West campus news Releases Archive

Five community leaders who shaped the first fundraising efforts in support of Arizona State University’s West campus will be honored at the annual Visionaries Celebration on April 2. The reception and dinner program will begin at 6 p.m. at Arizona State University’s West campus, University Center Building, La Sala, 4701 W. Thunderbird Rd., Phoenix.

This year’s campus celebration pays tribute to Karl Abel, former president of SRP and founding president of the ASU Provost’s Club at the West campus; Gesford Francis, former president of Valley Industries and former president of ASU Founders’ Council at the West campus; Howard “Mac” McKenna, senior vice president of Desert Hills Bank and former chairman of the ASU Leadership Committee at the West campus; Barbara Ridge, who wrote a college research paper on the feasibility of building an ASU campus in the West Valley and went on to become the first development director on campus; and Sterling Ridge, former member of the Arizona House of Representatives and former mayor of Glendale.

Past honorees include former Arizona State Representative Anne Lindeman and former Congressman Bob Stump.

This signature event benefits the Visionaries Scholarship Endowment. The 2004 recipient of the Visionaries Scholarship is Alejandrina Garcia, who graduated this past December with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. As a single mother of three children, she attended school full time. Garcia completed her degree in one year through the College of Teacher Education and Leadership’s accelerated Professional Development School program and is working as a substitute teacher in the Cartwright School District. “It was a lot of work, but well worth it,” she said.

The emcee of this year’s program is Cary Pfeffer, ABC 15 news anchor and owner of ClearComm Consulting. The event features musical performances by Cascabel, singer Chelé Watkins and the Steve McCarvel Jazz Band. The Visionaries sponsor is APS. Presenting sponsors include The Arizona Republic, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona and Verrado—a DMB Community. For information about the event, call (602) 543-5212.

BIOGRAPHIES

KARL ABEL

Karl Abel was born in Miami, Arizona in 1918. At age four, Mr. Abel and his family moved to Glendale, Arizona, to work their new cotton farm. Along with his younger brother, Norbert, he helped manage and operate farms in Arizona throughout his career.

While attending agriculture school at the University of Arizona in 1943, Mr. Abel decided to enlist in the Army. During this time he married his childhood friend, the former Enid Moore. After World War II, they returned to the West Valley where he and his brother formed Abel Bros., starting out with a 600-acre farming operation. Throughout the years they farmed produce, grain, cotton and feed.

In 1964, Mr. Abel joined the ranks at Salt River Project (SRP). Eight years later he was named SRP’s president. He served for 10 years during one of its fastest growing eras. Mr. Abel is considered one of the state’s top experts in water and power management.

A born leader, Mr. Abel has been involved with numerous organizations that address water and power issues, including the Arizona Association of Resources Conservation District, Advisory Council to the American Public Power Association and the Central Arizona Project.

Mr. Abel worked tirelessly to promote organizations like the Maricopa County Farm Bureau, the YMCA and most recently, The Salvation Army.

Mr. Abel has vigorously supported the creation and promotion of Arizona State University’s West campus. Mr. Abel served as the founding president of the Provost’s Club, a membership organization established to assist the campus in building a financial base for future operations and expansion. While he was president he managed to recruit nearly 40 members to the club. In 1993, ASU presented him with an Alumni Appreciation Award to honor his countless volunteer hours and his consistent leadership.

“I like to see things start from scratch. One of my biggest thrills at Salt River Project was initially claiming, and then building power plants—seeing something come together and having a little something to do with it,” Abel said. “ASU’s West campus is very special because it’s a homegrown product.”

Karl and Enid Abel have two children and two grandchildren. He attended the University of Arizona’s College of Agriculture and received an Alumni Achievement Award from UA in 1975. In 2003, Mr. Abel received Westmarc’s John F. Long Lifetime Achievement Award. That same year, both he and his wife received a volunteer award from The Salvation Army.

