Collegian 2020

M O N TA N A S TAT E U N I V E RS I T Y A LU M N I F O U N DAT I O N

2020

Stacy and Todd Casey ’92

Colton Coffee ’17

Sara Ashback ’17

Ron Aasheim ’71, Lindsey Harkins ’10

Amanda Ferrat ’01

Seth Wright ’99

Cody Christman ’91

Karen Galbraith ’76

Darren Woods ’02

Mary Ann Pearce ’76

Stephanie Parson ’98

Mark Sorlie ’72

Sammy Severin ’11

Dan Dunbar ’09

Reilly Parisot ’17

Kylar Clifton ’18

Debbie Fischer ’83

Ray Minkler ’13

Haylee Folkvord ’16

Brad Schmidt ’91

Kimberley Klepzig & Jason Smith ’00

David Perretto ’94

Kendrick Wilson ’17

Ginny Sullivan ’87

2020

COLLEGI A N 2020

5 Letter from the CEO 6 Year in Review FEAT UR E STOR IE S

12 Life Stages 18 Project 513 20 Montana Astronaut 28 Christy the Wordsmith 30 Dane Fletcher 32 Blue and Gold Pride Survey 33 Jim Sargeant 34 Giving Day 36 Mike and Nomie Ketterling 38 Blue and Gold Forever ALU M NI

40 Hello from Alumni Engagement 41 Calendar of Events 42 Class Reunions 4 3 Then & Now 44 Chapters 46 Blue and Gold Awards 48 Alumni Scholarships 50 Alumni Advocate Network 51 Cat Treks 52 Class Notes

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Spirit, looking for brighter days ahead.

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2020

MON TANA S TAT E UNIVERSI T Y ALUMNI FOUNDAT ION

2020

Vol. 97, Summer 2020

E D I T O R I A L B O A R D Kerry Hanson ’93, ’08 M, Kathleen (Kitty) Saylor ’82, Drew Van Fossen E D I T O R Kay LaFrance C R E AT I V E D I R E C T O R Ron Lambert DE SIGN AND PRODUC TION Kristen Drumheller ’99, MSU Office of Creative Services and Drew Van Fossen P H O T O G R A P H Y by Kelly Gorham ’95, Adrian Sanchez Gonzalez, MSU Photography (unless otherwise noted) C O V E R D E S I G N by Drew Van Fossen The Montana State Collegian is published annually by the Montana State University Alumni Foundation, P.O. Box 172750, Bozeman, MT 59717–2750.

W E B A D D R E S S msuaf.org MSU Alumni Foundation President & CEO Christopher D. Murray MSU Alumni Foundation Vice President of Alumni Engagement Kerry Hanson ’93, ’08 M BOARD OF GOVERNORS Chair Jean Bennington Sweeney ’76, St. Paul, Minnesota Vice Chair Steve Rovig ’75, Seattle, Washington Past Chair Cory S. Pulfrey ’82, Bozeman, Montana Ron Aasheim ’71, ’73, Helena, Montana Norman Asbjornson ’60, ’04, Tulsa, Oklahoma Mark Bacigalupo ’80, Blaine, Minnesota David Cameron, Great Falls, Montana Don Cape, Jr. ’93, Bozeman, Montana Kay Chafey, Bozeman, Montana Greg Collins ’77, Sammamish, Washington Jill Cuniff ’87, Seattle, Washington Ingrid DeGreef ’82, Aurora, Colorado Jill Jarrett ’94, San Francisco, California Wes Kremer ’88, Tucson, Arizona Heidi McLoughlin, Belgrade, Montana Helene Michael ’85, ’13, Seeley Lake, Montana Robert (Bob) Morrison ’77, ’78, Robert Narotzky Bozeman, Montana Mary Ann Pearce ’76, Houston, Texas Bill Sanderson ’76, Lakeside, Montana Russell Stands Over Bull ’87, Montana Ginny Sullivan ’87, Missoula, Montana Kendrick R. Wilson, Hobe Sound, Florida

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ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT ADVISORY BOARD Chair Ginny (Swan) Sullivan ’87, Missoula, Montana Vice Chair Ron Aasheim ’71, ’73, Helena, Montana Past Chair Rainey Peuse ’97, Bozeman, Montana Thomas Allen ’88, ’09 M, Big Sandy, Montana Jomarie (Phelan) Bliss, ’95, Billings, Montana Jill Funk ’04, Tomball, Texas John Keil ’96, Bothell, Washington Jane Kober ’86, Livingston, Montana Theresa Neuman ’90, Great Falls, Montana Jodi (Hoines) Peretti ’82, Butte, Montana Rainey Peuse ’97, Bozeman, Montana Cathy (Cole) Ratzburg ’86, Galata, Montana Jim Rodenberg ’73, Wolf Point, Montana Loren Schillinger ’75, Denver, Colorado Samantha Severin ’11, Seattle, Washington Sara Young ’78 MS, Billings, Montana Jim Zimmerman ’71, Miles City, Montana Bobcat Club Representative Dan Barz ’64, Polson, Montana Retiree Representative Bob Lashaway, Bozeman, Montana

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Dear Alumni and Friends,

M O N TA N A S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

Dear Alumni & Friends, Greetings! I hope this issue of Collegian finds you healthy and safe. Since our last issue much has changed in our world. Like all of you, we here at the MSU Alumni Foundation have been coping with the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In March, we began working remotely, and for the most part, remain that way. We are still limiting activities in our buildings, and for the safety and protection of our alumni and friends, cancelled all in-person events that were scheduled for last spring and summer.

This fall, we are carefully monitoring the situation here in Bozeman and in our chapters across the state and country to determine whether bringing people together again is permissible and, most importantly, safe. Our guiding principle is to ensure the health and safety of our alumni, friends and staff. In the meantime, we have moved many of our events and in-person activities to the virtual world.

You’ll notice that this issue is not dominated by stories related to the COVID-19 pandemic or its affect on our communities and economy. That is by design. We chose to include stories of good and interesting things our alumni and friends are doing, just like we always have. Plus, the fall issue of MSU’s awardwinning Mountains & Minds magazine will be devoted to the pandemic and its impact on the university, students, and community, and how MSU is responding to the strange, new environment we are all facing.

You may also notice some familiar pages missing from your Collegian. Because Bobcat football has been delayed until next spring, we’ve been working on some creative alternative programming. We moved information about Homecoming, tailgates and the Cat-Griz watch parties online so we can provide the latest, most current plans for those Fall events. You can access the most up-to-date information for all events on our website at: msuaf.org/events As I reflect on where we find ourselves, it strikes me that we all have two very important things in common: each of us is navigating this crisis as best we can, and we all have a deep and abiding love for Montana State University. So, no matter where you find yourself, or whatever your circumstances, the truth is, together, we will get through this. I would even venture to say we need each other more now than ever.

It’s the Bobcat way and we’re Bobcat strong!

I look forward to all being together again someday soon, Go ’Cats.

Chris Murray President and Chief Executive Officer, MSU Alumni Foundation

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PHOTO CREDIT

2020

Year in Review Goldwater scholars

PHOTO CREDITS

Montana State University students Garrett Peters, left, Ellen Brooks, Brenden Pelkie and Carter McIver were named Goldwater scholars. This year’s scholarships bring MSU’s total number of Goldwater scholars to 74, making MSU one of the country’s top institutions in the number of scholarship recipients.

Truman Scholars Brianna Bull Shows and Max Yates were named recipients of 2020 Truman Scholarships, a highly competitive and prestigious national scholarship given to college juniors from each state who have demonstrated leadership potential and commitment to public service.

MSU wins fourth straight Cat-Griz football contest and advances to the playoff semi-finals.

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For the eighth year in a row, Montana State University has been designated a Tree Campus USA in honor of its commitment to effective campus forest management and for engaging staff and students in conservation goals.

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PHOTO CREDITS

Construction began in early May on Montana State University’s Bobcat Athletic Complex, a donor-funded $18 million addition to the north end of Bobcat Stadium. The project is expected to open by August 2021.

M O N TA N A S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

Montana State University was recently named the best college for LGBTQ+ students in the state of Montana, a recognition made by BestColleges.com in partnership with the nonprofit organization Campus Pride.

New Dean Yves Idzerda, who formerly served as head of the Department of Physics and professor of physics at Montan State University, was named dean of the MSU College of Letters and Science after a national search that produced many strong candidates. He began his new responsibilities on July 1.

Historic won/loss record The Bobcat Women’s BB team ended the season 25-6 overall—the best won/loss record in school history. They finished 19-1 in Big Sky Conference play— the most wins ever recorded by a women’s team in the history of the league. COVID-19 ended the season abruptly before the Big Sky Conference championship game with Idaho.

After leading Montana State to a historic 2019-20 Big Sky Conference season, Bobcat coach Tricia Binford was named the league’s Coach of the Year.

Montana State University student Hannah Telling, who will graduate next month in English education and gender studies, has won a Fulbright to teach and conduct research in Serbia.

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2020

Year in Review

continued

AGAIN Forbes magazine named MSU the No. 1 public university in Montana.

PHOTO CREDITS

With the health and safety of the MSU community as the foremost priority, Montana State University’s Roadmap for Fall 2020 focuses on specific actions students, faculty, staff and campus visitors must take to reduce the risk of COVID-19.

In April, students voted by a margin of 66% for and 34% against to pass a fee to construct a new Student Wellness Center that integrates all student health services in a single facility alongside recreational and fitness spaces.

16,766 total students . . .

Montana’s largest University 8

LaunchPad Lift

Recent graduates Vanessa Williamson ’17, and Vanessa Walsten ’18, who co-founded Farmented Foods as MSU students were selected to participate in an entrepreneurship program known as LaunchPad Lift that provides mentorship and a range of business help.

#msucollegian

Spillover research For years, Montana State University researcher Raina Plowright’s work has studied bats and the viruses they carry and spread. Now, with the emergence of the novel coronavirus pandemic, she and collaborators in Australia, Bangladesh, Ghana and Madagascar are researching how to prevent the spread of other viruses from animals to humans—an event known as spillover.

M O N TA N A S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

MSU is No. 1 in the region for Goldwater Scholars.

PHOTO CREDITS

Alex Washburne, a researcher in the Bozeman Disease Ecology Lab, is helping develop a better understanding of the spread of the novel coronavirus based on data collected after the 2009 H1N1 outbreak.

MSU alumni receive teaching awards Belgrade High School teacher, Katie Capp, was named Outstanding Biology Teacher for the state of Montana by the National Association of Biology Teachers.

Linda Rost, a high school science teacher in Baker, MT, was selected as the 2020 Montana Teacher of the Year.

Sarah Dahl, an English and career development teacher at Park High School, was one of 19 educators from across the country selected for the PBS Digital Innovator All-Star Program.

A team led by MSU scientist Blake Wiedenheft was able to detect the novel coronavirus in samples taken at Bozeman’s Water Reclamation Facility. “This may be one of the most important indicators to follow,” said Wiedenheft, associate professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in MSU’s College of Agriculture. “Our hope is that this approach will become more common and that communities can use wastewater monitoring as an early warning sign of coronavirus infections.”

The Montana Innovation Partnership Program, a Montana State University program that assists startups across the state, has helped Montana become the most successful state in the nation in securing small business innovation grants from the National Institutes of Health.

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Year in Review

continued

Clean ’Cat Kits were distributed to members of the MSU community to help ensure a safe start to the fall 2020 semester. Each kit included one Bobcat-themed cloth mask; one refillable hand sanitizer; one refillable disinfectant spray bottle; and three microfiber cloths.

MSU’s longtime admissions director Ronda Russell begins phased retirement.

Hyalite Hall, MSU’s new co-ed residence hall will house up to 510 freshmen students providing updated and modern amenities for the on-campus population.

Sarah Vowell, a Montana State University graduate now recognized nationally as an author, social commentator and the voice of Violet in both “Incredibles” films, was MSU’s 2020 fall convocation speaker. Her book “Lafayette in the Somewhat United States” was MSU’s 2020 summer read.

•

Gallatin College celebrates 10-year anniversary.

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#msucollegian M O N TA N A S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

Bobcat athlete Mike Person ’10, (BA 2010), started at right guard for the San Francisco 49ers in the 2020 Super Bowl LIV game with the Kansas City Chiefs.

PHOTO CREDITS

MSU Arts & Architecture alum, Scott French ’96 of Mister French’s Gourmet Bakery, won the Food Network’s Christmas Cookie Challenge and was awarded prize money of $10,000.

Montana State University has become the newest member in a unique consortium dedicated to increasing scientific understanding of Yellowstone National Park’s supervolcano.

A team of three students (Zach Fighter, Terrance Limpy and Tiara McGee-Bauer) representing the recently reestablished student chapter of American Indigenous Business Leaders, or AIBL, at Montana State University recently took first place in a business plan competition at the organization’s national conference.

Dr. Irving Weissman ’61, Founding Director of the Institute for Stem-Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at Stanford University (ISCBRM) has received $191 million for cancer-fighting biotech research. Last fall, Weissman presented a Hilleman Lecture at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman titled “Stem Cells in Regenerative Medicine, Cancer, and as Rogue Cells in Disease.”

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PHOTO CREDIT

2020

Life Stages

BY E V E LY N BO S W E L L

Montana State University alumni may be recent graduates like former football player Matt Brownlow or retirees like Jim and Kay Gannon, but whatever their stage in life, the MSU Alumni Foundation wants to meet them there.

