Santa Clara Magazine

Brian McDonald '78 has been appointed Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Vice President of Finance of eASIC Corp., a provider of new ASIC devices. As a key member of eASIC’s executive team, McDonald will assume a strategic role in the company that involves spearheading future growth initiatives in addition to managing the company’s financial functions. McDonald will report to eASIC’s President and CEO, Ronnie Vasishta. "I am delighted Brian has decided to join the eASIC team. His experience and understanding of the important relationships between finance and the rest of the business is extremely important as we approach the next very exciting phases of our growth,” said Vasishta. “He brings a solid proven track record of success in taking companies through the stages that eASIC is now facing. He is a well-respected financial executive in the semiconductor industry and we will benefit greatly from this experience.” Brian McDonald has over 30 years of finance experience with high technology companies. Prior to joining eASIC, Brian was the Chief Financial Officer, Sr. VP of Finance and Secretary at Advanced Analogic Technologies (AATI) a public silicon valley company. Brian was instrumental in taking AATI successfully through the IPO process in 2005. Prior to AATI Brian has held senior financial positions at Monolithic Power Systems, Elantec Semiconductor, National Semiconductor, Mattson Technology, Micro Linear, and Read-Rite Corporation. “I am in awe at how the eASIC team has successfully executed and met stringent growth targets even within a very turbulent economy and has successfully acquired an impressive portfolio of tier one corporations as customers,” said McDonald. “This solid base is a strong platform for the next phase of the company’s growth.”

Katie Mahon '78 co-authored The Miracle Chase: Three Women, Three Miracles and a Ten Year Journey of Discovery and Friendship, which was published November, 2nd 2010, by Sterling Publishing, with fellow SCU alumna Mary Beth Phillips '76. She lives in NYC with her husband and near her two daughters, both recent college grads.Visit their website at www.themiraclechase.com.

Nancy (Gerlach) Lee ’78 recently celebrated 30 years of marriage to husband LTC Anthony Lee M.S. ’86. They have three grown children—Jessica, 29, Michael, 26, and Stephanie, 22—and in October 2012 they were blessed with their first grandchild, Autumn Jade. They live in White Lake, Mi.

Freshman Dorm: Day Student/Off Campus

Phil Iatomase ’78 spent more than 20 years in the semiconductor business in Supply Chain Management and as an Information Technology professional. In 1997 he co-founded Ariba, a pioneering business-to-business Internet commerce software company.  He writes, "We took the company public in 1999 and at the peak of the market in 2000 had a higher market capitalization than General Motors and employed more than 2,300 people around the world. I left Ariba in 2001 and have spent the last 12 years as a high-tech retiree. Most of my time is spent volunteering/fundraising for various causes I beleive in—particularly education. I have been married to JoAnn Cardinale for 29 years and we have one daughter Marina Iatomase ’14, a junior finance major at SCU."

Dr. John W. Hubbard ’78 is a senior V.P. for Pfizer, Inc. He and his wife Jeanne (Strobach) ’78 live in Doylestown, Pa. and NYC. They enjoy traveling and are involved in many children’s organizations and fundraisers.

James H. Hartnett J.D. '78, former mayor of Redwood City, was appointed in April 2011 by the State Senate to the California High Speed Rail Authority Board of Directors. He is also a partner at Hartnett, Smith & Patekau, emphasizing in business & real estate law.

Jim Hartnett J.D. '78 is serving on the California High Speed Rail Authority Board, appointed by state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg. He  maintins his active litigation and dispute resolution practice at Hartnett, Smith and Paetkau in Redwood City.

Joe Gutierez '78 is the president of Cobalt Marketing and Communications.  He has just been appointed to the American Cancer Society Leadership Advisory. 

Michael Geraghty J.D. ’78, an Anchorage attorney, will be Alaska’s next attorney general. Geraghty was born and grew up in Fairbanks before joining his current Anchorage law firm in 1979. 

Geraghty has received national recognition in his handling of cases in personal litigation and construction law. He is a commissioner with the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. The appointment will go to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees for consideration.

The full legislature will have to approve the appointment in a joint session,  although Geraghty can begin the job before then.
 

