Who’s a good dog? Clover, the UNT Police Department’s comfort dog, participated in a yoga session as part of First Flight Week, which welcomes students with a plethora of fun activities and informational sessions before the school year starts.
Photography by Ahna Hubnik
Orr’s Encore
Zach Orr (’13) is enjoying his second life in the NFL as coach of the Baltimore Ravens defense.
Tiny Chips, Big Impact
As semiconductors become essential technology, alumni are leading development.
Mean Green Mentors
Alumni are helping UNT graduates take fight in the workforce.
Scrappy Unmasked
Learn what it was like to portray UNT’s mascot, a time one alum calls “an absolute blast.”
Legacy of Leadership
NT40 members celebrate 50 years while looking back at their impact on campus.
CONNECTING
FROM OUR PRESIDENT
Leading change to empower students for success
As I begin my second year at UNT, I continue to be inspired by the powerful legacy of our alumni who make a diference across Texas, the nation, and beyond. Our alumni base is an integral part of our UNT community and the future we are building together.
This year, we’ve been gathering input from alumni, employers, and other UNT community members to inform our fve-year strategic plan, which we will unveil at my November 5 State of the University address. In the meantime, I want to share some insights from our most recent UNT Alumni Association survey:
• High Interest in Mentorship and Speaking: More than 2,200 alumni respondents indicated a willingness to serve as mentors, speak to classes, or support current students. I was especially excited about this, because students who have mentors are signifcantly more successful in college and beyond. Read about some of our Mean Green Mentors on page 26 and learn about how you can give back.
• Confdence in Academic Quality: Our alumni overwhelmingly report their UNT education prepared them well for career success. This is not surprising, given the powerful stories I hear from our alumni across the country about how their UNT experience gave them the skills and confdence to lead.
• Low Awareness of Alumni Programming: A signifcant number of respondents were unaware of alumni programs or opportunities to engage with the university and give back. This year, our team will do more to make sure you are aware and have even more opportunities to get involved with the university and our students.
Respectfully,
Harrison Keller, Ph.D.
Thank you for sharing your insights with us. As we continue to refne our strategic plan for the next fve years, we will use your feedback from surveys, focus groups, and other input to shape our approach to alumni engagement, enhance our programs to prepare future UNT graduates, and advance our mission as a leading public research university for our students, our state, and our nation. Go Mean Green! President
president@unt.edu @UNTPrez
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Trombonist Tom “Bones” Malone (‘69) may have pursued a big career, performing with the Blues Brothers and on David Letterman’s talk shows, but he was part of the Mean Green again when he played with the Green Brigade at the Sept. 13 football game at DATCU Stadium. The game included live performances from the College of Music ensembles throughout the stadium.
Historic Graduation
Alex Bartolo (’25), John Martin (’25) and Noah Rahn (’25) made the most signifcant walk of their young lives in May.
They crossed the stage during commencement ceremonies, becoming the frst graduating cohort of UNT ELEVAR, which is designed to give students with intellectual disabilities a true college experience.
“This is a culmination of a lot of hard work, dedication and strength by these students,” says UNT associate professor Brenda Barrio (’06, ’08 M.S., ’13 Ph.D.), who helped develop UNT ELEVAR with other faculty collaborators and also serves as assistant vice president for research and innovation. “Seeing these students graduate is a great example for the community, that not only are students with intellectual disabilities able to be participants in higher education, but they can thrive and really add to the university.”
Denton’s Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2205 boasts a new gaming center after collaborating with UNT’s Student Veteran Services ofce and Esports program. UNT Advancement also supported the center, which features 10 state-ofthe-art computers, hosts tournaments and helps build community among isolated veterans. …
The city of Denton earned Bird City Texas designation from the Audubon Society and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, thanks in part to the eforts of a UNT committee that conducted a study on tracking bird-window collisions and promoted native landscaping. … The new and improved
UNT Community Garden opened this spring behind Crumley Hall, allowing students, faculty and staf to cultivate their own fruits, vegetables, herbs and fowers. …
A partnership between UNT Facilities Director Peter Palacios (’06, ’20 M.A.) and his staf and Denton County’s 911 agency led to the creation of a mapping system that gives frst responders better direction and could help with response time. The new system caught the attention of professionals across the globe, with Palacios and DenCo911 staf speaking at a conference run by Esri, a world leader of commercial geospatial software, in July. …. UNT established the National Security and Economic Strategy Initiative, which aims to help address increasingly complex challenges at the critical intersection of national security, economic competitiveness and global supply chain resilience.
Above, from left to right Jim Davenport (’11), Student Veteran Services director; Mario Pena (’23), peer mentor for Student Veteran Services; and Dylan Wray, UNT’s Esports assistant director.
NEW S R OUNDUP
Above, from left to right John Martin (‘25), Noah Rahn (‘25) and Alex Bartolo (‘25).
THE PORTAL TO TEXAS HISTORY, THE ONLINE HISTORICAL DATABASE CREATED BY UNT LIBRARIES, RECEIVED THE GOVERNOR’S AWARD FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION, GIVEN ANNUALLY BY THE TEXAS HISTORICAL COMMISSION.
Cultivating History
On a sunny afternoon this spring, Department of History students and faculty distributed free tomato and pepper seedlings on campus — a small but meaningful gesture rooted in a much larger vision.
The giveaway was part of the Milpa Agricultural Placemaking Project, which introduces traditional food-growing practices to the UNT community through open-concept crop planting and hands-on engagement.
The four-year initiative — named for an ancient agrarian practice that originated in current-day Mexico and Central America — has received funding from the USDA’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture.
The project’s goal is to establish an edible landscape on campus.These steps include a partnership with the Texas A&M Urban Agricultural Research Lab to identify best practices for agricul-
tural work in on-campus spaces and develop a curriculum for the UNT Food Studies Program.
MAPP is planning of-campus opportunities as well, including an educational partnership with a Denton-based community garden, future seedling giveaways at local farmer’s markets and festivals, the creation of a seed library for public use and an online oral history database for multilingual interviews with community members involved in food and agriculture.
Sofa Stevens-Garcia, a MAPP research administrator and junior double-majoring in history and Spanish, says,“Doing this work on campus lets the UNT community really engage with food and nature.”
UNT Division of University Brand Strategy and Communications 1155 Union Circle #311070 Denton, Texas 76203-5017
Find UNT events here.
UNT students graduate with in-demand skills, industry-recognized credentials, and a powerful network — all working together to give them a competitive edge. It’s the same UNT spirit reimagined for tomorrow’s careers. With your mentorship, they won’t just be prepared — they’ll be empowered to lead, innovate, and make a difference from day one. Become a Mean Green Mentor.
meangreenmentors.unt.edu
UNT STUDENTS AND ALUMNI WILL BE ABLE TO FULFILL THEIR BIG DREAMS AND IDEAS AFTER EARNING PRESTIGIOUS NATIONAL SCHOLARSHIPS. THE AWARDS WILL GIVE THEM TOOLS TO STUDY THE RESEARCH SUBJECTS THEY ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT. READ MORE AT NORTHTEXAN.UNT.EDU/2025/SCHOLARSHIP-WINNERS.
Xaria Hicks (’22, ’25 M.S.)
ROTARY GLOBAL GRANT
She will study health psychology at University College London, bridging her clinical training with international perspectives on psychology and public health.
Anirudh Mazumder (’25 TAMS)
GOLDWATER SCHOLAR
He plans to study more ways to use artifcial intelligence and causality algorithms for health care applications.
Jacob Goralczyk (’24)
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE NATIONAL DEFENSE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP
The doctoral student currently studies stainless steel embrittlement and corrosion. For his fellowship, he will develop a machine learning potential.
ROTARY GLOBAL GRANT
Her grant will enable her to study international social and public policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Saikiran Motati (’25 TAMS)
GOLDWATER SCHOLAR
He immersed himself in thermodynamics and emergent computational techniques.
Willow Knight (’23)
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
She is pursuing her doctoral degree with a focus on shape memory alloys and elastocaloric materials.
The triple major, who helped launch a student organization focused on political engagement for underrepresented students, aims for a career in public policy.
Elliott ‘Ellie’ Slaughter (’25 TAMS)
GOLDWATER SCHOLAR
Pursuing a course load that combines chemical engineering and computer science, she aspires to dive into an entrepreneurial path.
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
The doctoral student’s goal is to improve the quality of no-cost STEM and chemistry education resources.
Grecia Monroy (’25)
Alejandro Perez Jr. SUMNERS FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIP
Jessie Lannette Stenlund
Growing Gardens
Fall and spring are the best times to start gardening in North Texas. Thanks to tips from the UNT family, the task can be simple.
Beginning gardeners may want to try hardy plants that sprout quickly and grow easily, such as lettuce, tomatoes, basil, onions, rosemary and peppers, says Cael McCarthy, facilitator for UNT’s Community Garden. Or try a hydroponic garden, which uses nutrient-rich water in a controlled environment instead of soil to grow plants, including peppers, tomatoes, strawberries, radishes, carrots and beets, says Erin Clarner (’21), who oversees such a garden for UNT Dining Services.
Hydroponic gardens can take up little space with basic components such as a container, water, nutrients, air pump, light and pH meter — and it doesn’t require expensive equipment.
“At home, I cut the lid of of aluminum cans to use as my DIY hydroponic setup,” Clarner says. “I fll the cans with earth and nutrient water and set them on my windowsill for sunlight, and I can grow my own produce at home with no yard. Overall, as long as your plants have access to the right amount of food, water and sunlight, they will be happy.”
ERIN CLARNER (’21)
Culinary farmer for UNT Dining Services
“Growing your own food can shrink your grocery bill and diversify your palette by giving you access to healthier foods. There is nothing more satisfying than cooking the very greens that you’ve seeded and nurtured yourself.”
JOHN SULLIVAN
UNT Greenhouse technician
“When you look at your plants, imagine them as big and beautiful, and then they will be. Don’t imagine them as dead. I think a positive person grows better plants, so enjoy them, spend time with them and talk to them.”
Tour UNT’s greenhouse research facilities with John Sullivan.
CAEL MCCARTHY
UNT Community Garden facilitator
“Basil, especially, is a good plant to learn gardening from since you can learn via trial and error easily with it. Basil is very vocal and will ‘complain’ or wilt if it has too much or not enough water or sun.”
GIVING IMPACT
A BOLD INVESTMENT
IN UNT DATA SCIENCE
The strong connection that Vikas Sinha (’23 Ph.D.), his wife Anuradha and their family have to UNT was forged in a passion for data science and commitment to student success. That connection was made just a handful of years ago, and in the short time since, the Sinhas have made major waves in the world of data science education in North Texas and beyond.
