1970s Alumni

1972 - Ken White

Ken White (B.A., history and English '72, Cred. '73) has two new books out, with more on the way. "12 Days of Central Valley Christmas," the second of a trilogy of children's Christmas books, and "Touchstones: Life and Times of Modesto," a nonfiction book about White's hometown, were both published in 2017. "Twas the Night Before Christmas … in Modesto" will be released in November 2018. White is also writing "Beautiful Day," set at UC Davis in 1969 and a sequel to his first novel, "Getaway Day." Follow him on Facebook. Listen to a Feb. 7 interview with White on Capitol Public Radio's “Insight with Beth Ruyak" about his play, "Migrant Mother."

1972 - James Barrall

James Barrall (B.A., philosophy, ’72) has been selected to receive the Cal Aggie Alumni Association's Distinguished Achievement Award. He was honored at the 43rd CAAA Awards Gala on Friday, Feb. 5, 2016, at the Presidio Golden Gate Club, along with seven other award winners. Barrall is one of the country's leading tax attorneys, with more than 30 years of experience specializing in employee benefits and executive compensation. In 2012 he created the Barrall Family Philosophy Scholarship, which was the UC Davis philosophy department’s first endowed fund. He is active on UCLA Law School’s board of advisers and works with the Inner City Law Center, a nonprofit that provides legal services to the underserved.

1972 - Ken DeCamp

Ken DeCamp (B.A., geography, ’72) had his first book published: "Wildflowers of the Trinity Alps including the Marble Mountain Wilderness," "Russian Wilderness," and "Trinity Divide."

1972 - Marvin Talso

A new book by Marvin Talso (B.A., history, ’72, and Cred., ’72) and his wife, Linda, "Redwood Valley," tells the story of their Mendocino County community through archival photographs.

1973 - Larry Keeton

Larry Keeton (B.A., political science, ’73) has retired after serving nearly a decade as director of the Kitsap County Department of Community Development in Port Orchard, Wash. Efforts overseen by Keeton to speed the county's review of permits for single-family homes earned his department awards from the National Association of Counties in 2013 and 2014. He told the Kitsap Sun newspaper that he plans to write military history mystery novels. Before before going into county administration, he spent 28 years in the Army, leaving as a colonel.

1974 - C. Matthew Snipp

C. Matthew Snipp (B.A., sociology, ’74), a sociology professor at Stanford University, was recently appointed by President Barack Obama as a trustee of the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, one of three of the nation's Congressionally chartered colleges. At Stanford, where he has worked since 1996, he is the Burnet C. and Mildred Finley Wohlford Professor of Humanities and Sciences and the director of the Institute for Research in the Social Sciences’ Secure Data Center. He also serves on the National Institute of Child Health and Development’s Population Science Subcommittee. In addition to his UC Davis degree, Snipp earned a doctorate in sociology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

1978 - Cara Anzilotti

Cara Anzilotti (B.A., history, ’78), an associate professor of history at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, wrote She-Devil in the City of Angels: Gender, Violence, and the Hattie Woolsteen Murder Case in Victorian Era Los Angeles (Praeger, 2016). Her book examines the public reaction to the arrest, trial and acquittal of a woman charged with the 1887 slaying of her married lover. 

1979 - Jerry Fletcher

Jerry Fletcher (M.A., economics, ’79), a professor of agricultural and resource economics at West Virginia University, died of cancer June 19 at his home in Morgantown, West Virginia. He taught at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, before joining West Virginia University in 1989. At WVU, he was founding director of the Natural Resource Analysis Center, past director of the Division of Resource Management and director of a federally funded U.S.–China Energy Center. Over his career, he served as principal or co-principal investigator on nearly $60 million in research grants, wrote hundreds of peer-reviewed articles and other papers and mentored dozens of students and young faculty from around the world. In addition to his economics master’s degree, he earned Ph.D. in agricultural economics at UC Davis and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Wyoming. Survivors include his wife, Marsha; four children; two grandchildren; and three siblings.