February 17, 2012
For Distinguished Achievement in the Arts
Ron Underwood, Herbert Hoover High School Class of 1971
Peabody Award winning director for an ABC Weekend Special, Underwood has directed classic films such as the science fiction comedy “Tremors” and the blockbuster comedy “City Slickers,” starring Billy Crystal and Jack Palance, who earned an Academy Award for his performance. Underwood graduated from the USC School of Film and started his career in children’s television. Now directing a broad assortment of television and film projects, Underwood lives in Malibu with his wife Sandy.
For Distinguished Achievement in Science and Technology
Dr. Varoujan Gorjian, Herbert Hoover High School Class of 1987
Research scientist for Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Dr. Gorjian received his BS in Astrophysics from Caltech and his Masters and Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics from UCLA. Dr. Gorjian has lent his time as a mentor and advisor as the Deputy lead of the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program (NITARP) through which he mentored 20 middle and high school teachers in doing research with archival NASA space telescope data (2004-2011). He is an expert on the Spitzer Space Telescope project and does outreach talks across the nation.
For Distinguished Achievement in Health & Fitness
Tom Holmoe, Crescenta Valley High School Class of 1978
Director of Athletics at Brigham Young University since 2005, Mr. Holmoe oversees a program of 21 intercollegiate sports, involving more that 600 students. Holmoe’s collegiate career was with BYU as well, earning first-team All-WAC honors as a senior. He then went on to the NFL as a 4th round draft choice with the San Francisco 49ers, playing on 3 Super Bowl Championship teams. Since retiring fro the NFL, Holmoe has coached at Stanford University and the University of California as well.
The Glendale Educational Foundation serves to enrich and enhance the educational experience of Glendale Unified School District students and staff in the areas of Visual and Performing Arts, Health and Fitness, and Science and Technology. The current push, Save the Music, will fund instrumental music programs in the elementary schools, and seeks to raise $500,000 this school year.
The Dancing with Diamonds Gala is set for Friday, February 17 at the Glendale Hilton.
Call 818-247-0466 for further information.
