JOHN MUIR HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
P.O. Box 93367, Pasadena, CA 91109
OFFICERS
Mark Levy
President
Chuck Malouf*
Vice President
Doug Kosobayashi
Chief Financial Officer
Lewis Peters
Secretary
BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
Carrie Bradford ‘56
Chuck Bradford ‘56
C. David Bradford ‘53
Neal Brockmeyer ‘56
Bobby Chanpong ‘96
Frankie Conner ‘68
Sam Estrada ‘71
Jim Hatch ‘69
Jill Hawkins ‘89
Jim Henderson ‘70
Karin Hubbard-Luster
85
Gerald Ito ‘65
Carina Jacob ‘85
Doug Kosobayashi ‘56
Cynthia Lake ‘71
Mark Levy ‘67
Chuck Malouf*
Ed Moses ‘56
Ko Nishimura ‘56
Tom Oldfield ‘67
Lewis Peters ‘63
Tracy Richards ‘89
Brian Russell ‘65
David Rutherford ‘79
Jack Setian ‘61
Pam Sheffield ‘67
Loren Shirar ‘52
Larry Tharp ‘61
Lou Underwood ‘53
Sterling Williams*
* Co-Chairs, Friends of
the Mustangs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 6, 2009
Contact: David Rutherford
(909) 979-7294
ERVINS HEADS LIST OF MUIR HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
An astronautical engineer, a former Rose Bowl MVP, a corporate
executive, a literary scholar and a multimedia artist head this year’s class of
inductees to the John Muir High School Hall of Fame.
The 22nd annual induction ceremony will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday,
April 22, 2009, at Rufus Mead Auditorium, 1905 Lincoln Ave., on the Muir
High campus in Pasadena. The newest members (and their category for
induction) are:
Col. Donald J. Alser, Class of 1950 (government service);
Ricky Ervins, Class of 1987 (sports);
Jeff Ettinger, Class of 1976 (business);
Barbara Mossberg, Ph.D., Class of 1966 (performing arts); and
Sylvia Martin Walker, Class of 1960 (visual arts);
Posthumously elected were:
Lewis Alexander Peters, Class of 1930 (community service); and
John Calmore, Class of 1963 (education).
The late Peters was the father of Muir High Hall of Fame recipient
Lewis Peters (Class of 1963), marking the first time the prestigious honor has
been bestowed on two generations of the same family.
-more-
“This year’s class of inductees was especially difficult to select because there
were so many deserving candidates,” said Mark Levy, President of the Alumni
Association, which runs the school’s hall of fame and alumni museum. “It speaks of the
tremendous success Muir has had over the years in producing outstanding members of
our society.”
Col. Alser made significant contributions to the United States missile and space
programs during his 32 years of military service in the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Air Force.
After graduating from Muir High in 1950, and Muir College in 1952, he was appointed to
the United States Naval Academy, where he lettered in football and track and field,
playing quarterback and setting conference and Academy records in the javelin. Upon
graduating in 1956, he was commissioned into the Air Force and assigned as Launch
Control Officer of the inaugural TM 76A missile squadron. He acquired a master’s
degree in astronautical engineering, continued his involvement with space launch
vehicles at the Air Force Rocket Lab at Edwards AFB, and was assigned to the Titan III
Systems Program as project officer for the development of Stage I and II rocket engines.
He also was assigned to the Secretary of Air Force Space Systems at the Pentagon, as
staff officer supporting the acquisition of National Space Intelligence Systems. For his
achievements, he was awarded the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, two Legion of
Merits, a Meritorious Service Medal and two Commendation Medals, for heroic action in
combat.
Ervins participated in football, baseball and track and field at Muir. As a running
back, he helped lead the Mustangs to California big-school Coastal Conference titles in
1985 and ’86, with a perfect 14-0 record his senior year. He is a member of the National
High School Football Hall of Fame and the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame, gaining 126 yards
for USC in the 1990 Trojan victory over Michigan. Ervins was drafted in 1991 by the
Washington Redskins of the National Football League, leading all NFC rookies with 4.7
yards per carry and became the first Muir grad to win a Super Bowl, gaining 72 yards on
13 carries to lead all rushers in Super Bowl XXVI vs. Buffalo.
