Northern Iowa Today — April 1, 2012

Page	Title	Summary
2	Spectrum of joy	Professor Berghammer uses drama to work with children who are on the autism spectrum; photo.
4	Military families and autism	Professor Berghammer is developing programs to assist military families who have children on the autism spectrum; photo.
5	Campus in color	Colorful campus spring scenes; photo.
6	End of an era: Bartlett and Baker	Bartlett Hall is being converted from a dormitory to an office building; Baker Hall will be demolished; photo.
8	Panther pride alive and well in Europe	A number of former UNI basketball players are playing professionally in Europe; photo.
10	New campus art reflects students' experience	Lynn Basa has designed artwork for Sabin Hall and for Panther Village; students assisted with the metal "Bower" sculpture for Panther Village; photo.
11	Honor your collegiate experience with UNI's class ring	Urges students and alumni to purchase a class ring; photo.
12	Now showing; filmmaker comes full circle	Elise Plakke talks about her life as a filmmaker; visited campus to show "14 Minutes", an award-winning short film; photo.
14	A message from the president of UNI	President Allen talks about changes in teacher education, academic restructuring, and program closures; points out difficult budget situation; photo.
16	Where in the world is UNI?	UNI ranked fourth in US for its study abroad program; over 3500 UNI students have studies abroad since 2000; photo.
18	Discovering why diversity matters	Recent Diversity Case Competition held on campus; competitors offer their views; photo.
22	A moment of reflection with Robert James Waller	Professor Waller returned to campus for the Presidential Lecture; offers his views about education and his latest writing; photo.
23	Imagine the Impact	Campaign has raised $138 million so far.
23	History research gift honors UNI faculty	Kevin Boatright gave $5000 to support research by undergraduates in the Department of History; photo.
24	UNI; I am carrying on the tradition!	Molly Baumgard talks about her family's experience as students at UNI; photo.
26	For many of us	Sandy Stevens talks about upcoming reunions; photo.
27	Carol Kruse	Retired from teaching and now lives in Shell Rock, Iowa.
27	Linda Andrews Thompson	Co-authored two books designed to help parents review their math skills and assist their children with homework.
27	Paul Jones	Works three months a year at McMurdo Station Antarctica operating the water plant at America's science base.
27	Michael Boyd	Currently living in New York, he donated one of his paintings to UNI in memory of his brother, Patrick C. Boyd who died in 2010.
27	Lyle Grooters	Retired from Kansas State University in 1995 and now lives on a golf course in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas.
27	Gary Maas	Retired from teaching in spring 2010 after 50 years. Now he lectures in math at Rutgers University.
27	Dan Staggs	Dan Staggs has retired from teaching highschool PE.
27	David Dierks	David Dierks retired from teaching for 20 years and has as an adminstrator for the State of Illinois Department of Alcohol and Substance Abuse.
27	Connie Speake	Connie Speake retired after teaching 45 years.
27	Judy Boston	Judy Boston taught for the Dept. of Defense in England, Puerto Rico, and Germany. She is now retired.
27	Lee Thomson	Lee Thomson has a lounge space in UNI's Industrial Technology Center named in his honor.
27	Janet (Pattee) Chu	Janet Chu published a book, "Butterflies of the Colorado Front Rage".
27	Julia Evans	Julia Evans moved to Florida.
27	Lois (Rammelsberg) Bienlien	Lois Bienlien has retired after teaching for over 50 years.
27	Ted Herbst	Ted Herbst is retired and loving life.
27	Milt Mikesh	Milt Mikesh was inducted into the UNI School of Music Jazz Hall of Fame in April 2012.
27	Milton Forbes	Milton Forbes retired from the University of the Virgin Islands and lives on an acreage with his wife Marcia.
27	Ray Holtz	Ray Holtz is performing in two concert bands.
27	Sharon Benjamin Hann	After 44 years of teaching, she is still taking classes in art.
27	Clark McCleary	Elected president of the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils at the organization's annual national conference in San Antonio.
27	Linnea Loe Graen	She and her husband recently visited Australia where she taught in 1983 on a teacher exchange program.
27	David Madden	Emeritus professor of creative writing at LSU, released his eleventh work of fiction in Spring 2012.
27	Phyllis Wray Klein	Retired social worker who keeps busy playing violin in the Oklahoma Community Orchestra as well as taking fitness classes, traveling, cooking, gardening and reading.
27	Gordon Henry	Retired professor emeritus of communications from Newberry College.
27	Joanne Pogemiller Moard and James Moard	Celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary in 2011. James taught high school math after serving with the US Naval Security Group. Joanne tought elementary.
