Past Chair: Ron Aasheim ’71, ’73 M, Helena, Montana
Thomas Allen ’88, ’09 M, Great Falls, Montana
Mary Bough ’96, Bozeman, Montana
Todd Casey ’92, Liberty Lake, Washington
Leighanne (Sletten) Daily ’87, Great Falls, Montana
Staci (Kniepkamp) Hammell ’03, Bozeman, Montana
John Keil ’96, Bothell, Washington
Bobcat Club Representative: Dale Mahugh ’73, Butte, Montana
Retiree Representative: Jeff Sipes ’86, Bozeman, Montana
The Montana State University Alumni Foundation exists to serve one mission, to “cultivate lifelong relationships and secure private support to advance Montana State University.”
This fall marks 41 years for the Spirit of the West
Nearly 200 strong, the Spirit of the West marching band’s impact on the MSU community expands far beyond its marquee Saturday afternoon performances at Bobcat home football games. The band functions as a place for students to meet and bond, aids in university recruitment and uplifts the environment at a variety of campus gatherings, not just at athletic events.
A message from the President & CEO
Dear Alumni & Friends,
As I experience my first year leading the Montana State University Alumni Foundation, I am frequently reminded of my fortune of being born in Montana and the exquisite natural splendor surrounding Montana State University in Bozeman and throughout our expansive state. In this edition of the Collegian, you will experience layers of beauty in the work and lives of our alums. From the visually stunning work of photographer Clark Dunbar ’74, whose Powwow Portraits Project captures the depth of his subjects in gorgeous detail and emotion, to the talent and curiosity of five decades of MSU graphic design alums featured in The Designers story, the work of MSU alumni continues to capture and reflect the intrigue found in our world.
Living in and serving our communities takes us down varied paths. Check out the fascinating photography and story of the night sky in Looking Up, as the executive director of the Montana Learning Center, Ryan Hannahoe ’12 is leading K-12 students in immersion projects related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics in a stunning natural environment. In our interview with Marci Kolar ’13, you will see how an MSU degree, small-town determination and alumni connections led her to a passion- and purpose-filled career at Nike. And talk about generational impact on future Bobcats in our feature, A mother’s passion; a daughter’s gift, where the gift of an MSU education influenced Susie Hart to give to future MSU students in Delores Bauer Osnik’s ’41 memory.
With the smell of autumn in the air and a promising season on the gridiron, we are excited to see you participating in homecoming activities, at the game, at a tailgate in Bozeman or in a community near you. Look for more exciting details coming your way soon.
What a gift to be here in Bozeman! I am amazed by the talent, dedication and heartfelt stories of how MSU changes, shapes and facilitates lives of service, beauty and enterprise in our state and our world. Thank you for how your impact sends ripples as you reflect on your Montana State University experiences. I look forward to connecting with you!
Go ’Cats!
Fran M. Albrecht President and Chief Executive Officer, MSU Alumni Foundation
Support for nurses
MSU’s Advanced Nursing Education Workforce (ANEW) program, received a grant renewal for $2.6 million over four years by the Health Resources and Services Administration.
Veteran awarded
Darin Mydland, a mechanical engineering technology major with a 14-year Coast Guard career, was honored with a Student Veteran Leadership Award from MilitaryFriendly.com.
Whitlock named fellow
Regents Professor Emerita of Earth Sciences, Cathy Whitlock, was elected as a fellow of the American Geophysical Union, recognizing her 40 years of groundbreaking research in past climate and environmental change, her exemplary leadership, and her contributions to education and outreach.
Since 1893
A look back at our 130th year
Entomology honor
Bob Peterson, head of the Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, received national recognition from the Entomological Society of America as an honorary member for his nearly four decades of excellence in entomology research.
Morrill Scholars
250 incoming first-year students were selected for the inaugural class of the Justin Smith Morrill Scholars Program, an initiative aimed at improving retention and graduation rates and named after the senator who helped establish the land-grant university system.
$230M MSU RESEARCH EXPENDITURES a record for the 5th consecutive year
New VP
Alison Harmon, former EHHD dean and interim vice president, was named Vice President for Research and Economic Development, bringing with her extensive experience in administration, research and education.
Final cut
After 34 years teaching and producing numerous films, Dennis Aig has retired. He was director of the School of Film & Photography. Aig won five regional Emmys while also overseeing the film school’s MFA program and its rise to the nation’s No. 1 ranked program in science and natural history filmmaking.
New dean
Brian Gillespie, associate professor and associate dean of the Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship was selected as the new dean of the college.
Quantum leap
A $26.7 million grant from the U.S. Air Force will help establish the Applied Quantum CORE facility, with a focus on advancing quantum technology applications in cybersecurity, communications technology and national defense.
Honorary doctorate
Eric Funk was honored at the fall commencement for his contributions to teaching, music and dedication to promoting the arts through his PBS show, “11th and Grant.”
FALL 2023 ENROLLMENT
16,978
A new record, making MSU the largest university in Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas
MSU also set a spring enrollment record in January with 16,110 students, the first time in its history that headcount has surpassed 16,000.
Presidential Medallion
The MSU Presidential Medallion for Achievement has been awarded to Elizabeth Shanahan, professor of political science and associate vice president for research development, in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the university.
SUSTAINABILITY
MSU achieved a STARS Gold rating for its sustainability efforts, recognized by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.
Prestigious award
The American Society of Civil Engineers’ Transportation and Development Institute has awarded Kelvin Wang its 2024 James Laurie Prize. Wang is the director of the Western Transportation Institute at MSU and a professor of civil engineering in the Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering.
Prize for innovation
Jason Hogan, a doctoral student of paleontology in the Department of Earth Sciences, received the Alfred Sherwood Romer Prize for his innovative study on dinosaur nesting strategies, suggesting an evolutionary transition from the crocodile-like nesting habits of reptiles to those of modern birds.
Space payload
Two RadPC computers were recently returned to MSU doctoral student Hezekiah Austin after trips aboard the International Space Station. The devices were specially developed by MSU researchers to withstand the unforgiving environment imposed by outer space.
Sheep study
A research team in the College of Agriculture received $4 million in new funding from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to help lay the groundwork for disease prevention and management of wild and domestic sheep around the state and region.
Bozeman best Bozeman has been ranked as the top college town in America by RentCafe.com, attributed to its educational opportunities, quality of life and proximity to national forests and parks.
48% or 8,195 of MSU students were Montana residents, according to the fall MSU census
Making midwives
This fall, the Mark and Robyn Jones College of Nursing launched a nurse-midwifery track in its Doctor of Nursing Practice program, aiming to enhance healthcare accessibility, particularly for rural, frontier and Native communities.
Goldwater scholars
Four Montana State University students, pictured from left: Heath Caldwell, Tyler Delridge, Amberly Guerrero and Amanda Haab, have been awarded the prestigious 2024 Goldwater Scholarship for their exceptional academic achievements and research in various STEM fields. MSU is one of the top universities nationally whose students have received the award, with a total of 90 recipients since the scholarship was established in 1989.
Posthumous honorary doctorate
MSU posthumously honored I-Ho Pomeroy, a beloved restaurateur and former Bozeman City Commissioner known for her community support, with an honorary doctorate in humane letters at spring commencement.
With $6 million in new funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Accelerating Research Translation (ART) program, MSU research will have increased opportunities to be translated into impactful real-life products and solutions.
Top 10 biathlete
Anna French ’20 is a dedicated student and athlete, with two bachelor’s degrees in biological science and chemistry, while pursuing her doctoral studies in Ecology with a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship; she also ranks among the top 10 female biathletes in the country.
Honorary doctorate
Chemical engineer, lawyer, historian and author Paul Wylie ’59 was awarded an honorary doctorate at the spring 2024 commencement ceremony for distinguished achievements and support of his alma mater.
Three-peat
The Bobcat men’s basketball team completed a historic run by coming from behind to beat the Montana Grizzlies 85-70 for their third consecutive Big Sky Tournament Championship, matching the longest such stretch in league history.
NSF award
Chelsea Heveran, a faculty member in the Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering, has received a prestigious five-year, $685,033 CAREER award from the National Science Foundation to support her research project focusing on the regulation of bone tissue fracture resistance by osteocytes.
Farewell
Ilse-Mari Lee, the inaugural dean of Montana State University’s Honors College and the longestserving academic dean at MSU, retired at the end of the 2024 academic year.
Gianforte Hall
Montana State University broke ground on Gianforte Hall, funded by a $50 million donation from the Gianforte Family Foundation, which will house computer science and related fields.
Military Friendly No.
in the nation in the annual ranking by the website MilitaryFriendly.com. MSU is the highestranked public university in its category.
New EHHD dean
Tricia Seifert, previously interim dean of the College of Education, Health and Human Development at MSU, has been appointed as the college’s new dean.
High honor
MSU plant scientist Chaofu Lu has been honored as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Bobcat men’s track and field dethroned nationally ranked NAU 186-185 for MSU’s second-ever Big Sky title.
BIG SKY CHAMPIONS
Udall Scholar
Doriane Keiser won a Udall Undergraduate Scholarship for her leadership and service in health care. She hopes to become a clinical psychologist and practice on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation where she grew up.
Transforming
Montana nursing
This spring, MSU broke ground on five new state-of-the-art nursing education buildings in Bozeman, Billings, Missoula, Kalispell and Great Falls, all funded by a $101 million gift in 2021 from Mark and Robyn Jones. Pictured is a rendering of the MSU campus building.
National champs
Montana State men’s lacrosse team won their first national title by defeating St. Thomas 12-7 in the MCLA Division II championship.
Fulbright award
Angela Des Jardins, an associate research professor in the Department of Physics, has received a Fulbright award to collaborate with the University of Zambia to help implement a new master’s degree in space science, supported by the Zambian Ministry of Technology and the European Commission.
Energy grant
The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science has awarded MSU doctoral student Charles McDaniel a graduate student research grant to study battery degradation at Argonne National Laboratory.
AMERICAN MARKETING ASSOCIATION
Top
The MSU student chapter earned a Top 10 designation, and won first place for Best Website and third place in the Case Competition at the annual AMA International Collegiate Conference.
Coach of the year
Lyle Weese, Dale Kennedy Director of Track and Field and Cross Country, was named Big Sky Conference Outdoor Men’s Track and Field Coach of the Year. Before leading the MSU track and field program, Weese was a four-time All-American and threetime Big Sky Champion as a distance runner for the Blue and Gold.
MSU boasted five recipients of a 2024 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. The fellowship provides an annual stipend of $37,000 for three years, plus $16,000 annually to help cover tuition and fees. Those awarded were: Genevieve Nelson, Julia Barkelew ’23, Pilar Santos ’23, Madeline Pernat ’22, Hannah Szafraniec ’18
NASA fellow
Graduate student Haley Ketteler has been awarded a NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Fellowship, valued up to $84,000 per year, to pursue her doctorate in mechanical engineering at MSU.
Indoor practice
A July groundbreaking signaled the start of the MSU Indoor Athletic Center, which will provide Bobcat football and track and field teams refuge from frigid and inclement weather. The pre-engineered metal building will contain 100 yards of turf surrounded by a six-lane, 300-meter track.
Groundbreaking
Work has begun on the Combined State Laboratories Building, future new home of the Department of Livestock’s Veterinary Diagnostic Lab, the Department of Agriculture’s Analytical Lab and the MSU Wool Lab.
Mega mentor
The American Council on Education awarded MSU President Waded Cruzado with the 2024 ACE Council of Fellows/ Fidelity Investments Mentor Award for her mentorship of four ACE Fellows and nomination of two others, recognizing her dedication to fostering higher education leaders.
Hilleman record
Nineteen students who were part of the Hilleman Scholars Program graduated, marking the program’s largest graduating class yet. The program is aimed at fostering college education access for Montana students and is named in honor of MSU alumnus Maurice Hilleman, who is renowned for his contributions to vaccine development. Hilleman Scholars are eligible for up to $6,500 in academic support for their first year and $4,000 per year thereafter.
Blue and gold inspired
You never quite know the reach of a social media post. When we put out the call for submissions for blue and gold photography for our annual calendar, we heard from Matteo Strassera, a travel photographer based in Italy. He sent us this drone image of a golden river carrying sulphurous sediment across a beach of volcanic sand into the ocean in southern Iceland.
To enjoy more of Strassera’s photography, follow him on Instagram at: instagram.com/matteo_s.photo
“I have always known Montana State University’s impact on the state, those close to me and beyond. To have this opportunity to serve the alumni, donors and friends of this great university is humbling.”
— Fran Albrecht, President/CEO, MSU Alumni Foundation
BY MEAGHAN MACDONALD-POOL
In November 2023, the Montana State University Alumni Foundation began a new era of leadership.
The Alumni Foundation’s board of governors selected Fran Albrecht as its next president and CEO to lead MSU’s philanthropic fundraising and alumni engagement organization.
“It was truly an honor to be selected for this role, joining an outstanding team of professionals and a dedicated and invested board,” Albrecht said. A native of Great Falls, Montana, Albrecht is delighted and humbled to have the opportunity to build upon the incredible legacy of Montana State University in service to the students, outstanding faculty and cutting-edge research at Montana’s land-grant university. “Our worldwide community of alumni and friends have a keen understanding of MSU’s role in their lives and beyond. I am eager to find ways we can advance MSU together.”
Albrecht earned a Bachelor of Arts from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, and a Master of Education from MSU-Billings. She has over 25 years of experience as a nonprofit executive, including leading Watson Children’s Shelter and Providence Montana Health Foundation in Missoula. She also taught advanced nonprofit administration and public service as adjunct faculty at the University of Montana. For over 20 years, she served on the First Interstate Bank Missoula advisory board of directors and recently completed a term on the Carroll College board of trustees.
In 2013, Albrecht was appointed by Governor Steve Bullock to serve on the seven-member Montana University Board of Regents, which governs the 16 Montana public higher education institutions. She served a six-year term, including two years as board chair. “My service as a regent gave me a unique opportunity to understand the critical role Montana State University plays in providing accessible, affordable, quality education to Montanans from our expansive geographical and rural state. It gave me great insight into the complexities of higher education and the importance of public higher education. It also provided a glimpse into the remarkable leadership of President Waded Cruzado,” Albrecht said. “What a gift to join this team, where philanthropy has enabled Montana State to ensure
affordability through scholarships and creatively envision solutions for nursing, engineering, precision agriculture, access to one and two-year specialty degrees and beyond.”
Albrecht said she has had a passion for helping others since she was young. Her parents quietly modeled selflessness and service in numerous ways. She double majored in psychology and sociology at Gonzaga, intrigued by the human mind, how individuals and groups behave, and how to help serve underserved populations.
“I remember being asked, ‘What are you going to do with that (degree),’” she laughed. “I was drawn to those areas because I have a deep fascination with people, a curiosity about why people do what they do, and how groups of people behave. But ultimately, it came down to a place of service. I’ve always wanted to serve others and have been drawn toward understanding what gifts I could share in service to others and organizations that make a meaningful difference.”
Fran’s and her husband Chris’ family ties to Montana State are deep. Both her mother-in-law and father-in-law, as well as numerous Maronick relatives, call themselves Bobcats. Most importantly, Fran and Chris’ son, Tommy, attends the university and is entering his senior year this fall. Though they miss their daughter Jayne, who lives in Missoula, Fran and Chris are excited to settle into their new hometown. “We have always enjoyed coming to Bozeman and cheering on the ’Cats. This is a vibrant community, and we are proud to be part of it.”
