This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
Albert “Chip” Zecher ’79 has won this year’s Distinguished Alumni Award. A Lincoln Law School faculty member since 2009 specializing in constitution law, Zecher was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1990, and was also admitted to practice before the California Supreme Court, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. District Courts for Northern and Southern California.
From 1990 to 1992, Zecher worked as a staff attorney with the San Francisco Superior Court, where he was assigned to civil trial departments. Thereafter, he joined The Chubb Group of Insurance Companies as in-house counsel, where he practiced in the areas of director and officer liability, premises liability, construction defect, property casualty, employment and toxic torts.
Since 2008, Zecher has been working as corporate counsel and the director of regulatory compliance for a Silicon Valley satellite communication manufacturer, where he oversees federal regulatory and corporate governance issues, contracts and litigation. He has also served as a judge pro tem with the San Francisco Superior Court and as a hearing officer with the San Francisco Assessment Appeals Board. Additionally, he serves on Harker’s board of trustees and is chair of the Harker Board of Fellows.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
Life for John Owens ’85 has changed significantly ever since President Barack Obama nominated him to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, the nation’s largest appeals court, which shapes federal law from districts in California and eight other Western states.
Owens’ historic appointment as a judge was confirmed on March 31 with a vote from the U.S. Senate. On April 25 he was officially sworn in as a circuit judge during an investiture ceremony held in the jury assembly room of the Courthouse Annex in San Diego.
“Professionally, for more than 15 years, my primary concern was obtaining the best outcome for a client, either the United States or a private person or company. I really cared about the outcome of a case. Now as a judge, I no longer care who wins or loses. I only care that my decision was correct under the pertinent facts and law,” said Owens, a former partner with the Los Angeles-based law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson. “On a personal level, my life is a little less hectic now, which is nice for my wife and daughters,” he added.
Judges on the 9th Circuit review the decisions of federal trial courts in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and certain islands in the Pacific. “This requires us to apply a wide variety of law (civil, criminal, immigration, administrative). After we have reviewed the decision of the trial court and heard arguments from the parties, we set out to write an opinion explaining our decision to uphold or reverse the trial court’s decision. We work with law clerks (usually recent law school graduates) to help make these decisions,” explained Owens, who graduated first in his class from Stanford Law School in 1996.
He then served as a law clerk for Judge J. Clifford Wallace of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to that Owens was a federal prosecutor and served as chief of the criminal division in the San Diego U.S. attorney’s office. At the age of 19, he worked in the publicity department of the Golden State Warriors basketball team.
Owens’ current judicial appointment filled one of the most prolonged vacancies in 9th Circuit history. Judge Stephen Trott stepped down in 2004, leaving unresolved political feuding over whether his seat should be considered a California judgeship or an Idaho judgeship.
Reflecting back on his experience clerking for Ginsburg, Owens said she had an extremely high level of dedication to our justice system.
While working with her, Owens helped set up a visit to the Supreme Court for a group of grade 8 Harker students who were in Washington, D.C., on their class trip in 1998. “Justice Ginsburg addressed the students in the courtroom, and answered their questions. I was very proud of my fellow Harker Eagles that day,” he recalled.
Of his time at Harker, he said that the school remains “the most significant professional and personal influence on me.” He went on to say that Harker provided him with the study skills necessary to succeed in school, and more important, the ethics and values to succeed in life.
Owens started out as a Harker student in 1979, graduated from grade 8 in 1985, and worked as a summer camp counselor/coach at the school from 1985 until 1991. Today, he remains active with the school in his capacity as a member of Harker’s distinguished board of fellows.
“It was the least I could do to say thanks to the school,” he said.
An advisory group to the school’s board of trustees, the board of fellows comprises a dedicated contingent of current parents, alumni parents and alumni who meet regularly to exchange ideas on strategic planning for the school. During a spring board of fellows meeting, Owens was applauded for his recent judicial appointment.