27	Shirley Turbett Johnston	She has been married 55 years and has three married daughters and seven grandchildren. She taught for 35 years before retiring.
27	Frances Thompson Patterson	Retired from teaching early childhood eduaction after 37 years.
27	Jean Gabel LeWarne	World War II Navy Veteran and received her ISTC degree through the GI Bill.
27	Lowell Norman	Retired in June 1994 from teaching.
27	Donald Peters	Retired in San Diego and has shot his fourth hole-in-one.
27	Gladys Meyer Ebert	Retired and lives in Jefferson City, Missouri.
27	Hager named Vice President of Administration and Finance	Brief biographical sketch of Michael Hager.
28	Nancy Harms McIntire	Named a Cambridge Who's Who Professional of the Year in Educational Leadership.
28	Randall Thomas	Promoted to the rank of associate professor of accounting for Upper Iowa University.
28	Douglas Danne	Wrote a book entitled "Employment Essentials - College Edition."
28	Stefani Petrakis Weber	Wrote two books, published in 2006 and 2012.
28	Charles Doss	Retired after 36 years as an IT analyst in the finance division of Deere & Company. He also retired from the Marine Corps Reserves as a Master Gunnery Sergeant after serving 23 years.
28	Steve Benson	Will be inducted into the Nevada, IA, Sports Hall of Fame. Retired after teaching art for 30 years in Iowa Public Schools.
28	Steve Hummel	President of the Dragonfly Society of the Americas.
28	Sue Arrasmith Roman	Serves as a French language translator and executive assistant at Integrated Community Development International. She taught for the previous 37 years in Iowa, Michigan and Indiana.
28	Mohamedu Jones	Named a partner attorney at Pannone Lopes Devereaux & West, LLC in 2011.
28	Nancy Foster Wagoner	A nationally-board-certified teacher who has taught in Colifornia, Arizona, and Iowa, reitred after 29 years of teaching.
28	Dianne Fagner	Social worker with Mercy Hospice and a mental health representative on the Iowa Domestic Abuse Death Review Team.
28	Larry Hays	Retired after 33 years as a financial advisor with Stifel Nicolaus & Co's Waterloo branch. He and his wife, Jewell Woody Hays, live in Cedar Falls.
28	Robert Krogh	Retired from John Deere in 2009 after 35 years. He also retired from UNI as an adjunct accounting instructor after 25 years.
28	David Prescott	Closed his law office in 2010 and retired after 38 years in private practice. Married to Susan Lund Prescott.
28	Colleen Cahill Holmes	Master trainer for "8 to Great: The powerful Process for Positive Change."
28	Neal Brees	Retired in 2011 after 10 years as director of finance and operations for SAVE, Inc.
28	Thomas Hennessey	Professor of forestry at Oklahoma State University and was recognized for his outstanding performance in the field of forestry education in 2011.
28	Katie Sullivan Mulholland	Received the 2011 Iowa Administrator of the Year, Superintendent award.
28	Louise Gregory	Lives in Fort Collins, Colorado and has completed travel to her seventh continent.
28	Frank Bergren	Retired and living in Tellico Village in East Tennessee after 27 years of teaching and coaching.
28	Marcia Smith Anton	Published a memoir "Becoming Marcia" about her life growing up in Waterloo, currently living in Santa Rosa, California.
28	Kathleen Carver Hardwig	Retired after 12 years of teaching and 32 years as a real estate broker.
28	Jim Meggison	Retired after 39 years with the same company in Waterloo.
28	Howard Sonksen	Retired briefly before teaching a secondary special needs program for Francis Lauer Youth Services for three and a half years, currently in his fourth year teaching communications at North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City, Iowa.
28	George Coffin	Retired after teaching middle and high school science for 40 years, followed by four years as a substitute in the Missouri area.
28	Bonita Dostal-Neff	Associate proffesor of communication at Valparaiso University and chair of the Board of Directors for Northwest Indiana Lakeshore Public Broadcasting, Inc.
28	Alumna elected shareholder at Davis Brown	Brief biographical sketch of Courtney Strutt Todd; photo.
29	Jon Buse	Jon became dean of students at Kirkwood Community College in 2011 and previously the UNI dean of students since 2007.
29	Leslie Milota Hepting	Leslie is the senior director OTB operations at Fair Grounds Race Course and Slots. She began her career in 1993 as a marketing specialist.
