Class Notes

1960s

Leroy Goehring (1966) retired after working 55 years in agriculture.

Faith Wilding (1965), a renowned feminist artist, writer and educator who is a visiting scholar at Brown University, collaborated with Harry Gould Harvey IV on an exhibition, “Arrows of Desire,” at Brown University’s David Winton Bell Gallery.

1970s

Marie Baker (1977) is now director of the Idaho Small Business Development Center (Southwestern Idaho).

Marga Cooley (1976) is managing editor for Santa Maria California News Media, Inc.

Brian Lehman (1978, ’81) published the crime thriller novel “Finders Takers” in May 2021. He previously published the Vietnam War novel “War Paint” in 2019.

Joseph Oldham (1975), founder and CEO of New Vision Aviation and a Central Valley native, will pilot an electric plane in an effort to set a world record for longest flight powered by renewable energy.

Darrell O’Sullivan (1972) retired as a microbiologist, clinical laboratory scientist and chief administrative officer in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of California, Davis Medical Center.

1980s

Marlon Hall (1982, ’91), a longtime educator who has six college degrees, was named interim president of Fresno City College.

Steve Hosey, who helped the Bulldogs advance to the College World Series before becoming a first-round draft pick of the San Francisco Giants, is now an assistant coach for the Fresno State baseball team.

Robert A. Jensen (1988) is a crisis management expert and chairman of Kenyon International Emergency Services, a global leader in disaster recovery and handling disasters involving mass fatalities. Jensen served as CEO for 18 years. His story was published in a memoir from Macmillan/St Martin’s Press.

Bret Kofford (1982) was the primary screenwriter for the award-winning feature film “Christmas in July,” which showed in theaters and is now available for viewing on streaming platforms including Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play, YouTube and Fandango. Kofford also is a full-time lecturer in writing and film at San Diego State University-Imperial Valley.

Cesilia Lomeli (1982) was announced as Cambria’s 2021 Citizen of the Year.

Bill Merz (1982) and his son, Anthony, are the co-founders of San Rucci Winery.

Brian Panish (1980) was ranked No. 1 on The Super Lawyers list by 2022 Southern California Super Lawyers.

Tom Wolfe (1982) retired after 31 years with Stanislaus County as an environmental health specialist and solid waste manager.

1990s

Tamara L. Boeck (1990), a Stoel Rives LLP partner, was named 2022 president of the Construction Lawyers Society of America. Boeck, who is also a society advisory board member, was inducted as a fellow of the society in 2017. She was named construction law Lawyer of the Year in Sacramento in 2020 by Best Lawyers.

Diana Cano (1991), who has more than 20 years of human resources experience, launched DC Human Resources Consulting.

Julie Cleeland (1980) has been CEO at EYE-Q Vision Care in Fresno since 2012. She previously worked 18 years at Community Medical Centers in various administration, business development and marketing positions.

Jami Hamel De La Cerda (1994) is the founder of the Diamond Learning Center in Clovis, which serves adults with intellectual disabilities.

Moses Diaz (1999) was appointed city attorney by the City of Corcoran.

Tara Gomez (1998) is the owner of Camins 2 Dreams, which focuses on natural winemaking using grapes sourced from Sta. Rita Hills in Santa Barbara County.

Robin Johnston McGehee (1998) is one of six alums from all 23 California State University campuses selected for the online project “How I Got Here.” In 2015, she received the Top Dog Alumna Award from the Fresno State Alumni Association on behalf of the Division of Research and Graduate Studies. McGehee is also featured in the “Made in the CSU” series.

Paul Nerland (1996) was named Fresno County administrative officer.

Soma Norodom (1993), the Cambodian princess, author and philanthropist, was featured on ABC30 for Women’s History Month. She has returned to Fresno to serve the Valley.

Ann L. Sin (1996), a Clovis teacher, was featured on an episode of “The Price is Right” on Jan. 21.

Kristina Tons (1995) was named national Distinguished Teacher of the Year by the Mensa Foundation.

Georgeanne White (1992) was named city manager for the City of Fresno.

Jim Yovino (1989) is retiring as Fresno County superintendent of schools.

