Homecoming to Honor Outstanding Alumni

Westmont will honor the late William S. “Bill” Klug ’98 and Angie Hill ’90 as Alumnus and Alumna of the Year during Homecoming 2016 Oct. 14-16. Jeff Dykstra ’92, co-founder and CEO of Partners in Food Solutions, will receive the Global Service Award, and Matt Blickendorf ’08, an emergency physician in Indianapolis, has earned the Young Alumni Award. The college will present the awards at the All-Alumni Brunch on Saturday, Oct. 15, at 10 a.m. on Magnolia Lawn next to Westmont’s Voskuyl Library. Tickets cost $30 each and must be purchased online by Monday, Oct. 10.

Mary Elise (Richter) Klug ’97, who met Bill while both were students at Westmont, will accept Bill’s award. He earned a master’s degree from UCLA and a doctorate from Caltech and joined the faculty at UCLA in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department in 2003. He specialized in computational biomechanics and the mechanics of biological systems, such as cancer cells. Bill held appointments in mechanical and aerospace engineering and in bioengineering, and was promoted to full professor in 2015. He died tragically on June 1, 2016.

“Bill consistently gave his treasure and talents back to Westmont, visiting classrooms, giving guest lectures, teaching and modeling for students what it means to be a person of deep faith,” says Teri Bradford Rouse, senior director of alumni and parent relations.

Hill, general manager for global marketing at Skype, oversees social media and marketing, digital and experiential campaigns, product integration across TV and film, global partnerships and promotions.  She joined Skype from Tower 18 Marketing Inc., which she founded and led for four years. The company focused on integrated marketing promotions and worked with major movie, television and gaming companies.

“Angie has a true passion for advancing women in business leadership,” Bradford Rouse says.

Hill serves on the Microsoft Advisory Council for Senior Marketing Development and Women of Microsoft Mentoring Council. She and her husband, Mike ’90, helped establish Pacifica Christian, a new high school in Orange County, which provides a rigorous, college-preparatory, liberal arts education for students from all backgrounds and neighborhoods.

Dykstra, who began Partners in Food Solutions in 2011, works with leading food companies to improve food security, nutrition and economic development in Africa through a partnership with USAID. He spent half his career in business and the other half in international development and lived and worked with his family in Zambia and Kenya. “Jeff has made full use of his passions and talents in both the non-profit and for-profit worlds,” Bradford Rouse says.

Blickendorf completed a four-month immersion adventure in Nicaragua before coming to Westmont with the goal of becoming a medical missionary. He graduated magna cum laude with degrees in anthropology and biology. He graduated from medical school at Ohio State University, where he met his wife, fellow emergency physician Rebekah Zaiser. He was elected chief resident in his final year at OSU. “Matt has a heart for service and a dedication to helping those who are often forgotten,” Bradford Rouse says.

Homecoming 2016 features a free Potter’s Clay 40-Year Reunion and Worship Celebration on Sunday, Oct. 16, at 10 a.m. in Page Multipurpose Room. Each spring break, Westmont students lead hundreds of students and volunteers to work with the underserved in Ensenada, Mexico, building homes and church buildings, hosting medical, dental and optical clinics, operating vacation Bible schools programs and providing sports clinics. Westmont students, staff and alumni will share stories, photos and videos during the worship celebration.

Also new this Homecoming is the Saturday ALL-Alumni Night Out, featuring several alumni acts, including comedian Wyatt Gray, singer Jasmine Guerrero, the Four Preps and folk group the Riverside from 7-8:30 p.m. in Murchison Gym. A dance party begins at 8:30 p.m. Tickets cost $20 per person in advance or $25 at the door.

Gray ’12, who regularly performs at the Comedy Store, the Hollywood Improv and the Pasadena Icehouse, has been described as a “polite, young man” by the elderly woman who lives in his apartment complex.

Guerrero ’11, who has been singing and performing since she was a child, performs music heavily inspired by soul, R&B and electronic pop music.

The Riverside, which has released four albums with elements of soul and bluegrass, features lead singer and guitarist Jake Jeanson ’13, his wife, Lorien (Patmore) Jeanson ’14, on mandolin, and Will Breman ’15 on banjo.