The Magazine of San Diego State University Summer 2016

SS ELE IM T 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 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 Photo: Lauren Radack Assistant Vice President Special Projects Chris Lindmark Universities have a timeless and enduring next generation of researchers and may also Assistant Vice President Campaign, Presidential and Special Events character. At the same time, they are engines give us insights into human health today. In of change that move our society forward. addition, we take a look at efforts in Forest We welcome mail from our readers. 360 Magazine The summer issue of 360 demonstrates Rohwer’s lab to understand viruses — one Marketing & Communications how these qualities work together to make of Earth’s oldest organisms. This research is 5500 Campanile Drive San Diego CA 92182-8080 today’s university a wellspring for the ideas providing tantalizing clues that may help E-mail: [email protected] and innovations that improve everyday life us solve some of today’s health and Read 360 Magazine online at and solve our most pressing challenges. environmental problems. www.sdsu.edu/360 Periodical postage paid at San Diego, CA Volume 23, No. 2, copyright 2016 Universities are not only places for You will also read in 360 Magazine about San Diego State University learning but also repositories of knowledge — the National Institutes of Health’s investment Circulation: 60,000 preserving our culture and discoveries across in SDSU’s efforts to create innovative health Postmaster: the generations and across the centuries care — granting a $10 million endowment Send address changes to: San Diego State University of human history. As you will find in this that will enhance our research focused 5500 Campanile Drive issue’s story on the lore of books, acquired on improving health in underserved San Diego CA 92182-8035 [email protected] knowledge provides the building blocks we communities. need to reimagine, innovate and move into Opinions expressed in 360 Magazine are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily the future with new approaches such as I hope you enjoy this edition of 360: The represent the views of the university administration digital literature. Magazine of San Diego State University. nor those of The California State University Board of Trustees. also highlights bioarchaeologist Arion Gold medal winner, Council for Advancement 360 and Support of Education (CASE) Mayes’ research into a society that lived some 2,000 years ago near Oaxaca, Mexico. Her work is an invaluable field lab for our Elliot Hirshman FEATURES 10

Everything old is new again: Trends come back into fashion, wisdom resurfaces, and new technology lets us look at old knowledge anew. The summer issue of 360 explores how the familiar can astonish us by assuming new forms and revealing timeless truths.

10 A FINE FETISH Digital literature has increased our fascination with the book in all its varied forms. 14 TRUTH IN TOOTH Dental remains reveal the lifestyle and culture of an ancient people who lived in coastal Oaxaca. Photo: Lauren Radack 16 GOING VIRAL 14 16 There’s no question too big or bizarre for the Viral Information Institute’s motley crew. DEPARTMENTS 4 COMPASS News from campus

8 HORIZONS Big Data, Better Health

18 AZTECS IN MOTION On the Fast Track

20 ALUMNI ANGLES 22 Class Notes 22 COMMON CHORDS SDSC’s Groovy Experimental College Compass

Headed to Rio

San Diego State University alumni Whitney Ashley and Shanieka Thomas will compete in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro this summer.

Ashley won the discus throw competition at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, to clinch a spot on the U.S. track and field team. Thomas qualified to represent Jamaica in the triple jump by taking second at the Jamaican Senior National Championship.

Ashley and Thomas are the 13th and 14th Olympians in SDSU women’s track and field history. At press time, current students Ashley Henderson (200-meter dash) and Kristen Thomas (pole vault) were also scheduled to compete in Olympic trials for the U.S. team.

A flying start

Each year, an estimated 1.7 million people in the United States sustain traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Physicians and researchers have become increasingly concerned that even mild cases of repetitive brain trauma could have long-term, unanticipated consequences.

A new study led by SDSU scientists and recently published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports suggests that using fruit flies as a TBI model may hold the key to identifying important genes and pathways that promote the repair of and minimize damage to the nervous system.

Author Kim Finley noted that because fruit flies grow old quickly, observing them allows researchers to rap- idly study the long-term consequences of traumatic brain injury. “Traits that might take 40 years to develop in people can occur in flies within two weeks,” she said.

Early results of the research suggest that studying traumatic injury in fruit flies may indeed reveal genetic and cellular factors that can improve the brain’s resilience to injuries.

4 SUMMER 2016 | sdsu.edu/360 Point of Entry

Adventurer Thor Heyerdahl said of borders: “I’ve never At Gate 28, Terminal 2, Oscar Romo’s three sculp- seen one but I‘ve heard they exist in the minds of tural reliefs depict the Tijuana River’s passage from some people.” Mexico into the United States. In one of them, Romo uses discarded bicycle chains to represent the flow How we see and interpret borders is the subject of of the river, a nod to the pollution and debris that an ambitious exhibition at San Diego International both countries have failed to address. Airport. Curated by San Diego State University profes- sor Norma Iglesias-Prieto, “Point of Entry” includes “San Diegans tend to ignore their border with the work of 14 artists and organizations inspired by Mexico,” said Iglesias-Prieto, “but the only way to the geographic, cultural and social intricacies of solve serious issues like water is with a transborder borders—both real and perceived. approach.”

Photo: Pablo Mason [email protected] | 360 MAGAZINE 75 Compass

Before Hillary

“A Feminist in the White House,” Doreen Mattingly’s Mattingly’s book, published new book about Midge Costanza, documents the life by Oxford University of the first woman assistant to a president, who spent Press, draws on previously the final 20 years of her life in San Diego politics. unavailable personal papers from Costanza’s time in the The petite, energetic Costanza was President White House and afterward, Jimmy Carter’s adviser on social issues, his “window including memos, letters, on America,” said Mattingly, associate professor of photos, interviews, Costanza’s unfinished memoir and women’s studies at San Diego State University. She scripts for a film based on her life. Costanza died in was also a champion of gay and women’s rights. 2010 at the age of 77.

Sock it to me Spirit of innovation

Beneath every great athlete is a great pair of socks. At A highlight of this year’s San Diego State University least, that’s the philosophy behind alumnus John David Commencement was the presentation of the inaugu- Wilson’s (’93) apparel company, Stance, which recently ral Zahn Spirit of Innovation Award to Austin Owens, a inked a deal with Major League Baseball to become mechanical engineering graduate. Owens founded the the league’s official sock provider. That follows a Mechatronics Club and led it to a first-place finish in the 2015 agreement making Stance products the official 2015 international RoboSub competition. He now works at on-court sock of the NBA. SpaceX, the exploration company founded by Elon Musk.

Wilson co-founded Stance in 2009. He returned The newly created Zahn Spirit of Innovation Award, to campus this past April as part of the Lavin which will be given annually to a graduating senior who Entrepreneurship Center’s L. Robert Payne Speaker demonstrates exceptional entrepreneurship, includes a Series. Wilson, who majored in marketing, discussed substantial cash prize funded by seed money from SDSU how culture is vital to a company’s success, and supporter Irwin Zahn. He is well known on campus for described how incorporating art and self-expression endowing the Zahn Innovation Platform (ZIP) Launchpad into his company’s products has attracted athletes and for his unflagging efforts to foster student innovation and performers. and interdisciplinary collaboration.

