Class Notes

'50s

Dorothy Bryant(A.B., ’50; M.A., ’64), author, playwright and teacher, passed away in December at age 87.

Joseph L. White(A.B., ’54), a psychologist and former faculty member who helped establish the University’s black studies program in the late 1960s, died on Nov. 21, 2017. White revolutionized the way people of color are understood in psychology and worked to improve diversity on college campuses. He was the University’s Alumnus of the Year in 2008.

Herb Lee(attended ’55-’57), the San Francisco Police Department’s first Chinese American officer, died Nov. 1, 2017, of colon cancer. Lee joined the force in 1957 and served as an undercover cop in Chinatown. Eventually promoted to the rank of sergeant, he was also the first president of the California Asian Police Officers Association.

Ray Bandar(A.B., ’55; C.R., ’58), biologist and noted collector of bones, passed away Dec. 23. He donated his famous skull collection to the California Academy of Sciences last year.

Jerry Madden(M.A., ’58), is the author of several books, plays and short stories. His latest work, Marble Goddesses and Mortal Flesh (University of Tennessee Press, ’17), collects four linked novellas.

'60s

Judy Dater’s(B.A., ’62; M.A., ’65), work is featured in a retrospective titled “Judy Dater: Only Human” at San Francisco’s de Young Museum through Sept. 16.

Michael Herz(M.A., ’62), a lifelong advocate for the environment and clean water, was the 2017 winner of the Frank Hatch Environmental Health Leadership Award.

Moammad Kowsar(B.A., ’66), a longtime professor in SF State’s School of Theatre & Dance, died in a tragic accident in January.
“His drive and exuberance inspired generations of students,” says Todd F. Roehrman, director of the School of Theatre & Dance. “His encyclopedic knowledge of dramatic literature, academic rigor and artistic vitality was in abundance in everything he touched, from his inspiring lectures to his thoughtful, heartfelt and stirring productions.”

Don Peter “Pete” Liebengood(B.A., ’66), a San Francisco State Athletics Hall of Famer and Gridiron Hall of Famer, passed away at the age of 73. A 1967 graduate of SF State, Liebengood played football for the Gators from 1962 to 1965 and worked as a sports reporter for KCRA in Sacramento and KRON in San Francisco as well as ESPN and NBC Sports.

'70s

Dennis Yen (M.A., ’70), was appointed to the board of the Solano County Fair Association.

Dorothy Place(B.A., ’71; M.A., ’74), is the author of the novel The Heart to Kill (Stephen F. Austin University Press, ’16) and the story “Weezy’s Grandma,” which won second prize in the Scribes Valley Short Story Writing Contest last year.

Wesla Whitfield(B.M., ’72), a singer renowned for her interpretations of jazz standards, passed away in February. In its obituary, The New York Times described her as “a classically trained vocalist whose fresh interpretations of the Great American Songbook were anything but standard.”

Linda Bisson(B.A., ’73; M.A., ’76), a recently retired professor in the University of California, Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology, was honored by the department at a special Wine Flavor 101A seminar in February.

Dana Corvin(M.A., ’73), received the Jewish Community Federation’s Robert Sinton Award for Distinguished Leadership.

Dennis Ho(B.A., ’74), is the director of Qi, a film about the traditional Chinese concept of life energy that won the L.A. Film Awards’ Best Documentary prize and Best Short Documentary Film at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival.

Jim Friedman(M.A., ’75), contributed color photographs from his project “12 Nazi Concentration Camps” to the exhibition “i am: Narratives of the Holocaust,” which ran Dec. 8 through Jan. 17 at the ReflectSpace gallery in Glendale, California.

Issam B. Makdissy(B.A., ’75; M.A., ’79), wrote and directed the Lebanese film Yesterday Went with Yesterday, which made its U.S. premiere at New York’s Cinema Village theater in March.

Guy Diehl(M.A., ’76), a painter of still lifes, was featured in a recent exhibition at San Francisco’s Dolby Chadwick Gallery.

Ken White(M.A. ’76), published 12 Days of Central Valley Christmas (White & Wilkinson, ’17), the second of a trilogy of children’s Christmas books. ’Twas the Night Before Christmas…in Modesto will be released in November. White also served as editor of Touchstones: Life and Times of Modesto (HPNbooks, ’17), a non-fiction book about his hometown. He is currently writing a sequel to his first novel, Getaway Day.

Nancy Adams Kwiecien(B.A., ’77), was recently named Veteran of the Week in Montgomery, Texas.

Betty McLaughlin DeFea(M.A., ’77), an advocate for education and the disabled community, passed away Dec. 12 at age 86. She served as chair of the California State Council on Developmental Disabilities, as a legislative advocate for the state PTA and in a number of other roles.

Katherine Briccetti(attended ’79-’80), retired after 32 years as a school psychologist in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is the author of Blood Strangers: A Memoir (Heyday, ’10) and has launched a photography business.

Ken White (M.A, ’76)

Ellen Moore (B.A., ’89; MSW, '91)

Nina Lacour (B.A., ’04)

'80s

John Lander(M.A., ’81) ,is the author of two books released in 2017: Offbeat Japan and Hidden Gardens of Japan (both from IBC Publishing).

Jeffrey Heyman(B.A., ’82),the first punk rock DJ at SF State radio station KSFS in 1977, is now the executive director, public information, communications & media for the Peralta Community College District.

Edmund S. Wong(B.A., ’83; B.A., ’86), is the author of Growing Up in San Francisco’s Chinatown: Boomer Memories from Noodle Rolls to Apple Pie (Arcadia Publishing, ’18).

Beth Custer(M.M., ’85), composed the score for the film The Manhattan Front, which premiered at SF IndieFest in February.

Shannon Faulk(B.S., ’88) , is the first black board president of the National History Museum of Los Angeles.

Kris Perry(M.S.W., ’88), has been named the president of the Save the Children Action Network, an advocacy group working to boost early childhood education and reduce preventable child deaths.

Ellen Moore(B.A., ’89; MSW, ’91), is the author of Grateful Nation: Student Veterans and the Rise of the Military-Friendly Campus (Duke University Press Books, ’17), which explores the experiences of veterans and the challenges they face in higher education.

'90s

Tonya Hawes(B.A., ’91), was recently included on smartmeetings.com’s list “100 Women Who Inspire Us.”

Margaret Cruikshank (M.A., ’92), is the author of two books that were recently honored at an international conference on cultural gerontology at the University of Graz in Austria: Learning to Be Old: Gender, Culture and Aging (Rowan & Littlefield, ’13) and Fierce with Reality: Literature on Aging (Hamilton Books, ’16).

Lisa Owens Viani(B.A., ’96; M.A., ’00), a writer in SF State’s Strategic Marketing and Communications department, was inducted into the International Owl Center’s World Owl Hall of Fame in March in recognition of her environmental activism.

Matthew A. De Bellis(B.A., ’97), founded Gusto di Roma (gustodiroma.com), a monthly Italian appetizer subscription service, last year.

Rick Van Meter(B.A., ’98), a New York-based film and television producer, is developing a feature film based on the true story of former SF State student Timothy Carmody, a mercenary who spent years in one of the world’s most dangerous prisons after a botched mission in South America.

Kiki Powers(M.S., ’99), has launched Boho Babe Foods, a line of health-minded snacks.

Jean Robertson(M.A., ’99), is the new chief of special education for the San Francisco Unified School District.