1951

Ron Rubin ’73 sent in the following after learning that Mike Ohl ’51 had passed away: “Mike became a good friend while I worked at the college as a major gifts officer in the Office of Development. Some alumni stay in one’s life long past the time of working with them. Mike was one such character, and we shared banter, jokes, light-hearted discussions, and a common love of CC. Before Spencer Center was renovated in 2013, my office was on the ‘long hallway’ or ‘north  wing’ of the second floor. In the early 1950s this building had served as housing for students. When Mike visited me at my office the first time, he stopped at my door with this funny look on his face. When I asked if anything was wrong, 
he said I was in his bedroom! It just so happened that my office was Mike’s old room. After that, when Mike visited he would say, ‘Get out of my bedroom!’ Whenever we talked on the phone, he would invariably ask how his bedroom was, if I was keeping it tidy, and that I better treat it with the respect it deserved since it shared a common history for the both of us. When the Development Office moved out of Spencer for the renovation, I took this picture of my office doorway and sent it to my ‘bedroom buddy.’”

1956

Sara Sheldon has received the 2016 Colonel Julia E. Hamblet Award, which the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation gives annually to the individual or team who has done the most to further the recognition of female Marines. In 2005, Sara embedded with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Unit in Fallujah, Iraq, to interview female Marine officers and enlisted personnel; she turned that into “The Few. The Proud. Women Marines in Harm’s Way,” a nonfiction book published in 2007. She continues to take an active role in preserving women’s Marine history.

1967

In the first half of 2016, Tom Zetterstrom had his photographs shown at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles and in a solo exhibit at the Lisa Vollmer Gallery in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Later this year, Tom will have his photos displayed in Hartford and Old Lyme, Connecticut.

1969

Gregory James Smith was awarded a Doctor of Bioethics degree from Loyola University Chicago in May. He received an M.A. in bioethics and health policy from Loyola in 2012. From his home city of Boulder, Colorado, he practices law at Caplan and Earnest, and also serves as an adjunct/affiliate faculty member in law and bioethics at Regis University and the 
University of Denver.

1970

Ken Stevens recently celebrated his 10th anniversary as a visiting lecturer in the air transport planning and management master’s program at the University of Westminster, London.

1971

Picture above: Texas A&M University President Michael Young (left), Michael King, and TAMU Chancellor John Sharp. Michael King, senior research scientist in the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). In addition, he was recently selected as a faculty fellow of the Texas A&M University Institute for Advanced Study, where he will collaborate with colleagues in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences; mentor and advise graduate students in their research; and give general-interest lectures to the community.

Though he could not attend Homecoming, Bill “Obad” Oman wanted to wish his fellow classmates a happy 45th graduation anniversary. Bill and his husband Larry Crummer live in the San Francisco Bay area.

Melissa Walker, John Hawk, and Bret Tennis ’98 celebrated the 25th anniversary of The Friends of Garden of the Gods in April in Colorado Springs. Melissa is president of The Friends of Garden of the Gods, John is president of the Guardians of Palmer Park, and Bret is the parks operations supervisor for Garden of the Gods.

1973

David Herbert received the 2015 University of California at Davis Medical School Teaching Award for teaching medical residents and students in the Sacramento Kaiser intensive care unit. He then changed directions and became the president and CEO of Sutter Independent Physicians, which is also in Sacramento. His administrative responsibilities allow time for a part-time practice dealing with infectious diseases and mountain biking most days before work.

1974

In March, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch appointed Molly Kendall Clark to serve on the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals. Molly, who attended Suffolk University Law School in Boston and Georgetown University Law Center, currently lives in the Washington, D.C., area with her husband, Paul Clark ’72.

1976

Mette Brogden completed her Ph.D. in medical anthropology from the University of Arizona. She is Wisconsin’s state refugee coordinator and lives in Milwaukee.

1980

Gail Gillett Heninger was recently recognized as a Teacher of the Year finalist in the state of Iowa.

1982

In April, Vince Bzdek was named editor of the Gazette newspaper, returning to Colorado Springs after years at the Washington Post and the Denver Post.

1987

Friends and classmates gathered in Venice, California, in February 2016. Pictured below, back row, left to right: Susan Touchette Aust, Anne Wagner Connell, Libby Crews Wood, Jane Bierman Seibel, Anne Basting. Front row, left to right: Leslie Scott, Jody Reed Fisher.

1990

Alumni gathered in January at Denver’s Swallow Hill Music venue for a performance from Todd Prusin, and his guitar partner Alex. Colorado Tigers drove in from Boulder, Edwards, and all around Denver to hear the musicians, who had flown in from Atlanta. Pictured back row, left to right: Doug Haller ’88, Swallow Hill CEO Paul Lhevine, Ilana Steinberg, Mary Bevington, and Prusin. Front row, left to right: Doug Gertner (Loomis Hall director ’86-’88), Seth Bossung, Kelli Deeter, and Julie Rothschild ’91.

