Dispatches Fall 2011

1951
Charles “Duke” Russell [BusAdm] says something he learned from the Loyola University Jesuits is “Do something for society.” He’s organizing the 20th annual Abe Lincoln Remembrance, to be held Feb. 12, 2012, 2 p.m., at the Los Angeles National Cemetery in Westwood.

1953
Leo McElroy [LibArts] published his memoir of his years as a broadcast reporter, a career that began with the Los Angeles Loyolan (a few LMU alumni are mentioned in the book). It’s called “ ... But You Can’t Report That!” The memoir can found at Amazon.com.

1961
Richard Snyder [SciEng] is the 2011 president of IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society and founder and president of RS Microwave Co. in Butler, N.J.

1962
John Heslin [BusAdm] has two grandsons attending LMU. Junior Andrew Heslin is a pre-med student and a teaching assistant, and he is the son of John Heslin Jr. [BusAdm ’85] and Geriann (Slezak) Heslin [SciEng ’85]. First-year student Robert Heslin graduated Brophy Prep in Phoenix in May 2011.

John P. Shook [BusAdm] retired this past July from his post as an L.A. County Superior Court judge, after almost 29 years on the bench. “I want to walk out of the building as opposed to being taken out on a gurney,” he told the Los Angeles Daily Journal. He and his wife, Elfriede, also celebrated their golden wedding anniversary this year. “I have to wait till 2012 to become a Golden Lion in the eyes of LMU,” he told LMU Magazine, “but I’m already a golden lion in my wife’s eyes.”

Paul Wicker [SciEng] is retired and lives in Manhattan Beach, Calif., with his wife, Nancy, of 45 years. He spends part of his time speaking to elementary school students about the joys of astronomy by playing the role of Galileo. He also is active in disaster relief as a volunteer for the American Red Cross Disaster Services, and he has traveled to countries including Vietnam, Colombia and Argentina as a volunteer with international peace and justice organizations.

1963
William Herreras [LibArts] received the Eugene Lifetime Achievement Award for Professional Excellence from the California Applicants’ Attorneys Association this past January in San Diego.

Brian Quinn [BusAdm], athletics director at Cal State Fullerton in Fullerton, Calif., joined the board of directors of the Los Angeles Sports Council, based in Los Angeles, in July.

1971
Ikaweba Bunting [LibArts] is the chief executive officer and director of the Zanzibar International Film Festival in Zanzibar, Tanzania.

1973
Thomas Beck [BusAdm, Law ’77] was recently named one of the top 100 lawyers in Southern California by the 2011 Super Lawyers magazine. He was named to the 2010 National Irish Legal 100 by Irish American Magazine, and he joined the Advisory Board for the Advocacy Institute at Loyola Law School.

1974
Deborah Frahm [LibArts] is head of the Ventura County Department of Child Support Services in Ventura, Calif. She has been the assistant director of the department since 1999. Before joining the child support department as assistant director, she worked for an agency assisting crime victims.

1975
Dennis Diemer [SciEng] retired as general manager of East Bay Municipal Utilities District, in the Bay Area. He ran EBMUD for more than a decade and played a lead role in increasing water conservation and reducing potable water usage per home.

1977
Vince J. Rosato [LibArts] teaches a fifth-grade mainstream class in Union City, Calif., and serves on the Pastoral Council of St. Paschal Baylon Church in Oakland, Calif. He is competing on the statewide ballot for K-12, Inclusive (of administrators) seat, of the CalSTRS Teacher Retirement Board, an election that ends on Nov. 30, 2011.

1978
Henry Jordan [BusAdm] was named chairman and CEO of Wells Fargo Capital Finance, headquartered in San Francisco, in September 2010.

1980
Vincent Davis [BusAdm, Law ’86] is founder and lead attorney for Vincent W. Davis & Associates in Arcadia, Calif.

Paul Tanaka [BusAdm] was appointed undersheriff of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in June 2011 by Sheriff Lee Baca.

1981
Alfonso Moises [GradCFA] teaches at Albany State University in Albany, Ga., offering students insight on journalism in his home country of El Salvador.

1982
Elmer Baldwin [BusAdm] joined Internet Broadcasting, headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., as president and CEO in April 2011.

Paul Kaminski [LibArts] is director of advancement for Providence High School in Burbank, Calif. He works in marketing and public relations, alumni relations, student recruitment, major gifts, grant writing, the annual fund, event planning and planned giving.

1983
Dawn Meyerriecks [SciEng] is the deputy director of national intelligence for acquisition and technology within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).

1984
Timothy Sanders [LibArts] published his fourth book this past spring titled “Today We Are Rich: Harnessing the Power of Total Confidence.”

