Class Notes Fall 2019
2010s
Carter Bell (16BS), a member of the UI Department of Political Science Alumni Advisory Board, is a program associate at the Rockefeller Family Fund in Washington, D.C.
Tyler Conkling (18BSE) is an engineer at Manhard Consulting, an engineering and surveying firm in Dallas.
Gabriel Conley (16BA), a UI medical student, is the medical student director of the Iowa Medical Society.
Mayra Coronado Garcia (18MPH) is a researcher with a focus on data analysis and management at the OMNI Institute, a social science nonprofit in Denver, Colorado.
Lori Erickson Cranston (10MBA), the UI College of Public Health's associate dean for finance and administration, received the Strategic Business Partner of the Year Award at the UI's Human Resources and Business Conference.
Eric Cybulski (14BBA) is a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps and commander of Kilo Company, a Marine combat training battalion, at Camp Pendleton, California.
Bridget Draxler (11PhD), an adjunct assistant professor of writing at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, is co-author of Engaging the Age of Jane Austen: Public Humanities in Practice, published by University of Iowa Press.
Marygrace Elson (10MME), clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at UI Hospitals & Clinics, is president of the Iowa Medical Society.
Jonathan Groves (10BA) is an associate with Lathrop Gage law firm's energy practice group in Denver, Colorado.
John Hill (18BSE) is a staff engineer at Manhard Consulting, a civil engineering and surveying firm in Vernon Hills, Illinois.
Gerald Malloy (12BA) is assistant vice president of GEICO Midwest regional operations at the insurance company's office in Macon, Georgia.
Jeremy Marks (18BBA), a graduate student at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, was a finalist for the 2018 Global Citizen of the Year award from the internship program IES Abroad for developing hospital programs overseas.
Brian Privett (11R), an ophthalmologist with Iowa Eye Center in Cedar Rapids, is president-elect of the Iowa Medical Society.
Remington Smith (14MFA), an assistant professor at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, directed and produced a short documentary titled The Derby, which was screened at the RiverRun International Film Festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Laura Steinauer (16PHR) is a pediatric antimicrobial stewardship/nutrition support pharmacist at Mayo Medical Center in Rochester, Minnesota.
Janis Stephenson Tener (14BSN), interim nurse manager at UI Hospitals & Clinics, received the 100 Great Iowa Nurses award.
Kaylee Williams (11BA) is president at VolunteerLocal, a Des Moines-based volunteer management software company.
Lucy Williams (11BA) is director of operations at VolunteerLocal, a Des Moines-based volunteer management software company.
Greg D. Woods (15MPH) is a program specialist with the Greater Iowa Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association in Fort Dodge, Iowa.
2000s
Nicholas J. Anderson (05BA) is a tax and employee benefits attorney with Lathrop Gage law firm in Denver, Colorado.
Molly Vonnahme Bauer (06BSN, 09MSN), a nurse at UI Stead Family Children's Hospital, received the 100 Great Iowa Nurses award.
Timothy Dixon (02DMA) is music director and conductor for the American Youth Philharmonic and a professor of music and director of orchestral studies at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.
Brianne Dunn (07BA) is an associate in the education practice group at Franczek, a Chicago-based law firm.
Chad Greenway (05BA), a retired professional football player for the Minnesota Vikings, has launched a new line of spirits called Gray Duck Handcrafted Vodka, which is made in Minnesota and also sold in Iowa.
Josh Guffey (07BA, 07BBA) is writer and director of an independent feature film titled All Gone Wrong, which began principal photography this past summer.
Seth Jackson (09BA), a medical intensive care unit/extracorporeal membrane oxygenation specialist at UI Hospitals & Clinics, received the 100 Great Iowa Nurses award.
Pankaj Jain (08PhD), associate professor of philosophy and religion at the University of North Texas in Denton, was featured in an episode of the documentary series The Story of God with Morgan Freeman on the National Geographic Channel.
Julia Langin (05BSN), a clinical coordinator at UI Hospitals & Clinics, received the 100 Great Iowa Nurses award.
Cheree Rawlins Meeks (03BA, 05MA), director of first year experience at the University of Arizona Honors College in Tucson, was named 2018 Woman of the Year and honored in the Tucson 40 Under 40 by the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Sarah Oliver (00MSW), adjunct instructor at the UI School of Social Work, received the Chairman's Choice Community Impact Award from DeLaCerda House, a social services organization in Rockford, Illinois.
