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
January Program Chair: Art Sutton
January 1 – No meeting due to the holiday.
January 8 – “The Keck Graduate Institute”
Speaker – Dr. Sheldon M. Schuster, President, Keck Graduate Institute
Dr. Schuster became the second president of Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) in 2003, succeeding founding president Henry “Hank” Riggs. At the time, the Institute had just one academic program and approximately 50 students. Under his leadership, KGI has shown tremendous growth, with 600 students enrolled in more than a dozen programs. With KGI’s entrepreneurial approach and industry connections, Schuster and the community of faculty and staff seek to provide pathways for students to become leaders within healthcare and the applied life sciences.
Dr. Schuster earned a BS in biochemistry from UC Davis and a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Arizona. After graduation, Schuster joined the Institute for Enzyme Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He transitioned to academia with professorships at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Florida, followed by administrative roles at UF in research and graduate education and Director of the Biotechnology Program.
Introduction: Tom Helliwell
Fellowship: Rich Phillips
Greeters: Pat Kelly, Art Parker
January 15 – “Claremont – Then and Now”
Speaker – John Neiuber, Past President, Claremont Heritage
Learn about Claremont’s very interesting history from a Past President of Claremont Heritage, John Neiuber. His presentation offers slides and commentary about events and people that have shaped the community today. He will discuss what makes Claremont unique, and the challenges to maintain into the future the sense of place and belonging we enjoy.
A 15-year resident of Claremont, John Neiuber writes the history column, “From the Files of Claremont Heritage,” for the Claremont-Courier and serves on Claremont’s Architectural Commission.
John is the CEO of Trinity Youth Services, an agency that serves 400 children and families through residential treatment services, mental health programs, foster care agency and adoption services. He has been a teacher, assistant principal, principal, and district office administrator in the public schools, and a management and leadership consultant to public agencies and private industry.
Introduction: Hal Durian
Fellowship: Pat Kelly
Greeter: Peter Boniface
January 22 – “Nuclear Power and the Future”
Speaker – Van Snyder, Jet Propulsion Lab
Climate change, climate conferences, and climate treaties are in the news. More and more we hear the warnings that time is running out and it is imperative that the problem must be solved now. Is nuclear power essential to the solution?
Van Snyder will propose that there is no alternative but the use of nuclear power, that an all-renewable energy system cannot work, and that the problems of safety, waste, price and weapons proliferation and uranium availability can all be overcome.
Van Snyder is a semi-retired JPL mathematician and software engineer with an abiding interest in nuclear power. He earned a BS in computer science and an MS in applied mathematics from West Coast University. He started work at JPL in 1967. His presentation is a result of extensive study and correspondence with experts.
Introduction: Joe Silva
Fellowship:
Greeter: Bob Knell
January 29 – “The Kellogg Horse Ranch and the Cal Poly Arabians”
Speaker – Alexis Adkins, Archivist for Special Collections, and Rob Strauss, Project Archivist, Cal Poly Pomona
During World War II, the ranch was taken over by the U.S. Army, which still had a small contingent of horses. After the war, the Army had no use for the ranch and it seemed destined to be abandoned. Through the efforts of Kellogg, the ranch was obtained by the State of California in 1949. The San Dimas Voorhis Campus of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo began transferring to the new site, eventually becoming Cal Poly Pomona and a home for the Arabians.
Today the horses reside at the W.K. Kellogg Horse Center and the breeding program supports the College of Agriculture curriculum. The horse shows are a monthly attraction.
Alexis Adkins joined the University Library as Archivist for Special Collection and Archives in 2016. She previously worked at the Getty Research Institute and Stanford University.
Rob Strauss is a project archivist, working on an 18-month grant project funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. He previously processed archival collections at the Center for American War Letters at Chapman University.
Introduction: Art Parker
Fellowship: Donna Bernard
Greeter: Anne Sonner
Birthdays: Dick Newton