1970s
Marc Spohr (’77 Busi.) has retired after serving 40 years as a volunteer firefighter with Adams County Fire District No. 5 in Othello. He remains secretary/treasurer of the district.
1980s
David Elms (’81 Arch.) is associate architect for ALSC Architects of Spokane. Elms has 40 years of industry experience.
Adé Ariwoola (’84 Busi.) is retiring from his position as Federal Way finance director after 35 years in finance management. Previously, Ariwoola was finance director for the city of Ellensburg, financial services manager for Kitsap County, Chelan County chief accountant, and a financial officer for EPIC, a Yakima nonprofit organization.
Randy Cook (’85 Arch.) received the Vistage Leadership Award for the Seattle region. He is managing principal of the Tacoma-based TCF Architecture. Vistage is a CEO coaching and peer advisory organization, and its annual award honors members who demonstrate leadership excellence and an impact on their business, the Vistage group, and community.
Melissa Harwood-Rom (’89 MA Ag. Econ.) is interim vice chancellor for student affairs at the University of Arkansas. She has served as dean of students in the Division of Student Affairs since 2013 and has worked for the university in various roles since 1989.
1990s
Andi Day (’91 History) is chair of the Washington Tourism Alliance board of directors. Day has been a member of the board since 2012 and was previously executive director of the Pacific County Tourism Bureau. Day also serves on Pacific County’s Lodging Tax Advisory Committee and the Marketing Advisory Board of WSU’s Carson College of Business.
Tracy Ostrem (’93 Busi.) is the chief development officer and president of the Swedish Medical Center Foundation. Previously, she was the associate dean for advancement for the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Washington.
Angela Jones (’94 English) is director of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Washington State Initiative, which provides support for early learning, education, and preventing family homelessness. Jones was previously the CEO of Washington STEM and has worked in education for more than 25 years.
Chris Hossfeld (’96 Poli. Sci.) is an assistant professor at the US Army War College and a colonel in the US Army. He was awarded Excellence in Service and Excellence in Innovation for the 2020-21 academic year.
Jeffrey Abbott (’97 DVM, ’04 PhD Vet. Sci.) is leading WSU’s Diagnostic Challenge, simulated case-based exercises in which students diagnose and treat animals as well as communicate with the animal’s owner. As a student, Abbott participated in the program’s fourth annual challenge in 1994.
Jean-Maria C. Langley (’97 Biol.) is recognized as a “Trusted Name in Otolaryngology” by the Continental Who’s Who, a membership organization that recognizes executives, professionals, and entrepreneurs around the world, for her work in the field and at Utica Park Clinic in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Langley specializes in sinus and sleep apnea surgeries and has 14 years of experience in otolaryngology.
Kristi McPherson (’97 Elem. Ed.) is a loan officer at Banner Bank’s Wenatchee Loan Center. She has 23 years of experience in the real estate services sector and is certified to teach continuing education to realtors. She has volunteered with the North Central Washington Association of Realtors, NAPMW Wenatchee Valley and Building North Central Washington.
2000s
Jennifer (Shafar) Allen (’00 Psych.) earned a doctorate of education in leadership and professional practice from Trevecca Nazarene University. She is the assistant director of special services in the Kennewick School District and a board member for the Northwest Gifted Child Association.
Lee Lambert (’02 Poli Sci.) is executive director of Cascade Bicycle Club and Washington Bikes. Lambert previously was executive director of City Year Seattle/King County.
Kim O’Neill (’02 Ag. Ed.) is the vice president for university advancement and CEO of the WWU Foundation at Western Washington University. O’Neill previously held various roles at the University of Idaho and then Texas Tech University, where she led a team with an annual fundraising goal of $100 million.
Troy Bishop (’03, ’04 MA Arch.) is principal architect at ALSC Architects of Spokane, where he provides design direction for the company’s team of architects.
Gale (Bevington) Stanley (’04, ’06 MA Arch.) is an associate architect at ALSC Architects of Spokane.
