Class Notes - Spring 2025

1960s

CONNIE (HEATON) GODDARD, ’65 (College of Social Science), released her new book, “Learning for Work: How Industrial Education Fostered Democratic Opportunity” (University of Illinois Press, 2024). The work has been called a “provocative new study” and “long overdue” by Choice, a review organ for the American Library Association, which also gave it a “highly recommended.”

EVAN MELTZER, ’68 (College of Natural Science), a retired podiatrist, recently published his memoir, “My Interesting Life: The Adventures of an Itinerant Corn Cutter,” available on Amazon and Kindle.

GARY ROMANS, ’68 (College of Engineering), recently published his novel, “Ask Mr Aardvark.” It is the third book in The Zot Mormon Trilogy, which tells the story of a Polish boy from Chicago from birth through age 58. Romans retired in 2020 to focus on writing novels about community theater.

1970s

DAVID WILLIAMS, ’71 (College of Natural Science), was awarded the Illinois State Dental Society 2024 Distinguished Member Award at their annual House of Delegates.

BRUCE SENDEK, ’74 (College of Social Science), an attorney and shareholder for the law firm Butzel, has been named to Crain’s Detroit Business’ 2025 list of Notable Litigators & Trial Attorneys. Individuals selected serve in a senior leadership role within their companies and demonstrate significant accomplishments within their industry and community.

LEE UPTON, ’78 (College of Communication Arts and Sciences), released his new novel, “Wrongful,” from Sagging Meniscus Press. It is a literary mystery about writers behaving badly and the baffling disappearance of a popular novelist. His upcoming novel “The Withers,” will be published in 2026 from Regal Publishing House.

TOBY WOLSON, ’78, M.S. ’86 (College of Natural Science), was a contributing author and editor for “The Handbook of Bloodstain Pattern Analysis,” published in December 2024 by CRC Press.

1980s

ERIC FLESSLAND, ’80 (James Madison College), an attorney and shareholder for the law firm Butzel, has been named to Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s “Go To Lawyers for Construction Law.” The program honors leading lawyers in a particular field of law as nominated by their peers.

EDWARD MCKENNA, ’81 (Eli Broad College of Business), incorporated decades of his business experience in the travel industry into his latest novel, “The Grand Secret,” a mystery thriller set against the backdrop of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. McKenna is the winner of the 2015 Write Michigan Short Story Contest, which launched his career as a writer.

JEFF SWANEY, ’81 (College of Engineering), recently released his novel, “None of the Answers: Racing Through Life in Reverse,” published by Post Hill Press. Swaney’s “memoiresque read” helps readers search for their own best selves through reflection and questioning beliefs.

JOSEPH SPANIOLA, ’85, MMUS ’87 (College of Arts & Letters), composed “A Solitary Tree” for the classical album “Symphonic Stradivarius” in January 2025. The composition was written for and recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra and violin soloist Davide Alogna.

JORGE GONZALEZ, M.A. ’86, PH.D. ’89 (Eli Broad College of Business), announced he will retire from his position as Kalamazoo College president at the end of his contract on June 30, 2026 after 10 years leading the institution.

GAIL (RODMAN) KUHNLEIN ’86, M.A. ’91 (College of Communication Arts and Sciences), recently published her first picture book, “How Happy Is a Lark?” In spring 2025, her next book, “Into the Thicket,” will be published.

JAMES CALLAGHAN, ’89 (College of Arts & Letters), Senior International Officer and Assistant Vice-President for International Education at Georgia College & State University, was selected to an American Association of State Colleges and Universities delegation to China this past July.

VALERIE (RUMFIELD) WRIGHT, ’89 (College of Human Ecology), was recently named CEO and President of Diekema Hamann Architects, Inc. She is the first female president in Diekema Hamann history. Wright previously served as an interior designer, senior interior designer and principal. She joined DHA in 1997.

1990s

CARYN CAPRICCIOSO, ’90 (College of Social Science), has been named President of ReHealth Collaborative, a nonprofit organization with a mission to direct more capital to solutions that reduce disparities and improve community health and resilience.

FRANK MASCARI, ’91 (Eli Broad College of Business), has been promoted to vice president at Cornerstone Research, which provides economic and financial analysis for commercial litigation and regulatory proceedings.

HELEN TORRES, ’91, M.A. ’93 (College of Communication Arts and Sciences), CEO of Hispanas Organized for Political Equality, has been named one of six 2025 James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award recipients for her decades long work empowering Latinas in leadership, civic engagement and economic mobility.

RYAN OKERSTROM, ’93 (College of Social Science), was named senior vice president of operations of Inter-Con Security Systems, Inc., the fourth largest security company in the United States. Inter-Con provides tailored security services to Fortune 500 companies, public utilities, ultra-high net worth individuals, non-profit organizations, as well as federal, state and local governments around the world.

