Anne Cuffe Payne ’65 (Elementary Education) has deep roots in the San Fernando Valley and a special appreciation for her education at California State University, Northridge. She valued the welcoming spirit and accessibility of what was then San Fernando Valley State College. And her experience in student and sorority leadership shaped a lifelong commitment to giving back.

Today, Cal State Northridge is proud to welcome Anne as the chair of the President’s Associates, an organization of alumni and friends who—through their generous financial support, volunteer service and ambassadorship—advance the overall excellence of the university.

These days she is using her connections to support the President’s Associates’ mission to reconnect alumni and deepen their engagement with the university.

Last year, she was able to mobilize members of the Alpha Omega Sorority, now known as Kappa Kappa Gamma, to donate thousands of dollars toward the construction of the Matador statue, a gift from alumni donors that will be unveiled in September.

“It’s a pleasure to serve on this board,” Anne tells us, “to help secure much-needed funds to further the mission of teaching, scholarship and service on behalf of CSUN.”

Anne has contributed her signature dynamism and enthusiasm to her career in teaching and her numerous volunteer leadership roles through which she has motivated others to give of their time to worthwhile causes. Currently in her second term as president of the Malibu Optimist Club, she has also served on the Crest Advisory Board at Pepperdine University.

Her skills will be invaluable in building the President’s Associates program and expanding the involvement of like-minded alumni and friends of CSUN.

Join the President’s Associates. Qualifying gifts of $1,000 or more allow Associates to enjoy exclusive events with the university president and fellow associates.

Dodgers All Star short stop Pee Wee Reese wheels team mate Roy Campanella through the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on May 7, 1959, as 93,103 fans light candles in the great catcher’s honor. (Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Dodgers)

Roy in 1972

Roy and Roxie Campanella Endowment Funds Future Therapists

On a raw January day 52 years ago, Dodger legend Roy Campanella began the second half of his life. The three-time National League Most Valuable Player was on top of his game as he drove from his home in Glen Cove, N.Y.

An auto accident and resultant massive spinal cord injury transformed Campanella from a champion on the diamond to a future champion for people with disabilities. Suddenly a quadriplegic, the Hall of Famer had a long fight ahead of him. With perseverance and courage, he regained some use of his arms, learning along the way the importance of having someone fighting by your side.

The way her father came to see it, a physical therapist is one of the most important factors in an individual’s journey toward independence, explained Joni Campanella Roan. “The physical therapist makes you feel you can conquer again,” she said. Because of his own physical therapist, “my dad was able to build his upper body strength so he could take care of some of his own basic needs, such as feeding himself and writing. This may sound small, but it was crucial to his re-integration into society.”

Campanella’s view was shared by his wife, Roxie Campanella, who worked “hand in glove” with him to form the Roy and Roxie Campanella Physical Therapy Scholarship Foundation. For years, their foundation funded physical therapy scholarships at Cal State Northridge. In 2010, the Campanella family decided the best way to continue the foundation’s work was to transfer its assets to the California State University, Northridge Foundation. By administering the Roy and Roxie Campanella Physical Therapy Scholarship Endowment, CSUN will carry out in perpetuity what the great Dodger and his devoted spouse began.

Roxie Campanella (right) and President Jolene Koester

The dynamic Roxie Campanella, who passed away in 2004, “was the motivator for Pop’s second life,” said Roan. “In that second life, my mother was the one who helped him make other people see what can be achieved from a wheelchair. That is why she felt creating this foundation was so necessary, why it was so dear to her heart.”

Roan’s brother, John Campanella, credits students in CSUN’s physical therapy clinic with his successful therapy following the deterioration of his spinal cord. “He always says they helped him become ambulatory again,” said Roan, who served as vice president and CFO of her parents’ foundation.

“The Dodgers were the first big league team to hire a physical therapist, so we are enormously proud that the great Roy Campanella and his wife had such a deep respect for the role of physical therapists,” said Stan Conte ‘78 (Health Science/Physical Therapy), the Dodgers’ director of medical services and head athletic trainer. “I am proud that my alma mater and its students are the beneficiaries of their philanthropy.”

