Class Notes — Spring 2021
Class Notes — Spring 2021
May 11, 20211970s
DIANE CARPENTER EMLING, ’72 (James Madison, Honors College), M.A. ’74, Ph.D. ’81 (Both in Social Science), is professor emeritus of sociology at Northwestern Michigan College and the recent author of “Institutional Racism and Restorative Justice: Oppression and Privilege in America.” Emling’s book explores more than 400 years of American systemic racism as invisible, intractable and deadly. It suggests restorative justice steps needed toward creating a more diverse, equitable and inclusive society for all.
DANIEL WOLF, ’76, MBA ’77 (Both in Business), has published his third book on strategic leadership and governance, “Strategic Teams and Development: The FieldBook for People Making Strategy Happen.” Wolf explores the dimensions of individual and collective talent that must come together in strategic teams. Wolf is the president of Dewar Sloan, a consulting group with expertise in strategy and governance.
1980s
LEV RAPHAEL, Ph.D. ’86 (Arts and Letters), has published his 27th book “Department of Death: A Nick Hoffman Mystery.” Raphael mentors authors through his initiative Write Without Borders and has been awarded a Picador Professorship by the University of Leipzig, Germany, where he will teach in their American Studies program starting next fall.
PETER FARICY, ’88 (Business), has been named CEO of SunPower, a leading distributed generation storage and solar energy services provider in North America. Faricy most recently served as CEO of Global Direct-to-Consumer for Discovery, Inc., overseeing businesses including Discovery+, Food Network Kitchen, Magnolia, Eurosport Player and GOLFTV.
1990s
KIMBERLY K. WILLIAMS, ’92 (Engineering), was appointed the chief diversity officer for the health system at McLaren Health Care and assumed leadership for diversity and inclusion practices throughout the corporation. Additionally, she will continue to serve as vice president of talent acquisition and development.
JASON CARPENTER, ’93 (Business), was recently named the managing broker and commercial director for Keller Williams Grand Rapids East. Keller Williams GRE is the number one real estate office in West Michigan with $649 million in real estate sales and leases in residential and commercial real estate for 2020.
TRUSTEE EMERITUS MITCHELL LYONS, ’93 (Business), has published his first book, “Retirement of Steel.” The former Michigan State University, NFL tight end, and trustee emeritus reflects on his playing days and how lessons learned from coaches and observing money management by NFL millionaires helped him carve out a successful career in wealth management.
MATTHEW FRAIBERG, ’94 (Social Science), was voted to the Board of Directors of the Jewish Association for Residential Care (JARC). He will serve a two-year term. Fraiberg and his wife recently established the Fraiberg-Goodman scholarship to benefit MSU College of Law students beginning in 2021. Fraiberg is the senior partner of Fraiberg & Pernie, a criminal defense law firm in Birmingham, MI.
MICHELE WALTON, ’96 (Social Science), has been promoted to senior vice president, general counsel for The Taubman Company. In her role, Walton is responsible for all legal affairs and functions and serves as a member of the company’s operating committee. The Taubman Company is engaged in managing and leasing 26 regional, super-regional and outlet malls in the U.S. and Asia.
BRIAN DOUBLES, ’97 (Engineering), has been named CEO of the consumer financial service company Synchrony. Doubles is currently president of Synchrony, the largest U.S. store credit tcard issuer and a Fortune 200 company.
DAMON L. GARRETT, ’97 (Engineering), was promoted to president at Metro Consulting Associates (MCA) in Plymouth, Michigan. A founding member of MCA, he has more than 20 years of civil engineering experience, executive leadership and project management.
JASON T. HANSELMAN, ’97 (Social Science), has been appointed as managing member of Dykema’s Lansing office. As a leading lawyer in his practice, Jason counsels clients through complex business matters in highly-regulated areas, including energy, elections, education and health care.
KIMBERLY L. UHURU, ’97 (James Madison), was appointed by the Michigan Supreme Court to the position of deputy administrator of the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission. Uhuru will help lead a team of 12 attorneys, as well as prosecute complex attorney discipline cases.
