Class Notes, Winter 2025–26

2020s

Adedayo Agarau (23MFA), a poet, editor, and educator, has released his debut poetry collection titled The Years of Blood.

Gisela Argote (23MA) is a history instructor at El Paso Community College in Texas.

AJ Ediger (25BA), an Iowa women’s basketball alum, is a graduate assistant coach at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Mackensie Graham (21JD), founder and attorney at the Ampersand Legal firm in Coralville, received the emerging leader award from the UI College of Law.

Ivory Kelly-Martin (22BA), a former Hawkeye football player, is the running backs coach for Bemidji State University in Minnesota.

C. Mallon (24MFA) is author of the debut novel Dogs.

Ellie Maranda (24BA) is the Opus self-publishing manager for Politics and Prose Bookstore in Washington, D.C.

Hailey Mercuri (24BS) is an assistant rowing coach for the University of Connecticut in Storrs.

Kathleen Maris Paltrineri (21MFA), a poet and translator, is the English translator of and when the light comes it will be so fantastic by Norwegian poet Kristin Berge.

Scott Sether (22BA), a former Hawkeye football player under Hayden Fry, has been inducted into the Winona Senior High School Hall of Fame in Minnesota for his three-sport career in football, wrestling, and track and field.

Victor Soupene (21MS, 25PhD), a postdoctoral fellow in the UI College of Public Health, received the 2025 National Violent Death Reporting System New Investigator Award, presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Public Health Association.

Robsan Halkeno Tura (21PhD), assistant commissioner of health for the Health Improvement Bureau at the Minnesota Department of Health, received a 2025 Outstanding Alumni Award from the UI College of Public Health.

Katie Wadman (23BA), a deputy press secretary in the U.S. Senate and Miss District of Columbia, competed in the 2025 Miss America pageant.

Emily van Oosbree Webb (21MBA), a commercial counsel for the Wiz cloud security company, received the 2025 Rising Star Volunteer Fundraiser Award from the central Iowa chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Jesse Weiss (20BSN, 22MSN, 24PhD), a nurse manager at Steindler Surgery Center in North Liberty, is a new member of the UI Alumni Leadership Council.

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Empowering Entrepreneur

University of Iowa junior Dasia Taylor recently appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America, demonstrating kid-friendly science experiments from a take-home kit she created called the NERD STEM Box. Taylor developed the hands-on learning tool during her time in the UI John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center’s Startup Incubator program.

In the segment that aired this past August, Taylor spoke about the importance of making STEM—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—education accessible for all students. She told host Michael Strahan, “It’s up to our households and community partners to bridge the gap between schools and the broader world. I’m trying to step in and do my part.”

Taylor grew up in Iowa City, and her claim to fame came in high school when she used beet strips to create color-changing sutures that could detect infections. Since then, she has been featured by The Ellen DeGeneres Show, PBS NewsHour, People Magazine, and many other major news outlets for her inventions and entrepreneurship. In 2023, USA Today named her Iowa’s Woman of the Year.

While still a full-time student majoring in global health studies, Taylor has booked speaking events at TEDx in Davenport and at local schools across the country with one goal: to empower the next generation of scientists.

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2010s

Amie Barrodale (14MFA) has released her debut novel, Trip.

Anna Bruno (15MFA), an adjunct assistant professor at the UI Tippie College of Business, is author of the murder mystery Fine Young People.

Tania Davis (19BA), a former member of the Hawkeye women’s basketball team, is an assistant women’s basketball coach for University of Detroit Mercy.

Ian Dunbar (18BA) is director of place management for the Iowa City Downtown District.

Angela Flournoy (11MFA), a faculty member in the low-residency MFA program at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, North Carolina, is included on the 2025 National Book Award longlist for fiction with The Wilderness.

Santino Morena (17BBA), an associate director at the MorrisAnderson financial and operating consulting firm in Chicago, is the UI Tippie College of Business’ 2025 Young Alum of the Year.

Douglas Pendleton (14BFA), a Detroit-based painter, recently served as the 2025 Dome House Al & Mickey Quinlan Artist in Residence at the Miller Art Museum in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.

Jen Percy (10MFA, 13MFA), a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine, is author of the nonfiction book Girls Play Dead.

Chad Pickering (15BA), a U.S. Army captain, has been appointed by the District of Columbia National Guard as its new bilateral affairs officer to Jamaica.

Jenny Schuelke (11BA), founder of Champagne Travel in Washington, D.C., is a new board member for the Capital Area Iowa Club.

Benjamin Shattuck (13MFA) is screenwriter for the new film The History of Sound, based on his 2024 collection of interconnected short stories.

Gregs G. Thomopulos (10DSC), chair emeritus of the Stanley Consultants global consulting engineering firm headquartered in Muscatine, Iowa, received a 2025 UI International Impact Award.

Tony Tran (14BA), senior editor for technology at Slate Magazine, is a new member of the UI Alumni Leadership Council.

Ted Waitt (17LHD), founder and chairman of the Waitt Institute, received the Vanuatu National Award from the country’s president in recognition of his contributions to ocean conservation.

