To read more class notes or post your own, visit the online class notes site, My Story.
1960s
The Yakima Chamber of Commerce gave their community service award to radio broadcaster Ron King (’67 Comm.) for his work in Yakima. In addition to more than 58 years of broadcast and sales work, Ron has served with the Jaycees, school boards, Boy Scouts, Chamber of Commerce, and numerous other organizations.
The Burien City Council named former Highline Times editor Eric Mathison (’69 Comm., Pol. Sci.) as citizen of the year, in recognition of his journalism and volunteer activities.
1970s
Bud Withers (’70 Comm.) retired from The Seattle Times.
Tony Baker (’72 Comm.) stepped back from day-to-day oversight as editor and publisher of The Register-Guard in Eugene, Oregon. He will remain on the board of directors.
The University of West Florida Board of Trustees voted to extend the term of President Judith Bense (’72 PhD Anth.). She has been president of UWF since 2008.
Arthur Bogan (’72 Anth.) received the Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society Lifetime Achievement Award.
The Bureau of Land Management appointed Julie Weikel (’72 DVM) to the National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board.
Ted Baseler (’76 Comm.), president and CEO of Ste. Michelle Wine Estates and a WSU Regent, received the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award from the wine industry for his many contributions.
Randy Fink (’76 Music) retired as Spokane’s Shadle Park High School choir director after 32 years.
RBC Wealth Management awarded Tri-Cities branch director Brad Fisher (’79 Bus. Admin.) with its Dick McFarland Volunteer of the Year Award. He focuses on children’s literacy projects.
1980s
Mike Churchill (’82 Elec. Eng.) took on the role of vice president of operations at Aspen Avionics, where he will lead Aspen’s manufacturing, supply chain, and quality departments.
Penn State University awarded Amy Freeman (’82 Const. Mgmt.), assistant dean of engineering diversity, with the 2015 Council of College Multicultural Leadership Way Paver Award.
Katie Knight (’82 Comm.) retired from her position as Mercer Island’s city attorney after 10 years serving the city.
LW Hospitality Advisors appointed Mark Lukens (’82 HBM) as managing director.
Jay Power (’82 Ag.) was appointed senior vice president and chief lending officer for Malvern Bancorp in Pennsylvania.
Michael Kuehner (’83 Soc. Sci.) was hired by Envoy Mortgage as their regional vice president in Northern California and Nevada.
Vesselon, a preclinical stage therapeutics company, announced Jon Serbousek (’83 Mech. Eng.) as chairman of their board of directors.
Michael Baim (’84 PhD Chem.) joined Q Laboratories as pharmaceutical and food chemistry laboratory supervisor.
Simmons Hanley Conroy law firm hired Brent Zadorozny (’84 English) as a senior attorney in their California office.
Nathan Asplund (’85 Ag. Econ.) is the new president and CEO at Red River Valley & Western Railroad, serving North Dakota and Minnesota.
Paul Adams (’86 MS Physics) was named dean of the College of Education and Technology at Fort Hays State University in Kansas.
Orexigen Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on treating obesity, brought on Tom Cannell (’86 DVM) as chief commercial officer.
Pacific Lutheran University appointed Allan Belton (’88 Bus. Admin.) as their new vice president of finance and administration.
After 30 years in the Air Force, Kevin Mastin (’88 Comm.) joins Acomb Ostendorf & Associates in Florida as director of new business development.
Allison Reeves-Helfen (’89 Hotel and Restaurant Admin.) is celebrating the tenth anniversary of her and her husband’s wine shop, The Wine Alley in Renton.
1990s
The U.S. Forest Service named Leanne Marten (’90 Env. Sci.) as forester for the northern region, which spans five states.
Anthony LaRose (’92 MA Crim. J., ’97 PhD Poli. Sci.) published a mystery novel, Cathedral of Salt, inspired by a research trip to study police in Colombia. He will donate all royalties to wounded veterans, with a goal to raise a total of $10,000.
Ben Andrews (’93 Public Admin.) is the new fire chief for Clallam County Fire District 3.
