The Magazine of San Diego State University Fall 2016

PORTRAITS OF COURAGE FROM THE The Magazine of San Diego State University (ISSN 1543-7116) is published by SDSU Marketing & Communications and distributed to members PRESIDENT of the SDSU Alumni Association, faculty, staff and friends.

Editor: Coleen L. Geraghty Editorial Contributors: Michael Price, Tobin Vaughn, Doug Williams Art Director: Lori Padelford ’83 Graphic Design: John Signer ’82 SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY Elliot Hirshman President DIVISION OF UNIVERSITY RELATIONS & DEVELOPMENT Mary Ruth Carleton Vice President University Relations and Development Leslie Levinson ’90 Chief Financial Officer The Campanile Foundation Greg Block ’95 Chief Communications Officer Leslie Schibsted Associate Vice President Development Amy Harmon Associate Vice President Development Jim Herrick Assistant Vice President Special Projects Photo: Lauren Radack Chris Lindmark Assistant Vice President Campaign, Presidential and Special Events Here at San Diego State we live the ethos This issue of 360 presents stories of “Leadership Starts Here” and seek to courage. SDSU alumnus Joe Kiani, a We welcome mail from our readers. 360 Magazine develop the next generation of leaders. Our medical device entrepreneur, is leading Marketing & Communications students are the leaders who will tackle a critical effort to eliminate preventable 5500 Campanile Drive San Diego CA 92182-8080 the challenges facing our broader society— deaths in hospitals. Also in the health field, E-mail: [email protected] from the environmental effects of global public health professor Heather Corliss is Read 360 Magazine online at warming to the political and social divisions working to reduce health disparities and to www.sdsu.edu/360 that divide us, among many others. ensure equal access to health care. Periodical postage paid at San Diego, CA Volume 23, No. 3, copyright 2016 San Diego State University Through our Jeffrey W. Glazer Center This issue also introduces you to Student Circulation: 60,000 for Leadership and Service, we offer our Veteran Organization president Jonathan Postmaster: students a leadership minor, a leadership Reiland—deployed twice as a Marine and Send address changes to: San Diego State University certificate, an annual SDSU Leadership finding new satisfaction in working toward 5500 Campanile Drive Summit and many other opportunities for a greater purpose—and alumni Jennifer San Diego CA 92182-8035 [email protected] leadership development and training. Stafford and Sam Hodgson, who overcame challenges to succeed academically Opinions expressed in 360 Magazine are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily One of the essential attributes of and professionally. represent the views of the university administration leadership is courage. Courage is often nor those of The California State University Board of Trustees. defined as the ability to face challenges I hope you enjoy this edition of 360: The without fear. It is a special attribute that Magazine of San Diego State University and Gold medal winner, Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) allows us to maintain our course when that these stories of courage inspire each unexpected challenges arise and to sustain and every member of our community. our values even when others attack them. It is the ability not to eliminate fear but to put it aside and move forward, so we can serve a higher, more enduring purpose. Elliot Hirshman FEATURES 10

PORTRAITS OF COURAGE The hearts of the courageous are forged in the obstacles they overcome, refusing to lose sight of what’s right and what’s just. This issue of 360 features stories of four courageous Aztecs who fight to make the world a better place for themselves, their families and their communities.

10 THIS IS PERSONAL

12 NO MORE ERRORS

14 A GENETIC RESILIENCE

16 A SEPARATE PEACE Photo: Lauren Radack 18 18 Shooting Stars Sam Hodgson, (‘06), is documenting the 2016 presidential campaign for the New York Times. DEPARTMENTS 4 COMPASS News from campus

8 HORIZONS The First Californians

22 AZTECS IN MOTION 24 Advantage Aztecs 24 GIVING BACK Ellen’s Fingerprints

26 ALUMNI ANGLES Class Notes, In Memoriam

30 COMMON CHORDS Traces of the First Campus Compass

4 FALL 2016 | sdsu.edu/360 Elephant whisperer

Biology major Tori Parker has been an advocate for animal rights “for as long as I can remember.” She spent part of the summer at the Elephant Nature Park, a rescue and rehabilitation center in northern Thailand for elephants who’ve been injured, mistreated or displaced by logging operations.

As a volunteer, Parker fed, bathed and cared for the rescued elephants. She developed a special bond with Yay Bua, a 70-year-old resident of the park. Parker’s trip was also about learning to understand a different culture and exploring career options. “Now I know that I want to be a person who can help the voiceless,” she said.

s Back to its roots

In 1968, a 35-foot California sycamore tree, donated by Alvarado Medical Center, was placed by crane into the lower level courtyard of Aztec Center, the first student union in the California State University system. There, in the heart of the San Diego State University campus, it provided shade, comfort and a meeting space for students, faculty and staff.

But student needs evolve, and campuses change to accommodate them. Plans to construct a larger student union on the site of Aztec Center meant finding a new home for the tree, which was not healthy enough to be moved and replanted. Instead, Associated Students (A.S.) decided to salvage wood from the tree and commissioned artist Aida Valencia to create a mosaic for A.S. Council Chambers in the new Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union.

“This university really prides itself on legacy,” said Vanessa Girard, operations chair for the student union board. “Taking something from the old Aztec Center and having it come to fruition in this beautiful new building carries on a tradition.”

Photo: Sandy Huffaker Jr. [email protected] | 360 MAGAZINE 75 Compass

Sign of the times Meteoric rise

For decades, linguists, psychologists and neuroscientists San Diego State University has moved up 37 spots have explored how our brains shape the fundamental in just five years in U.S. News and World Report’s syntactic building blocks common to all languages. In rankings of America’s Best Colleges. New rankings these studies, sign languages have been underexplored, released in September put SDSU at No. 146 among according to San Diego State University neuropsycholo- universities nationwide and at No. 74 among public gist Karen Emmorey. universities. U.S. News & World Report also named SDSU a top 20 national university for students “Only by studying sign languages is it possible to graduating with the least amount of debt. discover which linguistic rules and constraints are universal to all human languages,” she said. This year for the first time, SDSU achieved another significant recognition, making the Princeton Review’s A $280,000 grant from the National Science Foundation cut of best institutions for undergraduate education. will allow Emmorey and her colleagues to delve into the intricacies of sign language, breaking down signs These listings are based on surveys of 143,000 students into their basic phonological features, then creating a attending 2,500 four-year colleges across the country. searchable public database for more than 2,500 signs. Students rated everything from their financial aid to The project, ASL-LEX, will allow scientists to uncover on-campus food, and only about 15 percent of America’s never-before-seen linguistic connections. four-year colleges made the cut.

Barnacle buildup

The coating of barnacles and other growth along the bottoms of boats is more than just an eyesore. Biofouling, as it is known, slows down ships and impedes the readiness of emergency response and military vessels. It’s an economic issue.

A new study by San Diego State biologist Nick Shikuma identifies key developmental steps these waterborne organisms must take to metamorphose from their larval to adult state. Understanding the process could lead to new technologies to prevent the organisms from attaching to ships in the first place.

On a broader scale, Shikuma’s findings elucidate the complex, intricate and largely understudied interactions between animals and bacteria. There are likely many other developmental processes and health effects influenced by these interactions—in humans as well as other animals—that have yet to be discovered.

“Tubeworms serve as a model organism to understand how bacteria can orchestrate the dramatic development of animals,” Shikuma said. “It’s largely unknown how the interaction between bacteria and animals leads to normal development, health and wellbeing.”

6 FALL 2016 | sdsu.edu/360 Photo: Nick Shikuma A new class of heroes

Twenty years ago in November, San Diego State University dedicated the campus War Memorial to honor veteran alumni who have died in service during the nation’s military conflicts. Four more names will be added this year to the 235 already etched into the face of the granite obelisk.

Capt. Michael Jack Crawford (’64) received the Distinguished Service Medal after serving as an Air Force navigator during two tours of duty in Vietnam. He was killed in 1970 during a training flight.

First Lt. William Davis (’03) was awarded the Air Force Achievement Medal for outstanding achievement in the SDSU ROTC program. He died in an air crash while training in 2006 during Operation Enduring Freedom.

U.S. Navy Lt. Christian John Hescock was a student in the College of Extended Studies. He died in 2007 piloting a heli- copter in a training flight during Operation Enduring Freedom.

U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Jason James Paynter (’01) served four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan during his more than 20 years in the military. A flight instructor based at Naval Air Station Pensacola, he was killed in 2010 on a training mission during Operation Enduring Freedom.

Photo: Jim Brady [email protected] | 360 MAGAZINE 7 Horizons The First Californians. Todd Braje and Jillian Maloney are searching for signs of a civilization lost to the tides.

By Michael Price

Twenty thousand years ago, the west coast of the North American continent looked very different than it does today. During a geological period known as the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), temperatures were cooler and sea levels were about 120 meters lower, exposing thousands of miles of coastline that today are underwater. Anthropologists also know that around this time humans first migrated down the Pacific coast.

Any traces these first Californians left behind now lay several miles offshore, con- cealed by the ocean and layer upon layer of sediment that has built up over time. Using a combination of state-of-the-art sonar equipment and well-honed archaeological intuition, a team of researchers led by San Diego State University archaeologist Todd Braje and geoscientist Jillian Maloney is searching for the long-lost dwelling places of these early settlers.

