San Diego State University to honor rising stars: ceremonies planned for business school's 50th anniversary.

Many top executives have graduated from San Diego State University's College of Business Administration.

And on March 8, 10 of these executives will be recognized with the inaugural Charles Lamden Rising stars of Business Award during the celebration of the college's 50'h anniversary at the House of Blues.

The 10 recipients have been chosen from thousands of recent CBA graduates who were nominated for being on the fast track to becoming business leaders.

The winners, to be honored at the ceremonies starting at 6 p.m., were selected by a committee comprised of university faculty, staff, alumni and representatives from outside the university. The group then narrowed down the selection of nominations to 10.

The 10 honorees are John Crisafulli, the president of Behind the Scenes Catering; Brian Dunphy, director of business development of Qualcomm Inc.: Mike Erwin, broker at Grubb & Ellis/BRE Commercial: Toby Gaerin, senior loan officer at the Corky McMillin Cos.; Kirk Imamura, the president of Avatar Studios and 441 Records, Christopher Kozo, associate vice president of investments of Wachovia Securities: Jaime Mautz, the president and co-founder of Pacific Ink, Inc.; Dina Maxwell, business systems analyst of Union Bank of California: Christine Shimasaki, the executive vice president of sales and marketing of the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau: and Jim Wade, vice president of Comerica Bank.

"We've chosen 10 graduates from the last 15 years who have exemplified their ability to rise up in the business world in a short period of time," said Gaff Naughton, dean of the College of Business Administration. "There are hundreds of tremendously talented emerging business stars from our university and we are proud to recognize their accomplishments."

Recognizing Industry Leaders

Dunphy graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science in accounting.

Dunphy has proven time and time again that he is a business leader. Since his graduation 11 years ago, Dunphy has been pro-rooted eight times.

A couple of months out of college, Dunphy was hired as a stall" accountant for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLR About one year later, he was offered the position of senior accountant, but decided not to take the promotion. In 1997, he accepted the position and, within two years, was promoted to manager of audit and business advisory services.

In 2000, Dunphyjoined Qualcomm Wireless Systems as a manager of finance. Only six months in the position, he was promoted to senior manager of finance. A year later, he became senior manager of business development for Qualcomm Internet Services. Then in June 2002, he was asked to lead the business development department. Today, he is the director of business development for Qualcomm Internet Services division.

Aside from his fast-paced growth in both companies, Dunphy also showed that he was a leader from the struggles he endured through college.

He grew up in New York and, after high school graduation, his parents saved enough money to pay for his college education. During that time, he was concentrating more on making good money as a bartender than receiving a degree.

That's when he decided to move to San Diego to attend SDSU, despite his parents' vow of not supporting him financially. He moved into his friend's barn in Fallbrook, took out student loans and became a student at Palomar College to gain California residency before applying to SDSU.

"I had to scrap change out from the seats of my car to buy food from Taco Bell," Dunphy said. "In the summertime I'd move back to New York and work as a bartender and doorman at night, and then worked construction during the day."

During his time at San Diego State, Dunphy was an officer, vice president of communications for the Beta Alpha Psi accounting fraternity, was on the SDSU forensic team and was a participant with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistant program. On top of classes, homework and his commitment to the organizations, he made it on the Dean's List and was honored with distinction in accounting. He went from failing out of college in New York to graduating with a 3.95 grade point average.

Kozo graduated in 2004 with a Master of Science in financial services and is the associate vice president of investments for Bryan-Billauer-Kozo Financial Strategies Group, a branch of Wachovia Securities.

He accepted a job as a financial adviser at Prudential Securities, the predecessor of Wachovia Securities, in 1998. A few years later, he decided to get a master's degree in financial and tax planning. In 2004, he graduated with honors from SDSU and joined the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society.

In March 2005, Kozo was promoted to associate vice president of investments. In October, he formed a partnership with two other financial advisers, Ralph Bryan and Josh Billauer, creating the Bryan-Billauer-Kozo Financial Strategies Group of Wachovia Securities.

50th Birthday Bash

San Diego State's College of Business Administration kicked off its 50th anniversary celebration at the beginning of the 2005 academic year with a luncheon featuring Costco Chief Executive Officer Jim Sinegal. Sinegal attended the CBA in 1959 and came back to receive an honorary doctorate in 1999.

The upcoming event will be hosted by notable local business owners and executives, including Linda Lang, the chairwoman and chief executive officer of San Diego-based Jack in the Box Inc.; Ronald Kendrick, executive vice president of Union Bank of California; and Philip Blair, co-owner and executive officer of Manpower Staffing Services.

Naughton said the college is not only looking to have the celebration be focused on the 50th anniversary of the school and to honor leaders in the industry, but to also be a way for business alumni to be connected to the campus again.