Class Notes - Winter 2024

February 23, 2024

1960s

EDWARD D. DEEB, ’60 (College of Communication Arts and Sciences), received the Michigan Youth Appreciation Foundation Distinguished Service Award for his contributions to Metro Detroit Youth Day and College Row. Founded by Deeb in 1991, Metro Detroit Youth Day was created to unite all walks of life for a day of constructive activities, guidance and mentorship.

JOEL WISE, HRM, ’63 (Eli Broad College of Business), has retired.

CLARE ADKIN, ’65, M.A. ’69 (College of Social Science, College of Education), published the novel “Chance.” The story is set on the iconic Route 66 and revolves around two brothers on a complicated family road trip.

JIM SARGENT, M.A. ’68, PH.D. ’72 (Both in Social Science), published the latest installment of his Mickey Matthews Mystery series, “Brotherly Love” (Doce Blant Publishing). Set in 1946, the story follows the title character on an intriguing case that takes him to Ontario and Michigan.

LOUIS A. PENNER, PH.D. ’69 (College of Social Science), along with fellow Spartan Nao Hagiwara, Ph.D. (’06, ’11) recently published the book “Unequal Health: Anti-Black Racism and the Threat to America’s Health” (Cambridge University Press). The pair worked with two more co-authors on this comprehensive analysis of the causes of racial disparities in health and health care.

THEDA SKOCPOL, ’69 (College of Social Science, Honors College), published “Rust Belt Union Blues: Why Working-Class Voters Are Turning Away from the Democratic Party” with co-author Lainey Newman in September 2023. Skocpol received the Distinguished Alumni Award at the 2022 MSU Alumni Grand Awards.

1970s

ALAN JAY KAUFMAN, ’70 (Eli Broad College of Business), received the Business Insurance Lifetime Achievement Award in September 2023. Honorees are also inducted into the Business Insurance Hall of Fame. Business Insurance is an authoritative news and information source focused on risk management, risk transfer and risk financing.

JIM BLAYLOCK, ’71 (College of Communication Arts and Sciences), recently claimed the national golf championship at the 2023 Senior Games in the 75-79 age group. The event was held in Pittsburgh.

NICHOLAS HILL, ’74 (College of Arts & Letters, Honors College), presented his solo exhibition, “25 Views from Kyoto to Tokyo” at CASAPLAN Art Center gallery in Valparaiso, Chile in August 2023.

DENISE CRITTENDON, ’75 (College of Communication Arts and Sciences), published her debut sci-fi novel, “Where It Rains In Color” (Angry Robot Books/Watkins Media) in December 2022. The novel received a 2023 Outstanding Book Award from the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and was selected as the Indie Author Project winner for the state of Nevada in November 2023.

JUDITH L. PEARSON, ’75 (College of Arts & Letters), published her fourth book, “Crusade to Heal America: The Remarkable Life of Mary Lasker,” a biography about the health activist who helped launch the 1971 National Cancer Act, which turned the tide on survivorship of the disease.

MARY ANN RAMSEY, ’75 (Eli Broad College of Business), was awarded the prestigious Virtuoso Cruise Icon recognition. Virtuoso, which specializes in luxury and experiential travel, presents this award to advisers who represent the top 1% in the company’s cruise sales.

RANDALL L. SEAVER, ’75 (College of Social Science), joined law firm Moss & Barnett. Seaver, a bankruptcy attorney, joined the firm’s Litigation and Business Law practice areas.

MICHAEL VAVRUS, M.A. ’75, PH.D. ’78 (Both in College of Education), recently published the book, “Teaching Anti-Fascism: A Critical Multicultural Pedagogy
for Civic Education” (Columbia University’s Teachers College Press).

1980s

LYNN DOMINA, ’80 (College of Arts & Letters), recently published her third collection of poetry, “Inland Sea,” from Kelsay Books. Domina currently teaches English at Northern Michigan University.

JOSEPH T. SPANIOLA, ’85, M.M. ’87 (Both in College of Music), received honorable mention for the 2023 American Prize in Composition for his piece, “Uplifted.” Spaniola was also recently honored for Distinction in Faculty Scholarly, Creative, and Research Activities at the University of West Florida in Pensacola.

MARK SEITZ, ’88 (College of Agriculture and Natural Resources), recently celebrated his 20th anniversary as County Extension Director for North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension. He also received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of County Agriculture Agents Association in 2022.

RICHARD SHELLENBERGER, D.O. ’89 (College of Osteopathic Medicine), was awarded the honor of Mastership in the American College of Physicians in September 2023, becoming the 50th physician from Michigan to be bestowed this honor since its inception in 1930.

1990s

BRIAN O’CONNOR, ’91 (College of Communication Arts and Sciences), has been elected to the National Board of Governors of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for all LGBTQ+ Americans. He will also serve as co-chair of the Palm Springs, CA Steering Committee.

DAWN M. PATTERSON, ’92 (College of Social Science), has been elected chair of the State Bar of Michigan’s Real Property Law Section. Patterson is a Detroitbased national commercial underwriting attorney with First American Title Insurance Company.

NATHANIEL R. WOLF, ’94 (Eli Broad College of Business), was included in the 2023 edition of the Michigan Super Lawyers Magazine, an annual listing that recognizes lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.

MARC STEWART, ’95 (James Madison College), has been named CNN’s correspondent in Beijing, China. Stewart joined CNN in 2022.

JACOB CALLCUT, ‘96 (College of Engineering, Lyman Briggs College), recently released his debut novel, “Awakening,” a near-future science fiction adventure.