“We don’t really know anything about these early migrants between 20,000 and 13,000 years ago,” Braje said, “other than that they were probably coastal, maritime foragers.”

8 FALL 2016 | sdsu.edu/360 Photo: Phil Schermeister/National Geographic Creative W HAT LIES BENEATH The result was a map of the ancient coast- line that slowly unfolded in real-time before Nothing as permanent as buried ruins the researchers’ eyes. “The map comes remains. Instead, the researchers are look- creeping across the screen like a waterfall ing for resource-rich submerged landforms. and you’re just on the edge of your seat,” “We’re looking for where a river may have Maloney said. “It’s exciting.” cut across the land, or for an estuary, or an ancient cliff,” Maloney said. During the first cruise aboard the R/V Shearwater, the researchers were taking Other tantalizing geological formations broad measurements, not sure what they would be places where tar seeps from the would find. Armed with these preliminary ground, as tar is useful for sealing boats, maps, their second cruise on the R/V Point Braje added. “We’re interested in environ- Loma focused more heavily on promising ments that would have been attractive to geological features like underwater valleys early human settlers.” and channels.

Additionally, the researchers are consulting “We’re seeing a lot of really cool geology with Native Americans from the Chumash and submerged landforms that could have tribe. These early settlements are part of been really important to the early people their cultural heritage, he said, and their who would have been living on the island,” insights and oral histories can help guide Maloney said. the archaeology. T REASURE HUNTERS Earlier this year, Braje and Maloney, along with colleagues from the University of The most exciting finds are what she California, Santa Barbara, Oregon State refers to as anomalies along the edges of University, the University of Oregon, the some underwater channels. These might Scripps Institution of Oceanography and a be—heavy emphasis on “might”—ancient handful of federal agencies embarked on garbage piles known as middens. Such a pair of research cruises to the Channel middens are considered the holy grail for Islands of California. During the LGM, these archaeologists, as they could contain well- islands were much larger and their shore- preserved animal bones, human excrement, lines would have been closer to one another tool shards, and any number of important and to the mainland—but nobody knows paleontological clues. what they looked like back then. “If these are indeed middens, it would be “We know more about the surface of the huge, like finding buried treasure,” Maloney moon than we do about submerged land- says. “We’re like treasure hunters, but for forms right off our coasts,” Braje said. trash piles.”

B ELOW THE SURFACE Next spring, the researchers will return to the islands with coring equipment to take Amidst a sea of enormous (though 4-inch-wide, 15-foot-deep core samples harmless) basking sharks and giant tuna, of those areas. They’ll confirm whether the research team deployed two pieces or not these anomalies are middens and of sonar equipment designed to provide provide samples of the subsurface’s actual a peek at the landforms at the bottom of geology. Braje will continue small-scale the ocean. A big yellow submersible profiled surveys and excavations of the islands’ the surface below the seafloor while a long, terrestrial sites, trying to learn more about narrow tube analyzed those surfaces for the types of landforms that would have texture, roughness and character. made good homes for the first Californians.

Photo: Phil Schermeister/National Geographic Creative [email protected] | 360 MAGAZINE 9 PORTRAITS OF COURAGE THIS IS PERSONAL By Michael Price

These potholes manifest are working to pave sought to deepen her There are potholes in different ways. They a smoother road to understanding of social manifest in a commu- better population health. inequalities experienced along the way to nity-based organiza- For Corliss, it’s a per– by different minority tion’s attempt to help sonal experience, too, groups. It was also in transgender youth, but as she and her wife are college that she came making the field inability to understand raising a young son in out to her parents about what these young a world filled with such her sexuality. of public health people say they need. potholes. After her awakening more equitable to They manifest in a Corliss grew up in con- experiences in Wisconsin, well-intentioned public servative rural Minnesota. Corliss moved to San health professor who She was always acutely Francisco and found a all. Community warns young people aware of gender inequal– job in HIV research at the studying LGBT health ities and decided early University of California, invisibility, lack of issues that it will be on she wanted do San Francisco, studying difficult for them to something to address the virus’s multitude of knowledge, implicit have successful careers. them. “I’ve always been strains. She enjoyed the motivated to make the work, but wanted to help They manifest in a world a better place and people in a more holistic bias and prejudice health intervention to make inequalities go way than focusing on a theater program target- away,” she said. single disease. all perpetuate health ing at-risk youth where graduate students are “I had forgotten “I didn’t start out inequalities. warned, “Sometimes thinking I wanted to you get people in your what the rest of the study LGBT health, program that you don’t world was like.” but that’s where my want to be there, like path took me,” Corliss for example, promiscu- She attended the said. She explained, ous gay boys who are University of Wisconsin– “Experiences in my all hitting on one other.” Madison and discovered public health graduate an environment far training led me to believe Heather Corliss, (pic- more liberal and diverse that this was an area tured at right wearing than the one where she where I could make a green), has seen these grew up. It was there positive difference.” things and more over she found “the space the course of her train- to learn more about She moved from ing and career as a myself.” She attended a San Francisco to Los researcher dedicated talk by feminist activist Angeles in 1997 and to eradicating health Sonia Johnson and felt entered a graduate disparities in the LGBT stirred by the speaker’s public health program community. She and her struggles support- at UCLA. But even colleagues at San Diego ing the Equal Rights moving to relatively State University have Amendment. This was progressive L.A. was focused their careers a time of activism for a culture shock. “I had on reducing minority Corliss, who joined the forgotten what the rest health disparities and student green party, and of the world was like.”

10 FALL 2016 | sdsu.edu/360 “This was an area a community, as well degree and found and Thunstrom agreed to as ways to direct a passion for anthro- give it a go. where I could make a resources toward pology. Corliss finished positive difference.” those needs. As she her postdoctoral fel- They chose to work finished her doctorate, lowship and became an with the Alternative Some of her professors two things happened: assistant professor at Insemination Program made disparaging com- Corliss met Jennifer Harvard Medical School. at Fenway Community ments about gay people. Thunstrom, who would The two lived happily in Health, a health center The community-based become her wife, and Boston for eight years. that specializes in LGBT organizations she studied she was offered a health. Corliss subse- for a project on trans- position as a postdoc- After Corliss received quently became pregnant gender youth health pri- toral fellow at Boston a prestigious National and their son, Connor, oritized HIV prevention Children’s Hospital. Institutes of Health was born in 2010. through condom usage. Career Development But through interviews Thunstrom chose to Award that afforded The first couple of with the youth, Corliss accompany Corliss her greater job security, years of parenthood came to understand that cross-country. While Corliss and Thunstrom were challenging in that condoms ranked pretty in Boston, Thunstrom felt the time was right Connor was born two low on their list of priori- returned to school to to expand their fam- months early and ties. Many needed basic finish her bachelor’s ily. Corliss had always suffered a series of resources for survival. wanted to have a child, health complications. (continued on page 29) For example, they needed stable housing and they needed hormones to be able to align their physical presentation with their gender identity, both critical resources linked to a lower risk of violence.

“That was a transfor– mative experience for me,” Corliss said. “I realized there was a disconnect between health professionals and the needs of the community they were trying to serve. I knew then I was where I wanted to be.”

After earning her M.P.H., she started a Ph.D. program in epidemiology to learn how she could use population trends to spotlight areas of need in

Photo: Sandy Huffaker Jr. [email protected] | 360 MAGAZINE 11 PORTRAITS OF COURAGE NO MORE ERRORS By Coleen L. Geraghty

They are stories of pain Its ambitious goal organizations and 45 The stories keep Joe and second-guessing is the elimination of healthcare technology from the families of the preventable hospital companies; legislators, Kiani awake at night. more than 200,000 deaths—and the more university researchers, people who die each than $1 trillion spent global partners from year due to preventable annually treating Spain, Germany, and Mishandled blood hospital error. medical errors—by the United Kingdom; the year 2020. and former U.S. test results that led Kiani, (’85, ’87), has President Bill Clinton. shared the stories with Signatories to the to a child’s death. audiences around the Patient Safety These numbers and world as he solicits Movement include more names are impressive, support for the Patient than 1,600 healthcare Symptoms of deadly Safety Movement he sepsis overlooked. founded in 2012.

