UC Santa Cruz Alumni, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA (2026)

10/17/2026

Introducing Not Much Has Changed, a new UCSC Alumni series where we look back through our university archives!

This week's theme is... A Look Into Town! From familiar landmarks to busy streets and everyday life, these photos from 1970 show just how much of Santa Cruz still feels familiar.

📸Image Descriptions:
1 - Film photo of car traffic on a busy street near the beach with text reading "UCSC Alumni Presents Not Much Has Changed" and "A Look Into Town".
2 - Film photo of the Pacific Garden Mall view between Cathcart Street and Soquel Avenue with labeling text reading "Pacific Garden Mall"
3 - Film photo of two girls sitting on the edge of a rock with surfers seen in the background in the water and labeling text reading "Surfers and Spectators"
4 - Film photo of the Holy Cross Church viewed from across the courtyard on Mission St with labeling text reading "Holy Cross Church"

10/15/2026

Our beautiful campus peaking through the Redwood Giants. Hidden away, almost like something out of a fairytale ✨

📸Image Description:
1 - Aerial shot of Baskin Engineering Classrooms and quad, banner seen on the side of a building reading, "BE Baskin Engineering"
2 - Back of Kresge Lecture Hall shot through trees
3 - Aerial shot of the back of Porter Market and dorm buildings with slight view of Porter quad

10/15/2026

Stephanie Barron Lu is a biliterate, multicultural, strong Latina woman warrior of Mexican, Guatemalan, and Chinese descent. She is a proud daughter of immigrants, an emerging leader, a young mother, and a first-generation college graduate. She graduated from UC Santa Cruz at the top of her class, Summa Cum Laude, earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Lu is best known in the Santa Cruz community for her work as the executive director of local social justice nonprofit Positive Discipline Community Resources, serving the Central Coast by bringing trauma-informed, mutually respectful parent and adult education across sectors of communities. Before taking on this role, she served as an administrative assistant at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History and co-led their research and Latinx engagement efforts with the Of/By/For All project, to identify barriers to access and participation of elite spaces. Barron Lu is passionate about using her God-given talents to serve her community and shine a light of hope, positivity, and possibility for her family, her partner of 17 years, and their 12-year-old son and four-year-old daughter.

The UCSC Alumni Association will host the Alumni Awards Celebration to honor this year's recipients on Friday, October 16 at 5:30-8:30 PM at the UCSC University Center. Tickets are $75 and support alumni programs. Event tickets include the award ceremony, an elegant small plates reception, open bar service, dessert selection, and complimentary parking.

Learn more about each of this year's esteemed recipients and the Alumni Awards Celebration event on the Alumni Awards website. https://alumni.ucsc.edu/events-programs/awards/

📸Image Description:
Portrait of Stephanie Barron Lu with text reading "Stephanie Barron Lu Kresge '18, Psychology" and "Outstanding Recent Alumni Award"

10/14/2026

Dr. Melinda Aldrich is an internationally known expert in lung cancer. Broadly, her research interests focus on lung cancer screening, risk prediction for early detection, the genetics of lung cancer, and assessment of lung cancer causes and outcomes. She is widely known for her research in the development and evaluation of risk prediction algorithms for lung cancer screening eligibility, with an emphasis on algorithm fairness. Notably, her work played a pivotal role in shaping key U.S. health policy guidelines for lung cancer screening eligibility issued by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). Dr. Aldrich has authored over 170 publications and has held numerous national and international leadership positions. Dr. Aldrich currently serves on the board of directors of the American Society of Human Genetics, as well as the steering committee of the American Cancer Society National Lung Cancer Roundtable.

The UCSC Alumni Association will host the Alumni Awards Celebration to honor this year's recipients on Friday, October 16 at 5:30-8:30 PM at the UCSC University Center. Tickets are $75 and support alumni programs. Event tickets include the award ceremony, an elegant small plates reception, open bar service, dessert selection, and complimentary parking.

