Outstanding Alumni

Investors love him. Employees love him. Education proponents love him. Even the press fawns over him. The only folks who seem the slightest bit unhappy with the CEO and co-founder of Costco is the occasional Wall Street analyst.

The New York Times wrote in a July article, "One analyst, Bill Dreher of Deutsche Bank, complained last year that at Costco 'it's better to be an employee or a customer than a shareholder.'"

While that hasn't proven to be the case – in the last twelve months the price of Costco's shares has risen from $39 to $56 – Dreher's comment does show what a reputation Costco has for treating its employees well.

It is all part of a plan. "We pay good wages because that enables us to hire good people," Sinegal said. "You want to get great employees and get them to stay with you."

Sinegal is not overly concerned with Wall Street pundits because he is investing in the future. "We're not here with an exit strategy." Long-range planning includes bolstering the areas around Costco's 470 membership warehouse stores in the United States and abroad. "Even people who don't shop at Costco benefit from us being in the community," he said. That is, in part, because his stores drive prices down throughout the area.

Stockholders seem to agree with the man and his ideas. One, when told that Sinegal answers his own phone and makes his own appointments said, "That's why I own stock in the company." Perhaps it is such attitudes that led Dreher to call Costco a cult stock.

Sinegal got his start in discount retail while a student at San Diego City College in California. A one day gig unloading mattresses led to a full time job at a large discount retail chain, Fed-Mart. Eventually he worked his way up to the executive ranks as the chain's founder's protégé.

He has good memories of the school. "It was a great school. I think perhaps the best teacher I've ever had was at San Diego Junior College," he said.

Costco often recruits on community college campuses. Why? "Because so many of us started that way," Sinegal said. And many of them stay and grow with the company. "We foster development of people," Sinegal said. "One of the things that we are proudest of is that we have been able to assemble and develop a team capable of running a $50 billion company."

Part of that fostering is supporting education. The Costco Scholarship fund gives millions to students every year, and Sinegal is involved in many nonprofit academic ventures. He serves on the national board for United Negro College Fund and on the board for a small Seattle preparatory school for underachieving kids. He has served on the Board of Trustees of Seattle University and on the Washington Governor's Commission on Early Learning. The list goes on, as does Sinegal's ambition for his company and its employees and customers.

An accomplished educator, author, and motivational speaker, a conversation with Duarte is like a visit to two or three sections of a bookstore all at once. Duarte began writing because her father told her to – in a dream. She prays before she makes major decisions, as she considers the invisible world of faith, more powerful than the visible one.

Her first book is a collection of short stories entitled Fragile Night, which was a finalist for the prestigious Pen West Fiction Award. A "fragile night" Duarte said, "is a moment of truth when the soul catches up to a person, and the person doesn't run." She describes it as an 'aha' moment, and in Spanish, an 'ijuela.'

Her own fragile night included a dream visit from her father. "My dad had to show up from the other world, literally, to tell me, 'it's right there, what you have to do next,'" Duarte said about her writing career.

So, despite the skepticism of her family, she began to write. Her second book, Let Their Spirits Dance, published in 2002 by HarperCollins, has won critical acclaim, internationally. It tells the story of the Ramirez family, whose mother makes a vow to honor the memory of her son, killed in the Vietnam War. The mother inspires her family to journey with her to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, thus opening the way for healing, redemption, and the realization that love does not stop at the grave.

Duarte has received two creative writing fellowships – for each of her published books – from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, and numerous awards and other recognition, including a nomination for the Pushcart Prize in Literature.

A graduate of Phoenix College in Arizona, Duarte went on to earn a master's in educational counseling from Arizona State University. She is a state certified counselor, a bilingual educator and an adjunct faculty member at two universities.

Her path toward success was difficult. Raised in a barrio in South Phoenix, Duarte had few role models to inspire her in her pursuit of a college degree. She attributes her success in school to her love of reading, "I loved to read. Literature opened up new worlds for me. Words danced inside my head like magical friends."

She was introverted and shy, but "I had this huge world inside me. I was a writer, but I didn't know it."