6 SUMMER 2016 | sdsu.edu/360 A trip to competition in which uni- versity students have one Cannes week to write, shoot and edit a five-minute film. Novice filmmakers dream about being invited to Several of the winners show their work at are then invited to show prestigious festivals like at the Cannes Film Cannes and Sundance. Festival’s Short Film This year, the dream came Corner. Best said she had true for two San Diego an unexpected opportunity to State University students. Short films by Chelsea network with industry professionals while waiting in line Best (“Enamored”) and Maxwell Renner (“Showdown”) to see the Korean thriller “Train to Busan,” which she won awards at Campus MovieFest, a nationwide proclaimed her favorite festival film.

Planet hunters

If you cast your eyes toward the constellation Cygnus, you’ll be looking in the direction of the largest planet yet discovered that orbits a double-star system—also known as a circumbinary planet. It’s too faint to see with the naked eye, but a team led by SDSU astrono- mers William Welsh and Jerome Orosz used NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope to identify the new planet, called Kepler-1647 b.

The planet is 3,700 light-years away and approximately 4.4 billion years old, roughly the same age as the Earth. It’s about the same size as Jupiter, and like that Kepler-1647 b planet, it’s a gas giant. It is both the is within the most massive circumbinary planet habitable zone found to date, and also has the of its stars. longest orbital period, at 1,107 days.

“Kepler-1647 b is important because it is the tip of the iceberg of a theoretically predicted population of large, long-period circumbinary planets,” Welsh said.

Illustration: Lynette Cook [email protected] | 360 MAGAZINE 7 Horizons

Big Data, Better Health Endowing ambitions for SDSU health research. By Michael Price

What factors influence whether a person is healthy? Individual habits and hygiene play a role, certainly, but demographics also significantly shape a person’s health. Minorities and people from disadvantaged groups suffer disproportionately from certain types of cancer, obesity, sexually transmitted disease, asthma and heart disease.

San Diego State University scientists who work under the umbrella term “health disparities” are investigating what’s behind health inequality and what can be done to reverse it. A recent $10 million endowment from the National Institutes on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) will help bring needed new technology to these researchers and allow them to better collaborate across diverse disciplines.

The scientist largely responsible for this endowment is Guadalupe X. “Suchi” Ayala, professor of health promo- tion and behavioral science in SDSU’s Graduate School of Public Health. She is a fixture in the San Diego health research community, with several ongoing research programs looking at nutrition among Latino residents.

Last year, Ayala noticed a request for applications from the NIMHD, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), for a unique funding mechanism: Rather than a traditional grant for specific research goals or training, the agency was offering an endowment that would continually provide funding for infrastructure improvements over a 20-year period. Knowing that she and her fellow investigators were still using pencils and paper to record data in an iPad world, Ayala jumped at the opportunity.

“We already had a good cohort of faculty studying population health and health disparities,” said Ayala, who is an SDSU alumna and joined the faculty in 2005, “but we really lacked the infrastructure, the IT support, the newer technology to take us to the next level.”

8 SUMMER 2016 | sdsu.edu/360 B i g D a t a n e e d s b i g c o l l a b o r a t i o n

She also realized the future of the discipline will be far more collaborative than it has been traditionally. We live in a world of Big Data, with mobile technology, social media and electronic health records feeding a rich vein of health data for those who are poised to tap into it. Infrastructural improvements would make it possible for health researchers to reach out to their peers in psychology, geography, engineering and other fields, share their data and mine it for useful, lifesaving information.

So Ayala and SDSU colleagues Kee Moon, a professor in the College of Engineering, and Jose Castillo, director of the Computational Science Research Center, applied for the endowment—and got it.

“This is a long-term commitment of the federal government to our university,” said SDSU psychology professor Kristin Wells, who works with cancer-related disparities and cancer communication. “It’s exciting that they really believe in the research we do and our potential to move forward.”

The endowment will contribute $2 million per year over the next 5 years to SDSU’s philanthropic auxiliary, the Campanile Foundation. This money will be invested and the returns it generates will be used for research infrastructure improvement. At its peak, the endowment should generate roughly $479,000 per year.

B e t t e r , s t r o n g e r , f a s t e r

The money can be spent in a variety of ways that boost the ability of SDSU researchers to carry out their research and better collaborate across disciplines. Ayala listed just a few examples: iPads to collect data in the field and immediately transmit it back to the lab; wire- less sensors to track vital signs or tobacco use; smartphone apps that record eating habits; enhanced data storage capacity; and hiring IT support and computer programmers to sort through and make sense of all this new and improved data.

“Technology changes so quickly that you don’t want to get locked into funding for certain, specific technologies that will quickly become out- dated,” Ayala said. “The most exciting aspect of this endowment is that it will allow us to build an infrastructure to support research well into the future.”

The endowment’s funding mechanism is relatively unique among grants awarded by NIH. SDSU must maintain this investment for 20 years, after which the funds will release fully to the Campanile Foundation. At that point, the endowment will have generated about $20 million in total funding.

Ayala hopes that investing in infrastructure will pay dividends in terms of more traditional grants, as well. Fruitful interdisciplinary collaborations and new avenues of research will make SDSU investigators even more competitive for future funding she said, supporting the university’s commitment to health disparities and population health research.

VIDEO SDSU.EDU/HEALTHDATA [email protected] | 360 MAGAZINE 9 FINE FETISH Far from precipitating the

book’s demise, digital literature

has increased our fascination

with the book in all its varied forms.

he scent of books is By Coleen L. Geraghty something new,” in the Tall the rage in today’s same way that photog- fashion fragrance raphy freed the paint- world. Perfumers cre- writer Anne Lamott, Apparently, public ing to be more than a ate products to simu- “that out of these fascination with books faithful chronicler of late the ambiance of a small, flat, rigid has only intensified people and events. library or “the unique squares of paper with the advent of olfactory pleasures unfolds world after digital literature and Book arts of the freshly world after world, the encroachment of The art of making printed book.” worlds that sing to a paperless society. books—not refashion- (This latter you, comfort and Artist Brian Dettmer ing them as Dettmer fragrance, a quiet or excite you.” gained fame by carv- does, but actually joint venture with ing, molding and creating them by Karl Lagerfeld, goes A comeback shaping old books hand—has found by the name “Paper The growing popular- into elaborate sculp- a new and Passion Perfume.”) ity of e-books unset- ture. He contends appreciative tled many print loyal- in a 2015 audience Humans have ists, particularly in the TED Talk among W fetishized books 21st century as sales that O of e-readers skyrock- O long before Johannes D Gutenberg introduced eted. But books have C movable type printing staged a comeback. U to Europe in 1439. For Retail sales at book- T centuries, the great stores rose 11 of 12 the months in year-to-year P houses of the wealthy digitization R contained substantial comparisons between of information I libraries representing April 2015 and April and reference N the owners’ education 2016, according to the material has allowed T and breeding. “What American Booksellers the book “to quit its I Association. N a miracle it is,” said day job…and become G

