Unique

Alumni Review Fal l 2010

Universit y of Nor th Dakota A lumni A ssoc iation

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Inside this issue

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ALUMNI REVIEW • Vol. 93 No. 3 • Fall 2010

FE ATUR ES

4

Unique Talent

8

Larger than Life

2003 UND grad Jamey Mossengren is wowing crowds Down Under.

Jim Blakeway, ’83, goes to great heights for the perfect picture.

12 Painting Personality

Patrick Tupa, ’78, paints portraits that convey personality.

D E PA RTM E N TS

2 Message from the Executive Vice President

8

Let’s Celebrate

16 What’s New

News from Around Campus

17 A Letter from the President An Exceptional Day

28 Athletics

12

From Sports to Stand-up Q & A with Student-Athletes to Watch

32 Alumni Class News

Who’s Doing What: News About your Classmates

44 In Memoriam On the cover: Jamey Mossengren, ’03, with his most prized possession - his unicycle.

Photo courtesy of Cameron Ulmer

28

LET’S CELEBRATE

Alumni Review Fal l 2010

Universit y of Nor th Dakota A lumni A ssoc iat ion Vol . 93 No. 3 • Fal l 2010

DEAR ALUMNI & FRIENDS,

In my role as executive vice president of the UND Alumni Association, and CEO of the UND Foundation, I think I have the most amazing and interesting job in North Dakota.

I get to travel across our great country and meet so many of you - experience your success across varied disciplines, learn your life stories and share the common passion we feel for our University.

I have consistently found UND graduates can compete with those from any institution in the country. There are common traits: hardworking, well-educated, socially-adept, competitive, and a creative and entrepreneurial spirit driving an uncommon level of achievement.

In this edition of the Alumni Review, we’re featuring just a few of the thousands of great stories we’d love to share. We’ll reflect on some “unique” people, programs and projects at UND and beyond.

You’ll have a chance to read about alum Jamey Mossengren, ’03, who took his college hobby and turned it into an uncommon career. There’s Professor Van Doze at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) who, with the help of his students, is doing some cutting-edge research on neurogenesis – the brain’s ability to generate new neurons. And, you’ll meet former Fighting Sioux football player Jason Williams, ’94, whose professional path certainly took a unique twist.

“Unique” is a fitting theme for this issue, as in less than two months a one-of-a-kind event will happen on campus during Homecoming 2010 [Oct. 4-10]. With such a “big” buildup, I suppose it’s not very nice of me to now tell you it’s a secret.

I CAN tell you, however, you won’t want to miss “Ignite the Spirit”, to be held at the Chester

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Fritz Auditorium Friday, Oct. 8 at 3 p.m. It will be a huge announcement with dramatic impact on our campus, as well as a memorable occasion for all interested in UND. Our Homecoming theme is “North Dakota, Here’s to You”. Four dedicated and loyal alumni will be honored with our highest honor, The Sioux Award. This year’s recipients are Greg Page, ’73, chairman and CEO of Cargill, Inc.; Henry “Bud” Wessman, ’89, founder of the physical therapy department at the UND SMHS; Mary Wakefield, . . ’83, the administrator in charge of the Human Resources & Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services; and Howard Dahl, ’71, HON ’10, an international businessman who’s a leader in the agricultural equipment manufacturing world.

Within the same ceremonies, our Young Alumni Achievement Award will go to Ryan Kopseng, ’99. Ryan is vice president of United Energy Company (UEC), managing all aspects of UEC’s oil and gas exploration and production ventures.

More details are included in the Homecoming booklet in this issue, and online at www.undalumni.org. In both places, you’ll also find a complete schedule of Homecoming activities. This Homecoming has something for everyone including the parade, tailgating before the Fighting Sioux football game and the Golden Grads class reunion. Finally, on Saturday night, Ralph Engelstad Arena will host Brad Paisley in concert. What a perfect way to cap off the week!

And, remember, I promise you the “big secret” announcement on Oct. 8 at the Fritz will knock your green and white socks off !

I look forward to seeing many of you on campus this fall at Homecoming, one of my favorite times of the year. Campus is beautiful, everyone is engaged and excited and there is a collective “energy” that captures much of what college life is about. We’ll celebrate together all that UND has been, can and will be. I hope you’ll join us!

Sincerely,

Tim O’Keefe, ’71 Executive Vice President and CEO UND Alumni Association and UND Foundation E‐mail: timo@undfoundation.org

Executive Vice President and CEO Tim O’Keefe, ’71 Executive Director, Alumni Association Doris Cooper, ’91 Editor Leanna Ihry, ’02 Designer Kirsten Gunnarson Contributing Writers Jessica Sobolik, ’02 University Relations Contributing Photography Chuck Kimmerle/University Relations BOARD OF DIRECTORS UND Alumni Association Chair Jim Williams, ’62 Vice Chair Carolyn (Howland) Becraft, ’66 UND Foundation Chair Rick Burgum, ’68 Vice Chair Al Royse, ’72, ’73, ’76 Directors: Alice Brekke, ’79, ’87; Jill (LaGrave) Burchill, ’76; Steve Burian, ’90, ’92; Kris (McConn) Compton, ’77; Patrick Dirk, ’71, ’72; Mark Fliginger, ’74; William Guy III, ’68, ’76; Tim Haas, ’68; Bart Holaday; Robert O. Kelley; Chuck Kluenker; Paul LeBel; Lauris Molbert, ’80, ’83; Jennifer Neppel, ’86; Tim O’Keefe, ’71; Linda Pancratz, ’76; Fernanda Philbrick, ’94; Keith Reimer, ’73; Cathy Rydell, ’88; and Lisa Wheeler, ’75, ’82.

The University of North Dakota Alumni Review (USPS 018089: ISSN 0895-5409) is published Aug., Nov., Feb., and May by the University of North Dakota Alumni Association, 3100 University Avenue, Stop 8157, Grand Forks, ND 58202-8157.

Periodical postage paid at Grand Forks, ND 58201 and other offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Alumni Review, 3100 University Avenue, Stop 8157, Grand Forks, ND 58202-8157.

For inquiries about advertising, additional copies, reprints, submissions, or general comments, contact Leanna Ihry, editor, at 800.543.8764, 701.777.0831 or alumnireview@undalumni.net.

To be unique. Do these alums qualify?

YOU DECIDE…

f al l 2010 3

(UNI)QUE

A 2003 UND grad, who used to ride his unicycle in Homecoming parades and talent shows on campus, is now wowing crowds Down Under.

by Jessica Sobolik

TALENT JAMEY MOSSENGREN, ’03, knows how to form a crowd.

First, he lights torches. That’ll catch anyone’s attention. Then he stands up a 12-foot unicycle and rolls it around. After 10 to 12 people come over for a closer look, Mossengren jumps on the unicycle and does a few “warm-up” tricks. You know, easy stuff like 180-degree spins and pedaling with one foot. Then he juggles fire torches. “That’ll get an even bigger crowd,” he said.

Next, a quick magic trick: making a Coke bottle disappear. Then he showcases the more advanced unicycle tricks, such as jumping rope and pedaling with his hands. He selects a small kid out of the crowd and jumps over him (while riding the unicycle, by the way). The grand finale: riding a 12-foot unicycle with one foot while juggling clubs. His typical show lasts roughly 30 minutes.

Mossengren didn’t learn these tricks at the UND School of Engineering and Mines.

He did earn his mechanical engineering degree there in 2003, and he managed to tie what was at that time a unique hobby into his education. “In my senior design class, where we had to design and build something, I chose a 12-foot take-apart unicycle,” he said. “So I’m using some of my degree.”

Unicycling since age 10, Mossengren now uses his unique talent to be a full-time street performer. He lives in Sydney, Australia, which happens to be one of the top tourist destinations in the world. Pair that fact with a holiday weekend, and Mossengren makes a decent paycheck, especially for only 30 minutes of work. The best part is, he’s earning a living without working behind a desk.

Mossengren found life behind a desk unfulfilling after graduation. In fact, he may have stalled in getting there in the first place. Initially, he worked a construction job to earn enough money to backpack across Europe with a friend. Twenty countries and one empty wallet later, he returned to his home state of Minnesota, accepting an engineering

4 Ἅ lu m n i R e v ie w w w w . u n d a l u m n i . or g

f al l 2010 5

Jamey Mossengren entertains crowds on the streets of Australia and recently expanded his unicycle performances to include birthday parties, corporate events and more.

6 � lu m n i R e v ie w  w w w . u n d a l u m n i . or g

ink figure e routines (th yl st ee fr as l activities such es), basketbal c and costum si u m ni h u it s w ke g n ta skatin est competitio ew n e Th . ey an , spin d and hock here they flip w , k ar p e at sk riders to a h grind ledges. ds like a healt icycling soun n u gh u e o er h lt th A gren says tmare, Mossen … except insurer’s nigh ous accidents ri se w fe ry ve ia has have been back . “Californ is h ke ro b e h o for the time d trails, and tw black diamon al ic ith n w ch g te in d ly real was ri oved there, I m d I’ es, er im aft T s . e L.A month to shoot for th o h p a g in o ff job at Acorn d u a group d not doing st r ing all out an go e Cardiovascula own er d w t e en w w so lained. “I p e ex e Th h l. ” , o au d P , but in St. we’d normally to the bottom it e ad m as I . w ce y fa compan e spent his a 20-foot rock d flew off. ” H an a l g o tr in n p o co f el o dev a black back was out rnia wearing o if

al C ed in k er ar r awhile. tradem first summ unicycling fo to at p e o ic st a ev t d u p rt brace, which cardiac suppo d Drug job,” he said. y engineering m an f d ad o h o I , F ily re

gets on top o “Luck it couldn’t secu found himself ering how he en d h n w o t w u y b se er o e, n “V th m r the ti swers, Fo ossengre ossengren an n approval, M ot unicycle, M o -f s along the 2 1 Administratio a st b. e are tiny ep jo er ch er th ar , th ly o se al an to u r ct can ed looking fo carefully.” A it, Mossengren travel, he decid ld r o fo h le ve p lo eo an is p g h o g ally landin frame, so if tw Recognizin nesota, eventu r company in in M

f e top. o e id ts la u u sc climb up to th for jobs o milar cardiova

le at a si alized he engineering ro er five or six months, he re puter 9 t aft California. Bu as working in front of a com ns and w g pla “I Friday, writin wasn’t happy. gh u ro th ay d n Mo a.m. to 5 p.m., ,” he said. ext until ke I was in jail li lt fe going to do n as w reports. I e h at h w er a not sure t his money aft ec ll So he left, co er rm street perfo he watched a . e Beach, Calif show in Venic

Down Und

er

an ossengren beg California, M in entually ile h ev W as

s w ho w es tr ac an , ey dgl dating Gigi E ked if I’d move stralia. “She as u A in b jo a ew I could offered re because I kn su id sa I d an two are with her, ,” he said. The ey n d Sy in street perform ry in Hawaii. d plan to mar an d ge ga en now ded his recently expan en gr en ss o irthday M s to include b ce ew n an is rm h ll t fo ki u S er b p is e, eck out unicycle Honing H and more (ch ow it at the tim here his n ts k en ’t n ev id te d ra n o re ,w is best parties, corp Mosseng at a garage sale asked what h d en te h ar er W h st ). y so ll m e o ia it m uniproshow.c looks at the career path in unicycle and brought it ho ey have been, he th ay a en m h d n w ce u o an d fo a rm n to any show perfo grandm something fu show is really ld t e u es o av b w h y er ld u “M th . o re ro w b ing and big pictu grandkids n and his older t. After a ing and clapp re gh g u en la e ss o ar le M . p el where peo e the furthes came to visit it makes me fe who could rid ok a unicycle riding time because g d n o ei d,” he go se rl a s o g w rn in is tu hav take od in th gren to go en h g ss it in o w h M et , ck m u ak so re “I st an like I’m doing ch money as brutal losing st ool and evened the score. t make as mu n’ h o d sc I t, if le an d n w id I ve hen said. “E class in m boss, I work w d n rl w o o w y e m th  d I’m ” b. engineer, e nation an it,” he said. y I like this jo ed No. 1 in th ciety of ing. That’s wh o d S ar g n w li re yc ’s it ic d n Now he’s rank an eU

to th eration. up, according Unicycling Fed 1992, in his age gro al n io at rn te the In events since America and nual national an July. in ed et p cisco, Calif., in n ra He has com F an S in U Games l, downhill including the includes uphil n io it et p m co n the road The weeklong s on a track; o ce ra s; ce ra y ntr mountain, and cross-cou or marathon); and down a indoor 0K en there are (much like a 1 ne so well. Th go s ay w al ’t which hasn

f al l 2010 7

Larger

Jim Blakeway, ’83, goes to great heights for the perfect picture.

than Life

by Leanna Ihry

8 Ἅ lu m n i R e v ie w w w w . u n d a l u m n i . or g

JIM BLAKEWAY, ’83, can rattle off the best city skylines in the United States in a matter of seconds. “That’s easy. New York, Chicago and San Francisco,” he said.

And he should know. The ability to get breathtaking, large-as-life photos of a city skylines, as well as landmarks and events across the globe, has been putting bread and butter on Jim and his wife, Lynn’s, table for the past 21 years.

“I really do have a great job. When I hang up my hat at the end of my working career I’m going to look back and think, that was a really nice run,” the UND marketing grad said.

His business is called Blakeway Worldwide Panoramas Inc. You may have heard of it. And if you haven’t, you’ve likely seen his work. A few years ago, Blakeway took a panoramic photo of the Fighting Sioux men’s hockey team taking on the Minnesota Gophers at Ralph Engelstad Arena. (Check out page 10 and you may recognize the print!)

