History Inspiring Honorees

75 Distinguished Alumni

Created for Westmont's 75th Anniversary in 2012.

• Megan Alexander ’02
• Amy Alzina ’98
• Mike Apostle ’98
• Harry Atkins ’47
• Chris Aubuchon ’94
• David Batstone ’80
• Matt Blickendorf ’08
• Bob and Lotus Graham Campbell ’44
• Russ Carr ’56
• Sonya Coles ’09
• Colette Day Cozean ’80
• John Crew ’54
• Josh Daneshforooz ’08
• Dr. James Stanton Dixon ’68
• Carl B. Dodrill ’65
• Dave Dolan ’78
• Phillip Dunkelberger ’80
• Jeff Dykstra ’92
• Robin Eley ’01
• Rick Fogg ’93
• Wandalee Fullerton ’54
• Holly Gil ’93
• Teresa Goines ’97
• Curt Hamann ’83
• Preston Hannibal ’71
• Dane Howard ’94
• David Allan Hubbard ’49
• Robert (Bob) Huff ’75
• Kirby Ifland ’09
• Carolyn Custis James ’70
• Lt. Col. Kathleen Jones ’89
• Anne Allder Kirkby ’85
• Bill Klug ’98
• Mike Leming ’54
• Leeba Lessin ’79
• Scott Lisea ’88
• Celeste Kirk Liversidge ’89
• Don ’81 and Amy Low ’93
• David MacCulloch ’84
• Heather Marshall ’96
• Tricia McGuigan ’97
• Jedd Medefind ’97
• Joel ’92 and Michelle Klukow Pelsue ’92
• Ron ’61 and Becky Mulder ’62
• Reverend Norm Nelson ’61
• Shauna Niequist ’98
• Dr. Kenneth Ogden ’50
• Kristin Olsen ’96
• Brittany Stringfellow Otey ’97
• Andrea Owen ’10
• Joel ’92 and Michelle Klukow Pelsue ’92
• Dewayne and Faith Perry ’62
• Jeff Pierce ’02
• Jay Pierson ’69
• John Rapson ’76
• Casey Roberts ’80
• Ken Rogers ’82
• Sharon Schock ’06
• Tacheeni Scott ’66
• Rathburn Wiley Shelton ’50
• Margot Starbuck ’91
• Howie Stevenson ’50
• Jeff Swanson ’79
• David Talbott ’64
• Kevin Vanhoozer ’78
• Steve and Jenni Wiebe ’89
• Dave Willis ’74
• John Wilson ’70
• Michael Witt ’80
• Arol and Jane Paradise Wolford ’75
• Ryan Wolfshorndl ’05
• H. Norman Wright ’59
• Josh Yager ’92
• Daniel Zia ’06
• Justin Zoradi ’04

Megan Alexander ’02

Megan Alexander ’02, born and raised in Seattle, graduated from Westmont with a degree in political science. She dove into broadcast journalism, working at radio stations in Santa Barbara and Nashville. Her television career began on the cast of the “Tennessee Mornings on Fox 17.” She later reported and anchored for KENS5 in San Antonio, Texas. In 2007, Inside Edition, the popular national television news magazine, hired Megan as a correspondent. She has covered a variety of stories from politics, business, entertainment and more, skillfully putting viewers at ease while entertaining and informing about the day’s events. She has also appeared on CNN headline news show “Showbiz Tonight” as a guest commentator and covered the 2012 Democratic National Convention, as well as Super Bowl XLV and XLVI. Megan’s film credits include the independent film, “Something to Prove,” and writing the theme song for “Heaven Cent.” She hosts the Inspirational Country Music awards from Nashville each year and is a member of the Country Music Association. Megan enjoys traveling and emceeing charity events around the country for organizations such as Girls Quest, Girls Inc. and NAM. She lives with her husband and son in New York City.

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Amy Alzina ’98

Amy Alzina ’98 is the principal of Adams Elementary School, Santa Barbara Unified School District—a position she has held for the past four years. She changed the school’s underperforming reputation by concentrating on educating the whole child through art, music, technology, physical education and foreign language, as well as local community partnerships. Her desire to provide the best education for all learners motivated her to create an authentic Montessori option for students within the school’s traditional structure. Amy started her career at the Santa Barbara Community Academy in 1999, teaching physical education, kindergarten, first grade and fifth grade before becoming the principal. The Academy, a Title I school with a large population of English language learners, was struggling with a low Academic Performance Index. In three years, Amy raised students’ scores 100 API points to 814. She left the Academy for Adams Elementary after the state honored the Academy as a California Distinguished School and Title I Achieving School. Amy is passionate about driving others to live to their full potential. She lives with her husband, Jim ’97, a realtor with Sotheby’s, and their two children.

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Mike Apostle ’98

Mike Apostle ’98 is a doctor for Emergency Physicians of the Rockies in Fort Collins, Colo. He graduated from the University of Kansas School of Medicine in 2003, and was a resident at a trauma center in Jacksonville, Fla., the fifth busiest in the nation. He served with the Marine reserves for eight years before being commissioned as a captain in the Army Medical Corps. He lives in Northern Colorado with his wife, Jessica, and enjoys running marathons.

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Harry Atkins ’47

Harry Atkins ’47 studied at the University of Chicago for several years, but transferred to Westmont to get a biblically based education. The family atmosphere appealed to him, and Professor Kenneth Monroe inspired him to major in history. Earning a master’s degree in African history at the University of Oregon, Harry also did graduate work at Multnomah Seminary. His plan to serve with a missionary agency in Africa fell through when they turned him down because of his youth, so he got a job with the Ethiopian government teaching high school. Undaunted by a lack of textbooks about Ethiopia, Harry wrote his own, completing both a history and a geography book about the African nation. An avid traveler, he also authored “Ethiopia: Land of Enchantment,” illustrating it with his own photographs. The book became a best-seller and led to his membership as a fellow of the Royal Geographic Society of Great Britain. When his contract with the government ended, Harry joined the Society of International Missionaries, where he met his wife, Blanche, and they raised four children in Ethiopia. Harry planted churches and founded and directed an institute that trained teachers, but his major contribution was establishing the largest private school system in Ethiopia. He worries about keeping busy now that he has retired. He intends to garden, keep up with his 11 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren and travel as much as possible. At the age of 85, Harry has visited 83 countries including Indonesia, Italy and Argentina. In 2008, Harry and Blanche completed sixty years of ministry—30 years in Ethiopia and 30 years as owners of the Monterey Bible Bookstore in Monterey, Calif. In June 2012, Harry and Blanche celebrated 60 years of marriage.

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Chris Aubuchon ’94

Chris Aubuchon ’94 earned a bachelor’s of science degree in chemistry with honors. After Westmont, he earned his doctorate in physical chemistry from Stanford University. His nights spent assembling ultra-high vacuum systems with Drs. Nishimura and Tro prepared him for the later nights designing and building laser systems for studying the vibrational dynamics of condensed phase systems at Stanford. Chris co-founded Exajoule, a microelectromechanical systems technology company. As sole inventor of the company’s foundational patents, Chris helped build the company’s openly licensable intellectual property business model. He leveraged his start-up experience in his current position at Tessera, a publicly traded technology company. He plays the key technical role in the corporate development group, providing detailed evaluation of the science, intellectual property and markets of target companies being considered for mergers and acquisitions. When not immersed in technology, Chris enjoys time with his wife, Sarah, and young son. He and Sarah are expecting another child in May. They attend Bridges Community Church in Los Altos, Calif., and live in Palo Alto.

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David Batstone ’80

David Batstone ’80 is president and co-founder of the Not For Sale Campaign, a movement to end modern-day slavery, and Right Reality, an international social venture firm. Batstone is a business professor at the University of San Francisco and has authored seven books, the two most recent being “Not For Sale” and “Saving the Corporate Soul.” He was a member of the founding team of Business 2.0 magazine and served six years as executive editor of Sojourners magazine, during which time he founded the SojoMail e-zine. Batstone has contributed articles to the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle, Wired, and SPIN. He is the recipient of two national journalist awards and was named National Endowment for the Humanities Chair at the University of San Francisco for his work in technology and ethics. During the 1980s, Batstone founded a non-governmental agency dedicated to economic development and human rights in Latin America

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Matt Blickendorf ’08

Matt Blickendorf ’08, a resident physician in emergency medicine at the Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State University, earned a doctorate at Ohio State University earlier this year. In 2010, he spoke at a Bright Hope for Tomorrow campaign event in Pasadena, detailing how Westmont had prepared him to be a great doctor by giving him “a new lens through which to see the world.” Matt, WCSA president in 2008, graduated from Westmont with degrees in biology and anthropology. He led a homeless ministry his first year at Westmont, and served as a resident assistant in Van Kampen for two years. After traveling to Nicaragua on a missions trip while in high school, Matt had his mind set to one day practice medicine in the developing world.