D. SCOTT BRINKMANN, ’97 (College of Social Science), was one of 20 attorneys named to Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s “Go To Lawyers” for Commercial Real Estate. The program honors leading lawyers nominated by their peers. Brinkmann is an attorney and shareholder at Butzel.

OVELL BARBEE, MLHR ’98 (College of Social Science), recently published a book titled “The Big House: A Human-Centered and Progressive Approach to DEI and Positive Workplace Engagement.”

MARC S. ROSENTHAL, PH.D., FACEP, FAEMS, D.O. ‘98 (College of Osteopathic Medicine), was recently awarded the 2023 American College of Emergency Physicians Disaster Medical Sciences Award at the ACEP23 event in Philadelphia.

2000s

JASON DRAKE, ’00 (Eli Broad College of Business), has been elected as Plante Moran’s next managing partner. Drake, who has spent his entire professional career at Plante Moran, will lead one of the nation’s largest audit, tax, consulting and wealth management firms.

RENÉE BRANCH CANADY, PH.D. ’01 (College of Social Science), published the book “Room at the Table,” in which she explores the intricacies of equity justice and dives into understanding how to advance change within public health and other fields.

MICHAEL SHEPPARD, ’03, M.S. ’08 (All in College of Natural Science), was recently awarded his 100th patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

FERNANDO VASQUEZ, M.A. ’04 (College of Education), was named assistant dean of admissions at the School of Medicine at Texas A&M University in Bryan/ College Station, Texas.

MEGHAN CUNNINGHAM, ‘05 (College of Communication Arts and Sciences), was recently named vice president of marketing and communications for the University of Toledo.

NAO HAGIWARA, M.S. ’06, PH.D. ’11 (Both in College of Social Science), along with fellow Spartan, Louis A. Penner, Ph.D. (’69) recently published the book “Unequal Health: Anti-Black Racism and the Threat to America’s Health” (Cambridge University Press). The pair worked with two more co-authors on this comprehensive analysis of the causes of racial disparities in health and health care.

EVAN KAPLOE, J.D. ’06 (College of Law), recently joined Strobl PLLC in Bloomfield Hills, MI as a tax attorney specialist.

LOIS M. MCCLURG, LCSW, LMSW, MSW ’07 (College of Social Science), is a distinguished featured biography in the publication “Marquis Who’s Who.” Drawing on over four decades of diverse expertise, McClurg specializes in grief counseling. She retired in 2022.

JONATHAN NICHOL, D.M.A., M.M. ’07, D.M.A. ’10 (Both in College of Music), has been named the next director of the University of Oklahoma School of Music. Nichol served as interim director for the 2022-2023 academic year and has been on faculty as professor of saxophone since 2013.

MICHAEL BUTTERFIELD, ’09 (James Madison College), was recognized by his peers as a 2024 Best Lawyer: Ones to Watch in the areas of commercial litigation, insurance law and product liability litigation—defendants. Butterfield recently joined Mantese Honigman, PC.

THOMAS HENTHORN, PH.D. ’09 (College of Arts & Letters), was honored with the University of Michigan Regents’ Award for Distinguished Public Service. Henthorn, a professor of history at the University of Michigan-Flint, was recognized for the application of his scholarly work directly into the fabric of the Flint  Community.

LAURON KEHRER, ‘09 (College of Music, Honors College), recently published their first book, “Queer Voices in Hip-Hop: Cultures, Communities, and Contemporary Performance” (University of Michigan Press 2022).

2010s

ANDREW ELZINGA, ’10 (College of Social Science), has been promoted to principal at Cornerstone Research, an economic and financial consulting firm where he consults on litigation and regulatory investigations in the life sciences and health care industries.

NUR YILDIZ, M.S. ’10 (Eli Broad College of Business), was recently promoted to tax manager at accounting firm Dyke Yaxley LLC.

SARAH PRIMROSE, J.D. ’12 (COLLEGE OF LAW), was recently named to the American Bankruptcy Institute’s 40 Under 40 class of leading practitioners in the  insolvency field. She was also named a Rising Star in the Southeast by the Daily Report. Primrose is a Senior Associate at King & Spalding LLP. 

MARIA NOVOTNY, M.A. ’13, PH.D. ’17 (Both in College of Arts & Letters), recently published a collection of curated art and writing, titled “Infertilities, A Curation” (Wayne State University Press). The book portrays the varied perspectives of individuals who have lived with infertility. Novotny is an assistant professor of English at UW-Milwaukee and co-director of the national arts organization, The ART of Infertility.

LEAH LEWIS, ’17 (College of Social Science), has joined the law firm Foran Glennon in their Chicago office as an associate.

MITCHELL W. BILD, ’17 (James Madison College), a trial lawyer at the Chicago law firm of Corboy & Demetrio, was selected to the 2023 Lawdragon 500 X–The Next Generation, an elite directory of the top 500 up-andcoming lawyers nationwide.

ALEXANDRA GOVE, ’19 (Eli Broad College of Business), recently received the GEM Club Top Key Account Executive award. Gove works at health care company Labcorp, where she is also member of the President’s Club.

 

2020s

VINH LE, ’21 (Eli Broad College of Business), published a DEI-focused paper in the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.

ANGELA YUAN, ’21 (College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Honors College), was named a finalist for the prestigious Schwarzman Scholarship. The scholarship selects students from around the world for a fully funded one-year master’s degree and leadership program and Tsinghua University in Beijing, China.

 

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