Alan Llavore | Office of Marketing and Communications | (909) 537-5007 | allavore@csusb.edu
California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) has announced its annual Alumni Hall of Fame Awards to recognize the leadership, professional achievements and community service of the university’s distinguished alumni.
The alumni will be honored during a dinner and awards ceremony on Friday, April 10 from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the Obershaw Dining Room, located in the university’s Alumni Center building.
“Our distinguished alumni represent the very best of Cal State San Bernardino, leading with purpose in fields that span science, health care, the arts, education, business, public service and community advocacy,” said CSUSB President Tomás D. Morales. “The Hall of Fame celebration is a timely occasion to honor these remarkable individuals — leaders whose achievements reflect the promise of our university and inspire future Coyotes to define their own path to excellence.”
Three university-wide awards — Distinguished Alumnus, Emerging Leader and Coyote Spirit — will be presented, as well as the Paw Print Awards, which honor esteemed alumni from each of the university’s five colleges.
The honorees include:
Distinguished Alumni Award: Diana Z. Rodriguez ’90 B.A., ’94 MBA, ’00 M.A.
The Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes an achievement of noteworthy value, a series of such achievements, or a career or humanitarian effort of noteworthy accomplishment.
Diana Z. Rodriguez, Ed.D., is the 16th chancellor of the San Bernardino Community College District, which serves 20,000 students and includes Crafton Hills College, San Bernardino Valley College, a workforce training center, and KVCR public radio and television. She leads an educational enterprise that contributes more than $621 million annually to the Inland Empire economy. When she assumed office in August 2021, she became the only Latina chancellor of a community college district in Southern California.
During her 30-year career in higher education, Rodriguez has served as president of San Bernardino Valley College, has held leadership roles at Las Positas College and Palo Verde College and has served as a faculty member and administrator.
The first in her family to earn a college degree, Rodriguez earned a B.A. in Marketing, an MBA, and an M.A. in Education from CSUSB. She also holds an Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership from Northcentral University.
Emerging Leader Award: Miranda Lee ’24, M.S., Entrepreneurship and Innovation
This award honors an individual who has made a positive impact in their community, industry or profession and has received their degree within the past 10 years.
Miranda B. Lee is a senior learning designer at Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios, where she develops leadership programs that bridge business, technology, creative and product domains. She is passionate about reimagining collaboration and preparing leaders to thrive in an AI-augmented future while focusing on human connection.
She is also the founder of LX Labs, an instructional design agency that has served clients including Cisco, Microsoft, the U.S. Department of State and the University of Pennsylvania.
Her latest entrepreneurial venture, Modular Market, is a licensing platform for corporate training that draws upon her 15 years of experience in operations, training and program design.
In 2024, she earned an M.S. in Entrepreneurship and Innovation from CSUSB and twice led winning teams at the CSU Startup Competition. Lee is committed to expanding opportunities for women and underrepresented founders and supports organizations, including the Women in Technology Education Foundation and the Association for Talent Development.
Coyote Spirit Award: Natalia Hale ’09, B.A., Political Science
This award honors an individual who has gone above and beyond to help advance the mission of CSUSB as a dedicated volunteer.
Natalia Hale is chief legal officer at Optima Family Services, Inc. A licensed attorney, she was admitted to the State Bar of California in December 2013 after earning a law degree from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles.
She previously served as a law clerk in the Los Angeles Office of the City Attorney and at Aequitas Law Group, worked as an attorney with Lawyers for Justice, PC, and served as an associate attorney with Ford, Walker, Haggerty, & Behar, LLP and with Wood, Smith, Henning and Berman, LLP.
Hale immigrated to the U.S. from Colombia at age nine and would have been unable to attend college without CSUSB’s Presidential Academic Excellence Scholarship. Grateful for the support they received, Hale and her sister, Isabel Carvajal Kluge (CSUSB ’07), created the Optima Family Services Scholarship to support students, including DREAMers. The first $10,000 award was presented in 2018.
She has served on the CSU San Bernardino Foundation Board since July 2024.
Paw Print Awards
This award recognizes alumni who have shown exemplary accomplishments that reflect the spirit of their academic college.
Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration: Michael J. Bracken ’92, B.A., Marketing, ’99, M.P.A.