Ashlee Barton (’05 Hosp. Busi. Mgmt.) is a 40 Under 40 honoree for Connect Corporate’s 2021 list of young event professionals and industry leaders. Barton is director of sales and marketing at Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa, and Casino in Nevada.
Tamara Vallejos (’08 English) has been named director of marketing at The Juilliard School in New York City.
Elizabeth Wiley (’08 Sport. Mgmt.) is the digital director at KING 5 in Seattle, where she manages the digital content team and leads digital strategy. Wiley was digital director for WFAA in Dallas and KPNX in Phoenix. She first worked at KING 5 as an intern in 2013.
Likun Zhang (’08 MS, ’12 PhD Physics) won the 2021 R. Bruce Lindsay Award for his research in radiation pressure and acoustofluidics from the Acoustical Society of America. Zhang is an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Mississippi and a researcher at the National Center for Physical Acoustics.
Aron Baynes (’09 Ed.) earned his first Olympic medal, a bronze, as part of the Australian basketball team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The bronze was also Australia’s first medal in men’s basketball. Baynes played for the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, Phoenix Suns, Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, and San Antonio Spurs. He also played in the Slovenian basketball and Greek basketball leagues as well as the German Basketball Bundesliga.
Nathan Goodale (’09 PhD Anthro.) is the associate dean of faculty and a professor of anthropology at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. His work specializes in the rise of complex hunter-gatherers in the interior Pacific Northwest, and he led the Slocan Narrows Archaeological Project, a biennial field school that explores Indigenous lifeways in the Upper Columbia River area.
Hal Iverson (’09 Kinesio.) is one of a trio of winemakers at Matthews Winery in Woodinville. Previously, he was an assistant winemaker at Quilceda Creek Winery in Snohomish.
2010s
Valerie Rathbone (’11 Neurosci., ’16 DVM) is the medical director at Saving Grace Pet Adoption Center in Roseburg, Oregon. She previously worked at the Idaho Humane Society and Emancipet, a spay/neuter clinic in Austin, Texas.
Lisa Roman (’12 Psych.) helped Canada win the gold medal in women’s eight-crew rowing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, securing Canada’s first gold in the event since 1992. Roman competed with the WSU varsity rowing team for three seasons, was a two-time All-Pac-12 honoree, and was named to the Pac-12’s All-Century Women’s Rowing Team.
Morgan Ashley Brice (’13 Soc. Sci.) is a morning anchor for Wake Up Montana. She was previously an anchor and executive producer of Wake Up Northwest, Hanford beat reporter at KNDU/KNDO, and producer and reporter for KING TV. She also worked as public information officer for Overlake Medical Center & Clinics in Bellevue, where she led the hospital’s public response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Robert Franklin (’14 MA Hist.) was an onscreen expert for a history film about the Manhattan Project that was nominated for a 2021 Daytime Emmy Award. He is assistant director of the WSU Tri-Cities Hanford History Project and teaching assistant professor of history at WSU. The film, The Manhattan Project Electronic Field Trip, was produced by the National WWII Museum in New Orleans.
Ken Halpin (’15 PhD Higher Ed. Admin.) is deputy athletics director at Purdue University. He serves as chief operating officer for the Boilermakers and sport administrator for men’s basketball. He is also responsible for overseeing revenue producing activities, strategic communications and marketing, sports medicine, and event operations. Previously, he was athletic director for Winthrop University and deputy athletics director for Eastern Washington University.
Kolby Crossley (’16 Comm.) is the spokesperson for the Auburn Police Department. Crossley previously worked as a reporter for Wake Up Montana and Good Morning Colorado.
2020s
Thomas Edinger (’20 Gen. Phys. Sci.) is a certified sous chef by the American Culinary Federation. He is the central production unit executive chef at WSU, where he oversees the bakery, grab-and-go bites, and test kitchen operations.
Emma Claire Spring (’21 Hosp. Busi. Mgmt.) is the 2021 grand-prize winner of “She Has A Deal,” a real-estate investment platform that facilitates hotel ownership and development for women. Spring was awarded $50,000 for her Delta Hotel conversion project in Chantilly, Virginia.