“A priority of our mission is to cultivate lifelong relationships. We truly are here for our alumni and friends at every stage of their lives,” said Chris Murray, president and CEO of the MSU Alumni Foundation.

“A recent grad will likely have very different needs and interests than an empty nester who is approaching retirement,” he added. “In our quest to become an ever-inclusive organization, we want to engage with them in meaningful, relevant ways and through channels that make it easy for them to connect wherever they happen to be on their journey.”

The profiles here will introduce you to alumni in five different stages of life: recent graduate, young professional, mid-life, apex and retired.

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PHOTO CREDIT

MAT T BROWNLOW Recent graduate Matt Brownlow started playing football as a Little Grizzly and continued at Sentinel High School in Missoula.

“It was a good four years,” he remembers.

But then Brownlow enrolled at Montana State University where he played rugby. Partway through his first season, he started spending time with football players and realized he missed it. So the next summer, Brownlow joined dozens of others competing for walk-on spots with the Bobcat football team. He was one of a handful selected.

It was a thrill to play nose guard the next three years, Brownlow said. Also to see his mom at every game and to beat the Grizzlies in his senior year.

“That was the utmost pinnacle for me,” Brownlow said.

Ever since joining the team, Brownlow has worked to express his gratitude for the opportunity. He has dedicated himself to giving back.

“It’s kind of an unwritten rule,” he said. “You take care of your own.”

Graduating in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in business management and marketing, Brownlow has continued to do media work for the Bobcats. He still wears blue and gold on Fridays. He gathers with alumni, saying, “It’s cool to find little pockets of Bobcats in Montana.”

Every time he works in Missoula, he wears a Bobcat jacket.

“I don’t own a piece of maroon,” he said. “I bleed blue and gold through and through.”

Brownlow also serves his supporters as a business development executive with the Avitus Group in Bozeman. His goal is to alleviate administrative pressures felt by small business owners in Montana, Idaho and Colorado, some of whom he has known since his football days.

“I feel like I’m giving back to the community that supported me,” Brownlow said. “It’s kind of coming back full circle. You helped me.

How can I serve you?”

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2020

ALE X MARIENTHAL Young professional Alex Marienthal grew up in Colorado, one of two sons in a family of skiers. Some of his fondest memories are skiing in the backcountry with his father, then sleeping in the huts that honor the soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division.

As such, Colorado would seem to be a natural place for Marienthal to have attended college. Instead, he moved to Bozeman and became a Bobcat.

Bozeman gave him a change of scenery while letting him continue skiing, Marienthal said. At the same time, Montana State University attracted him with its world-renowned program in snow science.

The program lived up to its reputation, and he found himself increasingly interested in research, Marienthal said. He graduated in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in earth sciences. After analyzing four decades of data from the Bridger Bowl Ski Area, he earned his master’s degree in earth sciences in 2014.

Continuing to choose Bozeman as his home, Marienthal became an avalanche specialist with the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center.

He now predicts avalanches while continuing what he started as an MSU student.

For five years before taking his position with the GNFAC, Marienthal was an educator for the Friends of the Avalanche Center. He has traveled all over southwest Montana to make the public more aware of avalanches. He warns out-of-state visitors about the possibility of setting off avalanches in the backcountry. He teaches families about the dangers of leaving the boundaries of a ski resort. He participates in MSU’s annual Snow and Avalanche Workshop.

“It’s definitely a source of pride coming out of the snow science program at Montana State University,” Marienthal said. “It’s a prestigious program. It’s one of the things among many that MSU has to be proud of. I think MSU is a cool university of the West.”

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DEBBIE SKIBICKI Mid-life In Debbie Skibicki’s world, every week has a Blue and Gold Friday and every vehicle she has owned is imprinted with “appropriate Bobcatness.”

“I’m a huge Bobcat all the way around, and I like to interact with other people who feel the same way,” said the Clancy native who first graduated from Montana State University 25 years ago.

Her parents both attended MSU, so she thought about going elsewhere, Skibicki said. But she wanted to become a chemical engineer, and that narrowed her choice down to two colleges. When she visited MSU for High School Days, “I fell in love. That was it.”

Skibicki graduated in 1995 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. Four years later, she earned her master’s degree in industrial and management engineering. Immediately after college, she moved to Minnesota to work for 3M. Not only did MSU give her the personalized education that some of her colleagues envied, but it offered her a lifeline after graduation, Skibicki said.

“I really valued the MSU alumni connections and the events when I lived out of state,” she said.

Now living in Helena and the consulting team leader at Bison Engineering Inc., Skibicki continues to strengthen those ties. She serves on the external advisory committee for the Department of Civil Engineering.

“I feel like it’s important to help other students navigate their moving forward in their professional lives,” she said.

She also works with the Alumni Foundation on legislative issues, such as the repurposing of Romney Hall and the six-mill levy that supports higher education in Montana. She is active in her local alumni chapter, attending everything from football watch parties to a presentation on edible bugs.

“I’m just very dedicated to the school, and I want to give back and continue to be involved,” Skibicki said.

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2020

TAN YA REINHARDT Apex Tanya Reinhardt was born to two Grizzlies, but she soon grew the heart of a Bobcat and passed it along.

“This always felt like home away from home. I think it was at the very top of my list of places I wanted to go from a very early age,” Reinhardt said about Montana State University.

A fifth generation Montanan whose grandparents had a sheep ranch in the Gallatin Valley, Reinhardt first came to MSU as a youngster competing in the Montana 4-H Congress. She later enrolled at MSU and graduated in 1988 with a bachelor’s degree in speech and communication.

“MSU gave me incredible leadership opportunities. I took advantage of them at every step,” said Reinhardt, cadet battalion commander for the Army ROTC and outstanding student three years in a row.

Her time at MSU set her on a path of service, Reinhardt said.

After graduation, she became a lieutenant colonel in the Army. She is now deputy director of programs and operations for The COMMIT (cq) Foundation, which helps veterans transition to civilian life. She is a trustee for Bozeman Public Schools. She is a co-leader for her church’s Stephen Ministry.

Reinhardt also mentors MSU students and helps the Alumni Foundation with legislative initiatives. She sometimes joins ROTC cadets at football games. She flies the Bobcat flag in front of her house for any occasion that strikes her.

Along the way, her daughter, Allison, found MSU a place to lead and serve, too. The senior in political science is a presidential scholar. She is an AdvoCat and served two years as an ASMSU senator. After graduation, she hopes to earn a master’s degree in public health and policy.

“The amount of pride I have in MSU is endless, and I wouldn’t want to be anything other than a Bobcat,” Allison said.

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JIM AND K AY G ANNON Retired Kay Gannon used to ride her horse five miles every morning to attend a two-room school near the base of the Bridger Mountains.

Now retired, Gannon still rides occasionally, but the trail since grade school has taken her far from the ranching community of Sedan. It led her to Montana State University and then to her husband, Jim, a Glendive native who was refereeing a state basketball tournament when she met him. The path eventually veered away from Montana and then looped back.

Kay graduated from MSU in 1965 with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She earned her master’s degree in guidance and counseling and became an educator and principal in Montana, Minnesota and Texas. Jim attended MSU where he was sports editor for The MSU Exponent and played on the MSU baseball team. He majored in ag education and physical education before working 35 years for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad.

“Everybody in my dad’s family attended MSU. As a kid, we followed the Bobcats,” Kay said. “It was kind of a natural thing to attend MSU.” It also seemed natural for the couple to continue supporting MSU—both financially and in spirit—after moving back to Bozeman in 2009.

Jim and Kay attend football games as well as men’s and women’s basketball games. Kay mentors MSU students and advocates for MSU over legislative issues. Jim belongs to the Bobcat Quarterback Club and the 6th Man Club, which supports the MSU basketball team.

The Gannons are are life members of the Alumni Foundation, now known as Blue & Gold Forever, and members of the President’s Circle. They belong to the 1893 Society, a group for donors who have included MSU in their estate plans.

“I just think it’s a good cause,” Kay said of MSU. “Education is good. Everybody should get a shot at it. MSU is a great place to get an education.”

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2020

Mary Kay Dempsey-Noreika

Gary Turner

Gunner Wade Eric Hastings

Mike Everette

Jenny Thuen

Debby Green Marcus “Doc” Craven

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Micah Chang

Rachel Dunlap

Margo Kirchhoff

Paul Kent

Jacey Anderson

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Veterans and students unite through the MSU Veteran History & Arts Initiative

M O N TA N A S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

Project 513 A DA P T E D F ROM A NE W S S T OR Y BY A N NE C A N T RE L L

“Project 513,” an exhibit of photos and audio recognizing the experiences of 12 local veterans – the first public event sponsored by a new MSU Veteran History and Arts Initiative designed to preserve and honor the history of Montana’s veterans – was held last winter in Bozeman.

The initiative is supported by a two-year, $200,000 Humanities, Art and Social Sciences Grant from MSU, with the possibility the grant may be extended for a third year. “At its core, the initiative and its projects are intended to create connections among veterans and individuals throughout their communities,” said director Marcus “Doc” Cravens, who is also a veteran and an MSU alumnus.

The Veteran History and Arts Initiative includes several projects. In its first, the “Project 513” endeavor, Cravens and MSU associate professor of history, Molly Todd, collaborated through History 513, a graduate seminar focusing on oral history methodologies. As students taking the course learned about the evolution of the field of oral history and the associated theories and professional ethics, they also applied what they learned to interviews with Montana veterans and their families. With guidance from Todd and Cravens,

students conducted interviews, transcribed their interviews and then shared select portions at the public exhibit. The exhibit featured photos made by Cravens of the veterans and their interviewers.

“The intent of the 513 Project was to put faces and voices to what the (MSU Veteran History

of the COVID-19 pandemic. The day to day work of the initiative continues behind the scenes, though, with the hope of sharing the projects with the community in the future.

Cravens said the Veteran History and Arts Initiative aims to obtain, preserve and honor the history of U.S. veterans

“We’re working to connect students and individuals to veterans, their memories and histories.”

— Marcus “Doc” Cravens

and Arts Initiative) is all about,” said Cravens.

Another project of the initiative, called “Living Memories,” is a photographic essay that documents tattoos of or related to veterans, as well as the stories behind those tattoos.

The initiative’s “Shadows of our Past” project pairs local artists and businesses with families of veterans who have died. The artists work with the families to create a unique and meaningful way to showcase the veterans’ service medals and other keepsakes.

All the projects within the initiative were originally created to have a public component, but “Project 513” was the only event held before the outbreak

in Montana. It also works to educate and inspire thoughtful creativity through diverse perspectives within the arts and humanities so that veterans’ history is never forgotten. As part of the initiative, volunteers record oral interviews of Montana veterans who served in the U.S. military. Any veteran in any of Montana’s 56 counties, from those who served in World War II to those who are currently serving, are eligible to participate. Each interview that is collected will then live in MSU Library’s Special Collections and Archives. The idea, Cravens said, is that by housing the interviews in Special Collections, the veterans’ stories will never be lost.

“We’re working to connect students and individuals to veterans, their memories and histories,” Cravens said. “It all comes down to how we are connected. It comes down to being human. Ultimately, we are searching for ways to connect our past with future generations by using art as (a way of communicating). We want to build connections and open new lines of communication.”

Cravens added, “There is a sense of urgency that accompanies the MSU Veteran History and Arts Initiative.

“About 300 to 350 World War II veterans pass each day, with Korean War veterans right behind. Vietnam vets have the highest rate of suicide, with Iraq War and Afghanistan War veterans right behind them.

We’ll lose this piece of history if we don’t communicate it to and preserve it for future generations.”

To learn more about the MSU Veteran History and Arts Initiative, visit: montana.edu/vhai/ Contact: Marcus “Doc” Cravens, director, MSU Veteran History and Arts Initiative, 406-5794064 or marcus.cravens@ montana.edu

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PHOTO MONTAGE ALISON GAUTHIER

2020

“The more you learn, the harder things you do, the better chance you have of doing what you really want to.”

— Loren Acton

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#msucollegian M O N TA N A S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

PHOTO CREDIT

Loren Acton. Photo by Kelly Gorham.

Scholar of the Sun The life of a Montana astronaut

BY DAV ID MURR AY/GRE AT FA L L S T RIBUNE

In the months following his mission Acton had a full schedule of public lectures describing his experience. On January 28 he was at a junior high school in Worland, Wyoming when news of the Challenger disaster reached him.

“I was standing on a platform with several hundred middle schoolers ready to give my talk when somebody trotted down the aisle and said, ‘Did you hear that the Challenger exploded?’” he said. “I decided to go ahead and give the talk because I didn’t know whether the kids knew about it or not.”

Acton was an immediate, high profile source for information, not only because of his experience in space, but because he was also one of the last astronauts to fly on the Challenger.

“When I got out from the auditorium the school system there had already set up an office for me with a secretary out front and telephone lines because the media was so desperate to talk to astronauts,”

Acton said. “The career astronauts were embargoed.

They were not allowed to be talked to, but payload specialists—those who were no longer working for NASA, were allowed to.

“They flew TV crews in from Denver, from Billings, and I spent a lot of time on the telephone doing interviews. I was able to share everything that I knew. It was a tough day, and by the end of it I was pretty much a rag.”

Acton had been scheduled to fly on a second shuttle mission to continue NASAs research of the sun. However, the program was canceled after the Challenger disaster.