In the last year, the family has gifted over $5 million to support the UNT College of Information, including more than $3 million to establish The Anuradha and Vikas Sinha Department of Data Science, and now an additional $2.15 million to create The Sinha Innovation Lab for Data Science.
And it all started with a phone call.
After years of contemplating going back to school and fnally fnishing the Ph.D. he had sought after all those years, Sinha decided he was ready. Sinha, who serves as the vice president of the Mainframe Software Division at Broadcom, reached out to one of his alma maters, which told him he’d need to attend courses in person. For someone in the process of relocating to Texas at the time, that wasn’t an option he wanted to take.
Once in Texas, Sinha began noticing billboards and signs about UNT’s academic programs that piqued his interest. But the programs weren’t made for working professionals.
“So, the residency requirement is still there, and that wasn’t going to work for me,’” Sinha says. “And that was it.”
Until it wasn’t.
Fast forward several months to Sinha’s phone ringing.
“It was the College of Information reaching out about a new program based out of Frisco — a full Ph.D. program built to be accommodative and geared toward working professionals,” Sinha says.
They asked if he was still interested, and Sinha jumped at the opportunity.
“It was amazing. People don’t do that,” says Sinha, who completed his Ph.D. in 2023.
and
scholarships, professorships, research and special initiatives.
The new state-of-the-art lab will support the department through innovative techniques, cutting-edge research and industry partnerships that will ensure continued success and broader impact.
“We have always believed in the gift of education,” Sinha says. “We frmly believe anything on the education front brings about a generational change, and when we see UNT has so many frst-generation college graduates and their families — it actually changes that family for generations to come, and that makes it very fulflling.”
— Sean Riedel
Last year, the Sinhas’ initial gift established the Department Anuradha “Anu” and Vikas Sinha with their of Data Science
created endowments supporting student son Suraj and his fancée Sneha Thakkar.
NETWORKING
The UNT Alumni Association recently launched the North Texas Network — the ofcial online community for UNT alumni and friends. This platform is designed to help you stay connected, grow your professional network and keep the Mean Green spirit alive. Inside the North Texas Network, you’ll fnd: Live Feed: Just like the timelines and walls you’re used to scrolling, but with a lot more Mean Green!
Alumni Networks: Choose from nine afnity and regional networks to connect with fellow alumni who share your interests or location.
Events: Network, celebrate and engage with the UNT community through in-person and virtual gatherings.
Alumni Directory: Explore the map view to see where UNT alumni are located across the globe.
Business Directory: Navigate the professional community, discover alumni-linked businesses and explore career opportunities.
Opportunities Module: Share and discover job postings and volunteer opportunities.
UNT Career Center Group: Connect directly with the Career Center team, access resources and build your career path.
Visit community.untalumni.com to join the North Texas Network.
2025 Alumni Awards
Each year, the UNT Alumni Awards honor individuals who exemplify the spirit of our university through their leadership, service and commitment to making a diference. These awards will be presented by the UNT Alumni Association at 6 p.m. Oct. 16 in the UNT Gateway Center Ballroom. Learn more at untalumni.com/events/alumni-awards
Distinguished Alumni Award
The most prestigious award given by the UNT Alumni Association, honoring alumni for professional achievement and noteworthy contributions to society and the university.
• Cathy Bryce (Regent) (’91 Ed.D.)
• Ben (’02) & Angie Klutts (’03, ’05 M.Ed.)
• John (’72) & Lindy Rydman (Regent) (’72)
Outstanding Alumni Service Award
Presented to individuals who have provided exceptional volunteer service to UNT or their community.
• Kelleyton Wilson (’01)
Ulys Knight Spirit Award
Given to an individual or group that has made noteworthy eforts to show exceptional UNT spirit.
• Ken Bahnsen (’53, ’53 M.S.)
Rising Star Award
Recognizes recent graduates for distinguished achievement that has merited the honor and praise of peers and colleagues.
• Asiah Claiborne (’17)
Above
Tardigrades are microscopic animals that have existed for 400 to 500 million years. Despite their tiny size of less than a millimeter in length, they’re incredibly resilient.
Tiny but Mighty
A discovery made by a UNT faculty researcher is shedding new light on biodiversity.
Jaime Jiménez, professor of wildlife ecology in the Department of Biological Sciences, identifed both previously documented and new species of tardigrades — also known as “water bears.” He made the fndings during research trips to the southern rainforest of Chile, including the southernmost Isla of Navarino, supported in part by a National Science Foundation grant. Tardigrades are microscopic animals that have existed for 400 to 500 million years — long before dinosaurs or humans.
Learn more about UNT’s Tier One research. research.unt.edu
These creatures are found almost everywhere on Earth, including the harshest environments — like in Antarctica, in deep oceans and on the highest mountains. Because of their extreme survival abilities, tardigrades have attracted interest from scientists in wide-ranging felds and the U.S. Department of Defense has funded studies to learn more about their unique adaptations.
HOW CAN AI HELP US BETTER PREPARE FOR TORNADO DISASTERS? CHECK OUT UNT’S YOUTUBE SERIES, THE LAB , TO GET ANSWERS TO THIS QUESTION AND OTHERS UNT RESEARCHERS ARE STUDYING.
“Science is becoming more interdisciplinary. We can’t just work in vacuums anymore. It’s much better and more efective when science is done with multiple brains from diferent disciplines, seeing the problem in diferent ways.”
— Calvin Henard 2025 NSF CAREER award winner
CAREER AWARD WINNER
UNT assistant professor of microbiology Calvin Henard earned a more than $800,000 grant through the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development Program. The NSF CAREER award is the most prestigious recognition for early career research faculty.
Henard’s award-winning project will research organic and inorganic carbon metabolism in methanotrophic bacteria. Methanotrophic bacteria eat methane. Petroleum production and landfll and wastewater treatment processes release excess methane, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere.
Henard’s team will look for ways to make the bacteria consume more methane faster. His team will also look for ways to convert the resulting excess bacteria into valuable bio-products.
BETTER TOGETHER
Two of UNT’s top research institutes came together for a larger, collaborative event this spring.
The annual BioDiscovery Institute Research Expo returned as the newly expanded BioDiscovery Institute and Advanced Environmental Research Institute Expo, showcasing student and faculty research from both groups.
“It’s easier when we have one big conference instead of several smaller ones,” says Jessica Rippamonti, a doctoral student in the College of Science and one of the event’s organizers.
“It helps foster collaboration and gives us a chance to practice communicating our research in a supportive environment.”
UNT assistant professor of microbiology Calvin Henard works in his research lab.
Good Fellows
UNT professor Tao Zhang has been elected as a fellow in the National Academy of Kinesiology and Kent Chapman, Regents Professor of biochemistry, was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Zhang, director of the Pediatric Movement and Physical Activity Laboratory at UNT, has secured about 20 funded research grant projects from federal agencies and research foundations.
“It is the highest academic honor in my feld of kinesiology and health promotion,” Zhang says.“I’m so glad to represent UNT at this national level.”
Chapman has spent his entire professional academic career at UNT, building an internationally recognized research program in plant biochemistry and cell biology over the last three decades. “It’s a crowning achievement for me for a life dedicated to science,” he says.
Physics Olympics
Giant catapults and egg drops were some of the hands-on challenges high schoolers tackled during the annual Physics Olympics at UNT
Hosted by the Department of Physics and organized by Professor Sandra Quintanilla, the spring event took physics beyond the classroom and showed that it can be fun. This year, the Olympics welcomed students from Eagle Mountain-Saginaw, Grand Prairie and Prosper school districts. A full day of activities included a bridge-building challenge and a physics-themed scavenger hunt.
“The catapult was defnitely the best part,” says Boswell High School junior Henry Craft.“Watching them launch was awesome.”
Organoid Research
UNT researchers are making groundbreaking discoveries that can lead to safer and more accurate heart treatment testing and open the door to more collaboration between engineers and biomedical researchers.
Bioengineering assistant professor Adam Yang and his team are creating tiny lab-grown artifcial organs called organoids. The breakthrough for these organoids is that they’re vascularized, meaning they feature a blood vessel network capable of mimicking a human network.
The project has now been published in Science, one of the world’s top academic journals.
Yang’s team has already moved on to the next phase of research, making the organoids even more like a human heart.
A Dynamic Duo
Alums perform as Duo 彩 AYA, even while living across the world from each other.
“Our colorful, playful personalities just made sense with each other,” says Rachel Woolf (’18 D.M.A.), referring to meeting Makana Jimbu (’19 M.M.) at the College of Music in the wind ensemble. “We became instant best friends.”
Both Woolf and Jimbu enrolled at UNT in 2013 but came from opposite ends of the world. Woolf, a futist, had fnished her master’s degree in music performance in Ohio. Jimbu, a marimbaist, had wrapped up her undergraduate degree in percussion in Japan. It didn’t take long for the two to become friends at UNT as they frequently crossed paths on campus.
On a whim, Woolf and Jimbu decided to sight-read and practice together. Instantly, they clicked. The pair continued to play together even after graduating, later forming a music duo named Duo 彩 AYA, meaning “bright colors” or “vibrancy” in Japanese. With help from countless video calls and voice memos over the last two years, their act released their frst album, Cycles, this spring.
“We are both very silly and fun people, but when we get on stage — we still have that energy but also change to very serious performing artists who mean 100% business,” Jimbu says.
Read more: northtexan.unt.edu/2025/ dynamic-duo
“I’M SPEECHLESS! I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY. IT WAS ONE OF MY BIGGEST, GREATEST REGRETS THAT I DIDN’T GET TO DO IT. SO, LOOK AT THAT!”
— Larry Morton, chairman of the board of Hal Leonard, on receiving his master’s degree in music composition in March, having left UNT early to pursue his career.
Quartermaster Department’s impact on the Rio Grande Valley before, during and after the MexicanAmerican War.
Books
Relationship Goals
On a typical day, Brittany Kelley (’12) grabs a pot of cofee — “not just a cup, like a whole pot of cofee” — and starts writing.
Kelley has independently published 35 novels and has a new novel, Relationship Goals, released from a major publisher, Penguin Random House. The plot depicts an actress making a docudrama about the soccer world, who is set up on a fake romance with a soccer player. “I get to have fun all day and write and live in these worlds,” she says. “But someone else is reading them, and it’s making them smile or laugh. And that’s a gift to me personally.”