DENNIS WARD, ’93 (College of Engineering), was chosen to be part of a select 21-member international team of amateur (ham) radio operators who will travel to the Antarctic in February 2026 to establish a temporary radio station on Bouvet Island, known as “the most remote uninhabited place on Earth.” Ward’s ham radio call letters are KT8X.

JENNETTE SMITH KOTILA, ’96 (College of Communication Arts and Sciences), was recently named president at CRIMSON, one of Michigan’s most respected integrated marketing agencies (known formerly as Mort Crim Communications, Inc.). Smith Kotila first joined the agency in 2018 as SVP/client relations and was promoted from her previous role as CMO & partner.

LEODIS AARON TURNER, ’97 (College of Education), was hired as the new vice president of philanthropy at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Mich. Turner has more than 20 years of experience in nonprofit leadership, fund development and strategic donor engagement, including serving as director of development at WGVU Public Media and senior development/finance director at Boy Scouts of America.

2000s

KATE (DONOVAN) GIBBONS, ’02 (Eli Broad College of Business), director and private wealth advisor at BMO Wealth Management, has been appointed to the national board of directors for the Gift of Adoption Fund. Gibbons and her family reside in Chicago.

DR. MONA HANNA, M.D. ’02 (College of Human Medicine), was recognized as one of USA TODAY’s 2025 Women of the Year. Hanna, is the co-creator and director of Rx Kids, a cash prescription program for expecting and new parents. Hanna is also associate dean for public health and a Charles Stewart Mott Endowed Professor of Public Health at MSU.

NATE ENGLE, ’03 (College of Social Science), was recently awarded a prestigious Eisenhower Fellowship. Engle is the director of community engagement at the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

DAVID WILSON, PH.D. ’05 (College of Arts & Letters), an English professor at Wright State University, released his latest book “Strangelove Country: Science Fiction, Filmosophy, and the Kubrickian Consciousness,” published by Stalking Horse Press. The novel is a study of Stanley Kubrick’s futurist cinema. Wilson, under the pseudonym D. Harlan Wilson, is the author of over 30 book-length works of fiction, nonfiction and drama.

CHRISTINE TOMEY SULLIVAN, ’06, M.A. ’11 (College of Arts & Letters), owner and chief compliance officer of the Tomey Group LLC in Farmington Hills, Mich., has been recognized as a Top 50 Fearless Leader by the International Association of Top Professionals.

AARON LEE ARNDT, PH.D. ’09 (College of Arts & Letters), a partner at the Santa Barbara-based law firm Foley Bezek Behle & Curtis, has been recognized by the nonprofit organization U.S. Thalidomide Survivors for his service on behalf of Americans disabled by the now-banned drug. Arndt serves on the board of directors of the nonprofit.

2010s

PAUL DOHER, ’10, M.A. ’13 (College of Education), was elected to a two-year term on the Board of Directors of the Michigan Behavior Analysis Providers Association. MiBAP’s mission is to promote access to the science of applied behavior analysis through advocacy, education and quality practices.

CLAUDIA CASSIDY-BENNETT, PH.D. ’11 (College of Arts & Letters), recently published her book, “Caregiving Reimagined: A Practical and Spiritual Guide for Family Caregivers,” from Archway Publishing. Told through the struggles and triumphs of her own journey, Dr. Bennett’s book empowers others to navigate their caregiving roles with confidence and compassion.

JONATHAN CHOTI, PH.D. ’15 (College of Arts & Letters), was a recipient of an award for individual excellence in the 2024-25 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Awards. Choti is an MSU associate professor in the Department of Linguistics, Languages and Cultures and a core faculty member of the African Studies Center.

ABDULHAMIT ARVAS, PH.D. ’16 (College of Arts & Letters), recently released his novel, “Boys Abducted: The Homoerotics of Empire and Race in Early Modernity,” from Duke University Press. Arvas is an assistant professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania and coeditor of Critical Confessions Now.

2020s

ALYSSA LOPEZ, PH.D. ’20 (College of Social Science), released her new book, “Reel Freedom: Black Film Culture in Early Twentieth-Century New York City,” from Temple University Press. The book chronicles the wide-ranging and remarkable pervasiveness of Black film culture in New York City. Lopez is Assistant Professor of History at Providence College.

ROBERT SMITH, FACULTY RETD. 2020 (College of Human Medicine), recently published his new book from Prometheus Books, “Has Medicine Lost Its Mind?” Drawing on decades of clinical experience and evidence-based research, Smith examines the devastating gap between physical and mental health treatment.

 

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