UMSL A P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F M I S S O U R I – S T. L O U I S
FA L L 2023
M A G A Z IN E
SHUTTERSTOP
A view from above New UMSL students gather to spell out the university’s initials on the parking lot outside of the Millennium Student Center following the inaugural New Student Convocation on Aug. 18. The photo, taken by drone, was just one part of the new tradition, which also included a ceremonial event at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center and a Welcome Bash hosted by the Office of Student Involvement.
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CONTENTS
UMSL MAGAZINE
A PUBLICATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI–ST. LOUIS | FALL 2023
With a circulation of 111,340, the University of Missouri–St. Louis publishes UMSL Magazine twice a year to showcase the transformative impact of the university – its students, alumni, faculty, staff and supporters – on our state, nation and world.
IN EVERY ISSUE
The latest 4-5 News and achievements
|from around campus
Our community
FEATURES
6 Lawrence Sapp, Succeed student and men’s swimmer
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7 Lee Slocum, professor of criminology and criminal justice
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Catching up Chancellor Kristin Sobolik Associate Vice Chancellor for Marketing and Communications Justin Roberts Director of Public Relations and Content Steve Walentik Editor-in-Chief Heather Riske Writers Burk Krohe Melissa Landry Heather Riske Wendy Todd Steve Walentik
8 Ken Earley, creative director at St. Louis CITY SC
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9 Stephanie Cernicek,
chief science officer at Mana Supply Company
10 Jane Merkel, zoological manager of animal health at Saint Louis Zoo
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11 Peter Webb, co-founder and CEO of MARSfarm
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Alumni news
Designers Marty Baragiola Evan Brandt Photographer Derik Holtmann Printer Walsworth Publishing Company
UMSL Magazine Office of Marketing and Communications 60 J.C. Penney Building 1 University Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63121 magazine@umsl.edu umsl.edu/magazine 314-516-5851 Address Updates Office of Alumni Engagement 414 Woods Hall 1 University Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63121 umslalumni.org 314-516-5833
Supplying the fight UMSL’s Addiction Science Team helps combat the opioid epidemic in Missouri
Honing his craft Alum and furniture maker Martin Goebel combines old-world craftsmanship with contemporary techniques
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32 Class notes and updates from alumni near and far
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“In 2010, when I served as vice provost for research, we had the opportunity to welcome the Missouri Institute of Mental Health to our campus. Its affiliation with UMSL ushered in a remarkable era of growth in basic research, program evaluation, community outreach and professional training, all dedicated to the cause of mental health. MIMH’s tangible impact on mental health truly resonates and aligns perfectly with UMSL’s mission to transform lives. It’s something we should take immense pride in.” –Nasser
Come together Student organizations foster community and connections on campus
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Director of Creative Services Traci Moore Art Director Wendy Allison
Celebrating 60 years Travel back in time through the university’s history and get a peek at its future
Gratitude and reflections across six decades ...
Arshadi, professor and chair, Department of Finance and Legal Studies 41 years at UMSL
“I’m a first-generation college student, so it was eye-opening to me to see the range of students that we have at UMSL. They bring a refreshing attitude toward education. When I came to UMSL, I had no idea what a metropolitan urban research university was, but I came to really appreciate the students that we have; in many cases, our students don’t come from families that have had higher education as part of their background, and so they come with a very open mind and are in some ways much more open to new ways of thinking and teaching.”–Teresa Thiel, professor of biology,
senior director of the Graduate School
42 years at UMSL
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“I just love working with students. Students come into the registrar’s office who need us to help them register for classes, and it’s so much fun interacting with them. Sometimes they come in and they don’t think they can do college, then we talk to them and let them know that they just have to try and they can do anything they want to do. We’ve had a lot of students work with us who have been very successful and have come back to work for UMSL, which makes me feel real happy.” –Ericka Grim,
senior student support specialist, Office of the Registrar 40 years
at UMSL
LETTER FROM THE CHANCELLOR
2023
marks the 60th anniversary of our university’s founding when visionary leaders in our region and state came together with shovels in hand and a shared dream in their hearts. They stood on the grounds of what was once the Bellerive Country Club with a resolute mission: to give the people of Missouri’s most populous and economically vital region a world-class, public research university. On that fateful day, the seed of a remarkable institution was planted, which grew into the University of Missouri–St. Louis that we know today. For 60 years, our university has been an unwavering source of transformation, a beacon of hope, and a pinnacle of educational excellence, research impact and community service. Today, UMSL stands proudly as one of the nation’s foremost public research universities. Our Triton community of nearly 15,000 students, 1,900 dedicated staff and faculty members, and an extraordinary alumni network of more than 112,000 embodies the essence of our success story. This edition of UMSL Magazine highlights many of these success stories including honoring those who came before us. It also showcases what’s to come as we embark on an unprecedented $110 million investment in our future through the Transform UMSL initiative. This bold initiative brings a renewed and reimagined university to serve our students, region and state for decades to come. We are most grateful for financial support from the state of Missouri and our tremendous private donors to move the university closer to realizing our vision to transform UMSL for the benefit of generations to come. UMSL’s triumphs are a testament to the dedication of our people: our amazing alumni, donors, faculty, staff, students and friends. Your hard work and tireless efforts serve as a guiding light, urging our students to persevere, uplifting our communities through outreach and service, fostering innovation through groundbreaking research, and building the bedrock of our workforce. It is each and every one of you who is carrying forward the UMSL legacy and setting the stage for the next exhilarating chapter in our journey – a future where we will continue to transform lives for the next 60 years and beyond. Thank you for being a part of this amazing journey. Gratefully forward,
Kristin Sobolik
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THE L ATEST A DRAMATIC TRANSFORMATION OF THE UMSL CAMPUS IS UNDERWAY, WHICH WILL SERVE OUR UNIVERSITY, REGION AND FAR BEYOND FOR DECADES TO COME. STAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LATEST TRANSFORM UMSL NEWS.
TRANSFORM UMSL THE NEW HUB FOR OPTOMETRY CLINICAL TRAINING
The roughly 14,000-square-foot space is now the main hub of clinical lab education for the College of Optometry, serving more than 170 students in the program. The second-floor space features study nooks, lounge spaces, lockers and cutting-edge teaching labs outfitted with state-of-the-art audio/ visual equipment, as well as a boards preparation room featuring equipment that fourth-year students can expect to see during their exams. “We have really great faculty here at the UMSL College of Optometry, and the opportunity for them to teach our students and engage with our students in such a beautiful space is really going to improve the effectiveness of their teaching,” Dean Keshia Elder says. “The potential it offers as far as student training and education just takes us to the next level.” To learn more about the Transform UMSL initiative, visit umsl.edu/transform.
P R E S S P L AY
UMSL launches new esports program On Oct. 26, dozens of UMSL students and members of the community gathered in the new, state-of-the-art Esports Arena, located in the former Pilot House space on the ground level of the Millennium Student Center, to celebrate the official launch of UMSL’s new esports program. Inaugural Coach Bovey Zhang is guiding the development of the program and has built a varsity roster of 21 players – in addition to a junior varsity team – who will compete in highly organized, competitive tournaments against players from other colleges and universities. For the program’s home base, the university made an investment to renovate and rewire the Pilot House to turn it into an esports arena, equipping it with gaming stations, including TVs and computer monitors hooked up to consoles and with gaming chairs emblazoned with the Triton esports logo. The program is opening with teams focused on five multiplayer video games – FIFA, League of Legends, Overwatch, Super Smash Bros. and Valorant – and Zhang plans to continue to grow with players competing in other titles such as Call of Duty and Rocket League. “As a first-year program, you never think that anybody’s interested, but doing it and showcasing it, it was a great initiative,” he says. “A lot of students were engaging, a lot of people were interested, so we were able to get a really good showing here.”
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In 2002, in a celebration of paint and years of student planning, this space opened as a unique gathering spot on campus.
As part of the first phase of the Transform UMSL project, the university recently completed a months-long renovation of the second floor of the Patient Care Center, supported through donor funding as well as appropriations that UMSL received from the state of Missouri through the American Rescue Plan Act over the past two years.
UMSL RESEARCH AND SPONSORED ACTIVITY BY THE NUMBERS
$53,972,132 total awards in FY2023
$34,035,381 increase in awards since FY2017
$43,116,366 expenditures in FY2023
$26,853,533 MIMH total awards in FY2023
$2,501,330 College of Education increase in awards
The robotic dog has regular and infrared cameras, as well as laser sensors that can operate and collect data in the world's toughest environments.
MAPPING THE FUTURE
Two new geospatial labs open on UMSL campus UMSL is doubling down on its commitment to support and grow the geospatial workforce in the St. Louis region. In addition to offering a new undergraduate certificate program and developing upcoming graduate programs in GIS and geospatial science, the university recently opened two new geospatial labs on campus. Now open on the fourth floor of Benton Hall, the Geospatial Advanced Technology Lab and the Virtual Reality Lab are part of a suite of spaces serving UMSL’s Geospatial Collaborative. The suite also includes offices, a conference room and two collaborative workspaces designed for use by both faculty and students. The university matched more than $1 million in funding from the state of Missouri through the MoExcels Workforce Initiative to renovate the space and equip it with state-of-the-art tools for geospatial research and education. The Geospatial Advanced Technology Lab includes two dozen workstations complete with high-end computers outfitted with the latest and best software for geospatial data processing and analysis. The VR lab has geospatial gathering tools such as drones and a Spot, the Agile Mobile Robot dog, and faculty and students will be able to display data in virtual reality in the lab.
over FY2022
ACHIEVEMENT
Charlotte Richards,
who propelled the Tritons to the national semifinals for the first time in school history in 2022, has been named a Top 30 honoree for NCAA Woman of the Year.
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G RO W I N G I N N OVAT I O N
UMSL studying feasibility of new controlled agriculture center In early October, UMSL launched a $150,000 feasibility study for the development of a Center of Excellence for Controlled Environment Agriculture on North Campus. In partnership with the Yield Lab Institute, Bayer, Clayco and others, the center would focus on innovation, sharing knowledge, commercialization and best practices for indoor or controlled environment agriculture while also working to enhance food equity and access.
As part of the St. Louis Controlled Environment Agriculture Coalition, UMSL has joined with local stakeholders and national experts in everything from plant and crop science, energy, farming, banking and finance, as well as other private industries. The coalition is taking advantage of existing assets and expertise in plant science and agriculture as well as unique partnerships and innovative technologies to bring indoor, soilless farming operations to the region while increasing its productivity and scalability.
OUR COMMUNITY
2 W H E N D I D YO U G E T S E R I O U S A B O U T CO M P E T I T I V E S W I M M I N G ?
I’ve been doing year-round, competitive swimming since I was 11 or 12 years old. I won an award, and I won medals when I was 11. I did USA Swimming, and I became faster and stronger. In ninth through 12th grade, I broke records in high school. Freshman year, I broke five school records while competing with the varsity team.
FIVE QUESTIONS WITH ... LAWRENCE SAPP, Succeed student and men’s swimmer
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W H E N D I D YO U S TA R T S W I M M I N G ?
W H AT W O U L D YO U SAY I S
I started swimming when I was a little boy, 5 to 6 years old. I did summer swimming with my siblings.
YO U R FAVO R I T E PA RT A B O U T
At 21, Lawrence Sapp has already made waves across the nation and globe as a world-class swimmer. Sapp, a native of Waldorf, Maryland, who is autistic, has been a member of Team USA Swimming since 2017, when he won gold in the 100-meter backstroke at the World Para Swimming Championships in Mexico City. At the 2019 championships in London, he earned a silver in the 100-meter butterfly. Most recently, Sapp competed at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Paralympic Games, which were held in 2021 due to the pandemic, placing fifth in the 100-meter butterfly. This school year, he’s brought his talents to the University of Missouri– St. Louis, where he’ll compete on the Tritons men’s swimming team and study in the Succeed Program, a postsecondary program for students with developmental and intellectual disabilities. –BURK KROHE
S W I M M I N G ? What I like about being in the water is if I work hard and train hard, then my times keep dropping down. I try to work hard. It’s all about training. It’s all about the breakouts and pace as I get better and stronger.