The Purifying Knife
Betsy Friauf (’77) and Michael Phillips
The writers, a journalism alumna and onetime UNT adjunct faculty member in history, research complicated narratives surrounding the issue of eugenics in the state of Texas.
in Exile
Peter Weller (’70)
Weller, an actor and musician with many talents and interests, details the life of the Renaissance prodigy
Leon Battista Alberti, who excelled in literature, architecture and art.
Lone Stars
Alumni named Texas State Artists.
When the Texas State Artists were announced this May, UNT had its stamp in three felds — poetry, visual arts and music.
The author of three books of poetry, Octavio Quintanilla (’10 Ph.D.) is the 2025 Texas State Poet Laureate.When he served as Poet Laureate of San Antonio in 2017, he helped create Poet's Pointe, a space within a public park that includes artwork incorporating poetry.
A 10-time Grammy Awardwinning musician, Norah Jones is the 2026 Texas State Musician-Nonclassical.
Jones, who attended UNT from 1997 to 1999, released her 2024 album Visions, which won the Grammy for best traditional pop vocal album category this spring.
Letitia Huckaby (’10 M.F.A.), assistant professor of studio art in the College of Visual Arts and Design, is the 2026 Texas State Visual Artist 2D. Her acclaimed work incorporates photographs onto fabric and quilts. She was named Art League Houston’s 2022 Texas Artist of the Year.
Read more: northtexan.unt.edu/2025/lone-stars
Leon Battista Alberti
CLARINETIST RICK BOGART (’74) IS FEATURED IN THE DOCUMENTARY FROM BOURBON STREET TO CARNEGIE HALL, ABOUT HIS LIFE PERFORMING AROUND THE WORLD FOR OVER 50 YEARS.
State of the Arts
Three professors to produce creative endeavors.
With support from the Institute for the Advancement of the Arts, three UNT professors have been named 2025-26 Faculty Fellows, enabling them to spend a semester pursuing creative research projects.
Josh Gilbert, an Emmy Award-winning writer and producer who is an assistant professor of practice in media arts, will create a short stop-motion flm titled Trophies. The flm follows a man with a terminal illness who takes comfort in the inanimate objects in his room.
Sungji Hong, associate professor of composition, will create a new chamber work for multiple instruments. The piece will premiere in summer 2026 in Cologne, Germany, and will be performed by the ensemble Hand Werk.
Binod Shrestha, professor of studio art whose work is pictured above, will create a theatrical production featuring over 40 performers and local community members in Kathmandu, Nepal, where the piece will premiere. The production is informed by Shrestha’s experiences and research into inherited memory and violence.
Jennifer Betzer (’20 D.M.A.) has found the harp a passport and a teaching tool.
Jennifer Betzer (’20 D.M.A.) was 5 years old when she frst saw a harp performance. She begged her parents to let her learn how to play the instrument.
Since then, the harp has taken her from her hometown of Grapevine to Sydney, Australia, for graduate work; to UNT, where she earned her D.M.A.; to Atlanta, where she works with the Urban Youth Harp Ensemble; and to New York City, where she appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show to talk about the program.
Through the Urban Youth Harp Ensemble in Atlanta, a nonproft organization, Betzer teaches the harp to students, most of whom have no musical background. One student went back to audition for a highly competitive program through the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra when she did not make it in the frst time — and with much more challenging repertoire.
“Her grit and determination not only won her an easy acceptance into the program, it reinforced my belief that what we do as music teachers matters,” Betzer says.
Chad Gundersen (’00) didn’t intend to become a successful flm and television producer. In fact, when he arrived at UNT as a sophomore transfer student majoring in biology, he was aiming for a career in sports medicine. But that changed when, during his senior year, he switched his major to radio, television and flm — now called media arts. Since graduating, he has been involved with numerous flm and television projects and now coexecutive produces The Chosen, TV’s frst multi-season series focused on the life of Jesus Christ.
The series is seen in every country and has been dubbed in 60 languages. Its popularity among audiences has been “humbling,” Gundersen says, adding that he’s received messages from viewers who claim the series has changed their lives. “The impact on people has been the biggest thing.”
Forbidden Sound
Meng Ren played one fnal DJ set in a Beijing underground show the day before her fight brought her to Texas to pursue her doctorate in ethnomusicology from UNT’s College of Music. Music has always been part of her life — from listening to banned CDs while growing up in Beijing to researching hip-hop in China as a student in the U.S. She’s combined her culture with a passion for music and politics into a documentary that ofers an insider perspective into the creative, complicated and controversial world of Chinese hip-hop.
Over the last year, Ren showcased Forbidden Sound at various flm festivals, including the Hip Hop Film Festival in New York City, the Denton Black Film Festival and the Thin Line Film Festival in Denton.
The flm serves as an accompaniment to her dissertation. “The visual medium allows for a dynamic and immersive experience, providing viewers with a tangible sense of the individuals and settings that constitute the focal points of my inquiry.”
Gone Fishing
Paul Puckett’s paintings have fans hooked.
In the vast, blue waters of the Indian Ocean north of Madagascar near the Seychelles Islands, Paul Puckett (’00) and his buddies came together, combining all of their strength in a nail-biting battle to wrangle a 100-pound Giant Trevally.
The fshing line caught on a piece of coral and Puckett’s guide jumped in. But quickly, seconds began to feel like minutes. Suddenly, the man and the fsh shot straight out of the water.
“It was a glorious moment,” says Puckett. “But it’s more about the memory than the fsh.”
Puckett has dedicated his entire life to creating memories like this. He turns those memories into paintings, and his work is on display in the American Museum of Fly Fishing in Manchester, Vermont, and on the 2025 spring and fall covers of Field and Stream magazine.
Puckett, an applied arts and sciences major, has reeled in commissions with his business, allowing him to move to Charleston, South Carolina.
“When you’re on my boat, we’re going to talk,” Puckett says. “We’ll hit some highs and maybe some lows, but no matter what you’re dealing with, you’re going to be feeling better than before.”
FORMER MEAN GREEN FOOTBALL GREAT SEIZED OPPORTUNITY OUT OF TRAGEDY — AND RISES AS AN NFL COACH.
BY SCOTT BROWN | PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF THE BALTIMORE RAVENS
Zach Orr (’13) was having a breakout season in his third year with the Baltimore Ravens.
Then on Christmas Day 2016, Orr sufered a herniated disc in a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The ensuing doctor appointment led to the discovery of a congenital spine condition — an underdeveloped C1 vertebra, which helps control the movements of the head and neck and plays a big role in breathing.
The doctor informed Orr that one wrong hit could shatter his C1 and kill him on the spot. Orr went on to write about an eerie vision of seeing himself die on the football feld as he came to the realization that his playing career was over. It was the kind of life-altering news that would make most people bitter. Just as his dream career of playing in the NFL was taking of, it was taken away. But he came to recognize it as a blessing. “When I frst got the diagnosis, it defnitely hurt initially,” Orr says.
In 2017, shortly after announcing his retirement from his playing career, Orr received a call from Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti that put things into perspective. It was an opportunity to join Baltimore’s coaching staf, where he now serves as one of the youngest defensive coordinators in the NFL.
“How many people would love to be in my shoes?” Orr asks. “I’m going to live a normal life. I’m going to be healthy. I’m going to be able to do everything I want to do. So I looked at it as a positive — I got to play at the highest level. Now I’m coaching at this level and that’s something that not many people can do. I was blessed to get the opportunity to do both.”
Orr’s path to the NFL began after a stellar college career that saw him tie for the third most tackles in school history (365) while helping the Mean Green qualify for and win its frst bowl game in over a decade — Orr had nine tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks in the 2014 Heart of Dallas Bowl win over UNLV. He was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2014, played in 46 games for the Ravens and earned AP secondteam All-Pro honors during that fateful third season.
Orr always knew he wanted to coach after his playing days were over. He earned his degree in kinesiology at UNT, enrolling in 12 credit hours the summer before his freshman year. His mother even drove him to Denton from DeSoto the Sunday morning after his Saturday night high school graduation so he could start classes Monday morning.
“I can’t lie, I never had dreams of coaching at this level,” Orr says. “I knew I always wanted to stay around the game. I really do love sports in general, but I really love football and the coaches I know that had an impact on my life.”
More than a decade later, Orr still keeps in touch with many of the coaches who were infuential during his time in Denton.
Another core UNT memory for Orr is his exercise physiology class. He was an avid viewer of ESPN’s Sports Science show growing up and says the class reminded him of the program and taught him some valuable lessons he still carries with him today.
For example, he says that increased understanding of how the human body works helped him process the discovery of his spine condition.
“That class really taught me how if you have a major problem or defciency in one area of your body, it can afect other parts of your life,” Orr says. “With me having that background, it helped me come to terms with the fact that I shouldn’t try to blow it of and I should really consider my future life of the football feld.”
Orr’s coaching career longevity has now eclipsed his playing career threefold. Since joining the Ravens as a defensive analyst in 2017, he went on to spend one season as the outside linebackers coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021 before returning to Baltimore the following year as inside linebackers coach.
He was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2024 and his defense fnished the year ranked top fve in several categories, including rush defense (80.1 yards per game, frst), yards per rush (3.6, frst), sacks (54, second) and QB hits (115, second). He also was named to The Athletic’s “NFL 50 Under 40” list, recognizing the top young coaches and other rising stars around the NFL.
After nearly a decade on the sidelines, Orr says the thrill of coaching is starting to rival what he felt on the feld.
“People think I’m crazy when I say this, but the more I’m getting into it, the more it’s starting to catch up with feeling like playing. I always thought nothing could feel like playing, but coaching is getting close, man, so I’m enjoying it.”
Read a Q&A with Orr: northtexan.unt.edu/2025/orrs-encore
TINY CHIPS, BIG IMPACT
HOW UNT’S ALUMNI KEEP THE SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY RUNNING
BY AMANDA LYONS
Semiconductor chips are the building blocks of all electronics — from our nation’s defense systems and artifcial intelligence to your smartwatch and tablet. In a world increasingly reliant on technology, semiconductors and manufacturing breakthroughs are more important than ever to create faster and more reliable computer systems.
There have been moves on the federal and state level to boost the country’s semiconductor industry. In 2022, the U.S. Congress passed the CHIPS Act, approving $52 billion in new funding to advance domestic research and manufacturing of semiconductors. The Texas Legislature passed its own CHIPS Act in 2023, which included the formation of a group of experts from multiple universities, including UNT, to advise the state on its strategic planning to secure Texas’ leadership in semiconductors.
