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On May 16, 2013, the Pacific Union College Board of Trustees confirmed Walter E. Collins as the college’s new vice president for advancement and alumni relations. Collins officially began his appointment on July 1, 2013. Most recently, Collins was the executive director of the California Symphony Orchestra, which he led for three seasons and where he was responsible for all orchestra operations. Under his direction, the symphony completed a strategic plan, doubled its number of donors, and increased ticket sales revenue while reducing operating costs. Furthermore, under Collins’ leadership, the orchestra received a National Endowment for the Arts award, as well as a Getty Foundation/League of American Orchestra’s Community Arts Awards grant for developing Sound Minds, a novel music and literacy education program that works to effect transformational change in the lives of disadvantaged children. In the course of his professional career, he has also established close relationships with the Irvine, Hearst, Haas and Ford Foundations. Prior to his work at the California Symphony Orchestra, Collins served as president and CEO of United Way of the Wine Country in Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake, Humboldt and Del Norte counties for four years, leading a three million dollar organization that was distinguished as...

Critically acclaimed author Maxine Hong Kingston will present at Pacific Union College’s Colloquy Speaker Series May 31. In her well-known book The Woman Warrior, Kingston tells of her experiences growing up as an Asian-American in Stockton, Calif. She also wrote the National Book Award-winning China Men and is the recipient of an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature and a National Humanities Medal from the National Endowment for the Humanities. In addition to her writing, Kingston was a long-time professor of creative writing at the University of California, Berkeley, before her retirement in 2006. Kingston will present at 10 a.m. in the PUC Church Sanctuary.View additional information about the event...

During a special presentation at Angwin’s 2011 Flea Market and Car Show on Sunday, Congressman Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) congratulated Angwin on the expansion of broadband technology to the community, thanks to a partnership between Pacific Union College and Comcast. Last fall, the college worked with Comcast to update the campus telecommunications network with a fiber-optic infrastructure. The move increased PUC’s bandwidth by 1,000 percent and also allowed Comcast to expand its services into Angwin, where communication and entertainment services have been limited. “This is a partnership that is going to pay dividends for the entire community,” said Thompson, listing the number of educational online programs that can benefit school-age children, businesses, and families. “The amount of information that is at our fingertips is truly awesome, and so much is available because of the expansion of broadband.” The program also welcomed Napa County Supervisor Diane Dillon, who commended Comcast and PUC and called it a “step forward” for PUC and the community. Heather Knight, president of PUC, also spoke at the event along with Tom Bartee, district director for 7th District Assemblyman Michael Allen; and Paul Gibson, East Bay area vice president for Comcast. Two years ago, PUC was urgently...

Every year the NAIA names scholar-athletes to represent them on the Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athletes list. To be eligible for nomination a student-athlete must be a junior or senior in academic standing, attend an NAIA nominating institution for one full year, and have a minimum GPA of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale. In the sport of men's basketball the California Pacific Conference had six scholar-athletes, (four from Pacific Union College), receive recognition for their hard work in the classroom. The Pioneers tied the record for most scholar-athletes named to the Men's Basketball Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athletes list for 2011. Dickinson State University, in North Dakota, was the only other institution to have four student-athletes make the list.Michael Giang, Josh Jewett, Aren Rennacker, and Brent Wild were named as scholar-athletes by Daktronics and the NAIA, recognized for their academic achievement and hard work. They helped guide the Pioneers to a 7-18 overall record this season and a 5-7 conference record. The Pioneers concluded the season with a loss to Holy Names University, who the Pioneers swept during the regular season, in the first round of the Cal Pac tournament. The other two California Pacific Conference representatives include, Menlo College guard and Cal Pac...