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Bob and Lotus Graham Campbell ’44

Bob and Lotus Graham Campbell ’44 were members of the first class to attend Westmont for four years and provided life-long leadership and service in Christian higher education and the ministry. Bob was a teacher, pastor and the longest serving general secretary in American Baptist history, serving from 1972 to 1987. He was president of Eastern Baptist (now Palmer) Theological Seminary from 1987 to 1989, until he retired in Santa Barbara. Westmont presented him with the first ever Distinguished Service Medal at Homecoming in 1998. He also wrote a number of books, including “Jesus Still Has Something to Say.” Lotus was named the first Westmont College May Queen in 1941. After graduating from Westmont in 1944, she received a master’s degree in religious education at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. She also pursued further graduate studies at CSU Los Angeles. Lotus served as minister of Christian education at North Park Baptist Church of San Diego and the First Baptist Church of Covina. She was a kindergarten teacher in the Charter Oak School District in Covina for more than a dozen years. She became a teacher and director of a Philadelphia-area church-based preschool program.

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Russ Carr ’56

Russ Carr ’56 studied physical education and psychology at Westmont and earned a master’s degree in education at California State University, Los Angeles. He coached soccer for 17 years, compiling compiled one of the most impressive records of any soccer coach in the country: 211-108-26. He led the Warriors to a national championship in 1972 as well as 11 NAIA district titles and seven area championships. He was named National Coach of the Year in 1972, Russ earned 22 district or area Coach of the Year honors. In addition, He taught education classes and chaired the department at Westmont. Russ understood the power of sports to change lives. He founded the Sports Outreach Institute (SOI), a global organization that trains people in the use of sports ministry. The group organizes activities like sports leagues for kids in the slums and feeds more than 2,000 children daily. Kids learn how to clean up their neighborhoods and take care of themselves through service projects. SOI also provides vocational training and pays tuition for children who lack free public education. For 23 years, SOI has joined with other agencies to help impoverished children. Always, SOI cultivates faith in Christ. Russ and his wife, Sue Witherspoon ’79, live in Monroe, Va.

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Sonya Coles ’09

Sonya Coles ’09 majored in liberal studies at Westmont where she developed a passion for social justice. As a participant in the Westmont in San Francisco program, Sonya interned at an agency serving the homeless community. After graduating, she accepted a teaching position with a high school in Oakland, Calif. Sonya is deeply committed to issues of social justice, racial reconciliation and faith-based engagement in the world.

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Colette Day Cozean ’80

Colette Day Cozean ’80 has served as chief executive officer of public and private medical device and drug companies for more than 25 years, focusing on start-up and turnaround ventures. She has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers and books, holds more than 50 patents, has received more than 100 FDA product approvals, and serves as a reviewer for National Institutes of Health. She co-chairs East Africa Partnership, a ministry that provides medical services, clean water and education. She earned a doctorate in biomedical engineering, a master’s in electrical engineering and a medical degree all from Ohio State University as well as a law degree from Concord Law School. She and her husband, Kim, have two children, including alumnus Jesse Cozean ’07, who works with her.

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John Crew ’54

John Crew ’54 set several basketball records that remain unbroken, including most points (1,679), a points-per-game average of more than 23, and a number of 40+ point performances. He met his wife, Winnie Weaver Crew ’55, at Westmont, blending her piano with his trumpet on their first date. Although Westmont was not yet accredited, John entered medical school directly after graduation, the first student to do so. His internship and residency followed at San Francisco’s Southern Pacific Hospital where he specialized in vascular surgery. John continues his work as a frontline vascular surgeon with research including many groundbreaking developments such as stents for arteries, laser welding of arteries, balloon angioplasties and patented surgical instruments and closure devices. He also performed the world’s first transmyocardial revascularization with laser as sole therapy for the ischemic heart. He started the sixth curative wound care center in the U.S. using human growth factors to heal difficult wounds. He is working on a new wound-healing device called Neutrophase. John thanks the Lord for Westmont and the many classmates who have remained lifelong friends.

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Josh Daneshforooz ’08

Josh Daneshforooz ’08 served as editor of the Westmont Horizon from 2008 to 2009 and played baseball. He also created All Nations Education, a non-profit organization designed to promote liberal arts education in Africa through scholarships awarded to promising young African college students. He continued his studies at Harvard Divinity School and taught a social entrepreneurship course at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. While serving as an assistant pastor at a Texas megachurch, he authored the book “Loving our Religious Neighbors.” Josh is deeply involved in developing a for-profit enterprise that will channel funds through social networking media from people who dine out to international organizations that feed the hungry. Josh’s approach to his work is clear-eyed, far-reaching, creative, connected and purposeful in its applied Christian principle.

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Dr. James Stanton Dixon ’68

Dr. James Stanton Dixon ’68 was born and raised in southern California. He received his bachelor’s degree from Westmont and his master’s degree and doctorate from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif. He also holds an honorary doctorate in theology from Colorado Christian University. Dr. Dixon served as an associate pastor at Faith Presbyterian Church in Aurora, Colo., for more than eight years. He founded and pastors Denver’s Cherry Hills Community Church, which was listed as one of the fastest growing churches in the United States. Conceived 30 years ago, Cherry Hills Community Church has a regular Sunday attendance of more than 6,500 adults, children and youth. Dr. Dixon serves on the board of Colorado Christian University, Valor Christian Schools and the Clergy Council of Denver Mayor’s Commission to End Homelessness. He has authored two books, “Vice and Virtue, The Battle Within” and “Last Things Revealed.” Jim lives with his wife, Barbara, in Castle Pines North, Colo.; they have two children. Barbara has worked part time on the church staff for more than 20 years, doing special projects and researching for Jim’s sermons.

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Carl B. Dodrill ’65

Carl B. Dodrill ’65 graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, receiving the first Outstanding Student in Psychology award. He received his doctorate in clinical psychology at Purdue University in 1970. In September of 1970, he returned to Westmont as assistant professor of psychology, and in 1971, became chair of the psychology department. In 1973, he moved to the University of Washington School of Medicine and did full-time work on the neuropsychological and psychosocial aspects of epilepsy in the departments of neurological surgery and neurology for 30 years. Broad professional recognition accompanied his publication of 170 papers in medical and psychological journals and books, and he is now professor emeritus at the University of Washington. In 2001, he founded the Pipe Organ Foundation, a charity devoted to preserving and rebuilding pipe organs for the public good; he also engages in significant church work. Carl and his wife, Halie Williamson ’65, live in Washington; they have two children, Susan ’93 and Mark. Carl and his wife greatly value their time at Westmont because God brought them together at the college and the college impacted their lives in numerous ways.

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Dave Dolan ’78

Dave Dolan ’78 has a passion for service and social justice that began in high school. Dave has vaccinated Guatemalan children against polio, helped establish health clinics and orphanages on three continents, and built homes through Habitat for Humanity in Orange County, Calif. Each year, the college gives the Dave Dolan award to the senior who carries on his legacy. Dave earned master’s degrees in public health and Latin American studies at UCLA. He also graduated from San Francisco Theological Seminary and has pursued local and global outreach as a Presbyterian minister. Dave also enjoys the challenge of mountain climbing. He has led numerous treks in East Africa, scaling Mt. Kenya, Ol Doinyo Lengai and Mt. Kilimanjaro. Some of these expeditions have raised money to provide food and assistance to Africans. In 2009, Dave accepted a prestigious Citation of Merit from the Explorers Club. Dave chairs the Southern California Chapter of the Explorers Club, and his son, Daniel, is a student member.

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Phillip Dunkelberger ’80

Phillip Dunkelberger ’80 was born in California in 1958 and grew up in Orange County in Southern California. He graduated from Westmont magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in political science. Phillip was a member of the Phi Kappa Phi honor society. He began his professional career working for Xerox Corporation in a variety of management positions, before leaving to join Apple. Phillip has had an extensive, successful career in the technology industry, specifically in information security. He spent many years at Symantec Corporation as vice president of sales. After Symantec, he served as chief executive and chief operating officer for a number of Bay Area startups. He was president and chief executive officer of PGP Corporation before Symantec acquired the company in 2010, building the company into a leader in the security data protection market. Phillip serves as chairman emeritus of TechAmerica’s CxO Council and chief executive officer of the Cybersecurity Task Force at TechNet. He is also working on another venture-funded startup based in Palo Alto, Calif. Phillip and his wife, Lesley, live in Saratoga, Calif.

