Class Notes
Compiled and edited by Margie Meyer
1960s
Lyle Gillison (BA-60, MA-63), Santa Clara, Calif., taught music for 30 years in Milpitas and played first bassoon in the San Jose Wind Symphony. He continues to play traditional jazz on clarinet and saxophone with groups.
Jerry Becker (MA-63), Eagle Grove, Iowa, was named National Coach of the Year in Cross Country by the National Federation of High School Athletic Associations for the 2011 season.
Wallace Slattery (BA-64), Spearfish, S.D., retired in 2004 after 39 years of teaching. During his career, he taught business education at a large Pennsylvania prison. He continues to stay active by prospecting for gold and teaching part time.
James Cantrell (MA-65), Bardstown, Ky., was named Alumni of the Year for Creative Achievement by the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in April. Jim taught art for 14 years in Nebraska, Colorado and Kentucky and now works from his studio in Bardstown.
Terry Ketelsen (BA-67, MA-68), Northglenn, retired after 45 years serving the Colorado state government. Terry began working at the state archives as a college student in 1963. He served in the U.S. Army 1970-71, returned to the state archives in 1971 and was named state archivist in 1987. Terry is married to Jacqueline (Ogle) Ketelsen (BA-70).
1970s
Carol (Hickman) Harp (BA-70), Oldsmar, Fla., retired after 32 years of teaching Suzuki violin and 13 years teaching elementary music. Burton Burough (BA-73), Colorado Springs, retired from Halliburton Energy in 2000 and from Lowe’s in 2012.
Donald Harn (BA-73, MA-75), Athens, Ga., is a Georgia Research Alliance Distinguished Investigator and a professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases at the University of Georgia. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School, where he became a full professor at the Harvard School of Public Health. He is a member of the American Association of Immunologists and the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and serves on the editorial board of International Parasitology.
Chris White (BA-73, MME-80) (left), Commerce, Texas, taught for 15 years in Colorado Springs public schools and served as chairman of the Colorado Vocal Affairs Council. He has held positions at Armstrong Atlantic, University of Mississippi and TexasA&M-Commerce, and has conducted all-state choirs in Georgia and Colorado and numerous regional honor choirs throughout the Southwest. Chris received the Humfeld Distinguished Professor Award for Service from the Texas A&M system. Dona (Ficken) White (BA-74), retired in 2010 after teaching in Colorado, Georgia, Mississippi and Texas, and returned from retirement to teach Theory and Sightsinging at Texas A&M-Commerce. She was named Teacher of the Year twice during her public teaching career. Following Chris’s 40th year in music education in spring 2013, he and Dona will retire to Loveland to be near their daughters, Jennifer (White) Stream (BME-01), Fort Morgan, and Cathy (White) Keller (BME-03), Erie.
Steven Peltz (MA-74), Somers, N.Y., owns Peltz Practice Management and Consulting Services, LLC, and is president of the National
Society of Certified Healthcare Business Consultants.
Susan (Saunders) Wardlow (BA-75, MA-77), Coarsegold, Calif., is a substitute teacher in Madera County. She also supervises at the community college child development center and is an instructor at Clovis Adult School in Clovis, Calif. She is a lifetime member of the History Channel Club and the Loma Linda Parks and Historical Society and was recognized as a top female executive with the Worldwide Who’s Who organization.
Dianne (Majors) Engelman (BS-76), Mead, is part owner of Gateway Self Storage in Greeley. Dianne previously worked as an accountant for a Colorado-based engineering firm.
Jerome Synold (MA-76), Carlsbad, Calif., retired after serving 40 years with the U.S. Navy Drug and Alcoholic Treatment and Training program. He was the treatment director and director of the Navy’s counselor school. Jerome received the Navy’s Meritorious Civilian Award and continues to teach at UC San Diego.
Kathleen Wilburn (MA-76), Austin, Texas, is a professor of Management at St. Edward’s University in Austin. She began her fulltime college teaching career in 1999 after holding management positions in the public and private sectors, consulting as president of Performance Design Group, Inc., and teaching as an adjunct for various universities. She teaches an MBA course in Global Scenario Planning. Kathleen coauthored Values-Based Problem Solving and published Scenarios: Imagining the Future and Maryhill College for Women: Catalyst for Change, which led to transforming St. Edward’s into a co-ed university. Kathleen has also presented at major conferences on scenario planning and business ethics.
