On Jan. 31, the Pacific community honored outstanding alumni at the 66th Distinguished Alumni Awards. 

Ahead of the ceremony, the Pacific Alumni Association invited each honoree to recognize “The Pacifican Who Changed My Life,” celebrating a professor or staff member who profoundly impacted their personal journey. 

The celebration was conceived by former alumni board members Dave Frederickson ’66 and Margaret (Peers) Frederickson ’66, who noticed a recurring theme in every alumni success story they heard. Without fail, each honoree could identify a standout professor, staff member, or other Pacifican who ignited their potential and made a lasting difference in their life. 

The Fredricksons fund an annual dinner event and a permanent ‘Pacifican Who Changed My Life’ display in the Vereschagin Alumni House. 

This year’s Distinguished Alumni Award recipients honored two professors and three staff members who have changed their lives for the better. 
 
Rino Berbano ’57 | Outstanding Family Award 
Pacific President Emeritus Robert E. Burns ’31 (1909-1971)

Berbano recognized the late President Burns on his family’s behalf, recalling how Burns’ support shaped not only his own trajectory, but those of the generations that followed:

“I spent over 40 years working for Pacific, and every single year, I carried President Burns with me. President Burns didn’t just change my life, he changed my family’s lives. When my siblings had nowhere else to turn, he and his wife Grace took them in. When I graduated, I was ready to leave Pacific and move on, but President Burns sat me down and said, ‘Stay. Work here. This place needs people like you.’ I’m so grateful that I listened. Those 40 years became the greatest gift of my life.

“President Burns has been gone for some time now, but his spirit lives on in this university, in every life he touched and every person he encouraged to stay and serve. President Burns, thank you for seeing my family when we needed help. Thank you for believing I belonged here. Your generosity and joy shaped not just my career, but my entire life.” 
 
Caroline Miller ’90 | Distinguished Public Service Award 
Professor Emeritus Douglas Matheson (1939-2013)

Lt. Gen. Caroline Miller has built an impressive 33-year career in the United States Air Force, and credits Pacific and Dr. Matheson for providing the foundations that have served her well:

“Dr. Matheson was a phenomenal professor whom I’ve thought of many times since I graduated. He laid the foundation for problem solving that I still use in my personal and professional life today. 

“He had the ability to take complex ideas and break them down into easily understandable, practical, concepts. I’ll never forget his story about a client he worked with, a man who had experienced a terrible accident resulting in the loss of his arm. The man was terribly depressed, as he couldn’t accomplish things he was previously able to do, including holding his wife’s hand. Dr Matheson asked him, why couldn’t he just use his other hand? A simple solution that had eluded this man, who was stuck continually focusing on what he could no longer do. 

“This is a very basic example among many that Dr. Matheson provided, demonstrating how to simplify challenges and not make things too complicated. So true for so many facets in life.” 
 
John Chase (Honorary Alumni Award) 
Allison Dumas ‘95, associate vice president for community engagement and strategic enrollment.

Chase’s connection to Pacific began with his father, the late William K. Chase ’48. The younger Chase endowed a scholarship in his father’s memory, leading to a long and fruitful relationship with the Community Involvement Program (CIP):

“In 2015 I met Allison and a few CIP Scholars. At the time I had no idea what CIP was, but I wanted to give back, to honor my father’s life and education in a perpetual way. The students' stories hit my heart hard, and I asked Allison to show me the CIP office. The minute we walked in, I could see the special relationship she had with those students. She knew every single student’s first name. She knew their background, their family history.

“I’ve supported CIP’s CHASE Your Dreams mentoring program for over 11 years now, and it’s evolved into an amazing program that makes my heart, and my wife Kelli’s heart, proud. Throughout this journey I’ve seen Allison’s compassion go above and beyond, and have witnessed the great respect she has for those students. Every year students come and go, but her compassion remains consistent.” 

 
Robert Eglet ’88 
Michael Hunter Schwartz, former dean, McGeorge School of Law

Regent Eglet is one of the most successful trial attorneys in the nation. Though he felt disconnected for decades, his relationship with the McGeorge School of Law was powerfully rekindled by the leadership of former dean Michael Hunter Schwartz:

“Dean Schwartz fundamentally changed how I saw my alma mater, my role in it, and what legal education can mean. For many years I was proud of my degree, but I was disconnected. I wasn’t involved—I wasn’t engaged. McGeorge was an important chapter in my life, but it was firmly in the past. 

“Then, Dean Schwartz showed up at my home. We talked for a couple of hours, and in that conversation, something remarkable happened. He didn’t ask me for anything. He didn’t pressure me. He didn’t talk about buildings, rankings or fundraising. Instead, he talked about students, and the responsibility of a law school to stand for something larger than itself. By the end of the conversation, my relationship with McGeorge had been transformed—not because of nostalgia, but because of a purpose he inspired in me. Dean Schwartz helped me see that the law school wasn’t just where I had been, but where I still belonged. This, in my view, is a mark of extraordinary leadership.” 
 
Mary-Elizabeth Eberhardt ’76 
Professor Emeritus Glen Albaugh (1931-2023)

Eberhardt has served the Pacific community for nearly 50 years, currently as Board of Regents Chair. Her leadership journey was shaped early by Professor Albaugh, who coached golf at Pacific for more than 20 years:

“In my first year of college, I met Professor Glen Albaugh. At first, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of him; I came from a pretty conservative banking family, and Glen was definitely an out-of-the-box thinker. He exposed me to philosophies and ideologies I had never encountered. He opened up and expanded my way of thinking. He was an amazing teacher—though he never could teach me to golf! 

“When I came to Pacific, my dad was chair of the Board of Regents, and I worried about what people would think. But Glen looked at me and said, you’ve got to get over that—I think today he’d say, put on your big-girl pants and get over it! He helped me prepare for the future, and he helped me expand my way of thinking. President Callahan likes to say that we need to teach students not what to think, but how to think, and that’s what Glen did for me—he taught me to teach outside the box.”