Class Notes Fall 2021

2020s

Keith Duncan (20BS, 21MA), a former member of the Hawkeye football team, received the UI's Robert F. Ray Faculty Representative Award in recognition of his work with the Iowa Football Leadership Group and excellence in the classroom and on the field.

Mackensie Graham (21JD) received the UI's Distinguished Student Leader Award in recognition of her work as an editor for the Iowa Law Review, certified law student practitioner, and representative for the UI Law School Foundation.

Anthony Alexander Haughton II (21BA) received the UI's Philip G. Hubbard Human Rights Award in recognition of his work with the Hubbard Scholars Executive Team and as assistant executive director of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity for the Midwestern region and president of the UI fraternity's chapter.

Ruth Kahssai (21BA) received the UI's Distinguished Student Leader Award in recognition of her work as founder of the Inclusion Task Force for the Campus Activities Board and director of justice and equity for Undergraduate Student Government.

Shuwen Li (20BS) is a research technician at Washington University in St. Louis.

Wren Renquist (21BS), a member of the UI women's track and cross-country teams, received the UI's Robert F. Ray Faculty Representative Award in recognition of her work as a supplemental instruction facilitator and peer lead for undergraduate studies through the Academic Resource Center.

Jocelyn Roof (21BA) received a UI Hancher- Finkbine medallion in recognition of her undergraduate work as a policy research fellow, a member of the State Civics Education Task Force, and chair of the governmental relations committee in the Undergraduate Student Government.

Noah Wick (21BS) received a UI Hancher-Finkbine medallion in recognition of his commitment to health equity and reducing health disparities, particularly within the LGBTQ+ and other marginalized populations, as he continues his academic career in medical school.

Sophia Williams-Perez (21MD) received a UI Distinguished Student Leader Award in recognition of her service in the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine as student body president, governmental relations chair, co-president of the Oncology Student Interest Group, and co-president of the Flocks Learning Community.

Austin Wu (20BA, 21MPH) is a regular guest columnist for the Iowa City Press-Citizen who writes about local history and urban design.

2010s

Joe Clarke (10BA) wrote, directed, and stars in the independent film Alta Vista, which won Best Picture at the London Independent Film Awards and was accepted into the Beverly Hills Film Festival.

Kimberly J. Zeutenhorst Cullen (11BA, 21JD) received the UI's Philip G. Hubbard Human Rights Award in recognition of her work as senior editor of the Iowa Law Review and involvement with the Darrow-Baldus Capital Defense College and Federal Criminal Defense Clinic.

Garth Greenwell (15MFA), an Iowa City-based novelist, received the Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Tristen Ives (19BA) was named a finalist in the Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival's Short Film Competition for their film lights, camera, hair!

Sara Krieger (19MHA), director of clinical operations for Iowa City Hospice, recently appeared on Rounding@Iowa podcast to discuss hospice care.

Sammantha Marks (14BA), a project manager at Morningstar and president of ACCESS Chicago, the American Jewish Committee's young professionals' division, was named to the annual "Double Chai in the Chi: 36 Under 36" list of young leaders making major contributions in the Chicago Jewish community and beyond.

Steven Mickelsen (13F, 14F), UI assistant professor of internal medicine, serves as chief translational science officer at Acutus Medical, an arrhythmia management company based in Carlsbad, California, and was founder of the company FARAPULSE, which was recently acquired by Boston Scientific.

Kimberly Hoppe Parr (13PhD) is a toxicologist and occupational and environmental health scientist with GZA GeoEnvironmental, an ecological, geotechnical, environmental, water, and construction management services company in Brookfield, Wisconsin.

Meredith Stabel (19MA) is co-editor with Zachary Turpin of the new books Radicals: Audacious Writings by American Women, 1830–1930, Vols. One and Two, published by University of Iowa Press.

C Pam Zhang (19MFA) received the Rosenthal Family Foundation Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters for her debut novel, How Much of These Hills Is Gold, which was nominated for the Booker Prize and selected as one of President Barack Obama's favorite books of 2020.

Qing Zou (18MS, 21PhD), who last academic year worked as a graduate research assistant at the Iowa Technology Institute, placed first for the Best Paper Award at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging.