Business department chair Wally Lighthouse spoke to a group of over 60 Rotarians and guests at the December 9 meeting of the Napa Sunrise Rotary Club. The group meets at the Silverado Country Club in Napa, Calif. His talk, entitled “Economic Forecast 2011,” was well received by the enthusiastic attendees. Lighthouse discussed next year’s outlook in areas such as employment, retirement and debt trends, tax policy and inflation. “He was very informative,” said Doris Gentry, the club’s public relations officer. “[It was] a heavy topic but important to all of us.”...

The accolade for Pacific Union College’s outstanding academic program continues as Washington Monthly magazine gave the college high marks for scholarship. In its 2010 College Guide, PUC was ranked in the top ten in the Research Category for Baccalaureate Colleges. According to the publication’s website, the research category considers the dollars spent in research expenditures and the number of bachelor’s degree recipients who go on to receive doctorates, relative to school size. Comprehensive rankings for colleges and universities in the College Guide assess the institution’s success in the following areas: social mobility, which looks at socioeconomic diversity and low-income student graduation rates; research, which examines academic standards; and service, which focuses on a campus’s culture of service. The Washington Monthly, established in 1969, is a publication based in Washington, D.C.; this is their fifth annual College Guide. Earlier this year, U.S. News and World Report ranked PUC in the overall top ten for Baccalaureate Colleges, western region, in their Best Colleges issue--arguably the most well-known college ranking guide in the United States. ...

On September 7, 2010, the Pacific Union College Board of Trustees confirmed Dr. Dave Lawrence as the college’s new vice president for financial administration. Lawrence officially started his appointment on September 13, in time for the new academic year. Most recently, Lawrence was university controller at Loma Linda University, where he managed and coordinated the daily activities of the University’s accounting and finance functions, internal control, investment management, chart of accounts administration and provided budgetary control of Loma Linda University’s $250 million budget. Furthermore, Lawrence provided oversight of all financial reporting, implemented accounting and financial policies and procedures, coordinated cash flow and collaborated with the information technology department in reference to financial systems application, internal audits and tax reporting. Additionally, Lawrence served on the Financial Operations Committee, the Risk Management Committee, the Human Resources Operations Committee, the Investment Management Committee, the Web Steering Committee, as well as the Plant Operations Committee at LLU. He is also an active member of NACUBO and WACUBO and has published in the Journal of Adventist Education on topics related to school finance. Lawrence also served as an assistant professor at Loma Linda University’s department of health policy and management where he taught courses in...

The Huffington Post this week joined the parade of Internet commentators that have recognized Pacific Union College for excellence in website design. In a brief article on the problems with most higher education websites, Huffington Post writer Randall Munroe singles out puc.edu as one of 25 school sites getting it right. The list of 25 outstanding school websites is from an earlier article posted on EduDemic.com, a website devoted to digital media in higher education, and is the latest such ranking for puc.edu. Earlier commendations come from vandelaydesign.com, an online web design resource; educheckup.com, a video blog about educational websites that devoted an entire episode to puc.edu and gave it an A rating; and eduStyle.net, a site for campus web designers. Launched in its current form in July 2008, PUC's website was produced and is maintained entirely in-house as a cooperative effort by the college's public relations staff. ...

PUC prep alumna Brittany Brown has been named the new Pioneers women’s volleyball coach at Pacific Union College. “It is exciting to invite Brittany Brown back home,” says Pioneers athletic director Robert Castillo. “She will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience, giving our program some much needed stability, not to mention her energy and focus, needed to return our program back where it belongs.” Born and raised in the Napa Valley, Brown has spent the last five years involved volleyball in Southern California. She is looking forward to returning to the familiar surroundings of her home community and the gym where she carries many fond memories. She is excited about the future of PUC volleyball and has lots of experience to bring from her time down south. As a player, Brown played collegiate volleyball at Azusa Pacific University, an NAIA school outside of Los Angeles, as a starting outside hitter and libero. While at APU her team attended and competed twice in the NAIA national tournament. She was named the NAIA player of the week her freshman year in 2005, and also went on to set the current record for digs in a single season with 524. Before college...