CLASS NOTES

Top Photo: In honor of his nearly eight years of service as Fresno State’s official live mascot, Victor E. Bulldog III was recognized by the City of Fresno, and March 30 was proclaimed Victor E. Bulldog III Day.

1960s

Jerry Luper (1963) was featured in the Napa Valley Register about his historic career in the wine industry. He now lives in France, where he retired in 2008.

Lupe Valdez (1968), a producer, actor, screenwriter and costume designer, received the Icon Award at the Poppy Jasper International Film Festival. As one of the founding members of El Teatro Campesino, Valdez has worked in Chicano film and theatre for over 50 years.

1970s

Sally Delap-John (1972) created a solo exhibition of 85 of her oil paintings of her hometown Truchas, New Mexico, “A Painted Tale of Truchas.”

Manuel Jimenez (1977) and Olga Jimenez, founders of the Woodlake Botanical Garden, were featured in the Los Angeles Times. For 30 years, the Jimenez’s have used the garden to mentor teens in the area who volunteer to help maintain the 13 acres.

Beverly A. Moore-Amons (1975) was featured in a CalMatters story about eminent domain and how it affects Black homeownership.
Ven. Ajahn Suchart Abhijato Maha Thera (1972) was featured in the Sunday Observer in an article on inner peace and happiness.

1980s

Mary Villalta Brooks, (1982) was recognized as a member for 50 continuous years of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the world’s largest organization of nutrition experts.

Dr. Michele Cantwell-Copher (1989, ’90, ’94) is the new Fresno County Superintendent of Schools.

Rae Dunn (1985), whose popular, inscribed plates, bowls, mugs and vases are sold at stores like HomeGoods, Marshalls and T.J. Maxx, was featured in XTRA Living magazine.

Thom Huggett (1982) retired after 42 years of service for city and county governments in Fresno and the East Bay Area. He is a registered civil and structural engineer in California and Oklahoma. He is also a certified building plans examiner and building official. He and his wife now reside in Edmond, Oklahoma.

Sean Lane (1989) is the dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Alabama-Huntsville.

David Morrison (1985, ’93), who served as director of Napa County’s planning, building and environmental services department since 2014, was named interim county executive officer (CEO).

Chris Pacheco (1985), a business owner and football alumnus, created bulldogbread.com to generate donations to support student-athletes through name, image and likeness opportunities.

Mark Pasculli (1988) and wife, Lori, own Rolling Hills Vineyard in Eagle, Idaho. Rolling Hills was named a 2023 Idaho Winery to Watch.

Jon Reelhorn (1985) is the owner of Belmont Nursery in Fresno.

Jerome Rosa (1982) is associate director of animal services at the Arizona Department of Agriculture.

1990s

Jason Ahronian (1998) is now senior vice president in the Morgan Stanley Fresno office.

Lori Chavez-DeRemer (1990) won Oregon’s 5th Congressional District race.

Todd Davison (1996) is the Mohave County Park police chief and the environmental rural area cleanup enforcement coordinator.

Alex Holman (1993), Notre Vue’s seasoned winemaker, has spent his winemaking career at well-known family-owned wineries and has worked at every sub-American Viticulture Area in Sonoma County.

Genoveva “Veva” Islas-Hooker (1991) was chosen as the Woman of the Year for the 31st District, which includes the city of Fresno and surrounding areas. She served as president of Fresno Unified School District’s board of trustees and is the founding executive director of Cultiva La Salud, a nonprofit focused on creating health equity.

Eric Johnston (1993) is now chief executive officer of Sonoma Media Investments.

Robin Johnston McGehee (1998), a former Fresno State Alumni Association Top Dog and educator, was invited to attend a ceremony in which President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act, enshrining protections for same-sex and interracial marriage into federal law.

Diana Marie Nalbandian-Hatton (1998), a former volleyball standout and athletics director for Tulare Union High School, had an article written in the Visalia Times-Delta about her sports-driven family.

Soma Norodom (1993), the Cambodian princess, released her second book, “Royal Love,” about the tragic death of her fiance, David Toste, in 2018.

Robert Putica (1998) is now vice president of sales for Evolon Technology, Inc., a developer of software solutions for video surveillance.

Peter Robertson (1992, ’95, ’05, ’22), was named grand marshal of the Tower District’s 25th Mardi Gras Parade.

Craig Scharton (1995) took over responsibility for Ten at the Top’s entrepreneurship initiatives, commonly referred to as the Upstate Entrepreneur Ecosystem in the 10-county Upstate South Carolina region.

Dr. Jennifer Smith (1997) is a business columnist for Gazette.

Todd Suntrapak, (1992) president and CEO of Valley Children’s Healthcare, has been elected 2023 chair of the California Hospital Association’s Board of Trustees.

John Zanoni (1996) was elected Fresno County Sheriff.

2000s

Ryan Banks (2005, ’11) is Turning Point of Central California’s CEO elect. Banks has been with the agency since 2000, most recently as deputy chief operating officer. Turning Point addresses mental health, community corrections, children’s services, housing programs, recovery services and substance abuse disorders.