2000s

Patrick J. Breheny (06MS, 09PhD), associate professor in the Department of Biostatistics in the UI College of Public Health, received the UI's M.L. Huit Faculty Award in recognition of his work advising master's and PhD students and serving on the faculty committee directing curriculum for the department's PhD program.

Krystal Loewe Bruno (07BA) is an associate director on the global philanthropy team at AbbVie, a Chicago-based biopharmaceutical company.

Amanda Thompson Christensen (09BS) is CEO of Christensen Administrative Services, a Brooklyn, Iowa-based company that provides virtual administrative support and practice management consultation services to medical professionals.

Michael Comstock (07MFA) is counsel with Davis Polk & Wardwell law firm's environmental group in New York, where he advises clients on a range of environmental matters in connection with corporate transactions.

Alicia Dill (07BA) is author of the novel Beyond Sacrifice, a female-led spy thriller published by Circuit Breaker Books.

Erik Insko (08MS, 12PhD), associate professor of mathematics at Florida Gulf Coast University, received a 2021 Faculty Mentor Award from the Council on Undergraduate Research Mathematics and Computer Sciences Division for his work mentoring more than 47 undergraduates and coauthoring 11 publications with undergraduates.

Yiyun Li (00MS, 05MFA), a novelist who teaches at Princeton University, received the Arts and Letters Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Amy Lee Lillard (00BA) is author of the short story collection Dig Me Out, published by Atelier26 Books in October.

Laura Atterberg Sievert (04BA) is executive director of Arts Quincy: America's First Arts Council in Quincy, Illinois, and recently gave a TED Talk at TEDxNormal titled "Stop Settling for Bronze: New Public Art for Equity."

Dan Wesemann (06MHP, 08MSN), UI assistant clinical professor of nursing, received the 2020-21 Daisy Award for his ability to inspire and motivate students as a mentor and teacher.

Chao Xiong (03BA) is a reporter covering Hennepin County courts for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and part of a news team that won a 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting for its coverage of the police killing of George Floyd.

1990s

Michelle Burns (92BA) is executive vice president of global coffee, tea, and cocoa for Starbucks in Seattle.

Gina Arquilla DeBoni (97BA), managing partner of the Romanucci & Blandin law firm in Chicago, has been elected as a trustee on the village board in Glenview, Illinois.

Sonia DeLuca Fernández (93BA, 97MA) is senior vice chancellor for diversity, equity, and inclusion at the University of Colorado-Boulder.

Christopher Gerteis (95MA, 01PhD), associate professor of modern and contemporary Japanese history at the University of Tokyo and SOAS University of London, is author of the new book Mobilizing Japanese Youth: The Cold War and the Making of the Sixties Generation, published by Cornell University Press.

Kristin Murphy Hansen (93BA) is vice president of human resources at Hearst Television in Des Moines.

Cyndi Nance (90JD, 91MA), dean emeritus and Nathan G. Gordon Professor of Law at the University of Arkansas School of Law, received a UI Hancher-Finkbine medallion, which is awarded annually to those exemplifying learning, leadership, and loyalty.

Salvatore Scibona (99MFA), director of the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library, received the American Academy of Arts and Letters' Mildred and Harold Strauss Living Award.

Kathleen Woida (91PhD) is author of Iowa's Remarkable Soils: The Story of Our Most Vital Resource and How We Can Save It, published by University of Iowa Press.

1980s

Jaclyn (83BBA) and Mark (82BSCE) Bogue of Ida Grove, Iowa, and their family are the recipients of the 2021 UI Family Spirit Award, which is presented annually to a multi-generation Hawkeye family that advocates for the university and contributes toward bettering the state of Iowa and its communities.

Steve Fuselier (83MS, 84PhD), executive director of Southwest Research Institute’s Space Science Directorate, has been elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences for his distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

Valerie Garr (87BA, 95MA), diversity coordinator at the UI College of Nursing, received a UI Hancher-Finkbine medallion, which is awarded annually to those exemplifying learning, leadership, and loyalty.

Bradley Gilchrist (86BBA, 90BSPh), building coordinator for the UI College of Pharmacy, received the college’s Staff of the Year award for helping coordinate the opening of the new Pharmacy Building.

