Class Notes, Fall 2024

2020s

Vera Barkosky (24BA) received the 2024 undergraduate Hancher-Finkbine Medallion for her service to the University of Iowa, including as the former Undergraduate Student Government vice president.

Kathleen Doyle (20BA), former WNBA player and the 2020 Big Ten Player of the Year, has been appointed the director of recruiting and player personnel for Virginia Tech women’s basketball.

Emily Larson (20MD), a physical medicine and rehabilitation sports medicine fellow at Mayo Clinic Square in Minneapolis, received the 2024 Young Alumni Achievement Award from the Drake University College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences, her undergraduate alma mater.

Eweosa Owenaze (23JD), an associate at the Baker McKenzie law firm in Chicago, has been named to the National Black Lawyers’ 2024 40 under 40 list for Illinois.

Monica Samples (20BSN), a nurse at the UI Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital pediatric intensive care unit, received the 2023-24 Outstanding Young Alumni Award from the UI College of Nursing.

Mitch Winterlin (24BA) received a 2024 Hancher-Finkbine Medallion from the UI for his service to the university, including as the former Undergraduate Student Government president.

Ada Zhang (20MFA), an author of fiction, received the 2024 Whiting Award, which supports promising early-career writers.

Wuzzles Whiz Retires

PHOTO AND PUZZLE COURTESY TOM ECKER

For more than four decades, newspaper readers have started their mornings with Wuzzles, an internationally syndicated word puzzle created by former Hawkeye track and field letter winner Tom Ecker (57BA). The Cedar Rapidian has crafted more than 30,000 Wuzzles with The Gazette since 1982 under the pseudonym Tom Underwood. While Ecker retired from Wuzzles this past spring, he produced this word puzzle specially for Iowa Magazine to celebrate the occasion.

2010s

Jonathan Buese (10BA, 13BA), an aerialist, performed in Cirque de Soleil’s Corteo tour.

Robyn Fennig (12MS) is assistant director of hazard mitigation at the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services in Sacramento, California.

Rita Guzmán (18BBA) has been named a UI Henry B. Tippie College of Business 2024 Tippie Young Alum of the Year for her work as the education coordinator for Northwestern Medicine’s Canning Thoracic Institute in Chicago.

Nick Howald (10BA, 15MBA, 15MHA) is chief executive officer of TriStar Southern Hills Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Kerry Howley (11MFA), a feature writer for New York magazine, was a finalist for the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize for her nonfiction book Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs: A Journey Through the Deep State.

Joe Kippley (12MHA), a Minnehaha County, South Dakota, commissioner and former Sanford Health clinic director of cardiology, has been appointed as the new public health director for Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Marius Kothor (17MA) is an assistant professor of studies of women, gender, and sexuality at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Afabwaje Kurian (18MFA) is author of Before the Mango Ripens: A Novel.

Ben Linden (18BA) received the UI’s 2024 Hancher-Finkbine Medallion for his service to the university as a researcher and as the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine’s former student body president.

Kevin Longo (10BBA), a financial advisor for Merrill Wealth Management in Oak Brook, Illinois, has been named to the 2024 Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Advisors list.

Daniela Moga (12PhD), the Larry H. Spears endowed chair in pharmacogenetics, associate professor of pharmacy practice and science, and assistant dean for research at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy, received a 2024 Outstanding Alumni Award from the UI College of Public Health.

Sean Moore (14BS) is the director of player development for the Hawkeye baseball team.

Riley Post (10BSE, 11MS, 24PhD), a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University, received the UI’s 2024 Hancher-Finkbine Medallion for his research in flood prevention and service with the UI Graduate and Professional Student Government.

C. Vivian Stringer (10LHD) received the WeCOACH 2023-24 Lifetime Achievement Award for her success as a head women’s basketball coach for Cheyney State, Iowa, and Rutgers.

2000s

Karl Alphonso (08MFA) is the production stage manager for the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.

Karen Bjøro (08PhD) received the 2023-24 UI College of Nursing Distinguished Alumni Award for 40 years of international work in nursing and global health.

