In Memoriam

OLAIYA EMMANUEL AINA, professor of early childhood education, was a Nigerian-born scholar, schooled at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria and at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. Aina obtained his Ph.D. in early childhood education at the University of Alberta. He taught for nine years at the College of Charleston, South Carolina, before joining the Charter College of Education in September 2006, where he taught primarily graduate courses in early childhood education and served as a graduate program coordinator. He also worked as a consultant with both public and private schools. Aina was the author of numerous academic publications and children’s books. 

ELIZABETH (BETH) RICHMAN HEFLIN BISPING (’66 M.A.), an outdoor enthusiast who climbed Mt. Whitney for her 54th birthday, had a teaching and counseling career spanning almost 60 years serving schools in Indiana, California and the Paiute Indian Reservation.

DONALD D. BREMER (’62 M.A.) was a Chino educator of 35 years and local philanthropist.

CARL J. CALKINS (’60) worked in law enforcement for 25 years, serving the Los Angeles Police Department, the city of Carson, and the Long Beach Police Department. He was the first Long Beach police chief to be hired from outside the department. After his career in law enforcement, he had an active career as a real estate developer, college instructor, criminal justice consultant, yacht broker and CEO of a private security guard company. He also was a dedicated member of the Long Beach Rotary Club for 42 years. He served as president of the club in 1982.

DAVID GALE COLEMAN (’71 M.A.) was a longtime elementary school principal and teacher with the San Bernardino Unified School District.

CECIL T. COSTILOW had a lengthy and expansive career at Cal State LA. His initial role as a research assistant in the speech and audiology division of what was then the School of Education led him to a position as senior administrator in the Office of the University Ombudsman. He helped establish the California University Ombudsman Association, in which he organized and convened its annual statewide conferences. He then went on to become the sports information director for Golden Eagle Athletics, a position that emphasized communication with local news agencies. In 1984, he was the voice of Cal State LA for the Olympic events held at the University. Before moving to Northern California in 1988, he served as a lecturer in the Department of English. In Northern California, he continued teaching English at Monterey and Hartnell Community Colleges.

DANIEL ROBERT DECHAINE III (’96 M.A.), professor of liberal studies and communication studies, had a profound passion for teaching. He received his M.A. from Cal State LA in 1996 and earned his Ph.D. in cultural studies from Claremont Graduate University in 2001. He taught at Mt. San Antonio College, Chaffey College and Pasadena City College until he came back to Cal State LA. His enthusiasm and excellence in his field were recognized when he was named Outstanding Professor in 2014. He had a fondness for Volkswagen Beetles, which drove him to help establish a local chapter of a Vintage Volkswagen Club that served the Inland Valley.

ROBERT ELLSWORTH (’16 MFA) was a beloved lecturer in the Department of Television, Film, and Media Studies at Cal State LA. He had a passion for writing, teaching and traveling the globe. Major studios have taken interest in his scripts, and he produced his plays across the nation.

DONALD T. ENNIS (’76) served in the U.S. Navy for 27 years, advancing to the rank of senior chief petty officer before retiring in 1987. He later became a high school electronics teacher, retiring in 1995.

THEOPOLIS (TED) KIMBROUGH (’64 M.A.) had a reputable 40-year career in education. He spent 26 years with the Los Angeles Unified School District and served as school chief in Compton. He served as Chicago’s school superintendent in the early 1990s. After three years, he went on to serve as superintendent of schools in Sacramento. He retired in 1997.

EDWARD J. KORMONDY, former vice president for academic affairs at Cal State LA, received his B.A. from Tusculum College, and his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. In 1986, after four years at Cal State LA, he became chancellor for the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo. At the time of his retirement, his seven-year tenure at UH Hilo marked the longest term for any chancellor since it became a four-year university in 1970. Kormondy also served in administrative and academic roles at the University of Hawai‘i—West O‘ahu, University of Michigan, Oberlin College, the University of Pittsburgh, Evergreen State College, the University of Southern Maine and Tusculum College in Tennessee, where he was a trustee and acting president. He also served as president at the University of West Los Angeles.

ROBERT D. KULLY, professor emeritus of speech communication, earned his B.A. at Hastings College, his M.A. at the University of Oregon and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, Carbondale. He joined the faculty of Cal State LA in the mid-1950s and retired in 1992. Cal State LA named him Outstanding Professor in 1975. Kully also served at various times as the president of the Cal State LA Academic Senate and the president of the CSU Academic Senate. In the early 1980s, he was appointed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown as the first faculty member to serve as a trustee on the CSU Board of Trustees. After his retirement from Cal State LA, Kully served as the executive director of the CSU Emeritus and Retired Faculty Association until 2003. 

