Alumni News
1950s
Edward Williams (1959) has retired from active practice as a veterinarian and is now a broker of veterinary practices in the Northeastern United States with the Veterinary Practice Sales Group.
1960s
Richard Guertin (1963) is retiring after this year from Stanford after 40 years of service.
Nelson Goud (1964) recently completed the 8th edition of Psychology and Personal Growth (Allyn & Bacon).
Richard Hoehlein (1965) recently retired from a position as Director of the Adult Studies Program at Virginia Wesleyan College. He is currently serving as Co-Coordinator of the Fort Lewis College Lifelong Learning Program, a volunteer role with the Professional Associates; a group of retirees who support the College's advancement in a variety of ways. The Hoehleins have also contructed the first LEED home in La Plata county, which will achieve the Platinum level of LEED certification, which is a third-party certification system which encourages environmentally responsible building techniques.
Erik Goodman (1967, left) was awarded a $25 million grant from the National Science Foundation to fund a Science and Technology Center known as BEACON. Read the full story here.
Jim McKeown (1966) retired from Penn State in December 2009, and is now now Professor Emeritus of Accounting.
Janet Halfman (1967) has had three children’s picture books published in 2010 on various imprints. She has published 33 children’s books to date.
Glenn Detrick (1968) currently teaches a course called “Individual and Organizational Introspection” and has also established a center in memory of his daughter at Webster Groves High School in Missouri called the Chelsa Detrick Experiential Learning Center.
John Snyder (1968) has been promoted to the rank of Professor at the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston. He also presented a paper at the August 2010 conference of the North American British Music Studies Association entitled “Toward a critical edition of Coleridge Taylor’s Symphony in A Minor.”
Jane Devlin (1969) is an attorney at Flynn & Clark in Cambridge, MA. In 2010 she was named to the board of trustees of Renew International.
Jeanne C. Marsh (1969) recently completed a third term as dean of the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration. She will return to teaching and research after spending the 2010-11 academic year on sabbatical at Center for Health Services, Sciences Po, Paris.
1970s
Patrick Colestock (1970) has been a staff member at the Los Alamos National Laboratory for the last ten years and is working on various aspects of space science, including remote sensing of the space environment, and the physics of the radiation belts surrounding the Earth. He was recently selected as a Laboratory Fellow for this and other work.
William J. Falk (1970) retired at the end of January after a career of over 33 years with consulting firm Towers Perrin. He was recently elected to a two-year term as a Vice President of the Society of Actuaries. The Society of Actuaries provides education and research for life, health, investment and pension actuaries primarily in the U.S. and Canada. It has over 20,000 members. Bill is a member of the MSU Actuarial Program advisory committee.
Gail Guth (1970) owner and principal of Guth Illustration & Design, presided over the 2010 Annual Meeting of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators (GNSI) in July at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, stepping down as President after a two-year term. Gail's composite illustration (selections from various individual plates) from an ongoing project, a field guide on Philippine birds, was accepted into the GNSI's Annual Exhibit, which was on display at the NCSU's D.H. Hill Library.
Ronna Kaplan (1970) has been the President of the American Music Therapy Association since January 2010.
Douglas Laycock (1970) has left the University of Michigan and is now the Armistead M. Dobie Professor of Law at the University of Virginia.
James Reising (1970) retired this past year from the University of Evansville, where he had taught electrical engineering for 30 years. He presently has his own consulting company and has submitted a proposal for further work on a project for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Majorana Collaboration.
Robert J. Rietz (1970) recently retired as a Director in the Detroit office of Deloitte Consulting LLP where he led the Total Rewards practice in Deloitteís North Central region. He was their Chief Pension Actuary from 2006 to 2009, and has over 30 years of experience in the employee benefits consulting arena.
Theresa Sullivan (1970, left) is the first female president of the University of Virginia. Read the full story here.
Jacqueline Brayman (1971) has published her first book through the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) entitled Taking Flight to Literacy and Leadership! She, along with co-author Maureen Gray and contributing author Mike Steams presented the book to the National Association of Professors of Educational Leadership and will be presenting to the AASA as well.
Howard Brody (1971) became the Director of the Institute for the Medical Humanities and John P. McGovern Centennial Chair in Family Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. In 2009, Brody published a book titled The Future of Bioethics.
John Farley (1971) is enjoying retirement after a 30-year career in higher education, including 29 years on the sociology faculty at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE). John is a past president of the Midwest Sociological Society, the Illinois Sociological Association, and the SIUE Faculty Senate.
