Caltech Names Denise Nelson Nash New Director of Public Events

PASADENA—The California Institute of Technology is pleased to announce the appointment of Denise Nelson Nash as the new director of the Office of Public Events, effective February 17. She replaces Jerry Willis, who passed away last July.

"We're so pleased to have someone of Denise's caliber join the Caltech staff," says Robert O'Rourke, Caltech's associate vice president for institute relations. "She brings with her talent and expertise that will enhance our public events operation. I look forward to working with her."

Nash comes to Caltech with long experience in the arts community. Although she has most recently worked as a consultant, she was executive director of the Cultural Planning Division of the city of Pasadena from 1991 to 1997. As director, she created comprehensive programs of communications, marketing, public relations, special events, and protocol for cultural, entertainment, and sports events for the city of Pasadena. She has managed and directed large groups of employees, independent contractors, and volunteers.

Previously she was director of the School of Performing and Visual Arts for Plaza de la Raza in Los Angeles. Nash has an impressive history of volunteer experience with programs in the Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley areas, including the Pasadena Robinson Memorial Project, the Pasadena Emmy Awards Program, the Pasadena-Foothill Valley YWCA, and the Pasadena Children's Eco-Arts Festival. Nash earned a BA from Scripps College in Claremont and an MFA from the University of Michigan. She lives in San Marino with her husband, James, and their two children.

As director of the Office of Public Events, Nash will oversee the presentation of Caltech's annual public events season and the operation of the campus auditoriums (Beckman and Ramo Auditoriums along with Dabney Lounge) and the audio visual services unit. In addition, she will represent Caltech at and to a variety of local, area, state, regional, and national arts and governmental organizations.

The California Institute of Technology is a small, independent university that carries on instruction in science and engineering for a student body of approximately 900 undergraduates and 1,000 graduate students. With an outstanding faculty, including three Nobel laureates, and such off-campus facilities as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Palomar Observatory, and the W. M. Keck Observatory, Caltech is one of the world's major research centers, focusing on those areas in which it has the faculty and facilities to excel.