1960s
Russell Farrell, '69 BSBA, retired from the wealth management division of UBS Financial Services as a corporate vice president. He now has a fun seasonal job with the guest services division of the San Francisco Giants. He works in the broadcast booth. He and his wife, June, live in Alamo, Calif.
1970s
Stephen Graves, '71 MBA, is semi-retired from the CPA practice he has had in San Francisco for 25 years. The firm's primary focus is on 600 clients from the United States and 40 other countries. He formerly was the part-time acting chief financial officer of Cyberarts Licensing. His hobbies include travel, surfing the Internet, and enjoying family and friends. He and his wife of 33 years, Mary Ann Kwok, travel extensively, last year spending two months visiting nine European nations. For many years he traveled to Hong Kong and China before the January-April tax season. The couple lives in San Francisco.
Mac Alexander Macdonald, '71 BA Psychology, recently published a book, Lighting Your Own Fuse -- A Glossary of Mission, Vision, and Passion. He has spent 36 years as a corporate trainer. His hobbies include skiing the Cascades and playing Santa Claus for various charities. He has acted in Apocalypse Now and American Graffiti. He lives in Seattle.
Bob Andrews, '77 BS Finance, '81 MBA, was appointed to the executive committee of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open golf tournament. He also is the founding member of Crimson Links, a local organization of executives that helps educate people about the mission of Shriners Hospitals for Children and how the hospitals relate to Las Vegas. A lifelong Las Vegan, he is the COO/CFO and managing member of Andrews Consulting. His daughter, Erin Andrews, is the assistant coach for the UNLV women's golf team.
Jerry Griffis, '77 BS Accounting, is a CPA and chief financial officer at Treasure Island. He is married and has two daughters, Sarah and Danielle, who both attend UNLV.
Andrew Nixon, '78 EdD Secondary Instructional & Curricular, recently published a book, 50 Shades of Grades, My Journey Through Wacademia, in which the former UNLV employee discusses his learning style, which he says is different from the mainstream. It includes a great deal of local history.
Marty Gross, '79 BS Hotel Administration, is vice president of LASxpress, an airport ground transportation service.
Ron Hedger, '79 BA Psychology, is assistant dean of clinical skills training and associate professor of family medicine at Touro University Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine. He also chairs the admissions committee. He earned his doctor of osteopathic medicine degree from Western University of Health Sciences in 1984. He lives in Henderson.
James Park, '79 BA Political Science, recently self-published two books, The Chip and The Tattoo. The latter is centered in Las Vegas, Boulder City, and Hawthorne. In 1992, he retired as director of general services from the city of Las Vegas. Golf is one of his hobbies. He lives in The Villages, Fla.
1980s
Dennis Luppens, '81 BS Education, is a special districts administrator for the city of Santa Clarita, Calif. He and his wife, Carrie, have four children, Carolin Luppens, John Luppens, David Magana, and Kelsey Magana. Cycling is his hobby.
Mark Wiegand, '81 BA Music, '86 Master of Music, teaches science at a middle school in Hangzhou, China. He and his wife moved there when he retired after 29 years with the Clark County School District. His hobby is learning Chinese.
Francis Beckwith, '83 BA Philosophy, participated in a Vatican conference in Rome celebrating the papal encyclical, Evangelium Vitae. Invited by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, he delivered a paper, "Always Be Ready: On Making the Case for Life." He had a private audience with Pope Francis and presented him with a signed copy of his book, Defending Life (Cambridge University Press, 2007). Formerly a professor at UNLV, he now is a philosophy professor at Baylor University. He lives in Woodway, Texas.
David Roger, '83 BSBA, is a partner with the law firm Patti, Sgro, Lewis and Roger. A former Clark County district attorney, he serves as general counsel for the Las Vegas Police Protective Association. He is married to Las Vegas Municipal Judge Susan Pate Roger, '96 BS Hotel Administration.
Angelo Tavernaro,'84 BS Hotel Administration, operates a school, Angelo's Wine Academy, which trains students to become certified sommeliers. Prior to opening the school in 2007, he worked at Caesars Palace for 20 years, managed Gatsby at the MGM Grand Hotel, trained sommeliers for Las Vegas hotels, and taught a courses at UNLV. Married with three children, he lives in Pasco, Wash.
