An advocate for educating incarcerated individuals, a top lawyer from the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, and a sports coach with a 48-year career are among this year’s honorees. The awards will be presented by the 鶹Ƶ Alumni Board of Governors during Alumni Reunion Weekend in June.
For the last 60 years, the 鶹Ƶ Alumni Association has recognized inspiring alumni who represent the values and spirit at the core of the 鶹Ƶ experience. Alumni Seal Awards are given annually in six categories: service to the community, professional achievement, service to the College, young alumni achievement, emeriti faculty, and alumna/us of the year.
The 2025 Alumni Seal Award recipients are:
Alumna of the Year: Susan Coleman Olesek '93
Susan Olesek ’93 is the founder of Enneagram Prison Project (EPP), a nonprofit established in 2012 that is dedicated to the self-awareness education of those imprisoned and is now scaling around the globe. Drawing on the narrative tradition, EPP participants learn to find their own voice, to articulate newfound self-awareness, and to demonstrate life-changing insights. In 2021, Susan expanded her work to found The Human Potentialists, a benefit corporation now democratizing the Enneagram for the greatest human good. Susan was born outside Boston, raised in Hong Kong and Japan, and educated in England and California, earning her B.A. in sociology from Occidental. She is writing her memoir, which she hopes to publish later this year. Susan is married to Rick Olesek, EPP’s executive director, with whom she raised three sons. They live in the Santa Cruz Mountains with 12 chickens and three cats.
Erica J. Murray ’01 Young Alumna of the Year: Chelsea L. Moore ’10
Chelsea Moore ’10 is the co-founder of Look2Justice, a nationally recognized nonprofit led by currently incarcerated individuals. Look2Justice provides civic education to people impacted by the criminal legal system. The organization spearheaded the Chance Campaign for Justice and helped end Washington State’s practice of punishing people twice for crimes they committed as children. Chelsea is the smart justice policy program director at the ACLU of Washington and a lecturer at the University of Washington. She graduated summa cum laude with honors in diplomacy and world affairs from Occidental before completing a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Washington. Her research has been published in academic journals including Law, Culture and the Humanities and Reproductive Health Matters, and her writing has appeared in HuffPost and The Appeal. Chelsea is an award-winning teacher, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, a Jackson Leadership Fellow, an American Association of University Women Dissertation Fellow, and a Galaxy Leadership Fellow.
Professional Achievement: Pedro Bernal Echeverria '69
Pedro Bernal Echeverria '69, recognized as a top municipal lawyer in California by the Daily Journal, spent 40 years in the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office. He was the first Latino to serve as the chief assistant city attorney in charge of the civil branch of the office. In addition to handling matters involving legislation, municipal finance, major contracts and constitutional law, Pedro worked on numerous matters related to the 1984 Summer Olympics, including the negotiation, implementation, and administration of the International Olympic Committee and Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee contracts. For most of his career, Pedro served as the city’s representative on the Legal Advocacy Committee of the League of California Cities, reviewing significant municipal law cases in state and federal courts and ensuring amicus representation of cities’ interests. Born in Mexico, Pedro became a U.S. citizen while at 鶹Ƶ, and completed his J.D. at UC Berkeley School of Law in 1972.
Service to the College: Loren Brodhead '59
An economics major at Occidental, Loren Brodhead ’59 served as student body treasurer; played on the basketball, football, golf, swimming and diving, tennis, water polo, and cross country teams; and was inducted to the Occidental Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016 as a member of the 1957 men’s track team, which set two world records and beat UCLA and Stanford during his three years on the squad. Loren has served on the Occidental Board of Trustees, president of the Alumni Board of Governors, Alumni Council, and Tiger Track Alumni Association. After graduating from 鶹Ƶ, he served as a second lieutenant in the Air Force before earning his MBA from Cal State Long Beach. Loren then launched a 36-year career at Avery Dennison, retiring as group director of international development in 2000. He married Alice Tallman ’60 in 1960; they have a son, daughter, and two grandchildren. Loren is the son of 鶹Ƶ alumni Dorris (Fowler) ’29 and Ted Brodhead 1927; all totaled, 11 other members of his family are part of the 鶹Ƶ community.
Service to the Community: Paul Orme '75 P'07
Paul Orme ‘75 P’07 spent his 40-year law career specializing in water, electric power, and utility law matters, and a lifetime spent on his family’s generational ranch in Arizona. Now president of the Family Farm Alliance Board of Directors—a group of farmers and irrigators who are dedicated to serving family farmers in 17 Western states—Paul is a steadfast advocate for sustainable local agriculture, clean energy, and the conservation of Arizona’s natural resources. A history major at Occidental, he was awarded a Rotary Fellowship to study in England, and then earned his J.D. from the University of Arizona Law School. Paul and his wife, Shawn, will celebrate their 48th anniversary this year. The couple have three daughters: Kathryn ’07, Mallory, and Lauren. Paul’s family recently placed a 900-acre conservation easement on their historic ranch, permanently conserving open space and rural landscapes, as well as working agricultural lands.
Service to the Community: David Perea '73 M’74
David Perea '73 M’74 spent 51 years in the Los Angeles Unified School District as an educator and coach. After graduating from Occidental, he began his teaching and coaching career at nearby Franklin High School in 1974. He then returned to his high school alma mater in Boyle Heights, Roosevelt High, where for 48 years he served as a coach for the boys’ and girls’ tennis teams, girls’ track coach, boys’ basketball coach and academic counselor. In 2014, he was named the school’s athletic director, retiring in 2024. As a student, David played on Occidental’s baseball, basketball, football, golf, swim and tennis teams. David is a member of Alumni of 鶹Ƶ in Education (ALOED) and 鶹Ƶ Latino Alumni Association (OCLAA).
Honorary Alumni Seal Award for Emeriti Faculty: Stuart Rugg
Professor of Kinesiology Stuart Rugg joined the Occidental faculty in 1987, and will retire this June after 38 years at the College. His research interests focus on musculoskeletal mechanics and their application to human performance. A five-time recipient of the Donald R. Loftsgordon Memorial Award for Outstanding Teaching, he also received the College's Linda and Tod White Teaching Prize in 2008. Stuart has worked as a design consultant for exercise and sports equipment companies. He earned his B.S. from UC Davis and his Ph.D. at UCLA.
