Alumni News
2001 Dan Bellrichard of
Decorah is Grass Run Farms brand manager for Jack Link’s Protein Snacks.
KIRK JOHNSON ’82 PHOTO
Katie Marske is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
The Lutheran Summer Music Academy was in residency on the Luther campus this past summer and featured four Luther grads leading the four main ensembles at the academy. Left to right: Andrew Last ’97, concert choir; Jon Strommen Campbell ’98, chapel choir; David Upham ’92, orchestra; and Jeff Doebler ’82, concert band. Nikki Colsch and Michael Elsbernd live in Waukee, Iowa. She teaches English at Waukee Public Schools. He is director of worship and music at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Des Moines. He published a composition, “Four Short Reflections on SLANE,” with Alliance Publications.
1998 Jen Follstad-Popp
earned a graduate degree in art education from the University of Minnesota and teaches art at Waseca (Minn.) High School. She is also art team coach and a board member at the Waseca Art Center. Nicole (Voss) and George Hawkinson Jr. ’97 live in Leawood, Kan. She is a pediatric dentist for Pediatric Dental Specialists. He is vice president of business development at Connexx Energy Inc. Jason Lage is vice president for Wells Fargo in West Des Moines, Iowa. Sarah (Kipling) Lightner is dean of students for Bloomington (Minn.) Public Schools. She earned her education specialist degree from Minnesota State University–Mankato. Kyra (Rusch) McCool is a school counselor at Hilltop Elementary School in Mendham Borough, N.J. Lakshmi Ramjattan is purchasing analyst at AMD Solutions in Miramar, Fla.
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John Smedstad earned a master of music degree in choral conducting from Oklahoma State University. He is upper school choral director at St. Paul’s Independent Day School in Lutherville, Md. Karen (Knutson) Wain is assistant professor at Geisinger Autism and Developmental Medicine Institute in Lewisburg, Pa.
1999 Sarika Bajoria is senior project designer and architect of Perkins+Will in New York. She is also a meditation teacher for the Kadampa Mediation Center.
Shelley (Jennings) Bumpus earned an early childhood endorsement from Northwestern College and is a preschool teacher at Trinity Lane Preschool in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Jen (Solomonson) Doty earned a master of technology management degree from the University of St. Thomas. She is a business analyst for Digital Cinema Implementation Partners in Edina, Minn. Mustafa Ozer of Minneapolis is chief medical physicist at Minnesota Hematology-Oncology.
Richard Winkels of Red Wing, Minn., relinquished command of the 1st Armored Division Band in March. He is spending nine months in the Middle East, where he will serve as the theater music liaison officer for Forward U.S. Army Central and Coalition Forces Land Component Command. After his deployment, he will become deputy commander for the U.S. Military Academy Band in West Point, N.Y.
Matt Mills is an IT program manager for USAID in Arlington, Va. Heather (Ciernia) Nelson is choral director at Christ the King Lutheran Church in New Brighton, Minn., and vocal director for the Mounds View Community Theatre.
2002 Tucker Hansen is
abstractor for Lake County Abstract in Madison, S.D. Jenn (Smith) and Peter Hoesing ’03 live in Sioux Falls, S.D. She earned a master’s degree in arts administration at Florida State University and is executive director of Stockyards Ag Experience. He is visiting assistant professor of ethnomusicology at Grinnell College and recently received the 2016 United Methodist Church Board of Higher Education and Ministry Exemplary Teacher Award, as well as the 2015– 16 UNCF Henry C. McBay Research Fellowship. Arijit Mazumdar of Roseville, Minn., is associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of St. Thomas. Peter Oyloe of Chicago is an actor, singer, and songwriter. He recently released an EP of original material, When the Wide World Roars.
Karen (Erceg) Schock is a pharmacist at St. Mary’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Grand Junction, Colo.
2000 Erin (Meyer) BockovenTroll of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is an intermediate accountant for Transamerica Life Insurance.
Norah Bringer and Dave Wake live in Washington, D.C. She is an appellate attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice. He is an attorney adviser at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Tyler Christiansen earned a doctor of ministry degree from Garret Seminary. He is executive pastor at Riverchase United Methodist Church in Hoover, Ala.
Last May, alumni Joni Walton ’00, Trevor Whitney ’00, John Mason ’00, Jared Bosch ’02, Jake Eastman ’99, and Becky Springer ’00 gathered together in Portland, Ore., to watch John Mason’s band perform.