MARTHA MULLINS GILLESPIE, BAUS ’03, was inducted into the Edgewood High School Alumni Association. She retired after 30 years with the Ashtabula County Department of Job and Family Services, including nine years as social services program administrator. GERRY LYONS, MBA ’04, was named executive vice president and chief financial officer of ScanSource Inc. He joined the firm in 2007 and had been serving as senior vice president and interim CFO for the past year. RAKESH PATEL, MBA ’04, was promoted to strategic sourcing manager for ingredients at Dr. Pepper Snapple Group in Texas. He lives in Keller, Texas. MEHDI H. SHISHEHBOR, MPH ’04, was named director of University Hospitals’ Cardiovascular Interventional Center. An expert on minimally invasive approaches to reconstruct lower extremity arteries, Dr. Shishehbor directed the endovascular program at the Cleveland Clinic for the past eight years. SARA ZIEMNIK, MA ’04, was named 2017 Ohio History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. She has been with the Rocky River schools for 17 years and teaches history at the high school. PETER BISHOP, MPA ’05, was named the first economic development director of Burlington, N.C. For the past nine years, he has been economic development director of Currituck County, N.C. EMILY LEYAVA, BA ’05, is pursuing a Ph.D. in sociocultural and international development education at Florida State University. The CSU alumna holds a master’s degree in religious studies from John Carroll University and a master’s degree in global development/social justice from St. John’s University. ELIZABETH NEWMAN, MSUS ’05, received a 2017 Women of Note Award from Crain’s Cleveland Business. She is president and chief executive officer of Centers for Families and Children. DENA M. WARMUTH, BA ’05, lives in North Ridgeville and is a home health aide. The dramatic arts graduate volunteers as stage manager and board member at her local community theater.
GIGI TRAORE, BA ’06, traveled to China as a U.S. delegate for the China Communist Youth League’s Young Political Leaders’ Exchange and Dialogue. One of five from the Democratic Party to be invited, she visited Beijing, Inner Mongolia and Shanghai. Traore is the principal consultant for G3 Management Firm. VISHNU VANDANA DANDU, MS ’07, was named to Dealerscope magazine’s 40 Under 40 list. She is an automation engineer with Safeware Inc. The Powell, Ohio resident has been named Innovator of the Year at her company. JODIE SAHOTA, MBA ’07, was named to the newly created chief financial officer position at Orthopaedic and Neurosurgery Specialists in Connecticut. She has served as finance director since joining the firm three years ago. GEORGE WHITFIELD, BS ’09, was named pastor of Fifth Avenue A.M.E. Zion Church in Troy, N.Y. At 34 years old, he is the youngest pastor in the church’s history. FRANCIS AFRAM-GYENING, MBA ’10, was named chief executive officer of Camillus Health, a nonprofit that provides health care for the homeless and poor in Miami. He previously was president and chief executive officer of Care Alliance Health Center in Cleveland. WONCHUK CHA, MBA ’10, earned a Ph.D. in business management from The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley this spring. He is now an assistant professor of management at Southern Connecticut State University. DIANA STARKS, MA ’10, was named vice president, Office of Diversity and Inclusion, at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. NORRIS COLE, BS ’11, signed with the Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv basketball team. The former Viking player won NBA championships with the Miami Heat during each of his first two pro seasons. The Maccabi team plays in the Israeli Premier League and internationally in the EuroLeague. JUSTIN HASELTON, MS ’12, was named a 2017 Rising Star in Civil Engineering by Civil + Structural Engineer magazine. He is a civil engineering/survey department manager with R.E. Warner & Associates, Inc. in Westlake.
Two alumna have joined Campus District, Inc. DIANA HASROUNI, BAUS ’16, is the economic opportunity coordinator through AmeriCorps VISTA. RACHEL OSCAR, MUPD ’17, is the interim community organizer.
VALISSA TURNER HOWARD, MA ’12, is the First Assistant Deputy Inspector General for Cuyahoga County. She also is president of the Norman S. Minor Bar Association, the premier African American bar association in Northeast Ohio. ASHLEY HILL, MPA ’14, is the owner of Homewatch Caregivers in Westlake and managing director of the firm’s Beachwood branch. Three generations of her family have had Alzheimer’s Disease; Homewatch provides care for such patients. YULU LI, MPA ’14, is president of the Friends of Global Cleveland, a career development organization which organized the first InterCLE, an event that welcomed students from other countries to Northeast Ohio. Li is a senior account analyst with Hanna Commercial Real Estate. KATIE LAMAR, BA ’16, is a special assistant in the Office of Communications for Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson. As a student, she gained experience working in City Hall through CSU’s Deckard Civic Fellow Scholarship. LEX ECKLES, BS ’17, signed with the Glanmire Basketball Club in Cork, Ireland. She is a former Viking player. OLIVIA GARL, BA ’17, is the curator at the Legacy of the Plains Museum in Nebraska. GRACE KAUTH, BBA ’17, was the Horizon League’s nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year. As a two-year volleyball team captain, she led the Vikings to Horizon League regular season titles and tournament championships in 2015 and 2016. BRIANNA WEIR, BBA ’17, led four Theta Phi Alpha sisters to victory in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Man & Woman of the Year fundraising campaign. The team, which included CSU junior Delaney Canfield, raised $80,000 during the 10-week competition. csuohio.edu
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