4 W H AT D O E S I T M E A N TO CO M E TO U M S L A N D S T U DY W H I L E B E I N G A B L E TO CO M P E T E AT A CO L L E G I AT E L E V E L ? I came to UMSL because I wanted a school that had a program for students that need extra support and one with a competitive swim team. I’ve wanted to swim in college, and I want to qualify to make the NCAAs.
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I want to be athlete of the year in swimming. I would also say I want to do the best I can and work well as a team – work with each other, talk to each other and practice to work together at the meets.
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W H AT A R E YO U LO O K I N G
F O R WA R D TO T H I S S C H O O L Y E A R ?
I want to get good grades – follow the rules and follow directions – and work hard and do the best I can. I also want to be a good leader in the Succeed Program. I like it here, and I’m going to have a great year. I want to show people how proud I am to be here.
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W H AT O T H E R FACT O R S CO M E
W H AT H AV E YO U L E A R N E D ABOUT PEOPLE’S PERCEPTIONS O F SA F E T Y I N T H E I R O W N
CO M M U N I T I E S ? When people talk about community safety, a priority obviously is low rates of crime and personal safety and security. But once you move past that, people quickly turn to things that we call social and economic justice, so housing, access to food, access to clean water and air, low rates of inequality, having basic needs met. Also, people would talk about things like the government and their role in this. The expansiveness with which people talked about safety was kind of surprising.
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I N T O P L AY ? We were also thinking about how the meaning of safety varies across different communities, depending on things like people’s experiences with the criminal legal system or their experiences with victimization or even things like whether they live in a rural or urban environment.
Criminologists eagerly await the annual release of the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report so they can have reliable data on the prevalence of crime in cities across the United States. But those numbers don’t say much about how people actually feel about their safety living in their own communities. Lee Slocum has been leading a team of researchers trying to dig deeper than the statistics through a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge. Their work has centered on the experiences of people in St. Louis County as well as Missoula County in Montana and Mecklenburg County, which contains Charlotte, in North Carolina. –STEVE WALENTIK
LEE SLOCUM, professor of criminology and criminal justice
H O W H AV E T H E S E P E R C E P T I O N S
E VO LV E D R E C E N T LY ? I think in the last 10 years, particularly with George Floyd in Minneapolis and certainly here in Ferguson, people have been thinking more about what community safety looks like. I think people have always known that you can’t rely on police to have a safe community. They can’t be everywhere, and people don’t want them everywhere, and they don’t want to be everywhere. So that’s led to more people thinking about how we can have a safe community that relies on the community versus just the criminal legal system.
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HOW WERE SOME OF THOSE
W H AT G O T YO U I N T E R E S T E D I N
D I F F E R E N C E S R E F L E CT E D I N
S T U DY I N G P O L I C E - CO M M U N I T Y
T H I S S T U DY ? Missoula has a very different gun culture than a place like St. Louis or Mecklenburg County, so the way they thought about guns was very different than the way people talked about guns here. They also put social and economic justice above all the other things. I found that to be pretty surprising. It may be because they have lower rates of crime there, and it’s a liberal college town.
R E L AT I O N S ? I come from a long line of police officers, and I swore I would never study the police or do anything with police for that reason, but they’re the main face of not only the legal system but the government as well. I’m interested in how people mobilize the law. When people need assistance,
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where do they go? Why do some people choose to use something like the formal legal system, like police, and why do other people choose to rely on self help – turning to your neighbors or a friend or in some places resorting to violence if they don’t have any other options?
KEN EARLEY, ’13
CATCHING UP
HOMETOWN:
ST. LOUIS
MAJOR:
BS IN MEDIA STUDIES, 2013
CURRENT POSITION:
CREATIVE DIRECTOR AT ST. LOUIS CITY SC
FUN FACT:
EARLEY LOVES CARS AND HAS ATTENDED RALLY RACING SCHOOL AT DIRTFISH IN SNOQUALMIE, WASHINGTON.
BY WENDY TODD As the creative director of St. Louis CITY SC, Ken Earley enjoys the impact the new soccer club is having on St. Louis. “I live here, so every time I see a shirt or a flag, that is super impactful and meaningful,” he says. “I was born and raised in St. Louis, so to have something like this is really exciting. To see people I know maybe don’t like soccer but are totally on board with the team has been really, really awesome.” Growing up, Earley was a self-described “science kid.” He was good at math and science and intended to develop his career in science entering the Pierre Laclede Honors College at the University of Missouri–St. Louis as a pre-med biology major. But one summer, halfway through his studies, he watched “Art & Copy,” a Netflix documentary that featured several advertising professionals discussing the industry and their careers. It clicked. He was fascinated by the subject and decided to change course. “I was connecting the dots between this documentary and what George Lois did professionally and was like, ‘I think I can do this,’” Earley says. “I looked to see what path this goes down. Traditionally Mizzou kids go down the strat-com journalism route, and UMSL didn’t have that. But they had this media studies track with an advertising certificate. So I just jumped in and never looked back.” During his junior and senior years in the media studies program, Earley worked as a paid intern at the marketing agency Gorilla 76, getting experience that prepared him for his career. He also received support from Kristy Tucciarone, then an associate teaching professor of media studies. She encouraged Earley to apply for a scholarship from the St. Louis Ad Club and also bridged the gap between academic and practical knowledge within the industry, encouraging students to develop their portfolios as their calling cards. After graduating, Earley worked as a copywriter at other agencies for eight years, progressing into an associate creative director role. For nearly two years, he’s served as creative director at St. Louis CITY SC, and has enjoyed watching the club grow and working with the creative team to develop and bring awareness to the St. Louis-centered brand. He prides the club on utilizing local vendors, food service and other contractors, and loves that St. Louis has embraced the soccer team right back. To stay connected to UMSL and give back a bit of what the university gave to him, Earley attends the freshman orientation at the Honors College every year, sharing his experience with new college students. “UMSL was a great experience,” he says. “Like most kids, I was a commuter. I lived at home and worked full-time and was still able to get my degree and make friends and have my own unique college experience.”
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STEPHANIE CERNICEK, ’11 BY HEATHER RISKE Although Stephanie Cernicek was one of the first people officially licensed to work in Missouri’s cannabis industry, she never thought she’d wind up in that line of work. In 2017, as she was wrapping up her PhD in chemistry at UMSL – her third degree from the university – she assumed she’d head into the pharmaceutical industry. But when she was offered a position extracting hemp to make CBD-infused tinctures for people with intractable epilepsy at BeLeaf ’s Life Oils, she figured she’d give it a shot. Cernicek quickly found her stride, applying many of the same techniques she learned in her organic chemistry courses. As she saw firsthand the impact that CBD products had on patients, her perceptions of cannabis completely changed. “I came from a very scientific, analytical background where you trust that pharmaceutical drugs are the best things possible for a patient,” she says. “Then I started seeing young children with intractable epilepsy who had tried three, four, even more pharmaceutical drugs and had them just not work. Seeing CBD significantly help these kids is definitely not what I expected – it was impressive.” Over the years, Cernicek has become a major player in Missouri’s burgeoning cannabis industry, which saw the legalization of adult-use marijuana earlier this year. She serves on the board of multiple industry organizations, including MoCannTrade, and also teaches in Saint Louis University’s Cannabis Science and Operations certificate program. But her main role is overseeing production at Mana Supply Company, a multi-state cannabis company that operates dispensaries in Colorado and Maryland, as well as a manufacturing facility in Berkeley, Missouri. Mana produces edibles, extracts, tinctures, topicals and vapes, including brands such as Kizmet, a line of high-quality, handcrafted chocolates; midose., a line of vape pens and melts designed for microdosing; and Escape Artists, a premium line of topical creams.
HOMETOWN:
ST. LOUIS
MAJOR:
BS IN CHEMISTRY, 2011; MS IN INORGANIC CHEMISTRY, 2013; PHD IN INORGANIC CHEMISTRY, 2017
CURRENT POSITION:
CHIEF SCIENCE OFFICER AT MANA SUPPLY COMPANY
FUN FACT:
CERNICEK WAS NAMED A C-SUITE AWARD WINNER FROM THE ST. LOUIS BUSINESS JOURNAL IN 2021 AND NAMED WOMAN OF THE YEAR IN MISSOURI BY GREENWAY MAGAZINE IN 2023.
While Cernicek’s career path didn’t play out exactly as she had envisioned, she’s not looking back. She takes pride in rising to a leadership position as a woman in a maledominated industry – while also pushing for more representation of women and people of color – and in knowing that the products she helps create benefit patients. “Cannabis is not such a scary thing, as I think it might have been portrayed to many people,” she says. “It’s something that can help cancer patients be able to eat or get relief from their pain. It’s something that actually can help people function in their everyday life.”
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JANE MERKEL, ’03
CATCHING UP
HOMETOWN:
ST. LOUIS
MAJOR:
BS IN BIOLOGY, 2003; MS IN BIOLOGY, 2007
CURRENT POSITION:
ZOOLOGICAL MANAGER OF ANIMAL HEALTH AT THE SAINT LOUIS ZOO
FUN FACT:
MERKEL HAS MADE MANY TRIPS TO THE GALÁPAGOS ISLANDS TO CONDUCT RESEARCH.
BY STEVE WALENTIK No two days are ever the same when Jane Merkel walks into work at the Endangered Species Research Center & Veterinary Hospital at the Saint Louis Zoo. She could find herself assisting with a surgery on a bushmaster snake, taking X-rays on an injured penguin or even drawing blood while treating a tarantula. “We work with everything from frogs to elephants, and that is what makes it amazing,” says Merkel, who has spent nearly three decades at the zoo, starting as a veterinary technician and working her way up to her current role as zoological manager of animal health. Her love of animals, including a particular fascination with frogs as a child, drew her to the profession. She earned an associate degree from Jefferson College’s Veterinary Technology Program before getting hired at the zoo in 1994. As Merkel settled into her early work, she kept finding herself wanting to learn more. “I wanted to be a better-educated woman,” Merkel says. “After interacting with many of the people here, I just wanted to further my education and learn more about the world in general, but specifically about science.” That led her to enroll in evening classes to pursue her bachelor’s degree at UMSL. She balanced the responsibilities of her full-time job and school for several years before completing her degree in 2003. By then, Merkel had also met Patricia Parker, then UMSL’s E. Desmond Lee Endowed Professor of Zoological Studies and a senior scientist at the zoo, who encouraged her to continue her learning. She had an opportunity to join Parker on one of her many trips to the Galápagos Islands, where Parker was researching the prevalence of avian malaria and other pathogens in the islands’ native wildlife, including Galápagos penguins and cormorants. She eventually enrolled in UMSL’s master’s program and began doing research in Parker’s lab, earning her degree in 2007. She received support from UMSL’s Whitney R. Harris World Ecology Center along the way. Merkel has seen the zoo place a greater emphasis on scientific research over the past 30 years, particularly with the establishment of the Saint Louis Zoo WildCare Institute in 2004 and its continued growth in the years since. In addition to the Galápagos, she has had the opportunity to do field research in Malawi, Madagascar and Peru. But the bulk of her time has been spent on-site, tending to the health of the zoo’s more than 700 species of animals. “I always tell people that I am probably the luckiest person I’ll ever know – to be able to have a job that I love this much and to be able to travel and work with the animals but also the people that I work with is amazing,” Merkel says. “I have been able to know people from all over the world, and that’s just a wonderful thing.”