This past spring, Albrecht traveled across the Northwest and Midwest, meeting MSU alumni and friends of the university. Albrecht said the “Tour de Fran” was an opportunity to visit with devoted Bobcats personally.
It helped her understand the gravity of the university’s reputation and impact and the Alumni Foundation’s connection to incredibly generous and faithful alumni and friends.
“The Bobcat spirit is palpable,” she laughed. “When Bobcats come together, there is this love, excitement and energy around it, as well as deep caring and concern about the university’s success. When I share the exciting developments at MSU, there is ownership and pride from everyone.”
Goober McClure, Salish. Photos by Clark Dunbar
More than meets the eye
In his newest project, photographer Clark Dunbar travels to Montana powwows to capture Native American heritage in portraits
BY MEAGHAN MACDONALD-POOL
Through a lens, Clark Dunbar ’74 sees the world for what it is. He can tell a person’s story by focusing on their eyes or the majesty and grandeur of Earth with closeups of landscapes. For the past 50 years, the Montana State University alumnus has made it his life’s work to showcase his subjects in their true form.
Dunbar grew up in California but moved around the country for his father’s job. When he was in high school in Alabama, his band played in a PBS telethon event and he became intrigued by the behind-the-scenes production of the program.
“I’d always been interested in visuals, and I had played around with cameras and stills, but never really seriously,” Dunbar said. “But as I was watching the production, I got fascinated by the television camera, how they were moving the camera lens, the shot selections they were making.”
Dunbar’s band was playing around 2 a.m. During the telethon, one of the crew members needed to take a break and asked Dunbar if he wanted to run the camera in his absence. He spent most of the night behind the camera, where the technical producer complimented him on his eye. By the end of the telethon, Dunbar was hooked and decided right then to pursue a film and television degree in college.
Dunbar initially went to Pacific University, a small school in Oregon. Within 18 months, he completed all the courses offered in the film and television program and was stuck. His professors recommended a switch to a larger school with more offerings. After some research, he found Montana State’s program to be competitive with schools in major metropolitan areas.
“I started looking up the staff, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s a hell of a staff,’” Dunbar said. “I went to go sign up for all my classes and I couldn’t get into them, because a lot of the ones I wanted to take I had to take requirements that I would have taken freshman year at Montana State.”
Instead of taking courses he had already completed, Dunbar went straight to Rudi Dietrich, a department professor and legendary photographer, and persuaded him to allow Dunbar to enroll in upper-level courses.
While at MSU, Dunbar cited three professors who impacted him: Dietrich, Paul Jesswein and Fred Gerber. Jesswein and Dietrich taught him two different sides of the photography business. Jesswein taught Dunbar how to hustle and grow in the field, while Dietrich explored the philosophy and art of the medium. Gerber was the department head and a scriptwriter. He taught Dunbar the
“For some of these people it was their first time dancing. For some elders it might have been their last time dancing. For Clark to capture these moments was so special to me and to our community.”
Felicia Messerly
importance of writing and communicating with clients.
“What I learned from him was how to listen,” Dunbar said. “He spent a lot of time saying, ‘You write with what people are actually saying, don’t write what you think you want to write. You write in real language.’ I learned how to listen to people. If you are dealing with a client, you have to know what they want and how to execute it.”
Over the past five decades, Dunbar has reinvented his photography career several times. From owning his own stock-footage company to taking photos of cadavers for the Department of Veterans Affairs and working in-house for Lockheed Martin, he has a client list that includes Apple, Wells Fargo, Volvo, Mattel and more.
The Powwow Portrait Project
In his newest career move, Dunbar focuses on portraits of Montana’s Indigenous communities. His latest project is a series in which he photographs on location at powwows across Montana in a mini studio with formal, classic-style lighting. Dunbar, who lives in Somers, Montana, believes
each subject carries their unique character, history, family, traditions, pride and culture in every aspect and strives to capture that in his photos.
“With my portrait project, I don’t want the audience to see a person standing there. I want them to truly see the person,” said Dunbar, who started the project in 2023.
Dunbar logs hundreds of miles across the state, traveling with his portable studio. Before attending a powwow, he contacts the organizers for permission to set up his ministudio, a one-canopy tent. At the event, he displays a few of his prints to serve as examples. He also wanders the grounds, asking attendees if they’d like to be photographed and showing them sample images on his phone.
Last year, Dunbar contacted Felicia Messerly to see if he could attend the 59th Milk River Indian Days (MRID) celebration in Fort Belknap. Messerly, a member of the Assiniboine tribe, was on the powwow’s planning committee and women’s flag bearer for her tribe. Messerly said Dunbar was there to build his portfolio and offered portraits free of charge. Attendees only had to pay for prints if they wanted them.
Messerly said vendors come from all over for MRID and charge for their work, so Dunbar offering high-quality portraits for nothing was appreciated. Powwow attendees from toddlers to elders took part in sessions and all had the same reaction: They were captured looking and feeling their finest in their regalia.
“For some of these people it was their first time dancing. For some elders it might have been their last time dancing. For Clark to capture these moments was so special to me and to our community,” Messerly said.
Messerly also got her photo taken by Dunbar. Two of her children are in the U.S. military, one in the Army and one in the Air Force. Messerly wanted to honor them and wore an Army uniform along with her beadwork, ribbon skirt and moccasins. She said her portrait came out amazing and had become a special gift she can pass down to future generations.
“I quit jingle dress dancing a long time ago, but for me to
Clark Dunbar, middle, photographed with Kenny McClure, left, and his son Goober McClure, right, at the Arlee Powwow. Photo by Stacy McElderry
be captured in my regalia and my uniform was really nice,” Messerly said. “It’s a portrait my parents ended up putting in their house and my grandma has a copy too. It’s just something that will live on and can be passed down to my children and grandchildren.”
Dunbar’s work not only helps powwow attendees celebrate their culture, but it can mean so much more. For Aileen Fox-Plant, Dunbar’s work helped her honor the memory of her daughter.
Fox-Plant and her daughter Naomi Plant had attended the Last Chance Community Powwow in Helena since Naomi was young. They would drive for hours to the fall event from Arlee, Montana, and relish a weekend of community, love and laughter. Dunbar attended the event in 2023. Both Aileen and Naomi received their portraits and were pleased with the results.
“I posted the pictures online and I got many compliments,” Fox-Plant said, who is an Anishinaabe
(Ojibway/Odawa/Pottawatomi) tribal member of the Wikwemikong Unceded First Nation. “One of my relatives commented on my daughter’s photo, ‘Oh, you have your father’s eyes,’ and that was pretty heartwarming. He did a wonderful job with the portraits.”
On June 11, 2024, Naomi died in a motor vehicle accident. While trying to plan for her funeral, Fox-Plant reached out to Dunbar to see if he would let her use the portrait shot for mass cards and the service. Dunbar didn’t hesitate to help Fox-Plant in her time of grief.
For Fox-Plant, the portrait session has taken on something so much more than a physical reflection of herself or Naomi. It is a pathway to remind her of her daughter — the scholarship lacrosse player, the jingle dancer, the friend.
The Last Chance Community Powwow is nothing but good feelings, Fox-Plant said. She enjoys attending the event because of the atmosphere of dance, song and
Naomi Plant, Salish/Anishinaabe/Kootenai
Aileen Fox-Plant, Anishinaabe
Montana’s tribal reservations
Native American heritage in the state’s capital. Fox-Plant said she will continue to participate in the powwow because she believes it is good medicine for her and she cherishes the memories of going with her daughter.
“Being a jingle dress dancer, they say it originated with the Anishinaabe people and they said that the dress originated from our tribe. I just started dancing again after a 23-year hiatus. It brings me so much happiness to dance jingle again. And to have danced jingle with my daughter again was so special.”
Dunbar has found personal and professional growth through this project. He said he has learned about the various Indigenous tribes across the country and understands the importance of celebration through powwows. Dunbar said elders have complimented him on his work and understand the value of having regalia portraits available for community members. This summer, Dunbar has begun “season two” of the project and plans to attend Montana powwows and hopefully expand into other states.
The Powwow Portrait Project has started to receive attention from media outlets. In 2025, the Holter Museum of Art in Helena will host an exhibit of Dunbar’s work. From late night beginnings behind the TV camera, his interest in capturing the world has never wavered.
Top left: Kaven Not Afraid
Top row, from left: AJ McDonald, Salish; Marcel Ismnana, Dakota/Lakota
Middle row, from left: Amelia Birdinground, Crow; Howard Adams, Nakota
Bottom row, from left: Wayne McCoy, Kootenai; Kyleigh Walking Horse, Fort Peck Tribes; Stephen Small Salmon, Pend d’Oreille; Chamique Not Afraid, Crow
Looking
A view of the Horsehead Nebula with clouds of dust and gas that reside in the Constellation Orion, 1,500 light years from Earth. Photo courtesy of Ryan Hannahoe & Sal Grasso
MSU grad
leads students, teachers and amateur stargazers on a journey through the night sky and beyond
BY HANNAH STIFF
As a child, Ryan Hannahoe ’12 still remembers the wonder of seeing an egg dropped from an airplane at 1,000 feet. That experiment was one of many “really cool” experiments Hannahoe got to do at aerospace camp during the summer.
Hannahoe grew up on the East Coast and said he was lucky to attend the Boy Scout camp, which gave him an early love of space and science. Later in childhood, Hannahoe joined a local astronomy club, built a telescope, and in high school, received a Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium to travel to Hawaii and present at an astronomy conference.
“I felt like I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time,” Hannahoe said.
The right place, right time theme continued through college as Hannahoe left the East Coast to look at the night sky from a different vantage point: a mountain near New Mexico State University. On that mountain, Hannahoe used a telescope to fuel his love of astronomy. That love carried him from the mountains in New Mexico to a new valley of peaks in Bozeman.
“When I came to MSU, I came from working on an observatory atop a mountain in New Mexico,” Hannahoe explained. “I was teaching people how to work with telescopes and manipulate astronomical data. From that work, I was invited to give a talk at the Museum of the Rockies. While I was in Bozeman, I toured the physics
department, and I fell in love with MSU.”
Though Hannahoe ultimately pursued an education degree from MSU, he said he spent countless hours with professors and students from both the physics and engineering departments. While at MSU, Hannahoe also worked for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in various capacities, including working as a public outreach intern for the James Webb Space Telescope mission, the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. The Montana Space Grant Consortium funded Hannahoe’s NASA work.
After earning a teaching degree, Hannahoe found a job teaching science in Clancy, Montana, and working at the Montana Learning Center (MLC) at Canyon Ferry Lake near Helena, Montana, as the nonprofit’s part-time executive director.
MLC is a nonprofit organization that provides Montana students with educational experiences in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields. The organization inspires science teachers through hands-on, inquiry-based science lessons and opportunities.
Hannahoe first became involved with the MLC in the summer of 2013 when he worked as a camp counselor. At the time, Hannahoe was student teaching with MSU science education professor Walt Woolbaugh ’93 M, ’04 PhD. Woolbaugh told Hannahoe there was a “really great program” he would be perfect to help with.
“I did encourage Ryan to be a counselor up there, and he loved the place,” Woolbaugh said.
It’s not hard to understand why Hannahoe enjoyed that summer so much. Most of MLC’s camps take place on the shores of Canyon Ferry Lake. Nestled near the Rocky Mountains, the lake offers unique geological and natural features. Hannahoe and the campers enjoyed fishing, kayaking, boating and swimming, as well as science lessons of all kinds.
That first summer ignited a passion for MLC, leading Hannahoe to join the MLC board before becoming the nonprofit’s part-time executive director in 2016. In 2019, Hannahoe was able to leave the classroom as a science teacher to go full-time at MLC. Hannahoe is currently the organization’s only full-time employee. He oversees a staff of over 40 part-time camp counselors, instructors, operations staff and interns. Many of the camp educators are awardwinning science teachers during the school year.
Hannahoe said he has a 100% return rate for instructors
Ryan Hannahoe with the 25-inch visual-use telescope at the Montana Learning Center. Photo credit: Visit Southwest Montana
this year.
“As the boss, I feel really proud of having all the staff back; they do a great job,” Hannah said. “All our instructors are certified teachers in Montana and other states.”
Hannahoe has also worked to recruit MSU alumni, including Woolbaugh, to the learning center’s board and summer staff.
“It’s very MSU-themed here, now that I’m thinking about it,” Hannah said with a laugh.
It’s easy to see why MSU alumni would be interested in MLC.
“As the executive director, Ryan is amazing as he brings many donations and funding into the center,” Woolbaugh said.
Woolbaugh said that under Hannahoe’s leadership, summer camps and teacher workshops grew in scope and attendance. In addition to bolstering MLC’s budget and staff, Woolbaugh said Hannahoe has been instrumental in maintaining and improving the facilities. From upgrading MLC’s plumbing to adding vans for camper transport or purchasing new mattresses for campers’ perfect night’s sleep after stargazing, Hannahoe is creating an oasis for visitors from around the state.
Today, MLC offers 28 summer camps to 500 elementary, middle and high school students. Those campers choose from a variety of themes, including dinosaur camp, Yellowstone National Park exploration, naturalist
adventures, zombie apocalypse, LEGO missions, overnight astronomy camp and more. Hannahoe said many campers return year after year until they are old enough to become junior counselors and interns.
“We specialize in providing unforgettable learning experiences for kids,” Hannahoe said. “We pride ourselves on having a high-quality staff.”
MLC camps are renowned for revealing the magic of science to children. But Hannahoe and his team know that instilling that love of science must extend to teachers and adults as well. At the MLC, teachers learn how to better engage students interested in science.
Starstruck
In2020, the Montana Space Grant Consortium, part of NASA’s National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program, awarded the Learning Center a grant to fund the development of two new online teacher training courses. The courses — also made possible by collaborating with Montana State University’s National Teacher Enhancement Network — teach Montana middle and high school educators how to use a robotic telescope, which in turn allows teachers and their students to contribute to publishable research.
In addition to funding the robotic telescope training, NASA chose MLC to be an Education Affiliate of the
The Montana Learning Center offers 28 summer camps to 500 students from elementary through high school. “We specialize in providing unforgettable learning experiences for kids. We pride ourselves on having a high-quality staff,” said center director Ryan Hannahoe. Photos courtesy: Montana Learning Center
“Getting out there on a telescope is really peaceful. I enjoy working with groups, but I also like my own time for the work I’d like to do. It’s great to be able to image a galaxy or nebula.”
— Ryan Hannahoe
Montana Space Grant Consortium. The consortium works to strengthen aerospace research and education in Montana.
“Being a NASA partner has really helped us,” Hannahoe said. “It has helped to grow our organization.”
During his time at MLC, Hannahoe has found ways to share his love of the skies and background in astronomy. In addition to offering astronomy camps, light pollution monitoring kits to libraries statewide, an on-site weather station with clear sky predictions, and telescope training for teachers, Hannahoe is credited for creating the Mike & Lynn Rice Astronomical Park on MLC’s campus, which now boasts three observatories with five state-of-the-art telescopes.
The public is also invited to visit the observatories and drink in the Milky Way — groups of up to six people can reserve a telescope. A guide is also available to help people understand what they’re seeing. Montana’s largest publicuse telescope, the 25-inch telescope, offers stunning views of nebulae and galaxies “like you have never seen them before.”
“It’s great for cruising the Milky Way and large deep sky objects,” Hannahoe said. “Your guide will help you travel the universe.”
Though Hannahoe loves bringing the night skies to life for students, teachers and the public, he also enjoys using the telescopes alone.
“Getting out there on a telescope is really peaceful,” Hannahoe says. “I enjoy working with groups, but I also like
my own time for the work I’d like to do. It’s great to be able to image a galaxy or nebula.”
