The 5th annual College of Business Administration and Public Policy Awards Luncheon at California State University, Dominguez Hills took place on Nov. 4 in the Loker Student Union. The college’s signature event raised approximately $40,000 toward scholarships and faculty research for CBAPP, with 360 students, faculty, alumni, and community business leaders in attendance.
Among those honored with the Dean’s Medallion Awards were Dale Wallis, vice president and chief financial officer and treasurer of The Aerospace Corporation; the Japan Business Association of Southern California (JBA), and Tammy Tumbling, CSU Dominguez Hills alumna and director of philanthropy and community involvement, Southern California Edison. Major sponsors of the event included Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., Dean’s Medallion Sponsor; Southern California Edison, Diamond Sponsor; and Schools Federal Credit Union, Platinum Sponsor.
W. Guy Fox, president and CEO, Guy Fox and Associates, Inc., helped establish the luncheon in 2007, along with former CBAPP dean Jim Strong. Fox’s opening remarks encapsulated one of the primary goals of the event: to connect students and faculty with business professionals for mentoring and other opportunities.
“It’s important for us to make sure that the students and professors understand what goes on outside [of campus],” he said.
Kaye Bragg, acting dean of CBAPP, underscored the importance of the event with its purpose in “building a new partnership.”
“This partnership reflects our past history, our current economic reality, and our future plans,” she said. “When I look at this audience, each of you is part of this partnership.”
Bragg also expressed her pride in CBAPP faculty and staff, saying that, “Each of these individuals is committed to developing academic programs that transform student dreams into career paths.”
President Mildred García thanked the assembled CBAPP Advisory Board, donors, and guests for their support of CSU Dominguez Hills by and for serving as role models for students.
“These students are an example of why you support our university – to help the next generation of South Bay leaders so that they have the resources to complete their dreams of a higher education and become our citizens, our global leaders; our intellectual engine of California.”
Twenty-six undergraduate and graduate students have received CBAPP scholarships, many of which have been given in memory of former CSU Dominguez faculty by their families, including the Bob Dowling Scholarship, named for the founding CBAPP faculty member; the Chiou-Hsiung “Bear” Chang Scholarship, in memory of the former accounting professor; and the Roger W. Berry Ph.D. Endowed Scholarship, given in memory of the former marketing professor.
Judy Bobo, a senior majoring in public administration/management, addressed the luncheon guests on behalf of the scholarship awardees. The first in her family of eight siblings to pursue a college degree, she is the recipient of the Gil and Shirley Smith Scholarship. Bobo thanked the former Carson mayor and his wife and the CSU Dominguez Hills community for the “opportunity to meet the challenges in a changing job market and develop transferable skills to compete in the 21st century.”
Marie Palladini, professor of public administration, described how the CBAPP Advisory Board has been instrumental in her successful transition from attorney and federal agent to college faculty through connections that supported her research and scholarly presentations at international conferences.
“I’m only one of the faculty who have benefitted from the support of this event by accomplishing scholarly goals of research and program development,” she said. “This support and the success of our students… continues to develop and establish Dominguez Hills’s place on the map as an outstanding institution of higher learning.”
President García, Dr. Bragg, and CBAPP Board members presented the three Dean’s Medallion Awards. Koichi Kinoshita, who is vice president and general manager of the Los Angeles branch of Mitsubishi International Corporation, accepted the Organization of the Year Award on behalf of JBA. He expressed his gratitude for the recognition and noted JBA’s stature as a creator of jobs in Southern California since 1961. He also invited the interest of students and graduates of CSU Dominguez Hills in Japanese-owned businesses as a career path.
“The most important thing is the human resource – not capital, not technology,” he said. “The human resource – employees – create the culture of a company and the brand image, which are the most basic and important thing in a company. So I hope the highly educated [graduates] of Cal State Dominguez Hills will have more interest in Japanese companies.”
Dale Wallis, vice president, CFO and treasurer, The Aerospace Corporation, was honored with the Executive of the Year Award. The longtime CBAPP Advisory Board member has provided internship programs with The Aerospace Corporation and having shared his expertise as a speaker in CBAPP courses, looks forward to becoming a lecturer at CSU Dominguez Hills.
Wallis addressed the students, saying he wished he had been more aware of the value of networking while in college himself. He also described Aerospace’s relationship with the university, and emphasized the value of their collaboration.
“We have a lot of the same values that the university has: education, STEM education especially, mentoring, and diversity,” he said.
Tammy Tumbling (Class of ’90, B.S., business administration; ’94, M.P.A.), director of philanthropy and community involvement at Southern California Edison, was honored with the Alumni of the Year Award. Tumbling, who among other projects at Edison, oversees the company’s Green Jobs Education Initiative, also encouraged students to get involved in extracurricular activities to enhance their education and future connections.
After recalling her days as an undergraduate and a young mother, and thanking her family, classmates, and professors for enabling her to reach her goals, Tumbling shared how her experiences in college translate today to her professional life.
“Commitment and the love that I have for my family transferred over to respect and commitment to the team that I lead today and the colleagues that I am surrounded by,” she said. “School pride transferred over as, ‘I am proud to be an employee of Southern California Edison.’”
The luncheon closed with a tribute to Fox, who retires from the CBAPP Advisory Board after seven years of outstanding service. Former dean Strong delivered a farewell message of thanks via video and Bragg presented Fox with gifts of appreciation.
“Guy is the type of individual who is always looking to improve the situation, always looking to improve the organization,” said Strong. “He’s been a great friend to the College of Business Administration and Public Policy, and he’s been a great friend to the university.”
