November 3 - Dr. Judy Miner, President of  Foothill College ~ Topic TBA

Dr. Judy Miner is the sixth president of Foothill College.  The Foothill-De Anza Community College District enrolls more than 45,000 students each quarter, including 19,000 at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills. The district serves the communities of Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale and portions of San Jose. 

Dr. Miner is an outstanding administrator and an engaging individual with a long track record as a tireless advocate for students. She has traveled to Sacramento to fight for funding many times and has helped our district develop and improve a variety of innovative programs that help our students succeed. 

Dr. Miner is familiar with Foothill's culture and is committed to Foothill's values and traditions, and is passionate about Foothill's mission of excellence, innovation and opportunity.  She is well prepared to lead Foothill College to new levels of distinction, building upon its original mission and strong tradition of opportunity for all, particularly those from underrepresented populations, and to life-long learners in the community, offering them enriching experiences that have been a hallmark of the campus.  Her leadership style “is to draw on the collective 'wisdom of the institution' and tap into the vision of the individuals who make the campus what it is."

Miner was previously De Anza’s vice president of instruction and has held a variety of administrative positions at that college since 1988.  She served as acting president of De Anza for the 2003-04 academic year.  Miner worked closely with De Anza Chancellor, our own Martha Kanter, who describes her as a "collaborative and intellectual leader, a hard worker, a good listener, and someone who can work through difficult problems and treat people with respect."  Over her 18 years at De Anza, Dr. Miner led both academic affairs and student services programs.

Miner has a doctorate in Education from the University of San Francisco and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in History and French from Lone Mountain College in San Francisco,summa cum laude.

Miner, a native San Franciscan and the youngest of five children, is first in her family to attend college. Her father, a boiler maker, was born on Guam and her mother, who worked in the I. Magnin shipping department downtown, was born in Guadalajara. Although she has worked for more than 30 years in higher education administration, Miner entered college originally because she wanted to teach French at her high school. Since then she has studied six languages and developed conversational skills in seven others. Miner, who goes through a book a week during her commute, has donated nearly 1,500 books on tape to the campus library. She plans to continue this tradition of sharing literature at Foothill.

November 10 - Lee Hockstader - The Great Unmentionable: Immigration and the Next President - Lee will talk about how the issue of illegal immigration fell off the political map in the general election and why it is likely to come back to challenge the next president.

Hockstader was born and raised in New York City. He graduated from Brown University with a bachelor's degree. In 1982, he moved to London and worked at the Economist and then spent a year in Southeast Asia on a Henry Luce Scholarship. From 1984 to the present he has been with the Washington Post in a number of positions. He started as a Metro reporter in the Washington suburbs. Then became the bureau chief in Central America and the Caribbean (1989-92); a correspondent in Moscow covering the former Soviet Union (1993-97); the bureau chief in Rome (1997-98); and then the bureau chief in Jerusalem (1998-02).

On returning to the U.S. in 2002, Hockstader became a national correspondent based in Austin, Texas. Since 2004, he has been a member of the paper's editorial board and has been based in Washington, DC. He has been recognized numerous times for his work. In 1992, he was finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists. From 1992-1993, he was a visiting scholar studying Russian at Harvard University. And was a nominee for the Pulitzer Prize three times: in 1996 for foreign reporting in the Russian elections, in 2000 for foreign reporting of the Palestinian uprising, and in 2007 for his editorial work on immigration.

November 17 - Steve Player officiates- The Annual Big Game Exchange with Berkeley Rotary Club

November 24 - Dark - Happy Thanksgiving!

October 2008 Programs

October 6 –  Margo McAuliffe, Father Kiriti, Geoff Ziman, and Walt Hays -

Rotary

World Community Service

At the beginning of the year, there was talk about doing a hands-on project in Kenya, so we gave contributions to several local nonprofits that do good work there.  The one featured in the program will be "Building a Girls' School in Kenya."  The founder of that program, Margo McAuliffe, will talk about and show a few slides.  With her will be Father Kiriti, who runs the school and is here for a short visit.

Under the leadership of Geoff Ziman, the club has done a number of "Monsoon Water Conservation" projects in India.  A group from the club visited one of them a couple of years ago.  Geoff will review their many benefits and show a few slides.

In collaboration with the U.S. nonprofit Trees, Water & People, we have done several projects in Central America financing and building fuel-efficient stoves, which reduce deforestation, eliminate respiratory problems, and minimize greenhouse gases. Walt and Kay Hays and their granddaughter, Linnea, visited one in Honduras in June, and Linnea got to help build one.  Walt will show a few slides.  

October 13 - Rotary International Speaker ~ Mr. Frank S. C. Yih Chairman of the Board & Managing Director of Asionics Shanghai Ltd.

Mr. Frank Yih was born in 1934 in Shanghai, China. At the beginning of 1950s, Mr. Yih moved to Hong Kong. Thereafter, he graduated from London University, England in 1959 with a BS degree, and from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA in 1960 with a MSc degree, both in Chemical Engineering.

After graduation, Mr. Yih was employed by Fairchild Corp. in Mountain View, California, USA, as a Process Engineer. At the end of 1962, Fairchild USA assigned Mr. Yih to HK to set upFairchild Hong Kong Ltd. which was the very first semiconductor
company in Southeast Asia that specialized in intricate silicon type semiconductor assembly.

