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Mehas named 'Distinguished Alumnus'

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By Tom Uribes

Dr. Peter Mehas, superintendent of the Fresno County Office of Education and a 1962 graduate of Fresno State, will be presented with the Distinguished Alumnus Award at the Top Dog Alumni Awards Gala on Nov. 8.

The Arthur Safstrom Service Award also will be presented to Thomas and Cynthia Downing, who were instrumental in developing the Downing Planetarium on campus.

And the 2002 Outstanding Alumni Award will be presented to 10 alumni, one from each of the academic schools/colleges, as well as the Division of Student Affairs and the Athletics Department.

Mehas, who was elected to his current job as Fresno County Superintendent of Schools in June 1990, earned his bachelor's degree from then-Fresno State College in 1962, his master's degree from UCLA in 1967 and his doctorate in education from the University of Southern California in 1979.

He was an All-American, All-Conference football center in college.

Mehas began his professional career as an instructor at Roosevelt High School in 1963. He taught at Edison High School before signing on with the Clovis Unified School District.

From 1984 to 1987, Mehas established and served as the legislative advocate in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., for the State Center Community College District, Fresno County and Modoc County Offices of Education and a consortium of 36 school districts throughout Central California.

In 1987, Mehas was appointed by Gov. George Deukmejian as his chief adviser on matters relating to all public education in the state, K-12, community colleges, the California State University and University of California systems, and private and independent schools and universities, as well as the director of the Governor's Office of Education Planning and Policy Committee.

In September 1991, President George H. Bush appointed Mehas to a 17-member advisory commission to implement his executive order on Latino education.

In 1990, Mehas was the recipient of the Fresno Public Education Fund's Gold Star Alumni Award, and in 1993 was the recipient of The New United Way's Annual George A. Osborne Award and the Rotary Paul Harris Fellowship.

Outstanding Alumni Awards 

Carl Fanucchi '64, farmer
College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology

Manny Fernandez '97, reporter,
The Washington Post
College of Arts and Humanities

Eric Armstrong McAfee '86
Co-Founder, Cagan McAfee
Capital Partners
Craig School of Business

Elizabeth S. Hansen '52, '68
Lecturer, Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction, California State University, Fresno
Kremen School of Education and Human Development

Rick Douglas Husband '90
Astronaut, NASA
College of Engineering and Computer Science

King Davis '64, '66
Professor and Robert Lee Sutherland Chair in Mental Health and Social Policy
University of Texas at Austin
College of Health and Human Services

Kent T. Yamaguchi, M.D. '68
Chief, Plastic Surgery, University Medical Center in Fresno
College of Science and Mathematics

Senator Jim Costa '74
California State Senate
College of Social Sciences

August Edmun Garrido Jr. '61
Head baseball coach,
University of Texas at Austin
Athletics

Edward Gabriel Aparicio '84
Judge, 92nd District Court, Texas
Division of Student Affairs

Back to University Journal, 11/05/02 Issue