GESFORD FRANCIS

Gesford Francis is a highly respected, retired West Valley businessman. Born on Dec. 22, 1928, in Peoria, Arizona, he served as president of Valley Industries, a tremendously successful cotton gin business that was started by his grandfather and his grandfather’s partner Andy Pettit. Later the cotton gin was operated by Mr. Francis’ father, James “Jimmy” S. Francis Sr., until Gesford Francis and his brother, James S. “Jack” Francis Jr., took over in 1955. Mr. Francis handled the financing end of Valley Industries while his brother handled the cotton gin management.

As a prominent member of the farming community in the West Valley, Mr. Francis was involved in the industry as past president of Arizona Cotton Ginners, a member of Arizona Cotton Growers and past president of Phoenix Cotton Exchange.

With his talent for managing money, Mr. Francis was called upon to serve as a director of several boards of directors including John C. Lincoln Health Network. He also is a founding member and former director of M&I Bank.

Mr. Francis devoted time and energy as a friend to Arizona State University and as a visionary of the West campus. His involvement with the campus started in September 1989 when he became the second member of the Provost’s Club.

This group of community leaders provided counsel to the provost and financial support for the campus. Not long after he joined, he took on the assignment of president of the Founders’ Council in order to assist the development office in cultivating support for the university. In addition, he agreed to serve on the Provost’s Advisory Council, which guides the provost in planning for future growth of the campus.

But he didn’t stop there. Mr. Francis was nominated and elected to serve on the prestigious ASU Foundation Board. He was a member of the Leadership Committee and a member of the Carl Hayden Society.

His input was invaluable when he served on the executive committee of the 10th anniversary celebration of the West campus. He further demonstrated his commitment by helping to fund the Vernon E. Lattin Cultural Diversity Scholarship. In 1995, Arizona State University presented Mr. Francis a well-deserved Alumni Association Appreciation Award.

Gesford Francis has five sons and seven grandchildren. In addition, he helped raise three stepchildren. He and his wife, Joan Beaver Francis, live in central Phoenix.

HOWARD “MAC” MCKENNA

Howard “Mac” McKenna has a keen financial mind. In 1966, Bob McGee, then president of Thunderbird Bank, hired Mr. McKenna as a lending officer. Thunderbird Bank was an independent community bank founded in 1965 by local residents. Thunderbird Bank was very successful and merged with the Marshall and Ilsley Corporation Oct. 1, 1986.

While managing the Glendale office of Thunderbird Bank, Mr. McKenna attended and graduated from the Pacific Coast Banking School conducted at the University of Washington. The subject of Mr. McKenna's thesis was financing small business.

Mr. McKenna’s career with M&I Bank spanned 37 years and he moved up through the ranks to become the senior vice president for commercial loans. Mr. McKenna recently “retired” only to find himself currently serving as the senior vice president for Desert Hills Bank.

Mr. McKenna believes in contributing to the community and has demonstrated this by participating in numerous professional organizations. He was formerly chairman of the Small Business Administration Advisory Council, president of Robert Morris Associates (an association of bank lending officers), secretary treasurer of the Industrial Development Authority of Maricopa County, a board member of Arrowhead Hospital and chairman of The Salvation Army Board of Directors in Glendale.

Currently he is treasurer and director of BHHS Legacy Foundation, a board member of the Glendale Industrial Development Authority and a board member of the Glendale Municipal Property Corporation.

His church affiliations include membership in the Order of Malta, the Serra Club of Phoenix and St. Raphael’s Catholic Church, where he is a Eucharist minister.

Mr. McKenna’s community participation also extends to supporting Arizona State University’s West campus. He is the former chairman of the ASU Leadership Committee and a member of the ASU Founders’ Council, both at the West campus. In addition, he and his wife, Donna, were among the first members of the Provost’s Club. In fact, Mr. McKenna’s relationship with the campus was a key factor in M&I Bank’s financial sponsorship of a classroom in the Sands Classroom Building.

Arizona State University is an important part of Mr. McKenna’s family life as well. His wife graduated with honors in 1989 as the only nursing representative participating in the first convocation at ASU’s West campus. In addition to Mrs. McKenna, four other family members have graduated from ASU, including his daughter Kelly, son Scott, daughter-in-law Lori (Scarborough) and nephew and godson Brian Leonard.

