1950s
John “Jack” E. Drumheller (’53 Physics) and Valerie Leber Keyes (’56 Bacteriology) were married on November 27, 2010, in Bozeman, Montana. Jack retired as a professor in physics and served as dean of the College of Letters and Sciences and was interim provost and vice president of Academic Affairs for Montana State University. Valerie retired as a clinical technologist from the department of Laboratory Medicine at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
1960s
Dave Craig (’63 Bus.) retired after 47 years teaching at Highline High School. During his tenure, Craig taught everything from typing and economics to information technologies. Five of the current staff at Highline are former students of Craig’s.
Mark A. Suwyn (’67 PhD Chem.) was elected to the Board of Directors for Appleton, a Wisconsin-based company that produces specialty paper and microencapsulated products. Suwyn is also the president of Marsuw, a private investment and consulting company.
Ed Littleton (’68 Pharm.) became COO of Bartell Drugs and was recently honored with the Harold W. Pratt Award, the highest award given by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores for outstanding dedication to pharmacy throughout his four-decade career.
Bill Scott (’68 Speech Comm.) won the 2011 Women Writing the West WILLA award for Original Soft Cover Fiction for his latest historical novel, Light on a Distant Hill. This, his fourth historical novel, examines the white/Native American interface in the late 1800s in Idaho Territory.
Lonnie Wilson (’69 Chem. Eng.) is a business consultant and lean manufacturing expert. He recently published an article in Industry Week titled “Can You Spot the 5 Responsibility Runarounds?” in which he explains how leaders who engage in runaround tactics will cripple a change initiative for a business.
1970s
Rodney A. Aho (’73 Phys. Sci., ’78 MAT) was named account services manager for the Bonneville Power Administration’s Spokane office. Aho has worked for BPA for 31 years.
Dennis Clancy (’75 Bus. Admin.) was named the container regional general manager for the Longview, Yakima, and Twin Falls box plants of Longview Fibre Paper and Packaging. Clancy has more than 30 years of experience in leading and managing sales teams.
Neil Warren (’76 Marketing) retired from Cardinal Health after 25 years in Dublin, Ohio, before moving back to the Pacific Northwest. While working in purchasing, he won industry awards including Innovation for Success, the Robert Walter Foundation award for ethics, as well as the Healthcare Distrubtion Management Association’s Lifetime Achievement award.
Jim Wegner (’76 Food Sci.) has been selected as President and CEO of Darigold and Northwest Dairy Association. Wegner has 35 years of experience in the dairy industry and was previously the director of dairy operations at Safeway.
1980s
Eric Lund (’80 Chem.) of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has earned the Certified Licensing Professional credential from the Licensing Executive Society and is among only a handful of Eastern Washington residents to have done so. The designation distinguishes licensing professionals who have demonstrated their experience and proficiency in licensing and the commercialization of intellectual property.
Peter Anderson (’81 DVM) received the 2011 Michele D. Raible Award for distinguished teaching in undergraduate medical education from the Association of Pathology. Anderson is a professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham as well as UAB’s director of pathology undergraduate education.
Kevin Carson (‘81 Fine Arts) has finished a book about the Nez Perce War. In The Long Journey of the Nez Perce: A Battle History from Cottonwood to Bear Paw, Carson brings his knowledge of the territory crossed by the Nez Perce along with his skill as a cartographer to reconstruct the route of the conflict. Carson is a descendant of an officer who fought at the Battle of the Clearwater.
Kerri Marshall (’81 Zoo., ’85 DVM) was named executive vice president of customer experience for Trupanion, a nation-wide pet insurance provider. Marshall is charged with improving the experience for pet owners and veterinarians for processing claims. She has more than 25 years of veterinary health care experience.
Jim Fredrickson (’82 MS Soil Sci., ’84 PhD Soil Sci.) was one of four WSU faculty members elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences. He is the chief scientist in the Biological Sciences Division of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and an adjunct professor in WSU’s Gene and Linda Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering.
Gary Muehlbauer (’85 Sci.) is a professor and endowed chair in the Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics at the University of Minnesota. At the 2011 awards ceremony, the American Society of Agronomy recognized Muehlbauer as a fellow for his outstanding achievements and meritorious service.
Brian Tanberg (’87 Civil Engr.) has been named a vice president in the Tampa office of Parsons Brinckerhoff, a firm focused on global infrastructure strategic consulting, planning, engineering and program/construction management organization.
Glenys Hill (’88 EdD) retired in June after 12 years as superintendent of the Kelso School District and more than 40 years in public education. She also retired from her position as chair of the WSU Administrator Professional Educator Advisory Board.
Will Ludlam (’89 Polit. Sci.) joined public relations firm Edelman as executive vice president and general manager of the Seattle office. Ludlam has more than 20 years of consumer marketing, technology, crisis, and healthcare experience.
Mark Wright (’89 Comm.) worked as a reporter and anchor in Spokane after graduating. He returned to Seattle in 2003 to work at KCPQ. He is a two-time Emmy winner for his work as a news reporter and documentary producer. In September Wright joined Seattle’s KING 5 Morning News as an anchor.