While he records data about the galaxies far away, Hannahoe is also taking photos. His night sky astrophotography has been featured by NASA and the Smithsonian, and is on permanent display at the Museum of the Rockies.
Though there is plenty of equipment at MLC to help learners of all ages marvel at the night sky, Hannahoe said there’s more on the way. And the timing is perfect with another summer of science and discovery underway on the shores of Canyon Ferry Lake.
“We’re actually in the process of installing a new telescope,” Hannahoe said. “It’s a donation from the MSU physics department. We are really glad to partner with MSU on many things.”
The public can enjoy MLC’s state-of-the-art telescopes at “Beyond the Big Sky” nights during the summer. For one weekend a month from June through August, MLC observatories are open to the public starting at sunset. Each “Beyond the Big Sky” night kicks off with a presentation from an MLC astronomy expert. After the presentation, attendees can put their newfound knowledge to use while gazing at night skies through the telescopes.
To learn more about the public observation stargazing nights or MLC’s array of programming, visit: montanalearning.org
The Orion and Running Man Nebulae are depicted in this two-frame mosaic image. The Orion Nebula is a vast cloud of dust and gas spanning 13 light years and containing over 3,000 stars. Image courtesy Ryan Hannahoe & Sal Grasso
The Milky Way provides a stunning heavenly display over the Montana Learning Center and Canyon Ferry Lake near Helena, Montana. Photo by Shane Mayer-Gawlik for the Montana Learning Center
BY CAROL SCHMIDT
Some ideas are so strong they endure through time, through ongoing graduations, a global pandemic and countless virtual meetings.
That is what happened with the recently published The Designers: Five Decades of Montana Made Designers. The 192-page book was conceived in 2019 in a Montana State University junior-level graphic design class in the School of Art and College of Arts and Architecture taught by professor Jeffrey Conger and published last fall. Co-authors included Conger and recent MSU graduates Katherine Nell ’19 and Nelson Goldsworth ’20. The book will be highlighted at this fall’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of Haynes Hall.
The book is a more than four-year effort that transcended the most difficult of circumstances. Nell and Goldsworth were juniors at MSU and students in a 300-level design class in 2019 when Conger proposed the idea for the book, a research project that would feature exceptional and innovative professional designers who had been MSU
graphic design students and individuals linked to MSU and Montana.
Conger said the students in the class, who became known as Studio 10, were an exceptional group who wanted real-world publication design experience when they took on the project. In addition to Nell and Goldsworth, the other design students who were members of the undergraduate research team included Mary Christian ’19, Tavin DavisKapor, Teneill Gauthier ’19, Serena Gossack ’19, Erik Goughnour ’19, Christy Jacobson ’19, Siobhan Murphy ’19 and Whitney Pomroy ’19.
“We had no clue how much work was involved, although we quickly realized it,” Nell recalled. When it took several months for the group to figure out basic elements of the publication, such as the typography that would be used, the students realized that the concept would take much more than one semester, which caused the class to evolve into a series of senior-level independent studies. During their time together, the Studio 10 students decided on the format, grid system, font guidelines, layouts and research into featured designers.
“Then the pandemic hit the campus,” Conger said. As a result, the effort evolved into an online project. As the publication progressed, one-by-one the members of Studio 10 graduated and moved on to jobs and other responsibilities.
“Everyone had spread to the four winds. Eventually the group dwindled to me, Nelson and Jeff,” Nell said. “I think a lot of people assumed then that it would die. Jeff’s persistence was the reason it didn’t end.”
Nell said Conger asked her and Goldsworth if they wanted to see the book through, and they both did. By then Nell, who is a native of Red Lodge, had graduated and was working with the Bozeman-based firm Big Storm as a web designer. Goldsworth, who was a double physics and design major at MSU, had graduated and become a computer engineer for Bridger Photonics, an optics company in Bozeman.
Every Wednesday the three met on Zoom during lunch hours. Conger would assign Nell and Goldsworth a task for the next week. Slowly they progressed through the long checklist to finish the publication. Conger said that the two “endured countless hours of writing, editing and proofing through hundreds of iterations of the book.”
“I’m one of those people that if you start something you finish it, or do your best,” Goldsworth said of his commitment to finish the project. “And, I had a lot of fun doing it.”
A scientist as well as a designer, Goldsworth offered both a special skill set as well as a flexible schedule. Because of his dual major, he was able to contribute data file management and organization for the complicated project. Goldsworth said he became interested in graphic design as a freshman in the Honors College, when he met former design professor Meta Newhouse at an on-campus research symposium and became intrigued with her presentation about typography. He began taking design courses and enjoyed pairing his diverse studies.
The energetic and appealing organization of the book was set early by the members of Studio 10 and called for a division of three parts. The first section of the book focuses on some of the well-known national designers who studied at MSU. That section includes Jack Anderson ’75, co-founder of the Seattle design giant Hornall Anderson whose clients included Starbucks and Alaska Airlines; the Ames Bros, whose principals Barry Ament ’94 and Coby Schultz ’95 are known for their iconic rock band posters; and Blaine Halvorson ’10, whose Madeworn brand and diverse designs are sought out in Hollywood.
A second section injects lifestyle into the book, Nell said. The mosaic of work done mostly by recent graduates in the second section has the fresh contemporary feel of social media.
At right, and at the top and bottom of the pages that follow are samples from a few of the many alumni artists and designers featured in The Designers.
Madeworn Blaine Halvorson ’10* Los Angeles, California
Ames Bros Barry Ament ’94, Coby Schultz ’95 Seattle, Washington
“We wanted to highlight as many designers as we could and bring in their lifestyles,” Nell said. The section includes former students working in a variety of fields ranging from ski graphics to game design, printmaking and photography. “We included people from all over the world. It’s a little taste of everything.”
“The work, the projects and the creativity that I see coming out of the (MSU) school today — and this has been going on for several decades now — is absolutely jaw-dropping.”
— Jack Anderson, co-founder of Seattle design firm Hornall Anderson, now known as Sid Lee
The last section features primarily mid-career professionals and one signature piece of their design. In all, 135 MSU graduate designers and their work are featured in the book.
There was a competition among the members of Studio 10 for the design of the cover, which was won by Mary Christian. The cover design was chosen internally by the members of Studio 10. Throughout the evolution of the project, students consulted with professionals on advice for the overall publication layout. These consultants included Jack Anderson as well as Barbara Kuhr ’78 of Park City, one of the original designers of the magazine “Wired;” Dana Lytle, co-founder of Planet Propaganda agency in Madison, Wisconsin; and Bonnie Siegler, a designer for “Saturday Night Live,” who was a visiting guest artist at MSU.
Coming into the home stretch, the book was featured in an MSU Giving Day, which not only raised $23,000 in just 29 hours to help fund the project but also added some impetus to complete the project.
“There is so much love put into the book, for sure,” Nell said.
Conger said The Designers honors and builds upon a previous studentcentered book of MSU-linked designers published in 2006. That book, called Working, was a project of an MSU class taught by Conger in 2005 and also stemmed from the theme “Create + Design + Inspire.” The first version was co-authored by Conger, Stephanie Newman, Anne Garner and Ben Meyer, all design professors at the time. Barnhardt served as production coordinator for
Micah Rauch ’15 Great Falls, Montana
Lynsey Dyer ’03 Sun Valley, Idaho
Hornall Anderson | Jack Anderson ’75 Seattle, Washington
Makelike Studio | Mary Kysar Portland, Oregon
Plunkett + Kuhr | Barbara Kuhr ’78 Park City, Utah
Kelsey Dzintars ’09 Bozeman, Montana
The undergraduate research design team Studio 10 was directed by MSU professor Jeffrey Conger (back, left) and included then students, now alumni, from left: Christy Jacobson ’19, Siobhan Murphy ’19, Erik Goughnour ’19 , Teneill Gauthier ’19, Whitney Pomroy ’19, Serena Gossack ’19, Nelson Goldsworth ’20, Mary Christian ’19 and Katherine Nell ’19.
Massive | Benjamin Bennett ’96, Brett Sander ’13, Chantel Naylor ’10, Erik Dale ’17 | Bozeman, Montana
both books.
“We wanted to highlight as many designers as we could and bring in their lifestyles. We included people from all over the world. It’s a little taste of everything.
— Katherine Nell ’19
“That book was the springboard for The Designers because it was so well received,” Conger said. “Once again, it told the story that only the faculty knew about — the amazing design alumni who had graduated from MSU. We again wanted to get that story out to the public.”
Conger said that in the 20 years between versions there was less than a 10 percent overlap in content and featured designers because there have been so many remarkable graduates of the program in the interim.
The current book includes introductions written by Anderson and MSU President Waded Cruzado. Conger also credits the team at MSU University Communications for proofreading and editing and Barnhardt for file press preparation.
“The work, the projects and the creativity that I see coming out of the (MSU) school today — and this has been going on for several decades now — is absolutely jawdropping,” Anderson wrote in his foreword to The Designers.
Conger, who is fond of saying that design is both a profession and a creative act, said that the breadth and width of the designs and designers highlighted in the book are inspirational.
“It is a snapshot of our design profession and a testament to the students and faculty who have made the graphic design program at Montana State University a meaningful place to be educated,” he wrote in his introduction to the book. “…It is the essence of grit and determination that defines five decades of Montana-made designers.”
The Designers is available at the MSU Bookstore online: msubookstore.org
Boyd Goff Budapest, Hungary
Walker Howard ’11 Seattle, Washington
Chinon Maria Williams ’08 New York, New York
Korey Doll ’97 Los Angeles, California
Ixtla Vaughan ’91 Bozeman, Montana
Alan Peters ’99 Denver, Colorado
Drake Socie ’96 Oakland, California
Erin Thormodsgard ’06 Miles City, Montana
A series of
fortuitous events
BY NICK EHLI | PHOTOS BY HUNTER D’ANTUONO
From her home office in Montana, Nicole Jones balances the needs of global governments with the rights of Google’s users
There can sometimes be moments when a random event sets us on a course that we never saw coming. You might call it fortuitous or even lucky.
For Nicole Jones ’97, one of those turning points occurred in the fall of 1993 as she was beginning her freshman year at Montana State University.
When she left her hometown of Whitefish for Bozeman, she recently recalled, her parents decreed that her car would stay at the family residence until she had a job. It could have been anything — maybe waitressing or flipping burgers somewhere — but finding a job became her priority.
Nicole Jones with her equine friends Burnz, at left, and Guus, two reasons she loves working from her home state of Montana.
As she sat down with a copy of the student newspaper one afternoon to peruse the array of job listings, she couldn’t have possibly known how a position that seemed a little interesting — a post at a small tech company — would lead to a prestigious law degree, an appointment as a federal prosecutor investigating national security matters and eventually to her current senior role as a legal director for Google, the international tech giant. But that’s exactly what happened.
“I got really, really lucky,” she said. “I interviewed and got the job. That moment, seeing that ad, set up everything that came later.”
That job was with Extended Systems, a tech company based in Boise, Idaho, that was developing a way a printer could work without cables and how multiple users could “network” to a single printer. Turns out, the company’s founders were MSU alums and wanted to add an office in Bozeman.
“That was really exciting at the time.” Jones said.
Throughout her time at Montana State, Jones worked year-round at Extended Systems, first in sales and eventually, as she took a computer programming class and got more interested in tech, in customer support. “Have you tried turning it off and turning it back on again,” she recalled, became a frequent line of inquiry.
She lived near campus, made great friends and served in student government, all while learning to manage the time commitments of a job and maintaining good grades. During a career fair in her senior year, and as she was about to graduate with a degree in business, Jones met another MSU alum recruiting for a firm called Anderson Consulting, with offices around the country. The company’s job application asked potential hires to rank its locations where they would want to work and live.
Under normal circumstances, she
“To be able to have the space and the land and the animals and easy access to all of the things that I grew up with, to be able to see my family so easily, it’s been really good.”
— Nicole Jones ’97
said, she would have picked places like Denver or Salt Lake City or Seattle that seemed more familiar to someone born and raised in northwestern Montana. But this was another one of those crucial yet unplanned moments, and the MSU alum on the recruiting trip worked in San Francisco. Jones was sold.
“I’d never been to California in my life, and I’d definitely not been to San Francisco,” Jones said. “The first time I had ever been there was for the interview, and the rest is a little bit of history at that point.”
Jones landed in Silicon Valley with the dot-com boom in full swing, and she stayed at Anderson Consulting — working mostly on projects to fix old computer code that wasn’t Y2K compliant — until taking a job at Oracle.
“I was finally starting to make a little bit of money,” Jones recalled. “I look back on the salary that I had when I first moved to San Francisco, and I have no idea how I made it.”
Despitedescribing herself as riskaverse, and while her friends were taking new jobs at new companies that offered stock options and big salaries,
Jones began to consider law school. While she didn’t have the skills to be a programmer or a software engineer, Jones said, she “was always able to play a role as an intermediary between people who were really technical and people who really weren’t at all. And so, I thought, maybe I could take advantage of that.”
People thought she was out of her mind.
“At the time,” she remembered, “everything was about tech, and startups and the dot-com boom, and I’m going to pull out of all of that and go to law school for three years? My parents thought I was crazy.”
Jones figured that getting into any law school would be a reach, but she spent many nights filling out applications, writing essays and studying for the LSAT. To her surprise, she did well on the admission test and was accepted to every school she applied to. As she considered her options, and as her supervisors tried to convince her not to leave Oracle, a friend encouraged her to apply to Stanford, one of the nation’s most distinguished law schools, in nearby Pal Alto, California.
“What do you have to lose?” the friend asked. When Jones, tired of filling out law school applications, resisted, the friend offered to pay the $60 application fee if she didn’t get in. So, Jones filled out one last law school application.
While her stick-to-itiveness certainly played a role in her eventual acceptance to Stanford in 1999, Jones said her degree from Montana State made her stand out.
“I had good essays. I had good grades, but everybody did,” Jones said. “My resume stands out to certain people when they see the Montana State aspect to it. A lot of people have a good connotation of Montana, that people from Montana work hard. There is that view of us, which is accurate in my opinion.”
Jones excelled at Stanford, clerked for a federal judge after graduation and worked for a couple of years for a private law firm. When she decided to focus on becoming a trial lawyer, she sought a position as a prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“That’s how you get into court,” Jones said. “If you want to be a trial lawyer, the best way to do that is to work for the government.”
The government assigned her to an office in San Diego, California, where she prosecuted a high volume of criminal cases before using her tech background to investigate cybercrime and track the finances and support of terrorist organizations. She stayed there for five years.
“Those cases were very fun, very interesting,” Jones said.
She moved back to the Bay Area, following her husband as his career shifted, and eventually was hired at Google to investigate cybercrime and focusing on cybersecurity. The posting for the position, she said, was one “I would have written for myself if I had thought of it.”
Now, as Google’s director of data disclosure strategy, Jones leads the company’s international response to governments seeking the data of its users. According to Google’s own reporting, the number of such requests has increased roughly tenfold in the last decade.
Not that long ago, Jones said, electronic evidence was important mostly to only the prosecutors of cybercrimes, but “it’s becoming much more common that this type of data in almost any type of crime can be relevant.”
Jones no longer handles the magnitude of day-to-day cases before Google but instead focuses on its worldwide response, setting its principles and balancing the privacy of its customers with the need to comply with the laws of different countries that often conflict and demand resolutions. The internet, as Jones noted, is very much global.
