Bill Oberholzer, executive vice president of Republic...

Bill Oberholzer, executive vice president of Republic Bank, is the 1990-91 president of the Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce. A Torrance resident, Oberholzer has been a member of the Torrance chamber since 1975. He also serves on the board of directors of Torrance Memorial Medical Center and Torrance South Bay YMCA and is active in fund-raising for the Boy Scouts and YMCA.

William Demarest, mall manager at Hawthorne Plaza, has been named 1990 Business Person of the Year by the Hawthorne Chamber of Commerce. Demarest is treasurer for the chamber and a member of the executive board at Hawthorne YWCA.

Dianne Mannex of Redondo Beach has been appointed program coordinator for Educational Resource Development Trust/SHARE!, a nonprofit educational foundation, to organize an international student exchange program in the South Bay. This summer a group of about 25 participants from France, ages 16 to 21, will stay with host families in the South Bay area, from July 2 to July 27.

Gary Brown, sophomore political science major at Loyola Marymount University, has been selected as a 1990 Truman Scholar by the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation. Truman Scholars are selected in a national competition based on outstanding potential for leadership in government and public related service. One scholarship is awarded each year to a resident of each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Pacific Islands. An additional 39 scholars-at-large are also chosen. As a Truman Scholar, Brown will receive up to $7,000 a year for his final two years of undergraduate work and the first two years of graduate study. He plans to pursue graduate work in policy analysis and to seek a law degree.

Mark McLean of Boy Scout Troop 213, San Pedro, has been selected as the Maritime Trades Department’s first Scout of the Year award recipient. He will join other award recipients from around the nation in a two-week visit to the Seafarers Harry Lundeberg School of Seamanship near Washington, D.C., from July 14 to July 27. McLean, 16, will be a senior at San Pedro High School next fall. The son of Mr. and Mrs. David McLean of San Pedro, he has a 3.6 grade-point average and has participated in varsity football, junior varsity baseball and stage crew.

Sofia M. Fernandez of Banning High School was named Regional Scholar in the National Competition for the Coca-Cola Scholars program, held in Atlanta, Ga. As a regional scholar, Fernandez will receive a $1,000 award, renewable annually for four years over the course of a typical undergraduate program. The award will be used at the accredited U.S. college or university of her choice.

Edward Ruiz has been elected commander of Gen. William Stark Rosecrans Post 3261, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, in Gardena. Other officers elected to serve with Ruiz are: Leroy Necaise, Henry McCann, Howard N. Light, James Skelly, William Nilges, John Musurlian and Paul Rodriguez.

Hawthorne resident Deirdre Prince has been named director of communications for the Angeles Girl Scout Council, Los Angeles. Her responsibilities include external and internal public relations, media relations, community relations and special events.