Matthew Walker (19BBA), a Hawkeye golf letter winner, has been inducted into the Ottumwa Schools Hall of Fame.

Kate Zordani (15BA, 18MA), a former Hawkeye women’s tennis letter winner, is assistant coach for the women’s tennis team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Rebecca Zweig (18MFA), a filmmaker, journalist, and poet based in Mexico City, is a 2025 Sundance Institute Documentary Edit Residency artist-in-residence.

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2000s

James Bryan (03BS) is an attorney with the Whitfield & Eddy Law in Des Moines.

Mike Chasar (05MA, 07PhD), an English professor at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, is author of The Poetry of Bob Dylan: 30 Essays on 30 Songs.

Karmen Harms Dillon (08MBA, 19MHA) is chief information officer at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.

Amber Morrow Doyle (02BA), a former Hawkeye softball letter winner, has been inducted into the Ottumwa Schools 2025 Hall of Fame.

Ettore “Big E” Ewen (08BA), a former professional wrestler and powerlifter, had his story “Sour,” originally published in The Players’ Tribune, selected for The Year’s Best Sports Writing 2025 anthology.

Jason W. Gordon (03BA), a partner with the Reed Smith law firm in Chicago, received the Value Champion Award at the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Legal Ops conference for his work developing an AI-based diligence tool for Brookfield Properties.

Stephen Starring Grant (05MFA) is author of the memoir Mailman: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home.

Allison Guernsey (08JD) is the Hershel G. Langdon Clinical Professor of Tribal Advocacy and director of the Federal Criminal Defense Clinic at the UI College of Law.

Jeremy B. Jones (09MFA), a professor of English studies at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina, is author of the nonfiction book Cipher: Deciphering My Ancestor’s Scandalous Secret Diaries.

Victoria Kelly (09MFA) is co-producer of the PBS documentary Atomic Echoes: Untold Stories from World War II.

Douglas Kollasch (02BA, 11MBA) is senior director of learning development at the Ellit Groups health care information technology consulting firm.

Virginia Croskery Lauridsen (05DMA), received the 2025 Outstanding Individual Philanthropist Award from the central Iowa chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Yiyun Li (00MS, 05MFA) is author of Things in Nature Merely Grow, a memoir selected as a 2025 National Book Award finalist for nonfiction.

Tom McAllister (06MFA), an assistant teaching professor at Rutgers University-Camden in New Jersey, is author of the autobiographical essay collection It All Felt Impossible: 42 Years in 42 Essays.

Kevin Moffett (05MFA) has been named to the 2025 National Book Award fiction longlist for his debut novel, Only Son.

Joe Pan (02MFA) released his debut crime novel, Florida Palms, which has been optioned for a TV series for HBO.

Jason Rausch (07MA) received the Robert M. McCowen Memorial Award for his work as a vocal music educator at Decorah High School in Iowa.

Amy Sanders (03MA, 04JD) is the John and Ann Curley Chair in First Amendment Studies at Penn State University.

Melvin Shaw (04JD), past president of the Iowa State Bar Association, received the Alumni Service Award from UI College of Law.

Laura Sievert-Hesseltine (04BA), executive director at the Arts Quincy: America’s First Council nonprofit in west central Illinois, has been named a 2025-26 Obama Foundation USA Leader.

José Skinner (02MFA) released a new novel set at the Texas-Mexico borderlands titled The Search Committee.

Gretchen Wolf (02JD), general counsel at the Chicago Community Trust, received the UI College of Law’s 2025 Iowa Law Review Distinguished Alumni Award.

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1990s

Richard Adams (95PhD, 16MA) is an eighth-grade English and language arts teacher at Miller Middle School in Marshalltown, Iowa.

Scott K. Anderson (93MFA), a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, is author of King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation.

Rob Berntsen (98JD) is executive vice president and general counsel for American Electric Power, based in Columbus, Ohio.

Ryan Bowen (98BS) is head coach of Denver Nuggets’ G League affiliate Grand Rapids Gold in Michigan.

Karri Goeldner Byrne (92BA), an advisory committee member for the Markets in Crises Community of Practice, received a 2025 UI International Impact Award.

Caroline Carney (92MD, 97R, 98F, 99MS) is CEO of Magellan Health, based in Phoenix.

Michael Fiddelke (99BSE) will become CEO of Target, based in Minneapolis, in February.

Heather Gudenkauf (92BA) is author of the murder mystery The Perfect Hosts.

Scott Irwin (90BSE) is executive vice president and chief technology and consumer operations officer for Security National Bank, based in Omaha, Nebraska.

Marty Nevshemal (92BBA, 00MBA) is chief operating officer at the UI Center for Advancement.

Kristen Denninger Schneider (92BA, 95JD) has been appointed as a district associate judge in Iowa’s Judicial District 6.

David Schwebel (96MA, 00PhD) is the UI vice president for research.

Tara Sutton (92JD), a partner with the Robins Kaplan law firm in Minneapolis, received the UI College of Law’s 2025 Alumni Achievement Award.

Suzanne Yoon (98BA), founder and managing partner with Kinzie Capital private equity firm in Chicago, has been named a member of the women’s advisory board for the Chicago Bears and a Crain’s Chicago Business 2025 Notable M&A Dealmaker.

