Longtime campus donor, supporter and CSUF alumna Peggy Hammer ‘66, ‘70 (B.A. speech communication, M.S. education-reading) died Dec. 24. She was 85.
Hammer served 25 years as an elementary school teacher in the Placentia Unified School District. She became the district’s reading supervisor and organized the first Reading Is Fundamental program in the state.
Her enthusiasm for education extended into service to her alma mater, where she and her husband, Joseph, were active campus volunteers serving on a wide range of committees — including the University Advisory Board — as well as establishing scholarships and providing funds for University programs. Beyond such service, they both provided mentorship and counseling to students from all areas of the campus community.
The couple gave more than $150,000 for such endeavors as the Peggy Hammer Scholarship for Human Communication Studies, the College of Education’s “Honor an Educator” event and the Hancock fund, established to support Education’s Hazel Miller Croy Reading Center.
In addition, they were loyal Titan athletic boosters and members of the Art Alliance and Music Associates. Together, they established the Hammer Future Scholarship for Hispanic Students and contributed to President’s Associates and President’s Scholars programs.
For her efforts, Hammer was recognized with the Reading Educators Guild 1979 Outstanding Alumni Award, the Alumni Association’s 1982 Outstanding Service Award, and the President’s Associates’ 1991 and 1992 Outstanding Volunteer awards, as well as being named a University Distinguished Alumnus honoree during the 1999 Vision & Visionaries program.
Hammer, whose husband predeceased her in 2015, is survived by two of their three children, as well as grandchildren and great grandchildren.