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PETER WEBB, ’15 BY WENDY TODD Somewhere across the globe, a student is watching dwarf tomatoes or basil growing in a temperature-controlled LED light box. That countertop-sized greenhouse is the brainchild of University of Missouri–St. Louis alum Peter Webb and business partner Drew Thomas, who cofounded MARSfarm in 2019 to bring the farm into the classroom. The St. Louis-based company seeks to provide a costeffective way for schools and teachers to give K-12 students hands-on experience in STEM and agricultural technology. Webb always wanted his own company and developed an interest in agriculture from an early age, collecting water samples from nearby lakes and examining the microorganisms under microscopes with his parents as volunteers with the Missouri Stream Team. But it wasn’t until he worked in the food service industry that his business plan began to take shape. “I wanted to have an impact on climate,” he says. “I care about the environment. I care about nature a lot. And I understood the waste that is associated with food.” Over the past two years, MARSfarm has made half a million dollars, and currently provides its countertop greenhouses to nearly 600 schools globally, including in Colombia, South Africa, Spain and Turkey. In 2021, the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami, Florida, contracted the company to manufacture and distribute its product for its STEM program that’s implemented in Miami-Dade County Public Schools and funded by a NASA grant.
HOMETOWN:
ST. LOUIS
MAJOR:
BS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION WITH AN EMPHASIS IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS, 2015
CURRENT POSITION:
CO-FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF MARSFARM
FUN FACT:
WEBB WAS HOMESCHOOLED UNTIL ENTERING COLLEGE.
Webb’s time studying business at UMSL has helped him develop and grow MARSfarm. The managerial accounting courses have helped with bookkeeping, and the coding he learned helped him develop the MARSfarm web app used to virtually track plant growth and adjust the environment in the greenhouses. As for the future of MARSfarm, with the business experiencing some traction, Webb is optimistic, seeing room for growth. “We’re looking at the different products within the current market and the different adjacent education markets that we can sell to,” Webb says. “I think that’s a growth opportunity in the next two to three years. And then beyond that, it’s ‘how do we add?’” With MARSfarm, Webb and Thomas want to make agriculture and AG-Tech more accessible. Webb also wants people to know that understanding agriculture is easier than many might believe. “You can understand a lot about climate, nature, biology and the environment just by understanding one small climate system on a very small scale,” Webb says. “So that’s the whole idea behind the product.”
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FEATURE
COME TOGETHER STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS FOSTER COMMUNITY AND CONNECTIONS BY BURK KROHE
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During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nicolas Dunsworth found himself with more time on his hands to explore new interests. The move to online instruction left many University of Missouri–St. Louis students like Dunsworth isolated at home with time to kill. Coincidentally, the hit Netflix show “The Queen’s Gambit,” which details the life of fictional chess prodigy Beth Harmon, premiered in October 2020, resulting in a boom of chess writing and YouTube content. Dunsworth, a graduate mathematics student, was drawn in by that boom and spent a year playing casually online at chess.com. Once in-person classes resumed, Dunsworth – also an avid soccer fan – eagerly joined the Tritons Football Club during the fall 2022 semester. The group of soccer enthusiasts gathers for friendly pickup games on Fridays after classes, and Dunsworth quickly recognized he was also in the company of fellow chess players. “When we were waiting to start a pickup game because somebody had the field, we’d all pull out our phones and start playing online chess,” Dunsworth recalls.
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After that realization, the group went to the Office of Student Involvement to start a chess club, only to find that another student beat them to the punch. Corey Hancock, an ardent chess player since his youth and counseling doctoral student, started the UMSL Chess Club after being shocked to learn there wasn’t one. “I was pleasantly surprised that there were already 10 students who were playing together as a group,” Hancock says. “They had intended to start a chess club, so it was going to happen one way or another. Since then, we’re at 40 in our group.” The two clubs have now formed a symbiosis, sharing several members and meeting on the same days. They are just two of 61 student organizations recognized by the Office of Student Involvement, ranging from academic clubs to cultural associations to service
fraternities. Yet no matter their focus, they have become a beacon for students seeking connection and enrichment on campus after the isolating experience of the early pandemic. Groups such as the UMSL Chess Club, as well as Alpha Phi Omega and Triton Vets, are flourishing with the help of students eager to deepen their engagement with the UMSL community.
ALPHA PHI OMEGA Alpha Phi Omega, a national co-ed fraternity, focuses specifically on service activities. Elexis Hubbard, a social work major, served two terms as president of the organization. Hubbard was drawn to Alpha Phi Omega’s volunteer work, something she’s been immersed in since childhood when her family would feed unhoused people with various church groups. Today, she’s bonded with other members of the organization over a shared desire to aid others. “Everybody comes for different reasons, from a different background,” Hubbard says. “Some people, this is what they’ve done for most of their life, and they really enjoy it. They really want to continue that in college. Some people want to get more involved and want to be more active within the community. So, something like this is a great way to start.” Alpha Phi Omega’s mission is to be of service to others, with particular focus in four areas: serving the fraternity, serving the campus, serving the community and serving the nation. In pursuit of those goals, the organization has led various activities, including a campus food drive and events contributing to Project Linus – a national nonprofit that provides handmade blankets for needy children.
ON CAMPUS
Members of UMSL’s chapter of Alpha Phi Omega participate in many acts of service, including personalizing cards encouraging people to vote and providing blankets to children in need. (Linus Project photo courtesy of APO)
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However, the project that stands out most in Hubbard’s mind is a cleanup effort in Kinloch, Missouri, just northwest of the UMSL campus. The project started at the beginning of last school year, and UMSL partnered with APO chapters at other universities as well as several other campus organizations to pick up trash and trim back overgrown grass and shrubs. “I felt accomplished, even though it was just a small part of the community,” Hubbard says. This semester, Alpha Phi Omega also teamed up with the Pierre Laclede Honors College on a campus-wide Project Linus effort as part of UMSL Serves, the university’s initiative to complete 60,000 hours of community service by May.
TRITON VETS Community is the mission of Triton Vets, which aims to support those transitioning from military life to university life. Irina Biedenstein – U.S. Army veteran, president of the organization and a business administration major – says there are many moving parts to that kind of transition, and it can often be overwhelming without help.
He adds that there is a well-documented sense of loss of purpose for many veterans as they move back to civilian life. Triton Vets fills that need and provides “immediate kinship” through regular group meetings, service projects and community outreach. One particularly meaningful outreach event was a 9/11 remembrance, in which the organization invited members of the UMSL community to plant flags on the South Lawn outside the Millennium Student Center. “It didn’t end up feeling somber,” Kalter says. “It felt important; it felt good. It felt nice to talk to people about that, having people come up being inspired to talk to us about people in their family and why it was important to them, having that chance to just talk to people and really connect over something so important.” This semester, Triton Vets increased its outreach effort, which has garnered a lot of interest in the organization. Biedenstein has worked to understand what fellow veterans
Below: Irina Biedenstein and Joseph Kalter (center) play video games in the Veterans Center with fellow members of the Triton Vets organization. (Photo courtesy of Jay Fram)
“We can always help them get connected on campus just as much as the Veterans Center helps them with their benefits when they get out,” she says. “We’re there to support the other parts of it. We have a community here. You’re not losing the camaraderie that you had when you were in service. It’s still here in a different form.” Triton Vets was a natural fit for Biedenstein, who already works at the Veterans Center and enjoys helping people. Last school year, when the group was looking for a treasurer, she readily accepted the position. By the end of the spring semester, she took the opportunity to move into her current role. Joseph Kalter, a U.S. Army veteran and social work student, had a similar experience. He began studying at UMSL right before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and when students returned to campus, he naturally found a second home, as well as a position, at the Veterans Center. For Kalter, joining Triton Vets seemed like an easy way to get more involved on campus and advocate for veterans.
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“Meeting new people, feeling connected to people and having a community, that was really big for me,” he explains. “I enjoy this because there’s so many people here that are from all different backgrounds.” The club plans to increase its event programming throughout the year. Hancock, who founded the club last semester, anticipates attending at least one competitive chess tournament at the St. Louis Chess Club, something most of the members have yet to experience.
want, specifically focusing on two areas: more meet-and-greet events and more information sessions on resources available to veterans. In the future, she also hopes to plan recreational outings, such as laser tag and paintball. “A lot of us struggle with taking a break, and that’s what I want us to have sometimes,” she says.
UMSL CHESS CLUB Junior Alexander Orywall, a member of the UMSL Chess Club, founder of the Tritons Football Club and president of the Student Government Association, says the chess club, which meets weekly, is only partially about members improving their game. When it comes down to it, Orywall says the club is really about community.
“Most of the players that I’ve talked to, they started playing chess during the pandemic, so they started playing online,” Hancock says. “A lot of us don’t have a lot of in-person experience. There might be one or two, including myself, that’ve played in tournaments. It’s a very profound experience. There’s some anxiety to it, but it’s a lot of fun.” Although there can be anxiety inherent in joining a new organization, there’s no need to worry on UMSL’s tightknit campus. “I know that first time going it’s like, ‘Oh, I don’t know anybody,’” Orywall says. “But you will meet people. You will get to know people, and I think that’s the great thing. If you’re on the fence, don’t worry about not knowing anybody. Once you’re here, all those worries will be gone. It’s something really great.”
Above: UMSL Chess Club president Corey Hancock plays a game of chess against Nicolas Dunsworth. Members of the club play chess during their weekly Friday afternoon meeting inside the St. Louis Mercantile Library.
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FEATURE
BY STEVE WALENTIK
UMSL’s Addiction Science Team helps combat the opioid epidemic in Missouri Anyone walking through the first floor of Stadler Hall can probably hear the friendly debates – often about pop-culture topics like Beyoncé or Hollywood actors – spilling out into the hallway. But it takes stepping inside to realize the real purpose and seriousness of what’s going on when the University of Missouri–St. Louis Addiction Science team gathers for one of its weekly packing parties. Spread out on two sides of an old lab are stacks of pamphlets – one about the warning signs of opioid overdoses, another with myths and facts about medical-assisted treatments, still one more with ways to contact various treatment agencies. There are also boxes of bag valve masks for assisting people with breathing when they’re experiencing an overdose event. They get pulled together with the pamphlets and stuffed into black drawstring backpacks, which are
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then packaged with doses of Narcan, the brand name for the overdose reversal medication naloxone. Another group at the back of the room is assembling small bags of fentanyl test strips with instructions for use. These kits are an important tool as the team works to supply the ongoing battle against the opioid crisis in Missouri and reduce overdose deaths, which have been rising across the country over the past two decades. More than 109,000 occurred in 2022, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – roughly five times higher than the number of overdoses seen 20 years earlier. “It can be really heavy,” says Elizabeth Connors, the team’s director of first responder and public health programming. “It’s nice that our team genuinely gets along. We have a lot of camaraderie.” Members of the Addiction Science Team are on target to pack more than 200,000 kits this year. Eventually, they’ll get shipped to partner organizations across the state, including treatment providers, local public health departments, recovery community centers, shelter and recovery housing organizations, and a growing number of police departments, fire departments and EMS agencies working on the frontlines. “The reality is that these save lives,” says Donald Otis, one of the team’s overdose prevention coordinators. “They do. Right now, packing them, I couldn’t tell you where this one actually will land. I have no idea. But we do know that it will go somewhere.”
UMSL has played a central role in Missouri’s response to the opioid epidemic since 2016. That’s when Rachel Winograd, now an associate professor with a dual appointment in UMSL’s Department of Psychological Sciences and the Missouri Institute of Mental Health, was named the principal investigator for the Missouri Opioid/Heroin Overdose Prevention and Education Project. A year later, the Missouri Department of Mental Health launched the Opioid State Targeted Response project after receiving a $20 million federal grant, and it installed Winograd as the project’s director.
