State's Star

Janetta Hammock, ’86, assistant director of public affairs for the American Council on Education (ACE), Washington, D.C., has been appointed Secretary to the Board of Directors at John Carroll University, Cleveland, OH.  During her tenure at ACE, she served as the resource person on college cost, administration, and diversity and affirmative action issues.  She was also editor of the Higher Education and National Affairs newsletter.  Hammock is a founding member of the Women’s Higher Education Network.

Paul Witkowski, ’68, M.A. ’71, former associate director of the Ohio University Telecommunication Center, has received the Ohio Public Radio (OPR) Director’s Award and the Ohio Radio Reading Service Special Achievement Award.  He was instrumental in bringing the Radio Reading Service to the Southeastern Ohio area and the dial up newspaper service for the blind.  He also helped obtain federal and state grants for the construction of WOUB’s five FM radio station network and complete replacement of the Athens FM facility.

Beverly Hall Burns, ’67, attorney with Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone, has been elected to the board of trustees of the Michigan Women’s Foundation.  She joined the firm in 1979 and has served as deputy chief officer since 1994.  She is a member of the American Bar Association, the Economic Club of Detroit, and co-founder of the Eleanor League.  She presently serves as vice-president of the Board of Directors of the MSU College of Arts and Letters Alumni Association and is a member of the Beaumont Tower Society.

Richard Haire, Ph.D., ’65, researcher at the Dept. of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN, has been named a corporate fellow by UT-Battell.  The appointment is made to recognize individuals for their outstanding technical achievements in science or engineering.  Haire joined ORNL in 1966 and serves as leader of the Transuranium Chemistry Group.  He has served as adjunct professor of chemistry at the University of Tennessee and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Michael Donoghue, ’75, professor and chair of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University, has been named director of the Peabody Museum of Natural History.  Prior to joining the Yale faculty in 1999, Donoghue was a professor in the Depts. of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Biology at Harvard and was the director of the Harvard University Herbaria.  A senior Mellon Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution from 1992-94, he serves on the U.S. National Academy’s Committee for the International Union of Biological Sciences.

Katherine Obmascik, ’74, manager at Lucent Technologies (formerly AT&T), Naperville, IL, has been named vice president of marketing at C.H. Hanson Co., Franklin Park, IL.  During her 15-year tenure with Lucent, she gained experience in technical writing and editing; web design and publishing; quality management and marketing communications.  Prior to joining Lucent, Obmascik was the marketing communications manager at First Computer Corp., Westmont, IL.

Mark Hogle, ’85, executive vice president and COO at Accident Fund Company, Lansing, has been inducted into the Michigan Workers Compensation Hall of Fame.  This honor is given to individuals who have made significant contributions to the workers compensation profession.  He is the youngest person ever to be inducted.  Hogle’s career includes over 15 years at Accident Fund.  Previously, he worked for Workers Compensation Rating and Inspection of Michigan and was a teacher at Lawrence Technical University.

Irwin Ettinger, M.A. ’59, chief accounting and tax officer for Citigroup, has been appointed as vice chairman of Travelers Property Casualty, Hartford, CT.  During his 15-year tenure with Citigroup and its predecessors, he was instrumental in the formation of Citigroup in 1998.  Prior to that, he was with Arthur Young & Co. (now Ernst and Young).  Ettinger is a member of the Advisory Council of the Weissmen Center for Int’l. Business of Baruch College of the City University of New York and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Baruch College Fund.  He is a member of the Hannah Society.

Marcia Lampela, ’84, engineering manager at Borg Warner Transmission Systems, Bellwood, IL, has been elected treasurer of the Society of Women Engineers.  The society was founded in 1950 to help women achieve their full potential in careers as engineers and leaders.  Lampela has been with Borg Warner since 1990 as a program manager and various levels of product engineer.  From 1984 to 1990, she worked for GE Aircraft Engines, Evindale, OH.

Lynn Schaefer, ’77, vice president of finance and administration at Oakland University has been named to the Board of Governors at Cranbrook Institute of Science, Bloomfield Hills.   Schaefer came to Oakland from Wayne State University where she served as vice president of administrative services from 1993-97 and director of the university budget office from 1988-1993.  She is a member of the Women’s Economic Club Advisory Board and was named “One of the 100 Most Influential Women in Detroit” by Crain’s Detroit Business.

Richard McLellan, ’64, attorney with Dykema Gossett PLLC, Lansing, has been named managing member.  McLellan was the transition director to Gov. John Engler and serves as a special assistant attorney general.  He is a member of the board of trustees of the MSU-Detroit College of Law and a commissioner of the State Bar of Michigan. McLellan formerly served as chairman of the board of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce.   He is a member of the Beaumont Tower Society and the Crystal Circle.

Lori Collins, ’82, associate media director, Doner, Detroit, has been named vice president, associate media director.  Prior to joining the agency in 2000, Collins worked for Dawber & Co., Bloomfield Hills as media manager on the Northwest Airlines and General Motors accounts.  Before that, she was the executive director of the North Oakland Family YMCA.  In her new position she will direct daily media strategy, planning, and purchasing of local and national media for the Owens Corning, Mail Boxes Etc., and other accounts.

