Named after two longtime WACAC supporters, Elaine Berman and Gordon Chalmers, the fund is administered by the WACAC Past Presidents’ Council under the direction of the current Past President who resides on the WACAC Executive Board.
Elaine Berman was a long time English teacher and a 27 year College Counselor in Los Angeles Unified, and most of her career was spent at the LA Center for Enriched Studies. She was a mentor to many, an Assembly Delegate for WACAC and always a person to whom you could ask any question. Elaine was committed to the ethics of our organization and was extremely well respected by all on both sides of the desk in California and throughout the country. She spent time in England as a teacher in a low income English school on a Fullbright Scholarship, and ended her career establishing the college counseling program at the Wildwood School.
San Francisco native Gordon Chalmers attended Balboa High School and San Francisco State which led to a 50+ year career in the San Francisco Public School System. He served in many capacities from teaching history and government to later what he felt most passionate about, assisting students to realize their dreams of attending college. Most of his career was spent at McAteer High School, now Ruth Asawa San Francisco School for the Arts. Gordon was committed to his students long after the college counseling process and encouraged them to be vigilant and involved with social issues and activism. His dedication to ensuring equal opportunity and access to college was recognized when he received WACAC’s Joseph P. Allen Award in 1992. Throughout his career and even after his retirement, he continued to be involved with WACAC, NACAC, volunteering with college fairs, advising students, and serving as a mentor to many.
WACAC awarded ten $500 scholarships to Paradise High School seniors who lost their homes in the Camp Fire. Thank you for giving these students both tangible and intangible evidence of our belief in them and their future.
We want to thank the following people for their generous donations to the scholarship fund, we are truly grateful.
| Radia Alouache | Alice Kleeman |
| Carolyn Barnhart | Colleen Lamon |
| Eva Blanco Masias | Matt Lane |
| Colleen Brennan | Amy Loebl |
| Thyra Briggs | Elise Maar |
| Richard Chiburis | Lisa McCahon |
| Daniel Chung | Gabrielle McColgan |
| Mary Connolly | Gina Meneni |
| Lauren Cook | Jean Meyer |
| Edward Devine | Jeff Morrow |
| Jonathan Dunn | Catherine Murphy |
| Timothy Egan | Melissa Nagar |
| Mary Euphrat | Melissa Palmer |
| Kristen Fenn | Donna Pioppi |
| Twila Foster | Stephen Pultz |
| Richard Frische | Jim Rawlins |
| Aaron Fulk | Corinne Schell |
| Ellen Gaddie | Barbara Simmons |
| Heidi Hamler | Anna Takahashi |
| Joanna Hartigan | Rachel Tanner |
| Emmi Harward | Jennifer Thomas |
| Todd Hicks | Jennifer Thompsom |
| Peggy Hock-McCalley | Ann Thurber |
| Jyoti Jain | Betty Van Wagenen |
| Ginger Jessop | Julia Varriale |
| Stacy Kadesh | Jean Wall |
| Elizabeth Katz | Jamie Wallace |
| Jean Kawamura | Dewey Wilmot |
| Deanna Kilgour | Maria Woodruff |