Chris Bogue (02DDS) is co-owner of Carroll Dental Clinic and Lake View Dental in Carroll, Iowa, and president of the Iowa Dental Association.

Kitty Carey Brandtner (09BA) is the founder and co-president of March Fourth, a grassroots advocacy organization working to reimpose the federal ban on assault weapons.

Charlie Bullen (08BBA, 11MA), a former student and graduate assistant for Hawkeye football, is outside linebackers coach for the New York Giants.

Bryan Buss (05MPH), CDC career epidemiology field officer for the state of Nebraska, received the Undergraduate of Distinction award from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for his contributions to public health.

Mark D. Fisher (07JD), a partner at Howes Law Firm in Cedar Rapids, has been appointed as a district judge in Iowa’s Judicial District 6.

V. V. Ganeshananthan (05MFA), an associate professor of English for the MFA program at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, received the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction for her novel Brotherless Night.

David Gilbert (03PhD), a history professor at Clayton State University in Morrow, Georgia, published the book The End of Catholic Mexico: Causes and Consequences of the Mexican Reforma (1855–1861).

Vijay Golla (07PhD), vice provost for research and health sciences and professor of health and behavioral sciences at Texas A&M University-San Antonio, received a 2024 Outstanding Alumni Award from the UI College of Public Health.

Megan Weiler Green (09JD) is chief financial officer and general counsel at Weiler, a manufacturer based in Knoxville, Iowa.

Kent Lehr (09MBA, 09MHA) is the CEO of Iowa Radiology in the Des Moines metro area.

Amy Lee Lillard (00BA) is author of A Grotesque Animal: A Memoir, published by the UI Press.

Chad Long (05BBA, 08JD) is associate judge of the Ninth Judicial Circuit in Illinois.

Erik Maki (03PHR) is dean of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Drake University in Des Moines.

Brandon Miller (03BBA) has been named a UI Tippie College of Business 2024 Tippie Alum of the Year for his work as a financial services advisory partner at EY Financial Services in Des Moines.

Stephen Ptacek (06BA) is the audio head for Broadway at Chicago’s Broadway Playhouse Theatre.

Kathryn Scanlan (03BA, 03BFA), a Los Angeles-based author, received a 2024 Windham-Campbell Prize for fiction, which supports the creative practice of writers worldwide.

Māra Bowen Wiggins (00MA), a librarian and professor of library sciences at Southern Minnesota State University in Marshall, Minnesota, received the university’s 2024 Cowan Award for service.

1990s

Dean S. Adams (94MA, 95MFA) has been named dean of the School of Art and Architecture at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana.

Shawn McMillan Castellanos (99BA) is executive vice president and chief revenue officer of WETA, a public media station in Arlington, Virginia.

Lan Samantha Chang (93MFA), director of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, received an Arts and Letters Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was a summer 2024 MacDowell Fellow.

Michael Ellis (93BS), the boys head basketball coach at Evanston Township High School in Evanston, Illinois, has been named to the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Timothy Frerichs (90MA, 91MFA), a visual arts and new media professor at State University of New York at Fredonia, has been conferred the rank of SUNY Distinguished Professor.

Kent McCausland (99BA), a former Hawkeye men’s basketball letter winner, has been named to the Iowa High School Athletics Association Hall of Fame.

Karen Milbourne (96MA, 03PhD), formerly a senior curator at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, is director of the Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

Mark Shapiro (92BA), president and chief operating officer of Endeavor, a global sports and entertainment company, and TKO Group Holdings, which comprises UFC and WWE, has been inducted into the 2024 UI School of Journalism and Mass Communication Hall of Fame.

Billie Rolen Townsend (95MA), a longtime leader and volunteer in the UI and Iowa City community, has been named the 14th honoree for Iowa Valley Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build, which aims to build affordable housing for the community.

Tracy Ullman (90BA) published her first book, The Serial Killer’s Apprentice, which will also be adapted into a TV series.

Lance Van Gundy (95MD), an emergency room doctor in Marshalltown, Iowa, is author of the fantasy book series The Rune Fire Cycle.