When asked to offer words of wisdom to fellow Harker alumni about pursuing their chosen careers, Owens said he would offer two pieces of advice. “First, make sure that you enjoy your work … you will probably spend more time working than anything else in your life, so you don’t want to be stuck in a miserable job. Second, there is no substitute for hard work, especially when you are in high school and college. Hard work now makes the rest of your life much easier,” he said.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
The beautiful new Union campus was the site of the Harker Alumni Families Easter Egg Hunt. Held in March, the fourth-annual event attracted an all-time high of more than 120 people.
“Attendance was awesome! Over 1,000 eggs were hidden,” enthused MaryEllis Deacon, director of alumni relations.
In the past, the egg hunt had been held at the lower school campus. New to this year’s egg hunt were age divisions for egg hunting, and arts and crafts activities. Eggs were strategically hidden throughout the grounds.
In addition to the arts and crafts tables, the day featured a fun bounce house and surprise visit by the Easter Bunny.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
Butch and Jane Keller can hardly believe they have reached the five-year milestone of the Keller Tour, an annual series of trips during which they visit with Harker alumni attending various colleges throughout the United States.
The first Keller Tour was in spring 2009 when Butch Keller, upper school head, and his wife, Jane, an upper school math teacher, headed to New York to attend a performance by The Harker School Orchestra at Lincoln Center. Several alumni living in the area heard the Kellers were in town and asked them to stop by. Soon after, requests began flooding in from other alumni to “come out and see us,” recalled Butch Keller.
Today, the tour serves as an opportunity not only to stay in touch with alumni, but also to visit with them while they are still in college, gaining invaluable feedback on how well Harker prepared them for university life.
This year’s Keller Tour officially launched last fall with a trip to visit alums at the University of California, Davis. During that visit, the Kellers were treated to a performance by the school’s dance team during halftime at a Sacramento Kings game.
Then, over the March break, the Keller Tour continued with a trip to St. Louis, Mo., to spend several days with Harker alumni at Washington University. Butch Keller said he enjoyed some one-on-one time with former Harker basketball player Kevin Susai ’13. Meanwhile, Jane Keller said her former advisee, Kaavya Cherukuri ’11, gave her a lovely tour of the school’s campus. A brief detour to Chicago allowed the Kellers to enjoy a performance by The Harker School Orchestra, which was playing in the Chicago Symphony’s International Music Festival.
From there, the Kellers traveled to Southern California for a three-school tour. Highlights of that trip included a dinner with some University of Southern California students near L.A. LIVE, an entertainment complex in downtown Los Angeles. That dinner was arranged by Hassaan Ebrahim ’11. Following was a get-together in Westwood with alumni attending the University of California, Los Angeles, which Butch Keller said ended with a brief, “but much enjoyed sighting of Johnny Depp.”
The tour of the Southern California schools concluded with a lunch with alumni attending the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. The Kellers also were treated to a tour of the Cal Tech campus by Chat Malladi ’12.
Shortly after returning from spring break, the Kellers headed to the Stanford University campus for a baseball game at which some alums watched Butch Keller, standing on the diamond, throw out the ceremonial first pitch of the game.
The evening concluded with Stanford winning the game in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Keller Tour concluded with dinner with Harker alums attending Santa Clara University, followed by dessert at the Mission Ice Creamery.
“In a year where over 100 students were visited, the common theme was appreciation for the teachers who cared enough to make a difference in and out of the classroom. Another topic discussed at almost every stop is the confidence students gained while at Harker,” reported Butch Keller, noting that many alumni said that they gained the confidence to speak to college professors or teaching assistants from the ease of working with Harker’s upper school teachers.
“Many alumni enjoy talking about their Harker years but are also excited to share stories of their college experiences. These conversations range from the struggles of being a college athlete to learning to manage time and budgets. We are continually fascinated to hear about the adventures of the varied extracurricular activities that range from club lacrosse to singing in musical groups,” said Butch Keller.