James Avery (1972) has retired after 26 years teaching at University of Colorado in Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Susan Avery (1972) has retired from University of Colorado having served as Director of CIRES, Interim Dean of Graduate School, Interim Vice Chancellor for Research, and Interim Provost. She is now president and director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Joseph Fenech (1972) is now semi-retired and living on Sanibel Island in Florida.
James Kalmbach (1972) is Professor and Associate Chair of English at Illinois State University. He recently co-edited (with Cheryl Ball) the book RAW (Reading and Writing) New Media published by Hampton Press, 2010.
Christine Corcos (1973) is currently an Associate Professor of Law at the Louisiana State University Law Center and also an Associate Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies. She recently published a book entitled Low and Magic: A Collection of Essays
Cynthia Freeland (1973), currently a member of the Philosophy Department at the University of Houston, had her book, Portraits and Persons, published by Oxford University Press in June 2010.
Ronald Graham (1973) is a neutral mediator with American Settlement Centers, as well as maintaining a private law practice in the Law Offices of Condit, McGarry, Schloff, and Graham.
Edward Schneider (1973) has spent the last ten years with the Minnesota Department of Health as a systems administrator.
Charlie Sharp (1973) has been working as a freelance graphic designer for the last 17 years and has won a number of awards with his company, Sharp Designs.
Deborah Alpert Sleight (1973) is currently an associate professor in the MSU College of Human Medicine.
Bruce Fenderson (1974) has recently published the second edition of a popular pathology textbook: Lippincott’s Illustrated Q&A Review of Rubin’s Pathology, 2010. Bruce is Professor of Pathology, Anatomy & Cell Biology at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia.
Cynthia Kay Afendoulis (1975) was named one of the 50 Most Influential Women in West Michigan in 2010. She is also Chair of the Board of the Small Business Association On Michigan, representing 10,000 small businesses.
Howard Jones (1975) recently published a book called The Man on the Beach, which details the true story of a homeless schizophrenic man who brought a community together.
Bruce Krueger (1975) has retired from the Hastings Area School System as Student Services Coordinator and K-12 Counseling Chair.
Joellen Snow (1975) is a practicing lawyer in Houston, TX, and recently ran for election to be Judge of Harris County Probate Court 2.
Jane Winter (1975) is currently the Capital Campaign Officer for Dominican University of California, an independent university located 12 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County.
Michael Gilliland (1977) has written The Business Forecasting Deal: Exposing Myths, Eliminating Bad Practices, Providing Practical Solutions (Wiley, 2010). He is Product Marketing Manager for forecasting software at SAS Institute. He also has a blog at SAS Institute called The Business Forecasting Deal.
Marcus Reinkensmeyer (1977) was awarded the Warren Burger Award for Excellence in Judicial Administration in 2009, which recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to local court operations.
Margie Yansura (1978) of Wordsmith Communication in Florida was recently quoted in The Wealthy Freelancer: 12 Secrets to a Great Income and an Enviable Lifestyle by Steve Slaunwhite, Pete Savage and Ed Gandia.
Paul Buszka (1979) is currently working as the Supervisory Hydrologist in the Hydrologic Studies Section of the U.S. Geographical Survey in Indiana at the Indiana Water Science Center.
Diane Callahan (1979) recently left a 12 year career with DuPont's Engineering Service Division to raise her two sons. She is currently President of Memphis Ladies Interclub Golf Association and is the first woman in the region to serve on the Board of a private golf club.
Charles Sowder (1979) is currently serving as Medical Director of the Emergency Department of Flaget Memorial Hospital in Louisville, KY.
1980s
Patricia Hart (1982) recently accepted a position as associate professor of accounting at Northwood University.
Mojdeh Hojjiati (1983) has been living in Mexico for almost two decades, and has recently launched a business called Journeys Beyond the Surface, which provides educational and cultural day trips for visitors.
Peter Arnett (1984), currently a professor at Penn State University, recently took on the position of Director of Clinical Training for the university’s doctoral Clinical Psychology Program.
Cheryl Walsh (1985) has had a short story titled “Unequal Temperaments” published in the Math & Music issue (Autumn 2010) of THEMA Literary Journal.
Michael Seneski (1987) has transitioned to become the Global Controller of Marketing and Sales for Ford Motor Company, where he has worked for over 20 years.
John Goudreau (1988) was recently awarded a grant from the National Institute of Health’s Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to research a protein which may help slow down or prevent cell damage due to Parkinson’s disease.
Colleen Thompson (1988) is currently the North American Program Manager for Small Cars at General Motors, and is helping to build a small car profitably in the United States.
