Alumni Notes - Fall 2019

David King MA ’70, BA ’65, Del Mar, Calif., has recently returned from his fourth humanitarian aid trip in Namibia, Africa where he completed various repair tasks, which included altering and repainting his mural to reflect the expanding primary school.

Barbara J. Tiddens BS ’71, New York, N.Y., retired from Infection Control at Rockefeller University after 30 years and a total of 47 years as a nurse. Tiddens plans to do extensive travelling, reading, and seeing all the theater she didn’t have time for during her 30 years working in New York City.

Brent Weigner BA ’72, Cheyenne, Wyo., founded the UNC Men’s Varsity Cross Country sport in 1969. Weigner is still running today and in June received a Certificate of Exceptional Achievement for completing marathons in 180 countries.

Janet A. (Swinton) Call MA ’73, Newark, Ohio, presently works at Central Ohio Technical College after spending the previous 35 years teaching high school English in Greeley. Her novel Empty Desk, published in 2018, features experiences of a public-school teacher and her students.

Rick Hays BA ’73, Helena, Mont., was elected Chair of the Board for Opportunity Bank of Montana at its annual stockholder meeting earlier this year.

Margaret Mizushima BA ’74, Wellington, was awarded the Silver Medal in the Benjamin Franklin Awards, named finalist for the Colorado Book Awards for her mystery Burning Ridge, and is a nominee for the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ Writer of the Year. Mizushima recently released Tracking Game, the latest installment of the award-winning Timber Creek K-9 Mystery Series.

Frank Cribelli BS ’75, BA ’68, Greeley, was awarded Marine of the Year for 2018 by the Union Colony Marines Local Detachment 1093, Marine Corps League.

David Schiessler BS ’76, Mountain View, Calif., has retired after nearly a 40-year career in Life Sciences/Biotechnology. He served in various senior management roles, working on a global basis, primarily in marketing and operations roles. Schiessler is a proud member of the UNC 1974 Hall of Fame baseball team.

Barry Schlossberg BS ’76, Henderson, Nev., owns the 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T Convertible driven by Woody Harrelson in the 1994 movie Natural Born Killers. The car will be restored to factory new condition on the popular MotorTrend Channel- Graveyard Carz.

Marvin “Marv” Tickle BA ’77, Laguna Woods, Calif., is retired after employment with the Weld County Sheriff’s office, the K-Mart management system, and 26 years delivering for UPS in North Platte, Neb.

Jana Martin BA ’82, Dallas, Texas, has retired from DeSoto Independent School district after 28 years in education. Martin will continue to work as a Security Supervisor with Texas Rangers Baseball Club as well as begin private tutoring and consulting.

Sherry Schulz BA ’82, Lakewood, retired after 30 years in special education and regular education in Jeffco. She now enjoys skiing and off-road hand cycling.

Jim Bright BS ’83, Greeley, is the Practice Manager of Cardio Vascular Institute at Banner Health North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley.

Cornelius “Neal” Sailer BA ’84, Leonia, N.J., works in pharmaceutical and commercial development all over the world. During the past five years, Sailer has been dedicated to improving lives with the development of the drug, Dupilumab, a blockbuster antibody indicated for severe Atopic Dermatitis, Severe Asthma and other conditions.

Mark Duff BA ’85, Carbondale, published his debut novel The Ruler.

Don P. Cygan BA ’86, Evergreen, is a History Professor at Red Rocks Community College and author of 2012’s No Silent Night: The Christmas Battle for Bastogne.

David Dorfmeier MA ’86, Pendleton, Ore., has written C-Lager: Stalag Luft IV & the 86-Day Hunger March about his father’s experiences as a POW in Germany during WWII. The book is a meticulously researched and well-documented account of the longest forced march of any group of Allied POWs trekking across northern Germany during the winter of 1945.

Samuel C. Andrews BA ’88, Knoxville, Tenn., is the Vice President and Creative Director for The Tombras Group advertising agency in Knoxville.

