Cal Poly Announces
New Leadership for Solano Campus and Cal Poly Maritime Academy
Cal Poly has appointed two new leaders to guide the future of the Cal Poly, Solano Campus and the Cal Poly Maritime Academy as part of its ongoing integration efforts.
Corey Cook has been named vice president and chief executive officer of Cal Poly, Solano Campus in Vallejo, and Rear Admiral (Retired) Eric C. Jones, USCG, has been named superintendent of the Cal Poly Maritime Academy. Cook and Jones were appointed to their new posts after a national search. Both roles are effective July 1.
Kennedy Library
Katherine O’Clair Appointed Interim Dean of Library Services
Katherine O’Clair has been appointed interim dean of Library Services, effective July 1. A member of the Kennedy Library faculty since 2009, she is currently associate dean for Academic Services. O’Clair brings more than 20 years of academic library experience and has served in several national professional organizations. She will serve through June 30, 2026, or until a permanent dean is appointed. A national search will begin soon. O'Clair succeeds Adriana Popescu, who served as dean of library services at Cal Poly for 10 years and is departing to become university librarian at Caltech.
Adapted Paddling Program
Celebrate 25th Anniversary with Ceremony, Kayaking Activities
Cal Poly’s Adapted Paddling Program celebrated its 25th anniversary Saturday and Sunday, May 24-25, as part of its weekend activities helping community members with disabilities with kayaking.
The program, launched in the 1999-2000 academic year, brings together Cal Poly faculty and students, community volunteers and local people living with disabilities to learn from each other, fostering invaluable bonds on life-affirming excursions. “This is a unique program to Cal Poly that’s really special and a testament to the longtime coordinators who have put so much into it,” said Darren Avrit, a Cal Poly faculty member in kinesiology and public health.
Digital Transformation Hub
Two AI Summer Camps for CSU and CCC Students
The Cal Poly Digital Transformation Hub (DxHub), powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), has announced two free, weeklong Artificial Intelligence (AI) summer camps on the Cal Poly campus this summer. The first camp is for 100 students from CSU campuses. The camp takes place July 27-Aug.1. All lodging, meals, and camp participation costs are covered. Over 850 CSU students have applied, and those selected for the camp will be notified by May 23. The second camp, running Aug. 3-7, is for 100 51Ƶ Community College students, and applications are being accepted until June 7.
Dolores Huerta Award for Transformational Leadership
Nailah DuBose Named First Student Winner
At the President’s Diversity Awards on May 22, fourth-year psychology and child development student Nailah DuBose was named the first student winner of the Dolores Huerta “Si Se Puede” Award for Transformational Leadership.
Nailah was recognized for her visionary leadership and expanding the notion of belonging and enhancing our campus community — with activities that include leading the Black Student Union, contributing to the return of Black Greek Life, and helping lead the effort to bring the Afrikan Black Coalition Conference to Cal Poly.
Mathematics Department
Jonathan Shapiro
Jonathan Shapiro joined the Cal Poly Mathematics Department in 1998 and has been a full professor since 2008.
He was instrumental in securing a grant for the department from the National Sciences Foundation to establish a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program, which ran for six years under his directorship and now thrives through the Frost Summer Undergraduate Research Program with students working directly with faculty research mentors.
Shapiro researched composition operators on spaces of analytic functions and published a dozen papers. He received the Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year Award from math students in 2018.
Join in on the Retirement Celebration
Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences
Please join the NRES department in celebrating the careers and contributions of Lisa Rice, Doug Aversano and Chris Dicus at their retirement celebration from 3-6 p.m. Tuesday, June 3, at the JUSTIN & J. LOHR Center for Wine and Viticulture (Building 156).
Lisa Rice
For more than 37 years, Lisa Rice has served the Cal Poly community with excellence. She retires this summer. Rice worked for 16 years in payroll before taking an administrative services coordinator position in the Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences Department, where she has served since 2003.
During her tenure, Rice positively impacted and enhanced the lives of thousands of students, as well as dozens of faculty and staff colleagues. She brought a positive, can-do attitude to her work and is a beloved colleague. In retirement, she plans to spend more time fishing, hiking and using her mad financial and spreadsheet skills to solve problems, while spending more time with her family, especially her granddaughter.