Sports stadiums and arenas similar to the Ralph have become homes away from home for Blakeway and his

business partner, Chris Gjevre. They recently landed an exclusive NFL license to shoot panoramic images of all 32 football teams this season. “This NFL project is the biggest we’ve ever taken on,” Blakeway said.

In addition to taking photos of NFL games, Blakeway’s business focuses heavily on college sports. “We’ll do about ten college football teams this fall. College football is Saturday and pro football is Sunday and Monday. That first weekend of the football season we have seven games to shoot,” Blakeway said.

As busy as he is today, Blakeway isn’t complaining, as it hasn’t always been that way for this self-made entrepreneur. After graduating from UND, Jim used his marketing degree for four years and held several positions with Proctor and Gamble. But it wasn’t long before he realized a desk job wasn’t for him. “I quit my job and got a Visa and went overseas with the sole intent of seeing what I could stumble upon in a foreign country that would apply in America, or vice versa. I met a man who was altering existing camera equipment and hanging out of a helicopter to take these larger-than-life photos, and, by some crazy chance, we built a business,” Blakeway said.

The other guy knew how to take the photos, but lacked the sales and marketing expertise.

That’s where Blakeway came in. After a year in Australia, he had managed to sell the panoramas to more than 100 Kodak stores throughout the country.

Feeling as though they’d started something good, he decided to give the panorama business a whirl in the U.S. He and his Australian business partner went their separate ways and in 1989 Jim founded Blakeway Panoramas in California,

moving his company to Minnesota in 1991. “The thing that made us successful out of the hole was that we had that marketing experience. We could walk into Times Square in New York City and identify, if I could be anywhere selling a product, where would I be? And then after identifying that I could walk into a store and convince the person to sell the product.

Other photographers don’t have that experience. They may be able to shoot weddings, but they don’t have that advantage in a retail setting,” Blakeway said of his company’s success.

In the early years, he and his

f al l 2010 9

10 � lu m n i R e v ie w  w w w . u n d a l u m n i . or g

Jim Blakeway has taken panoramic photos in all but one U.S. state and more than 20 countries.

crew traveled around the country in a cargo van. They’ve made stops in 49 of 50 U.S. states, and gone to more than 20 countries around the world. When the weather was nice they shot photos. When it rained, they spent their time in stores trying to sell photos. “As fun as it was to travel around the country and to travel through Europe and Asia, I spent an awful lot of nights in hotel rooms,” Blakeway said.

These days, he spends just as much time in hotels, but much less time in a cargo van.

Due to their jam-packed schedules, he and his crew fly to most locations. When they arrive, it’s go-time. Many days, Blakeway finds himself hanging from a helicopter or climbing to the rooftop of a skyscraper to get the perfect picture. When he’s not flying high, he is in the stands at a Big 10 football game waiting to capture the game-winning tackle.

“It’s all really exciting! Our sports business has really taken off and that’s something we want to continue to develop.

We would love to have the licenses for

Major League Baseball and the NBA. There is so much potential in the athletic arena,” Blakeway said.

Though he’s traveled the world, Blakeway says there’s no place like home. A Fargo native, he felt it was important to move his business back to the Midwest. “You don’t think about how great North Dakota is when you live there, but it’s something I’ve come to appreciate more and more over the years. That’s an important part of my success,” he said.

Even though he’s been in more places than most, Blakeway has a “bucket list” of locations he hopes to photograph before he retires. At this point, however, the word “retire” is far from his mind. “I have too much energy. I think I’d drive myself crazy if I quit working. As much as I’ve put my body through, I’m a blessed guy who’s healthy and I’m sure I’ll continue to walk around with a camera on my back for at least another decade.” 

f al l 2010 11

Painting

Personality Patrick Tupa, ’78, finds gratification in painting portraits that convey a subject’s personality.

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by Jessica Sobolik

Y

ou may not recognize Patrick Tupa’s name, but chances are, you’ve seen his handiwork around the UND campus.

Tupa, a full-time artist specializing in oil portraits, earned a bachelor’s degree in visual arts from UND in 1978. One of his first portraits for UND was of Thomas Clifford, ’42, ’48, HON ’00, completed in 1984. Today, it hangs in the lobby of Clifford Hall next to the elevators.

Tupa has painted at least 100 portraits in his lifetime, including eight other works on campus. His portrait of Elwyn Robinson, completed in 1986, hangs at the entrance of the Elwyn B. Robinson department of special collections on the fourth floor of the Chester Fritz Library. Robinson wrote the book “History of North Dakota” in 1966.

His portrait of Earl Strinden, ’58, former executive vice president and CEO of the UND Alumni Association and UND Foundation, hangs in the lobby of the Strinden Center. Two of his portraits are at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences: one of John Vennes, ’51, ’52, HON ’96, in the lower level of the John W. Vennes Atrium and Thomas J. Clifford another of Edwin James at the entrance of the Edwin C. UND president, 1971-92 James Medical Research Facility. His portrait of Pearle B. Swiggum, late wife of George Swiggum, ’36, hangs in the Gordon Erickson Music Library at the Hughes Fine Arts Center. Tupa also painted a portrait for the Delta Tau Delta fraternity.

He also painted the 1987 NCAA Championship Fighting Sioux men’s hockey team and a collage to celebrate 50 years of UND hockey. Included in the painting, Hobey Baker Award winner Tony Hrkac, .. ’87, several UND AllAmericans, a few members of the U.S. Olympic team, and players who went on to play in the National Hockey League.

Most recently for UND, Tupa completed a portrait of Betty Engelstad in 2004. It hangs in the lobby next to the ticket windows.

Tupa’s portraits serve as a notable list of who’s who on the UND campus.

In addition, he painted a portrait of Bud Wessman, ’89, who served as Grand f al l 2010 13

Patrick Tupa's creations decorate the walls of buildings throughout North Dakota, including the UND and NDSU campuses.

14 Ἅ lu m n i R e v ie w w w w . u n d a l u m n i . or g

Forks City Mayor from 1980-88. Wessman, a 2010 Sioux Award recipient (see insert), still has the portrait. “[Tupa] was very professional and very accomplished, even back in circa 1980-81,” Wessman said.

Aside from the Engelstad portrait, Tupa points out he has come a long way since his first paintings.

Early on, he was influenced by masters such as Rembrandt and Diego Velasquez before focusing on illustrative works by Norman Rockwell. When he began concentrating solely on portraiture, he looked to John Singer Sargent and Paul Rubins before turning to John Howard Sanden and Jeremy Lipking.

Most recently he has been influenced by John Howard Sanden and an artist from California, Jeremy Lipking.

A WORK IN PROGRESS When not actively working on a commission, Tupa is always trying to hone his painting skills. In fact, when he was interviewed for the Alumni Review, he admitted he had been up painting until 2 a.m.

“You reach a point where you have to stop, but I have to go with my inspirations,” he said.

Tupa was inspired by Norman Rockwell around the time he painted Clifford’s portrait in 1984. He used Rockwell’s color palette (paint colors) and studied his technique. However, with a family to provide for, he had to find jobs to fill in the gaps between commissions. At times, those jobs were art-related, but at one point, he worked as a line supervisor at Proctor & Gamble in Minneapolis.

This allowed him to be close to his family, and it gave him a steady income. “That’s when I also started having more free time and the means to paint more,” he said.

In fact, he was working on a painting when the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, made him drop what he was doing. “I decided to do a painting that conveyed the feelings I had about what was going on and how the country responded,” he said. To complete his painting, called The Power of One, he picked up about 10 different magazines and pulled inspiration from photos that portrayed the rescue efforts.

Shortly after 9/11, Tupa learned his job at P&G was going to be outsourced to Mexico. He decided

it was time to open his own studio. He moved to Fargo to be close to his son, who was attending UND; his daughter, who lived in Minneapolis; his mother, who lives in Grand Forks; and three of his seven brothers, who all reside in Fargo. “Family is most important. Working full-time as an artist is very difficult and in pursuing this dream I needed the support of those close to me,” he said.

A TRANSFORMATION Today, Tupa works out of his Fargo apartment.

The first painting he completed when he returned to North Dakota was a re-creation of Norman Rockwell’s Boy Scouts of America. He donated it to the Boy Scouts of America office in Fargo. The way Tupa saw it, his donation also served as a way to gain exposure.

Tupa began to change his influence around 2004. He began studying Sargent and Sanden, who is the top-paid portrait artist in the world. In 2008, he noticed a transition of sorts. “My art just took off in a completely good way,” he said. “I just feel the energy. I could see the change that took place, and it was a very exciting time period for me. I’m continuing to develop that skill, that palette, and I’m trying to make some changes, as well.”

His most recent portraits include former NDSU President Joseph Chapman, former Minnesota State University Moorhead President Rolland Dille, former Fargo City Commissioner Linda Coates and a separate portrait of her husband, Mike. He also did portraits of Ron Offutt, who founded RDO Equipment Co., and his wife, Karen.

Each portrait gave him more exposure. In fact, at the Plains Art Museum, where Tupa was displaying one of his two Joseph Chapman portraits, UND alum B. John Barry, ’63, saw the print and later asked him to paint a portrait of his late father Richard Barry, which now hangs in Richard H. Barry Hall in downtown Fargo.

Tupa recently secured a commission for Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare in St. Paul, Minn.

One thing is for sure: he truly loves his work.

“I feel blessed I’m able to do this,” he said. “When people are doing what they love, they’re in a happy place.”

To view samples of Tupa’s work visit www.mnartists.org/Patrick_A._Tupa. 

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What’s New News from ARO

Campus

A Partnership with University Relations

“Going Green” characterized the groundbreaking for UND’s $11.2 million Education Building project June 4. Dirt from the ceremony is being recycled for landscaping, including the shovelfuls that went into the potted plants that will grace the building. Among those who dug the good earth (from left): Sherryl Houdek, ’88, ’95, associate professor of education; North Dakota Lt. Gov. Jack Dalrymple; President Kelley, giving a big “green” thumbs up, and Dr. Dan Rice, ’84, ’86, dean of the College Education and Human Development.

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A Letter from the President:

AN EXCEPTIONAL DAY DEAR ALUMNI & FRIENDS, June 4 was a great day – an exceptional day – at the University of North Dakota. We broke ground for 14,000 square feet of new building space that will link the Education Building to Gillette Hall.

The $11.2 million appropriated by the North Dakota Legislature from federal stimulus dollars will fund the first major renovation to the Education Building since it was built in 1953.

In his remarks at the ceremony, Lt. Gov. Jack Dalrymple said it was good to break ground for a building dedicated to education. Indeed.

The Education Building symbolizes one of the key missions of the University: teaching and learning. And it is important to note that the other two legs of our tripartite mission – research and public service – are also vital components of the work that will take place in this new facility.

It was also good to break ground for construction that helps symbolize UND’s “Go Green” initiative, which emphasizes resource stewardship and the University’s commitment to maximize its contributions as a public research university to the country’s energy independence efforts. When completed, the Education Building will be one of the first academic buildings in the state to be LEED certified at the silver level (LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). The University has already completed buildings according to LEEDs standards, including its recently opened “University Place” housing facility.

Our sustainability efforts run deep and broad. As part of the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, UND’s Council on Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability recently produced a Climate Action Plan to help the University become even more energy efficient and even better stewards of natural and man-made resources. You can find the Climate Action Plan at www2.und.edu/our/sustainability/index.html.

This is not a new area for UND. For more than

two decades, the UND Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) has been one of, if not THE, world’s leaders in developing clean coal technologies and helping to develop alternative energy sources, such as fuel from biomass.

The EERC is home to the National Center for Hydrogen Technology. And, as the name implies, the EERC has a myriad of programs devoted to restoring and maintaining the environment.

The School of Engineering and Mines has also dedicated resources to developing alternative energies – particularly from biomass – and to help develop new technologies for extracting oil from the rich Bakken formation and other oil reserves that blanket western North Dakota. The School of Engineering and Mines has added a number of new energyfocused academic programs, like a major in petroleum engineering and a new Ph.D. degree in chemical engineering. UND already has several academic programs that encourage environmentally responsible thinking and practice in environmental engineering, environmental geoscience, environmental management, and environmental studies, and UND is home to such units as the Environmental Training Institute and the Tribal Environmental Law Project.

There is much more I could tell you. We are proud of all of our sustainability efforts at UND. FIGHTING SIOUX NICKNAME There is not much to report about the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo since the last Alumni Review. The University continues to follow the directive of the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education to transition away from the current nickname and logo. Dr. Robert Boyd, ’74, ’79, UND vice president for student affairs, continues to manage that process. In June, the Standing Rock Tribal Council passed a resolution that reaffirms previous resolutions that asked the University to discontinue using the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo.

You can find information about the transition by clicking the Nickname/Logo Information button at www.und.edu.

As summer edges toward fall, I would encourage you to keep your gaze fixed on UND. There will be exciting news that we look forward to sharing.

Best wishes,

Robert O. Kelley President

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Brianna Goldenstein and Katie Collette began doing research as undergraduates at UND. Their work landed them graduate research fellowships from the National Science Foundation.

Building

a Better Mouse UND students contribute to groundbreaking research

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VAN DOZE ISN’T building a better mousetrap;

he’s building a better mouse with the help of students who comprise a large part of his research team at the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

They’ve created a “super mouse” that not only learns more and remembers better, but also is less likely to become anxious or depressed, experience seizures or succumb to debilitating brain diseases.

The research on neurogenesis – the brain’s ability to regenerate new neurons – is potentially beneficial to those suffering from epilepsy, depression, anxiety, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease.

“We used to think that the brain only formed so many neurons and then you lost them throughout your life, but now we know that’s not true,” says Doze, Ph.D., an associate professor in the medical school’s department of pharmacology, physiology and therapeutics.