Elizabeth Klos, ’89, has been named store director of Tiffany & Co., Troy.   She joined the company in 1993 as a customer service associate.  In 1997, she was promoted to assistant operations manager and later to operations manager.  Prior to joining Tiffany, Klos was an assistant administrator for the American Suicide Foundation and development assistant at the Detroit Historical Society.  Klos is a member of the Detroit Zoological Society and volunteers with the American Red Cross.

Kathleen Wilbur, ’75, director of the Michigan Dept. of Consumer and Industry Services since 1996, has been named vice president for governmental relations and public affairs at Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant.  Prior to that, she was with the Michigan Dept. of Commerce, serving as deputy director from 1991-1995 and as director from 1995-1996.  A veteran of state politics, Wilbur was the chief of staff to state senator William Sederburg from 1983-1990 and served on the MSU Board of Trustees from 1985-1991.  She chairs the Michigan Trauma Care Commission and is a member of East Lansing Zonta.

Mark Burzych, ’85, attorney with Foster, Swift, Collins & Smith, PC, Lansing, has been appointed to the Michigan Public Education Facilities Authority by Gov. John Engler.  Burzych is active in local and state political organizations and has worked on numerous election campaigns.  He is a former intern for then-vice president George Bush, and a former staff member of the Michigan Republican State Committee.  He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, the American Bar Association and the Sports Lawyers Association.

Paula Yensen, ’80, M.A. ’83, Ph.D. ’94, development director, Provena Pine View Care Center, has been named executive director of the United Way of St. Charles, IL.  Yensen has a long history in the non-profit sector.  She was the director of Oak Park Twp. Senior Services, 1998-2001; executive director, Well Child Center, 1995-1997; director of allocations, United Way of Greater Dayton, 1995; and community services director for Family Service, Inc., Butler County, 1992-1995. Yensen was recently elected trustee for the Village of Lake in the Hills, IL.

Michael Phelps, M.A. ’71, has been appointed publisher of the Quad-City Times, Davenport, IA.  Prior to joining Lee Enterprises in 2000, he worked with Newsday, The Hartford Courant and other newspapers as a consultant.  He has been a business newspaper owner, newspaper group president and publisher, managing editor, news editor and reporter.  Phelps is an adjunct faculty member for the journalism school at MSU and formerly directed the masters program in media management at Emerson College in Boston.

Jennifer Flowers, ’95, public relations manager at McCann-Erickson, Detroit, has been elected to the board of directors of the Women’s Economic Club.  Prior to joining McCann, she was an account executive at John Bailey & Assoc. Inc., in Troy and public relations coordinator at FCB Worldwide, Southfield.  She is a member of the Public Relations Society of America and the recipient of two International Association of Business Communicators Renaissance Awards.  Active in community affairs, she volunteers for City Mission in Detroit.

Keith Ashmus, ’71, M.A. ’72, attorney with Frantz Ward LLP, Columbus, OH, was named president-elect of the Ohio State Bar Association.   He will assume the presidency on July 1, 2003.  For most of his career, he was a partner with Thompson Hine LLP, Cleveland, OH.  Ashmus has served on board of trustees of the Cleveland Bar Association.  He is also a member of the American Bar Association, the California Bar Association and an honorary life member of the Hispanic National Bar Association.  An active volunteer, he currently serves on the Greater Cleveland Advisory Board of the Salvation Army.

Lizette Chevalier, M.S. ’90, Ph.D. ’94, associate professor of civil engineering at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, has been named dept. chairperson.  She is the first woman to hold this position.  Chevalier joined the faculty in 1995 as an assistant professor and was promoted to associate professor in 1999.  Her professional memberships include the American Society of Civil Engineering and the American Society of Engineering Educators.

Bonnie Kern-Koskela, ’79, senior vice president of Mertik Maxitrol GmbH & Co. KG, Thale, Germany, has been named chairman of the board and CEO of Maxitrol Co., Southfield.  She began her career in 1981 in commercial and industrial real estate development and asset management.  In 1990, she became an asset manager for General Motors Corp.  She joined Maxitrol in 1993.  She will remain in her role of senior vice president of the company’s affiliate in Germany.  Kern-Koskela is a member of the Landon Legacy Society and the President’s Club.

Renato Gonzalez, Ph.D. ’71, professor of Spanish at Siena Heights University, Adrian, has received the 2001-02 Sister Eileen K. Rice, OP Award for Outstanding Teaching.  Gonzalez is noted for exceeding expectations to make studying Spanish an enormous learning experience.  He joined the faculty in 1989 and currently serves as director of international studies and foreign languages.

Robert Stroker, ’84, Ph.D. ’93, associate dean of the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University (SMU), has been named dean at Temple University’s Esther Boyer College of Music.  Since joining the SMU faculty in 1993, he has directed the Meadows Percussion Ensemble and has served as a guest conductor in Europe and throughout the U.S.  He has served as director of bands in several Michigan public schools and has presented at conferences internationally and abroad.