Herb Santos, '85 BA Sociology, owns the Reno Bighorns, an NBA development league team. The team recently entered into a single-affiliation partnership with the Sacramento Kings. He also is the owner of the law firm Herb Santos, Jr. He is married to his UNLV college sweetheart, Kimberly Saylors Santos. They live in Reno.
Nancy Collins, '86 BS Hotel Administration, has focused on the foodservice operations of hospitals and nursing homes. She earned a doctoral degree in human nutrition and has published more than 400 articles on various nutrition and food topics. She created and operates an award-winning nutrition website that provides free, downloadable nutrition and foodservice resources for professionals to help them streamline their workdays. She also serves as a guest lecturer at UNLV.
M. Leanne Fearnow, '86 BSBA, works for the Clark County School District. She has a 19-year-old son. Her hobbies include skiing, travel, and horses and other animals.
Todd Griffith, '86 BS Hotel Administration, recently was promoted to vice president of sales and marketing at Alto-Shaam, which creates industrial systems and equipment for foodservice programs. He will maintain a national sales role in addition to developing the company's corporate global marketing and product development strategies. A 15-year employee of the company, he also has assumed leadership of the culinary team and support resource assets. He lives in Westminster, Md.
Christopher Kitt, '86 BS Education, works for the government. He earned a master's degree from the University of Oklahoma. His hobbies include scuba diving, flying, fly-fishing, hunting, and spending time with family.
Michael Newman, '86 MA English, teaches English at Desert Rose Adult High School. He also writes occasionally for Desert Companion, the magazine of Nevada Public Radio. He and Paula, his wife of 40 years, have a son and a daughter. His hobbies include swimming, reading, watching liberal news channels, watching movies and sporting events, and writing.
Connie Patterson, '86 BA Nursing, is a retired registered nurse. Golf is her hobby.
Mark Hutchison, '87 BSBA, is a Nevada state senator and founding member of the law firm of Hutchison & Steffen. He recently announced that he is running for lieutenant governor.
Jan Steele, '87 BS Biology, is general curator of the Palm Beach Zoo in West Palm Beach, Fla. She previously spent eight years as senior curator of the Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens in Australia.
Allison Copening, '89 BA Communication Studies, is founder and CEO of Seasons Funeral Planning Services, the only independent business of its kind in Nevada. She is one of the few certified celebrants in Nevada and is specially trained to deliver a life tribute or personalized ceremony honoring the deceased. Previously, she was a funeral service director and has more than 20 years in marketing, public relations, and event planning management. From 2008-12, she served in the Nevada Senate. She is the founder of Cover Up, Nevada!, a nonprofit that educates about skin cancer prevention. She serves on the board of Helping Hands Surgical Care and previously served on the boards of the Desert Research Institute Foundation, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, and Kids Voting Nevada.
Stefanie Shields Frank, '89 BA English, owns and runs Stefanie Frank Consulting, which helps clients market their businesses and build relationships through publishing quality content. Previously, she spent 14 years as a litigation attorney. A member of the first class to graduate from UNLV's honors program, she was named alumnus of the year for the Honors College in 2002. Triathlons, running, gardening, yoga, and hiking are her hobbies. She and her husband, Glenn, celebrated their 10th anniversary in October. They live in Boulder City with their dog, cat, and bunny.
Julie Mills, '89 BS Math, works as a medical biller.
James Reza, '89 BA Political Science, is vice president of Cultural Development Co., a Nevada-based hospitality and retail development firm that operates downtown's Globe Salon, which twice has earned recognition from Elle magazine as a Top 100 Salon in America. He also is the "Ask A Native" columnist for Vegas Seven weekly. He was founding editor and publisher of Scope magazine, which continues today as Las Vegas Weekly. His hobbies include bicycling; hiking; and road tripping to the beach, Zion National Park, and Flagstaff, Ariz. He enjoys classics: movies, cars, motorcycles, bicycles, and bourbon.
1990s
Scott Fleming, '90 BA Political Science, is a member of the financial and real estate services practice group at the law firm of Armstrong Teasdale. He focuses on business bankruptcies, debtor and creditor rights, and commercial litigation, guiding clients through bankruptcy matters, distressed loans, and loan transactions. Previously, he spent four years as assistant general counsel at UNLV.
Nancy Brown Syzdek, '90 BA Political Science, is director of corporate communications for defense contractor JT3. She serves on the Board of Ethics and Professional Standards for the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and has been selected as chair-elect of PRSA's Employee Communications Section. Earlier this year she was honored with the Platinum Award for industry leadership and service by PRSA's Western District. She also teaches in UNLV's journalism and media studies department.