1985
Gregory Boyle, S.J. [GradLibArts], founder of Homeboy Industries and author of the bestselling book “Tatoos on the Heart,” was the featured speaker in April 2011 at the Gangs Out of Downey annual fundraising luncheon in Downey, Calif.

Ted Chittenden [CFA] sits on the Arizona governor’s Council on Blindness and Visual Impairment. He serves as an adviser to the governor and state legislature on government policies to assist blind people.

1989
Tambre Leighn [CFA] works as a certified professional life coach. After losing her husband to cancer, she created Coaching by Tambre (www.coachingbytambre.com), in Los Angeles, to help others with similar experiences.

1990
Jack Orman [CFA ’90] is the creator of ABC’s series “Pan Am,” which premiered this past September.

1991
Kathleen Kalp [GradBusAdm] was named a member of the Board of Directors of the Wildling Art Museum in Los Olivos, Calif., in February 2011. She is a former board member of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural and the Marymount School in Santa Barbara, as well as a former board member of the Loyola Marymount University MBA Alumni Association.

1992
Sharlene Ginoza-Lee[BusAdm] is vice president and human resources manager for Bank of Hawaii's Human Resources Compensation Department.

Kenneth Rubeli [BusAdm] is the chief executive officer for the Boys & Girls Club in Henderson, Las Vegas.

Ericka Senegar-Mitchell [SciEng] is a science teacher at Serra High School in San Diego and is one of six state finalists for a presidential math and science teaching award. The winners of the prestigious award will be named next year by the White House.

1993
Christopher Henry was born to Marisa (Varni) Babin [LibArts] and Reid Babin on Feb. 23, 2011.

1994
Doug Bettencourt [BusAdm], who teaches fifth grade at Juliet Morris Elementary School in Cypress, Calif., was named one of five 2012 Orange County Teachers of the Year in May. The five were chosen from among 60 finalists. The honor comes with a $15,000 prize.

Jason Cohon [BusAdm] was named executive producer for West Coast operations by Brand New School, an international production company and design studio with offices in Santa Monica, Calif., New York and London.

Ben and Maren DeSantis were born to Paul DeSantis [LibArts, GradBusAdm ’98] and Lena DeSantis on April 28, 2011.

Beatriz Flores [CFA] produces the traffic reports for KTLA Morning News in Los Angeles has worked in TV production as an assistant producer and researcher for several years.

Tracey Gould [CFA] was elected president of the Society of Marketing Professional Services Virginia in July 2011. She has a master’s of science degree in integrated marketing communications from West Virginia University in Morgantown, W.Va.

Troy Evan was born to Kimberly Weiss Stahl [SFTV] on Oct. 8, 2010. Troy joins his brother Drew, 10.

Lucas Alan Vilim was born to Cathy Vilim [LibArts] and Christopher Trent-Vilim on April 3, 2011.

Jon Vigano [LibArts] is now vice president and assistant general counsel at JPMorgan Chase & Co., in Chicago.

1995
Wyking Jones [BusAdm] is in his first year as assistant men’s basketball coach at Louisville University in Louisville, Ky.

1996
Connor Biasatti and Evan Harrington were born to Kathryn Campana [LibArts] on Sept. 7, 2011.

Angela (Thomas) Eilers [LibArts, GradBusAdm ’03] has been lobbying the U.S. Congress on behalf of the American Heart Association. She also gave a speech in honor of her daughter Myka at the 30th annual Orange Co., Heart Ball.

Avery Grace Gully was born to Mardell (Wrensch) Gully [CFA] and Sean Gully on Feb. 13, 2011.

1997
Viviana Mahoney [LibArts] became a licensed psychologist in November 2010, after earning a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Loyola University, Chicago.

Sharon Stefan [SciEng] and Wolfgang Stefan were married in a civil wedding in Riverside, Calif., on July 11, 2009, and celebrated with a church ceremony Sept. 18, 2010, in Germany. Sharon is a full-time mathematics professor at the Cy Fair campus of Lone Star College, near Houston. Wolfgang is a research programmer at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, also in Houston, where they live.

1998
Juana “Yumi” (Chavez) Kawasaki [LibArts] has been teaching fifth grade for the past 11 years at Eastman Avenue Elementary School in Los Angeles. She is also the lead teacher for the Marathon Kids program at Eastman. She is married to Chris Kawasaki, and they have two children.

Monica Pleasant [BusAdm] and her husband purchased their first home in Irvine, Calif., this year.

1999
Mila Jade was born to Mark Reynado [BusAdm] and Janet Fame on Sept. 7, 2011.

Zuri Walls was born to Namasha Walls [SFTV] and family on July 2, 2011.

