Daily Business Report/Dec. 26, 2016
NFL Football Hall of Famer and longtime San Diego Charger Junior Seau.
Junior Seau Foundation Pledges $250,000
To UCSD for Brain Injury Research
The Junior Seau Foundation has pledged $250,000 to support brain injury research and education at the University of California San Diego.
Tripling the impact of the Junior Seau Foundation’s gift, the donation will be matched dollar for dollar as part of the UC San Diego Chancellor’s Endowed Chair and Faculty Fellowship Challenge, as well as by the university’s Division of Biological Sciences and the Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind, bringing total funding to $1 million.
The gift is made in memory of NFL Football Hall of Famer and longtime San Diego Charger, Junior Seau, who died in 2012 and was subsequently diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative disease associated with repeated blows to the head. The funds will be used to establish the Junior Seau Endowed Faculty Fellowship in Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), as well as the Junior Seau Lectureship Series to inform the community and K-12 students about the causes and risks associated with traumatic brain injury.
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Judicial Appointments
U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy Named
To San Diego Superior Court Bench
U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy and three other Democratic lawyers from San Diego received an early Christmas gift from Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday — elevation to the San Diego Superior Court bench.
Duffy, 54, appointed U.S. Attorney by President Obama in 2010, was likely to be replaced by a Republican when President-elect Donald Trump takes office. She served as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California since 2010. She was deputy chief of the General Crimes Section at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of California from 2008 to 2010, where she served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney from 1997 to 2007. Duffy served as a trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice from 1993 to 1997. She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge William R. Nevitt.
Also named to the Superior Court bench were Rachel Cano, Cynthia A. Freeland and Maryann D’Addezio Kotler.
Cano, 50, has served as a deputy district attorney at the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office since 1993. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola Marymount University. Cano fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Marshall Y. Hockett. She is a Democrat.
Freeland, 46, has been a partner and attorney at Schor and Freeland LLP since 2007. She was a national partner at Baker and McKenzie LLP from 2003 to 2007, where she was an associate from 1996 to 2003. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Diego School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, San Diego. Freeland fills the vacancy created by the conversion of a court commissioner position on Oct. 8, 2015.
D’Addezio Kotler, 56, has served as a deputy public defender at the San Diego County Public Defender’s Office since 1992. She served as a deputy public defender at the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office from 1991 to 1992. D’Addezio Kotler earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Diego School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Bonaventure University. She fills the vacancy created by the conversion of a court commissioner position on Oct. 8, 2015.
The compensation for each of these positions is $191,612.
At the same time, San Diego Superior Court Judge William S. Dato of Poway, also a Democrat, was appointed to Division One of the Fourth District Court of Appeal by the governor.
Dato, 61, has served as a judge at the San Diego County Superior Court since 2003. Dato was a partner at Milberg, Weiss, Bershad, Hynes and Lerach LLP from 1998 to 2003, where he was an associate from 1994 to 1998 and from 1982 to 1984. He was a senior research attorney at the Fourth District Court of Appeal from 1984 to 1994 and from 1981 to 1982. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law and a Bachelor of Science degree from San Diego State University. Dato fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice James A. McIntyre.
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La Mesa Police Chief
Appointed To State Commission
La Mesa Police Chief Walter Vasquez, 53, of El Cajon, has been appointed to the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. Vasquez has been chief of police at the La Mesa Police Department since 2015. He served in several positions at the San Diego Police Department from 1986 to 2015, including assistant chief of police, captain and lieutenant. Vasquez is a member of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Academy Associates and the San Diego Youth Services Board of Directors. This position requires Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Vasquez is a Republican.
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Todd Summer Named CEO of Aztec Shops
has been appointed CEO of Aztec Shops and associate vice president of Business and Financial Affairs, effective Jan. 1. Donna Tusack is retiring from that post at San Diego State University.
Summer joined Aztec Shops in June 2004 as associate director of course materials, and moved into the position of director of Campus Stores in November 2007. At Aztec Shops, Summer and his team have led the college store industry with early introduction of print rental and digital textbook programs. He has also been overseeing the SDSU licensing program.
Prior to coming to SDSU, Summer had various roles at other retail establishments, including Macy’s and Kids ‘R’ Us. He worked for a national promotional marketing agency and was general manager of a casual dining restaurant. Summer is an alumnus of Boston University, having received his bachelor’s degree in business administration (marketing) in 1986.
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American Wave Machines Making
Float for Tournament of Roses Parade
American Wave Machines Inc. of Solana Beach, a wave technology company for the out of ocean surfing market, will create a wave machine for surfing dogs designed specifically for the 128th Tournament of Roses Parade float on Jan. 2, 2017 in Pasadena and is sponsored by The Lucy Pet Foundation.
Set to break the Guinness World Record on December 30 for the longest and heaviest float, the float — themed Beachside Paradise — is 125 feet long, weighs 136,000 pounds and will carry 5,000 gallons of water for dogs to surf on. The float will feature eight surfin’ dogs selected in a nationwide competition.
The float was built by Fiesta Floats and the wave generator by American Wave Machines.
“This is the second time we have been involved with setting a Guinness World Record and we are thrilled to have our wave technology applications recognized as the industry leader,” said AWM Founder and President Bruce McFarland. “We are delighted to team with Fiesta Floats and The Lucy Pet Foundation as part of our ongoing corporate charity efforts.”
American Wave Machines has two technologies replicating ocean-like waves that create ideal conditions for surfing in a safe and controlled environment, any time of the year, anywhere in the world.
