SMC Alumni Awarded

On Tuesday, June 14 at SMC's Corsair Field, the Santa Monica College Foundation will be honoring SMC math professor, Professor Terry Green and co-founder of King's Seafood Company-entrepreneur, Martin Jeffery (Jeff) King with Alumni Recognition Awards. Terry Green will receive the award for  "Distinguished Community Service" and Jeff King will receive the "Outstanding Professional Achievement" award.

"We're always excited about recognizing the achievements of our alumni," said Charles A. Potts Jr., Interim Executive Director of the Santa Monica College Foundation. "Our representatives this year are great examples of the success our students can achieve."

The SMC Foundation, as Potts described, is a foundation that raises money from individuals, nonprofit organizations, and corporations, for on campus programs such as scholarships and grants.

"We are the charitable arm of the college," said Potts.

King had served as a Board Member of the California Restaurant Association (CRA). In addition, he was a Board Member of the Los Angeles Convention and Visitor's Bureau, Santa Monica Convention and Visitor's Bureau, and Northern Arizona University Hospitality Program. Currently, King sits on the Board of Directors at the Collins School of Hospitality Management at Cal Poly Pomona.

The recipient of a number of honors, King has accepted the City of Hope Lifetime Achievement Award, Nation's Restaurant New Hot Concept Award, and the Elizabeth Burns Lifetime Achievement Award.

King has been the recipient for UCLA's Alumni of the Year Award and inducted into the California Restaurant Association's Fine Dining Hall of Fame and Educational Foundation Hall of Fame.

King, a graduate of Hamilton High School in Los Angeles, gained his associates degree from SMC in 1958. He later went on to graduate from UCLA.

Like King, Green obtained his Associates of Art degree at Santa Monica College.

Green, who is a Santa Monica native, contined his studies at  UC Santa Barbara. Immediately following his graduation, he joined the Peace Corps.

During his time in the Peace Corps, he helped in the building of a basketball court on the island of Nevis, a place where basketball had not yet been heard of.

Green went on to teach at John Adams Middle School in Santa Monica. In 1986, he was hired to be SMC's first full-time developmental math instructor, helping thousands of students to overcome their fear of math.

"I was raised to do more than just teach," said Green. "It's something both my parents instilled."

He has participated in numerous community service events such as the AIDS Walk Los Angeles, EIF Revlon Run/Walk for Cancer, and a Thanksgiving Program in Santa Monica that distributes food and clothes to the homeless.

Green was additionally nominated for the Hayward Award, the top award given to a community college professor in California.

Green said, "I believe we can all make a difference in our community."

Green was thrilled to be receiving the "Distinguished Community Service" Award.

"It's a relatively new award so I'm just happy to be a recipient. There are a lot of wonderful alumni to choose from."