college of Business and Public Administration
Norton Marks, interim dean
Spring 2004
Studies in Community Involvement
Bruce Varner, attorney and long-time member of the CSUSB
University Advisory Board and past board chairman was honored in mid-April
as the College of Business and Public Administration’s 2004 Arrowhead
Distinguished Executive Officer.
Varner, a partner with the law firm Varner, Saleson &
Brandt, LLP, whose offices are in Riverside and Upland, has been an ardent
supporter of the university. “Bruce has been a longtime friend of
the university and a major supporter of a variety of programs at Cal State
San Bernardino,” said CSUSB President Albert Karnig. “He’s
been totally committed to the mission of the university and our role in
providing higher education and other significant benefits to the community.
We’re deeply appreciative of his friendship and generous support
for Coyote Athletics and the university as a whole. He’s been an
important part of the Cal State family for many years and we are delighted
to honor him with the Arrowhead CEO Award.”
The annual award recognizes honorees’ leadership,
civic service and commitment to education. A luncheon banquet was held
in his honor at the university’s Santos Manuel Student Union Events
Center. Besides serving on the CSUSB Advisory Board, Varner also was one
of the financial founders of the Coyote athletic program, helping to fund
the development of
the university’s athletic facilities, including
Coussoulis Arena. Varner and his wife, Nancy, established one of the original
athletic scholarships at CSUSB in honor of his parents, Ann and Doyle
Varner. A graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara and
University of California Hastings College of the Law, Varner began his
legal career as an associate with the law firm of Kendall and Anderson
in Los Angeles. He moved to San Bernardino in 1964 to become an associate
with the firm of Lonergan and Jordan and became a partner in 1967. For
the next 30 years, he practiced law with the firm that became Gresham,
Varner, Savage, Nolan and Tilden. In 1997 Varner and partner Steve Saleson
branched out to establish the law firm of Varner, Saleson & Brandt,
LLP.
Among his firm’s many clients is Stater Bros. Markets.
Varner was instrumental in helping to negotiate the recent agreement with
the Inland Valley Development Agency that will allow Stater Bros. to acquire
and develop approximately 160 acres at and around the San Bernardino International
Airport (the former Norton Air Force Base) for a new distribution center
and
general offices.
Varner’s community activities are numerous. He has
served two terms as president of the National Orange Show board of directors,
and he is currently chairman of the nonprofit board of directors of the
San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Advisory Council. He is
president of the Silver Eagle Club, a group that supports March Air Reserve
Base, and he supports the Friends of the Arrowhead, a non-profit corporation
that raises funds for the refurbishment and continued maintenance of the
Arrowhead landmark in the San Bernardino Mountains.
A special counsel to the mayor of San Bernardino, Varner
also is past president and board member of the San Bernardino Boys and
Girls Club, past president and board member of the San Bernardino Jaycees
and has many other community affiliations. He was named the Inland Empire
Entrepreneur of the Year in 1996. Proceeds from the Arrowhead Award luncheon
will benefit the Bruce Varner Endowment Scholarship for deserving students
who attend CSUSB’s business college.
Quick Takes
The premier international accrediting agency for schools
and colleges of business has granted reaccreditation to CSUSB’s
College of Business and Public Administration. The Association to Advance
Collegiate Schools of Business International is considered one of higher
education's most rigorous accrediting bodies, stressing academic excellence
and commitment to improvement.
The CSUSB Inland Empire Women’s Business Center,
a program of the Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship (IECE) in partnership
with the U.S. Small Business Administration, has begun offering workshops
to provide business counseling, training and mentoring designed for and
targeted to women business owners. The center has been holding workshops
on contracting with the government. The workshops are designed to help
small businesses get contracts with the U.S. Department of Trans-portation,
DOT related entities, and other government agencies.
