ALUMNI PROFILE

Kenneth Larson of Berthoud, Colorado, manages all warehousing, inventory management and transportation for Canyon Bakehouse in Johnstown.

1991

Jane (Jensen) Christensen MAE ’94 of Minden retired after 30 years at UNK, as an undergraduate, graduate/graduate assistant, senior lecturer in English, and associate director of the UNK Honors Program. Karen (Dewitt) Griffith ’91 of Spearfish, South Dakota, works for Black Hills Counseling Services but is now semiretired. Timm Wilson of Kansas City, Missouri, is employed with Rockhill Orthopaedic Specialists in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.

1992

Laura (Drake) Jay of Omaha was promoted to software research analyst at Applied Underwriters. Angela Salas MAE of Madison, Wisconsin, is the vice president of academic affairs for Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin.

1993

Julie (Schipporeit) Smith MS ’16 of Kearney is the assistant director of Thompson Scholars at UNK.

1994

Angie (Vanlengen) Mohr of North Platte is an accounting associate for UNL's Greater Nebraska Business Center in North Platte.

1995

Dawn Bartlett MAE ’99 of Watertown, New York, is an associate professor of communication studies and first-year experience faculty coordinator at State University of New York-Jefferson in Watertown, New York. Kate (Snyder) Heelan MAE of Kearney is a professor and assistant chair at UNK in the department of kinesiology and sport sciences, as well as coordinator of the exercise science program and director of the physical activity and wellness lab. She was honored with the Leland Holdt/ Security Mutual Life Distinguished Faculty Award. Presented each year during winter commencement, UNK’s most prestigious faculty award recognizes an outstanding teacher-scholar for their achievements in education, research and service. The award also honors UNK alumnus Leland Holdt and commemorates his many years of leadership at Security Mutual Life. Mark Kjar of Kearney is the president/ general manager of Chief Agri.

Kate (Snyder) Heelan MAE

1996

Kristin (Miller) Gottula of Kearney is the manager of strategic partnerships with Wildix. Christine Knezevic of Lone Tree, Colorado, is a senior investment analyst for University of Nebraska Foundation.

1998

Kevin Classen of Niwot, Colorado, is the president of FirstBank. Josh Erickson of Kearney is the Hastings College head men’s wrestling coach. Stephanie King-Witt, MSE ’05 of Cairo is now director of marketing for Central Nebraska Rehabilitation Services, the parent company for 16 physical therapy clinics throughout the tri-cities and Lincoln. She also owns Stephanie Lynn Wedding Photography, providing wedding and engagement photography in central Nebraska since 2004.

1999

Jessica (Wilson) Galles of Omaha graduated with her MSN in nursing education. Stefani (Rowe) Wegner of Kearney is a health sciences advisor at UNK.

2000

Rich Hardy MAE of Chokio, Minnesota, is an athletic trainer and research coordinator with Heartland Orthopedic Specialists and has been elected as a member of the editorial board for the international, peerreviewed publication Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic and Related Surgery. Angela Mercer of Kearney is an enrollment evaluator in the office of the university registrar at UNK. Alex Straatmann of Kearney is a legal advisor for the United States Space Command.

2001

Molly Brost, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of English at the College of Saint Mary in Omaha. Amber (Schmeits-Brown) Lewis of Wimberley, Texas, is city administrator at City of Rollingwood.

2002

Brad Maul of Mount Juliet, Tennessee, is the president and CEO at the East Tennessee Economic Development Agency. Amy (Helzer) Nebesniak of Kearney is associate director for the honors program at UNK. Keri (Eberhardt) Pearson of Kearney is the assistant director of institutional research at UNK. Rakesh Srivastava MSE ’06 of Hastings is the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2020 Nebraska Small Business Person of the Year.

2003

Riley Ross of Hilliard, Ohio, is a sports science performance coach at Ohio State University.

2004

Robin Burton MAE ’09 of Oakland works for Oakland-Craig Public Schools and coaches football and basketball. Lance Kosch of Norfolk is the head boys golf coach at Norfolk High School. Lance has coached the girls golf program for the past eight seasons and will continue leading them as well. His teams have qualified for state three times.

Pamela (Sanford) Moritz MSE ’18 of Grand Island is a special education teacher at Grand Island Public Schools.

2005

Michelle (McGeorge) Burton MA ’12 of Oakland is the 7-12 principal for OaklandCraig Public Schools.

2006

Kara (Sasek) Buss of Omaha is a human resources business partner at PayPal. Sarah (Schaaf) Sell of Lincoln is an assistant principal at Crete Elementary School.

