UC Davis Emeriti Association

In Memoriam

May 2022

We are saddened to note the recent passing of emeriti who played essential roles in the development, growth, and evolution of their academic departments. Each engaged in activities in keeping with descriptions noted in "A Virtual Eleventh Campus". All remained active for a decade or more beyond their retirements with an impact that highlights the most positive attributes of the UC Davis campus

Jo Ann Stabb 

Jo Ann Stabb died on February 13. She was 80. She played a seminal role in establishing a Design Department at UC Davis that is now ranked in the top 5% of academic design departments in the U.S. Jo Ann Stabb went to Occidental College and UCLA to study art and design. She graduated from UCLA with an M.S. degree in 1967. She came to Davis in 1968 and retired in 2002. She was recruited to UC Davis by Orville Thompson, who played a leadership role in strengthening departments and programs such as Design and UC Davis' ethnic and related studies programs. Professor Thompson often noted that Jo Ann Stabb was among the best, if not the best, of the recruiting decisions made during the process. Indeed, her career at Davis validated his statement. Jo Ann Stabb was a designer, author, and lecturer focusing on the field of fashion and wearable art. Her creative work has been exhibited throughout the U.S., Europe, South Korea, and Australia. In addition, her works on contemporary wearables are published in design journals and magazines with high visibility. 

Moreover, she has lectured for professional associations, including the World Crafts Council, the Costume Society of America, the International Textile and Apparel and the Surface Design Associations,  Association, and numerous museums and arts organizations. Recently she served as the executive producer of the video series "Wearable Art from California," distributed through the University of California and internationally through the United States Information Agency. Following her retirement, Jo Ann continued to create, guest lecture, curate exhibitions, write, and consult in the field. She also served on the Board of Directors for the Costume Society of America and the Textile Arts Council for the de Young Museum.

As a tribute to Jo Ann Stabb’s career at UC Davis, her talents and perspectives are noted in an interview with her colleague and friend, Helge B. Olsen, Lecturer (SOE), Design Department.

Jo Ann Stabb Video Project

 

Isao Fujimoto

Isao Fujimoto, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer Emeritus and a community organizer, died on February 25, 2022. He was 88. Dr. Fujimoto joined the UC Davis Faculty in 1967 as a founding member of the Community Development Program (now a part of Human Ecology). He also played the principal role in founding the Asian American Studies Department (now in its fifth decade). He retired in 1994, but in what is best described as "in name only." For example, as one of many lifelong goals, he completed a Ph.D. from Cornell University in 2010 at 76. In the two and a half decades following his UC Davis retirement, he continually taught and participated in the community development graduate program. In addition, he spent summers in Kyoto, Japan, in the U.C. Study Abroad program.

Moreover, he held leadership positions in the Rural Development Leadership Network and the Central Valley Partnership for Citizenship programs. He was noted for his integrity even though his focus on farmworker compensation and working conditions put him at odds with the agricultural industry. He encouraged direct engagement and laid the groundwork for the current organic and sustainable movement in agriculture. He also played principal roles for landmarks like the Davis Food Co-Op and the Farmer's Market in Davis. In 2016, his long history of work in social justice and civil rights earned him the University of California system's Constantine Panunzio Distinguished Emeriti Award.

As a tribute to Dr. Fujimoyo's career, his accomplishments are noted in an interview with his colleague and friend, Jim Grieshop, Emeritus Specialist in Cooperative Extension, Community and Regional Development.

If you wish to donate in Isao's memory, contributions may be made to the UC Davis Isao Fujimoto Education and Student Support Fund: https://give.ucdavis.edu/CLAS/ASIFGFT

Isao Fujimoto Video Project

 

Leon Garoyan

Leon Garoyan, Ph.D. Specialist in Cooperative Extension, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, died on March 26. He was 96. Dr. Garoyan grew up in Fowler, CA, near Fresno. He attended Fresno State and then Cal Poly, graduating with a B.S. degree in horticulture in 1944. His first job was as a farm advisor in Oregon. Soon, it became apparent to him that additional skills in economics were needed. Consequently, he furthered his training in economics at the University of Wisconsin, earning a Ph.D. in economics in 1960. At the start of his career, he served in the Kennedy Administration as a staff economist in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He then returned to Oregon and continued working in extension. He moved to Davis in 1970 with an appointment as an extensionist in Agricultural and Resource Sciences. At Davis, he wrote and advised extensively in several areas of marketing, particularly about the role of cooperatives and independent individual farming-related and commodity activities. He was also very active in The Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics. He retired in 1983.