The Kellers are already looking forward to planning next year’s trip. “We love visiting with alumni on their turf. The excitement in their voices and the fun they have telling stories makes every second of the trip enjoyable,” they concurred.
In late June, a 3-D art piece created by recent graduate Manon Audebert was chosen to be featured at the 2014-15 AP Studio Art Exhibit. Audebert’s work, a visual representation of tension showing pieces of cloth being pulled in multiple directions, was among the 30 pieces selected from nearly 49,000 portfolios submitted for entry into the exhibit. Pieces for the exhibition are chosen by experienced high school and college art instructors, who select work that exemplifies the high standards and hard work of students in the AP program.
The 2014-15 AP Studio Art Exhibit begins July 9 at the AP Annual Conference, which takes place in Philadelphia from July 9-13. It will then head to Princeton, N.J., to be displayed at the conference center at the Educational Testing Service. For the remainder of the year and into 2015, the exhibit will be shown at various locations throughout the country, providing inspiration to students and information to teachers in search of professional development opportunities. The remaining locations for the exhibit will be announced later this year.
“I was completely shocked and honored to be selected,” said Audebert. “It was a great validation of all the work that I put in during the year.” She credited upper school art teacher Jaap Bongers as a crucial source of guidance: “He pushed me throughout the year to improve my designs and stay on track.” Audebert plans to attend Pomona College in the fall.
In late June, a 3-D art piece created by recent graduate Manon Audebert was chosen to be featured at the 2014-15 AP Studio Art Exhibit. Audebert’s work, a visual representation of tension showing pieces of cloth being pulled in multiple directions, was among the 30 pieces selected from nearly 49,000 portfolios submitted for entry into the exhibit. Pieces for the exhibition are chosen by experienced high school and college art instructors, who select work that exemplifies the high standards and hard work of students in the AP program.
The 2014-15 AP Studio Art Exhibit begins July 9 at the AP Annual Conference, which takes place in Philadelphia from July 9-13. It will then head to Princeton, N.J., to be displayed at the conference center at the Educational Testing Service. For the remainder of the year and into 2015, the exhibit will be shown at various locations throughout the country, providing inspiration to students and information to teachers in search of professional development opportunities. The remaining locations for the exhibit will be announced later this year.
“I was completely shocked and honored to be selected,” said Audebert. “It was a great validation of all the work that I put in during the year.” She credited upper school art teacher Jaap Bongers as a crucial source of guidance: “He pushed me throughout the year to improve my designs and stay on track.” Audebert plans to attend Pomona College in the fall.
In late June, a 3-D art piece created by recent graduate Manon Audebert was chosen to be featured at the 2014-15 AP Studio Art Exhibit. Audebert’s work, a visual representation of tension showing pieces of cloth being pulled in multiple directions, was among the 30 pieces selected from nearly 49,000 portfolios submitted for entry into the exhibit. Pieces for the exhibition are chosen by experienced high school and college art instructors, who select work that exemplifies the high standards and hard work of students in the AP program.
The 2014-15 AP Studio Art Exhibit begins July 9 at the AP Annual Conference, which takes place in Philadelphia from July 9-13. It will then head to Princeton, N.J., to be displayed at the conference center at the Educational Testing Service. For the remainder of the year and into 2015, the exhibit will be shown at various locations throughout the country, providing inspiration to students and information to teachers in search of professional development opportunities. The remaining locations for the exhibit will be announced later this year.
“I was completely shocked and honored to be selected,” said Audebert. “It was a great validation of all the work that I put in during the year.” She credited upper school art teacher Jaap Bongers as a crucial source of guidance: “He pushed me throughout the year to improve my designs and stay on track.” Audebert plans to attend Pomona College in the fall.
When Amira Valliani ’06 recently had her photo taken with President Obama, she never expected it to become a Harker Quarterly cover shot. Now the photo has made Harker Quarterly history – marking the first time a graduate has graced the magazine’s cover.
