1970s
A generous donation from Phyllis J. Campbell (’73 Busi.) and her husband, Bill Campbell (’69 Civ. Eng.), has allowed the university to establish its second-ever endowed deanship. The Phyllis J. Campbell Endowed Deanship for the Carson College of Business will provide sustainable support for innovation and discretionary funds. Campbell is a retired bank executive, philanthropist, and civic leader with 40 years of executive experience and board participation. She was a WSU Regent from 1991–2003 and was awarded the Regents’ Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2006.
Michael Cunha (’75 Psych.) is chairman and chief executive officer of RushNet, a management consulting company. He cofounded InterMag, a magnetic media manufacturing company, in 1991, and played a role in establishing Mionix Corporation, which develops human and animal feed additives.
1980s
Governor Jay Inslee appointed Bernal Baca (’81 MA Poli. Sci.) to the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. Baca is the executive director of Mi Centro, a Tacoma-based nonprofit. He also serves as vice chair of the Washington State Hispanic Affairs Commission, chair of the Racial Equity Team, and cofounder and board member of the Equity in Education Coalition. Previously, he was president of the Association of Multicultural Counseling and Development.
Jerry Asmussen (’84 Ag. Econ.) was named Citizen of the Year by the Tonasket Chamber of Commerce. Asmussen, an auctioneer who grew up in Tonasket, lives with his wife on their family ranch in the Okanogan Valley.
Barb Chamberlain (’84 English) is WTS Puget Sound’s 2024 Woman of the Year. Chamberlain is the first director of the Washington State Department of Transportation’s Active Transportation Division and led the development of WSDOT’s award-winning Active Transportation Plan, which guides projects throughout the state.
Eric Johnson (’84 Comm.) has retired from Seattle’s KOMO News after nearly 40 years of working in local television. Johnson is known for his segment, Eric’s Little Heroes, later called Eric’s Heroes, through which he has covered more than 700 stories. He joined KOMO as a weekend sportscaster in 1993, eventually becoming lead sports anchor, and transitioned to news anchor in 2010. Previously, he worked at KBCI and KTVB in Boise, KREM in Spokane, and KGW in Portland, Oregon. Johnson has earned 50 Emmy Awards and seven National Murrow Awards.
Guy Palmer (’84 Vet. Sci.) is a fellow in the American Academy of Microbiology’s Class of 2024, an honorific leadership group elected annually based on scientific achievement and contributions to the advancement of microbiology. Palmer holds the Creighton Endowed Chair in Global Health and is a Regents Professor of pathology and infectious diseases at WSU. He was the founding director of the Paul G. Allen School for Global Health and now serves as chair of WSU Global Health–Kenya and president of Global Animal Health–Tanzania. He also directs WSU’s Rabies Free Africa program.
JT Wilcox (’85 History) is leaving the Washington state legislature after 13 years of service when his term as District 2 representative ends in January. He has served as House minority leader since 2018. He is the founder and CEO of Wilcox Strategies, a business planning and asset sales consulting firm. Previously, he was chief financial officer of his family farm, Wilcox Farms.
Asif Chaudhry (’88 PhD Ag. Econ.) is assuming a temporary position as senior advisor to the WSU system provost with a plan to retire in September 2025. Chaudhry has been vice president for international programs at WSU since 2015.
Jeff Olson (’88 Fine Arts, ’92 MFA) was featured on the cover of International Artist Magazine and exhibited his work at the Marmot Art Space in Spokane in June. Olson’s paintings use bold colors and a direct, rapid technique to capture landscapes and reflect the inspirational forces of nature. He taught studio art at the university level for a decade and spent 25 years in the art material industry.
Monty Zickuhr (’88 Comm.) is the editor of the Jacksonville Daily Record in Florida. Zickuhr joined the Record in 2017 as managing editor. Previously, he was a copy editor for the Ledger-Enquirer in Columbus, Georgia, and also covered local government in Pullman.
Ken Turrentine (’89 Comm.) leads McHutchison, Inc. and Vaughan’s Horticulture as president of both companies. He has 20 years of experience in the horticultural industry.
1990s
Erin Zarafshan (’92 Anthro.) has been appointed to the WSU Administrative Professional Advisory Council as an alternate member for a one-year term.
Mary Garcia (’94 MA Human Dev.) received the student-nominated Excellence in Online Teaching Award sponsored by WSU Global Campus. Garcia was awarded $3,000 in faculty development funds. She is an adjunct online instructor based in Colorado with 24 years of experience in online and correspondence courses.