29	Richard Thomas	Richard is VP and controller at Norris Brothers Co. Inc. He is also the secretary and treasurer of Glasonbury Building Contractors, LLC.
29	Elizabeth Cox Brand	Elizabeth has been named director at Oregon Department of Community Colleges & Workforce Development.
29	Gina Lawrence-Ericson	Gina teaches kindergarten at Maxwell-Collins in Maxwell, Iowa.
29	Lisa Wiese Schoon	Lisa is a special education instructor at Preston High School in Preston, Iowa.
29	Deb Vangellow	Deb was selected as a 2011 U.S. Kids Golf Top 50 Kids Teacher by the PGA.
29	Terry York	Terry received an MBA from Kaplan University in 2011 and was promoted with Novartis Pharmaceutical to TOBI-account manager for South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri.
29	Margaret Frank Guetzko	Margaret is teaching Spanish at Highland Community Schools in Riverside. She has four children including one enrolled at UNI.
29	Barbara Ballard Winter	Barbara is currently teaching second grade at Sacred Heart School in Oelwein.
29	Cindi Rabbitt McDonald	Cindi is the associate superintendent of school improvement for Waukee Community School District.
29	Jay Anliker and Deb Seidl Anliker	Jay was named president and CEO for UMR. He and his wife, Deb, have lived in Wausau, Wisconsin since 1993.
29	Curtis Hoff	Curtis was named president of the United Bank & Trust in Marshalltown and continues to serve as a lecturerin the College of Business at Iowa State University.
29	Jeffrey Kaplan	Jeffrey works for NEC Display as a national accounts manager for digital cinema.
29	Sheryl Shaeffer Moore	Sheryl is the principal of Montgomery ISD Middle School in Texas and was named Principal of the Year of Region VI.
29	Clayton Suntken	Clayton is the president of Weedmen Federal Credit Union in Omaha.
29	Kim Drake Walker	Kim was a finalist for the 2011 Iowa History Teacher of the Year award.
29	David Burrow	David was honored with the Diocese of Sioux City's "Excellence in Education" award. He teaches math at Bishop Garrigan High School in Algona.
29	Duke Dierks	Duke qualified for Ozark National Life Insurance Company's President's Cabinet convention for 2011. He is the company's all-time highest producer.
29	Jim Hall and Beth Diercks Hall	Both Jim and Beth are general managers of Rehab Management Services in Cedar Rapids. Their client base now includes 40 therapy companies with 80 clinic locations in more than 20 states.
29	Bob Younds	He is the engineering manager of design automation with Medtronic in Minneapolis.
29	Eileen Myers Younds	Appointed chief operating officer for Walser Automotive Group in Minneapolis.
29	Bruce Jorth	Chief risk officer at McGladrey & Pullen, LLP, was recently appointed to the Standing Adcisory Group of the PCAOB and is also a member of the AICPA Professional Ethics Executive Committee.
29	Earlene Hamel Hawley	Earlene wrote a drama about the beginning and end of slavery in America, which is being made into a motion picture.
29	Patricia Cahoy Cunningham	Named Merrimack High School's 2011 Teacher of the Year and will be a clarinet soloist with the New Hampshire Philharmonic Orchestra in April 2012.
29	Fighting and writing keeps alumnus busy	Tom Atha recently completed a book; has made a career in teaching fighting and swordplay in dramatic productions and movies; photo.
30	Robin Fairchild	Robin is a marketing operations senior analyst at Dell in Minneapolis.
30	Kyle Albertson	Kyle sang in the finals of the 41st annual George London Foundation Awards Competition in New York in 2012. He is currently in the studio working on his upcoming engagements.
30	Bradley Bechtold	Bradley has been with John Deere Power Systems since 2005 and was appointed project manager in May 2011.
30	Allyssa Koch Billhorn	Allysa lives in Wilton with her husband and children and works part time as a marketing and communications coordinator for the Greater Muscatine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
30	Nick Engle	Nick was awarded the Young Optometrist of the Year award at the 2011 Tennessee Association of Optometric Physicians meeting. He is practicing at Primary Eyecare Group in Brentwood, TN.
30	Jason Franzenburg	Jason received the STEM Teacher of the Year from the Quad Cities Engineering Council.
30	Suzanne Hendrix	Suzanne was named one of six winners of of $10,000 rewards at the 41st annual George London Foundation Awards Competition for opera singers in 2012. She teaches voice at Avila University in Kansas City.
30	Liz Wall Altemeier	Liz was awarded the 2011 Excellence in Education Award for Iowa sponsored by the Iowa State Education Association and Iowa Farm Bureau.
