New UCI engineering dean Gregory Washington has a “mantra” for his faculty and local tech companies: “’Partner or perish.’ There’s so much potential and untapped opportunity in and around our county. There’s so much potential and opportunity still locked up in our faculty. If we just begin to uncover that, we (UCI) won’t have as much need for state support, and that’s where we want to be.” Harlem-born Washington is a mechanical engineer who arrived from Ohio State, where he was a prof since 1995 and most recently interim dean. He’s UCI’s third permanent or interim engineering dean since the 2008 retirement of Nick Alexopoulos, now a veep with Broadcom …
John Wayne’s heirs are unloading his memorabilia—costumes, scripts, Wayne’s cowboy hat from “Rooster Cogburn,” one of his eye patches from “True Grit” and his 1969 “True Grit” Golden Globe (but not his Oscar.) The items will be displayed Oct. 3-5 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel and auctioned off Oct. 6-7. Proceeds go to Newport Beach-based John Wayne Enterprises, a licensing business run by “The Duke’s” son Ethan …
A political ad by a group called Patriotic Millionaires targets OC Congressman John Campbell and 24 other “millionaire” Republican lawmakers for opposing increased taxes on the rich. Campbell’s comeback is a reintroduction of his “Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is” bill that would add a line to the federal tax return: “Warren Buffett and Barbara Streisand and others can put in whatever number they want there and they can contribute to this particular cause without asking all the rest of us to do the same” …
Irvine Mayor Sukhee Kang launched his 2012 Congressional campaign with a fundraiser on incumbent Campbell’s home turf, Shady Canyon …
EE RR met two more John Campbells at an Arthritis Foundation party. One is the foundation’s regional fundraiser, the other is a business consultant who with wife, dentist Hoa Duong, hosted the event at their San Juan Capistrano estate …
Crystal Cathedral apparently isn’t the only OC property being eyed by Oklahoma City-based Hobby Lobby, a bidder for the bankrupt landmark. Mark Mueller reports that the store chain is said to be looking for big-box space here …
They’ve passed the reins after 47 years but South Coast Rep founders Martin Benson and David Emmes aren’t going away. At the season premier Benson told the new leadership team of Artistic Director Marc Masterson and Managing Director Paula Tomei (Emmes’ wife), “Carry on for the next 47 years, after which David and I will take over again.” The new team has opened with a box-office winner, “Pride and Prejudice,” running through Oct. 9 …
A bonding experience for EE RR and his PBS SoCal stage manager Roger Genereux: They both got grandkids Sept. 21—Claire Marie Talerico, Genereux’s second, and Oliver Nicholas Miller, EE RR’s third.