Today, she encourages people to discover what is inside of them, to tend to "internal business." She gives presentations in which she tells people "to look within to discover who they are," Duarte said. "If you understand the language of your own soul, it doesn't matter what other language you speak – you will know who you are." Her writing is a further attempt to serve society. In it, she tends to feature familiar scenes and characters from her barrio, and thus humble people "have a voice they never had before," Duarte said.

Currently, Duarte is finishing up her third book. The Women of Juarez, a historical novel that tells the story of the more than 400 young women who have been murdered in Juarez, Mexico since 1993.

Duarte is a community activist and an active Phoenix College alum. She is planning a fourth book, and is busy year-round, presenting inspirational messages to enthusiastic audiences of all ages.

In 2001 Dr. Hartwell won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his discovery of several genes that control cell division. His research and findings provide important clues to understanding cancer, which is caused by abnormal, uncontrolled cell growth.

The discovery was the result of persistent research by a meticulous scientist who began his higher education at Glendale Community College in California.

A mediocre high school student, Dr. Hartwell found just what he needed at Glendale. "There I was very fortunate; I got some good teachers in physics and math, and I got a good counselor."

That counselor pushed him to transfer to the California Institute of Technology where he was surrounded by science and where his interests took off.

Before winning the Nobel, Dr. Hartwell decided to change course a bit and to focus on the applications of his research. "I became more interested in medicine and human disease," Dr. Hartwell said. As such, in 1997 he became the president and director of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. "Since then my mind has been much taken with the question of 'why aren't we making more improvement in the lives of patients with cancer?'" he said.

There he works with international groups and researchers on improving molecular diagnostics. The ultimate goal is to catch cancer very early.

He believes that being able to measure the quantities of thousands of proteins in the blood would yield very detailed information about the state of a person's health. At present scientists know of only a few hundred. "The problem is that we don't know how to read those proteins, we don't know how to find them, and we don't know how to correlate them with human disease," Dr. Hartwell said. The center organizes an international effort to help find those diagnostic markers. "I think we're making progress," he said.

Dr. Hartwell's experience in working with students was very different from his classroom experience at Glendale. He had teachers who singled him out and encouraged him. His experience as a teacher has been in the laboratory, where he encourages students to have their own interests and to share ideas with him. "I'm purely a mentor. I might ask the big question, but they have to dig in and find out about it," he said.

Some students don't like it. Others love it. The simple truth is that Dr. Hartwell becomes absorbed by questions and their answers. "I'm just obsessed with whatever I'm obsessed with. I'm interested in getting answers to a question," he said. "That's the only thing that motivates me."

"I still truly am amazed and pinch myself that I am where I am right now. It's still a dream come true," Kelly said.

The youngest of six children, Kelly began working in her father's steel factory in Detroit at the age of 12. At 14 she started running machines and cutting steel. Perhaps predictably, she detested the work. "I was there, 14 years old, running machines, covered with oil and had dirty hands and broken nails," she said.

Despite the dislike, that factory is where she learned about business and developed her work ethic, and those years prompted her to dream about doing something different. A little research and some convincing by her family landed Kelly at Oakland.

"It gave me that stepping stone," Kelly said. "I thought that was my final destination." But she'd caught the education bug and went on to earn a bachelor's degree from Walsh College.

Five years after graduation, she began her career at RE/MAX. By 1999 she was senior vice president of external operations. It was then that she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Kelly took six weeks off to recover from two surgeries related to the cancer.

Eighteen months later, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer and took a six-month leave of absence to recover and to regain her strength. The staff and owners of RE/MAX were an integral part of her support system, taking over her responsibilities, visiting her regularly and cooking meals for her family, Kelly said.

"I was very humbled when I came back, and so many people said that they missed the energy that I bring to the company," she said.

That energy is one of the reasons that the company decided to make Kelly the first president who was not also one of the founders.

Kelly wasn't as certain as the four founders were that she should take on the job, so she had to decide what she wanted to bring to the company. "Here are these four people who have been around forever … I can't be them. I need to be who I am, and I tried to add my touch," which Kelly said is her ability to connect with the other employees.

