Alumni Updates


Fernando William Manzanera, International Studies, 2016
Submitted: September 11, 2018
Fernando William Manzanera, International Studies, 2016, moved to the Czech Republic February 1, 2017, to be with his girlfriend. He's been living here for 20 months now and works as a teacher and in IT Support for a Swiss insurance company. Life is pretty great. :-)

Alan Daniel, History, 1970
Submitted: September 7, 2018
Alan Daniel, History, 1970, is retiring after 28 years as an HR Block franchisee in Hawaii. At the height of his career, he owned 11 franchise offices on three islands, had 86 tax pros under contract, prepared taxes, annually, for 14,000+ taxpayers, and provided bookkeeping/payroll services for 100+ small businesses. Between 2003 and 2005 he consulted with the IRS in the development of electronic filing that most of you use today. He and Kathleen Kenan recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in Seattle. They live on the beautiful island of Kauai. a hui hou

Margot Genger, Communication, 1973
Submitted: August 12, 2018
Margot Genger, Communication, 1973, published “Shift Happens — Breakdowns During Life's Long Hauls” in March 2018. Susan Bennett, Ph.D., English Professor Emeritus, writes: "Out of desperation to escape the confines of her small Northern California town, Genger breaks every rule of her 1970s social class, gender, and upbringing to become a long-haul truck driver. 'Shift Happens' will make you laugh, cringe, and celebrate as Margot navigates the underground life of long-haul truck driving with 11 different driving partners. She crisscrosses the U.S. delivering everything from Hustler magazines to Washington State apples — sees both the beauty and the meanness that is America — and eventually realizes what she values in 'home'."

Jesus Pascual Cisneros, World Languages and Cultures, 2018
Submitted: August 9, 2018
Jesus Pascual Cisneros, World Languages & Cultures, 2018, was offered as Spanish Immersion teacher position at Dow's Prairie Elementary in McKinleyville, California after finishing the credential program with a Secondary Education credential. He will be starting his first year as a teacher this upcoming 2018 school year. Thank you for your support!

RGDavis, Art, 1995
Submitted: August 7, 2018
RGDavis, Art, 1995, is focusing on Cuban Endemic Birds for a paper movie scroll, based on the book "Why Birds Matter" 2016.

Dora Mitchell, Art, 2008
Submitted: May 2, 2018
Dora Mitchell, Art, 2008, has a debut novel, an illustrated children's mystery titled "The Haunted Serpent," which is being published in hardcover by Sterling Children's Books on June 5, 2018. Kirkus Reviews said "Fans of Dan Poblocki, John Bellairs, and R.L. Stine will all be right at home and smiling at the shivers (and the jokes)." Booklist said, "Mitchell’s well-developed kid characters and excellent caricatures (both written and visual) of the evil adult despots make this paranormal read engaging and goosebump-inducing," and School Library Journal called it "a spooky, high-interest adventure for reluctant readers and fans of action-packed tales.”

Daniel Mandell, History, 1979
Submitted: April 11, 2018
Daniel Mandell, History, 1979, is a Professor of history and has been appointed Distinguished Research Fellow at the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy at the University of Missouri for 2018-2019. The Kinder Institute is an interdisciplinary effort of the history and political science departments, and since its creation in 2014 has blossomed into one of the most active intellectual centers in the region. During his year at the Kinder, Mandell will participate in the Institute's programs and begin a study of the evolving conundrum between individual and collective rights in the United States as highlighted by the history of Native American policies and laws.

Meg Godlewski, Journalism, 1987
Submitted: March 6, 2018
Meg Godlewski, Journalism, 1987, writes video scripts for an online ground school for an international aviation company. She also travels around the country with Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association helping lapsed pilots get back into the cockpit. She is a full-time flight instructor and a columnist for Aviation for Women Magazine and writes stories for AOPA Flight Training. Away from the airport, Meg is working on _Payback is a Bitch_ and _ Sometimes it has Puppies_ , the sequel to _ The Thin Line Between Guts and Stupidity_ , a coming of age story based on experiences breaking into journalism while a student at HSU. Meg plans to attend the MLJ reunion in November.

Lawrence E. (Larry) Liles, Politics, 1969
Submitted: March 6, 2018
Lawrence E. (Larry) Liles, Politics, 1969, dropped out of law school over a conflict with the role of law versus justice, which he learned later was a moral position. He completed a four-year union electrical apprenticeship, taught the same for four years, and then was elected twice as Business Manager for IBEW Local 413 in Santa Barbara. He was appointed in 1992 as an IBEW International Representative in the Washington D.C. headquarters and worked primarily in their Research Department representing workers interests in many venues. He raised three stepchildren and two of his own. He retired early in 2010 to spend time with a late son. He's now living in the Virginia Piedmont, the east side of the Blue Ridge Mountains, doing genealogy, and is active in Scouting and the SAR.

