CLASS
Notes CHRIS WYLIE ’92 of Appleton,
Milwaukee, Wis., was inducted into the Ripon College Athletic Hall of Fame. Wepner excelled in both softball and basketball. As a catcher, she was a four-time All-Conference performer and set records that still rank in the top 10 in program history. As a basketball player, Wepner was part of the program’s first-ever Midwest Conference Championship.
KAREN DERF ’93 of Homosassa, Fla., was named
sen, Minn., is one of three partners to establish the Tonka Beer Co., a craft brewery that donates 100 percent of its profits to SaveOur-Lakes to battle the onslaught of lake-choking invasive species like zebra mussels. A story featuring the brewery can be accessed at http://goo.gl/p7Rth. Johnson also is vice president of new business development, Emerging Markets Segment, of Cigna HealthCare and was recognized as salesperson of the year (one of six awards presented companywide) in May 2013 in Scottsdale, Ariz.
2012-13 Teacher of the Year for Parrott Middle School in Brooksville, Fla. She also was a finalist for Hernando County’s Teacher of the Year. KARIN HANKWITZ ’93 of Madison, Wis., is the membership operations administrator for the Wisconsin Medical Society. LAURA SCHULTZ ’93 of Pitman, N.J., was
elected in November 2012 to a three-year term on the Pitman Board of Education. KIM SKERVEN ’93 of Milwaukee, Wis., has
been promoted to associate professor at Alverno College in Milwaukee, where she is chair of the psychology department. She also is a psychologist at the Center for Behavioral Medicine in Brookfield, Wis. TODD JOHNSON ’94 of Wahiawa, Hawaii, just
completed one year of battalion command and will complete one more. He ran two marathons in the past several months and will run the New York Marathon this fall. NELLE AVERITT SOMERVILLE ’94 of Baltimore, Md., is now the
catering sales manager of Kimpton Hotels’ Hotel Monaco Baltimore and B&O American Brasserie. She has more than 18 years of experience in the hospitality industry. Previously, she held the position of convention services and events manager for Visit Baltimore where she managed client events and tradeshows, and designed and marketed familiarization trips showcasing Baltimore. JUSTIN ANDERSON ’95 of Radford, Va., will be tenured and promoted to associate professor of biology at Radford University. He recently was featured on the public radio show “With Good Reason” to discuss a paper that came out last March. The interview can be heard here: http://goo.gl/ JEyQO/. The paper is here: http://goo.gl/p9CDk. ANGELIQUE GIANAS ’95 of Rancho
Santa Margarita, Calif., married Jeffery Fong, May 4, 2013. She recently celebrated 17 years of working at The Disneyland Resort, where she is a business relations manager for Downtown Disney. She also serves on the Disney VoluntEars Leadership Council.
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ANDREA WEPNER ’96 of
Wis., coaches tennis at the University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley. He was named the Wisconsin Collegiate Conference Men’s Coach of the Year after the men’s team won the 2012 state championship. It was the first state championship for the team in 20 years. In the 2013 state championship, both the men’s and women’s teams captured the state championships. Wylie again was named Coach of the Year in both the men’s and women’s divisions.
RI P ON C o l l e g e
RYAN JOHNSON ’97 of Chanhas-
SHERRY MESSIMER ’97 of Mechanicsburg,
Pa., has retired from the Pennsylvania Department of State as chief of the campaign finance and lobbying disclosure division. She and her husband, Tom Bainbridge, have a daughter, Chloe Isabella Bainbridge, born Sept. 30, 2011. KRISTINE PETERSON ’97 of Madison, Wis., is an art consultant at Concepts in Art LLC. VICTORIA KUPO ’98 of Woodland, Calif., is the director of the Women’s Resources and Research Center at University of California-Davis. SHANNON MCKINNEY-FREEMAN ’98 and
her husband, Kevin, of Germantown, Tenn., have a son, Jack Carbett McKinney-Freeman, born Dec. 20, 2012. She also has received a grant from the Hartwell Foundation to support her research at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. She is the principal investigator studying hematopoietic stem cells. Information is on her research page: http://goo.gl/Yk9Qr. She also was awarded a Scholar Award by the American Society of Hematology in both 2008 and 2012, among just a few to receive this award twice and the only woman. LEIGHANNE METTER-JENSEN ’98 of Sheboygan, Wis., is an education specialist at Center High School, Bookworm Gardens. MARCI BAILEY MOLING ’98 and her
husband, Shawn, of Albany, Ore., have a son, Octavian Marcellus Moling, born Feb. 15, 2013.
DAN STERNER ’99 of Milwaukee, Wis., gradu-
ated in December 2012 with a master’s of architecture degree from the University of WisconsinMilwaukee. His emphasis was on ecological and sustainable design. He now is working for Flad Architects in Madison, Wis. WILLIAM “BILLY” SWARTZ ’99 of Wauwatosa, Wis., was
inducted into the Ripon College Athletic Hall of Fame. Swartz was a three-sport athlete at Ripon College, competing in soccer, track and basketball. A member of four MWC Championship teams (two in basketball and two in soccer), Swartz was named Ripon College Male Athlete of the Year during the 1997-98 school year. Swartz had an extraordinary impact on the men’s soccer program as a player and then as head coach. JOSH TOBLER ’99 and JAMIE SMITH ’99 of Richmond, Ind., were married April
11, 2013, in Puerto Rico. See story on page 20.
The 2000s JOSH KINDKEPPEL ’00 of Sun
Prairie, Wis., was featured in an article in the Wisconsin Law Journal (http://wislawjournal.com/) in April. He is a business attorney who focuses on employment cases and real estate, and is a shareholder with Eustice, Laffey, Sebranek & Auby SC in Sun Prairie. In the interview, he talked about how he makes public service part of his practice. ERIN MEYER ’00 of Bozeman, Mont., married Eric Johnston, Sept. 8, 2012. She received a master’s degree in history from Montana State University in 2006 and a master’s degree in human services from Capella University in 2013. She is a case manager with Career Transitions. KATIE VOIGT ’00 of Ohio, Ill., became the
pastor of Pecatonica United Methodist Church in Pecatonica, Ill., July 1, 2013. GAIL GITCHO ’01 of Boston, Mass., is the communications director for the Republican Governors Association. She assumes responsibility for the RGA’s communications strategy in the 38 gubernatorial elections through the end of 2014. She previously was communications director for Gov. Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign.
ALEXANDER ARIFANTO ’99 of Notre Dame,
SEAN RIESENBERG ’01 and AMANDA LUTTENBERGER RIESENBERG ’03 of De Pere,
Ind., has been appointed a post-doctoral fellow with the Kroc Institute of International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame. He will assume this position in August 2013.
Wis., report that Sean graduated May 12, 2013, with his master’s degree in liberal studies from St. Norbert College. Amanda completed her first marathon May 19 in Green Bay.