Distinguished Alumni Recipients

Sawar Young-Tripp

Received: 2024

‘99 Biology

Dr. Sawar Young-Tripp is a dedicated medical professional and a proud alumna of Cal Poly Humboldt.

The first person from the Yurok Tribe to become an MD, Dr. Young-Tripp has made significant strides in healthcare. Her commitment to her heritage and community is evident in her decision to return to Humboldt County to practice medicine, despite opportunities elsewhere. She currently serves as a family physician at the Open Door Arcata Community Health Center. She has previously worked for Tribal Health entities such as the Klamath Tribal Health Clinic in Chiloquin, Oregon, The Karuk Tribal Health Clinic in Orleans, California, and locally at United Indian Health Services Clinics in Weitchpec and Arcata.

While in her undergraduate studies at Cal Poly Humboldt, she worked as a lab tech in the Telonicher Marine Lab and was an active researcher in Professor Jacob Varkey’s genetics lab. After graduating from Humboldt, she worked for Humboldt County Public Health and United Indian Health Services as a health educator and consultant. By the time she entered medical school in 2001 at the University of Washington School of Medicine, she was already a mother of two young sons, and while she was in residency training at the Oregon Health and Sciences University, her daughter was born. While in medical training she served the Native American community and was recognized for her efforts through the University of Washington’s Angela Paez Leadership Award. Dr. Young-Tripp is an inspiration for working mothers everywhere.

At every clinic she has worked, Dr. Young-Tripp is responsible for the primary care of approximately 1,000 patients, offering her expertise and compassion to the community she holds dear. Known for her holistic approach to medicine, she emphasizes the biopsychosocial model of medicine and takes the time to understand and address the root causes of her patients' ailments. Dr. Young-Tripp's dedication to patient care and her relentless pursuit of evidence-based treatments have made her a beloved and respected figure in the community.

From her educational achievements at Cal Poly Humboldt to her impactful medical practice in Humboldt County, Dr. Young-Tripp’s journey is a testament to her unwavering commitment to her community and her pioneering spirit in the field of medicine.

Abby Abinanti

Received: 2020

'70 Journalism

Abby Abinanti (‘70, Journalism) is Chief Judge for the Yurok Tribe, where she is an enrolled member. Abinanti was the first Native American woman to pass the California bar and the first Native American woman in California to become a state judge. She also serves as a Court Commissioner for the City and County of San Francisco, a position she has held for 20 years. During her career, she has taught in law schools including University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University Law School, and has delivered lectures at numerous law schools. Additionally, she served as Chief Counsel to a number of tribes and has served by appointment in various tribal courts, including Hopi and Hoopa. 

Known as Judge Abby throughout Indian Country, Abinanti is one of a growing number of tribal judges nationwide incorporating traditional culture into their courtrooms, with the dual aim of rehabilitating individuals and providing justice to people often failed by the regular criminal-justice system. This approach is allowing tribal courts to help realign non-tribal courts as they seek to move away from a criminal justice approach, which has increasingly proven to be unjust.

View Judge Abby's Distinguished Alumni Speaker Series talk

Jason Ramos

Received: 2020

98, '14 Kinesiology

Jason Ramos (‘98, Kinesiology, ‘14 M.S. Kinesiology) serves as a tribal council member for Blue Lake Rancheria and chairman of the BLR Gaming Commission. Ramos works to advance tribal strategy, policy, programs, and investments in infrastructure and economic enterprise, and collaborates with tribes, federal, state, and local governments, and other agencies. His contributions have strengthened tribal sovereignty, improved education, accelerated climate action, and spurred economic development. 

Ramos also serves on the U.S. Department of Energy Indian Country Energy and Infrastructure Working Group, the Northern California Tribal Chairperson’s Association, the Tribal-State of California Regulators Association, and Blue Lake Education Foundation. His work for BLR has earned the following recognition: a 2019 “Green Power Leadership Award” from the Environmental Protection Agency; 2019 “Microgrids for Greater Good Award” from Microgrid Knowledge; 2018 “Project of the Year for DER Integration” from POWERGRID International and DistribuTECH; 2017 “Whole Community Preparedness Award” from FEMA; and the 2015-2016 “Climate Action Champion” from the White House and U.S. Department of Energy.

Ramos also has a deep commitment to Humboldt State. He currently serves on the President’s Native American Advisory Council, Sponsored Programs Foundation Board of Directors, and the new Masters of Business Administration Program Advisory Board. He previously served on the HSU Foundation Board of Directors, including a tenure as board chair, and the Alumni Association Board of Directors. He continues to support Kinesiology through The Jason M. Ramos Endowment for Kinesiology Research, which funds equipment and research for the Biomechanics and Human Performance labs on campus.

View Jason's Distinguished Alumni Speaker Series talk here. 