Paula Brantner (1989) is the Executive Director of Workplace Fairness, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit that provides legal information to workers about their employment rights and keeps the public abreast of workplace developments. Last year, the Workplace Fairness website, workplacefairness.org, was nominated for a Webby in the category of Best Law Site.
Greg Buzzard (1989) was promoted to the rank of Professor in the Department of Mathematics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.
Amalia Gladhart (1989) published a short story entitled “Stones, Bouys” in Stone Canoe 4 and an article: "El teatro ecuatoriano reciente: la migración en escena." in a collection of essay on Latin American and Latino theater entitled Paradigmas recientes en las artes escénicas latinas y latinoamericanas /Current Trends in Latino and Latin American Performing Art.
David Henkhaus (1989) is currently the Associate Director of Iowa Testing Programs at the University of Iowa, and is pursuing his PhD in Educational Measurement and Statistics.
1990s
Joann S. Olson (1990) was awarded a Ph.D. in Adult Education from Pennsylvania State University in 2010. While at Penn State, Olson spent time researching the transition from college to work as experienced by recent college graduates and exploring the challenges faced by adults who return to higher education. She also served on Penn State’s Commission for Adult Learners, the student leadership team for the Department of Learning and Performance Systems, and with the graduate and undergraduate student government organizations.
Kim Isaacson (1992) was promoted to Director of Corporate Communications at Jackson National Life Insurance Company in Lansing, MI in January 2009. She also earned her FINRA Series 7 license in December 2009.
Gregory Oakes (1993) is now the clarinet professor at Iowa State University in Ames, IA. His first solo CD, New Dialects, was released April 2010.
Aimee Vieria (1993) is currently an Associate Professor of Sociology at Norwich University, and is serving as Chair of the Rural Sociological Research Interest Group in Racial and Ethnic Minorities. She is also a primary Subject Matter Expert contracted to design curriculum for Army Special Operations Forces.
Richard Herrell (1994) completed his Master's Degree in Computer Engineering at the University of Michigan Dearborn. He works as a senior software engineer for Motorola.
Patrick Jackson (1994) has published his second book, The Conduct of Inquiry in International Relations: Philosophy of Science and Its Implications for the Study of World Politics. He is currently the Director of General Education at American University, as well as Associate Professor in the School of International Serve. He also runs University College, a small residential college within American University.
Holly Jackson (1995) is finishing her Master of Divinity Degree at Wesleyan Theological Ministry while she is working as a Christian Education Minister in Alexandria, VA.
Allison (Harnisch) Leotta (1995), a federal sex-crimes prosecutor in D.C., has published her first novel, Law of Attraction.
Troy Hicks (1997) was recently recognized by Tech and Learning in their list of the 100 most important people featured in the magazine for his involvement in Project WRITE. Project WRITE (Writing, Reading, Inquiry and Technology Education) was formed by 40 teachers to examine student work with the intent of identifying pedagogies and materials that improve adolescent literacy and thoughtful integration of technology. Hicks is also director of the Chippewa River Writing Project, a site of the National Writing Project that supports a summer institute for K-16 teachers of writing.
Roberts Kukainis (1997) left his position as director of BFGoodrich Tires Motorsports to move to Clermont-Ferrand, France to work with Michelin's global marketing group for agricultural tires. Roberts and his wife also have a new son, Lauris Usins Kukainis
Matthew Steele (1999) has been promoted to Managing Director of valuation services for Mesirow Financial Consulting in Chicago. Steele joined Mesirow Financial in 2005 and oversees the valuation of businesses and intangible assets for purposes of M&A advisory, financial reporting, tax planning, corporate restructuring, and litigation.
Liza Weinstein (1999) is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Northeastern University and a Senior Research Associate at the Kitty and Michael Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy. Her research focuses on cities and globalization, urban political economy, and state-civil society relations, with a regional focus on India. Her research on these topics has appeared in the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Politics & Society, City & Community, and several edited volumes. She is currently working on a book manuscript.
Jennifer (Williams) Zwageman (1999) has been chosen as the first visiting scholar in a new collaboration between Drake University and Faegre & Benson LLP. She will spend a year teaching at Drake University focusing on food and agribusiness practice, as well as continuing to work in litigation practice with Faegre & Benson.,
2000s
Dave Jackett (2000) has been working for General Mills for 11 years, currently working as a Supply Chain Manager. He recently received the Champion’s Award for Innovation.
