Santa Clara University

Stephen P. Yost MBA '78 has been elected as a member of Pacific Mercantile Bancorp's Board of Directors. Yost also has been appointed as a member of the Board of Directors of the company's wholly owned banking subsidiary, Pacific Mercantile Bank. 

During the span of his 35-year career in banking, spent mostly in credit administration, Yost held the position of Regional Chief Credit Officer for Comerica Bank, where he was the Executive in charge of its Special Assets Group for the western region. Mr. Yost was the Chief Credit Officer of Imperial Bank prior to its merger with Comerica. He was also a Senior Credit Officer with First Interstate Bank and Mellon Bank, N.A. Upon his retirement in 2006, he established Kestrel Advisors, a credit risk consulting firm that focuses on the banking, financial, and legal communities. 

Jim Walker MBA ’78 joined Spigit, a social innovation software and services company, as chief financial officer and chief operating officer. He is responsible for finance, sales operations, human resources and product delivery.

Walker has more than 30 years of experience. He was a senior executive at Alara, Inc., serving as chairman of the board from 1995 to 2004, and as president and CEO from 2004 to 2011. He served as COO and CFO of AlphaSmart, Inc. and senior vice president and CFO of Diamond Multimedia Systems. Walker has also held senior executive positions at Fujitsu Computer Products and its parent company, Fujitsu America.

Jeanine D. Tucker ’78, J.D. ’81 is the new court executive officer with the Tuolumne County Superior Court. Tucker had worked for the Stanislaus County Superior Court since 1991. She most recently served as the operations manager for eight years, managing a staff of about 140 employees.

Barbara Beard Stephan ’74, M.A. ’78 writes that she has recently assumed the position of Clinical Director at Windhorse Integrative Mental Health in San Luis Obispo, Calif. She is delighted to be working in an environment that is in line with her view of psychology—honoring humanistic and relational ideals, as well as an integrative/holistic approach to healthcare.

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."

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.

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.