Michael Garner '78 writes: "I've changed from pastor of a local church (served as such for 25 years) to missionary work. Days find me mostly on the internet in countries around the world -- teaching, training, praying, counseling. I just returned from a 12-day trip to Austria to train counselors (and many other duties, including working with a refugee church). I preach weekly at a Korean-American church here in Silicon Valley as well. You can find more info about this ministry at paraclete.net (I'm an Associate)."

Jeff Ferriell J.D '78 has taken over as director of Capital University Law School's Academic Support Program, and also teaches contracts, bankruptcy, and commercial law. The third edition of his law school hornbook, Understanding Bankruptcy (with co-author Ted Janger of Brooklyn Law School), was published this spring by LexisNexis. He is currently working on the third edition of Understanding Contracts and continues to serve as a member of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, from Ohio.

Hans Peter Faye IV '78, MBA '86 was promoted to senior vice president/agribusiness lending manager at First Northern Bank.

A fourth-generation Californian whose family is still involved in agriculture, Faye has more than 22 years of business lending and management experience, nine years of it at First Northern.

He holds both a bachelor's degree in commerce and a master's from Santa Clara University. He is also a graduate of the Pacific Coast Banking School, which is affiliated with the Graduate School of Management at the University of Washington.

Active in the community, Faye is a board member and past president of the Woodland Memorial Hospital Foundation; member and founding director of the Woodland Sunrise Rotary Club; and former Scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 131. Faye and his wife live in Davis.

Kathy Navarrete-Duque '78 retired from Santa Clara County-Probation Department with 30 years of service on June 1, 2010. Kathy started as a SCU college intern in 1978 and now leaves as Deputy Chief of Probation. A stellar career with many achievements, not the least of which was first female superintendent at the boys ranch.

Stevie Coyle '78, who toured for many years with newgrass / jamband The Waybacks, recently released his first solo CD, a concept album called Ten-In-One, based in no small part upon his post-graduation adventures with The Royal Lichtenstein Circus. Stevie tours nationwide, enjoying thoroughly the current wave of interest in the grassroots House Concert movement. He lives in Marin County.

Mario Cordero J.D. ’78 has been nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as commissioner of the Federal Maritime Commission. Cordero is an attorney in private practice and is currently serving his second term on the Long Beach of Harbor Commissioners. During his first term, Mr. Cordero served as vice president and president of the Board. He is also a part-time professor of political science at Long Beach City College. He has previously sat on the Long Beach Community Development Commission and served as vice-chair of the Long Beach Ethics Review Task Force.

Mario Cordero J.D. ’78 has been designated the new chairman of the nation's most powerful maritime governing body, the Federal Maritime Commission, by President Barack Obama. A former Long Beach harbor commissioner, Cordero has practiced law for 30 years, including as a workers' compensation defense attorney. He was on the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners for about seven years before heading to the federal commission in 2011.

Steve Bennett J.D. ’78 writes that he has joined the Portland, Ore., law firm Farleigh Wada Witt (FWW). Bennett was a partner of the Portland law firm Powers, McCulloch & Bennett, LLP, which merged with FWW effective January 1, 2013. He continues to focus his practice in the areas of business and estate planning.

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.

Mark Walker '79 earned an MBA from Arizona State University. He and Michele (Sipiora) '80 live in Aurora, Colo., and their daughter Jillian '11 is currently at SCU.

Wendy (Wade) Silva M.S. '79 recently completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute. She is an adjunct professor in the MFT Program at Simpson College and doing her post-doctoral hours at the Christian Counseling Center in San Jose.

Richard Sweeney ’79 has been named defensive line and special teams coach of the Humboldt State University football team. He has over 23 years of collegiate coaching experience and played defensive back during his years at Santa Clara.

Dennis C. Smolarski, S.J., M.Div., STM ’79 published two books: Eucharist and American Culture: Liturgy, Unity, and Individualism (New York: Paulist Press, 2010)—the Catholic Press Association awarded it first place in the "Liturgy" category for books published in 2010; and his Chinese translation of How Not to Say Mass appeared in late 2011 (Taipei City: the Chinese Regional Bishops' Conference).