Casey Wiegmann (96BA), a former NFL player and team MVP and captain for Iowa football, has been inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

Marie Wilkes (90BA, 93MFA, 08MA), producer of the documentary film Standing Strong: Elizabeth Catlett, which explored the life of the Black artist, activist, and UI alumna, was nominated for a 2023 Mid-America Emmy in the cultural documentary category.

Patty Williams (94MA, 97JD) is provost at Grand View University in Des Moines.

Pulitzer Prized Alumni

PHOTO COURTESY JAYNE ANNE PHILLIPS Jayne Anne Phillips becomes the latest Hawkeye to win a Pulitzer Prize, following the release of her novel Night Watch.

University of Iowa alumna Jayne Anne Phillips (78MFA) won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and three other Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduates were named finalists for this year’s Pulitzer literary awards. Phillips received recognition for Night Watch, a novel set in a West Virginia asylum after the Civil War. Yiyun Li (00MS, 05MFA) was a finalist in fiction for her book of short stories Wednesday’s Child, while poetry finalists included 1996 Pulitzer winner Jorie Graham (78MFA) for To 2040 and Robyn Schiff (99MFA) for Information Desk: An Epic. Forty-six Hawkeyes have now earned the Pulitzer Prize, including Tennessee Williams (38BA), Rita Dove (77MFA, 22LHD), and Marilynne Robinson (17LHD).

1980s

Rima Afifi (87BS), a community and behavioral health professor at the UI College of Public Health, received a 2024 Regents Award for Faculty Excellence.

Andrew Code (80BBA, 81MBA), founder, partner, and chairman of Promus, a private equity investment firm based in Chicago; president of the Code Family Foundation; founder and chair of Chicago Fellowship; and chair of the UI Center for Advancement board of directors, received the UI’s 2024 Hancher-Finkbine Medallion for his service to the university.

Luz Maria Frias (88MA, 88JD) received the Minnesota Hispanic Bar Association’s 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award for her mentorship and service as Minnesota’s first Latina deputy attorney general.

David Hamod (81BA) received the UI’s 2024 International Impact Award for his overseas advocacy for U.S. business and citizens as the president and CEO of the National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce.

Angelica Hernandez (89BA, 93JD), a partner with the Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson law firm in Austin, Texas, received an award as outgoing chair of the State Bar of Texas Hispanic Issues Section and has been reappointed chair of the Texas Bar Journal.

Christopher Klein (85BBA), retired executive chairman and CEO of Fortune Brands Home & Security in Deerfield, Illinois, serves on the UI Center for Advancement board of directors.

Lisa Stevens Kragenbrink (88BSN), assistant professor of nursing at the University of Dubuque in Dubuque, Iowa, has been inducted into the school’s Faculty Hall of Fame for Excellence in Teaching and Advising.

Miriam Landsman (82MSW, 00PhD), associate professor and director of the UI School of Social Work, executive director of the National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice, and co-director of the Iowa Consortium for Substance Abuse Research and Evaluation, received the university’s 2024 Hancher-Finkbine Medallion in recognition of her research in child welfare.

Debbie DeWild McClung (86BA, 23MA) is chief communications officer for the City of Des Moines.

Bret Mills (83BGS) is vice president of business and finance at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa.

Andrea Lawrence Nordgren (89BA) is executive producer and director at Heroine Films, a woman-led commercial and independent film studio based in Denver.

Tom C. Petersen (85BA, 11MA, 15MS), a public relations professional, recently published the book Thank God It’s Monday(?): Balancing Work and Faith While Keeping Your Sense of Humor.

Dana Roberson (87BA), an executive producer at the WNET Group in New York, has been inducted into the 2024 UI School of Journalism and Mass Communication Hall of Fame for her distinguished career in TV news.

Karen Manderscheid Simons (84BS) retired this past August after a 40-year career with IBM and Minnesota IT Services in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Kirk Speraw (80BBA), a former Hawkeye men’s basketball player and assistant coach, has been named to the Iowa High School Athletics Association Hall of Fame.

Woodie Thomas (82PhD), author of The Public School Curriculum Revolution, is the producer of a family talk show called American Family Life.