WAS FIRST USED TO DECORATE TEXTILES

10 SUMMER 2016 | sdsu.edu/360 Alumna Betel Renau’s illuminated manuscript students majoring in limited edition books. art and English. San They work with three Diego State University printing presses English professor manufactured by Jessica Pressman 20th century industry sees book arts taking leader Vandercook its place within the & Sons, the oldest a humanities as a manually operated scholarly process. period piece dating

“A film- maker makes “The computational Burgess said. “I see book binding and a T film,” she that in my students, three-dimensional H E said. “Why processes are part how constructing snake figure for pages. wouldn’t a something with their His story of domestic 2 literature of the poetics.” hands becomes such violence is printed 0 major make a revelation. They take on the snake. T a book or at responsibility for every H least understand how to 1935. Burgess has single decision, from Each book created C to make a book? This taught on campus for the size and shape by Burgess’ students E scholarly act of making 16 years while also of the pages, to the becomes part of an N demands an apprecia- operating San Diego- weight of the paper, to anthology in SDSU’s T tion of the book’s based Brighton Press the type of font to the Department of Special U R historical context.” with her husband, spacing between Collections and Y Bill Kelly. letters and words.” University Archives, Students in Michele which preserves S Burgess’ Book Arts “The book has a kind Most of Burgess’ 70,000 printed vol- A classes write, illustrate, of tangible, visceral students choose to umes and more than W print and bind their beauty that surprises work in a traditional 500 manuscripts, A original ideas into us sometimes,” format, but others including a 1543 first push the boundaries edition of astronomer R of book-making. Nicolaus Copernicus’ E V “The House on text De revolutionibus I Acama Street,” orbium coelestium V by Mario (On the revolution of A Saldaña II, heavenly spheres). L

Students, researchers O F and alumni have access to these archives. C (pictured at Visitors can make A left) substi- an appointment to L tutes a hand- “hold history in their L I made wooden hands,” said assistant G box for the head librarian Anna R traditional Culbertson. A P H Y

IN LITERATURE, SNAKES REPRESENT, EVIL, CHAOS, FERTILITY AND IMMORTALITY

[email protected] | 360 MAGAZINE 11 Browse the Electronic “The computational Literature Organization’s processes are part of born-digital anthology the poetics.” @ collection.eliterature. P Born digital org/3/ to find all New stories A kinds of inventively Pressman’s goal is P Pooling their passion E for all things literary, A central theme formatted to make SDSU “a bea- R Pressman, Burgess of Pressman’s work literature— con” for the creation M and Culbertson have is the notion that hypertext and study of digital A collaborated on literature takes many fiction, kinetic poetry literature in higher K forms, depending presented in Flash, education. She and I “Bookish,” an exhibi- N tion of work from upon its media. She novels in the form of Adam Hammond, also G SDSU book arts studies how these emails or blogs, and an assistant professor students, currently forms—from print to collaborative writing of English and compar- W on display in the digital—employ and projects (like Netprov) ative literature, teach A exploit particularities that allow readers classes in which under- S library’s Donor Hall. of media format for to contribute to an graduate students I It provides a taste of aesthetic purposes. unfolding story. create literature and N what’s to come when V the Year of the Book E N debuts at SDSU this T fall with lectures, E panel discussions D and workshops— all centered on the A R enduring appeal O of books in this U digital age. N D Pressman, who previ-

A ously taught at Yale D University, is the author of “Digital 1 Modernism,” pub- 0 lished in 2014 by 0 Oxford University Press, and is at work on “Bookishness, The Afterlife of Books in 21st Century Literary Culture.” She also heads up SDSU’s Woodcut illustrations adorn Hannah Murdoch’s “Edible Flora: SDSU’s edible gardens,” a book Digital Humanities created for Michele Burgess’ Advanced Book Arts class and housed in Special Collections Initiative, a campus- and University Archives. wide collaboration to study digital tech- The term “born digital,” “Writers are thinking literary criticism nologies, employ which Pressman referenc- about new and experi- on digital devices. them in research and es frequently, describes mental formats and Hammond encourages teaching, and exam- literature created exclu- forcing us to look at students to use Twine, ine the impact of the sively on and for digital literature differently,” an open source tool digital in society. reading devices. Pressman said. that allows users to

THE FIRST INKS WERE FRUIT AND VEGETABLE JUICES

12 SUMMER 2016 | sdsu.edu/360 construct digital narra- is that severely text before choosing It’s this rich tives with minimal depressed people the moving images. environment, this coding knowledge. don’t make healthy Her work won the splendid array of choices. In a printed inaugural award at opportunities for “Engines like Twine book the reader SDSU for the best communication allow us to tell stories would observe that work of student-made and storytelling in ways that were not behavior, but an electronic literature. that SDSU will cel- possible before,” said interactive story ebrate during the A rich environment L Hammond, Year of the Book. E author of The increasing Lectures by Pressman A “Literature “Digital technology popularity of digi- and University of T in the Digital tal storytelling with California, San Diego, H Age.” “There images, hypertext and professor Seth Lerer E forces us to see R was a lot flashing type doesn’t are scheduled, as is a of excite- the book anew.” signal the death of the book-making work- T ment about printed manuscript. shop, a DIY publish- O electronic Those who fear the ing panel featuring O literature in the ’80s forces readers to book is an endangered experts in the field L I species can take and ’90s, but it was confront the reality and an electronic N hard to produce. With of depression. heart in the words literature competition G these new engines, of book historian and for students. electronic literature SDSU junior Riley Harvard University G has become a powerful Wilson used Twine to librarian Robert Art and artifact A V Darnton. Writing in Central to the Year tool for self-expression create her final project E with a huge audience.” in Hammond’s Literary the Chronicle of of the Book is the Programming class. Higher Education, understanding of R As an example, Titled “Driving Alone Darnton argued that books as art and arti- I Hammond mentioned at Night,” the story new forms of com- fact. In the moment S E “Depression Quest,” includes visual refer- munication do not of the book’s sup- one of the first inter- ences to San Diego necessarily displace posed obsolescence, T active stories created landmarks, including old ones. Pressman said, there O on Twine. As readers Balboa Park and the is a heightened cre- click through the tale SDSU campus. Images “Radio didn’t destroy ative urge to revere D I the newspaper; televi- and fetishize it. At of a young woman appear at the top E exploring her child- of the screen with sion did not kill radio; the same time, con- hood home, they are text below. Readers temporary literary C faced with choices must interact with culture has embraced U about what to eat and certain parts of a shift to digital tech- T T nology, forcing us which activities to take the text before the T part in. program allows to see N them to proceed. the G Confronting reality Ultimately, the reader “I knew I wanted to realizes that certain tell a story about and choices, though pre- a recent graduate the Internet did sented on screen, searching for what to not make TV extinct,” book cannot be clicked do next, and driving he said. “In each anew as on because they are alone at night was a case, the information a talisman for “healthy” choices. metaphor for that,” environment became humanity’s hopes, The takeaway from said Wilson, who richer and more dreams and best “Depression Quest” carefully crafted the complex.” intentions.

VIDEO SDSU.EDU/BOOKISH

[email protected] | 360 MAGAZINE 13 Truth in Tooth Dental and bone remains from Oaxaca’s Río Verde Valley reveal the secrets of a lost culture.

