Alumni News

1950s

Paul Schnur (BS CHEM, 1958) 1 I am retired.

Richard Finn (BA CHEM, 1959) I am retired. Our children have fled the nest and created nests of their own. We have 5 grandchildren and one great grandchild. Of course all grandchildren are great! Now I look forward to whatever new adventure appears or happens. Being a physician, the recent pandemic, even though a horrible occurrence, has been a most interesting time for me.

1960s

Roger Caldwell (PhD CHEM, 1966) Retired and living in Tucson with wife Ellen Salacinski Caldwell (MS CHEM, 1967).

David Kingston (PhD CHEM, 1966) 2 I am retired.

Kathryn Tominey (BS CHEM, 1968) 3

Retired research scientist from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

1970s

Dale Edmonson (PhD CHEM, 1970) I retired from Emory University in January 2014.

Ralph Johnson (MS CHEM, 1970) 4 Retired chemistry regulatory writer for Pfizer pharmaceutical company. Currently, freelance writer for the monthly magazine of the retirement community my wife and I live in. My wife and I have 2 children and 7 grandchildren. They all live close to me in Fishers, Indiana.

Larry Schwartz (PhD CHEM, 1971) 5 Married 50 years to UA Graduate Leslie Katz Schwartz, MSRN; 2 daughters, Rachel Delfanti (Neuro Radiologist) and Randee Schwartz (Business Manager)

David Bear (BS CHEM, 1972) Research Professor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine; Professor Emeritus, University of New Mexico School of Medicine

Sheldon Clare (PhD CHEM, 1972) I am a widower with 3 married children and 5 grandchildren.

Robert Small (PhD CHEM, 1972) 6 I am comfortably retired.

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Rick Yost (BS CHEM, 1974) 1 Rick was awarded the 2021 Pittsburgh Analytical Chemistry Award “to recognize his significant contributions to the field of Analytical Chemistry including the introduction of a significant technique, theory or instrument and providing exceptional training or a fertile environment for progress in Analytical Chemistry”. The award was presented at the 2021 Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy (Pittcon) in March.

Oliver Ileperuma (PhD CHEM, 1976)

Retired from University in 2014 and have 6 grandchildren.

Katie Smith (PhD BIOC, 1976) 2 I am retired.

Tim Krupa (MS CHEM, 1978) 3 Rusti and I were married while I was a grad student and this year will celebrate our 48th.

George Marshall (PhD CHEM, 1978) 4

Happily retired after 37 years with Lexmark.

Anne Yoshino (BA CHEM, 1979) I live with my husband Bill Grimes (retired biochem professor) in Alaska, Arizona & Colorado.

1980s

Mark Anderson (BA CHEM, 1981)

P/T pharmacist and owner of Coal Creek Ace Hardware in Louisville, Colorado.

Fred Hassman (BS CHEM, 1982) Married to a Biologist. 2 Boys: one has a BS in Chemistry, the other has a BS in Mechanical Engineering.

Rebecca Stanley Brock (BS BIOC, 1983)

MD ob/gyn

Matthew Austin (BS CHEM, 1985) Senior Advisor, Product Safety Communication at Huntsman Corporation. Focused on product safety communication with employees and customers. Using SAP to create SDSs for various countries while ensuring regulatory compliance. Assigning transportation classifications to products. Profiling the Los Angeles site’s hazardous waste in compliance with California regulations.

Andrew Leavitt (BS CHEM, 1988) Chancellor and Professor of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh

Brian Gilbert (BS CHEM, 1989) I was awarded the Edith Green distinguished professorship at Linfield University. https://inside.linfield.edu/academic-affairs/faculty-awards.html Dwayne St. Jacques (BS BIOC, 1989) I’m a pediatrician in solo private practice in Phoenix.

1990s

Stephen Mayer (PhD BIOC, 1990) 5 Medical Oncologist in Glenwood Springs and Aspen, CO

Patrick Desrochers (PhD CHEM, 1992)

Professor and Chair, Dept of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Central Arkansas

Carmelita Torres (MS CHEM, 1992) 1

I am the Senior Director of Quality Assurance for Curative Inc.

