Through their achievements in business, education, and community service, honorees at the California Alumni Association’s Awards Celebration have certainly done their share to invent the future.

Four Excellence in Achievement awards, six Excellence in Service awards, and a half dozen other honors were presented at the Claremont Resort on October 20. Kim Hunter ’91, news correspondent for KTVU Channel 2 and CNN, performed as M.C. in a gala event marked by abundant good humor and great Cal spirit.

The first Excellence in Achievement honoree, Roger J. Baccigaluppi ’56, has played a major role in expanding consumption of U.S. food and agricultural products. As president and CEO of Blue Diamond Growers from 1975 to 1992, he doubled the company’s business three times over, and his expertise has been sought out by policy makers at the highest level.

Baccigaluppi has served on the U.S. Advisory Committee on Trade Policy Negotiations under three presidents, as well as on the California World Trade Commission, and has been chairman of both the California Chamber of Commerce and its International Trade Committee. In 1992 he founded RB International, an international business consulting company. Baccigaluppi remains a staunch advocate for Cal. He has served on the business school advisory board and on various Cal fund raising efforts, and is a benefactor of the Haas School of Business, the Clausen Center for International Studies, and Bear Backers.

Educator and author Theoni Pappas ’66, a high school and college teacher for nearly two decades, is passionate about a subject that many people find intimidating and impenetrable–mathematics. Through her entertaining and comprehensible series of books, including The Joy of Mathematics and The Adventures of Penrose, the Mathematical Cat, she has demystified mathematics and made the subject more approachable for both children and adults. “I’m here because of what I’ve learned from my students and from this University,” she said. Pappas’ works break down old mathematical prejudices to help people realize that mathematics is a realm of fascinating ideas that are within the grasp of the average person.

In a fascinating story of perseverance and success, Barclay Simpson ’66 first enrolled at Cal in 1939, and was a charter member of the Flying Golden Bears, a Navy flight school class recruited on campus in early 1942. After serving four years on active duty and 14 years in the Naval Reserve, Simpson returned to Cal and completed his degree in 1966, then proceeded to develop a small family business into a highly successful manufacturing company. His firm, Simpson Manufacturing Co., has been ranked among the 200 best managed “small” companies in the nation by Forbes magazine. Simpson reminded the audience that “our good fortune kindles a necessity to give back,” and he has done so as a patron of the arts, supporting the Berkeley Art Museum, where he is currently president of the board, the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, and running Barclay Simpson Fine Arts gallery in Lafayette. He also is founder and president of Simpson PSB (Put Some Back) Fund, a permanent charitable trust devoted to education and the arts.

Samuel H. Smith ’61, Ph.D. ’65, president of Washington State University from 1985 to 2000, was the final Excellence in Achievement award winner of the evening. A murmur of appreciation mixed with envy ran through the crowd as Smith good-naturedly mentioned one achievement of his tenure at WSU: the Cougars’ 1998 appearance in the Rose Bowl. More importantly, as head of a Pac-10 school, Smith noted that “Our graduates will change the world in ways we cannot imagine.” Throughout his career, Smith has placed great priority on strengthening undergraduate and graduate education, increasing opportunities for women and minorities, and increasing access to education for all types of students. Smith played a major role in authoring one of the leading reports on access and opportunity for all students, and spearheaded Campaign WSU, the university’s first comprehensive and extremely successful fund raising effort. He also has served as chair of the executive committee of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Six alumni received the Excellence in Service Award this year—more than in any other year. Betsy Jo Carleton-Alvarado ’73 won recognition for her support of Cal women’s athletics programs and CAA’s Lair of the Golden Bear family camp. She served ten years on the women’s Bear Booster Board, and is now a member of the committee organizing the 25th anniversary celebration of Cal women’s intercollegiate athletics. Carleton-Alvarado also has a long association with the Lair, having worked in many student and professional camp positions over the past 25 years, and serving as the first president of the Lair Staff Alumni Club.

Norden “Dan” Cheatham ’58 joined the Cal Band in his freshman year, 1954, and found himself in the middle of a musical revolution: the Band was inventing creative new formations and dance steps, and Dan joined in with gusto. He performed as drum major with the Band at the Brussels World Fair in 1958 and in Cal’s last Rose Bowl in 1959. Cheatham continues to serve the Band in many ways, and is conducting a series of oral history interviews on the band’s history for the University Archives.

Merlin “Bud” Henry ’54 has been a tireless Cal promoter at Orange County high school’s College Nites and community college College Days for 25 years, and an advocate at the annual UC Legislative Days in Sacramento. A professor of marketing at Santa Ana College in Orange County, he has taken on leadership positions across his campus and on a number of educational boards, as well as with his local YMCA and Boys and Girls Clubs. “Success is a journey, not a destination,” said Henry. “I hope to continue my journey with CAA and the University.”

Another Excellence in Service recipient, Susan F. Hill ’67, MBA ’85, who is perhaps best known as former mayor of Piedmont, recounted her experience on the Alumni Association board of directors: she wandered into a scholarship fundraising committee meeting, and joined a very ambitious team. By the time that team had completed its campaign some four years later, they had exceeded their original $10 million goal. Hill has served in a variety of civic, educational, and governmental agencies, and was named the Children’s Hospital Medical Center Woman of the Year.

Many alums can hardly imagine a campus activity without the presence of Irene Miura ’60. A member of numerous organizations while on campus, Miura has served on the boards of Cal Spirit, Prytanean Alumnae, the Cal Alumni Club of the Peninsula, and the California Alumni Association, where she currently is immediate past president. “When asked ‘What’s the best thing about being president of the Alumni Association?’ the answer is easy,” she said. “It’s the people—the wonderful, devoted Cal alums all over the world.”

The final Excellence in Service award went to Bert H. Ricketts ’33, who has been the key figure in continuing to raise and monitor the endowment funds for his Class’s chair in biological sciences and for his fraternity scholarships. Del Rey Fraternity’s three scholarships are funded in perpetuity and guarantee a helping hand to many future generations of Cal students.

The Bradford S. King Award recognizes a young alum for significant volunteer activities on behalf of the University and Alumni Association. This year’s recipient was Steve Chan ’86, who, in typically modest fashion, used his moment of fame to present a $1,000 check from the Chinese Chapter to su