Allison Loconto (2000) is a PhD candidate at MSU in the Department of Sociology, after returning from time as a Fulbright Fellow in Tanzania from 2009-2010, collecting data for her thesis, titled “SustainabiliTea: Shaping Sustainability in Tanzanian Tea Production”.
Katie Haraminac Wilson (2000) recently moved to Washington, DC, and is now a Consultant with a Health Care consulting firm called The Advisory Board Company.
Katherine (Swartz) Kaczmarek (2001) is working in Houston, TX as a veterinarian at a small animal clinic after graduating from the MSU College of Veterinary Medicine in 2005.
Matt Herwaldt (2002) is Certified Management Accountant working as a controller for the Michigan Primary Care Association in Lansing.
Annette McCoy (2002) has finished a Residency in Equine Surgery in Lameness, as well as a MS at Colorado State University and is starting a PhD in Comparative Molecular Biosciences under a NIH T32 training grant at the University of Minnesota this fall
Monica Narula (2002) graduated in 2010 from the Michigan College of Optometry and has opened her own private practice, Narula Eye & Vision Care PLC in Farmington Hills, MI.
Heather Shouldice (2002) taught elementary general music for eight years and earned her master’s degree in music education from the University of Michigan in November 2009. Throughout the past two years she has presented numerous music education conference sessions and professional workshops. Heather was also recently appointed as a faculty member for the Gordon Institute for Music Learning, through which she teaches certification workshops for music educators around the country. This fall she is returning to MSU for her PhD in music education and serving as a graduate assistant in the College of Music.
Cara Younger (2002) received her MBA from New York University in May 2010. She specialized in Social Innovation and Impact and Entertainment, Media, and Technology. She is currently an Assistant Vice President with GE Capital Markets, Inc, in New York City.
Lindsey (Gleason) Aten (2003) graduated from MSU College of Law in 2008.She is now an estate planning attorney at Varnum in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is also licensed to practice in Florida after passing the February 2010 Florida bar exam.
Heather Jans (2005) has taken a full-time position as an associate attorney at a small law firm in Port Clinton, Ohio, practicing mostly civil law.
Meredith Barnes (2003) graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign in May 2010 with her MD and PhD. She is now a resident in Internal Medicine at Tulane University in New Orleans.
Amanda Beamer (2004) has had her first book, The Loving Dead, published by San Francisco-based independent press Night Shade Books, and it has been positively reviewed in the San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post, and other media.
Jelanie Bush (2004) is a third year pediatrics resident at Helen Devos Children's hospital in Grand Rapids.
Kathryn Bastien (2005) recently left the AP Moller Maersk Management Trainee Program to work for a small energy trading firm in Houston, TX.
David Cooper (2005) has been working at ABC for over a year. Currently, he works with ABC News for the graphics department researching and creating graphics for "World News Now" and "America This Morning." He was also recently elected as an alternate member of the Directors Guild of America's AD/SM/PA board. He is an active member of MSU's New York City Alumni Chapter.
Julie Ecclestone (2005) is currently working at The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago as a pediatric speech pathologist. She will be presenting a poster at the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine Conference entitled "Transition Skill Building in Younger Populations: Journey to Success."
John Rood (2005) founded a test preparation company in 2009 called Next Step Test Prep which provides one-on-one tutoring for the graduate level entrance examinations.
Lindsay Thomas (2005) is currently a Peace Corps volunteer with her husband in Botswana, working as a community capacity building volunteer focusing on HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. She works closely with the government to address issues pertaining especially to the care of orphans and other vulnerable children. She also works to expand HIV education in schools and on a support group for those with HIV/AIDS in the community where she is volunteering.
David Fiebig (2006) is currently working for Marsh Management Services (Cayman) Ltd. as an Account Manager for captive insurance companies domiciled in Cayman, where he lives with his family.
Alison Himelhoch (2006) is working at Seyferth PR in Grand Rapids after reporting at Channel 6 News in Lansing for three years.
Robert Huber (2006) currently works as a consultant in San Francisco Bay for Infosys Technologies Ltd., one of the largest software engineering firms in the world.
He trained for half a year in 2007 at the Infosys Global Education Center in Mysore, India and was 1 of only 3 liberal arts students to complete the rigorous
J2EE compliance training.
Scott Howell (2006) is attending the Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health for his DMD and also a master’s in public health
James Reinhart (2006) graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School in May, and has started a combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics (Med-Peds) residency at the University of Michigan.
M. Catherine Wilcox (2006) has joined Dykema law firm in Lansing as an associate in its government policy practice area. Her practice focuses on government policy matters, including administrative law, election and campaign compliance, and nonprofit organizations.
