fullerton Alumni Association Board of Directors, the Alumni Lounge has been reinvented in the spirit of Titan Pride. Wall-mounted displays now tell the story of our campus, its accomplishments and history, as well as the shared experiences of our students and alumni who have made an impact during the university’s past 54 years.

Original furniture has been replaced by new chairs, tables, state-of-the-art electronic power ports and computer information stations. A substantial wall-mounted timeline features the university’s proudest moments in history and numerous cases throughout the lounge highlight the meaning of Titan Pride, including Daily Titan news, student life through the years, athletic highlights, Alumni Association information and alumni stories.

Student and former Governing Board Chair Megan Morrison ’12 expressed her enthusiasm for the project. “I am eager to see the pride the lounge will create among current students, prospective Titans and the campus community,” Morrison said. “Cal State Fullerton students, past and present, have some incredible accomplishments that deserve to be recognized. The remodeled Alumni Lounge will showcase the achievements and history of our Titan community.”

Display areas with historical artifacts and Titan memorabilia will rotate periodically and introduce lounge visitors to treasures, including Titan football mementos, elephant race memorabilia, past yearbooks and notable Vision & Visionaries alumni honorees.

If you have your own Titan treasure that you would be willing to loan for the Alumni Lounge rotating displays, please contact the Alumni Relations office at [email protected] or 657-CSU-ALUM.

For more information, please visit fullerton.edu/alumni.

VISIONARY TITANS HONORED For nearly 20 years, Cal State Fullerton has honored distinguished and honorary alumni for their outstanding service to their community, state and nation with the Vision & Visionaries award.

Continuing the tradition in 2012, the 19th annual Vision & Visionaries awards gala will be held on Saturday, April 28 at the Hilton Anaheim.

Distinguished Alumni award-winners include: Randall Baumberger ’92 (MBA), president of Paramount Studios; Caecilia Gotama ’82, ’86 (B.S., M.S. engineering-mechanical), founder of Gotama Building Engineers Inc.; Becky Hamilton ’06 (B.A. communications-radio/TV/film), documentarian; Tony Ortega Jr. ’87, ’89 (B.A., M.A. English), editor-in-chief of the Village Voice; Raymond L. Thompson ’77 (B.A. theatre arts), head lighting designer for “The Young and the Restless” and Dale Raoul ’73, ’79 (B.A., M.A. theatre arts), actress; Jeffrey S. Van Harte ’80 (B.A. business administration-finance), senior vice president and chief investment officer, Focus Growth Equity, Delaware Invest-ments; and Verne D. Wagner ’77 (B.A. business administration-accounting), 20-year CSUF volunteer.

For more information on the honorees, or to attend the event, please scan using your smartphone

or visit visionandvisionaries.com for more information.

Alumni N

ews


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CommittedtoQuality

For Jack Bedell, a 40-Year Veteran

of CSUF, Education Extends

Beyond the Classroom

Story by Flor Edwards ’11 / Image by Matt Gush ’12


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Titan Pride Stories about individuals or programs that characterize the proud Titan tradition.

orty years ago, Jack Bedell caravanned cross-country from Cleveland, Ohio, in a ’65 Mustang and a new Ford wagon with his wife, two brothers, five-week-old

daughter, mother-in-law and six Siamese cats. They spent five days on the road, stopping to sleep at Holiday Inns along the way. En route to California, the Mustang’s air conditioning gave out and the Ford caught fire in Salt Lake City.

Bedell was not one to let obstacles keep him from achieving his goals. He had just been offered a job as an assistant professor of sociology at Cal State Fullerton, and he was going to arrive to his new life and job with guns blazing.

Fast forward to today, where you could say that the guns are still ablaze. Bedell’s resume – besides teaching – includes chairing four different academic departments and serving as the elected CSU systemwide Academic Senate chair three times. This year, he was elected for the sixth time as Cal State Fullerton Academic Senate chair, a campus record. He also holds many teaching awards, including Orange County Educator of the Year.

Bedell received his bachelor’s in sociology from Franklin and Marshall College in 1964. He went on to pursue graduate studies at Case Western Reserve University and earned his Ph.D. in sociology in 1971.

When Bedell was asked earlier this year to run for Academic Senate chair for the sixth time, he was honored. “It’s nice to help forge the future,” he said.

One of the major issues he sees facing CSUF this year is the ever-looming possibility of further budget cuts. Such cuts not only affect student enrollment, but also influence the hiring program to replace retired faculty, he said: “A drop in enrollment means a drop in access.”

And access is one priority of the Academic Senate. “We are concerned with academic quality, access and accountability,” Bedell said. He calls it “QAA.”

Quality ensures cutting-edge programs for graduates and that their degrees are worthwhile. “It’s about learning how to learn,” he said.

When it comes to access, Bedell noted, “If there’s no access, what good is a degree?” He believes that CSUF must increase the number of workers available for employment throughout the Southland.

Accountability, he said, is assessed through student learning programs. “How do we know students are grasping the material? How viable are our programs?”

Bedell said those three things – QAA – are embedded in the university’s mission and are made possible through student services.

“We need to lower the student-to-faculty ratio,” he said, con-cerning future improvements. “We have too many classes serving 40 to 50 students rather than 30,” and adds that part of his goal is to make sure appropriate resources go to class-size reduction.

Among the things that set CSUF apart from other CSU campuses, Bedell said, is its long tradition of collegiality and civility. “It’s reasonable people disagreeing reasonably,” he said. “We have a long history of valuing teachers and professors in the classroom and a growing tradition of emphasizing the relationship between teaching and research.”

He also noted that CSUF gives back to the community and is the nation’s fifth-largest awarder of degrees to Hispanics. “We want to be sure everyone has an equal chance at succeeding,” Bedell said. “Our accessibility commitment sets us apart.”

Bedell is looking forward to returning to teaching online classes in fall 2012, but until then will not be teaching owing to his duties as Academic Senate chair.

After many years in the classroom, his definition of a successful teacher is someone who can make any subject interesting. “A good teacher is an engaged teacher,” he said. “You have to be willing to take risks and be willing to present the material in a different way.”

His proudest teaching moment happens every year during commencement.

“I love commencement,” he said. “I love meeting families. When you are told that [a student] is majoring in your discipline because of you, or that you helped them choose a major, that’s a proud moment.” n

CommittedtoQuality

F

“We have a long history of valuing teachers and

professors in the classroom and a growing tradition

of emphasizing the relationship between

teaching and research.”


10Mike Anderson ’03 was sure that his art was for fun, but

now it’s part of his livelihood at Tankfarm Clothing.

TITANENTREPRENEURSIdeas, Enthusiasm and Energy Fuel Recent Alumni Business Ventures

Story by Flor Edwards ’11 / Images by Matt Gush ’12


11

In Focus Stories that take a close look at an issue, trend or subject that impacts the university and the com

munity beyond.

ecent graduates of Cal State Fullerton are setting the business world abuzz by applying what they’ve learned from faculty in the Mihaylo College of Business and Economics, as well

as other CSUF departments, and using it to create real-world entrepre-neurial ventures.

John Bradley Jackson, known as J.J. to his students, has coached many young entrepreneurs through the CSUF Center for Entrepreneur-ship. “All of us have good ideas,” Jackson said. “An idea is not a business, product or service. You have to prove that you can provide value and monetize it.” The purpose of the Center for Entrepreneurship, he said, is to take ideas and apply that principle.

His most important advice for hopeful entrepreneurs brimming with ideas is to talk to people about their dreams. “It’s typical that people want to keep their idea a secret,” Jackson said. “Sharing and getting criticism is hard.” But that constructive feedback is exactly what entrepreneurs need in order to succeed, he added.