To further fuel research on semiconductors, UNT launched the Center for Microelectronics in Extreme Environments (CMEE) in 2024, but UNT researchers have long been working to shape the next generation of semiconductors, in part by mentoring the next generation of scientists and engineers. Alumni from UNT are currently spread across the state and country working to make a diference in the industry and develop the next innovation in semiconductors.
MUMUKSHU PATEL
Before you can have a semiconductor chip for your computer, you start by creating a cylindrical silicon ingot by the melting of sand through a multi-step process. That ingot then gets sliced into thin wafers, which become the foundation on which chips are built.
Mumukshu Patel (’17 Ph.D.) and his team make sure those wafers are perfectly smooth through a process called chemical mechanical planarization so the chips can reliably be printed on them. He works at Intel in Oregon as a senior technology and development module engineer.
“We do a lot of metals and oxide polish, but because our process is so complicated, it leaves a lot of defects,” Patel says.
“So, then we introduce and optimize rinsing, brushing and chemical slurries to clean it up and that’s how you have a wafer with minimum defect density.”
Patel’s team is tasked with developing the best planarization process on a small scale that can then be replicated on a larger one. As a senior engineer, he also collaborates with the vendors who make the tools his team uses for the process.
“We are the people who work on those instruments day and night,” he says, “so we work with vendors to develop next generation process technology.”
Patel has guided and mentored many UNT students — helping them with resumes and practice interviews and serving as a reference — as a way to give back after receiving guidance not only from his advisor, Distinguished Research Professor Wonbong Choi in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, but also from everyone in the department.
“I really appreciate the relentless efort of each professor there,” Patel says. “They are the best people to advise you on a project. The amount
of attention they give to each student is commendable.”
Patel wants students coming from UNT to know that their experience matters.
“It’s hard to compete with students from famous universities unless you have a strong background in academia and good mentors like I had at UNT,” he says. “The foundation you build there is really valued at the industry level.”
ASHISH SHIVAJI SALUNKE
After a clean wafer is formed, it’s sent of to the next phase where small layers of metals are added on top. Those layers are then exposed to ultraviolet light to form patterns onto the wafer.
That’s where Ashish Shivaji Salunke (’22 Ph.D.) and his team come in. He currently works as a photomask clean process engineer lead at Micron Technology in Boise, Idaho. He and his three team members make sure those patterns, called photomasks, are perfectly etched onto the wafer.
“Think of the photomask as a stencil you use to draw the pattern,” Salunke says. “When you radiate it with deep UV light, it generates the patterns that become your circuits. Those circuits impact your device’s performance and reliability.”
Salunke credits his ability to lead his team to his time in Oliver Chyan’s lab in the College of Science, where he earned a doctoral degree in analytical chemistry. While there, he worked on multiple projects related to the semiconductor industry. However, he’s most thankful for the soft skills he learned at UNT.
“He taught that it’s important to work on multiple ideas and to collaborate,” Salunke says. “I always had a co-lead for any project I led, or I would co-lead for someone else’s project. My team now collaborates with each other all the time and those values I learned have been really helpful.”
His fnal lesson from Chyan helped Salunke fnish his thesis and is also something he believes applies to anyone in the semiconductor industry.
“I struggled to connect the dots across all my projects, but Dr. Chyan helped me see the bigger picture. If you can do that — tell the story — you can lead any project to success.”
Mumukshu Patel (’17 Ph.D.)
Ashish Shivaji Salunke (’22 Ph.D.)
DANIEL LI
Creating semiconductors doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Before chips are printed, their designs must be tested and perfected. Daniel Li (’18 TAMS) is a central processing unit, or CPU, verifcation engineer for Intel in Austin and plays a part in that process. He ensures that computer processors function correctly before being manufactured.
“A chip operates on complex code composed of logical functions and
we make sure there aren’t any bugs in it before it goes to print,” Li says. A bug might be a function saying that two plus two equals fve. Li’s job is to track down the problem and then work with the program designers to fx it. Knowing one bug could cost millions of dollars illuminates how crucial the work is.
“I’m not in the fabrication labs where they’re created, but what I do leads up to the eventual creation of the chip,” he says. “We make sure they’re designed correctly, so we don’t waste materials and time reprinting.”
Li is a graduate of the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science at UNT. The program is an early college entrance residential program for high school aged students. Once admitted, students withdraw from their high school and get a jump start on their time in college. While at UNT, he was a member of the lab of Xiaohui Yuan, computer science and engineering associate professor.
“Listening to weekly research discussions helped me learn which ideas were worth pursuing,” Li says. “It taught me collaboration and problem solving.”
Li went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 2021. He joined Intel after interning there during his fnal semester and ofers advice to new grads.
“It’s important to fgure out if the team you’re joining values teaching newcomers. Find one that builds up your skills and wants you to succeed.”
TRACE HURD
Trace Hurd (’05 Ph.D.) has seen multiple aspects of the industry throughout his 30-year career. He currently works as senior director of technology at Tokyo Electron in Austin.
“I’ve never been bored. I’ve been solving new puzzles every day for 35
years,” Hurd says. “Plus, I’m literally working with some of the smartest people on the planet.”
Hurd got his start working with Texas Instruments in 1989. He then joined UNT’s Ph.D. program in the 1990s thanks to encouragement from his managers and a research collaboration between Texas Instruments and chemistry professor Oliver Chyan.
“I was working overseas at the time, but Oliver was willing to take on a nontraditional student,” Hurd says. “His key characteristic that I appreciate is that he always prioritizes his students and makes sure they have the right experience.”
Refecting on his time in the industry, Hurd says going through the program gave him a better grasp of his role in the process of chip creation and technological reseach.
“Being able to go back and go a little deeper into the background and details of my feld was helpful. I still have those textbooks on my shelf.”
Hurd says the semiconductor industry has three major components: the materials companies that provide the needed metals and chemicals, the companies that make the chips that go into gadgets, and the companies that make the manufacturing machines those companies use. Thanks to his chemistry background, he’s been able to work in each sector.
“Being a chemist, you can move around as you want to,” Hurd says. He is now in that third component, overseeing a large team at Tokyo Electron that helps design and process the next generation of manufacturing tools.
“For several years now, we’ve been focused on building a physicsbased simulation of a real-world tool that’ll save resources,” Hurd says.
“It’s been a wonderful thing working on the next challenge, solving the next problem, and there’s nothing routine about it.”
Daniel Li (’18 TAMS)
Trace Hurd (’05 Ph.D.)
MEAN GREEN MENTORS
PHOTOGRAPHS BY PETE COMPARONI
As part of UNT’s strong tradition of creating a pipeline of talented leaders and professionals, alumni ofer their expertise to future alumni.
Whether they’re sending an encouraging email or providing a crucial reference for a job opening, alumni mentors are helping UNT graduates excel in today's workforce.
Alumni are speaking to classes, serving on career fair panels, answering questions through phone or video chats and supervising senior projects. Along with UNT’s innovative course oferings, they are giving students an edge.
It’s all part of the Mean Green Mentors program, which the UNT Career Center established in 2020, serendipitously providing a virtual platform for students to establish career connections shortly before such meetings became the workplace norm.
As of this summer, more than 7,000 current students have signed up for the platform, exchanging nearly 17,000 messages with the 1,500 alumni, faculty and staf who have volunteered as mentors. The platform has afnity groups for different industries — like STEM — or statuses — such as frst-generation students — and some students have used it to connect with alumni who are based in areas of the country they hope to move to.
“There is really no substitute for personal interactions,” says Brian Hirsch, who co-facilitates the Mean Green Mentors program as senior associate director for the UNT Career Center. “Trying to encourage students to make connections and build their networks is really critical. There's quite a bit of data out there
about how advantageous it is from an employability standpoint, from a professional growth standpoint and from a professional mobility standpoint. Mean Green Mentors is one part of that puzzle.”
With an unpredictable job market, this guidance is essential for students — and a great way for graduates to stay active in the UNT community. Alumni have shown a high interest in serving as mentors, speaking to classes and supporting current students, according to a recent VOICE survey conducted by UNT Advancement.
The following stories from alumni in the program are testaments to the power of mentorship.
Scott Brown
Learn how to participate in the Mean Green Mentors program by visiting meangreenmentors.unt.edu.
DEXIA SMITH
(’15, ’22 M.B.A.)
Broadcast Journalism and Sport Entertainment Management Special Event Sales Manager at AT&T Stadium Plano
Career Highlights:
After dreaming of working as a sports reporter, Smith pivoted to the business side — just as UNT at Frisco launched its sport entertainment management program. Now she sells special events, including corporate meetings and weddings, at the home of the Dallas Cowboys.
Getting Involved:
Smith has served as a guest speaker for several events and also coordinated UNTxCowboysConnect, a series of networking events with Dallas Cowboys staf members. She is president of the UNT Sport Entertainment Management Alumni Association. After receiving so much great advice, she says, “I want anybody I come in contact with to know I'm here for you, and hearing that is so important when you're trying to navigate through your career journey — especially early on and you’re fguring out how you want to land.”
Lessons Learned:
“A piece of advice that someone gave to me is to give yourself grace. You don't want to get to a point where you're crashing out, and it's going to be harder for you to dig out from that. You know you've done your best. Get some good rest and come back sharp the next day.”
Making an Impact:
She likes to treat her mentees to lunch or do a virtual call. Ma’Kayla Brooks (’21), an M.B.A. student, started her own podcast and social media feed, Mic’d Up With Kayla, that helps listeners break into the sports industry, and updates Smith. “I want to know all the things. Ma’Kayla says thank you for the encouragement. Oh, my gosh, that's big for me.”
Fun Fact:
Smith writes and recites poetry, and performed with the Poetic Justice group while at UNT.
Jessica DeLeón
BRANDON MURPHY (’93)
Communication Design
Owner and Principal Creative Director at Caliber Creative Dallas
Career Highlights:
After working for other companies for over a decade, Murphy founded his own business in 2008. Caliber Creative is an advertising, branding and design agency that works for brands such as Deep Ellum Brewing Company, Dickies and UNT’s Texas Fashion Collection.
Getting Involved:
Murphy always enjoyed teaching, instructing the fnal portfolio course for design students as an adjunct professor at UNT’s College of Visual Arts and Design and working at other community colleges during the early-to-mid 2000s. “I’m able to source the best talent for my agency, many of whom I hired through my
connections to UNT, and get to watch them grow into their own as professionals.”
Lessons Learned:
"It’s a give and a get. I always am equally learning just as much as I am teaching them. With my experience, the main lesson I try to pass on is how to guard your heart. As a designer, you wear your heart on your sleeve, and it's important to know how to deal with negative feedback.”