Filming the sun Acton continued his work at Lockheed-Martin for seven years after his mission to space. His proudest achievement during that time was his participation in the YOHKHO Mission, and with it the launch of the SXTSolar X-Ray Telescope, an instrument designed to produce a continuous movie of the

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2020

This page, top: Crew portrait with Loren W. Acton in a red shirt, upper center of photo. Credit: NASA. Below: The Space Shuttle Challenger soars toward a week-long mission in Earth orbit July 29, 1985. Credit: NASA.

sun’s surface, to more clearly understand its atmosphere (corona) as well as high energy phenomena such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections.

“That was the experiment of my dreams, Acton said. “The sun’s corona is just such a beautiful and fascinating thing. I really, always wanted to make movies of the sun’s corona and x-rays and there was my chance. So, I devoted all my activities and energies to putting together a team and proposal to get to fly that telescope.”

“We’re only begin to understand how the sun does what it does,” Acton continued. “It builds up these strong magnetic fields which erupt through the surface as ropes of magnetism. They come up twisted like a bunch of rubber bands. In the course of transitioning to a lower energy state, massive amounts of energy are released. It’s this process we’re now pretty darn sure which results in solar flares, corona mass ejections.”

According to the National Science Foundation, the energy released by a single solar flare is millions of times greater than the largest volcanic eruption on earth, and greater than a billion megatons of TNT. These eruptions can have real-time effects on our life on Earth, including disrupting satellite and radio communications.

Commercial airplanes are not permitted to fly over the poles during high solar activity because their radio transmissions are not reliable.

“When one of these explosive events happens, it ejects magnetic fields and very high energy particles out into interplanetary space,” Acton explained. “When these big

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magnetic storms come … that induces strong electric currents in the electrical grids of the earth. They can burn out transformers which cost $10 million to $15 million apiece, and basically disrupt the electrical grid over a substantial area.”

These mass expulsions of solar radiation have human health implications as well, especially for astronauts working in space.

“The magnetic field of the earth protects us from most of the ionizing radiation from these high energy particles, but if you get up high where the energetic particles can reach you then you’re the one that stops them—and they kill cells,” Acton said. “That’s a health hazard just as radioactivity is in general. The concern of getting caught in a major solar storm on your way to Mars is something that must be thought about.”

The YOHKHO mission, organized in the second half of the 1980s, was designed and operated as a collaboration between NASA and the Japanese space program. It required Acton to stay in close contact with his Japanese colleagues. He formed close friendships with many of them and has traveled to Japan more than 35 times.

“That was really a great time of our lives,” Acton said of the YOHKHO mission. “Our kids were up and out of the nest by then, so we got to go a good bit of time in Japan.

The Solar X-Ray Telescope (STX) aboard the YOKKHO mission was launched on Loren and Evelyn Acton’s wedding anniversary, August 30, 1991, and operated monitoring the sun for more than a decade.

— Loren Acton

#msucollegian M O N TA N A S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

“Don’t worry about whether you can cut the mustard, give yourself a chance to try. You’d be surprised how many times you’re smarter than you think you are.

That philosophy turned me into a scientist . . . and that’s what took me into space.”

Hurricane Josephine as seen through the space shuttle Challenger’s aft flight deck windows. Credit: Nasa.

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2020

Payload specialists John-David Bartoe, left, and Loren W. Acton listen to a briefing by a crew trainer (out of frame) during emergency egress training for members of the Challenger’s next crew. Credit: NASA.

On November 10, 2017, Acton and his wife were honored at a ceremony at the National Theater in Tokyo. There he was awarded with the Japanese government’s third highest honor, the Order of the Rising Sun. The only individuals eligible for a higher honor are Japanese heads of state and politicians.

The trip culminated with a visit to the Imperial Palace and a meeting with the emperor.

“I was just so, so deeply honored by that,” Acton said of the recognition the Japanese government bestowed upon him.

“It is a priceless affirmation of the love and respect of my Japanese colleagues who went to the trouble of nominating me.

It was very, very special.”

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Mentor and motivator By the end of the 1980s Acton had already traveled a long way from his boyhood in Lewistown, both in his career and through space and time.

But the world was changing, and his role as a solar physicist was forced to change with it.

“When the Cold War went away the corporation (Lockheed) realized they were going to be doing a different kind of business,” Acton said of the dawn of the 1990s, “so they offered an early retirement incentive to the old dead wood like me.”

“We had just launched the YOHKHO satellite in 1991 and I was not about to quit at that point,” he added. “It was way too much fun. But then it soaked in one day that I could retire from Lockheed, take a

fraction of my satellite activities with me and move back to Montana.”

MSU has offered a physics program to students for more than a century, but studies specific to the sun were absent prior to Acton’s return to his alma mater. It was something he hoped to change, and with the help of Lockheed-Martin, was able to make happen.

“It pays to be really lucky,” Acton said with a laugh. “I was getting paid really well at Lockheed, and their overhead rate was about a factor of three.

I made the agreement with my Lockheed friends that I would take a fraction of the cost of my contract exchange for their financial support at MSU. “When I went back to Montana I was able to take a bag of money with me that could pay

my salary and the salary of graduate students and postdoctoral (researchers). As soon as I got back to Montana State I got back to work and hired a post-doc and began to fund a graduate student. Over the years it became one of the most significant solar physics groups in the world. It was one of the joys of my retirement.

What Acton refers to as his “retirement” ended up being a second career lasting 25 years as a research professor overseeing the Solar Physics Group at Montana State University.

“Over a period of years, I promoted something I called the Space Science and Engineering Laboratory,” Acton said. “We nailed a couple of million dollars from Congress to get this Space

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“The sun’s corona is just such a beautiful and fascinating thing.”

— Loren Acton A filament eruption on the sun, accompanied by solar flares. Credit: NASA.

Science and Engineering lab started. We hired a professor and a chief engineer and lots and lots of students. And so, Montana is now making space hardware, has a large number of satellites in orbit, and is an active participant in the space business.”

“It’s one of the larger and most productive solar groups in the country, if not the world, which I find quite remarkable,” Acton said.

During a conference of solar scientists at MSU in 2010, astrophysicists from around the world reflected on Acton’s role in making MSU a powerhouse in solar physics. Some shared memories of making dinner reservations in Acton’s name so they’d be sure to get a table.

“He’s the grand old man,” said Ed DeLuca, who commented

during an interview with the MSU News Service. DeLuca is an astrophysicist with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and a leader on two solar missions that involved MSU. “We have collaborated with MSU on a variety of projects, but particularly the XRT (an X-ray Telescope to explore the sun’s magnetic fields and better understand the mechanisms driving solar eruptions). “They are the prime subcontractor for us.”

DeLuca added that the University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University and the University of New Hampshire all produce graduate students in solar physics, but MSU produces the bulk of them.

David McKenzie, a research professor at MSU, told the MSU News Service that the Solar

Physics Group is prominent because its members don’t just study one part of the sun. They delve deep into its interior to learn about its dynamics. They examine the sun’s surface to learn how its magnetic fields get pushed around by dense plasma.

They look at the area just above the surface—the chromosphere.

They study the area above that to understand solar flares and magnetic fields, and then go even farther up to understand how solar wind and space weather interact with the Earth’s magnetic field.

“This really is a fun field with great opportunities and wonderful puzzles to solve,” McKenzie said. “We are happy to share it with everybody.”

A large part of the gratitude MSU’s students and professors feel for their opportunities can

be credited back to the vision and dedication of Loren Acton.

To the future, and beyond On February 25, 2020, the United States’ most prestigious organization of professional astronomers, the American Astronomical Society (AAS), honored Dr. Acton as a society Fellow for his contributions toward “enhancing and sharing humanity’s scientific understanding of the universe.”

Acton took this most recent accolade with a grain of amusement.

“One always likes to have one’s colleagues say nice things about them,” he said from his home in Sparks, Nevada. “It’s just sort of something that happens as result of whatever happened before.”

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2020

“I really am curious about stuff, and I really love beautiful things.”

— Loren Acton

This page: This image of North and South America at night is a composite assembled from data acquired by the Suomi NPP satellite in April and October 2012. Credit: NASA. Facing page, top: Loren Acton in 2010. Credit: Kelly Gorham. Facing page, bottom: Loren W. Acton, payload specialist, triggers a 35mm camera recording stellar imagery aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, 1985. Credit: NASA.

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“Being in a business that Though he’s retired from active teaching, Acton is still works on studying a star which excited about research into the is close enough to see in detail —the beautiful structures and inner workings of the sun. changes of this dynamic star— “We’re in an era now where is a wonderful way to make a we’re increasingly using more and more powerful tools,” he living,” he added. “That has said enthusiastically. “My SXT really been my motivation over the years—to see the data.” experiment on YOHKOH was a To young physicists, and real breakthrough in providing to curious minds of any age, movies of the changes in the Acton offers the same advice sun’s corona over a whole solar cycle—10 years. Now we are his older brother gave him 65 seeing the first pictures from years ago. the Daniel Inouye Telescope on “The more you learn, the harder things you do, the better Hawaii, which has the highest chance you have of doing what angular resolution of any instrument so far.” you really want to,” he said.

“Don’t worry about whether “I have to admit though, I’m not a very good scientist,” he you can cut the mustard, give yourself a chance to try. You’d added bluntly. “In terms of be surprised how many times discoveries and breakthroughs and important publications over you’re smarter than you think the years, my list of those kinds you are.

“That philosophy turned me of accomplishments is pretty into a scientist instead of an thin. But I really am curious engineer and that’s what took about stuff, and I really love me into space.” beautiful things.”

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PHOTO CREDIT

2020

Chrysti Smith

Christy the Wordsmith Etymological storyteller extraordinaire

BY S A L IN A CHRIS TA RI A

Destiny surely had a hand in Chrysti Smith ’95 becoming Chrysti the Wordsmith, etymological storyteller extraordinaire. Born and raised in the small town of Poplar in the northeast corner of Montana, Chrysti really did begin life as a Smith. Her passion for words, however, didn’t start to germinate until she finished high school.

“The summer after I graduated I got a job in Virginia City,” she recalled. “I’d go to the library when I had time off work, and I

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started reading these Victorian travelogues I came across with words I hadn’t been exposed to in my public education. I was so fascinated by the language I went out and bought my very first dictionary—a Webster’s Collegiate.”

A decade later, Smith’s passion for words was continuing to grow, as was her library of dictionaries. But when she enrolled at Montana State University in Bozeman as a sociology/anthropology student

in 1988, her plan was to become an archaeologist. As fate would have it, a large part of studying anthropology is linguistics— the scientific study of human language.

“It sucked me in like a big vacuum,” Smith admitted. “I truly fell in love with dictionaries and the origins of words.”

In 1990, while she was a sophomore at MSU, her studies in anthropological linguistics inspired her to launch a series

of two-minute audio interludes produced and aired on KGLT-FM. “I wanted to tell stories about words that would appeal to listeners age five to infinity,” Smith said. “And I was lucky enough to be at MSU, where there is a campus radio station.”

As far as what to call her show, Chrysti the Wordsmith seemed absolutely serendipitous and a clever riff on her surname.

Shortly after launching the show, Smith was excited to be among a group of MSU

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— Chrysti Smith

archaeology students hired for summer work-study positions at an archaeological dig site. The remote location of the dig at Barton Gulch, situated twenty miles southwest of Virginia City, necessitated team members camp out in tents or vehicles and make do without electricity or running water. Foregoing the amenities of modern civilization while investigating the remains of a 6,000- to 9,000-year-old ancient civilization inspired Smith in ways she couldn’t have imagined. She worked on the dig for two consecutive summers, and is convinced they were the most important seasons of her intellectual and creative development.

At the end of each day at the dig site, Smith would climb in her 1977 brown and white Volkswagen Transporter Bus, with room enough for a mattress, a table, and a box full

of dictionaries. After lighting a few candles for illumination, she would bury her nose in her books doing research for new episodes of Chrysti the Wordsmith.

“I kept writing for the radio show at night after work because I didn’t think the production would survive a hiatus,” she explained.

“I knew I couldn’t lose my momentum. And those summers turned out to be the best in my life, because I was stimulated by the archaeology dig and I was just hitting my stride with the radio project.”

In the spring of 1991, word of Smith’s wordsmithing started to spread. It came about when a Billings resident passing through Bozeman just happened to catch Chrysti the Wordsmith on his car radio. When he got back home, he contacted the station program manager at KEMC, the MSUBillings campus radio station where Yellowstone Public Radio originates. His suggestion that Smith’s show be added to the YPR programming led to them reaching out to her.

“I was very flattered and very pleased they approached me and made the connection,” Smith said.

She was more than happy to expand her listening audience by having Chrysti the Wordsmith aired on YPR, which covers much of Montana with 34 locations on the FM dial. A year later, she was thrilled when the Armed Forces Radio Network started broadcasting her show to U.S. troops stationed stateside and all around the globe. The etymological audio interludes of Chrysti the Wordsmith were now being heard worldwide!

By the time she graduated MSU in 1995 with a B.S. in Sociology, her fate was sealed.

“I wanted to be an archaeologist, but I got seduced away by radio,” she confessed. “It was meant to happen. I wouldn’t change it.”

Although Chrysti’s life is filled with more than just wordsmithing, her home in Belgrade is filled with an extensive collection of dictionaries and other books about words. She estimates having 200-300 of these treasures in her beloved library, including the dictionary her family owned when she was growing up in Poplar.

“I still have it,” she said. “I think I even drew scribbles in it when I was very young. And when I was learning to count, I remember turning the pages of that dictionary and reading the page numbers.”

