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Alumni Recognition Award

Monica Odero-Winegar '00 MSN, '09 FNP
Registered Nurse, Kaiser Permanete

For outstanding achievement in a profession or service to the Church or community

Originally from Kenya, Monica Odero-Winegar came to the United States in 1980 to begin her undergraduate studies at California State University, Sacramento. She later transferred to the University of North Texas where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Studies. Her interest in nursing led her to earn an Associate Degree in Nursing in 1995. She later enrolled at Holy Names University where she graduated in 2000 with a Master of Science degree in nursing. She completed the Family Nurse Practitioner program at Holy Names University in 2009.

Ms. Odero-Winegar has worked for most of her career at Kaiser Hospitals in the East Bay. Her experience includes work as an RN in Maternal Child, Critical Care and Medical Telemetry.  She has extensive experience as a Nurse Manager and as an Administrative Nursing Supervisor.  She currently works in the outpatient Travel Clinic at the Kaiser Medical Center in Oakland.

Ms. Odero-Winegar is passionate about community service.  She is on the board of directors of Prevention International: No Cervical Cancer (www.pincc.org), the Tamu Orphans Support Foundation (www.tamuorphansfund.org) and the Tiba Foundation (www.tibafoundation.org).

Young Alumni Award

Michael Stout '01 
Senior Game Design Specialist, Activision

Recognizing a recent graduate who has enchanced the prestige of the University 

"Since graduating in 2001, Michael Stout has been making waves within the Video Game Industry.  In addition to his work on several hit franchises (Skylanders, Ratchet and Clank, Resistance:Fall of Man) Mike has authored a number of featured articles for Gamasutra.com, the online version of Game Developer Magazine.  Mike currently works at Activision Publishing as a Senior Game Design Specialist - which is fancy talk for someone who gets sent all over the country to help make games better." 

Faculty Award

Thea Maestre, Ed.D.
Professor and Coordinator of the Multiple Subject Credential Program

For outstanding service and loyalty to the University

Throughout her professional career, elementary teaching has been the focus of Prof. Maestre activities. She received her teaching credential at Holy Names College in 1971. She then taught grades one through six in the Oakland Unified School District for twenty five years.

She collaborated with colleagues in the field of education and pursued an interest in studyingthe diverse ways in which people learn. She became a learning styles consultant for Dr. Bernice McCarthy’s 4MAT system, traveling nationally to present this work to teachers and administrators.  After earning her doctorate at the University of California at Berkeley in 1995, she returned to Holy Names to prepare teachers for elementary schools. Following her interest in social studies curriculum, she co-authored a book with Dr. Joan Skolnick and Dr. Nancy Dulberg: Through Other Eyes: Developing Empathy and Multiple Perspectives in the Social Studies.

Over the years she has presented her work in teacher education and social studies education at numerous conferences for the California Council on Teacher Education and the California Council for the Social Studies

She has served as Chair of the Education department and coordinator of  the Multiple Subject Credential program.In these roles, she interfaced with accreditation bodies and completed many tasks related to ongoing accreditation and assessment of programs offered by the Education Department.

Over the years, she has served on numerous university committees including the Teacher Education Committee, Rank and Tenure, Faculty Welfare, as well as search committees for positions within the university. Her work in curriculum development for diverse learners was the focus of the three year Irvine Faculty Development project, co-led with Dr. Kimberly Mayfield. This collaborative process opened dialogue about pedagogy cross departments and created enthusiasm for diverse ways of learning among students and faculty.

In her most recent work, she has incorporated Mindfulness as a stress reduction strategy for urban teachers into the intern teaching seminars.  Dr. Maestrecontinues to foster the development of teachers in urban schools, encouraging the teacher candidates to work toward excellence and to design learning experiences which inspire joy and curiosity.