“There are cells dying and new cells being

formed by stem cells in the brain that can form neurons and other cells needed for learning and memory,” he says. “They also seem to play a role in battling anxiety and depression.”

Doze has eight undergraduate and two graduate students working in his lab this summer as part of the research team. Doze explains that the reason he hires undergraduate researchers is because he never had the opportunity to do research as an undergraduate student.

Last April, the National Science Foundation (NSF) recognized the significance of the research when it awarded graduate research fellowships to Brianna Goldenstein, ’07, and Katie Collette, both of whom began working in Doze’s lab as undergraduates.

“I was shocked when both of us got it,” Goldenstein recalls. “Two from the same lab? That was like getting struck by lightning.”

“I think it speaks to Van’s ideas and his lab and how good he is at getting us into research,” Collette says.

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Collette, a Grafton, N.D., native, became a single parent at age 20 when her husband died in a snowmobile accident. After trying art and social work, she decided that science was her primary interest. She returned to UND at age 28, will graduate in August with a chemistry degree and will immediately begin working toward her Ph.D. “The NSF money will help with putting my mind at ease on financial matters when I’m in grad school because that was a concern,” says Collette, noting that it also provides funding for travel to conferences and additional training.

Goldenstein, a Kerkhoven, Minn., native, who graduated from UND with a biology degree in 2007, originally planned to attend medical school, but decided she preferred research after working in Doze’s lab. She says the NSF grant – worth about $120,000 over three years – is a major boost for a young researcher.

“If you have an NSF grant early in your career, it supports your legitimacy as a researcher,” she notes. “It shows that you know what you’re doing and that you’re qualified. It’ll open doors for me to go wherever I’d like to go.”

While in graduate school, Collette and Goldenstein will continue studying different aspects of neurogenesis.

Collette will characterize what happens to the new cells created and Goldenstein will investigate their physiological roles and the effects on behavior. Their research after graduate school will focus on similar goals through different avenues.

“Part of it will be doing research to show there is a physical basis for mental illness,” Collette says.

“People can’t just make themselves feel better. The other aspect of it is that if we know the physical basis, we can come up with better diagnostics and better treatments. It’s time to start treating mental illness like the disease it is.”

Goldenstein hopes her research will help bridge the gap between traditional medical treatments and alternative medicine using natural methods.

“I would like to study which vitamins and minerals might be missing, look at the pathways of mental diseases, and determine which key factors have been disrupted at the cellular level and why,” she explains.

“There’s a big world to be explored yet on that side of science. I would like to bring more legitimacy to the field through well-thought-out, well-constructed experiments and studies.”

Collette and Goldenstein recognize the opportunity provided by Doze to become involved in research as undergraduates.

“Many times, undergraduates are treated as workhorses, not as part of the final product,” Goldenstein says. “Here, it’s different. When we work hard on a project, we get recognition and it helps advance our careers. Why not open a window of opportunity for somebody?” she asks.  PATRICK C. MILLER

SCHOOL OF LAW Dean’s Corner:

Today’s Students, Tomorrow’s Leaders Each year, the incoming first-year class at UND School of Law boasts highly qualified students with diverse backgrounds and broad talents. Among the Class of 2012 are these gifted students: Steven Podoll, a school teacher from Hazen, N.D., who taught five grades at once in a two-room schoolhouse; Jerome Song, from St. Cloud, Minn., an accomplished violinist who has traveled to every state in the United States; Andrew Weiss, from Fargo, who worked as a copper miner to put himself through college; Saly Abd Alla, a graduate of the University of Minnesota, originally from Egypt, who is working on her first novel – in Arabic; Kelsey Krapp, from Pingree, N.D., who was raised on a bison ranch and managed the local television station in Jamestown, N.D.; Tonya Lorenz, from Valley City, N.D., a single mom with two children; and Chris Ironroad, born in North Dakota and raised in California, who spent two years in France volunteering in humanitarian aid.

And each year, our graduates embark on varied career paths in private practice, in government, in public interest, in business – in short, in nearly every walk of life. Many of our graduates are practicing attorneys, and many utilize their legal skills, along with the talents they brought with them to law school, in other settings. Among our alumni are accomplished leaders and innovators in energy, like Lauris Molbert, ’79, ’83, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Otter Tail Corporation; in the legal profession, like Peter Pantaleo, ’71, ’76, managing partner of DLA Piper’s New York office; in the judiciary, like retired North Dakota Supreme Court Justice Beryl Levine, ’74, the first woman to serve on our state’s highest court; in business, like Lisa Wheeler, ’75, ’82, owner and president of The Title Company; in government, like U.S. Congressman Earl Pomeroy, ’75, ’79 (D-ND), and Ryan Bernstein, ’04, chief legal counsel and policy advisor to Governor Hoeven; and in sports, like Laurence Gilman, ’94, vice president of hockey operations and assistant general manager for the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks.

One thing that all of our students and graduates have in common, of course, is their decision to entrust their legal education to our faculty and staff here at UND School of Law. With the diverse and varied talents and ambitions of our students and graduates, we offer a rich and versatile program of legal education. Far from a “one size fits all” law school, UND School of Law offers a highly personalized educational environment. Our faculty and staff care about our students both as aspiring attorneys and as people, and are invested in the success of each of our students during law school and beyond.

Not everyone at UND School of Law is from North Dakota, but those of us who work and study together here share the values and character of our state. Our program of legal education emphasizes the highest standards of professionalism and ethical conduct, fosters an atmosphere of cooperation and collaboration, and instills a commitment to community and public service. We know that today’s law students are tomorrow’s leaders, in whatever walk of life they choose.

Sincerely,

Kathryn Rand, Dean

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Tusen Takk!

UND Nordic Initiative keys in on Scandinavian languages, culture and trade NORDIC CULTURE strikes resounding notes on America’s

northern prairies, nowhere more so than at the University of North Dakota, home to the Nordic Initiative. But this story goes a lot deeper than lutefisk dinners and Syttende Mai celebrations.

“For sure, the Nordic Initiative, which we founded in 1997, is an organized movement to encourage the study of the Norwegian language here at UND, and it’s about cultural exchanges,” said Bruce Gjovig, ’74, director of the UND Center for Innovation and one of the initiative’s original organizers and its first and current chair. “But the Nordic Initiative is also about helping our students study in the Nordic countries, about organizing faculty, business

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and technology exchanges.”

Early on, the Nordic Initiative resolved that its primary goal was to develop such exchanges and to build an endowment to support them.

“We wanted to bring together people with a common Nordic heritage and values and to encourage and provide opportunities and economic benefit to the students and citizens of the Midwest as well as the students and citizens of the five Nordic countries,” Gjovig said.

The Initiative is a logical outgrowth of the region’s cultural demographic.

North Dakota has the largest percentage of people in the nation – 30 percent – with Norwegian heritage; is home to the largest Icelandic settlement in America; and Minnesota has the largest number of Norwegian and Swedish-Americans. The Midwest is the heart of Scandinavian America; thus a strong UND program among these folks of common history and heritage just makes eminent sense, Gjovig explains.

Exchanges and visits are key activities of the initiative.

“The Nordic Initiative creates the opportunity for those of us in higher education exchange programs to network with not only one another at UND, but just as importantly, with the many distinguished guests from Norway who have visited us,” said Linda Olson, ’96, a founding member of the Nordic Initiative and program development director and associate professor in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences department of community and family medicine.

The initiative, among many other achievements, helped to revitalize the Norwegian language program at UND, led since 2006 by Assistant Professor Melissa Gjellstad, a Velva, N.D., native who studied Norwegian culture, language and literature at the University of Agder in Kristiansand, Norway. UND’s Norwegian program is now the second largest in the country.

The Nordic Initiative also helped to develop medical education exchange programs with Norwegian medical schools.

“The medical student exchange program with Trondheim and Trømsø has thrived over the past 10 years, and as the director of that program, I am continually enthused by the moral support of the Nordic Initiative members,” Olson said. “The exchange students and faculty who arrive from Norway are universally amazed to find a ‘home’ at UND, a place of welcome and respect from members of the Nordic Initiative.”

She noted that the visitors from Norway and other

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100 Semesters, but no more Counting ...

Scandinavian countries are impressed to be in Grand Forks and have the opportunity to visit with their own parliament member, ambassador, or decorated war hero who might be visiting because of a Nordic Initiative invitation.

“This helps to lend credence to the seriousness we take in giving our educational exchange programs the finest intentions,” Olson said. “Our local faculty and administration are equally impressed with UND’s support of our proud Scandinavian heritage and how that translates into a successful academic exchange for students.”

The group supports several other programs, including faculty exchanges to the American College of Norway, founded in 1990 by Steinar Opstad, HON ’08, in Moss, Norway. The Nordic Initiative recently gave UND Norwegian language instructor Steve Finney a $10,000 grant to recruit UND students to study in Norway.

Gjovig said the Nordic Initiative’s future probably will focus on developing more connections between UND and Norway’s high tech, clean energy, biotech, engineering services, and oil and gas technology sectors.

Among the Nordic Initiative’s founding members was Arne Brekke, a native of Norway and a former UND faculty member who taught Norwegian. He is also the founder of Brekke Tours and Travel, now the largest U.S. tour operator in Scandinavia. Brekke launched the company in 1959 as a part-time venture to take North Dakotans to Norway.

Brekke, among other Nordic Initiative members, regularly donates Bygdebøker (think: county history books) he purchases in Norway to the Chester Fritz Library, which now owns one of the largest collections of Norwegian family genealogy books outside of Norway.

The Library, together with the Nordic Initiative, hosted a major cultural conference in 2005 titled “Norwegian Heritage in the United States: Resources and Research Experiences.”

During a visit to UND earlier this year, sponsored in part by the Nordic Initiative, Norway’s ambassador to the United States Wegger Strommen said, “The Midwest has been fertile ground for the extensive bonds between Norway and the United States – between families, friends, schools, and businesses. These contacts and human dimension have proven to be a solid pillar in what is Norway’s most important relationship with another country.”  JUAN PEDRAZA

MOST PEOPLE remember fondly their semesters at college. Glenn Lykken, ’61, remembers 100 of them. Now professor emeritus of physics and astrophysics, he retired from UND this May after a centennial of semesters.

Originally from near Grafton, N.D., Lykken earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from UND and master’s and doctoral degrees in solid-state physics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was appointed to the UND faculty as an assistant professor of physics in 1965 and was promoted to professor in 1976.

Except for some time as a visiting assistant professor at UNC, he has been at UND ever since.

During his career, Lykken generated more than 100 publications in refereed journals and conference proceedings in experimental fields. From 1988 to the present, he served as director of UND Radon Monitoring. Lykken has long had an interest in radon’s effect on humans. Radon, a naturally occurring environmental radioactive gas, damages tissue in a very localized manner when it decays. He and his collaborator, Berislav Momcilovic of Zagreb, Croatia, have found that radon decay products tend to accumulate in human brain tissue: for example, protein in Alzheimer’s disease and lipids in Parkinson’s disease.

Since 2004, Lykken has been principal investigator for food-based obesity prevention and health maintenance research studies at the Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center, where he continues to do collaborative research on a part-time basis.  PETER JOHNSON

Glenn Lykken, professor emeritus of physics and astrophysics, was involved in higher education at UND for 100 semesters.

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A Love for Language and the Game Former student-athlete Brittany Kirkham, ’10, excels at her true passions

THE CONCEPT OF a student-athlete is no

cliché at the University of North Dakota – UND has long been known for athletes who excel at academics.

Take Brittany Kirkham for example; the assistant captain of the women’s hockey team graduated from UND in May, magna cum laude with a double major in French and English. She’s also the first person at the University to write a senior thesis in French.

Kirkham, who served as goalie during her UND hockey career, holds records for the most shutouts, longest consecutive shutout streak and most games in a career, despite an injury in her junior year. A native of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Kirkham has coached hockey since age 12 and has instructed at a summer hockey camp at UND. She loves writing as much as hockey. She 22 Ἅ lu m n i R e v ie w w w w . u n d a l u m n i . or g

decided to write a senior thesis after Sarah Mosher, assistant professor of French, suggested she expand a 10-page essay. She did, and compared Arabian Nights, in which the main character, Scheherazade, must captivate the king with her stories to remain alive, with novels written by Assia Djebar, one of Northern Africa’s most influential feminist authors.

“The thesis became my heart and soul,” Kirkham said. “And I wrote it in French because I wanted to base my theories on Djebar’s own words.”

Kirkham was recruited to play hockey and sat in on an English class during her campus visit.

“When I got here, it felt like home,” she said. “I had one-on-one attention from the professors.

I got to know them and develop a relationship with them. I wasn’t a number.”

Because she enjoyed teaching and coaching

hockey both at home and at UND, she knew she wanted to teach. She added French classes to gain a second teaching concentration, and received so much support from faculty that she added French as a second major.

Kirkham spent part of this summer studying abroad in France through the College of Business and Public Administration, focusing on business ethics, history, and culture, along with advanced French classes.

“I couldn’t study abroad before because of hockey,” she said.

Kirkham plans to attend a graduate program in Canada this fall to earn a teaching certificate, and then teach. “I miss hockey already,” she said. And the thesis? “I wanted to leave UND with something I can keep,” she said. “That’s friendships and the senior thesis.”  STEVEN WEBER & JAN ORVIK

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UND Formula SAE Knows Fast Cars IT’S AN EARLY MORNING in May at the

Michigan International Speedway. Dew is still on the ground, there’s cold air all around the unswept racetrack and nothing stands between aviation major Derek Chan and the open road.

It’s “go” for the UND Formula SAE race car.

Each year, UND students design, fabricate and test a race car that can compete with top universities across the nation. The FSAE (Formula Society of Automotive Engineers) Michigan Event has four static and four dynamic events, and this is the first year the UND car finished all eight.

