ClassNotes

Henry Richard '37 and wife Margery will celebrate their 70th anniversary in July, and now have four great grandchildren.

Bill Adams '37 writes with news about the Class of 1937 Endowed Scholarship. Started during the 1986-87 school year, the fund has provided more than $370,000 in scholarships over the years in five categories: arts and humanities, social and natural sciences, business, engineering, and intercollegiate athletics.

William Wolff ’40 writes: “At 94+ enjoying life in beautiful Santa Barbara at a senior living residence. Few SCU people in area.” (He also underscores, literally, that SCM is an “excellent magazine.”]

Warren W. Smith. Jr., BS 1943 and Mabel I. Smith celebrated their 66th anniversary on May 1, 2009. They are still residing in Santa Rosa, since 1986.

Joseph Michael '43 writes that he will finally retire at age 90, for the second time.

Michael Filice '43 and wife Corrinne celebrated 63 years of marriage on June 1.

John Smurda '46 reports that his grandson, Matthew J. Smurda '07 and Emily Sultan '07 were married in Hawaii last July.  Matt is in his last year at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

Joseph A. Rechenmacher '49, in September 2011, received a certificate of appreciation for 52 years of service from the state of California’s Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors and Geologists. Rechenmacher is the son-in-law of a 105-year-old member of the Catala Club, Winnie Hook.

Edward Maffeo ’49, MBA ’63 and wife Joyce recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with family and friends at their residence in Erie, Colo., including their great grandchildren,  Alexandria and Eli, ages 4 and 2.

Jennifer Sbicca ’06 and Joshua Sbicca ’05 are thrilled to be returning to Santa Clara this summer. Jennifer will graduate from University of Florida College of Medicine this May and start an internal medicine residency at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center for one year. Joshua will be performing research for his Ph.D. in sociology throughout California. In the summer of 2013, they will move to Los Angeles so Jennifer can begin a three-year dermatology residency at the University of Southern California.

Dr. Jimmy Roehrig M.S. ’88 has joined Matakina International, a leader in the development of objective volumetric measurement of breast density. Roehrig will provide scientific depth to the U.S. sales effort and strategic planning for product development and intellectual property, particularly with the software Volpara, designed to help overcome the limitations of mammography to detect cancer in women with dense breasts; it generates objective, automatic measurement of volumetric breast density values along with a BI-RADS Breast Density Classification for mammograms acquired from any commercially available digital mammography system.

Roehrig, who co-founded R2 Technology, served as chief science officer and was responsible for building the technical team that produced the ImageChecker® computer-aided detection (CAD) system, the first CAD system approved by the FDA. As VP of Advanced Development, Dr. Roehrig led the development and refinement of R2’s proprietary algorithm for the earlier detection of breast cancer and managed efforts to apply the technology to other diseases. Upon the acquisition of R2 by Hologic, Inc, Dr. Roehrig remained until 2012, working primarily in the field of quantitative DCE MRI for breast imaging.

Athena Rodriguez ’06 was named the business development manager at Adirondack Technical Solutions in Argyle, N.Y., where she will be responsible for cultivating new business and enhancing customer service. Rodriguez brings five years of experience in sales and marketing to the team.

Mark P. Rapazzini J.D. ’83 joined the firm Heffler Claims Administration as a shareholder.

Rapazzini has more than 25 years of legal experience in cases including class actions and mass torts, with an emphasis in commercial litigation matters. Prior to joining Heffler, he was a senior vice president at Rust Consulting. Before then, he co-founded RG2 Claims Administration and served as the chief operating officer.

He is admitted to the State of California Bar, the U.S. Courts of Appeal 9th Circuit and 4th Circuit, the U.S. Northern District Court of California, Central District Court of California, Eastern District Court of California and Southern District Court of California.

Edwin Lim XX is a summer intern for the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute’s concrete coalition project. He is scouring literature and reconnaissance photographs, with the guidance of practicing engineers, to assemble a database of concrete structures that collapsed or sustained significant damage in previous earthquakes in order to highlight the critical deficiencies in their design and construction. 

Holly Kearl ’05 recently led a discussion about sexual harassment, at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Kearl is the author of Stop Street Harassment: Making Public Places Safe and Welcoming for Women and co-author of a national report on sexual harassment in grades 7 through 12, Crossing the Line: Sexual Harassment at School. She founded Stop Street Harassment in 2008 and since 2007 has worked full time for AAUW, where she manages programs that address issues such as sexual harassment and assault, and workplace discrimination.

Michelle Montez Fisher J.D. ’99 was elected as a board member of Storyteller Children’s Center, a preschool for homeless and at-risk children in Santa Barbara.

Fisher has practiced municipal law for 12 years, working as an assistant city attorney for the City of Santa Barbara City Attorney’s Office. Fisher provided legal advice to the human resources, police, library, and code enforcement departments. She is a Junior League sustainer and recently assisted in the formation of the Santa Barbara Public Library Foundation, a non-profit corporation seeking to raise funds for the Santa Barbara public libraries. Fisher has served as a board member of the Junior League of Santa Barbara, and is a past president of both the Tri-Counties Local Government Lawyers Association and the Barristers’ Club of Santa Barbara.

She and her husband have three children.

Brian Back J.D. ’77, 62, of Camarillo, has been appointed by Gov. Gerry Brown ’59 to the State Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Back has been a Ventura County Superior Court judge since 1998. Back was an attorney with Arnold Back Mathews Wojkowski and Zirbel LLP from 1990 to 1997, Arnold and Back from 1989 to 1990 and Nordman Cormany Hair and Compton LLP from 1977 to 1989. He earned a Master of Arts degree in government from Claremont Graduate School and a Juris Doctorate degree from the Santa Clara University School of Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Back is a Republican.

William J. Adams '37, has been unanimously elected by the Board of Governors as an Honorary Member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. In making the announcement, ASME praised Adams "for a lifetime of professional service resulting in distinctive accomplishments that have contributed not only to the advancement of the profession but especially to the well-being of people served by this important vocation." Formal presentation of the award will take place at the Honors Assembly November 15, 2010, during the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition in Vancouver, British Columbia.  An avid Bronco, Bill has been a tireless supporter of the Alumni Association. He is an Honorary Member of the Engineering Alumni Board and was among the first recipients of the School of Engineering's Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award in 1991. His enthusiasm for advancing the mission of the University and the field of mechanical engineering, coupled with his keen intellect and generosity of spirit are inspirational to faculty, staff, and students, alike.

Andy Ackerman ’78 is an executive producer for NBC’s Whitney, which the network gave a full-season order after the show’s success this fall.

Whitney, starring standup comedian Whitney Cummings as an unmarried woman living with her boyfriend, has performed well at 9:30 p.m. Thursday following The Office. In its two airings, the show has held steady by averaging a 2.9/7, with 6.1 million total viewers.