[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 20]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 27733]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING THE TOP DOG ALUMNI

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GEORGE RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 18, 2007

  Mr. RADANOVICH. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate all of 
the Top Dog Award recipients from California State University, Fresno.
  The Top Dog Awards is a great tradition for CSU Fresno. It allows the 
University to honor alumni that continue to give back to the 
University. There are three award categories; Distinguished Alumnus 
Award, Outstanding Alumni Awards and the Arthur Safstrom Service Award.
  The Distinguished Alumnus Award is the highest honor given to an 
alumna of the University. The award is based on scholarship, leadership 
and service to CSU Fresno, the San Joaquin Valley and the State of 
California. It has been established to provide special recognition to 
an individual who has distinguished themselves through outstanding 
achievement during their post-collegiate career. The University 
President and the Alumni Association present the award.
  For 2007 the Distinguished Alumnus Award is being awarded to Larry 
Dickenson, class of 1965. Mr. Dickenson is Boeing Company's Commercial 
Airplanes Group Senior Vice President of Sales. He was raised in 
Bakersfield, California and graduated from CSU Fresno with a Bachelor's 
Degree in Business Administration. From there he has worked with 
McDonnell Douglas Corporation, Texas Air Corporation and began his 
career with Boeing in 1986 as the Vice President of Asia/Pacific for 
the Commercial Airplanes Group. Mr. Dickenson has won major contracts 
that have helped to assure the launch of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner 
passenger aircraft. He also helped Boeing consolidate sales of cargo 
jets in the Pacific Rim market and interest airlines in the company's 
more efficient new 747-8 jumbo jetliners. Mr. Dickenson was named as 
one of ``World Trade's 25 Most Influential U.S. Global Visionaries'' in 
the June 1997 issue of World Trade magazine, and was featured in 
Investor's Business Daily in the ``Leaders and Success'' column. With 
all of this success, Mr. Dickenson still finds the time to be active in 
service to CSU Fresno by serving on several boards, including the 
National Board of Visitors.
  The Outstanding Alumni Awards recognizes a CSU Fresno alumna for 
outstanding accomplishments in their field and to present such alumni 
to current CSU Fresno students as examples of exceptional achievement. 
The Alumni Association works in conjunction with the deans of CSU 
Fresno's eight schools/colleges, as well as the dean of student affairs 
and the athletic director to identify and select candidates for the 
awards.
  This year there are fourteen Outstanding Alumni Awards from the 
various schools, colleges and divisions. The honorees are:
  Rod Kraft (class of 1977) from the Athletics Department, football. 
Mr. Kraft is a family and sports medicine physician, practicing in 
Fresno. He has assisted CSU Fresno student-athletes for numerous years.
  Ernest A. Bedrosian (class of 1955), Krikor Y. Bedrosian (class of 
1957) and J. Kenneth Bedrosian (class of 1967) from the College of 
Agricultural Sciences and Technology. The brothers are partners and 
leaders in the raisin industry.
  John E. Horstmann (class of 1958) from the Craig School of Business. 
Mr. Horstmann is president of Horstmann Financial and Insurance 
Services in Fresno. He has been an agent of New York Life Insurance 
Company for almost 50 years.
  James Finley (class of 1974) from the Division of Graduate Studies. 
Mr. Finley works the U.S. Department of Defense as the deputy 
undersecretary for acquisition and technology.
  Larry Powell (class of 1971) from the Kremen School of Education and 
Human Development. Mr. Powell was elected to the Fresno County 
Superintendent of Schools is 2006 and has also served on numerous 
advisory boards for CSU Fresno.
  Charles ``Frank'' Markarian (class of 1962) from the College of 
Engineering. Mr. Markarian has worked in assessment and development of 
advanced technologies for air-launched weapons. He was awarded the U.S. 
Navy's highest award for civilian service.
  Dr. Bette Rusk Keltner (class of 1972 and 1974) from the College of 
Health and Human Services. Dr. Keltner is the Dean of the School of 
Nursing and Health Studies at Georgetown University.
  Dr. Marlene Dong Wong (class of 1969) from the Henry Madden Library. 
Dr. Wong is the Director of Crisis Counseling and Intervention Services 
for the Los Angeles Unified School District and is considered to be an 
expert on school safety programs.
  Dr. Joan Otomo-Corgel (class of 1972) from the College of Science and 
Mathematics. Dr. Otomo-Corgel is a former CSU trustee who is a dentist 
and a UCLA adjunct professor. She serves on the CSU Fresno National 
Board of Visitors.
  Steve Magarian (class of 1972 and 1974) from the College of Social 
Sciences. Mr. Magarian is a former Fresno County sheriff.
  Gerald Tahajian (class of 1963) from the Division of Student Affairs. 
Mr. Tahajian was a CSU Fresno student body president and is now a 
prominent lawyer.
  The third award, the Arthur Safstrom Service Award, is awarded to an 
alumna or friend of CSU Fresno who has given outstanding service to the 
Alumni Association and/or the University. This year the award is 
presented to Rosellen Kershaw (class of 1947), whose volunteer services 
and financial support has benefited numerous community organizations, 
including the University.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend and congratulate all of the 
Top Dog Award recipients for their individual contributions. I invite 
my colleagues to join me in wishing the honorees many years of 
continual success.

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