January 23, 2020
Nominations Open for San Diego Mesa College 2020 Distinguished Alumni Award
By Office of Communications
San Diego, Calif. —San Diego Mesa College has opened nominations for the 2020 San Diego Mesa College Distinguished Alumni Award. The Alumni Award
program was established in 2011 to recognize former students who have made significant
contributions to society, and whose accomplishments, affiliations, and careers have
honored the legacy of academic excellence and equity at San Diego Mesa College. The
award recipient will be announced in March and invited to be the guest speaker at
Mesa College’s 2020 Commencement Ceremony scheduled for Saturday, May 30. Nominations are due no later than February 21, 2020. Anyone in the community is encouraged
to submit a nomination.
“We are proud of the tens of thousands of students who have attended Mesa College,
and of the contributions that Mesa College alumni have made to the people of San Diego
and communities beyond,” said Dr. Pamela T. Luster, President of Mesa College. “I
encourage everyone to suggest nominees to help us to select our 2020 Distinguished
Alumni Award recipient.”
The 2019 award recipient was Dr. George Dionisopoulos, a Professor Emeritus in the
School of Communication at San Diego State University. He attended Mesa college from
1969 – 1971, and earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees from SDSU. In 1984, he was awarded
his Ph. D. in Communication from Purdue University. After a year at Rutgers University,
he joined the faculty in the School of Communication at San Diego State where he taught
for 34 years – including hundreds of Mesa College transfer students, faculty and staff.
He is an award-winning scholar who has published over forty books, journal articles
and book chapters. His primary areas of research concern political issues of the 1960s
and the cultural legacy of American involvement in Vietnam.
Former Mesa College Alumni Awarded recipients include two-time Olympic Gold Medalist
Arnie Robinson, Golden Globe Award winning actress Annette Bening, film producer Raul
Celaya, artist Miya Hannan and community activists, Carlos and Linda LeGerrette.
Nominations for the Distinguished Alumni Award are due by Friday, Feb. 21, 2020. For more information see www.sdmesa.edu/alumni or email jnkearns@sdccd.edu. 
Tags: Press Release, Distinguished Alumni Award
