Fellowship Donors
We are deeply grateful for the generosity of our donors, whose support makes our undergraduate research fellowships possible. Their commitment provides students with transformative opportunities to explore ideas, engage in hands‑on discovery and develop the skills that prepare them for graduate study and professional success.
Through this enduring investment in student curiosity and innovation, our donors play a vital role in shaping the next generation of scholars, researchers and leaders.
Donor Biographies
East Family Profile
Mary East grew up on a farm near Ipswich and came to Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ in 1967, majoring in chemistry. East was interested in chemistry after her high school chemistry course sparked her curiosity, and she found the courses at SDSU to be exciting. In deciding to give back to SDSU, East shared that in her many years since college, her fond memories and the success she found after graduation inspired her to help other students see an opportunity to dream bigger. East graduated from SDSU in 1971 and worked as a chemist for General Electric Company in Philadelphia for four years. During that time, she received a master’s degree in chemistry from Drexel University in Philadelphia. In 1975, East entered medical school at the University of South Dakota for two years and then the University of Minnesota for two years, graduating in 1979.
After medical school, she moved to Ann Arbor for a residency in general surgery and stayed following the completion of her residency in 1984, with an appointment at the University of Michigan and practicing general surgery at the Veterans Medical Center. East retired in 2014.
East met and married her husband, Jack, during residency; he is a senior research scientist in electrical engineering at the University of Michigan. The Easts have two sons.
Hoch Family Profile
The Hoch Family Undergraduate Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ Fellowship Fund was made possible by a gift from James (Jim) Hoch ('61, B.S. in bacteriology) and Sallie Hoch in recognition of the outstanding undergraduate academic education Jim Hoch and his siblings received at Ä¢¹½´«Ã½. The Hoches hopes that the research fellowships will inspire undergraduates at SDSU to seek greater knowledge and explore aspects of research in life sciences. Jim and Sallie Hoch both enjoyed extensive research careers at Scripps Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ Institute in La Jolla, California.
John and Patty Tanaka Profile
John Tanaka was hired by SDSU in 1956 after completing his Ph.D. from Iowa State and his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1951. He received a grant from the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ Corporation of New York to support his research at SDSU. He resigned in June 1963 to accept a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh. He went to the University of Connecticut in 1965 and retired from there as a professor of inorganic chemistry in 2005. Tanaka married Patty Ellwein (SDSU class of 1959) from Watertown.
While at the University of Connecticut, Tanaka served as director of the honors program for 22 years, taught organic and inorganic chemistry, specialized in inorganic chemistry and polymer chemistry, filed two patents, published five books and monographs, and had over 250 articles and conference papers published.
Joseph and Karen Morse Profile
Joe Morse came to Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ in the fall of 1957 to study chemistry. With a robust undergraduate education at South Dakota State, Morse was a well-rounded student, active in the American Chemical Society Club, singing with The Statesmen, competing in Cottontail Capers and serving as a chemistry department teaching assistant beginning in his sophomore year.
Morse continued his education at the University of Michigan, where he completed both a master's in 1963 and a doctorate in chemistry in 1967 with a focus in inorganic chemistry. It was while at the University of Michigan that Morse and Karen Morse, also an inorganic chemist, met and married.
In 1968, after serving almost two years as a U.S. Army Captain at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Joe Morse was recruited to Utah State University, where he ultimately became the director of the honors program and associate professor of chemistry. In 1994, he was awarded the university's highest award given to a faculty member each year for teaching excellence. Karen Morse became a professor and department head of chemistry and biochemistry, dean of the College of Science, and provost and vice president of academic affairs.
The Morses spent their careers in higher education, committed to teaching and leadership. Karen Morse served as president of Western Washington University from 1993 until 2008 and was named the Bowman Distinguished Professor in 2014. Joe Morse's lasting impact at Western Washington University is found in the science, math and technology education (SMATE) program, which he helped develop and of which he was the inaugural director. Karen Morse is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and was honored in 2013 by WWU with the naming of the chemistry building as Karen Morse Hall, and on the same day of celebration, a lecture hall in the SMATE building was dedicated, honoring Joe Morse.
Robert and Helen Gales Profile
Donor biography: Coming soon.
Twila Paulsen Okken/Guss Family Profile
Twila Okken accomplished a great deal in her work and her personal pursuits, such as bowling and gardening, and she never forgot her alma mater. For more than 20 years, Okken worked as a research chemist for Archer Daniels Midland Company of Minneapolis. Okken began her career testing milk samples during the Great Depression, according to the book, "Mothers and Daughters of Invention: Notes for a Revised History of Technology." A published researcher, she received three patents for soybean products during the 1960s. Later in life, Okken married Charlie Okken. Twila Okken lived in San Bruno, California, where she served as a Junior Garden Club leader for many years. She died August 10, 2006, at the age of 92.
Twila Okken’s generous bequest accomplished two things, including an increase to the endowment supporting a scholarship in chemistry, named for one of her favorite professors from the 1940s, Lester Guss. The Guss Family Memorial makes scholarship awards to junior or senior chemistry majors who show sincere dedication to science and excel beyond the requirements of graduation.
The gift also permits the creation of the Twila Paulsen Okken/Guss Family Undergraduate Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ Fellowship, a summer-research fellowship that pairs a student with a professor in chemistry or biochemistry.
