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The Chance to Bond |
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In 1952, Byron Hayes was admitted to Pomona on a scholarship
that awarded him $3,000 for each of his four years. The
young man from San Gabriel took full advantage of the
experience. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1956, was named
the outstanding senior in economics, played first base for
the varsity baseball team and was a member of the Phi Delta
fraternity.
 Pomona
transformed his life—and he has been returning the favor
ever since. Hayes has been president of both the Alumni
Association and the board of the Pomona Torchbearers. The
Toluca Lake resident has led fundraising drives, sat on
reunion committees and hosted groups of prospective Pomona
students in his home.
All of which is why Hayes has been awarded Pomona’s Alumni
Distinguished Service Award for 2005–06. He will receive the
honor during Alumni Weekend, when his class gathers for its
50-year reunion.
“I’m very grateful to Pomona and the people of Pomona—the
professors and others there—for the quality of the education
I got,” Hayes says. “I attribute a lot of my success in life
to Pomona.”
Hayes earned his law degree from Harvard Law School and
worked as an attorney in Los Angeles for 40 years. One of
his key contributions to the College involved property in
Padua Hills, owned by a corporation in which Pomona had a
controlling interest. Hired in 1989 by Pomona to help sell
the land, Hayes persevered with a complex plan that had
stalled for years. After retiring in 1999, Hayes continued
to work on the case pro bono. In 2003, Pomona completed a
long-awaited real estate deal, part of which involved
selling 125 home sites to a developer. Hayes says the
transaction probably netted at least $7 million.
“If we hadn’t had Byron, there’s no way in the world we
would have been able to put together that hillside deal,”
says Arlene Crowe, Pomona’s retired director of real
property and assistant treasurer.
In his many volunteer ventures for Pomona, Hayes has
received an assist from his wife of 45 years, Deanne.
The chance to bond with fellow Pomona people is why Hayes
says he’s always enjoyed helping with alumni programs. “I’ve
made a lot of friends.”
—Paul Sterman ’84
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