30	Fred Lowery	Fred is a community-based instructor at Grand Island Senior High School.
30	Kurtis Roth	Kurtis was promoted to diversion group supervisor with the Drug Enforcement Administration in Boston.
30	Bryan Van Gelder and Natalee Kluis Van Gelder	Bryan is the director of music for Rincon United Church of Christ and a stay-at-home dad and Natalee is a special ed teacher at Rincon High School.
30	Matthew Nielsen	Matthew was promoted to vice president of acquisition and compaign management at American Express International.
30	Brenda Maiers Becker	Brenda was formerly the 8th grade science teacher at Maquoketa Valley Middle School and was a finalist for 2012 Iowa Teacher of the Year.
30	Lisa Gaskell Gruman	Lisa is the associate principal at Northwest High School in Shawnee Mission, KS and was named recipient of a 2011 Milken Educator award in 2011.
30	Marc Mitchell	Mark joined Cerrell Associates as the director of public affairs in 2011 and was appointed as a planning commissioner by the mayor of Redondo, CA in 2011 after serving two years as public works commissioner.
30	Susan Davis	Susan published a second middle grade novel and currently resides in Poughkeepsie, New York.
30	Gwen Timmerman	Gwen is the community liaison at Tyson in Waterloo.
30	Mark Overton and Elke Hollingworth Overton	Mark and Elke are both owners of "Saxquest Vintage Saxaphone Shop" and the Sax Museum in Saint Louis Missouri.
30	Jacinda Grishaber Canfield	Jacinda and her family relocated because of her husband's job to Republic, Missouri.
30	Denise Forney	Denise created her first children's CD as an early childhood recording artist with her three children.
30	Steven Kwikkel	Steven is the Waverly-Shell Rock junior high principal and was awarded the 2011 Iowa Middle Level Principal of the Year.
30	Alumni get creative with Strayer-Wood Theatre	Patrick Elkins-Zeglarski and Gary Kelley work together on production of "Bat Boy: the Musical"; photo.
31	Melissa Sampson Anderson	Melissa and Reed had their daughter Hailey Anderson in March 2011.
31	Ken and Kelsey Mueller Tyrrell	Ken and Kelsey got married in October 2011
31	Keli Bond Pettin-Schmidt	Keli and her husband, Timothy, welcomed Augustus James born in October 2011, joining brother Timothy Jr born in 2009.
31	Brigitte Palmer Doleshal	Brigitte and Charles welcomed their son, Drake, in October 2011.
31	Jenny McElmeel Bryant	Jenny and Cary welcomed their daughter, Madelyn Paige in January 2011, joining her big sister, Morgan.
31	Justine Kelding Rogers	Justine and Paul had their son, Chayton Thomas, in February 2011.
31	Jamie Alber Nelson	Jamie married Michael Nelson in April 2011.
31	April Schenk McDanel	April married Thomas McDanel in August 2011
31	John and Caitlin Varcoe Wiedenheft	John and Caitlin got married in June 2011 and now live in Cedar Rapids
31	Michele Gilson Jacobson	Michele married Riley Jacobson in August 2011
31	Brandon and Katelyn Rohlf Neil	Brandon and Katelyn got married in October 2011.
31	Andrew and Trisha Vandenberg Becker	Andrew and Trisha got married in June 2011
31	Bobby Williams	Bobby is the director of two vocal jazz ensembles and two concert ensembles at Pleasant Valley High School. He also teaches private voice lessons and sings in the Wuad City Choral Arts Ensemble.
31	Hannah Leffler	Hannah serves on the flute faculty at the Northeast Iowa School of Music and manages a private studio in the Waterloo area.
31	Kristine Reeves	Kristine is the marketing development manager with the Greater Des Moines Convention & Visitors Bureau.
31	Kelsey Mueller Tyrrell	Kelsey is a millieu therapeutic counselor at Orchard Place Child Guidance Services.
31	Elizabeth Cox Brand	Elizabeth married Roy Brand in August of 2011
31	Trisha Vandenberg Becker	Trisha is a program assistant in the continuing education office at the University of Northern Iowa
31	Jordon Deirks	Jordon accepted a position with Upper Iowa University as the eLearning director.
31	Ken Tyrrel	Ken is co-owner of Triage Bio-clean Services of Mt. Pleasant and has expanded his company to better serve greater Iowa.
