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Alumni SNAP Shots

What are the odds that two people from Bakersfield would both earn their bachelor’s degrees and master’s degrees from CSUB, then be accepted at the same school to work on their doctorates, and then run into one another?

Apparently, not long, because it happened at Claremont Graduate University in Southern California where David Lyman (BA ’80, public administration, MPA ’02; Alumni Snapshots, fall 2004) and Jill Thayer (BA ’78, fine arts; MA ’04, interdisciplinary studies) are both working on their doctorates.

One day near the end of the fall semester, Lyman said, “I was one block from my usual parking space when I saw Jill Thayer, the only other Bakersfield person I know at CGU, crossing the street. We had not seen each other in the 14 weeks we have been there.

‘“Hey, you look like you're from Bakersfield,’ I said as I leaned out the window. Well, the next thing I knew, she insisted I stop the car. No, it did not matter to her that the curb was painted red. Stop the car. So I stopped the car. Then she wanted to take a picture. A picture?

‘"Excuse me,’ she shouted to a student across the street. ‘Could you take our picture? We're from Bakersfield!’

“I don't know if that last part helped or hurt, but he took the picture and now the entire Bakersfield contingent at CGU has been duly documented.”

While Lyman, who is on leave from his job with the City of Bakersfield, is working on doctorate in public administration, Thayer was accepted with a fellowship to the doctoral program of cultural studies, with museum and archival studies emphases. She was also accepted to the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management and the Claremont art department, allowing her to incorporate business, painting, art history, and critical theory into her study.

Thayer said her acceptance into Claremont was greatly due to her education and academic experiences at CSUB. “My master’s thesis of bringing selected works of the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation collection to CSUB’s Todd Madigan Gallery was a turning point in my career,” she said. Thayer was project coordinator and designer of the exhibit, collaborating with more than 50 staff, faculty, and community members in presenting “Made in California,” an acclaimed art exhibition. She worked on the project 10 months and contributed more than 1,700 hours in the process.

She has owned Jill Thayer Associates design firm for 25 years and Jill Thayer Galleries at the Fox for 10 years. Her award-winning work in art, corporate design, and fine-art representation serves a diverse clientele. The design firm has worked with small businesses and international companies in corporate design and marketing strategy. The gallery shows regional and internationally recognized artists and has been noted in Artweek and Art in America.