Under Winograd’s leadership, the Addiction Science Team has been working to implement a harm reduction strategy over the past six years. It’s aimed at engaging directly with the people who use drugs and equipping them with tools and information to help stem the tide of overdose deaths. It wasn’t always easy to find backing for that approach, but evidence has supported the philosophy behind harm reduction, and over time, it has become a key pillar of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Overdose Prevention Strategy. There also have been more resources directed at combating the crisis, bolstered by settlements states reached in 2021 with prescription opioid manufacturer Johnson & Johnson and three major pharmaceutical distributors totaling $26 billion. Unfortunately, the scope of the problem has also grown as synthetic opioids, most notably fentanyl, have flooded the drug market and
“The reality is that these save lives.” –Donald Otis, overdose prevention coordinator
proved much more potent than the heroin and prescription medication that once drove the epidemic. Last year, more than 2,000 Missourians died from overdose – 1,579 connected to non-heroin opioid use – according to data from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. That represented an increase in non-heroin opioid deaths of more than 135% since 2017. “There are so many things outside of our control that contribute to these increases in overdose deaths,” says Winograd, pointing to the poisoned drug supply, the COVID-19 pandemic and other societal factors that have contributed to people’s use of drugs in the first place. “But then you just have to stay the course and be reminded what is within our scope – that we have an ethical responsibility to push for what we know can save and improve people’s lives.”
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That includes the effort to deliver as much naloxone into the hands of people who need it as possible.
Boal and Joshua Wilson direct their efforts toward engaging with first responders.
The state opioid settlements are expected to bring nearly half a billion dollars to Missouri over the next 18 years, and already, more than $6 million in new funding has found its way to UMSL. That money has allowed the Addiction Science Team to grow considerably, with 10 members coming on last fall.
Boal, a former Army medic, and Wilson, a former volunteer EMT, work with law enforcement, fire department and EMS agencies around the state to set up trainings and distribute naloxone for officers to carry with them on patrol. Together, they’ve assembled a team of consultants, including a flight medic and nurse in Pulaski County and assistant fire chiefs in Springfield, to deliver trainings on working with people with substance use disorder and deploying naloxone for cases of overdose to departments and agencies across Missouri.
One of them was Otis, who brought with him more than 30 years of experience working in treatment. Among their responsibilities, Otis and his fellow overdose prevention coordinators help implement the team’s naloxone and fentanyl test strip distribution strategy, working with organizations across the state to help spread overdose education and coordinate trainings for naloxone distribution. They also serve as community liaisons, working to foster collaboration and address community-level gaps and barriers facing people who use drugs. The work feels as important as ever given the current nature of the epidemic. “Drugs over decades, they tend to change,” Otis says. “Go back to the ’80s, you’re talking about crack. You go back to the ’70s, you’re talking about when cocaine came on board. Prior to that, it was opiates. It goes in a cycle, but this cycle here is a little bit different. I had seen episodes with what we would call bad drugs, but it was never fentanyl contamination like what you see right now.” While Otis and others engage with community health centers and other community-based organizations and equip them with tools to educate and provide treatment to users, Addiction Science Team members Greg
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“What we figured out is that first responders listen best and respond best to other first responders, so we have a lot of consultants around the state,” Wilson says. “There are two people involved with all the trainings. One of them is somebody who has experience as a first responder, either active or retired. Then we also have somebody with lived experience with addiction who partners with them to help put a face to the stories behind all this.”
When Wilson and Boal first came on board last fall, they were spending much of their time sending out cold emails to potential partners to let them know they had naloxone available. But with more and more news reports about Narcan popping up around the state over the past several months, or simply spreading by word of mouth among first responders, there’s increasing awareness of the role the Addiction Science Team is playing to equip officers and other first responders. As a result, Boal and Wilson have found themselves fielding a lot more inquiries about how different agencies might schedule trainings and get supplies. “We’ll supply somebody in Jackson County, and because first responders are very connected – they do a lot of interdepartmental work together – and they might say, ‘Where did you guys get your Narcan from?’ ‘Oh, we got it from the Addiction Science Team at UMSL,’” Wilson says. “Now there’s less outreach and just a lot of people are coming to us.”
Otis has seen the same shift. “If not daily, multiple times a week, somebody in this crew, this team, is going to hear from a new person, a new entity, a new community,” he says. The Addiction Science Team is eager to accommodate as many requests as possible while also sharing information about treatment and recovery services. “Our goal really is to reach naloxone saturation in the state of Missouri,” Connors says. “As partners across the state have heard there is naloxone available, we’re starting to get requests for things that we didn’t anticipate, so we’re constantly getting the opportunity to be creative and pivot and ask, ‘How do we most effectively meet the needs of all of these folks?’”
“
What they do next door every week literally is life and death for people, but we don’t often get to see that side of it.
”
– Elizabeth Connors, director of first responder and public health programming
One change they’ve made recently is to try to shift from supplying Narcan nasal spray to an intramuscular form of the medication because it is just as successful at reversing the effects of overdose and is much more cost-effective. They’ve also begun piloting a program to have EMS trained and equipped to begin administering buprenorphine, a medication used to treat acute and chronic pain as well as opioid dependence.
The Addiction Science Team typically packs out about 3,000 kits per week – more if they receive special requests. They get boxed up with doses of naloxone in the room next door, which is filled with stacks of cardboard and large rolls of bubble wrap.
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Winograd has found interest among her students in helping with packing. Lily Franzen, a senior psychology major and member of the women’s swimming team from St. Paul, Minnesota, jumped at the chance to pitch in during the first week of the fall semester. “I am planning on going to grad school, but I just don’t know for what yet,” Franzen says. “I have a couple things that I’m interested in, one being clinical social work with substance use disorder treatment. I thought this would be a good way to kind of see what this world is like.” From inside Stadler Hall, it’s hard for team members to see the impact they’re having. “What they do next door every week literally is life and death for people, but we don’t often get to see that side of it,” Connors says. “We just send things out and hope that it makes a difference.” But there are signs things might be changing for the better. One was a St. Louis Post-Dispatch report in August that St. Louis County recorded a decrease of almost 11% in drug-related deaths last year. It marked the biggest year-over-year decrease in almost a decade and was the first decrease in drug-related deaths since 2015 when it dropped almost 8%, according to data provided by the St. Louis County Medical Examiner’s Office. Members of the team take as much heart from news like that as they do from the reports that, through partners, find their way back from the field. “We get feedback from folks like, ‘Hey, you sent us a leave-behind-kit, and I used it for my kid and they survived,’” Connors says. “Those are the things that we’ll share back with our team as a win because it can be difficult, emotional work. There are real lives on the other side of what we’re doing, and we are trying to keep people alive.”
FEATURE
Celebrate th our 60 anniversary with a journey through the university’s history and a look toward its future. 20 | UMSL
1963 | When enrollments exceed expectations, the University of Missouri purchases and assumes operation of the Normandy Residence Center. At a dedication ceremony headed by UM President Elmer Ellis on Sept. 15, the University of Missouri– St. Louis is officially established. The former clubhouse of Bellerive Country Club is rechristened as the Administration Building, which houses classrooms, offices and a library for more than 600 enrolled students.
1966 | Benton Hall, UMSL’s first classroom-laboratory building, is completed. Up until this point, the Administration Building was the only building on campus.
1963 1966 1965 1957 1965 | James Bugg serves as UMSL’s inaugural chancellor from 1965-1969.
1957 | The citizens of Normandy pass a bond allowing Normandy School District officials to purchase the Bellerive Country Club for $600,000 in order to offer affordable higher education to local high school graduates. The 128-acre tract of land includes a clubhouse, golf course, swimming pool, volleyball and tennis courts and a lake, which officially opens in 1960 as Normandy Residence Center, a community college for the school district.
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1968 | Thomas Jefferson Library opens, housing more than 240,000 volumes and seating for 1,000 students within its five stories. The area outside of the original library entrance initially sported a swimming pool and basketball court, which were later removed along with the original Administration Building. 1968 | Clark Hall opens in the center of UMSL’s present-day Quad. Today, the academic building houses the Archaeology lab, the Department of Sociology, the Department of Language and Cultural Studies and the UMSL Veterans Center. 1969 | Glen Driscoll serves as chancellor from 1969-1972.
1968 1971 1967 1969
1971 | Classroom space nearly doubles with the completion of five more buildings: The Mark Twain Building, the University Center (the student union), the J.C. Penney Building (the first privately financed building on campus), Lucas Hall (home of the College of Arts and Sciences) and the Social Sciences and Business Building.
1967 | UMSL graduates its first class of 205 students.
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1986 | UMSL’s Bridge Program is established, providing unique and comprehensive year-round precollegiate programming for St. Louis-area high school students and parents. The program prides itself on providing exemplary college access services to the St. Louis community and maintains a 100 percent college matriculation rate today.
1976 | UMSL purchases Marillac College, a four-year liberal arts school run by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent DePaul, for $5 million, acquiring the cornerstone of what is now known as South Campus.
1986 1975 1973 1976 1973 | Joseph Hartley serves as chancellor from 1973-1974.
1975 | Arnold Grobman serves as chancellor from 1975-1985.
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1986 | Marguerite Ross Barnett serves as chancellor from 1986-1990. The first Black woman to lead a major American university, Ross Barnett already had a national reputation as a renowned scholar and pioneering administrator when she arrived at UMSL, having taught at the University of Chicago, Princeton University and Howard University. She ushered in a transformative era at UMSL, featuring record-breaking fundraising for new buildings and scholarships, several new degree programs and innovative offerings such as the Bridge Program, all with the goal of expanding the role that UMSL could play in the economic rebirth of the surrounding metropolitan area.
2000 | The Millennium Student Center, a one-stop-shop for student services, opens its doors. Funded by students, the MSC boasts event spaces, campus dining, study spaces and a sky bridge connecting to the core academic quadrangle of the North Campus.
2003 | Thomas F. George serves as chancellor from 2003 until his retirement in 2019. As the university’s longest-serving chancellor, George oversaw many changes to the UMSL campus, including $150 million of new capital construction, renovation and landscaping that took place from 2015 to 2017. The annual amount of philanthropic contributions during his tenure as chancellor quadrupled to over $28 million, reaching as high as $31 million in 2014.
2000 2006 2003 1990 2006 | Oak Hall, a six-story, 130,000-square-foot residential hall, opens on South Campus offering community living for more than 400 UMSL students. 1990 | Blanche Touhill serves as chancellor from 1990 until her retirement in 2002. As chancellor, Touhill – previously a professor of history and education – greatly expanded academic programming at UMSL by adding more than 30 degree programs, including engineering, communication and a nursing PhD. She also built endowed and distinguished teaching professorships and expanded the university’s physical presence with new buildings, including the Millennium Student Center and the performing arts center that bears her name. Touhill continues to play an active role at the university.
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2017 | Anheuser-Busch Hall opens as the new home of the College of Business Administration.
2010 | Although the Tritons nickname is adopted in 2007, the red Triton mascot is not revealed until January 2010 in front of a cheering crowd at “Pack the Stands” night – and is missing a name. After accepting prospective mascot names and putting the top five to a studentwide vote, the university announces Louie as the name of the Triton mascot at the annual Mirthday celebration. A bright-red salamander with yellow eyes, Louie carries a trident as a nod to his river home and as a symbol of power that unites the Tritons to victory.
2010 2017 2007 2015
2015 | The $36 million Recreation and Wellness Center opens its doors, featuring state-of-the-art fitness equipment, a rock-climbing wall, a 155,000-gallon pool and more.
2007 | UMSL officially becomes the Tritons when a new and improved nickname is formally adopted by the University of Missouri Board of Curators in May. Although the university had informally been known as the “Rivermen” for its first 41 years, the name was never formally adopted. The new Tritons nickname nods to a small, usually bright-colored semiaquatic salamander – the Ozark Hellbender. UMSL has worked in partnership with the Saint Louis Zoo since 2000 to save the species.
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2020 | After serving as provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, then interim chancellor, Kristin Sobolik is named the eighth chancellor of UMSL.
