McCulloch makes the grade

Sean McCulloch, retail regional manager for Rabobank, N.A., has graduated from the Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington in Seattle. The school is a three-year graduate-level program of leadership and financial management focused on the financial services industry. For 73 years, the school has partnered with the University of Washington Graduate School of Business to educate more than 10,000 bankers. McCulloch oversees the retail banking activities at the bank’s nine branches from the Santa Ynez Valley to Carpinteria. A banker for more than 30 years, McCulloch joined the bank in 2004 as a financial services manager and later worked as a commercial banking officer. McCulloch previously served as vice president of loan development and construction lending for Encino State Bank and as vice president and commercial lending officer for First Western Bank and Santa Monica Bank. McCulloch earned an associate in arts degree in business from Pierce College.


Hudley named ED of library

Cynthia Hudley, a professor in the Department of Education at the Gevirtz School at UC Santa Barbara, has been named interim executive director of the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum in Los Angeles. Hudley had served as the vice president of the board of directors for library and was a longtime Clayton family friend. Hudley succeeds Avery Clayton, the son of the library’s founder, who passed away Nov. 26. The Mayme Agnew Clayton Collection of African American History & Culture is the largest and most academically substantial independently held assemblage of its kind in the world.


CPC issues annual report

Community Partners in Caring (CPC) mailed its annual report for FY 08/09. CPC served almost 436 seniors during the past 12 months with more than 36,077 miles and more than 3,940 hours of service in Santa Maria, Lompoc and Santa Ynez valleys. CPC’s mission is to provide volunteer assistance to seniors over age 62 so they may continue living with dignity and quality of life. Services include door-through-door transportation, shopping, errands, home repairs, light housekeeping, friendly visitors, reassurance callers and paperwork assistance. All services are offered without charge. partnersincaring.org


UCSB research on cancer

Researchers at Burnham Institute for Medical Research at University of California, Santa Barbara have identified a peptide (a chain of amino acids) that specifically recognizes and penetrates cancerous tumors but not normal tissues. The peptide was also shown to deliver diagnostic particles and medicines into the tumor. This new peptide, called iRGD, could dramatically enhance both cancer detection and treatment. The work was due to be published Dec. 8 in the journal “Cancer Cell.” burnham-inst.org


Check out your charities

Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. released the annual report on commercial fundraisers Friday, which finds that, while 1,359 commercial fundraisers in California raised almost $400 million in 2008, charitable organizations received less than 42 percent of those funds. Commercial fundraisers, who are hired by charities to raise money on their behalf, typically charge a flat fee for their services or a percentage of the contributions they collect. According to reports filed with Brown's office, commercial fundraisers collected $399.9 million in donations in 2008. Just $167.6 million — 41.9% of the funds raised — actually made it to the charities. The remainder was retained by the commercial fundraisers as payment of fees and expenses. Some charities received the vast majority of funds raised on their behalf, including: Doctors without Borders, which received $2.8 million, or 70 percent, of funds raised by its commercial fundraiser; and Special Olympics Southern California, which received $366,306, or more than 75 percent, of funds raised by its commercial fundraiser. A searchable online database on registered charities is available at rct.doj.ca.gov/MyLicenseVerification/Search.aspx?facility=Y, and on registered commercial fundraisers at cfr.doj.ca.gov. The Guide is available online at: ag.ca.gov/charities. The Attorney General's annual report on commercial fundraisers, currently in its 17th year of publication, can be found at: ag.ca.gov/publications.php.


CalPoly president to retire

Warren J. Baker, president of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, is retiring after more than 30 years leading the university. His retirement becomes effective when his replacement is named in mid-2010, the school said in a release. Baker will continue to teach part time and assist with science, technology, engineering and mathematics initiatives.