“You have to start small, take baby steps and get validation that the idea is salable,” he said. After that, it’s up to the entrepreneur.

“Entrepreneurs have to have the spark and the guts to pursue their ideas,” Jackson said. Many entrepreneurial graduates of CSUF have done just that – and are now reaping the rewards of their labor.

Tankfarm Clothing/Mike AndersonMike Anderson ’03 (B.F.A. graphic design) is founder and owner of Tankfarm Clothing, a company that produces primarily a men’s brand of clothing, similar to Abercrombie & Fitch, along with some choices for females.

How He Got StartedAnderson’s grandfather owned a print shop in 1970. Anderson created drawings and cartoons, but he never thought that he could make a living that way. “I did art for fun,” Anderson said. He went on to pursue a B.F.A. in graphic design from CSUF. The NameThe name “Tankfarm Clothing” comes from a childhood memory of Anderson’s. Near his home in Cypress was a three-mile area of tank-ers where he and his brother rode their bikes for fun. They called it the “tank farm.” They started a record label in 2001 called “Tankfarm Re-cords.” They started making T-shirts and hoodies and “everyone really liked them,” Anderson said. The name stuck and Tankfarm Clothing was born. Now they sell to outlets such as Nordstrom, Pac Sun and local boutique stores and ship to Australia, Japan and Europe.

Best Advice“Get as much information as you can. Research and know if an idea is viable before you commit. Also, there is no such thing as an overnight success. Learn as much as you can along the way.”

R


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RealTimeOrdering/Jason KieferJason Kiefer ’08 (B.A. physics) comes from a long line of entrepre-neurs. His great-grandfather owned an amusement park in Ohio, and his grandfather owned a Volkswagen car shop in Orange County. Kiefer found the opportunity to start his own business while working part time at Subs Galore in Corona, Calif.

What It IsKiefer’s company, RealTimeOrdering, brings technology to the food industry by providing software and an online presence for restaurants seeking solutions for online customer ordering.

How He Got StartedIn 2002, Kiefer was a software programmer during the week and on the weekends worked part-time in the restaurant industry. “I decided to put the two together,” Kiefer said. He soon launched his website, RealTimeOrdering.com, and now provides restau-rants with a better way to serve their customers.

Where Is He NowRealTimeOrdering has nine employees, is in 26 states and serves 800 websites. Clients include Figueroa’s Pizza, Naked Pizza, Lazy Dog Café and Lampost Pizza. Kiefer recently turned down a lucrative buyout offer from a competitor. “After considering the offer we decided not to move forward with it,” Kiefer said. “It’s hard to put a number based on revenue. It’s hard to know where you’ll be three or four years from now.” He said revenue has more than doubled in one year. He plans to keep growing the technology by creating features like an iPhone app.

His Best Advice “Be driven. Trust in yourself. Don’t expect money right away. It takes time to develop a product, but it’s fantastic once you get there.”

Filmmaker/Becky HamiltonBecky Hamilton ’06 (B.A. communications-radio/TV/film) turned her passion into her vocation and went from a film student at CSUF to co-producing a Hollywood blockbuster.

How She Did It Becky moved to Hawaii in 2003 and met the Hamilton family soon after Bethany Hamilton, also known as the “Soul Surfer,” became famous when she was attacked by a shark and lost an arm. Becky married Bethany’s brother Noah and would become co-producer of the 2011 drama film “Soul Surfer.” “It just happened through relationships with the family,” Becky said. “Everything fell into place.”

How CSUF Helped Prepare HerHamilton recalls her adviser at CSUF, Shelley Jenkins, being a huge supporter. “[Prior to CSUF] I had no frame of reference on how to make a movie. The film department gave me a basic understanding and experience,” Hamilton said. “[Jenkins] was willing to share everything that she has learned. She challenged me to run for president of the TV and film society, and I’m glad that I did.”

Future Plans Hamilton said she is still busy with the production and marketing of “Soul Surfer,” which is now out on DVD, so she doesn’t have much time for anything else. She is looking to develop a TV series with her sister-in-law Bethany and husband, Noah.

“We’re working on the pitch,” Hamilton said. “It’s an adventure travel show involving traveling, surfing and humanitarianism.”

Her Advice for Future Filmmakers “Get involved with film production. Develop relationships. Go out there and make an effort. Show that you’re a good worker and learn about the business side of filmmaking.”

Bootlegger Brewery/Aaron BarkenhagenAaron Barkenhagen ’07 (B.A. business administration/entrepre-neurship) turned his class project into a real-life business venture during New Venture Creation, an entrepreneurship capstone class.

New Venture LaunchBarkenhagen used the business plan he created in 2007 in another capstone course, New Venture Launch, and with help from his dad, he introduced Bootlegger Brewery one year later to downtown Fullerton.

How It’s Different“Bootlegger Brewery is not a brew pub,” said Barkenhagen, who had been home-brewing for 10 years as a hobby before his entrepreneurial endeavor. “We have tasting on site, but it’s more like an open warehouse.” He said the idea is to build a brand name and have a production facility to send beer out to other locations. Some of his buyers include Vons, BevMo, Whole Foods and Total Wine. This year they doubled sales and production, making $1 million in sales. “It’s exciting to see things grow so quickly,” he said.

Best Advice “Just go out and do it! Don’t delay or wait until it’s perfect. Go and get it started. It’s important to get real-world feedback. You won’t succeed in everything. Go out and do something.”


13

In Focus

Swire Marketing Inc./Zack SwireZack Swire ’03 (B.A. business administration/marketing) started small with his “hybrid ad agency.” “It has evolved over the years,” Swire said, and today Swire Marketing Inc. employs 30 people.

What Makes It Different“We’re not trying to go after what everyone else is going after,” Swire said. In addition, he said Swire Marketing Inc. is a company that works on making its employees happy. “We constantly strive to challenge ourselves in the changing mold of the workplace, and it’s exciting,” Swire said. At the core of Swire’s company is a tele-communications agency that believes great design is critical. But ultimately Swire said his company seeks to create work to inspire others. In doing so, he said, he is inspired himself.

The Company’s Motto Live. Create. Inspire. “As a team we work hard,” Swire said. “But we make time for families and friends.”

The Most Difficult Part of Running a BusinessSwire said being in the role of leader and knowing his decisions

can affect a multitude of people is overwhelming at times. “The people side of it is the most difficult,” he said. He knows that not every idea should be brought to fruition; just because a decision has been made does not mean that it’s set in stone. “You can always change your course of ac-tion,” he said.

One curveball Swire faced when he was developing his agency was finding out that his wife was pregnant—with triplets! “That’s when I really started to think about things and got serious,” he said.

His Advice“Align (yourself) with key people – mentors, advisers. Get an outside perspective for an honest answer. Connect with professors. People want to be supportive.”

Counselor & Coach/Charles ChudabalaCharles Chudabala ’09 (M.S. counseling) found his niche to become a life-counseling coach when he was fulfilling the 3,000 hours of practice therapy required to complete his master’s in counseling.

The Best Thing About CSUFAccording to Chudabala, it’s the faculty. He remembers his adviser, Lee Abreu, convincing him to apply to a graduate

program. Iverson Eiken, who taught an advanced practicum class in psychology theory, was his favorite professor. “He never made me feel like I was wrong,” Chudabala said. “He taught me that [when it comes to psychology] every answer is a good answer.” Chudabala ranks Cal State Fullerton’s psychology department highly because of its hands-on approach and its accessible and personable faculty.

Now and ThenWhile fulfilling his hours as an apprentice at the The Center OC, Chudabala partnered with a classmate he met in the graduate program to start their own life-coaching practice. “It’s different from traditional therapy,” Chudabala said. “But it’s like any business. I have to set goals and priorities, collaborate with a partner and be open to ideas.” In the future, Chudabala wants to inspire others the way his professors inspired him. He plans to continue his studies and eventually teach at CSUF. He is often featured as a guest lecturer in life-coaching.

