December 6, 2007 :: No. 115

Former Assembly member Marilyn Brewer, businessman Rick Muth and entrepreneur Doug Simao have been appointed to the Cal State Fullerton Philanthropic Foundation Board of Governors.

Originally chartered in 1993 as a nonprofit corporation in California to further the educational purposes and objectives of the university, the foundation’s mission is to advance the people and programs of Cal State Fullerton through pursuing, acquiring and stewarding private support; to oversee and manage philanthropic funds; and to advocate university needs and successes.

Newport Beach resident Brewer served in California’s 70th Assembly District from 1994 to 2000, and recently was a commissioner for the Orange County Transportation Authority. In 2006, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed her to a four-year term on the Little Hoover Commission.

From 1986 to 1994, Brewer was executive assistant to Orange County Supervisor Thomas F. Riley. She co-founded the C. Brewer Co. in 1965, where she worked until 1983. She is founding chair of both the Orange County Coalition of Comprehensive Mental Health Services and Women in Leadership.

Additionally, Brewer is a longtime donor to the Marilyn C. Brewer Scholarship in Cal State Fullerton’s College of Education. The award recognizes academic potential and supports re-entry students with the potential of becoming high-quality teachers.

Longtime Titan supporter and Orange resident Muth is president of Orco Block Co., a family-owned business that his father founded more than 60 years ago. Muth joined the company in 1975 as assistant office manager and moved up the ranks to the leadership position he holds today.

In 2003, he was honored as California Small Business Person of the Year, has served as president of the Concrete Masonry Association of California and Nevada, and in 1995, chaired the National Concrete Masonry Association.

A founding member of Cal State Fullerton’s Family Business Council, Muth donated $500,000 to the College of Business and Economics two years ago to establish an endowment for the Rick Muth Family Chair in Family Business. The gift will enable the Family Business Council to recruit a professor in family business, and also ensures that the council and its goals to support family businesses will continue into the future.

Yorba Linda resident Simao is president and CEO of Narratus, which provides business performance management solutions and digital media services that support process and system adoption.

Over the course of his career, he has provided technical and management consulting services for such clients as Coca Cola, Nissan, Disney Home Entertainment and First American Title Insurance Co. He served as chief marketing officer of Rapt Inc. and Hyperion Solutions.

As a result of Simao’s dedication to the arts, Narratus is an eight-time winner of the Orange County Business Committee for the Arts Award. With wife, Kate Peters, he founded Team Cabaret, a program that provides a safe place for teens to share themselves through story and song.

He currently serves on the boards of several organizations, including the Pacific Symphony, Orange County High School of the Arts and Cal State Fullerton’s MAMM Alliance for the Performing Arts. In 2005, he was honored with the Spirit of Philanthropy Award from the Orange County chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Members of the board of governors consist of business, community and university leaders. Brewer, Muth and Simao join Cal State Fullerton alumni Wylie Aitken, attorney; Katherine Fay Allred (B.A. business administration ’83), philanthropist; Dan Black (B.A. physics ’67), chair, ProThera Inc.; Len Dreyer (B.A. business administration ’72), retired chair and CEO, Marie Callender Pie Shops Inc.; Annette Feliciani (B.A. business administration ’80), president, AEF Systems Consulting Inc.; Julianne Greiner (B.A. business administration ’75), chair and CEO, Macy’s Florida; D. Edward Hays (B.A. business administration-finance ’89), attorney; Gerald E. Johnston (B.A. business administration ’71), retired CEO and chair, Clorox Co.; Jose Lara (B.A. business administration ’02), senior vice president, planning and development, Orange County Teachers Federal Credit Union; Margaret McCarthy (B.A. political science ’84), partner, Paradigm Ventures; Gregory J. Nelson (B.A. English ’74), first vice president, Washington Mutual Insurance Services Inc.; Hai N. Phan (M.S. engineering ’81), president and CEO, Dexteus; Kerri Ruppert (B.A. business administration ’82), senior vice president and CFO, Children’s Hospital of Orange County; and Christopher G. Schmidt (B.A. business administration ’81), president and COO, Moss Adams LLP.

Also serving are Cal State Fullerton President Milton A. Gordon; Pamela Hillman, vice president for university advancement; William J. McGarvey, director, community relations, Anderson & Lynn CPAs; Frank Quevedo, vice president, equal opportunity, Southern California Edison Co.; Jim Volz, CSUF professor of theatre and dance; and Heather Williams, president, Associated Students Inc.

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