2026 Alumni Seal Awards Honor Eight

The honors will be presented by the Occidental College Alumni Board of Governors on June 6, during Alumni Reunion Weekend.

Since 1965, the Occidental College Alumni Association has recognized inspiring alumni and faculty who embody the values and spirit at the core of the Oxy experience. Alumni Seal Awards are given annually in six categories.

The 2026 Alumni Seal Award honorees are:

Alumna of the Year: Carri Patterson Grindon '82

Carri Patterson Grindon '82 is rector of Saint Mark's Episcopal Church in Altadena, where she has served for 16 years. Following the devastating loss of the church's historic campus in the Eaton Fire, Carri has tirelessly guided her congregation's recovery and rebuilding efforts. She was instrumental in securing emergency grants for displaced parishioners, creating vital communication lifelines, and supporting school families impacted by the blaze. Beyond immediate relief, Carri successfully negotiated a long-term temporary home for the congregation at St. Barnabas in Eagle Rock while securing the seed money necessary for a future rebuild. A native Southern Californian, Carri grew up attending and acting in Occidental Summer Theater productions. She earned her B.A. in theater arts from Occidental and her M.Div. from Yale Divinity School. She shares two adult daughters with her loving husband, Al.

Erica J. Murray '01 Young Alumna of the Year: Ian L. Mariani '14

For nearly a decade, Ian Mariani '14 has served on the front lines of the major legislative and political battles spanning three presidential administrations. His experience includes helping to defend the Affordable Care Act, confronting two record-length government shutdowns and two presidential impeachments, the January 6 insurrection, and the most legislatively productive progressive Congress in decades.Ian currently serves as communications director for U.S. Senator Adam Schiff, and previously worked for Representative Salud Carbajal, the House Appropriations Committee, and lawmakers representing "split ticket" districts in Iowa and New Jersey. A dedicated alumnus, Ian serves as a ViSTA admission interviewer and mentor to recent graduates. He earned his B.A. in diplomacy and world affairs from Occidental and credits the faculty, his tenure as editor of The Occidental, and role as student orientation coordinator for honing his analytical and written skills.

Professional Achievement: Dan Pondella ʼ87 M'92

Professor of Biology Dan Pondella '87 M'92 has devoted more than three decades to Occidental's Vantuna Research Group, the College's signature marine field program. A trained ichthyologist, he uses fishes as models for the assessment and development of projects to increase ecosystem health and performance. His research program, simply defined as "creating more fish," uses a metric that is tractable across all socioeconomic levels of society as he works to increase opportunities from subsistence fishing for underrepresented communities to commercial interests. Dan's major research is the rocky reefs and kelp beds in the Southern California Bight. He recently oversaw the $9.5 million design and implementation of the state's first in situ rocky reef restoration project, the Palos Verdes Reef. Committed to involving undergraduates in this research, Dan is spearheading the efforts to establish the John S. Stephens Jr. Vantuna Research Group Endowed Fund to preserve these opportunities in perpetuity.

Service to the College: Erika Nuño ʼ00

An economics major, Erika Nuño '00 has demonstrated sustained and transformative service to the College. As president of the Occidental College Latino Alumni Association (OCLAA) from 2018 to 2020, she revitalized the organization, expanded alumni engagement, and relaunched the mentorship program between alumni and current students. She currently serves as board chair of the Jose Silva Memorial Scholarship, leading an endowment campaign to ensure long-term financial support for Oxy students committed to the Latine community. As a ViSTA volunteer, Erika supports student recruitment efforts. Erika has spent her career designing partnerships and launching marketing initiatives across the private and nonprofit sectors, driven by a commitment to culture, access, and opportunity. She founded Champion City, a strategic consulting firm serving purpose-led organizations. A proud product of Southeast Los Angeles, Erika previously served as planning commissioner for the City of Huntington Park and currently serves on the board of L.A. Works.

Service to the College: Stephen Fluharty ʼ75

Stephen has been a dedicated alumnus and advocate of Occidental for more than 50 years. Most recently, he was co-chair of the Class of 1975 50th Reunion Committee, spearheading the fundraising efforts for the Class of 1975 scholarship and the highest attending reunion class in 2025. As a volunteer leader, Stephen founded Occidental Business Associates (OBA), which organized many popular educational and networking events for alumni for more than 15 years. He chaired the Careers and Awards committees of the Alumni Board of Governors from 2001- 2005 and served on the Young Alumni Board. A member of the 1971 championship football team, Stephen earned his B.A. in political science from Occidental, his MBA from University of California, Berkley's Haas School of Business, and his J.D. from the University of California, San Francisco's College of the Law.

Service to the Community: Anne Egerton ʼ76

Anne Egerton '76 is an associate justice on the Court of Appeal in Los Angeles. Prior to her 2017 appointment by Gov. Jerry Brown, Anne served for 16 years as a trial judge, trying 260 criminal jury trials to verdict. Ann was previously the West Coast general counsel for NBC. There she argued cases in the California and Colorado Supreme Courts, resulting in California's high court recognizing the right of the public and the press to attend civil trials. Before joining NBC, Anne was a partner at a Los Angeles law firm where she represented tenants living in Skid Row on a pro bono basis. Anne majored in political science at Oxy and earned her J.D. from the UC Berkeley School of Law. Anne was a member of the President's Circle and the Alumni Board of Governors. Anne and her husband, John Wiley, will celebrate 45 years of marriage this summer. They have two grown children.

Faculty Emeriti: Ron Buckmire

Professor Emeritus of Mathematics Ron Buckmire served on the faculty of Occidental for more than 30 years and is now dean of the School of Computer Science and Mathematics at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York. At Oxy, he served as department chair, associate dean for curricular affairs, and director of the Core Program. He taught classes such as Calculus, History of Mathematics, Differential Equations, Numerical Analysis, and Mathematical Modeling.

He earned his Ph.D. in mathematics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and twice served as a program officer in the Division of Undergraduate Education at the National Science Foundation. In 2023, he was named a fellow of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, the first person from a small liberal arts college, the fourth Black person, and the first openly LGBTQ+ person to receive this prestigious honor. Read Ron's story.

Faculty Emeriti: Gary Martin Pʼ07 Pʼ09 Pʼ11

During his 41-year tenure in the Occidental Biology Department, Gary Martin P'07 P'09 P'11 was honored with both the Donald R. Loftsgordon Memorial Award for Outstanding Teaching and the Linda and Tod White Teaching Prize. His research addressed how cells and tissues in marine invertebrates fought infections and disease. His lab produced nearly 70 publications involving electron microscopy and including many student co-authors. Gary received his B.A. and M.A. from Sonoma State College, his Ph.D. from UC-Berkeley, and a postdoc from UC-Riverside. He credits his height (6'6") as key to his recruitment to Oxy, to best serve the faculty men's basketball team. Gary retired in 2021 and now spends much of his time chasing his four grandkids (by his two daughters), and traveling with his wife of 52 years, Noni. Read about Gary's impact on his students.