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Unstoppable Sisters

Both in their early 80s, sisters Ellen Pryzyuski (72BA) and Faith O’Reilly (03LLM) are fit and fabulous.

This past summer, the Iowa grads returned to their hometown of Des Moines for the National Senior Games, an Olympic-style sports competition for senior citizens. O’Reilly made the trip from Saguache, Colorado, to participate in powerlifting. At 82, she was the oldest woman registered for the event and placed first in her age group.

Pryzyuski, 80, traveled from Ottsville, Pennsylvania, to cheer on O’Reilly in powerlifting and compete alongside her in the team triathlon. The night before the race, however, the lake was deemed unfit for swimming and substituted for a 1-mile run. Pryzyuski stepped up for the team, completing both the running portion and the additional mile. O’Reilly did the cycling. In their age group, the sisters took home gold.

When asked what motivated the sisters to compete in the games, Pryzyuski laughed and said, “It was Faith’s big idea.”

Joking aside, the pair make training part of their everyday routine. Living on opposite sides of the country, Pryzyuski goes on daily runs, while O’Reilly uses her own powerlifting equipment at home. “It keeps life fun,” says O’Reilly. “Staying physically fit makes life easier.”

The two encourage others who are able to get active, regardless of age.

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1980s

Mark Bogue (82BSCE), owner and operator of Hi-Way Products and Hawkeye Fabrication in Ida Grove, Iowa, is a new member of the UI Alumni Leadership Council.

Willard “Bill” L. Boyd III (84JD), a shareholder with Nyemaster Goode law firm in Des Moines, earned the Iowa State Bar Association’s highest honor, the Award for Merit.

Timothy Brady (83MFA) is author of A Light in the Northern Sea: Denmark’s Incredible Rescue of Their Jewish Citizens During WWII.

Steve Brody (85MA) has retired as president and CEO of BioConnect Iowa in Des Moines.

Steven R. Fleagle (84BSE) has retired as chief information officer at UI Information Technology Services after serving the university for 40 years.

Lisa Gersema (84BSPh, 86PharmD), system director of clinical pharmacy services at Allina Health in Minneapolis, has been elected treasurer of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

George Hiller (80BBA, 82MBA), president and CEO of Hiller & Associates, has been named the UI Tippie College of Business 2025 Alum of the Year.

Lisa Kieffer-Haverkamp (89MA) has retired as a clinical instructor and program coordinator for the UI College of Education’s Educational Leadership program.

Jeffrey C. Reist (82BSPh) has retired as a professor and director of the Pharmacy Learning Center at the UI College of Pharmacy.

Jim Sawtelle (88BA, 91JD), a partner with Venable law firm in Denver, has been elected vice president of the Iowa Law School Foundation.

James Skogsbergh (82MA), who retired as co-CEO of Advocate Health in 2024, received a 2025 Outstanding Alumni Award from the UI College of Public Health.

Dean L. Whitford (83JD), an Army colonel, received the Outstanding Military Service Career Judge Advocate Award from the American Bar Association.

George T. Yatchisin (86MFA, 88MA) is the City of Santa Barbara, California, poet laureate.

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1970s

Roxie Albrecht ( 79BS, 8 4MD), a tenured emeritus professor and prior chief of acute care surgery and vice chair of quality in the department of surgery at the University of Oklahoma, is a new member of the UI Alumni Leadership Council.

Dave Clement (72BS), a former Hawkeye football player and retired athletic director for Ottumwa High School in Iowa, has been inducted into the Ottumwa Schools Hall of Fame.

Galen Howsare (78MA), a retired educator, received the Paul E. Hellwege Guardian of Integrity Award from Rotary District 6000 in West Des Moines.

Nix Lauridsen (75JD), founder of the Lauridsen Group in Ankeny, Iowa, received the 2025 Outstanding Individual Philanthropist Award from the central Iowa chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Danila Bradley McAsey (74MA), co-owner and therapist emerita of Speech and Language Rehabilitation Services in Peoria, Illinois, has been awarded honors of the association from the Illinois Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

Barb Westercamp (74MA), a retired educator for the Cedar Rapids Community School District, has been selected as a KCRG-TV “9 Who Care” honoree.

Thomas Wolf (75MFA) is author of Baseball in the Roaring Twenties: The Yankees, the Cardinals, and the Captivating 1926 Season.

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1960s

Nolden Gentry (60BA, 63JD), a retired lawyer and community leader who was the first African American member of the Des Moines Public School Board, has been honored as a History Maker by the African American Museum of Iowa in Cedar Rapids.

Jerre (65BBA, 11LHD) and Mary Joy Stead, philanthropists and civic leaders, received the Beyond the Page Award from the American Writers Museum in Chicago for their visionary support of the museum and writers.

J.D. Turner (64BBA), a Perry, Iowa, native and former Hawkeye golf captain, has been inducted into the 2025 class of the PGA of America Hall of Fame.

Joy Williams (65MFA) has been named to the 2025 National Book Award longlist for fiction with The Pelican Child.