12 FALL 2016 | sdsu.edu/360 Photo: Sandy Huffaker Jr. but Kiani won’t settle for degrees by age 22. Two Its sensitivity enabled recalled. “Sometimes endorsements alone. At years later, he launched medical professionals the unintended conse- each Patient Safety and Masimo, now a publicly to find previously unde- quences of what you Technology Summit—the traded global medical tectable heart problems do are more profound fifth annual is scheduled technology company. in newborns and prob- than you expect. The for February 2017— lems that could lead to story changed my life he tells attendees to During his early years blindness or death. and opened my eyes to take documentable as an engineer, Kiani, what’s possible if you get action within the next 12 became absorbed by an Despite the break- engaged. Afterwards, I months or stay at home idea for refining medi- through, Masimo was received grateful phone the following year. cal monitoring devices unable to sell its product calls from other compa- to reduce false read- to major U.S. hospitals. nies that had been locked “It’s difficult to make ings. In the 1980s, these Group purchasing orga- out of the market, too.” monitoring devices used nizations (GPOs) had the right decisions in a rudimentary form of a lock on that market, The day Bogdanich’s corporate America.” signal processing. Kiani and they were paid by story ran in March 2002, likens it to a standard dominant medical tech- Kiani was called to tes- “To err is human,” window screen. nology companies to tify before the Senate Kiani said, “but to fail keep newcomers out. Judiciary Committee. to establish processes Now imagine a screen Sitting with him at the to fix those errors; that’s whose meshwork could “I suspected I’d Senate hearing, were inhumane.” enlarge or contract the CEOs of the two depending on weather be blackballed, largest GPOs “and they An engineer and conditions or the pres- but I couldn’t just were getting slammed,” entrepreneur, Kiani ence of insects. That walk away.” he said. Congress has has walked a tortuous kind of filtering requires since curbed the pur- path to the world stage, a more sophisticated “There we were, cleared chasing monopoly that one obstructed by technique known by the Food and Drug plagued the industry. protracted legal battles, as adaptive signal Administration, with a threats from giant U.S. processing. product proven to cut Today, Kiani is a hero of corporations and ethical down on false readings the medical technology conundrums. Masimo served as Kiani’s and proven to save the field. He bested 64 other platform to build bet- eyesight of vulnerable nominees to win the “It’s difficult to make ter medical monitoring infants, but the hospitals 2015 Person of the Year the right decisions in devices with adaptive couldn’t buy it because Award from SafeCare corporate America, signal processing. He they had watertight Magazine and became always has been,” he succeeded, and in doing contracts with the the first non-legislator said. “I decided early so, he and his team of GPOs,” Kiani explained. to receive the Hubert on that my business researchers discovered H. Humphrey Dawn of ethics had to reflect the solution to a prob- One day in 2000, Life Award, which rec- my personal ethics.” lem that had bedeviled Kiani received a call ognizes his “visionary the industry for decades. from Pulitzer Prize– leadership increasing the Kiani is the youngest of winning journalist Walt role of technology and three children born to Their work revolution- Bogdanich. The reporter innovation in improving an engineer and a nurse. ized pulse oximetry, wanted to write for the the health of newborns He enrolled in San Diego a simple test used to New York Times about around the world.” State University at age measure the oxygen the monopoly of the 15, intending to become saturation of the blood. GPOs and powerful The awards are appreci- a doctor, but switched Previous pulse oximetry medical companies— ated, but Kiani’s sleepless to electrical engineer- devices measured two with Kiani as a main nights won’t end until ing. Working several jobs parameters of blood character. “I suspected his patient safety move- and a paid internship, saturation, but Masimo’s I’d be blackballed if I ment reaches its goal Kiani completed both new device could did it, but I couldn’t of zero preventable bachelor’s and master’s measure 11 parameters. just walk away,” Kiani hospital deaths.

[email protected] | 360 MAGAZINE 13 PORTRAITS OF COURAGE A GENETIC RESILIENCE By Coleen L. Geraghty

Not Stafford. She ‘College for free—it’s she said, but some Jennifer Stafford, (’08), was too practical going to be all about stubborn inner self and maybe a bit too fun.’ Then I realized refused to capitulate. remembers camping cautious to trade days I’d have to claim my Stafford realized that of painful itching for education.” in her future career as a few moments of a counselor, she would near Santa Cruz, wild abandon. The years at SDSU be expected to help emboldened Stafford people work through California, with her This early capacity for and prepared her for the kind of grief and self-reflection served postgraduate study. despair she was feel- large extended family Stafford well after the With a psychology ing at that moment. unexpected loss of her degree in hand, the How would she counsel father. She had just girl who had been too others if she couldn’t in the years before turned 16, and her life cautious to run through accept and work crumbled. the woods was now a through misfortune her father died. A woman moving to New in her own life? “I didn’t want to York—sight unseen— gaggle of cousins go back to school,” to attend Columbia Reflecting on that Stafford recalled. “My University. time, Stafford credits would run into the GPA dropped from a the resilience inherited 3.7 to a 2.9. But when I “I realized I’d from her grandmother got my first ‘D,’ I knew for pulling her through. woods and come back my dad would not be have to claim my In the late 1950s, happy. So in junior year education.” Stafford’s grandmother speckled with red I gave up my lunch returned to school break and took the Stafford felt prepared, after giving birth to class again.” academically, for the her first child. welts from poison ivy. challenging dual mas- With her GPA climbing ter’s program in psycho- Determined to have back upward, Stafford logical counseling. But a career, she learned was accepted to San life outside the class- the skills necessary to Diego State University. room could be daunt- teach English to adult She was one of the ing. Everything was immigrants and coach first Aztecs chosen for strange—the weather, them on how to pre- the Gates Millennium the pace of life, the pare for clerical jobs. Scholars program, public transportation. When Stafford’s grand- which provides tuition As she struggled to father died, his fiercely support for academi- adjust, another setback independent widow cally outstanding occurred. Stafford’s learned to drive again students of color. sister phoned on after a 40-year hiatus Christmas morning from behind the wheel. “The scholarship paid with news of their for my education, grandfather’s death. Stafford’s personal housing, books, every- resilience was tested thing,” Stafford said. “I wanted to give up and again when she gradu- “I remember thinking, go back to California,” ated from Columbia.

14 FALL 2016 | sdsu.edu/360 Hired by a clinic to “Something I took Stafford said she stays “There is so much counsel families away from my positive by checking her affected by HIV/AIDS, education is that emotional thermom- ambition in New she rode the subway counseling is a pro- eter daily and enjoying York City.” from Manhattan to the cess. People are not what New York has to southern tip of Brooklyn patients; I’m not offer—the variety of Even as a New York for her first professional healing them. I’m restaurants and the resident, she still has home visit. listening and reflect- outdoor activities like deep roots in the ing back their true canoeing on the Hudson Golden State. The “Both parents were selves without the River. She’s even gained name of her prac- Hispanic and HIV posi- wounds they may a “new appreciation” for tice—Ivy Relationship tive,” Stafford recalled. have picked up along skyscrapers. The West Consultants—is a “The mother had died the way. There is Coast is still home, she subtle nod to her just before my visit. so much ambition said, but “I feel that I’ve childhood. It’s a daily There were four children, in New York City. grown up in New York.” reminder of how far all under the age of 10, People can become she has travelled since and the 7-year-old was anxious and get Eventually, Stafford the days when caution also HIV positive. down on themselves.” hopes to open a second kept her from running practice in California through the poison “I speak Spanish, but and live a bicoastal life. ivy-infested woods even so, it was difficult with her cousins. to talk about their situa- tion. I tried to help them communicate with each other about living with the disease and not dying from it. At that moment, I felt I had lived a very sheltered life.”

Eventually, Stafford accumulated the requi- site hours to apply for a license, sit for, and pass the exam that allows her to practice as a licensed psychothera- pist in New York. She taught herself the business side of the profession and built a client base.

Many of Stafford’s clients are people who, like herself, relocated for pro- fessional opportu- nities. Some “get stuck,” she said, trying to navigate the vortex that is Manhattan.

Photo: Kevin Lock [email protected] | 360 MAGAZINE 15 PORTRAITS OF COURAGE A SEPARATE PEACE By Michael Price

He served multiple often preferring the and helping them There are two tours in Iraq, rose company of his custom- adjust to civilian and quickly up the ranks, built motorcycles to student life. Vets have Jonathan Reilands. ending his military other people. a lot to offer in both service as a brash the classroom and the and demanding but He is above all what workplace, he advised, Former Staff Sgt. well-respected others need him to be, but when you’re used combat instructor. which makes him well- to the military’s highly Jon Reiland entered suited to serve as presi- regimented existence, San Diego State dent of SDSU’s Student the freedoms of civilian the U.S. Marine University engin– Veteran Organization life can feel unstruc- eering student Jon (SVO), advocating for tured and baffling. Reiland is, by his the university’s military Corps looking for own admission, population quiet and shy, adventure.

Photo: Sandy Huffaker Jr.