SALIM BHABHRAWALA, ’98 (James Madison), was recently named the critical minerals sector lead at the United States Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration. Bhabhrawala has been assigned to the taskforce working on President Biden’s Executive Order to secure domestic material supply chains, such as those for advanced batteries in electric vehicles.
MATTHEW CHYNOWETH, ’98 (Engineering), the chief bridge engineer for the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), has been named one of the American Segmental Bridge Institute’s 2020 Leadership Award recipients for outstanding career contributions.
KATRINELL DAVIS, ’99 (James Madison, Honors College), recently published “Tainted Tap: Flint’s Journey from Crisis to Recovery.” The book examines the crisis through the lenses of urban renewal, community organizing and hazard management politics in low-resource communities, offering a comprehensive account of how political, social and economic factors shape Flint’s lived experiences. Davis is associate professor of sociology and African American Studies at Florida State University.
ERIC FEDERSPIEL, ’99 (Arts and Letters), M.A. ’05 (Education) and LUCAS RODESILER, ’00 (Social Science), M.A. ’07 (Arts and Letters), co-authored a chapter entitled “Revisiting Maus through Epitext: A Layered-Literacy Approach” in “From Text to Epitext: Expanding Students’ Comprehension, Engagement, and Media Literacy.” Federspiel and Rodesiler’s chapter focuses on the use of comic books and graphic novels, specifically “Maus” and their value in secondary education.
2000s
MAT ISHBIA, ’03 (Business) the CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage, took the company public in January 2021. The stock has traded between $9.30 and $14.38 since its market debut. UWM works with independent brokers around the country to underwrite and service mortgages. It is one of a number of nonbank mortgage companies embracing the public markets at a booming time for the U.S. housing market.
H. SCOTT BUTTERFIELD, Ph.D. ’06 (Natural Science), recently published “Rewilding Agricultural Landscapes: A California Study in Rebalancing the Needs of People and Nature.” The book uses California’s southern Central Valley as a case study for returning balance to agricultural lands and natural ecosystems. Butterfield is a senior scientist for The Nature Conservancy. He leads a research team made up of university, agency and NGO scientists, focused on addressing recovery goals for threatened and endangered species.
AARON HONSOWETZ, ’08 (James Madison, Social Science), has cocreated the strategic board game “Robotech: Reconstruction,” set to be published by Strange Machine Games in late 2021. The game is based on the anime series “Robotech” and requires players to leverage allies and enemies on their way to victory. Honsowetz is an assistant professor of economics at Bethany College, West Virginia.
CHARLES A. BELL, M.A. ’09 (Education), has an upcoming book, “SUSPENDED: Punishment, Violence, and the Failure of School Safety,” to be published by John Hopkins Press in Fall 2021. The book focuses on students’, parents’ and educators’ experiences navigating school punishment and multiple forms of violence in inner-city and metropolitan Detroit schools. Bell is an assistant professor in the Criminal Justice Sciences department at Illinois State University.
2010s
TRACY BROWER, ’11 (Social Science), recently published her second book, “The Secrets to Happiness at Work.” The book aims to empower people to create and choose the conditions for happiness, wellbeing, fulfillment and success. Brower is a Ph.D. sociologist studying work-life fulfillment and happiness, and is a principal with Steelcase’s Applied Research and Consulting group. Brower’s work has been featured in TEDx, Inc. Magazine, Fortune, the Wall Street Journal and HBR France.
KRISTA M. STEVENS, MSW ’11 (Social Science), has been named the executive branch director at Bethany Christian Services in East Lansing, Michigan. For over 75 years, Bethany Christian Services has worked to protect children, empower youth and strengthen families through quality social services.
KELECHI UCHENDU, ’13 (Social Science), a fashion entrepreneur and author, recently had her fashion accessories brand Kay Kay’s Fashion debut at Tuesday Morning, a national retailer headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
