Alumni News
1983
DAGNY BRANDT teaches voice at Highland (Ill.) Community College and is the director of the Highland Community College Children’s Choir.
in Anchorage. He is working on the Alaska Science Center’s walrus project to understand how climatechange-induced reductions in seasonal ice cover in the Chukchi Sea may influence the Pacific walrus population.
NANCY (NIELSEN) HUNSICKER earned a master’s degree in engineering management from St. Cloud State University. She is the senior sourcing program manager for Medtronic Inc. in Minneapolis.
JON TOLLEFSON is partner at Stonebridge Bank in Minneapolis.
1984
KIRSTIN (CARLSON) TODD is an architect at Todd Architecture LLC in Denver. KARI TOLLEFSON ESPINOSA and PETER ESPINOSA ’81 live in Edina, Minn. He is vice president and general manager of global sales with CSC Consulting Inc. JUDY (IVERSON) and PETER YLVISAKER live in Marion, Iowa. She is a medical technologist at St. Luke’s Hospital. He is creative director for GoDaddy.com.
DAN MONSON is a research wildlife biologist for the U.S. Geological Survey at the Alaska Science Center
MICHAEL OSTERMEYER ’83 is among 38 attorneys at the national law firm of Quarles & Brady LLP who were named by Wisconsin Super Lawyers magazine as among the top attorneys in Wisconsin for 2012. No more than five percent of lawyers in the state are selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers.
1985
SARAH STORVICK and TIMOTHY KUNAU ’86 live in Minneapolis. She teaches at Wayzata Senior High School. He is the supervisor of enterprise solutions for Be The Match (National Marrow Donor Program). MARK STRAND is an associate professor teaching courses in public health for the School of Pharmacy at North Dakota State University in Fargo.
1986
WILLIAM BARTH is vice president of fraud and investigations at Thomson Reuters in Washington, D.C. SARAH (MILBRANDT) DAY is senior account executive for Ventana Medical Systems, Tucson, Ariz. BRAD JERMELAND is superintendent of the Odgen (Iowa) Community School District.
For the fourth year in a row, Team Norse Force competed in a two-day, approximately 200-mile continuous relay. In honor of their fourth and graduating year, they were joined in November 2012 at both the start and finish of the RAGNAR Vegas relay by longtime Luther College cross-country coach Kent Finanger ’54 and his wife, Lois. This year Team Norse Force placed ninth out of 518 finishing teams and second in the master’s division. Team Norse Force is made up of 10 former Luther cross-country runners: Doug Nelson ’82, Brian Brown ’89, James Rothert ’90, Aaron Romine ’91, Eric Bryhn ’91, Dean Haugen ’91, Jeff Bouman ’91, Lars Anderson ’92, Mike Anderson ’92, and Eric Goers ’93; one former Luther swimmer, Tom Marquardt ’91; and yes, believe it or not, one 1992 Wartburg College graduate, Todd Houge. Matt Veldey ’92 has competed with Team Norse Force for the last three years but was unable to compete this year because he is on active duty in Afghanistan.
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Luther Alumni Magazine
She is a stay-at-home mom. He teaches biology and chemistry at Broadway High School.
1987
JULI (VILLESVIK) BAECKER is CEO of WinkIt in Stillwater, Minn. She also serves as a board member with the Plymouth Church Neighborhood Foundation. CHUCK ELLINGSON is administrative assistant for Martin Luther Church in Milwaukee. DAN FINANGER is manager of wellness operations for Optum Health in Charlotte, N.C. JEFF MAHNKE is information technology manager for Cambia Health Solutions in Portland, Ore. KATY (SAUERS) and MATTHEW MAKER ’89 live in Decorah, Iowa. She is a certified nurse midwife and is taking six months to serve Mother Health International at its MHI birth center in northern Uganda. Fifty miles from the nearest hospital, the center does about five births a day and teaches midwife students, both international and local. He will stay in Decorah as a pharmacist at Donlon Pharmacy. FAYE (PEDERSON) SWENSON earned an M.B.A. degree from London Business School and is customer success manager for Reeher LLC in St. Paul, Minn. KRIS SWENSON is professor and chair of the department of English and technical communication at Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla. NATHAN VOGES is a sales consultant for Bob Rogers Travel in Woodridge, Ill.
1988
MIKE FLITTIE of Birch Bay, Wash., is vice president of IS and customer logistics for PLZ Aeroscience Corp.
DALE KRUSE is a doctoral student in vocal performance at the University of Minnesota. He is director of the Cedar Singers Men’s Choir at Augsburg College in Minneapolis. He is also the conductor of the Minnesota Opera’s Project Opera and Children’s Chorus. JULIE JOHNSON PEÑA and PAUL PEÑA live in Minneapolis.
PAUL HANSTEDT received Virginia’s State Council of Higher