Foothill College
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Foothill College is a
public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...
in
Los Altos Hills, California Los Altos Hills (; ''Los Altos'', Spanish for "The Heights") is an incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population was 8,489 at the 2020 census. The town is known for its affluence and expensive residential rea ...
. It is part of the Foothill–De Anza Community College District. It was founded on January 15, 1957, and offers 79
Associate degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...
programs, 1
Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
program, and 107 certificate programs.


History

In July 1956,
Palo Alto Unified School District The Palo Alto Unified School District is a public school district located near Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. It consists of twelve primary schools, three middle schools, two high schools, and an adult school. History The distri ...
Superintendent Henry M. Gunn called a meeting of local school superintendents that led to the creation of Foothill College. Calvin Flint, then President of
Monterey Peninsula College Monterey Peninsula College (MPC) is a public community college in Monterey, California. Established in 1947, it is a part of the California Community Colleges system. There are two additional MPC campuses located in Marina, CA, and Seaside, ...
, was hired as the first District Superintendent and President; he started work on March 1, 1958.Couch, 10. Candidates for the new college's name, besides Foothill, were Peninsula, Junipero Serra, Mid-Peninsula, Earl Warren, Herbert Hoover, North Santa Clara, Altos, Valley, Skyline, Highland, and Intercity.Couch, 11. At first the name was Foothill Junior College, but because Flint insisted that his new college would be "not junior to anyone", the Board dropped the "Junior" in September 1958. Foothill held its first classes in the old Highway School campus on El Camino Real in Mountain View on September 15, 1958. It was accredited by March of the next year and was the first school in the state to ever reach full accreditation in less than six months. The owl mascot originated from a concrete owl that was a decoration on the Highway School's bell tower; it was later moved to the new campus. The campus was designed by architect Ernest Kump and landscape architects
Hideo Sasaki Hideo Sasaki (25 November 1919 – 30 August 2000) was a Japanese American landscape architect. Biography Hideo Sasaki was born in Reedley, California, on 25 November 1919. He grew up working on his family's California truck farm, and harvesti ...
and Peter Walker, to resemble a neo-Japanese garden. The Foothill College was intended as a junior college for 3,500 full-time students, within the 122-acre campus, the first of many junior colleges built after World War II in California. Soon after its completion, Foothill was widely recognized as a pioneer, setting high standards for new campus design. Traditionally, Foothill serves the communities of
Los Altos Hills Los Altos Hills (; ''Los Altos'', Spanish language, Spanish for "The Heights") is an List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population was 8,4 ...
, Los Altos, Mountain View, and
Palo Alto Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was estab ...
; together these communities form the northwest corner of
Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...
. The college sits next to Interstate 280, at the interchange with El Monte Road. In 1993, Foothill and its sister school De Anza College became the first California Community Colleges to offer Domestic Partner benefits. The colleges were among a very small number of institutions of higher education to do so, with Pitzer College and the University of Iowa in 1991 and Stanford and the University of Chicago in 1992. On December 10, 2001, Foothill College abruptly canceled its men's basketball season after completing just six games. Questions arose over how housing and tuition for six international players were being paid by
Tariq Abdul-Wahad Tariq Abdul-Wahad (born Olivier Michael Saint-Jean; November 3, 1974) is a French basketball coach and former player. As Olivier Saint-Jean, he played college basketball at Michigan and San Jose State. In 1997, the Sacramento Kings selected Sain ...
, then with the NBA's
Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...
and alumnus of
San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sys ...
. In 2002, a second campus was opened on the site of the former
Cubberley High School Ellwood P. Cubberley High School (1956–1979) known locally as "Cubberley", was one of three public high schools in Palo Alto, California. The site of the closed school is now named Cubberley Community Center and used as a community center and us ...
in Palo Alto, in facilities leased from the Palo Alto School District. In September 2016, this was replaced by the Sunnyvale Center, which the college built on part of the site of the now closed
Onizuka Air Force Station Onizuka Air Force Station or Onizuka AFS was a United States Air Force installation in Sunnyvale, California, at the intersection of State Route 237 and North Mathilda Avenue. It was operational from 1960 to 2010. Its distinguishing feature was ...
, preserving artefacts from the "Blue Cube" and embedding shards of its skin in walkways. The new center can accommodate more than 1,600 students. The campus serves a very large number of international students who are attempting to acquire associate degrees as the basis for transferring into prestigious American universities; according to a ''Community College Week'' survey in 2001, Foothill had the 12th highest population of international students out of all community colleges in the United States. The school was harshly criticized in 2002 by ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' for its aggressive recruitment of such students, since they are a lucrative revenue source who pay a much higher tuition. In 2003, to accommodate nearly 14,000 students on a campus designed for 3,500, the college began renovating almost the entire campus, including demolition and replacement of unsafe buildings. Two of the new buildings in the lower campus complex have
green roof A green roof or living roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. It may also include additional layers such as a root barrier and drainage ...
s topped with grass.