2007

Ray Longoria of Kearney is executive director at the Kearney Family YMCA. Lillian (Younes) Simpson of Kearney is an APRN specializing in oncology and hematology at the CHI Regional Cancer Center at Good Samaritan.

2008

Nick Brennan of Kearney is a Realtor at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Premier Real Estate. Jamie (Clausen) Clemans of Doniphan is a senior manager at Almquist, Maltzahn, Galloway & Luth P.C. in Grand Island. Joe Ellenberger MAE ’10 of Omaha will be inducted into the Nebraska Scholastic Wrestling Coaches Association 2021 Hall of Fame. Joe was a two-time All American and member of the 2008 national championship team. Lynelle (Snider) Fritzen of Kearney is the associate director of sponsorships for UNK. Lacey (Helmer) Johnson of Beatrice teaches fourth grade at Paddock Lane Elementary School in Beatrice. Sarah (Stewart) Mattson MSE of Kearney is a TRIO disability advisor at UNK.

2009

Chelsea (Schultz) Bartling of Kearney is interim director of UNK's LaVonne Kopecky Plambeck Early Childhood Education Center. Molly (McConnell) Hall MAE of York teaches second grade at York Elementary School. Stephanie (Morosic) Hoffman of Kearney is an online program coordinator for UNK’s eCampus program. Tim Hruza of Lincoln has become a partner at Mueller Robak LLC.

2011

Ann (Thurin) Carlson of Kearney is the human resources manager for BluePrint Engines. Cade Craig, M.D., ’12 of Kearney is practicing family medicine at Kearney County Health Services in Minden. Andy Greer of Lincoln is a director of development for Messiah Lutheran Church. Roxanne (Steinbrink) Knutson of Seward is a human resources generalist at UNL. Brandon Smith of Holdrege opened Holdrege Physical Therapy and Sports Rehab.

2012

Gavin Denton of Kearney is the fire inspector for facilities management and planning at UNK. Hilke (Brandon) Meyer MBA ’19 of Omaha is a private banker at American National Bank.

2013

Jacob Deines MS of Kearney is a mental health practitioner at UNK. Lauren Stehlik of Lincoln is assistant director of Nebraska Business Career Center at UNL.

2014

Cory Foote of Omaha is a business development representative at Buildertrend. Paul Pape of Kearney is a certified occupational therapy assistant at Alpha Rehabilitation and Physical Therapy. Paul and his wife, Amy, have a 2-year-old son, Caleb. Lindsie (Lybarger) Thiems MAE ’18 of Kearney won the 2020 Christa McAuliffe Prize for Courage and Excellence in Education. Thiems is a preschool teacher for Kearney Public Schools.

2015

Trevor Crowell MA of Palo Alto, California, is a Spanish teacher at Palo Alto High School. Morgan Kristensen of Lincoln is an attorney with Johnson Flodman Guenzel & Widger. Dominique Kropp of Cincinnati, Ohio, is teaching sport management courses at Xavier University. Andrea La Rosa of Fairfax, Virginia, is a seventh grade ESL math teacher at Sterling Middle School in Sterling.

2016

Sasha (Mettenbrink) Miller of Grand Island is a senior accountant with Almquist, Maltzahn, Galloway & Luth. Meghan Forsgren of Omaha is a senior marketing representative for Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies. Nick McGrath of Omaha is an employment and labor attorney for Jackson Lewis P.C. Jason Owens MS of Lincoln is the principal for the Kearney Public Schools Hanny Arram Center for Success, opening in fall 2021. Ryo Suzuki MBA ’19 of Kearney is an international recruitment specialist and adjunct lecturer at UNK.

2017

Courtney (Hayden) Burbach is the program manager for the Kearney YMCA. Paige (Kordonowy) Kelly of Appleton, Wisconsin, is a scrum master at Cerner Corporation. Micah Stall of Gibbon is an assistant athletic trainer for UNK. Rachel Stauffer of West Fargo, North Dakota, is assistant director of annual giving at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota.

2018

Kelsey Baxter of Kearney is a library access services associate at UNK. Odalys Cruz of Schuyler teaches at Schuyler Middle School. McKenzie Cuba MSE ’20 of Kearney is the learning strategies coordinator at UNK. Nolan Hollibaugh of Las Vegas, Nevada, earned his MBA at University of South Dakota in 2019, graduated in 2020 from Amazon University in Sarasota, Florida, and is now an area manager at Amazon Delivery Center in Las Vegas.