2021 | After a yearlong, inclusive planning process including a comprehensive survey and stakeholder sessions, UMSL’s Campus Master Plan is approved by the Board of Curators in November. The five-year plan establishes a vision for the physical transformation of the campus and establishes a comprehensive implementation strategy to realize it over time. It positions UMSL to take advantage of development opportunities, create a more connected academic hub, improve the natural landscape and open spaces, enliven the campus and improve the student experience, ensuring that spaces in and around UMSL serve our communities now and into the future.
LOOKING AHEAD TO THE NEXT 60 YEARS The University of Missouri–St. Louis has transformed the lives of thousands of students over the years, and the university is well-positioned for future growth. UMSL continues to evolve to meet the needs of the surrounding area through the ambitious Transform UMSL initiative, and its central roles in the St. Louis Anchor Action Network and St. Louis Regional Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Center. UMSL also continues to add new degree programs and certificates, including a GIS certificate and a master’s in financial technology, that align with the future needs of the St. Louis economy.
2021 2020 Alumni Spotlights Lois Schoemehl, BA 1967 The UMSL campus looked quite different when Lois Schoemehl was a student – all of her classes were held in Bellerive Country Club’s former clubhouse until Benton Hall opened during her senior year. An English major, she enjoyed classes with Professors Charles Dougherty and Bill Hamlin, noting that UMSL attracted top-notch faculty even in its early days. Immediately
following her graduation in 1967, she started as UMSL’s first alumni director at a time when the budding university had just 225 alumni. Equipped with just a desk and an IBM electric typewriter, Schoemehl – who also met her husband, former St. Louis Mayor Vince Schoemehl, at UMSL – helped grow the Office of Alumni Engagement. By the time she left her position after nine years, 11,000 alumni called UMSL home. Over the years, she’s stayed connected to the university and is in awe of its evolution, including construction on the Richter Family Welcome and Alumni Center. “I thought, ‘Boy, who could have thunk?’” she says. “There were always architect renderings of what the campus would look like in 5, 10, 25 years, but it was hard to imagine back when there was very little there except rolling hills, gravel parking lots, Bugg Lake and one academic building. It was satisfying to see it all come to pass.”
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Alicia Friedrichs, BA 1997 Alicia Friedrichs jokes that being the 50,000th graduate at UMSL is similar to holding the Miss America title, as she’s frequently invited and honored to attend UMSL celebrations. But she enjoys having a way to stay connected to the university, where she earned dual degrees in education and Spanish in 1997. Friedrichs, who was born in Mexico and raised in Texas, decided to go back to school in her mid 30s while also raising three children, whom she’d often bring along with her to classes if she couldn’t find a sitter. She says UMSL was the perfect university at the perfect time, allowing her and her husband, David Friedrichs, who also earned two degrees at UMSL in 1997, to balance it all. It also instilled the importance of education into their children,
Top companies for graduates
I have experienced firsthand the wonderful force of positive change that UMSL brings to our region. Private donations like the ones that funded my scholarships allow me and others to receive a quality education. My intention is to honor the generosity of our great UMSL donors by transferring the education that they enabled me to receive into positive impacts within the world.
(number of alumni)
706
Boeing
534
Edward Jones
477
Enterprise
402
Mastercard
Benjamin VandenBrink (‘24)
364
Bayer
319
Express Scripts
251
Ameren
233
WorldWide Technology
214
AT&T
447 endowed scholarships are helping students pursue their academic dreams
95%
Senior finance major, student-athlete and recipient of Don and Mary Mueth Scholarship, Access Missouri Award, Curators Scholarship, Honors College Scholarship and Men’s Track and Field Scholarship
of UMSL students rely on financial aid
After a decade at UMSL, I know with certainty that it is the vision, voices and constant encouragement of our alumni and supporters that powers the critical work we do every day. I am moved by the knowledge that donors are so passionate about an UMSL education that they feel compelled to pay it forward to future generations. At the same time, I am overwhelmed with gratitude when a researcher can spend the summer working with a graduate assistant because a donor shares our commitment to high-quality, impactful research and its role in our region and world. With a sincere heart, I say thank you.
of UMSL’s total endowment supports student scholarships
386
Centene
HOW PHILANTHROPY IMPACTS THE CAMPUS
Ann Taylor Dean of the College of Education
who even accompanied them on a five-week intensive Spanish course in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico. Today, they’re paying it back to UMSL as Goode Society donors. “UMSL has given me so much, and I owe it a lot,” she says. “At my age, I wasn’t sure if one degree was going to be enough, so I aimed for two and UMSL made that possible for me. Once you get your education and the experience around it, the memories you’ve built, don’t you want someone else to have that too?” Marco Pipoly, BS 2018 When Marco Pipoly walked across the stage at commencement in May of 2018, it marked a milestone for both the psychology major and the university, as Pipoly became UMSL’s 100,000th graduate. Now a sixth-year doctoral candidate at the University of Iowa, Pipoly studies modifying factors of brain
aging and disease on cognitive function, and he says UMSL was instrumental in leading him to where he is now. While at the university, he worked at the Missouri Institute of Mental Health and was exposed to different structural brain imaging techniques that enriched the scientific toolkit he uses today. “Through UMSL and UMSL’s connections, I felt like I was able to strengthen my writing and further affirm that science was the career that I wanted to dedicate my life to,” he says. “UMSL connected me with the support I needed through mechanisms like the Tom and Becky Minogue Scholarship and faculty like Dr. Carissa Philippi, which were central to my scientific development and success at UMSL. As a testament to the UMSL environment, I managed to secure the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program grant as an undergraduate to fund my PhD studies. My advice to fellow Tritons is to always ask questions, find faculty mentors and engage with all the opportunities UMSL faculty and campus programming provides for your success.” F A L L 2 0 2 3 | 27
$55m 1,358 students received private scholarship support in FY23
10k+ St. Louis-area high school students made college-ready through the UMSL Bridge Program's Saturday Academy between 2003 and 2023
100% of Bridge program students successfully transitioned to college since 2003
UMSL’s Bridge Program provides free, unique and comprehensive precollegiate programming for St. Louisarea high school students and parents. The Bridge Program offers college preparation workshops, personal and professional development seminars, networking and mentoring engagements, volunteer opportunities and counseling services.
FEATURE
With Goebel & Co. Furniture,
UMSL alum Martin Goebel
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combines old-world craftmanship with contemporary techniques BY HEATHER RISKE
ere a typical craftsman from the Court of Henry VIII to happen into Martin Goebel’s furniture manufacturing facility in north St. Louis today, Goebel doubts he’d be altogether surprised by what he found. “He would look around and say, ‘Yeah, I get what they’re doing here,’” Goebel says. “He might say, ‘I don’t know what that electric motor is, I don’t know what some of this technology is,’ but the theory in which we put things together is not any different. It’s not that we’re reinventing the wheel.” As the founder of Goebel & Co. Furniture, Goebel has produced custom wood furniture for projects ranging from Urban Chestnut Brewing Company’s beer hall in St. Louis to Nike’s corporate headquarters in Oregon to a throne for Queen Melambeka of Zambia. Over the past decade-plus, he’s developed a unique approach to furniture production that harnesses the power of technology while still respecting old-world traditions. It’s the culmination of years of hands-on experience in the field as well as an extensive educational background that includes several stints at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. Goebel was set on a career in the furniture world as soon as he took his first woodworking courses in high school. At 19, after just one semester at UMSL, he moved to Fort Bragg, California, to study at the College of the Redwoods to complete a year-long apprenticeship in studio furniture with acclaimed Swedish woodworker James Krenov. Upon returning to St. Louis, he launched a small furniture shop out of the two-car garage behind his grandparents’ house, where he spent about five years building custom furniture for art galleries and private clients while also occasionally taking courses at St. Louis Community College and the University of Missouri–Columbia. Photo courtesy of R.J. Hartbeck
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When business in the luxury market began to dry up ahead of the 2008 recession, Goebel, then 25, set his eyes on earning a master’s degree but first decided to return to UMSL to finish out his bachelor’s degree. Professor Jeff Sippel, at the time the studio coordinator in UMSL’s Department of Art and Design, helped Goebel sort out his qualifying credits and get on a fast track to a degree, ultimately completing 39 credits over the course of one calendar year. After receiving his BFA in studio art from UMSL in 2008, Goebel went on to study furniture design at the world-renowned Rhode Island School of Design, where he earned his MFA. “Martin was on a mission when he came to UMSL,” Sippel says. “He’s ambitious, and in most disciplines, especially in the arts, you have to be driven and motivated. I don’t ever see him letting up at all. The students that become, in a sense, most successful are those that have a good sense of business about them. You can talk to Martin for five minutes, and you realize he really has that quality. He has a good business sense in every respect, knows where he’s going, what he’s doing, how to get there. And he’ll do it.”
By merging old-world craftsmanship with modern technology, he found a way to automate the process of producing furniture without sacrificing quality. While Goebel had already developed his technical skill set as a working artist with his own studio, he credits UMSL’s Department of Art and Design with teaching him the ability to organize his thought process and articulate his work to others. “I’ve been at four different schools of fine arts, and I got a master’s degree at arguably the best school of fine arts in the world, and some of the verbiage and the ability to articulate work coming out of the art department at UMSL is not taught anywhere else,” he says. “UMSL teaches it like you’re a baby coming in and like you’re a professional going out, and it’s that full revolution that is a real conversation.” Later, at RISD, Goebel built on his background in traditional handcrafted furniture by expanding his skills in digital design, design theory and automated manufacturing through the use of programs such as Photoshop and SOLIDWORKS, a 2D and 3D computer-aided design app. By merging old-world craftsmanship with modern technology, he found a way to automate the process of producing furniture without sacrificing quality, in turn scaling the business and creating heirloom pieces at a more accessible price point. “I could make just about anything with my hands, which was a really enjoyable skill set, but the problem I had was I couldn’t make enough of it,” Goebel says. “It’s flattering when someone gives you $100,000 for a dining table and within the arts world, I know how blessed I am to get commissions like that. But the people who are buying a $100,000 dining table buy that with less care than I buy a latte – proportionately, the money is just insignificant. And I didn’t grow up that way. “When it comes to the furniture people actually use, I wanted to figure out how to synthesize the knowledge of two degrees in fine arts and one very traditional European cabinet-making apprenticeship and now bring those products to the world at not only attainable prices but attainable aesthetics. I’m not trying to make leaps and bounds in the design industry
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because that’s not how people live. You can have this amazing concept and this wow factor, but it’s got to fit into somebody’s life.” Upon returning to St. Louis after earning his master’s, he opened Goebel & Co. Furniture, which specializes in artisan wood furniture, including coffee tables, bar cabinets, bed frames and more. The company produces custom pieces for residential, hospitality and large-scale corporate clients alike. If you’ve dined out in St. Louis, you’ve likely sat on furniture made by the company – Goebel has designed pieces for restaurants, bars and breweries including 4 Hands Brewing Co., Brennan’s, Grace Meat & Three, Perennial Artisan Ales, Side Project Brewing, Urban Chestnut Brewing Company and Vicia. The company has worked with numerous clients across the world, including Bayer, Nike, Tommy Bahama and French designer Philippe Starck, but Goebel says the real feather in his cap was designing a throne for Queen Melambeka of the Lamba in Zambia in 2019. He received the introduction through the CEO of a company that builds wind farms in Zambia, and he designed a throne that would fit in the back of a Range Rover so that the queen could travel to various villages and meet with members of the Lamba tribe. With an eye toward accessibility, Goebel launched Kindred Heirloom Collection, his first furniture and home goods brand widely available to the consumer market. The collection of about 30 pieces includes staples for the home such as chairs, coffee tables, bed frames, desks, shelving and other functional pieces made with sustainably harvested Missouri white oak and walnut. Pieces in the Kindred collection are priced in line with Restoration Hardware and sold through the Kindred site as well as Wayfair’s luxury platform Perigold. “Kindred Heirloom Collection is all about taking heirloomquality products and bringing them to market at attainable prices,” he says. “It’s high-touch furniture that you would live with on a day-to-day basis. And that’s 100% designed in 3D on the computer, automated manufacturing, vertically integrated within my own company in St. Louis.” The new collection was made possible with the help of a $300,000 loan earlier this year from the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, which also allowed Goebel & Co. Furniture to bring the technology it had previously outsourced back home to its 15,000-square-foot manufacturing facility. Now, all stages of the production process, from product development and design to prototyping and manufacturing, are done in-house. “It’s all about controlling more of the manufacturing process, knowing where we are and where we can save time and money,” Goebel says. “But really, it’s a matter of taking old-world theory and applying it to new-world, contemporary methods. Whoever was building Spanish galleons would have loved to have had an electric motor on things or a computer controlling it.”