Mark Bacon, '92 MA Communication Studies, is the author of Mysteries and Murder (Ether Books of London), a collection of short mystery crime stories designed to be read on smart phones. A former journalism adjunct instructor at UNLV, he most recently was a correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle. He lives in Reno.
Christopher Bond, '92 BS Hotel Administration, has been promoted to vice president of sales at New York-New York Hotel and Casino. He oversees convention sales, convention services, and leisure sales. He is married to Serena Arce Bond, '95 BSBA. They live in Henderson.
Kent Emeson, '92 BS Hotel Administration, is a meeting planner. He lives in Austin, Texas.
Mannetta Braunstein, '93 BA Anthropology, is special curator of pre-Columbian art at UNLV's Barrick Museum. She also is an independent research scholar in pre-Columbian art, iconography, Maya hieroglyphic, and Mixtec pictographic writing. She volunteers as an instructor at UNLV, teaching the Pre-Columbian Art and Museum Practices classes. She is president and director of the Braunstein Foundation and is a professional appraiser of pre-Columbian art. She serves as sponsor and organizer of the Braunstein Foundation Symposium for Pre-Columbian Studies. She is married to Dr. Michael Braunstein.
Chris Fleharty, '93 BSBA, is a senior account representative for ACR Mechanical and specializes in maintenance agreements and project sales. From 1998 to 2003 he worked in IT sales in California's Silicon Valley, specializing in network-attached storage. Photography and hiking are his hobbies.
Jennifer Cole Dorsey, '94 BA Communication Studies, became a U.S. District Judge for the District of Nevada in July. President Barack Obama nominated her for the seat in September 2012. A graduate of Pepperdine School of Law, she had been a partner with the Las Vegas law firm of Kemp, Jones & Coulthard. She serves on the UNLV Foundation Advisory Board.
Samuel Joeckel, '94 BA English, is an associate professor of English at Palm Beach Atlantic University as well as the author of The C.S. Lewis Phenomenon: Christianity and the Public Sphere (Mercer University Press, 2013). The book explores Lewis' identity as a public intellectual, showing how the conventions of the public sphere shaped his own writings, as well as books and articles about him. Part literary analysis, part intellectual history, and part meta-criticism, the book offers a new way to understand Lewis' accomplishments and cultural phenomenon.
Matthew Todd, '95 BS Business Administration, is owner/operator of www.thefundamentalgolfcompany.com, which supplies custom-fit golf equipment using a patented online fitting system. He lives in Visalia, Calif.
Craig Tolchin, '95 BS Hotel Administration, has been promoted to manager of training, consulting & integrations at Newmarket International. A 12-year employee, he manages the team of trainers and consultants who implement Delphi sales and catering solutions at hospitality properties worldwide. He works remotely from his home in Highlands Ranch, Colo.
Bernadette Ochoa Porter, '97 BSBA, is a pricing analyst for Tucson (Ariz.) Electric Power Co. Previously, she worked as an underwriter for the Bank of America and as an accountant for copper mining company Asarco.
Gino Avella, '98 BSBA, is a trust supervisor for the Missouri Division of Finance. In 2000 he earned an MBA from Saint Louis University. His hobbies are travel, woodworking, biking, skiing, and fishing. He and his wife, Diane, live in Saint Charles.
Eyal Goldstein, '98 BA English, is president and co-founder of Inovado, a Las Vegas Google premier partner. It provides Cloud-based solutions built on the Google platform to companies of all sizes. For more than 13 years he served in various vice president of sales roles at Fortune 500 enterprise software companies. He lives in Encino, Calif.
Elliot Dubin, '99 BS Hotel Administration, is a hospitality and tourism management lecturer at the University of North Texas. He earned a law degree from Northern Illinois University. He has held many hospitality positions with Bristol Hotels & Resorts, Davidson Hotels, and Sunstone Hotels and managed such hotel brands as Embassy Suites, Holiday Inn, Sheraton, and Renaissance Hotels. He also worked for Jani King of Illinois, managing the Hospitality Services Division for Illinois and northern Indiana. He also worked in the plastic distribution industry in New York and New England, and has had his own general law practice in Illinois. He has travelled extensively both domestically and abroad. He lives in Louisville.