Lisa (Thompson) Martin (BA-79), Grand Junction, received the Colorado State Society for Human Resource Management State Council’s Summit Award at the Best Companies to Work For in Colorado event in July. Lisa has served as vice president of Human Resources for Hilltop Community Resources for nine years.
William McCann (MA-79), Winston-Salem, N.C., is an associate professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He is the director of Behavioral Science Education for the university’s Family Medicine Residency Program.
1980s
Martin Lamansky (BA-80, MA-89), Steamboat Springs, is the director of Teaching and Learning for the Steamboat Springs School District. He was a teacher in the district for 28 years before serving as assistant principal at Steamboat Springs High School, 2008-2011.
Lucille Bowman (BA-82, MA-84), Greeley, taught school for 19 years, first at Grover and then at Eaton. Lucille worked as a telephone operator while attending college classes until she married and began raising her family on a cattle ranch in the Pawnee Grasslands. She returned to UNC at age 44 to finish her education. Working with students was one of the highlights of Lucille’s life.
Katharine (Holderness) Cole (MA-82), Odessa, Fla., is associate provost at the University of Tampa.
Virginia (Ginni) McCann (MA-83), Biloxi, Miss., traveled to Cuba for two weeks in February with the Caribbean Cultural Religious Council. The retired gerontologist explored various communities, the Cuban culture and religions practiced on the island.
Ruth Morley (BA-84), Kirkland, Wash., received the Governor’s 2012 Outstanding Volunteer Service Award for working more than 4,000 hours at Hopelink, a food bank and local resource agency for low income families. She also received a Presidential Award for Service to the Community in 2009. Now retired, she is compiling a cookbook and enjoys volunteering, church activities and spending time with family.
Ralph Trenary (BA-85), Loveland, was elected to the Loveland City Council in November 2011. Ralph was a member of the panel that presented “Improving the Local Economy through Financial Management” at the Colorado Municipal League Annual Conference in June.
1990s
Mary (Hackett) Sokol (PhD-90), Woodstock, Vt., retired after more than 20 years as a school psychologist and educational consultant in public and independent schools. Her career was primarily in the area of school climate and special education advocacy in Florida, Colorado, New Hampshire and Vermont. In her retirement, she is a weaver, pastel artist and homemaker.
Marti Mendenhall (BM-91), Portland, Ore., released a self-titled, debut album of live jazz. The CD liner notes were written by Tom Cunniffe (BA-89), and one of the songs on the CD was co-written by Joe Herbert (BM-89).
Tracy Meyer (BA-92), Fredericksburg, Va., was selected by her peers for inclusion in the 2013 edition of The Best Lawyers in America in the area of family law.
Nancy Lough (EdD-95), Henderson, Nev., is a professor in the College of Education at the University of Las Vegas and the editor of Sport Marketing Quarterly, a top tier scholarly journal for sport marketing research. She became the first female president-elect of the Sport Marketing Association, which also recognized her for two of the top 20 articles in the journal’s first 20 years. Joris Drayer (PhD-07) of Temple University was elected as the at-large member. Dick Irwin (BA-79, MA-85, EdD-90) served as SMA’s first President.
Diane Scott (PhD-95), Broomfield, was named to Fort Hays State University’s Alumni Board of Directors. Diane is a self-employed consultant and life coach.
2000s
Kelly Kozeliski (BS-00), Castle Rock, is a partner in the EKS&H audit service area. She is a board member and treasurer of the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce and the Rocky Mountain Active 20-30 Children’s Foundation. She serves as an accounting advisory board member at the Monfort College of Business and on the audit and accounting committee of the Archdiocese of Denver. Kelly is a member of the AICPA, the COCPA and the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) and holds an MBA from Colorado State University.
Susan Myllykangas (MA-00), Maryville, Mo., is an associate professor at Northwest Missouri State University. Susan created and teaches Exploring Recreation Resources, a high impact education course that provides students with hands-on experiences through service learning. One of the venues Susan’s class regularly visits is the Rocky Mountain Senior Games in Greeley, where students serve as event officials and assistants, learn about managing large events and gain valuable experience interacting with seniors.