By Michael Price

Papyrus molders, stone etchings constructed, and with teeth deco- thing about him was symbolic. He’s erode, memories wither and histories ratively filed and inlaid with flashy, simply amazing.” are rewritten. Teeth remain. Several mirror-like hematite, suggests he was thousand years from now, our teeth something more than a commoner. Uncovering history may document our lives more faith- fully than any recording technology. Such elaborate dental modification Mayes has studied everything from can signify the literal embodiment of 18,000-year-old human remains in Teeth tell the story of Burial one’s culture, explained San Diego Africa to modern forensic anthropology 97-Individual 107, as he’s known State University bioarchaeologist cases. She has investigated population academically, who lived some 1,400 Arion Mayes, who has spent more movement and peopling of the New years ago (600-800 A.D.) at the Río than a decade poring over the ancient World, as well as the forced migration Viejo archaeological site in the Lower bones left behind in the Lower Río of enslaved people through her work Río Verde Valley, approximately 10 Verde Valley. In this region of Mexico, with the New York African Burial kilometers from the Pacific Ocean in cutting, shaping and putting inlays Ground. She first traveled to Oaxaca in the modern state of Oaxaca, Mexico. into teeth is a dramatic gesture that in 2003 while working at the Smithsonian life likely conferred special status, and Institution. She joined SDSU in 2005 That B97-I107 was buried in a com- in death provides a window into the and began taking students to help munal cemetery suggests he wasn’t a symbolism vital to B97-I107’s society. with excavation and cataloguing, data member of his society’s ruling elite. recording and skeletal analysis. That he was entombed within a giant “No matter who he was in life, he ceramic vessel in the central acropolis seems to have been given a special So far, she and her students have before the surrounding buildings were status in death,” Mayes said. “Every- worked with five archaeological sites near or along the Pacific coast of Oaxaca. They collect demographic information such as sex and age at

14 SUMMER 2016 | sdsu.edu/360 “There are trade-offs in that on the scene. Mayes was the first transition,” she explained. “In the researcher to definitively identify short-term, agriculture lets you feed the developmental hallmarks of more individuals. In the long-term, congenital syphilis in teeth found though, you see some health shake- in the Lower Río Verde Valley. ups related to a diet with a heavy reliance on corn.” Telling the story

Dental diaries Mayes and her colleagues are still investigating whether there are Teeth, more so than any other human trends in the population’s age remains, are the keys to unlocking and season of death, and whether how this transition played out in any there’s evidence of population given society. Bones are good, too, movement due to sociopolitical and but thousands of years of alternating economic factors and changes to rainy and dry seasons leave many the environmental landscape, which skeletons too delicate and precarious in turn can be related to various to work with. Teeth, on the other diseases that have been identified. hand, are hardy and can stand the test of time. And then there are the unsolved existential questions: Just who “Teeth have the greatest archaeo- were these people in the Lower Río logical sturdiness,” Mayes said. Verde Valley? Where did they come “Enamel is the strongest tissue in from? What is their relationship to the human body.” the better-known highland peoples, death, and document skeletal evidence the Zapotecs and Mixtecs? And of nutrition, disease or trauma. Their Mayes’ trained eye can tell a lot by what was their relationship with goal is, ultimately, to reconstruct the a person’s teeth. She knows several farther regions of Mexico? biological history of the region. of the individuals uncovered in the Lower Río Verde Valley worked as Mayes and her colleagues’ work is Mayes and her colleagues consult with weavers. They wove reed baskets, ongoing. This summer, she and her local villagers in these excavations. It’s straw containers and cotton fishing collaborators will be analyzing data more than an academic interest for nets, holding the strands in their accumulated over previous field them, she said. As they work on and teeth as they worked and leaving seasons, assembling their strands learn about the archaeological sites behind telltale tooth impressions. of knowledge into a cohesive and remains around them, they become account. Yet many more questions invested in the history of their area. She also knows syphilis existed in the lay buried, awaiting their return to New World before Europeans arrived the valley. “We couldn’t do the work we do if we didn’t work with the local commu- nities,” Mayes said. “Some of the best archaeologists I know aren’t formally trained.”

Primarily, Mayes’ research adds to a growing body of work on population “Enamel is the strongest health before and after societies’ transition to agriculture, as well as other health variations due to cultural and environmental factors. tissue in the human body.”

[email protected] | 360 MAGAZINE 15 GOING VIRAL Fresh faces at SDSU’s Viral speaking—with unique raises several evolu- research interests tionary questions: Did Information Institute are that made it initially bacteria first modify bringing diverse backgrounds difficult for some viruses to use as to find the right fit weapons, which later and fearless experimentation within academia. Take became incorporated to the fast-moving world of Nicholas Shikuma, into tubeworms’ life- who joined the VII cycles? Do bacteria microbial research. last year. He studies get anything out of how bacteria play an this arrangement? essential role in the By Michael Price Out-there ideas lifecycle of marine life like tubeworms, sea Within the microbi- There’s been a recent urchins and corals. ology community, trend in superhero Shikuma is virtually movies in which stu- It turns out that alone in asking these dios make films for these animals need a questions. But at individual heroes, and nudge from bacteria the VII, he’s working then team them up for to undergo metamor- alongside people who a blockbuster extrava- phosis, turning from recognize his work’s ganza. San Diego larvae into juveniles. importance to larger State University’s Viral Bacteria do this using questions about the Information Institute a kind of modified, poorly understood (VII) follows a similar headless virus tail as role microbes play formula. Over the a spear that prods in practically every past several years, the the animals into a facet of life. institute, led by virolo- metamorphic state. gist Forest Rohwer, “I study something has been assembling “Some bacteria pretty weird,” Shikuma a super-team of form a flower-like said. “I’m not main- diverse, highly skilled matrix of interlinking stream, and neither is researchers to combat virus tails,” Shikuma SDSU, so we kind of problems too big for explained. “It’s really met at that level.” any single scientist quite beautiful.” or discipline to solve. While Shikuma works Interestingly, these with organisms that Like their celluloid virus-spears are also spend their whole superhero counter- used to attack other lives in the water, fel- parts, these new hires bacteria in a sort of low VII newbie Marina are sometimes odd- microbial jousting Kalyuzhnaya studies balls—scientifically match. This process some who often don’t