That globalization has also allowed her and her husband to move to Montana, a change that began as temporary during the pandemic but
is now permanent. And while Jones still travels plenty for her job, she can work full-time from a home not far from where she grew up in Whitefish. She still has family living in the area and can keep and ride horses, a hobby she mostly gave up when she first went away to college.
“To be able to have the space and the land and the animals and easy access to all of the things that I grew up with, to be able to see my family so easily, it’s been really good,” Jones said.
Being in Montana has also allowed Jones to stay connected to MSU. She has given talks at the university, spoken with students and committed her long-term financial support to the Hilleman Scholars Program for Montana students who demonstrate academic, leadership and career potential.
“The story of that scholarship program and who it is serving really resonated with me,” she said. “It’s been a pleasure to give back to the university, to the place that was the start of so much.”
Under the watchful eye of her office mate, Charley, Nicole Jones leads international response to governments seeking Google user data, balancing the needs of customers with the laws of the countries in which it operates.
‘Out of respect for what
they have done for our country’
BY CAROL SCHMIDT
Sentinels of Freedom provides individualized support to veterans pursuing higher education
Cole Hough ’23 got out of the Army on a Monday and arrived in Bozeman that Friday. Enrollment at Montana State University followed soon after.
“I didn’t know anyone here. But I’d heard about Montana, and that veterans were treated well at Montana State,” said Hough, a 10-year veteran of the U.S. Army Rangers 75th Regiment elite special operations unit. His service included the fall of the ISIS city of Raqqa, as well as other assignments in Afghanistan and Syria. “Once I decided to get out, I wanted to do something different.”
That something different included making the most out of his collegiate experience. One of his first stops was the MSU Travis Atkins Veterans Center, and soon after, he was connected with the veterans support organization Sentinels of Freedom. The group helps veterans in many ways, and for Hough, the support he received from the non-profit gave him the freedom to explore his intellectual curiosity at MSU.
“Sentinels gave me a scholarship, and I worked with Kent Strazza as my mentor,” said Hough, who graduated from MSU last year with degrees in psychology, philosophy and Honors. He also spent time in MSU’s Leadership Institute. “In the last two years, I worked at the Vet Center and saw how many people got tutoring because of Sentinels. They help a lot of people.”
Mechele Fonck ’23 came to Montana State by way of Great Falls, where she mustered out of the U.S. Air Force after six years of service and a deployment to Afghanistan, where she was injured by a car bomb.
Trained as an aircraft mechanic, Fonck worked at the Great Falls airport for four years, but she said her body was already beginning to show signs of stress. “And I felt that I had more to offer the world than turning wrenches.”
What she really wanted to do was help the people she met while she was deployed in Afghanistan. She said that while in country she and other soldiers would help the local community by making old fuel cells into burnable bricks because it was so cold there during the winter.
“The first winter I was there, I learned every winter 80 people would freeze to death because of inadequate housing.”
She enrolled for a year at Great Falls College MSU for prerequisites before she came to MSU to study architecture, “So I could combine the skills of architecture with my experience in the military.”
A friend told her about the Sentinels of Freedom program and its assistance
“If we touch one veteran’s life and make it a little softer landing by investing time and knowledge to help them move forward, the ripple effects are tremendous.”
— Mike Conklin, founder of Sentinels of Freedom
Mentoring provided by the Sentinels of Freedom was vital to keep Mechele Fonck ’23 going towards her goal of becoming a licensed professional architect, particularly on the days that she was discouraged.
programs that allow veterans to focus on academic success. Soon Sentinels provided her with a monthly stipend to help her pay rent, particularly welcome with Bozeman’s high housing prices. And Sentinels’ support of tutoring in the Veterans Center helped her earn the grades she needed to stay in her competitive major.
Fonck said Sentinels’ mentoring was vital to keep her going towards her goal of becoming a licensed professional architect, particularly on the days that she was discouraged. She is nearing her goal. She graduated in 2023 with her undergraduate degree in architecture and is now a graduate architecture student who plans one day to work in humanitarian architecture.
“I don’t know what I would have done without (Sentinels),” Fonck said.
There are scores of MSU veterans who have benefited from Sentinels of Freedom projects, a private non-profit organization based in San Ramon, California, said Todd Bucher, director of the MSU Veterans Services. Bucher said that the group has had a positive impact on MSU Veterans Services. Currently, more than 500 MSU students who are veterans or family members of veterans are eligible for services. That is the largest veteran enrollment in Montana colleges and universities, he said.
One of the largest needs at MSU is support for one-onone tutoring for veterans. Bucher said most veterans enroll
in science, engineering and technology programs at MSU. Since it is likely that it has been at least five years since they last took a math course, they need a refresher course to advance. Sentinels support has helped MSU hire specialized tutors at the MSU Travis Atkins Veterans Center for five years, and they just signed a contract for another five years.
Sentinels also offers a Bridge for Education program for wounded vets that may provide a stipend so that they can focus on their studies. It also provides career mentoring.
According to Mike Conklin, who founded Sentinels in 2007, in the years since the group has helped support hundreds of veterans transition to non-military life. Conklin stresses that Sentinels support is an investment.
“If we touch one veteran’s life and make it a little softer landing by investing time and knowledge to help them move forward, the ripple effects are tremendous,” he said.
Conklin said that MSU’s is one of seven veterans centers that the group supports. The connection came in 2017 when Strazza and his wife, Dana, moved to Bozeman following his retirement from a 33-year career with Franklin Templeton Investments. Motivated to do something to help veterans following 9/11, Strazza became involved with Sentinels while living and working in the San Francisco Bay area, and he serves on the group’s board of directors.
One of the first MSU veterans that Sentinels worked with was Ryan, who came to MSU from Michigan, by way of the U.S. Navy, where he served as a cryptologist for eight years, including two deployments in Afghanistan.
“I wouldn’t trade my experiences for anything. I graduated from MSU with two degrees and no debt. … Sentinels gave me the freedom to follow curiosity.”
— Cole Hough ’23
“I ended up in Montana to go to college and experience new things,” he said. “I’d heard that MSU was a great school with a great education, and they take great care of veterans.”
Soon after he arrived, Joseph Schumacher, the former director, introduced him to Strazza, who provided insight on career development, graduation prep and other key components for success. Strazza also facilitated an introduction to Conklin.
“From day one, I knew it was going to be a great relationship,” said Ryan, who graduated from MSU in 2020 with honors in a degree in business and now works at a toplevel consulting firm.
Indeed, the Sentinels’ model has inspired the recent MSU veterans in the program in ways they said they don’t think would have been possible without it.
Fonck said the model has helped her learn how to become a mentor. Additionally, she is part of an effort of architecture students to develop a student-run community design center. She plans a career in humanitarian architecture.
Sentinels of Freedom facilitated Ryan obtaining a project manager professional certification and helped him network to find his consulting job in the Seattle area working with some of the country’s best companies, including Microsoft.
Ryan said that the Sentinels connection has lasted beyond graduation. “It will go on pretty much forever. I have my dream job ... I never would have made it if I would not have had Kent [Strazza], if I had not had Sentinels,” Ryan
said. “They take care of people.”
And after Hough graduated from MSU with honors, he, too, was hired at a top-level consulting firm and was accepted into an MBA program.
“I checked all the boxes I wanted but realized I was not happy, even working for an amazing company.” Today he is enrolled in an electrician apprenticeship program.
“I wouldn’t trade my experiences for anything. I graduated from MSU with two degrees and no debt. … Sentinels gave me the freedom to follow curiosity. (They) were instrumental to my success.”
Strazza said it is an honor to work with veterans including Ryan, Hough and Fonck and watch them grow.
“There’s a natural progression from the time they leave the military to the time they leave university to take on more and more responsibility as adapted to civilian life, because service comes naturally to them,” Strazza said. “They are amazing. They are selfless, and each and every one has done so much.”
“The question is what would we have as a nation without veterans?” Conklin asked. “Those veterans come back and build our communities. They never stop serving.”
To learn more about Sentinels of Freedom, visit: sentinelsoffreedom.org
A purpose found
From a Montana cattle ranch to the headquarters of Nike, hard work, a little luck and adding one step on top of another have earned Marci Kolar a spot on a team that competes at the top of the pro sports apparel game
BY CAROL SCHMIDT
Marci Kolar ’13 will tell you that her level of Montana grit “is about as high as you can get.” Raised in a close family on a cattle ranch outside of Raynesford, Montana, she played four sports and placed nationally in a DECA competition as a student at Belt High School.
Kolar has needed every bit of that grit and a welldeveloped ability to connect with others rooted in Montana know-how as she climbs the ladder at one of the world’s most recognized and competitive companies.
Kolar, a 2013 graduate from Montana State University with a degree in business marketing, is currently a Brand Marketing Manager, NFL at Nike. Based on the company’s campus in Beaverton, Oregon, she works “with some of the most brilliant people in the entire world.” While she plans campaigns involving the country’s most recognized athletes, she’s also competing against the best of the best within her company.
It is a dream job, she acknowledges. Sometimes, she has to pinch herself as her company works with athletes such as LeBron James and Caitlin Clark. Yet, it is also fiercely competitive and demanding.
“I have relied on hard work,” Kolar said of her 10-year career at Nike. “And I have been incredibly fortunate.”
Kolar said she had excellent emotional and intellectual preparation for the job. She said her MSU degree has been invaluable, and she wouldn’t trade growing up in a small Montana town or on a cattle ranch for anything. That’s where she developed grit from her third-generation rancher father. Kolar’s mother was the Belt school secretary for 25 years and taught Kolar the fundamentals of being kind and honestly connecting with others, which has helped Kolar know how to network.
Growing up, Kolar originally planned to be a teacher. Sports were her biggest hobby. She competed in volleyball, cross country, and track, but basketball was her favorite. She might have gone into education if it hadn’t been for her high school DECA Club.
“I went to the national (DECA) convention. I had lots of success and made the stage at that convention,” Kolar said. “I grew to love doing that and decided to pursue business.”
As a student at the Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship, she first tried management and then accounting. But she found her calling in marketing. Something just clicked, she said.
After graduating from MSU in 2013, Kolar worked for a Bozeman company that marketed branded merchandise. Then, her sister and friends with whom she was living were all moving away from Bozeman, so Kolar thought it was her time, too. She set her sights on Portland and the top company in the sports marketing field — Nike, based on a large campus in suburban Beaverton.
“I moved to Portland without a job or any offers,” she said. “I didn’t know a single person. I knew that if I pursued a job at Nike, they would more likely hire me if I was already there.”
After four months in Portland, a random acquaintance from her hometown connected her to a temporary agency working with Nike.
“I got a foot in the door,” Kolar said. Her first job with the temp agency was as an administrative assistant, booking travel and managing calendars for a team within the company.
“Very quickly, the team I worked with realized I had more aspirations,” and she was asked to stretch her abilities in new projects.
A couple of years later, she took her first permanent job with Nike, which involved serving as an administrative assistant for a larger team.
“It was a similar process doing administrative work and stretching.”
In December 2019, she landed a job as a marketing specialist at Nike Basketball, which was “an absolute dream,” Kolar said.
While working with Nike Basketball, she had occasion to run into a familiar Bobcat face — Nico Harrison ’96, the former MSU basketball star who was then Nike’s vice president of North American basketball operations. Harrison is now general manager of the Dallas Mavericks, which recently finished second in the NBA finals.
“Nico has always been so incredible, and he has a huge passion for the Bobcats,” Kolar said. “He is someone we all
should be proud of as a Bobcat.”
While with Nike Basketball, she attended the thrilling NBA All-Star game in Chicago in February 2020. The experience was exhilarating, but “it was our last hurrah, and we didn’t know it,” Kolar said. A month later, the team ended up going remote.
The pandemic soon resulted in the shuffling of her team, and Kolar was then added to the marketing team for Nike Running.
“Nike was founded on running, so working on (Nike) Running was an incredible experience,” she said. During that time, Kolar helped launch multiple footwear innovation projects and attended the 2021 U.S. Track & Field Olympic Trials. “And I have a special place in my heart for running now.”
Two years ago, Kolar applied for a role in NFL Football marketing, her favorite work team so far, she said. She works on marketing on a few different levels, including NFL marketing with events such as the Super Bowl festivities or the NFL Draft. The team also works on marketing for individual teams and athletes. In the last two years, she has been to two Super Bowls with Nike.
“I couldn’t even imagine getting to go to a Super Bowl, let alone being paid to be doing it,” she said.
But her favorite project in the last decade, the one that changed the trajectory of her career and cemented her understanding of purpose within Nike, was an amateur design competition for Nike lifestyle shoes in six cities throughout the world: New York City, London, Seoul, Tokyo, Paris and Shanghai. The amateur-designed
Even with the demands of a career attached to professional sports, Marci Kolar often joins her parents, Vince and Patty, for Bobcat football games.
shoes were produced and sold a year later, making an international name for several of the designers.
Kolar said that as a female athlete, another of her recent joys has been having a front-row seat to the rise of women’s athletics in basketball, gymnastics, soccer and more.
“These sports and these athletes are finally getting their due,” said Kolar, who said she is a huge and long-time fan of retired WNBA star Candace Parker, regarded as one of the greatest WNBA players of all time. Kolar said she believes the popularity of women’s sports has built up to the point that it is here to stay.
“There are so many college athletes that are so much fun to watch,” she said, including University of Southern California’s JuJu Watkins and Paige Bueckers at the University of Connecticut. Kolar said one of the advantages of working for Nike is its commitment to diversity in its own teams and its corporate culture.
“There are times when I am the only female in the room, but I’ve also been in a room with all females and one male.”
Kolar said she is looking forward to broadening her experience in her current role, which is her favorite yet. She said the company has some exciting projects in the pipeline.
But as glamorous as her job may seem, it also involves a great deal of time, work, and a commitment to a shared purpose, which is not only part of Nike’s mission but also something that comes naturally to the Montana girl.
“Everything I do at Nike isn’t about the travel or the athletes I connect with, but it is about making a difference as much as I can for the consumers we market to,” said Kolar, who also emphasized that the views in this interview are hers and do not represent the views of the company that she has loved working for in the past decade. “One of the best things about my job is working with people with the same values. Being a member of a team that feels the same way makes a huge difference in what we are doing.”
One example of her commitment to giving back is that Kolar frequently returns to MSU to lecture at MSU marketing conferences. She also rarely misses a Bobcat football game, sitting in seats her parents have had since she was first in college.
“My journey isn’t one I’ve planned out, but it happened step-by-step,” she said. “One of the things I tell current students is to get involved in things that you are passionate about, not things you think will look good on a resume. See new things, try new things, travel and find your passion. Find your purpose.”
Bobcats Hike event draws in alumni and friends from across the world
HAPPY TRAILS
BY MEAGHAN MACDONALD-POOL
Going to college at Montana State University is a pleasure in so many ways. From its rigorous academics to its friendly faces, it’s easy to feel at home in the classroom and in the dorms.
Off campus, students have the unique opportunity to leave the world behind and escape to the outdoors. The mountains are mere miles away and hiking is considered a classic pastime for any Bobcat.
To celebrate the spirit of outdoorsmanship, the MSU Alumni Foundation hosted Bobcats Hike, an inaugural
friendly challenge where participants could choose their path, their pace and their peak. From June 1–15, 2024, participants logged miles moved and sent in pictures from their treks.
A total number of 381 people signed up for Bobcats Hike and represented 37 states in the U.S., plus multiple countries. Eight different alumni chapters held group hikes, 112 photos were submitted and a total of 585 miles were logged. Go ’Cats!
