1960s
The American Association of Feline Practitioners awarded Sally Lester (’67 DVM) for her contributions to the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery. She is certified by the American College of Veterinary Pathologists as both a clinical pathologist and an anatomic pathologist.
Nancy Dickau Moore (’68 For. Lang. Ed.) has been inducted into the Fairfield High Athletic Hall of Fame.
1980s
Bryan Slinker (’80 DVM, ’82 PhD Vet. Sci.) was appointed interim provost and executive vice president for Washington State University. He also received a distinguished achievement award from the Washington State Veterinary Medical Association last October.
Gary L. Baker (’81 Busi.) was recently appointed chair of the WSU Everett Advisory Council. He was also recently elected chair of the national finance committee of the United States Power Squadrons and serves on the board of directors of the Henry M. Jackson Foundation. He lives in Lake Stevens and has practiced law for 33 years.
Catherine Reef (’83 English) has been chosen to receive the 2020 Children’s Book Guild Nonfiction Award, recognizing her body of work as an author of outstanding nonfiction for middle grade and young adult readers. The presentation is May 30 in Washington, D.C.
Steve Ellersick (’83 Elec. Eng.) was elected president of the Pioneer Association of the state of Washington.
Obsidian Therapeutics, a biotechnology company pioneering controllable cell and gene therapies, has appointed Melanie Call (’85 MBA) as vice president and head of program development.
Major General Dennis Paul LeMaster (’85 Range Mgmt., ’87 Forest Mgmt.) was promoted to his current rank on May 7, 2019. He commands Regional Health Command-Pacific and is stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
Timothy J. Nichols (’86 Ag., ’93 MA Adult Ed.), dean of South Dakota State University’s Van D. and Barbara B. Fishback Honors College from 2008 to 2016, has been named a National Collegiate Honors Council Fellow.
Thor Culverhouse (’87 Elec. Eng.) is the new CEO at Lighter Capital.
Kris Strickler (‘88 Civ. Eng.) is the new state transportation director in Oregon, overseeing a staff of about 4,700 and a budget of roughly $4 billion. Strickler previously served as head of the Oregon Department of Transportation’s Highway Division.
Gary Swindler (’87 Comm.) is the new CEO of Washington State Employees Credit Union. He started at the credit union two years out of college as a loan officer in 1989. More recently, he served as senior vice president and chief operating officer.
Axsome Therapeutics has appointed David Marek (’87 Bus. Adm.) as chief commercial officer.
Carol Kowalski (’88 Comm.) is the director of planned giving for the YMCA of Pierce and Kitsap Counties.
Michael Horne (’88 Comp. Sci.) has joined Swift Navigation as executive vice president of worldwide sales.
Dave Whitehead (’89 Elec. Eng.) is the new CEO at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories.
1990s
Ernie Iseminger (’91 Soc. Sci., Ed.) has joined Illinois Institute of Technology as vice president for institutional advancement.
Ann Ciasullo (’94 MA English) won the Spokane YWCA’s Women of Achievement award for education. She helped create the critical racial and ethnic studies minor at Gonzaga University, where she’s a professor and chair of the English department.
Maureen Johns-Griffin (’94 Comm.) is the new director of marketing and communications for the Granbury Chamber of Commerce in north Texas.
Jason R. Wandler (’94 Poli. Sci.) is a managing partner at Oles Morrison Rinker & Baker. He also serves on the construction management advisory board for WSU’s School of Design and Construction.
Governor Jay Inslee has appointed Alicia Burton (’96 English) to the Pierce County Superior Court. Burton has worked for more than 20 years as an attorney with the Pierce County prosecuting attorney’s office, most recently as a tort litigation attorney in the office’s civil division as well as the legal advisor to juvenile court.
Matt Drew (’97 Comm.) is leading marketing and sales for Montana Craft Malt, a new craft malting operation. He holds several advanced malting certifications and is a Cicerone Certified Beer Server.
London’s 90TEN has hired May Baccari (’99 Comm.) as director of communications.
Devin Lewis (’99 Soc.) has been named captain of the police department in Redmond, Oregon. He previously served as a lieutenant with the Bend Police Department.
2000s
Matthew Colley (’01 MA English) was recently appointed to the board of directors of Catholic Charities of Oregon. He’s a business and litigation attorney at Black Helterline in Portland, Oregon, where he lives with his wife Jessica and their three children.
KREM 2 News has promoted Whitney Ward (’01 Comm.) to coanchor of its early evening newscasts.
Irrigation and agriculture engineering specialist Jose Rodriguez (’03 PhD Eng. Sci.) has joined Dilution Solutions as business development manager.
GLY Construction, an employee-owned general contracting firm in Bellevue, recently named senior project manager Tess Wakasugi-Don (’06 Const. Mgmt.) as a new shareholder. She is the first female owner in the firm’s 52-year-history as well as a member of the advisory board for the School of Design and Construction at WSU.
Darrin Trask (’09 Bio. Eng.), an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in total hip and knee replacement surgeries, has joined Olympia Orthopaedic Associates.
2010s
Key Technology has promoted Shayla Wentz (’10 Comm.) to marketing communications manager.
Julian Reyes (’10, ’18 PhD Civ. Eng.) was recently awarded a science and technology policy fellowship from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He will work in the State Department’s Office of Global Change, providing technical guidance on climate change and climate science, helping in international negotiations, and working across federal agencies to coordinate climate change research.
Landscape architect James Davis (’13 Land. Arch.) has joined Bernardo|Wills Architects in Spokane.
Allflex has hired Kody Dee (Easterday) Williams (’18 Ag. Tech.) as a regional manager, overseeing sales and marketing in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.