Candidate for
Governing Board Member; Whittier Union High School District

I was born, raised, and educated in the Boyle Heights section of East Los Angeles. I am a graduate of Roosevelt High School and East Los Angeles College (A.A.). Following graduation from ELAC, I entered the U.S. Army and served for 20 months in Heidelberg, Germany. Before going overseas, I married Connie, to whom I've now been wed for 50 years. Upon being discharged, I enrolled at UCLA and finished my last 2 years towards a B. S. Degree while working full time and commuting daily. I earned a scholarship to Cal Tech, where I studied molecular spectroscopy for 3 years. By this time, Connie and I had four children, Danny, Diane, David, and Darlene. I left Cal Tech before finishing my PhD thesis and joined the Xerox Pasadena Research Lab (EOS) in order to support my family. At EOS, I conducted fundamental laser research under NASA and Air Force contracts and was part of a team that helped Xerox adapt lasers to copying and printing technologies. In 1968, I moved my family to Whittier where my 4 children attended and graduated from South Whittier Middle School and Sierra High School.

My involvement in education began in 1972, when I served for a year as a corporate volunteer on a high school campus in Northeast Los Angeles. My duties involved being a schoolyard counselor, ombudsman, and resource person to the Science Department. In Whittier, I became involved in parent groups and belonged to the original supporters of the Expanded Horizons program. I was appointed to the South Whittier Board of Trustees in 1974 and was subsequently elected to three terms. During this period, I became very active in the affairs of the California School Boards Association. I served in every leadership role of that organization, representing the Whittier area schools on its Delegate Assembly, Board of Directors, and Executive Committee. In 1986, I was elected President of the association. As President, I was the principal spokesman for the state's 5,000 board members on educational issues. This involved contact with the media, the legislature and the Governor's office. The association also provides such services as board member training, educational conferences, superintendent searches, board/superintendent workshops, and legislative advocacy. I also retired from Xerox in 1986. In 1987, I was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Whittier Union High School District and served through 1991. I chose not to run for re-election at the end of that term, but have kept an active interest in the affairs of the school district since that time. In recent years, I have also been a part-time consultant to school district and state agencies, such as the Fiscal Management and Assistance Team, which intervenes in districts with fiscal and management problems.