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Dear Alums |
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At the seventh annual Distinguished Alumni Dinner during Founders Week
2000, the CSU, Chico Alumni Association honored seven extraordinary alums
who have made outstanding contributions in business, education, politics,
and the sciences.
Jason Peltier is a fifth-generation Californian with a passion for fighting for the water interests of the people of California. As the manager of the Central Valley Project Water Association (CVPWA) for the past eleven years, he is doing just that. Prior to his position with the CVPWA, Peltier spent twelve years in production agriculture. He also spent five years as the assistant to the regional director at the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Peltier received his B.S. in agriculture business from CSU, Chico in
1979. He lives with his wife, Jean-Mari, a CSU, Fresno alumna, and their
two children, Joseph and Jean-Claire, in Newcastle, California.
Mike Thompson is a freshman again—not in college, but rather in Congress. Elected to California’s 1st District in 1998, he is set on working his way up the ranks in Congress and currently serves on the House Agriculture and Armed Forces Committees. Before his successful run for Congress, Thompson was a state senator for eight years. He also owns a small vineyard and was a maintenance supervisor for Beringer Winery. At CSU, Chico, Thompson received his B.A. in public administration and
economics in 1982 and his M.A. in public administration in 1996. When
Congress is in session, he travels home every other week to visit his
wife, Janet, in their St. Helena home.
Keith Bewley, president of NEx Systems, has thirteen years’ experience in new industry development. He was a co-founder of California Cooler Inc., the pioneering firm of the wine cooler industry. Following the $180-million sale of California Cooler, Bewley was a co-founder of LINC Venture Partners Inc., where he specialized in analyzing business plans and funding start-up companies. He then assumed the position of president of NEx Systems, which has developed a 100-percent organic, environmentally safe dry cleaning and fiber protection program. Bewley graduated from CSU, Chico in 1978 with a B.S. in business. He
and his wife, Cheryl, reside in Stockton, California, with their two children—Bryce,
10, and Blake, 8.
Enrique “Rick” Rigsby is considered to be among the most popular professors at Texas A&M University, where he is an assistant professor of speech communication. He is also the life skills development coordinator for the Texas A&M football team, president of Impact Communications, and founder of Cornerstone Ministries. Rigsby spent two years as an assistant professor of speech communication at CSU, Fresno, and nearly a decade as a reporter and anchor at KHSL-TV in Chico. In 1992, he joined the faculty at Texas A&M. At CSU, Chico, Rigsby received a B.A. in mass communication in 1978 and
an M.A. in public communication in 1987. He also earned his Ph.D. in rhetoric
and communication from the University of Oregon in 1990. He and his wife,
Janet, live in College Station, Texas, with their three sons—Jeremiah,
Andrew, and Zachary.
Savio Lau-Yuen Woo is the A.B. Ferguson Professor, vice chair for research, and director of the Musculoskeletal Research Center, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Woo received the Olympic Prize for Sports Science and Gold Medal from the International Olympic Committee in 1998, and the Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award from the University of Pittsburgh in 1999. A graduate of Chico State College in 1965 with a B.S. in mechanical engineering,
Woo received his M.S. in mechanical engineering in 1966 and his Ph.D.
in bioengineering in 1971, both from the University of Washington. In
1998, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from CSU, Chico. He and his
wife, Patty, live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They have two children—Kristin,
24, and Jonathan, 21.
William “Bill” Lyons, California Department of Food and Agricul-ture Secretary since 1999, comes from a family with a long history in California production agriculture. The family ranch has been in operation near Modesto for more than seventy-five years, and Lyons has spent a good portion of his life dedicated to the family business. Lyons graduated from CSU, Chico with a B.S. in history in 1973 and received
his secondary teaching credential in 1974. While a student, he received
the CSU, Chico Award of Outstanding Service in 1972, 1973, and 1974. He
and his wife, Suzy, a Chico State alumna, have four children and live
in Modesto.
Marshall L. Ginter is a professor at the Institute for Physical Science and Technol-ogy at the University of Maryland and an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana. Ginter’s academic career includes positions at Vanderbilt, the University of Chicago, and Physikalische Anstalt der UniversitŠt Basel. He was a consultant for twenty-eight years for the E.O. Hulbert Center for Space Research, Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. Ginter graduated cum laude in 1957 with an A.B. in chemistry and a minor in physics. He received a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in 1961. He and his wife, Dorothy, a Chico State alumna, reside in Laurel, Maryland, and have two grown children—Karl and Gretchen.
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