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Jeff Dykstra ’92

Jeff Dykstra ’92 and his wife, Molly Lounsberry ’93, served high school students as K-Life staff members in Kansas City, Mo. for three years. Following K-Life, Jeff worked in public relations with Cargill, the largest privately held company in the world. He then joined a start-up business as a marketing director, before developing programs for Fortune 500 companies to train employees online. In 2002, Jeff began work as World Vision’s regional executive director for Minnesota. His work took him to Africa, and he began to grasp the complexity of the continent’s problems. He asked for an assignment in Zambia, developing partners for a World Vision AIDS project, which trained Zambians to treat AIDS patients. In 2008, Jeff formed African Business Development Partners to connect U.S. companies to Africa and encourage them to invest directly or help African businesses build capacity. General Mills hired Jeff to help them leverage the expertise of the company’s 1,300 food scientists and engineers to promote food security in Africa. He leads their nonprofit, Partners in Food Solutions, seeking to form partnerships with 200 food processors in 10-12 African countries in five years.

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Robin Eley ’01

Robin Eley ’01, born in London and raised in Australia, graduated from Westmont in 2001, with a bachelor’s degree in art. At Westmont, he enjoyed a successful career on the men’s basketball team. Eley returned to Australia in 2002, and began working as a freelance illustrator, amassing a client list including Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal and Disney. In 2010, Eley made the decision to abandon his illustration career to pursue a career in fine art. He is recognized as one of Australia’s top emerging artists with his work placing second in 2011, and third in 2012, in the Moran Portrait Prize, the world’s richest prize for portraiture. In 2012, his debut solo exhibition sold out prior to opening and he was named as a finalist in Australia’s most prestigious art prize, the Archibald Prize. His work has gained international recognition, with paintings showing in New York’s Bernarducci Meisel Gallery. Robin and his wife, Rachel, live in Adelaide, Australia.

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Rick Fogg ’93

Rick Fogg ’93 is founding partner and chairman of Chronicle Family Offices, a national family office firm that delivers advisory services for ultra high net worth families. After graduating from Westmont, Rick earned a juris doctorate from the University of Washington School of Law. He practiced at a prominent Santa Barbara law firm for several years before becoming a business and legal advisor for the Fess Parker family. Over the years, Rick acquired many financially successful clients, both locally and nationally. Rick serves as a trustee for numerous families, mentoring the children and grandchildren of successful entrepreneurs as they seek to be good stewards of family resources. He also serves on several family foundation and family business boards. Rick sits on the board of directors of the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission and is an elder at Santa Barbara Community Church. He chairs the board of the Collaboration for Family Flourishing, a global, interdisciplinary community of professionals and family office executives committed to helping wealthy families thrive. Rick taught Westmont’s constitutional law course several times and is a member of the college’s board of advisors. Rick and his wife, Shelley Johnson Fogg ’94, have five children.

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Wandalee Fullerton ’54

Wandalee Fullerton ’54 and her husband, JR, have committed their lives to serving others. As a social worker and firefighter, they assisted Ventura County residents throughout their long careers—and the scholarship fund they created for Westmont students will endure for generations. A sociology major at Westmont, Wandalee became a social worker after she graduated. Through the Ventura County Welfare Department, she worked with seniors and family services and licensed day care businesses and foster homes. JR began his career in Shell Oil’s drilling department. After three years in the Army during the Korean War, he turned to firefighting. Thanks to his experience with the oil industry, he developed an expertise in oil fires. As a Ventura County firefighter, he helped with the 1964 Coyote Fire, which destroyed Westmont’s Catherwood Hall and burned around the edge of campus. The Fullertons created the John R. and Wandalee A. Fullerton Scholarship Endowment to help Westmont students, and they add to it each month. The couple will fund the endowment fully through their estate. Wandalee and JR live in Paso Robles, Calif.

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Holly Gil ’93

Holly Gil ’93 and her husband, Ruben, live on the east side of Santa Barbara and open their home to at-risk children, offering a mentoring program including tutoring and academic support. They’ve created high quality after-school and summer programs for the neighborhood and have acted as community organizers, bringing resources into the community and connecting neighbors to resources outside the community. This ministry of love stems from their own pain and difficult childhoods. They strive to provide a safe, loving refuge for their four young children and for all those in the neighborhood who need stable and caring parents. They have also established Querencia, a Santa Barbara neighborhood partnership that connects committed volunteers from every walk of life and from many local institutions. Querencia empowers kids and families to thrive by holistically sharing God’s love on Santa Barbara’s lower east side.

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Teresa Goines ’97

Teresa Goines ’97 majored in psychology and received the Global Service Award for her work with Old Skool Café, which offers sustainable employment to at-risk youth in the Bay Area. A former probation officer, she seeks to help young people in desperate economic situations by teaching them essential life skills. She lives with her husband, Ed, in San Francisco.

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Curt Hamann ’83

Curt Hamann ’83 followed his Westmont bride, Beth Rhode ’82, to Loma Linda University where he studied medicine and she studied dentistry. His transition from clinical medicine to entrepreneurship began in 1987, capitalizing on new blood-borne pathogen guidelines catalyzed by AIDS which required the use of disposable gloves by health care personnel for all bodily fluid contact. Innovative polymer chemistry solution designed to solve latex glove allergies catapulted the fledgling company into relationships in southeast Asia, which resulted in joint ventures producing barrier products in Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, China and Vietnam. He leveraged the sales and marketing infrastructure of the Rhode family business, which proved instrumental in growing domestic sales. Accurately diagnosing skin allergies in order to recommend product solutions became a subsequent core product development strategy. As a result, the company has become the world market leader in contact dermatitis diagnostics produced at facilities in Denmark, Holland, Germany and the U.S. Curt describes himself as a relational evangelist with a heart for the spiritual awakening of those he works with closely. Curt and Beth have been involved with a mission hospital and its satellite clinics in Honduras for over 30 years; they have six children.

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Preston Hannibal ’71

Preston Hannibal ’71 has invested his life in the church and in education. An Episcopal priest, he has served as a chaplain at secondary schools and at Harvard. Today, as canon for academic and transition ministries for the Diocese of Washington, D.C., he works with chaplains at 20 Episcopal schools serving 5,000 students, prepares candidates for ordination, and preaches at the National Cathedral. In 2008, he helped establish the Bishop John T. Walker School for Boys, a primary school for inner-city, African-American youth in Anacostia. Families pay no tuition and sign a contract to volunteer at the school and support their sons. A sociology major at Westmont, Preston seeks to provide mentors for the boys at Bishop Walker School like the ones who inspired him when he was growing up.

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Dane Howard ’94

Dane Howard ’94 has developed a successful career helping companies build technology-related products and services with ease. He leads a team from inception to completion, guiding the design, encouraging teamwork and breaking down barriers. Dane has started several companies and consulted with clients such as Major League Baseball, NBCOlympics, BMW, Disney and Element Skateboards. For five years he worked at Microsoft designing mobile devices and services. In 2006, he left to establish VUVOX Networks, a media creation and syndication platform, which E-Bay bought in 2008, and he now oversees design and user interfaces for the online auction company. Dane has a love for learning and has acquired skills in 3D animation, painting, and digital photography. He has written books and developed online tutorials about digital photography for lynda.com. In addition, he has eight patents pending in computer software and user interface. After two years at Westmont, he transferred to Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., and majored in graphic and interactive design. His emphasis, sequential media, is the art of putting things next to each other to tell a story. Dane shares his expertise with technology and social networking as a member of the Westmont Alumni Advisory Council. Dane’s wife, Lori Tucker ’93, is freelance writer for magazines such as Focus on the Family and has written two books for young adults. 

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David Allan Hubbard ’49

David Allan Hubbard ’49 was former president of Fuller Theological Seminary. During his 30-year presidency, a post he assumed in 1963 at age 35, Hubbard added a School of Psychology and a School of World Mission to Fuller’s School of Theology, both in 1965. An Old Testament scholar, Hubbard published 36 books, including “Psalms for All Seasons” and “The Practice of Prayer.” David also opened the Office of Women’s Concerns at Fuller to help women develop their gifts for the church and society. In addition to being a growth-minded administrator, Hubbard was an ordained Baptist minister and a veteran teacher who was so popular that the seminary struggled to find classrooms large enough for all the students eager to take his classes. Hubbard was an internationally renowned scholar on the Bible, with a doctorate in Old Testament studies from St. Andrews University, Scotland. Before joining Fuller, Hubbard taught biblical studies at Westmont College. David passed away July 15, 1996.