BARBARA RIDGE

Barbara Ridge was born and grew up in the Valley of the Sun, and now lives in an historic neighborhood in Glendale, Arizona. In 1968, Mrs. Ridge and her husband, Sterling Ridge, moved to Glendale with their four young children, Jennifer, Jamie, Beth and Polly. Mr. Ridge worked for the Maricopa County Community College District while Mrs. Ridge took care of the family and worked on her associate degree at Glendale Community College (GCC).

Mrs. Ridge was faced with a 50-mile round trip commute to Arizona State University in Tempe when she completed her associate degree. As a final project at GCC, she prepared a research paper examining the feasibility of building a branch campus of ASU in the West Valley. At the time, the population was 700,000 and growing at a rapid rate. The West Valley was the most heavily populated area in the United States that was not served by a public baccalaureate-level college or university. She received an A+ on the paper and the professor suggested she really try to do something about it.

With that encouragement, Mrs. Ridge started a community project that became a 12-year campaign to provide higher education to the West Valley. Mrs. Ridge, along with her husband, joined Anne Lindeman, who was serving in the Arizona House of Representatives, to start the Westside Citizens Committee for Higher Education. Nearly 100 business, community and government leaders joined the grassroots movement, including then-State Sens. Sandra Day O’Connor and Fred Koory. The committee proposed creating an upper-division branch of ASU offering junior- and senior-level courses.

In 1976, a letter-writing campaign generated by the committee inundated the legislature with 2,000 letters of support. A feasibility study was ordered, and a year later the Whiteman Committee recommended establishing higher education facilities on the west side. In 1978, ASU began offering courses at leased facilities in the West Valley. In 1982, the Arizona Legislature passed, and Gov. Bruce Babbitt signed, Senate Bill 1245 paving the way to build the West campus of Arizona State University.

While the designing and building of the campus was underway, Diane McCarthy, a former state legislator and corporation commissioner, worked with Barbara and Sterling Ridge to establish a West Valley alumni chapter called Devils West.

A short time later, Mrs. Ridge became the first development director for the West campus, working with the ASU Foundation to build a strong base of community and corporate supporters to provide leadership and financial support.

Mrs. Ridge worked for many years as a development director for several nonprofit organizations. She and Mr. Ridge owned, operated and eventually sold two successful retail establishments. She recently completed the University of Arizona Master Gardener program and currently serves on its board of directors. In addition, Mrs. Ridge is taking classes to earn her real estate license.

In 1994, Mrs. Ridge was unanimously selected as a “Community Vision Weaver” by the Community Forum sponsored by The Arizona Republic/The Phoenix Gazette. Later, Barbara and Sterling Ridge were jointly honored by The Arizona Republic as two of the millennium’s 100 leading movers and shakers in western metropolitan Phoenix. In 2001, Arizona State University presented Barbara and Sterling Ridge an Alumni Service Award for their extraordinary and exemplary service to ASU.

STERLING RIDGE

Sterling Ridge enjoyed a long and varied career in journalism, community relations and politics. He used his skills as a communicator and leader to help establish Arizona State University’s West campus.

Mr. Ridge started his career with Phoenix Newspapers—first as a 16-year-old “copy boy,” then a sportswriter and later the executive sports editor. After working as a political reporter/writer, he moved up through the editorial ranks, ultimately being appointed editorial writer and editorial board member by Eugene C. Pulliam. While he worked full time he attended Phoenix College and Arizona State University. He earned his bachelor’s degree in history in 1959 from ASU, graduating with honors, the same year he married Barbara Carnahan.

In 1968, Mr. and Mrs. Ridge moved to Glendale, along with their four young children—three daughters and one son. At the time Mr. Ridge was working for the Maricopa County Community College District and Barbara Ridge was attending Glendale Community College. When the young mother was faced with a 50-mile round trip commute to Arizona

State University, Mr. Ridge joined his wife in a 12-year crusade to bring higher education to the West Valley. In 1972, they formed the Westside Citizens Committee for Higher Education. After many years of the committee’s grassroots work, ASU started offering services to the west side community by offering courses at leased facilities.