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SANFORD "SANDY" BECK is the director of vocational training for Job Corp. in seven states for the Reno-based company Adams & Associates. Prior to that, he served as the executive director and executive secretary for the California State Council on Vocational Education, where he was the liaison with intergovernmental agencies and responsible for integration of vocational education and employment/training planning, research planning, and evaluation in conjunction with and directed by the council and its officers.

Beck graduated in 1960 with a B.S. in life science. He received his general secondary and special secondary agriculture credentials as well as a secondary administrative credential from UC, Davis. He earned a master's in vocational education administration from CSU, Sacramento.

Following his graduation from CSU, Chico, Beck spent many years as a vocational agriculture instructor, counselor, and administrator and was principal of Willows High School from 1969 to 1971. He has served as regional coordinator and regional supervisor for the State Department of Education and was the general manager of the Kiwifruit Commodity Division of Sun World International. He has also been a representative on the California Kiwifruit Commission.

KIM FOSS-ERICKSON is the founder and president/CEO of E&A Investment Advisory, Inc., a "fee only" registered investment firm. Foss-Erickson founded the firm in 1989, and it was recently awarded the DALBAR Financial Professional Seal and rated by DALBAR as one of the "Top 10% Most Outstanding 'Fee-Only' Investment Advisory Firms in the United States."

Foss-Erickson earned a B.A. in business in 1984 from CSU, Chico and received her certified financial planner professional designation in 1991. She is currently pursuing her chartered financial analyst designation. Following her graduation, Foss-Erickson joined Merrill Lynch & Co., where she was a lead member of the team to open the San Ramon office of the firm in 1985. While at Merrill Lynch & Co., she was an account broker, mutual fund coordinator, and insurance analyst. She has more than sixteen years of experience in the financial service business, managing $35 million of high net worth individual and pension plans.

JUDY MARTIN-HOLLAND is a pulmonary clinical nurse specialist and family nurse practitioner at the Summit Medical Center and at Bay Area Pulmonary Medical Associates in Oakland. In addition, she is a pulmonary CNS/FNP consultant for Pacific Pulmonary Rehabilitation. Martin-Holland has received licenses and certifications including registered nurse, critical care nurse certification, California community college teaching credential, nurse practitioner certification, and family nurse practitioner. She is in the process of receiving a clinical nurse specialist certification. Martin-Holland serves as an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Physiological Nursing at the University of California, San Francisco.

Martin-Holland earned her B.S. in nursing from CSU, Chico in 1977. She went on to earn a master's of public administration from CSU, Hayward in 1981, a master of science in nursing with a specialty in cardio-pulmonary from UC, San Francisco in 1985, and her post-master's family nurse practitioner certificate from UC, San Francisco in 1995.

JERRY McGUIRE has been the superintendent of Butte County Schools since 1991. In June of 1998, McGuire was elected to serve a third four-year term. Prior to serving as superintendent, McGuire was principal at three schools within the Chico Unified School District.

McGuire earned a B.A. in elementary education in 1964 from CSU, Chico and received his M.A. in education administration/ supervision in 1973. He also earned a credential in life-administrative services (elementary and general). McGuire is a graduate of Chico Junior High and Chico Senior High and has been a resident of the area since 1955.

McGuire began his career as a classroom teacher in the Chico Unified School District. He went on to become a program evaluation consultant for the California Department of Education, a summer session instructor for CSU, Chico, the principal of the Migrant Education Summer School through the Butte County Office of Education, the director of Outdoor Education for Chico Unified School District, and principal at John McManus, Chapman, and Oakdale Elementary Schools.

DONALD W. UPSON serves as the Commonwealth of Virginia's first secretary of technology. Appointed by Governor Jim Gilmore on May 21, 1998, Upson brings more than two decades of government, corporate, and high technology experience to the Commonwealth of Virginia. His position is the country's first cabinet-level post that combines operational authority over the state's technology infrastructure with policy responsibility for creating a "best practice" technology business environment.

Upson graduated from CSU, Chico in 1977 with degrees in economics and international relations. Following graduation, Upson held the positions of legislative assistant and principal assistant to Congressman Frank Horton (R-NY). He later became the Republican staff director of the House Government Operations Committee, where he directed a staff of seventeen and played a major role in procurement reform initiatives, the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Chief Financial Officer's Act, the Inspector General Act, and a host of trade-related legislation.

MARILYN WARRENS is a local businesswoman, community activist, and long-time patron of the arts in Chico and at CSU, Chico. Well known for her tireless efforts on behalf of the arts, Warrens endowed the Harlen Adams Scholarship in 1974, served as chair of the Laxson Auditorium renovation campaign, and led the 30th Anniversary Committee for Court Theatre in 1996. In 1998 she established the Marilyn Warrens Musical Theatre Scholarship and provided underwriting for three operettas over a six-year period. A native Texan, Warrens moved with her husband, Ed, to California in 1955, eventually settling in Chico. She graduated with a degree in fine arts from CSU, Chico in 1975.

Warrens has participated in many local committees and functions and was honored with the Chico Rotary Club's coveted Community Service Award in 1978. In 1969, for the 100th anniversary of the Bidwell Mansion, she organized Fiesta Rancho Chico as well as Las Se–oras, a group that acts as official hostesses of Chico and raises money for the upkeep of Bidwell Mansion.

WILLARD "BILL"WATTENBURG is an inventor, consultant, researcher, best-selling author, and talk show host on KGO Newstalk Radio.

Wattenburg's show focuses on issues that affect everyone, such as determining practical sources of alternative energy or using technology for the improvement of safety. He delights in finding and sharing simple solutions to complex problems that plague the experts and confuse the public.

Wattenburg earned his B.S. in electrical engineering and mathematics from CSU, Chico in 1958 and later received his M.S. in electrical engineering and his Ph.D. in electrical engineering and physics from UC, Berkeley. He spent five years on the faculty at UC, Berkeley and has founded three successful high-tech companies in the Bay Area.