16 SUMMER 2016 | sdsu.edu/360 see enough of it. The Structured thinking comes in. Trained as a bacteriophages, which biologist who joined biophysicist, he likes account for about 95 SDSU in 2015 specializes Sometimes looking “to make abstract percent of all known in microbes that con- into a crazy idea thoughts specific,” phages. sume methane. In addi- means being able as he puts it. tion to work exploring to visualize what’s “If we get these guys methane’s potential as normally invisible to He applied to work down, we’ll have got- a biofuel or in biotech, the human eye. That at SDSU after see- ten a pretty good she’s also exploring a calls for the exper- ing Rohwer deliver chunk of the whole fairly radical application: tise of chemist Manal a research talk at ecology,” Luque said. using methane-eating Swairjo, hired in 2015. the University of microbes to reduce She harnesses the Barcelona, where The opportunity to methane emissions power of crystallog- Luque was a Ph.D. apply broad practical and to produce water. raphy to explore the student. He was knowledge to really miniscule structures intrigued by Rohwer’s big, sometimes bizarre Water is a byproduct of microbes. deep knowledge of ideas is a big reason of certain kinds of viruses combined the VII is quickly methane consumption. Within the world of with a commitment to gaining a reputation Kalyuzhnaya wondered viruses, Swairjo is incorporating unique as a hotspot for whether you could interested in the bio- viewpoints. Wanting up-and-coming deprive a plant of chemical pathways to find a practical researchers. external hydration but that bacteriophages application for his supply it with methane (viruses that repli- biophysics back- “The institute brings so that microbes within cate within bacteria) ground, he joined together a broad range the system produce use to defend their SDSU and the VII last of expertise to study their own water. It’s an genetic matter when year. He coordinates one of the planet’s admittedly crazy idea, invading a bacterial the math department’s most ubiquitous, yet but preliminary trials host, as well as how weekly biomath meet- most mysterious, life reveal plants thriving phages change their ings, which frequently forms,” Swairjo said. in a dry, methane-filled protective coats in include VII collabora- environment while response to differ- tors who throw out But the chance to their equally dry, ent environments. A ideas and discuss work alongside other methane-less peers better understanding their mathematical brilliant, unconven- shrivel. Scaled up, this of these processes underpinnings. tional scientists might process could help could reveal new anti- be the VII’s biggest farmers understand viral strategies, new “In interdisciplinary selling point. how to adjust the techniques for using science, you get to organic carbon content specialized viruses solve problems, not “Forest is known for of their soil to make to deliver drugs to just use the most his visionary ideas,” their crops grow with targets within the advanced mathe- Shikuma said. “That less water. body, and the abil- matical techniques,” he brought together ity to use phages as Luque said. such an interdisciplin- “From the very moment environmental indi- ary group is what Microbial mysteries I came here, everyone cators. Bridging all attracted me here. has been very open of these disciplines One of those prob- There are so many in such a way that if and research focuses lems he’s working on interesting questions you have a crazy idea, are the common is figuring out the being asked that I they’re excited to look languages of phys- molecular and bio- could imagine fruit- into your crazy idea,” ics and math. That’s physical properties ful collaborations with said Kalyuzhnaya. where Antoni Luque of double-stranded everyone in the group.”

Illustrations: Ben Darby [email protected] | 360 MAGAZINE 17 Aztecs in Motion

On the Fast Track. Team captain Ellison Grove is racing toward more than an 800m record.

In the world of track and field, the 800-meter race event is an out- lier. Too long to classify as a sprint and too short to fit snugly into the long-distance bracket, the race demands a finely calculated blend of speed and endurance.

The unique challenge of the 800m suits Ellison Grove. Recruited from Battlefield High School in rural Catharpin, Virginia, Grove has the mental and physical toughness necessary to compete in this middle-distance race. After two years at San Diego State University, she maintains a perfect 4.0 GPA and claims several spots in the Aztec record books for her feats on the track.

Grove was one of 14 Aztecs named to the 2016 All-Mountain West track and field team after finishing third in the Mountain West championships with a time of 2:07.81 in the 800m. Her personal best of 2:07.74, set earlier in May at Stanford University’s Payton Jordan Invitational, established Grove as the sixth fastest 800m runner in SDSU history.

She also holds the Aztec record for the indoor 800m with a time of 2:09.67 and was part of the Aztec team that set a second-best school record (12:06.14) for the indoor distance medley relay at this year’s UW Invitational in Seattle.

As a fitting end to a great season, Grove was named to the 2015-16 Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-District Team, which recognizes top student-athletes from the United States and Canada for their combined athletic and academic achievements.

Top 1 percent

Grove’s been a runner since age 12 and an 800m competitor since high school. Coach Shelia Burrell, who personally recruited her, said Grove can relate to “School is my all event areas and disciplines.

“Everybody respects Ellison’s work absolute ethic both on and off the track,” Burrell said. “She is the first sophomore that I’ve named as team captain because first priority.” her leadership skills are outstanding.

18 SUMMER 2016 | sdsu.edu/360 Grove learned to ride a unicycle with a troupe of fellow students. “If all else fails,” she quipped, “I can always join the circus.”

I know I can trust her to always do what’s best for the team and for the university.”

As a freshman at SDSU, Grove trained with the sprinters to develop speed. In her sophomore year, she switched it up, running with the cross country team to build endurance. She prepares for each race by running it mentally and imagining herself “closing in on 2:06.”

That determination underscores Grove’s scholastic track record as well. The scholarship offer from Burrell was entic- ing, Grove said, but SDSU’s academic opportunities sealed the deal.

“School is my absolute first priority,” she said.

Grove majors in International Security and Conflict Resolution (ISCOR) and minors in Russian with the goal of rising through the ranks of the U.S. Foreign Service. Hers is a challenging academic pursuit, said ISCOR coordinator and adviser Allen Greb, but she’s among the program’s top 1 percent of students.

Like many SDSU majors, ISCOR requires students to complete an internship, and Grove will have at least two under her belt by graduation. Last summer, she worked in the Washington, D.C. office of Rep. Mike Conaway, a Texas Republican who serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. What she learned during committee hearings informed a 20-plus-page paper Grove wrote for class about ISIS recruitment methods. Her current internship for a federal agency will also involve U.S. foreign relations.

Grove’s 800m mentality reflects her professional goals. Middle distance runners rarely become media darlings like sprinters. Who can name Usain Bolt’s 800m counterpart? But that’s fine with Grove—she doesn’t aspire to be a headline-maker.

“I just want to lay my head down on the pillow at night thinking that I’ve On her high school softball done something team, Grove earned a reputation as to help people whether they the fastest player around know it or not,” the bases. she said. —Coleen L. Geraghty

19 Photo by Mike Theiler Mike by Photo [email protected] | 360 MAGAZINE THE Campaign FOR

______SHORT TAKES Building the Aztec William McWilliams (’89) has In Francie and Guy Louie’s East Bay Francie, a professional recruiter, also funded endowments supporting San Francisco neighborhood, they are got the couple involved in the Bay the Guardian Scholars, study known as “the SDSU family.” Area Regional Council, a group of abroad scholarships and excellence professionals who mentor students awards for students in the Colleges The couple met as students at San and recent alumni, promote fundraising of Arts and Letters and Professional Diego State University and graduated, efforts and assist in building a strong Studies and Fine Arts. he in ’84, a public administration major; Aztec presence in the Bay Area. ______and she in ’83, with a degree in communica- A gift from Robert Beck (’66, ’68) tion. Their son, Max, is a will support endowed scholaships 2015 alumnus and their for students in the College of daughter, Lauren, will Business Administration. begin her freshman year ______this fall. The Campaign for SDSU received But it’s not strength in new gifts from several staff, faculty numbers that marks the and emeritus faculty members. Louies as “the SDSU fam- Network ily” in the neighborhood. • William Tong created the William Instead, it’s their commit- G. Tong Endowed Fellowship in ment to extending the the Department of Chemistry Aztec network in and and Biochemistry. around San Francisco.