16 FALL 2016 | sdsu.edu/360 “When we come to Fallujah in Anbar role. Though reserved Grumman, figuring college, the place Province, in 2006 and in his private life, as an out ways to improve we’re at in our lives is drove Humvees in a instructor he relished product design and different than other convoy. At this point barking orders, breaking assembly procedures. As students,” Reiland said. of Operation Enduring people down and then he completes his SDSU “We’re typically a bit Freedom, fighting was rebuilding them into degree, he’s working with older. Some people have intense and he saw his tougher individuals. He devices designed to jam families. It can be hard share of combat. Again was so good at it that the signals of improvised to relate to your class- he excelled, and two he became a combat explosive devices, the mates and feel like you combat meritorious instructor instructor, kind that he became all fit in.” promotions bumped teaching newly minted too familiar with driving him up the ranks. combat instructors how Humvees in Iraq. “When we come to to do the job. After finishing his tour Reiland might have college, the place of duty in late 2006, Finally in 2013, he left the military, but the we’re at in our lives Reiland returned to faced a choice between military hasn’t left him. He Camp Pendleton in being transferred to a continues to serve SDSU’s is different than California and contin- base in North Carolina military community as other students.” ued training until his or getting out of the SVO president. The SVO, second tour in fall 2007 military. He owned a celebrating its 10th year “Fitting in” is a feeling returned him to Anbar house in Vista, California. at SDSU, does a variety that eluded Reiland as Province. “By that He liked his life here. So of community service a young man. He grew time, things were more he chose to discharge. projects and offers cama- up in Pittsburgh and relaxed,” he said. “There raderie and support for went to the same was more engagement “My whole life I’ve student vets. high school that Andy between American Warhol attended, fore- troops and the Iraqi been a tinkerer. I’ve He’s trying to grow shadowing his first army and security always had a knack the organization’s career as a graphic forces.” for it.” membership and give designer. After a few its members a sense of years, he felt stuck and Throughout both tours, With the G.I. Bill foot- place and community at constrained. A friend Reiland enjoyed the ing his education, he the university. When he who had just returned simplicity of military enrolled in Cal State San stands in front of his fel- from a military tour in life: You wear the right Marcos, studying applied low veterans and tells Iraq told him that during clothes, you get the physics, and then trans- them about the resources deployment, he got to right haircut, you follow ferred to SDSU in 2015 available to them, all of his drive around Humvees orders, and you suc- to pursue mechanical shyness and introversion and see the world. ceed. There were rigors engineering. The field disappears, and the two and heartache, sure, but suits him. “My whole Jon Reilands comfortably That sounded excit- you always knew what life I’ve been a tinkerer,” coalesce. ing to Reiland, so he to do. He earned a Navy Reiland said. “I’ve always enlisted in the Marine Achievement Medal had a knack for it.” “Jon displays a solid Corps. He excelled at and returned to Camp tenacity to not only get military life, finding the Pendleton in 2008. At He opened his own things done, but also to structure, discipline and that point, he had the custom motorcycle and reach out and connect sense of meaning he’d option of discharging, hot rod shop, Close with the wider military- been looking for. By but he felt he wasn’t Fabrication, out of his connected student popula- the time boot camp finished with the garage and built himself tion,” said SDSU veterans was over, he’d been military just yet. a couple of rigs and a coordinator Todd Kennedy. promoted to Lance few more for friends and “He is approachable, Corporal. Reiland re-enlisted as clients. That’s his passion resolute in his actions, a combat instructor, a project. Professionally, and dedicated to support- Reiland deployed to non-deployable position. Reiland works as an ing his fellow military and Iraq, just outside He flourished in this intern for Northrop veteran students.”

[email protected] | 360 MAGAZINE 17 Shooting Stars

In fall 2014 Sam Hodgson arrived in New Now Hodgson’s typical work week York with no job but looks like this: Fly to Cincinnati to telephone at an outdoor café near cover Hillary Clinton and Donald his Brooklyn home. Trump at the American Legion lots of phone numbers convention; travel with the Trump Jumping off the cliff campaign to Wilmington, Ohio, and and a camera. Detroit, Michigan, where the candi- The Daily Aztec, San Diego State date meets up with Ben Carson; fly University’s independent student- Working his contacts, Hodgson scored back to New York to board the Clinton run newspaper, was Hodgson’s ticket a meeting with editors of the New campaign plane for a two-day stint in into the world of professional photo- York Times. An assignment soon Ohio and Illinois; return home, tired journalism. He studied the history, followed, and within weeks Hodgson but exhilarated. theory and best practices of the turned in his first photos for the craft in the classroom; In the field, news organization that has won “I cannot believe I get paid to do this,” he learned how to make every pic- more Pulitzer Prizes than any other. said Hodgson (’06), interviewed by ture tell a story.

18 FALL 2016 | sdsu.edu/360 Photos by Sam Hodgson

Sam Hodgson, (’06), is a New York City-based photojournalist and regular contributor to major newspapers and news services. He has been

Now a regular contributor to the covering the 2016 presidential campaign for the New York Times, Hodgson has pho- New York Times. tographed Pope Francis’ visit to the After SDSU, Hodgson built a success- United States, the United National ful career as a freelance photographer General Assembly, major sporting “Assignments like that are not easy, in San Diego. He worked for the Voice events, such as the U.S. Open Tennis but they’re important,” Hodgson said. of San Diego and was an occasional Championships and the Belmont “It means a lot that the Times editors stringer for the New York Times, the Stakes, and feature/enterprise stories put their trust in me to cover them.” Wall Street Journal, and the news ser- about issues ranging from cancer vices Reuters and Bloomberg. But he research to homelessness. Up close with Clinton and Trump wanted more. He was part of a Times team of about Hodgson’s proximity to the presidential “I knew I would never be able to live 20 journalists, including five photog- candidates gives him insight into the out the full potential of what I could raphers, assigned to document gun personalities of two people whose do without moving, without jumping violence in Chicago over the Memorial public images are polar opposites. off the cliff,” he said. When Hodgson’s Day weekend. And he was on scene Clinton and her staff, he said, spend wife, Hailey Persinger, received a job documenting the days following the copious time, money and effort defin- offer with Yahoo! in New York, they Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, ing the candidate and the messaging. took the leap. Florida. (continued on page 29)

[email protected] | 360 MAGAZINE 19 The 2016 Faculty Monty Award Winners

College of Engineering Victor Miguel Ponce Victor Ponce is an internationally recognized expert in computational hydrology/hydraulics, food and drought hydrology and environmental impact assessment. He has educated more than 3,500 undergraduates and 350 graduate students in a career spanning 36 years. His web- site—ponce.sdsu.edu—has 17,000-plus links with static, dynamic and video applications, bringing worldwide recognition to the College of Engineering. Ponce’s research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the World Bank and the U.S. Geological Survey.

College of Arts and Letters Mary Ann Lyman-Hager As director of the Language Acquisition Resource Center (LARC), Mary Ann Lyman-Hager has expanded offerings in critical languages such as Arabic, Georgian and Tagalog. Since 2008, more than 1,200 military personnel and ROTC students have learned the language skills they need serve abroad more effectively. Lyman-Hager has also secured more than $30 million in external funding during 18 years at LARC. She is the only researcher from the College of Arts and Letters to rank among SDSU’s 15 top-funded principal investigators each year for the last five years.

College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts William Yeager William Yeager has contributed to the jazz discipline as a performing artist, composer, arranger and educator. During a 31-year career at SDSU, he built a stellar jazz studies program and conducted student ensembles performing in festivals around the world. Alumni from SDSU’s program continue to shape and influence the profession through their creative output as performers, composers, recording artists and teachers. Yeager is also a benefactor of SDSU, having gifted his collection of musical scores and manuscripts from the “golden age” of television.

20 FALL 2016 | sdsu.edu/360 Six exceptional San Diego State University faculty members have received 2016 Alumni Association Awards for Outstanding Faculty Contributions. The honors – also known at the The 2016 Faculty Monty Award Winners Faculty Montys – were awarded at the All-University Convocation in August.

College of Health and Human Services Thomas Packard Thomas Packard, a professor in the School of Social Work, has taught more than 4,000 undergraduate and graduate students, advised 25 master’s degree candidates, chaired nine thesis committees and received 13 teaching recognitions since 1983. A leader in promoting best practices, he developed SDSU’s certificate program in social work administration. Packard is deeply involved in the community as a faculty consultant, program designer, trainer and evaluator for Leaders in Action, an executive development program for the nine Southern California County Human Services Agencies.

College of Education Randolph Philipp Randolph Philipp is a professor of mathematics and director of SDSU’s Center for Research in Mathematics and Science Education (CRMSE). He has directed or co-directed multiple National Science Foundation- funded projects, including four multimillion-dollar awards. His studies include investigating how professional development affects teachers’ ability to understand and develop mathematical thinking in children. Philipp’s recent election as president of the Association of Mathematics Teachers Educators is a testament to his national reputation.

College of Sciences Linda Gallo Linda Gallo is a leader in the field of cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. Her research focuses on the psychosocial and sociocultural aspects of risk and resilience in diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke and obesity, and her work aims to understand and reduce health disparities for Hispanics and other vulnerable populations. She has served as principal investigator or co-investigator on more than 10 studies funded by the National Institutes of Health and has been published in the prestigious Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

[email protected] | 360 MAGAZINE 21 Aztecs in Motion

Advantage Aztecs. SDSU helps student-athletes go pro in careers other than professional sports.

helps prepare them for professional careers.

Aztecs Going Pro began in 2015-16 with mandatory classes for freshmen. A class for sophomores was added this year. By 2019, juniors and seniors will fall under its umbrella, providing for the Fewer than first time a four-year sched- ule of classes focused on two percent of pragmatic information for student-athletes.

student-athletes Created by Bobby Smitheran, senior associate who play football athletic director for Student- Athlete Academic Support or basketball Services, the program provides a platform for experts from across cam- will compete pus to speak in class about academics, social issues, professionally financial literacy, leadership, health, internships, network- after college. ing, resume-writing and job-interviewing skills.

“Aztecs Going Pro is a more holistic approach to devel- oping our student-athletes and setting them up for Every hour a student-athlete spends practic- success,” Smitheran said. ing or playing their sport is an hour she can’t devote to valuable career-building activities like internships and For many years, student-athletes at San Diego State were community service. These lost hours can mean missed required to take a class as freshmen to help their transition opportunities, as most student-athletes will pursue careers to college. The seminar covered time management, learning outside of professional sports after graduation. strategies and campus resources.

