Biz school dean, SAU president receive top honors at alumni banquet

Held April 15 at the Zapara School of Business Troesh Conference Center, the Homecoming 2016 fellowship banquet and awards ceremony was highlighted by the presentation of the La Sierra University Legend Award to Zapara School of Business Dean John Thomas and his wife, Kimberly Thomas, and the Alumni of the Year award to Southern Adventist University President Gordon Bietz and his wife, Cynthia Bietz.

 The ceremony kicked off with the surprise announcement of the Legend Award by La Sierra University President Randal Wisbey. Accompanied by cheers and a standing ovation, the Thomas’s walked on stage to receive the award that was jointly presented by the university, its Enactus team, and the global Enactus organization. Both La Sierra alums, the Thomas’s were honored for their leadership and support of the business school and its record-setting Enactus team, now celebrating its 25^th year.

John Thomas was hired as dean of the School of Business in 1999 after serving 10 years as a business faculty member. His efforts over the years have resulted in significant growth of the business school with a focus on entrepreneurship, a state-of-the-art, $16 million building which opened in 2013, and the establishment of the Enactus team which has brought international acclaim to the university through its award-winning economic empowerment initiatives.

La Sierra’s Enactus teams, formerly Students In Free Enterprise, have won six national trophies and two world cups in competitive events against hundreds of other university teams. Their work, inspired by Thomas’ vision and direction, has captured the admiration and respect of Enactus leadership and teams around the world.

Mike Cashman, business development director for the worldwide Enactus organization was on hand to help present the award to Thomas along with John Razzouk, La Sierra business school program manager and president of the world cup-winning 2007 presentation team.  

“As far as SIFE/Enactus, what he did changed the world,” Cashman said. “He didn’t just build a team, he built a legacy. All the other teams had to meet the standards La Sierra set.”

“Now we can stand here today, and all of us together we’ve built that team, and it is really thanks to the leadership and vision of Dr. John Thomas,” Razzouk said.

In his remarks, Thomas acknowledged and thanked La Sierra’s family of alumni and its leadership. “I look around at the alumni that went through this school and I am so proud. …Wonderful memories --what an honor for me, what a privilege for me to grow old with all of you,” he said.

Following conferral of the annual Rising Star and Honored Alumni awards, Wisbey capped the ceremony with the Alumni of the Year award presented to Gordon Bietz and his wife, honoring their significant leadership in Adventist education, vision and spirit over the years. 

The Bietz’s, natives of Southern California, met and married at La Sierra University. Gordon Bietz graduated in 1966 with a Bachelor of Arts in theology, and Cynthia Bietz with an associate’s degree in secretarial science in 1967. Gordon Bietz, former president of the Georgia-Cumberland Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, has served as president of Southern Adventist University for 19 years. He will retire in May. Under his guidance, SAU’s enrollment and budget have doubled, $80 million in construction projects have been completed, and 13 master’s degrees and a doctorate have rounded out the university’s academic offerings.

“I certainly was changed, I think, by La Sierra University,” he said during his award acceptance speech. He recalled a class with Fritz Guy, and studying Greek translations with classmates Charles Barber and Gary Case in a group that became famously known as the BBC. “The teacher suggested that was a pool of ignorance,” joked Bietz, adding, “I think the most important thing I got from La Sierra College was Cynthia." 

“I’m a little astonished at the recognition about leadership,” Bietz continued. “… I really don’t have a grasp of what all that means, except that because I was not planning to go into education, I was totally dependent on the people who were working with me.

It’s really about the people you work with, it’s really about the team. Because my mantra has always been servant leadership, my goal has always been to try to help those who I work with succeed by giving them the tools, the equipment, everything I possibly can to help them. I think that is what it is to become a leader in our world today,” he said.

Rising Stars and Honored Alumni

The banquet awards ceremony included presentation of Rising Star and Honored Alumni awards to eight high-achieving La Sierra graduates from the business school, the School of Education, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the H.M.S. Richards Divinity School.

Rising Star awards were respectively given to Amanda Oberg, class of 2011, senior financial accounting analyst at Walt Disney Studios; Vania C. Matheus, class of 2002, owner of V. Matheus Therapeutic and Educational Consulting in Palo Alto; Kimberly Sogioka, class of 2003, acclaimed operatic mezzo-soprano; and Yi Shen Ma, class of 2008, development assistant, Office of Advancement and Communication, Claremont School of Theology.

“This place changes you, it changed me, because of SIFE, because of Johnny,” said Oberg, who graduated with a Bachelor of Science in accounting. She served as a member of the university’s SIFE/Enactus presentation team for four years, helping the team place in the top four nationally in 2008 and 2009. “This place is always going to be home for me, teaching me how to create value and make a difference. You can be an accountant, but you’re going to be so much more than an accountant, because you have a mission, you have a purpose.”

“La Sierra really geared me toward believing in myself,” said Matheus who earned a master’s in school counseling from the School of Education. “I so appreciate what happened to me during that year of the master’s program. It was a springboard and launching pad, and I will never forget it.”

Ma, who graduated cum laude as the Theta Alpha Kappa Graduate of the Year with a degree in music and religious studies, talked about his life-changing experience at La Sierra. “I absolutely hated school until I came to La Sierra,” he said upon receiving his award. He noted that his professors encouraged critical thinking and taught him that “faith and justice go hand in hand.”

Honored Alumni awards were also presented, respectively, to Alan B. Soderblom, class of 1986, vice president and chief information office for Adventist Health; Saul R. Ledesma, class of 2005, staff development specialist, County of Los Angeles; Islam Abudayyeh, class of 1994, assistant professor of medicine, Loma Linda University Health cardiology division; and Sigve K. Tonstad, class of 1990, physician and associate professor at Loma Linda University School of Religion.

“The foundation that I received when I arrived here, demonstrated by the faculty at this institution, was my point of reference going forward. I was fortunate to have many great mentors, starting with doctors Carlo and Ross at this institution. More often than not now, I find myself going back to what I learned here,” said Abudayyeh, a physician who graduated cum laude with a physics degree from La Sierra.

“I would like to acknowledge the influence La Sierra teachers had on me, especially John Jones who taught me the Gospel of John,” said Tonstad. “Also I want to thank Dr. Fritz Guy. His standard of scholarship was very exceptional. I’m very indebted to La Sierra for what I experienced here, and now I hope you will buy my books,” he quipped.

The Friday awards banquet, which officially launched a weekend of alumni activities, was followed by a musical vespers featuring performers from La Sierra’s Department of Music.