I am very honored to have been elected President of Phi Beta Kappa – Northern California Association. In this position, I follow a long line of admirable members, whose talents have been instrumental in shaping the organization into an active membership that supports our philanthropic goals of Graduate Student Scholarships and Teaching Excellence Awards. We also enjoy social events, such as monthly excursions to fascinating sites around the Bay Area, and, of course, our annual Presidents’ Weekend symposium at Asilomar.

Our Board this coming year includes many returning officers, plus two new faces. In addition to myself as President (a new position for me, although I served as Treasurer for ten years), our new members are Treasurer Robin Fuller and Recording Secretary Sam Kart. Continuing in their previous positions are 1st Vice-President– Programs Judy Hardardt, 2nd Vice-President–Scholarship Joanne Sandstrom, 3rd Vice-President–Membership Alex Harding, and Corresponding Secretary Letitia Sanders. Our four Board Committee Chairs all have chosen to continue: Teaching Excellence Chair Narcinda Lerner, Newsletter and Website guru Ray Hendess, Chapter Liaison Chair Marci Coglianese, and Asilomar Chair Cal Wood.

We extend our thanks to Nominating Committee Chair Peete Baer, who leaves that office, and welcome our Nominating Committee members for the upcoming year: Jacqueline Dever, Larry Lerner, Gerry Richards, and Cal Wood.

At the Association’s Annual Meeting, held 1 May 2011 at the UC Berkeley Faculty Club, we presented $5000 scholarships to eight graduate students from five universities in our region. We also gave five Teaching Excellence Awards to faculty members from three different campuses; these professors were nominated by former students for their outstanding teaching abilities.

Funds for our scholarships and awards come from your fully tax-deductable membership fees and gifts, the profit from Asilomar (nearly two scholarships) and also from our social programs. Please support ΦBKNCA however you are able: attend our monthly “field trips” to meet other members and to learn about the wonders of the Bay Area, donate to our Scholarship and Teaching Excellence funds, and join a hundred or more “seekers after knowledge” at the annual Asilomar retreat over Presidents’ Weekend, Feb 17-20, 2012. I look forward to meeting many of you there.

Mary Turner Gilliland, President-elect 2011-12

Teaching Excellence Awards May 2011

Keenly aware of the great worth of learning and of the extraordinary gifts, diligence, and amplitude of spirit that mark the best in teaching, the Phi Beta Kappa Northern California Association takes pleasure in conferring its 2011 Teaching Excellence Awards upon these distinguished teachers:

Robin Einhorn, Department of History, University of California, Berkeley
Kim Magowan, Department of English Literature, Mills College, Oakland
Ramona Naddaff, Rhetoric Department, University of California, Berkeley
Teresa E. Steele, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis
Darren Zook, Department of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley
 
Now is the time to nominate your favorite professor for the 2012 awards. Information and the nomination form can be found here

Narcinda Lerner, Teaching Excellence Chair

Scholarship Awards May 2011

Noël Bakhtian, Stanford, Aeronautics and Astronautics - Reed Scholarship
Maya de Vries, UC Berkeley, Integrative Biology
Jenny Lane, UC Santa Cruz, Ocean Sciences
Michael Levien, UC Berkeley, Sociology
Feng-Yen Li, UC San Francisco, Biomedical Sciences (MD/PhD)
Shane Morrison, Stanford, Medicine
Wei-chun Wang, UC Davis, Psychology
Chelsea Wood, Stanford, Biology

Joanne Sandstrom, Second Vice President, Scholarship

Chapter Liaison Report

San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University Photo by Mary Frances Crabtree		Mills College Photo by Antoinette (Toni) Thomas From RIGHT to LEFT: Front Row: 1. Margaret Shurcliff Cook; 2. Christie Nicole Frakes; 3. Rachel Marie Girouard; 4. Tova Nicole Osborne Back Row (right to left) 1. Kiya Dorothy Komaiko; 2. Madeleine Stuart Anderson; 3. Jennifer Louise Peart; 4. Margaret Kaye Pixley; 5. Aliza Penelope Rood; 6. Robin Charlene Roth; 7. Cheryl Jacqueline Sundheim.
Santa Clara University       Professor Richard Scott of the Mathematics Department. President of the Pi of California Chapter of PBK at SCU Initiates Mary Hanel of the Northern California Association addresses the students and Faculty at SCU Photos by Mary Hanel Photo by Eno Schmidt   Each spring, ΦBKNCA sends volunteers to represent the association at new-member initiations at the eight PBK college and university chapters in northern California: UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, San Francisco State University, Santa Clara University, Stanford, Mills College and the University of the Pacific.     Our association participates in these ceremonies to make new initiates aware of ΦBKNCA and of the opportunity to join us. We inform them about the Teaching Excellence Award and encourage their nomination of a favorite professor. We also alert those who will attend graduate school at one of the eight regional ΦBK schools that we sponsor a graduate scholarship program. Thank you to our wonderful 2011 initiation volunteers: Mary Frances Crabtree (SFSU), Toni Thomas and Mary Alice Yund (Mills), Joanne Sandstrom (UCB), Mary Turner Gilliland (UCD), Mary Hanel (Santa Clara), Sierra Elliott Thompson (Stanford), Narcinda Lerner (UCSC) and Marci Coglianese (UOP). It is always inspiring and great fun to meet the newest PBK initiates and their professors. If you’d like to volunteer to attend a 2012 initiation, please contact Marci Coglianese, Chapter Liaison

