International House Berkeley

International House Times 19 Luana is the Community Affairs Representative with the Port of Oakland Social Responsibility Division and Liliane is the Coordinator of the Northern California Fulbright Visiting Scholar Enrichment Program of the U.S. State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Mohammad Soltani (IH 2008-09), who received a scholarship to support his stay at I-House, wrote, "anks for giving me a roof to live under and a community to belong to when I needed them most." 2010s Gonzalo Leiva Fidalgo (IH 2014-15) says that after "experiencing I-House's rich and diverse atmosphere," he decided he wanted to be a career diplomat. Today, he is posted in Cameroon, as a Deputy Head of Mission. Vishnu T. Chundi's (IH 2016) company, AssetVault, won the Season 5 pitch competition of Meet the Drapers in Silicon Valley (investor Tim Draper's Shark Tank- style television show). Vishnu encourages all I-House residents to remain connected and to make use of the global network of I-House alumni. He is available to mentor I-House alumni entrepreneurs: find him on ihberkeleyconnect.org. In Memory 1940s Howard Mel (IH 1943-45) was a member of Naval ROTC and was called to service in World War II before finishing his degree. After the war, he returned to Cal, where he finished his B.S. in physical chemistry and his Ph.D. in chemistry, and where he soon established his career as a researcher and professor. Howard also served as Director of the Lawrence Hall of Science and Director of UC's Education Abroad Center in Bordeaux, France. A generous supporter of International House, Howard drove a fundraising effort to establish the Carl & Betty Helmholtz Gateway Fellowship at I-House. Nancy Waldman (IH 1948-49) developed what would turn into an unwavering passion for economic justice. She was similarly devoted to the civil rights movement, and in the early 1960s, she joined the Congress of Racial Equality. Nancy studied international relations at UC Berkeley. While at Cal, she lived at I-House, where she met her husband, Theodore Waldman (IH 1948-50). Nancy spent most of her professional life as a librarian in the college communities across the United States in which she and Ted lived. She and Ted were long-term, generous donors to I-House. Mary Eleanor Post "Peggy" Grunland (IH 1946-47) lived at I-House during what is often referred to as the "Golden Age," the years immediately following World War II. After receiving a master's in Spanish at UC Berkeley, she was invited back to I-House by Executive Director Alan Blaisdell to work in the new I-House Information Office, which she continued to manage for the next four years. Deeply committed to I-House and the people she met here, Peggy once said, "For many of us, I-House is the original 'extended family.'" She will be remembered for her love of language, music, poetry, and her endless desire and willingness to make connections and friendships with people from all countries and backgrounds. Mary Eleanor Post Grunland

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