31	Sarah Potthoff	Sarah graduated from Cleavland Chiropractic Colelge in 2011.
31	Adam Bormann	Adam is a manufacturing engineer at John Deere Davenport Works.
31	Alissa Meskimen	Alissa graduated from University of Central Missouri
31	John Ruth	John was promoted to outside sales representitive at Bearing Distributors Inc. in Cedar Rapids.
31	Michael Kasperbaur	Michael and his spouse, Ashley, had their first child in July 2012.
31	Lindsey Myott Adams	Lindsey was named director of external affairs at Midland University in 2011.
31	Raghu Aerabati	Raghu joined GE Healthcare in 2011 as lead systems analyst and also manages projects with international teams.
31	Joshua Wilks	Joshua was promoted to principal with LarsonAllen after 10 years of experience in accounting.
31	Garrett Murdock	Garrett is assistant vice president at JP Morgan Chase Bank in Chicago.
31	Karla Welter Digmann	Karla was a finalist for the Iowa Presidential Award Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.
31	Jacqueline Theis Eberhart	Jacqueline is employed as a compliance officer at Peoples Savings Bank.
31	Cary Pint	Cary was ranked in the top 30 under 30 in Forbes Magazine in 2011 for his research in nanotube supercapacitors to create high energy batteries.
31	Marcus Pitts	Marcus was named senior vice president at NAI Ruhl. He was the topproducer in both 2010 and 2011.
31	Long lost UNI ring returns home after 24 years	Kevin Finn gets his wrestling championship ring back after losing it many years ago.
32	William Andrews	William died January 20, 2012.
32	Linda Lancaster Rater	Linda died January 18, 2011.
32	Donna Borri Jordan	Donna died March 2, 2009
32	David Bradney	David died April 3, 2011.
32	Carl Burrell	Carl died February 6, 2011.
32	Lori Lewis Hardin	Lori died February 3, 2012.
32	Helen Janssen Stokes	Helen died November 17, 2010.
32	Rosemary Rhoades Corbett	Rosemary died October 27, 2010.
32	Kent Naae	Kent died September 18, 2011.
32	Patrick Boyd	Patrick died January 27, 2010.
32	David Pitkin	David died August 22, 2011.
32	Albert Bemer	Albert died November 23, 2010.
32	John Evenson	John died October 18, 2011.
32	Joan Smid Hilbrands	Joan died January 9, 2012.
32	Derol Hafar	Derol died November 9, 2011.
32	Howard Kittleson	Howard died March 31, 2011.
32	Lee Crew	Lee died September 20, 2011.
32	Doris Kemper Kruse	Doris died April 6, 2011.
32	Wanda Brown Lambert	Wanda died December 13, 2011.
32	Rosa Lamansky Bissell	Rosa died April 12, 2008.
32	Frank Riney	Frank died January 3, 2012.
32	William Raisch	William died December 30, 2011.
32	Fran Altman Evenson	Fran died October 9, 2011.
32	Ralph Welch	Ralph died December 29, 2011.
32	Rosemary Bennett Hayes	Rosemary died October 7, 2011.
32	Beverly Fairlie Irwin	Beverly died December 2, 2011.
32	Robert Granger	Robert died May 12, 2011.
32	Ivan Maurer	Ivan died September 17, 2011.
32	Harry Kinsling	Harry died November 9, 2011.
32	Jean Arrasmith	Jean died January 4, 2012.
32	Doris Littell Bock	Doris died August 17, 2011.
32	Mary Prenosil Meggers	Mary died February 5, 2012.
32	Jessie Elder Devries	Jessie died July 27, 2011
32	Max Ferguson	Max died January 3, 2011.
32	Emily Klemz and James Mulick	Emily and James had their daughter, Felicia Ann, in May 2011.
32	Theresa Thompson and Raymond Osenbaugh	Theresa and Raymond had their daughter, Adelaide Brinley, in June 2011.
32	Susie Riesselman and Wes Hulst	Susie and Wes had their son, Ryker, in May 2012.
32	Cindy Schlei and Jason Shadrick	Cindy and Jason had their daughter, Layla Kay, in November 2011, joining big brother Parker.
32	Dianna Fitzl Groskreutz	Dianna and Lon had their son, Riley, in July 2011.
32	Laura Tutskey Zielinski	Laura and Mark had their daughter Stella in January 2011.
32	Amy Brassil and Harold Stone	Amy and Harold had their daughter Adelyn Rae in February 2011.
32	Britne Haskin and Casey Dietz	Britne and Casey had their sone, Ethan Arthur, in August 2010, joining sister Camryn Lynn.
32	Sara Hawker Breckenfelder	Sara and Matt had their daughter, Emma Jean, in July 2011.