2000s

Ryan Banks (2005, ’11) is now deputy chief operating officer of Turning Point of Central California, Inc. He has worked for Turning Point, which serves people in need, for 18 years.

Lee Ann Eager (2002) is now chair of the State Transportation Commission.

Karl Federspiel (2004) is a success adviser for Ohio University.

Julio Puente Garcia (2009) received the Rudolfo Anaya Award at the International Latino Book Awards.

Yohei Ishihara (2008) works for Trend Micro Incorporated as a security evangelist.

Ryan Christopher Jones (2005) was awarded the 2022 American Mosaic Journalism Prize, a $100,000 prize given to freelance journalists for excellence in long-form narrative or deep reporting about underrepresented groups. His photography and reporting have explored the intersecting identities of immigrant and farmworker communities in Central California and beyond.

Carlos Santos (2003) is an actor and comedian who was a guest on the “Doughboys” podcast.

Shannon (Sisk) MacAdam (2007) is now senior vice president for American Heart Association, Central Valley Division.

Todd Stermer (2001) was appointed as Fresno city clerk on Nov. 15.

Neftaly Vargas (2003) is now senior sales manager at Giddings Berries USA, where she will be focused on expanding the company’s major retailer program and building out the company’s sales and customer service teams.

David Vartanian (2008) and Mehdi Brahim co-founded Baseline Team, a streetwear clothing company, with former Fresno State basketball standouts Hanna and Haley Cavinder.

2010s

Davante Adams (top photo), who has amassed 8,121 receiving yards and 73 touchdowns in his first 8 years in the NFL, signed with the Las Vegas Raiders and will reunite with his college quarterback Derek Carr.

Rory Appleton (2015) is now a pop culture reporter for Indystar.

Benjamin J. Armfield (2017) is now chief financial officer for Sonoma Valley Hospital.

Nathan Avedian (2015) does supply logistics for Walmart for various produce items.

Cory Ballis (2010), of Ballis Glass, started an open-air market at his east central Fresno storefront to give customers the opportunity to shop unique glassware pieces.

Sara Borjas (2010) is an acclaimed poet who will be part of the Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County’s NEA Big Read program.

Carolyn Chase (2017) was named 2022 Florida National Guard Military Spouse of the Year. She received a similar honor in 2020 in California.

Josh Delano (2018), a Navy veteran, is an electrical engineer for PG&E, creating design work for electrical construction.

Gwendolyn Delgado (2014) is now assistant principal at Golden Valley High School in Santa Clarita Valley.

Monisha Edwards (2013) is the owner of Scent & Fire Candle Company.

Jasmin Guzman (2018) and Tony Quezada are the owners of Let’s Roll Fresno, making rolled ice cream, crepes, coffee and more.

Rodney Mathews (2015), a former Fresno State football defensive back, was featured as a contestant on Season 18 of “The Bachelorette” on ABC.

Chris Mathys (2015) is running for Congress.

Marcus McMaryion (2019), the former standout quarterback for the Bulldogs, is launching an app that will connect high school and college athletes to his network of professional athletes.

Elsa Mejia (2015) was elected as a Madera city councilmember.

Lauren (Gaither) Nickerson (2010) is now associate vice president for University Communications at Fresno State. She was previously the director of marketing and communications for the Central California Faculty Medical Group.

Steve Ramirez (2014) and his company P. Steve Ramirez Vocational Services hosted its first golf tournament on Oct. 22 at the Madera Golf and Country Club to provide scholarships to student-athletes at Madera, Madera South and Matilda Torres high schools.

Christopher Rodriguez (2019) will perform as part of the ensemble in “Bless Me, Ultima” for Opera Modesto.

Savannah Stoeckle (2019) is now assistant director for strategic communications with Fresno State Athletics. She is in her seventh year working for the department.

Kenny Wiggins (2010), a former Fresno State and NFL offensive lineman, is the owner of Mayweather Boxing and Fitness in Clovis.

2020s

Jamison Hill, a former Fresno State pitcher, made his Visalia Rawhide debut after being signed as an undrafted free agent by the Arizona Diamondbacks.