His Advice“Take every opportunity. Return all phone calls.” n

Aaron Barkenhagen ’07 used two capstone classes to develop his

real-life business venture, Bootlegger’s Brewery in Fullerton.


14

Reclaiming OurFuture

Why Immediate Support for STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics – Is Critical

Story by Cathi Douglas ’80 / Image by Matt Gush ’12


15

Cover Story

stronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson ’93 (B.S. chemistry), a veteran of both the Space Shuttle and International Space Station missions, is living proof that the study of mathematics and science can lead to successful

careers in space and beyond. Dyson, who received a Cal State Fullerton honorary doctorate in 2008, embodies the very essence of study in the STEM disciplines – science, technology, engineering and math.

Today, engineering student Johnny Bernal ’12 (pictured, left) is at the leading edge of students in the STEM disciplines now studying for careers – continuing Cal State Fullerton’s long tradition of success in the STEM fields.

It’s critical that more young people study STEM, because since the 1960s there has been a steady drop in U.S. students majoring in these disciplines. America’s failure to attract and retain students in these fields, the strength-ening of the talent pool overseas, and a number of global economic factors have contributed to the weakening of our country’s once-powerful role in research and development.

Cal State Fullerton’s $19.6- million STEM Initiative is a vital part of the solution to this dilemma, employing a unique, two-pronged approach that combines both teacher-preparation and higher- education components. (See details on page 16).

In 2011, Bernal spent his third summer interning at Boeing’s Long Beach headquarters as a C17 applica-tion programmer. After obtaining his first internship through the CSUF Career Fair, he started in the summer between his freshman and sophomore years and hasn’t looked back.

“On the job, I’m working on a team with people twice as old as I am,” Bernal said. “I learn through others, gain technical knowledge, rub shoul-ders with people in upper management. I’m proactive about seeking knowledge – I’ve learned to bring my A-game to the table in everything I do.”

More students must seek the same path, university leaders agree, because there aren’t enough like Bernal. The National Science Board confirms this, noting “a troubling decline in the number of U.S. citizens who are training to become scientists and engineers, whereas the number of jobs requiring science and engineering training continues to grow.”

In fact, the U.S. ranks 20th in the proportion of its college-age population that earns first university degrees in the natural sciences, according to “Rising Above the Gathering Storm,” a report by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine. “It is clear,” the report said, “that an inadequate supply of scientists and engineers can be highly

Story by Cathi Douglas ’80 / Image by Matt Gush ’12

A

Expedition 23 Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell

Dyson ’93 runs through procedures during a

fit check in the Soyuz TMA-18 spacecraft

that she, Soyuz Commander Alexander

Skvortsov and Flight Engineer Mikhail

Kornienko launched in April 2011 bound

for the International Space Station.


16

he Cal State Fullerton STEM Initiative, which calls for $3.6 million in annual Phase One support and an estimated $16 million in Phase Two projects, will help turn the

tide on the dwindling numbers of students prepared in science, technology, engineering and mathematics by enhancing teacher education in STEM fields, dramatically strengthening the university’s STEM-related laboratory infrastructure, and expanding specialized programs to get students into STEM degree programs and out to tomorrow’s workforce.

A teacher-preparation component of this initiative, based in the College of Education, is a direct response to the urgent nationwide call for effective mathematics and science teaching at all levels, including pre-K through grade 12.

Cal State Fullerton pledged in January 2010 to become part of the national “Educate to Innovate” campaign, an initiative that joins government agencies, businesses and universities in efforts to improve math and science education. As part of this campaign, the CSU has committed to doubling the number of science and math teachers the

system prepares by 2015. The higher-education components of this initiative reside in the colleges of Natural

Sciences and Mathematics and Engineering and Computer Science in preparing math, science

T

detrimental to the nation’s well-being.”Without re-establishing America’s ascendance in the STEM

fields, our ability to research, problem-solve and innovate is severely threatened. This innovation fuels our economic vitality – and even helps ensure our national security.

“We all benefit from investment in STEM,” said Claire Cavallaro, dean of the College of Education. “This is what drives our economy. Young people must be prepared to work in these fields, both here and abroad.

“We’ve always been the innovators – the ones to come up with the big ideas,” she added. “Young people need to think creatively to innovate in science and engineering.”

In California alone, the state has only about 50 percent of the workers it needs with the scientific and technological back-grounds to serve the industries that depend on those disciplines,

noted Robert A. Koch, acting dean of the College of Natural Science and Mathematics. “One example,” Koch said, “is that Los Angeles is a hub for medical devices technology – but we don’t turn out enough students to fill all those jobs.”

Firms require ready-to-work graduates to fill the positions, agreed Susamma Barua, associate dean of the College of Engineer-

ing and Computer Science. “That’s what industry wants – the kind of employees who can get started from the very first day.”

One of the many issues holding students back from studying the STEM fields is their reluctance to tackle rigorous mathematics courses, Barua said. That’s the reason for the university initiative’s emphasis on K-12 preparation, she said, so that students are calculus-ready

by the time they enter the university.In addition to the shortage of math majors, there are

significantly fewer well-prepared, well-qualified math teachers in the K-12 grades, said Paul DeLand, professor and past chair of the Mathematics Department. “We hope that the initiative will help us recruit more students, and we’re hopeful that we will continue to generate single-subject credential teachers in math,” DeLand said.

At the same time that the need has increased for STEM graduates, students’ fundamental skills in basic math and science have eroded during the past 30 years, noted Tim Woodington ’81,

Turning theTide

CSUF’s STEM Initiative Propels Students Through College and Into the Workforce


17

Cover Story

and engineering students for the modern workforce. Both colleges emphasize active, problem-solving education and provide oppor-tunities for research and exposure to future-focused equipment and protocols. The university is a pioneer in developing programs that encourage students to enter these disciplines and ensuring that they have adequate preparation to be successful.

The university’s approach is unique in that it embraces a comprehensive, integrated, multidisciplinary approach to be achieved through multiple efforts in two phases that address both teacher preparation as well as higher education components.

Phase OneCATALYSTThe CATALYST programs – through the Center for the Advancement of Research in Teaching and Learning Math and Science – bring together science and math education experts from seven departments in the colleges of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and Education to advance research in teaching and

learning across the entire spectrum of math and science education, from preschool through graduate education.

Endowed Fund for Undergraduate Research ProgramsStudents involved in faculty research projects tend to be more engaged with their studies, perform better in the classroom and demonstrate greater understanding of concepts taught in upper-division science courses. Cal State Fullerton seeks funding to provide scholarship support for undergraduates so students can devote substantial time to research projects and studies.

“Improving Math Proficiency Through Increasing Teacher Impact” ProjectTo help increase the pool of high-impact teachers of mathematics who create opportunities for all students to develop mathematical proficiency, this program provides for the annual recruitment and support of 40 local fourth- through 12th-grade teachers to attain National Board Certification, the highest benchmark of teacher quality.

’98 (B.S. physics, M.S. environmental studies), who teaches part-time in CSUF’s Physics Department. “With all our dependence on technology, it’s all the more important that we have people competent in STEM,” said Woodington, who also is program manager for Northrop-Grumman Electronic Systems.

Compa-nies like Boeing are investing heavily in scholarships and financial aid to attract and retain students in STEM undergraduate and graduate programs, said Mona Simpson, ’87 (B.S. engineering-mechanical engineering).

“We all benefit from investment in STEM.

This is what drives our economy. Young people

must be prepared to work in these fields,

both here and abroad.”