Meghan Nyberg (BA-01), Colorado Springs, completed a master’s degree in communications at Northwestern University in July.
Julia Tobey (BM-01), Los Angeles, launched the Party Singers Denver division in July. Julia founded the entertainment enterprise in 2007 in New York City and moved it to Los Angeles, where she joined forces with her former classmate Joe Donohoe. Party Singers offers a wide variety of singers, string quartets, instrumental ensembles and solo musicians for weddings and special events.
Christopher Klouzek (BA-02), Fruita, completed his residency at the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita Family Medicine Residency Program at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, Kan.
Jill (Mansfield) Scott (BS-02), Greeley, is the director of Human Resources at Professional Finance Company, a nationwide leader in servicing credit grantors. Jill has been with PFC since 2004 and obtained Professional in Human Resources Certification through the HR Certificate Institute in 2009.
Jennifer Dauphinais (BA-04), New Haven, Conn., teaches fifth grade at a tier three turn-around school as part of the national model for school and education reform. She participated in a national roundtable discussion related to teacher retention and national school reform with the U.S. Secretary of Education.
Rebecca (Boehm) Shaffer (DA-04) (right), Decorah, Iowa, is an adjunct professor in music at Luther College. She teaches horn, horn ensemble, brass methods and ear training. Rebecca is a member of the Luther College Faculty Brass Quintet and has performed with the San Diego and Utah symphonies. She authored The Guide to Horn Ensemble Repertoire.
Christina Shepard (BA-04), Rock Springs, Wyo., is a district sales coordinator with Aflac in southwestern Wyoming.
David Hulac (PhD-07) (left), Vermillion, S.D., was honored with the 2012 Belbas-Larson Award for Excellence in Teaching by the University of South Dakota. A member of the faculty since 2007, David is an assistant professor of Psychology and teaches classes in academic behavioral assessment, cognitive assessments and multicultural issues in school psychology. He was the lead author of Behavioral Interventions in the Schools: A Response-to-Intervention Guidebook and his articles have appeared in such publications as Psychology in the Schools, School Psychology Forum and Psychological Assessment.
Chris Martinez (BA-08), Denver, is a project manager with Oppenheimer Funds Inc., where he and his team work on product launches, mergers and terminations and other product-related operations.
Adele (Demi-Smith) Mayne (BME-08, MM-01), Greeley, completed U.S. Navy basic training at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Ill.
2010s
Adam Wilson (BS-10), Longmont, and his partner created Sphero, a robotic ball gaming system that is controlled from a smart phone or tablet. Adam is a new member of the College of Natural and Health Sciences’ Advisory Board.
Laura Newman (BS-11), San Antonio, was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army Medical Specialist Corps in September 2011. She is studying nutrition at Fort Sam Houston in the Military-Baylor University Graduate Program.
Ashley Ruesgen (BA-11), Albuquerque, is working toward a master’s degree in Latin American Studies with concentrations in human rights and anthropology at the University of New Mexico. She works as a graduate assistant for faculty committees.
Dan Whisler (MM-11) (right), Satanta, Kan., is the director of Orchestras at the Center Grove School Corporation in Greenwood, Ind. He was one of a dozen individuals accepted to attend the International Institute for Conductors in Bacau, Romania, where he conducted two concerts and was interviewed by a Bacau TV reporter.
Brooke Barnes (BA-12), Cascade, is serving with The Navigators Collegiate ministry, an interdenominational Christian missions organization. Brooke is part of a group of recent college graduates who minister on campuses with a peer team led by experienced campus missionary staff. The Navigators is present on more than 164 campuses in the United States, including UNC, and 108 countries around the world.
Legend: B.A. – Bachelor of Arts; B.S. – Bachelor of Science; B.M. – Bachelor of Music; B.M.E. – Bachelor of Music Education; M.A. – Master of Arts; M.S. – Master of Science; M.M. – Master of Music; M.P.H. – Master of Public Health; Ph.D. – Doctor of Philosophy; Psy.D. – Doctor of Psychology; Ed.D. – Doctor of Education; D.A. – Doctor of Arts; Ed.S. – Educational Specialist
