Feb 2020 Program Schedule

University Club programs are open to the public and are held Tuesdays in the Padua Room of the Hughes Community Center, 1700 Danbury Road, Claremont, California. Meetings start at 11:30 AM. The $20 meeting fee includes a buffet lunch. Membership applications are available at each meeting. Map to Hughes Community Center

February Program Chair: Tom Helliwell

Feb. 4 – “Solar Energy Conversion in Plants”

Speaker:  Bob Cave, Professor of Chemistry, Harvey Mudd College

Figuring out how to harvest energy from solar radiation is a critical challenge for humanity.  As the planet warms and population increases our best (only?) hope for sustainable existence requires that we master this technology. This talk will illustrate lessons we have learned from organisms ranging from bacteria to sequoias, all of which manage to harvest solar energy AND make food for us at the same time!
Professor Cave received a B.Sc. in Chemical Physics from Michigan State University and a Ph. D. in Chemistry from Caltech, where he was a National Science Foundation Fellow.  He has been a faculty member at Harvey Mudd College for 31 years, and has received research awards from the National Science Foundation and the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund. He was chosen as a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Scholar for 1994-1999. He has served in two different administrative roles at the college and was also a Program Officer at the National Science Foundation. He is well-known on and off campus as an outstanding lecturer who can explain his research to audiences with diverse backgrounds.

Introduction: Bob Knell
Fellowship: Marilyn Lubarsky
Greeter: Lori McGrath

Feb. 11 – “Stories”

Speaker:  Ron Evans, Master Storyteller

Among his many talents, our speaker today is indeed a master storyteller. As a special pre-Valentine’s day treat, be prepared for anything. There is no telling what stories he will tell on any occasion, whether about teenagers in a small sailboat sailing across the English Channel to rescue British soldiers stranded on the shores of Dunkirk, or experiences with a talking dog. When asked: “Is that story true?,” he has answered “It’s not whether the story is true – it’s whether there is truth in the story.” During the holiday season, every second year he recites Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” at Pilgrim Place to large crowds, and has presented at many other venues as well.

Ron has had a varied career, to say the least, as a rated sports official, steeplejack, fire fighter, and NPR commentator. His served with the YMCA in East Africa and Geneva, taught in New England prep schools and Yale University, and served as senior pastor at two congregations in New England. He was educated at Yale and Cambridge. This is a program you will not forget, because his stories often get to the heart of what it means to be human, told with humor and enlightenment. Bring friends!

Introduction: Tom Helliwell
Fellowship: Art Sutton
Greeters: Pat Kelly, Art Parker

Feb. 18 – “Dames in the Garden: Women Who Shaped California’s Landscape”

Speaker:  Peggy Perry, Professor Emeritus in Plant Science, Cal Poly Pomona

Women in California’s history have left a distinctive imprint on our gardens and our natural landscape. Set in the context of California’s remarkable climate and floral resources, Peggy Perry will share biographical sketches of several of these women, some of whom have influenced the town of Claremont while others have left their mark regionally and statewide.

Professor Perry received her undergraduate degree at UC Davis and her PhD at Claremont Graduate University. At Cal Poly she taught courses in garden and agricultural history as well as on California native plant materials. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, and is well-acquainted with plants in Claremont and throughout California.

Introduction: Tom Helliwell
Fellowship: Dwight Mitchell
Greeter: Peter Boniface

Feb. 25 – “Disaster Medical Assistance: World Trade Center, Katrina and Beyond”

Speaker: Susan Lominska, Family Nurse Practitioner

Our speaker today belongs to a Federal Disaster Medical Assistance Team. The goal of DMAT teams is to “provide the best of medical care in the worst of times.” Her team is on call 3 times a year, and she may also be asked to back up other teams across the country. She must be packed and ready to go when placed on alert, with personal gear suitable for austere conditions. If deployed the team is given 12 hours notice by the National Disaster Medical System, which is under the Health and Human Services Branch of the Federal Government. A partial list of disasters to which she been deployed include the World Trade Center, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Operation “Provide Refuge” to assist Kosovo refugees who were evacuated to the US, the Air Alaska Crash in Ventura, Hurricane Michael and the Camp Fire, all of which she will describe. She has also had the opportunity to do joint disaster training in the Ukraine.

Susan received a Masters Degree in Nursing as a Family Nurse Practitioner in 1988 from UCLA, and has had additional specialized training in disaster relief.

Introduction: Anne Sonner
Fellowship: Andy Winnick
Greeters: Bob Knell and Julia Arias

Birthdays: Jane Boyer