Incumbent Paul Fong and Bruce Swenson have been declared winners of the election to the Foothill-De Anza Board of Trustees. They will be sworn in to office at the board's Dec. 5 meeting.
At the Nov. 9 special meeting of the board of trustees, Laura Casas Frier was appointed to fill the remainder of late trustee Andrea Leiderman's term and was immediately sworn in by Chancellor Martha J. Kanter.
"It was heartening to have a field of excellent candidates, both on the ballot and for the appointment process, and it is a great pleasure to have Paul, Bruce and Laura in place--each dedicated to working on behalf of the students of Foothill-De Anza," said board president and outgoing trustee Sandy Hay, who did not run for re-election.
Fong was first elected to Foothill-De Anza's board in 1993 and has served on its Audit and Finance Committee and as the board's representative on the Foothill-De Anza Foundation Board of Directors. A political science instructor at Evergreen Valley College and a local business owner, he serves on the boards of the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) and the California Community College Trustees (CCCT), and has been active in the California Community Colleges Asian Pacific American Trustees Association and the California Community Colleges Latino Trustees Association. Locally, he serves on the boards of Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI) and Community Housing Developers (CHD).
Fong's community activities have included membership on the Child and Adolescent Health Commission; Mental Health Advisory Board; Private Industry Council; Human Development Advisory Planning Council, City of Sunnyvale; Chinese Community Center Board of Directors; Chinese American Citizens League; West Valley Chinese Language School; Leadership Sunnyvale; Asian American Parents Association; De Anza Bilingual Center; Northside Community Center; American Legion, Sunnyvale Post 344; and NAACP.
Fong holds a bachelor's degree in sociology and a master's degree in public administration and political science from San Jose State University, as well as a master's degree in education from San Francisco State University. He is a resident of Cupertino.
"I look forward to four more years of constant progress in providing quality academic programs, workforce training and retraining for the students of Foothill-De Anza," said Fong. "We must not be complacent, but must continually move forward in delivering the best possible education for our students."
A math instructor at Foothill College for more than two decades, Swenson subsequently served as dean of the Physical Science, Math and Engineering division, retiring as vice president of Instruction and Educational Resources. While at Foothill, he participated in four accreditation teams evaluating community colleges across the state and was active in a variety of committees and associations. He was the recipient of several awards from the college, including Administrator of the Year and the President's Award for Distinctive Contributions.
Since his retirement in 1999, Swenson has been a member of the Foothill Commission, one of the two college-specific auxiliary organizations of the Foothill-De Anza Foundation.
Swenson earned a doctorate in education from the University of California, Berkeley, a master's degree in math from the University of Wisconsin and a bachelor's degree in math from Stanford University. He lives in Palo Alto.
"Foothill and De Anza are terrific institutions, and I want to work to make them even better," Swenson said. "I'm excited to be on the board and look forward to working with the other trustees to find solutions to the challenges facing the district."
For the past year, Frier has volunteered as a legislative advocate for Foothill-De Anza and as a member of the district's Legislative Committee. She is a member of the Foothill-De Anza Foundation Board of Directors. She is also an active member of the Sixth District (Santa Clara County) PTA and was recently selected as community representative to the Mountain View High School Site Council.
Prior to moving to Los Altos, Frier co-founded a transitional home for domestic violence victims and their children and served for five years as chair of the Adelante Higher Education Conference, designed to encourage underrepresented high school girls to pursue higher education, among other activities. She has worked as a claims representative for an international commerical liability carrier.
Frier holds a law degree from Santa Clara University and a bachelor's degree in political science from California State University, Northridge. She attended the leadership institute sponsored by Hispanics Organized for Political Equality (HOPE).
"I'm honored to be appointed to the board," Frier said. "My top priority will always be the students, and I look forward to continuing my advocacy on behalf of the district. I want to be an ambassador to the community, showing that community colleges are indeed the engine of the economy."
|