Through the foundation’s endowment, annual scholarships are granted to Cal State Northridge graduate physical therapy students who “demonstrate an awareness of and sensitivity to patients of diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds.”

“The endowment,” said Roan, “is my opportunity to make my parents’ dream stay alive, but also to know that I’m helping students make their dreams a reality.”

Video by Ernst & Young

At an Ernst & Young Leadership Seminar, student Angelia Wijaya uses a collage of ideas to convey her vision of leadership. (Photo by Lee Choo)

Ernst & Young Sponsors Scholarships, Hires Grads, Funds Programs

“Volunteering is an important part of our culture,” says the Ernst & Young Web site, “but we don’t simply provide an extra pair of hands.”

During the years of its remarkable relationship with the Cal State Northridge College of Business and Economics, the global professional services firm has served as a model for how one company can “create positive change in communities close to home and around the world.”

It’s what President Jolene Koester calls “walking the walk.” Ernst & Young has sponsored major programs in the college, contributed generously to scholarships for business majors, established internships, welcomed CSUN graduates into its ranks, even gone so far as to lend two top partners to teach tax and audit courses at CSUN.

“Ernst & Young has shown itself to be the best kind of friend to the university,” said the president. “It was with us when the economy was soaring, and now that we are challenged by budget reductions, it’s still here with every kind of corporate support imaginable.”

“We are excited to provide CSUN with these critical resources,” said Peter Griffith, Ernst & Young vice chair. “We have been extremely happy with the quality of CSUN students and are looking forward to having even more of them join our firm in the years ahead.”

Honors business student Jack Karagulleyan makes a presentation at a local community college. With a $150,000 grant from Ernst & Young, CSUN is reaching out to community colleges to broaden the diversity of accounting and information systems students at Northridge. (Photo by Lee Choo)

The critical resources include a $151,000 grant that in 2007 established The Ernst & Young Seminar in Professional Leadership. In small group settings led by professionals from the company, up to 90 junior and senior accounting and information systems majors per year learn how to “navigate a corporate or business culture that is very different from the one they experience while they’re in college,” said Paul Lazarony, associate chair of the Department of Accounting and Information Systems.

A year later, a number of CSUN alumni and friends—all Ernst & Young professionals—matched the firm’s $500,000 gift to the business college. Their joint donation will pour more than $1 million into university programs over a five-year period.

It also made possible the Ernst & Young Center for Careers in Accounting and Information Systems, providing career counseling and placement services to more than 1,300 accounting and information systems students. And at a time when internships are a rare commodity for college students, it will enable the return of the Winter Accounting Internship Program for CSUN students.

The company continues to make its imprint felt. Two Ernst & Young partners—Jeff Rosen ’83, MS ‘84 and Jeff Tolin—signed on to teach audit and tax courses at CSUN, and the firm also has committed to fund as many as five annual Ernst & Young tax fellows. It also supports an annual business case competition, an all-important rite of passage for business honors students, and sponsors the Ernst & Young Diversity Award through the Beta Alpha Psi business fraternity.

Griffith is proud of the firm’s partnership with CSUN. “It’s critical,” he said, “for organizations like Ernst & Young to provide leadership and financial support so that CSUN can continue its high level of academic and professional excellence for these students.”

From left, orthopedic and sports physical therapist George Erb, faculty mentor Dee Lilly, with Dee Lilly Scholarship recipients Rebecca Guinn and Nina Kaufman, Physical Therapy Department chair Sheryl Low and Sylvia Alva, dean of the College of Health and Human Development

Convinced he couldn’t get through his dissection class, George Erb ’86 (Physical Therapy) was ready to withdraw from Cal State Northridge after two weeks of anatomy.

“I was fully prepared to leave,” recalled Erb. “Then Professor Dee Lilly stepped in and got me through it. She convinced me I could do it, and she helped me and supported me emotionally. And I did it.”

Anatomy turned out to be Erb’s favorite subject. The following semester, he even served as a lab assistant for the class.