• Lawrence Baron and his wife, The Louies became members of the “We’ve helped create a powerful net- Bonnie, are supporting the Nasatir Aztec Parents Association and have work of Aztecs who realize that SDSU Endowed Chair and the Jewish encouraged other parents to join. This was a huge factor in their success,” she Historical Society Archives Fund. association runs the Aztec Parents said. “It’s a rewarding experience to Fund, which ensures that students give back in this way.” • Nora Dawson and her husband, have access to programs such as a Mark, created the Nora and Mark public safety escort service—for times The Louies also give back financially, Dawson Sports Medicine Bequest. when they need safe passage back supporting their children’s majors • Arline Fisch is supporting the to vehicles or residence halls—and (international business for Max, hos- the Aztec Mentor Program—which pitality and tourism management for Arline Fisch MFA Jewelry and provides valuable career guidance Lauren) as well as the new Engineering Metalsmithing Endowed Scholar- including networking, interviewing and Interdisciplinary Sciences Complex ship for students pursuing master and job shadowing. because they believe it’s important for of fine arts degrees in those areas. SDSU to continue building its resources • Clarence “Dude” Stephenson and “It’s all about creating relationships as a top public research university. with parents who are just getting to his wife, Catherine, are funding know SDSU,” explained Guy, a criminal “When alumni come back to campus, an endowment to support master defense attorney. “We talk about our they see a new and thriving SDSU,” of fine arts students in the musi- experiences and our investment in Guy said. Added Francie, “We’re proud cal theatre program. the success of SDSU’s students and not only of its physical beauty, but also ______graduates.” of its legacy.” Night Aztecs

Aztec legends, head and agility area will be coaches and crowd favorites added on campus. mingled with San Diego sports fans in May for A “Once again this season Night with the Aztecs at our student-athletes and Rancho Valencia Resort & coaches made us proud Spa. The fundraising event with their remarkable netted more than $100,000 accomplishments on the in support of scholarships field and in the classroom,” for San Diego State said Athletic Director Jim University student-athletes. Sterk. “The contributions of Aztec fans who support “The athletics program not our student-athletes with only elevates their donations are a critical SDSU’s visibility; reason our programs con- it’s also become ABOVE: front, tinue to make tremendous a magnet for Aqeel Quinn, strides forward.” people who Rob & Lisa A O’Carroll; want to support SDSU Athletics has raised back, Matt the university with the over $85 million for The Shrigley, and contribute Jeremy Hemsley, Campaign for SDSU, with to our successful JJ O’Brien. more than $21 million fundraising LEFT: Coach pledged to the Coryell campaign,” Steve Fisher Legacy to ensure the future said Mary Ruth with Aztec fans. of athletic programs at Carleton, vice SDSU. Named for president for legendary Aztec University Relations and football coach Don RIGHT: Jim & Development. Marilyn Brown, Coryell, the giving Coach Rocky Long society recognizes Donor generosity has & Debby Long donors naming funded major renovations BELOW L to R: SDSU Athletics in at the Aztec Performance Carlota & Jason their estate plans Center, including new floor- Campbell, Ali & and donors endow- ing and equipment and Jack Pariseau, Bill ing student-athlete Aztec branding. Pending & Sherry Dietz, scholarships, which LaVonne & Paul $1.8 million in additional Cashman. total nearly $9 support, an outdoor speed million annually. Photos: Ernie Anderson Ernie Photos: THE Campaign FOR

A Gift to Nurture Pride

The Pride Center at San Diego State University has received a $100,000 gift from San Diego donor David Gubser.

Gubser committed another $100,000 to the university’s LGBT Studies Pro- gram, the second of its kind in North America and the first in the California State University system. A staunch supporter of LGBT centers and or- ganizations in Southern California, Gubser recently decided to extend his advocacy to college campuses.

“Given the terrible events in Orlando, people need to become more edu- cated about the LGBT community,” Gubser said. “I couldn’t think of a better way to accomplish that goal Grads Give Back than through a gift to SDSU.” A remarkable 50 percent of 2016 Gerardo Izaduirre received financial Gubser’s gift will create an endowed graduates from San Diego State aid as a student and knows first-hand scholarship for LGBT majors and will University’s Imperial Valley Campus the difference a little extra support expand the Pride Center’s program- elected to support the Leave Your can make. “It got me to this point ming to include academic mentoring, Legacy campaign by donating $10 where I am actually going to graduate guest speakers, health and safety or more to a fund for scholarships. with a bachelor’s degree,” he said, training and, eventually, queer “so I think it’s pretty important.” leadership conferences. The giving initiative was set up by SDSU’s Office of Alumni Engagement Donors received red and white braid- The Campaign for SDSU has raised to underscore the importance of ed cords to wear at Commencement $705 million to support students, giving back—even on a small scale— 2016 and were recognized during faculty and academic programming to support current and future Aztec the graduation ceremony for their and to build an endowment that will students. philanthropic commitment. strengthen the university in future decades.

SDSU created its interdisciplinary LGBT Studies Program in 2012 in university also offers a minor and a an affinity to the university long after the College of Arts and Letters. The graduate-level certificate in LGBT graduation.” studies. San Diego State has ranked among “The Pride Center is a vital resource the top 25 LGBT-friendly universities for many students, and since its in the nation for six consecutive years. opening has become a vibrant and The ranking is based on the Campus inclusive community center on cam- Pride Index, a tool that compares pus,” said Eric Rivera, vice president LGBT-friendly policies, programs and for Student Affairs. “When students practices on college campuses. feel ​a sense of belonging, they have the capacity to grow academically Christopher Lujan, Pride Center coor- and personally. The center serves as dinator, said students need a place on source of real connection, creating campus to connect to the community. THE Campaign FOR

Lessons for Entrepreneurs

Karen Castles Gray’s connection to owned a shoe store, but Castles Gray San Diego State University dates to was more interested in clothing. her son Alexander’s enrollment in the College of Business Administration She relocated to New York, sought out two years ago. The New York-based one of the largest collegiate apparel business owner was impressed with manufacturers, and became a designer SDSU’s entrepreneurship curriculum for them by refusing to take “no” for and the closely aligned programs an answer. Eventually, she secured col- created and run by the Lavin Entre- legiate licenses for all universities in the preneurship Center. SEC and ACC conferences, becoming a pioneer in the trendy Ath Leisure She became a member of the Wear segment of the clothing industry. college’s advisory board of directors, and this year, she pledged $250,000 “To be successful, you have to believe to endow the Karen Castles Gray in yourself,” she said. “Despite all the Women in Entrepreneurship Lecture. doors shutting and all the people who Organized through the Lavin Center, say you won’t make it, you persevere.” this annual event will bring leading entrepreneurs to campus. Castles Gray is also making a gift of $210,000 to SDSU’s Guardian Scholars, Invited speakers for the inaugural a program for students exiting the lecture series include Nancy Brinker, foster care system. Those who meet The Leave Your Legacy initiative was founder of Susan G. Komen, and SDSU’s academic requirements are introduced at IVC this year after its Lonnie Ali, wife of Muhammed Ali and eligible for personal, financial and successful run at the main campus in manager of his business enterprises. academic support to help them earn 2015. Last year, graduates contributed college degrees. about $16,000 and the SDSU Book- Castles Gray is president and creative store added $10,000 to the total. director of Authentic Lifestyle Prod- “The Guardian Scholars program ucts, which designs and manufactures touches my heart because these In 2016—with both campuses apparel, footwear and accessories. students have chosen to see rejection contributing—the campaign raised It was a career she dreamed of as a as a challenge rather than as a more than $45,000, including the young girl in North Carolina. Her father defeat,” said Castles Gray. SDSU Bookstore’s $10,000 gift. More than 3,400 graduates participated this year. On the Way to $750M

