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Honored Alumni Awards

For 60 years, the Honored Alumni Award has served as the highest honor bestowed upon Cal Poly alumni. The awards recognize alumni from each of the university’s six academic colleges, Cal Poly Athletics and the Cal Poly Alumni Association. Through their contributions to their fields, to Cal Poly, and their impact in their communities and beyond, our Honored Alumni represent the best of Learn by Doing.

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Engineering

Steve Beeks

Industrial Engineering, '78


2024 Award Recipient Video

Engineering

Kyle Wiens

(Computer Science, '05)


2023 Award Recipient Video

Engineering

Angela Simon

(Environmental Engineering, '86)

Simon is an advocate of the College of Engineering and Cal Poly Athletics. A former softball player, Simon has created a scholarship to support female athletes in the College of Engineering.

2022 Award Recipient Video

Engineering

Edward L. Burnett

(Aerospace Engineering, '83; MEN, Engineering, '85)

Burnett began his career with Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. as a student at Cal Poly. His dedication to the company is matched only by his support for the Cal Poly College of Engineering. He serves as Lockheed Martin Senior Fellow, Emeritus, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company.

2021 Award Recipient Video

Engineering

David J. Rosa

(Mechanical Engineering, B.S., 1989)

Rosa is the Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer at Intuitive Surgical, a robotic-assisted surgical company that develops minimally invasive surgical platforms and future diagnostic tools to help solve complex healthcare challenges around the world.

2020 Award Recipient Video

Engineering

Farzad (Zod) Nazem

(Computer Science, B.S., 1981)

Nazem graduated with high honors at the age of 19. He went on to serve in high-level engineering roles, first at Oracle and then as the executive vice president of engineering and chief technology officer at Yahoo!, overseeing a staff of 6,000.

2019 Award Recipient Video

Engineering

Tory Bruno

(Mechanical Engineering, B.S., 1985)

Bruno is an expert in the design and analysis of control systems for rockets and hypersonic re-entry vehicles and has contributed to many of the nation’s missile defense systems.

2018 Award Recipient Video

Engineering

John Nielsen

(Mechanical Engineering, B.S., 1965)

Nielsen is the founding donor of the Mustang ’60 Shop, an on-campus machine shop where students can complete the cycle of design from concept to finished product and gain confidence using manufacturing equipment.

2017 Award Recipient Video

Engineering

Karen Bartleson

(B.S., Engineering Science, 1980)

Bartleson is the past president of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). She is the author of numerous articles and is the recipient of the Marie R. Pistilli Women in Electronic Design Automation Achievement Award.

2016 Award Recipient Video

Engineering

Kim E. Vorrath

(Computer Science, B.S., '88)

One of Vorrath’s passions is supporting women in technology and at Cal Poly she has championed Women Involved in Software and Hardware (WISH) and student participation in the national Grace Hopper Conference.

2015 Award Recipient Video

Engineering

Carson Chen

(Electronic Engineering, B.S., '73)

Chen is co-founder and chairman of Innovation Quest (iQ) and the retired vice president and general manager of the Cable & Wireless Platform Division of Cisco Systems.

2014 Award Recipient Video

Engineering

Beth F. Anderson

(Aerospace Engineering ‘85)