Susan L. Roe Kelsey (84BBA) is author of Billy Caldwell (1780-1841): Chicago and the Great Lakes Trail, published by America Through Time, and is making a documentary about the Irish-Mohawk leader.

Dan Pomeroy (81BSPh), owner of Coon Rapids Pharmacy in Coon Rapids, Iowa, retired after a 40-year pharmacy career.

Lisa Thomas (88BS), a Merrill Lynch wealth management advisor in Austin, Texas, was recently named to the 2021 Forbes “America’s Top Women Wealth Advisors” list for the second consecutive year, as well to the 2020 Working Mother/SHOOK Research “Top Wealth Advisor Moms” list.

John Warren (81BS, 86DDS, 91MS), UI professor of preventative and community dentistry, is president of the American Association of Public Health Dentistry.

1970s

Tim Anderson (79BA) of Olathe, Kansas, retired after 42 years in education, including 17 as a teacher and 25 as a school administrator.

Robert W. Becker (71MA) has been designated chief executive officer emeritus after retiring from New Orleans City Park where he served as CEO for 20 years, and he’s writing a book about his career.

Rita Dove (77MFA), a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, is the recipient of the Gold Medal for Poetry, the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ highest honor for excellence in the arts.

Joy Harjo (78MFA), the U.S. Poet Laureate, was elected to be a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Amber Rose (78MSW) is author of the historical novel When I Am Ashes, published by Atmosphere Press, which tells the story of how a painting in a Paris museum galvanized a hunt for a Nazi war criminal.

Karl F. Zender (70PhD), professor emeritus at the University of California-Davis, recently published Shakespeare and Faulkner: Selves and Others with Louisiana State University Press, his fourth scholarly monograph.

1960s

Dan Collins (68BBA, 73PhD), professor of accounting in the UI Henry B. Tippie College of Business, received the university’s Hancher-Finkbine medallion, which is awarded annually to those exemplifying learning, leadership, and loyalty.

Oliver Lee Jackson (63MFA), a painter, printmaker, and sculptor, is the subject of a new exhibition in his hometown at the St. Louis Art Museum.

1950s

Dale Kueter (58BA) is author of a new novel titled Ma Bremer’s Boys, published by BookLocker and also available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

faculty & friends

Jeanine Abrons, clinical associate professor in the UI College of Pharmacy, received the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Global Education Individual Award for her outstanding service to the AACP Global Education Special Interest Group and to global education.

Robert Cargill, UI associate professor of classics and religious studies, was featured on the CNN series Jerusalem: City of Faith and Fury.

Erika Ernst, associate professor in the UI College of Pharmacy, was named the college’s teacher of the year.

Johannes Ledolter, the Robert Thomas Holmes Professor of Business Analytics and professor of statistics and actuarial science in the UI Henry B. Tippie College of Business, and his wife, Lea VanderVelde, the Josephine R. Witte Chair in the UI College of Law, co-authored a new book titled Analyzing Textual Information: From Words to Meanings through Numbers, published by SAGE Publishing.

Adam Lorenzana, who was a third-year UI College of Law student this past spring, received a UI Hancher-Finkbine medallion in recognition of his work as past president of the Iowa Student Bar Association.

Lina-Maria Murillo, UI assistant professor in the Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies Department and History Department, received the James N. Murray Faculty Award in recognition of her advocacy for students.

Chris Odinet, UI professor of law, was recently elected to the American Law Institute, a leading independent organization that produces scholarly work to modernize and improve the law.

Michelle Scherer, UI professor of civil and environmental engineering, has been named a new University Distinguished Chair, which recognizes tenured scholars who are making a significant positive impact within the university, state of Iowa, and beyond.

Elliott Sohn, UI associate professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences, received the 2021 Young Investigator Award by the Macula Society, an organization dedicated to advancing research in retinal and macular diseases.

Susan Vos, associate dean and clinical professor in the UI College of Pharmacy, received an American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Section Award of Excellence in Scholarship in Experiential Education.

Yashwant Prakash Vyas, president and chapter coordinator for the Alpha Tau chapter of Phi Beta Delta Honors Society for International Scholars, accepted the Eileen Evans Outstanding Chapter Award on behalf of the group after reviving the chapter at Iowa.