Making an Impact:
Three of Caliber’s designers are UNT graduates: Claudia Bastos (’24), Javi R.N (’21) and Mir Ortiz (’23).
“I’m there for them as a resource to provide
constructive criticism and work through problems. I don’t know everything, but I have made mistakes and I warn them before they do the same. The best I can do is bring my perspective.”
Fun Fact:
“I met my wife, Kris (’92), who was also a communication design graduate from UNT, in a class, and we have been together ever since, celebrating our 31st wedding anniversary this past July.”
Bradford Osborne
CHELSEA BONSU (’19)
Psychology and Biology
Senior Clinical Project Associate at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Grand Prairie
Career Highlights:
Bonsu, who earned her master’s degree in clinical research management from UNT Health Science Center, now UNT Health Fort Worth, worked for Covance (now Fortrea) research organization, which gave her experience in Phase 1 trials. She now works remotely for New York-based MSKCC, where she works for a specialized department called the Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials Consortium, handling studies from Phases 1 to 4.
Getting Involved:
Bonsu kept her information on the Mean Green Mentor portal so students can reach out to her for advice concerning clinical research.
“Considering that it is a new career, people are starting to learn about it.”
Lessons Learned:
“I always tell them persistence is key. If I didn't get anything after a week, I would send another email, and if not, shoot a text. Whenever I am working with new people, or even a new team in my role, I’m always looking for one or two things that we have in common. That strengthens our bond.”
Making an Impact:
“A lot of them saw my job titles, and they were like, ‘I've never seen this before. What does this person actually do? And how did you get there?’ I walk them through the types of classes I took and how those helped me. I go through transcripts and see what they have. If you want to go to medical school, you have to
look at the requirements because some schools require more than others, and keeping that at the forefront has been pretty helpful. To help steer you on the right track is a win for me.”
Fun Fact:
Bonsu also is a fashion designer.
“My ofce is broken up into the professional, 9-to-5 money-making side on one side and then on the opposite side, I have three mannequins, two sewing machines and boxes of junk.”
Jessica DeLeón
ANDREA GORDON
(’11)
Development and Family Studies
Program Director at Project Transformation North Texas
Dallas
Career Highlights:
Gordon found a career she truly enjoys — working with kids and families while helping college students navigate their paths with Project Transformation North Texas, a nonproft that supports children, college students and communities through literacy, leadership and service. She began as an intern in 2011 after being encouraged by her mentor, Cammy Gaston, who was a campus minister at the Denton Wesley Foundation, which has since grown into a full-time leadership role.
Getting Involved:
Gordon strives to pay it forward. “Having another adult invest in me, my career and my goals helped encourage and nudge me in the right direction for pursuing my passions as a career. Whether it’s working with kids, nonprofts or something else entirely, I want to help young adults articulate their goals, fnd what fts and surround themselves with the support they need to thrive.”
Lessons Learned:
For the frst step, Gordon encourages mentees to identify what they’re passionate about and helps them articulate those interests clearly. She helps these mentees set actionable goals and build supportive networks to keep them moving forward.
Making an Impact:
Gordon served as a featured panel presenter for the Professional Networking Series, which UNT’s Career Center hosts all year round for a range of majors, allowing students to interact with those in the feld. “Mentorship is a very important part of a college student’s journey — both throughout college and as they're navigating their career path. The more focus and support we as mentors give college students, the better of our society will be. Mean Green Mentors is a great avenue and opportunity to make that happen.”
Fun Fact:
Gaston, Gordon’s mentor, now supports Project Transformation through her church. Their connection continues today, creating a full-circle mentorship moment.
Shelby Bahnick
ERNEST MARTINEZ (’11)
Applied Arts and Sciences
Vice President of People and Culture at ChildCareGroup
Lewisville
Career Highlights:
After working 25 years in retail management for Best Buy and Sam's Club, Martinez earned his degree so he could move into human resources. He transitioned into the career by working for two startup companies and a law frm before climbing his way up to chief human resources ofcer.
Getting Involved:
“As I started to do presentations in the classroom, it became very evident to me that many of them crave talking to somebody who's already in the feld. I quickly realized that I really enjoyed watching students learn and grow, and building these relationships that will last for years.”
Lessons Learned:
“I've learned over time that everybody is a colleague. I'm a servant leader, so if I ask people to do something, I should be willing to do that myself. It's not about the title, it's about relationships more than anything else. That’s what really leads to success.”
Making an Impact:
“Nicola Ellis Sawyer (’19, ’22 M.B.A.), a talent manager at Wayfair, has been my mentee since she was a junior at UNT, but we still jump on calls every month, and she talks to me about some of the challenges she might be going through. The frst call I had with her was really interesting because she had a list of questions. 'What do you think I should be working on? How important do you think LinkedIn is? Do you have
any books that you recommend that I read?' So, every call that we had really in that frst couple of years was super substantive. I mean, I was exhausted after my hour-long call with her because she had such good questions.”
Fun Fact:
Martinez is chair of the UNT Alumni Association. He and his wife, Monica (’06), are big athletics supporters with season tickets to multiple sports.
Scott Brown
COOPER WOOD (’20)
Biomedical Engineering Quality and Testing Engineer for The Realtime Group
Anna
Career Highlights:
Wood began as an intern for Realtime and has worked there since graduation. He handles a range of duties throughout the development cycle for medical devices, from low-level test engineering to high-level quality system management and regulatory compliance assurance.
Getting Involved:
Wood wants to welcome a new generation to the engineering industry. He helps groups of students in UNT’s College of Engineering work on senior design projects, taking the project from an innovative idea to proof of concept prototype that satisfes the sponsors' need to achieve their goals. “It's amazing to see an idea someone had become standard equipment in the clinic.”
Lessons Learned:
“Try your hardest no matter what you do, or the stage of life you are in. You never know who may be watching and could give you the breakthrough you need. I wouldn’t be where I am today without a few specifc people believing in me based on the work I showed them I could do.”
Making
an Impact:
Ricardo Vela (’18, ’20 M.S.) was Wood’s mentee throughout his time at UNT. Katelyn Pipes (’21, ’22 M.S.) was a student in one of the frst groups he mentored. Noah Sudduth (’24) was a student in his latest mentored group. “They all had the right attitude to help us complete our critical projects; I wouldn’t be successful without them on my team. I'm glad to give a helping hand to help hardworking individuals get into the industry.”
Fun Fact:
Wood grew up in a rural atmosphere, so his experience in hay hauling, tractor fxing and hot summers in the marching band have made his time in an air-conditioned engineering ofce seem trivial. “My boots aren’t clean like most people who share similar roles as me.”
Jessica DeLeón
Mentors Matter
As the chief public afairs ofcer for Spotify, UNT alumna Dustee Jenkins (’01) keeps a busy schedule. She oversees teams responsible for government afairs, trust and safety, public relations and communications, and event and content production.
As a student, Jenkins made an impression on those around her, including her mentor, then-president Dr. Norval F. Pohl.
“Dr. Pohl was just the warmest, kindest, biggest supporter,” Jenkins says. “I think he saw something in me at a really young age. I'm really grateful that whatever he saw in me, he really leaned into and gave me a shot.”
Jenkins worked in Pohl’s ofce as a student and was involved on campus. She served as a parent orientation leader, was a member of Chi Omega and NT40, president of the Panhellenic Council and vice president of the Student Government Association.
All of those experiences are what drew her back to campus last spring to speak to several classes and student groups about her college experience and how far a UNT education can take you.
“More than anything, I wanted to talk to the Chi Omegas and the journalism students and the student government students to say to them: ‘I'm still going, keep going. You can do anything you want to do.’”
— Scott Brown
SCRAPPY UNMASKED
Scrappy is now a journalist. An advocate. An entrepreneur. An archaeologist. We caught up with a few alumni who have performed as UNT’s beloved Eagle mascot. While they have pursued a range of career paths, they all still have a
piece of Scrappy in their heart. Read more about their favorite memories at northtexan.unt.edu/2025/scrappy-unmasked.
Cheering Others
found out about the
“My favorite thing about being a mascot, especially Scra
A p s S py t cra ry p o p u y ts. , she that you’re absolutely not,” says Kim Fischer (’02), emptied a big box of being a boy mascot, is that you get to be somebody Cheer detergent and who majored in radio, TV and flm, now media arts. used it as a sign to “I got to put that costume on and become a totally stir up the crowd. She diferent person.” threw confetti and She’s played many roles in her life — from supportfootballs and gave playing the sports teams in college to serving as an ful noogies to kids. advocate for others in her career.
“And I loved to dance Fischer, who grew up in Sugar Land, was a mascot with the band,” she says. She played Scrappy in high school and auditioned when she during her freshman and sophomore years.
In her junior year, she focused more on her Fischer worked as a TV news reporter in several studies, two jobs and NTTV assignments. Texas cities and then as an anchorwoman in Salt Lake City for seven years — highlighting stories that protected women and children. Now she serves as head of marketing and communications for Waterford.org, which creates educational sofware for children.
In 2015, she advocated for state legislation that defned consent for people who were incapable, such as those who have a disability or are incapacitated due to alcohol.
Fischer, who was abused as a child, is grateful when others tell her that her activism has helped them. “I wanted to use that experience to make life better for others,” she says. — Jessica
DeLeón
Photos by Ahna Hubnik
‘An Absolute Blast’
Tyler Richardson (’08) performed as a clown for community events in his hometown of Midland when he was a kid.
So, when he learned about open tryouts for Scrappy, his fraternity brothers encouraged him with a $500 wager.
“I would have probably done it for a $10 bet at that point,” he says. “I put on the suit and did my thing, and I was Scrappy the Eagle for three years after that.”
Besides some great memories — including performing at the New Orleans Bowl in 2002 and 2003 — the gig helped him fnd connections and confdence.
he sa else can you put on a suit and a act like a complete fool, and be funny and
not be really held accountable for your goofy was an absolute blast.” as the heat. He
“It gave me a real sense of school pride,” ys. “And then, on top of that, when actions? It The only negative efect w would switch out with two other performers mask, and during diferent parts of football games. But he met lifelong friends and gained networking skills that propelled his career in real estate and community service.
Richardson, a sociology major, serves as president of BlueHaven Homes, as well as president of the Manda Strong Foundation, a nonproft that grants wishes to mothers with cancer. He met his wife, Brooke Carroll Richardson (’06), at UNT, and they have four
His advice to future Scrappys can apply on children. and of the feld.