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Robert (Bob) Huff ’75

Robert (Bob) Huff ’75 serves as the Republican Leader in the California State Senate and represents the 29th Senate District, covering portions of Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino Counties. His legislative accomplishments include two reauthorizations of the School District of Choice program, the creation of the Open Enrollment Act and the nationally recognized “Parent Trigger” law. He also overcame the opposition of powerful union interests to successfully author legislation allowing trained volunteers to administer emergency medication to students with epilepsy when they suffer a seizure at school. Senator Huff is completing his fourth year in the State Senate after previously serving in the State Assembly for four years and nine years on the Diamond Bar City Council, including two terms as Mayor. He and his wife, Mei Mei, have three sons, a daughter and five grandchildren.

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Kirby Ifland ’09

Kirby Ifland ’09 is a third-year student at Harvard Law School. He and his wife, Christa Juell ‘10, will move from Cambridge, Mass., to Lexington, Ky., in the spring, where he will join the regional law firm Frost Brown Todd to begin a legal practice focused on corporate law and appellate litigation.

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Carolyn Custis James ’70

Carolyn Custis James ’70 is an evangelical thinker who loves God enough to break the rules—rules of cultural convention which attempt to domesticate the gospel message of the Bible. Carolyn is president of WhitbyForum, a ministry dedicated to addressing the deeper needs which confront both women and men as they endeavor to extend God’s kingdom together in a messy and complicated world. Carolyn’s many books have been described as provocative, honest, and deeply moving. She is also founder and president of the Synergy Women’s Network, Inc.—a national organization for women emerging or engaged in ministry leadership. Carolyn serves as consulting editor for Zondervan’s Exegetical Commentary Series on the New Testament; a regular columnist for FullFill Magazine; contributing editor for Leadership Journal; and advisory committee member for the Biblica Justice Bible Project. She speaks regularly at church conferences, colleges, theological seminaries and other Christian organizations both in the U.S. and abroad. A pastor’s daughter, Carolyn grew up in Portland, Ore. During the years between seminary and her present ministries, she had her own business as a computer software developer in Oxford, England. Her husband, Frank, is provost and professor of historical theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. They live in Boxford, Mass. and have a grown daughter. 

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Lt. Col. Kathleen Jones ’89

Lt. Col. Kathleen Jones ’89 became an Air Force flight surgeon and joined a special operations command a month before 9-11, and her career took off. She had 30 days of normal duty followed by two years of constant deployments. Focused on caring for pilots in her squadron, Kathleen also treated injured soldiers being moved to distant medical facilities. Kathleen intended to be a teacher like her father, Jonathan Jones ’60, who directs the academic program at a boarding school for at-risk youth in Utah, but a high school physiology teacher awoke in her a passion for science. At Westmont, Kathleen explored medicine and research, spending time with doctors and professors. Unable to afford medical school, Kathleen followed a family tradition and joined the military. After completing a civilian residency in family practice, she packed up for a year at Kunsan Air Force Base in Korea, where she became the doctor for all non-flying personnel. Kathleen then completed a three-year aerospace medicine program, earning a master’s degree in public health, focusing on preventive medicine and working with all branches of the service, NASA and the FAA. For three years she served as chief of aerospace medicine and the senior specialist at Scott AFB in Illinois, seeing patients, mentoring young flight surgeons and deploying to Kuwait. After 15 years of service, Kathleen can’t picture life outside of the Air Force.

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Anne Allder Kirkby ’85

Anne Allder Kirkby ’85 graduated with majors in mathematics and physics, the second of three sisters who all attended Westmont. She went on to study physics at Caltech, and received a doctorate in theoretical nuclear physics in 1991. She and her husband, David, also a Caltech graduate student, moved to Geneva, Switzerland, in 1991, to work at the CERN particle physics laboratory. In 1995, they moved to Palo Alto, Calif., for David’s research, and for the next six years Anne focused on raising their 3 children—Dylan, Helen, and Trevor. In 2001, they moved to Irvine, Calif., where Anne worked in the physics departments at Chapman University, Concordia University, and Irvine Valley College before settling down as lecturer in physics at the University of California, Irvine. She attends Irvine Presbyterian Church, where she is an elder and teaches women’s Bible Studies. Anne and David are planning to return to Europe next year, and the family will spend the first eight months of 2013 on sabbatical in Paris.

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Bill Klug ’98

Bill Klug ’98 achieved a tenure-track position in the mechanical and aerospace engineering department at the University of California, Los Angeles just five years after graduating from Westmont with a degree in engineering physics. An associate professor, he teaches a class each quarter and pursues research in structural and solid mechanics with biological applications. He earned a master’s degree in civil engineering at UCLA and a doctorate in mechanical engineering at Caltech. His wife, Mary Elise Richter ’97, majored in engineering physics at Westmont and does independent consulting as an aeronautical software engineer. She also earned her master’s degree in civil engineering at UCLA.

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Mike Leming ’54

Mike Leming ’54 earned a master’s degree in sociology at Marquette University and a doctorate at the University of Utah. He taught sociology for 41 years at the University of Utah and St. Olaf College, Minn. He directs Spring Semester in Thailand, which he and his wife, Ann Lundquist ’70, started in 2001. During the program students live with Thai families, study at Chang Mai University and participate in study-service internships. An expert in death, dying and bereavement, Mike has written 27 books and many articles on topics including kinship, religion, and death rituals. He has played a leading role in the national Association of Christians Teaching Sociology, advocating for the integration of faith and his discipline. The founder and former director of the St. Olaf College Social Research Center, he has served on the boards of the Minnesota Coalition on Terminal Care and the Northfield AIDS Response. He also volunteered with hospice, teaching and counseling the grieving. He received a Pew Evangelical Scholars grant to study Thailand’s Karen tribe for a year. Mike and his wife, Karen, also established a performing arts center in Thailand for the disabled, which the Thai government has supported with a $6.9 million grant. 

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Leeba Lessin ’79

Leeba Lessin ’79 worked as associate executive director of the Santa Barbara Medical Society and met many local physicians upon graduating from Westmont. Convinced that health care wasn’t the right place for her, she left to earn a master’s degree in business administration at the University of Washington. She was asked by a group of physicians to create a new, small HMO. The physician group, renamed Monarch Health Systems, continued as a delivery system for PacifiCare, and Leeba headed the company until 1994. She attended Fuller Theological Seminary to complete a master’s degree in theology and become better prepared for lay ministry. PacifiCare asked her to take a national position as vice president for provider delivery systems. Later she was offered the position of president of Northern California operations and now resides in San Francisco.

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Scott Lisea ’88

Scott Lisea ’88 lives in Santa Barbara with his wife, Jamie McEwen ’88, and three sons. Scott served on the Young Life staff for 23 years, ending his career as regional director for the Gold Coast and Central California Region. For the past two years, he has served at Oaks Christian School as the associate head of school for spiritual life. Scott earned a master’s degree in theology from Fuller Seminary in 1998 and completed his Doctor of Ministry at Fuller in September, writing his dissertation on the nature of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In his work with Young Life, he initiated and now volunteers in a club designed specifically for kids with disabilities, which meets in his home. He has coached young people for more than twenty years, teaches a community-wide men’s Bible study, trains leaders throughout Asia and speaks at summer camps; he and Jamie run a discipleship and leadership training program called The Experience. Scott writes songs, plays sports and enjoys beekeeping. He is awed by the patience, mercy, grace and unconditional love of our Abba. 

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Celeste Kirk Liversidge ’89

Celeste Kirk Liversidge ’89 attended Pepperdine Law School and specialized in family law. After seeing women at one of the worst times of their lives, and many expressed regrets that they married young. She teamed with a friend who works as a therapist, and co-wrote “Last One Down the Aisle Wins: 10 Keys to a Fabulous Single Life Now and an Even Better Marriage Later.” The book argues that women who spend their 20s developing 10 areas of their lives will have happier, healthier marriages. Celeste met her husband, Sam, in law school. They have three children. Today, Celeste focuses on adoption law as a partner in a small firm.

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Don ’81 and Amy Low ’93

Don ’81 and Amy Low ’93 live in Seattle and have three children. Don has been a high school basketball coach, choral director, director of admissions, marketing director, agency owner and chief marketing officer, but he has always been, first and foremost, a Westmont graduate. Don’s time at Westmont prepared him for the world of business in many ways. Creative teamwork at Spring Sing was a perfect foundation for leading an advertising agency of 60 people. Travelling with the College Singers and Howie Stevenson ’50 prepared him for life on the road as a speaker for The Art Institute of Seattle. Building the first student call-a-thon prepared him for his first job as a telemarketing supervisor. Leading music in chapel gave him the confidence he needed to present in a boardroom. Don serves as chief marketing officer for TailorWell and leads the marketing and business development efforts for the company by developing and executing go-to-market strategies, business development plans and all branding activities. Amy has been guided by wise words from former provost and history professor, Shirley Mullen: “Strive to be deeply and thoughtfully educated, and deeply and thoughtfully Christian.” A history major, Amy has devoted her career to advancing social causes through the power of advocacy. She worked in the private sector for global communications firms, and then for nearly a decade advising the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as an advocacy strategist. She serves as the chief advocacy and engagement officer at Landesa, a global organization that works to advance secure land rights for the world’s rural poor. She and her team work to elevate the cause of land ownership within the international policy and development sector, while also expanding their base of individual supporters. She is a former board member to the International Justice Mission and Successful Schools in Action, a community based partnership to strengthen Seattle public schools.

