1998 Alumnus of the Year
Dr. Samuel Aanestad received his DDS from UCLA School of Dentistry in 1973, where he was student body president his senior year, and his Certificate in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery from Highland Alameda Hospital in Oakland, CA in 1979. He received his MPA from Golden Gate University in 1991. He has maintained a private practice in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Grass Valley, CA since 1980, and has formally served as Vice-Chief of the Department of Surgery at Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital. He has served two terms as President of the Butte-Sierra District Dental Society, and nine years (three as Chair) of the California Dental Association’s Council on Legislation.
Dr. Aanestad has also served four years in the California State Assembly, and eight years as California State Senator to the Senate’s 4th District. Sen. Aanestad and his wife, Susan, live in Penn Valley, CA, and have three children and 7 grandchildren.