Mara Rempe (PhD CHEM, 1994) 2 Just celebrated 25 years working at Seattle University where I am Associate Dean for the College of Science and Engineering.

Feng-Di (Tiffany) Lung (PhD CHEM, 1995)

We have three children and welcomed a granddaughter last year.

Heather Clark (MS CHEM, 1996) Executive Director Head of Program Management Stealth Biotech Previously Director R&D Program Management at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Matthew Katterman (BS/MS CHEM, 1997) Attending school at U of A as a PhD candidate in Biosystems Engineering

Deepa Whipple (BS BIOC 1997) I work in data and analytics in the retail industry

2000s

Michael Herman (BS CHEM, 2000) 3

Roche Tissue Diagnostics, Scientist / Project Manager

Molly Ball (BA BIOC, 2001) Neonatologist at The Ohio State University/Nationwide Children’s Hospital

Dayle Smith (PhD CHEM, 2001) Started new job at ORNL (we’re hiring!).

Liliya Yatsunyk (PhD CHEM, 2003) 4

I received the promotion to full professor this year at Swarthmore College.

Aaron Brandis (BS BIOC & BMB, 2004) 5 Vascular Interventional Radiologist in Jackson, TN specializing in stroke, peripheral arterial disease and interventional oncology.

Olivia Herman (BA CHEM, 2004) I am currently employed as a Quality Engineer for Roche Tissue Diagnostics. Graduated in 2020 from Purdue University with MS, majoring in Agricultural and Biological Engineering with a concentration in Biotechnology Innovation and Regulatory Science.

Michael Boice (BS BIOC, 2005) Executive Director at CrownBio

Yingying Huang (PhD CHEM, 2005) Monetization Product Growth Leader at TikTok

Thomas Schultze (BS CHEM, 2007) 6

I work on formulating, manufacturing and testing greases.

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Christina Birch (BS BMB, 2008) 1

Professional Cyclist / Olympic Long Team Member for Track Cycling on Team USA; Scientific Consultant & Lead Grant Writer. I was named to the USA Olympic Long Team for Track Cycling for Tokyo 2020. While I didn’t compete on race day, I am very proud to be a part of the Long Team from which race starters were selected.

Matt Cranswick (PhD CHEM, 2008) 2 My partner, Jenny, and I recently welcomed Beatrice Poppy to our family during the COVID-19 lock down. She is pictured (at 6 mo.) with her sisters, Evelyn Rose (6) and Camille Iris (4). Clearly, I am outmatched and spend a lot of time “in the lab”.

Kristin Jacobs (BS CHEM, 2008) I’m currently employed at Motional - a self-driving vehicle company.

Brittany Phipps Statzer (BS CHEM, 2008) 3

Recently moved back to AZ after 11 years in Colorado! Living with my husband and 2 kids in Peoria.

James Morton, Jr. (BS, BIOC & BMB, 2009) 4 In December 2020, I graduated from the National University of Health Science medical school with a ND degree. I’m preparing for my medical boards and working fulltime. At the end of June, 2021 my novel “Love’s Parallel” will be published.

I moved to Asheville, NC to resort a home that’s been in the family for year, but was dormant after my brother and his wife moved out. My plan consists of operating a medical practice as a Naturopathic Doctor, work with the Veteran’s Administration since they are hiring ND’s and changing their medical protocol, and establish a small research laboratory affiliated with the VA to investigate using botanical constituents against bacteria, viruses, and diseases. Yes, I’m still that ex-military soldier that keeps on pushing on, no matter what the odds. I wish everyone peace, love, happiness, and success in all your endeavors or journeys in life.

Zach Sunitsch (BS BMB, 2009) I am a dentist employed in rural Oregon. I work at a federally funded community health center.

Aaron Vannucci (PhD CHEM, 2009) I just received tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of South Carolina.

Nicholas Veomett (BS BIOC, 2009) 5

Sr Director of Corporate Development at Artiva Biotherapeutics, an NK Cell therapy company in San Diego, CA.

2010s

Ahmed Badran (BS BIOC, 2010) Recently accepted new position as Assistant Professor at the Scripps Research Institute in California.