Karen Bartlett Emptage, '99 MA Liberal Studies, is the owner of Dog Duty Pet Sitting. She enjoys concerts, including Lady Gaga, Pink, Madonna, and Rick Springfield, and attending the annual Rib Cook-off in Reno every Labor Day. She is married to Robert Emptage, '00 BA Communications.
Josephine Binetti McPeak, '99 BA Economics and BA Political Science, is a litigation partner at McDonald Carano Wilson. She and her husband, Rob, welcomed a son, Alexander Malloch McPeak, in April. The couple also has a daughter, Elsa Calogera McPeak.
Mike Prince, '99 BS Elementary Education, teaches math, science, poetry, and entrepreneurship at Pahranagat Valley Middle School in Alamo. His hobbies include raising cattle and restoring old cars and trucks. He just published his second novel, Flint Pierce -- The Adventures of a Young Nevada Cowboy. His first novel, Toquop the Warrior Stallion, won the Will Rogers Medallion Award for best juvenile Western in 2007.
Wendy Callahan Roksvold, '99 BA Communication Studies, is a recruiter for SolarCity, America's no. 1 full-service solar provider. The company provides homeowners, business, and government organizations cleaner, more affordable alternatives to their utility bills. Her hobbies include hosting foreign exchange students and placing International Cultural Exchange Services students ages 15-17 with American host families. She is married and has two sons. The family lives in Henderson.
Marty Weinberg, '99 BSBA, is a financial advisor and account vice president for UBS Financial.
2000s
Orie Berezan,'00 MS Hotel Administration, '13 PhD Hotel Administration, joined Duetto Research as the senior manager of customer services. During his doctoral studies, he taught courses in meetings and events, marketing, and management for UNLV and for California State University, Dominguez Hills. His research focus is loyalty marketing. Previously, he worked for Intrawest Resort Development. He lives in Henderson.
Janice Czech Egan, '00 BA Psychology, is a clinical staff pharmacist at Sunrise Hospital. Her hobbies include knitting, crocheting, reading, and hiking.
Jason Cabral, '01 BS Hotel Administration, and three other family members were selected as the Body by Vi Challenge Family Champions, having lost a total of 225 pounds between them. He and a cousin also reversed their diabetes and no longer need insulin, high blood pressure medicine, or high cholesterol medication. Winners are chosen based on their personal story of transformation and by community vote. They were named winners at a gathering of nearly 12,000 people in Orlando, Fla.
Thomas Kelly, '01 BSBA, works for NV Energy. Married to a UNLV nursing student, he lists Rebel athletics as his hobby. The couple lives in North Las Vegas.
Melissa Burns, '02 BA Communication Studies, is a Peace Corps volunteer in Vanuatu. She has spent the past three year there as an IT educator. She plans to return to Las Vegas in December and enroll at UNLV for spring semester to begin pursuing a second bachelor's degree, this time in computer science. Her hobbies include scuba diving, playing soccer, running, and repairing computers. She lives in Ambae.
Wilfred Lacro, '02 BS Health Care Administration, is director of development for the San Francisco School Alliance. Married for 10 years, he has three children, ages 7, 4, and 12 months. Golf is his hobby. The family lives in San Jose.
Greg Miller, '03 BS Hotel Administration, is director of wine for Jordan Vineyard and Winery. After representing wine in restaurants, he returned to school, earning a second bachelor's degree, this time in viticulture and enology at the University of California, Davis. He later worked at Quintessa in California's Napa Valley and at Maison Joseph Drouhin in France. He says he employs his education and experience with both hospitality and wine production on a daily basis. He is married and has a son, Max. His hobbies include running, cooking, and long walks on the beach with his family and their two Rhodesian ridgebacks. The family lives in Sonoma, Calif.
Juan Rodriguez, '03 BS Biology, '03 BA Chemistry, joined the law firm of Howard & Howard and concentrates on patent, trademark, and copyright prosecution and litigation. Previously, he worked as in-house counsel for TRIRIGA, a corporate software developer, and as an associate at a large national firm. He received his JD degree from the University of New Hampshire School of Law and his masters of law degree from Temple University, Japan.
Eric Woodson, '03 BS Hotel Administration, owns Electronic Payments of Las Vegas, a company that provides merchant services to businesses. Golf is his hobby. He has a newborn son, Kai.