Claire Cavallaro Dean of the College of Education

Engineering student Johnny Bernal ’12 is at the leading

edge of students in the STEM disciplines now studying

for careers in those fields – continuing Cal State

Fullerton’s long tradition of success in STEM.


18

Project MISSProject MISS is honored frequently as a 20-year-old program designed to help underrepresented minority high school girls succeed in college preparatory mathematics at the algebra II level and above. The program has proven highly successful in improving math performance in its targeted audience and has increased the number of high school girls admitted to four-year colleges. Many Project MISS graduates matriculate to Cal State Fullerton.

STEM Professional Development InstitutesUnder the umbrella of the College of Education’s SchoolsFirst Center for Creativity and Critical Thinking in Schools, this program replicates the successful professional development model the center has utilized for the past four years in the area of arts instruction and expands it into STEM areas. This model provides training and support through intensive two- to three-day institutes taught by content specialists. What is unique is that the institutes bring together CSUF methodology faculty with master teachers and administrators from K-12 school sites, who then

together support student teachers in implementing best practices in science and math instruction.

Study 25-35 Many math and science students encounter difficulties when transitioning from high school or community college coursework to Cal State Fullerton. More than one-third are on academic probation or elect to change majors after one year. Many of the students need advising and academic tutoring. The College of

Chi Kieu of South

Junior High School

discusses a math

problem with Project

MISS tutor Neha

Arora, a senior

biological science

major and Project

MISS alumna.

Simpson, Boeing’s director of operational excellence-site services, noted that the company has provided $25 million nationwide toward STEM programs in the past year.

Attention to the STEM disciplines benefits Boeing as well as the broader business community, Simpson said. “We have very sophisticated products, and we’re always looking for talented people to help us maintain our strength,” she added.

“We’re at a point in our history when the U.S. Census says that we have more diversity than ever,” said Mark Ellis, chair and associate professor of secondary education. “It’s the perfect time to invest in education to tap the talent and potential for new ideas. If we don’t fund STEM initiatives now, we will miss the opportunity to move our country along. We’ll lose out and fall farther behind.”

“These kids are the future of the nation. And

STEM education is the pillar of nation-building.

Our ancestors did a great job in building the nation – now we need to

maintain it.”

Binod TiwariAssistant Professor of Civil

and Environmental Engineering


19

Cover Story

Natural Sciences and Mathematics has implemented Study 25-35, an academic early warning program that monitors students’ progress and makes them aware of the need to spend significant time studying beginning on the first day of classes, preferably 25-35 hours per week.

Program in Applied Biotechnology Studies (PABS)Cal State Fullerton has partnered with local industries to design a program that will meet our society’s growing need for a scientifi-cally and technically literate workforce through the Program in Applied Biotechnology Studies. The program prepares graduates for challenging and rewarding careers in the biomedical-device, biocomputing and biopharmaceutical industries. Students earning a master’s degree through this program have deeper understanding of the scientific principles behind biotechnology, and experience working on a team to solve an industry-assigned problem.

Dean’s Scholars ProgramThis College of Education program, similar to the CSUF Presi-

dent’s Scholars program, will provide fully funded scholarships in order to attract the “best and brightest” students into teacher preparation programs with a STEM emphasis.

Supplemental Instruction SupportIntroductory courses in sciences and mathematics often become an obstruction for STEM majors, and many STEM undergraduates need assistance to succeed in them. The College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics plans to institutionalize a proven approach for improving academic performance in selected introductory math and science courses through supplemental instruction. Students engage in active and cooperative learning activities, utilizing peer facilitators as resources.

Project ASPEN (After-School Educational Network)Funded in the past through grants from the Packard Foundation and the California Employment Development Department, ASPEN has established collaborative partnerships between CSUF, three community colleges in North Orange County and

Many of the students he teaches are the first in their families to attend college, noted Mike Loverude, professor of physics and CATALYST director. “To go on and get a degree in science or math is really impressive,” Loverude said. “They may not have had a lot of opportunities – and the STEM initiative is a great way to support them.”

The U.S. should be putting more money in STEM at the federal, state and local levels, said Nilay Patel, assistant professor of biological science. “Money in STEM is an investment in our future.

“Change should happen at the elementary, middle, high school and college levels,” he added. “These are the students who are going into the workforce in the next few years.”

Binod Tiwari, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, agreed. “These kids are the future of the nation,” Tiwari said. “And STEM education is the pillar of nation-building. Our ancestors did a great job in building the nation – now we need to maintain it.” n

Mona Simpson ’87, director of operational excellence-site services for the Boeing Company, notes that the people

and skills shortage is not unique to one company. “Many organizations are facing this as the baby boomers retire

and fewer young people pursue careers in STEM,” Simpson said. “Our work in this area is to inspire students to be

involved, to backfill that pipeline.”


20

organizations that provide after-school programs and workforce opportunities for disadvantaged youth. This is the largest-scale project of its kind in California. Based in the College of Educa-tion, there are two key components of ASPEN: the After-School Teacher Pathway program, which encourages after-school program staff to seek careers as STEM teachers, and improvement of the capacity of participating after-school programs to provide extended science learning opportunities for K-12 students.

EPIC (Enhancing Participation in Computing)The College of Engineering and Computer Science, in collabora-tion with Cypress College, Fullerton College and the Santa Ana Unified School District, has created Enhancing Participation in Computing (EPIC), a multifaceted partnership program to expand recruitment and increase retention of underrepresented students in computer science and computer engineering. The program’s emphasis is on populations underrepresented in the engineering and computer science sectors, such as women and minority students.

Engineering InnovationThe College of Engineering and Computer Science, in a cooperative program with Johns Hopkins University, launched Engineering Innovation in 2010. Engineering Innovation is an exciting college-level, four-week summer program for motivated high school students with an aptitude in math and science and an interest in – or at least curiosity about – engineering. Utilizing project-based learning methods, students learn to think and problem-solve like engineers while earning Johns Hopkins University credit equivalent to the Engineering 100 – Introduc-tion to Engineering course.

ECS Scholars ProgramScholarships based in the College of Engineering and Computer Science support students from populations underrepresented in STEM fields. First-generation college students, especially, face unique social and economic challenges related to pursuing engineering and computer science degrees. A major obstacle for this population is economic, with first-generation students

samples returned from the moon by the Apollo 11 astronauts in 1969. The idea that these rocks could provide insight into the formation and evolution of the moon and the solar system; that they could allow us to look back in time at solar and galactic cosmic ray activity; that they could yield clues as to the formation of the other rocky bodies in our solar system; that was pretty heady stuff! And I was hooked.

The return of lunar samples made it possible to ask new questions and required us to think in new ways – to devise new experiments and new experimental approaches and techniques. I can remember amazing collaborative and interdisciplinary efforts, working several days at a time, with only an average of three or four hours sleep per night.

In collaborating with a Caltech colleague in my postdoc-toral work, a particularly interesting challenge was to design and build an experiment that went to the moon on Apollo 17. I was still analyzing this experiment when I joined the Cal State

he National Science Board’s noting of the “troubling decline” in American students studying science and engineering makes me remember a very different time

when there was a burgeoning of student interest in these fields – namely the post-Sputnik era of the 1960s. National pride, wounded by the Russian success in “beating us into space,” drove the space race. And President John F. Kennedy in 1961 announced the breathtaking goal of landing on the moon within the decade – successfully met due to the infusion of national resources in science, math and engineering programs.

It was an exciting time for those of us already interested in these fields and encouraged by future job prospects.

I was recruited in graduate school to study the very first

GloryDays The Space Program’s Exciting Birth – And Meeting Our Current STEM Needs

Story by Dorothy Woolum

T

In 1973, Dorothy Woolum was involved

in analyzing some of the first rocks

to come back from the moon.