Corey Gray

Received: 2018

‘97 , Physics & Applied Mathematics

A member of the Siksika Nation (Northern Blackfoot) of Alberta, Corey Gray (‘97, Physics & Applied Mathematics) currently supervises the operator crew for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in Washington, where he’s worked since 1998. He was part of a team that directly detected gravitational waves from the collision of two black holes 1.3 billion light years away. The discovery, which supports Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2017.

As an HSU student he was an active member of the Indian Natural Resource Science & Engineering Program (INRSEP), American Indian Alliance, and HSU Student Drum. Through INRSEP, he made a deep connection with his heritage. “I really appreciated the opportunity to learn about my Native background,” Gray says.

His commitment to community continues today. Recognizing the need to recruit Native American youth into STEM fields, he serves as a positive role model for underrepresented youth. He also recruited his mother, Sharon Yellowfly, to translate LIGO press releases into the Blackfoot language. He is an active member of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, and the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics, and Native Americans in Science.

Heather Hostler

Received: 2016

'12 , Native American Studies

Chief Deputy, Calif. Office of the Tribal Advisor

As the Chief Deputy Tribal Advisor to Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown, Heather Hostler is motivated to improve the Native American communities throughout the state. In her role in Sacramento, Heather works with state agencies and tribal governments to strengthen communication and collaboration. Her work includes reviewing legislation, consulting on policy development, coordinating drought responses on tribal lands, and much more.

Heather has long been involved in leadership, serving as the president of the Indian Tribal & Educational Personnel Program at HSU and working with the Humboldt Area Foundation as a program director developing scholarship funds to send Native students to college. Heather is also a member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe.

Shaunna McCovey

Received: 2010

'96 Social Work

With degrees in law and social work, a love for the natural environment and a commitment to her Yurok Tribe, Shaunna Oteka McCovey has no shortage of work.

McCovey grew up on the Yurok reservation outside Weitchpec without electricity or even telephones. So she busied herself with books.

On coming of age, she was "isolated and kind of floundering," but says, "I knew there was this big world out there and I wanted to be part of it." Then she attended Humboldt State's 1992 Commencement and saw her father graduate with his degree in social work.

"I said, 'This is what I want to do and this is where I want to go,'" McCovey remembers.

Four years later, she graduated from HSU with a bachelor's degree in social work, later earning a master's degree in social work from Arizona State.

McCovey put herself through school by working at Arcata's Seventh Generation Fund, an Indian advocacy organization. That experience helped solidify her environmental values. "I was able to understand how environmental justice impacted minority communities," she says.

She earned a master's degree in environmental law, then eagerly accepted a First Nations Environmental Law Fellowship at Vermont Law School, later graduating with a law degree.

Returning to Humboldt, McCovey taught and helped the HSU social work department develop a masters program for work in rural and native communities.

But the needs of her people beckoned, so McCovey went to work as staff attorney for the Yurok Tribe, California's largest Indian Tribe with nearly 5,000 enrolled members. In that role, she assisted with issues like the Klamath Dam removal. Now, as deputy executive director and self-governance officer, she's working to ensure that the Marine Life Protection Act respects the Native American way of life.

McCovey celebrates native culture in literature as well. A published author, her book of poetry is titled The Smokehouse Boys, and she contributed to Eating Fire, Tasting Blood: An Anthology of the American Indian Holocaust.

McCovey says that, over the years, she has enjoyed tremendous support from HSU faculty members acting as mentors.

"I'm very proud to have gone to Humboldt State, and of going back to teach there," she says. "I had a great experience."

Eric Ramos

Received: 2006

'96 Business Administration

Eric Ramos is currently President of Business Operations for the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe. Eric develops and manages the Tribe's diverse business interests, including the Blue Lake Casino - a 45,000 square foot gaming facility located in Blue Lake, California. He earned his B.S. in Business Administration, with an emphasis in Accounting and a Minor in Computer Information Systems at Humboldt State University in 1996.

Prior to working on Tribal interests full time, Eric held the position of Treasury Manager at Turnstone Systems, a large post-IPO start-up company, where he actively managed a cash and investment portfolio in excess of $270 million. His duties included international investments and management of transactions in dozens of foreign currencies. Before Turnstone, Eric was an auditor for KPMG in the Silicon Valley; where his client list included a number of high-profile public and private companies including Adobe Systems, Apple Computer and Daimler Chrysler Research & Development.

Eric has worked to channel the success of the Blue Lake Rancheria's business operations into widespread community involvement and investment. Most notably he has steered the Tribe's giving budgets into areas of education, community infrastructure improvements and public health and safety services.

Eric also represents Blue Lake Rancheria as their Tribal delegate in CNIGA - the California Nations Indian Gaming Association, where he works with other Tribes across California on legal, operational and planning issues affecting Indian Country.

2003

Loren Bommelyn, '80

2000

Suzanne Burcell, '78 & '79