CSUB announces 2023 Alumni Hall of Fame inductees

Four graduates recognized for their contributions to the community

By California State University, Bakersfield

October 17^th, 2022

The CSUB Alumni Association is excited to announce its 2023 Alumni Hall of Fame inductees.

Four graduates are being honored for their contributions to the community. This year’s inductees are Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer, U.S. Federal District Judge Jennifer Thurston, Bakersfield College Professor of Music Kris Tiner and Kern Family Health CEO Emily Duran.

They will be recognized at an event in March 2023 on the CSUB campus.

A campus committee of CSUB alumni, faculty and staff selected the four inductees, who will join the university’s 68 previous Alumni Hall of Fame members.

“The selection committee had their work cut out for them this year, and we are thrilled to recognize these four incredibly accomplished alumni,” said Director of Alumni Engagement Sarah Hendrick. “Leaders in music and the arts, healthcare, and justice, Cynthia, Emily, Jennifer and Kris have dedicated their lives to their crafts, inspired many and positively impacted thousands of lives. We are grateful to call them members of the CSUB alumni family, some of the best and brightest to come from our great institution.”

Here’s more information on the 2023 CSUB Alumni Hall of Fame class:

CSUB announces 2023 Alumni Hall of Fame inductees

Cynthia Zimmer

Occupation: Kern County District Attorney

CSUB Degree: B.A. in Political Science, 1981

For over 30 years, Zimmer has been fighting for the rights of crime victims and their families in numerous criminal cases. She was first hired as a prosecutor for the Kern County District Attorney’s Office in 1984, when she became a deputy district attorney.

In 2018, Zimmer was elected to her current position as Kern County’s district attorney, in which she has continued her lifelong efforts to combat crime and be a voice for victims. She has successfully brought to trial and obtained convictions in many major cases involving homicides, rape, gang violence and more.

D.A. Zimmer, who was born in Coalinga, first came to Kern County in 1979 to attend CSUB. After graduating with her bachelor’s degree, she went on to earn a juris doctorate from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles before returning to Kern County to work in the District Attorney’s Office.

During her tenure as district attorney, Zimmer has expanded access to the services of the Family Justice Center by opening a location in Lamont to serve residents of Southern Kern County.

She also organized and hosted a world-class human trafficking training attended by more than 200 officers spanning 50 law enforcement agencies, which sparked a local movement against human trafficking that has culminated in a multi-agency taskforce dedicated to combatting the trafficking of vulnerable children and women.

In addition to her work as district attorney, Zimmer has also been actively involved in education. She has served as an adjunct professor at two community colleges and introduced Project LEAD in Bakersfield and Kern County, a program through which prosecutors volunteer their time to teach fifth-grade students about responsibility and good citizenship in the context of learning about criminal justice.

D.A. Zimmer is also committed to fostering the next generation of attorneys in Kern County with her involvement in CSUB’s Court Observer Program, where she meets with student participants each spring to discuss the role of a prosecutor in criminal proceedings and by hosting student interns at the District Attorney’s Office each semester through the Legal Information & Support Clinic.

Additionally, D.A. Zimmer has provided internship and career opportunities for local graduates of the Kern County College of Law, a local law school that helps ensure Kern County can develop legal expertise among those already committed to our communities.

Zimmer is also active in the community and has served on the boards of the Bakersfield Safe Streets Partnership, Bakersfield Police Activities League, Family Justice Center and other organizations.

Jennifer Thurston

Occupation: U.S. District Judge — Eastern District of California

CSUB Degree: B.S. in Business Administration: Marketing, 1989

Judge Thurston has been serving as a U.S. federal district court judge for the Eastern District of California after being appointed by President Joe Biden last year. In her position, she manages more than 1,000 cases made up of felony criminal and civil actions.

Judge Thurston has long been a servant leader in Kern County, starting off her career as an attorney in the county Counsel’s Office from 1997 to 2009. She then served in Bakersfield as a magistrate judge for the Eastern District until 2021, during which she presided over pre-trial and non-felony criminal matters, as well as civil cases.

In addition to her work as a judge, Thurston has also mentored students in CSUB’s Pre-Law Program and is a regular panelist and guest speaker for the program’s events. She also speaks every year in Dr. Jeanine Kraybill’s course on judicial power and the Constitution.

Judge Thurston is also heavily involved in local schools, such as in serving as a judge and coach for the Kern High School District’s mock trial competition and organizing the Open Doors to Federal Courts program, which introduces high school and college students to careers in the federal court system and in federal law enforcement.

Judge Thurston’s leadership has been recognized through numerous awards and honors, including the Kern County Bar’s Service Award, a certificate of service from the Kern County Superior Court and a certificate of appreciation from the State Bar of California.

Kris Tiner

Occupation: Professor of Music, Chair of the Performing Arts Department at Bakersfield College

CSUB Degree: B.A. in Music: Trumpet Performance, 2001

Tiner is an internationally recognized trumpet player, composer, and educator who has been active in the West Coast jazz and creative music scene for over 20 years. He has produced more than 80 recordings of original music, and had contributed to radio, film and television projects.

Tiner has taught music at CSUB, Bakersfield College (BC) and the California Institute of the Arts. He was an adjunct lecturer at CSUB and an adjunct professor at BC from 2004 to 2017, after which he became a full-time professor of music and the director of jazz studies at BC. He now serves as chair of the Performing Arts Department at the college.

During his time at BC, Tiner has coordinated the annual Kern County Music Educators’ Association Jazz Day, as well as the annual Panorama Creative Music Summit that brings world-class musicians to campus to collaborate with students.

In addition to his education work, Tiner has toured throughout the U.S. and Europe with groups such as the Empty Cage Quartet, Tin/Bag and the Industrial Jazz Group. He is also a member of the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra and serves on the board of the Bakersfield Jazz Workshop.

He is the founder of Epigraph Records, an independent label dedicated to the documentation of new creative music recorded in Bakersfield.

Tiner has been recognized with the Kern County Music Educators’ Association Jazz Educator of the Year award, the American Society of Composers and Publishers Award for Writers, as well as grants from Chamber Music America and the American Composers Forum.

Emily Duran

Occupation: CEO of Kern Family Health Care

CSUB Degrees: B.A. 2003, master’s in Health Care Management, 2006

Duran has over 25 years of experience in health care and social support services. She has served as CEO of Kern Family Health Care since July of this year. Prior to that, she worked 10 years at Kern Health Systems as a director of provider relations and then as chief network administration officer.

Duran — a Delano native and daughter of immigrant farmworkers — has a passion for grassroots community education and advocacy for vulnerable populations. She started her career in 1998 as a case manager for Bakersfield’s Ebony Counseling Center, during which she provided mentoring and other services to high-risk youth at local middle schools to help foster their educational goals.

In addition to her work, Duran has served on various boards and committees for organizations including the Bakersfield City School District, United Way of Kern County, First 5 Kern and the Legacy Circle Mercy Foundation.

She also recently received a Latinas Leading the Way award from the Latina Leaders of Kern County. Duran was also the recipient of the Outstanding MSA Student Award in CSUB’s healthcare management program while earning her master’s.