Above: Students studying together in the Science & Engineering Library. (Photo by Carolyn Lagatutta)
Cowell College
’79 Will LICHTIG was named chief innovation officer for the Boldt Group, where he is responsible for developing systems that spur innovation and identifying opportunities for organizational growth and improvement. Lichtig most recently served as the Boldt Company’s chief of staff.
’93 Eric WOLF began position of Director of Collections at New York Society Library in March 2024.
Stevenson College
’71 Elaine ENARSON says she would be “happy to connect with any UCSC folks in the Denver area, where she retired after a wacky academic career as a feminist sociologist writing on gender justice in international disaster contexts. Who knew.” See also: ’70 Carl HERING (In Memoriam, below).
’77 Mitchell MARKS expresses “aloha” from the Big Island of Hawaii. He splits his time between being an organization change and development consultant and farming cacao, coffee, mango, and avocado.
’78 Buzz ANDERSON’s new book, A Jar of Water, is a collection of poems inspired by nature and living near the sea. Divided into three sections, A Jar of Water recalls moments of cherished friendships, exhilarating hijinks, heart-stopping grief, and the power of healing love. Overarching are the reverent observations of land, sea, and sky and the people who inhabit them, while haiku poems, sprinkled throughout, mimic the repetition of waves, offering cadence to the reading. Anderson grew up in the Monterey Bay area, where he and his wife, Jennie, still reside. Following his retirement, Buzz spent three years writing his first book. From that experience, he produced Five Hundred Moons, a historical novel that tells the tale of Spanish conquest in Alta California.
’96 Caryn SCHIFFMAN joined Foran Glennon’s Las Vegas office as an associate. Schiffman focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation and insurance coverage defense matters. Prior to joining the firm, she handled legal matters encompassing business and real estate disputes, personal injury cases, real estate–centric business law, and litigation involving the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act. She earned her J.D. from California Western School of Law in 2002.
Crown College
’21 Abby Maissoun HUSSEIN was selected as one of the 2024 Donald M. Payne International Development Fellows. Maissoun was one of the 30 chosen from over 800 applicants to receive the fellowship, which provides up to $104,000 toward her graduate school studies and a position in the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Foreign Service after she completes graduate school.
Merrill College
’01 Elizabeth GORDON’s new book, PLAY THE PART: Manifest Your Dream Life (& Self!) with These 5 Acting Techniques, is available on Amazon. The book uses acting techniques to walk “as if,” so you can create beyond your current circumstances. Writes Gordon, “It’s manifesting with a twist!”
Kresge College
’95 Joshua MILLICAN released his latest book, Teleportasm, on June 25. The book tells the story of four friends who unearth a unique VHS tape that, when viewed, causes short-distance teleportation with euphoric after-effects, inadvertently launching a perilous trend.
’97 James HANDELIN writes, “I’m proud to have earned my degree at UCSC. I went on to have a wonderful career in technology in Silicon Valley.”
Rachel Carson College
’10 Ryan D. FRISCIA was promoted to chief financial officer of NEON FILMS, winner of the last five Palme d’Or awards at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in France. Friscia resides in Oak Park, Calif., with his wife, Alice, and his two children, Jaxon and Dani.
Graduate Studies
’83 Douglas L. MURRAY (Ph.D., sociology) published We Can Change the World: Tales from a Generation’s Quest for Peace and Justice (Westview). A half-century, hemispheric sojourn from Santiago to Ottawa, We Can Change the World captures the passions and motivations of a generation of largely unknown but entirely unforgettable actors through the civil rights, anti-Vietnam War and Women’s Liberation movements; the Cuban and Nicaraguan revolutions; the Chilean coup; the Salvadoran civil war; the South Africa anti-apartheid campaign; the struggles for Indigenous cultural survival; human rights initiatives; and more. We Can Change the World is both homage and cautionary tale, bringing to life everyday people engaged in extraordinary acts, many noble and worthy of celebration, others tragically misguided. Read about Murray.
’04 Carissa CARTER (M.S., Earth sciences) published her second book, Assembling Tomorrow: A Guide to Designing a Thriving Future, in June. The book—a guide to why even the most well-intentioned innovations go haywire—highlights surprising ways we can change course to create a more positive future. Carter is the academic director and an adjunct professor at the Stanford d.school, where she teaches courses on the intersection of data and design, designing with emerging technologies, and design for climate change. Her previous book was The Secret Language of Maps: How to Tell Visual Stories with Data.
In Memoriam
’70 Carl HERING (Crown) died in December 2023 in Longmont, Colo., following disabling strokes during bypass surgery three years earlier. He became a Ph.D. gold exploration geologist whose work took him around the world. Carl and Elaine ENARSON (Stevenson ’71) had 53 years together, moving way too often but rearing two terrific sons along the way.
’89 Jasmine INDRA, neé Jennifer PERLA (Porter) passed away from metastatic breast cancer on November 1, 2023, exactly one month after her 57th birthday. She was an artist, dancer, healer, guitar player, jewelry maker, and champion of all things spiritual and connected to the Earth. After graduation, she attended art school in Paris; was married briefly; and lived in Sebastopol and Grass Valley, Calif., and most recently in Burnsville, N.C. She is survived by family members including her sister, fellow alumna Jill (PERLA) ZAMOYTA (Cowell ’90).
’93 Susan WOJCICKI (M.S., applied economics), a visionary tech executive and former CEO of YouTube, passed away August 9. Renowned for her leadership in the tech world, Wojcicki maintained a lifelong connection to UC Santa Cruz, which she credited with shaping her remarkable career.
’95 Amy Jordana ETTINGER (Merrill), a beloved Bay Area author and writing teacher, died March 20 at her home in Santa Cruz. She was 49. The cause of death was leiomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer. Ettinger received her master’s degree in journalism in Northwestern University in 1999 and worked as a daily news reporter for the Monterey Herald before becoming a freelance writer, contributing work to the New York Times, the Washington Post, New York Magazine, Salon, CNN, Newsweek, AARP, and many other high-profile publications. Her nonfiction book Sweet Spot: An Ice Cream Binge Across America was published by Penguin Random House in 2017. For the past seven years, Ettinger worked as a creative writing instructor at Stanford Continuing Studies, teaching essay writing and nonfiction book proposal writing, and helping her students get their work placed in national publications. Her final story for the Washington Post appeared in print on Tuesday, March 19, just one day before she died.