Along with loving words, and books about words, Smith was approached by Far Country Press about writing her own book. She embraced the idea, resulting in Verbivore’s Feast: A Banquet of Word and Phrase Origins being published in 2004. Two years later, in 2006, Verbivore’s Feast, Second Course was released by the same publisher.

When the books first came out, she sold quite a large number of copies by taking them along with her as she lectured all across Montana with the Humanities Montana Speaker’s Bureau.

Although the books are no longer in print, verbivores can still find used copies through online and brick-and-mortar retailers.

Smith credits fellow etymologist Richard Lederer for coining the term “verbivore,” a

humorous descriptor of people who have an enjoyment of words and wordplay. She ran across the innovative neologism while reading his books, and loved it so much she started calling her radio show listeners “verbivores” in 2002. By 2005 she was reaching verbivores in new markets as her audience expanded to include the thirteen FM stations served by Montana Public Radio, as well as KCPW in Salt Lake City.

A voracious verbivore herself, Smith enjoys doing the research for her shows, and becomes quite delighted by particularly interesting discoveries. Although there isn’t one word or phrase that has remained her perennial favorite, temporary fondnesses often arise during the course of her research. Smith currently fancies the word “mawkish,” an adjective meaning excessively sentimental.

She certainly doesn’t want to come across as mawkish herself, especially now that she has a deeper understanding of its origin and meaning. But she does feel immensely appreciative of all those who have contributed to her journey of becoming Chrysti the Wordsmith.

“I wouldn’t be able to do what I do without grants from the corporate sponsors and foundations that have been loyal supporters of my show,” Smith said. “And I owe a profound debt of gratitude to MSU’s campus radio station KGLT. It’s a gem in this town, this state and the whole nation really.”

Visit WordsmithRadio.org to learn more.

M O N TA N A S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

PHOTO CREDIT

“It sucked me in like a big vacuum. I truly fell in love with dictionaries and the origins of words.”

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2020

Dane Fletcher Bobcat now spends his life in The Pitt

BY ME AGH A N M ACDON A L D - P OOL

Dane Fletcher. Photo by Adrian Sanchez-Gonzalez.

Dane Fletcher reached a football career-high playing as a linebacker for the New England Patriots. But that career wasn’t his Plan A. Most college football players dream of playing in the NFL and dedicate their lives to preparing for a chance to make a roster.

But for Fletcher, a Montana State University linebacker and defensive end, that had never been his main goal. He’d always wanted to build a gym to call his own. The pro career was Plan B: a way to pay for it.

A Bozeman native, Fletcher played for the Bobcats from 2005 to 2009. In his senior season, he earned first-team all-America and all-Big Sky honors, was named Big Sky Defensive MVP and was a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, given annually to the top defensive player in the Football Championship Subdivision. He received his bachelor’s degree in business management from the Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship in 2010.

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“My plan was to start what I really wanted to do when I retired from the NFL,” Fletcher said. “That was to create a community where I can work out with other people, train them and create an atmosphere that not just improves your body and mentality, but helps you become a better person, while also being an enjoyable place to be a part of.”

After a five-year NFL career that also included a stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Fletcher returned to New England to retire in 2015.

The next year he returned to Bozeman and opened The Pitt, a state-of-the-art training facility. The Pitt’s team consists of highly trained coaches, or trainers, who focus on the strengths and imbalances of each athlete. Its facilities house a variety of equipment and strength stations and offer access to a recovery lab with hot and cold tubs, nutritionists and physical therapists.

Fletcher knew he wanted his gym to be unlike anything that

was available to the public, closer to the facilities usually reserved for professional athletes. Inspired by the facilities he trained in during his NFL career, he visited gyms, taking notes, speaking with owners and trying to understand the science behind what made each place work.

“I took a lot of different concepts and said, ‘I like the boxing part of this, I really like the recovery side of this,’” Fletcher said. “I tried to formulate the best product possible, and I believe we’re there.”

When choosing a location to open The Pitt, Fletcher considered other cities but decided on Bozeman, a community that set him up early for his many successes. Fletcher was a three-sport standout athlete growing up, playing football, hockey and baseball at Bozeman High School. During his final years of high school, Fletcher shifted his primary focus from hockey to football.

Fletcher said that while he was growing up all he wanted to do was become a Bobcat.

Under the bleachers of Bobcat Stadium, he would play football with friends as the sounds of fans rumbled overhead. At the time he wasn’t sure that football would be his calling, but the desire to play in front of his hometown community was the spark that made the dream a reality.

“This is where I always wanted to live. Even during the NFL, I built a house here. In the offseason I came back to be a part of the community, and this is where I wanted to raise my kids,” Fletcher said. “Business aside, this is where I always wanted to be.”

Fletcher’s parents, Bob ’71, and Kathy, have been staples in the Bozeman community for decades and own two businesses downtown: The Cannery Lounge and Burger Bob’s. They also own a ranch outside of town.

Fletcher knew firsthand how small business ownership and

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PHOTO CREDIT

hometown involvement could make an impact.

“When it all comes down to it, you don’t just start a gym and get into a world like this to make millions and millions of dollars,” Fletcher said. “You get into this for the right reasons, and those who do are the ones who make it in the industry. I think my parents gave me a good base of how to give back and what it looks like, whether it’s to MSU, nonprofits or to people in need.”

Along with family influences, Fletcher’s connections in the Bozeman and MSU communities influenced his business philosophies. Initially an architecture major, Fletcher switched to business and found himself in the management program, where he learned the basics of being a business owner from finances and payroll to every day operations.

His position coach at MSU, Bo Beck, also helped define how Fletcher wanted to connect with his customers and community members. Beck coached linebackers at MSU from

2007−2017 and is currently the linebacker coach at Colorado State University Pueblo.

“I didn’t really have that coach who understood me until my sophomore season in college when I found Beck,” said Fletcher. “He believed in me, and he could help me in avenues I needed help in. He helped me as a person and now as a coach.

He knows what it means to be a valuable resource for athletes, and that has become the mantra of what we do (at The Pitt).”

Beck and Fletcher have been close ever since Fletcher’s years as a Bobcat. Beck remembers Fletcher as having always been an entrepreneur, throwing around ideas for businesses or products he wanted to develop. Once Fletcher got to the Patriots, Beck said he started to talk more about opening his own gym, sharing drawings and plans for the building. Knowing Fletcher’s dedication firsthand, Beck was confident that he would be successful.

“When he bought the property, he drove me out there and the

idea was off and going,” Beck said. “He took a gamble to build it and had faith in himself that he would succeed. He always had the drive, just like with the NFL. He wanted The Pitt to work and he’ll keep expanding it.”

The Pitt has allowed Fletcher to maintain a connection with the Bozeman and MSU athletics communities, with a slew of Bobcats and Hawks joining to fulfill their training needs.

Kevin Kassis ’20, a former wide receiver for the Bobcats, connected with Fletcher during his freshman year and worked with him to prepare for his junior and senior seasons. With his MSU career complete and his eyes on the NFL, Kassis has been utilizing Fletcher’s football prowess and training knowledge even more at The Pitt to prepare for MSU’s upcoming pro day, where NFL scouts come and watch players participate in NFL Combine events.

“I feel like I went to Dane and still go to Dane for anything, whether it be for training, general football questions, nutrition or

recovery, because he knows a lot,” Kassius said. “He’s been around the sport and in a top program with the Patriots, so he’s someone who, if he says something to me, I trust him. I want to get as much information as I can out of him.”

Plan B may have taken Fletcher on a different route than initially expected, but it brought him everything he needed to help Plan A flourish and grow.

Each gym owner he met helped mold his vision; his coaches instilled a work ethic model he would pass on to employees and members; his professional football career assisted him in mentoring future collegiate and professional football players.

“There’s not one thing where I am like ‘I wish we had this or wish we didn’t have that,’” Fletcher said. “We narrowed it down after three and a half years of being open and I love the facility we have. I love our members, love our coaches and I couldn’t be happier with the direction we are heading.”

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2020

Blue and Gold Pride Show your Bobcat spirit at work, at home, at play.

BY A M Y K A NUCH A ND JUL IE K IP F E R

MSU’s alumni and friends are passionate about MSU and the Bobcats. They share their blue and gold spirit in a variety of ways, such as wearing MSU branded products or displaying a Bobcat flag on blue and gold Friday.

At MSU, the licensing team works hard to get the Bobcat brand out to fans in new and innovative ways.

Partnerships with Montana brands, like UpTop, Wear Your Roots, and Jelt Belts have been developed.

New products have been created that fit our fans’ interests like Gold Rush Huckleberry Lemonade and Hi Country beef jerky. These partnerships allow MSU to align with other recognized brands and connect with our fans.

Alumni support has always been strong for the Bobcat brand and again alumni stood up to help by providing their input in a merchandise survey. In February 2020, the MSU Licensing team sent a survey to 5000 randomly selected alumni nationwide.

The purpose of the survey was to gain a better understanding of alumni preferences for branded merchandise.

Working with MSU Marketing and the Office of Planning and Analysis, an MSU marketing student generated the survey questions and compiled the results. The data will be used to help take product offerings to a new level to better serve Bobcat fans.

Whether that means developing new products or retail outlets, this information will help generate more visibility for Bobcat gear in the marketplace. Watch for MSU to leverage fashion and retail trends, like vintage or patriotic designs.

As the means to support MSU evolves, this information can help develop new avenues to reach friends and fans.

SURVEY SAYS! MSU Bobcat friends and family are passionate about their university and want to show their support.

52% 85% 40% of alumni surveyed wear ’Cat gear more than once a week

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of those surveyed purchase 1-5 items per year

spend more than $100/year on bobcat gear

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO SUPPORT: Wear your MSU Bobcat gear at work, at home, at play Follow us on social media: Find Bobcat gear at montana.edu/bobcatspirit or follow us on Facebook for the newest gear available fb.com/MSUGearup Get on board with promotions and new products

#msucollegian M O N TA N A S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

Jim reading through old vet science class notes taken during a course taught by his favorite teacher, Dr. Welch.

Jim Sargent A glass overflowing

BY K AY L A F R A NCE

One of his daughters describes him as “not a glass half full but a glass overflowing kind of guy.”

Jim Sargent had been looking forward to his 70th MSU reunion for, well, 70 years. He served on the alumni reunion committee.

He called classmates and encouraged participation in

the commencement ceremony and the events surrounding it.

But in the weeks leading up to graduation weekend, a global pandemic was putting a damper on things. Events were cancelled.

Parties were postponed. MSU employees began planning “graduation in a box”. Jim Sargent,

Jim fulfilling his ongoing goal of walking 100 miles per month.

Photos courtesy of Dr. Linda Sargent Wood ’83. author of a book titled “Too Poor to Move but Always Rich” was not deterred. Jim enjoyed his Class of 1950 reunion anyway.

Ten friends and family members gathered safely on the Sargent’s lawn. Jim’s wife Alice baked cupcakes and served them one at a time out of a wagon. Poems

were read. Music was played.

Photos were taken.

Jim dressed in poorly fitted regalia (supplied by a friend) and addressed the crowd. He was limited to 7 sentences­—one for each decade since graduation from MSC. Here’s what he said:

1950s: R ather than returning home to ranch after MSC, I was shocked to be sleeping in an Army troop train headed to Fort Riley, Kansas for my two years in the service.

1960s: Alice Taylor and I now happily married were parents of four wonderful children: Jan, Linda, Sharon and Larry.

1970s: I walked atop the Great Wall of China on a day so cold that my movie camera quit functioning.

1980s: A t the last minute, I filled in for a sick Catholic priest with a keynote opening address for 200 people at the Western States 4-H Convention in Helena and was pleased to read, “The Catholic priest did a good job” in the evaluations.

1990s: Alice and I are charter members of the B. S. (Yes) Valley Meat and Potatoes Bridge Club, still functioning now.

To keep up during the coronavirus four of us play a new version (each with our own deck) many nights.

2000s: I got to be a Lewis and Clark Guide for five groups canoeing a 6-day trip down the White Cliffs of the Missouri River.

2010s: I am happy to wear a College of Agriculture jacket as a proud recipient of the Alumni Achievement Award I won in 2019 and to be here today.

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2020

Giving Day at MSU

BY E V E LY N BO S W E L L

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#msucollegian

Giving Day,” said Carmen McSpadden, director of the MSU Leadership Institute. “Without their leadership and personal outreach, we would never have won the ‘most funds raised’ challenge. The joy of seeing our community support our leadership development work was indescribable.”

Giving Day donors included MSU President Waded Cruzado, 318 faculty and staff members as well as students, alumni and friends. Almost 250 student ambassadors used their social and network influence to attract 418 gifts that averaged $64 and totaled nearly $27,000.

Donors overall gave to local outreach and international travel. They donated so the Spirit of the West Marching Band could buy a pickup truck to haul its equipment instead of using personal vehicles.

They supported ROTC students who planned to run 26 miles across the desert in the Bataan Memorial Death March. They gave so the Bridger Solar Team could race its solar-powered car 1,400 miles in a national competition.

Donors supported women in computing, women in physics, women in engineering and a new group for Hispanic engineers.

They gave to a dance marathon for children and a food pantry for students. They donated to an Ivan Doig festival and Montana Shakespeare in the Parks. They supported a program that will turn World War II memorabilia into shadow boxes.

“Giving Day was an amazing opportunity, and I’m excited to have participated. I’m thrilled to have earned the support of our alum and supporters and look

forward to providing the state with some really interesting and important data about the 2020 campaign,” said David Parker, a political science professor and head of MSU’s Department of Political Science.

