HONORS: Ashley Coates: Ashley Coates graduated with highest honors from UC Davis with a double major in aerospace science and engineering and mechanical engineering June 15.
She was named the University Medalist—the highest honor given by the UC Davis campus to the top student across all four colleges of the university. She also received a Departmental Citation and was on the honor roll all four years and has maintained a 4.0 GPA.
Ashley has been working in the laboratory of former astronaut and current professor Stephen Robinson on head-mounted displays and a robotic arm. She has also been a peer advisor in the Department of Engineering and a Chancellor’s Ambassador. She is a four-year member of the Cal Aggie Marching Band-uh! and served as flute section leader.
Ashley has received fellowships from Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society and Phi Kappa Phi, the national honor society. This summer she will be an intern at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. In the fall, Ashley will begin graduate school at Stanford University where she has been named a Fellow, which covers all tuition and living expenses. She plans to study computational fluid dynamics with applications to space vehicles. After completing her PhD, Ashley would like to work for NASA and eventually become a college professor.
Deborah King
San Benito High School alumna Deborah King was awarded a master’s degree from Empire College School of Law in Santa Rosa June 1.
King, daughter of Tom and Suzi King of Hollister, received a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Sonoma State University. While attending law school, she worked as a legal assistant.
Empire College School of Law, founded in 1973, is accredited by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California and offers evening Juris Doctor and Master of Legal Studies programs.
Robert Lucio
Gilroy resident Robert Lucio will retire from the Air Force July 31, 2014. Chief Master Sergeant Robert Lucio is the Superintendent of the 222nd Communications Maintenance Flight, CA ANG, Beale AFB. He is the senior enlisted member responsible for advising the commander on all matters affecting the morale, health, welfare, utilization, training and development of unit personnel. The 222nd CMXF is an Air National Guard classic associate unit with the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, working with 9th Maintenance Group in support of the RQ-4 Global Hawk ground communications mission.
Lucio was born and raised in Gilroy. In June 1983, upon his graduation from Gilroy High School, he enlisted in the United States Air Force. He has participated in numerous deployments and operations in support of both Air Force and State of California needs. He has served in support of wildfire missions in California, Fuertes Caminos in Honduras, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, as well as deployments to Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Korea, Thailand, Haiti and Guam.
In 2008, Lucio volunteered to fill a manpower shortfall for the 48th Intelligence Squadron as the superintendent for their site in Qatar. He underwent several weeks of training and preparations in advance of the deployment and was able to “Make a significant difference” for both the mission and the personnel while he was there.
He resides in Gilroy with his wife, Charleen and his sons Robert, Jarrett and Kenny.
Brian Rocha
Brian Rocha, son of Dave and Sue Rocha of Hollister, has been accepted to the prestigious Harvard Business School starting in August 2014. It is a world renowned, two-year MBA program.
Brian, 26, attended Spring Grove School, graduated from San Benito High School in 2006 and UCLA in 2010 with a degree in economics. He previously worked for Walt Disney International Finance and Strategy in Burbank and is currently the manager of international finance and business development for Warner Bros. Home Entertainment in Burbank.
