(Editor’s note: Doug McNeil, ’83 Industrial Technology, is an SJSU alumnus.)

Posted by the San Jose Mercury News April 4, 2013

By Sal Pizarro

Monte Sereno resident Doug McNeil is the guy who keeps track of the history of the Los Gatos Morning Rotary Club. Now, he’ll have to add himself to the club’s list of historic accomplishments.

McNeil is one of 12 Rotary Club members nationwide being feted as “Champions of Change” at the White House on Friday during its second annual Rotary Day. McNeil’s being singled out for his work on the club’s Lighting for Literacy project, which provides low-cost solar lighting for communities without access to electricity.

A frequent commencement speaker for San Jose State‘s College of Engineering, McNeil grew up in Cupertino and graduated from Lynbrook High in 1977. He’s now a senior director at Kinestral Technologies in San Francisco.

The attention that the program is receiving has even gone interstellar: Astronaut Yvonne Cagle dropped in last week on students who were building some of the Lighting for Literacy units that will be installed in Colonet, Mexico next week.