1960s
Gordon Davis (’68 Ag, ’69 Ag. Ed.) has been inducted to the Meat Industry Hall of Fame, a recognition that includes meat and poultry industry leaders such as Jimmy Dean, Col. Harland Sanders, and Temple Grandin. He is recognized for his contribution to the industry and field of meat science. Davis was an assistant professor and coach of the meat judging team at Texas Tech University. He and his wife, Joyce, gifted $44 million to the Gordon W. Davis College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at Texas Tech.
Dale Croes (’69 Anthro.) received the Society for American Archaeology Award for Excellence in Archaeological Analysis alongside Suquamish Elder and Master Basketmaker, Ed Carriere. Together, they published the cultural study, Re-awakening Ancient Salish Sea Basketry. They were recognized for their contributions to the study of basketry and textiles in the Pacific Northwest and to generationally linked archaeology.
1980s
Stephen Clifton (’81 Land. Arch.) has retired as assistant city manager of Mountlake Terrace. Previously, Clifton was an executive director in Snohomish County government. He also spent 14 years with the city of Edmonds as community services and economic development director.
Tim Richards (’84 DVM) is a Hawaii state senator for District 4, representing the north shore of Hawaii Island. He is a sixth-generation resident of Hawaii and grew up working on his family’s cattle ranch in North Kohala. Richards became a politician when he was elected to the Hawai’i County Council in 2016. He is a veterinarian for Veterinary Associates, Inc., in Waimea and headed the Cougar Crew Alumni Association for nearly 20 years.
Lauri Cruver Cherian (’86 Bilingual Ed.) published her debut book of poetry, Poems of the Point. The book is a tribute to growing up on the beach in Gig Harbor.
Doug Call (’87 Wildland Rec., ’97 PhD Zool.) will be the next senior vice provost at WSU. Call has been a Regents Professor in the Paul G. Allen School for Global Health since 2012. He joined the WSU faculty in 2000 and became a Fellow with the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2014 in recognition for his contributions to food and water safety.
Roger Heeringa (’88, ’89 MS Civ. Eng.) is the structural engineering representative to the Washington State Building Code Council. He was president and chief operating officer from 2008–2021 for DCI Engineers, where he spent his entire career. The company has grown from one office and 10 employees to 22 offices and 400 employees during his tenure. Since stepping back from managing the firm, Heeringa now focuses on reducing embodied carbon in buildings constructed by DCI.
Allison Reeves-Helfen (’89 Hotel & Rest. Admin.) is chief marketing officer for 26 North Yachts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Previously, she worked for OneWater Yacht Group. She has been in the marine industry for 5 years and has worked in the hospitality industry for more than 20 years.
1990s
David May (’95 MA, ’98 PhD Poli. Sci.) is the next president of Bellevue College. May has worked for Eastern Washington University for 23 years, holding roles such as interim president and professor of political science. He is an expert in Supreme Court politics.
Eric Saindon (’96 Arch.) won his first Academy Award for his work as senior visual effects supervisor for Avatar: The Way of Water. Saindon also worked on the original Avatar. He has worked at Weta FX in New Zealand for more than two decades, having traveled there to work on The Lord of the Rings franchise. He has previously been nominated for an Oscar for his work on The Hobbit trilogy.
Sean Wells (’96 Civ. Eng.) is the director of public works for Pullman. Previously, Wells was the City of Bellevue’s development review manager in the utilities department for 10 years.
Gregory Ulrich (’98 Crim. Jus.) was promoted to the rank of colonel in the United States Air Force Reserve.
2000s
Waithaka Mwangi (’02 PhD Vet. Sci.) is the 2023 recipient of the Marty Vanier and Bob Krause BRI Research Fellows Program. The program, founded in 2015 at Kansas State University, fosters interdisciplinary research and educational opportunities within the Biosecurity Research Institute at K-State. Mwangi is an immunology professor and has been with the Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology for 9 years. He has more than 25 years of experience working on vaccine design and antigen delivery platforms in large animal species.
Chunming Liu (’08 PhD Neurosci.) is an associate professor in the College of Optometry at Pacific University. She is the principal investigator for the childhood atropine for myopia progression study at PUC.
Julianna Simon (’09 Bioeng.) is the 2023 recipient of the Acoustical Society of America’s R. Bruce Lindsay Award. Simon was recognized for her contributions to the study of ultrasound-induced mechanical bioeffects. She is an assistant professor of acoustics and of biomedical engineering in the Penn State College of Engineering and is head of the Biomedical Acoustics Simon Lab.
2010s
Tracy Klein (’11 PhD Nursing) is WSU’s Faculty Senate chair-elect for the 2024-25 session. She will be the first chair from outside the Pullman campus and the first from the College of Nursing. Klein is a nurse practitioner on the Vancouver campus. She currently serves as a faculty senator for the College of Nursing and co-chair of the Faculty Status Committee. Klein is also assistant director of the Center for Cannabis Policy, Research, and Outreach at WSU.
Chio Flores (’14 PhD Higher Ed. Admin.) is president of Pierce College Puyallup. Previously, she served as vice president for student services and enrollment management at Wenatchee Valley College.
Jordan McGregor-Hansen (’16 Ani. Sci.) is head volleyball coach at Wenatchee High School. She has been a member of the school’s coaching staff for three seasons.
Amir Gilmore (’19 PhD Ed.) is reappointed as associate dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the College of Education at WSU. Gilmore is an assistant professor of the Cultural Studies and Social Thought in Education program. He hopes to grow the Alhadeff Future Teachers of Color program across the WSU system during his second term. Gilmore is also the advisor for the Black Student Union at WSU.
2020s
Armani Marsh (’21 Sport Mgmt.) signed a free agent deal with the Tennessee Titans. Marsh was a defensive back for the Cougars. He was twice named All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention.
Jack Costa (’22 Wine & Bev. Busi. Mgmt.) is marketing and communications manager at Reustle-Prayer Rock Vineyards in Roseburg, Oregon. Costa is a wine writer who has been featured in online and print publications like Wine Folly, Michigan Uncorked, and the American Wine Society Wine Journal. His first book, Wine Hiking Oregon, was published in June.