Kenneth L. Marsi, professor of chemistry at...

Kenneth L. Marsi, professor of chemistry at Cal State Long Beach, has been named one of two outstanding professors for 1985 by the California State University system.

The university system has honored two faculty members each year since 1964 with an award of $1,000.

Marsi, an organic chemist, has been a member of the CSULB faculty since 1961 and is chairman of the department of chemistry. He earned his bachelor’s degree from San Jose State University in 1951 and a doctorate from the University of Kansas in 1955. He taught at Fort Hays (Kansas) State College before joining the CSULB faculty.

Kenneth Takeda has been named economic development coordinator for the City of Commerce.

Takeda, 33, will act as liaison between the city and industry, will develop programs to attract businesses to the area, help businesses apply for federal and state grants and compile a list of all buildings available for sale or lease.

Takeda, whose annual salary is $34,164, was hired last month.

Jim Hawkins of Cerritos has received the first John K. Northrop Exceptional Outdoor Leadership Award from the Los Angeles Area Council, Boy Scouts of America.

Hawkins, a veteran volunteer leader, has three daughters and seven sons, including four Eagle Scouts. He has served as a leader for Cub and Boy Scouting and, since 1978, has been chairman of the council’s trails and awards committee. He is a branch manager for career development and product support for McDonnell Douglas Corp.

The Northrop award recognizes persons who have been registered for at least 15 years and have an extensive background in Scouting.

Todd Lewis, director of forensics at Biola University, has been honored for his work as coach of the university’s forensics team since 1974. He won an award for “Excellence in Coaching Forensics Over the Years” at the Governor’s Cup Speech Tournament in Sacramento.

UCLA students Gerardo Guzman Ortiz of Paramount and Gregory Nelson Gardner and Lisa Hitomi Tani of Long Beach are studying at foreign universities through the University of California’s Education Abroad Program. Ortiz is studying engineering in Madrid, Gardner is studying history in Gottingen, West Germany, and Tani is studying sociology in Lund, Sweden.

Tinesha Charles, a student at Stephen C. Foster Elementary School in Compton, was awarded a first-place prize of $50 in a Black History Month essay contest sponsored by the Lambda Sigma Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority at the University of California, Irvine.

Foster students Tracy Gardner, Shemise Irving, Sonya Mckelvy and Melissa Walker received honorable mention certificates; awards of participation were given to Vertesia Laurant, Sandra Benitez, Kelvin Davis, Roslyn Davis and Brenda Ramos.

A full page of poetry by Van E. Slater, a professor of fine arts at Compton College, has been published in Heritage magazine.

Mary E. Hanson has been reelected president of the Friends of the Whittier Hills.

Eric Pestano, a student at Jordan High School in Long Beach, and Sokha Tauch, a student at Jefferson Junior High School in Long Beach, won first-place awards in the Long Beach Jewish Community Center’s Norman Gottlieb Youth Art Show.