Dean's Leadership Council - Emeritus Members
The Dean’s Leadership Council serves as an advisory board to Gillian Hayes, Dean of the Graduate Division and Vice Provost for Graduate Education at UCI. The council was founded nearly a decade ago and each member serves as a significant leader in either academia, industry, or both. They aid the Dean and Graduate Division in moving graduate education forward, implementing programs, and strategies to make sure UCI graduate students are set up to thrive.
Lance Holman
Holman Capital Corporation and Holman Capital Equity Partners provides debt and equity capital to fund the equipment, facility, energy and infrastructure needs of federal and state and local governments nationwide.
Holman Capital Corporation delivers ideas and capital to public agencies to improve operational efficiencies, modernize facilities, and improve cashflows.
Mr. Holman has also held management positions with US Bank, Banc One Leasing Corporation, Ford Motor Credit, SunTrust Leasing and Finance Corp. in fixed income sales and trading, global product strategy, and public finance. He has nearly 30 years of experience in financial product development, capital deployment, and institutional investments.
Mr. Holman graduated from Indiana University with a B.S. in Public Finance in 1988 and the University of Colorado with a MBA & M.S in Finance in 1993. Mr. Holman resides in Orange County, CA.
Sandra Loughlin
Dr. Sandra Loughlin is a researcher and administrator at UCI from 2012 until she retired in 2019. Her research focused on the effects of drugs on the developing brain, with a particular interest in the effects of tobacco constituents on adolescent brains. Loughlin has published over sixty papers in peer-reviewed journals and edited a book entitled Neurotrophic Factors.
During her work at the UCI Graduate Division, Dr. Loughlin drew on her scientific expertise to create and lead Graduate Resource Center programs on professional development, including mentoring, teaching, public speaking and leadership. She also assisted UCI students in the preparation and submission of competitive fellowship applications.
Loughlin earned her Ph.D. in Neuroscience, University of California, San Diego, while also obtaining a B.A. in Psychology, University of California, San Diego
Susan Polan
Susan L. Polan, Ph.D., is the Associate Executive Director for Public Affairs and Advocacy with the American Public Health Association. She oversees the Association’s departments of government relations, affiliate affairs, communications, membership services and component affairs.
Prior to joining APHA, Polan worked as the director of government relations at the Trust for America’s Health, a public health advocacy organization There, she served as lead staff lobbyist to Congress, federal agencies and the administration on priority issues, including public health infrastructure development, chronic disease prevention and where she advocated for new funding for a nationwide health tracking network.
Polan has more than twenty years of experience in public health, government relations and associations. She has drafted legislation for Senate consideration on tobacco control and Safe and Drug Free Schools as an American Association for Advancement of Science Congressional Science and Technology Fellow for the Senate HELP Committee (formerly the Labor and Human Resources Committee). She was a professional staff member on the Aging Subcommittee of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee focusing on heath care reform; women’s health issues, biotechnology, and aging and adolescent health issues. Polan served as director of federal government relations at the American Cancer Society where she was the chief lobbyist and as president and senior advisor of Partnership for Prevention.
Polan earned her Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She later earned a Master’s of Science degree in health psychology from San Diego State University and a doctorate in social ecology from the University of California, Irvine.
Manuel Puentes
Manuel Puentes career spans over 40 years, concentrated in areas of transportation engineering, including highway operations, advanced transportation technologies, and community and legislative relations. More recently, since his founding of ITS Consensus, consulting engineers, Manny has served as consultant in areas of transportation development, legislative affairs, and related public policy and community relations. In his early career following a short tenure as a project engineer with the City of San Clemente, California he joined the Automobile Club of Southern California where over a period of 30-years he served as traffic engineer, transportation engineer, community relations, and public affairs manager. Through these positions with the Auto Club his over-arching function was as liaison with technical, legislative and public policy agencies and with community officials and organizations. Additionally he was engaged in a variety of special projects, including representing road users at university-level Human Factors
research programs and in teaching transportation operations curriculums for California’s Institute of Transportation Studies. During his tenure with the Auto Cub he pursued his advanced degree through UCI’s Graduate School of Management and in 1993 earned a Masters of Business & Public Administration (MBPA).
Beverly Sandeen
Beverly “Babs” Sandeen chairs the Los Rios Community College District Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee and serves as vice chair of the Sacramento-Yolo Port District Commission. She is a member of the Rotary Club of West Sacramento Centennial and an executive board member of the Yolo Basin Foundation. She also serves on the West Sacramento Community Foundation board of directors and on the advisory boards of Sacramento Valley Conservancy, West Sacramento Home Run, and Yolo County Library Foundation.
In addition to her current work in the community, she spent her career in higher education and philanthropy. She was the Vice Chancellor and President of the Foundation at UC Davis and later served in those roles at Los Rios Community College District. She was Executive Director of the alumni associations at both UC Irvine, her alma mater, and UC Davis. She also led the Yolo Community Foundation as its Executive Director. While Vice Chancellor at UC Davis she was responsible for launching the campus’s first $1 billion comprehensive fundraising campaign. She received her bachelor’s degree in political science and doctorate in social ecology from UC Irvine. Her doctoral work focused on older adults, mobility and transportation, and she worked as a social researcher for Daimler Benz.
Sandeen was elected to the West Sacramento City Council in 2016 after having been appointed to the role in 2014. While on council she was selected as Mayor Pro Tem, a position held by vote of the council in both 2016 and 2020. She previously served on the City’s Planning Commission from 2005 to 2014, including a term as its chair.
She has received several awards and commendations including the 2020 Mike McGowan West Sacramentan Lifetime Achievement Award from West Sacramento Chamber of Commerce, 2016 Cultural Engagement Recognition Award from Russian Speaking Community Partners, 2014 Women Who Mean Business Award from Sacramento Business Journal, 2013 Volunteer of the Year from Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, 2013 Mayor’s Civic Leadership Award for Service from Mayor of West Sacramento, and 2002 Distinguished Alumna Award from UC Irvine Alumni Association.
Sandeen and her husband, Marty Swingle, reside in West Sacramento, California.
Ivan Williams
Ivan Williams is an executive producer, entrepreneur, and senior business leader. After over three decades working with leading oil and gas companies, Williams transitioned to the entertainment industry, where he has received widespread acclaim for his creative accomplishments and support of the arts. Partnered with creatives and innovators across the globe, Williams has been involved in all major aspects of the development, finance, and marketing activities of startups, major energy
companies, and Hollywood movies and tv shows.
Williams holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from Oregon State University, an MBA from UC Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business, and is a military veteran with 10-years of service as a reserve naval intelligence officer. He is currently a partner and executive vice president of Scenario entertainment group in Los Angeles.