Milestones

1960s

Marc Nathanson MA ‘69 and his wife Jane were recently honored by the Aspen Institute Socrates Program. They were recognized for their longtime support of the Aspen Institute and creation of the Nathanson Public Diplomacy Scholarship. The Nathanson’s are prominent art collectors and began collecting American pop art in the late 1960s. Marc founded Falcon Cable TV and served seven years in the Clinton and Bush administrations as the Chairman of the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors.

1970s

Richard Leib ‘79 was recently appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown to the UC Board of Regents. He received his BA degree in political science at UCSB. He has previously held the positions of vice president of Lockheed Martins IMS system and executive vice president of U.S. Public Technologies.

1980s

Cathy Farley ’86 has been named the new police chief for Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria. She had previously served as assistant police chief at UCSB since 2012. She joined the UCSB Police Department as a student.

Jim Rome ’86, the fiery sports radio talk show host, is lamenting the fact that his show cannot be heard in his hometown of Los Angeles. In a lengthy article in the Los Angeles Times Rome noted that his CBS Radio syndicated talk show, which is carried in 200 markets around the U.S. and heard by two million Americans, can’t be found in Los Angeles. Rome started at KCSB and for the last 22 years has created his own brand of “smack” talk radio and TV.

Eduardo “Eddie” Angeles ‘87 was awarded the Daniel K Inouye Trailblazers award through the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA). He is a former Alumni Board Member, who is a Alumni Gaucho For Life Fund Supporter. Angeles serves as in-house senior counsel to Los Angeles World Airports which govern LAX and Van Nuys Airports.

Shuguang Zhang PhD ’88 has authored a major paper demonstrating how protein research can be done more easily. Zhang, who is the Associate Director of the of the Center for Biological Engineering at Massachusetts Institute for Technology, has shown that some of the most critical proteins in the human genome can now be studied with greater accuracy by changing the structure of the proteins. His findings were published in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.”

Katya Armistead BA ‘88, EDD ‘12 was elected as the new co-president of the 2018-19 board of directors for the Family Service Agency of Santa Barbara. Armistead earned her Ed.D. from UC Santa Barbara and has been employed by UCSB for more than 25 years. She was also recently promoted to assistant vice chancellor/dean of student life. Armistead is involved in community leadership in and around Santa Barbara.

1990s

Michael Desmond ’90 appeared before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee in July for approval of his confirmation by President Donald Trump to the position of chief counsel of the Internal Revenue Service. The Committee asked about his work for a firm that gave tax advice for President Trump. His testimony indicated he never interacted with anybody in the Trump Organization. His nomination passed out of the Senate Finance Committee and is now in the docket for Senate action.

Michelle Schneider ’91 has been named Senior Vice President for Global Workplace Services at Salesforce. She previously was Vice President for Strategic Events at Salesforce. She was a member of the UCSB Alumni Board of Directors from 2014-2018.

Dr. Susan Herbulock Ph.D. ‘96 is General Manager for New Enterprise Ground and Launch Division at the Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, CA. Herbulock joined Aerospace in 1997 as a member of the technical staff in the Photonics Technology Department and has held a number of positions of increasing responsibility in the Engineering and Technology Group, the MILSATCOM Division, and the Space-Based Infrared Surveillance program.

2000s

Michelle Roberson ’03 and her husband Kevin, purchased the management company, Sierra Property Management, two years ago which marked its 25th anniversary in business this year. Michelle also has a law degree from Rutgers University School of Law and has been recognized as a “Rising Star” in Super Lawyer Magazine for 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016. She serves on the board of the Santa Barbara County Bar Association, Santa Barbara Rental Property Association, and Santa Barbara Women’s Lawyers Association.

Stephanie (Rothstein) Bruce ‘07 was crowned national champion of the USATF 10km Championships in Atlanta out of 60,000 runners. She claimed victory in 32:21, which was her new personal best. This was Bruce’s first national title of any kind.

Christina Ramirez ’08 started out as a cashier at Whole Foods to learn more about distribution and retail to develop her own company. She is now CEO of her own company, Plus Ultra. Plus Ultra sheds light on the issue of plastic, particularly in toothbrushes. Ramirez majored in Global Studies and came across this idea through a class project that had to address a global problem. She creates bamboo toothbrushes as an eco-friendly alternative to plastic toothbrushes. Plus Ultra sits on the shelves of Whole Foods, Thrive Market, Erewhon Natural Foods, and independent grocery stores across 20 states.

Oscar Gutierrez, ’13, has been elected to the Santa Barbara City Council. Gutierrez defeated three other candidates in a special election to fill a vacant seat. The Santa Barbara City Council has representatives from districts and Gutierrez will represent the city’s west side. At his swearing in Gutierrez said, “My father passed away before he could see the man I have become. I hope he is proud of me because I am proud to be his son.”

James Nunnally, ’13, a star of the UC Santa Barbara basketball team, has signed a two year contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves, according to Yahoo Sports. He played the last four seasons for European teams were he became one of the Euroleague’s best shooters. Last year he shot 55 percent from three point range. He previously had short stints with the Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers.

Second year Environmental Studies major Rose Strauss ’20, has been profiled in the New York Times and become a social media hero, all because of a question she asked. Strauss asked Pennsylvania Congressional candidate Scott Wagner about the $200,000 in campaign contributions he has received from the fossil fuel industry. He responded that she was “young and naïve.” The interchange went viral and Strauss promised that “young and naïve” voters like her would be canvassing across the U.S. to increase turnout among young voters.