“It was heady stuff,” she recalls.

STEM/Reclaiming Our Future


21

Cover Story

balancing pursuit of college dreams with financial and family obligations. The ECS Scholars Program is a collaborative effort that has won the national Excellencia Semilla award for its exemplary and successful support of Latino student access to engineering programs.

Phase TwoThe second phase of Reclaiming Our Future serves as a unifying capstone to the extraordinary efforts of the first phase by con-structing new research and instructional laboratories; purchasing and servicing of major instrumentation and new equipment; and other support of faculty and student research facilities.

A new $75-million, 90,000-square-foot LEED gold-certified science facility, the flagship effort of this final phase, will significantly improve research and instructional programs. While state funds may support some of the capital costs of this project, it is estimated that an investment of $15 million in private support will be required for construction.

Since Dan Black Hall – the existing science facility – was constructed in 1994, CSUF has grown significantly. And during this period, the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics has grown by more than 50 percent. This rapid growth has placed great stress on the college’s lab facilities, and additional research space will be required to maintain the quality of the student research experience.

By providing additional, high-quality laboratory workspace, the center will substantially upgrade the learning environment and locate the college’s faculty and their students into adjacent spaces – eliminating scattering of labs across two buildings. A building with shared space creates an environment rich with potential collaborations.

An additional $1-million investment will fund new laboratory equipment, which is essential to performing many types of research and to training students for ready assimilation into the workforce. n

Fullerton faculty in 1973. It was involving CSUF students in this and future experi-

ments that kept me committed to the happy marriage of teaching and research until my retirement.

NASA continues to support my research. I am doing theoretical and experimental work in support of the space mission Genesis, dedicated to determining the elemental and isotopic composition of our sun, which represents the starting material of our solar system. We started planning for this mission in 1993. It was launched and spent between 2001 and 2004 at the Earth-Sun L1 Lagrangian point about 1 million miles from Earth, passively collecting energetic particles ejected by the sun in a variety of ultra-pure collectors.

On returning, the spacecraft released a sample return capsule, which entered the Earth’s atmosphere and made a heart-breaking hard landing as a result of a failed parachute deployment.

I was there for the return, and wound up spending the fol-lowing few weeks retrieving, identifying and preliminarily clean-ing the priceless shards from the Dugway, Utah, desert crash site.

It’s been challenging to eke out the solar wind data from the collectors, but we have answered some important questions. Prior to Genesis, with the exception of isolated small isotopic anomalies found in some tiny inclusions in meteorites and some cosmic dust, the solar system appeared to have been formed from a cloud of gas and dust, called the solar nebula, that was homogeneous. The Genesis isotopic results for both oxygen and nitrogen suggest that the solar nebula was not homogeneous. The terrestrial planets, moon, meteorites and comets appear anomalous compared to the sun. This will require significant re-thinking of our models of solar-system formation.

Our national commitment to space missions has waned since the glory of the Apollo days. We are funding less-expensive missions like Genesis. This may be reasonable, given other pressing issues.

Globally, we have real problems in keeping up with our energy needs, in feeding the ever-increasing population of this planet, in better forecasting and ameliorating the effects of natural disasters, in preserving the delicate balance of our widely varied ecosystems. We must refine atmospheric models and improve our understanding of the measures needed to avoid a catastrophic global warming, and improve health and health care management.

From my perspective, our planet’s health and our own health and prosperity makes it imperative that we educate more innovators and problem-solvers. We need a new national commitment to promoting STEM studies.

We now have a president who speaks to our problem- solving needs and to the value of promoting education – STEM education, in particular. In this economy, we also need to create jobs. What a happy conjunction! To paraphrase President Kennedy: Nothing will be more important… more difficult… more expensive. But all we need is the resolve and the commitment of resources to achieve our goals.

We can do it. And we can’t afford not to! n

Dorothy Woolum, a CSUF faculty member from 1973-2001, is a professor emerita and former physics chair who has served on a number of NASA and National Science Foundation proposal review panels and NASA advisory boards.


22 n 1993, a group of dedicated alumni and local business leaders galvanized to support Cal State Fullerton. Recognizing that state funding for CSUF could not keep pace, they realized that private

assistance would play an ever-more critical role in helping the university progress and grow. In that spirit, they formed what would become the Cal State Fullerton Philanthropic Foundation.

“Our mission was to support the university not only by raising funds but by enhancing its reputation within the community,” said Len Dreyer ’72 (B.A. business administration), one of the early board members. “We were looking for board members with influence who would, in turn, encourage others to support Cal State Fullerton.

“I always say there are two kinds of industry leaders,” Dreyer added, “the entrepreneurs who make risky moves and put together groups of people to achieve their goals, and then the leaders who, once the program is established, can take on the work of the entrepreneurs, refine it and ensure that guidelines and processes are in place.

“I think that’s what happened at Cal State Fullerton. The vice president for advancement at the time, Harry Gianneschi, was the entrepreneur – willing to try all kinds of things to see what would work. Once the ball was rolling, we needed more structure and that’s when Pam Hillman [now vice president for University Advancement] stepped in.”

Fast forward to 2010-11. With the need for private support growing as state funding declined even further, the board took on more active roles, engaging in a range of activities to support students, faculty and programs at CSUF.

The board has grown from six members to 30, with a greater diversity of talents and expertise. Through the years, the board drove institutional priorities, such as the growth of the College of the Arts, Mihaylo College of Business and Economics and renovations of the baseball field and alumni house.

Three years ago, with the hosting of a daylong strategic planning session involving the university, alumni and community, the Philanthropic Foundation board members began to be fully integrated into the very life of the university.

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23Leaders Help Launch Foundation Some of the community business leaders who helped launch the new foundation were:

n Steve Charton ’71, CEO, Don Miguel Mexican Foods n Len Dreyer ’72, CEO and chairman,

Marie Callender’s Pie Shops Inc. (retired)n Jerry Goodwin, owner, Goodwin Honda (retired) n George Golleher ’71, executive chairman and CEO,

Smart and Final Holdings Corp. n Milton A. Gordon, president, Cal State Fullerton n Betty Hutton, entrepreneur and philanthropist (deceased)n Jack Kidwiler ’74, president, United Park Services (retired)

This year, the board includes:n Dick Ackerman, Nossaman LLPn Wylie Aitken, Aitken Aitken & Cohnn Katherine Allred ’83n Robert Alvarado ’87, Angels Baseball LPn Bala Balkrishna ’78, Commercial Bank of Californian Jo E. Bandy ’94, Ingram Micron David D. Bowman, Department of Geological Studiesn Marilyn C. Brewer, California state assemblywoman (retired)n Gregory D. Bunch ’79, Ovation TVn David Doran ’75, White, Nelson & Company LLCn Annette Feliciani ’80, AEF Systems Consulting Inc.n Paul F. Folino, Emulexn Willie J. Hagan, Cal State Fullertonn Ed Hays ’89, Marshack Hays LLPn Pam C. Hillman, University Advancementn Gerald (Jerry) Johnston ’71, The Clorox Company (retired) n Jose Lara ’02, SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Unionn Steven G. Mihaylo ’69, Crexendo Inc.n John E. Miller, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smithn Julie K. Miller-Phipps ’83, Kaiser Permanente Orange Countyn Tam T. Nguyen ’05, Advance Beauty Collegen Eric Niu ’12, Associated Students, CSUF, Inc.n Geoffrey S. Payne ’80, Tahiti Partners Real Estate Development Corp.n Kerri Ruppert Schiller ’82, CHOC Children’sn Douglas H. Simao, Ernst & Youngn William Taormina, Clean City Inc.n Jeffrey Van Harte, Delaware Investmentsn Victoria Vasques, Tribal Tech LLCn Joan Tang Waltman ’85, Partnerships in Changen Mitchell J. Zehner ’83, Voit Commercial Brokerage

“As a result of that planning session, the foundation’s board of governors is now assisting the university in raising funds for five strategic initiatives,” Vice President Hillman said. “And they are leveraging their power to bring experts together to support these initiatives.”

