2000 Distinguished Alumni

	Thomas W. Osborn, AS Physical Science, '65, is research fellow at Proctor & Gamble Co. and is responsible for technology development and methods for feminine care products. He is the holder or co-holder of 72 US patents and many more pending applications. Tom is the primary inventor of Always Thin, Flexible and Ultra technologies, and sales from his inventions exceed $1 billion a year. He serves as an expert witness in patent trials all over the US Tom received his Ph.D. in Nuclear Chemistry from Oregon State University and performed postdoctoral research in the laboratories of Nobel Laureate Harold C. Urey at the University of California. Tom's early work in the origin and evolution of the solar system included the study of meteorites and moon rocks returned by the Apollo astronauts. In his career at Proctor and Gamble, he is considered one of the company's top technologists.
	Col. Duane F. Newton, AA '52, served 30 years active duty with the US Marine Corps, traveling throughout the world with his wife Joanne. He flew 27 different types of aircraft, including the F9F Panther, the FJ2 Fury, the F8U Crusader, the A-4 Skyhawk and the F-106 Delta Dagger, logging over 3,500 hours of flight time. He served in combat in Vietnam and was shot down in February 1968 during the TET offensive. Later in his career, Duane was commander of the famous Black Sheep Squadron, VMA-214, which was later featured in a TV series. His decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Air Medal, the Purple Heart, Joint Services Commendation Medal, Navy Commendation Medal and several others. He received a BS in Psychology from California State University at Fullerton and an MS in Human Development Counseling from Vanderbilt University. After retiring from the Marine Corps in 1982, he became Executive Director of El Toro Auxiliary, Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society and worked there for 11 years, distributing over $15 million in interest-free loans and grants to needy US Navy and Marine Corps families.
	Merrill Mahaffey, '57, is a professional artist whose works reside in museum and private collections such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of American Art - Smithsonian Institution and IBM Corp. His landscape paintings capture some of the West's most spectacular canyons, lakes and rivers. Merrill has received several public commissions and numerous awards for his works, including representation at the First Western States Biennial in 1979. He was a juror for a National Endowment for the Arts and curated the 75th Anniversary Exhibition for Rocky Mountain National Park. In the 1980s, he accompanied a team of University of Colorado archaeologists to Peru as the team artist. His works have been featured in numerous publications, including Southwest Art, Smithsonian and Art in America magazines. Merrill received his BA from Sacramento University and MFA from Arizona State University.
	Roger A. Franklin, '65, is the chief executive officer of Syntax, Inc., a privately held e-commerce corporation in Federal Way, Washington. Syntax markets its TotalNET Advanced Server worldwide to Fortune 1000 companies and has offices in Houston, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, and Amsterdam. Through Syntax, Roger designs and outlines computer course curricula for several local colleges and universities in the Seattle area and provides internships for students. Roger graduated from Western State College in 1967 with a B. A. in Math and Physics. After graduation, he and his wife, Peggy (Crawford, "64), moved to Denver where Roger worked for Martin Marietta in the Gemini Space program. In 1967, Roger and his family moved to Seattle, where he was a systems analyst for Honeywell Corp., joining Boeing Space Center in 1973 and in the summer of 1983, started Syntax Systems, Inc. with his wife, who is now the vice president of finance and administration.
	Michael "Mick" Deluca, BA '80, Recreation Management, is the Director of Cultural and Recreational Affairs/Recreation Services at UCLA. He received his MA in Sport and Exercise Science from the University of Denver in 1981, where he was the Assistant Athletic Director/Director of Campus Recreation from 1984 to 1989. Mick was also an instructor at the University of Denver, and worked at the University of Wyoming as a Physical Education Instructor, Coordinator of Intramural and Recreational Sports. He is involved with the National Kidney Foundation's U. S. Transplant Athletic Games, is managing partner of the Collegiate Golf Alliance, coaches basketball and softball and is a golf instructor. He received the National Service Award in 1989, 1994 and 2000 from the National Intramural-Recreation Sports Association, and the Distinguished Service Award in 1998 from the National Kidney Foundation.