Dave Coogan (2007) is currently a First Lieutenant in the Marine Corps stationed at Camp Pendleton, California. He deployed to Iraq in 2009 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He is currently deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
Danielle Dunn (2007) graduated from Western Michigan University in May 2010 with a Masters degree in Higher Education-Student Affairs. She is now a Coordinator for Residence Education at the University of Arkansas.
Shawn Katterman (2007) is in his 4th year of a Clinical Psychology PhD program at Drexel University. He has continued to research the psychology of weight related problems, which began with his senior honors thesis during his time at MSU. Drexel University has awarded him a Dean’s Fellowship for his work.
Michelle Malinowski (2007, left) is currently deployed in Afghanistan, where she flies Apache helicopters. Read the full story here.
Nicole Mason (2007) is currently attending the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has also started a Graduate Assistantship at the Illinois Fire Service Institute.
Jennifer Carlson (2008) is an adjunct professor at UMass Boston working for Massachusetts International Academy in Marlborough, MA. The academy is designed to educate Chinese students seeking an undergrad or graduate degree in the US in the subjects of English as well as American culture to ensure their success at the university level the following year.
Evan Fowler-Guzzardo (2008) graduated from Cornell University with a Master of Industrial and Labor Relations degree and started working full time for Aetna as an Executive Compensation Consultant in Hartford, Connecticut.
Vanessa Johnson (2008) recently left her job as an Admissions Counselor to join Teach for America. She is now a 2010 Corps Member teaching 7th grade English Language Arts at Roberto Clemente Middle School.
Julianne Kalmar (2008) is currently in the midst of a six month internship with the Kentucky Equine Management Internship program, working with Thoroughbred horses at Coolmore America - Ashford Stud in Versailles, Kentucky.
Annah Le (2008) has completed the certificate program in Baking and Pastry at the Culinary Institute of America at the Greystone Campus in Napa Valley, CA. She is currently working as a Research and Development Food Technologist at Fresh Start Bakeries North America in Northlake, IL doing product development on baked goods.
Brian Mund (2008) is working as a Teaching Assistant position at the University of Denver while he pursues his PhD.
Alexander Plum (2008) is serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Micronesia, where he teaches English to 11th and 12th graders. In the past year, he has founded Camp Boys to Men, which addresses issues such as reproductive health, substance abuse and HIV/AIDS awareness for teenage boys. He has extended his stay in the Peace Corps and has been selected to become the Peace Corps Volunteer Leader until July 2011.
Shannon Scott (2008) has finished her Teach For America service in St. Louis,as well as her Masters in Education from the University of Missouri. She is now the Director of Development and Corporate Relations for THE INSTITUTE on Religion and Public and is attending George Mason University's Masters in Public Administration program as a Master's International student.
Lauren Sharp (2008) is pursuing her Master’s degree in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue University and is working as a co-op for NASA.
Lauren Taubitz (2008) is currently working toward earning a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. She has been actively involved in attending academic conferences and has started publishing research in the field.
Geng Wang (2008) is working as the co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of an online start-up called Rent Jungle, which is an online rental housing search engine in Pittsburgh.
Leslie Warner (2008) has started a job with the United States Department of Agriculture as a County Operations Trainee. After successful completion of the trainee program, she will be placed as a County Executive Director.
Michele Berry (2009) is now licensed to teach science at the secondary level in the state of Wisconsin. She has a job with the Madison Metropolitan School District at James Madison Memorial High School teaching physics and chemistry.
Andra Kubulins (2009) has begun a 2 year terminal Master’s program in the Speech department at the University of Hawai’i Manoa. She also has a graduate teaching assistantship, where she is teaching three lab sections of a public speaking course.
Arun Mahapatra (2009) is currently pursuing an Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology. His concentration area is in Acoustics and Dynamics and his research focuses on the Acoustical Landscape of Hospital Environments. He will be graduating in Spring 2011.
Eva Reiter (2009) is currently working for General Electric Aviation as a member of the Operations Management Leadership Program, which is designed to accelerate growth and leadership skills in employees by rotating posts. Reiter is currently a facilities project leader in Batesville, MS.
Matthew Shaw (2009) has moved to Anchorage, Alaska to manage all of BP’s Information Technology and Service suppliers as well as facilities around the state.
Lauren Schaal (2009) is the Arlington Racing Club Coordinator at the Arlington International Racecourse in Illinois. She coordinates events and handles membership sales throughout the racing season.