Sondra Cosgrove, '04 PhD History, is a tenured history professor at the College of Southern Nevada. She recently was elected president of the League of Women Voters of Las Vegas Valley.
Christina Martinez, '04 BA Communication Studies, is composition coordinator and an instructor in the English department at UNLV. She teaches three sections of English 102 with the theme "What's in Your Food?" Students examine rhetoric in the discourse of food chemicals and other food additives. This year she received the Outstanding Part-Time Instructor Award. Her hobbies include teaching and practicing yoga, traveling, hiking, food, music, and movies. This summer she traveled to India.
Bryan Thornhill, '04 BS Hotel Administration, is in his sixth year of teaching high school math in urban South Los Angeles. He and his wife were expecting their first child, a boy, in October. They live in Long Beach.
Jaime Wright, '04 BS Hotel Administration, is chief operating officer for Old Hickory Creative, a design and marketing firm. She lives in Vancouver, Wash.
Sabrina Castle, '05 BA Interdisciplinary Studies, is working toward becoming a licensed architect. She received her master's degree in architecture from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2010. She lives in St. John, Virgin Islands.
Ryan Fisher, '05 BA Journalism and Media Studies, received a master of public administration degree from California State University, Northridge, in August. He works as welfare administrator in California's Santa Barbara County. He lives in Santa Maria.
Robert Schabron, '05 MS Hotel Administration, recently was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force. A member of the Air Force since 1996, he is the director of manpower personnel and resources for the 14th Component Numbered Air Force. He is responsible for planning, organizing, and executing programs and for preparing for command screening, officer promotion, professional education boards, and senior officer matters. An avid distance runner, he has accumulated more than 10,000 miles in seven years and has competed in a 50-mile ultra and 16 marathons. He and his wife, Christina, have a 10-year-old daughter, Kathryn. The family enjoys traveling the world and embracing adventures, including white-water rafting and zip lining. He is stationed at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
Maurice Silva, '05 MS Counseling, serves on the Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners. Originally appointed by Gov. Kenny Guinn in 2005, he was reappointed by Govs. Jim Gibbons and Brian Sandoval. His term expires in 2017. His hobbies include golf, tennis, and walking.
Jasmine Crighton Garcia, '06 MA Journalism and Media Studies, is an instructor of broadcasting at Western Illinois University. She lives in Macomb.
Jacqueline Jones, '06 BS Hotel Administration, works for Disney English in Beijing, China.
Carla Torres Martinez, '06 MA Criminal Justice, is a major in the U.S. Air Force Reserves. Last year when leaving active duty she accepted a civilian position as a supervisor with Pratt & Whitney working with the latest in aerospace technology. Previously, she worked as a federal air marshal and with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. Her hobbies include small arms marksmanship, working out, and running. She lives in Columbus, Ga., with her husband and two stepchildren, Josalyn, 8, and Joel, 7.
Robyn Mathis, '06 BS Hotel Administration, has joined Nevada Public Radio as an account executive, working with both KNPR and Desert Companion. Previously, she worked with Greenspun Media Group. She serves on the UNLV Alumni Association's Membership Committee.
Ashley Miller Misko, '06 BA Communication Studies, was promoted to director of marketing and public relations at the Mob Museum. Previously, she was marketing manager for the museum.
Yvonne Randall, '06 Ed.D. Special Education, was honored as the 2012-13 Michael T. Harter Employee of the Year at Touro University Nevada. In August, she was appointed to the Board of Directors for the American Occupational Therapy Political Action Committee.
Corinne Devin, '07 DDS, is a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy. A staff orthodontist in Tokyo, she runs practices on two islands. She has been awarded three Navy Achievement Medals, a Navy Unit Commendation Medal, and a Sea Service Ribbon for deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. She is the reigning Ms. Galaxy 2014 and a former Ms. Texas and Ms. United States. Travel, pageants, hiking, and sightseeing are her hobbies.
Omari Head, '07 BS Hotel Administration, is a corporate strategic relationships manager for hospitality and tourism with American Public University. An active member of the Under 30 Gateway Council with the American Hotel & Lodging Association and the Alumni Council for the National Society of Minorities in Hospitality, he lives in Washington, D.C.