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David MacCulloch ’84

David MacCulloch ’84 graduated from Westmont with honors, earning degrees in economics and business and English. He received his law degree with honors from Loyola Law School of Los Angeles where he served as editor-in-chief of the Loyola Law School of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Journal. David began his career as an attorney working in entertainment law, estate planning and probate and trust administration. He works at Montecito Bank & Trust as vice president and senior trust officer. David has taught business law as an adjunct professor at Westmont for nearly ten years. He serves on the Westmont Music Council and as class agent for the class of 1984. He has also served on the Westmont Alumni Advisory Council, the President’s Associates Steering Committee and Westmont’s Homecoming Committee. He is a board member of Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County and the advisory board for Young Life Gold Coast and Central California Region. He and his wife, Hillary, live in Santa Barbara. They have one son.

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Heather Marshall ’96

Heather Marshall ’96 majored in chemistry at Westmont before attending Oregon Health Sciences University. She later completed a three-year residency in emergency medicine at University of California, Davis Medical Center and afterward became an attending physician in an inner-city trauma hospital.

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Tricia McGuigan ’97

Tricia McGuigan ’97, a ceramics artist, earned a Master of Fine Arts from the Otis College of Art and Design in 1997. She has won numerous awards and displayed her work at shows throughout America, including the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art’s fourth ceramics invitational in 2010. Her life, faith and work as an artist have become so intertwined—the boundaries between them are indiscernible. One of her primary interests is change, and how it transforms. Change is sometimes planned, fought for and welcomed. It can be spontaneous, inevitable or resisted. New possibilities are created while others are precluded. Living a response of joy and generosity requires a daily walk of faith. Conceptually, she associates change with edges. A change of heart or shift in perception can radically alter the direction of life. In ceramics, the clay’s edge is fragile and often sharp. The edge may cause a glaze to thin, triggering a radical change of color. She often pushes the clay and the glazes to the edge of collapse, yet that is where she often finds amazing beauty. She is thankful for her formative time at Westmont and for God’s providence in sustaining her life as an artist.

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Jedd Medefind ’97

Jedd Medefind ’97 serves as president of the Christian Alliance for Orphans. The Alliance unites more than 100 respected Christian organizations and a national network of churches working together to inspire and equip Christians to “defend the cause of the fatherless” through adoption, foster care and global orphan ministry. Prior to this role, Jedd led the White House’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Before the working for the White House, Jedd held a range of posts in the California state legislature. He has worked, studied and served in more than thirty countries, with organizations ranging from Price-Waterhouse in Moscow to Christian Life Bangladesh. Jedd has also authored three books and many articles. He wrote his most recent book, “UPENDED: How Following Jesus Remakes Our Words and Our World,” with fellow Westmont alum Erik Lokkesmoe ’95. Jedd lives in central California with his wife, Rachel, and their five children.

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Mark A. Miller ’77

Mark A. Miller ’77 played and coached basketball overseas for several years before returning to graduate school in the early 80s. He holds graduate degrees in Public Administration from the University of Southern California and Marriage and Family Therapy from Azusa Pacific University. He has worked in the public child welfare and mental health fields for more than 30 years. Mark currently serves as the director of training and development for the County of Los Angeles, Department of Children and Family Services. For the last 20+ years he has also provided training and consulting services to other child welfare jurisdictions in California. He and his wife, Linda, have four children. Kelli played volleyball at Wheaton College and graduated in 2009; she works for a law firm in Los Angeles. His sons, John ’10 and Lucas ’12, played basketball for the Warriors; both live and work in Santa Barbara. C.J. ’14 is currently a junior studying kinesiology and also plays for the Warriors. Mark coaches basketball at a local high school. He and Linda have been active supporters of Young Life and worship at Baseline Community Church in Claremont. Mark writes, “I’m extremely humbled by and grateful for my experience with Westmont. It provided spiritual focus, the opportunity to explore gifts and abilities, and has resulted in deep and abiding friendships that have survived and deepened over decades.”

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Ron ’61 and Becky Mulder ’62

Ron ’61 and Becky Mulder ’62 taught elementary school upon graduating and culminated her education career as principal of Montecito’s Cold Spring Elementary. In 1985, she began a full-time career in real estate, combining tax planning and sales. Retiring in 2008, she founded and now administers the non-profit organization, Friends of Foster Families. The organization pairs existing foster families with individuals who have a heart for foster children and seek to assist the young families who care for the children. Becky’s husband, Ron, served as Westmont’s basketball coach, baseball coach, director of athletics, professor and chair of the kinesiology department. Graduating seniors voted him teacher of the year, and he was inducted into the Westmont Hall of Fame. Ron retired in 2004, remains a fan of Westmont athletics, volunteers for Meals on Wheels and sings in the choir at El Montecito Presbyterian Church. Becky and Ron have two daughters, Sharol Mulder Chris ’86, and Patsy Mulder Kyle ’88, and six grandchildren. 

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Reverend Norm Nelson ’61

Reverend Norm Nelson ’61 is president and on-air host of Compassion Radio, a nationally-syndicated radio and humanitarian ministry that broadcasts over 1,000 program releases daily across the U.S. and sponsors compassion projects in 31 countries. Norm and his wife, Cher, have traveled in 150 countries, engaged in back-door diplomacy initiatives and participated in official Muslim-Christian dialogues in several Islamic countries. Norm was invited to speak at the Institute for International Studies and Politics with Shiite clerics in Tehran, Iran. He was the only American delegate to attend a meeting of the High Council of Religious Leaders of Iraq, sponsored by the Foreign Ministry of Denmark in Copenhagen. The council addressed violence targeting Christians in post-war Iraq. Norm served as Westmont’s student body president, founded Westmont’s Spring Sing event and played varsity basketball. He graduated with a degree in philosophy and was nominated for a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship. Following graduation, he served as a college chaplain and parish-based minister to university students in New England. He also graduated from San Francisco Theological Seminary and Princeton Theological Seminary, and is a candidate for the Doctor of Ministry degree at Duke University Divinity School. Norm and Cher have six children and 14 grandchildren.

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Shauna Niequist ’98

Shauna Niequist ’98 is the author of “Cold Tangerines” and “Bittersweet,” and her third book, “Bread and Wine,” will be released in the spring of 2013. Shauna grew up in Barrington, Ill., moving to California to study English and French literature at Westmont. Her husband, Aaron, is a pianist and songwriter. He leads worship at Willow Creek Community Church and is recording a project called “A New Liturgy.” Shauna writes about the beautiful and broken moments of everyday life—friendship, family, faith, food, marriage, love, babies, books, celebration, heartache and all the other things that shape us, delight us and reveal to us the heart of God. Aaron and Shauna live outside Chicago with their two sons.

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Dr. Kenneth Ogden ’50

Dr. Kenneth Ogden ’50 majored in history at Westmont and received a Master of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary. He also received a master’s degree and doctorate in education from the University of Southern California. He is the former vice president of Focus on the Family.

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Kristin Olsen ’96

Kristin Olsen ’96 was elected to the California State Assembly in November 2010. She represents the 25th Assembly District, which is larger than the state of Massachusetts, and covers six counties in the Central Valley and Sierra Foothills. A committed and respected leader with a reputation for reform, problem-solving and hard work, Olsen was named chief Republican whip in her first term. The State Legislative Leaders Foundation selected Olsen for its prestigious 2012 Emerging Leaders Program, which brought together rising leaders from all over the U.S. to participate in a conference at the University of Virginia. Olsen served on the Modesto City Council from 2005 to 2009, where she stood up for fiscal responsibility, public safety and economic development. Concurrently, she served as the assistant vice president for communications and public affairs at California State University, Stanislaus. Olsen serves on the board for Court Appointed Special Advocates—an organization that promotes volunteer advocacy for abused and neglected children. Olsen graduated from Westmont College with a bachelor’s degree in communication studies. 

