PSU Magazine Winter 2006

ALUM OTES Arezu Movahed PhD was named director of admissions and marketing at the French American lnLernational School in Portland in November. She has two children at the school. Movahed spent 13 years on the faculty at PSU, most recently as director of the Senior Adult Learning Center. She wil l con– tinue LO be an adjunct member of the University faculty. Martin "Marty" Snell MPA is manager of long-range planning for Clark County, Washington. Snell formerly was manager of the planning division for Camas, Washington. Deborah Sommer EdD, Canby school superintendenL, has been named Oregon's 2005-2006 Superintendent of the Year by her peers. The recognition for outstanding leadership comes from the Oregon Association of School Executives. She is now a contender for a National Super– inLendent of the Year award. Patricia "Pat" Squire MPA has been promoted Lo assistant vice president of alumni and con– stituenL relations at Portland State. Squire previously served as director of alumni relations for 17 years. James ''.Jim" Teeter MS is vice president of operations at Steridian Corporation, a manu– facturer of microdisplay devices for video projectors and rear projection televisions. Teeter was vice president of worldwide manufacturing for lnFocus Cor– poration. He lives in Portland. Elise Wagner is marketing manager for Gamblin Artists Colors in southeast Portland. She approached the company last year for help in manufactur– ing encaustic paints for kits she sells through An Media, and ended up with a job. Encaustic paints combine molten beeswax, dry pigment, and organic resin and are an ancient Egyptian medium. Wagner is also prepar– ing for a solo exhibit of her paintings at Portland's Buuers Gallery in March. '96 Brooke Drynan is an operations business analyst at Mentor Graphics Corporation in Wilsonville. Karen Golick-Gunderson MEd and her husband, Gary Gunder– son, live in Portland . Their twins, Alexandra and Daniel , were born in August. Akiko Ishii is a consultant with The World Bank Group in Washington , D.C. '97 Benjamin de Haan PhD directs the state strategy program at Seaule-based Casey Family Pro– grams, a foster care foundation. Phil Wright MA is the Pendle– ton news assistant with the East Oregonian newspaper. Wright covers community news and events, including local boards, councils, and commissions. '98 Justin Bates is a network plan– ner at Delta Air Lines in Atlanta, Georgia. Carol Christofero-Snider MS will reach a class titled Over 50: The World of Work at Clacka– mas Community College on February 17-18. She started teaching the class over a year ago as a two-hour seminar, but it became so popular that the college turned it into a two– credit class. Christofero-Snider also teaches Life and Career Options al the college. She lives in Lake Oswego. Angela Harris is the public policy advocate with Oregon Food Bank in Portland. Successful entrepreneur starts young D o work and education mix 7 They create perfect syn– ergy, if you're Paresh Patel '96, founder and president of Courtesy Vending, Portland's largest vending business. While Patel, 31, was getting straight A's at PSU and building his business in Southeast Portland, his classmates were scratching their heads and wondering what he knew that they didn't. Patel had discovered the magic of applied learning. He gathered principles learned in his human resources and general manage– ment courses and used them in hi s grow– ing company, which started with one vending machine when he was in high school. Today, he has 17 employees and more than 1,000 snack and drink machines. "When the company was not even walking, basically crawling, I was already putting business concepts into it," says Patel, who went on Lo earn an MBA from University of Wash– ington and was named 2005 Oregon Small Business Owner of the Year by the Oregon Small Business Administration. 32 PSU MAGAZINE WINTER 2006 Born in Vancouver, B.C., Patel grew up in Ponland'.s Parkrose neighborhood , not far from his new 18,876-square– foot warehouse. The family ran a small motel in the area, and at age 11 or 12, Patel was encouraged to keep accounts. Instead of saying, "You're too young for that," his father, Kishor Patel, encouraged him to learn the business as a child. "By the time I was 16, I already knew a lot about small business. " In return, Patel has helped his dad run the family motel, a more difficult task since a 1996 accident left the elder Patel a quadriplegic. "Paresh has high standards and a lot of integrity," says Lisa Huddleston, spe– cial assistan t LO the president at Cour– tesy Vending. "The bar is set pretty high , but once you understand that, its not hard LO make him happy." Says Patel of his education, which is ongoing, never– ending: "The more I know, the more I can learn. It's just one of those paradoxes, but it's true." -Holly Johnson