$750M $705M “The Pride Center provides a space Total as of June 15, 2016 for all students to build a support $625M system among the LGBTQ+ com- munity at SDSU, he said. “Our $500M services range from weekly support

groups to utilization of our LGBTQ+ $375M resources on and off campus.”

$250M The Pride Center is also raising funds for events and programming through Strive (sdsu.edu/strive), a $125M crowdfunding platform operated entirely by SDSU Alumni $0 Engagement.

Alumni Angles Class1950s 1960s Notes1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 1970s ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT ’70 Lonnie Rowell (social science; ’83 MS counseling) is lead editor of the Palgrave International 2016 - 2017 Handbook of Action Research (Palgrave Macmillan 2016). ALUMNI BOARD of ADVISORS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ’77 Barry Michaels (psychology; ’85 MBA) retired as chief financial officer of Organovo Holdings. President: Alan Dulgeroff ’92 Liaison to the Campanile Foundation: Elsa Romero ’84 ’78 Janice Kassebaum Patterson (management) is senior director, commercial banking, for Banc Vice President of Mentoring and Career Advancement: of California. Katie Hansen ’03 Vice President of Development: Deanna Encarnacion ’90 Vice President, Finance: Aron Getty, ’95 ’79 John Monroe (biology) is senior vice president of operations for Mesa Biotech Inc., a privately held Vice President of Aztec for Life: Sean Kilkenny ’10 molecular diagnostic company. Vice President of Innovation: Jason Farran ’00 Vice President of University Partnerships: Channell 1980s McNutt ’13 Vice President of Regional and Affinity Groups: ’80 Raymond Weamer (real estate) was appointed by Union Bank as vice president for Small Business Angie Robert ’04 Association lending in the San Diego region; John Wicker (recreation administration) is director of the Administrator: Christy Andrade Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation.

OTHER ELECTED ADVISORS: ’82 Patrick Flynn (business administration) joined Aventura, a Denver-based technology provider for Brad Adams ’99; Risa Baron ’91; Kelly Batten ’98; the healthcare industry, as chief operating officer; Mark Odom (social work) Chiloh Baty ’08; Mike Cully ’11; Lindsey Dixon ’02; Sean Durkin ’08; Ileana Ovalle Engel ’94; Aimee Faucett is vice president of programs and education for Alzheimer’s Orange County. ’96; Allyson Frasure ’97, ’99, ’03; Daniel Gomes, ’01; Ryane Hughes ’02, ’05; Rudy Johnson ’00; Mark Mays ’86 Rose K. Lee (marketing) is chief customer officer for Determine Inc.; ’69; Channelle McNutt ’13; James Newland ’88; Stephen Walsh (economics) is vice president of global sales for Guardian Chris Parks ’92; Angie Robert, ’04; Allen Sliwa, ’04; Analytics. Todd Vitale ’86; Stacey Wolfson ’10 ’89 Susan Salka (MBA; ’16 LHD) was named most admired CEO of 2016 PAST PRESIDENTS: by the San Diego Business Journal; Michael Lima (finance) is managing Liaison to Past Presidents: Perette Godwin ’86 director of the whole loan trading division at Mid America Mortgage. First President: 1931 Vesta Muehleisen For a full listing of past presidents, visit: 1990s sdsualumni.org/pastpresidents Susan Salka ’89, ’16

NON-ELECTED ADVISORS: ’90 Stephen Keane (English) is vice president, corporate development for Leading BioSciences. President: Elliot Hirshman; Vice President, University Relations and Development: Mary Ruth Carleton; University ’91 Jennifer Cohen (physical education) was named athletic director at the University of Washington, Senate Chair: Marcie Bober-Michel; Associated Students becoming one of about three dozen women to currently hold that position at an NCAA Division I college. President: Jamie Miller; Aztec Athletics: Morgan McSweeney ’92 Samuel Mascareno (accounting) is a managing partner for RSM LLP’s west region; Zane Rowe ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT STAFF (MBA) joined VMware as chief financial officer. Interim Executive Director: Ryan DeLong ’05 Alumni Engagement Coordinator: Christy Andrade Alumni Engagement Coordinator: Lacey Lavigne ’93 Bradley Feldmann (finance), president and CEO of Cubic Corporation was named in the recent Assistant Director, Affinity Groups: Dion Akers ’08 publication “100 CEO Leaders in STEM”; David Salazar (criminal justice) is area port director for the Assistant Director, Annual Fund: Natasha Bliss Calexico ports of entry. Annual Fund Supervisor: Caitlin Kuhn Assistant Director, Annual Fund, Stewardship & ’94 Ronnie Campbell (accounting) is chief financial officer for Metrolink; Anthony Roner (mechanical Membership: Cheryl Lemox engineering) is vice president of Southland Energy with responsibility for the strategic implementation of Career Development Liaison: Diane Barragan Marin energy services. Communications Specialist: Tobin Vaughn Robin Breen Rust Data Control Technician: ’96 Erika Beck (psychology) is the new president of California State University, Channel Islands; Director Development Technology: Hillary Haldane (anthropology), associate professor at Quinnipiac University, will travel to Australia on Tammy Blackburn ’94, ’01 Electronic Solicitation Assistant: ​Vanessa Horne a Fulbright scholarship to study domestic violence; Diana Hart (MS radiological health physics), senior Electronic Solicitation Manager: Dan Majors ’03 vice president at GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, was named to the North Carolina Radiation Protection Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center Coordinator: Commission; Cindy Jenson-Elliott (MA teacher education) published the children’s book Dig In Lauren Duran, Mariano Rayon (Simon & Schuster); Michelle Grimes-Hillman (MPH) is dean of academic services at Long Beach Program Coordinator: Jen Ranallo City College.