Craftsman Mike Walsh (right) works with Martin Goebel on replacing a blade on a band saw in the shop.
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ALUMNI NEWS
You Belong CLASS NOT ES
O N E O F US
W H ER E I N T H E WO R L D?
“
QUOTABLE
VINITA HENRY, OD 1985
I BELIEVE IN HARD WORK, BUT YOU DON’T ALWAYS REALIZE THAT OTHERS MIGHT BE PAYING ATTENTION OR ARE AFFECTED BY YOUR WORK.
”
STAY CONNECTED
LET US KNOW WHAT YOU'RE UP TO!
We wa n t to h ea r from you ! Sh a re yo ur n ews, p h otos a n d follow u s a t @UMSL.
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alumni@umsl.ed u
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314-516-5833
1970s Gloria Carter-Hicks, BSAJ, was sworn in as a commissioner for St. Louis County’s Civil Service Commission.
1980s Elizabeth Peterson, BA 1980, received the inaugural Dr. Jane A. Miller Award from UMSL’s Department of Chemistry. Keith Grosz, BSBA 1984, began a new position as director of business development at Gershman Investment Corp.
Karen Johnson, BSBA 1993, was promoted to director of experience and research enablement at Edward Jones.
Tawana Lawson, MS 1999, was promoted to associate director of the Hazardous Material Program at Wayne State University.
Doug Wiese, BS 1993, began a new position as senior director of security, fire and safety at Volkswagen of America, Inc.
Brian Price, BA 1999, began a new position as a sales manager at Renewal by Andersen.
Angela Kolkmeier, BSBA 1994, began a new position as a sales engineer at MetalTek International. Elizabeth Stonefield, BA 1994, began a new position as director of community-based services at KVC Missouri.
Dr. Vinita HENRY, OD 1985, received the Achievement Award in recognition of outstanding long-term contributions to the optometric profession from the American Optometric Association Contact Lens and Cornea Section Council in June. She was extremely honored to be recognized by her peers nationally. “I believe in hard work, but you don’t always realize that others might be paying attention or are affected by your work,” she says. “It is very nice to know that your work has been beneficial to others in your field.” Henry also received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Optometric Contact Lens Educators this year and works as clinical professor and associate dean of clinical operations in UMSL’s College of Optometry. “Working with students is extremely rewarding. To watch their growth and be a small part of watching them reach their potential is very special. I have had a small role in the education of optometry students for over 35 years, and I get to help many more patients than I would have as a private practitioner because I have played a role in the education of our alumni who practice optometry all over the United States.”
2000s Toni Hayes, BS 2000, began a new position as principal scientist of toxicology for preclinical drug development at Apellis Pharmaceuticals. Todd Hicks, BA 2000, began a new position at Baron Spices.
Felicia Reum, BA 2002, began a new position as a manager at Everything But Water. James Ewing, BA 2003, began a new position as a designer at OneTech Group. Charles Hinderliter, BA 2003, was promoted to senior vice president of government affairs at St. Louis REALTORS. Julie Mantia, BSAcc 2003, began a new position as a finance coordinator at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Michelle Buckley, BA 2004, was promoted to talent acquisition director at Renewal by Andersen.
Kirk KASICKI, MACC 2004, was promoted to senior vice president, corporate tax at CSI Leasing Inc. Kasicki worked full-time while studying for his master’s degree at UMSL – his daughter was born three weeks before finals during his last semester – and he landed his first job out of college with CSI in the income tax department. He considers himself lucky to have a boss who not only taught him what he needed to learn but also supported him when he took a position at Enterprise Rent-A-Car to further expand his horizons. Kasicki returned to CSI as manager of the income tax department in 2010 and has been leading the department since. He says he was quite surprised and honored to be named among those being promoted this year at CSI’s annual company-wide meeting. “It reminded me of the faith that CSI puts into its people and is just one of the reasons that CSI has so many longtenured employees,” he says. “During my time at CSI, I’ve learned about taxing regimes around the world and also had the opportunity to travel to four continents, getting to know and advising our local teams on tax issues. I’ve worked on a vast array of projects from structuring opportunities for our customers to due diligence on acquisitions as CSI has continued to grow, especially internationally.”
Renee Hardin-Tammons, BSBA 1986, was sworn in as a judge on the Missouri Court of Appeals.
Edward Concannon, BS 1996, was promoted to vice president of IT systems at CSI Leasing Inc.
Tim Jordan, BSBA 1986, began a new position as director of delivery excellence at Trace3.
Rebecca Boyer, BSAcc 1997, was honored at the Salute to Business Achievement Awards.
Patrick Chunn, BSBA 1987, was honored at the Salute to Business Achievement Awards.
Ernest P. Williams III, BGS 1997, began a new position as supplier diversity program manager at bioMerieux.
Vince DeBlasi, BA 2001, was honored as West Newsmagazine’s Educator of the Year.
Elijah Davis, BSEd 2004, began a new position as an IPS supervisor at Preferred Family Healthcare.
Sarajeni Hammond, BSBA 1998, was honored at the Salute to Business Achievement Awards.
Stephanie Gifford, BSEd 2001, began a new position as an enablement analyst at Ameren.
Kelly Griffon, MSW 2004, began a new position as a business development specialist at MapHabit.
Douglas Harrison, BA 1998, was appointed associate dean for the Division of Applied Undergraduate Studies in the School of Professional Studies at New York University.
James E. Jordan Jr., BSAcc 2001, DBA 2020, began a new position as acting associate deputy director at USDA Rural Development.
Angela Smith, MEd 2004, began a new position as a disciplinary education program coordinator at Valley View Public School.
Lori Bryan, BS 2002, began a new position as a regional re-entry coordinator at Centurion Health.
Sima Eghbal, MBA 2005, began a new position as manager of strategic accounts at Cedric Millar Integrated Solutions.
Sam Ganga, MBA 1989, was honored at the Salute to Business Achievement Awards. Jeff Henderson, BS 1989, began a new position as senior manager of supplier quality at Kindeva Drug Delivery Systems.
1990s Cathy Arshadi, BSBA 1992, was honored at the Salute to Business Achievement Awards.
Emmanuel Kalogerakis, BS 1998, began a new position as the head of controlling and accounting at RLE International Group.
Jen Caby, BA 2002, began a new position as DevSecOps department leader at Edward Jones.
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ALUMNI NEWS
ONE OF US
Toni Hayes, BS ‘00 HOMETOWN: St. Louis CURRENT LOCATION: Pepperell, Massachusetts OCCUPATION: Principal Scientist of Toxicology for Preclinical Drug Development at Apellis Pharmaceuticals
Toni Hayes is fulfilling her dream of making a difference through her passion for science. After serving in the United States Marine Corps, Hayes knew she wanted to obtain a four-year degree and ultimately chose UMSL because it was a flexible option that would allow her to continue working while pursuing her interest in biology. She had her sights set on a career working in the sciences, either in academia or industry, and has certainly accomplished that. After completing her bachelor’s at UMSL in 2000, Hayes went on to earn her master’s in toxicology from Northeastern University in 2006. She is a 2015 diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology and a 2022 diplomate of the Safety Pharmacology Society and currently works at Apellis Pharmaceuticals as principal scientist of toxicology for preclinical drug development. She looks back fondly on her time at UMSL, giving a lot of credit to former professor Godfrey Bourne. “He was so inspiring and motivating,” she says. “He really encouraged me when I didn’t think I would make it through the program, and I’m forever grateful for that.”
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WHAT DO YOU KNOW NOW THAT YOU WISH YOU KNEW WHEN YOU WERE A STUDENT? As an undergraduate, I always approached college and my time at UMSL as an acute exercise because I juggled working full-time with academics, and time was always a challenge. I think as a student, especially a nontraditional student, I always felt like I had to hurry ... “catch up!” Now I know that I was exactly where I needed to be to get where I am now. I didn’t need to catch up to anyone or anything. I’d love to go back in time and enjoy the process, take my time, get better grades, make more friends, join more clubs. WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT YOUR JOB? I love that the work I do every day has the ultimate goal of bringing therapies to people suffering from rare diseases. HOW DID YOUR TIME AT UMSL PREPARE YOU TO BE A LEADER? The degree I earned from UMSL was my pivot toward the kind of work that I was really passionate about doing. It’s enabled me to be a leader within the STEM community and a voice for minorities and women who are underrepresented in the sciences in general.
Colleen Songer, BSEd 2005, MEd 2010, began a new position as a special education resource teacher with Francis Howell School District.
June Christian, PhD 2011, began a new position as an inclusion and diversity manager, learning and education at Starbucks.
Kiet Dinh, MBA 2006, began a new position as a product portfolio manager at Enterprise Fleet Management.
Aya Finley, BSAcc 2011, MA 2012, began a new position as an audit and compliance senior project manager at World Wide Technology.
Rachel Fick, MA 2007, was promoted to senior vice president of global marketing at CSI Leasing Inc.
Talia Gholson, MBA 2011, began a new position as a senior human resources consultant at the University of Missouri–Columbia.
Aaron Golchert, BSBA 2007, was promoted to vice president of sales at Mana Supply Company. Kelcy Siddall, BS 2008, began a new position as a grants administrator at DOORWAYS. Dan Brugere, BSBA 2009, began a new position as a Content Center of Excellence leader at Edward Jones. Anthony D’Agostino, MPPA 2009, began a new position as chief executive officer at Peter & Paul Community Services. Mark Kostedt, BSAcc 2009, began a new position as global supply chain and integration manager at Phantom Works Advanced Weapons at Boeing. Chris Paasch, BSBA 2009, began a new position as a program leader at Edward Jones. Nicole Pacheco, BSBA 2009, was promoted to director of strategic business initiatives, GFS at Reinsurance Group of America, Inc.
2010s
Adam Moss, BSBA 2011, began a new position as an operations associate-Addepar/BETA at Stifel Financial Corp. Mary Risler, BA 2011, was promoted to MP&P technical analyst (chemical/ contamination) at Boeing. Shakina Sheppard, BA 2011, began a new position as a clinical support supervisor at CenterPointe Hospital. Eboni Sterling, BSEd 2011, began a new position as the director of research and evaluation at Area Resources for Community and Human Services. Janelle Stowers, MEd 2011, was named to St. Louis Business Journal’s 2023 list of “Most Influential Business Women.” Christian Williams, BA 2011, began a new position as a youth community behavioral health liaison at BJC HealthCare. Salih Buric, BSBA 2012, began a new position as a project manager at Enterprise Fleet Management.
Matt Lewis, MEd 2012, began a new position as a human resources advisor at Novaspect Inc. Amanda McCrary, BA 2012, began a new position as a resident physician at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital.
2010, was recently promoted to associate director of talent acquisition at Ginkgo Bioworks, a platform company in the biotechnology space focused on synthetic biology. Perkins learned as an undergraduate resident assistant just how fulfilling it was to help students on their journey and turned that passion into a career helping students develop the competencies that employers are looking for. To advance in her career, she took advantage of the flexibility UMSL provides for working professionals juggling their home life, their career and their academic goals to pursue her master’s. After earning her degree, she was promoted and has continued to advance in her career in university relations within corporate talent acquisition.