“Soak it up,” he says. “Be intentional, and be truly present. As Scrappy, you're setting the tone whether we're winning or we're losing. It's Scrappy’s duty to help set that atmosphere.”
— Jessica DeLeón
Sharing Her Spirit
Alyceson-Grace Eke (’21) dove straight into a laundry list of extracurricular activities during her frst semester as a business economics major — including dancing with the North Texas Emeralds.
But as a success-driven and energetic
Troughout her tenure wearing person, Eke sought to share her spirit talons, Eke was happiest competon a competition team — reminiscent of ing at the National Cheerleaders her high school days in Carrollton. Association College Nationals
Organized by students, the Emeralds in Florida and seeing kids smile didn’t qualify for competitions. while visiting schools across Te next semester, Eke had a life-changing epiphany afer noticing a North Texas. A longtime tutor of economics, fyer for Scrappy the Eagle tryouts while Eke is now self-employed foleating with two friends in Kitchen West. lowing three years in a corporate
“It clicked,” she says, remembering the moment. “I knew I wanted to do this.” bank position.
As “Te Econ Queen,” she trav-
Beginning as a handler (Scrappy’s els across the DFW area teaching assistant), Eke worked her way up to ancial literacy to people of all vents like halfime ts. performing at ma shows and basketb in 2022 afer grad elor’s in 2021 an school assistants
in e all games. She retired uating with her bach d fnishing a graduate hip.
“I was able t I am unapologet out there is goin the same.”
o be myself,” she says. “If ically myself, somebody g to believe it’s OK to do
fn ages — including UNT studen
Scaling New Heights
When Izabella Klipsch (’23) frst tried on the Scrappy costume, it was unwieldy with its giant feet and net mesh under the beak.
But she adapted. “It would be fun to see how far I could take it, because at frst, I was like, ‘Oh, I could never run in this thing. I could never jump and do handstands and stuf.’ By the end, I was sprinting with the cheerleaders.”
Klipsch, an interdisciplinary studies major who grew up in several cities, including Denton, performed as Scrappy for two and a half years afer helping out Erin Klokker Mangwiro (’22), who served as mascot during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, Klipsch has earned her master’s degree in paleolithic archaeology and paleoanthropology at University College London and will pursue her doctorate this fall at Cardif University in Wales.
Klipsch was inspired to pursue a career in that feld afer taking an
archaeology class at UNT and a study abroad class at the University of Birmingham, which included time at an excavation site in Wales. She plans to study the domestication of dogs, which covers the time period from 30,000 to 50,000 years ago. But it was that other animal that gave her the confdence to pursue her goals.
Klipsch remembers she was scared as she scaled down the side of DATCU Stadium as part of a fundraiser — her last event as the Eagle.
“I was very emotional because I got down of the wall, and I knew that I would get to wave and hug and say goodbye to everyone,” she says. “I'd never done anything like that before, and Scrappy's never done anything like that before.”
— Jessica DeLeón
A LEGACY OF LEADERSHIP
NT40 STUDENT ORGANIZATION CELEBRATES 50 YEARS ON CAMPUS.
BY LISA SCIORTINO
Jennifer Fadden (’95, ’97 M.P.A.) credits her time a t U NT — especially as a member of the leadershipfocused NT40 student organization — for contributing to her development as a civic and corporate leader.
“I quickly sensed it was a place I could learn leadership skills and build self-confdence and prepare myself for the future,” she says.
During her career, Fadden has served as city m anager of Weatherford and Colleyville. Now the COO of Keller-based Strategic Government Resources, she assists local governments throughout the nation in building successful leadership teams.
NT40 wrapped up its 50th year this spring. The gr oup was established in Fall 1974 by then North Texas President C.C. Nolen, who designated 40 student leaders as the “ofcial hosts and hostesses” of a cademic and social functions he hosted.
“Anytime there was an event where people wanted to see a slice of student life, we were there. It was a very special time for me,” recalls Steve Brodbeck (’80), who served as the second president in NT40 history and is now corporate director of clinical laboratory standards for Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare.
Over the decades, NT40’s focus and mission have e volved to promote and inspire Mean Green pride and spirit and support the positive image of UNT. The organization collaborates with the Division of Student Afairs on student engagement and success eforts by hosting professional training and development workshops that help mentor and guide future leaders.
What hasn’t changed is the dedication of NT40 members — who are recognized as the “Top 40 Leaders” on campus because most also hold leadership positions in other UNT student organizations — to its core values, which include integrity, loyalty, leadership development and a commitment to excellence.
Serena Cole (’87), who served one term as NT40 vice president during her two years with the organization, says, “We came from so many diferent areas, so many diferent groups on campus. It created such synergy and such collaboration. I loved that part of it.”
Decades later, Cole’s son, Christian Cole (’19), became a member, and her daughter, Barrett Cole (’18, ’21 M.S.), was the organization’s secretary.
“NT40 taught me the power of legacy leadership — serving with intention, lifting others up and honoring tradition while embracing the future,” says Barrett Cole, who also served as the Student Government Association vice president from 2016 through 2017 and president from 2017 through 2018.
Now an attorney with the frm Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP in London, Barrett Cole says NT40’s core values “have stayed with me and will continue to guide my career and community service moving forward.”
Women’s golf coach Michael Akers has become a mentor for his former star player.
When Lauren Cox (’21) came to UNT to join the women’s golf team, she had never even spoken to her head coach. In the time between her recruitment and her arrival in Denton, UNT hired Michael Akers to take over the program. Traveling six hours from her hometown of Orange near the Louisiana border to play for a coach who hadn’t recruited her created a certain amount of uncertainty for Cox.
“Honestly, it was the best thing that could have happened for our program and for me as a player to have
Check out more sports news: meangreensports.com
Coach Akers as my coach for the next fve years,” Cox says.
Over those fve years, Cox cemented herself as the best player in program history, setting records for scoring average (74.18), career par-or-better rounds (44) and career birdies (349). After graduating, Cox stayed close to Akers and the team, serving as a volunteer assistant for two seasons before she was hired as director of operations/assistant coach in October 2024.
“It’s been really cool to watch her grow and continue to help the
program ever since she graduated, whether it be as a volunteer assistant or an actual assistant coach,” Akers says.
This summer, Cox decided she would move on from the program to look for career opportunities that will allow her to combine her love of golf with her degree in business computer information systems. But she says she won’t hesitate to call on her former coach any time she needs advice.
“He was a really good mentor in that he wasn’t just a golf coach,” Cox says. “He really inspired us in all aspects of our life and how to be a good person.”
Digging In
UNT volleyball fans have seen a new face pacing the sidelines, as head coach Dave Fleming leads his frst season with the Mean Green.
Fleming comes to Denton after 20 years as the head coach of Colorado Mesa University in Division II.
It’s been a big adjustment for Fleming as he gets used to the greater resources UNT has to ofer, but he says the players have helped make the transition easier.
“I’m very pleasantly surprised by the leadership of the group that we have here,” Fleming says. “We had more than a dozen players who wanted to stay within the program and I think all of them believe that we can be very successful, so that was really encouraging.”
In addition to many familiar faces on the court, he says fans can look forward to an aggressive playing style from the Mean Green in 2025.
“We’re going to run our middles a lot more often and a lot faster. And we’re going to put maximum efort on defense. I think fans really like to see the hustle, and we’re not going to let balls hit without efort. That’s just a culture I’ve been trying to establish since I’ve been here and the team’s really picked up on that — and it’s a fun style to watch, too.”
By the Numbers
Seasons of Mean Green football
Light the Tower 548 wins
Raise the Banners 25 conference championships
Level Up 78 NFL draft picks
Glory to the Green 121 UNT Hall of Famers
UPCOMING FALL HOME GAMES
OCT. 8 VB vs. UTSA
OCT. 10 FB vs. USF
OCT. 12 SOC vs. TULSA
OCT. 17 VB vs. ECU OCT. 18 FB vs. UTSA
OCT. 19 SOC vs. RICE
OCT. 29 VB vs. ACU
OCT. 30 SOC vs. UAB
OCT. 31 VB vs. MEMPHIS
NOV. 1 FB vs. NAVY
Schedule is subject to change. Check meangreensports.com for the most up-to-date information.
Home football games proudly played at DATCU Stadium.
Year of Many Firsts
First-year Mean Green men’s basketball coach Daniyal Robinson has been busy since taking over the program last spring, signing a dozen new players to the team, including his son, Reece. While fans will have a lot of new names to learn when the team takes the court this fall, Robinson says the team is ready to give them something to cheer for.
“Fans can expect a team that plays extremely hard,” Robinson says.“We’re going to be stingy defensively, make things hard for our opponents and be extremely physical. Overall, we’ll be a team that plays really hard, that plays connected and is having fun.”
As this new era of Mean Green men’s basketball begins, Robinson says the team is most excited for their frst game at the Super Pit.
“There’s frsts of everything. You get your frst practice with this group. You get your frst time going out and playing. It’s your frst road trip. It’s going to be a year of many frsts when it comes to this team,” Robinson says. “It’s like Christmas, everyone’s excited. Taking the foor for our very frst game here at UNT will be something special that I’ll always remember.”
EN
Bryan Kelly (’08) builds community through comics. He organizes the annual Denton Comic Art Expo each September, as well as produces comic books that promote local artists. He also drew a local cover for the Archie Meets Jay and Silent Bob comic book, featuring the characters at the Denton County Courthouse on the Square. “Working on things I care about fuels me in a way that other things do not,” EAGLES’ NEST he says. Read more at northtexan.unt.edu/2025/bryan-kelly.
CONNECTING WITH FRIENDS
CLASS NOTES
keep up with the latest developments in the UNT family and tell your peers what you’ve been up to since leaving the nes. Send your news to the North Texan (see contac information on page 5).
1970 FRANKLIN KIMLICKO, Tyler, who has taught at Tyler Junior College since 1972, received the Kay Arms Lifetime Achievement Award. Presented by Young Audiences of Northeast Texas organization, it honors educators who have dedicated their lives to fne arts education. At UNT, Franklin played guitar with the One O’Clock Lab Band, including during a performance at the White House. The award-winning composer has also performed with the Dallas Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony and Dallas Summer Musicals.
1979 HERB WEISS, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, has been a journalist covering aging and health care issues for 45 years. Much of his work is featured in “Herbert P. Weiss Papers, 1980 to 2025,” which has been permanently archived in the Special Collections at Rhode Island College’s James P. Adams Library.
1982 MYRON BEARD, Littleton, Colorado, is an occupational psychologist who owns Beard Executive Consulting, which works with business executives throughout the nation. He has written and published a half-dozen business and mystery books.