Mark Olegario, '07 BS Hotel Administration, is general manager for Sonoma Cellar Steakhouse at Sunset Station Hotel and Casino, which recently received an award from Wine Spectator magazine. Previously, he worked as a sommelier at the Osteria Del Circo; at the Paris Hotel and Casino as wine director for the Eiffel Tower Restaurant; and as head of Hank's Fine Steaks and Martinis at the Green Valley Ranch Resort. For a year he lived in Miami where he ran the Gotham Steak Restaurant at the Fontainebleau Resort.
Pj Perez, '07 BA Journalism and Media Studies, launched a new business, Creation Forge Studios, a digital printing and design agency. On March 23, he married UNLV MBA student Sara Kay Gorgon.
John Saccamano, '07 BSBA, '08 MS Accountancy, has been an IRS agent since 2009. He is a licensed CPA.
Lilia Valdez, '07 BS Business Administration, is pursuing a master of science degree and plans to become a physician's assistant. Her hobbies include traveling, enjoying the outdoors, and riding her Harley Davidson Dyna Wide. She lives in Chino Hills, Calif.
Joseph White, '07 BA Political Science, is co-founder of Crackpot Inc., a company dedicated to shrinking creative connectivity globally. The company has spent the past two years developing a three-dimensional blank canvas for creativity that they call the crackpot cube. It can be accessed and updated from any device. He attended Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego where he focused on development economics. He is a beer pong champion and UNLV sports enthusiast.
Alexander Adams, '08 BS Recreation, is assistant food and beverage room manager at Aliante Hotel and Casino. He is pursing a Master of Public Administration degree at UNLV. Previously he worked at Caesars Palace as housekeeping supervisor and completed an athletic ticketing internship at UNLV. A member of the Masons and the Shriners, he enjoys organizing NASCAR/truck races at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for his fraternal organizations. He donates backpacks for students at Booker Elementary School and organizes holiday basket donations for needy families. He enjoys roller skating, hiking in Red Rock, and weightlifting. He lives in North Las Vegas.
Misty Conway, '08 BA Theatre Arts, is a licensed substitute teacher for the Clark County School District, grades kindergarten through 12. She focuses primarily on middle and high school. She is working toward a bachelor's degree in math.
Christopher Kircher, '08 JD, was named a Rising Star-Mountain States by Super Lawyers and a Top Attorney in Nevada by Nevada Business magazine. He and his wife, Brandie Canella, '05 BS Nursing, welcomed their first child, Sienna Grace, on July 2. Brandie is pursuing a master's degree in nursing at UNLV. The family lives in Henderson.
Jennifer Merrell Kosloske, '08 BSBA, is a senior staff accountant for The Foursquare Church, a nonprofit that supports more than 1,700 Foursquare churches across the United States and the more than 66,000 churches and meeting places in 140 countries. She says she is more than an accountant, she is part of a movement. Previously, she worked at a business management CPA firm that managed the daily finances of Hollywood celebrities. Three months after graduation she married Andrew Kosloske. They serve in the children's department of their local Foursquare Church, The Church on the Way Santa Clarita. Her hobbies include painting and crafting. The couple lives in Valencia, Calif.
Graham Linck, '08 Doctor of Physical Therapy, contributed to the textbook, Rehabilitation for the Postsurgical Orthopedic Patient, third edition, by Lisa Maxey and Jim Magnusson. He co-authored chapters on ankle repair and rehabilitation.
Alex Roy, '08 MS Geology, was promoted to natural resources planner V for the office of conservation and coastal lands in the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources. He is involved in regulating land uses by determining potential impacts to the environment -- from the top of Mauna Kea to the submerged lands of the near-shore area. He is a member of the Kamehameha Canoe Club and paddles in six-man outrigger canoes. He hopes to compete in races next summer. He and his wife enjoy hiking, walking on the beach, and visiting Hawaii's numerous botanical gardens. They live in Honolulu.
Sarah Valentine, '08 BA Communication Studies, is director of special events for Humane Society Management Services, which helps other organizations respond to the rapid changes facing the animal welfare, animal sheltering, and animal law enforcement community. She oversees and produces fundraising events ranging from intimate parties to events attended by thousands of people. She has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for animal welfare charities. She also worked in the nonprofit and government sectors managing events with the Peace Corps and U.S. Forest Service. She lives in Reading, Pa.
Margarita Vidal, '08 BSBA, was promoted to assurance manager with Ernst & Young.
Celine Apo, '09 BSBA, is an analyst II in the state regulatory affairs department of Southwest Gas Corp. She welcomed her first child, Michael Lucas, on April 14.