Jessie Brown (BS BMB, 2011) 6 Jessie is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Cancer Genetics at Columbia University Irving Medical Center where she is the inaugural Candy and William Raveis Fellow of the Damon Runyon-Sohn Foundation Pediatric Cancer Fellowship Award. She celebrated her wedding in Tucson in March of 2021.

Daniel Sanchez (BS CHEM, 2011) PHOTO

Living in Portland and currently work as a R&D Failure Analysis Engineer at Intel Corp. Also became a dad this year.

Tiffany Son (BS BMB & MCB, 2011; MS PHYS, 2012; MD, 2016) PHOTO Tiffany currently is a UofA Surgery resident and graduate fellow. It was during her Cardiothoracic Surgery elective rotation that she decided to pursue General Surgery. She remained here in Tucson to complete her Surgical Residency training. While completing her residency, Dr. Son has been very active in research. More recently she has been involved in Quality Improvement Projects that cover both Banner Hospital Campuses in Tucson. She has been an invited speaker at national and regional conferences and has presented on titles Failure to Rescue in Post-Op Patients with Colon Cancer and on Physician Suicide. In 2019, she completed an International/ Global Elective Surgical Rotation at the Groote Schuur Hospital in Capetown, South Africa in Acute Care and General Surgery. She is a member in good standing with National Organizations: American College of Surgeons, Association of Women in Surgery, and the Society of Asian Academic Surgeons.

After graduation, Dr. Son will be completing an MIS Bariatric Advanced GI Fellowship with Banner Gateway. After her fellowship, she will be returning to Tucson to join the private practice group Southwest Surgical and will be working out of Tucson Medical Center and St. Joseph’s Hospital. She has enjoyed this journey and knows she did not do it alone; her family were greatest supporters. Throughout these years in Tucson, she has kept her motto, “Stay Humble. Hustle Hard”.

Barbara Chukwu (BA BIOC, 2012) PHOTO

I recently finished medical school and got accepted into an internal medicine program in Ohio.

Nirushan Narendran (BS BIOC, 2012) PHOTO

Nirushan was originally from Toronto, Canada who later moved to Tucson in 2009 and completed his undergraduate in Biochemistry and Molecular Cellular Biology in 2012. Thinking about pursing career in medicine he completed a Masters in Cellular and Molecular Medicine in 2018. During his Masters, he had met his wife Natalia Elias Calles who was also a recent graduate from the University of Arizona and was working in clinical research. She had convinced him to pursue clinical research as she knew that he would appreciate the science but also the joys of helping patients.

Nirushan had joined the University of Arizona Asthma Center in 2017 and his knowledge in the field of Asthma, Food Allergy, and other respiratory related diseases such as Chronic rhinosinusitis allowed him to be able to communicate efficiently to potential subjects and clearly outline the procedures within the study. While working at the Asthma center he had found his passion for clinical translational research.

He is currently in the Clinical Translational Sciences Doctoral program working on a translational research project under his mentor’s guidance, Dr. Eugene Chang. Upon completion of his doctoral degree, he plans on working towards a career in translational research and precision medicine.

Kristin Bratton Nelson (BS BIOC, 2012) PHOTO

Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at Emory University. My husband, Michael Nelson (BS in BIOC, grad. Fall 2012) and I had our first baby, Oliver, born in March, 2021. Garrett Yagade (BS CHEM, 2012) Photo Currently I am working as a Jr Software Designer for a small healthcare analytics company after completing my masters in business analytics from Syracuse University. My wife and I recently welcomed our first born, Sean, into the world. He was 6lbs 14oz and 20 inches long. He has been keeping us on our toes but is very happy and of course loves the Wildcats!

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Lori Culberson (PhD CHEM, 2013) I founded a nonprofit organization, The Spark Org, whose mission is to provide students from underserved communities with academically enriching services and resources such as tutoring, school supplies, and opportunities to join sports teams or take art and music lessons. We’d love for you to visit our website: www.thesparkorg. io.

Christopher Kosters (BS CHEM, 2013) 1

Promoted to Senior Chemist at Corden Pharma Colorado (CDMO) last year.