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Brittany Stringfellow Otey ’97

Brittany Stringfellow Otey ’97 received her juris doctorate at Pepperdine University School of Law in 2001. Brittany served as a note and comment editor on both the Pepperdine Law Review and the Dispute Resolution Law Journal. She participated as a member of the nationally-acclaimed trial advocacy team and served as vice president of the Christian Legal Society. Upon graduation, Brittany clerked at the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, before going into private practice in Long Beach, Calif. Practicing primarily family law, and wills and trusts, Brittany continued to take pro bono cases from the Pepperdine Legal Aid Clinic. Brittany now directs the Pepperdine Legal Aid and Family Law Clinics located in the Union Rescue Mission in downtown Los Angeles. Utilizing law clerks and volunteer attorneys, the clinic serves over 100 homeless and formerly homeless clients each month in the areas of family law, resolving tickets and warrants, expungements, housing, and government benefits. Brittany also teaches the accompanying legal aid and family law clinical courses.

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Andrea Owen ’10

Andrea Owen ’10 grew up in Dallas, Texas, the eldest daughter of Glenn and Gabriella Owen. She attended a private Christian elementary school followed by an all-girls Catholic high school before she joined the Westmont family. Andrea earned the Monroe scholarship on applying to Westmont. She was a Spanish and pre-med double major. She served as the co-director of the medical/dental team for Potter’s Clay and thoroughly enjoyed all the relationships she formed and the incredible experiences she had. In the fall of 2008, she studied abroad in Seville, Spain, where she enjoyed her relationship with her host family and many fun weekend trips throughout Spain and Europe with her classmates. She graduated summa cum laude in May of 2010. Since graduation, she deferred her medical school acceptance for a year off. During that year, she spent three and a half months in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, working with medical missionaries in an HIV clinic. In the spring she was off to France where she spent three months in language school. Now a second year medical student at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Andrea is working harder than ever and enjoying being back in Texas.

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Joel ’92 and Michelle Klukow Pelsue ’92

Joel ’92 and Michelle Klukow Pelsue ’92 live in Los Angeles with their three children. The couple met at Westmont where Michelle, a professional actress since the age of 15, studied theatre in a Christian context. A woodwind musician, Joel majored in philosophy and played saxophone in the jazz ensemble. He received his Master of Divinity from Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Fla., in 1998. He is an ordained Presbyterian minister and has pastored churches in New York and Los Angeles for more than 10 years. Joel and Michelle desire to change the way Christians understand the arts and engage mainstream culture. The couple led Bible studies for fellow Westmont art students, started the Artist Fellowship with Disney artists in Florida and taught artists and media professionals in New York City. Their ministry culminated in Los Angeles, where they helped plant a church and co-founded Arts and Entertainment Ministries in 2004. They mentor and equip academics, artists and creative professionals to “think, live, and create” from a Biblical worldview, while engaging the mainstream art and media industries. Joel is also on the faculty of the Blackstone Program with Alliance Defending Freedom and is an adjunct faculty member at Knox Seminary in Florida

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Dewayne and Faith Perry ’62

Dewayne and Faith Perry ’62 wish to congratulate Westmont on its 75th anniversary. They write, “You gave us extremely fond memories of our classes, teachers, chapel, music, and Christian fellowship. You also gave us a passion for learning that has served us extremely well in our work, our vocations, and our Christian endeavors. We appreciate what Westmont was to us then and what it has become. This preparation has served us well in our work as we both have ended up in entirely different directions than we had initially prepared for. Faith’s psychology major led to being a social worker, but that changed into becoming a software engineer; my music and philosophy majors led to becoming a musician on the side but primarily being a software engineer, then a software engineering researcher, and now professor of software engineering. Besides work and church, our lives have been centered around collecting—we are collectors! It began with furnishing our living spaces with fine art and decorative arts and crafts, and still continues. Our two main collecting passions today are old master prints and contemporary studio ceramics. All of this has led to our involvement in, and our support of, not only Westmont’s art program, but Westmont as a whole.”

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Jeff Pierce ’02

Jeff Pierce ’02 has worked as an aerospace and systems engineer in the national defense industry since 2002, holding positions in the private and public sectors. Jeff worked on numerous space systems with the Boeing Company, including the Global Positioning System, commercial communication and electro-optical satellites. He works in the Office of the Chief Architect at the National Reconnaissance Office in Chantilly, Va., where he leads teams to analyze, develop and acquire intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities for the U.S. Intelligence Community. Jeff earned a doctorate in aerospace and systems engineering at Vanderbilt University and has received research fellowships from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense. He earned a master’s degree in business administration at Chapman University, a master’s degree in astronautics from the University of Southern California and a bachelor’s degree in engineering physics from Westmont College. Jeff and his wife, Dr. Laura Dray ’02, have two daughters and live in northern Virginia.

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Jay Pierson ’69 

Jay Pierson ’69 has worked on the floor of the House of Representatives for more than 25 years. His career began in the Office of the House Journal Clerk and the House Republican Cloak Room, but he soon moved up to floor assistant for the minority leader. When the Republicans took control in 1995, he became floor assistant to the speaker. Jay never expected to work in politics. He earned a doctorate in English literature from the University of Maryland. His wife, JoAnne Boyd ’69, had a job with the House minority leader, and she got him involved on Capitol Hill. He got hooked and never looked back. While Jay can put in long hours, he hasn’t built his life around his work. His family has always come first, and he has been an active member of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, Md. The Piersons have two sons: Joel graduated from Westmont in 2001 with a degree in music and plays in two bands in Santa Barbara; Jeff is a junior at Messiah College in Pennsylvania.

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John Rapson ’76

John Rapson ’76 is a composer, pianist, trombonist and recording artist for MoMu Records, Music and Arts, Sound Aspects and Nine Winds. His work mixes ethnic and experimental elements with more conventional jazz forms. A professor of music at the University of Iowa since 1993, Rapson also taught at Westmont and Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn. Rapson has written over 100 jazz compositions and recorded 26 albums, nine of which are under his leadership and feature his compositions. In 2002, his song “Riff Bass Bridge Head” won first prize in the Julius Hemphill Competition sponsored by the Jazz Composers Alliance. He received much attention from reviewers for albums “Dances and Orations” with Anthony Braxton and “Water and Blood” with Billy Higgins. His album “Mystery and Manners” was released June 2011. In 1995, AT&T commissioned Rapson to compose “Sound Luminesce,” a jazz suite that united musicians in Iowa and Japan via fiber-optic technology in the first trans-pacific live performance. Rapson has collaborated with numerous musicians including Kenny Wheeler, Rafael dos Santos, Carla Bley, the Either/Orchestra, Julius Hemphill, Kim Richmond, Doc Cheatham, Ed Blackwell and many others. Rapson and his wife, Elizabeth Swanson, live in Iowa City, Iowa; they have three children.

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Casey Roberts ’80

Casey Roberts ’80 graduated with a degree in history and received the Dean’s Award as the outstanding male scholar-athlete. He returned to campus a few years later to earn a teaching credential and started his career at Santa Barbara Christian School 28 years ago. Today he teaches economics, U.S. history and AP U.S. history to juniors and seniors at Carpinteria High School and was honored with a Teacher of the Year award. Casey was a goalie on the Warrior soccer team and holds the Westmont records for career saves (601) and saves per game (6.53). He was twice named defensive MVP and a 1977 NAIA and NSCAA All-American, and was inducted into the Westmont Warrior Hall of Fame in 2007. His success has continued off the field in his career as a teacher and coach, and Westmont’s education department has honored him with a 2011 Excellence in Education award. Casey has coached soccer for years, for AYSO, Bishop Diego High School, San Marcos High School, Carpinteria High School and Westmont. Casey and his wife, Kathy, have two sons who are pursuing teaching careers. Casey gives back to the Westmont community by serving on numerous panels, teaching a class for the department and speaking at their Educator Connections events. He has nurtured college students and student teachers, passing on his love for the profession. He embodies what it means to be a life-long learner and professional educator.

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Ken Rogers ’82

Ken Rogers ’82 is an entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience working with multinationals, U.S. and foreign government agencies, non-profit organizations, and small business start-ups. Ken currently serves as the chief technology strategist and director of IT strategy, architecture, portfolio management and IRM financial management for the U.S. Department of State, where he oversees a $1.5 billion portfolio with operations in 285 locations worldwide. Ken has worked in the public sector for the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate, the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Export Import Bank. Ken also worked in the private sector in areas of financial management, government relations, contracting, and technology management in the aerospace and commercial electronics industry. He has also served as an economic and management consultant, providing specialized international trade, development, and e-business assistance to government agencies and organizations in the U.S. and throughout the developing world. Ken has master’s degrees in information systems and technology from George Washington University; in international management from University of Maryland; in development economics from University of Pittsburgh. Ken also holds graduate certificates in Asian Studies, International Political Economy, and CIO/CTO Innovation. Ken serves as a professor at Nyack College and on the boards of Ambleside School in Herndon, Va., and the Government IT Council. Ken and his wife, Pam, live in Vienna, Va., with their four children.

