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FALL 2024
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Introducing Eight Members of the Class of ’28
Unseen Occidental: The Highland Park Years
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FALL 2024
1968 graduates Edmond and Diane Clinton share a moment with their bengal buddy, Oswald.
Photo courtesy Diane Clinton ’68
After recently visiting the lab spaces in Norris Hall of Chemistry—parts of which were last renovated more than 30 years ago—the Clintons were compelled to support the forthcoming renovation of the building through a planned gift to the College. “Occidental students deserve a higher quality lab experience,” Edmond says, “and with all that the College has given us, we felt it was our turn to give back to Occidental.” To which Diane adds, “We hope that our support will inspire others to improve the opportunities for current and future Tigers.”
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As a biology major at Occidental, Edmond Clinton III ’68 spent more than his share of time in the College’s science facilities. In fact, he met his future wife, Diane Grossman ’68, when they were lab partners in a class taught by Assistant Professor Joan McCune. “We met in a genetics class studying fruit flies [Drosophila melanogaster],” Edmond recalls. “Fruit fly mating results in the lab helped us determine the location of certain genes on the chromosomes of these insects, such as stubby wings and eye color.” Professor Frank Lambert “was instrumental in our understanding of organic chemistry—he took a very human interest in his students and made a difficult subject fascinating,” Diane notes. Professor John Stephens “taught a very interesting class in mammalian anatomical evolution. We learned rigorous study habits, which enhanced our academic success.” The discipline the couple learned at Oxy opened the door for their eventual careers. Edmond studied medicine at USC and joined the staff at Huntington Hospital as an internist in 1978, while Diane became a math teacher and administrator with La Cañada Unified School District. They raised two sons, Paul and Mark, and are enjoying retired life in La Cañada Flintridge. Over the last decade, Edmond has written two books related to family history and is working on a third, all with the encouragement of his wife. The eldest grandchild of Clifford Clinton, founder of L.A.’s legendary Clifton’s Cafeteria, Edmond worked in a number of Clifton’s locations during summers throughout college. “To me he was ahead of his time,” says Edmond, who published Clifton’s and Clifford Clinton: A Cafeteria and a Crusader (Angel City Press, 2015), which details his grandfather’s life as a restaurateur and leader in L.A.’s Progressive movement. In 2019, he published a second book about Diane’s great uncle, Major Harold Ferguson: Citizen-Soldier Meets Roaring 20s Los Angeles (Xlibris). Each year, the Clintons attend Steffi Miller ’64’s holiday party, at which the Occidental Glee Club performs and interacts with the guests. Following one such soiree, they contacted the Office of Gift Planning and made their first gift to support Oxy’s Undergraduate Research Conference. They attend the conferences each summer and enjoy hearing the student presentations.
CAMPAIGN TRAILS: WHAT HAPPENED NEXT /// CATCHING UP WITH PROFESSOR EMERITA EILEEN SPAIN
Love Among the Fruit Flies
Cady Carr ’27 and Rachel Obbard ’27 worked to canvass every vote in the heart of battleground Pennsylvania. What are their takeaways from Campaign Semester?