Diane Fazzi honored for distinguished service

La Cañada resident Diane Fazzi was among five individuals honored Nov. 14 at the Cal State L.A. 25th Annual Distinguished Educator Award Dinner, held in the university’s Golden Eagle Ballroom. The local woman was named the recipient of this year’s Distinguished Service Award.

Fazzi, associate dean for the Charter College of Education at Cal State L.A., has been an educator for 30 years. She joined the university in 1992 as a faculty member in the Visual Impairments program. She has taught courses to graduate students preparing to serve as teachers of students with visual impairments and as orientation and mobility specialists. She is credited for her efforts toward raising more than $8 million in federal grants to support the school’s programs.

In recent years, Fazzi received appointments from both Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gov. Jerry Brown to serve on the California Advisory Commission on Special Education, serving one year as the commission’s chair. She is a member of the National Program Committee and a trustee for the American Foundation for the Blind.