Angela Roux O'Toole (06BSN), a neurosurgical operating room nurse at UI Hospitals & Clinics, received the 100 Great Iowa Nurses award.
Gail Kramer Reynolds (00MSN, 13DNP), a neonatal nurse at UI Stead Family Children's Hospital, received the 100 Great Iowa Nurses award.
Whitney Soenksen (03BA), data innovations manager for the city of New Orleans, is one of nine American innovators named 2019 Zhi-Xing China Eisenhower Fellows who spent a month in China this summer meeting with fellow leaders in their professions.
Erin McCright Springer (02BNS, 06MSN), a nurse for the Neurology Outpatient Clinic at UI Hospitals & Clinics, received the 100 Great Iowa Nurses award.
Scott Truhlar (03R, 04F), a physician at Corridor Radiology in Coralville, is secretary and treasurer of the Iowa Medical Society.
1990s
Michelle Coacher Bostinelos (99BS, 01MA), executive director at the Siouxland Interstate Metropolitan Planning Council in Sioux City, Iowa, recently received the Outstanding Community Partner Award from the UI Office of Outreach and Engagement.
Amy Rohret Bowman (90BSN), a nursing practice leader at UI Hospitals & Clinics, received the 100 Great Iowa Nurses award.
Rhonda Roeder Evans (91BSN, 13MSN), a donor coordinator at UI Hospitals & Clinics, received the 100 Great Iowa Nurses award.
Kirsten Fitzgerald (94MFA), artistic director of A Red Orchid Theater in Chicago, starred in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Sweat earlier this year at Chicago's Goodman Theatre.
Jeremy Glenn (97JD) is managing partner for the Chicago office of Cozen O'Connor, one of the nation's largest law firms.
Melisse Gelula (93BA) is co-founder of Well+Good, a New York-based lifestyle and wellness news publication.
Rachelle Karstens (95JD) is president of Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, Iowa.
Jennifer Clothier Lassner (94MBA), senior assistant vice president for research in the UI Office of the Vice President for Research, received the Hancher-Finkbine Staff Medallion at the university's annual Finkbine Dinner.
Travis W. Life (98BA) is an entertainment and media law partner with the Swanson, Martin, and Bell law firm in Chicago.
Jodi Lundquist Linley (98BA, 02MA), assistant professor at the UI College of Education, received the UI Center for Diversity and Enrichment's Distinguished Educator Award.
Alison Lynch (98MD, 03R), a psychiatrist at UI Hospitals & Clinics, is a board member for the Iowa Medical Society.
Michael McCoy (90R), an obstetrician and gynecologist with Great River Women's Health in West Burlington, Iowa, is a board member for the Iowa Medical Society.
Paula Ingalls McCue (91MA), a pediatric bone marrow transplant nurse coordinator at UI Hospitals & Clinics, received the 100 Great Iowa Nurses award.
Jim T. McLaughlin (97BBA), a wealth management advisor and chartered retirement planning counselor in Chicago, has been recognized by Forbes as best-in-state wealth advisor for 2019.
Patricia Murphy (96MA, 97PhD), professor emerita of English at Missouri Southern State University, is the author of Reconceiving Nature: Ecofeminism in Late Victorian Women's Poetry, published by University of Missouri Press.
Jing Wang (97PhD), a professor of neurobiology at the University of San Diego, returned to the UI this past spring to give a seminar for the biology department.
John Vance (96BBA), a 22-year veteran of Pella Windows and Doors, has become a principal in Pella Products of Kansas City.
1980s
Willard L. "Sandy" Boyd (81LHD), UI president emeritus, received the Hancher-Finkbine Honorary Medallion at the university's annual Finkbine Dinner.
William W. Dorner (88BS, 90MS) is global director of product assurance for Allegion, an international security company, in Indianapolis.
Callista Gould (89BA), founder of the Culture and Manners Institute, is author of a book titled The Exceptional Professional: What You Need to Know to Grow Your Career.
Tim Johnston (85BA) is author of the novel The Current, published earlier this year by Algonquin Books.
Kevin W. Smith (83BA) is the public affairs officer for the Federal Bureau of Investigation at its division headquarters in Minneapolis.
Heidi McNeil Staudenmaier (81BA, 85JD), a senior partner with the Phoenix law firm Snell and Wilmer, recently received the Jean Allard Glass Cutter Award, presented annually by the ABA Business Law Section to a woman who breaks through barriers in the profession.