Photo submitted by Lynda Nelsen-Matthews ‘86; Cheese Rock Trail, Teenaway, Washington
1: Tommy Bentley ’12; Rocks of Sharon, Spokane, Washington
2: Fran Chirgwin Shellenberger ’56 and Donna Locati; The Vineyards Senior Independent Living Unit of the California Armenian Home, Fresno, California 3: Courtney Kellum ’98 and the Five Valleys Chapter; Missoula, Montana
4: Oren Schumaker ’02, Wyatt and Dean Schumaker; Blodgett Canyon Overlook, Hamilton, Montana 5: Chris Danforth ’84, Bella and Penny Rose; Goat Mountain Lookout, Bass Lake, California 6: Drew Van Fossen ’75* and Ferny; Mountains to Sea Trail, Blue Ridge Mountains, North Carolina 7: Kimberly Woodard-Ewing ’09; Machu Picchu, Peru 8: Mary Anderson ’83 and Bryan Anderson; Mossy Cave trail, Bryce Canyon National Park and Escalante Petrified Forest State Park, Utah 9: Jack Sherick ’63 and Champ; along the Missouri River in Great Falls, Montana 10: Ron Jendro ’91; Heart Lake, Montana 11: Jane Wakefield ’84; Willow River State Park, Hudson, Wisconsin 12: Julie Morman ’96; Kasteel Groeneveld, The Netherlands 13: Kelly Pefley ’89; Spokane, Washington 14: John Gates ’82, Doreen Gates and photo of Caden; Silver Run Trail, Beartooth Mountains, Montana 15: Ryan Pitsch ’04 and the Mile High Chapter; North Table Mountain, Golden, Colorado
A mother’s passion; A daughter’s gift
BY SARAH LUDEN
In Tom Brokaw’s book The Greatest Generation, he profiles people who grew up in the United States during the Great Depression and came of age during World War II.
He famously wrote that “it is, I believe, the greatest generation any society has ever produced.”
Delores Bauer Osnik ’41, was part of that generation, and a pioneer working woman of the time. While at her 70th class reunion at Montana State in 2011, she quipped that Brokaw was right about the greatest generation. “We are,” Osnik said, adding, “It takes a lot of guts to be 90. It’s not for sissies.” She was 91 at the time.
Osnik, growing up on the family farm in Winnett, Montana, said that getting her secretarial degree at Montana State University (then Montana State College) changed her life. Instead of working at the post office in Winnett, she was able to go to Chicago and work for the National Park Service. Later, after she
married, her husband was transferred to Dallas, and she worked for several large companies, including Texas Instruments, holding such jobs as systems analyst and accountant, all while raising a family.
Graduating from Winnett High School as valedictorian earned Osnik a $50 scholarship, which she applied to receive her education at Montana State. The only degrees offered back then for women were nursing, teaching and secretarial science. She was the first in her family to attend college and always believed that her university experience and degree set her up for career and life success. Though her husband Nicholas passed away in 1970, Osnik made sure her two daughters, Janie Osnik Newsome and Susie Hart, received a college education.
According to Hart, she and her sister understood from an early age that it wasn’t “if” they would go to college, the only question was “where.”
Hart attended Texas Tech and
had a career in medical sales, while Newsome attended Eastern New Mexico University and had a career in special education.
While at MSU, Osnik was a member of Kappa Delta sorority, Lambda Phi Kappa and Phi Kappa phi honor societies, Secretarial Club and the Women’s Athletics Association (W.A.A.). Osnik had very fond memories of the university and stayed active in the university community for years after her graduation. She attended all three of her university reunions and always enjoyed coming back to Bozeman to see her classmates and the positive growth of the university. Osnik passed away in 2018 at the age of 98. Hart, who had attended the 2001 and 2011 MSU class reunions with her mother, understood how much Osnik’s college education transformed her life. Hart wanted to find a way to honor her mother by giving back to the university. She decided to connect with Montana State about creating a gift in
her will to MSU in her mother’s honor from the inheritance her mother had left her.
“I wanted to put it where she would have wanted it to go. She would be very happy it went to Montana State,” Hart said.
Chelsey Wilson ’11, Senior Director of Development at the MSU Alumni Foundation, worked with Hart to create the Delores Bauer Osnik Memorial Scholarship, an endowed scholarship in the Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship that will support students majoring in business at MSU, in perpetuity.
When Hart first met Wilson, Hart brought photo albums and yearbooks of her mother’s and together they went through years of photographs chronicling Osnik’s life and her close ties to Montana State. From that initial meeting, there were two things that became very clear to Wilson. “Hart loved her mother, and her mother loved MSU,” she said. Wilson enjoyed
learning about Osnik, and added, “It was a pleasure to work with Hart and find a way to memorialize her mother and support the greatest needs of the university.”
Kerry Hanson ’93, ’08 M, Vice President of Engagement at the MSU Alumni Foundation, knew Osnik over the years from her attendance at reunions and Cat/Griz watch parties in Dallas. Hanson recalled that, as usually the oldest attendee, Osnik always asked to get a photo with the youngest attendee. “Delores’ engagement through so many years, and a daughter who saw what MSU meant to her is such a great story,” Hanson said. Osnik was an inspiration to all who knew her, and as a member of “the greatest generation,” she will continue to inspire future generations of MSU business students through the scholarship created in her honor. Hart aptly described her mother as “no fading flower,” and Osnik’s legacy will forever flourish at Montana State.
You, too, can honor your loved one
If you have a loved one who has been impacted by Montana State University, establishing a memorial or tribute gift is a meaningful way to honor them or celebrate a special occasion while supporting the work of our mission. Your memorial or tribute gift will be a lasting testimonial to your loved one and will make a difference in the lives of students at MSU.
A gift in your will or other estate planning mechanism, such as annuities, trusts, retirement plans, real estate or life insurance policies, can help you give more wisely and transform lives.
Visit: plannedgiving.msuaf.org
At left: Susie Hart and her mother, Delores Bauer Osnik in 2011. Above: Osnik, far right, at age 91 with members of the Class of 1941 at Spring Commencement in 2011.
MSU President Waded Cruzado and Osnik at the Class of 1941 70th reunion brunch in 2011.
Impact Report
The Montana State University Alumni Foundation works to keep graduates and friends of our university connected to one another and to their alma mater, all while raising significant private financial support and providing stewardship of invested resources.
This annual Impact Report reflects our mission to “cultivate lifelong relationships and secure private support to advance Montana State University.” Here we highlight our engagement and fundraising efforts and the resulting impact made possible by so many generous donors.
Ninety-five percent of each dollar raised goes directly to MSU projects and programs. Five percent is reinvested to support additional fundraising, alumni engagement and MSU priorities.
FUNDRAISING
FY24 Gifts & Pledges
$98,482,979
FY 2024 includes the period from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024
11,617
1,067
Students receiving scholarships
3,052
SCHOLARSHIPS
Amount awarded for scholarships
$8.9M
Academic Year 2023-24
Scholarships awarded
4,190
ALUMNI & FRIENDS
Total MSU alumni of record 154,220 Types of events 22
Class reunions, chapter, presidential, Cat-Griz, groundbreakings, watch parties, CatTreks travel, Cat Camping, retirees and associates, Bobcat Friday Nights, tailgates, Homecoming, awards events, affinity reunions and events, graduating senior events, parent events, Happy Hours, Big Sky Basketball, regional events, Lifelong Learning, Bobcats Hike, digital engagement
ENDOWMENT
Total endowment
$264.1M
As of June 30, 2023
Total gifts to endowed funds
$16,946,761 FY 2024
New endowed scholarships & fellowships
33
Total engagement events
291 FY 2024
Kennedy-Stark Athletic Center
Weather conditions in Bozeman can impede student-athletes from safely preparing for competition until now. MSU Athletics broke ground this summer on the new Kennedy-Stark Athletic Center offering student athletes needed space to prepare for competition regardless of the weather conditions that impact Bozeman.
The Bobcat facility will contain 100 yards of FieldTurf football surface with an 80-yard playing field and two 10-yard end zones. It also features a six-lane 300-meter oval track, two competition throwing rings, an approach apron for high jump, runaways and pits for pole vault, long jump and triple jump.
Additional elements include a meeting room and a full drop curtain that allows for multiple simultaneous sporting activities. Upon completion, expected Spring ’25, the facility will help student-athletes improve their game year-round while reducing the risk of unnecessary injury. The facility will be used by Bobcat varsity student-athletes during daytime hours and will be available to community sports groups during specified evening and weekend hours. The project is 100 percent donor funded. #GoCatsGo
New nursing buildings on five campuses Hilleman Scholars Program
MSU’s land-grant mission was lauded as it broke ground on five new state-of-the-art nursing buildings in Bozeman, Billings, Missoula, Kalispell and Great Falls. This is a heroic effort to address nursing shortages across Montana and the United States.
The new buildings will provide students with a better learning experience and increase enrollment in the programs, with 100 more graduates each year. With over 300 bachelors-prepared nurses who graduate from the program each year, this expansion will bring that total to 400 new nurses annually. An estimated 80% of all graduates across the Mark and Robyn College of Nursing stay in Montana.
The five buildings were made possible through a $101 million gift in 2021 from Mark and Robyn Jones. Land for four of the sites was donated by healthcare partners — Billings Clinic and Intermountain Health St. Vincent Regional Hospital in Billings, Benefis Health System in Great Falls, Community Medical Center in Missoula, and Logan Health in Kalispell. The Bozeman building will be constructed on the MSU campus. The buildings are expected to open in the fall of 2026.
The Hilleman Scholars Program is designed specifically for Montana students attending MSU. Based on personal essays, nomination letters, grades and financial need, the selection process seeks to identify those students who demonstrate significant academic, leadership and career potential.
The namesake of the program, Dr. Maurice Hilleman ’41, was a native of Miles City, Montana. Through his remarkable efforts, it is estimated that nearly 1 billion people are alive today through his contributions to vaccine science and global health.
This unique leadership and career development opportunity helps prepare future leaders. Identified by local extension agents, teachers and community members, many of the Hilleman recipients may not have even planned to attend college, but someone recognized their potential and recommended them for the program. MSU invests heavily in this program, and donors also recognize the importance of developing essential professional and leadership skills in young adults from Montana. Scholars will go on to model the success and dedication of Dr. Hilleman.
To support the Hilleman Scholars Program: msuaf.org/hilleman
Family Giving
Parents and family members are often a source of strength for their students. At Montana State, some parents — Bobcat Family Fellows — choose to provide additional resources to help sustain programs and initiatives that assist students across the campus community. Through this framework for family giving, Bobcat Family Fellows (BFF) members in 2023-24 donated over $545,000, which supported critical student success programs like Campus Assessment Response Evaluation (CARE) and the Student Emergency Assistance Fund. Other significant BFF gifts include helping to build the new Kennedy-Stark Athletic Center, a facility that will serve generations of Bobcat studentathletes.
The growth of parents involved with the Bobcat Family Fellows and the impact they are making are testaments to the character and bigheartedness of our Bobcat families.
More information is availalbe at: msuaf.org/bobcatfamilyfellows
WWAMI Gallatin College
Since 1973, the WWAMI program, a cooperative medical school with the University of Washington School of Medicine and the states of Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho (the first letter of each state is how WWAMI gets its name), has provided the opportunity for medical education to over 1,000 Montana residents. The program allows Montana students to attend their first two years of medical school at MSU’s WWAMI campus and receive their medical degrees from the University of Washington.
Dr. Brant Schumaker was recently selected to lead the program. Schumaker was the director of the Wyoming WWAMI program and professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health at the University of Wyoming. Schumaker follows in the legendary footsteps of Dr. Martin Teintze, who taught WWAMI students for over three decades, serving as the program director for the last 15 years.
One WWAMI program that provides students with valuable experience is the Neighborhood Health Initiative (NHI). The program is a student-run clinic that operates bimonthly at the Bozeman Warming Center. With Montana’s average age rising, the need for medical care is also increasing. WWAMI plays a vital role in meeting needs across Montana, especially in rural areas of the state.
Gallatin College MSU has been the university’s fastest-growing college for years and set an enrollment record last fall with 906 students. However, it has never had its own dedicated facility — it is the only two-year college in the state without one. Its 22 programs offering one-year professional workforce certificates and two-year degrees are currently spread among a variety of leased and donated spaces around Bozeman. Students enrolled in the program must often shift from one location to the next and do not have a dedicated space to support their learning experience.
Gallatin College MSU collaborates extensively with Montana industries and employers to develop responsive education and training options that meet statewide workforce needs. Existing programs at the college fill quickly and several popular programs have waiting lists because of the lack of a dedicated facility. With a centralized on-campus location for Gallatin College, enrolled students will be able to benefit from MSU’s extensive student resources and offer these students a larger state-of-the-art facility. This will support their student experience both inside and outside of the classroom. Over 4,000 Montana high school students graduate each year without a post-secondary educational plan and this facility, with its relevant and timely options, helps meet state workforce needs.
A message from the Vice President
Dear MSU alumni, friends and fans,
Ask anyone at the Alumni Foundation if we enjoy our jobs and the answer will be YES! MSUAF is a great place to work. We have incredible colleagues, and we embrace our work to connect you to and lift up Montana State, your university.
We are synched to our “why we do what we do” — so that we can bring MSU to you, bring you back to MSU, and connect you to one another, far and wide. We are proud to serve alumni, friends, donors, retirees, parents of current MSU students and Bobcat fans because we know you love MSU as we love it. And we’re all proud to hear about the successes our university has experienced in the classroom and in competition.
Thank you for joining us on many a journey this past year. As you look through this Collegian, find something that speaks to you and picture yourself in the excitement happening throughout the year at Montana State University.
Participate in an event when you’re in a chapter area. Come to campus for those incredible experiences Bozeman, one of the greatest college towns ever, offers all of us. Come to campus for Homecoming or Cat/Griz weekend this fall , or join us on the road for some Bobcat Tailgates → → → before away football games. Be a familiar face in the blue & gold crowd. You and our university are our why — thank you for inspiring us to continue to do good and important work! We MSU!
Hope to see you this year sometime!
In Blue & Gold,
Kerry Hanson
’93, ’08 M
Vice President for Engagement
Tailgates
and Bobcat Friday Nights
MSU’s Bobcat spirit shines bright on the road with our Bobcat Friday Nights and Bobcat Tailgates. Bobcat fans follow the team to their opponent’s city, transforming local spots into a blue and gold celebration on the Friday night before the game. The camaraderie continues on game day with our Bobcat Tailgates, where alumni, family and friends gather to create a home-away-from-home atmosphere. Join us this fall to celebrate Bobcat football! For more information visit: msuaf.org/tailgate
August
Aug. 24 | Montana State at New Mexico
Aug. 31 | Montana State at Utah Tech
September
Sept. 7 | Montana State vs Maine Gold Rush
Sept. 21 | Montana State vs Mercyhurst Pack the Place in Pink
October
Oct. 5 | Montana State vs. Portland State Homecoming
Oct. 12 | Montana State vs Idaho Parent Family Weekend
Oct. 19 | Montana State at Portland State
November
Nov. 2 | Montana State at Eastern Washington
Nov. 9 | Bobcat Football vs Sacramento State Military Appreciation/Agriculture Appreciation
Nov. 16 | Montana State at UC Davis
Nov. 23 | Montana State vs University of Montana
Senior Day
Homecoming Week
Come home Sept. 30 through Oct. 5
As the crisp autumn breeze begins to sweep across our beloved campus and the vibrant colors of fall paint the landscape, we are thrilled to invite you back to your alma mater for an unforgettable Homecoming! This isn’t just any event, it‘s a cherished tradition that brings together Bobcats from across generations, a time to relive memories, rekindle old friendships, and create new ones.