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Sharon Schock ’06

Sharon Schock ’06 knew she wanted to find a job where she could put her fine art degree to use, but she had no idea what it would look like. She writes, “After much searching, I discovered a niche that really got me excited; daily painting, the practice of finishing one small painting a day. I loved the idea even though it was quite different from my usual painting process. Working this way would allow me to refine my skills and develop a more personal style. I started pursuing the practice in the evenings when my husband and I were living in Denver. After a while I became comfortable with the idea of trying to sell my work, so I opened an online Etsy shop, listed a few of my paintings, and within a few hours my first painting sold. It was a very exciting moment and gave me the courage I needed to keep going. When my husband was transferred back to California, we decided that instead of looking for another job I should pursue this newfound daily painting passion full time, just to see what would happen. It was a good decision, and 675 daily paintings later, God is faithful and I’m still loving my job.”

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Tacheeni Scott ’66

Tacheeni Scott ’66 enjoyed a career as a microbiology and cell biology professor at California State University, Northridge. Partially retired, Tacheeni and his wife, Debbie Bridwell ’70, devote more time to a new ministry. A full-blooded Navajo raised on the reservation in Arizona, Tacheeni has founded Dineh Bible Ministries to train biblically qualified elders for reservation churches. Tacheeni works alongside Ameritribes, formerly Navajo Gospel Mission. Now focused on Mexico, Ameriribes owns a Flagstaff conference center under-utilized by Dineh Christians. By training Dineh elders, Tacheeni hopes to change the continuing perceptions of Christianity.

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Rathburn Wiley Shelton ’50

Rathburn Wiley Shelton ’50 graduated from Taft High School, studied music at Santa Barbara State College, now the University of California, Santa Barbara. He married Peggy Emmens in 1943. He served as lead trumpet in the Big Band under Ray Ellis, playing for the troops in London until the end of the war. Following the war, he studied sociology at Westmont. Rath graduated in 1950 and began a 30-year career as Westmont’s director of public relations and later the Alumni Association, which he founded. A talented athlete, Rath also coached the Westmont baseball team in the 1950s. Rath was the face of Westmont, interacting with the press here and in Los Angeles, the Ad Club and the summer youth baseball programs. He helped found the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table. He and Peggy owned and operated Camp Lorr from 1972-1985. A musician from a very young age, Rath kept music a part of his life to the end, playing the trumpet or piano. Rath died Feb. 1, 2012; he is survived by four sons, 12 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

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Margot Starbuck ’91

Margot Starbuck ’91, an art graduate of Westmont and graduate of Princeton Seminary, Margo Starbuck is passionate about communicating through print and speech the promise that God is with them and for them in Christ Jesus. Her first book, “The Girl in the Orange Dress: Searching For a Father Who Does Not Fail,” was awarded the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association’s best non-fiction book of the year in 2011. She also authored “Unsqueezed: Springing Free From Skinny Jeans, Nose Jobs, Highlights & Stilettos,” “Small Things With Great Love: Adventures in Loving Your Neighbor,” and “Permission Granted: And Other Thoughts on Living Graciously Among Sinners and Saints.” Margot is a member of Redbud Writer’s Guild and writes for numerous blogs and publications including Her.meneutics, Red Letter Christians, Gifted for Leadership, Relevant, Kyria, MomSense and Adoption Today. She is also the confessions editor for Geez Magazine’s Sinner’s Corner. Margot enjoys connecting with audiences on college campuses and at conferences, retreats and festivals. Some clients include Messiah College, MOPs International, Young Life Women’s Weekend, and Lifest. Margot lives with her husband and three children in Durham, N.C., where she volunteers among friends with disabilities through Reality Ministries. 

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Howie Stevenson ’50

Howie Stevenson ’50 has ministered through music for more than 60 years, often in partnership with his wife, Marilyn Danielson Stevenson ’53. At college events, in churches and during summer conferences they’ve shared their musical gifts with skill and joy. Many alumni vividly remember Howie’s energetic hymn sings in chapel. As a student, Howie performed with the Westmont Quartet in a different church every Sunday and toured during the summer. In 1950, the group went to Europe with Ruth Kerr, Westmont’s principal founder. Howie received a master’s degree in music at the University of Washington and a doctorate at the University of Southern California. He has taught at Multnomah Bible College in Oregon and Westmont. Howie ended his career as a music minister at First Evangelical Free Church in Fullerton, Calif., with Chuck Swindoll. After retiring, the Stevensons moved to Mount Miguel Covenant Village in Spring Valley, Calif., where their daughter, Beth Gwinn ’81, works. Bruce ’77 and Lisa Johnson ’76 Stevenson went to Westmont and live in Dallas. Suzanne Stevenson married alumnus Gary Preston ’74, a pastor in Boulder, Colo. Howie and Marilyn have eight grandchildren (one graduated from Westmont and another is a senior) and two great-grandchildren.

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Jeff Swanson ’79

Jeff Swanson ’79 earned a doctorate in sociology at Yale University where he studied the social dimensions of mental disorder and crime. He taught at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, for several years before completing a postdoctoral fellowship in mental health services and systems research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University Medical Center, a program he now co-directs. Duke recruited him to join the faculty in 1993; he’s a tenured professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences. A prolific scholar with more than 130 publications, Swanson has conducted numerous collaborative research projects on mental illness, violence, treatment and legal policy. He lives in Chapel Hill, N.C., with his wife, Pamela, and three children. He attends Olin T. Binkley Baptist Church because of its inclusiveness and commitment to issues of social justice.

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David Talbott ’64

David Talbott ’64, a music major, was pianist for the Westmont Quartet for three years and editor of the Horizon his senior year, plus chapel organist and pianist. He worked for Billy Graham in Atlanta and Berlin for three years, then returned to his alma mater to work in fundraising in 1967, for nine years, ending as director of public relations and alumni affairs. He has coordinated most of the five-year reunions for the class of 1964, and was named Alumni Volunteer of the Year in 1991. The Talbotts are members of the President's Associates and charter members of the Wallace Emerson Society. For the last 37 years, David has been resident musician at the Mount Hermon Christian Conference Center in Northern California, where he has worked in public relations, marketing, program development, and fundraising. As associate director of family ministries, he assists in adult and family camps, programs 18 concerts annually, and directs a donor recognition society. He especially enjoys mentoring young men. His wife, Carla, worked for Westmont for two years. They have two daughters and six grandchildren. A concert pianist and organist, David concertizes widely, and has recorded six albums of his music. He is organist and pianist for the Peninsula Covenant Church of Redwood City.

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Kevin Vanhoozer ’78

Kevin Vanhoozer ’78 is recognized as a leading American theologian and the author of significant works of theology. Christianity Today featured him in a 1999 cover story on six new theologians, and his scholarly work has received wide acclaim. Kevin, who grew up in Carpinteria, Calif., and attended Cate School, majored in both religious studies and philosophy at Westmont. After graduating from Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia and earning a doctorate in theology at Cambridge University in England, Kevin taught at the University of Edinburgh for eight years before rejoining the faculty of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Illinois as a research professor in 1998. He is editor, with Philip Clayton ’78, of “New Studies in Constructive Theology,” a series of textbooks on Christian doctrine, of “The Cambridge Companion to Postmodern Theology,” and of a major new reference work in progress, “Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of Scripture.” His wife, Sylvie, has homeschooled their daughters and teaches French at a country day school. Vanhoozer is a classical pianist and a devoted musician. He has enjoyed accompanying his two daughters, who both play violin and piano, at their recitals.

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Steve and Jenni Wiebe ’89

Steve and Jenni Wiebe ’89 both graduated from Westmont with degrees in religious studies and diversified liberal arts. Following their marriage in 1989, the couple moved to Pasadena, Calif., where Steve worked on a master’s degree at Fuller Theological Seminary and Jenni taught. Moving into a lower income neighborhood, they began feeling called to that urban community. Jenni started teaching part time and created a tutoring ministry in their backyard. Their outreach grew into an organization, Neighborhood Urban Family Center, which has four sites in Pasadena and serves 140 at-risk children each day. Steve and Jenni also helped advise Westmont’s initial Spring Break in the City and hosted students at their ministry for the first five years. Steve completed his doctorate at Fuller Theological Seminary and directs New Vision Partners, an interfaith non-profit. He also teaches as an adjunct professor at Azusa Pacific University. Jenni completed her master’s degree in education at Azusa Pacific University, taught for 12 years, and has directed Neighborhood Urban Family Center since it began in 1994. She is working on a second master’s degree in educational leadership.