Apparently, her openness has made a huge difference. She once received an anonymous suicide note. Some sleuthing and open communication helped her find the employee who wrote it and offer some help. She has brought experts in to the office talk about domestic violence, rape and other women's issues.

On the lighter side, she arranged cosmetic makeovers in the predominantly female office. "I can't tell you what a difference it's made," Kelly said. "You like to think that you make a difference, it's just nice to hear that you do."

In the fall of 1966, Christopher became one of CCAA's first students. "The college was so new we actually had class in a local high school after the high school kids went home, so all the classes were evening classes," said Christopher, who credits CCAA for making him get his act together. "My experience helped me get my feet on the ground–to understand the importance of setting goals and the discipline it takes to do something well."

The CCAA also rechanneled Christopher out of the pre-med course he embarked upon at Penn and into the business curriculum that eventually led him in his present position as president of the Follett Higher Education Group, the largest operator of college and university bookstores.

In fact, he had retail in his blood. "I've always worked since I was a little kid," said Christopher. "I had a paper route, and I stocked the shelves in parents' corner grocery store. When I was at CCAA I worked part-time at Joseph Horn, a Pittsburgh department store. I had a lot of retail jobs growing up, so I guess some of it rubbed off on me."

After obtaining a B.B.A. in economics at Kent State University, Christopher landed a job at Pier 1 Imports. "I saw an ad in the Cleveland Plain Dealer with the headline, 'If you can breathe fire and walk on water, we want you!' and thought this sounded just goofy enough for me." Christopher wound up spending 19 years at Pier 1, first working in and then managing stores, traveling extensively to Asia and Europe as a buyer, and eventually rising to executive vice president of operations in charge of stores, real estate, distribution, logistics, and financial planning.

Christopher's next stop was chairman, president, and CEO of Bookstop, Inc., based in Austin, Texas, a pioneer book superstore. "There were individual superstores around the country at the time–Barnes & Noble had a couple in New York, and Borders in Ann Arbor–but this was the first chain superstore concept," said Christopher. After Barnes & Noble acquired the privately held firm, Christopher spent five years as president of the B&N Retail Division (Superstores).

Christopher next joined Restoration Hardware as president, chief operating officer, and director. "At the time, it was a tiny company with four little stores in California, and the founder, Steve Gordon, was looking for investors and somebody to partner up with him who had more formal experience in expansion and rolling out a retail concept," said Christopher. Under Christopher's leadership, Restoration Hardware grew from $4 million in annual sales to a publicly held operation with $370 million annual sales.

In 2002 Christopher joined Follett, a family-owned firm that ranks 133 out of the Forbes Magazine 500 largest private companies. Follett runs some 750 college bookstores–about one-third of them at community colleges–but you may not know it to look at them. "Most of our stores don't have the Follett name on them," said Christopher. "We really try to reinforce the brand of the institution, so at Notre Dame, for example, it would say 'Notre Dame Bookstore,' and you'd have to do a little digging to find out that we operate the store."

His experience at Follett has supplemented his already high esteem for community colleges. "We have bookstores in about 250 community college campuses across North America," he said. "I go there and see what they do, how they serve the community, their links with the local firefighters and police and folks in the medical profession, and how the community college adds to the glue of a community. I think community colleges have a special place and that their mission is critical to the welfare of the country."

The movie producer, director and writer hardly needs introduction. Since 1973 when "American Graffiti" was an enormous success, America has been familiar with Lucas. "Star Wars" moved that familiarity to intimacy in 1977.

In 1997, the San Francisco Chronicle wrote: "So many years, so much exposure, so many spin-offs, special-effects trends and continuous warp-speed hype have made it nearly impossible to look at 'Star Wars' as just a movie anymore. It remains an icon on the ever-changing pop culture landscape …"

Lucas readily admits that school was not a priority for him. "Frankly, I was not very engaged in my classes; in fact, as a boy, I liked to daydream and write stories," he writes in the resource book "Edutopia: Success Stories for Learning in the Digital Age."

Regardless, after a near-fatal car accident, he began his venture into higher education at Modesto Junior College in California where he earned an associate of arts degree in history in 1964.