Join us in Bozeman for a week filled with exciting activities. Reconnect with former classmates, meet current students and witness Montana State University’s growth and transformation. Whether you graduated last year or decades ago, your presence adds to the spirit and camaraderie that make our Homecoming so unique.
Pack your bags and your blue and gold, and get ready to roar once again as we cheer on our Bobcats to victory. Be sure to check out the most up-to-date schedule of events and activities online at: msuaf.org/homecoming
Monday, Sept. 30
Go ’Cats Lighting
’Cats Inside the Lines: Virtual Coloring
Tuesday, Oct. 1
Concert on the Mall
MSU Career Fair
Wednesday, Oct. 2
BBQ and SOTW Performance on the Mall
College of Arts and Architecture 50th Anniversary:
Unbranded Screening
MSU Career Fair
Thursday, Oct. 3
Homecoming: VIA Bookstore Open House
College of Arts and Architecture 50th Anniversary:
Art Auction Reception
Lighting of the M’/Story Mill Park Viewing
College of Arts and Architecture 50th Anniversary:
Music Concert
MSU Career Fair
If you have questions, please contact the MSU Alumni Engagement Team at: rsvp@msuaf.org
Friday, Oct. 4
President’s Homecoming Breakfast
Hike the ‘M’ Spirit Photos
Alumni Friday at the R Bar
President’s Homecoming Awards Ceremony
Downtown Pep Rally
Fraternity and Sorority
Alumni Social
College of Arts and Architecture
50th Anniversary: Open House
MSU Career Fair
Saturday, Oct. 5
Serenade Before the Parade
ASMSU Homecoming Parade
College of Arts and Architecture 50th Anniversary: Alumni Artist Studio Tour
The annual Cat-Griz football game — affectionately known as the Brawl of the Wild — is one of the greatest rivalries in the nation! Check out what we have in store for you and participate in this beloved rivalry from your corner of the globe. For the most updated information visit: msuaf.org/catgriz
Bobcat Brawl Bingo
Play #BobcatBrawlBingo24 from your couch, a watch party or even in the stands! We will be giving away 10 prizes valued at $30 each! For rules and more information visit: msuaf.org/bingo
Can the Griz
Celebrating its 25th year, this food drive is a friendly, off-field competition between MSU and UM to see which school can collect the most donations for their local food bank. The competition runs from Nov. 2 through Nov. 23. For more information visit: canthegriz.org
Annual Brawl of the Wild lecture presented by MSURA, OLLI and MOLLI
The MSU Retirees & Associates, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) and The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute of Missoula (MOLLI) will host their annual Cat-Griz partnership event during the week of the Brawl. For the most updated information visit: montana.edu/olli
Watch Parties
From Massachusetts to Alaska, Texas to Florida, more than 10,000 Montana State and University of Montana alumni, friends and fans gather at over 90 different locations to watch the game together. Find an official Cat-Griz watch party near you! For the most up to date party information visit: msuaf.org/catgrizwatchparty Denver Watch Party 2023
Watch Party Locations by State
Indicates coordinator needed
Don’t see your city listed? Contact: lauren.anderson@msuaf.org
ALASKA
Anchorage
Juneau
ARIZONA
Flagstaff
Mesa
Scottsdale
Tucson Yuma
CALIFORNIA
Culver City
La Quinta
Rancho Santa Margarita
Sacramento
San Diego
San Francisco (East Bay)
San Francisco (Proper)
Santa Rosa
COLORADO
Colorado Springs
Denver
Fort Collins
Grand Junction (Fruita)
FLORIDA
The Villages
GEORGIA
Atlanta
HAWAII
Big Island of Hawaii
Island of Maui
Island of Oahu
IDAHO
Boise
Idaho Falls
Twin Falls
ILLINOIS
Chicago (Proper)
Chicago (Schaumburg)
INDIANA
Indianapolis
IOWA
Des Moines
KANSAS
Overland Park
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston
Springfield
MICHIGAN
Waterford Township
MINNESOTA
Mendota
MONTANA
Billings
Bozeman
Colstrip
Florence
Glendive
Great Falls
Helena Livingston
Missoula
Poplar
Proctor
Sidney
Whitefish
NEBRASKA
Omaha
NEVADA
Las Vegas
North Las Vegas
Mesquite
Reno
NEW MEXICO
Albuquerque
Santa Fe
NEW YORK
Midtown Manhattan
NORTH CAROLINA
Charlotte
Raleigh (Cary)
NORTH DAKOTA
Bismarck
Fargo (Moorhead)
OHIO
Cincinnati
OREGON
Bend
Portland
Salem
PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
SOUTH CAROLINA
Greenville
SOUTH DAKOTA
Rapid City
Sioux Falls
TENNESSEE
Nashville
TEXAS
Austin
Dallas
Houston
San Antonio
UTAH
Salt Lake City
VIRGINIA
Arlington (D.C.)
WASHINGTON
Bellingham
Chelan
Clarkston
Olympia Renton
Shoreline
Spokane
Tri-Cities
Wenatchee
Yakima
WISCONSIN
Green Bay
Madison
WYOMING
Casper
Cody Sheridan
Class Reunions
This past May, we celebrated the Montana State classes of 1954, 1964 and 1974 during Commencement week. There are no words to describe the memories that were made during the weekend. Class members shared stories, attended building tours, received their anniversary diplomas, dined in the dining hall and enjoyed a wonderful week. A special thank you to this year’s reunion committee who helped rally the classmates to attend the reunion.
Class of 1954
Ed Hanson
Class of 1964
Paul Boylan
Sonja (Flatness) Brock
Gary Chamberlain
Karl Hertel
Kent Norby
Class of 1974
Julianne Bye
Royce Fishell
Tom Harn
Jane Holzer
Barbara (Krantz) Markham
Barbara (Kaasch) Nagengast
Del Richter
Maureen “Morb” (Callahan) Wicks
SAVE THE DATE
Affinity Reunions
For more information regarding Affinity Reunions visit: msuaf.org/reuniongroups
1984 Bobcats Football Championship Reunion
Oct. 4-5, 2024
School of Architecture
Class of 1984
July 12–14, 2024
Alpha Gamma Delta
Delta Gamma Chapter 100th Anniversary
Sept. 6–8, 2024
Spurs and Fangs
Class of 1977
Sept. 14–15, 2024
Kappa Delta
Sigma Omega Chapter 100th Anniversary Reunion
Oct. 1, 2024
Delta Gamma
Gamma Delta Chapter Homecoming Open House
Oct. 5, 2024, 11 a.m.–1 p.m.
Chemical Engineering
Class of 2014
Oct. 4–5, 2024
CatTreks
Travel opportunities for globetrotting Bobcats
Adventures designed for those who have MSU in common and are eager to expand their cultural and intellectual horizons. Find more details about the trips listed below at: msuaf.org/cattreks
Wonders of the Galapagos Islands: Quito to Guayaquil February 2–12, 2025 | From $7,495 per person, double occupancy. Airfare not included.
Immerse yourself in the unique coastal landscapes that inspired Charles Darwin on this unequaled 10-day Galapagos journey.
Tanzania Safari: Arusha to Arusha
February 5–16, 2025 | From $7,595 per person, double occupancy. Airfare not included.
Journey to the grasslands of Africa’s premier safari destination to observe the annual Great Migration on this incredible 11-night land program.
Kiwi & Kangaroo Coasts Cruise: Auckland to Sydney
February 24 – March 10, 2025 | From $7,699 per person, double occupancy. Airfare included from select cities.
Let your senses come alive as you uncover the secrets and treasures of the Down Under on this 14-night cruise aboard Oceania Cruises’ Regatta.
Mediterranean Spring Cruise: Barcelona to Rome May 6–13, 2025 | From $3,299 per person, double occupancy. Airfare included from select cities.
Set sail along the sunny Mediterranean, where palms line silky sands on this seven-night cruise aboard Oceania Cruises’ Sirena.
Graduation Tour of Europe: London to Rome May 15–26, 2025 | From $4,285 per person, double occupancy. Airfare not included.
Graduating soon? Visit Europe’s must-see destinations with fellow recent graduates before settling into a new job or graduate school.
Jewels of the Rhine Cruise: Basel to Amsterdam June –14, 2025 | From $3,395 per person, double occupancy. Airfare included from select cities.
Immerse yourself in history, architecture, and natural wonders on this seven-night river cruise through Switzerland, Germany, France and the Netherlands aboard Emerald Cruises’ Emerald Destiny.
Hidden Gems of the Croatian Riviera Cruise: Dubrovnik to Venice June 19–28, 2025 | From $6,595 per person, double occupancy. Airfare included from select cities.
Join us on this nine-night adventure in luxury along the picturesque Croatian coastline aboard the majestic yacht, Emerald Azzurra, with an included two-night pre-cruise tour in Dubrovnik.
Far North Explorer Cruise: Montreal to Reykjavik
July 27 – August 12, 2025 | From $6,899 per person, double occupancy. Airfare included from select cities.
Immerse yourself in wild and natural wonders on this 16-night cruise aboard Oceania Cruises’ Marina.
Celtic Classics Cruise: London to London
August 15–25, 2025 | From $5,299 per person, double occupancy. Airfare included from select cities.
Experience the magic of the United Kingdom and Ireland’s verdant coasts on this 10-night cruise aboard Oceania Cruises’ Vista.
Hellenic Inspiration Cruise: Istanbul to Athens
September 26 – October 3, 2025 | From $4,249 per person, double occupancy. Airfare included from select cities.
Step into the depths of Greece & Turkey’s history and culture on this sevennight cruise aboard Oceania Cruises’ newest ship, Vista.
Greco-Roman Echoes Cruise: Athens to Monte Carlo October 3–13, 2025 | From $5,299 per person, double occupancy. Airfare included from select cities.
Step into ancient ruins and timeless charm on this 10-night cruise aboard Oceania Cruises’ newest luxury ship, Vista.
Patagonia & the Chilean Fjords: Santiago to Buenos Aires October 22 – November 2, 2025 | From $7,095 per person, double occupancy. Airfare not included.
Experience the extremes and contrasts of Patagonia, with its breathtaking scenery and incredible wildlife, on this 11-night luxury journey.
Palms to Andean Peaks Cruise: Miami to Santiago, Chile
November 29 – December 21, 2025 | From $6,499 per person, double occupancy. Airfare included from select cities.
From the coastal breeze to the Mayan pyramids, delve into the captivating landscapes of Central and South America on this 22-night cruise..
Christkindlmärkte along the Danube River: Vienna to Nuremburg December 8–16, 2025 | From $3,495 per person, double occupancy. Airfare not included.
Experience Yuletide magic on a Danube River sojourn to visit some of Europe’s most iconic Christkindlmärkte on this eight-night luxury river cruise.
In the past year
87 Chapter volunteers hosted 40 events and connected 3,417 Bobcats around the country
Montana State University Chapters
Did you know that MSU has 12 regionally-based Chapters around the country? Located in the cities with the highest concentration of alumni, Chapter Volunteers plan local events and activities to help you stay connected to MSU.
Chapter locations
Out-of-State Chapters
Boise Valley: Boise, ID*10
Columbia River: Portland, OR*10
Twin Cities: Minneapolis, MN
Houston Area: Houston, TX
Inland Northwest: Spokane, WA
Mile High: Denver, CO
Puget Sound: Seattle, WA
Montana Chapters
Five Valleys: Missoula
Flathead Valley: Kalispell
Gallatin Valley: Bozeman
Greater Billings Area: Billings
Sleeping Giant: Helena
For a complete list of upcoming events visit: msuaf.org/events
10th Anniversary Celebrations
In 2024, two more Chapters turn 10 and are celebrating all year long. Congratulations to the Boise Valley Chapter and the Columbia River Chapter for keeping the Bobcat spirit alive in your communities for the past decade!
Tour de Fran
This past spring we embarked on a chapter-wide adventure to introduce our Chapter areas to the new President and CEO of the MSU Alumni Foundation, Fran Albrecht. The tour made three stops — Minneapolis, Seattle and Spokane — and will continue to new locations next spring. For the most updated schedule, visit: msuaf.org/TourDeFran
Have you moved recently?
Don’t miss out on Chapter event invites! Invitations are sent to all MSUaffiliated individuals (alumni, friends, parents, families, students and fans) within a 50-mile radius of the geographically located Chapters. Invite lists are generated based on your zip code so be sure your contact information is current. You can update your mailing address and email online at: msuaf.org/update
Twin Cities Chapter, Minneapolis, MN
Alumni Scholarships
These scholarships are awarded each year by the MSU Alumni Foundation to students who are children or grandchildren of MSU alumni, who show excellence in academics and who have an exemplary record of campus engagement and community involvement.
Alumni Legacy Scholarship
Mariah Creason
Major: Animal Science
Legacy: Laura Mitchell ’84
Statement: When I stepped onto the MSU campus last summer, I reflected on the first class of students 130 years ago and the many changes since. I’m proud to be a second-generation student studying Animal Science at my mom’s alma mater. My Hilleman Scholarship journey began in July 2023, supported by my mom’s network. Being a legacy student at MSU means benefiting from a community that supports each generation through mentorship, connection and generosity.
Ashley Foss
Major: Computer Science
Legacy: Arnold Foss ’60, Dorothy (Boyd) Foss ’60, Douglas Foss ’93
Statement: As a fourth-generation Montanan, being a Montana State legacy fosters a deep sense of pride and connection. Since the passing of my grandparents and father, I feel honored to continue their legacy and carry on a familial tradition spanning over 60 years. By extending the Montana State tradition to my children and, hopefully, my grandchildren, I aim to contribute to the enduring story of education and community in this cherished state.
Cody Hager
Major: Computer Science
Legacy: Julie Hager ’97
Statement: Attending MSU is a privilege for many reasons, especially with its beautiful landscape. My family is deeply rooted in Bozeman, and I’m blessed to spend time with them while at MSU. My mother didn’t plan to stay after graduation, but the people and places captured her heart. Being an MSU legacy means joining a wonderful culture, with many legacy students and alumni reflecting that bond. I aspire to continue this legacy, using MSU’s resources to achieve great things and inspire others, as my mom inspired me.
Elizabeth Hickey
Major: Secondary Education
Legacy: Patrick Hickey ’90, Karen (Kuhry) Hickey ’93, Barbara (Buckingham) Hickey ’58
Statement: Both of my parents attended MSU; my mother graduated in education, and my father studied agriculture business but left due to his father’s health. My mom, an avid MSU supporter, holds season tickets and follows all aspects of the university. Initially I wanted to choose my own path. However, seeing my father’s pride in passing our family ranch to my brother made me reconsider. Attending MSU, I realized the value of honoring my family’s legacy while forging my own path. I’m proud to continue my family’s tradition at Montana State University. Go ’Cats!
Morgan Kaufman
Major: Microbiology
Legacy: Robert Kaufman ’67, Gene Kaufman ’94
Statement: Many of my family attended Montana State and their connection to MSU revealed its potential for my future. Growing up, weekends in Bozeman were exciting. We’d visit campus, enjoy the bookstore, eat at the Strand Union Building and attend Bobcat football games. Finding our family’s brick at the stadium was special. MSU creates a lasting family bond, influencing me from a young age. As a legacy, I appreciate MSU’s impact and am proud to continue this tradition.
Anders Moore
Major: Animal Science
Legacy: Eric Moore ’90, Lea (Anderson) Moore ’91, Don Anderson ’61
Statement: The biggest thing about being an MSU legacy is seeing what my family has done because of going to MSU. I have always looked up to my father and grandpa and what they have done in the agriculture industry. The knowledge and lessons they learned at MSU helped set them up to succeed in their professions and this drew me to MSU. I wanted to set myself up to succeed and I knew MSU was the best place to start.
Nyssa Schairer
Major: Animal Science
Legacy: Julie Moeller ’97
Statement: The blue and gold pride runs deep in my family. My mom, two aunts and two uncles are Montana State University alumni. My mother graduated in horticulture, one uncle in chemistry and the other in electrical engineering. One aunt earned a degree in elementary education, and the other graduated in chemistry, later earning her doctorate in medicine through MSU’s WWAMI program. Attending MSU as a legacy fills me with pride and a sense of belonging. I aim to become the second generation to graduate from MSU, supported by a strong network of alumni. I hope to provide similar support for my sisters in the future.
Kiley Smieja
Major: Agricultural Business
Legacy: Cassie Smieja ’05
Statement: I can see the pride in my mother when I talk about my successes at Montana State University, and knowing that she went through the agriculture program and graduated is more motivation for me to continue pushing through hard times to make her proud. Having my family go through college and then me following in their footsteps also shows me that I can do anything they can do which means a lot when my mother is one of my biggest role models.
Jaynee Drange Groseth Scholarship
Aya Moore
Major: Sustainable Food & Bioenergy
Legacy: Amy Hyfield ’00
Statement: Being a Montana State Legacy student means that I get to uphold the amazing work my mom put into research and learning at MSU. I would love to follow in my mother’s footsteps, especially because of the positive impact she has made on her community and the people she meets. Going to MSU after my mom means that I am already on the right track to achieving this goal.
Kaydee Reich
Major: Biological Sciences
Legacy: Jack Reich ’93
Statement: My father, an MSU alumnus, passed away a few years ago and didn’t get to see his daughter off to college. I applied to MSU with my father’s legacy being the driving force. He meant so much to me, and now that I am a student at MSU, I can understand why this school meant so much to him. Being in Bozeman helps me feel close to him and I am proud to be
a Montana State legacy, keeping my father’s memory alive in my heart.
MSU Boeing Employee Alumni Scholarship
Isabelle Linder
Major: Pre-Medicine
Boeing & Alumni Legacy: Nathaniel Linder ’98
Statement: My connection to Montana State University runs deep. My parents and many relatives are proud MSU alumni, and I want to continue this legacy. Working since I was seven, I’ve saved every penny, demonstrating financial responsibility and a strong work ethic. This scholarship will enable me to join the Peace Corps and pursue graduate school debt-free, ensuring I can continue my family’s tradition at MSU while making a meaningful impact in global health.
Houston Area Alumni Chapter Legacy Scholarship
Brekken Meznarich
Major: Cell Biology & Neuroscience, English Legacy: Cristin (Meznarich) Potts ’96, Darren Meznarich ’91
Statement: The pursuit of higher education is an expensive endeavor. I intend to go to medical school after earning my degree in cell biology and neuroscience at MSU. I will need all of the support I can get both now and then to cover the cost of education. With a scholarship, I will be able to invest in my future and save money for medical school, so that I may properly honor my pursuit of my education with the time and fervor it deserves.
For specific criteria, application or donation information about these Alumni Scholarships visit: msuaf.org/scholarships
To view all scholarship opportunities available at MSU visit: montana.academicworks.com
The Blue and Gold Award is the most prestigious award granted by Montana State University. It honors individuals who have rendered great lifetime service or brought national or international distinction to MSU or the state of Montana. Four individuals will be recognized during Montana State University’s 2024 homecoming festivities.
2024 Awardees
Larry Aasheim ’69 Bozeman, Montana
Larry Aasheim is a founding member of the Bobcat Quarterback Club and served as its president for 10 years. As co-founder and former president of Universal Athletic Service, he led the company to become the largest sporting goods business in the Northwest. Aasheim was inducted into the National Sporting Goods Hall of Fame in 2000 and currently serves as chairman of the board of Universal Athletic.
Kim J. (Sabo) DesRosier ’74 Browning, Montana
Kim DesRosier, RN, has dedicated nearly five decades to healthcare on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. She served for over 30 years with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Indian Health Service. DesRosier received the IHS Billings Area Office Ambulatory Nurse of the Year award in 1993. She currently works as a nurse in Browning public schools.
Wesley “Wes” Kremer ’88 Oro Valley, Arizona
Wes Kremer had a distinguished career in the U.S. Air Force that included flying combat missions in Iraq and Bosnia and earning accolades as aviator of the year in 1989. Kremer joined Raytheon in 2003 where he recently retired as president of the company. He was awarded the Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems President’s Award in 2008 and a Raytheon Program Leadership Award in 2006.
Elizabeth “Betty” McCoy ’67, ’72 M Bozeman, Montana
Betty McCoy served as Montana’s 4-H program leader from 1988 until her retirement in 2004. Betty’s visionary leadership and influence extended beyond Montana, shaping international 4-H programs and earning her numerous accolades, including her induction into the National 4-H Hall of Fame and the National Outstanding International 4-H Youth Exchange Award. McCoy is the author of Past, Present, Possibilities: Exploring 100 Years of Montana 4-H 1912-2012.
Montana
Legislature
MSU Advocate Network
Keeping higher education a legislative priority
The MSU Advocate Network started in 2016 as a grassroots legislative advocacy effort led by devoted Bobcats, who are passionate about ensuring that MSU and the wider Montana University System (MUS) receive the resources needed to support higher education in Montana.
Even if you don’t live in the Big Sky state, supporting higher education in Montana remains a top priority for your university and the Advocate Network. We encourage you to stay connected, stay vigilant and use your voice to ensure that Montanans secure the best education opportunities our legislature has to offer.
The Advocate Network is gearing up for Montana’s 69th Legislative Session, starting in January, so here’s some resources that will help keep you connected to the legislative pulse during the upcoming session:
The Gavel — the Montana State Legislature’s official news outlet: mtlegnews.gov
Montana Free Press’ “Capitolized” Newsletter — a newsletter dedicated to the Montana legislature. Visit: montanafreepress.org/capitolized
Montana Legislature — Follow bills, look up legislators, watch the legislature in action and submit public testimony at the online home of the Montana Legislature. Visit: leg.mt.gov
Get out and vote!
Most importantly, no matter where you live, make sure you’re registered to vote in your state. Visit vote.gov to register. Already registered as a voter in Montana and want to track your ballot? Visit: prodvoterportal.mt.gov Join us!
Are you interested in joining our cause to support higher education in Montana? You can find more information about the Advocate Network or apply to be a volunteer at: msuaf.org/advocate
Class Notes are compiled from public information and notices received from our alumni and friends. To submit information, please email us at: collegian@msuaf.org
An asterisk* next to the year denotes the last year of attendance of non-degreed alumni.
1940s
John Nauck ’49, Choteau, Montana, celebrated his 100th birthday in 2023. A Simms, Montana, native, John is a military veteran who served in the Army Medical Corps during World War II. After the war, he returned to Montana and earned an agriculture education degree from Montana State. He and his late wife Thelma were married in 1952 and had two children, Barb and Charles. John spent much of his professional career as the vocational-agriculture teacher at Choteau Public Schools. He joined the Choteau Lions Club on June 1, 1950, and is the longestserving member in the club’s history since its inception in 1927.
1960s
Dan Eacret ’60 M, Spokane, Washington, participated in the Spokane Watercolor Society’s 2023 Member’s International Signature Show in September,
2023. Having previously retired from Boeing, he enjoys travel and watercolor painting. Dan has won two national shows sponsored by the Spokane Watercolor Society and the Spokane Museum of Art.
Gerald “Jerry” Marks ’69, Clinton, Montana, retired from MSU Extension after more than 54 years as an agriculture agent in Missoula County. Jerry’s legacy includes the formation of many programs and community efforts related to horticulture, forestry and youth education. In 1974, he became the first Extension agent in Montana to offer Master Gardener, an education and volunteer service organization that promotes research-based horticultural practices. The program has grown to have hundreds of Montanans now participating annually. In late 2022, Missoula County named the new Rocky Mountain Gardens and Exploration Center in Jerry’s honor. The Gerald W. Marks Exploration Center and Rocky Mountain Gardens Center was designed for scientific education and community-centered learning.
1970s
Jerry Coulter ’72 , Broadus, Montana, retired this past year from teaching at Broadus High School. He spent 50 years coaching and teaching (K-12 P.E., driver’s ed).
Ken Porter ’73, Berlin, Massachusetts, recently retired from Boston College after 17 years in their IT department.
Kerry ’75 and Nadeen (Marten) ’75 Kovanda, Columbus, Montana, celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary this year. They are lifelong farmers/ ranchers and have two sons and five granddaughters.
Deborah (Urick) Sorensen ’75, Butte, Montana, recently published her first book. Beyond the Jump Shot: The Elevated Life of Kenny Sailors is a narrative nonfiction book about the man who is credited with developing the modernday jump shot in basketball.
Judith (Bignell) Wagner ’76, Park City, Montana, received the inaugural bestowal of the COWGIRL 30 Under 30 Lifetime Achievement Award, reflecting a lifetime commitment to the spirit of the Western way of life. Judy has worked in marketing at Montana Silversmiths and retired as the company’s vice president of marketing and communications. She will continue to serve as a Brand Advocate and the silversmith’s foremost storyteller. Judy has been inducted into the Halls of Fame for both the Montana Pro Rodeo and Miss Rodeo America, recognized as Western Horseman’s Women of the West Award, “Lady of the West” by the World of Rodeo Reunion, “6 over 60” honoree for Rodeo News, and a “Cowgirl Icon” and “Women’s History Month Industry Trailblazer” by the editors at COWGIRL.
Lisa Prugh ’77, Bozeman, Montana, was the top producing real estate agent for Century 21 HMR in 2023.
Corby Anderson ’79, Golden, Colorado, was appointed to Century Lithium’s board of directors. Dr. Anderson is a licensed professional chemical engineer with over 40 years of global experience in engineering, design, industrial plant operations, corporate level management, education, research and professional service. He holds a BS in chemical engineering from MSU, MS in metallurgical engineering from Montana Tech and a PhD in mining engineering and metallurgy from the University of Idaho. He most recently assisted Century Lithium as its Technical Advisor, Metallurgy.
Sigrid Pugrud ’79, Winnett, Montana, was appointed to the Governor’s Grass Conservation Commission. Sigrid is a fourthgeneration rancher in Petroleum County. She also serves as Chairman of the Petroleum County Commissioners. Her term will run through January 1, 2027.
1980s
Candace Blake ’80, Spirit Lake, Idaho, began doing tours in Montana with MontanaGeologyTours.com. Previously, Candance spent 25 years as a professional makeup artist, wardrobe designer, costume and art director, and was a reporter.
Kathy (Urquhart) Lowery ’80, Maplewood, Minnesota, retired from over 20 years in pastoral ministry in January.
Calvin Sprague ’81, Westmoreland, New York, celebrated his 50th high school graduation anniversary and
his 19th wedding anniversary with his wife, Pam.
Dean Folkvord ’82 , Three Forks, Montana, was appointed to the Governor’s Board of Regents. Dean is a member of the MSU Leadership Institute National Advisory Board and the founder of Wheat Montana Farms and Bakery. His term will run through February 1, 2031.
Rick Reisig ’82 , Great Falls, Montana, was recognized for being named one of the top 200 CPAs in America by Forbes. Rick is a principal of Pinion, the nation’s leading Food and Agriculture consulting accounting firm.
Karen “Kari” Walter ’82 , Henderson, Nevada, had a children’s picture book published by Peeping Leaf Press. Low to the Ground Leroy, is a story of self-acceptance and friendship told by a skateboarding English bulldog named Leroy. Kari is retired after more than 30 years in banking supervision. As well as writing, she is a graphic artist and is active in her local communities of Henderson and Red Lodge, Montana.
Paul Edward Funk, II ’85, Copperas Cove, Texas, joined Red Cat’s Board of Directors. Red Cat Holdings is a drone technology company integrating robotic hardware and software for military, government and
commercial operations. General Funk retired in 2022 after a distinguished 42-year career in the United States Army. He was awarded the Defense Distinguished Service Medal — the nation’s 4th highest honor — for outstanding leadership in combat.
Femi Odugbemi ’85, Lagos, Nigeria, was the winner of the 2023 Lagos Studies Association (LSA) 2023 Distinguished Personality Award.
The LAS Distinguished Personality Award is competitive, and each candidate has to be nominated by an eminent member of the Association and assessed by a body of equally eminent scholars and senior members of the international academic community. Femi is an internationally-renowned Nollywood auteur-director, television producer, African arts curator, cultural critic, film jurist and teacher.
Llew Jones ’86, ’88 M, Conrad, Montana, has been appointed by the Governor to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), representing Montana. WICHE works collaboratively to expand access to high-quality higher education across the West by promoting innovation, cooperation, resource sharing, and sound public policy. Representative Jones began his political career in 2004 when he was elected to the Montana State Legislature, where he has served for 20 years.
Karen Howe ’88, Billings, Montana, joined the National Association of School Nurses as
WWAMI physician receives ‘Heroes in Health’ award
LeeAnna Muzquiz ’94, Polson, Montana, received the Regional Impact Award at the National Indian Health Board’s Heroes in Health Awards Gala in May.
Dr. Muzquiz is a first-generation experienced community family physician passionate about equity and diversity in medical education. She currently serves as the Associate Dean for Admissions at the University of Washington School of Medicine, overseeing the admissions process for the entire WWAMI Medical Education Program which spans five states and six campuses. She has demonstrated leadership, teaching and advocacy experience in areas of health policy, DEI, mentorship, rural health and medical education. She serves on the board of the Association of American Indian Physicians and as a representative on the Minority Affairs Section Governing Council at the American Medical Association.
Dr. Muzquiz is an enrolled member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of Montana and she has served her tribal community as a family physician for more than 20 years. She has been involved in medical education throughout her career as clinical faculty in the department of family medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Dr. Muzquiz is active in advocacy and health policy work, with particular focus on strengthening the health care ecosystem for American Indians/Alaska Natives through clinical care, workforce development and mentorship.
Director of Nursing Education and Practice Specialist.
Colonel Stephen Lavin ’89, Helena, Montana, recently retired from the Highway Patrol after over 30 years of service to the state of Montana.
1990s
Kalli Ryti ’92 , Bozeman, Montana, became First Security Bank’s first female CEO. Kalli was raised in Terry, Montana, and her great-greatgrandfather started the State Bank of Terry in 1906. Kalli has 30 years of experience in the banking world and previously served at First Security as its executive vice president and chief banking officer.
Holly Simonson ’96, Plentywood, Montana, was appointed to Governor Gianforte’s Alternative Health Care Board. Holly is the Infection Control and Employee Health Department Director at Sheridan Memorial Hospital Association, where she has served as a registered nurse since 1996. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Montana State University and her Master of Science in Healthcare Informatics from University of Colorado Denver. Her term will run through July 1, 2025.
Desiree (Miller) Schmidt ’97, Wenatchee, Washington, completed her PK-12 Principal Certification this past year and accepted an assistant principal position in Moses Lake, Washington. She and her husband William also celebrated
In Memory Of
We dedicate these pages to members of the Montana State University family who have recently passed away. For alumni who did not graduate, an asterisk denotes their last year of attendence.
Graeme L. Baker ’47, ’53 M, ’59 PhD, Libby, Montana, passed away April 1.
Phyllis “Peggy” (Walley) Turner ’48, Great Falls, Montana, passed away May 15.
Russell Bush ’50, Fremont, California, passed away March 17.