RAYMOND B. LANDIS, dean emeritus of the College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology, had a monumental career in engineering. He received his B.S. and M.S. in engineering from MIT and his Ph.D. in engineering from UCLA. Landis is considered the father of Minority Engineering Programs (MEPs) for founding the first such program in California. He received numerous honors and awards for his work, including the United States Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Math and Engineering Mentoring, and the very first Wang Family Excellence Award as the outstanding administrator in the California State University system. He authored the textbook Studying Engineering: A Road Map to a Rewarding Career, which has influenced tens of thousands of students at over 300 institutions. He was named one of the top 100 educational leaders of the 20th century by Black Issues in Higher Education.

SUMIYE (SUMI) NERIO ONODERA LEONARD (’51, ’57 M.A.), an emerita faculty member at Cal State LA, was an associate professor of family studies and consumer sciences from 1970 to 1986. Before Cal State LA, she taught at Santa Ana High School and Compton College. Onodera Leonard grew up in Norwalk and Downey and earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree from what was then Los Angeles State College and a second master’s degree from Michigan State University. During World War II, she and her family were among the Japanese Americans held at internment camps at Santa Anita Race Track and then in Rohwer, Arkansas. She was a world-class runner and was inducted into the USA Track and Field Masters Hall of Fame in 2006.  

JOAN SABRINA MIMS-COX was a professor of education in the Charter College of Education. She worked with the Division of Curriculum and Instruction, where she coordinated the M.A. in education, option in bilingual multicultural education. Over the course of her career, she served as director of the Los Angeles Accelerated Schools Center, coordinator of the bilingual program and coordinator of the program for curriculum and instruction in the urban classroom.

WALTER NEAL MOLINE (’53), a former Marine and Korean War veteran, worked at the Byron Jackson Pump Co. of Los Angeles for 28 years. Over the course of his career at the company, he was promoted to worldwide industry manager, in which he negotiated sales with foreign governments, contractors and private enterprises. After his retirement, he formed Moline Builders Inc. with his son and daughter-in-law in Ohio. He worked with the two in land and real estate development until 1998. 

JUDITH PAPENHAUSEN (’71, ’82 M.S.) was the University’s first Distinguished Faculty Alumna awardee and former director of what is now Cal State LA’s Patricia A. Chin School of Nursing. She was passionate about advancing the art and science of nursing throughout her 42-year career. She was the editor of Clinical Nurse Specialist, the journal for professional nursing practices. She completed her dissertation for a doctorate in nursing at the University of Texas, Austin, investigating quality care outcomes of nursing care management interventions in chronically ill elderly clients. She also authored three textbook chapters on nursing care management. 

CHARLES E. PAYNE (’61, ’80 M.A.) taught as an adjunct instructor at East Los Angeles Community College between 1980 and 2004. He was also a Korean War veteran and was a member of the Fraternal Order of Police until 1992. Following his service in the war, he worked for various organizations including the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the County of Riverside, SFBN Railroad and Hilton Hotels. 

RAUL RUIZ (’67) was a journalist, professor and leading activist in the Chicano movement of the 1960s and ’70s. As a scholar Ruiz was a pioneer in the field of Chicano Studies; the nation’s first program was established at Cal State LA in 1968. Ruiz, a native of El Paso, moved with his family to Southern California when he was a teenager. While at Cal State LA, he helped to establish the community newspapers Inside Eastside and Chicano Student News, which covered issues of interest to Mexican Americans, including police brutality and portrayals of Latinos in the media. In August 1970, Ruiz, then co-editor of the influential Chicano magazine La Raza, photographed a sheriff’s deputy firing a tear gas canister into an East L.A. bar during an antiwar protest. Los Angeles Times columnist Ruben Salazar was killed in the incident. Ruiz’s photo, considered an essential historical image of the Chicano movement, ran on the cover of the L.A. Times and was reproduced around the world. Ruiz joined the faculty of Cal State Northridge in 1970 and taught in the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies until his retirement in 2015. He earned a master’s degree in 1981 and a doctorate in 1988 from Harvard. For more on Ruiz’s role in the Chicano movement, see the article “The Birth of Chicano Studies.”

JOAN PEABODY SOUTHWELL (’78 M.A.) taught for more than 20 years at the Sierra Madre Community Nursery School. She also was an elementary school teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

CHICK F. TAM was a nutritional science professor in what is now Cal State LA’s Rongxiang Xu College of Health and Human Services. His expertise was in the areas of human and animal nutrition, gerontology and alternative nutritional herbal therapies. He received a Doctor of Public Health from UCLA.

LAURETTA LOUISE TURNER (’78) served as PTA president of San Rafael School and as a troop leader to Blue Birds, Campfire Girls and Cub Scouts. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in child development from Cal State LA, she worked as a preschool teacher at a Christian elementary school in Eagle Rock.