Ryan Wallach has been promoted to vice president of legal regulatory affairs and senior deputy general counsel at Comcast Corporation.

1991

Chris Gruber is retiring from the U.S. Army after a 25-year career that has included overseas, peace-
keeping, and combat assignments in Korea, Honduras, Germany, Bosnia, Kosovo, Thailand, the Philippines, Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He reports that he’s really tired and looking forward to unwinding for a bit with his wife, Miriam Amdur ’93, and their daughter, Terah. He has absolutely no idea what he intends to do next but is confident it is going to be strange.

1992

Andrew Wilkey received the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists Kaplan Leadership Grant
for 2015.

1994

Inspired at least in part by his time as a CC hockey fan, Peter Geyer has begun development of Berlin-Ice, the first year-round, indoor ice sports entertainment complex in Berlin, Germany. This privately financed project — tentatively scheduled for completion in 2021 — was conceived to meet a well-defined and severely under-served market, and is planned to anchor a major urban and social redevelopment effort in central Berlin.

2000

Brandon Burns, John Novembre, and Josh Nardie met on the Jacks Fork River in the Missouri Ozarks for a two-day float trip in late April 2016. Brandon teaches high school science in Minneapolis, Josh teaches carpentry at a career and technical high school in St. Louis, and John is a computational biologist and population geneticist at the University of Chicago.

2003

Laura Goodman, a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of California Davis Medical Center, has received a Fulbright grant to conduct research in Mongolia, where she served in the Peace Corps before starting her medical career. Working with two national institutions, she will join a project to improve the understanding of the epidemiology of birth defects, surgical need, and access to surgical care for children.

2005

Carleton “Corky” Keck married Erin Hopmann on May 14, 2016, in St. Louis. Among the CC alumni in attendance are those pictured, left to right: Andrew Neuman, Kate Bartlett Kimball, Keck, Conor Branch and George O’Dell.

Professor Emeritus of German Armin Wishard recently heard from Bryan Nagle ’05. Wishard reports: Bryan took German courses from me and participated in the German study abroad program at the University of Lüneburg, which included a field trip to Berlin. Bryan sent his postcard from Berlin because he remembered this field trip. He is now stationed in Berlin as a pilot for EasyJet. He tells me that he can now make his announcements in German and English, having learned German at CC. While at CC, Bryan shared my enthusiasm for flying and I encouraged him to pursue a career in commercial aviation, as he did after graduation.

2006

In March, Tim Buckley was promoted to senior adviser to Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker. The Massachusetts native had been serving as Baker’s communications director, a title he will maintain moving forward.

With his “Winter’s Promise and Other Poems,” Eric Palmieri earned first place in the poetry category of the 2015 New Apple Book Awards for Excellence in Indie Publishing. The work also earned an Honorable Mention at the 2015 New England Book Festival.

2007

Alden Parker has earned a master’s degree in cell biology from the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. He recently relocated to Scottsdale, Arizona, with his fiancée, Taryn Streich.

2008

To celebrate a pair of 30th birthdays, members of the classes of 2008 and 2009 gathered in Manzanita, Oregon, in January. Pictured left to right: Caroline Mead, Zoe Keve ’09, Maija Benitz, Molly Dilg, and Lissa Crocker. Molly Cushing ’09 and Kristen Gessinger ’09 were also present for the festivities.

2011

With a National Geographic Young Explorer grant, Kyle Hemes, Stew Motta ’08, Simone Phillips, and Will Stauffer-Norris completed a mountain bike trip from China into Laos through the remote upland region of Zomia. Kyle wrote about their journey — which the quartet made to investigate how new infrastructure may impact isolated highland communities — in the April 2016 issue of National Geographic.

In April, Lizzy Stephan was promoted to executive director of the New Era Colorado Foundation, a nonprofit devoted to bringing young people into the democratic process.

Eva Mrak-Blumberg has become one-half of a business called Sailing with Paul and Eva, which takes small groups on sailboat trips to exotic island locations around the world. In June she helped lead a weeklong photography expedition through the Saronic Gulf Islands of Greece, fulfilling roles as first mate and chef.

2015

In May, 11 members of the Class of ’15 met for a “block break” trip to Coyote Gulch in Utah. Pictured below, left to right: Ari Beckman, Erika Versalovic, Charlie Flesche, Eva Grant, Lou Brand, Anna Naden, Ari Solomon, Evan Craine, Carolyn Nuyen, Ben Joseph, and Walt Dubensky.