March 2009 -

ALUMNOTES

1930s

Robert B. Whitebrook, '39, '53, of Kaneohe, Hawaii, wrote Toshi American, published in Oct. 2008. He resides in Hawaii with his four great-grandchildren.

1940s

Harry Worley, '45, and Katie Worley, '46, of Mount Vernon, were honored at last fall's Husky Football Kickoff Luncheon for being season ticket holders for over 50 years. They were also recognized on the HuskyTron during the Notre Dame game. The couple joined the Tyee Club when it began in 1976.

1950s

Oregon State University Press recently published Catching the Ebb: Drift-Fishing for a Life in Cook Inlet, by Bert Bender, '59, of Atascadero, Calif., with drawings by Tony Angell, '62, of Seattle. It chronicles Bender's 30 summers of gill-netting for salmon in Alaska and his parallel life as a professor of American literature.

Ron Surface, '59, of Gladstone, Ore., worked 29 years as a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. His son Steve graduated from the UW in 1978, and his granddaughter Samara is a freshman.

1960s

Elizabeth Lane Furdell, '66, of Jacksonville, Fla., is a professor of history at the University of North Florida. Brill Academic Press published her book Fatal Thirst: Diabetes in Britain Until Insulin.

Gregg Herrington, '67, of Vancouver, recently ended his career in daily journalism after 33 years as the city editor, chief political writer and editorial writer/columnist of The Columbian. Prior to that, he worked seven years for the Associated Press in Washington, D.C., and Seattle. He is currently the communications director for the Battle Ground School District in Clark County.

1970s

Gary Oertli, '70, '72, of Seattle, was named interim president of South Seattle Community College. His past positions include president and CEO of Shoreline Community College and interim dean for business, information, technology and creative arts at Seattle Central Community College. He succeeds Jill Wakefield, '83, following her appointment as chancellor of the Seattle Community Colleges.

Gaylord Reagan, '70, '71, of Lorton, Va., recently completed training in Earned Value Management Systems, DTRA Acquisition and Program Management, and Six Sigma Green Belt Certification. He also published an article critique in the magazine CrossTalk and is serving as a member of the team redeveloping Northrop Grumman's enterprise search capability.

Ron Shellan, '72, of Seattle, was selected for the 2008 Oregon Super Lawyers List for his "high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement." As part of this honor, he will be recognized in the 2008 Oregon Super Lawyers magazine.

Jean F. Wyman, '73, '79, of Excelsior, Minn., was inducted into the Academy of Excellence in Health Research for her contributions in the field of geriatric nursing.

Dennis P. Weber, '74, of Longview, was honored by the Chinook District of Cascade Pacific Council of BSA as its Distinguished Citizen of 2008. Weber has served as a social studies teacher for 33 years.

Temple Mathews, '76, of Santa Monica, Calif., wrote the screenplay for the movie PICTURE THIS!, directed by Steven Herek and starring High School Musical's Ashley Tisdale. The movie aired on the ABC Family channel and is now available on DVD.

Betty Houchin Winfield, '78, of Columbia, Mo., recently published a book with the University of Missouri Press entitled Journalism–1908: Birth of a Profession. It discusses how the profession changed with the creation of academic institutions and journalism schools.

Greg Fellman, '79, of Pocatello, Idaho, was recently appointed to the Board of Directors for the Southeastern Idaho United Way.

Thomas Moak, '79, of Kennewick, was elected mayor of Kennewick and is serving his 12th year as a member of the Kennewick City Council. Moak is a former member of the Washington State House of Representatives.

1980s

Nancy Beckage, '80, of Riverside, Calif., received an honorary Ph.D. from ETZ Zurich, a science and technology university in Switzerland, in November.

Mark Ferbrache, '80, of Seattle, is the FBI's current legal attache at the U.S. Embassy in Prague. Ferbrache is responsible for all FBI national security and criminal investigative matters in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Leediafastje Bailey, '81, of Ocean Shores, recently became the first African American appointed or elected to the City of Ocean Shores Planning Commission.

Jeff Bialik, '81, of San Rafael, Calif., was appointed executive director of the Catholic Charities CYO on Jan. 15. CCCYO is one of the largest non-profit providers of social services in the San Francisco area.

Bruce Harrer, '84, of Richland, is currently the commercialization manager at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. He recently earned the Certified Licensing Professional (CLP) credential from the Licensing Executive Society.

Mark Callaghan, '86, '87, of Seattle, launched Blue Sky Cleaners, the first toxin-free dry cleaner in Seattle. He has one store open in Seattle's Interbay neighborhood, and is currently opening several more locations.

Thurston Miller, '87, '89, of Granger, Ind., had a son, Reed, born in November. Miller and his wife have four children.

Karyn Little-Liljedahl, '89, of Kelso, joined the Futcher Henry Group of certified accountants and consultants.

1990s

Eric Constans, '92, of Pitman, N.J., was recently named chairperson of the mechanical engineering program at Rowan University.

Patrick Mahoney, '92, of Meridian, Idaho, is the owner and founder of Mahoney Law, PLLC, a plaintiff's litigation firm in Boise, Idaho. He recently received the Idaho State Bar Association's 2008 Denise O'Donnell-Day pro bono award for his volunteer work on behalf of low-income residents.

Jocelyn McCabe, '93, of Tumwater, is vice president of communications at the Association of Washington Business. In October, she earned the designation Accredited in Public Relations from the Public Relations Society of America.

Craig Romano, '94, of Mount Vernon, has published numerous well-received Pacific Northwest day-hiking guidebooks. His most recent is Day Hiking: Central Cascades, due out this spring.

Kristin Naca, '95, of Minneapolis, was selected for the National Poetry Series and was awarded the MTV Prize for her first book of poems, Bird Eating Bird.

Sarah Staudenraus, '95, of Washington, D.C., is a partner in the Washington National Tax practice.

Chris McDonald, '97, of Gig Harbor, is the new project manager of DBM Contractors.

Jenny Daniels Freese, '98, of West Hills, Calif., recently became the director of development and marketing for Valley Village, a nonprofit serving the developmentally disabled in Southern California.

2000s

Hiroaki Ishii, '00, of Kobe, Japan, received the 2008 Progress in Agriculture Award from the Society for Agriculture Science of Japan. Ishii was recognized for his research contribution in conifer tree photosynthesis and carbon sequestration of plantation forests.

La'Chris Jordan, '01, of Seattle, is an award-winning playwright and was selected as one of "50 to Watch" by the Dramatists Guild. Her play Piney Ridge will premiere at the Seattle Parks and Recreation Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center March 20–April 5.

Ronald B. Kuppersmith, '02, of College Station, Texas, was elected president of the American Academy of Otolaryngology for the 2008–2009 term.

Andy Buffington, '02, and Jill Yamamoto, '03, of Seattle, were married Aug. 2, 2008 at the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno, Nev. Both are currently students at the Seattle University School of Law and are expected to graduate in May.

Suzanne Coffin, '04, and Jeff Jorgensen, '04, of Washington, D.C., were married in Blaine on Aug. 31, 2008.

Carla J. Geyer, '05, of Vancouver, recently graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Recruit Training Center in Cape May, N.J.

Saram Chea, '07, of Tacoma, completed the eight-week U.S. Navy basic training at the Recruit Training Command in Chicago.

Andrea Simmons, '08, of Tacoma, became a general practice staff accountant at Peterson Sullivan PLLC.

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