1985 RANDALL ENSLEY, Orange. An award-winning science fction artist, his solo exhibition
Amazing Worlds! The Science Fiction Art of Randall Ensley, was shown last year at The Art Studio Inc. in Beaumont. His work has been featured in numerous publications and exhibitions. At UNT, he was an assistant residence hall director in Kerr Hall.
1985 SHARON MCGOWAN, Dallas, was appointed executive director of the nonproft Leukemia Texas, which works to improve the lives of Texans facing leukemia through direct fnancial support. At UNT, she participated in Homecoming festivities as a member of NT40 and met football great Joe Greene.
1990
MICHAEL K PEACH (M.Ed.), Escanaba, Michigan, has written and published The Adventures of ArgyLe Sock, an adventure fantasy book, and The Death of Tintagiles Death, a horror novella.
1991 JAMIE WILSON (’99 M.Ed., ’12 Ed.D.), Denton, who served a dozen years as superintendent of Denton ISD prior to retiring in 2024, was presented the Educate Award 2024 by the Denton Chamber of Commerce for his community eforts and dedication. He served as a teacher, coach and science department chair and then became an assistant principal, principal and assistant superintendent for secondary academic programs prior to being named superintendent.
SWEET CHARITY
Washima Huq (’19 M.B.A.) is empowered to help others.
She serves as executive director of the Texas Trust Gives Foundation, the charitable arm for the Texas Trust Credit Union, which awards grants and scholarships and oversees employee giving and volunteerism.
This spring, she toured UNT’s College of Visual Arts and Design, where she met with students from the College of Education who won scholarships. Texas Trust has pledged to award $100,000 in scholarships to UNT over the next fve years.
“I am a product of scholarships,” Huq says. “So, it’s a full circle moment for me to facilitate an award, meet the recipients and see that version of me from 10 years ago and feel like I’ve paid it forward. It fuels my passion and my energy.”
— Jessica DeLeón
Read more: northtexan.unt.edu/2025/ sweet-charity
CONNECTING WITH FRIENDS
family ties
LIKE MANY PARENTS, CLYDE AND ROXIE MOORE WANTED their six children to earn a college degree. From their home in Temple, they provided support — Clyde bartended at the iconic Stagecoach Inn in Salado, while Roxie worked as a cosmetologist at her salon, ran the household and was involved in her community.
“From frst grade, our mom was extremely active in our schools,” Bertha “Bert” Moore Campbell (’67, ’70 M.A.) says. “PTA president, band president — she was in every area.”
The family’s Mean Green legacy began in 1965, when Bert transferred to North Texas after attending Temple Junior College for two years. Originally interested in journalism, Bert pivoted to studying communication disorders, now called speech-language pathology and audiology, thanks to a friend’s encouragement.
As an intern at the university’s Pupil Appraisal Center, she gained real-world experience that would help her learn to serve students and adults across Texas with speech and language challenges in her 52-year career as a speech-language pathologist.
Bert’s sister Clydell Kelley (’71) followed the same career path for 35 years while another sister, Pamala Pennington (’77), earned her business degree.
Their parents’ belief in the power of education was reinforced by their time at UNT — and carried on by the family’s next generation.
Their niece Averi Hayes (’09) would also earn a degree in speech-language pathology and audiology. Their nephew Sean K. Moore began at UNT in 1983 and later completed a degree in organizational leadership at Our Lady of the Lake University. While at UNT, he met his wife, Lisa Baumel Moore (’88), who studied communications. Most recently, Sean and Lisa’s daughter Aja (’15) earned her degree in psychology and serves as a licensed master social worker in Denton.
Each family member has their own special memories of their time at UNT. For Bert, it was the lifelong friendships formed. “We still meet for lunch,” she says. “Every year for 13 years, we would have a ‘girlfriend’s weekend.’”
Another friend was famed alumnus Joe Greene, Clydell’s classmate, who grew up with her and lived on their street.
“I introduced him to a few girls he dated at UNT,” she laughs.
Her sister, Pamala, also recalls fond memories while living in Maple Hall.
“Believe it or not, my longer lasting friendships are from college,” she says.
The Moores’ UNT story exemplifes what’s possible when education becomes a family tradition.
“UNT wasn’t just a place to earn a degree,” Bert says. “It was a foundation for my life.”
Christiana Diak
From left: Clydell Kelley (’71), Sean K. Moore, Pamala Pennington (’77), Aja Moore (‘15), Bertha “Bert” Moore Campbell (’67, ’70 M.A.) and Lisa Baumel Moore (’88).
1992 KEITH MCBURNETT (’93 M.Ed.), Burnet, retired from a 30-year career in public education, during which he served as superintendent of schools at Burnet Consolidated ISD for 12 years. He is now assistant city manager for the city of Burnet.
1994 JOHN MAGEE, The Woodlands, is CEO of VLS Environmental Solutions, which specializes in industrial waste management, railcar cleaning, and repair and marine services. He spent 11 years as CEO of a global logistics company before beginning his current role nearly fve years ago. At UNT, he was president of Sigma Nu.
1995 MATTHEW MAILMAN (D.M.A.), Oklahoma City, is a professor of music at Oklahoma City University’s Bass School of Music. He was the 2023 Broadway World Oklahoma winner for best music director and orchestral performance for his university’s production of Sweeney Todd, and was a fnalist in the 2023 Warsaw Wind Band Conducting Competition.
1998 EDITH RAOULT (M.Ed.), Averdon, France, was a high school teacher until 2022 and now teaches French to adults who come to France from Afghanistan, Africa and other countries. In 2020, she wed a French farmer and now lives on a farm in a house that dates back to 1489 near the Chambord Castle.
1999 MOUMIN QUAZI (M.A., Ph.D.), Stephenville. An English professor at Tarleton State University, he worked to revive the memory and legacy of Milton Brown, regarded
as the “Father of Western Swing” music, in his birth- and burial-place of Stephenville. Moumin helped to have Sept. 8 declared Milton Brown Day in Stephenville. At UNT, he occasionally hosted a jazz program on KNTU.
2000 JOSEPH SPANIOLA (Ph.D.), Pensacola, Florida, is a music composer who recently released “A Solitary Tree” on the album Symphoneic Stradivarius. The composition was written for and recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra and violin soloist Davide Alogna. At UNT, Joseph was involved with the Composers Forum.
2001 PIERETTE L. PARKER, DeSoto, is a member of the DeSoto City Council. She also owns Our Community Management LLC, an HOA management company. A member of the National Council of Negro Women, she works with communities to help educate and improve the lives of youth.
2007 BRENDA ETHRIDGE
FERGUSON (M.S.), Mullin, a retired English teacher and librarian, is the author of the children’s book Ranch Girl and a Boy Named Toby. It is the sequel to the 2024 book Ranch Girl and the Little Orphan Lamb, about a young Texas girl living on a ranch and awaiting the end of the school year.
2007 MARY AURORA MOORE, Chicago, worked as a props designer for Fat Theatre Project and as technical director for Stage Left. At UNT, she performed with the University Players. She has run the Chicago Marathon four times.
ELEMENTAL TALK
Melissa Collini (’18 M.S., ’22 Ph.D) frst fell in love with chemistry as a teenager. Her high school teacher made the subject come alive through interactive experiments that she still remembers today.
Now a full-time educator, Collini has been teaching chemistry to audiences around the world for years, with her podcast, Chemistry for Your Life, ranked as the No. 1 chemistry podcast on Apple Podcasts. Collini launched the podcast in 2019 while pursuing her Ph.D. She reached out to her friend and UNT radio, TV and flm alum Jam Robinson (’15) for guidance.
Episode topics cover the science behind how soap gets hands clean, the chemistry of brewing cofee and why onions make you cry — which allows Collini to connect fundamental chemistry concepts to actions people take in everyday life.
“I just wanted to help people who didn’t think chemistry was for them to see that it could be for them,” Collini says. “And now we’ve built this really engaged audience of people who are excited about chemistry.”
2008 ALLIE HALLMARK, Dallas, a personal injury attorney with the frm Hamilton Wingo, was named to D Magazine’s 2025 Best Lawyers Under 40 list. At UNT, she was on the Moot Court team and participated in advocacy competitions throughout Texas, which led her to pursue a career in litigation.
2008 CHARLI GILBREATH LENNON, Richmond, an executive leadership coach, is the founder and CEO of Lennon Prep, which provides leadership coaching, public speaking and corporate training. At UNT, she was a resident assistant at Clark Hall and was a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
2010 NICK MARINO JR., Dallas, received Dallas Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” recognition. He is director of the Communities Foundation of Texas’ Center for Business Impact and volunteer executive director of Tango Charities, a nonproft that has provided food for over 7 million people through its Feed the City events.
2010 LAUREN MEAD HOMME, Seattle, Washington, is a director of marketing and business development in the architecture, engineering and construction industry. She appeared in “Seattle Dances,” an annual competition that raised funds for the nonproft Plymouth Housing. At UNT, she belonged to Zeta Tau Alpha and the Tau Sigma National Honor Society.
2013 ZACH FRIEDENSOHN, Atlanta, Georgia, is the founder of G&R Construction, a general contracting frm, which he launched in 2019.
After earning his degree from UNT, Zach quickly immersed himself in construction — starting hands-on in the feld and managing capital projects across multifamily properties. Today, his company specializes in commercial ground-up builds, renovations and tenant buildouts.
2014 KAPONGO DALE MBAMBI,
(M.S.), Keller, is a fnancial advisor for Spectrum Financial who works to close the wealth gap and teach fnancial literacy in his community. At UNT, he enjoyed playing basketball at the Pohl Rec Center.
2015 THOMAS B. MACK (Ph.D.), is the author of the book The Lead Mine Men: The Enduring 45th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, which delves into the ordeals and triumphs of the Midwestern regiment that boasted the lowest rate of desertion during the American Civil War. Thomas is the owner and program manager of 1990 Consulting, and he taught U.S. history at Dallas College El Centro Campus.
2016 LARRY CHRIS ARROWOOD
(M.S.), Spring, is the director of the Bellaire City Library in Bellaire. At UNT, he was involved with Beta Beta Nu.
2017
DANIELA IBARRA (’19
M.A.), San Antonio, was named a 2025 Chauncey Bailey Journalist of Color Investigative Reporting Fellow by the nonproft organization Investigative Reporters and Editors. A reporter with San Antonio television station KSAT, she has served on the national boards of the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
IN LIVING COLOR
While attending UNT’s College of Visual Arts and Design as an interior design major, Arielle Yearby (’11) painted the walls of her of-campus apartment “a deep, rich orchid.” Obsessed with color for as long as she can remember, Yearby recalls a fipbook from her youth where she could change the colors of things in a living room and experiment with color palettes.
