News

70s

John Adams, Ph.D. ’75, is an author and steward of the last orange grove in Rialto, California. His most recent book, “The Haunted Rialto, California Orange Grove,” details supernatural encounters at Adams’ home on the grove over 30 years.

80s

Richard Alvarado ’83, founder and editor-in-chief of Órale Press Publishing, recently published an autobiography by fighter Lorenzo Rodriguez titled “LimaLama Warrior.” Alvarado serves as a board member for both the UCR Alumni Association and the Robert Presley Center of Crime & Justice Studies in the UCR School of Public Policy.

Gregory DeLozier ’82, ’85, has accepted a position as an associate professor of computer science at Kent State University. He specializes in software engineering and programming language research.

90s

Winona Howe, Ph.D. ’91, an author and emeritus professor of English at La Sierra University, has published “Sita and the Prince of Tigers,” a magical realism novel set in 19th-century central India in which the protagonist must decide whether her future lies with the familiar or the unknown.

Linhvien Tran ’94, has been named one of the “Top Women Wealth Advisors Best-in-State” by Forbes for the third year in a row. Her team Lui, Tran, Yates, Song & Associates was also part of Forbes’ “Best-in-State Wealth Management Teams” in 2023 and 2024.

Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra ’98, MS ’00, has been awarded the 2024 National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food & Agriculture Sciences for his pioneering studies on the evolutionary genetics of maize, a key crop for global food production. Ross-Ibarra is a professor of evolution and ecology at UC Davis.

00s

Margaret Lutz Chantung ’05, has accepted a position at Intesa Communications Group as the director of strategic communications. Prior to this role, Chantung was a chief communications officer at CSU San Marcos.

Orlando Espino ’06, has been promoted to commander at the Imperial County District Attorney’s Office in the Bureau of Investigation.

Jackie Filla, M.A. ’03, Ph.D. ’09, has recently been appointed as president and CEO of the Hotel Association of Los Angeles (HALA). Before joining HALA, Filla was a policy director for a city council office at Los Angeles City Hall.

10s

Whitney Ali ’11, has been recognized as one of the Most Influential People of African Descent, Law and Justice Edition. Ali is a proprietor and partner of the Law Offices of Zulu Ali & Associates, LLP, the largest Black-owned legal practice in the Inland Empire.

Kristan Lumague ’12, was recently named vice president of social media for back-to-back Women’s National Basketball Association champions the Las Vegas Aces.

Ali Cirik, Ph.D. ’14, technical director at Ofinno Technologies, has been granted 264 patents related to 5G technologies, many of which have been sold or licensed to other companies in the telecommunications industry.

Frank Figueroa ’14, is a recipient of the 2024 Steve Chase Community Legacy Award honoring community members who have helped fulfill DAP Health’s mission. Figueroa is a financial operations manager at UC Riverside and serves as a board member at DAP Health.

Warsame Hassan ’14, has been selected for the 2024 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Pathfinders Program. Hassan is an associate attorney at Littler, an employment and labor law practice.

Timothy Myers, M.S. ’17, Ph.D. ’21, and Kimberly Stephens, Ph.D. ’17, met at UCR in 2014 and were married in 2015. Stephens was later diagnosed with epilepsy following a car accident. Myers and Stephens are now both professors at Pace University in New York, where they’re researching and spreading awareness about epilepsy.

Manuel Zavala ’19, is the founder of Student Hires, an organization that partners with schools, nonprofits, and businesses to connect students with valuable job opportunities. Since its inception at UCR, Student Hires has earned and distributed over $500,000 to students from local colleges and universities.