To give student-athletes an advantage, San Diego State “It was more of a how-to-succeed-in-college class,” said University has created Aztecs Going Pro, a program that Smitheran, who joined SDSU in 2008 as student-athlete

22 FALL 2016 | sdsu.edu/360 services coordinator and also served as director of football operations. The more time he spent with student-athletes, the more he realized that the ideas and concepts embedded within that class could be spun into a program to help launch student-athletes’ About 35 professional careers.

So when Smitheran moved percent of NCAA into his current position three years ago, he was encour- student-athletes aged by former Athletic Director Jim Sterk to put his go on to post- ideas into practice. He devel- oped the series of classes that comprise Aztecs Going graduate study Pro—Freshman Foundation, Sophomore Success, Junior for master’s Journey and Senior Suit Up. or doctoral First-year topics include study skills, time manage- ment, community living, degrees. social media awareness, plagiarism and academic integrity, plus discussions about sexual assault and Photo: Ernie Anderson alcohol/drug abuse and how to maintain NCAA eligibility. mandatory, Boesch said. Athletes have a ten- Sophomores are introduced to financial literacy, career dency to put sports first, claiming they don’t have time services and professional etiquette. Juniors and seniors to add one more thing to their busy schedules. But the discuss resume-building, career exploration, graduate school, program teaches them to start thinking beyond the next networking, interviewing skills and life after athletics. Seniors practice, the next game, the next season, he said, to also attend a job fair. recognize their future potential.

Last year, volleyball player Ellen Novotny, (’16), and football Smitheran is excited that Aztecs Going Pro introduces player Aaron Boesch, (’16), found their Senior Suit Up expe- athletes to programs across campus and to each other: rience to be invaluable. Novotny, an accounting major, met rowers, basketball players, lacrosse athletes and swimmers representatives from Foresters Financial at the job fair and all attend class together. And it’s a selling point for SDSU was hired as a financial planner. in its recruitment efforts.

Boesch, an interior design and architecture major, received “(Coaches) can go into a recruit’s house and talk to a job offer at the fair, but eventually declined it. However, parents about not only the academic piece, but also how he used the skills gained from that experience to approach we are going to handle the social piece, how we are going representatives of Johnson & Jennings General Contracting, to prevent your son or daughter from moving back in with who hired him as project engineer. you once they graduate,” said Smitheran with a laugh. “You want to make sure they have the skills they need to For Aztecs Going Pro to effectively help student-athletes step out in the world and be successful.” prepare for life after college, it’s important that classes are —Doug Williams

[email protected] | 360 MAGAZINE 23 Giving Back

Ellen’s Fingerprints A Scripps family member is helping to restore the historic cottage on Montezuma Mesa.

Bill Scripps knew Montezuma Mesa as A visit from JFK the campus where he took extension classes and spent sunny afternoons with The cottage Bill Scripps his dog, Jade. Until a few years ago, no toured in April 2014 was one had ever asked him about the curi- physically similar to the origi- ous similarity between his name and one nal structure, but its function of San Diego State University’s most changed over time. In 1963, it was a beloved landmarks, Scripps Cottage. formal reception area for State’s most distinguished guest, President John F. “Remarkably Ellen” He was fascinated when he learned from Kennedy, who had come to deliver the a friend at SDSU that the cottage was a commencement address and receive an The intimacy of the cottage and the seren- legacy of his great aunt, Ellen Browning honorary doctorate. ity of its landscaping appealed to Scripps. Scripps, a paradigm of philanthropy in “Once you enter the grounds, you’re in a early twentieth century San Diego. Five years later, the building was moved very quiet place. The rest of the campus from its initial location adjacent to Aztec disappears. It’s remarkably Ellen. She “I came out to see it for the first time Café (now the Faculty-Staff Club) to was a very private person. You find the last year,” he said. “Anything with Ellen’s make way for the construction of Love same peaceful feeling at the Torrey Pines fingerprints on it is special to me.” Library. The current location’s distinctive reserve, which Ellen also helped to create.” landscaping and koi pond were added The nucleus of a beloved oasis on in 1972, after students staged a sit-in Scripps and his wife, Kathy, hadn’t Montezuma Mesa, Scripps Cottage to demand the establishment of a intended to make a gift to SDSU when was among the original eight campus “people’s park” at the site. they visited the cottage in 2014, but they structures designed by Howard Spencer realized that the 85-year old building Hazen. It was funded in part by Ellen Scripps Cottage has served many pur- needed some TLC. Browning Scripps through a contribution poses in the decades since then; It has to the local YWCA and originally built as been a conference venue, a meeting Their donation made it possible for SDSU a women’s center and headquarters for place for student organizations and a to retain Platt-Whitelaw Architects, a firm the Associated Women Students. center for international students. Above specializing in restoring historic structures all, though, Scripps Cottage is etched in to meet modern building code require- Together with SDSU’s five other WPA- Aztec memory as a tranquil space in the ments and safety standards. The first era buildings and the original quad, it is middle of a busy campus. part of a federally designated historic district.

24 FALL 2016 | sdsu.edu/360 “It’s a lot different trying to bring some- thing back as opposed to maintaining a brand new building,” he said. “I restore cars, and I have remodeled houses. I draw and paint as well. For me, bringing the old back to new is a form of art and an expression of my art.”

Campus resource

With the first phase of the restoration complete, Scripps Cottage is again avail- able for meetings, celebrations and other functions. In fiscal 2016, more than 170 events were held at the site, hosting a total of 12,000 people. About 70 percent phase of the project, completed Aug. 31, Restoration was difficult because the of events were run by SDSU student replaced windows and doors with histori- doors were encased in the wall, Moffett clubs or organizations. cally accurate fixtures and created better explained. He found two original doors access for visitors with disabilities. that were “left over” and asked a wood- “Scripps Cottage is an invaluable resource worker to use them as a template for for the SDSU campus community,” said “That was a good fit with our philosophy the seven sets of new double doors. Jamie Miller, A.S. president. “Its beauty of philanthropic giving,” Scripps said. These, along with 16 replacement win- and historic significance create a very dows and eight new ones, a renovated special atmosphere that’s conducive to Artistic endeavor porch and exposed beams, give the learning.” cottage a lighter, more spacious feel. SDSU’s Associated Students (A.S.) also Work on the cottage will continue with stepped up with a donation to supplement Moffett also consulted the original plans to restore the barbecue grill, update the restoration budget, and A.S. senior blueprints, which contain the design for lighting and complete additional exterior facilities engineer, LaRunce Moffett, both Scripps Cottage and the Faculty- work. SDSU’s crowdfunding website, oversaw the year-long project. Staff Club. He studied the structure of Strive, will launch a campaign in late the club carefully “to see exactly how November to raise funds for the second “We wanted to bring back the original feel things work there and what type of and third phases of restoration. of the building with the original porch and hardware they used, and I tried to dupli- the double doors allowing people to look cate that as much as I could down here.” “Kathy and I are really pleased to contin- out and lots of light to come in,” Moffett ue what Ellen Browning Scripps started,” said. “At the same time we wanted every- The Scripps Cottage restoration is a first said Bill Scripps. “We hope the cottage thing to be consistent with today’s code.” for Moffett, who also maintains the new can play a small role in helping SDSU Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union. students develop into great citizens. For us, there’s great satisfaction in knowing it will be there in perpetuity.”