Lora Cheadle BA ’91, Littleton, is an author, speaker and female empowerment leader. She received the Exceptional Woman of Excellence award from the Women Economic Forum in New Delhi, India for her work helping women reclaim their voice and embrace their authentic identity.

Tyson Miller BA ’95, Fort Collins, is currently the Chief Financial Officer at Hill Petroleum in the Denver Metro Area.

Kevin “Chet” Wilmes BA ’96, Aurora, became a Class A Superintendent with the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) and is the superintendent at Springhill Golf Course in Aurora.

Shawna Zachman BA ’97, Arvada, has joined Gannett Fleming as its first corporate business development director. Gannett Fleming said of Zachman, “She is passionate about business development framework and leading creative teams.”

Michael Sanderfer BA ’98, Phoenix, Ariz., is a USA Track & Field Certified Referee.

John D. Haller BA ’99, Stow, Ohio, was conferred a BFA in visual Communication Design from Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. Additionally, Haller has been accepted into the MFA program in the School of Visual Communication Design at Kent State University.

Andrea (Gossert) Beyer BA ’00, Clay Center, Kan., was ordained in the Great Plains conference of the United Methodist Church in June 2018. She is serving as Senior Pastor of Clay Center United Methodist church.

Denise J. Shannon BA ’00, Evans, received the 2019 Mentor Teacher Award.

Amy Marie Mason MA ’02, Shoshoni, Wyo., was recognized in Washington, D.C. by the American School Counseling Association as the Wyoming School Counselor of the Year.

Matthew C. Brinton BS ’05, accepted a position as Director of Development at the University of Texas at Tyler in May.

Jodi Malick BA ’05, Garden City, Kan., was named the 2015 Secondary Teacher of the Year for USD 480-Liberal Kansas. She has presented at numerous conferences for professional development including Kansas Exemplary Educators Network (KEEN) and Career and Technical Education (CTE).

Matthew J. Gomez-Peterson BA ’09, Morrison, is ACE certified and the Program Manager of Background Services at Denver International Airport.

Stephanie Klixbull BA ’13, Ladson, S.C., received the International Max E. Lundquest, Rising Star Young STEM Educator award from the International STEM Association and the Teacher of the Year 2018-2019 for the state SCISA (South Carolina Independent Schools Association).

Jordan Ortega BA ’13, Pueblo, works for GOAL High School, which is an online/blended program throughout the entire state of Colorado. Ortega is an English Language TOSA (Teacher on Special Assignment) and one of his main responsibilities is to deliver Sheltered Instruction/SIOP Professional Development to all content teachers, paraprofessionals, and Administrators. The Professional Development happens throughout the school year and it is a way for teachers to get credit in order to renew their teaching license. Through the professional development, staff learn different strategies to make their content more comprehensible for all students, including English Language Learners and Diverse Student Populations. The goal for the professional development piece was to share concrete instructional activities and practices that teachers can use on a daily basis during their coursework and instruction.

Norman Correa BA ’14, Rocky Point, N.Y., mentors young men from underrepresented groups living in New York or Massachusetts who are entering college or are current students, on what to expect after they graduate and how they can become successful in their careers.

Paisley Hemminger BA ’14, Littleton, is a teacher at Grandview High School and a graduate student in Miami University’s Advanced Inquiry Program. During the summer, Hemminger studied coral reefs, manatees, howler monkeys, jaguars and other wildlife while learning the methods communities are using to sustain them in Belize.

Caitlyn R. Ryan BS ’16, Denver, received her master of tax degree from the University of Colorado, is a CPA and is currently working as a tax accountant at CBIZ.

Angelica Sena MS ’18, BS ’17, Midvale, Utah, has her first full-time job at the University of Utah as the Assistant Director of Marketing. Sena credits her experience first as an intern then a GA in UNC Athletics Marketing as the key to positioning her for her first job.

Robert Carver BS ’19, Loveland, joined the UNC family as an IT Professional Business Analyst.

The UNC Department of Aerospace Studies/Air Force ROTC commissioned Ryan J. DeMuth BA ’19 and Elijah A. Thompson BS ’19 graduating cadets as Second Lieutenants in the United States Air Force.