“Our nemesis has been the endurance run,” said Michael Locke, a mechanical engineering senior with an aerospace focus and the group’s vice president. “It’s hard on the vehicle, but we made it.” UND took 17th in acceleration, racing from 0 to 80 mph in 4.1 seconds. Top speed?

135 mph. They ranked 45th out of 121 teams with a car that cost just $23,000, versus the $250,000 some teams spent.

“Compared to the year before, we improved

in every category at the FSAE 2010 Michigan event,” said Locke.

“It’s the first year we competed in all events.”

The UND team included 23 students, many of them mechanical engineering majors, as well as electrical engineering, aerospace, criminal justice, and business majors. “You don’t have to be an engineer to have a good idea,” Locke said.

“Anyone who enjoys cars is welcome,” said Matthew Leone, SAE president and mechanical engineering major. “We apply what we learn in school to design, test, analyze, and produce a race car.”

The car is high-tech, and so are the students.

Three electrical engineering majors, two of them based in Seattle and working at Boeing as part of the distance engineering degree program, worked with other members of the group to design and build the driver communication module, the wiring, and to program the onboard computer. They used video conferencing and other technology to make their contributions from Seattle.

Project funding is tight. Some money comes from Student Government, some from donors.

One donation that’s been especially meaningful to the students, said Leone, is that of Ray Kobe, ’55, who takes the entire team out to dinner at the Michigan Event. “He’s a huge supporter and fan, and we really appreciate it,” he said.

Members are dedicated: Locke estimates he spent as many as 1,000 hours working on the car.

“It’s fun. We work on it all day, every day, during the summer, and as much as possible during the year,” he said. It’s all for the competition. “When you drive the car it’s an adrenaline rush. That car is so fast I feel like a kid again.”

Along with enjoying cars and applying textbook knowledge, students hope the experience will pay off with an internship or job.

Leone would like to work in the auto industry, and Locke, who just started working with UND’s new Unmanned Aerial Systems program, hopes to design unmanned aircraft.  BROOKE ERICKSON & JAN ORVIK

UND engineering students Matthew Leone (left) and Michael Locke (right) assist in designing, fabricating and testing a race car that competes with top universities across the nation.

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Getting Culture Right UND student launches new multiculture group THERESA RERICK grew up in Grand Forks, went to Red

River High School, and now is at the University of North Dakota, double-majoring in Honors and Communication.

All of that within a couple of hours of two American Indian reservations.

“I was really interested in learning a lot more about Native American culture,” said Rerick, who carries a 4.0 cumulative grade point average and works full time at Development Homes, Inc., in Grand Forks, working with individuals who have mental and physical disabilities.

UND student Theresa Rerick started Two summers ago, Rerick the Partnership for Student Cultural Engagement, a student organization volunteered at a children’s designed to help students build their camp in Belcourt, N.D., awareness of Native American culture. where the kids hung out during the day, she said.

“I came back and wanted to share that experience with my friends at UND. “So I got this crazy idea to start this organization – Partnership for Student Cultural Engagement [PSCE] - to help other students like me build their awareness of Native American traditions, culture and life on the reservations,” Rerick said.

Rerick’s strategy, learned from her experience as an Honors student, was to incorporate volunteering with working with another culture.

“That’s service learning, something that the Honors program at UND taught me a lot about,” she said.

It took some good advice and a couple of mentors to pull it all together.

“I talked with Leigh Jeanotte, ’72, ’74, ’81, director of UND American Indian Student Services [UND has more than 20 American Indianrelated programs; you can find them at www.und.edu/aiss] and Keith Malaterre, ’93, ’04, a program director there, and I got some great ideas,” she said. “They also directed me to Lana Rakow, ’74, ’77, professor and director of the Center for Community Engagement, who became one of our group’s advisors. A friend of mine, [UND political science major] Joseph Lassonde, whom I’ve know for many years and who has 24 Ἅ lu m n i R e v ie w w w w . u n d a l u m n i . or g

family in Belcourt, also helped me a lot.”

Another key mentor is Marcia Mikulak, faculty member in the UND department of anthropology and a human rights advocate who is on developmental leave.

“Theresa and I began working together after the creation of the PSCE,” said Mikulak. “I am very impressed with both her vision for the realization of the PSCE through direct engagement with North Dakota’s indigenous ethnic groups and her ability to engage and recruit students to work with her on collaborative cultural exchanges with indigenous people on their lands.”

Mikulak noted that the PSCE has engaged in a variety of service learning events with several local tribes on reservation lands in the Grand Forks area and on the UND campus. Examples of these collaborations include the following: assisting in the production of local powwows; presenting educational events about indigenous human rights in both the local and global arenas for UND students, faculty and the Grand Forks community; and working with indigenous peoples to present educationally fun events for grade school children and their families about indigenous peoples and their history.

Last semester, Rerick also co-taught an Honors course, Indigenous Human Rights, Local to Global – with her student colleague, Madisson Whitman.

“During the semester Theresa and Madisson collaborated with me while I carried out fieldwork in Brazil on Indigenous human rights among the Xukuru in Pernambuco, Pesquiera, Brazil,” Mikulak said.

“My collaborative work with Theresa and Madisson has been enormously exciting and important. Their questions, investigations and our weekly dialogues have been insightful, assisting me in analyzing and developing continually new research questions while in the field.”

Rerick said she gained many of the learning values she finds useful today while editing her high school newspaper for three years.

“I had a terrific mentor in the advisor to the paper, Mary Pomeroy, who also taught me advanced placement English and journalism.

“She really taught us to think critically, not just memorize facts. And it was during that time that I learned about the UND Honors program.”

The PSCE received the Service to Humanity Martin Luther King Award in 2009, and Rerick was awarded the Undergraduate Civic Engagement Award at UND through the Center for Community Engagement’s Stone Soup Award in 2010, and the Mary Wiper Award in 2010.  JUAN PEDRAZA

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The Dying Art

of the Autopsy UND helps meet the growing need for forensic pathologists JUDGING FROM THE popularity of television shows on crime scene

investigation, forensic science and solving “cold cases,” one might think that attracting doctors to the field of forensic pathology would be an easy sell.

In fact, there’s a shortage of medical doctors serving as coroners and medical examiners to determine the causes of unattended and suspicious deaths. Because few hospitals employ forensic pathologists, most are public employees who work long hours for low pay in underfunded facilities and often find themselves embroiled in political battles and legal disputes.

“Nationwide, there are only about 40 people coming out each year from the fellowship programs to do forensic pathology,” according to Dr. Mary Ann Sens, department of pathology chair at the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She serves as the Grand Forks County coroner and is a licensed medical examiner in four Minnesota counties.

“There’s room for about 80, and if all of those were filled, we still wouldn’t fill the needs of the country,” she adds. “Unfortunately, with that gap, it means a lot of cases don’t get done or get done by people who really aren’t qualified to do them.”

It’s a troublesome trend because doctors trained in forensic pathology conduct the autopsies that often put them in the front lines of public health issues. Whether it’s finding evidence of a serial killer, discovering the presence of an infectious disease or alerting people to the dangers of drunk driving, bad drugs and environmental hazards, forensic pathologists are most likely to spot dangers that kill.

“AIDS, SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), Alzheimer’s disease, the list goes on and on,” Sens says. “They have all been defined through autopsies.”

Dr. Mark Super, chief forensic pathologist for Sacramento County in California and a 1980 graduate of the UND medical school, serves with Sens on the executive committee of the National Association of Medical Examiners. He describes the problem facing doctors interested in the field.

“You have to go to medical school, do a pathology residency, and then it’s expensive because you have loans to pay back while getting low public wages,” he explains. “You’re not making the same kind of money as a hospital doctor.”

The advent of imaging technologies makes hospitals less interested in conducting autopsies, says Dr. Mark Koponen, ’86, assistant professor of pathology at the UND medical school and former deputy chief medical examiner for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in Atlanta.

“It’s a dying art,” he notes without a trace of irony. “People are losing their expertise as a whole simply because there’s less emphasis put on it.”

Thanks to TV, the public view of forensic pathologists is of highly trained professionals using cutting-edge technology to put diabolical killers behind bars. The reality is somewhat different.

“Homicides are about 10 percent of what we do, but about 90 percent of what the public sees,” Super says.

“To lure someone into forensic pathology requires more than TV shows,” he adds. “The public sees this as cool, but that doesn’t translate into financial support and willingness to fund offices and decent equipment.”

Mary Ann Sens, department of pathology chair at the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences and the Grand Forks County coroner, enjoys working in a field where she’s always learning.

Despite the problems in forensic pathology – not to mention sometimes grisly and dangerous nature of the work – Sens, Super and Koponen find the field rewarding.

“I like the science of it, the ability to solve complex questions,” Sens explains. “You get information from a variety of sources and put together, as best you can, the answers that are needed. That’s what attracted me to the field, and why I continue to enjoy it.”

Super takes pride in solving difficult cases. He recalls one in which a man’s body was found in a drainage ditch, the apparent victim of drowning. The autopsy, however, revealed that he died in a car accident. Confronted with the evidence, the victim’s friends admitted that he was with them when they crashed a stolen car.

“It really takes a lot of time and training to be a good death investigator,” Super says. “When you get a case like that and you figure it out, you’d be surprised at how much of a boost it gives you.”

Koponen notes that forensic pathologists have been at the forefront of teaching physicians how to spot child abuse, an area of education in which UND excels.

Forensic pathologists, Sens says, work in a field in which learning never ends.

“Every day, one of us comes back with a new case and sees something we haven’t seen before,” she explains. “There aren’t many areas in medicine where you can say that almost every day, you see something new that you haven’t seen before or learned something that you didn’t know.”  PATRICK C. MILLER f al l 2010 25

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S p o r t s N e ws

r o p S m o Fr

to

Former Fighting Sioux football player Jason Williams is still entertaining crowds, but not through his athletic talents. Today, he’s making people laugh.

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rts

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p U d Stan

by Christy Kra

mer, UND Ath

letics

WHAT DO YOU get when you cross a former North Dakota football player with a microphone? You get comic Jason James, better known to his friends and family as Jason Williams. Williams graduated from UND in 1994 with a degree in history and is currently pursuing a career as a stand-up comic and writer.

“I can honestly say I have found my true passion,” said Williams. “All of this would not have been possible without the support of not only my incredibly understanding family, but my friends and former teammates as well.”

But Williams wasn’t always set down the path to comedic stardom. After attending Itasca Community College in Grand Rapids, Minn., during his junior and senior years of high school, he graduated at age 18 with an associate of arts degree and enrolled at UND. “My decision to attend UND was driven by the opportunity to play football,” said Williams.

“Throughout high school I attended a number of Fighting Sioux summer football camps. It was a great experience that prepared me for a successful university experience.”

Though a redshirt freshman athletically, Williams came to UND as a junior academically.

“Having experienced success academically, there were other options available, however, there was nothing more important to me than having an opportunity to play football,” said Williams. “I can’t stress enough the influence head coach [at the time] Roger Thomas; Rob Bollinger, ’80; Dale Lennon, ’85; Kyle Schweigert, ’95, and the rest of the staff had on not only my decision to attend UND, but the lessons learned on the practice field, in the weight room and during meetings.

Those lessons continue to play a part in my personal and professional life.”

Prior to officially applying for graduation and largely due to the influence of his Russian language instructor Maria Tichinova, Williams decided to attend the Moscow Institute of Social and Political Studies at the Pushkin Institute in Russia.

What started out as a few weeks overseas turned into a six-year experience that culminated with becoming the director of marketing and business development for Hines, an international real estate developer.

Williams has since taken on several entrepreneurial endeavors including being involved with start-up teams that have developed everything from Restaurant.com to Gcadd, a technology-based company based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

“I have been very lucky to have been a part of numerous diverse and exciting ventures throughout the years,” said Williams.

While overseas, he had the opportunity to suit up and play with the Oslo Vikings in Copenhagen, Denmark. As much fun as that was, he still refers back to UND when asked about his fondest football memory.

“I would have to say that being a spectator and celebrating afterwards on the field following UND’s NCAA Division II National Championship win in 2001 is one of my greatest football memories,” said Williams.

“Many of the coaches were still on staff, as was my former teammate and roommate and still close friend Tim Tibesar, ’95. It was an amazing game, an amazing finish and even more so an honor to be welcomed to celebrate such a huge victory as a member of the Sioux family.”

Currently residing in Dallas, Williams has spent the past seven years pursuing his new passions, stand-up comedy and writing. He’s lived in New York City and Los Angeles and has had the opportunity to perform all over the U.S. and Canada.

“When I first started out trying to find work, I would focus on cities with comedy clubs,” said Williams. “I had friends who have shared their homes, picked me up from airports and bus stations and have come out to support me. I met many of these friends, many of who are still very close friends, at UND. “The true quality of the student-athletes who come out of the athletic department are a credit to UND and the program’s commitment to excellence on and off the field. I am incredibly proud to tell people I am and always will be a Fighting Sioux.”

Information on comic Jason James and clips can be found at www.HURooftopComedy.comUH.  f al l 2010 29

Q&A S p o r t s N e ws

with Student-Athletes to Watch this Fall

JOSH LABLANC

CURTIS DUBLANKO

DEVIN TREFZ

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RACHAEL LOOMIS

Q&A S p o r t s N e ws

S p o r t s N e ws

Devin Trefz

with Student-Athletes to Watch this Fall

Year: Junior Sport: Volleyball Hometown: Bagley, Minn.

Major: Biology Of Note: 2009 first team All-Great West Conference, AllAcademic Great West honoree Q: Why did you choose UND? A: UND offers several great academic programs. It also enables me to compete at the Division I level, while still being close to home.

