Class Notes

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• 1950-1959
• 1960-1969
• 1970-1979
• 1980-1989
• 1990-1999
• 2000-2009
• 2010-2019

  1950-1959

Chung-Li Ling’56 and his wife take a spin on their tandem trike in early 2020 after Chung-Li recovered from a complete knee replacement in December 2019. The couple moved to California in 2007 after living in Brazil, Taiwan, Colombia, and Panama before returning to the United States, first to Massachusetts, then to their current home in Laguna Woods, Calif. While living in Massachusetts, they rode a tandem bike for 10 years in the Pan-Mass Challenge, a two-day bike-a-thon that raises funds for cancer research.

• In 2020, D. Stanley “Stan” Moore’51, Chicago, Ill., published Forty-Odd Verses, a collection of his poetry.
• Chung-Li Ling’56, Laguna Woods, Calif., came to the United States in 1953 to enroll at Beloit, then transferred to Columbia University’s engineering school. His work as an engineer kept him on the east coast and overseas, mostly in South America. He capped his career working as a project manager for the Massachusetts Port Authority, retiring in 1997. Since 2009, he and his wife have served in the lay counseling ministry in California. The couple raised four sons and have nine grandchildren. Chung-Li says the social separation caused by the pandemic allowed him to concentrate on writing his own story, which he expects to complete this year.
• Douglas Baily’59, Homer, Alaska, writes that he is always looking for Beloit alumni fishing partners!

  1960-1969

• F. Michael Colacuori’64, Angola, Ind., has written a book titled Restarting Genesis: A Covenant View of Creation, with the purpose of bringing the Bible into focus for today’s reader.
• Joan Sharman Truckenbrod’67, a digital artist and School of the Art Institute of Chicago professor emerita, has relocated to Corvallis, Ore., where she has a studio and gallery. She is creating artwork now with a hand digital jacquard loom. Her artwork is in the Whitney Museum of American Art’s digital collection and was included in the Whitney’s exhibition “Programming: Rules, Codes and Choreographies in Art, 1965 to 2018.” The Victoria and Albert Museum in London also has Joan’s artwork in its digital art collection, as does the textile department of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her artwork will be exhibited in a one-person show at the Schneider Museum of Art in Ashland, Ore., this July, August, and September.

  1970-1979

Michael Rosen’74 married Vivian Manasse of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in July 2019. Rosen is managing director of the Innovation and Research Park at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science. He splits his time between Skokie, Ill., and São Paulo, Brazil.

• John Gerecht’70, Olympia, Wash., says, “Thanks to Greg Fernette’72, I learned to love photography, which has been my passion since 1970.”
• Faye Thompson McAneny’70, Silver Spring, Md., is a retired clinical social worker working in the Catholic ministry.
• Eloise Hellyer’71, Montone, Italy, published a book on the art of teaching musical instruments titled 1 Teaches 2 Learn: Private Music Teaching and You, promoted by Shar Music.
• Anne Pace’74, Plainfield, Vt., is happily retired and living on a farm. She is loving life despite Covid and says, “We are here right now — better enjoy it!”
• Jeffrey Spike’75 successfully completed a nine-year project of helping to write and institute a quality enhancement program for university accreditation at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. The program focused on ethics for each of the six schools, including interprofessional ethics education. Jeffrey is now retired, has returned to his hometown of Washington, D.C., and works part-time at George Washington University and Children’s National Hospital.
• After nearly 35 years of working in international disaster and humanitarian response and recovery for a variety of governmental and non-governmental organizations, at various levels of strategic and executive management, Adam Koons’77, Silver Spring, Md., has slightly switched gears. He has the same topical focus, now aimed domestically. Three years ago, he joined FEMA. He spent almost one year temporarily deployed in Puerto Rico, and seven months in Missouri, and finally returned to be based at headquarters in Washington, D.C. He is now in the office of disability integration and coordination, supervising a team of disability advisors sent into every disaster. Coincidentally, as a result of a profile in Beloit College Magazine, Koons connected with Patrick Cornbill’88, who has worked for FEMA for many years.
• Ken Oguss’77, Indianapolis, Ind., works for Storytelling-CREATIVE!, doing everything from writing to filmmaking to storytelling to performing as a voice artist.
• Since 2019, Peter Strugatz’77, Amagansett, N.Y., has served as board chair of Victory Hemp Foods.
• Thomas C. Mackey’78 published a new book, Opposing Lincoln: Clement L. Vallandigham, Presidential Power, and the Legal Battle over Dissent in Wartime, published by University Press of Kansas. Thomas, Louisville, Ky., is a professor of history and adjunct professor of law at the University of Louisville.
• After retiring from the U.S. Geological Survey five years ago, Kathy Smith’78, Golden, Colo., has been volunteering, learning about community organizing, and advocating for affordable housing.
• Pam Miller Withers’78, Vancouver, Canada, published her 20th and 21st young-adult novels in 2020 and was a third-time nominee for a Red Maple Award from the Ontario Library Association.
• Ann Bausum’79, Janesville, Wis., explores the failed Operation Valkyrie plot to assassinate Hitler through the personal stories of four eyewitnesses in her new book, Ensnared in the Wolf’s Lair: Inside the 1944 Plot to Kill Hitler and the Ghost Children of His Revenge. Lauren Woolf’21 served as a research intern on Bausum’s project for a semester.