Sarah Hollender, '09 BA English, was selected as Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Legal Fellow at the New York Legal Assistance Group in New York City. She works as an attorney in the disaster response unit of the group. She lives in Astoria.
Michael Roitman, '09 BA Political Science, is a student at the University of Virginia School of Law. He expects to graduate in 2016.
Rick Shukis, '09 BSBA, '11 MBA, has been a senior financial analyst for Amazon.com for more than two years. He focuses on process improvement. In July he moved to Seattle to accept a promotion. He said he was not looking forward to all the rain.
2010s
Kenneth Eliason, '10 BA Spanish, co-owns NeONBRAND.com and WindowSparkle.com with Joseph Stevenson, 13 BSBA. His hobbies include bicycle motocross, riding mountain bikes, and off-roading. He and his wife, Danielle England Eliason, '07 BA Education, '11 Master of Education, have two children, Kayli, 3, and Beau, 1.
Jonathan Goffman, '10 BS Physical Education, is a physical education teacher in a middle school in the South Bronx, N.Y.
William Hastings, '10 BS Hotel Administration, is an analyst for Service Management Group. He evaluates the customer experience for corporate foodservice clients ranging from Burger King to Del Frisco's Steakhouses. In December he received a master of science degree in foodservice and hospitality management from Kansas State University. He lives in Kansas City, Mo.
Anna Shurova, '10 BA Communications, graduated from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in September. She was on the dean's list for 2012-13 and received a certificate of merit for family abuse law. She plans to take the Nevada bar exam in February.
Cooper Rust, '11 BA Dance, recently returned from her second summer volunteering with children and teaching ballet in African orphanages as part of Anna's Africa. She teaches at Ann Brodie's Carolina Ballet. She lives in Columbia, S.C.
Sam Zanini, '11 BS Gaming Management, has been promoted to campaign and database marketing manager for Mandalay Bay. Previously, he was casino marketing and slot operations analyst for New York New York as part of the management associate program through MGM Resorts International.
Daniel Lacambacal, '12 BS Biological Sciences, was selected as a Duke University Scholar for the 2013-14 academic year representing the School of Nursing. This allows him to participate in interdisciplinary seminars with fellow scholars. He also serves as president of the university's chapter of the American Assembly for Men in Nursing. He is in his third semester of Duke's 16-month accelerated bachelor of science in nursing program. He was planning to participate in his first half-marathon in October. His hobbies include running daily with a group of fellow nursing students, playing the guitar, and reading. He lives in Durham, N.C.
Jessica Lucero, '12 PhD English Literature, is manager of the Utah cluster acceleration partnership project at the Utah System of Higher Education. She and William Paul Miller, '10 PhD Civil and Environmental Engineering, plan to wed Nov. 30. He is working with the UNLV Alumni Association to establish a chapter in Salt Lake City, the couple's new home.
Geoffrey Moran, '12 BS Hotel Administration, is a catering coordinator at the Treasure Island Hotel & Casino. Previously, he interned at Disneyland as a vacation planner.
Alexandra "Allie" Singer, '12 BS Hotel Administration, is a sales manager for two Marriott properties managed by White Lodging Services in downtown San Antonio.
Lia Thormodsgaard, '12 BSBA, is the sponsorships manager for the Aurelian Marketing Group, a startup company that creates and implements brand experiences. Previously, she interned with Aurelian and its Life Is Beautiful Festival. The two-day music, food, art, and learning event took place in downtown Las Vegas in October. She says she uses information on a daily basis that she gathered for a 100-page project she prepared for the Marketing Planning & Analysis class taught by professor Jack Schibrowsky. Her hobbies include soccer, swimming, dance, traveling, working out, wake boarding, and skiing.
Karla Washington, '12 BS Hotel Administration, is the merchandise acquisition coordinator for Opportunity Village.
Wendie Lappin Castillo, '13 PhD Special Education, is the outreach coordinator for the School of Education at Nevada State College. She is married to Michael Castillo, '96 BA Communications.
Steven Jones, '13 MS Mathematical Sciences, started the show "Classical Highlights" on KUNV-HD2 during the summer. It airs Saturdays, 5-6 p.m., and showcases music written or arranged for a small number of instruments and spanning from the Baroque to the late 20th century. He lives in Henderson.