Curtis Dublanko

Josh LaBlanc

Q: What’s been your most memorable career achievement to date?

A: Coming back to beat South Dakota last year on Senior Day. The win gave us a perfect record at home and clinched the regular season title in our inaugural season in the Great West.

Q: What does it mean to you to be a Fighting Sioux?

A: Growing up only 90 miles from Grand Forks, the Fighting Sioux name was something I was always familiar with. Being able to represent this school has been an honor. The community offers so much support to all of the Fighting Sioux athletes and being able to bring recognition to this school and community has been a privilege.

Josh LaBlanc

Devin Trefz

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Rachael Loomis

Year: Senior Sport: Cross Country/Track and Field Hometown: International Falls, Minn.

Major: Electrical Engineering Of Note: 2009 All-GWC, GWC All-Academic in cross country; School 3K record-holder in track

Curtis Dublanko

Year: Senior Sport: Football Hometown: Thorsby, Alberta, Canada Major: Accounting Of Note: Selected 15th overall

by Montreal in 2010 CFL draft, 2009 UND Most Valuable Defensive Player; 2009 GWC All-Academic Q: Why did you choose UND? A: I always wanted to play Division I football at a great school, as well as receive a good education and come out of it with a degree. Although UND was Division II when I first arrived in 2006, the caliber of the athletics program was definitely on par with Division I. Q: What’s been your most memorable career achievement to date?

A: It’s a tie between being named the 2009 UND Defensive MVP and my recent selection in the CFL draft by the Montreal Alouettes. However, those represent past and future events. The most important thing to me right now is the present through the 2010 season.

Q: What does it mean to you to be a Fighting Sioux?

A: The traditions and history involved with Sioux football are learned immediately by anyone who has the privilege to put on pads and step onto the field. The pride I have to be able to say I am a small part of that is beyond description.

Q: Why did you choose UND? A: My junior year of high school I was pretty much decided on UND for the academic opportunities through the engineering department. At that time, I never thought that I would end up running in college. My senior year came along and I started posting some decent results in cross country. Coaches started calling me to try and recruit me. This is when I contacted Coach [Mike] Grandall to see what kind of opportunities there were athletically, as well as academically, and he offered me a roster spot as a walk-on.

Rachael Loomis

Year: Junior Sport: Soccer Hometown: Fargo Major: Pre-Med (Honors program) Of Note: 2009 first team All-Great West Conference; 2009 All-Academic Great West; 2009-10 Sioux Service Award Q: Why did you choose UND? A: I focused on finding a college that had the academic profile for students on the pre-medicine track, and UND is renowned for its exceptional medical program. Athletics was also included in my scope. I am truly thankful I chose UND. From the beginning, it was a welcoming experience and I immediately felt the passion of those who coach, teach and administer. It’s where I call home.

Q: What’s been your most memorable career achievement to date?

A: The 2009 fall season. The team made it to the conference tournament. Coming in, we were placed at the bottom of the West teams, the fourth seed. In our first game of the tournament, we were set up to play the number one seed from the East, NJIT. We played hard and didn’t leave anything on the field; the score was 3-1, Sioux. I helped lead the team to a win by scoring two out of three goals.

Q: What does it mean to you to be a Fighting Sioux?

A: Coming from a city that has strong ties to NDSU, I am very honored to be a Fighting Sioux athlete and I wear my colors proudly. I get to play the game I love, while passionately supporting my school.

Q: What’s been your most memorable career achievement to date?

A: Setting the school record in the 3K last winter at Iowa State.

Q: What does it mean to you to be a Fighting Sioux?

A: When you’re wearing that jersey you’re representing everything you are a part of and, in my case, it’s the school, my classmates, alumni, team, athletic department, the town, friends, and family.

So, to sum it up, when I have that jersey on, along with a great sense of pride and excitement, comes a commitment to responsibility.

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Alumni Class News

Find out what

your classmates are doing now!

Regardless of how old you are, Homecoming is a time to reflect on the past and celebrate the present and the future. The UND students pictured here are enjoying some good, oldfashioned Homecoming fun at a pie throwing contest. Are you in this photo or do you know anyone who is? If so, we’d love to hear from you.

Send an e-mail to alumnireview@undalumni.net or call Leanna and 800.543.8764.

Photograph courtesy of Elwyn B. Robinson department of special collections/Chester Fritz Library.

1950s

Remember when, in 1950, tuition at UND was $46.75 for residents and $73.25 for nonresidents? Books were estimated at $30, and a dorm room cost about $45 per semester.

1951 Gunnard Ness, ’51, founder of the Aneta Star, was honored for 50 or more years of service in the newspaper industry in North Dakota. He and his wife, Ellen (Satrom), ..’46, reside in Fargo.

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1957 Truman Ness, ’57, was honored for 50 or more years of service in the newspaper industry in North Dakota. He and his wife, Carol, reside in Fordville, N.D.

1960s

Remember when, in 1964, the UND Sioux and the NDSU Bison basketball teams played their last four-game series, ending a tradition dating back to the 1921-22 academic year?

1964 Henry Janzen, ’64, former director and dean of the faculty of kinesiology and recreation management at the University of Manitoba, was honored with a Dean Emeritus designation.

He lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, with his wife, Judith (Munro), ’64, ’66.

1965 Laurel Reuter, ’65, ’67, ’74, HON, ’07, was one of three jurors invited by the Smithsonian Institution to select the work for a new exhibition on contemporary art by artists

with disabilities. Revealing Culture will be on display at The Smithsonian Institution’s International Gallery through Aug. 29. Laurel is director of the North Dakota Museum of Art on the UND campus. She lives in Grand Forks.

1968 Joan (Weir) Allen, ’68, ’71, retired as the home-to-school coordinator for Hagen Junior High School in Dickinson, N.D. Joan’s held the title for the last 19 years. She and her husband, Paul, reside in Dickinson.

Many people remember this beauty queen who was pictured in the Summer 2010 Alumni Review. One alum, Jeanne Charlson Gaston, ..’61, writes, “The girl in the center of the photo is my dearest friend from Grand Forks and UND, Claudia Jean Gullickson, now Claudia Zimmer, currently living in Poway, Calif.

Claudia was Miss Grand Forks in this photo taken in 1959, and later became Miss North Dakota in 1960.”

1970s

Remember when, in 1974, women faculty, staff and students established a women’s center with resources and programs for women?

1970 Leslie Elm, ’70, retired from his position as a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport. He resides in Burnsville, Minn.

1971 Lynn (Hills) Haugen, ’71, a kindergarten teacher at Richard Elementary School in Williston, N.D., is retiring after 28 years.

She lives in Williston with her husband, Loren, ’68, ’71.

1972 Gerry Lunn, ’72, ’75, ’77, a doctor at Medcenter One Q&R Clinic, received a diabetes care award sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota in cooperation with the North Dakota Department of Health diabetes prevention and control program. He lives in Bismarck with his wife, Karen.

Susan Rhode, ’72, ’74, co-chair of Moss & Barnett’s Family Law Practice Group in Minneapolis, was named “Minneapolis Best Lawyers Family Lawyer of the Year” for 2010. She lives in Plymouth, Minn.

1973 Carleen (Jonsrud) Shilling, ’73, a

certified public accountant and tax partner, has moved from the Phoenix office of Eide Bailly LLP to its Bismarck location, where she resides with her husband, Ken, ’73.

1974 Errol Meidinger, ’74, professor and vice dean for research and faculty development at the University at Buffalo Law School, has been named director of the Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy. Errol and his wife, Margaret, live in East Amherst, N.Y. 1975 Connie (Schaff) Riedlinger, ’75, retired from her third grade teaching position at Wilkinson Elementary in Williston, N.D. Connie taught at the school for 33 years. She and her husband, Sherman, ’75, reside in Williston.

Deborah Steinbar, ’75, ’94, a physician assistant with a speciality in dermatology, joined MeritCare Clinic in Bemidji, Minn., where she resides with her husband, Bill Petersen.

Dave Stearns, ’75, is chief executive officer for Larson Grain Co. in LaMoure, N.D. Stearns recently moved from Oregon to LaMoure, where he resides. His wife, Sondra, will soon relocate to the area.

Mark Stutrud, ’75, founder of Summit Brewing Co., won top gold for Summit’s Extra Pale Ale at the World Beer Cup competition. Summit was the

only Minnesota brewer to be honored. Mark lives in St. Paul, Minn.

1976 Dave F. Senger, ’76, ’79, was re-elected to a three-year term as member of the board of directors for the law firm of Moss & Barnett, Professional Association. He will also continue to serve as the firm’s chair and on its management committee. Dave and his wife, Karen (Hornstein), ’75, live in Minnetonka, Minn.

1978 Arloa (Lebsack) Ellertson, ’78, retired after 31 years of teaching special needs students and at-risk students at Pequot Lakes High School in Minnesota. She resides in Pequot Lakes, with her husband, Lorin.

DeeAnn (Aaker) Taylor, ’78, and her husband, Marc, have been operating their own business, Northern Plains Equipment Co. Inc., for 25 years. They reside in Mandan, N.D. Tony Tello, ’78, a doctor at Medcenter One Q&R Clinic, received a diabetes care award sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota in cooperation with the North Dakota Department of Health diabetes prevention and control program. He lives in Bismarck with his wife, Jan. 1979 Sally (Wold) Smith, ’79, chief executive officer of Buffalo Wild Wings, won the Career

Achievement honor at the Business Journal’s 2010 Women in Business Awards. Last year, she was awarded the prestigious Gold Plate Award, commonly referred to as the Oscar of the industry, by the Chicago-based International Foodservice Manufacturers Association. Sally lives in Edina, Minn.

Randall Sorensen, ’79, developed Tax Return Score, a new method for evaluating the creditworthiness of individuals.

Randall is president of EZ DOC Corporation. He resides in Chandler, Ariz.

1980s

Remember when, in 1981, Budge Hall came down? It was home to hundreds of men and a few women at UND during World War II. 1980 Dawn (Burk) Close, ’80, founded FREE, a faith-based Christian developmental organization committed to empowering women to rise above poverty.

She resides in Lusaka, Zambia, Africa, with her husband, Randy.

James Neumann, ’80, ’95, joined Innovis Health in Fargo, where he is on the hospitalist team. James is an internal medicine physician who specializes in the treatment of hospitalized patients. He and his wife, Darcy (Kluever), ’93, live in Fargo.

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>>> THE MOBILE DOC When Luis Feliu earned a physician’s assistant certificate from UND’s School of Medicine and Health Sciences in 2002, he never imagined how rewarding his career would one day be.

Along with his business partner, a nurse practitioner, Feliu started Mobile Doc, an in-home health care business based out of El Paso, Texas. “Our goal is to reduce the gap between in-patient hospital care and out-patient care,” he said.

In an effort to do just that, Feliu visits an individual’s home shortly after they are discharged from the hospital to make sure they have the right medications and are getting

William Strand, ’80, was appointed vice president of business analysis for Service Credit Union. He lives in South Berwick, Maine.

Laurel Vermillion, ’80, ’92, ’05, president of Sitting Bull College in Fort Yates, N.D., received the Distinguished Alumni Achievement award from UND’s College of Education and Human Development.

She has worked for Sitting Bull College since 1995. Laurel and her husband, Duane, live in McLaughlin, S.D. 1981 Larry Leadbetter, ’81, ’84, ’86, ’90, is a physician with St. Joseph’s Area Health Services in Park Rapids, Minn., where he specializes in caring for hospitalized patients. He and his

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wife, Mary, live in Park Rapids.

Tom Schuster, ’81, is a senior loan officer with KodaBank. He serves customers in the Drayton and Minto, N.D., offices. Tom and his wife, Rita (Skurdell), ’79, live in Grand Forks, where Rita is a realtor with Greenberg Realty.

1983 Dawn (Russell) Meier, ’83, a nurse practitioner with Medcenter One Diabetes Care Center, received a diabetes care award sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota in cooperation with the North Dakota Department of Health diabetes prevention and control program. She and her husband, Blair, live in Bismarck.

Thomas Thorson, ’83, ’88, a doctor with Mandan Family

the therapy they need.

Of Spanish decent himself, he recognizes people in his community often fall through the cracks and it takes too long to get a follow-up appointment with a primary physician.

“Most of them are Spanish speaking and the education level may be 6th or 7th grade. They’ll tell you they understand the directions from the doctor regarding which medicines they are supposed to be taking, but they really don’t,” Feliu said, adding that he speaks fluent Spanish and has the advantage of being able to communicate well with his patients.

Feliu, who worked as a traveling nurse for a number of years, says this concept of home health care is relatively new, but it’s proving to be very valuable. Already, his business is being endorsed by hospitals and clinics throughout the area.

“They understand that we’re helping coordinate care to maximize positive health outcomes,” Feliu explained.

A second component to Feliu’s business is the mode of transportation which he will soon use to get from patient to patient. The velomobile, an environmentally friendly vehicle, is human powered, which in itself promotes a healthy lifestyle.

“It has a fiberglass body, is shaped like a submarine and goes up to 40 miles-per-hour. We are the only company in the area with something like this. In fact, there are only four built a year,” he said, adding that people with lower back injuries or hip injuries may benefit from the velomobile as a safe way to exercise.

While Mobile Doc opened a little over a year ago, Feliu and his business partner already have a full schedule. He says it is definitely time consuming, but the reward of helping someone who may not otherwise have the opportunity to get adequate care makes it well worth it.  LEANNA IHRY

Clinic East, received a diabetes care award sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota in cooperation with the North Dakota Department of Health diabetes prevention and control program. He and his wife, Barbara (Heilman), ’85, live in Bismarck.

1984 Dean Gorder, ’84, was named executive director of the North Dakota Trade Office. Dean and his wife, Vicki (Horter), ’07, reside in Grand Forks.