Dee Lilly was a valued faculty member at California State University, Northridge throughout the 1980s, teaching anatomy and physiology. She was known for encouraging future physical therapists by instilling a yearning for knowledge and a motivation to help others.

“She was an amazing mentor,” said Erb. “You could go to her with any issue, whether it was school or personal, and she was there for you. I’m not kidding when I say that I remember studying late and calling her at midnight with questions. She has a gift in that regard; she’s still helping people.”

Today Erb is a leading orthopedic and sports physical therapist in Ventura County. He established George Erb Physical Therapy, Inc. in 1988 and the George Erb Fitness Center in 2006, both in Camarillo. Committed to providing his patients with excellent care in a friendly, family-like atmosphere, Erb has specialized in creating fitness programs that teach clients to avoid injury.

Lilly had meant so much to Erb and to peers who had come through the program that he wanted to honor her in a meaningful way. The best way to do that, he decided, was to help students. His generous gift established the Dee Lilly Scholarship.

“Dee Lilly was my anatomy professor when I was in the physical therapy program,” said Sheryl Low ’86, chair of the department. “She inspired a love for learning and conveyed to all of us the true meaning of being a physical therapist. Dee always made even the struggling student feel they could learn. She is responsible for mentoring and inspiring so many students through her continued teaching.”

The Dee Lilly Scholarship provides financial assistance to students pursuing degrees in physical therapy at CSUN. Its recipients have demonstrated exceptional commitment to professional growth and service, outstanding leadership, a positive and professional attitude, and outstanding clinical potential. Two scholarships are awarded each year.

“Dee Lilly has spent her entire professional life selflessly assisting people to achieve,” said Erb. “And really, as physical therapists, that’s what we’re supposed to do.”

College of Social and Behavorial Sciences Dean Stella Theodoulou (far right), with Ahmad’s family: sister Cathy (left) father Dr. Hossein Eshraghi, and mother Afsar Eshraghi.

Ahmad Eshraghi ’07 (Political Science) is remembered by those who knew him as a young man with many interests. He dearly loved classical music, photography, chess and books about history and philosophy.

In pursuit of more knowledge about the world and its complexities, Ahmad sought and earned his bachelor’s degree in political science in 2007 and continued his studies as a graduate student. The Ahmad Eshraghi Endowed Scholarship in Political Science was established by his family to honor his memory.

“Ahmad had two successful careers in America after our family emigrated from Iran,” said Afsar Eshraghi, his mother. “One was experiencing different kinds of business venues such as real estate and sales. The other was his dedication to education.”

Ahmad Eshraghi ’07

Ahmad applied and was accepted at USC and CSUN but followed the advice of a counselor at Glendale Community College in choosing Cal State Northridge.

“His father and I felt very good about his decision,” said Mrs. Eshraghi. “He liked all of his teachers. but from the very beginning he felt a special bond with Professor Jim Mitchell in the Department of Political Science.

“Dr. Mitchell was a real mentor to him and became like another member of our family. He encouraged Ahmad and was instrumental in Ahmad’s decision to attend graduate school.”

Shortly after beginning his graduate studies, Ahmad became ill with cancer.

“He was so concerned that he would miss classes,” said his sister, Cathy Eshraghi. “Dr. Mitchell reassured him and visited him during this difficult time.”

After Ahmad’s death, his family searched for a lasting way to honor his memory. The Eshraghi family decided to establish the Ahmad Eshraghi Endowed Scholarship

“We all recalled how much Ahmad changed as a person after attending CSUN,” said Cathy. “He really developed his ability to think about world affairs and to talk about issues that matter.

“We thought, ‘What better way to honor Ahmad than to give others the opportunity to also grow as individuals and develop their intellectual ability and knowledge about global politics?”

“Despite Ahmad’s success in business, he didn’t feel complete without an education,” said Afsar Eshraghi. “Education is an investment no one can take away from you. We left Iran with nothing, but because of my husband’s education, we were able to rebuild our lives.”