Mary Catherine Martin, '13 MFA Creative Writing, is the new staff writer at the Capital City Weekly in Juneau, Alaska, and also will be writing for the outdoors section at the Juneau Empire, where she previously worked as city and education reporter. While at UNLV she wrote a novel about a girl who runs away from her failed hippie parents in the Brooks Range. The book is set in Alaska, Louisiana, and Las Vegas -- all places she has lived in the past five years. She says she is on her 159th revision and hopes to send the manuscript to publishers soon. She and her boyfriend recently completed a three-month bicycle trip through Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Her hobbies include hiking, fishing, and picking blueberries.
Shannon Selby, '13 BSBA, enjoys photography and cross-stitch.
Joseph Stevenson, 13 BSBA, co-owns NeONBRAND.com and WindowSparkle.com with Kenneth Eliason, '10 BA Spanish. He is married to Kassie Glimes Steveson, '08 BS Education.
Obituaries
Robert Bigler, emeritus professor of political science, died April 21. A specialist on European politics, he retired from UNLV in 1998 after 28 years. He was the author of The Politics of German Protestantism and published numerous articles in the East European Quarterly and other journals.
Rick Brown, emeritus professor of law, died July 5. He was the founding director of UNLV's Wiener-Rogers Law Library. He worked at UNLV from 1998 until 2008. He also had served as the law library director and a faculty member at the Arizona State University College of Law. Survivors include his wife, Lynnda, and children Shawnna, Jesse, and Marcy.
Joseph Cathcart, emeritus director of purchasing, died May 18 following a lengthy battle with Alzheimer's disease. He retired in 1994, after 11 years at UNLV. He then worked as a purchasing consultant for the university until 1998. A native of Nebraska, he was a musician and an explorer with particular interest in ghost towns. He is survived by his wife, Gloria; four children, Terri, Kelly, Jill, and Jason; seven grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
Robert Davenport, emeritus professor of history, died Sept. 4. He joined the faculty in 1964 when the university still was known as Nevada Southern. He retired in 1998. When the College of Arts and Letters was created in 1971, he served as acting dean. In the mid-1970s he chaired the history department. A specialist in the Progressive Era and Western history, he developed the department's offerings in Nevada history at the survey and upper-division levels. Survivors include his wife, Lorraine, and a son.
Amanda Landis, '10 BS Kinesiology, died Sept. 8. A graduate of Durango High School, she was pursuing a nursing degree at the time of her death. An avid fitness and wellness proponent, she competed in gymnastics at the national level and won many awards. She also was a fitness instructor at UNLV. Survivors include her mother, Jenice; twin brother Brent; and brother Justin.
Mary Ann Michel, dean emerita of the College of Health Sciences, died April 30. A former emergency room nurse, she also served as director of UNLV's School of Nursing. She joined UNLV in 1971 and retired in 2006. Her survivors include sisters Rose Marie Kedzuf and Diane Janis; brother John Kedzuf; and several nieces and nephews.
Jan Tillery-Bailey, former professor of English, died Sept. 1 in Birmingham, Ala., following complications from surgery. She taught at UNLV from 1995 until 1997. Survivors include her husband, Guy Bailey, the former dean of UNLV's College of Liberal Arts. Both of them specialized in linguistics.
David VanBuskirk, '99 BA Criminal Justice, died July 23. A member of the Metropolitan Police Department's search and rescue team, he died from injuries sustained during a fall that occurred as he was rescuing a stranded hiker on Mount Charleston. A member of Metro since 1999, he joined search and rescue in 2007 and provided support as a mountain rescue team leader, tactical emergency medical support coordinator, and helicopter crew chief. Survivors include his wife, Adriana; mother, Pat; and sister, Jenny.
Betty Watts Yantis, emerita professor of management, died Oct. 17, 2012. Hired in 1975, she was the founding director of the UNLV Center for Business and Economic Research. She retired in 1998. She is survived by her daughters, Laura Rey and Bonnie Charles Yantis; step-children, Robert Nixon and Patricia Nixon Reid; sister, Ginna Watts Watson; and several grandchildren and step-grandchildren.
Yu "Philip" Xu, professor of nursing, died July 9 following a four-year battle with cancer. A native of China, he was internationally known as an expert in cultural competence among nurses. He was a registered nurse, a certified transcultural nurse, a certified nursing educator, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. He had been a faculty member at UNLV since 2005. Survivors include his wife, Jianhui Zhang, and sons Claude and Leon.
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