The strategic initiatives include STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), Bringing the Past to Life (Center for Oral and Public History, Archaeo-Paleo Center), Titan Pride (capital improvements that will fundamentally change the university), Health Care (Nursing and CAT Lab) and South County Access. Board members have developed a task force for each initiative that includes deans, faculty, alumni and community members.

“I see the future of the board as being multi-dimensional: good stewards of our endowment, a powerful force for fundraising and a high-value university partner that participates in the responsibility of creating vision, achieving mission and build-ing a stronger, even more valuable university,” said Doug Simao, chair of the Philanthropic Foundation.

Managing the endowment is a top priority. To date, more than $32.3 million has been generated for the university’s endowment. Not bad for a fund that began with a $100,000 gift from The Irvine Company in 1985.

The board oversees the management and invest-ment of endowed and planned gifts. “The endowment is made up of more than 240 individual accounts created and funded by donors,” said Ira Unterman, executive director of advancement operations, who also serves as the foundation’s chief financial officer.

In the last five years, $2.52 million was allocated from endowment income and used by the university’s eight different colleges, as well as individual departments and programs to help fund scholarships, faculty research and development of academic programs. President’s Scholars, the Rick Muth Family Chair in Family Business and OLLI are a sampling of the programs which rely on endowment earnings each year.

While fundraising remains a critical goal, the board is also focused on community development and prioritizing areas and programs to benefit the university, its students and the community. The support from alumni and community members is felt campuswide, with support groups growing from five in the university’s early years to more than 30 today, and a dean’s advisory board in each of the eight colleges. n


24

DEANNA LYON ’69 (B.A. political science) has been honored once again as a

Northern California Super Lawyer. Lyon’s inclusion in the Thompson Reuters rating service and publication is her eighth such honor. Lyon is an attorney with the Oakland firm

of Wendel, Rosen, Black & Dean.

GARY S. GOLDMAN ’77 (B.S. engineering) serves as director of Pearblossom Private School

Inc., a distance-learning school serving grades K-12. Goldman also is involved in vaccine research.

WILLIAM J. PURPURA ’76, ’79 (B.S., M.S. engineering) presented the “Innovative Capa-bilities of Boeing’s Next Generation Net-Enabled Systems” at CSUF’s Technology Breakfast in November. Purpura is a senior system engineer

with Boeing’s Strategic Development and Experimentation division, where he focuses on next-generation net-enabled architectures and environments as well as development roadmaps for key technologies. A certified project management professional and profes-sional engineer, he also is an SEC-registered investment adviser.

BILL SHANNON ’78 (B.A. English) is a visiting scholar at Duke Uni-versity’s Fuqua School of Business. Last fall, he spoke on leadership and values to assembled Titan coaches and student athletes. Shannon is the former

chief wisdom officer/senior vice president at DaVita, a Fortune 500 health care company, and a health care executive at Duke. Currently teaching and consulting internationally, he also is part of the govern-ment of Australia’s International Advisory Board on Patient-Centered Care.

LINDA FALCONE ’84 (MBA) is president of the Institute for Professionals in Taxation,

an international organization dedicated to promoting the uniform and equitable admin-istration of state and local taxation of busi-nesses. Falcone is a director at Ryan, a leading global tax services firm, headquartered in Dallas, Tex. She joined Ryan in 2006 and launched the firm’s Charlotte, N.C. office.

CORINNE KANTOR ’86 (B.A. journalism) published “The Food Cop: Nutrition Guide and Workbook.” Previously a technical writer, Kantor has won several awards and is a registered dietetic technician. Her book is available on Amazon.com.

GORDON MACLEAN ’86 (B.A. business admin-istration-accounting) is audit partner at Irvine-based RJI Ramirez Jimenez CPAs. MacLean has 25 years of experience as a public accounting professional and spent 20 years at KPMG’s

Orange County office. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the California Society of Certified Public Accountants, and is chair of the board for Canyon Acres Children and Family Services. MacLean is an advisory member of the CSUF Executive Council and was honored in 2008 as one of the Mihaylo College of Business and Economics’ Alumni at the Top.

JULIE MAHLER HARRIS ’89 (B.A. communi-cations-advertising) published a children’s book about a blind horse who overcomes his disability and leads a productive life, titled “A One-Eyed Horse in a One-Horse Town.” Her book is available on Amazon.com.

CHERYL SAVALA ’89,’94 (B.F.A. graphic design, M.A. design) is founder, president and executive creative director of Tustin-based Menagerie Creative. The company was responsible for the packaging of “The Star Wars Saga” on

Blu-ray, released in September, which quickly became the highest-selling Blu-ray in history. Savala also is a part-time instructor in the CSUF Visual Arts Department.

Class Notes

60s

70s

80s

To submit news about yourself, please e-mail [email protected].


25

LORI VALLANDIGHAM BUTLER ’85 (B.A. com-munications), development director for the Boy Scouts of America’s San Diego-Imperial Council, is one of just 5,323 professionals worldwide holding the Certified Fundraising Executive certification. The CFRE distinc-tion certifies fundraising professionals who demonstrate the knowledge, skills and com-mitment to the highest standards of ethical and professional practice in serving the philanthropic sector.

JEFF WULBRUN ’84 (B.A. communications) is director of men’s basketball operations for Virginia Tech. Wulbrun, who served college coaching stints at Illinois State and Cal in the ’80s and ’90s, last served as head coach at Central Catholic High School in Bloomington, Ill. During the past 15 years, he has been in real estate, development and marketing in Bloomington. He also has been the chief operations officer of a custom home construction company for the past seven years.

YAMILA CASTRO ’98, ’02, ’06 (B.A., M.A. Spanish, secondary education teaching credential)

has been awarded an Apple of Gold for Excellence in High School Teaching by the Orange County Hispanic Education Endow-ment Fund. A Spanish teacher at Western High School, Castro was lauded for going “far beyond her teaching assignment to support Latino youth.” She accepted her award October 20 at HEEF’s 18th annual awards celebration in Anaheim.

Class Notes

MAKE A BEQUEST. You’ve made a lifetime of wise financial decisions,

and now you’re enjoying the rewards. Maybe it’s time to consider another wise

decision, a charitable bequest to Cal State Fullerton. Some of the benefits:

n Retain your assets and income during your lifetime

n Designate what you want: a percentage, a specific amount,

a specific property or all of your estate to Cal State Fullerton

n Provide future support for a college or a program, or honor

a loved one with an endowed fund in his or her name

n Experience the satisfaction of giving to Cal State Fullerton

For more detailed information about this opportunity, please contact

Joan Rubio, Senior Director of Major and Planned Gifts, at 657-278-5773

or email [email protected].

Getting older pays.Accrued assets and the wisdom

to use them well.

fullerton.edu/PlannedGiving

90s


26

LUKE GIBSON ’95 (B.A. business administra-tion-finance) exhibited his architectural pho-tography of Los Angeles, including images of some of his favorite buildings, in October at the L.A. chapter offices of the American Institute of Architects. With a lifelong inter-est in photography and architecture, Gibson studied photography at Santa Monica City College. “Los Angeles is an ever-changing cityscape,” said the L.A.-based photographer, “and there’s always something new to capture with one’s lens and imagination.”