Parker and other faculty developed a poll that MSU students conducted to accurately predict the results of the U.S. Senate and House GIVING elections DAY in 2018.

Hoping to build on their reputation for nonpartisan analysis, Parker sought donations for MSU’s Treasure State Poll. He was challenged at one point to perform a Hamilton-style rap, but was able to dodge that opportunity. He was pleased, however, that the Treasure State Poll attracted 144 gifts, the second highest number for any Giving Day project.

“In some respects, I was not surprised—Bobcat alum and Montanans are generous folk,” Parker said. “My staff in the department and my fellow political science colleagues also helped tremendously in spreading the word about the work we do on social media, which was essential to our success. I am truly humbled by all the support from across the country to support our efforts.”

Kacie Cummings of Cascade, one of five ASMSU senators on a committee to renovate the student memorial, said she, too, was thrilled with the results of Giving Day. “Giving Day was a huge success for the student memorial project,” she said. “We had the overall most number of gifts, which is a huge deal.”

MSU already has a beautiful memorial for students who died

before receiving their diplomas, Cummings said. But the memorial lists no names after 2016 and too few people know about it.

The memorial is located just east of the evergreen trees along South 11th Avenue between the Aasheim Gate and the MSU duck pond. It was built after freshmen Brian Boeder and James Clevenger were killed 30 years ago in room 130 of Langford Hall. The memorial includes their names, as well as those of 170 others who died from a variety of causes, including car accidents, suicides and recreational injuries.

To engrave more names, renovate the memorial and make it more accessible, the ASMSU initiated a $250,000 project that Cummings hopes will begin this fall. The timing depends on funding, however. The ASMSU is raising a portion of the cost, and Giving Day provided it with another $13,450.

“It was a very big deal,” Cummings said.

Van Fossen said the Alumni Foundation hopes to make Giving Day an annual event to be held the middle Thursday and Friday of February. That schedule should prevent conflicts with other fundraisers and occurs around Founder’s Day on Feb. 16. Since Valentine’s Day fell on Friday this year, the MSU Alumni Foundation built its first Giving Day around the theme, “Share some love.”

McSpadden, who felt the love on behalf of the MSU Leadership Institute, said she’s in favor of continuing the event.

“MSU Giving Day was a huge success,” she said. “For us, we would welcome the opportunity to raise much needed support in this way.”

For a more complete description of Giving Day and the projects it benefited, go to: givingday.montana.edu

M O N TA N A S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

Forty-eight projects in need of a boost were galvanized by Giving Day, a new online fundraiser organized by the Montana State University Alumni Foundation.

Spurred on by a looming deadline, challenges and promises of matched gifts, donors started giving within 10 seconds of the Feb. 13 kickoff and didn’t stop until the 5 p.m. deadline on Valentine’s Day. By the time Giving Day ended, the 29-hour fundraiser had surpassed its goals for both donors and dollars. Instead of 1,000 people donating $300,000, 1,537 donors gave $320,118. They supported everything from scholarships and research to weekly giveaways of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

“It was an exciting day with a lot of energy,” said Vice President of Communications Drew Van Fossen.

“Our entire organization watched in amazement as we saw the outpouring of support from our Bobcat community and campus for Giving Day,” added Samantha Brandon, associate director of annual fund, digital fundraising.

Donations came from 43 states and across the world, setting off screams and cheers as Giving Day organizers followed the mounting dollars.

The largest individual gift, $16,755, went to Engineers Without Borders to help the group continue 16 years of work in Kenya. The most gifts, 157, went toward renovating a memorial for MSU students who died before graduating.

The most money raised before challenges, $13,455, went to the MSU Leadership Institute which brings renowned speakers to campus.

“Thrilled. Honored. Supported.

Loved. All of these words come to mind, and especially when witnessing the student staff’s excitement during MSU

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36 PHOTO  CREDIT

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#msucollegian

You make a life by what you give

BY S A R A H LUDIN

Mike ’75, ’77 M, and Nomie his company with another in engineering scholarship and (Wells) ’75 Ketterling love Fort Collins and it is now one give to the MSU Library.

MSU, and so putting Montana of the largest civil firms in “No one does it alone; we State in their will was a simple Northern Colorado—Northern both had a lot of help,” Nomie step. Like many others, it’s Engineering. said. “Now it’s our turn to help important to the Ketterlings to Nomie grew up in the small others,” Mike said. give back to their alma mater town of Park City, Montana.

Mike and Nomie get to hear and make a difference for the She utilized grants, workfirst-hand about the difference next generation of students. study, everything she could their scholarship makes in the Earning college degrees at to get to MSU and graduate lives of students, from letters Montana State University led with a degree in Sociology, they receive from students. the Ketterlings to each other the study of people. “I was “It is so rewarding to hear and to successful and fulfilling very much into fighting for the students tell us about careers. “I feel like going to causes and very interested their stories and goals in life,” college was an incredible in criminal justice and law Mike said. He recounts one step in the life I’ve small town kid lived and the career who had to come “ You give to the things you I’ve had,” Nomie through some said. Mike agreed, believe in and that you love.” real struggles “I wouldn’t have in his life to live —Nomie Ketterling gotten to where I his dream of was without MSU. becoming an It’s as simple as that.” enforcement,” Nomie said. engineer.

Mike was born and raised Nomie went on to build her Nomie recalls the story in Billings, Montana, where career from dispatcher at the of a small-town Montana his father was the supervisor Gallatin Valley Sheriff’s Office high school girl whose goal for the Yellowstone County to serving as a counselor for was to get an engineering Road and Bridge Department. inmates in Colorado where education. “Hearing her goal Mike’s interest in excavation, she saw the difference was especially moving and road construction and the that education can make touching for me as a woman,” way things work mechanically, for people’s options and Nomie said. “50 years ago, led him to earn his B.S. and life choices. She shifted to women went to college to find M.S. in Civil Engineering. one-to-one mentoring and a husband. I didn’t know any Mike knew before going to concluded her career at a female engineers.” college that he would have community mental health The Ketterlings would like to pay his own way, but he center prevention program for every student to experience was very grateful to be one drug and alcohol prevention. the successes they had. Mike of two students in his high Nomie and Mike’s summed it up well with one of school to be chosen by a local philanthropy is rooted in their his favorite quotes by Winston philanthropist who paid his own experiences and in the Churchill, “You make a living college tuition costs. belief that a college education by what you get, but you make Mike has been a consulting can change people’s lives. a life by what you give.”

Civil Engineer in private Including Montana State Mike and Nomie live in practice for his entire career. in their will was a simple Eaton, Colorado, and wear their Montana State gear and After becoming a principal step, but it is also part of a cowboy hats whenever they with a firm, he decided to larger commitment that the can. start his own engineering firm Ketterlings made to MSU. in 1995. In 2015, he merged They currently fund an annual

MANY ways to GIVE

M O N TA N A S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

Mike and Nomie Ketterling With philanthropic intention and commitments that suit their finances, these donors have found a variety of ways to make impacts across campus.

CHARITABLE REMAINDER TRUST Gary and Vicki Gilman established a fund to support MSU through a charitable remainder unitrust (CRUT) IMPAC T Athletic facilities, President’s Excellence Fund and scholarships for studentathletes and business majors ESTATE BEQUEST Anonymous donor documented a bequest from his estate designating support for a specific academic discipline IMPAC T Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering OUTRIGHT GIF T Jim and Jeanne Rolph made gifts of stock impacting students and programs IMPAC T Scholarships for education majors committed to teaching in rural communities and the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures CHARITABLE GIF T ANNUITY Bruce Parker established a deferred charitable gift annuity to fund scholarships that encourage and assist students to pursue occupational opportunities available through Gallatin College.

IMPAC T Scholarships for Gallatin College students MATCHING GIF T Janice and Rod Ostermiller inspired nursing donors during MSU Giving Day 2020 to contribute with a matching gift.

IMPAC T JoAnn Paterson Scholarship—a memorial scholarship for nursing students To make your own impact, visit: msuaf.org/give The MSU Alumni Foundation takes seriously the responsibility to honor the confidentiality of donors and their gifts to MSU. All donor and gift stories are published with the expressed approval of donors and affected family members.

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PHOTO CREDIT

2020

A new level of recognition brings together those who have demonstrated, through past membership and support, an extraordinary dedication and commitment to the advancement of Montana State University.

BY DRE W VA N F O S SE N

W

ith roots that go back to 1903 with the establishment of the alumni association, the MSU Alumni Foundation has been instrumental in contributing to the longterm success of Montana State’s land-grant mission to integrate education, create knowledge and art and serve communities.

Today, the Alumni Foundation works to keep alumni and friends of the university connected to one another and to their alma mater, all while raising significant private financial support and providing stewardship for invested resources from many generous donors.

For well over 100 years, the alumni association was a membership-based organization that required that alumni pay dues to be included. For all those years, dues provided the operating budget for the organization.

In 2012, the alumni association and the MSU Foundation merged into one nonprofit organization, dedicated to “cultivating lifelong relationships and securing private support to advance Montana State University.”

At that time, the MSU Alumni Association ceased to exist as a legal entity, but carried on in principle as the traditional membership organization.

According to Chris Murray, President and CEO of the MSU Alumni Foundation, the merger was a way to make a stronger organization.

“The association’s goal was to engage alumni. The foundation’s goal was to raise private support, often from the very same people. It just made sense to combine

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#msucollegian M O N TA N A S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

PHOTO CREDIT

“The landscape of engagement for alumni and friends of higher education is ever-changing. It has moved away from exclusive clubs and associations to a more inclusive environment—one where all who share a passion for the university are welcome.”

— Chris Murray, President and CEO, MSU Alumni Foundation

forces, and it has proved to be the right move,” Murray said.

After the merger, the Alumni Foundation embarked on the first-ever comprehensive fundraising campaign in the university’s history.

What It Takes: The Campaign for Montana State University raised more than $413 million in support of the university.

Through the campaign, it became abundantly apparent MSU had a wide range of supporters.

“Our alumni were amazingly supportive throughout the campaign and were responsible for a large part of the total we raised,” Murray said. “Our largest gifts came from alumni, but we also learned that MSU has passionate supporters from people who didn’t complete a degree at MSU, like friends in the community, former students who did not graduate from MSU, parents and family members of students, faculty and staff.”

“It made us think of how we could better engage a wider audience—how we could become a more inclusive organization,” he concluded.

Two things happened that allowed the Alumni Foundation to think differently about who it serves: First, by the end of the campaign, the organization’s financial health was such that it could get by without member dues to help fund its operating

budget. It would much rather put those dollars to work in support of the university instead of the Alumni Foundation.

Second, in an effort to serve an even broader family, it expanded its definition of alumni from those who graduated from MSU to anyone who attended MSU. “We recognize many alumni have a special affinity for MSU. We also know that we have attracted and enthusiastically adopted some incredible Bobcats by virtue of academic, arts, cultural and athletic offerings at MSU,” said Kerry Hanson, the Vice President of Alumni Engagement. “And parents and families of current MSU students are also part of the MSU community, too, so inclusivity and broadening of our efforts really made a lot of sense.”

Hanson went on to explain how a more inclusive approach led to a decision to move away from a dues/membership model for alumni engagement.

“We have 116,000 graduates in our records, yet only about 11,000 were members,” Hanson said. “And we know from national data and from our own recent graduates, that they aren’t really that interested in ‘joining’ an association. For all those reasons, we decided to phase out the membership model.”

With this more inclusive model of engagement, constituents are

part of a much broader network of alumni and friends, and with it, comes new connections and opportunities. All the events and activities previously designed for alumni and friends will continue on, but without member and non-member differences.

That decision was not without some trepidation, as there were a number of alumni and friends who made a onetime commitment to a life membership.

“Our life members take great pride in that identity. They are proud they made a commitment to MSU for, well, life,” Hanson said.

“To me, once you are a life member, you are always a life member. That will never change,” she said.

A new life paradigm To honor the commitment of life members and to form a more inclusive environment for those who have never been members, but who have loved and supported MSU through the years, a new recognition level has been established: Blue & Gold Forever.

Blue & Gold Forever welcomes all life members, and since the cost of a life membership at its highest was $1,000, it also welcomes anyone who has contributed $1,000 or more to MSU in their lifetime. For those who paid annual dues in the

past, their dues will be counted toward that $1,000 level.

“This is a way we can continue to honor our most steadfast and longstanding life members while also recognizing those who have demonstrated a level of support for MSU that also deserves recognition,” said Murray.

Those who are recognized through Blue & Gold Forever will receive special communications throughout the year and will also have access to perks like receiving the Collegian and Mountains & Minds magazines, access to Outside Bozeman online magazine, the annual calendar, and many of the same discounts that have always been available.

For current annual members, benefits and discounts will be honored though the term of the membership. Once the term has expired, annual members will be asked to consider reassigning their membership dollars to donation dollars, directed to any area of the university they choose.

“This is a new model for us and for our alumni and friends,” Murray said. “We are setting the stage, and we hope that the MSU generations to come will be as committed, energetic, involved and generous as their predecessors have been.”

“Quite frankly, the future health and vitality of the university depends on it,” Murray concluded.

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2020

Hello alumni, friends and fans, Our world has changed. Montana State has changed. Change can be hard, but can also be good. It stretches us and forces us to consider things as they were, differently. It allows us the opportunities to be thoughtful about whom we serve. YOU! And how to continue connecting you to MSU in fulfillment of our mission.

