USU Eastern Honors Five Alumni

USU Eastern Press Release

Five individuals with ties to College of Eastern Utah were honored by Utah State University Eastern during its Legacy dinner hosted in the Jennifer Leavitt Student Center recently.

Dean Walton and Stan Martineau were named the recipients of “Upon Their Shoulders Awards” while Brittney Hawks, Bryan Griffin and Bob Taniguchi were inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame.

Dean Walton

Born in Salt Lake City and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Walton joined CEU as Director of High School Relations in 1962. His service at CEU included stints as Director of Financial Aid, Dean of Students, Dean of Instruction, Dean of Students and Administrative Services and Director of Athletics.

He has many memories, but none more exciting than the Eagle basketball team’s success of the late 1960s. Dean treasures his experiences of traveling with the team to the national championships in Kansas, where CEU placed third and he broadcast the play-by-play back to Price. After 25 years, he retired in 1987.

He and his wife Sharee raised five children all who graduated from CEU.

Stan Martineau

Martineau headed CEU’s automotive technology program from 2000-17 and has many passions. His passion for horses and riding is well known, as is his love for camping and exploring. But his devotion to and passion for education outweighs all others.

His favorite memories about education were when students began to grasp a difficult concept and truly understood what he was trying to share.

He always reminded his students to never quit learning. “The more you know, the more valuable you become. The more you learn, the more you know, the better off you are going to be, professionally and in your home life.”

Under his leadership, USU Eastern gained accreditation to administer automotive certification exams that previously had required students to travel to the Wasatch Front. He also served six years on the Board of Directors for the North American Council of Automotive Teachers (NACAT) and published many articles about the automotive industry.

Brittney Hawks

Born in Rexburg, Idaho, she was a three-sport athlete at Madison High and scored 47 points her senior year at the state tournament. She attended CEU on a basketball scholarship and averaged 17 points as a freshman and 21 points as a sophomore. During her sophomore year, she averaged 11 rebounds per game and earned 19 double-doubles.

At CEU, she served as team captain and named All-Region, All-Tournament and All-American. She transferred to the Washington State Huskies where she led the Pac 10 Conference in double-doubles and named All-Conference.

Looking back on her basketball career, she recognized Dave Paur as her favorite coach. “Coach Paur believed in me, taught me how to push to reach my potential and taught me how not to drive.” She lives in Texas, and together with her husband, raise their six children.

Bryan Griffin

A native of Escalante, Utah, and a graduating class of 2014, he still holds the state 1A-track records for the mile (4:28) and the 880 (1:59:15) from 1977. After receiving a track scholarship to CEU, he continued to excel in track, earning All-American honors in the 1500m and finished third at the NJCAA national championship in San Angelo, Texas.

He continued his education and track career at USU in Logan where he qualified for the NCAA indoor track championship and was ranked 13th in the nation in the 800m. After graduating from USU, Griffin’s track and field career continued as a coach in Idaho and later in Ogden.

He accepted the head coaching job at Richfield High School, a position he held for 25 years. While at Richfield, he led his team to 11-state championships with more than 25 of his athletes competing at the collegiate level. Many of his athletes are current state record holders, with one group breaking a 25-year-old 400-meter relay record in 2014. Beyond his athletic career, he worked eight summers as a firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service. He and his wife, SueLyn, raised five children and are the grandparents to five.

Bob Taniguchi

Born in Price, Taniguchi spent his entire life in academia. Starting in high school, he was active in student government, clubs and athletics. He served as sophomore and senior class presidents and student body vice president. He performed in the choir, competed in debate and played on the football, track and basketball teams.

In 1979, Taniguchi returned to CEU, where he taught math and worked closely with the athletics department, later serving as the college’s Athletics Director. During his 10 years at CEU, he won the State Regents Award for outstanding teaching, received two Teacher of the Year awards and hosted the athletic department’s first fundraiser, bringing in more than $25,000.

His favorite memories are of helping struggling students overcome their fears and do well in his math classes.

After CEU, he moved to California where he continued to teach math. His proudest memory outside the classroom was chair of a project in Merced, to build a monument to commemorate the 4,500 locals who were among the 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry, primarily American citizens, imprisoned by the U.S. government during World War II. He helped raise $375,000 to build the memorial dedicated in 2010.