UC Davis celebrates seven distinguished alumni and friends

Bruce Edwards, retired president of the March Development Co., will be honored Saturday evening with the Jerry W. Fielder Memorial Award by the Cal Aggie Alumni Association.

The Fielder award is the highest honor bestowed by the alumni association and honors a UC Davis graduate who has provided extraordinary service to CAAA, the UC Davis Foundation and the university.

The Cal Aggie Alumni Association invites the public to attend the 2012 Alumni Awards Gala on Saturday at Jacuzzi Family Vineyards in Sonoma. The evening begins with a wine reception at 5:30 p.m. followed by a dinner and awards ceremony at 7 p.m.

For more information or to purchase tickets or a table, contact event organizer Jennifer Thayer at (530) 754-9098 or jsthayer@ucdavis.edu.

The award winners are Edwards, of Saratoga; Dr. Thomas Nesbitt of Davis; Dr. Earl F. Wolfman Jr. of El Macero; Jonna Mazet of Davis; Jakob Suski of Sacramento; Kathleen Taylor of Oakland; and Bill Hollingshead of Davis.

* Bruce Edwards: Edwards, a 1960 graduate, made his first gift to the UC Davis Annual Fund four years after graduating and has continued his philanthropic support for the four decades since. He has made gifts to the Davis Chancellor’s Club, the College of Letters and Science, Intercollegiate Athletics and Aggie football.

Edwards is also a major contributor to Aggie Stadium, and his most recent gift to the stadium was the largest ever received by athletics from an alumnus. His legacy at the stadium will remain for years to come in the Bruce Edwards Club Room.

He is a member of the Chancellor’s Laureates, a prestigious society recognizing those who have given $1 million or more to support UCD. He is also a life member and active supporter of the Cal Aggie Alumni Association.

Nominated to the UC Davis Foundation Board of Trustees in 2007, he is currently the board’s vice chair and has served on its development and naming committees.

* Dr. Earl F. Wolfman Jr.: Wolfman, a professor emeritus and founding faculty member of the UC Davis School of Medicine, will receive the Distinguished Friend of the University Award recognizing a non-alumnus whose extraordinary service has advanced the university and made significant and lasting contributions to the campus.

Wolfman played a key role in negotiating an agreement with Sacramento County to transform the county hospital into a UCD clinical and teaching facility. He served 36 years on the faculty, including stints as the associate dean of the medical school, founding chair of the department of surgery and chief of the Division of Surgical Sciences.

His philanthropic support includes the Earl F. Wolfman Jr., M.D., and Lois J. Wolfman Endowed Fund and an endowed professorship in the department of surgery.

* Dr. Thomas Nesbitt: Dr. Nesbitt, a 1975 graduate who earned his medical degree in 1979, is associate vice chancellor for strategic technologies and alliances at the UCD Health System and is the recipient of the Distinguished Achievement Award for exemplary conduct and achievement.

He is a national leader in the use of telecommunications technology to bring expert medical care to patients in rural areas. He joined the School of Medicine faculty in 1988 and is founding director of the UCD Center for Health and Technology, where he oversees the university’s telehealth, distance-learning and medical informatics programs.

Under his direction, UCD has developed one of the nation’s leading telehealth programs, providing specialized medical care and health education to communities throughout Northern California.

* Jonna Mazet: Mazet, a 1990 graduate who earned her doctor of veterinary medicine in 1992 and her Ph.D. in 1996, will receive the Outstanding Alumna Award in recognition of her exceptional achievement, for promoting innovative change and making professional contributions to the community and UCD.

Mazet, professor and director of the Wildlife Health Center of the UCD School of Veterinary Medicine, is one of the nation’s leaders in the field of wildlife health teaching, research and service. Since her appointment in 1998, she has worked to transform the Wildlife Health Center from a concept into a reality. Under her leadership, the center administers several core programs and has established grant programs to help researchers and students.

She also is a member of the UC Global Health Institute and is the School of Veterinary Medicine’s executive director of the One Health Institute, which leads educational and disease response and surveillance programs in 20 countries, recognizing that the health of animals, people and the environment are all connected.

* Dr. Kathleen Taylor: Dr. Taylor, who earned her medical degree in 1980, is the recipient of the Emil M. Mrak International Award honoring a UCD graduate who is distinguished in his or her career outside the United States.

Taylor is the founder/executive director of Prevention International: No Cervical Cancer. The nonprofit helps to save the lives of women in developing countries by training local medical providers to detect and treat cervical lesions before they become deadly cancers.

Since its founding in 2005, the organization has provided services to more than 3,000 women and trained more than 200 professionals in underserved areas in Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Peru, Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda and India.

Taylor spends three months each year on the overseas missions, guiding volunteer staffs of doctors, nurses, interpreters and counselors.

* Jakob Suski: Suski, a 2005 graduate, is the recipient of the Young Alumnus Award, which honors a recent graduate who has made outstanding contributions professionally, to the community or to UCD.

Suski just finished an appointment as the deputy communications director for the Jon Huntsman for President 2012 campaign. Always an engaged Aggie on campus, he was involved with Associated Students, Phi Epsilon fraternity, the crew team, the boxing club, the UC Washington Center and peer advising for the College of Letters and Science.

After graduation, Suski began a career in politics working as a constituent affairs specialist in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office. He then worked on the governor’s 2006 re-election campaign, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s 2010 successful Republican primary campaign and Oregon Gov. Chris Dudley’s 2010 campaign.

* Bill Hollingshead: Hollingshead, a 1960 graduate, is the recipient of the Aggie Service Award in recognition of his recent dedication of time, energy, volunteerism and leadership in support of the Cal Aggie Alumni Association and UCD.

In the entertainment management business and owner of Bill Hollingshead Productions, he has traveled the world as a touring musician, magician, talent agent and amusement park entertainment director.

After retiring in 2004, he joined the alumni band and a year later became a member of the UCD Concert Band. He mentors music students and has contributed to the Cal Aggie Band-uh uniform fund.

A life member of the Cal Aggie Alumni Association, he actively participates in Aggie Diner, Take an Aggie to Lunch, Pajamarino and the Golden Society Reunion. As a musician and a polio survivor, he has given guest lectures on campus and at the UCD Medical Center on topics including the history of rock ‘n’ roll and post-polio syndrome.