Dominic Sacchetti (BS CHEM, 2013)

Patent for new phenol free AFB stain. US Patent US20200319066A1. Developed internal qPCR assay to test employees for COVID-19

Angela Schlegel (BS BIOC, 2013)

I am currently working as a Scientific Technical Editor for AlphaGroup Medical Communications where I am responsible for graph and table generation, conference and manuscript submission assistance, and fact-checking various documents for a growing group of pharmaceutical, medical, and biotech companies.

Harrison Frisk (BS CHEM, 2014) In January, I graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Ph.D. in Chemical Physics. I’ve joined the UMN Department of Chemistry as a staff member, running the outreach and lecture demonstrations and teaching a lab course.

Jeremy Gantz (PhD CHEMl, 2014) 2 Since graduating with a PhD from Neal Armstrong’s group in 2014 I have been working at Nike in a few different roles from materials researcher to engineering director, all focused on new innovations around footwear and leading teams of scientists from around the world. I have traveled the globe many times over making sure these new innovations come to life on a global scale. Every once in a while I think back to the analytical chemistry course at UofA where we had to figure out how off the shelf commercial products worked and their chemical makeup....so useful!!!

A few fun innovations I have launched during my tenure at Nike: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/nike-air-jordan-3-rtna-structural-colour https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5izLYMNGMrA https://www.sneakerfreaker.com/releases/on-foot-travis-scott-nike-air-max-270-react https://news.nike.com/news/nike-betrue-2018-collection https://news.nike.com/news/what-s-new-and-old-about-the-nike-air-vapormax-2019

My family has grown since leaving UofA and we now have two awesome boys and outside of work I have become a novice woodworker who hasn’t lost any fingers.... yet! (https://www.instagram.com/dr_gantz/)

Cody Corbin (PhD CHEM, 2015) 3 Twin boy and girl born 09/2017. Received signed letter of recognition from the DOE Office of Science acting director for COVID-19 work on N95 masks in collaboration with the National Virtual Biotechnology Laboratory (NVBL). Provisional patent application on tamper-indicating materials submitted.

Guadalupe Davila (BS BIOC, 2015) 4

I just graduated from the University of Arizona College of Medicine on May 2021. I graduated with Distinction in Commitment to Underserved People Program, Distinction in Rural Health Professions Program, Integrative Medicine Distinction, and Bilingual Medical Spanish Distinction Track. I will be starting my residency in pediatrics at Banner University Medical Center in July. I am so excited to be able to stay home and see what is to come.

Celestina Mesa (BA BIOC, 2015) In my last year in pharmacy school at UArizona.

Haley Kent Stanczyk (BS BIOC, 2015)

Currently a stay at home mother. First child born February 2020 and currently expecting baby #2 in November 2021.

Sanhita Sinharay (PhD CHEM, 2016) 1

In March 2021, I joined the the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, as a tenure track Assistant Professor, in the Center for BioSystems Science and Engineering. My research lab will focus on development and applications of molecular imaging biomarkers that can improve early detection and assess early response to treatment in cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Here is a link to my webpage (https://sinharay.wixsite.com/cancersystemsimaging)

Jordan Barrows (BS BIOC, 2017) 2

Attending graduate school for a PhD in the Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology program at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Peter McFadden (PhD CHEM, 2017) I just celebrated my four-year anniversary at Nguyen Tarbet LLC, an intellectual property law firm specializing in patent prosecution. Our little family is growing, as my wife and I are expecting our third son in September.

Destinee Ogas (BA BIOC, 2017) 3 I graduated from Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy at the University of Hawaii at Hilo on May 8th. I have moved to Austin, TX and I am studying for my NAPLEX to get licensed as a pharmacist. I got engaged on April 27th in the Maldives.

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Nick Ziolkowski (BS BIOC, 2017)

I’m currently a Data Science Consultant with McKinsey & Company, working for their Agriculture Commodities Research Engine. I’ve had the privilege to work on machine learning and analytics problems across the climate, food security, and agricultural inputs space.

Hongxi Guo (BS BIOC, 2019) 1 I graduated in September from University College London with an MSc in infection and immunity.

2020s

Madeline Morrow (BS BIOC, 2020) 2

I’m currently working for a small research company here in Tucson. I graduated back in December with my French degree, and I’m happy to be working at Avery Therapeutics. It’s a nice break from school and working in tissue engineering has been awesome!

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