Here is a reminder about our enrollment, refund and cancellation policies. Most events can accommodate you and any friends or family you'd like to bring along. Occasionally an event will have a limited enrollment, in which case we may not be able to accommodate more than one member and one guest per enrollment As for refunds, if you call in advance they may be available unless ΦBKNCA will lose scholarship money — that is, unless we are financially committed, based on your enrollment, to an organization at which the event will be held. If we can find someone to fill your space, we may be able to refund your payment but that is not always possible.  Members who do not come to an event they've signed up for will not receive a refund. The ΦBKNCA Board is most grateful to those who prefer to donate the program fee to the scholarship program in lieu of a refund.

Ruth Bancroft Garden Tour, Walnut Creek — Saturday, June 4, 2011

This is a special email and web event.

Calling all gardeners and lovers of gardens!  We’re having a docent-led tour of the famous Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek.  Join us to learn all about how the garden was created, about the plant collection and about water-wise gardening.  Our tour will last about 1½ hours, after which we are free to explore at will, check out the plants for sale and learn about the many programs offered at the garden.

Website: http://www.ruthbancroftgarden.org/

Date:  Saturday, June 4, 2011
Time:  11:00 am  (please plan to arrive 15 minutes beforehand so you don't miss the tour)
Minimum:  10 - Maximum:  25
Deadline:  May 28, 2011
Fee:  $15.00

Directions:  The garden is located at 1552 Bancroft Road in Walnut Creek.  Take I-680 to Exit 48 toward Treat Blvd/Geary Rd.  Turn left onto N. Main St., then take your 1st left onto Treat Blvd. (if you reach Gobel Way you’ve gone too far).  Take a slight right onto Bancroft Road which is 0.1 mile past Candelero Drive.  Make a “U” turn at Stratton Rd. onto Bancroft Rd. Directions are also on the web.

Southwestern Banded Blankets: Three Cultures, One Horizon – San Jose Quilt Museum – Thursday, July 21, 2011

After a hiatus of many years, we are visiting the San Jose Quilt Museum once again. This time we will enjoy a docent-led tour of a unique exhibit and the first of its type to focus exclusively on banded blankets by Native American weavers. These utilitarian and simply striped blankets showcase the rich cultural tradition of the Pueblo, the Navajo, and the Spanish Colonial Rio Grande blankets of the “Four Corners” area of the American Southwest. United by common elements of stripes and indigo coloration, these blankets are elegant in their design composition, sophisticated balance and amazing variety.

Southwestern Banded Blankets provides a special opportunity to examine the austere beauty and subtle variations of three traditions of these rare, well used textiles. A catalog of the exhibition will be available. http://www.sjquiltmuseum.org/
Date: Thursday, July 21, 2011
Time: 11am
Minimum: 10
Deadline: Sign up ASAP
Fee: $16.00
Directions: http://www.sjquiltmuseum.org/visit.html
The museum is located at 520 South First Street in San Jose.
From the North Bay: Travel south on US-101 toward San Jose, to CA-85 South toward Cupertino/Santa Cruz, to I-280 South toward San Jose. From I-280 South take the Virginia Street exit, turn right. Turn right on South First Street. Museum is on the right between Reed and William Streets.
From the South Bay: Take CA-87 North to the I-280/680 exit; take the Virginia Street exit; turn right. Turn right on South First Street. Museum is on the right between Reed and William Streets.
From the East Bay: Take I-680 South until it becomes I-280; exit on 7th Street; north to first light (Reed Street) then left on Reed, right on South First. Museum is on the right.
Parking: Metered parking is available on the street in front of the Museum. The nearest public parking lots are located at San Salvador and Market, and the Convention Center garage (see map). For more details on parking in downtown San Jose, visit www.sjdowntownparking.com