Pragati Desai (2008) is now a tax manager with Price, Paige and Company.

Josh Escovedo (2009), an intellectual property, litigation and sports attorney, was named the No. 1 trademark author in the 2023 JD Supra Readers’ Choice Awards. He leads the firm’s sports law group and has clients in various other industries, including hospitality, real estate, agriculture and construction.

Reese Fortin (2007) is a district HSE manager for Sundt Construction, where she has been an employee owner for five years. Reese guides teams constructing building projects in the southwest region and helps manage corporate safety policies and initiatives.

John Garza (2004) was appointed to Lemoore’s City Council District B.

Amanda Huffman (2007) was featured as a U.S. service member with her podcast, “Women of the Military.”

Rafael Iñiguez (2008, ’08, ’22) is now superintendent for Parlier Unified School District.

Andrew Janz (2004) was appointed as Fresno’s new city attorney.

Allen Mesick (2009), a Northern California goat farmer who hopes to spread word about regenerative ag, is now supervisor for Centennial Farm in Orange County.

Maggie (Thach) Morshed (2006), OASIS humanities lead at UC San Diego and former newspaper journalist, was welcomed into the Authentic Voice program of the Women’s National Book Association.

Yvette Roberts-Haynes, (2006), a former Bulldogs basketball standout, had her No. 24 jersey retired at the Bulldogs game against Colorado State on Feb. 11 at the Save Mart Center.

Brandy Robertson (2005) is an original member of the Bulldog Blitz skydiving team.

James Runcorn (2000) launched a podcast called “Culture Crux” where he invites people to share their stories of faith.

Maureen Qualia (2008) is a fourth-generation winemaker at Val Verde Winery in Del Rio, Texas and an enology lecturer at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.

2010s

Ismail Lourido Ali (2012) is director of policy and advocacy at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies.

Kyle Campbell (2015) wrote, “Beyond Belief: How Living with a Brain Stem Tumor Brought Faith and Purpose to Life.” It made a dozen bestseller’s lists on Kindle in categories like disability studies, oncology and Christian faith.

Derek Carr (2013) signed a contract with the New Orleans Saints after nine years with the Raiders. His 35,222 career yards and 217 passing touchdowns are Raiders franchise records.

Ethan Castro (2016) was recently featured in the Silent Garden Lecture Series at Fresno State, showcasing his patent-pending audio technology for the first time in California.

Dylan Chmura (2019) has been named Northern Michigan University’s interim head football coach.

Paul George (2010) earned his eighth career NBA All-Star game honor after leading the Los Angeles Clippers with 23.8 points per game.

Sarah Gilbert (2012) is an original member of the Bulldog Blitz skydiving team.

Tawnie Kroll (2014) released her first cookbook, “Italian Cooking in Your Instant Pot: 60 Flavorful Homestyle Favorites Made Faster Than Ever.”
Jordan Luplow (2015) joined the Toronto Blue Jays in his seventh season of Major League Baseball, after previously playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cleveland Guardians and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Mario Macagba (2013) completed his MBA from Chaminade University of Honolulu and was in the inaugural cohort, completing the degree in one year.

Jennifer McLelland (2010), who previously served as a Fresno police officer for eight years, is active in advocating for disability rights and home- and community-based services.

Chris Ramos (2011) is now vice president for field operations at Preston Companies, which specializes in excavating and installing underground utilities, soil testing and management and fill site management.

Dr. Cynthia Teniente-Matson (2013) was appointed president of San Jose State University. She previously served as president of Texas A&M San Antonio for eight years, and was Fresno State’s vice president of administration and chief financial officer from 2004-15.

Gabriel Verduzco (2013), an arborologist, was featured in the Kinfolk Magazine and the LA Times Plant People for his work with invasive species, native plants and more. He was also featured on NBClx and on podcast “SciNight” about invasive tree pests.

2020s

Holly Cassina (2022) was hired as a Fresno State athletics strategic communications coordinator.

Trent Dilfer (2021), former Fresno State quarterback, first-round NFL draft pick and Super Bowl champion, is now head football coach at University of Alabama Birmingham.

Jessica Hall (2022) is mentioned in an article about the lack of financial support for the UK’s female golfers when they make the transition from amateur to pro.

Steven Hensley (2022) was elected to serve a three-year term on the ACLU of Northern California’s board of directors.

Dr. Gloria Ponce-Rodriguez (2021) is the founder and organizer of The Caravan Tour, in which recruiters from Historically Black Colleges and Universities give high school students the chance to earn on-the-spot acceptance.

Alex Scott (2022) is now a researcher at The Business Journal, in charge of compiling weekly lists and the annual Book of Lists.

Tim Shaghoian (2020) released his debut album, “Gentle Beacons,” on Origin’s OA2 Records.

Scotty Trujillo (2021) appeared on ABC’s “Shark Tank” to pitch his company, Copy Keyboard, a small computer keyboard that has copy and paste buttons.