Learn more about each of this year's esteemed recipients and the Alumni Awards Celebration event on the Alumni Awards website. https://alumni.ucsc.edu/events-programs/awards/

📸Image Description:
Portrait of Dr. Melinda Aldrich with text reading "Melinda C. Aldrich, PH.D., M.P.H. Stevenson '92, Biology" and "UCSC Ethos Award"

10/13/2026

Join fellow UCSC alumni for Welcome to the City, an annual series of events bringing recent grads together! This year, we're partnering with local breweries and cafés to host get-togethers across California.

Find your city and register at alumni.ucsc.edu/wttc

📸Image Description:
1 - WTTC logo with text reading "UC Santa Cruz Alumni", "Welcome To The City", and the registration link below.
Below the logo reads the different cities and venues, "Los Angeles Tuesday, Oct 20 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. All Season Brewing Company", "Sacramento Tuesday, Oct 27 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. Magpie Cafe", "San Diego Tuesday, Oct 27 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. Societe Brewing Company", "East Bay Oakland/Berkeley, Monday , Nov 02 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. Temescal Brewing", "Silicon Valley Monday, Nov 02 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. Barebottle Brewing Company, Santa Clara", "San Francisco Tuesday, Nov 03 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. Barebottle Brewing Company, Bernal Heights"

2 - WTTC logo with text reading "UC Santa Cruz Alumni", "Welcome To The City", and the registration link below.
More text below reading, "Welcome to the City is an annual series bringing together recent UC Santa Cruz graduates. This year, we’re partnering with local nonprofits to host volunteer days that make a difference. These events are designed with recent grads in mind, but all are welcome. Visit alumni.ucsc.edu/wttc to sign-up!"

10/13/2026

Dr. James (Jim) Hein earned his Ph.D. in Earth sciences from UC Santa Cruz in 1973 as the first Ph.D. graduate under Professor Gary Griggs. He went on to a distinguished 43-year career with the U.S. Geological Survey.

An internationally recognized oceanographer and geologist, Hein led major international research collaborations involving scientists from more than 30 countries. His pioneering work on ocean history and marine resources advanced understanding of Earth’s oceans and resulted in more than 350 scientific publications and over 22,500 citations.

Hein is a fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists and the Geological Society of America and received the Department of the Interior’s Distinguished Service Award, among many honors. A dedicated mentor and lifelong supporter of UC Santa Cruz, Jim has collaborated with faculty, advised graduate students, hired many UCSC students for temporary lab data analysis positions, and inspired generations of scientists through leadership, discovery, and service.

The UCSC Alumni Association will host the Alumni Awards Celebration to honor this year's recipients on Friday, October 16 at 5:30-8:30 PM at the UCSC University Center. Tickets are $75 and support alumni programs. Event tickets include the award ceremony, an elegant small plates reception, open bar service, dessert selection, and complimentary parking.

Learn more about each of this year's esteemed recipients and the Alumni Awards Celebration event on the Alumni Awards website. https://alumni.ucsc.edu/events-programs/awards/

📸Image Description:
Portrait of James R. Hein with text reading "James R. Hein Ph.D. '73, Earth Sciences" and "Distinguished Graduate Alumni Award"

10/10/2026

John Torigoe is an award-winning international news photojournalist whose distinguished 40-year career is defined by his frontline reporting on major global events. After beginning his career on California’s Central Coast covering early assignments—including the 1989 San Francisco earthquake, Operation Just Cause, and the Persian Gulf War—he went on to document conflict zones worldwide, including the Israel-Hamas war, the war in Ukraine, and the George Floyd protests. Operating in hostile environments, Torigoe has survived an abduction at gunpoint in Afghanistan, artillery strikes, and active gunfire.

Torigoe’s visual journalism, spanning war, humanitarian crises, and major investigative reporting, has earned multiple Emmy, Peabody, Alfred I. duPont-Columbia, and David Kaplan Awards. Beyond reporting, he mentors both master’s-level students through CNN Academy and high school students from underrepresented communities in London, where he lives with his wife of 24 years.

