ClassNotes

Freshman Dorm: Nobili

Diane Petroni-Newhouse ’72, M.A. ’78 has been in private practice at the Almaden Institute for more than 30 years.

Randal (Randy) Peoples '78 has been appointed Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery at Stanford University. He is the Medical Director of Stanford's first out-of-state facility in Las Vegas, with St. Rose Dominican Hospitals. In addition to his general neurosurgery practice, he has a unique position working with the athletic performers of Cirque du Soleil's seven Las Vegas based shows. Randy was recently named the Las Vegas Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals "Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser of the Year," an award shared in the past by former Nevada Governor Guinn and current Las Vegas Mayor Goodman. Randy has been a Las Vegas based Neurosurgeon since 1992.

Greg Meacham ’78 wrote that he's been promoted to account manager in the division AF Solutions, Cardiac Rhythm Device Management, for Medtronic.

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."

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.

John L. Ocampo ’79 was selected as a School of Engineering Centennial Award recipient for his support of the School of Engineering’s Center for Nanostructures and for his contributions to the semiconductor and communications industries, furthering not only the engineering profession, but the School as well. In 1985, Ocampo co-founded Sirenza Microdevices, a supplier of radio frequency semiconductors and related components for the commercial communications, consumer, and aerospace, defense, and homeland security equipment markets. While leading Sirenza through a successful IPO and eventual sale to RF Micro Devices, Ocampo served at various times in a number of key roles, including president and CEO, CTO, and Chairman. He is now co-founder and president of Gaas Labs, a private equity fund providing financial support and operational expertise to companies in the communications, semiconductor, and related industries. He is renowned for his entrepreneurial, operational, and technological expertise, as well as his generosity. Ocampo is a champion of the Center for Nanostructures, by funding it to promote interdisciplinary research and education through partnerships with other universities, industry, and government, while positioning Santa Clara University as a national center of innovation in nanostructures research.

Kate Leonard MBA '79, a partner at Hutchinson and Bloodgood LLP, a certified public accounting and consulting firm, was appointed as honorary consul general of Japan in San Diego. This appointment was recognized by the U.S. Department of State, and her duties began July 2012. 

Leonard received her M.B.A. from SCU in 1979, and upon obtaining her California CPA license, she moved to Osaka, Japan, where she was the only American CPA with Asahi Kaikeisha, Japan's largest audit corporation. Moving back to the United States in 1985, she continued to interact with the Japanese business community by becoming chair of the Japan Society of San Diego and Tijuana and maintaining her membership in the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan.

Leonard has worked with other international organizations, including facilitating and participating in Trade Missions to Japan with the World Trade Center San Diego.

James S. Greene MBA ‘79 was appointed to Umpqua Holdings Corporation’s the board of directors.

Michael J. Bowler ’79 writes, "My novel, A Matter of Time, which is set on the Santa Clara Campus in the year 1986, is a Silver Medal Award Winner in the 2012 Reader's Favorite Book Competition. I'll be traveling to Miami in November to accept the award and promote my book (and Santa Clara!)."

L. Michael Bogert ’79, former regional administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 10 office in Seattle and counselor to the secretary of the Department of the Interior, has joined Parsons Behle & Latimer’s Boise office as a shareholder. Bogert joins a team of more than 20 environmental law attorneys and will lead the firm’s environmental law practice in Idaho.

William F. Abrams J.D. ’79 was hired by Atlanta-based King & Spalding LLP for its IP practice, the Atlanta-based firm said in a statement. Abrams joins from Boston’s Bingham McCutchen LLP, where he was the former co-chair of the IP practice group. He has handled patent, copyright, trademark and trade secrets disputes for technology companies. He has an undergraduate degree from Stanford University and a law degree from the University of Santa Clara.