Skip to main content

Meet the Board

The UC San Diego Alumni Board of Directors was formed by a group of early graduates in 1974. Today, the Board includes alumni representing various industries, backgrounds and from five decades of graduating classes. Each member may serve unlimited, three-year terms and are selected based on their strengths, area of professional expertise, UC San Diego involvement and campus pride.

The Board serves as the primary advisors to UC San Diego’s Chief Alumni Officer, and together, oversees the strategic development of UC San Diego Alumni programs and initiatives that advance UC San Diego in communities around the world. The Board is also committed to raising scholarships for ambitious and motivated students.

Upcoming Board Meeting

May 3, 2024

Board Resources

UC San Diego Alumni Association Overview

The Association’s Board of Directors was formed by a group of UC San Diego alumni. The original bylaws were signed June 3, 1974, and the official date of incorporation was endorsed by and filed with the Secretary of State on October 17, 1977. Today, the Board includes alumni representing various industries, backgrounds and from five decades of graduating classes.

The Board serves as the primary advisors to UC San Diego Alumni leadership, and together, oversees the strategic development of UC San Diego Alumni programs and initiatives that advance the university in communities around the world. In past years, the primary philanthropic objective of the Board has been to raise scholarships for ambitious and motivated UC San Diego students.

Directors are responsible for the business affairs of the Association and oversee corporate powers exercised by, or under, their direction. Fiscally, the Board provides oversight in regards to income generated through donations, Triton magazine advertising and royalties, signature event attendance and Association managed investments.

Download Full Overview

Diversity Statement

The Board of Directors of the UC San Diego Alumni Association views diversity as embracing an inclusive culture that recognizes, respects and is sensitive to the differences of the various cultures represented by our students, alumni, staff and faculty.

University of California views diversity as “integral to the University’s achievement of excellence,” and therefore, renews its commitment to the full realization of its historic promise to recognize and nurture merit, talent, and achievement by supporting diversity and equal opportunity in its education, services, and administration, as well as research and creative activity.

UC San Diego Alumni Association Bylaws

Meet Our Board of Directors

Executive Committee

President
PING YEH, B.S. ’99, MS ’01 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Ping Yeh

Ping is CEO of StemoniX, a regenerative-precision medicine company that sells plates of stem-cell derived human tissue to pharmaceutical companies and research institutes to accelerate the discovery of new cures in areas of brain disease, heart disease and cancer. He served as president of the UC San Diego Twin Cities Alumni Group and also served on the all-UC committee on education policy. He was co-founder of the Student Foundation, president of the Triton Engineering Student Council and chair of the Triton Athlete’s Council. He received his bachelor of science and master’s degree in mechanical engineering at UC San Diego and an M.B.A from the Carlson School at the University of Minnesota. Ping has recently served as mentor to Mayo Clinic Ventures, where he supported the lean start-up teams for Mayo.

Vice President
MELODY GONZALES, BA ’02 COMMUNICATION

Melody Gonzales

Melody Gonzales is a creative, impact-oriented, bilingual professional with 20 years of experience strategically advancing innovative policy, public engagement, programmatic and process improvements in local to national organizations and small to complex, large institutions. She is a current Biden-Harris Administration appointee serving as Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Advancing Equity, Educational Excellence and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics. She is the Founder of Hope and Power Strategies, an executive leadership and career coaching business to bolster leaders’ capacity, resiliency, impact and ability to thrive.

Secretary
JANET FISHER, BA ’76 HISTORY

Janet Fisher

Janet “Jan” Fisher is a passionate and dedicated volunteer at UC San Diego. She’s been an active participant with the Los Angeles alumni chapter and the Black Alumni Council for many years. As a strong supporter of higher education, she has funded the William C. and Anita Fisher Scholarship to benefit Black students, and considers volunteering at UC San Diego an important facet of her life. Jan was recently honored with the 2020 True Triton Award.

Treasurer
TRISHA RASSATT, BS ’09 MANAGEMENT SCIENCE

Trisha Rassatt

Trisha is currently the Head of Small Business Acquisition for EMEA at PayPal based in London, UK. She specializes in FinTech and Innovation, having previously spent a number of years in marketing and analytics roles at Intuit in their California and UK offices. Trisha received a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Science with a minor in European Studies from UC San Diego's Eleanor Roosevelt College. She has most recently led the All-UC Alumni UK Leadership Board for two consecutive terms, including spearheading the annual charity gala for UC student scholarships, after having earlier served as one of the first presidents of the UCSD Alumni UK club.

