The 2005 Alumni Awards
| 2005 Honorees
Hall of Fame Distinguished Alumni Distinguished Service Against All Odds |
On Thursday, March 3, 2005, nearly 300 Samohi Alumni from classes of 1932 to 2005, and their guests met at the Riviera County Club in Pacific Palisades to greet and honor the 2005 Alumni Awards Recipients. The arriving guests were treated to a display of Samohi memorabilia including photos and biographical highlights of previous honorees, yearbooks and trophies on the dinner tables. The gala evening was filled with wrinkled smiles as countless memories were traded between alums. Retired Samohi teacher Bill Clawson acted as emcee as each honoree was introduced by a fellow alum before taking the microphone to say a few words. Personal stories of family and friends while at Samohi were shared by the honorees creating a colorful mosaic of Samohi's past. It was a wonderful evening. The triennial event was a great success. Plan on attending the next one! (photos of the evening to come) |
Hall of FameCDR Chris Alberts Holliday '65 (USN)… Career Naval officer… Woman of many firsts: first woman to serve as a White House social aide, first woman to serve as a Public Affairs officer, first woman to serve as the Officer in Charge of the Navy's Distinguished Visitor Program, first woman to serve as Officer in Charge of the Navy's Personnel Exchange Program, first woman to attend the NATO Defense College in Rome… Assistant Social Secretary to President Richard Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon… Personal assistant to Mrs. Nixon in San Clemente during the transition… Dr. Henry Nicholas III '77… Co-founder, with his college professor, of Broadcom Corp. (the leading provider of integrated circuits enabling broadband communications in everything from computers to coffee-makers)… Credits Samohi's Mert Burkhard (physics) as the most influential teacher in his life… Holds a PhD from UCLA in electrical engineering… Donor of significant gifts to his son's San Juan Capistrano elementary school, UCI Engineering School and other charities... Sato Family Volleyball Olympians… readily credit Samohi in helping
them grow into the people and players they became… Richard Mackson '72… Entrepreneur, inventor of photo processes, businessman, and award-winning sports photographer… Achieved international prominence in photography while still in his teens… Pictures have been displayed in venues around the word, including the Lenin Museum in Russia and the National Gallery in Washington… Was recently honored by Sports Illustrated as one of the magazine's top 25 producers of covers… One of the most technically astute and innovative people in the business… Photo for Ronald Reagan's election night speech used by Time magazine because he was able to outfit a Lear Jet as a processing lab to edit the film while flying across the country… Grants photographic scholarships each year to students at Samohi and SMC… David DeVorkin '61… Curator of history of astronomy and space sciences for the National Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian since the 1980's… Has such a long list of stellar (pun intended) achievements that there is no way to condense them… Has been responsible for exhibits at the Smithsonian Institute since 1983 "Stars" through 2001 "Exploring the Universe"… Early exploits gained him much national and international recognition… From July to December 1991 he was a member of that truly august group of scientific thinkers, The Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton… Distinguished AlumniMuscle Beach Royals Celebrity Chefs Raphael Lunetta '85 & Josiah
Citrin '86… Co-founded JiRaffe restaurant, which became extremely
successful in a very short time due to their extraordinary culinary
talents and business skills... Long-time surfers who remain good friends
as they develop their famous French cuisines… Donate time and food expertise
to many charitable events… Continue to gather national and local accolades
for their work… Charles English '56*… Compassionate, caring man, continually searching to help individuals find their way on the right path in life… Humanitarian enjoying life's journey and the people he met along the way… Legal legend… Pillar of the community and within the legal profession… Known for representing Hollywood's elite… Conditioned representation of clients with community service work (not negotiable)… Assisted many people without receiving any compensation… Respected by judges and other lawyers alike… Harold Connolly - Faculty (1958-88)… Considered the greatest hammer thrower in track and field history… Gold medalist in 1956… Broke the world record in the hammer throw 7 times… Contributions brought the USA to the forefront in the hammer throw arena… Worked with the Special Olympics… Tours the country as a spokesperson for the hammer throw… Runs www.hammerthrow.org, which is a vehicle for coaches and students to learn the fundamentals of this most unique sporting event… Distinguished ServiceAndrew Dimas - Faculty (1958-68)… Journalism teacher extraordinaire… Mentor to countless professional writers… Started teaching at Samohi at the age of 20… Received the coveted and extremely rare All-American rating from the National Scholastic Press Association for The Samohi… Former students write or have written for the San Francisco Chronicle, South Bay Daily Breeze, Rocky Mountain News, San Antonio Light, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, New York Post, New York Times, Santa Monica Evening Outlook, Oakland Tribune, San Jose Mercury-News, Idaho's Coeur d' Alene Press, Playboy Magazine (Executive Editor) and The National… Bonnie Freeman (1994-04)… County Coordinator for the Gardening Angels for several years… Went above and beyond in her development of projects and beautification of the campus… Drew teachers and students together in great learning programs… Set up a yearly fund-raising tour where the students sold the fruits of their on-campus garden… United city government, community and alumni and secured their services and donations… Worked tirelessly and with great enthusiasm…. Gave credit and praise to all who assisted… Samohi parent… Jean Sedillos (From 1987)… Guiding force of the Restore Barnum Hall! Committee… Has given vast amounts of time and energy to renovating Barnum Hall… Generated money for the restoration project, reaching out to the community, alumni and faculty in achieving this goal… Instrumental in promoting the music program in the District… Has a history of community and political involvement… Professional editor… Classroom volunteer… Samohi parent… Against All OddsOur new category recognizes those who showed immense courage Tara Goldberg '88*… Diagnosed with osteogenic Sarcoma in her right femur in 1986… Gave the word "determination" a whole new meaning… Was home-tutored during periods of pre-operative chemotherapy, surgery, recuperation and post-operative surgery but continued with her studies and school activities whenever possible… Took extremely heavy loads in order to graduate with her class in June 1988… Active in the Black Students Union… Selected as a member of the cast in the senior play… Was a bassoonist in the orchestra and band… Went to her Senior Prom, using a cane wrapped in pink ribbon… Was accepted to UCLA… Learned to drive, sew, paint, calligraphy and needlepoint… Counselor to young cancer patients at Cedars-Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Center... Glenn Katz '78*… Born with cancer that caused his total blindness at age three but did not prevent his leading a full life during his 20 years… Loved being part of the group - part of orchestra, part of band, part of the school, part of the judo team, part of the Boy Scout Troop and part of the community… Astounding variety of interests: music, judo, cycling, chess, student government, backpacking, Scouts, swimming, sailing, even solo sailing, piano tuning and CB radio… Received Freshman of the Year Award at UCLA, now named the Glenn Katz Award… Taught private clarinet lessons to music students… Founded and directed the Winter Winds… Tuned pianos… Was in many leadership position… Attained a first degree brown belt in judo, Life Scout, and Samohi's Most Outstanding Band Member award… Ed Kanan '51*… Builder and developer on the Santa Monica Westside and South Bay areas… Received Bachelors Degree in Business from UCLA in 1955… Established Kanan Brothers Builders, Inc., in Santa Monica… Declared legally blind in 1979 as a result of diabetes… Learned to snow and water ski after becoming blind… Was the US Association for Blind Athletes' National Champion snow skier in 1983, 1986 and 1987... Won a gold medal at the International Blind Water Ski Competition in 1986… Established the non-profit organization American Blind Skiers Association… In 1992 produced Unseen Courage, a video about blind water skiers… * deceased |
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