1990s
Douglas Thiesies (’90 Forest Mgmt.) became the Hood River County forest manager in April 2011. Previously, he served as the stewardship forester for the Oregon Department of Forestry.
Kyle Kolsky (’91 Econ.) has been named as the director of business development for LEAP Auto Loans. He has more than 10 years of experience in both prime and subprime auto finance and direct mortgage banking.
Pål Ottesen (’91 Bus. Admin.) has been named chief financial officer of the Riverstone Residential Group, one of the largest privately-owned, third-party multifamily apartment management companies in the country. Ottesen had been serving as the Dallas-based company’s interim chief financial officer. He has been working in real estate since 1991.
Yong Ho Park (’91 PhD Vet. Med.) is the former dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Seoul National University and was recently appointed to the position of commissioner of the new Animal, Plant, and Fisheries Quarantine and Inspection Agency of South Korea.
Tammy Alejandre (’93 Ed, ’98 MEd.) received the 2012 Northwest Educational Service District regional teacher of the year award. Alejandre, now at Eagleridge Elementary in Ferndale, Washington, has been teaching for eighteen years and received strong recommendations from her colleagues, past parents, and even a previous student.
Miles Barger (’96 Hotel and Rest. Admin.) was recently promoted to senior director of store planning and logistics for J.Crew. He works from the apparel store’s offices in New York.
Christiaan Brown (’98 Comm.) was promoted to general manager of Hill & Knowlton’s Northwest operations and will focus on expanding H&K’s local business across corporate, technology, and public affairs practice groups in the firm’s Seattle and Spokane offices. He will lead the Northwest team in enhancing client service and strengthening business development initiatives.
Jason Jordan (’98 MA Pub. Affairs) was named the new senior environmental programs manager for the Port of Tacoma. He will direct the port’s environmental programs, including permitting, SEPA management, water and air quality, cleanups, construction support, and stewardship. He has been with the port since 2008.
Sasha Deyarmin (’99 Comm.) has joined the Central Valley School District in the Spokane Valley as principal of the kindergarten center.
Chris Jackson (x’99, ’05 Human Dev.) was signed by the Arena Football League’s Arizona Rattlers. Jackson is a former AFL Rookie of the Year and two-time Offensive Player of the Year. In his nine AFL seasons, he has made 991 catches for 13,229 receiving yards and 318 touchdowns. While at WSU, Jackson caught 54 balls for 1,005 yards and 11 touchdowns in his senior season, helping the team reach the Rose Bowl.
2000s
Adam Gelhausen (’00 Bus. Admin.) joined Signia Capital Management as an associate research analyst.
Ella Ingelbret (’01 PhD) has been elected a fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, the professional scientific and credentialing association for 145,000 members and affiliates who are audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists. Inglebret is an associate professor at WSU.
Tonia Gable (’03 DVM) is co-owner of Rathdrum Animal Clinic in Idaho. Prior to buying into the business, she worked at Prairie Animal Hospital from June 2003 to July 2011.
John Lamanna (’04 Kinesiology) was selected as the new head men’s basketball coach at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio.
Jeremy Simler (’05 Comm.) joined Kitsap Bank as the residential mortgage loan officer. He will primarily serve customers seeking mortgage services in the North and Central Kitsap areas.
Amanda Lezcano (’06 Bus. Admin., Marketing) finished the Subaru Ironman Canada in Penticton, B.C., on August 28, 2011.
Jay Tust (’06 Comm.) joined KTVB-TV in Boise, Idaho, as sportscaster.
Staci Vesneske (’07 EdD) was named chief human resources officer of the Clark County School District in Las Vegas. She previously served as the assistant superintendent of human resources for Spokane Public Schools.
Karen Lehman (’08 EdD) has been named director of special education by the Walla Walla School Board. Lehman spent 10 years with the Camas School District as a speech language pathologist and as a special education teacher.
Heidi Hiatt (’09 Crim. J.) graduated summa cum laude (4.0 GPA) from the University of North Dakota with a masters degree in forensic psychology and is a member of the Psi Chi, Alpha Phi Sigma, and Alpha Sigma Lambda honor societies. She is also an associate-at-large of the American Psychology-Law Society.
Paul Sturm (’09 EdD) has been elected by the Washington Association of School Administrators as president-elect for 2011-2012. Sturm has been superintendent of the Pullman School District since 2006.
2010s
Eleanor Finger (’10 PhD Higher Ed. Admin.) has joined Virginia Tech as the director of Housing and Residence Life. Finger held the same position at WSU in addition to serving as the associate dean of students.
Matt Argyropoulos (x’11) belted a home run in his professional debut for the Casper Ghosts, the advanced rookie affiliate in the Pioneer League. Argyropoulos was drafted in the 27th round of the 2011 MLB first-year player draft by the Colorado Rockies.
Jake Bredstrand (’11 Liberal Arts) is the student member of the WSU Board of Regents for the 2011-2012 academic year. Bredstrand is a past president of the Associated Students of WSU and a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. He is currently a graduate student in sports management.