Jean Fuller and Nicolasa Sandoval, alumnae of the Department of Education at the Gevirtz School, will be featured on the UC Santa Barbara Alumni Association panel “Exceptional Women, Exceptional Gauchos” on Saturday, May 21 at 11:30 am at the Bacara Resort & Spa in Goleta. (Tickets are available on-line.) Sandoval will moderate the panel featuring Jean Fuller, Dr. Betty K. Koed, the first female historian of the United States Senate, Maritza Mejia-Wilson, assistant director of orientation programs in the UCSB Division of Student Affairs, and Becka Klauber Richter and Kasey Edwards are the founders of Helpr, an on-demand childcare app.
Sen. Jean Fuller (R-Bakersfield) is the first woman to serve as California’s State Senate Republican leader. Fuller received her Ph.D. in Education from the Gevirtz School in 1989. During much of her career, Fuller served as the superintendent of Keppel Union School District. In this role, she was recognized for her commitment to education and community with the California Superintendent of the Year award by the Association of School Administrators. Fuller was first elected a member of the California State Legislature in 2006 and has been honored by numerous commendations like the California Water Agencies’ Legislative Leadership Award, TURN’s Sylvia Siegel Consumer Champion Award, and California Business Properties Association’s Legislator of the Year.
Nicolasa I. Sandoval was the first person from the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians to earn a doctorate from UCSB, which she did in 2007 from the Department of Education. Sandoval is education director for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians and a lecturer in the Department of Education at UCSB. In 2013, Gov. Edmund G. Brown appointed her to the California State Board of Education, which sets K-12 education policy in the areas of standards, curriculum, instructional materials, assessment and accountability. Sandoval serves on the UC Santa Barbara Alumni board of directors and the board of the Santa Barbara Foundation.