The commonality of our university brings us all together, stronger, and hungry for education and knowledge, goodness, kindness and togetherness in a way that works for you, and your Bobcat neighbor. I hope you have been following Montana State and the Alumni Foundation through various channels, because I know you will be proud of the leadership, information sharing, communications, and the efforts your university has taken in a time of pandemic and civic unrest.

Students come first. If not for students, there is no Montana State. Students remain our priority. Alumni were once students and like the friends of our university, we all care about our students, their college environments, those who teach and mentor them and how we can help. I am humbled by the support our alumni and friends have shown our students during this challenging time.

We have a duty to support you, too. It is important for us to engage with you—the torch-bearers of Montana State—to work to meet you where you’re at and to provide the information and continuing education you should expect from MSU. Please read our In This Together emails—in them you will find useful, fun, enlightening information that will surely put you in a good mood! Share your ideas with us, so we can spread good news to others.

Please join us for a future Facebook Live virtual event—we have had a lot of fun with these “easy to participate in” sessions, and they are the only events we’ve been able to have since March! If you don’t have Facebook, you can always watch the recorded sessions at: msuaf.org/facebooklive We will be back together in person as soon as is possible, and I believe we will be even stronger together. We will adjust, and we will be different in the best of ways.

We will keep our sights set to the future and grand possibilities and we will adapt accordingly. That is how we Montana Staters roll.

Follow us

Stay with us. Listen. Read. Engage. Keep hope. Seek and demonstrate kindness.

Believe. Be well.

In blue and gold,

fb.com/msu.alumni.foundation twitter.com/mtstatealumni instagram.com/msuaf

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Kerry Hanson ’93, ’08 M Vice President of Engagement, MSU Alumni Foundation

Get the latest on events You may notice some familiar events and highlights are missing from this issue of Collegian. At the time of publication, there were still uncertainties, but we encourage you to check-in and stay informed though our web site, as Tailgates, Homecoming, Cat-Griz watch parties and chapter event plans evolve. In the current environment, we are continually thinking of unique ways to engage with our alumni and friends and bring MSU to you easily and safely. Please join us. Now, more than ever, we need to see your smiling faces at our virtual events!

Homecoming

2020

Honestly, we are promoting a “Stay Home-coming” during Homecoming Week, September 28–October 3, as we will have some terrific and fun ways for you to engage with us virtually. You are likely to see a Pajama Day and Career Day promoted, and even a virtual parade. Stay abreast of events as they develop at: msuaf.org/homecoming

Tailgates We now know that there will be no live Bobcat football this fall, but we are not defeated! We look forward to bringing you a virtual “Caturday” football event or two. That’s right! Put on your favorite Bobcat gear, make sure you have your game-day beverage and appetizers ready for a great tailgate and throwback game—all from the comfort of your backyard or living room (socially distanced of course).

We will provide updates for these events as they develop at: msuaf.org/tailgate

Cat-Griz Watch Parties 2020

The annual Brawl of the Wild is one of the greatest rivalries in college football. Sadly, we know that we will not be playing the Griz on November 21 as originally scheduled. We will, however, work hard to bring you a Virtual “Caturday” and maybe you’ll be watching one of your favorite Cat-Griz games of all time! Stay tuned: msuaf.org/catgriz

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2020

Class Reunions For the safety of our alumni, 1950, 1960, 1970, class reunions this spring were postponed due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19.

Reaching your 50th, 60th, and 70th anniversary is an incredible milestone that deserves to be celebrated. The result will be an even bigger and better reunion honoring those in the 1950, 1951, 1960, 1961, 1970 and 1971 classes!

Save the date for June 11–12, 2021, for what is to be a grand weekend on campus and with so many friends in six classes. We look forward to a celebratory time together—in person! Watch msuaf.org/reunions for updated information.

Then & Now Who has changed the most? The least? Enjoy a few of the “then and now” photos of your classmates below. Thanks to all of you who submitted your “now” photo.

1950

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1960

Jim Sargent

1960

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1960

Karen (Magill) Dassonville

1960

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2020 Bob Ogren

1970

2020 Carol LaRue

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1960

Arjay Godston

1960

Jeff Morrison

1960

2020

1960

2020 Norm Asbjornson

2020

Jeannie (Kronebusch) Morrison

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Stan and Jeanette “Tootie” (Wenzel) Rasmussen

1970

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1970

Jean (Brownfield) Ballantyne

1970

2020 Tom Olson

2020 Wanda (Martin) Brown

1970

2020 Bob Quinn

#msucollegian M O N TA N A S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

Then & Now

1960

2020

Mobile learning then: Students are seen viewing a TV screen which is attached to part of the MSC Mobile campus trailer, a traveling educational and promotion venue that toured county fairs throughout Montana promoting a variety of subjects.

Mobile learning now: with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, MSU quickly adapted to a new instructional paradigm that included a variety of online teaching and learning methods, including this virtual patient simulation from a nursing class.

In the 1950s ...

In the 1960s ...

In the 1970s ...

Enrollment in 1950: 2,315

Enrollment in 1960: 3,935

Enrollment in 1970: 8,187

Montana State College received a $4.5 million bond to build dormitories.

Social events required chaperones, alcohol was prohibited on campus and all freshmen and sophomore men were required to undergo military training.

Ground was broken for the Museum of the Rockies in 1971.

Campus expanded significantly with construction of Reid Hall, a dairy center and the Fieldhouse.

The “Great Panty Raid” took place as 1,000 MSC male students converged on Hannon Hall in 1957.

The demand for student housing was met by introducing various styles of temporary housing trailers which included prefabricated war surplus frame buildings, Quonset huts and a large barrack for a men’s dorm.

The 1964 football team was the only team in Bobcat history to win an end-ofthe-season bowl game in the Camellia Bowl. The win marked MSU’s third bowl game, but the program’s first triumph.

On July 1, 1965, Montana State College became Montana State University with the college’s commitment to science and humanities.

In 1972 MSU was awarded the bid for the WWAMI medical program.

Reno H. Sales Stadium was built in 1973 for $500,000 and in 1976 the MSU Bobcats won the Division II National Championship.

It was a decade where student groups began to flourish on campus.

Organizations like Spurs and Fangs took on service projects supporting hospital and clinics in Honk Kong, South Vietnam and Mexico.

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As you all have experienced firsthand, the last several months have been a challenge, especially for an organization whose mission it is to engage with alumni and friends and cultivate lifelong relationships. Since March, we were forced to cancel in-person events, including all chapter get-togethers. We look forward to a time in the future—hopefully, the near future—when we can resume safe and healthy contact with you all. We miss you!

In the meantime, please enjoy these photos of some of our chapter events before the COVID-19 disruption, and look for information about upcoming virtual chapter events.

CHAPTER OF THE YEAR

Columbia River Due to their outstanding efforts to engage area Bobcats and their incredible teamwork, the Columbia River Chapter is the 2019–2020 Chapter of the Year!

Sara Ashback ’17, Tom Donovan ’84, Amanda Ferrat ’01, Martha MacDonald ’72, Kristen Sarrazin ’02, Kyle Stack ’07, Martha MacDonald ’72, Kendrick Wilson ’17 and Alanna Woods ’96.

Call for volunteers and alumni information updates Volunteers: Help connect Bobcats to each other and back to MSU by volunteering on a chapter leadership team. For more information, contact Allison Hupp at allison.hupp@msuaf.org.

Information Updates: Not getting updates on news and events? It’s probably because we don’t have your updated email and/or mailing address information.

Visit msuaf.org/info to update your information and get connected!

Calendar of Events For the most up-to-date information about our upcoming virtual and future in-person events visit: msuaf.org/events

MSU Chapters Billings Area Boise Valley Columbia River Five Valleys (Missoula area) Flathead Valley Gallatin Valley Greater Twin 44

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Chapters

#msucollegian M O N TA N A S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

PHOTO CREDIT

EVEN WITH THE DISRUPTION CAUSED BY COVID-19, AND WITH FOUR MONTHS OF INPERSON EVENTS CANCELLED, OUR CHAPTERS STILL CONNECTED THOUSANDS OF BOBCATS

12 125 53 2,984+

CHAPTER VOLUNTEERS

CHAPTERS

EVENTS

ATTENDEES

Cities Area Inland Northwest (Spokane area) Houston Area Mile High (Denver area) Puget Sound (Seattle area) Sleeping Giant (Helena area) 45

2020

2019 Blue and Gold Award winners are recognized annually at Homecoming as part of the President’s Blue & Gold Breakfast.

Blue and Gold Awards 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 who have brought national or international distinction to MSU or the state of Montana. Recipients are recommended by the MSU Alumni Foundation Board of Governors to the president of the university.

The 2019 Blue and Gold Award winners are: Dan Barz ’64, Polson, Montana Dan Barz spent a lifetime supporting Montana State University, especially Bobcat Athletics. His continual and unparalleled support included both a vast commitment of time as well as significant financial support. His support of MSU athletics helped student-athletes experience success in the classroom, competition and life.

Dr. Gordon “Corky” Brittan, Livingston, Montana Dr. Gordon Brittan taught at Montana State University for 35 years, and he has been an advocate for Montana State, the College of Letters and Science and MSU’s students.

As an inspiring teacher, inside and outside of the classroom, he worked to create

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institutions for the benefit of Montana and its people.

passionate about the importance of access to education.

The Cameron Family Dr. David Cameron and Tanya Warner Cameron ’78, Great Falls, Montana Nancy Cameron Davidson ’54, Boise, Idaho

Ivan and Carol Doig, Shoreline, Washington

Your establishment of the Cameron Presidential Scholarships is the single most transformative gift to the Honors College in its history. And this is only the most recent example of your rich history of supporting higher education. You are providing opportunity and inspiration to generations of students at Montana State University.

You serve your communities and are an example to our students and faculty of how to make a difference in this world. You are

Ivan and Carol Doig have been strong advocates of Montana State University and have provided generous support. Ivan Doig’s literary body of work along with the Ivan Doig Archive and the Ivan Doig Center for the Study of the Lands and Peoples of the North American West have created a lasting legacy that will foster understanding of the local spaces and the larger region.

Carol Rutlen Ezrati ’75, Palo Alto, California Carol Rutlen Ezrati has invested time and energy over many years in helping Montana State University students develop a deeper

#msucollegian

Jack Hyyppa ’68, ’69, Bozeman, Montana Jack Hyyppa brought Montana’s first public broadcasting station on the air, and today MontanaPBS is available in nearly every Montana home. As the father of public television in Montana, Hyyppa left an enduring imprint on the culture and community. He also was a dedicated educator at Montana State for close to three decades, affecting the lives of thousands of students.

David O. Kem ’67, ’00 HD, Houston, Texas David Kem brought international prominence to Montana State during his distinguished career as an engineer and executive. His leadership at the MSU Alumni Foundation is only one way he has given abundantly of his time, resources and intellect to Montana State.

Kent Norby ’64, Excelsior, Minnesota Kent Norby was active on the campus of Montana State College as a student and forever since has been an avid Bobcat devoted to the advancement of Montana State University. He brought his expertise to the MSU Leadership Institute Advisory Board and helped establish the relationship between Cargill and MSU. And his incredible support

Frank Schurz accepts his Blue & Gold Award from MSU President Waded Cruzado.

M O N TA N A S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

understanding of what it means to be a true professional. Her devotion to student success is unparalleled, and her professional career and philanthropic generosity have impacted so many – here at MSU, across the nation and internationally.

of scholarships and initiatives at MSU has shaped the lives of countless students.

Lois Fulker Norby ’65, Excelsior, Minnesota Lois Fulker Norby’s leadership forever changed the landscape of the MSU campus with Alumni Plaza and the creation of the MSU Alumni Foundation. She shaped the lives of countless students through her engagement, mentorship, connection and incredible support of so many university causes and initiatives, including scholarships.

Dan Barz

Dr. Gordon “Corky” Brittan

Dr. David and Tanya Cameron

Nancy Cameron Davidson

Carol Doig

Carol Rutlen Ezrati

Jack Hyppa

David Kem

Kent Norby

Lois Fulker Norby

Franklin D. Schurz, Jr.

John “Jack” Stonnell

Franklin D. Schurz, Jr., Bozeman, Montana Franklin Schurz, Jr. is a retired executive, Harvard graduate and decorated veteran who has dedicated his time and resources to service. Here at Montana State University, his generosity changed lives, particularly for underserved student populations. The American Indian Hall and scholarships for Native Americans in the College of Nursing will leave an indelible impact on MSU. John “Jack” Stonnell, awarded posthumously John Stonnell’s exemplary performance and influence as a professor of cinema at Montana State University contributed significantly to making MSU’s Film and Television department among the top 10 in the nation. An awardwinning filmmaker, his impressive knowledge and his willingness to share his expertise extended from his students to his colleagues and his friends. His tremendous impact on the film program continues to this day.

From left, David Kem, Tanya Warner Cameron and Dr. David Cameron at the award breakfast.

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2020

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

Alumni Legacy Scholarship

Natalie Abbot

Ellie Jackson

Major: Health and Human Performance Legacy: Susan (Johnson) Abbot ’81, ’88 M

Major: Cell Biology and Neuroscience Legacy: Rick Jackson ’81 and Julie (Gossack) Jackson ’82

“I am a proud third generation Bobcat with a deep love for this state and its people. Receiving scholarships like this one gives me strength and encouragement to complete my educational goal of attending Medical School in hopes of returning to Montana to care for the people of this beautiful state.”

