Catherine L. Ward, interim director of Cal State Fullerton’s Veterans Resource Center, was honored this week as the 2018 Woman of the Year for Senate District 29 by Sen. Josh Newman.
Since 2010, the CSUF alumna ’10, ’13 (B.S. human services, M.S. counseling-marriage and family therapy) has served the campus veteran community, leading the development, organization and execution of comprehensive, strengths-based student veteran support programs and services to improve student engagement, retention and graduation rates.
The Woman of the Year event was established in 1987 to celebrate the contributions of remarkable women throughout the state. One woman from each Senate and Assembly district come to the California Capitol in Sacramento to be honored for their accomplishments and are recognized in a formal ceremony on the floors of the Senate and Assembly.
Locally, three other campus members were recognized as Women of Distinction by area legislators. Honored were C. Jessie Jones, emeritus professor of kinesiology and director of the university’s Center for Healthy Neighborhoods by Sen. Josh Newman; and Guadalupe Espinoza, assistant professor of child and adolescent studies, and Debra Stout ’00 (B.S. human services), lecturer in counseling and child and adolescent studies, by Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva.