By GWEN MURANAKA, Rafu Senior Editor
On Dec. 1, the College or university of the Canyons (COC) in Santa Clarita will officially title its new science setting up in recognition of biology instructor Don Takeda. Found on the Canyon Country campus, the Don Takeda Science Centre is a 55,000-sq.-foot setting up largely devoted to the bodily and biological sciences and serves as a focal point for pupils and 1st-time guests.
Takeda, who retired in 2017 just after 46 decades, was the school’s longest-serving college member. The Santa Clarita Local community University District Board of Trustees voted in August on the naming to honor Takeda for his decades of management, electrical power and motivation to fostering the improvement of the sciences departments at COC, like math, science and engineering.
As biology professor, Takeda taught a lot of latest and previous faculty associates and served as school member, office direct college/chair, division chair, and committee chair for a lot of committees.
In the resolution, the college or university district mentioned that the naming would honor Takeda’s “lifetime of dedication, excellence in teaching and determination to extend the obtain, engagement and success of the pupils of Faculty of the Canyons.”
“It’s an extraordinary honor, it is some thing you never ever truly imagine about and then it comes about,” Takeda said, speaking to The Rafu Shimpo.
COC school initially introduced the resolution prior to the board in 2020, but a determination on the naming was delayed, as was every little thing else, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I am honored that the faculty would existing this ahead of the board,” he said. “But anything at all that gets place on the back again burner, you marvel if it will be rekindled. It came to fruition once more this yr and was authorised in August.”
Construction of the Don Takeda Science Middle was funded by Evaluate E, the $230 million bond measure that was authorized by neighborhood voters in June 2016. The new science centre demonstrates the amazing advancement of COC, which has two campuses, Valencia and Canyon Place, and serves additional than 30,000 pupils each individual 12 months.
Takeda reported the new science middle fits in an period when the mantra “follow the science” has develop into so important. He noted that COC has exceptional plans in nursing, dental hygiene and other community overall health fields.
“The science middle is coming on-line proper now and will be affiliated with acquiring pupils into frontline occupations in community health and fitness and wellbeing gurus as properly as into STEM majors. It is heading to be there now for this community and I know the high educational institutions have been accomplishing a great career having students energized about the sciences,” Takeda reported.
“That’s why this certain honor is more reflective of the faculty in common who have been superb.”
Takeda recalled the early days when the Valencia campus was cattlefields and teaching also meant actual physical function to get labs and classes completely ready. He was employed on Jan. 1, 1972 as a biology and math instructor, ideal soon after finishing his graduate degree at California Point out College, Los Angeles (CSULA).
He interviewed at COC for the experience and to his amazement was supplied the career.
Takeda credits his mentor, Jim Boykin, COC’s initial biology professor, for offering a must have steerage and instilling a enthusiasm for training. Boykin handed in 1985 at age 59. Takeda assisted pioneer and grow the Biology Division and initiated the naming of Boykin Hall for his mentor.
“Jim Boykin was quite the educator and humanitarian. He was a 24-7 educator. His home is often open,” Takeda recalled. “I would constantly go there on weekends and he would have groups of college students operating, he would be tutoring and assisting them out, conducting a class in his dwelling.”
“With that form of mentoring, that is the persona that I realized, how to educate otherwise if you want to just be a professor you can give college students all forms of details and they would get bogged down with that. You do not want that, you want them to be engaged and motivated.”
Chancellor Dr. Dianne G. Van Hook and the Santa Clarita Group Faculty District Board of Trustees will be in attendance for the ribbon-slicing ceremony. Following the ceremony, there will be some excursions of the facility.
“Some of the labs are point out-of-the-art, utilizing wireless, digital instrumentation, it would make it quite diverse from fundamental fingers-on labs, but it is considerably far more participating and I assume it will be linked with the way college students are digitally oriented these days. It’s thrilling for them,” he stated.
Takeda will be joined at the distinctive function by his spouse, Cindee Robinson, and kids, Phoebe and Cameron. The complete family members is actually portion of the Faculty of the Canyons group. Robinson teaches microbiology and both Phoebe and Cameron are previous COC pupils.
Soon after COC, Phoebe attended Kent Condition and now teaches vogue, fibers and elements at CSULA. Cameron obtained his master’s diploma in philosophy from CSULA and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from UC Berkeley.
Takeda still hears from pupils and even recalled seeing some of his former students, now nurses, when he lately underwent cataract operation. He is very pleased of the simple fact that several of his previous college students have long gone on to careers in biology-linked fields, like medical professionals and nurses.
“I just acquired an e-mail from ex-university student from the 1970s who life on the East Coast. Now a physician, he claimed his expertise at COC straightened him out and because of that, he is who he is nowadays, Takeda stated.