“I am committed to studying medicine and global health to better understand the intersection between health and culture among populations around the world. Ultimately, I hope to help underserved communities as a healthcare provider. It is thanks to you that I can go on to accomplish these dreams.”

Avery Amende

Ryan Kimball

Major: English, Psychology Legacy: Kevin Amende ’01, ’09 M

Major: Cell Biology and Neuroscience Legacy: Robert Kimball ’89 and Shanna (Neumeyer) Kimball ’90

“I chose to attend MSU to follow in my parent’s footsteps and leave my own legacy on campus.

Someday I hope to achieve a PhD in Clinical Psychology bringing more awareness to mental health in Bozeman. Scholarships like these are what allow me to gain the skills I need to make positive changes in my community.”

“When I see the success that my relatives have had as a result of graduating from Montana State University, I feel grateful to have the opportunity to also attend this great institution.

This financial award will greatly help me achieve my dream of going to medical school and then return to Montana to be a physician.”

Erin Brush

Kyler Maharg

Major: Agricultural Business Legacy: Jerry Brush ’87 and Jolene (Jackson) Brush ’86

Major: Animal Science Legacy: Donald Burnham ’56 and Nancy (Lichtwardt) Burnham ’58

“As the 6th generation on our family ranch, and the 3rd generation to attend MSU’s College of Agriculture, my passion for education and agriculture is deeply rooted. This scholarship allows me to see our ranch continue on for many generations to come. Thank you for supporting me and my efforts.”

Caden Colombik Major: Animal Science, Pre-Veterinary Med Certificate Legacy: Douglas Colombik ’90 “Growing up in rural Montana, I developed a passion for agriculture. This scholarship is the driving force behind allowing me to continue on my path to becoming a rural veterinarian. I am exhilarated to have the opportunity to help the rural farmers and ranchers of Montana.”

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“Long hours and hard work introduced me to the rewards and challenges of ranching while igniting a passion for agriculture. After graduation, I plan to return to our family ranch and follow the path of four generations, continuing the legacy founded by my great-great grandfather when he homesteaded to our great state in 1909.”

Alex Naglich Major: Mechanical Engineering Legacy: Mary Jean (Krogstad) Naglich ’78 “I chose to attend MSU because I had a passion for the STEM field, it was close to home, and I had no shortage of recommendations from my family members! Your generosity will not be overlooked, and I promise that I will make a mark on this world that will not go unnoticed.”

#msucollegian

Jaynee Drange Groseth Scholarship

Tyler Noyes

Erica Casey

Major: Agricultural Business, Agricultural Education Legacy: Jason Noyes ’97 and Karen (Lambott) Noyes ’96

Major: Nursing Legacy: Todd Casey ’92 and Stacey (May) Casey ’92 “Growing up, my parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins always talked about the fond memories they made while attending MSU. I remember dreaming that some day I could also be a part of those memories. Thanks to this scholarship, that dream has come true, allowing me to continue our family tradition.”

“I believe in fully experiencing all that college has to offer and this scholarship allows me to do just that. I have sought a challenging and diverse course load at Montana State. After graduation I intend to embark on a career path to use the skill set I achieved during my time at MSU while inspiring future generations of Bobcats.”

Hannah Parrott

Emily Pemberton

Major: Human Development & Family Science Legacy: Christy (Jacobson) Parrott ’94

Major: Elementary Education K-8 Legacy: Chris Pemberton ’93 and Amanda (Becker) Pemberton ’93

“As a legacy, I hold an immense sense of pride and appreciation for the history and traditions of MSU. This scholarship will allow me to continue pursuing a career path I’m truly passionate about. One that allows me to help others and give back to the community, while providing support and grace to those in need.”

“Since I was young, I have loved working with children, and being able to pursue a career that allows me to do that every day is something that I could not be more grateful for. I am excited to one day be able to influence a child’s life for the better while continuing to make lifelong memories at MSU.”

Allison Reinhardt

Boeing Employee Alumni Scholarship

Major: Political Science Legacy: Tanya Casey-Reinhardt ’88

Eric Riley

“I am proud to attend MSU and am continually amazed at the opportunities I have. I recently returned from studying abroad in Amsterdam, and while the semester was cut short, it is scholarships like these that enable me to have these types of diverse experiences.”

Lindsey Riley Major: Cell Biology and Neuroscience Legacy: Michael Riley ’86 and Margie (Gaskill) Riley ’88 “Receiving this scholarship means so much to me. Having grown up in an area with limited access to healthcare, I took a passion for rural medicine. It is my dream to return home and help improve the community I grew up in. I hope to use my education to better the lives of those around me.”

M O N TA N A S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

Alumni Legacy Scholarship

Major: Mechanical Engineering “I am excited and looking forward to attending Montana State University and taking in the diverse and unique community of Bozeman. This scholarship will allow me to take full advantage of the many opportunities available. I truly appreciate the generosity and assistance in helping me achieve my career goals.”

Houston Area Chapter Scholarship

Brent Bergman Major: Electrical Engineering “I was born and raised in Houston, Texas. I have always been fascinated with how electrical engineering can help improve everyday life by solving complicated problems in many ways. I am thrilled to receive this scholarship as it will allow me to continue my education at this outstanding university.”

For specific criteria, application or donation information about one of these Alumni Scholarships visit: msuaf.org/ scholarships. To view all scholarship opportunities available at MSU visit: montana.academicworks.com

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2020

ADVOCATE NETWORK

Will you join us?

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.

How to get involved For more information or to apply as a volunteer, visit: msuaf.org/ advocate

In 2019, the voices of Montana State advocates helped win legislative support for the MUS tuition freeze, Montana Access Scholarship matched funding and the Romney Hall renovation.

During the 67th Legislative Session, starting in January, advocates will be encouraging legislators to support funding for these MUS and MSU legislative priorities:

• Investment in targeted research to build the Montana economy • Continued support of need-based student aid for Montanans • Workforce development and technical education for careers in Montana • Minimal inflationary adjustment to the university system’s base operating budget • Investment in MUS infrastructure improvement projects such as Montana Agricultural Experiment Stations and Gallatin College

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Will you join us?

Bobcats, We are living through uncertain times, but one thing that remains clear is that a college education changes and improves lives.

Will you join me in reinforcing to Montana legislators how crucial higher education is for the health and economic vitality of our communities?

As a volunteer, we will provide you with guidance to make advocating straightforward. Your advocate role will not take much time, but the impact will be great!

I hope you will consider my invitation and join me as an advocate for MSU. Go ’Cats!

Ginny (Swan) Sullivan ’87, Chair Alumni Engagement Advisory Board

#msucollegian

Adventures designed for those who have MSU in common and are eager to expand their cultural and intellectual horizons. Find more detail about the trips listed here at: msuaf.org/cattreks Awe-Inspiring Antarctica Cruise: Buenos Aires to Antarctica

British Isles & Lowlands Cruise: London to London

January 18–30, 2021 | From $8,799 per person, double occupancy. Airfare not included.

June 12–23, 2021 | From $4,099 per person, double occupancy.

Airfare included from select cities.

Journey to the final frontier aboard Albatros Expeditions’ Ocean Atlantic on this exciting eleven-night adventure.

Brazilian Spotlight Cruise: Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro March 8–19, 2021 | From $3,099 per person, double occupancy.

Airfare included from select cities.

Cruise the Celtic shores of England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland on this incredible ten-night adventure aboard Oceania Cruises’ Sirena.

Lustrous Coasts Cruise: Rome to Barcelona Sept. 25–Oct. 6, 2021 | From $3,349 per person, double occupancy. Airfare included from select cities.

Travel down the coast of Brazil on this captivating ten-night journey aboard Oceania Cruises’ Marina.

Sail the shores of the sparkling Mediterranean on this incredible ten-night journey aboard Oceania Cruises’ Riviera.

Italy & the Adriatic Cruise: Rome to Venice

Prismatic Fall Colors of Canada & New England Cruise: New York to Montréal

April 12–23, 2021 | From $2,849 per person, double occupancy.

Airfare included from select cities.

Travel around the picturesque coasts of Italy on this incredible ten-night trip aboard Oceania Cruises’ Riviera.

Graduation Tour of Europe: London to Rome

M O N TA N A S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

CatTreks

October 1–11, 2021 | From $4,299 per person, double occupancy. Airfare included from select cities.

Take in the seaside towns of Canada and New England in early fall aboard Oceania Cruises’ Insignia on this incredible ten-night cruise.

May 14–24, 2021 | From $3,075 per person, double occupancy.

Airfare not included.

Young Alumni Trip to Austria: New Year’s Eve on Cloud 9

Visit Europe’s “must see” destinations before settling into a new job or graduate school. Experience amazing theater, see great works of art, walk through millennia-old landmarks, swim in the Aegean Sea and bask in the Grecian sun.

Dec. 28, 2021–Jan 2, 2022 | From $1,745 per person, double occupancy. Airfare not included.

Ring in the New Year over 6,200 feet above sea level at “Cloud 9”—an igloo club with stunning views of the Austrian Alps.

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2020

Class Notes 50s

Centenarian

Jim “Poz” Posewitz ’57, ’61 M, Helena, Montana,

noted author, conservationist and member of the nationalchampion 1956 Bobcat football team, passed away in July at age 85. “Poz” was a Wisconsin native who devoted his life to defending waterways, wildlife and promoting the ethics of hunting. He authored “Beyond Fair Chase: The Ethic and Tradition of Hunting,” selling nearly 2 million copies since it was published in 1994. In 32 years with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, his scientific research and advocacy for Montana’s rivers and streams became legendary. After retirement, “Poz” authored several books and helped found Orion—The Hunter’s Institute.

Jacob Jabs ’52, ’12 Hon. PhD, Lone Tree, Colorado, was

Helena, Montana, became a centenarian. Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins proclaimed May 11, 2020, as Margaret Morse Eagle Day in honor of the Helena resident’s 100th birthday. She was cited for her “exemplary hospitality.”

2020 by Strathmore’s Who’s Who Worldwide publication for his outstanding contributions and achievements for over 65 years in the fields of mechanical engineering and telecommunications.

70s

Gary Blomquist ’73 PhD,

recognized by Furniture Today with a Mentorship Award. Jabs is the founder, president and CEO of American Furniture Warehouse.

Sparks, Nevada, retired after 43 years at the University of Nevada Reno. A professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, he leaves behind a legacy of significant research and major impacts.

60s

David “Tex” Taylor ’71, ’73 M, Laramie, Wyoming, retired

Paul Funk ’61, ’72 M, ’73 PhD, ’98 Hon. PhD, Copperas

Cove, Texas, was awarded the Legacy Award for Integrity from Tarleton State University. Retired Lt. Gen. Funk had a military career with high-profile command positions and more than a dozen decorations and awards.

He is currently president and chief executive officer of the Mounted Warfare Foundation.

David Sen Lin Lee ’61, ’93 Hon. PhD, Las Vegas,

Nevada, was recognized as a professional of the year for

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Margaret (Morse) Eagle ’42,

after 43 years as an agricultural economist with the University of Wyoming. He retired from the position of professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.

Douglas Elliott ’74, Richland, Washington, was awarded the 2019 Don Klass Award for Excellence in Thermochemical Conversion Science. Dr. Elliott earned this recognition over his long and distinguished career in bioenergy, which has helped break new ground in the development of renewable fuels and chemicals from biomass and waste.

Bobi Garrett ’76, Golden,

Colorado, retired after 21 years

from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). She was one of just seven women in her engineering class when she graduated from Montana State.

Randal Rucker ’76, ’81 M, Bozeman, Montana, was

published in the national journal, Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.

Dr. Rucker is an economist at Montana State University.

Brenda Nordlund ’78, Helena,

Montana, was appointed as the acting commissioner of the Montana Department of Labor and Industry.

80s

Jamie (Winjum) Chapman ’81, ’91 M,

Belgrade, Montana, retired after 30 years of teaching at Hawthorne Elementary School in Bozeman.

Chapman also taught in Casper, Wyoming, and at Willson Middle School in Bozeman over her 38year career.

Nancy Cormier ’82, Helena,

Montana, retired from MorrisonMaierle after 20 years. Cormier came to Morrison-Maierle in 2000 and progressed from a design engineer to the office’s operations manager.

Jon Engen ’83, won (posthumously) the SEMA Truck and Off-Road Alliance (TORA) Ron Webster Memorial Award for Engineering Excellence. The award is given to a member who positively influences the market.

A former civil engineer, Engen presented effective solutions to decreasing the weight of truck bed drawers. Engen was also a veteran of the Norwegian Army.

Diane Gilworth ’83, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was named to the Board of Trustees of Carlow University. Gilworth is the senior vice president of Clinical Services at Highmark Health. She oversees case management, utilization management, medical policy/ review and specialty services.

Gilworth previously served as the chief nursing officer and executive director of clinical operations for Aetna Medicaid.

Rena (Schmidt) Steyaert ’84,

Helena, Montana, joined the Montana Mental Disabilities Board of Visitors (BOV) as the executive director of the board.

The BOV provides independent oversight of treatment provided by the Montana Developmental Center and Montana’s public mental health programs and makes recommendations for their improvements. Steyaert brings seven years’ experience in managing the School Based Mental Health program and other programs for DPHHS and three years’ work with

national associations working on advancing School Mental Health.

Troy McClellan ’86, ’14 M, Orange, California, was

appointed CEO and President of Canivate Growing Systems.