Greg “Jack” Jackson, ’84, is a sales and production manager for a spring manufacturer in Spokane, Wash. He and his wife, Robin, live in Spokane Valley, Wash.

1985 Dave Slotten, ’85, is a business banker with Cornerstone Bank in Fargo. Dave resides in Pelican Rapids, Minn.

1986 Courtney Bateman, ’86, ’89, is a trial lawyer in Washington, D.C. He represents airlines in lawsuits involving airplane accidents. He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife, Debra.

Louis Larson, ’86, associate director of The State University of New York Cortlan, was honored with the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service. He and his partner, Peter O’Connell, reside in Cortland and Trumansburg, N.Y.

Nyla Schock, ’86, was inducted into the North Dakota Music Educators Hall of Fame. Nyla taught elementary music in Mobridge, S.D., public schools for five years, and in Mandan, N.D., public schools for 28 years, until her retirement in 2004. She resides in Mandan.

1987 Jeff Thomas, ’87, was promoted to serve on Starion Financial’s executive team, in addition to his role as Fargo market president. He lives in Fargo with his wife, Nance.

Ron Vossler, ’87, an independent scholar and professional writer, received a Fulbright Award to Ukraine from the Council of International Exchange of Scholars for 2010-

11. He will gather information for his fourth documentary film, Hitler’s Steppe-Children. Ron lives in East Grand Forks, Minn.

1988 Stuart Smith, ’88, ’92, a doctor at the Bismarck Family Clinic South, received a diabetes care award sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota in cooperation with the North Dakota Department of Health diabetes prevention and control program. He lives in Bismarck with his wife, Ruth.

1989 Karen Crane, ’89, was named associate director of annual progress fund and major gifts at Jamestown College in Jamestown, N.D., where she resides.

Debbie Friez, ’89, was elected president of the Washington, D.C.-based group, Washington Women in Public Relations.

Debbie also serves as vice president of major accounts for BurrellesLuce, the largest media monitoring company in the U.S. She and her husband, Paul Croteau, ’91, reside in Silver Spring, Md. Peter Stewart, ’89, was named men’s basketball coach at Minot State University. Previously, he was men’s basketball coach at Peninsula College in Port Angeles, Wash. He and his wife, Julie (Wald), ’91, reside in Minot, N.D.

1990s

Remember when, in May 1992, Studio One aired what became the National Association of College Broadcasters’ Best College News Show in the nation? Studio One featured a live satellite interview with a U.S. senator during that broadcast.

1990 Jon Backes, ’90, was elected president of the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education. He and his wife, Karla, live in Minot, N.D. Becky (Vorderbruggen) Greer, ’90, ’06, is an executive assistant at the UND Alumni Association

>>>

SIOUX-PER WOMEN On June 11, several UND alumni proudly wore their Fighting Sioux colors as they participated in the Relay for Life in Minot, N.D. The Sioux-Per Women team walked in memory of Jennifer (Carpentier) Lukach, ’98, ’99, and in honor of Heather (Johnston) Lotysz, ’98, and Nancy Bauer, ’94, ’01. Lukach lost her battle to melanoma last August. Lotysz is a 13-year breast cancer survivor and Bauer is a nine-year colon cancer survivor. Pictured left to right: Wendy (Johnston) Nielsen, ’92; Bauer; Lotysz; Sherry (Evenson) Lalum, ’04; Darla (McQueen) Miller, ’97; Holly (Robinson) Richards, ’95; and Leah (Hermanson) Faul, ’99.

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Ἅ l u m n i N e ws and UND Foundation. Becky and her husband, Ken, live in Grand Forks.

Craig Unrath, ’90, was named 2009 Field Grade Officer of the Year. He is assigned to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency in Fort Belvoir, Va., where he serves as operations chief. Craig and his wife, Melissa (Berger), ’90, reside in Stafford, Va. 1991 Darren Heisler, ’91, is a wealth manager with Raymond James Financial Services in Fargo, where he and his wife, Deb, reside.

Brian Hoffart, ’91, is a right-ofway agent in the Grand Forks offices of Minnkota Power Cooperative. He and his wife, Tina (Hible), ’92, reside in Grand Forks.

Shawn Gruenberg, ’91, is a life and benefits specialist with Dawson Insurance in Fargo. He and his wife, Stephanie, reside in Moorhead, Minn.

Jay LaBine, ’91, a medical doctor, is medical director for Priority Health in Grand Rapids, Mich., where he and his wife, Gayle, live.

1992 Richard Van Eck, ’92, authored and published a book, “Gaming and Cognition: Theories and Practice from the Learning Sciences.” Richard is an associate professor at the UND College of Education and Human Development. He and his wife, Sandra (Walukievicz), ’89, reside in Grand Forks.

Joan (Smith) Berntson, ’92, is vice president for advancement for Oak Hills Bible College in Bemidji, Minn. She lives in Bagley, Minn., with her husband, Ron. 1993 Connie Osowski, ’93, ’99, a sales associate/representative with Coldwell Banker First Realty in Grand Forks, was honored as a member of the company’s International Sterling Society.

The award is given to the top 8 percent of sales associates and representatives worldwide.

Connie and her husband, Doug, ’94, ’06, reside in Grand Forks.

Mary Riske, ’93, ’98, is the only nurse geneticist/genetic counselor in North Dakota. She has been working at the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences for the past 25 years.

Mary resides in Grand Forks.

Karen Ryba, ’93, ’05, is associate director of alumni programming and outreach for the UND Alumni Association and UND Foundation. She and her husband, Keith Henningsgard, live in Grand Forks.

Karmin (Yahnke) Thompson, ’93, was promoted from the internal audit department to enterprise risk and compliance officer for Alerus Financial in Grand Forks, where she and her husband, Jeffrey, reside.

Jody Tibert, ’93, is controller for Polar Communications. She and her husband, Bill, reside in Minto, N.D. Sara (Vinje) Triggs, ’93, ’00, was granted tenure and promoted to associate professor at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., where she resides with her husband, Christopher.

Lisa K. Fair McEvers, ’93, ’97, the state labor commissioner and a former Cass County prosecutor, was tapped by North Dakota Governor John Hoeven to fill the East Central Judicial District seat that will open Sept.

1. She and her husband, James, live in Bismarck.

1994 Sheila (Kusler) Moser, ’94, a high school teacher at Leeds High School in Leeds, N.D., was recognized as Newspapers in Education Teacher of the Year.

She resides in Cando, N.D., with her husband, Larry.

Diane (Magen) Nelson, ’94, is founding leader of Blessings Unlimited. She is one of only nine consultants in the state of North Dakota. Diane lives in Fargo with her husband, Robert.

Parker Thilmony, ’94, is director of operations for Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative in Wahpeton, N.D. He and his wife, Tamara (Anderson), ’93, live in Detroit Lakes, Minn.

1995 Lynn Ashley, ’95, is a family medicine doctor at Medcenter One’s walk-in clinic in Bismarck, where she resides.

James Belpedio, ’95, was honored for 35 years as professor of history and government at Becker College in Worcester, Mass., where he and his wife, Lesta (Stanley), ..’69, live.

Dave Oksendahl, ’95, is a sales associate with Park Co. Realtors

>>> A WHOLE NEW DANCE Kari (Espelien) Bennett, ’95, has introduced the community of Minot, N.D., to a whole new kind of dance. Kari, a UND information management grad, teaches belly dancing classes to students and performs her art at the local mall. She and her husband, Charlie, live at Minot Air Force Base.

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Please send your news to alumnireview@undalumni.net

Monte Shaide, ’93, in Afghanistan

>>> TEAM SUPPORT FBI agent Monte Shaide’s mission in Afghanistan was simple: to capture suspected terrorists.

More specifically, the former Fighting Sioux football player carried biometric equipment into compounds where suspected terrorists had been captured, interrogated them, fingerprinted them, and took their photos and DNA. This information was then stored in a database, which lets U.S. forces know when these suspects try to cross the border or even enter the U.S. Shaide’s interrogation style isn’t harsh. In fact, he takes the nice guy approach. “I’m trying to develop who’s who over there, so through my interpreter, I say, ‘Hey, we might be at the wrong compound,’ and then they start telling me what may or may not be true. Once I know they’re telling the truth, I’ll go after them.”

How does an FBI agent get into this type of work? Shaide, who earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice studies in 1993, is also a SWAT team member and was recruited by a hostage rescue team that works out of Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virginia. The training is grueling. If he thought two-aday practices at Memorial Field as a defensive lineman were tough, he didn’t know what he was in for. “I’m a lot lighter now,” he said.

The training came in handy, though, especially when Shaide and his team had to walk six miles into the mountains to reach a compound. The suspects fled up a canyon, so Shaide’s team pursued on foot another 2.5 miles. After the mission was completed, the team remained in the mountain for a day before walking out again. “We do all our missions at night to avoid a firefight,” he said. “Plus, at night we’ll have a tactical advantage. You’re trying to be light, so you don’t carry a whole lot – maybe a PowerBar, but no water. When you come out, the desert is blistery hot, like 90 degrees.”

That mission is a small fraction of what Shaide is allowed to divulge. “There was some carnage, there was some death, but I won’t get into that,” he said. “One thing I will say is the guys I work with are the best. There are two great teams I’ve worked with: UND football and my SWAT/military guys, and they are phenomenal.”

Shaide still keeps in touch with his football teammates, including Jeff Tatur, ’93; Craig Koller, ’95; Shannon Burnell, ’95; Bill Riviere, ’92; Jason Childs, ..’92; Kory Wahl, ’93; and

in Fargo, where he resides with his wife, Orie (Senechal) ’98.

Jennifer (Grundy) Stokley, ’95, is associate general counsel for consumer marketing at Bank of America. She lives in Charlotte, N.C., with her husband, Donald, ’95, a first officer with Airtran Airways.

1996 Lynn Block, ’96, is general counsel for Global Electric Motocars in Fargo, where she resides.

James Dahl, ’96, chief of research and information systems for the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington D.C., was honored with the

John Schumacher, ’93, ’06; to name a few. When Shaide was sent to Kandahar, Afghanistan, however, he heard from football alums such as Kurt Lamp, ’89, ’93; Dan Martinsen, ’73; and David Williamson, ’70; who played before Shaide arrived at UND. “They sent stuff to my special forces in Afghanistan, like Xboxes,” Shaide said. “My guys were ecstatic. It was like Christmas. Suddenly, I was the guy who had all the contacts.”

The UND athletic department sent Shaide and his team Fighting Sioux apparel, but it didn’t reach him before he relocated. Instead, he carried two American flags with him on his mission, one for his family and one for the UND football team. The flag now hangs in the team’s locker room.  JESSICA SOBOLIK

Federal Reserve board’s Special Achievement Award. He lives in Alexandria, Va., with his wife, Molly.

Dakota Department of Health diabetes prevention and control program. Tonia resides in Jamestown, N.D.

1997 Tonia Hoggarth, ’97, a doctor at Medcenter One Jamestown clinic, received a diabetes care award sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota in cooperation with the North

David Mathison, ’97, a doctor at Medcenter One Jamestown clinic, received a diabetes care award sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota in cooperation with the North Dakota Department of

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>>> DENTAL SCHOOL GRADS The University of Minnesota Dental School class of 2010 included nine UND alumni. Pictured from left: Tim Carlson, ..’05; Eric Steele, ’06; Colleen Halligan, ’06; Kara Engelbrektson, ’06; Melissa Mack, ..’06; Matthew Hieb, ’06; Sheena Eken, ’05; Ryan Manke, ’05. Not Pictured: Steve Maroney, ’04. Congratulations, dentists!

Health diabetes prevention and control program. He resides in Jamestown with his wife, Tammy.

1998 Tony DelDotto, ’98, co-founded the non-profit organization the Big Trade Up. He lives in St. Paul, Minn., with his wife, Jennifer.

Terry Rector, ’98, was appointed director, business development for national security space programs with COM DEV USA, LLC. He resides in Tustin, Calif.

1999 Dr. Mike Schmit, ’99, is a surgeon with Sakakawea Medical Center; Sakakawea Hazen (N.D.) Clinic; and Coal Country Community Health Center’s Beulah (N.D.) Clinic. He, his wife, Julie, live in Bismarck.

Terry (Vivian) Trogdon, ’98, a parnter with the Duluth, Minn., law firm of Gerlach Beaumier & Trogdon, was elected to serve on the Minnesota Woman

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Lawyers’ board of directors.

She resides in Duluth with her husband, Steven.

major gifts/endowments for Altru Health Foundation. She lives in East Grand Forks, Minn., with her husband, Todd.

DuBois, and Fleming, PLLP of Cavalier, N.D. DeAnna and her husband, James, live in rural Neche, N.D.

2000s

2003 Matt Fricke, ’03, is assistant principal at Murphy Elementary School in Bismarck, where he resides.

Lynn Weber, ’04, is business manager and advertisement director for the Bottineau Courant in Bottineau, N.D., where she resides.

Trista (Radcliffe) Backstrom, ’03, is a quality assurance specialist with Clinical Supplies Management in Fargo, where she and her husband, Brady, reside.

Alexis Larson, ’04, is a programmer with Ignus Technologies in Fargo, where she lives.

Remember when, in the fall of 2009, the UND College of Nursing celebrated 100 years of nursing education?

2000 Jodi Henrikson, ’00, is an OB/ GYN at Aurora Clinic in Grand Forks, where he resides with his wife, Rebecca.

2001 Amanda Hvidsten, ’01, is lead web writer for UND, co-leading the University’s newly-formed web team. Amanda is also a freelance writer for various publications. She lives in Grand Forks.