Hawkeye at 100

University of Iowa supporter John E. Tyrrell recently celebrated his 100th birthday with a Hawkeye-themed party.

John E. Tyrrell (47BA, 50MD), a retired family medicine physician at Tyrrell Clinic, recently celebrated his 100th birthday on July 18 in Manchester, Iowa. A generous supporter of the university, Tyrrell is a lifetime board member of the UI Center for Advancement and former member of the Iowa Board of Regents. His Hawkeye pride runs deep; his late wife, Clarine E. Wall Tyrrell (49GN), and five children are all Hawkeyes too.

At his birthday party, Tyrrell’s children played a video with messages from UI President Barbara Wilson and other university leaders. Tyrrell also received a custom vintage 1924 cap with the Tigerhawk and Iowa logos upon joining the centenarian club.

1970s

Robert W. Becker (71MA), recently retired CEO of New Orleans City Park, is author of the book, New Orleans City Park: From Tragedy to Triumph, and has been named the 2024 recipient of the Adrian Freund Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hazard Mitigation and Disaster Recovery Planning Division of the American Planning Association.

Elizabeth Cave Chrischilles (79BSPh, 81MS, 86PhD), the Marvin A. and Rose Lee Pomerantz Chair in Public Health in the epidemiology department at the UI College of Public Health, received a 2024 Regents Award for Faculty Excellence as a leading expert on medication safety and effectiveness.

Peter Hansen (79BA, 82JD), a lawyer with Hansen Law Offices in Burlington, Iowa, has been included in the 2024 Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers Guide.

Susan Neely (78BA), president and CEO of the American Council of Life Insurers, is a board member for the UI Center for Advancement.

Jim Torner (71BS, 74MS, 84PhD), a UI epidemiology professor, has been inducted into the Society for Clinical Trials’ 2024 Class of Fellows.

Richard Tyler (78PhD), a faculty member and director of audiology at Iowa, received the American Academy of Audiology’s 2023 Jerger Career Award for Research in Audiology.

Richard Tyner (70BA), an international corporate lawyer, received the UI’s 2024 International Impact Award for his service to the university and scholarship support for students to receive international experience.

1960s

Nancy Myers Leiserowitz (64MFA), a retired registered nurse, artist, and teacher who was a founding member of Hospice of Lansing in Michigan, recently published her memoir, Life Drawing.

Jerre Stead (65BBA, 11LHD) received the John Theobald Memorial Community Service Award from the Arizona Alzheimer’s Consortium for his work as the chair of the Banner Alzheimer’s Foundation.

Paul Willis (66BA), founding hog farmer of Niman Ranch, received the 2024 Leadership Award for Sustainability from the Specialty Food Association for his work in animal welfare and sustainability.

faculty & friends

Loyce Arthur recently retired after 25 years working as a UI associate professor of design in the theatre arts department.

Dave DiIanni, head coach of Hawkeye women’s soccer, has been inducted into the 2024 Athletics Hall of Fame class at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan.

Sherman Dillard, an assistant coach for Hawkeye men’s basketball, has been named to the 2024 class of the A STEP UP Assistant Coaches Hall of Fame.

Jenni Fitzgerald retired as special assistant to the head coach after 24 years with the Hawkeye women’s basketball program.

Denise Jamieson, UI vice president for medical affairs and dean of the UI Carver College of Medicine, has been named to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and received Duke University School of Medicine’s 2024 Distinguished Alumna Award.

Jared McLendon is assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences and experimental therapeutics at the UI College of Pharmacy.

Ricky Nicely, a custodian for the Iowa Memorial Union, received the university’s 2024 Hancher-Finkbine Medallion for over 30 years of service in the UI Division of Student Life.

Aliasger Salem, Bighley Chair and professor at the UI College of Pharmacy, has been named to The Medicine Maker Power List 2024 for his contributions to the field of biopharmaceuticals.

Jane Singer, a UI associate professor emerita, has been inducted into the 2024 UI School of Journalism and Mass Communication Hall of Fame for her career as an instructor in digital journalism.