In 1964, Mr. Yih led Zau's family in establishing Microelectronics Ltd. in Hong Kong which was the first transistor manufacturer beginning from silicon wafers processing through diffusion and masking to the finish products. At that time, it was first in this part of world. In 1965, Mr. Yih joined General Micro Electronics called GMe in Silicon
Valley, California, USA, the first MOS IC house in the world.

In 1970, Mr. Yih left Taiwan to pursue his independent career dream in Singapore. He joined hands with Intersil Cupertino, California, USA and established Intersil Singapore (Pte) Ltd. as Managing Director. In 1973 Mr. Yih returned to Taiwan and founded the 100% self owned Asionics Taiwan Inc. & became the pioneer of Taiwan electronic watch
industry, and expanded into Manila, Philippines and established Asionics Philippines, Inc. in 1978, which was the beginning of the era of Asionics group of companies in Southeast Asia. Drawn by the desire to modernize China and to respond to the nation's open door policy, Mr. Yih returned to his roots, which is Shanghai, China in summer, 1992, and entered an agreement with ChangNing United Industrial Reconstruction Corp. Iocated at 1279, ZhongShan West Rd. to establish a new IC manufacturing joint
venture.

Mr. Yih and his family are American citizens and have a permanent home in Los Altos, California, near Silicon Valley USA about 40 miles south of San Francisco, 5 miles from Stanford University. He is the most experienced IC pioneer and electronics entrepreneur in this part of world. He has personally participated in the economic miracles of the 3 dynamic dragons in Southeast Asia, namely Hong Kong, Taiwan & Singapore. Mr. Yih is a firm believer that western investment and modern management are key factors in bringing up the standards of living and livelihood of people in this region and has committed his life and wealth to achieve this objective.

October 20 - Kevin Skelly, PhD ~ Topic will be announced

Kevin Skelly currently serves as the superintendent of the Palo Alto Unified School District, a post he began July 1, 2007.  He came to Palo Alto after serving as an associate superintendent of Learning Support Services for the Poway Unified School District, a district of 33,000 students in San Diego County.  Prior to Poway, Skelly served eleven years as the principal of Saratoga High School.  Skelly's background includes work with budgeting, benefits, compensation, policy, curriculum and instruction, standards and assessment, special education, and staff development.  He has been a presenter, author, coach, and Big Brother.  His passion for education and children began with his work after college with talented students from low-income neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., and shoe-shine boys in Quito, Ecuador.Skelly received his BA in Economics from Harvard and his Ph.D. in Education Management and Policy from UC, Berkeley.  He lives in Palo Alto with his wife.  They have four children; the three younger children attend PAUSD schools.

October 27 - Joe Simitian - The Latest in Laws: Who Thinks This Stuff Up

Joe Simitian was elected to the California State Senate in November 2004 to represent the 11th State Senate District, which includes portions of San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties. His public service over the years includes stints as a State Assemblymember, member of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, Mayor of Palo Alto and President of the Palo Alto School Board. He has also served as an election observer/supervisor in El Salvador and Bosnia, and participated in refugee relief and resettlement efforts in Albania and Kosovo.

In the Senate, Simitian chairs the Environmental Quality Committee and serves as a member of the following committees: Appropriations; Business, Professions and Economic Development; Education; Energy, Utilities and Communications; and Transportation and Housing.

Simitian received his Bachelor of Arts degree, with academic honors, from The Colorado College. He also holds a Master of Arts degree in International Policy Studies from Stanford University, a Master in City Planning degree from the University of California at Berkeley, and a Juris Doctor law degree from the University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall).

Raised in Palo Alto and a graduate of Palo Alto ("Paly") High, Simitian's roots are in the Midpeninsula. His community involvement includes service on the boards of local organizations such as American Leadership Forum - Silicon Valley, Adolescent Counseling Services and the Clara-Mateo Alliance, and he co-chairs the Silicon Valley Leadership Group's Housing Leadership Council.

Since serving in the Legislature, Simitian has been widely recognized for his commitment to service and the passion he brings to his job. He has received Legislator of the Year awards from a wide range of organizations, including the California School Boards Association, AeA (the American Electronics Association), the California Library Association and NOW (the National Organization for Women). He regularly receives "100%" environmental ratings from the California League of Conservation Voters, the Sierra Club and Vote the Coast.

The California Journal identified Simitian as among those at the "Top of the Class" during his first term in the Legislature. More recently, the Capitol Weekly identified Simitian as one of the half-dozen "Most Effective" members of the Legislature.

San Jose Magazine has repeatedly recognized him as one of the "Power 100 of Silicon Valley", and in 2003 Simitian was selected by Scientific American magazine as one of the "Scientific American 50" Leaders in Technology from around the world.

Simitian and his work have been quoted or noted in publications as diverse as the Atlantic Monthly, Conde Nast Traveller, Mother Jones, People Magazine, and Scientific American. His media appearances range from CNN to the "Dr. Phil Show", from CTV (Canadian Television) to ABC Radio National in Australia.

Simitian brings to his work a unique perspective and background - service at all levels of local government; hands-on experience in the private sector as a public schools attorney, businessman, and certified city planner; a breadth of international interests and experience; as well as professional education and training particularly applicable to his work in the Legislature.