2002 Tracy (Sorenson) Tollefson, ’02, is director of development,

2004 Ian Craig, ’04, is an area sales representative for enterprise resource planning with Microsoft Corporation in Fargo. He and his wife, Michelle, reside in West Fargo, N.D..

DeAnna Longtin, ’04, passed the North Dakota bar exam and was admitted to the North Dakota Bar Association. She is an associate with Fleming,

2005 Greg Ulland, ’05, was named head women’s basketball coach at Jamestown College in Jamestown, N.D., where he and his wife, Brandie (Heilman), ’04, ’09, reside.

2006 Kaylyn Kalenze, ’06, ’09, is a counselor in the Grand Forks office of Catholic Charities North Dakota. She lives in Grand Forks with her husband, Nicholas.

Lynn Slaathaug Moen, ’06, ’09, is an attorney with Brudvik Law Office in Mayville, N.D. She and her husband, Charlie, reside in Thompson, N.D. 2007 Kelly Bruhn, ’07, graduated from the Mayo School of Health Sciences program in physical therapy, earning a doctoral degree in physical therapy in May 2010. She resides in Rochester, Minn.

Lacey (Paulus) Long, ’07, ’09, is head dance coach for the Mandan Kachinas in Mandan, N.D. She is also a special

education teacher at Custer Elementary in Mandan and is a board member on the North Dakota Association of Dance and Drill. She resides in Bismarck with her husband, Jackson, ’07, ’08.

Erik Moe, ’08, is a research engineer/design assistant with the Energy and Environmental Research Center in Grand Forks, where he resides.

Stephanie Luithle, ’07, is a physician’s assistant at MeritCare in East Grand Forks, Minn. She lives in Grand Forks.

Sierra (Laufenberg) Woods, ’08, is gift entry - database specialist for the UND Alumni Association and UND Foundation. She and her husband, Trevor, ’08, live in Grand Forks.

2008 Sarah Kennedy, ’08, is a therapeutic case manager with transition age youth services for Fraser, Ltd., in Fargo, where she resides.

2009 Katie Compton, ’09, is an annual giving officer for the UND Alumni Association and UND Foundation. Katie lives in Grand Forks.

Patrick Culver, ’09, is a Peace Corps volunteer in Gobabis, Namibia, Africa, where he will serve for two years as a health extension volunteer. He was sworn in at a ceremony presided over by the Prime Minister of Namibia.

Reid Middaugh, ’09, is a staff accountant with the tax department of Widmer Roel PC in Fargo, where he resides.

Doug Nielsen, ’09, is a loan officer at Dakota Plains Credit Union in Ellendale, N.D., where he resides. 

Michael Morgen, ’10, began his fire spinning hobby at age 11.

>>> UNLEASHING THE POWER OF FIRE At 11 years old, most boys are asking their parents if they can learn to drive the car or build a fort in the backyard. Not Michael Morgen. He was asking his mom if it was okay for him to learn how to spin fire on a three-foot by four-foot metal poi. Growing up, Morgen always had a fascination with fire. After all, the Fourth of July is his favorite holiday! So, when a cousin demonstrated her fire spinning skills at a family reunion, Morgen couldn’t wait to do it himself. He spent the next year at his cousin’s side, learning the dangerous skill. “My mom wasn’t too thrilled with the whole thing,” Morgen said.

When the family reunion rolled around a year later, Morgen was the entertainment. “She [his cousin] lit me up and I performed for my whole family,” he said.

For the past 11 years, Morgen has been entertaining crowds through the art he learned as a young boy. A Portland, Ore., native, Morgen said fire spinning is a bit more common back home than it is in North Dakota. Here, he really turns heads. Morgen has performed at UND’s Welcome Weekend for the past two years, and will entertain new students again this month. Most of the time, however, he puts on shows for smaller groups made up of friends and family. “For me, this is a safe way to unleash the power of fire. I really enjoy showing people that,” Morgen explained.

That said, Morgen knows fire spinning can be extremely dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing. Though he’s a trained professional, he takes many precautions himself and always has a safety crew on hand. “There are always three people there.

One guy has a bucket of water and a wet towel and there are always two guys who watch me and the fuel bucket,” he said.

Morgen adds that in his many years of fire spinning, he has never had an accident.

Though the art brings him a lot of attention, this 2010 UND aviation grad doesn’t want his hobby to define him. “I worked my butt off to graduate from UND aerospace. That is who I am,” Morgen said.

Currently, Morgen is a flight instructor at UND and hopes to one day fly for Fed Ex or UPS. In his spare time, he’ll continue to wow crowds with fire as long as he is able. “I wanted to do this and I learned how. Graduating from UND aerospace was another goal of mine and I did it. Any UND student can do anything they want,” he concluded.  LEANNA IHRY

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Please send your news to alumnireview@undalumni.net

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Additions Celebrations

&

If you would like your addition or celebration to be included in the next Alumni Review, send a high-resolution photo to alumnireview@ undalumni.net. Photos will be published in the order in which they were received, space permitting, and at the discretion of Alumni Review staff. We look forward to helping you celebrate! *We do not accept Facebook or mobile uploads.

ADDITIONS #1 Scott, ’95, and his wife, Rochelle (Bollman) Ament, ’01, ’08, Mankato, Minn., a son, Paxton Scott, March 5.

#2 Brad, ’99, and Janelle (Griffin) Donaldson, ’99, Seattle, a daughter, Norah Mary, Jan. 6.

#3 Ryne D. Weaver, ’00, and his wife, Donnie, Omaha, Neb., a son, Rex, Feb. 11.

#4 Travis, ’01, and his wife, Darcie

#2

(Ludtke) Roche, ’02, Forest Lake, Minn., a son, Roman Stephen, April 3.

#1

#5 Mitch, ’01, and his wife, Kate (Miskavige) Vig, ’01, Bismarck, a daughter, Macie Kate, Jan. 22.

Macie joins big brothers Maxon, 4, and Charlie, 3.

#6 Aaron, ’02, and his wife, Katie (Marschel) Berndt, ’02, Golden Valley, Minn., a son, Thomas, March 17. Thomas joins big sister Elise, 28 months.

#7 Renae Kmecik, ’03, and her husband, George Cariveau, East Grand Forks, Minn., a daughter, Nora Grace, May 27. Nora joins big sister Izabella, 3, and big brother Hudson, 16 months.

#8 Joe, ’03, and his wife, Lora (Petrik) Wilson, ’04, Gilbert,

Ariz., a daughter, Lily, May 21.

Lily joins big brother Tommy, 17 months.

#9 Eric Von Holdt, ’04, and his wife, Jennifer, Grand Forks, a son, Lucas Scott, Jan. 30. Lucas is the grandson of Dayl Anderson, ’76, and Terry (Dean) Anderson, ’74, ’78.

#10 Shannon (McMahon) Hunsberger, ’05, and her husband, Dana, Bemidji, Minn., a daughter, McKenna Dru, April 2.

#3

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#4

#5

#8 Please send your news to alumnireview@undalumni.net

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#6

#7

#9

#10

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#11 Ryan, ’07, and his wife, Stefanie

#12

(Koetz) Meyer, ’06, ’07, Casselton, N.D., a daughter, Mackenzie Jaden, Oct. 16.

CELEBRATIONS #12 Mike Uhlenkamp, ’94, and his partner, Will Adams, celebrated their commitment ceremony June 5 at Devils Thumb Ranch in Tabernash, Colo. Mike is senior manager of IVR Technology for DIRECTV. They live in Denver.

#11

#13 Jennifer Knoop, ’03, married Marty Doll Jan. 2 in Bismarck. Attendants included (from left) Karly Doll; Savannah Doll; Rebecca (Diehl) Knoop, ’99; Pamela Opland, ’04; Mindy Sturn, ’04; Alicia Sturn; Kelly Klemisch; Josh Olson; Cody Doll; Zach Knoop, ’97, ’00; Matt Klingenstein; and Tyler Eggers. The couple lives in Plymouth, Minn., where Jennifer is a communications consultant with Wells Fargo and Marty is a communications coordinator for the City of Edina.

#13 #14

#14 Joshua Narveson, ’08, married Kristin Byington, ’08, Nov. 28 in Eden Prairie, Minn. The couple resides in Minneapolis.

Photo Credit: Emma Katka, Grand Forks

#15 Amy Dockter, ’09, married McKane Wood, ..’08, June 26, 2009, at St. Henry’s Church in Perham, Minn. The couple met at UND and several UND graduates were in their wedding party.

Amy is a sales manager at Arrowwood Resort and Conference Center and McKane works for Central Suspensions, both in Alexandria, Minn., where the couple resides.

#16 Ryan Ferguson, ’09, and Timarie Sura, ’09, were married Oct. 3 in Grand Rapids, Minn. Several UND graduates were in the wedding party. Pictured from left: Katie Boone, ’07; Chelsea Weber; Katie Brenden, ’09; Kristin Spinder; Malarie Sura, ’10; Timarie Ferguson; Ryan Ferguson; Ryan Bellefy, ’08; Aaron Ferguson, ’10; Jack Matheson, ’09; Robert Horn, ’10; and William Grippe, ’09.

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#15 #16

in me m o r i a m 1920s Benjamin J. Cecka, ’29, Sarasota, Fla.

1930s Harriet P. (Johnson) Janz, ’31, Minot, N.D. Ruth E. (Cronkhite) Mathieu, ’36, Willow Springs, Mo. George F. Beck, ..’39, Lancaster, Ohio Gladyce E. (Larsen) Foster, ..’39, Los Angeles Doris E. (Bergquist) Madsen, ’39, Campbell, Calif.

1940s Perry B. Brakke, ’40, Mankato, Minn.

LuVerne (Gilbertson) Karpenko, ..’40, Grand Forks Adelaide M. (Hanson) Maier, ’40, Denver Alice B. (Marsh) Pridemore, ’40, Fort Myers, Fla. Lloyd B. Stevens, ’40, Dayton, Ohio Harold R. Piltingsrud, ’41, New York Mills, Minn.

Eric H. Sigmar, .. ’42, Auburn, Wash.

Helen L. (Rice) Sorlie, ’42, Bismarck Edward Christenson, ’43, Grand Forks Edwin M. Dixon, .. ’43, Birmingham, Ala. Harry D. Durkee, .. ’43, Burbank, Calif.

June V. (Docken) Larson, .. ’43, Yuma, Ariz.

Lucille E. (Bunas) Hintz, ’44, Sacramento, Calif.

Keith G. Foster, ’47, Bismarck Beverly J. (Henricks) Manning, ’47, Palm Desert, Calif.

Maurice F. Robinson, .. ’47, Michigan, N.D. Vernon P. Smebak, .. ’47, Watertown, Wis. Maynard B. Shuler, ’48, Lynden, Wash.

William R. Taylor, ’48, ’49, ’51, Aberdeen, S.D. Duncan R. Perry, .. ’49, Bismarck Harold W. Taylor, ’49, Milwaukee, Wis.

1950s Selmer O. Aalgaard, ’50, ’61, Citrus Heights, Calif.

Mary J. (Ewen) Campbell, ’50, Olympia, Wash.

George Kume, ’50, Valley Center, Calif.

Patricia C. (Menzies) Mahlman, ..’50, Golden, Colo.

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Blair M. Olson, ’50, Fairbault, Minn.

Harold J. Olsrud, ’50, St. Paul, Minn.

Warren A. Stratton, ’50, Palm Springs, Calif.

John F. Crosby, ’51, Lancaster, Calif.

Shirley J. (Petersen) Kandt, .. ’51, Cleburne, Texas Earl W. Paulson, ’51, St. Louis Park, Minn.

Ruth A. (Kirby) Williams, ’51, St. Joseph, Miss.

Barbara H. (Buckingham) Gerus, ’52, Watchung, N.J. Melvin L. Larson, ’52, Ypsilanti, Mich.

Ralph W. Pierson, ’52, Minot, N.D. Beverly J. (Andos) Roberge, .. ’53, Tustin, Calif.

Edward M. Johnson, ’54, West Bend, Wis. Jerome A. Ballantine, ’55, ’57, Loveland, Colo.

Leo W. Dunlevy, ’55, Mound, Minn.

Arnold W. Johnson, ’55, Sun City, Ariz.

Donald B. MacDonald, ’55, Grand Forks Arthur E. Mukomela, ’55, Escondido, Calif.

Arthur W. Olson, ’55, Winchester, Va. Richard P. Regan, .. ’55, Devils Lake, N.D. Robert E. Shaskey, ’55, ’56, ’58, Sun City West, Ariz.

David E. Fast, ’56, Cambridge, Minn.

Marvin C. Skaar, ’56, Red Wing, Minn.

Duane A. Torvik, ’56, Grants Pass, Ore. John N. Ferguson, ’57, Drayton, N.D. Michael J. Kelly, ’57, ’60, Eagle Point, Ore. Linton R. Lehrer, ’57, Tallahassee, Fla. Alvin W. Ollenburger, ’57, Desert Hot Springs, Calif.

Erwin H. Bitz, ’58, Bismarck Duane M. Huseth, ’58, Riverside, Calif.

Herbert T. Johnson, ’58, Minot, N.D. Victor S. Klepetka, ’58, ’65, Aberdeen, S.D. Glen A. Peterson, ’58, Missoula, Mont.

Harry C. Roberts, ’58, Morris, Minn.

Robert L. Chalmers, ’59, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Kenneth E. Hjelmstad, .. ’59, Eden Prairie, Minn.

Theodore B. Jelliff, ’59, ’67, Grand Forks Carl M. Peterson, ’59, ’61, New Brighton, Minn.

James F. Nelson, ’59, Glenwood, Minn.

Norval D. Nelson, ’59, Grand Forks John F. Wallerius, ’59, The Villages, Fla.