Nadine Ruth (Throop) Copley ’51*, Great Falls, Montana, passed away May 4.
Cyrus T. Varnum ’51, Des Moines, Washington, passed away Jan. 5.
Mae (Luoma) Claypool ’51, Colfax, Montana, passed away July 18, 2023.
Pete Ouray ’13*, Riverton, Wyoming, passed away March 17.
Former Faculty/Staff
Lloyd Bender, former manager of survey research, passed away June 6.
Kay Newman, former virologist at MSU’s veterinary science laboratory, passed away June 6.
Aaron Law, former postdoctoral researcher at MSU, passed away April 8.
Robert Morrison, former professor in the Department of English, passed away April 1.
Stephen Bickwermert, former MSU employee and volunteer at Museum of the Rockies, passed away March 20.
Dr. David Eugene Siewert, who worked for 35 years in MSU Health Services and served as a physician for Bobcat football and basketball teams, passed away March 13.
Richard Geer, former chemistry professor at MSU, passed away March 12.
Michael Leroy Turner, former employee in the agricultural department, passed away March 12.
James Ralph Welsh, former dean of the College of Agriculture, passed away March 11.
Daryl Tua Ries, former faculty member in the College of Nursing, passed away March 7.
James Keene, former music faculty member, passed away Feb. 29.
DeForest Rall, former business professor, passed away Feb. 26.
Lois Ringo, longtime desk clerk in Hapner and Langford Halls, passed away Feb. 24.
Ben Sharp, former research analyst in the Office of
Planning and Analysis, passed away Feb. 22.
Audrey Bowman, retired multilith department supervisor, passed away Feb. 20.
Eugene Hockett, former agricultural plant breeder, passed away Jan. 7.
Bradford Mundy, former professor, department head and associate dean, passed away Dec. 30, 2023.
Tom Parac, former football coach, administrator and Bobcat athlete passed away Dec. 29, 2023.
Richard Schwaller, former math faculty member, passed away Dec. 10, 2023.
Gary Bishop, veteran and former business instructor, passed away Nov. 2, 2023.
Bruce B. Murray, a former professor, passed away Sept. 24, 2023.
Carol Susan (Ingersoll) Buchheit, an MSU employee, passed away Sept. 17, 2023.
William R. Gould, III, former fisheries biology faculty, passed away Aug. 25, 2023.
Marvin C. Shaw, Professor Emeritus of religious studies, passed away July 25, 2023.
If you know someone who was a part of the MSU family and would like to remember them here, please provide their name; class year, last year of attendance, or university job title; date and place of death to: collegian@msuaf.org
the high school graduation of their fifth and youngest child.
Alisun (Cummings) Bonville ’98, Bozeman, Montana, was appointed to Governor Gianforte’s Alternative Health Care Board. A fifth-generation Montanan, Alisun is a physician and owner of Spring Integrated Health, a naturopathic medical practice. She is a graduate of Montana State University and the National College of Natural Medicine. Her term will run through July 1, 2026.
Walter Francis ’99, Bozeman, Montana, became a construction project manager at A&E Design, a multidisciplinary design firm with offices across Montana. Walter has over 14 years of experience in the construction industry.
Timothy Gordon ’98, East Glacier, Montana, recently retired from a career in physical therapy.
2000s
Harold “Mike” Bashay, III ’00, Las Vegas, Nevada, was recently promoted to Principal of K.O. Knudson Academy of the Arts in Las Vegas. Mike has dedicated over two decades to education, serving as a teacher, coach and administrator within the Clark County School District.
Brea (Ackerman) Bauer ’01, ’07 M, Bozeman, Montana, earned her Certified Construction Industry Financial Professional (CCIFP) designation. This certification places her among the most highly qualified construction financial professionals in the industry. Brea is a CPA and principal at Pinion. The CCIFP is the only standard to recognize those
Longtime friends honor outgoing orchestra director
Michael Certalic ’96, ’05 M, Bozeman, Montana, participated in his 28th and final orchestra festival as director of the Bozeman Public Schools orchestral program. He retired at the end of the year to focus on his solo career as a violinist.
For this 54th annual orchestra festival, musicians from Bozeman High School, Gallatin High School and Whitefish High School gathered for two days of rehearsals and two nights of shows. Michael invited a couple of old friends from Bozeman who are fellow MSU graduates, to lead the musicians in practices and performances.
Johannes Dietrich ’90, Bernville, Pennsylvania, is a Newton and Adelaide Burgner Endowed Professor of Instrumental Music and Director of the Symphony Orchestra at Lebanon Valley College in Annville.
Alex Safford ’93, East Aurora, New York, is the director of orchestras and music composition teacher at a high school near Buffalo.
“It is a neat thing that all of us have a strong Bozeman connection and a strong MSU connection,” Johannes said. “I know all of us benefitted a lot from the time we spent at MSU, and we’ve been working really hard to train the next generation of musicians.”
financial professionals with a superior understanding of the construction industry’s financial opportunities and challenges.
Suzanne (Berget) White ’01, Bozeman, Montana, joined First Security Bank as a commercial lender at the Downtown Bozeman branch. Suzi was formerly the Director of Business Development for Prospera Business Network and under her leadership, won the Small Business Administration’s National Award for “2019 Women’s Business Center” of the Year.
Jamie (Donnes) Hass ’04, Shepherd, Montana, recently published a book. “Day by Day: A 90 Day Journey Towards Your Most Incredible Life” is available on Amazon.
Chelse (Stamer) Cummings ’07, Staunton, Virginia, welcomed her second child (a daughter) in December, 2023.
Kelly (Stoll) Harris ’07, Winter Garden, Florida, ran her 5th marathon in June. Previous marathons include the 2023 Boston Marathon.
Jesus Ochoa ’08 M, Austin, Texas, recently started leading the subsurface team for lithium exploration and direct lithium extraction technology in Arkansas and Texas. Jesus is the principal researcher geologist for Equinor.
Zachary Schmidt ’08, Manhattan, Montana, was named Financial Advisor of the Year for Northwestern
Mutual – Montana, for the tenth consecutive year. His team also reached FORUM, a recognition awarded to top advisors, for the fourth consecutive year. Zachary was again named to the Forbes Top Financial Security Professionals BestIn-State List for 2023 after also receiving this honor in 2022
Jaron Mickolio ’09, ’11 M, Bozeman, Montana, was promoted at A&E Design. Jaron entered an associate leadership role as a brand ambassador that exemplifies the firm’s mission, vision and values every day. He joined A&E Design as an architect in 2013 and leads projects from concept through construction.
2010s
Megan Park ’10, Lander, Wyoming, was presented with the Milken Educator Award, a prestigious national honor recognizing exceptional educators for dedication to excellence in education. Megan is the assistant principal at Gannett Peak Elementary in Lander. Bestowed by the Milken Family Foundation, the award is known as the “Oscars of Teaching” and includes an unrestricted $25,000 cash prize that recipients may use however they choose.
Philip Murray ’10, Arlington, Virginia, earned distinction as an assistant professor of history at the United States Military Academy. Philip was awarded the Peter L. Zhu Scholastic Achievement Award at the 2023 Phi Kappa Phi awards ceremony for his scholastic publications. The award recognized his recent publications in the field of international history.
From left: Alex Safford ’93, Michael Certalic ’96, ’05 M and Johannes Dietrich ’90.
Shannon Butler ’11*, Darby, Montana, MSU track and field legend, was inducted into the Big Sky Hall of Fame last July. Shannon — a two-time national champion and 13-time Big Sky champion — later signed with Nike during his pro career. He was also the first Big Sky athlete to win the 1,500m, 5,000m and 10,000m in the same meet.
LeRoy Peters ’12 , Newark, Delaware, is an author of Western novels set during the fur trade. Published by Dusty Saddle Publishing, he authored a trilogy called Edge of the World, a standalone novel entitled Where The Wind Takes You, and a new series entitled Saga Of The Armstrong Brothers . LeRoy is an Air Force veteran and has a degree in history.
Colter DeVries ’12 , Billings, Montana, recently became a dually-accredited farm and ranch broker for Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. He is also an Accredited Land Consultant (ALC) within the Realtor Land Institute and serves on the ALC Education Committee. Colter is the founder and general partner of Ranch Investor. Committed to democratizing ranch ownership, Colter founded Ranch Investor with a vision of making passive ranch investing accessible to a wider spectrum of Americans.
Dr. William Aderholdt ’13, ’16 M, ’19 EdD, Fargo, North Dakota, was recently promoted to Director of Grand Farm. Previously the director of the Grand Farm Program Management Office, Dr. Aderholdt will now lead Grand Farm’s strategic initiatives and
spearhead efforts to advance innovation in agriculture. Grand Farm is a network of growers, technologists, corporations, startups, educators, policymakers and investors working together to solve problems in agriculture with applied technology.
Karli (Clark) Johnson ’13, Choteau, Montana, joined the Montana Farm Bureau Federation (MFBF). Johnson is a rancher from Choteau and was hired for State Governmental Affair and Northwest Regional Manager by MFBF. Johnson previously worked as a sales representative for Dow AgroSciences and served as the head of human resources and financial management for R&J Ag Supply in Sidney. Currently, she and her husband own Sevens Livestock.
Allison (Hicks) Carpenter ’16, Arvada, Colorado, and her husband welcomed their son Henry in September, 2023.
Gregory D. Smith ’17, Clarksville, Tennessee, recently presented at a Native American tribal court training conference in Miami, Oklahoma. Gregory is the Chief Judge of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Court of Indian Appeals. He has been a Tennessee trial lawyer since 1988 and is the founder of The Law Office of Gregory D. Smith.
Maria Fernandes-Martins ’18, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, experienced astronaut life in more detail than most people during a mission through the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation program, or HI-SEAS. She undertook a weeklong simulated Mars mission on the flank of the Mauna Loa volcano at an elevation of around 8,000 feet. It is one of the closest proxies on Earth to the topography and landscape of the red planet.
Maria is currently a doctoral candidate at MSU and conducts microbiology research in the lab of Eric Boyd in MSU’s Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology. Dovetailing with her work in Boyd’s lab, she focused her research project during the HI-SEAS mission on the unique microbes present in Mauna Loa’s basalt ecosystem and the ways they survive living in cooled lava.
The mission simulation gave Maria a better look at what astronaut life would really be like, but she knows that the analog experience can only go so far. Her ultimate goal is to become a qualified astronaut and travel to the Moon. She plans to pursue both a pilot’s license and further medical training after she completes her doctorate in 2024, saying both will help her to be a better, more competent astronaut.
Luke Ebeling ’18, Marietta, Georgia, won what many call the “Olympics of the military.”
Luke, a graduate of MSU’s ROTC program and a captain in the 3rd Ranger Battalion of the U.S. Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment, took first place with his partner, Spc. Justin Rein, in the 2023 Army Best Ranger Competition. A total of 56 teams competed in the nearly non-stop three-day event in which participants cover more than 100 miles during 30 events that test the limits of their physical and mental endurance.
Justin White ’17, Marietta, Georgia, was promoted to Broadcast Manager at Kennesaw State University. There, he manages a team of producers and student assistants to broadcast major events for the university.
Hailee Olsen ’19, Bozeman, Montana, was named the Build Montana and Workforce Director for the Montana Contractors Association. Hailee has a background in education as well as construction.
2020s
Zachary Robinson ’22 , Gilbert, Arizona, was one of 500 teachers across Arizona awarded a classroom grant by Fiesta Bowl Charities. Established in 2016, the
Rep. Ryan Zinke, Montana, presents Dr. Maury Irvine ’50 with the Congressional Gold Medal.
Fiesta Bowl Wishes for Teachers initiative grants classroom funding to Arizona teachers in K-12 public and charter schools, who often spend their own money for classroom materials and activities. Zachary currently is a Computer Science and Game Development teacher at Campo Verde High School in Gilbert.
Chad Hawthorne ’23, Van Horn, Texas, joined Blue Origin’s West Texas Launch Site as a test engineer. Chad helps test and prepare the BE-4 engine for use on rockets.
Madeline Hemenway ’23, Manhattan, Montana, was awarded a three-year Fulbright scholarship to National Cheng Kung University in Tainan, Taiwan, where she is continuing her study of Mandarin and pursuing a master’s degree in history. Ultimately, Madeline
plans to pursue a doctorate in history and a career in historical research while teaching and publishing at a university.
Isabelle Melmer ’23, Minnetonka, Minnesota, joined Allied Engineering Services this past year. Allied Engineering Services is a multi-disciplinary civil, geotechnical, water resources, construction services and land surveying firm.
Ashley Wasia ’23, Bozeman, Montana, started an acrylic painting art business named Wasia Art, which can be found on Instagram @wasia_art. Her favorite commissions completed to date are pet portraits and landscape paintings.
To submit a Class Note or In Memory Of item for the next issue, please email us at: collegian@msuaf.org
Centenarian alumnus honored
Dr. Maury Irvine ’50, Bozeman, Montana, was honored with a Congressional Gold Medal in April. The award is considered the most distinguished honor that Congress bestows. Other recipients of the award include Sir Winston Churchill and George Washington.
Dr. Irvine was recognized for his courage while serving in World War II and his countless accomplishments after the war — such as developing versions of the early digital computer, allowing computers to be small enough to fit into airplanes. He had a hand in the United States ICBM defense system.
A world traveler, Dr. Irvine visited over 52 countries. He studied with the Dalai Lama. He even discovered a star that today bears his name. When in Bozeman and not abroad, he volunteered his time to the Museum of the Rockies. He and his wife Lois Lessley celebrated 60 years of marriage before she passed away.
Dr. Irvine was born in San Francisco. Soon after, he moved to Montana and graduated from Butte High in 1941. He celebrated his 100th birthday in January.
Bobcat Stadium
THEN:
The stadium opened in 1973 as Reno H. Sales Stadium, built for about $500,000. Sales was a lineman on the first Bobcat football team in 1897. He later became a world-renowned geologist and philanthropist. One of his last gifts before his death in 1969 was to help his alma mater build a new football stadium with a $50,000 donation of stock.
In 1998, the stadium received a $12 million renovation and was renamed Bobcat Stadium. The upgrades included new concession stands and restrooms in the stadium’s west stands, a new north end zone complex featuring dressing facilities for teams and officials, and a new grandstand that included 38 sky suites, an indoor stadium club, a corporate entertaining area and press facilities.
The stadium received another facelift in 2008, this time with the installation of artificial field turf, a gift from the 1984 Bobcat Football national championship team and friends. At that time, the stadium had a capacity of 13,000.
In 2011, the $10 million Sonny Holland End Zone Project featured a new grandstand wrapping around the south end zone and adding 5,200 seats, taking the stadium’s capacity above 17,000.
In 2017, Bobcat Athletics released a 20year Athletics Facility Master Plan. The first phase of the plan was completed in 2021 with the opening of the $18 million Bobcat Athletic Complex, a 40,000-square-foot facility on the north end of the stadium. The two-story building houses football locker rooms, team rooms, equipment storage and offices for coaches, as well as sports medicine, training and rehabilitation spaces that benefit all student-athletes.
NOW:
The most recent improvements to Bobcat Stadium, just in time for the 2024 football season, include a new custom video and audio system. The new 30foot by 100-foot north end zone LED video display is now the largest scoreboard in the Big Sky Conference and includes state-of-the-art technology.
Shine your light!
Do you have a story to tell or news you want to share? We’re always on the lookout for class notes and feature stories for the Collegian. Did you land a new job? Publish a book? Get promoted? Win an award? Or maybe you want to remember a classmate who has passed. We want to know! Email your news items and story suggestions to: collegian@msuaf.org
