Cal State East Bay Names 2016 Distinguished Alumni Recipients

On Friday, Oct. 21, Cal State East Bay gathered to celebrate its 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award recipients at a gala on the Hayward campus. The second annual event is part of the larger Forever Pioneer Weekend, which brings alumni back to the university through a variety of homecoming festivities, including mixers, reunions, campus tours and opportunities to interact with current students.   

The Distinguished Alumni Award is the highest honor bestowed by the university and is given to an alumna/us from each of Cal State East Bay’s four colleges. The award has been given since 1985 to alumni who have made remarkable contributions in the areas of community or public service, or professional or personal excellence; demonstrate a commitment to the values of the university; contribute to scholarship, lifelong learning, and civic engagement; assume positions of ethical leadership within regional and/or professional communities; and provide exemplary service to, or in support of, the university. The 2016 recipients are:

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

Atul Dhablania (MBA ’02) is vice president of Hardware Engineering and Worldwide Operations for Dell SonicWALL, where he is responsible for the design and development of all hardware platforms in addition to managing the company’s worldwide operations. Dhablania has more than 20 years of experience in hardware engineering and operations management, and he holds 11 patents in the fields of computer architecture, arithmetic and systems design.  

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND ALLIED STUDIES

Kelly Bowers (M.S. ’02, Educational Leadership) is superintendent of Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District, for which she was recognized by the Association of California School Administrators as the 2012 ACSA Region VI Superintendent of the Year, representing Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. She has more than 25 years of experience as a teacher and administrator. Under her leadership, LVJUSD was selected as a Bay Area Top Workplace in 2012 and 2013.

COLLEGE OF SCIENCE

Gaylord “Glenn” Henry (B.S. ’66, Mathematics; M.S. ’67, Mathematics) is founder and current president of Centaur Technologies, a microprocessor design company based in Austin, Texas, that was taken over by VIA Technology in 1999. Centaur has produced approximately 14 major x86 processor designs that are fully compatible with contemporary Intel processors. Henry also worked as senior vice president and chief technology officer of Dell Computers at IBM, and he holds more than 200 U.S. patents.

COLLEGE OF LETTERS, ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

Nancy O’Malley (B.A. ’77, Political Science) is district attorney of Alameda County. O’Malley is a nationally recognized expert on topics such as violence against women and persons with disabilities, child abuse, and human trafficking and exploitation. She has been an active member of numerous national, state, and local boards. O’Malley spearheaded the creation of the Alameda County Family Justice Center, a passion project for her, which houses multiple support services for victims under one roof.