  1980-1989

SAE fraternity brothers P.G. Kraemer III’88, left, and Michael Newman’88 met in Tallahassee, Fla., in October, as Michael and his family were driving back to Virginia after visiting the Gulf of Mexico.

• Michelle Bossard Bos-Lun’87 was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives last fall and took office in January. When the legislative book was distributed with biographies on other members, she discovered that Elizabeth Cornell Burrows’91 had also just taken her seat as a Vermont state representative. “We are both progressive Democrats motivated to make change in our communities and our world,” writes Michelle. “We did not know each other prior to winning elective office.”
• Denise Young Jackson’87, Great Falls, Mont., graduated with a Master of Arts in Communication and Leadership Studies from Gonzaga University in 2014. She is an adjunct faculty member teaching at College of Great Falls-Montana State University.

  1990-1999

• Connie Savor Price’91, Denver, Colo., is the chief medical officer at Denver Health medical center and a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
• In The Low Road, Tom Zurhellen’91 tells the story of his successful 2019 trek across the United States to raise awareness of veteran suicide. The book, published by Epigraph Books in April, features a chapter on Tom’s stop at Beloit College during the 3,000-mile walk. Proceeds from the book’s sale go to the VetZero project, which helps local vets in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where Tom lives and teaches.
• Kyle Rasku’93, Hollis, N.H., continued to work with both cardiac and Covid-positive patients at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, N.H., as a registered nurse until this past summer. In August, she returned to school to pursue a master’s degree in health data science at the University of New Hampshire-Durham.
• Beloit biologists Dr. Sudha Pavaluri Quamme’94, Madison, Wis., and Addi Faerber’02, along with other colleagues, have launched the Academy for Surgical Coaching, a nonprofit organization that helps surgeons improve their operative skills by partnering with trained surgical coaches. Sudha and Addi came together by coincidence when they were independently studying ways to improve the practice of surgery. Both credit their multi-disciplinary education at Beloit for equipping them to solve complex problems with new approaches.
• Bjorn Munson’96 participated in a virtual career panel in October that offered Beloit students insight into the ways their skills and habits of mind can contribute to multiple career paths. Bjorn was a double major in anthropology and theater, whose path has led to a career in technology project management.
• Sarah Parker Wolf’96, Park Ridge, Ill., has published a mindfulness-based book for classroom teachers, Daily Intentions for the Classroom Teacher.
• “Derek” Seng Yeoh’97, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, married Qianyi Fong on Dec. 1, 2020. Derek works as the Malaysian country manager for Sealy.
• Rob Lloyd’98, San Jose, Calif., was recognized as the Nonprofit/Public Sector 2020 Chief Information Officer of the Year in the ORBIE Awards. Rob is the city of San Jose’s chief information officer. The ORBIE Awards are presented annually by the Bay Area CIO Leadership Association, the preeminent professional association for Silicon Valley’s technology leaders.
• Jennifer Ducharme Vogl’98, Madison, Wis., was one of three alumni featured in a virtual event hosted by Beloit’s Career Channels program in October. The discussion spotlighted alumni whose undergraduate study in the liberal arts at Beloit led them down unexpected career paths. A philosophy and psychology major, Jennifer is a governance and compliance program manager focusing on data protection for CDW, an IT products and services company.

  2000-2009

Luke Brechtelsbauer’01 and Elizabeth Granzow were married on July 7, 2020, in New Orleans. Fellow Beloiters who attended the happy event include Greg Mount’00 and Helen Gillet’00. Helen, a noted cellist, played music for the ceremony.

Emily Polak-Perez’03 had a small reunion of Beloit alumni for her wedding on Aug. 10, 2019, in Saugatuck, Mich. Pictured from left are Kelly Peterson’03, the bride, Abbie Chandler’03, Coli Luzietti Morton’03, Chris Wentlandt’03, Dan Miller-Sanchez’04, and Jenny Latek Smith’03.

In May 2020, Rachel Berzon’08 graduated from the George Washington University, in Washington D.C., with a double master's degree in public health and health care sciences and a physician assistant certificate. She is on staff in the intensive care unit at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Fairfax, Va.