Brian Miller, Art, 1974
Submitted: February 8, 2018
Brian Miller, Art, 1974, recently retired from Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) after a successful 40+ year career in the high tech industry. Most recently, he served as director of marketing transformation at HPE, leading a worldwide team across Europe, India, and North and Latin America. He currently provides pro bono marketing and technology advisory services to the Northern California wine industry.

Jana Lynn Rivers-Norton, English, 1991
Submitted: February 7, 2018
Jana Lynn Rivers-Norton, English, 1991, graduated with a master's in English from HSU in 1991 and earned a doctorate in Clinical Psychology in 2002 from Saybrook University. Since then, she has been teaching at-risk students in Sacramento, New Mexico, and Arizona, and writing and publishing a collection of essays titled "The Demeter-Persephone Myth as Writing Ritual in the Lives of Literary Women" by Cambridge Scholars Publishing (CSP) in Jan. 2017. My next book, "Transcending the Tragedy of Medea in Life, Love and the Literary Arts" was just accepted for publication from CSP for a fall 2019 release.

Karlee Jewell, International Studies, 2015
Submitted: January 24, 2018
Karlee Jewell, International Studies, 2015, is a Local Americorps Member who was recently recognized alongside thirty young people, ages 30 and under, by the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE). The EE 30 Under 30 highlights the work of young professionals of various backgrounds, ethnicities, genders, and communities around the globe who are using education to help protect the environment. The program was started by a partnership between NAAEE and the US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS). For more information visit: www.naaee.org/our-work/programs/ee-30-under-30

Ray Chips, History, 1969
Submitted: December 11, 2017
Ray Chips, History, 1969, was named one of Pepperdine University's "40 over 40" recognition recipients: https://www.pepperdine.edu/alumni/40over40/. He is thankful for the support and academic success he received at HSU, which provided the foundation for his academic and professional future.

Jenine Torres formerly Prus, International Studies, 2009
Submitted: September 25, 2017
Jenine Torres, International Studies, 2009, is from Grand Rapids, MI, where she has been living since 2009. After receiving her BA from HSU while studying abroad in Oaxaca, Mexico, she received her Masters of Public Administration from Grand Valley State University in 2014. She is a member of the Leadership Grand Rapids Class of 2016, GR Area Chamber of Commerce, Center for Community Leadership. Currently, she has the privilege of being a Development Officer at Grand Rapids Community Foundation, Michigan's oldest community foundation. She was married in June 2017 and has three stepchildren.

Marilyn Liu, International Studies, 2016
Submitted: September 19, 2017
Marilyn Liu, 2016, International Studies, recently completed her Master's program for International Business and Management from Durham University in the U.K. She spent the last few months of grad school participating in a Dissertation Abroad Scheme with Grenoble Ecole de Management in France. While in France, Marilyn received a grant from the European Union and researched how feminist theories of technology and the theory of intersectionality can improve corporate social responsibility.

Emily Maria Harbaugh, International Studies, 2008
Submitted: September 17, 2017
Emily Maria Harbaugh, 2008 International Studies, is a law student at UC Hastings, College of the Law in San Francisco. She hopes to become a public defender because she is passionate about indigent defendant rights and low-income legal service work. The language skills that she gained while studying at Humboldt State have been instrumental to her work thus far.

Matt Edwards, Theatre, 1986
Submitted: September 6, 2017
Matt Edwards, 1986 Theatre, returns to Humboldt precisely 30 years later to pursue a single subject teaching credential. After graduation he received an MFA from The Old Globe Theatre / University of San Diego and lived in NYC for 25 years as a classical actor; working on Broadway, Off-Broadway, daytime TV and regional theaters around the nation. "I'm excited to return to HSU. I parked at my old house off sunset and made the same walk up to Founders Hall after a 30 year hiatus! Since I'm a New Yorker now, I cut 3-4 minutes off my commute! All my teachers are great and I really trust them."

Elizabeth J. Hilker, Journalism, 1991
Submitted: September 6, 2017
Elizabeth J. Hilker, Journalism, 1991, has a daughter who started as a freshman majoring in Geology in August 2017 at HSU!

Sharon (Emerson) Waltrip, Geography, 1980
Submitted: August 4, 2017
Sharon (Emerson) Waltrip, 1980 Geography, has retired after 30 years working for the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service in Arizona, Alaska, and Kentucky. She and her husband Randy Waltrip (‘80, Journalism) have moved to Tucson, Ariz., where their daughter Wendy will be attending University of Arizona and majoring in creative writing.

Thomas Fritzsche, English, 1990
Submitted: August 2, 2017
Thomas Fritzsche, 1990 English, is celebrating fifteen years of dedication in Respiratory Therapy at UCLA Medical Center.