In Memoriam

Carol “Lynne” Gouma ’59 died August 11, 2018. Lynne taught 30 years at Lincoln and Franklin Elementary Schools in Santa Barbara and retired in 1990. She played golf, tennis, skied, biked, and enjoyed hiking. Lynne once traveled all across Canada and all across the United States in only one summer.

James Jerome Perino ’61 died in Coronado with his wife Lyn and children Lyndsey and Tony, by his side. He knew he wanted to major in education with a focus in industrial arts. He joined Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and also met his future wife, Lyn Zelle. Both Perino and his wife were hired by the Simi Valley School District. He was later appointed Superintendent of Acalanes Union High School District in the San Francisco East Bay. His positive, caring attitude for others will always be remembered.

Karl Francis Lopker ’73, died Aug. 25, 2018 in Santa Barbara. Lopker started out making leather goods that he sold on cross country junkets in his VW. That vocation led him to found the Deckers Corporation in 1975 with fellow Gaucho Doug Otto ‘73. The company with its iconic brands such as Ugg, Teva and Hoka One One, will have sales in the coming year of just under $2 billion. In 1979 Karl and his future wife, Pam Meyer, started QAD to create software to help run Deckers. QAD has become a cloud based manufacturing software company with almost $320 million in sales. In 1998 Lopker and his wife Pam received the UC Santa Barbara Distinguished Alumni Award. In 2005 they made a gift to UCSB to establish the first chair in computer science.

Sylvia Camiel ’69 died May 14, 2018. She was a passionate educator who received her Masters in counseling psychology at UCSB. She took a job as a guidance counselor at Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta. Sylvia and her husband Jack were active members of Santa Barbara’s Jewish community for half a century.

Kim (Kimbo) Angelo Christiansen ’70 died June 8, 2018 in Sunapee, New Hampshire. He had jobs ranging from jewelry-making to being self-employed in in an emerging import-export market in Mexico. He also published two books, “Mandalas from the streets: Manhole Covers Coloring Book” and “Happiness - a sharing.”

Tansy Sue Birchim ’70 died June 26, 2018. She and her husband of 47 years had three children. They lived in Goleta, CA. She chose to be cremated and asked that her ashes be spread along with those of her daughter in Birchim Lake in the High Sierras.

Vernon Earl Cotter ’72 died July 4, 2018 with his wife Anne at his side. Vern graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a PHD in math and statistics. With this degree, he taught math in high school, at Santa Barbara Community College, and then went on to become a professor at UCSB. Vern also served at the Marine Barracks, Pearl Harbor, as Construction Foreman during the Korean War.

Bruce Barris, who attended UCSB in the 70s, died suddenly in Los Angeles Aug. 24, 2018. He was a sound engineer who worked on many projects including albums with Tom Petty and George Harrison. He later worked on a number of film and TV projects. He received a BAFTA nomination for his work on Michael Mann’s Collateral.

Linda Marie Hollenhorst Rose ’76 died Sunday, July 29, 2018 with her husband Don by her side. She graduated UCSB with a BA in Environmental Studies and Creative Writing. Linda’s professional career involved writing and technical publications. She worked with UCSB and local technology companies such as Delco and QAD, where she met her husband. Linda also participated in multiple clinical trials to help cure cancer.

Nena Quiros ’76 studied music at UCSB and went on to teach piano for decades. She also had a career as a graphic artist for 36 years. Nena was also known as “Squeezy the Clown” with her accordion at the local farmers’ market. She arrived in Santa Barbara in 1974 and never left.

Douglas Louis Reeder ’92 died June 30, 2018. He received his Ph. D in Chemical Engineering from UCSB after getting his BS from Montana State University. He worked for EG & G, General Research Corporation, and with K-Tech of Albuquerque. Doug was also a former President of Santa Barbara International Polo Center (for youth). He was an avid reader and loved skiing, horses, and nature.

In Remembrance

Adil Yaquib UCSB professor emeritus of mathematics, died May 14, 2018 in Santa Barbara.He taught for 56 years at UCSB before retiring in 2016 at the age of 88. He was born and grew up in Palestine and received his doctorate from UC Berkeley.

Garrett Reed Casey ’19 died May 27, 2018 in Reno, Nevada. He was a first year transfer student with junior level standing. He was a pre-communication major in the College of Letters and Science. Garrett was also a member of the Ski and Snowboard Club.

Theodore “TJ” James Russel ’21 died June 16, 2018 in Glen Allen, CA. He was in his first year at UCSB with freshman level standing. He was a pre-economics major in the College of Letters and Science.

Eldon Ford, a lifelong resident of Santa Barbara died July 7, 2018. He was also born in Santa Barbara and studied Business studies at UCSB. Eldon was an avid and nationally recognized tennis player. He was even inducted into the SBHS Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017. He became a CPA in 1954 which became his profession for the next half century of his life.

Howard Beckwith died August, 20, 2018 in Santa Barbara. He worked for more than 15 years as the Operations Supervisor at UCSB’s Student Health Center. He was also a Technical Writer for the software company Yardi Systems in Goleta and a real estate trust administrator. He lived in California for most of his life, but he and his wife moved to New Castle, PA to be closer to their daughter.