1996 Award of Distinction Recipients

Donald L. Bath

Extension Specialist Emeritus
UC Davis
St. Helena, California

Donald Bath retired in 1993 after 30 years of service to UC Davis. His outstanding record as a research scientist and author is well known nationally and internationally. He is the only Cooperative Extension specialist in the United States who served as president of the American Dairy Science Association and one of very few specialists to receive ADSA's "Award of Honor." Bath's research focused on applied aspects of dairy cattle nutrition. His publication record includes 54 major refereed journal articles and 299 non-referenced publications.

 

Mark M. Borba

Owner and Vice President
Borba Farms
Riverdale, California

Mark Borba served as president of Western Cotton Growers, director of Cal West Seeds, board member of the National Cotton Council, and past president of the UC Valley Medical Education Foundation. He was a member of his local school district board. He was instrumental in establishing the Ross Borba, Sr. Scholarship Endowment for agricultural students in the college. Borba also has taken leadership roles in the support of cotton research in the Department of Agronomy and Range Science and the Division of Textiles and Clothing. He is a Class IX graduate of the California Agricultural Leadership Program.

 

Dean C. DeCarli

(TY, '28, Animal Husbandry and Dairy Industry)
Retired
Stockton, California

Dean DeCarli has been involved with UC Davis for 71 years. He received the Jerry Fielder Award for service to the university and special recognition for years of service as Cal Aggie Alumni Association secretary and trustee. He helped to organizers of the Cal Aggie Alumni Association and served on the alumni team that founded the Cal Aggie Foundation. DeCarli was a key figure in raising funds to establish the Antique Farm Machinery Collection and is the second man from California inducted into the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity national Hall of Fame. DeCarli served eight years on the Stockton City Council and was mayor from 1955 to 1959. He was inducted into the Stockton Athletic Hall of Fame and was first president of the Stockton Sister City Association.

 

W. Harry Lange

Professor Emeritus
Department of Entomology
UC Davis
Davis, California

Harry Lange has been associated with UC Davis, UC Berkeley and agricultural experiment stations at Half Moon Bay and Salinas. An internationally recognized teacher, writer, taxonomist and researcher, his research on insect damage on more than 20 major California agricultural commodities earned him the respect of researchers, farmers and Cooperative Extension advisors. Harry pioneered the use of Integrated Pest Management. Even in retirement, he is called on to solve California agricultural insect problems. Although the Smithsonian Institute offered Lange his first job after graduation, he chose to remain at the University of California. "I never have regretted my decision," he said.

 

Ken Lindauer

(B.S., '58, Food Science)
Owner
Lindauer River Ranch, Inc.
Red Bluff, California

Ken Lindauer manages 650 acres of prunes and walnuts in Tehama County. He assisted in revitalizing the Prune Bargaining Association and has been instrumental in improving the relationship between growers and packers. Lindauer was named "Tehama Prune Grower of the Year" in 1981 and "Tehama County Farmer of the Year" in 1987. He served as president of the International Prune Organization, Prune Bargaining Association, Tehama County Farm Bureau, Tehama Prune Growers, California Prune Board and Prune Marketing Association. He also served on the Red Bluff Union High School board of trustees for 12 years and worked with the Tehama County Farm Bureau to address local migrant worker issues.

 

Alex F. McCalla

Professor Emeritus and Former Dean
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
UC Davis
Dixon, California

Alex McCalla served as dean of the college for five years and was founding dean of the UC Davis Graduate School of Management. He chaired the Technical Advisory Committee of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), a consortium of 48 donors providing $300 million annually to support 16 international research centers. McCalla was director of the agriculture and national resources department of the World Bank. He is recognized internationally for his organizational leadership and challenging ideas based on wide experience in trade, development and policy issues, and for his contributions to agricultural economics and trade.

 

Harold P. Olmo

Professor Emeritus
Department of Viticulture and Enology
UC Davis
Davis, California

Harold Olmo, world authority on the grape vine and its care, received his doctorate in genetics from UC Berkeley. He was hired to work on post-Prohibition viticultural research at the university's experiment station in Davis. Thus began a long and distinguished career as a plant geneticist and professor at UC Davis. Olmo was a Guggenheim Fellow, Fulbright Scholar and consultant to the United Nations. In 1965, he was awarded the International Vines and Wines medal "for outstanding contributions to world viticulture." He created two seedless table grape varieties and bred wine varieties designed for growth in hot weather regions. In 1993, he received the Davis Rockefeller Spirit of Service Award from the International Executive Service Corps.

 

Jack J. Pandol, Jr.

(B.S., '76, Plant Science)
Production Manager
Pandol Bros. Inc.
Delano, California

Jack Pandol served as undersecretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, contributing to agency achievements in regulatory reform and environmental technology development, including Clean Air Act implementation, the Bay-Delta Water Accord and Integrated Pest Management Innovators of California's landmark environmental technology certification program. He previously was partner and production manager for Pandol & Sons, his family's farm -- a worldwide importer/exporter of fresh fruits and vegetables. Under his leadership, the firm pioneered the use of alternative pest control techniques, reducing chemical use by 70 percent within three years. Pandol is a California Agricultural Leadership Program Class XII graduate.

 

Carl Pearlstein

Chairman of the Board
Nurseryman's Exchange
Half Moon Bay, California

Carl Pearlstein (deceased) and his wife Virginia founded Nurseryman's Exchange, a wholesale bulb company, in 1941. Today, administrative and sales offices are located in San Francisco, Half Moon Bay and Hong Kong with sales outlets throughout the U.S. The company has 23 acres of greenhouse production of foliage and flowering potted plants; container-grown ornamental plants and cut-flower production is handled in separate 140-acre locations. Under Pearlstein's leadership, the firm awarded scholarships annually to high school students, many of whom attended UC Davis. He was named "County Farmer-of-the-Year" by the San Mateo County Farm Bureau and "Foliage Man-of-the-Year" by the Florida Nurserymen and Growers' Association.

 

Peter D. Stent

(B.S., '63, Range Science)
Rubicon Ventures 
Menlo Park, California

Peter Stent, a farmer/rancher with a broad range of experiences in business, agriculture and applied ecology, has served as a voice for private landowners, business and agricultural interests and has been active in wetland restoration and enhancement projects in the Sacramento Valley, as well as a leader in building a landowner coalition for ecosystem scale conservation. Stent served on the board of the California Waterfowl Association. He helped establish the Dennis G. Raveling Endowed Professorship in Waterfowl Biology in the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology. Stent is a 1996 College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Award of Distinction recipient.

 

Paul K. Stumpf

Professor Emeritus
Molecular and Cellular Biology
Davis, California

Paul Stumpf came to UC Davis to establish the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics. He served as chair of that department on four occasions. An internationally renowned plant scientist, he was responsible for much of our knowledge of lipid metabolism in plants. He and his research group published over 250 research papers in the area of plant lipid biochemistry. Stumpf -- twice named a Guggenheim Foundation Fellow -- is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, and the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences. He received the Stephen Hales Prize from the American Society of Plant Physiologists, served as its president, chaired its board of trustees, and was awarded the organization's Charles Reid Barnes Life Membership Award.