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Muir Hall of Fame
April 6, 2009
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Ettinger is the ninth CEO in the history of Hormel Foods Corp. He is also the
president and chairman of the board for the Austin, Minn.-based company. He oversees
all functions and operations for the $5.75 billion multinational business. He began his
career with Hormel in 1989 as a corporate attorney and, in 1993, was named senior
attorney. In 1995, he became the Hormel chili product manager in the grocery products
division. He was named assistant treasurer in 1997 and was promoted to treasurer in
1998. The following year, Ettinger became Hormel Foods vice president and Jennie-O
Foods president. In 2001, following the acquisition of The Turkey Store Company, he
was appointed president and chief operating officer of Jennie-O Turkey Store. He was
named a Hormel Foods Group vice president later that year. In 2003, he assumed the
additional title of chief executive officer of Jennie-O Turkey Store. Ettinger was named
president and chief operating officer of Hormel Foods in 2004 and was elected chief
executive officer in 2005. He was elected chairman of the board for Hormel Foods in
November, 2006.
Mossberg, a professor at California State University, Monterey Bay, is president
emeritus of Goddard College (Vermont) and a senior scholar at the James MacGregor
Burns Academy of Leadership at the University of Maryland. She is also an activist and
educational leader who weaves between being a poet, lecturer, scholar, author, consultant
radio hostess and actress, in a career that spans college and university teaching, and
academic administration, community and national service and federal and international
appointments. She has won numerous teaching awards for her emphasis on promoting
creativity and expression for greater consciousness in how humanity treats one another
and the earth. She has received international acclaim for her work in American studies,
global studies and the role of arts and humanities in public policy, leadership studies,
interdisciplinary studies and environmental affairs. Mossberg’s connections to John Muir
go well beyond her high school days. According to the Sierra Club – the organization
founded by Muir – Mossberg mentions her formative years at Muir in many of her
presentations and how it was the foundation of her entire academic career and devotion to
John Muir’s ongoing environmental legacy.
-moreVoice mail: (626) 208-1351 ● Webpage: www.johnmuiralumni.org ● Email: communications@johnmuiralumni.org
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Muir Hall of Fame
April 6, 2009
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Walker is an internationally known artist, whose work is displayed throughout the
United States, including the principal’s office at Muir. A Pasadena native, Walker studied
at the California Institute of the Arts, earning a bachelor of fine arts degree. Her works
include freelance children’s fashion illustration for clients Simplicity and McCall’s
pattern companies. Other clients include Keystone Health Partners, the Coca Cola
Company National Adoption Center, Antioch Publishing and Woodtones Publishing
Group. She expanded her focus to illustrating numerous children’s books for publishers
Just Us Books, Dover Publications, Scholastic Harper Collins, Western Publishing,
Essence Golden Books, Highlights Magazine and Penguin Putnam Books. She uses a
variety of media to express herself, including watercolor, pencil, ink and acrylic on
canvas. Her work is in the art collections of the late Dave Thomas (founder of Wendy’s),
Ed McMahon, Maury Povich and Connie Chung.
Calmore, one of the first African-American graduates of Harvard Law School,
was a renowned attorney during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. He met and
advised many of the civil rights leaders of the time. Peters also was a civil rights activist,
a charter member of the Pasadena NAACP, a long-time clerk with the U.S. Postal Service
and a three-sport letterman at Pasadena Junior College (now Pasadena City College).
Formed in 1988, the John Muir High School Hall of Fame includes such notable
alumni as Jackie Robinson (1936), John Van De Kamp (1952), Darrell Evans (1965),
David Lee Roth (1972), Stacey Augmon (1988) and Inger Miller (1990).
This year’s ceremony coincides with the school’s open house festivities. Tours of
the Hall of Fame, Museum and Alumni Office will follow the program. Nominations are
accepted throughout the year and are reviewed by a selection panel consisting of two Hall
of Fame inductees, two students from the school’s leadership class, two teachers and a
school administrator. Forms can be downloaded from the organization’s website,
www.johnmuiralumni.org.
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Voice mail: (626) 208-1351 ● Webpage: www.johnmuiralumni.org ● Email: communications@johnmuiralumni.org
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Muir Hall of Fame
April 6, 2009
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Voice mail: (626) 208-1351 ● Webpage: www.johnmuiralumni.org ● Email: communications@johnmuiralumni.org
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