1960s
Bruce Werner (’64 MS P.E., ’74 EDD Educ. Admin.) was inducted into the California Community College Sports Hall of Fame. He taught physical education and served as the men’s tennis coach and assistant football coach for 13 years at Chabot College. He then worked at Cosumnes River College as dean of athletics. In 1979 he moved to American River College, where he remained for 22 years. He served as vice president of instruction at Folsom Lake College from 2001 until his retirement in 2004. He also held numerous leadership roles in California community college athletics.
1970s
Thomas Meyer (’73 MS Zoo., ’78 DVM) was named president-elect of the American Veterinary Medical Association. As president-elect, Meyer will also serve on the AVMA Board of Governors.
KCTS 9 announced longtime journalist Enrique Cerna (’74 Comm.) as director of community partnerships. Cerna has 40 years of experience in Seattle area broadcasting.
Bob Guptill (’74 Comm.) will retire after 14 years as the Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s information director. Guptill has been in college athletics for 35 years.
Rodney Norton (’74 Poli. Sci.), with civil defense law firm Hart Wagner, was selected as 2016 “Lawyer of the Year” for legal malpractice law in the Portland, Oregon, area.
Larry Clark (’76 Acc.) was named vice president for finance and administration at Clover Park Technical College. Clark has worked at CPTC since 2012 and has 35 years of relevant experience from a variety of administration roles in higher education.
Dennis Poppe (x’76 Bus. Ad.) serves on the board of directors for the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties. Poppe is also the owner of Builders Insurance Group based in Bellevue.
Randy Morgan (’77 Music) retired after teaching in Enterprise for 38 years. He taught instrumental music, grades 5-12, and high school choir at Enterprise High School since his graduation from WSU in 1977. He also taught math, from seventh grade math through pre-calculus, and coached junior high football and basketball, high school football and softball.
Don Whitehouse (’78 Civil Eng.) retired after 38 years with the Washington State Department of Transportation. Whitehouse worked as the administrator of the south-central region for 14 years. He oversaw highway projects from Snoqualmie Pass to Clarkston.
A professor in the political science department at Western Washington University, Vernon Johnson (’79 MA, ’85 PhD Pol. Sci.), was appointed director of the Ralph Munro Institute for Civic Education at WWU. Johnson has been a professor at the university since 2002.
1980s
Ed Schlect (’83 Civil Eng.) has joined Avista Corporation as vice president and chief strategy officer. He will evaluate growth opportunities and innovative services.
Counsyl, a health technology company that performs DNA screening for diseases, hired Dan Puckett (’86 Acc.) as the company’s chief financial officer. With 25 years of experience, Puckett will be in charge of financial management and strategy.
Porch.com named Bob Barton (’88 Bus.) as chief financial officer. Porch.com is a data-driven home services network for homeowners. Barton’s 20 years of industry experience will aid the company as it continues to grow.
Eric Benevich (’88 Bus.) joined Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. as chief commercial officer. Benevich’s experience in marketing, neurology, psychiatry, and pharmacy will help him in this new position.
Pershing Gold Corporation, a Nevada gold producer, appointed Alan Branham (’88 Geo.) to the company’s board of directors. The company’s goal is to re-open the Relief Canyon Mine. Branham has more than 20 years of experience with mines.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Moldova Asif Chaudhry (’88 PhD Ag. Econ.) returned to WSU as vice president of international programs in June. He held numerous positions in the State Department, including foreign policy advisor to the chief of the U.S. Navy. Chaudhry also received the WSU Alumni Achievement Award in August.
1990s
Andi Day (’91 History) was appointed to the Washington Tourism Alliance board of directors. Day is currently the executive director of the Long Beach Peninsula Visitors Bureau.
Capstone Nutrition appointed Partha kundu (’91 MS Food Sci.), as chief executive officer. Partha has over 25 years of experience in the nutrition industry, including Starbucks and sports nutrition producer Dymatize.
Ellie Mae, a mortgage software company, appointed executive vice president of technology at Visa, Rajat Taneja (’92 MBA), to their board of directors. Including his years at Visa, Taneja has over 20 years of experience in global technology.
Washington State University College of Pharmacy named Merrie Kay Alzola (’93 Pharm.) the 2014 Outstanding Alumna of the Year. Alzola helped establish WSU’s alumni and student mentor program for future pharmacists.