[email protected] | 360 MAGAZINE 25 THE Campaign FOR

A New for Future Leaders

Aztec Pride is borne of many factors— Both were members of the Associ- Administration and fundraising for a stellar education, moments of ated Students, and Ben was involved the Thomas B. Day Quad, part of personal achievement, the sense of in financing the construction of the the Engineering and Interdisciplinary community and not least of all, a first Aztec Student Center, which Sciences Complex currently under beautiful campus. became the first student union in the construction on campus. California State University system. San Diego State University’s striking They also established the Ben and Mission Revival architecture—first Nikki worked to organize and grow Nikki Clay Presidential Scholarship, emulated in historic Hepner Hall the SDSU Alumni Association and a $300,000 endowment to support and later reflected in more modern was a founding member of the high achieving students, an increas- campus buildings—stirs pride in Campanile Foundation, the philan- ing percentage of the SDSU student generations of Aztecs. thropic foundation created in 1999 population. to manage SDSU’s then-nascent Now there is a formal entrance to fundraising efforts. The naming of the Clay Gateway demarcate the unique beauty of the recognizes the couple’s many contri- SDSU campus. The Clay Gateway Building an alumni center was one butions to SDSU. Fittingly, the words at Montezuma Road and Campanile of SDSU’s earliest fundraising initia- on its pillars define the campus as a Drive is named for Nikki (’67, ’72) and tives. President Emeritus Stephen destination for students who aspire Ben (‘69) Clay, whose contributionsGateway of Weber asked the Clays to tour Ohio to follow in the Clays’ footsteps: time and treasure have strengthened State University, which had just built “Through these gates will pass our the university over many decades. an alumni “home” on campus. They future leaders.” returned with a vision and became The couple met at SDSU. They were not only donors, but also fundraisers All Aztecs and San Diego community public administration majors and for the Parma Payne Goodall Alumni members are invited to the dedica- lived in sorority/fraternity houses Center. tion of the Clay Gateway at 10:30 on Montezuma Road, within walking a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 3, at the distance of where the Clay Gateway The Clays continue to support gateway towers on Montezuma now stands. SDSU by providing scholarships Road and Campanile Drive. for students in the School of Public Campaign Impact: SHORT TAKES Weber Honors College ______Faculty Emeriti Glen and Betty This year’s San Diego State University The endowment received additional Broom have increased their planned freshmen have an average high school support from the estates of the late gift, adding funding to the Glen GPA of 3.68. More than 800 of them— San Diego philanthropists Maurice M. Broom Center for Professional around 10 percent—scored higher than and Charmaine Kaplan and Professor Development in Public Relations 1300 on the SAT math and verbal sec- Emeritus Henry Janssen, also deceased. and establishing the Betty Broom tions combined. Maurice Kaplan was a founding mem- Faculty Research Endowment fund ber of the Campanile Foundation, The academic proficiency of SDSU SDSU’s philanthropic foundation. within the School of Nursing. students has been trending upward Janssen taught and mentored SDSU ______for years. In order to meet the expec- students for 60 years. Darren (’84) and Teresa tations of high achieving students, SDSU strengthened its honors cur- In 2015, a significant gift from San Diego Greenhalgh have pledged to name riculum and hired an honors program philanthropist Darlene Shiley raised the the Greenhalgh Family Student director in 2002. Now thanks to The endowment to $10 million, officially Study Area in the Engineering Campaign for SDSU, the program has creating the Susan and Stephen Weber and Interdisciplinary Sciences grown into the Susan and Stephen Honors College. Academic rigor, inter- Complex, which is scheduled for Weber Honors College with more than disciplinary curriculum and community completion in 2018. 1,085 students enrolled. service are its hallmarks. ______Expanding the honors program to an “The Susan and Stephen Weber Honors Michele Schlecht (’72, ’85) honors college and securing its future College provides important academic made a pledge to establish the with endowed gifts was an early goal and co-curricular opportunities for our Michele Schlecht MFA Musical of The Campaign for SDSU. The uni- diverse students,” said President Elliot Theatre Scholarship in the versity’s seventh president, Stephen Hirshman. “This special learning com- College of Professional Studies L. Weber, directed philanthropic funds munity challenges and engages our toward the honors endowment and students who, in turn, are providing and Fine Arts. with his spouse, Susan K. Weber, made critical service to, and leadership of, ______a personal contribution of $250,000. our broader campus community.” Eugene (’64) and Suellen Hering have supported Student Field Experiences in the College of On the Way to $750M ______Sciences with a gift of $5,000. $728M $750M Eli and Helen Comay are support- Total as of ing the Josh A. Comay Endowed Sept. 30, 2016 $625M Scholarship in Child Development in the College of Education.

$500M ______Katie Hansen, (’03), made a gift $375M to provide scholarship support to community college transfer $250M students who demonstrate interest in Greek life, Associated Students, $125M the Republican Student Organization or the study of political science/ $0 ______history. THE Campaign FOR

Mary Curran Assumes TCF Chair in December

Commercial Banking and the bank’s Curran’s term as chair follows nine Wealth Management Group before years of service as a TCF board mem- becoming executive vice president ber. Prior to that, she was a mentor and chief risk officer for Corporate and a judge for SDSU’s Venture Banking. She facilitated a multiyear Challenge competition, organized gift from the bank to SDSU beginning yearly by what is now the Lavin in 2013. Entrepreneurship Center.

Curran’s personal philanthropy is in As a TCF board member, Curran takes the form of annual gifts as well as a on the responsibility of advocating for legacy gift, which will build the uni- SDSU with friends, other alumni and versity’s endowment, a key to future the San Diego community. growth. She supports athletics, the College of Business Administration “The board is an amazingly committed and the Guardian Scholars program. group, and I can tell you, that’s not The latter provides full support for true of all professional boards,” Curran students who’ve experienced home- said. “We tell the university’s story, The incoming chair of San Diego State lessness or have been part of the and we’re passionate about it. We’re University’s philanthropic leadership foster system. passionate about the future of SDSU.” board is a woman with a proven record of leading major businesses and serving the San Diego community. Mary Curran, (’82), will assume the A Different Kind of Homecoming chair in December, becoming the fifth leader and first woman board chair in Like most homecomings, this one president of Pacific Coast Financial the 17-year history of the Campanile had implications far beyond the Planning Group. Foundation (TCF). event itself, especially for one San Diego State University alumnus. SDSU’s financial planning program was As Curran steps into her role, the the first in the country to be offered at university is about to successfully con- Richard Fogg, (‘03), a private a fully accredited college of business. clude its first comprehensive fundrais- wealth adviser, has been working to Upon completion, students can sit for ing campaign, which is raising $750 strengthen ties between SDSU and the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) million to support students, faculty, the Financial Planning Association exam. Fogg joined the program after staff and academic programs at SDSU. of San Diego (FPA). As president serving in the Navy. Now, he sits on the of the group in 2015, he moved its advisory board, matches students with But Curran is quick to point out that quarterly educational meetings mentors and helps find internship op- fundraising efforts will continue apace and annual symposium back to portunities for future financial planners. even as this first campaign ends. Montezuma Mesa. “Richard is a person who works “The Campanile Foundation will find For Fogg, this “homecoming” extremely hard behind the scenes new ways to build momentum and help acknowledges SDSU’s rapidly grow- and doesn’t look for recognition,” said the university become even more suc- ing role in the industry, fueled by the Thomas Warschauer, an SDSU finance cessful,” she said. “We’ll be focused on quality and quantity of its finance professor and director of the financial how to continue raising at least $100 department graduates. To further planning program. million each year without the push and solidify the partnership, Fogg has structure that a campaign provides.” recruited young Aztecs to join the For three years, Fogg has also FPA board. served on SDSU’s National Leadership Curran received her MBA from SDSU Council, whose philanthropic mission and joined Union Bank after seven “We’re reconnecting the FPA with is to enhance SDSU’s position as an years with BofA. At Union Bank, she the heritage of SDSU’s program and international leader in teaching, led a number of divisions, including ultimately, we’re reconnecting alum- research and service to the global Orange County and San Diego ni with their alma mater,” said Fogg, community. THE Campaign FOR

Jewel of a Teacher

Arline Fisch’s jewelry art is not for added a master of wallflowers. Her dramatic silver collars fine arts degree. and intricate filigree bibs draw inspira- The MFA in jew- tion from ornamental jewelry worn by elry and metal- ancient Greek and Egyptian royalty. smithing is still a national model. Fisch’s theatrical sensibilities influenced not only the craft of jewelry-making in Fisch retired in the United States, but also the work 2000, but her of generations of San Diego State legacy continues University students. She was hired in through former 1961 to create a jewelry and metal- students who smithing program in SDSU’s School have become art- of Art and Design. ists, gallery own- ers and university Universities across the country estab- professors. She lished similar programs at the time, but also established many didn’t survive. SDSU’s program an endowment thrived and, under Fisch’s leadership, for future Aztecs with ambitions to follow in her footsteps.

The Arline Fisch Hanging Gardens of California | Photo: Will Gullete He and his wife, Sharon, (’75), are Jewelry and long-time donors. They support the Metalsmithing Endowed Scholarship received four Fulbright grants, two President’s Leadership Fund and are will support students pursuing a mas- to study in Denmark, two to teach Director’s Cabinet members for SDSU ter of fine arts degree in the program. in Uruguay and Austria, and became Athletics, also providing scholarships a board member of the World Craft for student-athletes. “SDSU was my life for 40 years,” she Council, an organization of UNESCO. said. “It was a good place for me to Recently, the Foggs created and have the freedom to teach and be an SDSU students have reaped the ben- funded the Thomas Warschauer artist at the same time.” efits of Fisch’s global network; she Endowed Director of Financial hosted dozens of internationally rec- Planning to provide administrative Fisch was the first artist to combine ognized artists who visited San Diego support in perpetuity for SDSU’s jewelry-making and weaving into a to lecture and work with her students. financial planning program. unique art form. The idea of marrying two very different crafts first occurred “It’s important for students to be The couple said philanthropy has to her during a visit to Central and taught by people who are profession- always been “an integral part of who South America, where she saw pre- ally active,” she said. we are,” and a tradition they’ve shared Columbian textiles embellished with with their children, including Hannah, gold and metallic pieces. But it would Fisch’s art is owned by the Victoria an SDSU finance major. Fogg also be another decade before the con- & Albert Museum in London, the encourages other Aztecs to support cept came to fruition in her collection National Gallery of Australia, the SDSU. of woven gold items. The collection Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C. was shown in London, Vienna and and the Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian “Whether through donation or men- California. Design Museum in New York. She torship, Aztecs need to reach out has received the American Craft and contribute,” he said. “Our legacy The appeal of traditional artifacts— Council Gold Medal and a Lifetime strengthens SDSU and sustains its such as Viking jewelry and Mongolian Achievement Award from the growth as a serious institution of hats—grew stronger as Fisch con- National Museum of Women in higher education.” tinued to travel internationally. She the Arts. Alumni Angles Class1950s 1960s Notes1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 1970s ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT ’75 Tom Karlo # (television, film and new media) received the C. Scott Elliott Development Professional 2016 - 2017 of the Year Award from PBS. ALUMNI BOARD of ADVISORS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ’76 Hon. Robert F. O’Neill # (criminal justice) will retire next May from Superior Court in San Diego. President: Alan Dulgeroff ’92 Liaison to The Campanile Foundation: Elsa Romero ’84 ’79 Steven Davis # (accounting) was named corporate group president of utilities for Sempra Energy. Vice President of Professional Development: He also chairs the Southern California Gas Co. and San Diego Gas & Electric boards of directors. Leo Morales ’09 Vice President of Development: Deanna Encarnacion ’90 1980s Vice President of Finance: Aron Getty, ’95 Vice President of Partnerships: Sean Kilkenny ’10 ’81 Garrison Klueck # (television, film and new media) was elected national ombudsman for American Vice President of Innovation: Jason Farran ’00 Mensa; Vince Ferraro # (management) published “Brand to Sell Masterplan” (Abundant Press, 2015). Vice President of Marketing: Angie Robert ’04 Administrator: Christy Andrade ’82 Gayle Falkenthal # (television, film and new media; ’93 MS mass communications) was elected to