Michael J. Bracken serves as managing partner and chief economist of Development Management Group, Inc. (DMG). With more than 20 years of experience in economics and economic development, he co-designed CSUSB’s master’s-level course titled “Management of Local Economic Development,” which trains economic development professionals in business recruitment and tax incentives.
Prior to joining DMG, he served in various project management roles for several cities in Southern California, including Lancaster and Hesperia. As the CEO of the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership, he successfully grew the organization’s annual budget threefold and helped bring more than $100 million of new economic growth to the region.
Bracken has been recognized by the California Association for Local Economic Development for his regional economic development efforts. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Community Valley Bank and is a member of the Advisory Board for CSUSB Athletics.
College of Natural Sciences: Alex K. Huttenlocker ’08, M.S. Biology
Adam K. Huttenlocker, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Division of Integrative Anatomical Sciences at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. He serves as course director for graduate-level microscopic anatomy and coordinates histology instruction in the first and second years of the medical curriculum.
A functional morphologist and paleobiologist, Huttenlocker holds a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Washington and earned a B.A. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Colorado Boulder. His research focuses on the evolution of skeletal structure, growth patterns, and thermoregulation in early synapsids and tetrapods — key evolutionary steps in the emergence of mammals.
Huttenlocker is also a research associate with both the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. He has received multiple awards for his scholarly contributions, including recognition from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, where he has held various leadership and editorial roles.
College of Arts and Letters: Sapira Cheuk ’16, M.F.A. Studio Art and Design
Sapira Cheuk is an ink painter and installation artist whose work explores proprioception — ways of knowing through the body — and how lived experience is internalized and transformed through embodied memory. Her practice is influenced by Chinese Sumi painting traditions, reflecting her experience navigating identity, belonging and adaptation as an immigrant.
Cheuk’s works have been shown at the Institute of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, the Royal Society of Art in London, the Center for Contemporary Arts Texas, the Pablo Center for the Arts and the Masur Museum, among others. She has been featured in arts publications including Hyperallergic, LA Weekly, Frieze and Southwest Contemporary.
She serves as member on the City of Las Vegas Arts Commission, teaches at the College of Southern Nevada and was formerly the art editor of the Museum of Americana.
Cheuk earned her B.A. in Fine Art from the University of California, Riverside.
James R. Watson & Judy Rodriguez Watson College of Education: Miki R. Inbody ’90, B.A. Liberal Studies, Administrative Services Credential, ’97, M.A. Educational Administration
Miki R. Inbody, a lifelong educator, is the superintendent of the Fontana Unified School District, the district in which she herself attended school from K-12. During her 25-year career, she has served as teacher, dean, assistant principal and principal before advancing into districtwide and county leadership roles in professional development, human resources and curriculum and instruction.
Appointed superintendent in March 2023 after a nationwide search, Inbody has been
recognized for her collaborative, community-focused leadership. In 2025, she was named a
“Superintendent to Watch” by the California School Public Relations Association.
She is active in numerous professional and community organizations, including the Association of California School Administrators, where she serves on the Region 12 Board and was named Administrator of the Year in 2016. She is a member of the California Association for Latino Superintendents, Administrators (CALSA) and a founding committee member of Excelencia Latina in the Inland Empire.
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences: Laurena A. Bolden ’11, B.A. Psychology, B.A. Criminal Justice
Laurena Bolden is a dedicated leader and cultural advocate with years of experience in Tribal governance, cultural preservation and community advocacy. She currently serves as Second Governing Council Member, Culture Pillar Co-Lead and Vice Chair of the San Manuel Education Board, where she has completed three terms. A proud member of the Yuhaaviatam of the San Manuel Nation, Bolden is a steadfast voice for the protection and advancement of Native culture.
She has demonstrated her commitment to the repatriation of ancestral remains and cultural items by advocating at the state level and by serving on the California Indian Advisory Council at Cal Poly Pomona. In 2023, Bolden was appointed as a commissioner on the California Native American Heritage Commission by Governor Gavin Newsom.
Bolden established the Gladys Martha Manuela Endowed Scholarship fund at CSUSB, which supports students majoring in psychology, as well as biological or clinical psychology.
For more information about the 2026 Alumni Hall of Fame Celebration, visit the Hall of Fame website, contact the Office of Alumni Relations at (909) 537-3700 or send an email to alumni@csusb.edu. The Office provides opportunities for alumni to connect with each other and their alma mater and for CSUSB graduates to mentor and support current students through volunteer opportunities.