MICHAEL HERNANDEZ ’98 (B.A. business administration-management) is California managing director of Pura Vida Tequila Company. Hernandez has played a leadership role in managing the growth of several prod-ucts, including the successful launches of such tequila brands as Corralejo, Casa Noble and Partida to the Western states. He earned his MBA from the University of Redlands.

LAUREL MUNSON HILTON ’93 (B.A. communi-cations-public relations), a writer and mother of two, was featured on KQED Public Radio’s Perspectives series in May, where she discussed balancing her roles as wife, mother and professional. Hilton lives with her family in the San Francisco Bay Area.

REX PETERS ’92 (B.S. physical education), baseball coach at UC Davis for the past nine seasons, is now assistant baseball coach at UCLA. Peters played at Cal State Fullerton and was both assistant and head baseball coach at Chapman University.

widely recognized expert on California politics who began his capitol career as a Senate staff member and recently retired from his position as executive director of the Center for California Studies at Cal State Sacramento. He is survived by his wife, Ruth Holton-Hodson, and a son. n EMMA HOLMES, professor emerita of the College of Education, died October 18. She was 86. Holmes joined the Cal State Fullerton faculty in 1961 as one of the first experts in math education for children. During her 36-year tenure with the College of Educa-tion, her achievements helped establish the Holmes Math Award, presented to a student who develops an exemplary master’s project in mathematics. Her generous gifts to the college include an endowment to fund the award in perpetuity and the establishment of two annual scholarships. She is survived by two sisters and a niece. n WAYNE V. HUEBNER, professor emeritus of English, died September 27 at the age of 87. Huebner was on the CSUF faculty from 1968 to 1990. His doctoral work specialized in 18th-century satire, but later his focus shifted to the his-tory of the English language and Chaucer. He is survived by his wife, Dolores, and their two children, Karla and Todd. n KARL H. KAHRS, professor emeritus of political science, died Aug. 7 at the age of 80. Born in

Germany, Kahrs immigrated to the United States in 1959 and returned to school, receiv-ing a doctorate in political science from UC Santa Barbara in 1969, then joined CSUF in fall 1969. Kahrs was awarded emeritus status in 1994. He is survived by his wife, Christina Brewer-Kahrs, and son, Till. n EILEEN D. JOHNSON LANGSDORF, widow of founding CSUF President William B. Langsdorf, died June 7 at the age of 91. She is survived by her son, William, and his wife, Mary; son-in-law, Stephen Haiman; grand-children, Meghan and Mary Langsdorf, Wade Haiman and his wife, Wendy Haiman and her husband, Jon; great-grandchildren, Carlos and Kayli Haiman, and Olivia, Ty and Abby McEvoy; her brother, Wayne Johnson and his children, Duke and Kip Johnson, and Linda Johnson Mahlow. n DARLENE PAGE, a former campus em-ployee who worked in Financial Aid, died Feb. 20. n DENNIS L. SCHRODER ’71 (B.A. business administration) died July 30 at age 64. After serving in the Army in Vietnam, he earned his associate degree in business administration from Cerritos College, his bachelor’s degree from CSUF and his MBA from Pepperdine University. He retired from Lamb Weston in 2003. Schroder is survived by his wife, Deborah, and his three children, Cole, Connor and Carly.

In Memoriamn ROBERT M. BARATH, professor emeritus of marketing, died June 27. Barath joined the university in 1974 and served on various committees and taught on campus for 27 years. Barath is survived by his wife, Janet; his brother, James; sons, David, Robert and Christopher; daughter, Lynn; and grandsons, Jacob and Samuel. n GERALD BREM, professor emeritus of geological science, 66, died July 11. Brem joined the campus in 1976 and served for 28 years, teaching courses in mineral and crystal-lography, petrology, petrography, physical and field geology. He is survived by his wife, Shira, and children, Lindy and Matthew. n MIKE CAMPBELL, former CSUF golfer and longtime volunteer in the Titans’ equipment room, died June 18. He was 53 years old. Campbell is survived by his parents, Malcom and Ann; brother, Larry; and sister, Lori. n KATHLEEN GRIFFITH, a former campus employee who served in Human Resources, died June 16 at the age of 89. Griffith is survived by her daughter, Linda McCollum, administrative support assistant II emerita, who served on campus from 1966 to 2005. n TIM HODSON ’72 (B.A. political science) died October 25. He was 62. Hodson was a


27

Zombies, time travel, pirates, Romantic-era poets, Egyptian gods, vampires and the ghost of a famous inventor all color the works of Tim Powers ’76 (B.A. English), whose novel “On Stranger Tides” was used as the framework for the fourth “Pirates of the Caribbean” film, released in May 2011.

“On Stranger Tides” featured a band of pirates, the infamous Blackbeard included, seeking out the mythical Fountain of Youth. Disney optioned the book for the big screen, sending Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow along for the ride.

“It is great fun,” Powers said. “You figure lots of people are hearing about my book that wouldn’t otherwise. You get to imagine that maybe Johnny Depp will read it.”

Prior to penning tales of buccaneers, Powers, along with friends James Blaylock ’72, ’74 (B.A., M.A. English) and K.W. Jeter ’73 (B.A. sociology), fathered the science fiction sub-genre, steampunk. Steampunk places technology that would not otherwise exist into the Victorian era, powering it with steam, essentially building off of the works of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells.

“When we were writing stories in those days, we wanted to mess around with that era, loosely speaking,” Blaylock said. “None of us had the idea that we were writing in some variety of sub-genre.”

Steampunk has since exploded in popularity, breaking into movies and television, with conventions hosted all around the world dedicated to the genre.

While at Cal State Fullerton, the three budding authors became great friends with noted author Philip K. Dick. “All of us kind of hung out together,” Powers said. “We would get together and drink scotch and smoke cigars, and though you’d think, with Phil Dick, and Blaylock and me and Jeter that it would have been a lot of writing talk, but in fact it was not. Sometimes we’d say, ‘Oh hell, I got a rejection letter from Ballantine,’ and Phil Dick would always say, ‘It’s just as well; there are too many books in the world already,’ which we’d take comfort from.”

The Pollak Library houses part of the Philip K. Dick manuscript collection and all the first editions of his work.

Apart from authoring books, Powers also teaches creative writing to aspiring young writers at Orange County High School for the Arts. n

Spotlight

Powering an Alternate Past

Story by Christine Amarantus ’11 /Image by Matt Gush ’12

LUCY SANTANA-ORNELAS ’95 (B.A. criminal justice) was named a 2010 Latina Leader in Business by the Imagen Foundation and the Dolores Huerta Foundation. Santana-Or-nelas was among 19 people honored at a fall 2010 event in Washington, D.C. Congress-woman Loretta Sanchez nominated her for her expansion of Girls Inc., a nonprofit organization that strives to empower girls and guide them toward future success.

DALLAS STOUT ’94 (B.S. human services), a part-time faculty member in the Child and Adolescent Studies Department, was hon-ored with the OC Substance Abuse Preven-tion Network’s Linda Kearns Community Prevention Award during the organization’s Showcase of Community Prevention Efforts in Costa Mesa.

JEREMY WHITAKER ’98 (B.A. business ad-ministration-accounting) is chief financial officer of Lantronix, an Irvine-based global provider of smart connectivity solutions. Whitaker was previously vice president and corporate controller

at Mindspeed Technologies and formerly served as an audit manager at Ernst & Young. He earned a master’s degree in accounting from Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business.

RANA DUSZYNKSI ’05 and ROSANNE KULJU ’05 (both B.A. business adminis-

tration-accounting) have been promoted to managers of the tax department of Haskell & White, one of Southern California’s largest independently owned accounting, auditing and tax consulting firms. Both Duszynksi and Kulju have worked for the firm for more than five years.

