Citizens of the Year Award: Catherine & James Emmi
James W. Emmi is the retired president of Kimberly Development Company, and a longtime manager of apartment properties in Orange County. He is a member of the Chapman University Board of Trustees. He has served on the Pacific Symphony Board of Trustees since 1990 in various capacities, including as vice president of development and as president. Jim is an avid sailor, having participated in many yacht races over the years. He is a member and has served as commodore of the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club in Balboa. He is also a member and has served as treasurer of the Balboa Yacht Club.
A teacher all her life, Catherine Emmi is passionate about education and the pursuit of lifelong learning. Catherine earned her B.A. and B.Ed. degrees from the University of Saskatchewan and her M.Ed. from Pepperdine University. Catherine supports Chapman University as a member of the Women of Chapman. She serves as a member of the ARCS Foundation Board of Trustees, a member of the Pacific Symphony Support League and a member of the South of Music chapter of the Guilds of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. She contributes her time to various committees for local nonprofit organizations that include the Pacific Chorale, the Orange County High School for the Arts and MIND Research institute.
Together, the Emmis have supported an exhaustive list of organizations that include UC Berkeley College of Engineering, Caltech, Oregon Tech, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Purdue University, MIND Research Institute, Mission San Juan Capistrano, Hoag Hospital and Hoag Cancer Center, the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum, Opera Pacific, the American Symphony Orchestra League, the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Girls Inc., Newport Beach Performing Arts Theatre Foundation, Newport Beach Public Library, Orange County Museum of Art and Act Today.
In addition to their service on Chapman University boards and committees, the Chapman community is deeply grateful to Jim and Catherine Emmi for their generous support of the Science Center Campaign, American Celebration, the College of Performing Arts, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, the Fund for Excellence and other scholarship initiatives.
Lifetime Achievement in the Arts Award: Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Dreyfuss is an activist American citizen. He is a spokesperson on the issues of media informing policy, legislation and public opinion, both speaking and writing to express his sentiments in favor of privacy, freedom of speech, democracy and individual accountability. With an entertainment career spanning more than four decades, the Academy Award-winning actor has been one of American’s most versatile and individualistic actors.
As a community leader, his current focus and passion is to encourage, revive, elevate and enhance the teaching of civics in American schools. He is the founder of the nonprofit organization www.TheDreyfussInitiative.org, and he is leading a nationwide effort to bring back civics to our American youth: “All people have a right to know who they are and why they are who they are. Clarity of thought and honesty in self-reflection are more than needed utilities – they are the building blocks of our national moral characters” (from Why I Love My Country).
Richard also serves on the Education Committees of the American Bar Association, has served 12 years on the Board of the National Constitution Center, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and served as senior research advisory member of St. Antony’s College, Oxford University.