Lyla Kolar, BSBA 2014, was promoted to vice president of marketing at Omni Logistics.
Marie Steinbach, MBA 2012, began a new position as a licensed massage therapist at Massage Envy.
Vance Lewis, OD 2014, began a new position as an optometrist at Swagel Wootton Eye Institute.
Brett Alexander Evans, BSBA 2013, began a new position as vice president of sales at Carbon Direct.
Carmen Stayton, MEd 2014, began a new position as a program manager/ math instructional specialist with the Institute for School Partnerships at Washington University in St. Louis.
John Felchner, BSBA 2013, began a new position as a transportation manager at Nestle Purina North America. Samuel Fredeking, BA 2013, was promoted to vice president of operations at BHR. Sarah Gamblin, BA 2013, MA 2018, began a new position as director of systems change-community information exchange at the United Way of Greater St. Louis. Melissa Kaelin, MBA 2013, began a new position as the director of executive staff integration, US Business Unit at Edward Jones. Christian Power, BSBA 2013, began a new position as a business execution consultant for the Research and Diagnosis team at Wells Fargo. Bri Pumphrey, BA 2013, began a new position as a behavioral health specialist with the Texas National Guard. Jill Rogers, MBA 2013, began a new position as a community manager at The Commons. Daman Singh, BA 2013, began a new position as a VDI and managed endpoint engineer at Capgemini.
Angela PERKINS, MEd
Chris Johnson, MBA 2014, began a new position as a senior manager of Phantom Works Advanced Weapons at Boeing.
Majed Alam, BSBA 2014, started as a GA staff advisor at Aramco. Samir Alic, BSBA 2014, was promoted to financial analyst at Cushman & Wakefield. Andrew Berhorst, BSBA 2014, began a new position as the director of accounting at Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition. Paige Clark, BBA 2014, began a new position as a client success consultant at Ad Astra. Cynthia Holman, BA 2014, began a new position as an FP&A analyst at Commerce Bank. Natalie Jaggie, BA 2014, began a new position as a corporate attorney at Stock Legal, LLC.
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Michael Walker, BSIS 2014, began a new position as an assistive technology analyst at World Wide Technology. Joe Atkisson, BSBA 2015, began a new position as a financial advisor at Benjamin F. Edwards. An Cao, BSBA 2015, MBA 2019, began a new position as a senior accountant at Medrina. Matthew Coker, BSBA 2015, began a new position as a solutions architect at OSF Digital. Liz Drennan, BSBA 2015, began a new position as a finance manager at Stryker. Naomi Green, MBA 2015, began a new position as marketing manager of association and events at MCI USA. Taniza Haq, BSME 2015, began a new position as an engineering manager at Nidec Motor Corporation. Greg Helton, BSCIE 2015, began a new position as an aviation project manager at Hanson Professional Services Inc. Nathan Johnston, BM 2015, began a new position as a senior IT assurance analyst at Centene Corporation. Alicia Kemp, BA 2015, began a new position as a small business banker at Bank of America. Carissa Lyle, BSBA 2015, began a new position as a cost accountant at World Wide Technology. Katie Mocivnik, BA 2015, began a new position as a prospect researcher with the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. Kent Morgan, BS 2015, began a new position as a corporate process engineer at Aurorium. Anita Moudgal, MD, MEd 2015, began a new position as instructor, medicine-hospitalist at the University of Colorado Anchutz Medical Campus.
Nicole LOGRASSO, BSBA
2013, was recently promoted to small business liaison officer on the Global Supplier Diversity team at Boeing supporting the Air Dominance Division in St. Louis. She began her career at Boeing in 2016 as a procurement agent and worked at the company for more than four years before making the hard decision to leave in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. She was excited to return to the company early last year and to have been promoted this spring. “I’m most excited about learning the SBLO side that I wasn’t able to learn in my previous time on the team,” she says. “I’m also excited about learning more about some of the cross-functional teams that I get to work with in this role, which will further expand my understanding of how Boeing does business outside of just supply chain.”
Amanda Tran, BSEd 2015, began a new position as a junior kindergarten teacher at Rohan Woods School.
Terrell Jones, BA 2016, began a new position as a claims generalist associate at Progressive Insurance.
Kayla Young, BS 2015, began a new position as a project/program coordinator II at Washington University in St. Louis.
Sean Marshall, BS 2016, began a new position as a convention services manager at the Chase Park Plaza.
Jaymi Brooks, BIS 2016, began a new position as a senior brokerage partner at DTSpade Specialized Real Estate. Tiffany Brown, BA 2016, began a new position as a qualified mental health professional at Integral Care. Kayla Cambron, BSBA 2016, began a new position as a lead customer resolution representative at Wells Fargo. Brianda Cepeda, BSIS 2016, began a new position as a senior data analyst at Network for Good. Sean Curd, MA 2016, was promoted to director of admissions at Stephens College. Chandler Duchaine, BSBA 2016, began a new position as a senior product manager at Klein Tools. Nousheen ‘Bri’ Ehsan, BS 2016, began a new position on the expert witness team at Maune Raichle Hartley French & Mudd, LLC. Olivia Foster, BSN 2016, began a new position as a psychiatric nurse practitioner at SSM Health. Aeisha Johnson, MEd 2016, began a position as a senior auditor at BJC Healthcare.
O
Brittany Hafford Smith, BSW 2017, MSW 2020, began a new position as a development manager at The ALS Association.
Katy Robertson, MBA 2018, began a new position as the director of development and community engagement at Rung for Women.
Wade Justice, BSBA 2017, was promoted to senior AML and fraud investigator at Edward Jones.
Blaire Stillwell, BA 2018, began a new position as digital product owner of MySoftware at Emerson.
Mirzet Mandzic, BA 2017, began a new position as a sales manager at Essential Network Technologies.
Amanda Sylcox, BA 2018, began a new position as a community support supervisor at Compass Health Network.
Ryan Morse, MAcc 2017, was promoted to senior analyst in corporate development at Core & Main. Sarah An Myers, BA 2017, MA 2021, began a new position as a contributing writer at the Center for Inquiry. Raven Pugh, BA 2017, began a new position as an associate project manager at Urban Strategies, Inc. Mekdes Sirage, BSN 2017, began a new position as nursing manager in perioperative services at Methodist Hospital.
John Tegethoff, BSAcc 2018, began a new position as a property accountant at InnVentures IVI LP.
Nilkumar Thanki, BS 2018, began a new position as an analytical and formulation scientist II at Thermo Fisher Scientific.
Amanda Vanderheyden, MEd 2018, was promoted to UX architect at Bayer.
Menasha Adams, BSME 2019, began a new position as an application engineer at Hitachi Energy.
Selena Smith, BSCIE 2017, began a new position as a senior engineering designer at Lee Engineering LLC.
Danielle Brickey, BS 2019, began a new position as an executive assistant at VetBiz.
Gaylon Via, MBA 2017, began a new position as vice president of strategic planning at UWG Huy (Ben) Nguyen, BS 2016, MS, PhD Advertising Services. 2022, started as an adjunct instructor Alicia Walker, MSW 2017, MEd 2021, at Maryville University. began a new position as a fifth grade Josiah Perkins, BS 2016, began teacher with the Hazelwood a new position as an account School District. development representative III Amanda Carr, MEd 2018, began at Samsara. a new position as a member of the Emma Seidel, BSME 2016, began a Board of Directors at Kids in new position as a mechanical design the Middle. engineer at Stereotaxis. Kyle Cope, BSBA 2018, was promoted Cassie Starrett, BSN 2016, began to senior program manager at Boeing. a new position as a certified registered Phillip Deters, BSBA 2018, began a nurse anesthetist at Metro-West new position as senior financial Anesthesia Group, Inc. planning analyst in BDS Mobility, Audri Adams, BA 2017, MA 2020, Surveillance and Bombers at Boeing. began a new position as a senior Kimberly Falls, BA 2018, was academic advisor at the University promoted to store manager at of Missouri–St. Louis. Scandinavian Designs. Storme Burt, BSBA 2017, began a Alexander Friedman, BSME 2018, new position as an associate event began a new position as a sustaining accountant at Maritz Global Events. engineer III at Essex Industries. Alex Fischer, BSAcc 2017, MSAcc Mohammed Khider, BSBA 2018, 2019, began a new position as began a new position as a human supervising senior tax associate at resources specialist at Wataniya Armanino LLP. Insurance Company. Christina Floyd, BA 2017, began a Sammie Lienhard, BSBA 2018, new position as a chemistry lab began a new position as controller supervisor at Infinity Laboratories. for Regional Health Services of Nicole Gaehle, BSIS 2017, MS 2019, Howard County. began a new position as a technical supporter at UMSL Women's Hackathon.
Hannah Briner, MSW 2019, began a new position as an adjunct instructor with the Cincinnati State Technical Community College.
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Rhonda Clayton, MEd 2019, began a new position as manager of business administration at University of Missouri Extension. Ehsan Davarzany, MA 2019, began a new position as a project manager at Morcom International, Inc. Kevin Flood, BSBA 2019, began a new position as a financial services representative at Charles Schwab. Drew Foster, BSW 2019, began a new position as an urban garden coordinator at The Fit and Food Connection.
Heather Lange, BS 2019, began a new position as a trust associate with Central Trust Company.
Elise McMindes, MFA 2019, was promoted to a senior graphic designer at Optum. Kimberley Preston, BSBA 2019, MEd 2021, began a new position as a fifth grade teacher with the Hazelwood School District. Kaitlin Riesmeyer, BA 2019, began a new position as a senior associate scientist at Pfizer. Koltyn Schilly, BA 2019, began a new position as team manager in investor services at TD Ameritrade.
O
faculty member who inspires me
WHERE IN THE WORLD?
LONDON with Veronique DiVoire, MBA 1994
RIGINALLY from Lyon, France (a twin city
to St. Louis!), Veronique met her husband and fellow UMSL alum, Subhojit Chakraborty, MS 1995, while earning her MBA. Together, the couple moved to London, where Veronique now works as the head of human resources for Freedom from Torture, a not-for-profit human rights organization.
WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO LONDON? My husband getting a job in London. He is from India and graduated from UMSL too, earning a master’s degree in physiological optics and vision science. BIGGEST SURPRISE ABOUT LIVING AND WORKING IN ENGLAND? How expensive London is, in particular accommodations! I was also surprised when looking for jobs. England has its own human resources professional body, the CIPD, and most human resources jobs require a master’s or bachelor’s accredited by the CIPD. I fought the job market hard when looking for my
first job in England to secure a role that wouldn’t require me to do another master’s in England. I achieved that and moving roles after that was a lot easier as I had professional experience in England. WHERE TO STAY In the Docklands by the Thames River. It is a brand-new area of London that has developed in the past 25 years. MUST-SEE ATTRACTIONS The London Eye, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey. Also, the wonderful museums, such as the British Museum and Science Museum, to name a few. HIDDEN GEMS Greenwich and its meridian. It’s not as popular as the other attractions and often forgotten by tourists, but it sits in a beautiful park by the Thames outside of the intense central London life. FOOD TO TRY Fish and chips or bangers and mash, of course!
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ASSOCIATE DEAN EMERITUS DAVID GANZ AND DR. EKIN PELLEGRINI BOTH TAUGHT ME TO NEVER GIVE UP AND ALWAYS PERSEVERE. THROUGHOUT EVERY PHASE OF RESEARCH, YOU OFTEN MAY COME UP AGAINST SOME TYPE OF HINDRANCE. MY RESEARCH STARTED RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, BUT I WAS ABLE TO UNCOVER TWO NOVEL VARIABLES OF ORGANIZATIONAL PRIDE AND 360 COMMUNICATIONS, AND IT IS MY HOPE THAT THESE FINDINGS WILL STIMULATE FUTURE RESEARCH AND CONTRIBUTE TO AN ENHANCED UNDERSTANDING OF GEN X AND MILLENNIALS BUILDING THEIR CAREERS IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. James E. Jordan Jr., BSAcc 2001, DBA 2020
ALUMNI NEWS
Lindsey Sieve, BSBA 2019, began a new position as an AP supervisor at Enterprise Fleet Management.