OTHER ELECTED ADVISORS: the Public Relations Society of America’s College of Fellows. Brad Adams ’99; Risa Baron ’91; Kelly Batten ’98; Chiloh Baty ’08; Mike Cully ’11; Lindsey Dixon ’02; ’87 Kathy Drucquer Duff # (recreation administration) published “Productive Conversations with Sean Durkin ’08; Ileana Ovalle Engel ’94; Aimee Faucett Donors: A Handbook for Frontline Fundraisers” (Academic Impressions, 2016); Peter Barto (history) ’96; Allyson Frasure ’97, ’99, ’03; Daniel Gomes, ’01; helped launch the Daraja Wildlife Project, a wildlife conservation training program for underserved Ryane Hughes ’02, ’05; Rudy Johnson ’00; Mark Mays secondary school girls in Kenya; John Flannery # (marketing) is celebrating 11 years as owner of ’69; Channelle McNutt ’13; James Newland ’88; Chris Parks ’92; Angie Robert, ’04; Allen Sliwa, ’04; Flannery Sales Systems. Todd Vitale ’86; Stacey Wolfson ’10 ’88 Clarence Nunn (marketing) joined JPMorgan Chase in Charlotte, North Carolina, to lead middle PAST PRESIDENTS: market expansion in the Southeast. Liaison to Past Presidents: Perette Godwin ’86 First President: 1931 Vesta Muehleisen 1990s For a full listing of past presidents, visit: sdsualumni.org/pastpresidents ’94 Devon Reed Lomayesva # (history), a member of the Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel, was appointed chief judge of the Intertribal Court of Southern California. NON-ELECTED ADVISORS: President: Elliot Hirshman; Vice President, University ’95 Craig Collins (English; ’97 MBA) published a second nonfiction book, “Midair,” about the midair Relations and Development: Mary Ruth Carleton; University collision of two B-52s in 1965 (Lyons Press, 2016). Senate Chair: Marcie Bober-Michel; Associated Students President: Jamie Miller; Aztec Athletics: Morgan McSweeney 2000s

ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT STAFF ’01 Maya Lowry (finance) joined USCF as director of national accounts, charged with expanding the Assistant Vice President, Alumni Engagement: Dan Montoya ’04 firm’s distribution and business development efforts. Assistant Director, Alumni Engagement: Ryan Delong ’05 ’04 José Cruz (psychology), executive director of the Barrio Logan College Institute, was recognized by Alumni Engagement Coordinator: Christy Andrade the Council for Opportunity in Education as a 2016 National TRIO Achiever. Alumni Engagement Coordinator: Lacey Lavigne Assistant Director, Affinity Groups: Dion Akers ’08 ’06 Nafissa Cisse-Egbuonye (public administration; ’11 MPH) directs the Black Hawk County Health Assistant Director, Annual Fund Operations & Department in Texas. Regional Development: Channelle McNutt ’13 Annual Fund Supervisor: Caitlin Kuhn ’09 Shannon O’Neill (anthropology) opened the San Diego law office Weber & O’Neill, specializing in Assistant Director, Annual Fund, Stewardship & Membership: Cheryl Lemox estate planning, trust administration and probate. Career Development Liaison: Diane Barragan Marin Communications Specialist: Tobin Vaughn ’11 Paris Johnson (social science), among the top scorers in Aztec women’s basketball history, is now Data Control Technician: Robin Breen Rust the team’s director of player personnel. Director Development Technology: Tammy Blackburn ’94, ’01 ’12 Heriberto Vasquez (comparative literature) is outreach coordinator for Grossmont Community Electronic Solicitation Assistant: Vanessa Horne College in San Diego. Electronic Solicitation Manager: Dan Majors ’03 Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center Coordinator: Lauren Duran, Mariano Rayon Please send your news to the SDSU Alumni Association, [email protected]. | # = life member Program Coordinator: Jen Ranallo

26 FALL 2016 | sdsu.edu/360 SDSU is Home for New Leader of Alumni Engagement

Even as a kid growing up on a small of alumni donors by 33 percent and ranch near Taos in New Mexico’s San- undergraduate donors by 29 percent. gre de Cristo Mountains, Dan Montoya somehow knew he would one day be Problem solver an Aztec. “When I was young, I always told everyone, ‘I’m going to San Diego Montoya’s first development role for someday to attend San Diego State SDSU was in Student Affairs, reporting University—no doubt,’” he recalled. to Eric Rivera, who is now the division’s our captain to make sure he was aware vice president. Rivera describes Mon- of everything that was going on.” A prescient observation because not toya as a problem solver and a team only would Montoya attend and gradu- player with strong communication skills. He was also a helicopter controller ate from SDSU, he would also launch guiding aircraft that would land on a successful, 10-year development “We’ll be in a meeting where the con- the ship. “What I did was control the career at the university. versation starts with no and Dan will operations—the navigation piece— listen and figure out how we can get to to make sure our ship was safe and On Sept. 1, Montoya became SDSU’s yes. Not everybody is able to do that.” communicate to the rest of our fleet new assistant vice president of alumni that we were on the same page and engagement. From his office on the But of all of Montoya’s positive attri- we were navigating in safe waters,” second floor of the Parma Payne butes, Rivera thinks one stands above Montoya explained. Goodall Alumni Center, he now the rest: “Most importantly, he’s an oversees the university’s alumni Aztec,” Rivera said. Now the Navy veteran is looking engagement efforts. forward to controlling operations Montoya came to SDSU from junior for an office that serves more than During the past year as The Campaign college after spending four years in 300,000 alumni of an institution he for SDSU has closed in on its $750 the Navy where he served on ships as somehow always knew he would million goal, the Office of Alumni an operations specialist. “My job was attend. Montoya’s wife, Lizette Nájera Engagement’s SDSU Fund has raised to identify what aircraft, ships, or subs (’08), whom he met on campus, is a more than $200,000 for Aztec Parent were out there—were they friend or fellow staff member in the Division of Programs while increasing the number foe—and then disclose locations to University Relations and Development. SDSU is part of the family culture for the couple and their three children ages 11, 12 and 17.

Montoya admits that in their house, it’s all about Aztecs. Which closes a circle of sorts for a man whose job is connecting alumni and others to a school he knew was his destiny.

“When I got on campus and became ingrained in the culture of San Diego State, it was like, ‘this is home,’” he said. “It just feels right. It’s a part of who I am.” —Tobin Vaughn

From left: Dan Montoya; Mary Ruth Carleton, vice president, University Relations and Development; Jim Herrick, assistant vice president, special projects.

