Brian Schmidt (D.M.A.),
and artistic director of the South Dakota Chorale, a professional choral ensemble that has signed an international recording contract with Pentatone Classics. Chorale members include alumni Alex Bumpas (’05), Julianna Emanski (’11
Naomi Wood, Denton :: self-
M.M.), Fiona Gillespie (’13
published Kitty Cat Meow Pants, a children’s book about a cat who has a stinky problem and his friends who come to rescue him. She wrote the book for her daughter, Jocelyn. Naomi works as a domestic and international evaluator in UNT’s Toulouse Graduate School and is pursuing a master’s in international studies.
M.M.), Joseph Hubbard (’11),
Elizabeth Johnson Knight (’13 D.M.A.), Sara Staples (’09), Corey Trahan (’12 D.M.A.) and Amber Wellborn (’10), and doctoral candidates
Fabiana Gonzalez and Robert Ward. Brian also is a choral conductor at Duke University Chapel and directs the Duke Vespers Ensemble.
2013 Jenna Rose Nelson,
Southlake :: was accepted to
Damin Spritzer (D.M.A.), Dallas
::
was appointed professor of organ at the University of Oklahoma beginning this fall. She continues as artist-in-residence for the Episcopal Cathedral of Saint Matthew in Dallas. She also released her critically acclaimed second CD of the music of R.L. Becker. She and her husband, James Francey, have three children — Soren, Rowan and Morgan.
the Peace Corps and is serving in Senegal for two years. As a business advising volunteer, she works in small enterprise development to assist organizations and entrepreneurs with business planning, marketing, financial management and product design.
Crystal Vasquez, Frisco :: was hired as a producer for the Fox4 sports department. She previously served as a writer for the Dallas Mavericks website and as an anchor and a reporter at KVII in Amarillo.
Michael Clements
Durham, N.C. :: is the founder
Use your voice With 30 years’ experience as a licensed counselor, Annetta Ramsay (’82 M.S., ’89 Ph.D.) knows how to listen — and now, she is discovering the power of her own voice to help individuals heal and recover from struggles with eating disorders. Through the OpEd Project, a fellowship largely designed to bring female voices to the male-dominated realm of opinion writing, Ramsay is reaching a wider audience. “They’re teaching you to use your voice,” says Ramsay, who was named an OpEd fellow in 2014 through Texas Woman’s University. “‘Eating disorders’ is my voice. It speaks to 30 million women and men in this country who struggle with disordered eating, and millions who care about them.” It’s a new role for Ramsay, who is the founder and director of the Chrysalis Program, a Denton-based nonprofit specializing in treating anorexia, bulimia and overeating disorders with a six-person team — including alumnae Laura Pace (’07 M.Ed., ’11 Ph.D.) and Whitney Bunch (’13 M.Ed.). She founded the center after her administrative career at UNT. Her year in the OpEd Project has included mentoring and editing with novelist Martha Southgate and seminars and live web chats with editors at CNN, The New York Times and other top media outlets. Ramsay joins leading female and underrepresented male scholars from institutions like Harvard, Stanford and Yale for training in using their expertise to lead discussions in print, broadcast and online commentary forums. She’s written pieces alongside Sen. Patrick Kennedy and Katrina Mason, national director of the Eating Disorders Coalition, and has contributed 18 opinion articles in top publications like Pacific Standard and the Dallas Morning News. One of her most impactful stories was a poignant post for families: “Parents Can Help Make Eating Disorders Go Away.” The February post became the top-rated article at Women’s eNews for the week. A single tweet showcasing the op-ed reached 216,000 Twitter account holders. “I used to want to write a book,” Ramsay says. “But if you can get a short article tweeted to a quarter million people, why would you write a book?” — Monique Bird
Summer 2015
154010-UNT-R3.indd 43
|
northtexan.unt.edu
|
The
No r t h Texa n
43 6/16/15 10:48 PM