Vice President for Alumni Engagement
HUI CAI, MBA ’07

Hui Cai

Dr. Hui Cai, UCSD Rady School of Management MBA ’07, joined WuXi AppTec in 2009 as Vice President of Business Development, and is currently Vice President and Head of Content Division. Prior to that, Dr. Cai spent 10 years at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development leading multiple drug discovery programs in the therapeutic areas of inflammation and autoimmune diseases. She is a co-author and co-inventor to over 50 scientific publications and issued or pending patents. Dr. Cai is a member of the UCSD Alumni Board, a Councilor of the American Chemical Society (ACS), a member of Bayhelix. In her past capacity, she served as a Commissioner at the City of San Diego Science and Technology Commission, Chair of SABPA, and President of SDCA. Dr. Cai received her BS and MS in Chemistry from Peking University, PhD from The Scripps Research Institute, and MBA from UCSD Rady School of Management as a DLA Piper – Athena Scholar.

Vice President for Alumni Engagement
SARAH MONTOYA, BA ’11 ECONOMICS

Sarah Montoya

Sarah is motivated by the value of financial education and sound financial planning. She has built her career around empowering business owners, corporate leaders, and families with unbiased, research-based, and independent advice that breaks down the barriers to understanding and developing their personal and/or corporate retirement plan financial strategies. She serves as the Chapter Head of The W Source – Beverly Hills Chapter, where she builds collaboration among women in male-dominated industries. entrepreneurship. Sarah is on the board of Determined to Succeed, whose mission is to provide the opportunity to underserved students to attend and graduate from college with the knowledge, life skills & tools needed to succeed. She is a Pi Beta Phi alumnus, a certified yoga instructor, and enjoys the great outdoors.

Vice President for Philanthropy
CHAU Q. LAI, BA ’97 ECONOMICS

Chau Lai

Chau Q. Lai, BA Economics, UC San Diego, 1997, is a CFP and Wealth Advisor at Pacific Advisors. She is well-known throughout San Diego as an innovative entrepreneur. In addition, she is a Charitable Planning Advisor, working with individuals and families to maximize their charitable giving. She’s deeply engaged with supporting First Generation college students serving as a mentor to students attending colleges throughout California. She’s a volunteer at Reality Changers, Girls on the Run of San Diego, and at the San Diego Rescue Mission, where she conducts financial literacy courses.

Vice President for Student Campus Engagement
KELLY DU, BS ’12 ECONOMICS

Kelly Du

Kelly studied abroad in 2010 at the Beijing Normal University and fluently speaks Chinese and Vietnamese. Kelly started her career as a Finance Intern with the Financial Analysis Office at UCSD. She has received two certifications from UCSD Extension programs in project management and data mining. In her spare time, Kelly volunteers at the Ronald McDonald House of Charities and Start Up San Diego. She is also the Co-President of the UCSD Alumni Club in San Diego.

Immediate Past President
KIMBERLEY PHILLIPS BOEHM, BA ’82 HISTORY

Kimberley Phillips Boehm

Kimberley is a writer who most recently had a long career as a university academic and administrator. Her academic career began at the College of William and Mary as tenured faculty in the Department of History and the American Studies Program. She then moved to college administration, first as the Founding Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Brooklyn College-CUNY, then as Provost and Dean of the Faculty at Mills College. Her research and scholarship has focused on the history and culture of African Americans and U.S. workers. She has authored numerous articles and award-winning books. She now serves on university and community boards. Kimberley received her bachelor of arts degree in history from UC San Diego’s Warren College and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Yale University.

Welcome Our Newest Alumni Board of Directors

CRAIG B. FURUTA, BA ’95 POLITICAL SCIENCE

Craig Furuta

A seasoned leader with over 20 years of experience directing large consulting teams with a focus on strategy and risk management. His current role is Senior Director of Operations for Schellman & Company, LLC in Washington, D.C. where he is recognized as a mentor to his staff and for being an advocate for inclusion and diversity.

LINDA TSENG-ONG, BS ’87 APPLIED SCIENCE, BIOENGINEERING (PREMED)

Linda Tseng-Ong

Linda earned her B.A. in bioengineering at the Jacobs School then went on to earn a medical degree from Loma Linda University. Today she is a pediatric neurologist on the faculties of UCLA and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Current Alumni Board of Directors

ERIKK ALDRIDGE, BA ’91

Erikk Aldridge

Prior to joining AEG, Erikk was the CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Venice and the Director of Community Relations at The Walt Disney Company, the LA Dodgers and the LA Lakers. He is actively involved in several LA non-profit organizations including Inner-City Arts and Dodgers RBI. He is also the Founder of Inglewood Baseball Fund, which works with youth to develop workforce opportunities through the sport of baseball.