Visit to Cheese Country – Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company – Saturday, August 27, 2011

“Our cows eat local grasses all year long. The milk is consistent in our stable coastal climate. The salty, Pacific breezes help cure and age our cheese and we don't rely on milk from any other farm. This allows us the ability to guarantee consistent, supreme quality all year long.” Bob Giacomini

Thanks to the recent article in Sunset Magazine, it was really hard to get a good date to visit the Giacomini Family Farm in Point Reyes, especially since we wanted it on a Saturday so that all members could sign on. Our visit to Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company and their new cooking school, The Fork, will start with a one-hour tour of the farm, possibly led by owner Bob Giacomini. Following the tour, we will enjoy a cheese presentation with a 1½ hour focused tasting of 5 cheeses paired with accompaniments and two wines. We will also have the opportunity to sample cheeses not yet on the market from the private cheese cellar. www.pointreyescheese.com

Date: Saturday, August 27, 2011                                
Time: 1:00 to 3:30pm
Minimum: 15 - Maximum: 30
Deadline: July 29, 2011
Fee: $60.00
Directions: Located at 12898 Highway 1, Point Reyes Station, CA, 94956. Take 101 North from the Golden Gate Bridge to exit 450B toward San Anselmo. Merge onto Sir Francis Drake Blvd., staying left to stay on SFD Blvd., driving for 19.2 miles. Turn right onto Hwy. 1 North, go 2.2 mi., turning left to stay on Hwy. 1 North, go 0.2 mile, taking 1st right to stay on Hwy. 1 N. Farm will be on your left after 1 more mile.

For those who attended the Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company (The Farm) on Aug 27 (and anyone else), we have the recipe for the Peppered Walnuts here

Private Docent-Led Tour: Marine Mammal (Rescue) Center – Friday, September 23, 2011

The mission to expand knowledge of marine mammals— of their health and that of their ocean environment—and to inspire their global conservation, is the overriding objective for the hard-working people at the Marine Mammal Center. Their core work is the rescue and rehabilitation of sick and injured marine mammals, supported by state-of-the-art animal care and research facilities, a corps of dedicated volunteers and an engaged community.
We will have a docent-led tour of the facility, escorted through this unique outdoor animal rehabilitation hospital, having our questions answered and learning the stories of the current patients. We will view seal and sea lion patients and learn how the hospital functions, look into key areas such as the fish kitchen, chart room, laboratory and post-mortem (optional). Depending on the number and type of patients they have onsite, we may be able to watch animal care crews in action preparing and offering food, cleaning pens, and helping with medical procedures; and observe technicians doing laboratory analyses. Hands-on experiences with rescue equipment and touching pelts enhance the tour and highlight the characteristics, behavior, and adaptations of the seal and sea lion patients. www.marinemammalcenter.org/

Date: Friday, September 23, 2011
Time: 11:15am
Minimum: 15 -Maximum: 20
Deadline: August 24, 2011
Fee: $12.00
Directions: http://www.marinemammalcenter.org/visiting-us/directions.html
From north of the Golden Gate Bridge: Take the last Sausalito exit off Highway 101 South, just before the Golden Gate Bridge. At the exit stop sign, turn right and follow the road under Highway 101 to a second stop sign. Go straight and look immediately for a left turn lane and a sign for "Marin Headlands." Go left and through the tunnel. You will now be on Bunker Road. Follow directions below.
From south of the Golden Gate Bridge: Just after you cross the Golden Gate Bridge, take the second exit off Highway 101 at Alexander Avenue (after the Vista Point). Stay to your right: do not turn left at the exit off-ramp and do not go underneath the freeway. Proceed about 500 feet until you see a left turn lane and a sign for "Marin Headlands" (do not go down the hill into Sausalito). Turn left and go through the tunnel. You will now be on Bunker Road. Follow directions below.
Directions once on Bunker Road:
- Follow Bunker Road for approximately 3 miles.
- Ignore various forks to the left; always bear to the right to make sure you stay on Bunker Road. Rodeo lagoon is your next landmark.
- About halfway alongside the lagoon, the road forks. Turn right at that fork, continuing uphill. Turn right at your next opportunity; this will lead you up the hill and through our entrance gate.

If you subsequently can’t make an event, others may be waiting - kindly notify the Program VP,
Judy Hardardt: home (530) 297-7150; cell, day of event (707) 696-9498.

, First Vice-President, Programs