Moreover, he worked and consulted with many farming-related cooperatives in the U.S., Chile, several Eastern European countries, and the Republic of Armenia. His Eastern European activities also involved service as a consultant for the CIA on the food production and marketing systems in Eastern Europe and Russia before Perestroika. Finally, at Davis, his work culminated in serving as the founding director of the Statewide Center for Cooperatives, located at UC Davis. This activity was initiated following his retirement from Agricultural and Environmental Economics. He served as director for five years.

As a tribute to Dr. Garoyan's career, his accomplishments are described in an interview with his colleague and friend, Richard Howitt, Professor Emeritus, Agricultural and Resource Economics.

Leon Garoyan Video Project 

 

Peter Hays

Professor Emeritus Peter Hays died in March 2022 at the age of 84. Professor Hays came to UC Davis in 1966 and retired in 2004 as Professor of English and Comparative Literature. He was highly recognized as a scholar of twentieth-century American literature. He served on the F. Scott Fitzgerald Society board and as an editor for the News and Notes section for The Fitzgerald Newsletter. He also served on the Boards of the Edith Wharton Society and the Ernest Hemingway Foundation. His career is punctuated with numerous awards and recognitions (e.g., in his early career, a Danforth Foundation Fellowship and a Fulbright lecturership in Mainz, West Germany). As an emeritus, he held several Edward A. Dickson Emeritus Professorships from 2011-to-2018. Many of his publications focused on Ernest Hemingway. Recent publications include The Old Man and the Sea, with Bickford Sylvester and Larry Grimes (Kent State University Press, 2018, Fifty years of Hemingway Criticism (Scarecrow, 2013), and The Critical Reception of Hemingway's - The Sun Also Rises, (Camden House, 2011). Peter also directed a freshman seminar each fall quarter on Ernest Hemingway's short stories throughout his retirement.

In addition, Professor Emeritus Hays was an essential and visible campus leader. He served as a past chair of the English Department. For the UC Davis Emeriti Associations, Professor Hays served as a past secretary. He was a founding member of the Davis Faculty Association (DFA), which belongs to the Council of UC Faculty Associations (CUCFA). CUCFA is the largest independent organization representing the University of California faculty. For an oral history of the DFA, visit their website. Ed Constantini and Peter Hays provide the video record. 

Many of his perspectives are noted in his interview with his friend, Professor emeritus Daniel Hershberger, Health Sciences Professor of Clinical Medicine and Epidemiology, School of Veterinary Medicine.

Peter Hays Video Project

 

Frederic A. Troy

Professor Emeritus. Frederic A. Troy II passed in March 2022. Professor Troy came to UC Davis in 1968, joining the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine. He retired in 2009. Professor Troy maintained a record of impeccable service. He was a past chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine (1991-1995). Professor Troy was also a co-founding faculty member for the UC Davis School of Medicine’s NIH Comprehensive Cancer Center in Sacramento. In addition, he was a co-founding member of the UC San Diego Glycobiology Research & Training Center and CEO of SialoGen Therapeutics, Inc. in Davis. He served as a past president of the Society for Glycobiology and the American Medical and Graduate Schools Depts. of Biochemistry. Moreover, following his retirement, he served as a Professor (Adj) in the Department of Molecular Medicine at the Xiamen University School of Medicine, Xiamen City, China. 

Professor Troy received an E.A. Dickson Distinguished Emeriti Professorship in 2017 for research focusing on complex carbohydrate biochemistry in areas related to sialobiology and other novel forms of glycosylation. Sialoglycans are carbohydrate-based polymers that perform essential biological, biophysical, and immunological functions. For this work, he was a recipient of numerous research awards. Likewise, Frederic (Rick) was an excellent teacher. He was nominated for the Kaiser Excellence in Teaching Basic Medical Sciences and the Dean’s Excellence in Mentoring Awards.

He is interviewed by his friend and colleague, Emeritus Professor Joe Tupin, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences 

Frederic A. Troy Video Project

 

Ronald Franklin Soohoo 

Professor emeritus Dr. Ronald Franklin Soohoo died in March 2022 at 94. Born in Canton, China, Dr. Soohoo came to the United States shortly after World War II. He received a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and physics at Stanford. Before coming to Davis, he worked at Stanford, PG&E, and as a professor at the California Institute of Technology. He started his career at UC Davis in 1964 as the College was beginning to organize into departments. He was selected for the newly created Department of Electrical Engineering. Accordingly, Dr. Soohoo became the first Asian-American to chair a department within the University of California system. Later, he served as the associate dean for research for UC Davis’ College of Engineering. Soohoo’s research interests were in areas essential to understanding digital magnetic recording, computer devices, and microwave electronics. He worked on digital recording technology, determining how to increase recording intensity and clarity. Throughout his life, Dr. Soohoo was honored with many distinguished awards, including a Life Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), the National Academy of Sciences, a NATO Fellowship to the National Research Labs in France, a National Science Foundation Research Fellow at IBM, an Outstanding Educator of America, and named a Top Innovator by Science Digest Magazine. With research interests in digital magnetic recording, computer devices, and microwave electronics. Dr. Soohoo initiated the current Electrical and Computer Engineering specialization in microwave electronics. Soohoo wrote a memoir, Chinese Roots and My American Dream, which includes a description of his contributions to UC Davis’ ECE community.