1960s Glen A. Johnston, ’60, ’61, Detroit Donald A. Nelson, ’60, Forest Lake, Minn.

Robert R. Schroder, .. ’60, Mekinock, N.D. Gerald L. Wentz, .. ’60, New Richmond, Wis. Donald T. Crouse, ’61, Fort Collins, Colo.

Albert J. Morlock, ’61, St. Cloud, Minn.

Willis H. Schmeichel, ’61, Renton, Wash.

Eric A. Glende, ’62, ’66, Cleveland, Ohio Vernon A. Hansen, ’62, Forest Grove, Ore. Clifford O. Peterson, ’62, Rochester, Minn.

Howard R. Ralston, ’62, Rochester, Minn.

James R. Sharp, ’62, Eden Prairie, Minn.

Richard O. Mankie, ’63, Bagley, Minn.

Oliver H. Nelson, ’63, ’65, Omaha, Neb. Ruby S. (Sundberg) Oliver, .. ’63, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Doris R. (Stefonowic) Bagne, .. ’65, Lakota, N.D. Charles D. Fontaine, ’65, Minot, N.D. Gordon O. Rholl, ’65, ’68, Sun City, Ariz.

Thomas E. Fanshier, .. ’66, San Jose, Calif.

Kenneth L. Mellem, ’66, ’68, Seminole, Fla. William C. Girard, ’67, Jacksonville, Fla. Leroy A. Nater, ’67, Park Rapids, Minn.

Magnus B. Anderson, ’68, Novato, Calif.

Lindee A. (Stenvold) Larsen, .. ’69, San Antonio, Texas Clara L. (Anderson) Morey, ’69, Minot, N.D.

1970s James M. Bekken, ’70, ’77, New Rockford, N.D. Robert J. Brostrom, ’70, Lake Park, Minn.

Roger T. Simundson, ’70, Grand Forks Ora M. (Sprouse) Stewart, ’70, Grafton, N.D. Iris E. (Drosdal) Hynek, .. ’71, Shenandoah, Texas Bernard J. Ring, ’71, Rochester, Minn.

Shirley M. (Herman) Brooks, ’72, Gardner, N.D. Scott J. Leigh, .. ’72, Gig Harbor, Wash.

Mary J. Tuttle, ’72, Duluth, Minn.

Susan E. (Oliver) Herbst, ’74, Fargo Jacqueline T. (Aipperspach) Lefton, ’74, Gaithersburg, Md. Michael J. Thomas, ’74, ’77, Grand Forks Robert W. Gay, ’75, Las Vegas

David E. Henderson, .. ’75, Elk Grove, Calif.

Heidi E. Kvinge, ’75, West Boylston, Mass.

Raeann J. Moe, .. ’75, Grand Forks Steven A. Traub, .. ’75, Grand Forks Paul A. Warren, ’75, Tenino, Wash.

Roger S. Roskin, ’76, Star City, W. Va. Brenda M. (Gefroh) Scherer, .. ’77, Wichita Falls, Texas Frances Christy, .. ’78, Grand Forks Shirley L. (Opoien) Haas, .. ’79, Fargo Owen K. Mehrer, ’79, Fargo Martin M. Osnowitz, .. ’79, Venice, Fla.

1980s Ted W. Black, ’80, ’83, Grand Forks Melba Marsaa, .. ’80, Cando, N.D. Dorine R. Young Bear, ’82, New Town, N.D. Elizabeth A. (Larson) Hacker, ’85, Bucklin, Mo. Darlene E. Grega, ’86, Valparaiso, Ind.

Leon P. Yesel, ’87, Watford City, N.D. Chad R. Bacon, ’89, Minnetonka, Minn.

1990s Linda A. (Stadstad) Eggen, ’91, Oslo, Minn.

Elizabeth A. Pross, ’93, Port St. Lucie, Fla. Frances M. (Landowski) Dvorak, ’96, Grand Forks Arthur A. Link, ’98, Bismarck

Faculty/Staff Frank A. Binkley, Grand Forks Gordon I. Bondy, Grand Forks Keith G. Foster, Bismarck Francis A. Jacobs, Grand Forks Ivan R. Jensen, Grand Forks Loretta M. Renden, Grand Forks Earl V. Ulland, Grand Forks Herman M. Zahradka, Grand Forks

Friends Doris L. Andrews, Fort Dodge, Iowa Maxine F. Gillis, Grand Forks Dale B. Flickinger, Minot, N.D. Olaf K. Fossum, Grand Forks Robert J. Grabanski, East Grand Forks, Minn.

Merle (Lee) Leake, Grand Forks Virginia L. (George) Lewis, Munds Park, Ariz.

John T. Munro, Rolla, N.D. Joanne (Smith) Omdahl, San Diego, Calif.

Frances C. (Clark) Plaas, Grand Forks Phyllis L. (Hanson) Schaefer, Peoria, Ariz.

Edna J. Stormo, Bullhead City, Ariz.

Maurita J. (Vite) Swenson, Grand Forks Hannah T. (Olson) Todd, Oceanside, Calif.

Orvin M. Wells, Loveland, N.D. Patience M. Woodruff, Sacramento, Calif.

Giving,

and giving again, every year,

helps UND move

from great to exceptional.

Have you made your gift yet this year? www.undfoundation.org

800.543.8764 | www.undfoundation.org

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................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................

Three distinguished alumni join UND Alumni Association and UND Foundation board of directors ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................

Fernanda Philbrick, ’95, was born and Intel Network), promoting the development ................ ................ raised in Rio de Janero, Brazil.

She came of women in the workplace. As part of her ................ ................ ................ to UND on a scholarship and graduated efforts, she drove the implementation of a ................ ................ with B.S. and M.S. degrees in chemical mentoring program at Intel. ................ ................ ................ engineering. ................ ................

Philbrick received a Young Alumni ................ ................ ................

Philbrick serves as an area manager for Intel Achievement Award from the UND Alumni ................ ................

Resale Corporation, where the team she Association in 2009. ................ ................ ................ manages is responsible for contracts, supply ................ ................ chain management and resale of goods. In She and her husband, Steven, ’95, live in ................ ................ ................ addition, she is an active participant and Phoenix. ................ ................ leader in the WIN organization (Women at ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................

Steve Burian, ’90, ’92, a Bismarck native, Minn., and Great Falls, Mont. Burian has ................ ................ earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in civil devoted his career to consulting for drinking ................ ................ ................ engineering from UND. He was also a fourwater and wastewater systems and is a ................ ................ year Letterwinner in track and field at UND recognized leader in the industry. ................ ................ ................ from 1987-90. ................ ................

He has remained active with UND ................ ................ ................

Burian is CEO of Advanced Engineering engineering and athletics since graduation. ................ ................ and Environmental Services, Inc. (AE2S), a In 2005, Burian received a Young Alumni ................ ................ ................

Grand Forks firm he co-founded in 1991 Achievement Award from the UND Alumni ................ ................ while in graduate school. AE2S has grown Association. ................ ................ ................ from a two-person firm to a 100-person ................ ................ environmental, civil and geomatics firm with He resides in Grand Forks, with his wife, ................ ................ ................ offices in Grand Forks, Fargo, Bismarck, and Barb, daughter, Tiahna, and son, Tyler. ................ ................

Williston, N.D.; Minneapolis and Moorhead, ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................

Cathy (Wilson) Rydell, ’88, a native of Grand practicing neurologists, academicians ................ ................ ................

Forks, attended UND from 1968-71 and and neuroscientists. Cathy also serves ................ ................ returned to UND to complete her bachelor’s as executive director and CEO of three ................ ................ ................ degree in political science. affiliated organizations: American Academy ................ ................ of Neurology Foundation, American ................ ................ ................

She is executive director and CEO of Academy of Neurology Professional ................ ................ the American Academy of Neurology Association and AAN Enterprises, Inc. ................ ................ ................

(AAN) with offices in St. Paul, Minn., ................ ................ and Washington, D.C. The AAN is a She and her husband, Chuck, live in ................ ................ ................ membership organization of 22,500 Bismarck and St. Louis Park, Minn., and have ................ ................ neurology professionals including three grown children and six grandchildren. ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................

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WELCOME

NEW MEMBERS

THANK YOU! Each year, several of our most dedicated alumni give of their time and talent to serve on the UND Alumni Association and UND Foundation board of directors. These individuals are elected for three-year terms and may serve up to three terms. Their dedication to UND is greatly appreciated by the alumni family, UND’s administration, faculty and students.

Thank you outgoing board members!

Kristi (Hefta) Brindle, ’78, Castle Rock, Colo., 2001-10 Bob Erickson, ’71, ’74, Alexandria, Va., 2001-10 Erwin Martens, ’83, ’85, Sudbury, Mass., 2003-10 Diane (Rosedale) Odegard, ’86, Grand Forks, 2001-10 Bob Solberg, ’69, Houston, 2001-10

REMEMBERING A LEADER

by Laura Dvorak-Berry, College of Business and Public Administration, and Leanna Ihry

Stanford University’s marketing program and studied international finance at Insead, France.

Aside from his education, he had a long, productive career in a variety of international business settings.

Over the years, Mellem was tireless in his efforts to assist the CoBPA. He joined the CoBPA Advisory Council in 2002, serving three, three-year terms, and was offered emeritus status for his many contributions to the College.

In 2003, he suggested students could benefit from having an experience in Washington, D.C. The Business & Government Symposium was developed, which included a trip to the Capitol over Spring Break. Initially, the program grew through contacts made possible by Ken and a good friend of the College, J.R. Kirkland. The first year proved to be successful and it has since established into a full-fledged course.

In 2002, Mellem volunteered to become an executive-in-residence at the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology (USST).

The CoBPA developed a relationship with USST for a number of years, of which Mellem provided continuity in helping to deliver course content in a program for which CoBPA provides cooperative assistance. Each semester, faculty from the CoBPA participate in delivering courses. Significantly, Ken provided coursework in 2004 and 2006-09. He also developed relationships with students and encouraged them to further their studies at UND. In a true exchange, UND sends business students to

USST from the CoBPA each summer. These students were assisted by Ken to find internships at U.S. companies with operations in Shanghai.

In 2006, Kirkland chose to recognize Mellem and his wife, JoAnn, for their many contributions to the CoBPA. The annual Mellem Symposium was established to support the College’s mission to teach students the necessary skills to excel in business, government and society, while providing a forum to discuss timely topics with members of the regional community. It has been offered the past four years.

“Ken provided outstanding service to UND and the College of Business and Public Administration. He was a tremendous friend of the College for many years and gave extensively of his time and talent. He was a catalyst for change, providing tremendous opportunity for faculty and students through business opportunities. His legacy will continue on through the lives he touched,” said Dennis Elbert, dean of the College of Business and Public Administration.

The Mellems request all memorials help fund the Mellem Symposium. They can be mailed to: UND Foundation for the Mellem Symposium Endowment 3100 University Ave, Stop 8157 Grand Forks, ND 58202

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The University of North Dakota and the UND Alumni Association and UND Foundation mourns the loss of a great man and a true friend of the University.

Ken Mellem passed away on Saturday, June 26, in Minneapolis.

He had recently being diagnosed with leukemia and was undergoing chemotherapy treatments.

At the time of Mellem’s death, he was serving as a member of the UND Alumni Association and UND Foundation board of directors, a position he held since 2003.

“Ken was a loyal and dedicated alum of the University. He served on our board with great distinction and pride and will be greatly missed,” said Tim O’Keefe, ’71, executive vice president and CEO. Mellem, who grew up in Grand Forks, had a long association with UND. He received a bachelor’s degree from the College of Business and Public Administration (CoBPA) in 1966 and a master’s degree in 1968. A golf Letterwinner, Ken was inducted into the UND Athletic Hall of Fame in 1985.

He furthered his education by attending

Or, give online at www.undfoundation.org.

f al l 2010 47

THANK YOU for supporting UND student-athletes

at our Sioux-Per Swing Tour 2010.

We hope to see you on the course next year!

SP S

Brian Faison, UND Athletic Director

Sioux-Per Swing Tour 2010

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48 � lu m n i R e v ie w  w w w . u n d a l u m n i . or g

Alumni Association Blogspot

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go

Alumni Tours UND Foundation Director of Development for the College of Business and Public Administration, Kim Woods, ’82, and her husband, Roger, hosted 28 UND alumni and friends in early May on the Cradle of Early Civilization Cruise. The tour included Egypt, Israel, the Greek Isles, and Turkey. This photo is taken near the Grand Staircase of the Insignia Ship. Learn about available tours at www.undalumni.org and click on Events & Travel.

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august 2010

connect. engage. grow.

Log on to www.undalumni.org now to download your monthly desktop calendar. Here’s a look at August 2010.

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Go UND

Travis Kolden, ’06, (left) and Jared Thomas, ’06, who met at UND, are showing their Sioux pride while being deployed in the Middle East. Jared, a C-17 pilot, returned from Kuwait in early July, and Travis is currently deployed in Iraq as an airfield operations officer. In a care package Jared’s wife, Kelsie (Olson), ’07, sent him, she included a Fighting Sioux flag.

Jared proudly flew the flag in his jet on every flight, and on May 1, he and Travis met at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, to pose for a picture. Both Travis and Jared are UND aerospace grads. Both of their wives, Kelsie and Amy (Jackson), ’06, (married to Travis) are College of Nursing grads. Kelsie is an ICU nurse at Davis Grant Medical Center at Travis AFB, Calif., and Amy is a family practice nurse at Vance AFB, Okla. f al l 2010

Alumni Review University of North Dakota Alumni Association 3100 University Ave Stop 8157 Grand Forks, ND 58202�8157

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To book your trip or to view other alumni travel options visit www.undalumni.org and click on Events & Travel. Or call 800.842.9023.