Foothill Electronics Museum

Between 1973 and 1991, an electronics museum stood on the Foothill College campus. The museum was established with the help of the Douglas Perham Electronic Foundation, which wanted a permanent home for its extensive electronics collection, including papers of the inventor of the
vacuum tube A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric voltage, potential difference has been applied. The type kn ...
amplifier,
Lee de Forest Lee de Forest (August 26, 1873 – June 30, 1961) was an American inventor and a fundamentally important early pioneer in electronics. He invented the first electronic device for controlling current flow; the three-element "Audion" triode va ...
. The foundation raised money to construct a museum building on the Foothill campus and donated its collection to the college. The museum opened in 1973, and was initially operated by employees of Foothill College for six years until 1979, just after the passage of
Proposition 13 Proposition 13 (officially named the People's Initiative to Limit Property Taxation) is an amendment of the Constitution of California enacted during 1978, by means of the initiative process. The initiative was approved by California voters on J ...
rolled back property taxes and reduced funds to run the college. In response to the funding shortage, volunteers began staffing the museum. However, in 1988, the college board of trustees decided to close the museum, sell or donate the assets, and use the space for classrooms. A newly appointed Perham board member, Bart Lee, took on the case and sued Foothill, claiming the college violated an agreement with the Perham Foundation. The foundation was eventually awarded $775,000, which they used to document, pack up, and place the collection in storage before a 1991 deadline. The collection stayed in storage for twelve years, before being acquired in 2003 by
History San José History Park at Kelley Park in San Jose, California, USA is designed as an indoor/outdoor museum, arranged to appear as a small US town might have in the early 1900s (decade). Since its inauguration in 1971, 32 historic buildings and other landmark ...
and put on display as The Perham Collection of Early Electronics.


Accreditation

Foothill College is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community & Junior Colleges of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Foothill is also accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association, American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation, American Medical Association Council on Medical Education, and Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs.


Organization


Presidents

* Dr. Calvin C. Flint (1957–1973) * Dr. Hubert H. Semans (1967–1973) * Dr. James S. Fitzgerald (1973–1982) * Dr. Thomas H. Clements (1982–1994) * Dr. Bernadine Chuck Fong (1994–2006) * Dr. Penny Patz (interim President) (2006–2007) * Dr. Judy Miner (2007–2015) * Dr. Kimberlee Messina (interim President) (2015–2016) * Thuy Thi Nguyen, J.D. (2016–2021) * Dr. Bernadine Chuck Fong (interim President) (2021–)


Divisions

* Business & Social Sciences * Counseling & Student Services * Fine Arts & Communication * Instructional Services & Libraries * Language Arts * Kinesiology & Athletics * Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics


Administration

The community college district's headquarters are located in one corner of the Foothill campus. The district also administers
De Anza College De Anza College is a public community college in Cupertino, California. It is part of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, which also administers Foothill College in nearby Los Altos Hills, California. The college is named after th ...
in nearby
Cupertino Cupertino ( ) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 57,8 ...
.


Athletics

Foothill is a member of the Coast Conference of the California Community College Commission on Athletics and NorCal Football Conference. The school mascot is an owl. The Los Altos Hills campus has a track and field that is open to the public.


Intercollegiate teams

* Football * Men's & Women's Basketball * Men's & Women's Soccer * Men's & Women's Swimming * Men's & Women's Tennis * Women's Softball * Women's Volleyball * Women's Water Polo * Women's Beach Volleyball


Student government

Foothill's student government is the Associated Students of Foothill College (ASFC). Student government provides its student body the opportunity to self-govern and participate with faculty, staff, and administration.


Accomplishments

Five Foothill professors have won the Hayward Award of the Academic Senate of the California Community Colleges, given each year to a faculty member who has a "track record of excellence in both teaching and professional activities". Foothill's winners include Jay Manley, Mike McHargue, Elizabeth Barkley,
Andrew Fraknoi Andrew Fraknoi (born 1948) is a retired professor of astronomy recognized for his lifetime of work using everyday language to make astronomy more accessible and popular for both students and the general public. In 2017 Fraknoi retired from his po ...
, and Scott Lankford. In addition, Frank Cascarano and David Marasco are Fellows of the American Association of Physics Teachers. Foothill College's Physics Show, started in 2007 by physics professors Frank Cascarano and David Marasco on the model of ''The Wonders of Physics'' at the
University of Wisconsin, Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...
, is one of the largest popular physics presentations in the US, with an annual audience of more than 25,000, with a total attendance of over 150,000. Proceeds from The Physics Show are used to bus students from local Title 1 schools to Foothill for special performances of the show.