McClellan previously held the position of Vice President, Design & Construction for Canivate.

Alan Wood ’87 PhD, Kalispell,

Montana, received the Montana Chapter of The Wildlife Society’s Distinguished Service Award for 2020 in recognition for more than three decades protecting Montana’s fish and wildlife and their habitats. Wood is the Science Program Supervisor for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.

Ralph Brigham ’87 PhD,

Liberty Lake, Washington, was elected to the board of directors of the Cooperative Education and Internship Association. Dr. Brigham serves as the Global Director of Campus Relations for the Southwestern Advantage company. Prior to his 19 years with Southwestern Advantage, Ralph was the Director of Career Services at Montana State University.

Thomas DeLuca ’87 M,

Missoula, Montana, was selected

as the new dean of the College of Forestry at Oregon State University. DeLuca, a forest soil scientist whose long research career includes more than a decade in Sweden and the United Kingdom, was previously the dean of the W.A. Franke College of Forestry & Conservation at the University of Montana.

Clark Hays ’89, Portland, Oregon, published a new book, Gates of Mars, which is the first book in a new sci-fi series coauthored by his life and writing partner, Kathleen McFall.

90s

James Wilkins ’90, Helena, Montana, was promoted to brigadier general in the Montana National Guard.

Brent Leibach ’91 M,

Sheridan, Wyoming, retired in June as principal of Sheridan High School. Leibach’s 38-year career in education began as a high school social studies

teacher in Sidney, Montana, in 1982.

CAO. McClatchy operates 30 media companies in 14 states.

Joni Marsh ’92, Longmont, Colorado, was named Longmont Assistant City Manager. She previously served as the Director of Planning and Development.

Edward Rollins ’97, Lone,

Gregory Hirschey ’94, Manhattan, Kansas, was promoted to group commander colonel of 52nd Ordnance Group at Fort Campbell. Col. Hirschey’s decorations include the Bronze Star with two oak leave clusters (Iraq and Afghanistan), the Defense Meritorious Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with five oak leave clusters, a Meritorious Unit Citation and the Valorous Unit Award.

Bradley Dubeau ’96, Sylvan

Lake, Alberta, was promoted to general manager of Alberta Beef Producers. He spent the last three and a half years as the provincial Alberta Beef Producers’ Marketing & Education Manager.

Peter Farr ’97 M, Sacramento,

California, was appointed Chief Financial Officer at McClatchy.

Farr has served as Controller and Chief Accounting Officer (CAO) since joining McClatchy in 2018 and will continue in his role as

Oregon, the senior vice president/chief credit officer of Bank of Eastern Oregon in Heppner, has joined the American Bankers Association’s (ABA) Agricultural and Rural Bankers Committee. Committee members meet throughout the year to discuss the critical issues affecting the ag community and provide guidance and recommendations to ABA on a number of issues relating to the industry.

00s

Brea (Ackerman) Bauer ’01, ’07 M, Bozeman, Montana,

was promoted to shareholder at Anderson Zurmuehlen & Co., P.C. Bauer is a CPA and has been with Anderson Zurmuehlen since 2005.

Scott Peterson ’06, St. Paul, Minnesota, has been named vice president of hospitality and office development at Minneapolis’ United Properties.

Julie Comnick ’01 M, Flagstaff,

Arizona, was the featured artist

Mike Person retires after nine years in NFL Person ’10, a Glendive native and Montana State product who spent nine years in the NFL and started at right guard for the 49ers in Super Bowl LIV in February, announced his retirement from professional football.

At Montana State, Person started 35 games in a row on the offensive line under coach Rob Ash, and helped the Bobcats win the Big Sky Conference championship as a senior in 2010, a year in which he was named an All-American.

Before that, Person was an all-state player at Dawson County High School in Glendive, from where he graduated in 2006. His dad, Jim, was his high school coach.

Person was a seventh-round draft choice of the 49ers in 2011, and spent time with the Seahawks, Chiefs, Rams, Falcons and Colts before returning to San Francisco

in 2018. It was there that Person had his most sustained success, starting 30 games and helping the 49ers win the NFC championship last season.

Person played all 58 offensive snaps for San Francisco in Super Bowl LIV in Miami against Kansas City. The 49ers were in the lead with less than six minutes left, but ultimately surrendered 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter and lost 31-20.

The 49ers released Person on March 19.

Citing aches and pains and a desire to spend more time with his wife and three growing children, Person, 32, said it took a few weeks to arrive at the decision to retire. He opted to retire despite multiple offers from other NFL teams.

Person currently resides in Columbus, Ohio, with his wife and their kids Sean, 5, Nora, 3, and Eli, 1.

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2020

at the Long Island City’s Arts Open Gallery One at The Factory LIC in New York. The exhibition, Arrangement for a Silent Orchestra, is a painting and video project that explores the gradual dissolution of culture in contemporary society through the symbolic ruin of a personal and cultural icon, the violin. Comnick is a member of the School of Art faculty at Northern Arizona University.

Shawn Hendrickson ’01, ’18 M, Polson, Montana, was

named Montana Principal of the Year by the Montana Association of Secondary Principals. This prestigious award recognizes outstanding school leaders who have succeeded in providing highquality learning opportunities for students as well as demonstrating exemplary contributions to the profession. Hendrickson is the principal at St. Ignatius Middle/ High School, and is the first Native American to win the award.

Gina (Burleson) Albaugh ’04, Billings, Montana, was

named executive director of

Montana Nursery and Landscape Association.

Laura (Ridgeway) Dornberger ’03, ’04 M, Bozeman, Montana,

became a partner at Locati Architects. Dornberger has been with Locati for the past 10 years and is a licensed architect with extensive knowledge in municipal entitlements, project team coordination and shaping the community through aesthetic architectural design.

Peter Schmidt ’05, Belgrade, Montana, was recently named president of the First Security Bank Cottonwood branch.

Debra Lassila ’05, Missoula,

Montana, was awarded a prestigious Certificate in Travel Health from the International Society of Travel Medicine. The certificate recognizes individual excellence in the knowledge of travel medicine with tests administered annually at locations around the world. Lassila is a registered nurse who works at the University of Montana’s Curry Health Center.

Adriana (Rodriguez) Northcutt ’06, Juneau, Alaska, was named

Grammy for Ament bros The winning cover at the 62nd Grammy Awards was designed by brothers Barry and Jeff Ament and adorns the album Chris Cornell, a compilation of tracks by the late singer.

Barry Ament attended Montana State University and is a graphic designer and illustrator who runs Seattle-based design agency Ames Bros. Jeff Ament is one of the founding members and bassist for the band Pearl Jam.

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In the “spirit” of community

assistant principal at Thunder Mountain High School (TMHS).

She previously served TMHS as a science and elective teacher, teaching business, work readiness, Plato, biology, outdoor biology and forensic science.

Tyler Smith ’06, ’08 M, ’12 PhD, Canton, New York,

received tenure and promotion from assistant professor to associate professor of civil and environmental engineering in the Wallace H. Coulter School of Engineering at Clarkson University.

Smith is also an affiliate faculty member in the Institute for a Sustainable Environment.

Arian Bloomfield ’07, Missoula, Montana, was appointed to Morrison-Maierle’s Board of Directors. Bloomfield has been with Morrison-Maierle for 13 years and, in addition to his Board responsibilities, he is the Buildings Market Group Leader.

Bozeman Spirits is one of many Bobcat-run businesses that shifted gears to make a difference amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

When Gallatin County Health Department restrictions for COVID-19 caused Bozeman Spirits to close its tasting room, owners Jim Harris ’95 and Mary Pat (Hartman) Harris started using the distillery equipment to make hand sanitizer for health organizations, local construction companies and people working in the front line.

“We were fortunate to be able to pivot our business and supply hand sanitizer to essential workers around the state. We teamed up with other distilleries in Montana with the help of the Montana Distillers Guild to all work together to make this happen,” said owner Jim Harris.

Alum builds chatbot to help stop spread of COVID-19 Levi Worts ’15, Manhattan, Montana, is the owner of Manhattan-based startup SkyCivic. The company specializes in building chatbots, programs that allow users to have an animated text conversation with a bot.

The SkyCivic team created a free COVID-19 chatbot after seeing how much confusion and misinformation there was spreading around the coronavirus.

The bot helps people self-assess their symptoms as it gives out the most up-to-date information on the virus, utilizing information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website.

The bot has helped hundreds of users get the information they need without leaving the house and potentially putting others at risk.

While the bot is not a substitute for going to see a medical professional, it can inform users and give them more clarity on whether or not to seek medical attention.

To check the bot out yourself, go to: skycivic.com/covid

John Morrison Jr. ’55, ’97 Hon. PhD, Phoenix, Arizona, is

Engineering and Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering.

a Helena native who led one of Montana’s largest civil engineering firms as it took on major projects overseas. Morrison had a long career at Morrison-Maierle, where he served as president and CEO from 1973 to 1988.

Morrison has served in numerous professional organizations as well as on the advisory board for MSU’s Department of Civil

Albert Kersich ’93 Hon. PhD,

Logan Jones ’07, Ballwin,

Missouri, is the new general manager for SparkCognition Government Systems, (SGS), the world’s first full-spectrum AI company devoted entirely to government and national defense. Previously, Jones served as vice president of Boeing HorizonX, the innovation arm of the world’s largest aerospace company, The Boeing Company.

Heather Denny ’09 M,

Whitehall, Montana, was honored as the Mckinney-Vento State Coordinator of the Year Winner by the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth. Denny is a licensed teacher and school counselor.

For the past eight years, she has served as the Montana State Coordinator for Homeless Education.

Tyler Miller ’09, Belgrade,

Montana, has been named the newest assistant vice-principal for Belgrade High School (BHS).

An alum of BHS, Miller spent the last 10 years teaching social studies in Baltimore city schools.

Joseph Staszcuk ’09, ’10 M, Bozeman, Montana, was

promoted to the position of Senior Engineer and Community Transportation Studio Manager at Sanderson Stewart.

10s

Linda Rost ’10 M, ’18 M, Willard, Montana, was named

Billings, Montana, is a Red Lodge native who helped design MSU’s Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.

Kersich has more than 50 years of experience in civil engineering and water resources. Starting as a structural engineer with Billings-based B.F. Hurlbut, he later joined with Hurlbut to form HKM Associates where he served

the Montana Teacher of the Year for 2020. Rost is a science teacher at Baker High School.

Chad Sievers ’12, ’13, Vaughn,

Montana, joined the Internal Medicine & Pediatrics team at Holy Rosary Healthcare in Miles City. Sievers is a physician assistant-certified, a Montana native from Power and a past member of the MSU Bobcats football team.

DeNarius McGhee ’14,

Houston, Texas, accepted a position with the Houston Texans of the NFL as a quality control coach. McGhee is a former Bobcat quarterback and Montana State running back coach.

Kenneth Linder ’15, Belgrade,

Montana, was honored for his years of service and expertise with the National Indicator Fraternity Award from the USA Softball Umpire Awards Program.

Linder began umpiring softball in 2012.

Garrett Leach ’18, Missoula,

Montana, a former Montana State University student body president now working at BlackRock, a global investment management firm, won a Schwarzman Scholarship, a highly competitive award recognizing leadership. With the award, Leach will spend a year earning a master’s degree at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

#msucollegian

as president. Kersich also served as chairman of the Montana State Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors.

Kersich and Morrison were honored with plaques hanging in Roberts Hall on the MSU campus. The award, given annually by the Montana Society of Engineers, recognizes exceptional contributions by engineers who are professionally licensed in the state.

Maggie Zaback Gordon ’18 M, Billings, Montana, was

promoted at Northern Plains Resource Council to director of mission engagement.

Gordon has been at NPRC since 2013, and in her new position will oversee external fundraising, assist the executive director in management and oversee implementation of the organization’s five-year strategic plan.

Jenna Schaack ’18, Great Falls,

Montana, is the first female Armor Officer in the history of the Montana Army National Guard.

Second Lieutenant Schaack was assigned as a Platoon Leader with C Company, 1-163rd Combined Arms Battalion in Great Falls.

Keljin Blevins ’19, Hot Springs, Arizona, signed a training camp contract with the Portland Trail Blazers. A former Montana State forward, Blevins appeared in three games for the Trail Blazers during the 2019 NBA Summer League.

Morrison

M O N TA N A S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

Montana Society of Engineers honors notable alumni

Kersich

20s

Lisbeth Olsen ’20, Wasilla, Alaska, has joined Great West Engineering as a staff engineer.

Kyle Myhre ’20, Lewistown,

Montana, has joined Robert Peccia and Associates’ Water and Wastewater Group as an engineering designer/ construction technician.

Blaire Braxton ’20, Bozeman,

Montana, has been named assistant women’s basketball coach at Montana State University.

Braxton is former Bobcat standout and a two-time allBig Sky Conference academic selection. She finished her outstanding career playing in a school-record 125 games, including 56 as a starter.

Jessica Criss ’19, Bozeman,

Montana, was crowned Miss Montana 2020 on July 25 in Glendive. Criss’s talent is classical vocal, and she was chosen by her peers as Miss Congeniality. She won a scholarship and will advance to compete in the Miss America Pageant. Criss’s degree is in equine science. She will be traveling the state talking about how to erradicate bullying.

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. Also look for frequent Class Notes postings on our Facebook page at: fb.com/msu.alumni.foundation

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P.O. Box 172750 Bozeman, MT 59717-2750

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