Patrick Brown (’95 Comm.) was named director of broadcast at the Seattle Kraken Hockey Club. Brown has spent the previous 20 years directing various sports broadcasts at Bellevue-based ROOT SPORTS and will direct Kraken game broadcasts in their new partnership with TEGNA and Amazon Prime.
Nathan Kelso (’95 Busi.) is the chief technology officer at Silver Creek Capital Management. Previously, Kelso was the chief information security officer of Research Affiliates and director of the platform and integration team at BlackRock Alternative Advisors.
Nicole Cecil (’96 Int. Des.) has been selected to be the 2025 Chair of the Chapter Leaders Committee for the American Society of Interior Designers. The one-year term begins October 1. Cecil is a project manager for the Idaho Division of Public Works. Previously, she spent 15 years in private practice, predominately as the head of the interior design department for a large interdisciplinary architecture and engineering firm in Boise.
King Chin (’96, ’01 MS Civ. Eng.) is the chief executive officer of GeoEngineers, an engineering and earth science consulting firm in Seattle. Chin joined the firm in 1998, was named principal geotechnical engineer in 2014, and elected to its board of directors in 2016.
April Davis (’98 Psych., Biol. Sci., ’09, ’12 MS Nutr. & Exercise Physio.) received the 2024 Nutrition and Dietetics Educators and Preceptors West Coast Region Outstanding Dietetic Educator Award. She was selected by a peer committee for her teaching, mentoring, and leadership in dietetics education programs. Davis is a clinical associate professor in the WSU College of Medicine’s Nutrition and Exercise Physiology department.
Devin Lewis (’99 Socio.) captains the Redmond Police Department. Lewis had served the Bend (Oregon) Police Department since 2004, most recently as a lieutenant. He started as an explorer for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in 1994, later becoming a deputy with Deschutes County in 1999 before moving to Bend. As captain, Lewis works closely with the police chief to provide general oversight and management of department operations.
2000s
Kevin Van De Wege (’02 Soc. Sci.) is leaving the Washington state legislature after 14 years of service when his term as a state senator ends in January. He is chair of the Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources and Parks Committee and is one of the legislature’s foremost authorities on rural issues.
Heidi E. Cox Banse (’04 Vet. Med.,’07 DVM) will lead the first and only veterinary school in Arkansas. Banse was named dean of the forthcoming College of Veterinary Medicine at Arkansas State University. Previously, she was associate dean for education strategy at Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine. She is a member of the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges Council on Outcomes-based Veterinary Education and Spectrum of Care Initiative. Her clinical research has focused on mechanisms of equine glandular gastric disease and endocrine disorders in horses.
WSU Tri-Cities named Kathryn Brault (’01, ’05 MN Nursing) a 2024 Woman of Distinction. Brault is medical director of Grace Clinic in Kennewick and owner and former diabetes specialist at Tri-Cities Diabetes.
Leslie Booren (’07 Human Dev.) was awarded $100,000 by University of Virginia for her proposal to support the retention and professional development of the university’s restricted research staff. Booren is the associate director of operations and communications for the Youth-Nex Center at UVA’s School of Education and Human Development.
Nicholas Sarpy (’07 Finance) is the chief financial officer for the city of Little Rock, Arkansas. Previously, he was the director of finance for Waco, Texas, and deputy finance director for Kansas City, Missouri.
2010s
Julian Reyes (’10, ’18 PhD Civ. Eng.) is climate adaptation program lead for the Bureau of Land Management. Previously, he was the assistant director for climate services for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and deputy director for services in the US Global Change Research Program.
Paddock Canned Cocktails, a company cofounded by Blake (Loos) Preston (’14 Wine Busi. Mgmt.), won a Double Gold medal at the San Francisco International Spirits Competition, outscoring Absolut, Bacardi, Smirnoff, and other renowned producers. Preston and her husband, Cory, partnered with Nick Lee (‘15 Digi. Tech. & Cult.) and Nick Robertson to form Paddock after the couple started canning cocktails while their Pullman bar, Etsi Bravo, was shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2020s
Christopher Clarke (’20 PhD Econ.) was awarded the 2024 Oaks Academic Technology Award, sponsored by WSU Global Campus, for his innovative use of instructional videos he shares with students via YouTube and TikTok. He has produced more than 50 instructional videos and hundreds of short educational videos that have earned him more than 48,000 followers and millions of views on TikTok. Clarke is an assistant professor in the School of Economic Sciences.