He earned a bachelor's from the University of Southern California in 1966 and began making movies. His empire includes the visual effects company, Industrial Light & Magic, formed during the making of "Star Wars," THX, and Lucasfilms.

In 1992, the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences bestowed the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, which honors "creative producers whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion picture production," on Lucas.

In addition, in 1999 he received the DigiGlobe Award for his ongoing contribution through culture and entertainment through the use of information technology.

The father of three adopted children, Lucas also is the founder and chairman of the board of the George Lucas Educational Foundation, which focuses on best practices and innovation in primary education. It focuses on project-based learning that stimulates children's passions and emphasizes well-prepared teachers to improve student learning.

On his Web site, www.glef.org, Lucas says, "Our Foundation documents and disseminates the most exciting classrooms where these innovations are taking place." The foundation does this through the creation and dissemination of media -- from films, books, and newsletters, to CD-ROMs and DVDs.

He remains active in the Modesto-area community and nationally through his support of children's charities. In addition, Lucas and his sisters recently gave Modesto Junior College a cash gift to be used toward the construction of an arts center under construction on campus.

"I don't know why I thought I was Super Woman," Sharon Rohrbach said about her time at St. Louis Community College/Meramec.

She could have been talking about her life now. The founder, president, executive director, and until February, grant writer of Nurses for Newborns Foundation, Rohrbach spends a lot of time changing hats.

NFNF helps at-risk babies from low-income families. That means when Rohrbach began this venture in 1989, she got a lot more than she bargained for.

Rohrbach worked in a hospital nursery for 16 years after graduating from Meramec. Many health complications take a few days to manifest in newborns, and as insurance companies sharply curtailed the amount of time mothers and newborns spent in the hospital, many returned through the emergency room. Rorhbach was often called down to consult on cases. And because new mothers didn't know what to look for in ill children, infant mortality increased. "I saw a lot of newborns die," Sharon said, "And I saw a lot of heartbroken moms."

To fill the knowledge gap, Rohrbach started a home nurse visiting service for new mothers and infants. "I didn't want to see any more dead babies in the ER," she said. Rohrbach soon realized that instead of the business niche she thought she would fill, she was providing a lifeline that poor mothers and their children were desperate for.

"After the first few visits she realized that these folks didn't have beds," said Clair DeVoto, development director for NFNF.

So in 1991 Rohrbach's side business became a nonprofit, which today serves mothers in 29 Missouri counties and receives referrals from more than 160 agencies. NFNF acquires 400 clients a month with an average income of less than $500 a month. Families stay in the program until babies are two years old.

But it's not just about shots and checkups. "You just can't keep (babies) alive without food and some basic necessities," Rohrbach said.

NFNF and its 35 nurses distribute about 1,100 pounds of food to client families a week. Much of that food is donated, and the foundation tries to give it out on an emergency basis. "With 400 plus new patients incoming a month, you pretty much have that many hungry families," she said. So NFNF tries to get families hooked into established programs for food.

"We may be the only health care provider who goes into the home, so we want to do everything we can." That everything includes providing toys, books, baby gates, vaccinations, primary care as opposed to emergency care and leads to community supports and how to access them. NFNF is also a child abuse and neglect program.

"I manage this programs like a jigsaw puzzle."

From her days at Meramec, Rohrbach is used to juggling. "I thought the hardest thing I would ever do was get through college. … Honestly starting a nonprofit was nothing compared to the rigors of that program." It took her seven years to get through Meramec's nursing program. "I was trying to work full time and go to school, be a Sunday school teacher and be a mom," she said. Sometimes one of her other roles won out, and she would have to drop a class.

But she persevered with the support of her husband Ken, who "felt that education was our investment." Instead of buying life insurance, they paid tuition. Ken said if anything every happened to him, she would have a career. The words proved to be prophetic as Ken died from cancer a few years ago.

And so she has. NFNF has expanded into Tennessee and there's a possibility that it may go nationwide.

It certainly has received nationwide attention. In 2001 Rohrbach received Oprah's Angel Network Use of Your Life Award and won the Women Who Inspire Us Award from Woman's Day Magazine.

Rohrbach's busy, but she believes she's living the life she was meant to live.