20 SUMMER 2016 | sdsu.edu/360

A Champion for Alumni Engagement 1990s

’97 Amy Devers (applied design) has launched “Clever,” a podcast about design and designers; Kt Duong (financial services) joined bank Alan Dulgeroff (’92) is a busy guy, especially with regard of Southern California as vice president, business relationships. to his involvement at San Diego State University. He is a member of the university’s Career Services Advisory 2000s Board, sits on the College of Engineering’s Electrical Engineering Curriculum Advisory Board, and for the next ’00 Aaron Criswell (advertising) is director of sales for Adams Radio in year will serve as president of SDSU Alumni. Las Cruces, New Mexico. In a June 15 ceremony at the SDSU Alumni Advisory ’02 David Cromwell (communication; ’09 MBA) is park president of Board meeting, Dulgeroff was symbolically handed the Busch Gardens Williamsburg. president’s gavel by Perette Godwin (’86), the board’s immediate past president. He officially assumed his new ’04 Gulsum Rustemoglu (MA city planning), founder and president position July 1, and intends to make alumni engagement of GEPermit, was named Woman of the Year by the San Diego chapter a top priority. of the Small Business Association. “We need to tailor [involvement] to the kinds of things ’05 Jennifer Shydler (financial services) is a wealth management our alumni are passionate about,” he said. “It’s usually adviser for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. She was recognized in the around time, talent and treasure; whether they want to Las Vegas Business Press for logging more than 1,000 volunteer hours be a mentor, for example, use a particular skill to help the with various organizations. university or its students, or donate to scholarships or other programs. ’06 Susan Castaneda (Chicana/Chicano studies), assistant vice president for The Hartford, was nominated by the White House to the “The nature of the engagement must be personalized so board of directors of the National Association of Registered Agents and that they own it and ultimately stay more engaged.” Brokers. Currently director of strategic planning for San Diego ’07 Brad Chisum (entrepreneurship) sold his startup, Lumedyne, to Gas and Electric (SDG&E), the 47-year-old Dulgeroff is Google earlier this year. a lifetime member of the SDSU Alumni Association. He has served on its board the past four years, during which ’08 Anastasia Farber Osbrink (ISCOR) joined the law firm of time he strengthened the link between SDG&E and the Klinedinst PC as an associate; Judy Mui-Sam Phung (marketing) is Aztec Mentor Program. global channels partner manager for employment brand at Facebook. He also helps his company recruit on campus. Dulger- ’09 Andrew Alfonso (economics) joined the law firm of off estimates approximately 10 percent of SDG&E’s Klinedinst PC as a first-year associate. 4,000 or so employees are Aztec alumni.

2010s “That’s a large number of Aztecs we’ve hired and continue to hire every year,” he said. “We’re ’10 Beck Flanagan (recreation administration), wom- back on campus every semester recruiting and en’s basketball coach at Loyola University, was named NAIA Assistant Coach of the Year. that has not stopped since I got involved with recruiting about 15 years ago.” ’12 Tylyn Fields (criminal justice) earned a master’s The father of a 22-month-old son with another degree in social work from Cal State Long Beach. baby boy on the way, Dulgeroff places a lot of ’15 Jacqueline Reed (execu- emphasis on family. tive MBA) is CEO of TS “They are my top priority,” he said. “It starts with Restaurants of California my family. I view my fellow board members, and Hawaii; Ventura Olvera (public rela- the university and even the broader tions) is an account alumni group like extended family coordinator for and that’s why I put so much into Nuffer, Smith, my service to SDSU.” Tucker. —Tobin Vaughn

Alan Dulgeroff ’92 [email protected] | 360 MAGAZINE 21 Common ChordsCHAPTERS FROM AZTEC HISTORY

.J. Nystrom (’66) never set out Bto reshape San Diego State College’s curriculum. In 1967, the political science graduate had playing in the quad—though we returned to SDSC as a master’s had those, too.” student, and he just wanted to Nystrom recalls SDSC’s adminis- teach an informal class on eviction tration being generally supportive Another subset of courses had law to his friends and their buddies. of their efforts. “We had nobody a more lasting impact on SDSC. His friend, Ann Monkerud, had an breathing down our necks,” he The Experimental College was the idea: Start a whole new college. In said. “Not too much oversight or first campus organization to offer the late 1950s, San Francisco State interference.” courses like “Black Literature,” College had pioneered a free, “The Homosexual in Society” and volunteer-taught Experimental By the 1968 fall semester, the “Vanishing Wildlife.” It also hosted College. Monkerud wanted to catalog had grown to 22 classes. some meetings and classes of the bring something similar to SDSC. By spring, there were 38. By nascent (though independently 1970, there were 54 classes and organized) Women’s Studies So Nystrom put his political approximately 1,200 students Center. Student interest and science background to use se- attending them. Some courses engagement with these courses curing classroom space from the were, well, quirky: “UFOs: Yester- helped spur the creation of formal administration. Monkerud handled day, Today and Tomorrow;” “Natal academic programs dedicated to the academics and put together Astrology;” “Through the Portals these areas. a course catalog. Officially, the Ex- of Anubis.” Others like “Candle- perimental College became a stu- making” and “Auto Mechanics for “It was never intended to be a dent organization. Political science Women” offered practical skills. curriculum reform movement,” professor Henry Janssen served as Naturally, given the era, there he said. “But that was one of its its requisite faculty advisor. were countless guitar classes. unintended consequences.”

Two courses were offered initially: “In terms of academic seriousness, Nystrom never did get to teach “History of Vietnam” and “Under- we had real teachers and real his eviction law class. After the Ex- ground Newspaper Reporting.” classes,” Nystrom said. “It wasn’t perimental College’s first year, he Twenty-eight students signed up. just groovy-man guitar instructors left it to join SDSC Associated Stu- dents. He lives in the College Area, remains active in SDSU through Course catalogs the College Area Community often featured psychedelic Council and is a lifelong member artwork. This of the SDSU Alumni Association. one from 1971 was designed by Jill Timm. Lonnie Rowell (’70, ’83), now a professor in the School of Leader- ship and Education Sciences at the University of San Diego, took over the Experimental College and shepherded it through the mid- 1970s, at which point it folded. Over the Experimental College’s lifetime, some 7,000 students participated. —Michael Price

Graphic courtesy of SDSU Special Collections 2016 san diego state football home schedule Sept. 3 vs. New Hampshire @ 5:30 pm KGB SKYSHOW • SDSU FACULTY & STAFF APPRECIATION DAY Sept. 10 vs. California @ 7:30 pm Oct. 8 vs. UNLV @ TBD FAMILY WEEKEND oct. 21 vs. San Jose State @ 7:30 pm nov. 5 vs. Hawai'i @ 4:00 pm HOMECOMING nov. 26 vs. Colorado State @ 6:00 pm

Cheer On 2015 Mountain West Offensive Player Of The Year And Heisman Candidate Donnel Pumphrey, Defensive Player Of The Year Damontae Kazee, Special Teams Player Of The Year Rashaad Penny, And Many More Of The 2015 Mountain West/Hawaii Bowl Champions!

GOAZTECS.COM (619) 283-SDSU (7378) 360 Magazine Address Corrections: 5500 Campanile Drive San Diego, CA 92182-8035 [email protected]

SS ELE IM T

foreign policy starts here A world-class education includes a global mindset.

Our vibrant community of international students adds diversity and strength to the San Diego State University community. Each year, approximately 2,400 international students come to study on campus and 2,500 SDSU students study abroad in more than 50 different countries. At SDSU, we’ve found that transnational experiences are the first step toward a better world.