SEEN AND HEARD
Helena Spikes, BS 2019, began a new position as a process development scientist at MilliporeSigma.
UMSL Alumni Association 2023 Distinguished Alumni
Zack Stahr, BSBA 2019, began a new position as a regional marketing manager at Live Nation Entertainment.
The 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award winners are transformational leaders in special education, construction law, business, media, philanthropy and cybersecurity. They also continue to support UMSL with their time and talent. This collective impact can be felt from our campus to the St. Louis region to the larger world, driving positive change for a better tomorrow.
Ashleah Summers, BA 2019, began a new position as a senior technician at Valvoline Inc.
The 2023 honorees are (pictured from left) Petra Baker, MEd in educational administration, 2003, EdS in administration, 2008; Joseph C. Blanner, BS in public policy administration, 1998; Gloria Carter-Hicks, BS in administration of justice; Kevin Killeen, BA in communications, 1982; Mary McMurtrey, MPPA, 2006, GC in nonprofit management and leadership, 2006. The 2023 Outstanding Young Alumni honoree is Bharath Mukka, MS in cybersecurity, 2021. The honorees were celebrated at the annual Founders Celebration held at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center on Sept. 21.
Andrew Tipping, BA 2019, MA 2019, began a new position as manager on the Health Data Science Team at the Missouri Institute of Mental Health. Matthew Walker, BSBA 2019, began a new position as a technical specialist at Edward Jones.
2020s Keonna Artis, BSBA 2020, began a new position as a customer service representative at Wells Fargo Advisors. Tanvi Bhandary, BSBA 2020, began a new position as a corporate banking analyst at Barclays Corporate and Investment Bank. Savannah Boehlein, BES 2020, began a new position as an elementary school teacher with the School District of University City. William Brewer, BS 2020, began a new position as a career and transfer skills development specialist at Dallas College. Ivory Clark, MA 2020, started a new position as assistant curator at the National Blues Museum. Kalynn Clinton, BSBA 2020, began a new position as TECDP program project management lead analyst at Cigna Healthcare. Matthias Dunville, BSBA 2020, was promoted to portfolio administration associate manager with Cushman & Wakefield.
Selmedin Esmerovic, BSBA 2020, began a new position as a safety specialist at Alcatraz LLC.
Chris Little, BSBA 2020, began a new position as a staff accountant at Charter Communications.
Mary Kate Soule, BSBA 2020, began a new position as a procurement trainee at Bunge.
Jeffry Faulkner, BSCIE 2020, began a new position as an engineer I at Parsons Corporation.
Carly McPherson, BSAcc 2020, began a new position as a staff accountant at Oral Surgery Partners.
Daisha Holmes, BSBA 2020, began a new position as a specialized grant programs manager at Johnson County Community College.
Madeline Morrison, MSW 2020, began a new position as a preschool teacher at Youth in Need.
Brianna Stanfield, BS 2020, began a new position as a clinical research coordinator at the Institute for Medical Research Inc.
Richard Hua, BSAcc 2020, MS 2022, began a new position as a development operations engineer at Boeing. Kyle Jakubeck, BSAcc 2020, received the Elijah Watts Sells Award from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Johne'e Johnson, BA 2020, began a new position as a care coordinator at St. Luke’s Hospital. Ronald Jones, BS 2020, began a new position as a code enforcement officer with the City of Dellwood, Missouri. Kellen King, BSBA 2020, began a new position as an associate at Greentech Renewables.
Autumn Nelson, BA 2020, began a new position as project coordinator in client services at RubinBrown LLP. Sally Nguyen, BS 2020, began a new position as a business product owner at Cigna Healthcare. Fatima Omerovic, BSBA 2020, began a new position as a senior account representative at USI Insurance Services. Selma Omerovic, BSAcc 2020, started a position as a business analyst with Oral Surgery Partners. Bailey Pinette, BS 2020, began a new position as a supervisor at Eurofins Environment Testing. Ally Scheidt, BSBA 2020, started a new position in Government Cost Accounting with Boeing.
38 | UMSL
Kayla Stecker, BS 2020, MSW 2022, began a new position as a hospice social worker at Visiting Nurse Association of Greater St. Louis. Lorenzo Streeter, BSBA 2020, began a new position as a buyer at Gulfstream Aerospace. Courtney Taylor, BA 2020, began a new position as an operations specialist at ATIS. Emma Whewell, BSIS 2020, began a new position as a procurement coordinator at Cushman & Wakefield. Chris Allensworth, BSME 2021, began a new position as a mechanical engineer at Engenuity. Bailey Barry, BA 2021, began a new position as a retention specialist at CarShield.
Anna Bass, BS 2021, began a new position as a research technician II at Washington University in St. Louis.
Annie McClain, BSBA 2021, began a new position as a financial analyst at Bank of America.
Dasia Williams, BSAcc 2021, began a new position as a substitute teacher at Kelly Education.
Nathan Bauer, MEd 2021, began a new position as an elementary school teacher with the Kirkwood School District.
Samantha McClure, BSN 2021, began a new position as a registered nurse at CareRev.
Ebonee Allen, BSBA 2022, began a new position as a marketing outreach coordinator at Novick Orthodontics.
Angelique Mellas, BSBA 2021, began a new position as a marketing consultant at High Five Strategies.
Abigail Anderson, BSN 2022, began a new position as a registered nurse at SSM Health.
Elma Mujezinovic, BS 2021, began a new position as an employer branding and culture communications specialist at Lexicon.
Sydney Byrd, MEd 2022, started a new position as a mental health counselor at the Megan Meier Foundation.
Winnie Needham, PhD 2021, was promoted to director of faculty development at Principia College.
Nick Classen, BSAcc 2022, began a new position as an internal auditor at Bunge.
Sam Poisson, BSAcc 2021, began a new position as an accountant at Tech Electronics.
Justin Hercher, BS 2022, started a new position as lead systems support analyst at Behavioral Health Response.
Kendra Clark, BS 2021, began a new position as an associate training and development analyst at Constellation.
William Pryor IV, MEd 2021, began a new position as teaching assistant and English teaching fellow at the National Tapei University of Technology.
Christina Karam, BS 2022, began a new position as a medical assistant at Evora Women’s Health.
Naoufel Farid, BSEE 2021, began a new position as a strategic account manager at Nidec Motor Corporation.
Muhammad Qayyum, BSIS 2021, started a new position as a technical consultant at Perficient.
Olivia Frank, BA 2021, began a new position as a youth market development coordinator at the American Heart Association.
Ryan Rawlings, BSIS 2021, began a new position as a quality assurance analyst I at Charter Communications.
Mitchel Becher, BSN 2021, began a new position as a home health nurse at Deaconess Health System. Alex Bower-Leet, BES 2021, began a new position as an assistant guide and learning specialist at Villa di Maria Montessori School. Mulugeta Chekol, BLS 2021, began a new position as a system analyst at CHR Solutions. Mydah Choudhry, BSN 2021, began a new position as a surgical nurse at Eye Surgeons of Indiana.
Mallory Mason, BA 2022, began a new position as a preemployment instructor at Easterseals Midwest. Peter Rees, MEd 2022, began a new position as a school therapist with Saint Louis Counseling.
Haley Geiser, BSBA 2021, began a new position as a tech data associate at Gulfstream Aerospace.
Tatiyahna Richardson, MSW 2021, began a new position as a staff therapist at Washington University in St. Louis.
Grace Gresick, BSBA 2021, started a new position as a marketing specialist at Ad-Venture Promotions.
Marissa Smithinsky, MEd 2021, began a new position as an ESL resource teacher at KIPP Kansas City.
Mollie Shoemaker, BSN 2022, was awarded the DAISY Award, which is a special honor given to extraordinary nurses for the compassionate contributions they make every day by going above and beyond expectations in science and sensitivity.
Gabrielle Hancher, BSN 2021, began a new position as a registered nurse at Family Care Health Centers.
Mary Alice Swann, BS 2021, began a new position as senior facilities coordinator at Cushman & Wakefield.
Ashley Starmer, BA 2022, began a new position as a data entry clerk at Lincare.
Daniel Hearst, BA 2021, began a new position as development officer in the Youth Professionals Division at the Jewish Federation of St. Louis.
Sam Taglia, MEd 2021, began a new position as an assistant manager at Edgeworks Climbing + Fitness.
Shawanda Martin, BS 2023, began a new position as an operations research analyst at US Transportation Command.
Ericka Jones, BSW 2021, began a new position as a social services coordinator with the City of Maryland Heights, Missouri. Matthew Juergens, PhD, MBA 2021, began a new position as senior financial analyst-soybean strategy at Bayer. Jena Karam, MBA 2021, began a new position as a sales coordinator at DriveCentric.
Nick Tzianos, BSBA 2021, was named talent acquisition coordinator for Lutheran Church Extension Fund. Michael Watson, BES 2021, began a new position as a teacher with East Greenbush Central Schools.
favorite spot on campus as a student
Jaqui Rogers, PhD 2023, was named to the board of directors of Pedal the Cause. Abhishek Solomon, MS 2023, began a new position as a product owner at Bunge.
MY FAVORITE PLACE AT UMSL WAS A MULTIPURPOSE QUIET ROOM IN THE FRONT OF THE MILLENNIUM STUDENT CENTER. I LOVED TO SIT NEAR THE FIREPLACE AND STUDY THERE. THERE WAS NOTHING LIKE SIPPING A PUMPKIN SPICE FRAPPÉ AND STUDYING NEAR THE FIREPLACE ON A FALL DAY! Ketisha Harris Anderson, BA 2014
In Memoriam d — 1960s Dennis McCarthy, BA 1968, on Oct. 9 — 1970s Thomas Villa, MEd 1971, on Jan. 20;
Marissa Knapp, BA 2021, began a new position as a legal administrative assistant at Thompson Coburn LLP.
Michael J. Olds, BA 1973, on Aug. 19 — 1980s Virginia Wurthmann, BA 1982, on March 11;
Mike Kohne, BSEE 2021, began a new position as a staff electrical engineer at Burns and McDonnell.
Branchfield-Mreen, BGS 1999, on June 9 — 2000s Joshua Bolds Stegeman, BA 2001, on Dec. 29, 2022;
Marie McCormick, BGS 1989, on Nov. 1, 2022 — 1990s Thomas Ford, MBA 1993, on July 11; Fern
Michael Henry Grady, BA 2004, in Aug. 2023; Orinthia T. Montague, PhD 2011, on Sept. 22. F A L L 2 0 2 3 | 39
REWIND
“In my five decades of tenure here, I’ve come to understand that the University of Missouri–St. Louis is not just an institution; it’s a force for positive change. Its mission of service has left an indelible mark on this region, and I’m highly honored to have been a part of it.” –CHARLES GRANGER In this file photo from the 70s, Curators Distinguished Teaching Professor of Biology Charles Granger, who started teaching at UMSL in September 1971, chats with several UMSL seniors and prospective high school STEM teachers. 40 | UMSL
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ts, facu UMSL studen iversity iends of the un alumni and fr eting pl m join us in co are invited to and sm ri s of voluntee 60,000 hour . 24 20 May 11, service before e and this mileston Help us mark g your goal by loggin achieve this ice. ch act of serv hours after ea ach co tor a student, You can men h ac te etball team, a youth bask ka ol class or wor ho a Sunday sc – nk ba local food shift at your rvice and se of any act counts! volunteerism
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For more info
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