Notable alumni

*
Adrienne Barbeau Adrienne Jo Barbeau (born June 11, 1945) is an American actress, singer and the author of three books. Barbeau came to prominence in the 1970s as Broadway's original Rizzo in the musical '' Grease'', and as Carol Traynor, the divorced daughter o ...
, actress in the TV series '' Maude'', and former wife of the film director
John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, actor, and composer. Although he worked in various film genres, he is most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s. He ...
* Rudy Arroyo, Major League Baseball player *
Rick Bladt Richard Alan Bladt (born December 9, 1946) is an American former professional baseball player and an outfielder who appeared in 62 career games in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees. Born in Santa Cruz, California, h ...
, Major League Baseball player *
Gene Block Gene David Block (born August 17, 1948) is an American biologist who has served as the current and 6th chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles since August 2007. Block has served as provost and professor of biology at the Univer ...
, chancellor of the ''
University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
'' * Paul Bravo, professional soccer player, coach and executive *
Chrisann Brennan Chrisann Brennan (born September 29, 1954) is an American painter and memoirist. She is the author of '' The Bite in the Apple'', an autobiography about her relationship with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. They had one child, Lisa Brennan-Jobs. ...
, American artist and author of '' The Bite in the Apple'', mother of
Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; a ...
first child,
Lisa Brennan-Jobs Lisa Nicole Brennan-Jobs ( Brennan; born May 17, 1978) is an American writer. She is the daughter of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and Chrisann Brennan. Jobs initially denied paternity for several years, which led to a legal case and various media ...
, the author of ''Small Fry''. *
Mike Brewer Mike Brewer (born 28 August 1964) is an English car trader turned presenter of Driving, motoring television programmes. He currently presents ''Wheeler Dealers'' on the Discovery Channel (UK and Ireland), Discovery Channel with Marc "Elvis" Pri ...
, Major League Baseball player *
Tony Brewer Anthony Bruce Brewer (born November 25, 1957) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He appeared in 24 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers during the Major League Baseball season. He went on to a productive career with the Nippon- ...
, Major League Baseball player *
Kirill Dmitriev Kirill Alexandrovich Dmitriev (russian: Кирилл Александрович Дмитриев; born 12 April 1975) is the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), a $10 billion sovereign wealth fund created by the Russian government ...
, Russian investment banker * Dan Duran, Major League Baseball player * Debbi Fields, founder of Mrs. Fields * Brad Gilbert, All American tennis player at Foothill, former pro player ranked as high as #4, and coach to
Andre Agassi Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is an eight-time major champion and an Olympic gold medalist, as well as a runner-up in seven other majors. Agassi is the second of five men to ach ...
* Kevin Gutierrez, Dual Athlete (Football and Soccer), Soccer Ambassador * Tim Hanley, professional soccer player, and MLS assistant coach *
Jon Nakamatsu Jon Yasuhiro Nakamatsu (born 1968, San Jose, California) is an American classical pianist who resides in San Jose. About He is the son of David Y. Nakamatsu, a San Jose electrical engineer, and Karen F. Maeda Nakamatsu, a city employee. He w ...
, Japanese-American pianist *
Juice Newton Judith Kay "Juice" Newton (born February 18, 1952) is an American pop and country singer, songwriter, and musician. Newton has received five Grammy Award nominations in the Pop and Country Best Female Vocalist categorieswinning once in 1983as well ...
, musician *
Stu Pederson Stuart Russell Pederson (born January 28, 1960) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball. He is the father of outfielder Joc Pederson. Baseball career College Pederso ...
, Major League Baseball player * Chris Robinson, hip-hop/pop music video director * Steve Sampson, All American soccer player, coach of the
USMNT The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team ha ...
at the
1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...
, and
MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
champion coach. *
Wayne Wang Wayne Wang (; born January 12, 1949) is a Hong Kong Americans, Hong Kong–American Film director, director, Film producer, producer, and screenwriter. Considered a pioneer of Asian-American cinema, he was one of the first Chinese Americans, ...
, Hong Kong-born American film director.


See also

* California Community Colleges system *
KFJC KFJC (89.7 FM) is a non-commercial college radio station in Los Altos Hills, California, at Foothill College, using a variety radio format that features a broad spectrum of music styles and public affairs programming. KFJC's over-the-air broadc ...


References


External links


Official website
{{authority control California Community Colleges Educational institutions established in 1957 Universities and colleges in Santa Clara County, California Schools accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Two-year colleges in the United States 1957 establishments in California