Today, the walls of her apartment in Portland, Oregon, are colored foor to ceiling with a collection of over 100 pairs of Nike sneakers.
Yearby is lead color designer for men’s performance basketball footwear at Nike. She landed a design position in 2019.
“Color is one of the most infuential things,” says Yearby. “It draws us into any aspect of life.”
1 A GROUP OF STUDENTS MET IN CRUMLEY HALL in the 1980s and they’ve stayed friends ever since. The group reunited in June and even got a tour of the building. “It has hardly changed,” says Troy Bagwell (’91).
“So much fun! So many belly laughs!” From left to right, they are Holly Parrott Haynes (’97); Christine Robles (’91); Sandra Wiesman Bagwell, who attended from 1987 to 1991; Thomas Vasquez (’89); Dawn Bacon (’93); Jack Butler (’90); Marilyn Prude Butler (’90); Wanetta Lindsay Smith (’91); and Bagwell.
2 WILSON HAYNES (’18) AND KRYSTAL GONZALEZ HAYNES (’19) show their Mean Green Pride on St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago. They met at UNT and are huge fans of the athletic programs.
3 RIP, A 2-YEAR-OLD BLUE HEELER/BORDER COLLIE MIX, enjoyed the campus while out with his human, Alyssa Farewell, a sophomore marketing major.
2018 CELESTE GRACIA, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, is an environment reporter with public radio station WUNC. She covers topics including sea level rise on the coast, water pollution cleanup in rivers, the clean energy transition and old-growth trees in national forests.
2020 NIKKI JOHNSONBOLDEN, Denton, is a talent buyer who presented a beneft show in Denton to raise funds for women’s medical research and advocacy for the Endometriosis Foundation of America. At UNT, Nikki was involved with the North Texas Daily and the Her Campus student organization and was a Mayborn Ambassador.
2021 TAYLOR MERCADO OWEN, Chicago, Illinois, attended THE ACADEMY program at Black Box Acting in Chicago. Since completing the program, Taylor has worked as a stage manager at several theaters. Taylor was involved in the Drama Lab at UNT.
2023 IRENE ESCOBARGALVEZ (Ph.D.), Austin, is a clinical psychologist who works with military veterans and members of the Latino community at Siempre Mejorando Therapy, her recently opened private therapy practice.
CONNECTING WITH FRIENDS
PROUD PARTNERS
Turning over a new leaf, husband and wife Michael (’11) and Taylor Bales (’09) changed their lives following major career shifts and turned their dreams into reality by becoming business owners.
True Leaf Studio — their unique, multi-use plant shop and tattoo parlor — has become a staple in Denton over the last fve years. The couple shares their space with several small business owners, notably cofee connoisseurs and owners of Triptych Cofee Co. Betz Baker (’19) and Lois Robertson, who attended UNT from 2019 to 2020.
Together, the two couples work with the community to create a place where locals can purchase curated one-of-a-kind cofee, shop at markets and support local artists, get a tattoo and learn how to plant a terrarium under one roof.
The Baleses – who worked as a teacher and graphic designer – frequently passed an old building at 301 Locust Street that was open for leasing and saw an opportunity.
Triptych was founded by Robertson and Baker, who came across a post advertising an entire cofee cart. Within just a few months, the couple kickstarted their business and hired their friend Jenkins McAlister (’24).
When the Baleses saw Triptych’s growth and impact on foot trafc at their markets, they ofered the couple a full-time presence on the property.
Seeing their impact on other businesses and the community, the Baleses wish to continue using their space as a bed for businesses to plant their seed.
“It’s been fun,” Michael says. “We can hang our hats on a good accomplishment so far.”
— Bradford Osborne
Read more: northtexan.unt.edu/2025/proud-partners
• The United States of America celebrates its 250th anniversary next year, and we want to know our alumni’s favorite memories of this country. Have you met a U.S. president? How did you watch the moon landing? Have you visited all the national parks? Email us at northtexan@unt.edu, and we may include your memory in a future issue.
• Calling all small-business owners! Our Happy Friday, North Texas! podcast is looking for alumni-owned small businesses to highlight — such as Eagle Cawfee, the cofee brand created by Francisco Delgado (’22) and Alyson Flores (’22). If you’d like your small business to be featured or know a fellow Eagle who might, email podcast@unt.edu.
• Go online to read obituaries for D. Jack Davis, Professor Emeritus of art, the founding dean of what is now the College of Visual Arts and Design, and other alumni, faculty and staf. WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU
From left: Michael (’11) and Taylor Bales (’09) and Betz Baker (’19) and Lois Robertson.
SHARING VOICES
To celebrate its centennial, the city of
GOOD SPORT SHELF HELP
When Natalie Zuniga’s (’17) birthday Lewisville hired Micah Autry (’15) to came up last October, she didn’t want produce a flm about the history of the gifts for herself. city. Sacred Ground: The Legacy Be-
Instead, she asked her friends and neath Lewisville tells the community’s family for children’s books she could history through personal interviews donate to charity. She wanted to see from two Black families with long lega- the impact of dropping these books cies of contributions to the city. of, so she started Auntie’s Book Bank, The flm was shot and edited by which distributes books to students his full-service multimedia company in Title I elementary schools in the Aume Media, which he founded in Dallas-Fort Worth area. 2015 after graduating with a degree in Zuniga, the daughter of immigrants, media arts. Aume Media ofers many spoke only Spanish as a child, and services, including creating content she often reads and shops for books like commercials, with a client list with her four nieces. She has worked ranging from Chick-Fil-A to Porsche.
Donna Ramsey (’76, ’78 M.Ed.) knew tirelessly, drawing on her degree in He appreciated the reaction Sacred what she was meant to do with her business analytics, to raise money and Ground received. “Watching the fam- life since she was a kid. encourage volunteers to participate. ilies enjoy it was by far the most re-
“When I was eight years old, I would “I think giving back to my community warding part of the whole experience,” take the toilet paper roll and I would helps me just as much as it helps the Autry says. “Once you document it, make a cast on my left arm,” she says. children and families we’re serving.” it lasts forever and they can enjoy it “I didn’t have any idea why I was doing forever.” that. But I did it all the time.”
Bradford Osborne
She played three sports at North Texas. In the middle of her undergrad-
Read more: northtexan.unt.edu/ uate years, then-head athletic trainer 2025/sharing-voices John Porche asked her if she would be interested in the feld.
After earning her degrees from North Texas, she was the frst full-time female licensed athletic trainer at the high school level in the U.S. She worked for Dallas ISD for 30 years, and she was inducted into the Dallas ISD Hall of Fame this year.
“It was like a dream come true because I’ve been an athlete since I was a child and I love the medical feld.”
That ofhand piece of advice for other bands from guitarist Clay Bergus could easily double as a life lesson — and a metaphor for Deep Blue Something’s journey. Long before the Denton-formed band climbed the charts with its 1995 hit "Breakfast at Tifany’s,” the fve members were UNT students fguring out how to balance life between rehearsals, classes and gigs.
The Pipes brothers, Todd (’94 M.A.) and Toby (’94), teamed up with fellow musicians-turned-friends Kirk Tatom (’94), John Kirtland (’14) and Bergus to form the band in the early 1990s, when Denton’s music scene was on fre. Their work ethic — playing gigs whenever and wherever they could — plus the city’s creative energy, launched Deep Blue Something onto an international stage. Their single climbed
the charts in the U.S. and overseas in 1995, landing the band on MTV, late-night talk shows and tours around the world. Now 30 years later, and with a new album out this summer, the band refects on that time.
“Before the song hit, I thought we were kind of done, actually,” Todd says. “Everybody was wrapping up their degrees and starting to move on, and we didn’t know how long we could keep the band together."
Then, suddenly, two Dallas-Fort Worth radio stations added it to their rotations. Recording companies showed up in droves, and the rest was history.
Denton’s quirky mix of college-town energy and musical experimentation gave the band its foundation. Whether it was late-night rehearsals at a storage unit, playing to a feld of cattle or performing on Fry Street, Denton provided both support and freedom.
“It was a really good environment to be creative,” Bergus says. “There was always somebody to play with or some new band to see. You just felt like anything could happen.”
When they came back to start a new album in the U.S., they found the music scene had shifted. They didn’t break up but found other interests and slowed down.
Today, the members are spread across careers and diferent locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but continue to tour. Their new album, Lunar Phase, their frst since 2015, was designed to refect their original sound.
The band’s perspective now allows them to share advice with musicians today: pursue your passion, but don’t neglect the rest of your life.
“You’re not going to be 22 forever,” Todd says. “If you pursue other things, you’ll run into experiences that inspire your art. That’s what keeps it fun.”
Christiana Diak
From left to right: Clay Bergus, who attended from 1989 to 1994; Toby Pipes (’94); John Kirtland (’14); Todd Pipes (’94 M.A.); and Kirk Tatom (’94).
Name that eagle
PICTURED ARE SOME OF OUR FAVORITE EAGLES THROUGHOUT NORTH TEXAS HISTORY. CAN YOU NAME THEM BASED ON THESE CLUES AND PHOTOS?
1.Our frst mascot, a live bird, joined us in 1950 with a name familiar to students today.
2.Coach Hayden Fry introduced a stylized Eagle when our Mean Green was young — and lime. The design inspired a beloved nickname.
3.This Eagle studied English at North Texas before taking a dark desert highway to California and international music fame.
4.For a time, our mascot was named for a fencing term, also thought to come from an Old English word for “young eagle.”
5.Members of the Geezles gave this all-seeing bird to campus in 2011. Named for the fraternity’s greeting, he imparts luck to those who rub his head before taking the feld at DATCU Stadium.
6.Our modern mascot is hard to top — and has an extensive wardrobe. Go Mean Green!
S1. crappy; 2. the Flying Worm; 3. Don Henley; 4. Eppy; 5. Spiriki; 6. Scrappy
PERSPECTIVE
Erika Jaeggli (’22 M.F.A.) often has to crawl through tight, dark tunnels — and mud — to create her art. The Dallas-based artist had long painted landscapes, but after her time in graduate school at UNT’s College of Visual Arts and Design, caves have served as her subjects. “I love this feeling of exploring what’s next, what’s behind this corner and the physicality of it,” she says. Read more at northtexan.unt.edu/2025/cave-paintings.