[email protected] | 360 MAGAZINE 27 Photos by diFranco Photo diFranco by Photos

Aztec In Memoriam ______1933: Lorraine Gholston; 1939: Timothy Hallahan. ______Inductees 1942: James Polak; 1946: Shirley Crawford; 1947: Morris Shepherd; 1948: George Capatanos, David Farquhar, George Prout; 1949: Charles Boucher, Wayne Garrett, Lois Hinck, Five athletic superstars were inducted into the Aztec Walter Shaffer, Louis Smith. Hall of Fame this month, joining the 138 individuals and ______six teams already enshrined. 1950: Ernest Beck, Joseph Weikel; 1951: Frank Colpitts Jr., Jack McCarty, Robert Stewart; 1952: Harrison Weaver; 1953: William Schwandt; 1954: Shirley Miner; 1956: Richard Leon Parma, winner of a Lifetime Achievement Award, was the Aztecs’ starting quarterbackof for the 1949 and 1950 sea- Dudley; 1957: Gene Sheridan; 1958: Martin Gehring; 1959: James Blair, Heidi Forchette. ______sons, during which he scored 16 touchdowns and made 22 1960: Donald George, James Laughon, Christina Phillips, Samuel Pope, Alan Sachrison, interceptions.Hall He led the 1950 Fame Stanley Skinner, Gary White; 1961: Bill Pope; 1962: Richard Troelstrup, Barbara Uden; 1963: squad to the CCAA champion- Minnie Lou Guild, Barbara Hurst; 1964: Robert Emery; 1965: Raymond Cudigan, Mary Dierks, ship with a 3-0-1 record. Melicent Richardson, Gary Sable, Stanley Schlusberg, William Schroeder, John Seely, George Noel Prefontaine holds the Westover; 1966: Edward Aguirre, Jerry Beavers, Andrea Jeremiah; 1967: Donald Drummer, school record for average punt Jay Turner; 1968: Daniel Eubanks, Nancy Higgins; James Sterrett II, Le Ellen Williams; 1969: in a season (46.5 yards) and a Gordon Bloom, Nancy Boisvert, Pamella Jung, Dolores Munsey, Vivian Reynolds, Robert Slamal. career (44.7 yards). Named a ______first-team All-American by the Associated Press, he is credited 1970: Josephine Burni, Lois Davies, Clydean Green, Franklin Hess, Hiroko Kubota; 1971: with the longest punt in SDSU Pattie Frazer, Ron Pompei, Richard Rathjen; 1972: Scott Akers, James Hauck, Bethel Howard, history, an 82-yard kick vs. New Selma Kammerdiner, Jeannette Srbich; 1973: Kenneth Baumgartner, Andrew Martinez, Joseph Mexico in 1996. Palencia, Frederick Steese; 1974: Jesse Lee Freitas, Richard Galligan, Myrna Gordon, Judith Miesha McKelvy-Jones is Griffith, David Weim, Steve Westin; 1975: Thomas Hursman, Graham Simpson, Dan Wilkins, a two-time All-American in the 100-meter hurdles and SDSU’s Mary Ellen Trainor Zemeckis; 1976: Suzanne Berard, James Dietz, Charles Hurst, Dennis record-holder in that event with a 12.82-second performance Thompson; 1977: Rose Aftreth, Orlando Coons, Valerie Grayson, Wayne Johnson, Verna St. in 1999. A 1998 WAC champion, she also won the 100-meter Clair King, Janet Rangel, Frances Tripp; 1978: Debbie Abe, Jeffrey Carlson, Kevin Fay, Gregory hurdles at the 1999 Pan Am Games in Winnipeg. Hidden, Marlene Pommerenke, Douglas Scarr; 1979: Delynn Green, Anne Marie Donoho, Kawhi Leonard led Aztec Rachel Terrell, Barry Vrevich. ______men’s basketball to its first NCAA Tournament win in 1980: Marcelle Benjamin, Leonard E. Busch III, Pamela Connolly, Jay Marlowe, Richard Zielony; school history in 2011. He 1981: Orlie G. Baird Sr., Fannie Couillard, Janis Creed, Wendi Stangl; 1982: Terry Blain, Karen set the all-time mark for Campbell, Angelina Cano, Shawn Carroll, Lee Farb, Thomas Grossman, Monique Holm, Sara career double-doubles in MWC games (21) and Korman, Richard Tanner, John Thompson, June Silver, Diane Spadacini, Barbara Solis; 1983: double-doubles in a single Walter Eslinger, Cynthia Tirrell, Michael Smith; 1984: Ramona Lauzan; 1985: Russell Kojima, season in MWC games Myrna Tipps; 1986: Kimberly White, Susan Stevenson; 1987: Jerry Boosinger, Michael Perkins; (12). Now playing for 1988: Gail Guzzardo, Susan McLain, Rita Roberson, Linda Triplett, Bradley Weichert. the San Antonio Spurs, ______Leonard was twice named NBA Defensive Player of 1990: Arthur Horton; 1991: Estelle Villacres, Delcina Sims; 1992: Nancy Bentley, Laura Hogan, the Year and was NBA Patricia Omahen, Scott Turpin; 1993: Craig Roothoff; 1994: Kenneth Clark, Jesus Lapid; 1995: Finals MVP for 2013-14. Alexander Amador, Carole White; 1996: Tatiana Mileant, Gregory Stein; 1997: Dawn Kosman; 1998: Cheryl Marquand; 1999: Gregorio Flores, Jerry Meier. Steve Williams was ______ranked No. 1 in the world in the 100-meter and 200-meter events while sprinting for the 2001: Dennis Leake, Steve M. Pierce II; 2002: Silke Dorsz; 2003: Gerard Ayer; Aztecs in 1973. He set the world record in the 100-meters four 2005: Alicia Enriquez; 2006: Richard Shea; 2008: Cecilia Fausto; 2009: Kenneth Cherry; times between 1973 and 1976, and one time each in the 100- 2011: Zachary Penn. yard and 200-yard dash. ______

28 FALL 2016 | sdsu.edu/360 Shooting Stars (continued from page 19) “These are carefully crafted campaign to certain areas of a room or venue, events with lots of free visuals, and Hodgson said. “The Republican candi- my job is to cut through all that to date also has a script, but he is more find something real,” Hodgson said. prone to go off script and surprise the audience. They are two starkly differ- In contrast, journalists covering the ent campaigns, and both represent Trump campaign are often restricted something about this time and place in America.”

Asked to compare the laid-back living of San Diego with the constant stimulus of the Big Apple, Hodgson played the dip- lomat. He described New York City life as tough,

a struggle and “often Sam Hodgson | Photo: Brian Snyder not relaxing to come home to” after a grueling “It’s my job to explore the city,” he assignment on the road. said. “People who relocate here see the surface view, but when I’m work- But the young Aztec who ing I go into people’s homes and arrived in New York with neighborhoods. No other place can no job and lots of phone claim so many different cultures and numbers relishes his new ways of life.” home. —Coleen L. Geraghty THIS IS PERSONAL (continued from page 11) These challenges strengthened “Dr. Corliss’ presence at SDSU has She was the first to receive a large Corliss’ and Thunstrom’s resolve to helped me see that the work we are research grant from the National make a better life for their family doing in Latino health disparities is Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and their community. To that end, relevant to other populations,” said and Kidney Diseases to study lesbian Thunstrom was motivated to apply Guadalupe X. “Suchi” Ayala, associate and bisexual women’s disparities in to graduate programs in anthropol- dean for research in the College of the incidence of type 2 diabetes. Her ogy and was ultimately accepted into Health and Human Services. research is finding that lesbian and a Ph.D program at the University of bisexual women are more likely than California, San Diego. “The effects of discrimination do heterosexual women to develop the similar things to our bodies, whether disease. For this and other dispari- Then she showed Corliss a job an- we are being discriminated against ties, her ultimate goal is to develop nouncement: SDSU’s Graduate School because of our sexual orientation or interventions that can head off these of Public Health was hiring. Corliss had the color of our skin. Together, we are health problems early. been looking to incorporate more inter- now trying to determine if the ways vention research into her studies, and to reduce health disparities related to “We tend to see a lot of negative SDSU offered that opportunity. Their sexuality and ethnicity are similar.” health outcomes in younger LGBT family moved to San Diego in 2013. people, but then these disparities In her current role, Corliss hopes to lessen as they get older,” Corliss said. Over the past three years, Corliss has deepen our understanding of the “A critical window for interventions is improved the quality and interdisciplin- health disparities and concerns of during adolescence and young adult- ary nature of research in SDSU’s health subgroups across the range of sexual hood. But we wouldn’t know that if research programs. orientations and gender identities. we didn’t do this research.”

[email protected] | 360 MAGAZINE 29 Common ChordsCHAPTERS FROM AZTEC HISTORY

eptiles that roam the des- erts of San Diego inevita- Rbly shed their skin as they grow larger. So it is with universi- wrote in a 1929 editorial, “Over- ties. When the San Diego Normal looking the crumbling ruins of School—SDSU’s precursor—was California’s first mission … there built in 1899 in San will arise soon … Diego’s University the new State Col- Heights neighbor- lege of San Diego, hood, it was meant in an architecture to house a mere reminiscent of Spain 600 students. This and Spanish arts as original campus influenced by the was a grand and Arabian and Moorish beautiful Beaux-Arts art … all of this not affair with a central more than a drive dome and neoclassic of thirty minutes columns. A training from downtown school annex was San Diego.” added in 1910. Construction of the But what began as new campus began a narrow mission to in October 1929, and train local elemen- the first classes were tary school teachers held there two years quickly broadened later. The original and grew under the campus in University Photo courtesy of SDSU Special Collections leadership of Presi- Heights became the dent Samuel T. Black. The school but the citizens of San Diego Horace Mann Junior High School, acquired the local junior college rejected this idea when it was put then the San Diego Unified School and transformed into a four-year to vote in 1926, preferring to keep District’s administrative offices. In college, San Diego State Teachers the park a dedicated place for rec- 1955, the school district demol- College in 1921. reation. The following year, voters ished the campus in order to again rejected a proposed site in expand its primary administrative With the walls bursting with the Encanto neighborhood. building. students, it became evident that SDSTC would need more room. With enrollment pushing 1,200 There are scant remains from In 1922, President Edward Hardy students—double the University SDSU’s original abode. Bricks from proposed rebuilding on the school’s Heights campus’ intended the demolished building were used current site, but state legislature capacity—school administrators to construct a barbecue grill out- blocked this. A few years later, soldiered on. Finally in 1928, the side Scripps Cottage on today’s the state authorized the school’s Bell-Lloyd Investment Company campus, and the dilapidated expansion on the condition that the offered the college 125 acres of training school annex still stands, city of San Diego would provide land in Mission Valley. boarded up and unoccupied, at adequate space for it. the intersection of Park Boulevard This time, voters approved. Archi- and El Cajon Boulevard in Univer- The first proposed site was the tects planned the new campus in sity Heights. northeastern corner of Balboa Park, the Mission Revival style. Hardy —Michael Price

30 FALL 2016 | sdsu.edu/360 Information drawn from “San Diego State University: A History in Word and Image” by Raymond Starr. INSPIRE STUDENTS

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