ADÁN CHÁVEZ, BA ’18

Adan Chavez

Prior to his current role, Adán worked as Director of the National Census Program through the NALEO Educational Fund, consulted with the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, and organized for the non-profit Mi Familia Vota. His affiliations include the ACLU, California Democratic Party, Equality California’s Leadership Academy, The Hispanic Scholarship Fund, USC Price School of Public Policy and The Latino Community Foundation.

ANDREA YODER CLARK, MS ’17

Andrea Yoder Clark

Andrea is passionate about working with enthusiastic leaders to use data to drive success in the life sciences, biotech, technology, education, government, and non-profit industries. She is inspired by those who collaborate to drive business results and loves connecting with like-minded leaders.

GLORIA CORRAL, BA ’93

Gloria Corral

Before her current role Gloria worked for Preschool California as the Co-Director of Policy and Outreach and then worked for First 5 in San Francisco and San Diego as the Assistant Executive Director. Her entire career has been working in the education, nonprofit, and civic & social organization industries and includes work at the U.S. Department of Education, the House of Representatives and the Senate.

LAKSHYA DATTA, BS ’11

Lakshya Datta

Prior to Launchora, Lakshya was the Adjunct Lecturer of Finance at San Diego State University and the VP of Alumni Relations through the UCSD Financial Professionals Network. Lakshya has also worked at advisory firms around San Diego including TGG Capital and Objective Capital Partners. He remains a mentor at The Basement.

MARINA DEPIETRI, BA ’02

Marina Depietri

Marina graduated with a UCSD degree in political science and then went on to law school at USC. She has been practicing law in Santa Monica for 16 years and has a leadership role with Red Bull North America.

JIM KAPLAN, BS ’84

JIM KAPLAN

Over 37 years at Lockheed Martin. Jim is an experienced Director Of System Engineering skilled in Requirements Analysis, Technology Management, Navy, Strategic Partnerships, and Systems Engineering. Strong engineering professional with a Master of Science (MS) focused in System Architecture and Engineering from USC.

PJ LOURY, BS ’13

PJ Loury

PJ Co-founded the UCSD Engineering World of Health and graduated Magna Cum Laude. He was also a part of the Spring 2011 MAE 3 Robotics Competition where his team won first place. In 2014, PJ started his career as a Software Engineer and then spent three years at Uber as a Product Manager. He worked for Life360 as the Head of Product for two years before leading the Product Team at Helping Hands Community in San Francisco.

JUAN MIER, MBA ’11

Juan Mier

Juan Mier is a Portfolio Analyst on Lazard’s Commodities and Sustainable Agriculture team. Upon joining Lazard in 2012, Juan worked in Marketing and was responsible for the firm’s thought leadership efforts and later he worked in the Multi-Asset team focusing on portfolio analytics and communication. Prior to joining Lazard, Juan worked as a project analyst for Brandes Investment Partners, primarily responsible for white papers and research projects.

RAMON SEVA, BS ’84

Ramon Seva

Ramon is a highly experienced professional with 19 years of biotechnology, pharmaceutical, diagnostic and medical device industry commercialization experience. Over the past 10 years, Ramon has worked in a consulting capacity with clients on commercial strategy development for new products, strategic planning, forecasting, and due diligence for licensing. Prior to working in consulting, Ramon worked for two major biopharma companies: Amgen Inc. and Agouron Pharmaceuticals in the areas qualitative and quantitative marketing research, forecasting, strategic planning, and business development for both domestic and global markets.

SANDRA TIMMONS, BA ’81

Sandra Timmons

Ms. Timmons has worked as a producer/writer and video consultant for both corporate and educational clients. As a member of the KPBS-TV staff, she produced public affairs programs and was a location director for the Nightly Business Report.

As owner of Video Applications for Education and Training, Ms. Timmons produced videoconferences, documentaries and instructional videos, and developed interactive educational computer games and Internet products. With the California State University office of the Chancellor, she created dissemination programs for the National Science Foundation aimed at increasing participation of minorities and women in math and science; and increasing graduation rates of minority and economically challenged students.

Our sincerest gratitude to our board members who completed their terms of service

🔱 BRIAN B. BAUMGARTNER ’09
🔱 ELLEN CHEN ’95
🔱 BOSCO LUJán, MBA '12
🔱 MICHELLE D. MOLKO ’05
🔱 WAYNE W. RONG ’02
🔱 CARL J. TSANG ’05
🔱 DENISE S. WHISENHUNT ’90
🔱 ALONZO T. WHITE ’76 MD
🔱 JENNIFER WINWARD ’06, MA ’09, PHD ’14

Join the Board of Directors

The Nominations Committee of the UC San Diego Alumni Association accepts nominations to the Board of Directors annually. We invite you to complete an application today to join this valued campus support group that serves as the voice of all UC San Diego alumni and the keepers of nontradition.

Self-Nomination Form | General Nomination Form