2000
Chris Allport [CFA] had his 2000 film, “Life is Too Short to Sing Badly,” screened at The Egyptian Theatre May 30, 2011, at the Park City Utah Film Music Festival in Park City, Utah.

Jessica Cheng [LibArts] is project manager for the Arizona Center for Algae Technology and Innovation at Arizona State University. “Can you believe we can harvest biofuel and capture carbon emissions from algae? Read more about it here: http://www.azcati.com/. “I also finally finished yoga teacher training. Life is good.”

Elaina was born to Angela Evans [CFA] and Matthew de Voe [CFA] on March 6, 2011.

Kali Damien was born to Gary Dyogi [SciEng] and Marianne (Soratorio) Dyogi [GradEd ’08] on April 21, 2011. He is their third child. Coincidentally, the doctor who delivered Kali was Lisa Valle [SciEng ’95].

Jennifer MacNeil [CFA] married Kevin Danenberg on April 30, 2011.

2001
Sarah Ali [LibArts, GradEd ’09] is the principal at Antonio Maria Lugo Academy in Huntington Park, Calif.

Frank Allday [SciEng] married Karen Lippman on June 12, 2010, in the Dominican Republic. They live in Sausalito, Calif. After graduating from UC San Francisco with a doctorate in pharmacy in 2008, he joined Safeway Inc. Frank also has released albums under the moniker geppetto Gestapo, an experimental, avant garde, hip hop project. Karen is a forensic psychologist at San Quentin State Prison. They have two Persian cats, Garfield and Peaches.

Spencer Reid was born to James Clelland [BusAdm] and Lisa Santeramo Clelland [LibArts, GradEd ’04] on April 1, 2011.

Megan Desmond [CFA ’01] married Cyrus B. Martinez on April 30, 2011.

Alison Harvey [BusAdm] moved in 2010 to Portland, Ore., where she distributes wine for her family’s winery. The winery, Dumas Station, was started in 2003 in Walla Walla, Wash., and produces high-end cabernet sauvignon and other Bordeaux-varietals from their estate vineyard.

Katherine Ann was born to Anthony Jennison [BusAdm, GradBusAdm ’05] and Elizabeth (Odeh) Jennison [BusAdm ’02, GradBusAdm ’07] on June 19, 2011.

Douglas Pate [BusAdm, GradBusAdm ’02] is the founder and partner of Isle Surfboards, an online surfing gear company based in Costa Mesa, Calif.

Catherine Claire was born to Tricia and William Toomey [BusAdm] on Aug. 10, 2011.

2002
Anthony Brenneman [CFA] directed a 14-minute film called “Frienemies” that won the Spring 2011 CINE Golden Eagle Award. It screened at the LA Shorts Fest on July 25, 2011.

Theodore James was born to Christopher Delja [SciEng, GradBusAdm ’06] and Jolie R. Delja [LibArts ’03] on May 18, 2011.

Michael Perucho [SciEng, GradEd’ 04] is among the first priests to be ordained by Archbishop José Gomez, archbishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Michael’s home parish is St. Anthony of Padua in Gardena, Calif., and he has been assigned to Holy Family Parish in Glendale, Calif.

2003
George Bullen [GradBusAdm] is president and CEO of Smart Blades Inc., in Oxnard, Calif. In August, he was elected to the 2011 Society of Manufacturing Engineers’ College of Fellows.

2004
Cynthia Aceves [CFA, GradBusAdm ’09] and Luis Miguel Aceves were married Aug. 21, 2010 at LMU’s Sacred Heart Chapel. Their ceremony was officiated by Jose I. Badenes, S.J., who was Cynthia’s first professor at LMU. Erika (Hernandez) Viramontes [LibArts, GradEd ’06], Monica Marquez [LibArts], Alicia Lopez [CFA ’02], Ayesha (Khan) Qazi [LibArts ’05] and Brianne Tang [CFA].

Dejou Bencomo-Jasso [SFTV], along with her business partner and husband Marco Marano, founded CountryBred, a specialty travel provider focused on distinct cultural journeys to Europe. She serves as CountryBred’s chief marketing officer with oversight for marketing communication strategy, including branding, advertising, corporate communications, public relations and social media
marketing.

Monica Iskandar [SciEng] received a doctorate of pharmacy degree from the School of Pharmacy at UC San Francisco in March 2010. She now works in Los Angeles for a HIV/AIDS specialty pharmacy under a nonprofit healthcare organization.

Amelia Mulkey [CFA] directed Arthur Miller’s autobiographical play, “A Memory of Two Mondays,” at the Ruskin Group Theatre in Santa Monica, Calif., this past summer. She also has produced and directed several short films and is collaborating with the San Francisco Playwrights Foundation in the development of new works.