Doug Aversano
In the world of wildland firefighting in 51Ƶ, Doug Aversano is an absolute legend. After 32 years in the U.S. Forest Service, serving as an Interagency Hotshot Crew superintendent and supervisor for Santa Lucia Crew 7, he moved to the frontlines of a classroom, where he spent 17 years as a lecturer in the Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences Department.
The fire trucks you may have seen on the side of Highland Drive are one example of how he brought practical, hands-on training to hundreds of Cal Poly students. He will retire June 16 and live in Monterey County with his family.
Chris Dicus
If you like to light stuff on fire and figure out why and how it burns, then you’ve come to the right place! This is commonly how Professor Chris Dicus introduces himself to prospective students considering joining the Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences Department. Over the past 24 years, Dicus brought an enthusiastic approach to teaching and research that has impacted countless Cal Poly students.
He is a world-renowned researcher in fire ecology and is often invited by local and national media outlets to share his perspective on wildfire occurrence, especially within the wildland-urban interface (WUI), part of the built landscape that is at the forefront of risk of wildfires. He is retiring this summer and is moving to Hot Springs, Arkansas, back to the place where his love of family and fire began.
Kennedy Library
Temporary Locations Closing End of Spring Quarter
As we prepare to move back into the library this summer, we will close some temporary locations — including the H11 study structure, Crandall Gym and University Union study spaces — at the end of spring quarter.
The UU will return to its regular operations, and a limited number of classrooms will be available for summer study space. Hub24 will return to the library upon its opening.
Those who will be on campus over summer are encouraged to visit the Temporary Locations webpage to see what’s available. The newly transformed Kennedy Library is scheduled to reopen Sept. 15.
Cal Poly Partners
Board Meeting
The Cal Poly Partners Board meeting will be held at noon June 6 at Vista Grande (Building 112, Room 350). It is open to the public.
Written public comments must be submitted no later than Wednesday, June 4, via email to cppartners-admin@calpoly.edu. Anyone desiring to speak on any board item is asked to fill out a Board Appearance Request, submit the request 24 hours prior to the board meeting and arrive at 11:45 a.m.
The is for public viewing only. The agenda will be available five days in advance of the meeting. Questions? 805-756-1131.
University Honors Program
Celebrate the New Food Pantry Garden Bench
Join the University Honors Program from 4-5 pm. Friday, June 6, for the grand opening of the new Food Pantry Garden Bench, which resulted from an assignment in the University Honors Program’s orientation course in fall 2022. Students worked in interdisciplinary teams to dream up new community spaces of belonging on campus. One group's idea became a reality in collaboration with a team of students from the Architecture Department’s Cave Studio. The Food Pantry Garden Bench offers a place of connection for students, staff, and faculty to study, rest, meet or contemplate the beauty of the garden.
Cal Poly Soundings Presents
‘Music in Color’ with Longleash May 29-30
Cal Poly Soundings and guest ensemble Longleash will present a vivid world of new music and movement in two performances of “Music in Color” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, May 29-30, in the PAC Pavilion. Soundings brings together original compositions by music technology and composition students with dynamic choreography by dance students. The acclaimed Longleash — Pala Garcia, violin; John Popham, cello; and Mika Sasaki, piano — will collaborate with the students. Music Department faculty member Julie Herndon is the show’s director, and Theatre and Dance Department faculty member Diana Stanton is the dance director.
Music Department May 31 Concert
Cal Poly Arab Music Ensemble to Feature Syriac Songs
The Arab Music Ensemble’s spring concert will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 31, in Spanos Theatre. Highlights include a set of Syriac love songs from the Assyrian peoples of the Eastern Mediterranean, and the world premiere of “here & there” by ensemble director Ken Habib. He will perform the piece with guest artists (who will all play throughout the concert): Ishmael on qanun; Fathi Aljarrah on kamanja; Rafid Yalda on nay; and Faisal Zedan on riqq, daff, and darabukka. Dance director Jenna Mitchell will lead the dance troupe in original choreography.
Music Department June 1 Concert
Cal Poly Choirs to Present ‘The Sacred Veil’
Cal Poly’s four choirs will present “The Sacred Veil” concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 1, in the Performing Arts Center. Named for Eric Whitacre’s momentous work, the concert will focus on themes of struggle, hope and healing. Charles Anthony Silvestri, the author of the text and the subject of its deeply personal story, will be in attendance to introduce the work. Abbie Betinis’ “A Blessing of Cranes” about Sadako Sasaki, a Japanese girl who was near the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, will also be on the program, among several other works.