Ryan Hart (’93 Comm.) has been named the new chief of external affairs for the Port of Vancouver USA. He previously worked as district director for U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler.
Joyce Stark (’94 MS Bio.) was named Educational Service District 105 Regional Teacher of the Year for 2015-2016. She is currently teaching science at Sunnyside High School. Joyce began her career at Sunnyside School District in 1977.
Marketing and personalization company Monetate named Michael Wasyluka (’94 Acc.) vice president of sales and marketing. He will be in charge of creating Monetate’s go-to-market strategy, using his more than 20 years of experience in sales and marketing.
Voice of the Idaho Steelheads, Will Hoenike (’97 Comm.) is the recipient of the 2014-2015 ECHL hockey league “Broadcaster of the Year” award. Hoenike has been the hockey team’s broadcaster since January 2011.
Rick Libra (’97 MS Eng. Mgmt.) was named vice president of Exelon Generation’s Limerick Generating Station site. Libra will come into the job with over 30 years of experience in the U.S. nuclear industry. As vice president, Libra will manage all plant operations, as well as lead a team of 800 employees.
Stacy Pritt (’97 DVM) was awarded the Ron Orta Memorial Award from the Laboratory Animal Management Association for best presentation at their annual meeting located in New Orleans in April. Following that she was awarded the Founders’ Award from the Laboratory Animal Welfare Training Exchange. At the American Veterinary Medical Association meeting in July, she announced her candidacy for the AVMA vice presidency. Pritt is currently the president-elect of the Women’s Veterinary Leadership Development Initiative and will take over as president in January 2016.
Jamie (Ho) Hsu (’98 Arch.) is an active member of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties as well as the Remodelers Council. She is also president of Lakeville Homes.
Mark Frazier (’99 Fin.) was appointed head of Atlantic Trust’s Austin office and promoted to managing director. Frazier has more than 15 years of experience in the industry.
Northwest Commercial Advisors added Chad Hamilton (’99 Const. Mgmt.) to their staff. Hamilton will specialize in investment and development services.
Michael Pickering (’99 MS Geol.) was hired by Maul Foster & Alongi, Inc. Pickering is a senior geologist who has project management experience in the Northwest.
2000s
ELS Architecture and Urban Design promoted Ryan Call (’01 Arch.) to associate principal and director of urban design. Call has been with ELS since 2001. He was also recently awarded the Urban Land Institute’s Apgar Award for co-authoring “New Suburbanism: Reinventing Inner-Ring Suburbs.”
Franklin Public Utility District hired Holly Dohrman (’01 Soc. Sci.) as power manager for the utility. Dohrman’s responsibilities will center on managing power resource acquisitions.
After 15 years of working in the eDiscovery services industry, John Munro (’01 MIS) has joined the company’s senior leadership team. Munro will be vice president of managed services operations.
Adam Droker (’04 MBA Fin.) has been promoted to chief investment officer of WaterRock Global Asset Management. Droker will assume day-to-day oversight of the firm.
Guild Mortgage named Jordan Flowers (’06 Mktg.) manager of their Kirkland branch. Flowers heads into this new position with ten years of experience in the mortgage industry.
Eric Stones (’06 EDD) was recently appointed director of the Moses Lake School Board. Stones and his family have lived in the Moses Lake School District since 1996.
Andrew Somers (’07 Socio.) was appointed as the new court administrator for Island County Juvenile and Superior Court in March.
Former WSU men’s basketball standout. Aron Baynes (’09 Kines.) signed with the Detroit Pistons. He previously played two and a half seasons with the San Antonio Spurs. In 2014, with the Spurs, Baynes became the second Cougar to win an NBA Championship.
2010s
Former WSU women’s basketball player Katie Grad (’12 Kines.) recently joined the Cougar Athletic Fund for the Puget Sound region. The CAF is focused on covering the annual costs for student-athlete scholarships.
Randy Bolerjack (’14 Poli. Sci.) will return to Cougar country as he was recently named new director of communications and public relations at Washington State University North Puget Sound at Everett. Most recently Bolerjack worked with the Mercer Island School District as communications and public relations director, where he received state-wide recognition for his work.