ClassNotes

Alice Marcarelli Valenzuela MBA ’90 was awarded the 2012 Soroptimist Ruby Award in Phoenix, Ariz., for her tireless work on behalf of women in Sonora, Mexico, where she founded a women’s cooperative that operates an electronics recycling business to create employment in the impoverished rural area. The Soroptimists are a worldwide professional women’s service club, and the Ruby Award is the highest honor awarded by the organization. For more information about the electronics recycling initiative, see: http://retroworkswest.weebly.com/retroworks-de-mexico.html.

Kathleen (Mitchell) Simpson ’87, M.A. ’90 married Robert Simpson on October 2, 2010, at St. Augustine Catholic Church in Pleasanton, CA. Kathy and Bob were second-grade friends and classmates in Pleasanton. They currently reside in Brentwood, Calif. SCU alums in attendance were bridesmaid Christine Fierro ’88, Wes Bliven ’88, Brendan Lewis ’88, Michelle Matsumoto ’88, Diane Zilliotto ’88, John Scardamaglia J.D. ’09, and Jim Mitchell ’83.

Rita Neal J.D. ’90 will take over as county counsel for San Luis Obispo in September. She began her employment with the county office in 1998 as a deputy county counsel. Ten years later, she was promoted to chief deputy county counsel. Later in 2008, Neal was promoted to assistant county counsel.

Before she joined the county counsel’s office, Neal was in private practice in San Luis Obispo, specializing in civil litigation.

Krista Meade M.A. ’90 writes: "After a successful 15-year career in geriatric social work, I am beginning my third career as a writer/editor. I hope to work for a nonprofit or foundation serving the needs of older adults, women and children, social justice, or the environment."

Debbie A. Klis '90 has been named to Maryland's Top 100 Women list by The Daily Record. The list recognizes the accomplishments of women who have achieved professional success and making a difference through their leadership, community service, and mentoring.

Ms. Klis, of counsel in Ballard Spahr's Bethesda office, concentrates on transactional matters in an array of business, securities, and tax issues. She is known for her work with investment management companies, including the formation and operation of EB-5 immigration investment funds, hedge funds, private equity funds, SPACs, real estate funds, oil and gas funds, and international master-feeder structures.

Adrienne M. Grover J.D. ’90 was appointed by Gov. Gerry Brown ’59 as associate justice of the Sixth District Court of Appeal. Grover has served as a judge for the Monterey County Superior Court since 2002. She served as county counsel for Monterey County from 1999 to 2002 and as deputy county counsel from 1995 to 1999. She worked for Calaveras County from 1992 to 1995, serving first as assistant county counsel and then deputy county counsel. Grover was an associate attorney at Long and Levit LLP from 1990 to 1992.

Theodore Gonzalves ’90 is now the department chair of the American Studies department at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He is also serving on the search committee to fill the position of dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences and is teaching two courses on Asian American experiences.

Joe DiNunno MBA '90 is the manager of research at FiduciaryVest, an institutional investment consulting firm based in Atlanta. Joe lives in Peachtree Corners, Ga.

Nora Denzel MBA ’90, senior VP of Intuit, will be a keynote speaker for the 12th annual Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, in October. The world's largest gathering of women in computing in industry, academia, and government, the four-day technical conference is designed to bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. Over 250 speakers and 150 technical poster presenters will include leading researchers and industry experts discussing their current work, while special sessions focus on the role of women in today's technology fields, including computer science, information technology, research, and engineering. Co-presented by the Anita Borg Institute and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the conference has expanded this year to now feature more than 95 sessions including panels, workshops, technical papers, Ph.D. forum, new investigators, technical posters, and "birds of a feather" sessions across nine tracks, invited technical speakers, and the ACM Student Research Competition.

Nora Denzel MBA ’90 joined the board of directors of FirstRain, an analytics software company.

Denzel has more than 25 years of technology and leadership experience. Most recently, she was senior vice president for big data, social design and marketing at Intuit. Prior to Intuit, she was senior vice president of Hewlett-Packard's global software business, served as senior vice president of product operations at Legato Systems (acquired by EMC) and held several engineering, marketing and executive positions during 13 years at IBM.

She  also serves on the board of directors for Overland Storage Inc., Saba Software and the Anita Borg Institute.

Kristi M. Bowers ’90, MBA ’97 has joined SCU’s Board of Trustees. Bowers is marketing director for King Mountain Vineyards, a family business that is a French-style, sustainably farmed vineyard in Woodside, Calif. She is a director for The BASIC Fund, which has awarded $55 million in scholarships to more than 17,000 children over the past 14 years. A devoted SCU alumna who is highly involved in University events, since 1999 Bowers has served as an advisory board member for the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, which was created by her parents, Linda and A.C. "Mike" Markkula, a founder and former CEO of Apple. She is also director of the family's philanthropic arm, the Markkula Foundation.