Lockheed Martin named Roy Stevens (’93 MBA) as vice president of global solutions.
Margaret Grogan (’94 PhD Higher Ed. Admin.) will be the new dean of the College of Educational Studies at Chapman University.
Clackamas County Water Environment Services in Oregon appointed Gregory Geist (’94 Physical Sci.,’96 MS Env. Sci.) as their new director.
Susan Tornquist (’96 PhD Vet Med.) was named dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Oregon State University.
Mitch Reister (’97, ’05 MS Civil Eng.) was selected as Spokane County engineer by the Spokane County Commission. His department will have 40 fewer employees than it did in 2009.
The Washington State Department of Transportation appointed Kris Strickler (’98 Civil Eng.) as southwest regional administrator.
Joshua Meek (’99 Educ. and Eng.) was selected as the new assistant superintendent of the Moses Lake School District.
Jeff Yrazabal (’99 Arch.) received the AIA 2014 Young Architects Award. He is a principal at SRG Partnership in Portland,
Oregon.
2000s
After 14 years as Park Middle School’s assistant principal, Shaun Espe (’01 MED) was named principal of the Kennewick school. He will begin his post next fall.
Michael Bylsma (’02 English Lit.) was appointed special education program coordinator for the Mercer Island School District. He has worked in the district before as a seventh and eighth grade teacher at Islander Middle School.
Through his love of Japanese agriculture, Justin Potts (’04 Psych.) found work at Umari Inc., which operates a Tokyo-based restaurant that offers Japanese food cooked with select produce from farmers all over Japan. Potts will lead a project called “Peace Kitchen” touting Japanese homestyle food in Italy.
Indiana State University professor Tina Kruger (’05 Psych.) is the inaugural recipient of the Rising Star Junior Faculty Honor from the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education. Kruger developed and now directs a gerontology program at Indiana State.
The Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) appointed Keva Herron Guszkowski (’05 Ag. Econ., ’08 Acc.) as their first policy director. In her new role, Guszkowski will keep staff and members of WAWG updated on state policies that impact the Washington wheat industry.
Ryan Patten (’06 PhD Crim. Jus.) was awarded a full professorship at California State University, Chico in the criminal justice program. He began teaching there in 2007 and researches policing and drug courts.
Animal identification and traceability systems company Allflex USA named Sarah Ryan (’06 Ani. Sci.) as their new northwest associate regional manager. Ryan will be in charge of supporting sales and marketing in the Pacific Northwest.
Bryan McKinney (’08 Educ.) will join the Minidoka County School District next year as East Minico Middle School’s new principal. He grew up in Idaho and is excited to return.
Jessica Riggs (’08 Soc. Sci.) joined Mark-Taylor Residential in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 2008 and has quickly moved up in the company. She has recently been promoted to director of sales and training.
Former WSU basketball standout Taylor Rochestie (’09 Comm.) received the Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy in Euroleague professional basketball. Rochestie helped take Russia’s Nizhny Novogorod team to the Top 16 by scoring an average 18.9 points over 21 games this season. He scored in double figures every time he played this
season.
2010s
Christopher Morehead (’10 Hist.) joined law firm Fisher & Phillips in Portland, Oregon, as an associate attorney. His practice focuses on employment discrimination and related litigation.
After 27 years of experience in law enforcement, James Spurgeon (’10 Social Sci.) was appointed chief of the Flandreau, South Dakota, police department
Former WSU Crimson Girl Kaila (Evenoff) Wallace (’10 App. Des. Merch.) returned to Pullman to serve as the Crimson Girls head coach. Since graduation she has been a part of multiple dance teams including the Spokane Shock, Denver Nuggets, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Bernardo|Wills Architects in Spokane hired Chloe Buerstatte (’12 Int. Des.) as an interior designer. She is a member of the International Interior Design Association and was previously employed by Contract Design Associates of Spokane.
Laine Hamacher (’12 Comm.) was hired as an assistant digital media strategist at Pinckney Hugo Group, a marketing communications firm in New York.
Minor League baseball team Everett Aquasox welcomed Justen Oslund (’14) to their front office team as an account
executive.