Joseph Tchon (85BSE) is a technology fellow at Collins Aerospace in Cedar Rapids.
Janice M. Herfkens Thomas (86BBA), a partner at Bradshaw Fowler Proctor & Fairgrave law firm in Des Moines, was inducted as a fellow to the American College of Trial Lawyers, one of the premier legal associations in North America.
1970s
Barbara Swift Brauer (74MA) is author of the poetry collection Rain, Like a Thief from Sixteen Rivers Press.
Lewis D'Vorkin (74BA) is CEO of Newsroom AI, a London-based startup that has created a new digital storytelling platform.
Arlie Daniel (78MA), professor emeritus at East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma, received the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award by Marquis Who's Who, a publisher of biographical profiles.
Carolyn Green (73BM), founder and managing partner at EnerGreen Capital Management in Wayne, Pennsylvania, is co-author of a new book by African American female executives titled The Energy Within Us: An Illumniating Perspective From Five Trailblazers.
William LaRue Jones (70MFA) retired this past spring after 22 years as a music professor, director of orchestral studies, and conductor of orchestras and opera at the UI School of Music.
J.J. Murphy (72MA), professor of film and Hamel Family Distinguished Chair in Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has authored a new book titled Rewriting Indie Cinema.
J. Scott Paul (78BBA), an attorney at McGrath North Mullin & Kratz law firm in Omaha, Nebraska, is president of the Nebraska State Bar Association.
Steve Rasmussen (74BBA), CEO of Nationwide, plans to retire from the Columbus, Ohio-based insurance company in October.
Dianne Welsh (78BA), a distinguished professor of entrepreneurship at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, received a 2019 Award for Excellence in Teaching from the University of North Carolina Board of Governors.
1960s
Kay Andrew Andersen (61BA) is one of only three female softball players inducted into the Las Vegas Senior Softball Association Hall of Fame.
Dale Baker (68BBA), founder of Baker Healthcare Consulting, received the Hancher-Finkbine Alumni Medallion at the UI's annual Finkbine Dinner.
Donald Cole (63MFA), an artist in Vashon, Washington, exhibited his work this past spring at ArtXchange Gallery in Seattle.
Bob Nandell (64BA), a retired photographer with the Des Moines Register, recently published a new book about Iowa's remaining railroad depots titled Meet Me at the Depot.
Mark D. Wilson (69BA, 78MA), a retired teacher in Iowa City, was a finalist in the Midwest Book Awards, presented by the Midwest Independent Publishers Association, for his book The Way of Nile C. Kinnick Jr., published by Ice Cube Press.
1950s
Joan Goldstein (54BA), of Princeton, New Jersey, is host of "Back Story with Joan Goldstein," a program on Princeton TV30.
Julia A. Sherman (57MA, 57PhD) is author of Beating Depression and Bipolar Disorder Without Drugs: A Memoir of Survival in a Male-Dominated Word and is donating a portion of sales to the Drs. Roy and Julia Sherman Scholarship Fund supporting UI psychology graduate students.
1940s
Frederick "Max" Stein (47MS, 55PhD), professor emeritus of math at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, was honored during a CSU basketball game earlier this year in conjunction with his 100th birthday.
faculty & friends
Michael Abramoff, a professor of ophthalmology at the UI's Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, received the 2019 Cultivation Corridor Iowa Biotech Leader Award from the Iowa Biotechnology Association.
Edward Bell, a neonatologist at UI Stead Family Children's Hospital, has been awarded the Maureen Andrew Mentor Award from the Society of Pediatric Research, following his 40 years in pediatric medicine.
Carolyn Colvin, professor in the UI College of Education, received the 2019 Paul Mann Memorial Human Relations Award presented by the Iowa State Education Association.
Heather Eastman, a nursing practice leader at UI Stead Family Children's Hospital, received the 100 Great Iowa Nurses award.
Karen Heimer, a UI professor of sociology, received the Hancher-Finkbine Faculty Medallion at the university's annual Finkbine Dinner.
Lisa Hughes, a medical-surgical nurse at UI Hospitals & Clinics, received the 100 Great Iowa Nurses award.
William Story, assistant professor of community and behavioral health in the UI College of Public Health, received the James N. Murray Award at the university's annual Finkbine Dinner.
Elizabeth Willis, a professor of poetry at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, received the Marion. L. Huit Faculty Award at the university's annual Finkbine Dinner.