Alumni Notes – Fall 2023

David Sanford, B.M. ’85, Northampton, Massachusetts, was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters department of music in 2022.

Nomie Wells Ketterling, M.A. ’85, Eaton, and her husband, Mike, were awarded the Greeley Chamber of Commerce Leann Anderson award as they care deeply about and serve their community and the entire Northern Colorado Region.

Debbie Painter Montefusco, B.A. ’93, Cranston, Rhode Island, has gone back to school at Providence College to obtain her master’s degree in Literacy so she can become a reading specialist.

Jim Olsen, Ph.D. ’94, Macomb, Illinois, served as a mathematics faculty member in teacher education at Western Illinois University from 1994 until retiring in the spring of 2023.

Bryan Guest, B.S. ’95, Greeley, was named regional president overseeing the Wyoming, Colorado and Arizona markets for First Interstate Bank.

William Martinez, B.A. ’99, Westminster, won a Telly award and two AVA digital awards for his inspirational keynote presentations “You Have Changed My Life” and “The Power of Belonging” reminding all educators of their incredible influence on their students’ lives. Combining American Sign Language and singing, William has keynoted for over a quarter of a million educators across 45 states in several hundred school districts, as well as for the U.S. Department of Education.

Wendy Franz, B.A. ’00, Boulder, became Managing Director of the Colorado Shakespeare Festival in 2015, the second oldest Shakespeare festival in the U.S. In addition to overseeing business operations for the festival, Franz directs and produces plays for the summer season as well as the festival’s innovative Shakespeare and Violence Prevention school tour.

Anna Green, B.A. ’01, Greeley, has been promoted to UNC’s director of university events.

Marty Unrein, B.A. ’04, Houston, Texas, began working on a drilling rig for Patterson-UTI in Colorado after graduation. In January, he was named the senior vice president of Sales & Marketing for Patterson-UTI.

Marta Clausen Hurst, B.S. ’04, Boerne, Texas, started a business at the end of last year to help bring awareness to jobs in the retirement plan industry. She also helps interested students find jobs and make connections to give mentorship and aid career advancement.

CeCe Majchrowski, B.A. ’05, Severance, presented at the 2023 National Association of Workforce Boards Forum to discuss high performing local boards.

Chad Clark, B.A. ’06, Lakewood, has worked as a probation officer for 16 years specializing in juvenile justice. Clark served on the Advisory Commission on Youth from 2013 to 2016 following his appointment by previous Denver Mayor Michael Hancock.

Ryan Bigley, B.M.E. ’08, Denver, spent 15 years as a music teacher all over Colorado. While teaching, he gained an interest in working behind the scenes at high school and college sporting events as a public address announcer. Bigley has held positions as the first announcer for the Grand Junction Rockies team, DJing with the Colorado Eagles hockey team in Loveland and a job doing the scoreboard graphics with the Colorado Rockies.

Cristina Mares, B.A. ’09, Highlands Ranch, has worked as the CRM and email marketing manager at Modern Elder Academy since December 2022, after receiving her HubSpot certification in Email Marketing that fall.

Lamar Reams, Ph.D. ’12, Pickerington, Ohio, has accepted a position as professor and department chair of sports administration in the College of Business at Ohio University.

Mariah Cabrera, B.S. ’13, Littleton, works for a national nonprofit helping low income and formally homeless populations. Every summer she takes more than 50 at-risk youth fishing in one of our state parks and the youth receive a brand new fishing rod and backpack for attending the workshop.

Colin Gause, B.A. ’19, Greeley, was hired back as UNC’s director of player development for men’s basketball in 2022 and was newly promoted to assistant coach in 2023.

Suzie Mahon, M.A. ’19, Laramie, Wyoming, was recently nominated by the State of Wyoming Vision Outreach Services for the APH Scholar award.

Chloe Resler, B.M. ’20, M.M. ’22, Gardena, California, will be performing at the International Bluegrass Music Association conference in September and presenting new research at the Jazz Education Network Conference in January. Resler is currently working in music education, restarting a music program at a high school.

Nick Goldstein, B.S. ’20, Stillwater, Oklahoma, joined the Oklahoma State University athletic training staff in August of 2020 as a graduate assistant. He was promoted to full time athletic trainer in January of 2022.

Lyda Fontes McCartin, Ph.D. ’20, Lexington, South Carolina, was named the new director of the School of Information Science at the University of South Carolina.

Rachel Bolton, U.CERT. ’20, B.A. ’21, Greeley, was awarded an internship at the public defender’s office in August 2019 before being hired in November 2020.

Sam Cook, B.A. ’22, Hillsboro, Oregon, has been accepted into an APA accredited doctorate program in clinical psychology beginning in August 2023.

Haley Hulse, B.A. ’22, Fort Collins, was hired to go to New Zealand for a year with a Colorado family to homeschool their children using the Colorado curriculum.

Denin Koch, B.A. ’23, Richland, Washington, won a full-time position on the jazz faculty of the University of Tennessee Knoxville beginning in the fall of 2023. He recently published a new article in Jazz Research Journal 16.1 and is slated to release a new album, “It Comes in Waves,” in the fall of 2023 as well.