Published four times a year, Harker Quarterly showcases some of the top news, leading programs, inspiring people and visionary plans of the greater Harker community. We mail it to current families and alumni, and post to our account at issuu.com for all to enjoy.
Valliani recently wrapped up her duties as senior adviser to the deputy national security adviser for strategic communications at the White House. During her stint there, Valliani worked on a range of foreign policy, press and public diplomacy issues. Of her photo with President Obama, she said “It was taken in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia before a town hall with young people from across Southeast Asia as a part of the launch of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI), which I coordinated. My boss introduced me to the president backstage before the event started and told him I put the initiative together.”
That event was actually Valliani’s last day on the job. “So the president and I chatted for a few minutes about the initiative and my plans for after the White House,” added Valliani who previously worked in the Office of the Secretary of State under Hillary Clinton. In that position, she served as special assistant to the State Department’s deputy chief of staff and wrote speeches for Secretary Clinton.
When not working (or posing with the world’s most powerful politician), Valliani enjoys running. This past spring, she ran in the Boston Marathon in an effort to raise money for the Aga Khan Foundation, one of the world’s largest international development organizations. “Our team of three runners successfully raised over $60,000,” she reported.
Valliani recently packed up her apartment in Washington, D.C., and backpacked around Myanmar (Burma) with fellow alumna Mina Lee ’06. She is spending the remainder of the summer traveling throughout Southeast Asia and Europe. Come fall, she will attend graduate school at the MIT Sloan School of Management and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
This year’s sports season is behind us, but the honors continue to rain down, as both a Harker team and a recent grad were commended in the press this week.
Golf
Harker’s male golfers had the highest GPA of any boys golf team in the state of California this year! Last week, the California Interscholastic Federation announced its 2013-14 Academic Team Champions, honoring the high school teams with the highest GPAs in the state. For boys golf, the honor went to Harker’s squad. Congratulations to the team on this outstanding achievement!
Volleyball
The San Jose Mercury News named its top volleyball players last week, and 2014 Harker alum Andrew Zhu was awarded an Honorable Mention. Zhu is heading to New York University to continue his volleyball career!
When his final putt dropped, “I wasn’t sure where I stood with regard to the cut line,” said McNealy, but when I got to the scoring table and saw that I was two shots inside the projected cut with nobody who could realistically pass me, it hit me that I was going to be playing in the US Open.”
In an interview with the Northern California Golf Association, McNealy said about qualifying, “It’s awesome. It’s a great day. It’s something I’ve wanted to do my whole life. It’s still sinking in.”
Maverick will have his secret weapon along for the U.S. Open, too. “I am excited to have my dad caddying for me that week, and my three brothers (Scout, grade 7; Colt, grade 9; Dakota, grade 10) and mom will also be there cheering me on from the grandstands!”
At Stanford, McNealy was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team and received an All-Pac-12 honorable mention. In his career at Harker, he twice earned the WBAL individual championship and was named to the WBAL All-League first team three times. McNealy is the Harker record holder for lowest nine-hole match score (-6) and most matches as medalist (nine of 10).
He noted, “at Harker I figured out that I wanted to pursue both golf and my academics seriously; hence, it was a pretty easy decision to choose Stanford. I plan on majoring in management science and engineering with a minor in computer science.”
In a 2013 Harker Quarterly article on Harker athletes playing in college, McNealy noted he was learning the game when he was learning how to walk and “loved to go outside and whack balls around with a plastic club.” Arriving at Harker in grade 9, McNealy immediately excelled on the links, but he believes that “until I shoot 18 in every round, there will always be room to get better.”
Given that drive, it is no wonder that McNealy is acutely aware of the life lessons golf provides: “Golf, to me, is the ultimate game of personal responsibility,” he said. “Your performance is a direct result of the time and effort you put into the game, and you take complete responsibility for your play. If you hit a bad shot, you can only blame yourself because you were the only one to swing the club. Conversely, if you make a hole in one, you can take complete pride in your accomplishment.”