University of San Diego Honors Outstanding Graduates

University of San Diego Honors Outstanding Graduates

     Seven outstanding University of San Diego graduates, including a federal judge, a leading San Diego executive and an international banker, will be honored Saturday, April 30 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

        The University of San Diego Alumni Honors recognizes graduates in the areas of career achievement, contributions to humanitarian causes and volunteer service to USD. The black-tie gala begins at 5:30 p.m. The event program, including entertainment and awards, will take place between 8 and 9:25 p.m. The event concludes at 9:30 p.m. 

        For more information, call 619-260-4819 or go to www.sandiego.edu/alumni/alumnirelations. The awards are named for former USD President Author E. Hughes and the University’s founders, Mother Rosalie Clifton Hill and Bishop Charles Francis Buddy.

            “We’re very pleased to honor these remarkable individuals who exemplify the University of San Diego’s commitment to excellence and public service,” said Jack Kelly, senior director of Alumni Relations.

            U.S. District Judge Napoleon Jones Jr., who was nominated by President Bill Clinton in 1994, will receive the Author E. Hughes Career Achievement Award from the USD School of Law. Before becoming a judge, Jones worked for California Rural Legal Assistance, which advocates on behalf of farm workers and other impoverished peoples.

        Lawrence Shea, managing principal for Barney & Barney LLC, a private insurance agency and brokerage firm, is the honoree from USD’s College of Arts and Sciences. He joined Barney & Barney in 1968 and became CEO in 1982. He has brought Barney & Barney recognition that includes the Insurance Journal Agency of the Year Award and the Assurex Robert P. Ashlock Quality Award.
          
        Ethel Yamamoto, who currently chairs the global credit committee in London for BNP Paribas, a leading European financial services group, is the Hughes honoree from the School of Business Administration. After earning her MBA at USD in 1980, she became the first woman on Bank of America’s international banking team for Japan.

        The honoree from the School of Education is David Herrera, a successful executive who left his successful business career to pursue a doctorate in education and promote social justice and employee participation in the workplace. He is widely published on those subjects and recently was invited to the Vatican to present a paper on Catholic social teachings.

            Julie C. Novak, who has been awarded more than $4 million in grants and served as the president of the National Association of Nurse Practitioners, is the honoree from the Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science. Novak is currently the associate dean of the School of Pharmacy, Nursing and Health Science at Purdue University.

        Delle Willett Stattin, marketing director for the San Diego Natural History Museum, will receive the Mother Rosalie Clifton Hill Service Award given to alumni who exhibit significant service, contributions and commitment to the University. She will be recognized for nearly four decades of service to USD, including promoting the University while living in St. Louis in the 1990s. Most recently, she has served on the board of the University’s Alumni Association, acting as a communications and marketing adviser and helping to plan Homecoming Weekends and reunions. As a marketing professional, she has continually mentored and offered career guidance to USD students.
          
        Ann Taylor is the recipient of the Bishop Charles Francis Buddy Humanitarian Award for a lifetime of leadership and service to the sick and suffering. Taylor, a faculty member at Southwestern College, is a nurse and practitioner of Healing Touch therapy. Her outreach includes extensive work in Tijuana as an associate with the Servants of the Eleventh Hour order, as a volunteer with Casa  Las Memorias, an HIV/AIDS Hospice, and as a volunteer at the city’s San Eugenio Clinic.
         
          The University of San Diego is a Catholic institution of higher learning chartered in 1949; the school enrolls some 7,200 students and is known for its commitment to teaching, the liberal arts, the formation of values and community service. The establishment of the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies will bring the University’s total number of schools and colleges to six. Other academic divisions include the College of Arts and Sciences and the schools of Business Administration, Education, Law and Nursing and Health Sciences.

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About the University of San Diego

Strengthened by the Catholic intellectual tradition, we confront humanity’s challenges by fostering peace, working for justice and leading with love. With more than 8,000 students from 75 countries and 44 states, USD is the youngest independent institution on the U.S. News & World Report list of top 100 universities in the United States. USD’s eight academic divisions include the College of Arts and Sciences, the Knauss School of Business, the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering, the School of Law, the School of Leadership and Education Sciences, the Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science, the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, and the Division of Professional and Continuing Education. In 2021, USD was named a “Laudato Si’ University” by the Vatican with a seven-year commitment to address humanity’s urgent challenges by working together to take care of our common home.