Class Notes • Spotlight

00s


28 ROMAN HERNANDEZ ’03 (B.S. computer science) was a recipient of this year’s CSUF Outstanding Staff Award. Inspired by “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” a memoir about an editor who suffered a severe stroke, Hernandez helped develop equipment to facilitate communication for Albert Flores, a professor who suffers from major brain stem damage. The award is the highest honor bestowed on a university staff member. Hernandez is an adaptive tech-nology specialist for CSUF’s Disabled Student Services.

ERIKA JENKO ’08 (B.A. journalism) recently had her first play, “Princes Don’t Live in Cyberland,” produced at Hol-lywood’s ComedySportz Theatre and the Actor’s Circle Theatre in West Hollywood. A three-woman show, the play is about Jenko’s childhood growing up with Disney fairy tales and believing in “happily ever after.” “After years of bad dating habits, I decided to look inward and figure out why I kept making the same mistakes over and over again,” Jenko said. onceuponareality.com

RICHARD J. MORROW ’01, ’10 (B.A., M.A. communica-tions) is brand strategist at ParkerWhite Brand Interactive in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Calif. Morrow spent five years as marketing manager at Jaken Co. Inc.

BRENT STEINBERG ’08 (B.F.A. art-entertainment art/animation) won a special visual effects Emmy for his CGI artwork on “Gettysburg,” a History Channel miniseries. Steinberg works for Stargate Studios, a Los Angeles firm that provides visual effects, virtual backlot and produc-tion services for feature films, television and commercials worldwide. The award-winning company works on some of television’s most popular shows, including “The Walk-ing Dead,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “The Event,” and has worked on “24,” “ER” and “Heroes.”

DEBRA L. STOUT ’00 (B.S. human services) was presented with a 2011 OC “Women Making a Difference” award by California State Senator Lou Correa and California Superintendent of Education Tom Torlakson. Stout co-founded DoctorS Nonprofit Consulting with her husband in 2004, working with nonprofit programs countywide.

BRANDON TARNOW ’08 (B.A. business administration-marketing) is brand manager for Mitsubishi Digital Elec-tronics America, where he concentrates his nearly 10 years of marketing experience on increasing brand and product awareness for the company’s products using digital media.

MATT WEIDLER ’05, ’08 (B.A., M.A. political science) was awarded a $10,000 credit union industry prize for innovation and was featured in American Banker. Weidler has designed a process through which credit union members could use mobile phones to authenticate ATM transactions.

aughter and fun echoed inside “Mr. Cal’s” classroom, the exuberant atmosphere contrasting with the expected seriousness of a high school class in advanced calculus.

To those who know Sam Calavitta ’98 (M.A. mathematics), this playfulness is true to form as a self-proclaimed unconventional teacher who uses his own “Cal Method” to get students energized about learning math.

During the 8 o’clock class at Fairmont Preparatory Academy in Anaheim, “Mr. Cal,” as his students call him, paces in front of the class, calling out calculus problems like a game show host. He leaps on top of a desk, challenging his students to answer the advanced problems he scribbles on the whiteboard. His students, whooping and hollering, rattle off the correct answers.

Then the bell rings, the room quiets, and Mr. Cal sends his students out: “Have a wonderful day!” The kids respond in unison, “Have a wonderful day, Mr. Cal!” And, exit Room 6.

The CSUF alumnus goes to extraordinary measures to make sure his students not only “get the math,” but also feel a sense of accomplishment and self-worth.

“Contrary to popular belief, brilliance is not a prerequisite for learning math. Rather, perseverance and diligence over time can certainly equalize, and even surpass, innate ability,” said Calavitta, who has taught everything from remedial math to advanced calculus.

L

Making Math Matter Sam Calavitta’s “Cal Method” Makes Math Come Alive

Making Math Matter Sam Calavitta’s “Cal Method” Makes Math Come Alive

Story by Debra Cano Ramos ’84 / Images by Karen Tapia


29

Titan Profile Stories about interesting, prominent, successful or provocative faculty, students, alum

ni and friends of CSUF.

“I teach my students to never, never, never give up! My job is to be the inspirer, to nurture students to master math, and to manufacture success that will transform students’ lives.”

Calavitta, a teacher in public and private schools for more than two decades and now a master teacher at Fairmont, has captured his classroom experiences and his “Cal Method” of teaching in a recently published book, “Making a Difference: Award-Winning Math Teacher Changes the World One Student at a Time” (2010 Shumway Publishing Co.). He co-wrote the book with his wife Monica Vaughan Calavitta. A screenplay based on the book is now in the works.

His latest book, “35 Weeks to Calculus Mastery,” is not just for math teachers, but for high school and college students as well. Calavitta co-wrote the self-published book with former student Carolyn Shen.

Calavitta landed his first full-time teaching job in 1989 at a high school in Victorville, where he grew up. It was a challenging time, but eventually he earned the respect of his disengaged students. In the end, they became his first successes.

It was during that time he honed his teaching approach to ensure all his students realize their potential. Calavitta first makes them feel important, then engages them in academics through games, drills, activities and quizzes that reinforce the

math concepts.An Ironman triathlete who today competes with two of

his older children, Calavitta first came to Cal State Fullerton in 1985 to join the wrestling team. But he completed his undergraduate degree in mathematics and physical science at Cal State San Bernardino.

After several years of teaching, he returned to Cal State Fullerton in 1997 to earn a master’s degree in mathematics. Calavitta attended evening classes, worked three jobs, including his teaching post, and had four young children. His wife was expecting their fifth child. Today, the couple has nine children, ages 3 to 21. The eldest, Ciena, is a Cal State Fullerton kinesiology major.

The alumnus recalled how his professors, including Stephen W. Goode, chair and professor of mathematics, helped him to be successful in graduate school. “Dr. Goode totally inspired me,” Calavitta said. “The impact he had on me was great. His standard for excellence never wavered. He challenged me to become the best I could be — and he inspired all of his students to always give their best, which is what I do with my students here.” n

The Cal Method http://thecalmethod.com/site/method/method.html

Sam Calavitta often leaps, shouts and gesticulates to make

a point in his classes at Fairmont Preparatory Academy in

Anaheim, where he is known to call out calculus problems

like a game show host.

Front & Center 8 P.M. HONDA CENTER

Rock legends Heart headline Front & Center, Cal State Fullerton’s 17th annual gala with net proceeds benefitting student scholarships and programs. Broadway actor, singer and Cal State Fullerton alumnus Dashaun Young serves as master of ceremonies. Tickets start at under $20. For more information, call 657-278-3480. n frontandcenterevent.com

Hollywood’s Biggest Night4 P.M. PRE-SHOW / 5 P.M. SHOWTIME ULTRALUXE CINEMAS AT ANAHEIM GARDENWALK

Will Billy Crystal do an opening musical act? Walk the red carpet at a viewing celebration with all the glitz and glamour you expect from Hollywood’s biggest night. New this year, enjoy access to the UltraLuxe Lounge for dinner. Sponsored by the College of Communications, this event sold out last year, so purchase your tickets today. Advance ticket prices are $15 for alumni and the general public and $10 for students; $20 at the door. Prizes will be given for the Best Dressed and Best Celebrity Look-a-like. To purchase your tickets or for more information, please visit fullerton.edu/HollywoodNight.

Vision & Visionaries 6 P.M. RECEPTION / 7 P.M. DINNER HILTON ANAHEIM

Honoring the achievements of outstanding university alumni, this black-tie-optional gala features original Broadway-style musical tributes by students from Cal State Fullerton’s award-winning Department of Theatre and Dance. For tickets and additional information, please contact the Office of Major Events at 657-278-3480. n visionandvisionaries.com

University Advancement2600 Nutwood Ave., Suite 850Fullerton, CA 92831

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