He is interviewed by his friend and colleague, Herman J. Fink, emeritus professor of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering.

Ronald Franklin Soohoo Video Project

 

John C. Bruhn

Dr. John C. Bruhn, Cooperative Extension Specialist Emeritus, passed in December 2021. He was 81. Dr. Bruhn completed a Ph.D. in dairy microbiology-biochemistry at UC Davis in 1969 and joined UC Davis as a dairy food extension specialist in the department of food science and technology in the same year. He retired in 2006. From 1995 until retirement, he served as founding director of the Dairy Research and Information Center at UC Davis. He helped develop and implement state and national regulatory policies related to food safety and quality issues. John was recognized with many awards, including his election as a fellow of four associations: the International Association of Food Protection, the Institute of Food Technologists, the Institute of Food Science and Technology (United Kingdom), and the American Dairy Science Association. Dr. Bruhn served as president of the American Dairy Science Association in 2000.

Further, he was presented the Award of Distinction by the UC Davis College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences in 2009. An endowed scholarship in dairy foods was established in his name upon retirement. Instead of flowers, please consider contributing to the John C. Bruhn Dairy Foods Scholarship, University of California, Davis; or the Lutheran Church of the Incarnation, Davis. Unfortunately, no video record is available for Dr. John Bruhn.

 

Video Records Project

Note that these videos leave a legacy. Please consider what a video record may mean to you, your family, and your associates. If you have not interviewed for the UC Davis Emeriti Association's Video Records project, contact Alan Jackman.

Noteworthy, the videos for Professors Ustin and Hing are a first for the UCDEA Video Records Project. The Ustin and Hing interviews are virtual video record interviews done off-campus.  The Video Records studio is currently closed due to COVID.

Although it is anticipated that the VR studio in Mrak Hall may become accessible for interviews during this coming year, the virtual video record interview approach is now an additional option. The VR project committee is equipped to aid and facilitate the production of a virtual video. It can be done from the home, backyard, or even out of state.  Accordingly, we hope that you will arrange for an interview, whether at the studio or virtually.  It is a way of documenting your career not only for your department but also for families and friends. The process is easy to initiate. First, contact the UC Davis Retiree Center, and they, in turn, will connect you with a scheduler. See UCDEA Video Records Project for more details on the interviews and how to get involved.

 

Recent Interviews

Bill Ong Hing J.D. - Professor emeritus Bill Ong Hing joined the faculty in the School of Law in 2000. He retired in 2010 but continues to teach at the University of San Francisco School of Law. At Davis, he taught in areas critical to judicial process and negotiations and directed the UC Davis law school's clinical program. Professor Hing is a noted author and distinguished teacher. Throughout his career, he has pursued social justice through a combination of community work, litigation, and scholarship. Professor Hing is the founder and continues to serve on the board of directors of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, the National Advisory Council of the Asian American Justice Center, and Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus of San Francisco, among others. For such efforts, he has received numerous awards. For example, he is a recipient of the UC Davis Distinguished Public Service Award.  His book. To Be an American, Cultural Pluralism and the Rhetoric of Assimilation (NYU Press 1997) received the award for Outstanding Academic Book in 1997 from the Association of College and Research Libraries' journal Choice award. He is interviewed by his friend and colleague Joel Dobris, LL.B..  professor emeritus in the School of Law. https://video.ucdavis.edu/media/496+Hing/1_mt1pes5c/31137252

Susan L. Ustin, Ph.D. - Dr. Susan Ustin is a distinguished professor emerita in the Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources. She was appointed in 1990 and retired in 2018. At UC Davis, her commitments to teaching, research, and service are extraordinary.  For example, she has served as a past Director of the Center for Spatial Technologies and Remote Sensing (CSTARS) and the Muir Institute. Her research, focusing on the remote sensing of environmental landscapes, has profoundly impacted how we monitor air pollution, climate change, plant community characteristics, biological diversity, and land use. As a testament to the impact of her research, Professor Emerita Ustin is an elected Fellow of the Ecological Society of America and the American Geophysical Union among her many honors.  Over the past 25 years, Professor Emerita Ustin has also served on or led several NASA satellite proposals related to spectrometric imaging in space. She is interviewed by her friend and colleague Wendy Silk, Emerita Professor in the Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources. https://youtu.be/8rKY9D8TUtE 

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