• Lisa Ampleman’00, Cincinnati, Ohio, published a book of poems with LSU Press. Romances joins her previous publication, Full Cry. Lisa is the managing editor of the Cincinnati Review and poetry series editor for Acre Books.
• Brent Johnson’00, Ringle, Wis., principal of Thomas Jefferson Elementary School in the Wausau (Wis.) School District, is delighted to share that his school was designated an Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing National Blue Ribbon School for 2020 by then-U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.
• Stacy Kern-Scheerer’00, Williamsburg, Va., is the inaugural director of the Immigration Clinic at William & Mary Law School. She and a team of law students under her supervision provide pro bono representation to asylum seekers and noncitizen survivors of trafficking and violence, petitioning for relief before the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice.
• Rachel Scheer Setzke’00, Louisville, Colo., finished a graduate certificate in environmental management and policy from the University of Colorado-Denver and now does research and policy for Eco-Cycle, a zero waste and recycling nonprofit in Boulder, Colo.
• Genia Stevens’00, Beloit, Wis., made Madison365 news outlet’s 2020 list of Wisconsin’s Most Influential Black Leaders. Stevens founded Rock County Jumpstart, an incubator and accelerator program for Black business owners in the Beloit/Janesville area, and was an integral part of the push for the city of Beloit to declare Nov. 23-28, 2020, the inaugural Black Business Week. In 2021, Stevens was chosen to serve on the Rock County Board of Supervisors.
• Jennifer Kolnik Marks’01, Westborough, Mass., graduated from Brandeis University in May 2020 with a master’s degree in Ancient Greek and Roman studies. She was awarded a Ph.D. fellowship in classics (classical archaeology) with cross-departmental studies in the history of art and Near Eastern studies at Johns Hopkins University, starting this fall. Jennifer will pursue her doctoral research in Minoan archaeology and the material culture of Crete in antiquity. Her interests include craft specialization during the Early Minoan period, notably metallurgy as it applies to the fabrication of jewelry and its use in mortuary practices, and loom weaving and the application of ethnoarchaeology to this specific crafting technique.
• Christina Gorczynski’02, Austin, Texas, welcomed a son, Mateo Gorczynski-Merfish, with wife Brett Merfish on Jan. 1, 2021.
• Cayla Skillin-Brauchle’06, Salem, Ore., has been promoted to associate professor of studio art with tenure at Willamette University.
• Caroline Delbert’07, Chicago, Ill., wrote a cover story for the January-February issue of Popular Mechanics. Her article was titled “Elon Musk Says Settlers Will Likely Die on Mars. He’s Right. But is That Such a Bad Thing?”
• In July, Paul Jacobson-Miller’07, Buffalo, N.Y., started working as an assessment adoption consultant at Anthology Inc., a higher education software company.
• Lee Rankinen’07 is a co-founder of the Optimal Living Daily personal development podcast, which reached 100 million downloads in September 2020.
• Erinn Brooks’08 is assistant professor of sociology at St. Norbert College, in De Pere, Wis. In 2020, Palgrave Macmillan published her book Education Reform in the 21st Century: The Marketization of Teaching and Learning at a No-Excuses Charter School. Erinn’s research examines the intersections of race, class, and gender inequality, emphasizing social justice in schools, workplaces, and nonprofits.
• Seth Knocke’09, Palatine, Ill., has joined PharmaCann, Inc. as deputy director of compliance. Headquartered in Chicago, PharmaCann is one of the nation’s largest vertically integrated cannabis companies.

  2010-2019

On Feb. 29, 2020, Will Marcus’16 and Vanessa Peña’16 took a leap into marriage at the Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, Wis. surrounded by their loving family.

Brett Balbirona’18 and Jessica Kernohan’20 were married in Seattle, Wash., in February 2020.

• Alyssa Boge’10 joined the Grace Hudson Museum as curator of education and exhibits. The museum features Grace Hudson’s artwork, John Hudson’s ethnographic collection, their historic home, Pomo basketry, and native plant and Pomo teaching garden.
• Alice Mitchell’13, Marquette Heights, Ill., is thrilled to have started her new position as youth services manager at the Fondulac District Library in East Peoria, Ill.
• Lingzhi Meng’14 has relocated to Seattle, Wash.
• Benjamin Scheel’17, Stuttgart, Germany, graduated with a double master’s degree in environment science from the University of Copenhagen and Hohenheim. He is looking for a job in sustainable agriculture, while biking and cooking in his free time.
• In September 2020, Mark Stephens’18, Rosemont, Ill., started working as an associate financial advisor at Moran, McWherter & Associates, a financial advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC.
• Brad Star’19, Appleton, Wis., was named the new “Buzz” reporter for the Post-Crescent newspaper in Appleton. He covers business news in the Appleton and Fox Cities areas of Wisconsin.