Distinguished Alums Visit Campus for Founders Week

Each year during Founders Week, alumni from each college who are leaders in their fields are honored. Alumni assist in ensuring the integrity of our academic programs; they serve as contacts for new graduates; and they actively promote CSU, Chico’s message. “Recognizing our most talented and successful alumni reaffirms that they, like those many before them and thousands to follow, give life and reality to the legacy and contributions of CSU, Chico. Our most accomplished alumni represent what it is we do well when we do our best, and for them we are grateful,” said President Manuel Esteban.

COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE

Stan Hodges ’60 began his professional career in the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps. Following his military service, Hodges was an educator as he pursued his master’s and doctoral degrees. He joined the faculty of Modesto Junior College in 1965 and served as Agriculture Department chair, Agriculture and Biological Science Division chair, chief instructional officer, and president. Hodges has served on the boards and committees of numerous state and community organizations, currently serving on the Board of Directors for Doctors Medical Center Foundation and Doctors Medical Center Health Development Council/AIDS Education and Prevention Advisory Council in Modesto, California.

COLLEGE OF BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

Shirley Rush ’85, M.S.W., L.C.S.W., started her journey to a career in social work as a single-parent re-entry student at CSU, Chico in 1981. Rush surpassed her educational goals by earning a master of social work degree and developing her social work field placement in Man-agua, Nicaragua. She served as the co-director of Davis Community Clinic and program director of counseling services before relocating to Maine. Working at a community mental health center, she helped develop an assessment clinic for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Rush joined the faculty of University of Maine at Presque Isle in 1998 and teaches courses in human behavior, practice, policy, ethnicity, community mental health care, and incest/sexual abuse.

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

Brian Strom ’69 began his business career at Ernst & Young. After 20 years, Strom moved to SureWest Communications, which includes the Roseville Telephone Company, the largest local exchange telephone company headquartered in California. He was promoted to president and chief executive officer and elected to the company’s board of directors in 1993. Strom was selected Roseville Chamber of Commerce Busi-nessperson of the Year for 2001 and Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce Businessperson of the year for 2002. He serves as vice chair of the United States Telecom Association and chair of the California Telephone Association. He is also active in numerous community organizations.

COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION AND EDUCATION

Dan Dutton ’72 joined Stimson Lumber Company as executive vice president and chief operating officer in 1988. He was elected president in 1989 and became chief executive officer in 1991. Prior to joining Stimson, Dutton was president of Duke City Lumber Company. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of American Forest and Paper Association and is past chair of the Resource Committee. He also serves on the boards of the World Forestry Center, Western Wood Products, Columbia Distributing, Boy Scouts of America­Cascades, and Copia: The American Center for Food, Wine, and the Arts.

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING,
COMPUTER SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY

Dan Gonzales ’86 worked as an engineer for six years before he started Aztlan Graphics, a graphics/T-shirt company that focuses on Latino consumers. Aztlan developed a full clothing line sold nationwide in major department stores. In 1998, Gonzales moved his growing company to a 22,000-square-foot facility in Chico and changed the company name to Fifth Sun Graphics. Musician Carlos Santana chose Fifth Sun Graphics designs for his band’s 1998 and 1999 tour shirts and is having them develop a T-shirt for his 2002 tour.

COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES AND FINE ARTS

Amanda Detmer ’95 made her professional acting debut in the made-for-television movie Stolen Innocence, filmed in Chico in 1995. She finished her B.A. at CSU, Chico and got her master of fine arts degree from New York University in 1998. Detmer has since appeared on the big screen in Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), Final Destination (2000), Boys and Girls (2000), Saving Silverman (2001), and The Majestic (2001) with Jim Carrey. She also has a starring role in this year’s Big Fat Liar. Detmer has done both television and stage work in addition to films, and she recently starred in a stage production of Amadeus at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

COLLEGE OF NATURAL SCIENCES

Edo D. Pellizzari ’63, vice president for analytical and chemical sciences at Research Triangle Institute in North Carolina, is responsible for the management and technical leadership of large chemical analysis and analytical methods development contracts with the Environmental Protection Agency, state, and industrial clients. He is a member of the EPA’s Food Quality Protection Act Health Effects Institute’s Review Committee, EPA’s Science Advisory Board, and several National Academy of Sciences’ review committees. Pellizzari has more than 500 publications to his credit. Government agencies seek his expertise on a variety of environmental issues.