The UCSC Alumni Association will host the Alumni Awards Celebration to honor this year's recipients on Friday, October 16 at 5:30-8:30 PM at the UCSC University Center. Tickets are $75 and support alumni programs. Event tickets include the award ceremony, an elegant small plates reception, open bar service, dessert selection, and complimentary parking.

Learn more about each of this year's esteemed recipients and the Alumni Awards Celebration event on the Alumni Awards website. https://alumni.ucsc.edu/events-programs/awards/

📸Image Description:
Portrait of John Torigoe with text reading "John Shoji Torigoe Porter '86, Psychology" and "Alumni Achievement Award"

10/09/2026

Jim Gunderson studied philosophy at UC Santa Cruz in the mid-1970s, and then spent a year traveling in Asia and Europe, including a tour of the People’s Republic of China with the Fifth UCSC China Friendship delegation. He got his J.D. from UC Law San Francisco, briefly studied European law in Salzburg, then began his legal career in Amsterdam. He then worked at a Wall Street law firm before joining the legal department of Schlumberger, based in New York and then in Paris.

Gunderson has been doing pro bono work for arts and education organizations since he was in law school, including co-creating two company-funded foundations. After retiring and becoming a consultant, he taught governance while advising and serving on international boards. He partnered with Tony-winning producer Joan Stein to produce theater, and served on the boards of several theaters, the California Music Project, the UC Santa Cruz Foundation Board of Trustees, and a New York nightclub.

Today Gunderson acquires comics and original comic art for collections at UC Santa Cruz while supporting a new graphic novel publishing imprint, Deathray, led by acclaimed writer Iván Brandon.

The UCSC Alumni Association will host the Alumni Awards Celebration to honor this year's recipients on Friday, October 16 at 5:30-8:30 PM at the UCSC University Center. Tickets are $75 and support alumni programs. Event tickets include the award ceremony, an elegant small plates reception, open bar service, dessert selection, and complimentary parking.

Learn more about each of this year's esteemed recipients and the Alumni Awards Celebration event on the Alumni Awards website. https://alumni.ucsc.edu/events-programs/awards/

📸Image Description:
Portrait of Jim Gunderson with text reading "Jim Gunderson Rachel Carson '77, philosophy" and " Fiat Lux Award"

10/09/2026

Who else is excited for Autumn to be in full swing and make campus look like this again? 🍂🎃

📸Image Description:
1 - Campus bridge wet from rain covered in yellow and brown leaves
2 - Two students standing within the Kresge dorms quad with fallen leaves all around
3 - Forest trees with changing colored leaves and fog high in the air

10/08/2026

Peter Coha has spent his career figuring out how complex systems reach equilibrium—technical, natural, economic—and how to make them work better. Over 35 years as a software developer, automation/IT engineer, and project manager, he rose to principal engineer at Intel, where he led factory management and operations projects for semiconductor plants worldwide before retiring in 2013. In retirement, he built a water availability model for New Mexico’s Gila River that assessed a proposed diversion project—work that helped keep the Gila wild. A UC Santa Cruz alumnus, Coha serves on the UCSC Foundation and Dean’s councils, and supports multidisciplinary learning that bridges the sciences, engineering, arts, and humanities; hearing students and faculty describe their work is among the real pleasures of the role. He holds a B.A. in mathematics from UC Santa Cruz and lives in Corrales, New Mexico, with his wife, Vicki Nowark.

The UCSC Alumni Association will host the Alumni Awards Celebration to honor this year's recipients on Friday, October 16 at 5:30-8:30 PM at the UCSC University Center. Tickets are $75 and support alumni programs. Event tickets include the award ceremony, an elegant small plates reception, open bar service, dessert selection, and complimentary parking.

Learn more about each of this year's esteemed recipients and the Alumni Awards Celebration event on the Alumni Awards website. https://alumni.ucsc.edu/events-programs/awards/

📸Image Description:
Portrait of Peter Coha at sunset with text reading "Peter Coha Kresge '78, Mathematics" and " Fiat Lux Award"

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