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Dave Willis ’74

Dave Willis ’74 witnessed the sad contrast between wild country and the rapacity of market-driven, industrial logging on numerous trips into Oregon’s Coast and Cascade Ranges with his de facto uncles, Dale Ritter ’64 and Roger Dejmal ’63. As a result of these experiences, in 1972, he began coordinating Mount Hermon’s Sierra Treks wilderness trip program, founded by Robin Wainwright ’64. Sierra Treks became independent from Mount Hermon under Dave’s leadership in 1983, after he earned a master’s degree in theology from Fuller Seminary. Sierra Treks has offered many trips and courses for Westmont students, including the Inoculum program, which Dave started in 1974. Time in the disappearing wilderness, combined with a biblical understanding of creation’s “good, very good” value to the Creator/Redeemer, led Dave to increase his involvement in wildlands protection work. With the Soda Mountain Wilderness Council, Dave spearheaded the effort that led to President Clinton’s establishment of southwestern Oregon’s Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in 2000, followed by congressional designation of the Soda Mountain Wilderness in 2009. Dave has received numerous awards from various conservation groups. He lives near Ashland, Ore., with the Oregon Extension College community, his home for more than thirty years.

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John Wilson ’70

John Wilson ’70 is editor of Books and Culture and editor-at-large for Christianity Today magazine. He majored in English and received a master’s degree at California State University, Los Angeles, in 1975. His reviews and essays appear in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, First Things, National Review, and other publications. He and his wife, Wendy, are members of Faith Evangelical Covenant Church in Wheaton; they have four children.

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Michael Witt ’80

Michael Witt ’80 lives in Atlanta with his wife, Kirsten, and four children, where he cares and treats the husbands of couples with infertility. Because of the gospel more aware of how sinful I am and yet how loved I am at the same time. Michael followed his mom, dad and three uncles at Westmont. He graduated suma cum laude and is forever grateful for the faculty at Westmont for giving him the grid to see the Glory in all things. He received his medical degree from Oregon Health Sciences University in 1984, and completed a urology residency at Boston University in 1990. He also completed a fellowship in male infertility at Baylor College of Medicine in 1991 and was assistant professor of surgery at Emory University from 1991-1995. Michael has assisted in pioneering numerous microsurgical procedures for male infertility. He helped create the first comprehensive, multispecialty clinic for infertile couples at Reproductive Biology Associates in Atlanta, Ga.

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Arol and Jane Paradise Wolford ’75

Arol and Jane Paradise Wolford ’75 co-founded Manufacturers’ Survey in 1975, after they graduated from Westmont. Twenty-five years later this construction market data business grew to 1,400 folks working in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Asia, Australia and Scandinavia. Arol has been named an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects and later served on the AIA 150 Anniversary Committee, the only non-architect so honored. Arol serves on a Board of a Seminary in India, the Georgia Tech School of Architecture, Campbellstone Elderly Housing, and has been an Elder at Dunwoody Community Church for the last 15 years. Arol is currently President of SmartBIM a software company serving architects and engineers that allows them to design, build, and cost-estimate virtual 3D buildings. Jane received a doctorate in architectural history, theory and criticism at the Georgia Institute of Technology and is a LEED accredited professional. She serves as editor of the Almanac of Architecture and Design and has served on the Board of the American Architectural Foundation and the Octagon Museum for more than ten years. She is a lifetime member of the Society of Architectural Historians and belongs to numerous local and national architectural and preservation organizations. Arol and Jane have two daughters, Kristin and Alexa, along with the fantastic gift of four grandchildren. Arol and Jane feel blessed to have attended Westmont where they were instilled with a liberal arts mindset and a Christian spirit that allowed a biology major to become president of a software firm and an English major to become an architectural historian.

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Ryan Wolfshorndl ’05

Ryan Wolfshorndl ’05 grew up in Chowchilla, Calif., on an almond farm in a close-knit family of five. He moved to Santa Barbara in 2001, to attend Westmont. Ryan majored in economics and business, minored in communication studies, helped lead Westmont Student Ministries, traveled to Asia and was an avid soccer fan. During those years, he valued the modeling of community, the deep friendships and the love of learning and spiritual growth encouraged by the faculty and campus pastor’s office. Since graduating, he has lived and worked in Santa Barbara with fellow Westmont alumni at Anodos Advisors, an investment consultancy firm where he is a partner. He pursued further education through the Chartered Financial Analyst and Certified Financial Planner programs. He has enjoyed becoming active in the life of Santa Barbara Community Church, spending several years alongside a group of high school youth and developing relationships in his neighborhood and broader community in the last seven years.

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H. Norman Wright ’59

H. Norman Wright ’59 is a licensed marriage, family and child therapist and he has taught in the graduate department at Biola University. He was former director of the graduate department of marriage, Family and Child Counseling at Biola, as well as an associate professor of psychology. He was also associate professor of Christian education and director of the graduate department of Christian education at the Talbot School of Theology. He is research professor of Christian education at Biola. He was in private practice for more than thirty years. Dr. Wright received a master’s degree in religious education at Fuller Theological Seminary, and a master’s degree at Pepperdine University. He has received two honorary doctorates from the Western Conservative Baptist Seminary and Biola and is the author of more than seventy books. Dr. Wright has pioneered premarital counseling programs throughout the country. He conducts seminars on parenting, recovering from the losses of life, trauma and crisis counseling, and marriage enrichment. His current focus is in grief and trauma counseling and critical incident debriefing. Part of his work is developing curriculum in loss, crisis and trauma as well as community wide grief recovery seminars. He is a Certified Trauma Specialist and a Certified Traumatologist. He is an ICISF trainer for the course, Trauma After Grief.

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Josh Yager ’92

Josh Yager ’92 began work as a financial planner at Mercer Advisors in Santa Barbara after graduating with degrees in English and economics and business. While at Mercer, Josh attended the Santa Barbara College of Law and passed the bar exam in 2005. Josh works at Anodos Advisors, a multi-family office, which he and Westmont alumnus Rick Fogg ’92 started in 2005. Josh is a charter member of the “The Guys Group,” a fraternity of 1992 Westmont graduates who have met every Tuesday night since graduation to drink beer, pray for each other and tell lies about how great their lives are. Josh volunteers time at El Montecito School at San Roque where his wife, Rhonda Verhoeven ’93, teaches art and their three children attend elementary school. Josh is a board member of Gold Crest LLC, an importing and distribution company located in Goleta. In his free time, Josh likes to read books about dead presidents, eat tacos and have pillow fights with his kids. 

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Daniel Zia ’06

Daniel Zia ’06 started his first business as a young high school entrepreneur, which he ran successfully, paying his way through Westmont. There he met his wife, Sarah Smith ’06, and intent to stay in Santa Barbara, transitioned into residential real estate the summer before his senior year—just as the market started to decline. By the grace of God, he was able to weather the first few years of, as he puts it, the “blood, sweat, and tears” of building the business. Seven and a half years later, he is the successful owner and broker associate of the ZiaGroup, a small real estate sales and investment group (with two other Westmont alums on his team) under Prudential CA Realty. He has been humbled and honored to be voted the #1 Realtor by the Santa Barbara Independent’s Best of Readers’ Poll in 2009, 2011, and 2012. He is in the top 1% of Prudential agents worldwide, and consistently represents more buyers in the Santa Barbara area than any other agent. Daniel and Sarah have been committed to giving back locally through their involvement in Young Life, the Unity Shoppe, the Santa Barbara Foundation, and the Westmont Young Alumni Council, as well as participating in economic development, microfinance and relief work abroad. They have a 16-month old son, Jadon, two beagles, and feel so blessed to be a part of the wonderful Westmont community.

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Justin Zoradi ’04

Justin Zoradi ’04 grew up in San Luis Obispo, Calif., and holds a degree in communication studies from Westmont and a master’s degree in peace and conflict resolution from Portland State University. He is the founder and director of These Numbers Have Faces, an organization dedicated to empowering youth to reduce poverty in South Africa. After doing peace and conflict resolution work in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Justin spent the summer of 2006 in South Africa where he developed relationships with youth in the townships of Cape Town. Many of the young people he met were ambitious and intelligent, but lacked the education, basic resources, and skills to better themselves and their communities. Justin realized that a college education, like the one he received from Westmont, would help train the future leaders of South Africa. Justin founded These Numbers Have Faces to provide college scholarships for township students in local Cape Town colleges, involve them in mentoring and tutoring programs, give spiritual support, and provide financial literacy training. An avid soccer fan, Justin loves The Portland Timbers, Northern Ireland, and Time Magazine. He lives with his lovely wife, Trisha ’05, in Portland, Ore.

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