Alumni Updates

Danny Recendez

Anthropology, 2002

Since graduating from HSU, Danny moved back to the Central Valley, where he grew up. He worked as an archaeology field tech and then decided to pursue a career in teaching. He has been teaching middle school since 2005. Danny still enjoys traveling back to Humboldt County for vacation and has family who live in Eureka. 

Robert A Nisbet

Forestry & Wildland Resources, 1965

Bob Nisbet built on the strong foundation provided in his Forest Management training at HSU to complete an MS in Ecology from San Diego State University in 1969 in Chaparral Ecology and a PhD in Physiological Desert Plant Ecology at Arizona State University in 1972. After many years of research in modeling forest growth under simulated global warming conditions at UC-Santa Barbara (UCSB), he entered the new developing field of Data Mining at AT&T in 1994, focusing on the use of machine learning algorithms to predict customer behavior actions in Telecommunications companies. He retired from Santa Barbara Bank & Trust in 2009 as an Assistant VP of Technical Services, and promptly became bored. He spent the next 10 years teaching Data Science subjects remotely to international students in the UC-Irvine Data Science Certificate Program (a professional certificate comparable to about a half of an MS program). He is retired (finally) in Goleta, CA, near UCSB. He is the coauthor of 3 books in Data Science for Academic Press.

Eileen Bostwick

Sociology, 1971

After graduating, Eileen had an interesting career path. Briefly, she was with the Humboldt County Office of Education, which led to a position as Director of Environment Services at General Hospital for almost 10 years. During that time, she started a family. 

Next, she joined Daly’s Department Store in Human Resources. Life changed, and she was hired by North Coast Opportunities in Ukiah to direct the Foster Grandparent Program in Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties. She expanded that service area to include Del Norte and northern Sonoma Counties and added a Senior Companion Program. 

Eileen served on a national board in Washington, DC, for 22 years and was responsible for changing legislation. She was offered a scholarship for a Master’s degree in Gerontology and graduated from the University of Indianapolis.  With the knowledge and experience I gained, she was able to enrich the quality of programming offered across the programs she directed. Currently, she's retired but stays active as a governing board member of our Area Agency on Aging, a Regional Advisor and Advisory Council member of her Community Foundation, and a volunteer with United Disaster Relief of Northern California. She appreciates Humboldt State University, especially Dr. Dennis Winters and Kathryn Corbett, for the excellent education she received. 
 

Stacy Bricco

Sociology, 2013

Stacy is a social worker for the county of Humboldt. 

Philip Ross DeMontigny

History, 1995

Philip attended Humboldt State University from 1992 to 1995, where he was a student athlete competing in cross-country and track. He currently serves as a Brigadier General in the Oregon National Guard, having recently completed a tour as Chief of Staff for NATO’s Kosovo Force (KFOR). In his civilian career, he is the Agency Risk and Emergency Manager for the Washington State Department of Enterprise Services, overseeing enterprise risk management, safety, and emergency preparedness for the state capital campus. He lives with his family in Olympia, Washington.

James Smith

Sociology, 1971

James just published a new book- American Insomniac: Reflections on the Future of a Dying Democracy.  A collection of articles and essays on freedom, democracy, and other issues facing America today. Available on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. 

Kathy Koester

Nursing, 1980

Kathy's maiden name was Jacobs. She recently retired as an RN after working 44 years. She enjoyed her four years at Humboldt State University. 

Debra (JB) Brayfindley

Elementary Education (Liberal Studies), 2011

Debra is a retired Special Ed teacher, but decided to work part-time as an adult school teacher teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) and Citizenship.

Haley Goetsch

Psychology, 1994

Haley is now working for Lutheran Community Services Northwest at two elementary schools.

Richard Caldwell

Music, 1969

Richard retired in 2015 after 20 years as a Navy musician, followed by 25 years of band instrument repair in the Seattle area. He made the trip to Humboldt in 2018 for the Marching Lumberjack band's 50-year celebration.