2005
Nancy Norton Bevins [GradSFTV] learned this past May that her action/comedy screenplay “Capturing Turandot” (aka “Blonde Instinct”) was named a top ten screenplay in the annual UCLA Extension Screenplay Competition.

Christopher Grisafe [LibArts] ran for supervisor of the Providence District in Virginia. He serves as project manger in the Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service.

Kimberly Long [LibArts] married Eric Hoffstetter in Pleasanton, Calif., on May 7, 2011. Also present were Colleen Hessler [LibArts] and Grethchen Collins [LibArts].

Alison Tomkovicz [SciEng] was married on May 21, 2011, to Joshua Hollman in Napa, Calif., at the Napa Valley Country Club. Alison, who studied biology, was joined by many of her LMU friends, including Courtnie deFigueiredo [SciEng], Brittany Knott [SciEng] and Megan Welch [SciEng], while she celebrated her big day. Alison lives in Walnut Creek, Calif., and works for her family’s nonprofit organization WaterHope (www.waterhope.org), which raises money to provide fresh water wells to families around the world.

2006
Jessica Boyle [LibArts] was admitted to the University of Alabama’s Ph.D. program in clinical psychology. Jessica was one of four student applicants accepted into the program’s psychology and law specialization.

Kristen Cole [LibArts] is reference librarian at Muskingum University in New Concord, Ohio.

Brian Geremia [LibArts] co-founded Academic Impact in Sacramento, Calif., a tutoring agency that caters to students in need of mentors.

Falon Inez Mollica was born to Ashley Tullgren [CFA] on June 28, 2011.

Carolyn Quinn [LibArts] graduated from Cal State Northridge this past May with a master’s degree in social work. She now works with caregivers and older adults with mental illness.

Venilda (“Tish”) Tolentino [LibArts] received a master’s of science degree in human resources and a graduate certificate in organizational leadership from Chapman University, Washington State campus, in May 2011.

Nicole Wayer [SciEng, LibArts] graduated from the Ross University School of Medicine in Dominica in March 2011 and now is an intern at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

2007
Robert Geminder [GradEd] obtained his master’s degree and teaching credential from LMU at the age of 72. He has been teaching mathematics at Opportunities Unlimited Charter High School in Los Angeles. In the fall he returned to LMU to clear his credential at age 76. He also is a Holocaust survivor from Poland and wants to give back to the needy kids in central Los Angeles.

Stephen Salinas [LibArts] is a program director for City Year Los Angeles. He oversees five school partnerships where 75 corps members provide in-class tutoring, one-on-one support, and run before- and after-school programs to keep students on-track to graduate from high school.

Ke`alohilani Amelia Jade was born to Mahina (Cumpston) Sayin [BusAdm] and Lucas Sayin [BusAdm ’08] on May 27, 2011, in Los Angeles. Mahina and Lucas are both accountants in Santa Monica. Proud godparents include Brandi Jean Nalani Balutski [BusAdm ’06] and Elijah Souza [BusAdm ’08].

Sean Wallitsch [SFTV] is lead compositor at Rhythm & Hues in Los Angeles and has worked on “Hop,” “Night at the Museum” and “Iron Man.”

2008
Brandon Assanti [BusAdm] made a documentary called “Their Eyes Were Dry,” which he worked on as a student at LMU, about the 1974 Ma’alot Massacre in Israel. The film premiered nationwide this past May.

Saata Bangura [CFA] had her first professional art show on June 26 at Bergamot Station Arts Center in Santa Monica, Calif. Her work was exhibited as part of the first annual CreativeLA charity art show, sponsored by ThinkLA. Proceeds went to arts education in the Los Angeles area.

Andrea Parson [CFA] was honored with the Princess Grace Award in Dance for her performance in “Not I,” a dance choreographed by Sarah Slipper, artistic director of the Northwest Dance Project in Portland, Ore. Andrea has been part of the company since 2007.

2009
Julia Fingleson [LibArts] worked this past summer with an organization called Maji Mazuri that helps women and children overcome poverty and ignorance in the Mathare Valley area of Kenya.

Brian Hrybyk [GradBusAdm] opened a franchise of College Nannies and Tutors in Wayland, Mass., this past March.

Brenna Scanlon [GradEd] is principal at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish School in Oxnard, Calif.

2011
Robert Montenegro [LibArts] received the Mac Boland Alphadelt of the Year Award at the Alpha Delta Gamma national convention Aug. 10–13 in Washington, D.C. He also received a fellowship and will enter the master of fine arts playwriting program at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Montenegro is first LMU alumnus to win the national award since 1994, when it was presented to Benjamin Hensler [CFA ’95].