Class Notes

Carolann Jensen (L)('86 agriculture) will become the state relations officer for Iowa State University on Aug. 26, 2019. She comes to ISU from the Iowa Finance Authority, where she has served since 2011. She previously spent 24 years as a senior research analyst for the Republican caucus in the Iowa Senate.

Cheryl Stritzel McCarthy (A)('81 journalism) is the author of a memoir entitled "Many Hands Make Light Work" (Aug. 6, 2019; She Writes Press). It documents the true story of a family of nine children growing up in a Midwest college town during the turbulent 60s and 70s, written in the spirit of "Cheaper by the Dozen" with advice for raising capable, confident children during turbulent times. McCarthy is a journalist whose work appears in The Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, and newspapers across the country.

Mercy College of Health Sciences has appointed its first academic dean, Glenda Gallisath (PhD '95 education). She will work to ensure that Mercy College continues to meet the academic and workforce needs within Des Moines and the region. Gallisath most recently was the associate vice president for accreditation and assessment at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in North Chicago, Ill. She has extensive experience in academic affairs and has held membership and leadership positions on several boards pertaining to health care and human services, fine arts, nonprofit agencies and community development.

Rick Kroeger ('89 management) has been hired by Bank Iowa as a commercial loan officer in Des Moines.

William Joensen (L)('82 zoology) has been appointed by Pope Francis to serve as bishop of the Des Moines Diocese of the Catholic Church. The 59-year-old Waterloo native was ordained in the Dubuque Archdiocese in 1989 and attended seminary at Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio. Joensen's episcopal ordination and installation will be celebrated Sept. 27, 2019. He replaces Bishop Richard E. Pates, who was required to retire by canon law.

Game designer Tony Hauber (’08 comp sci) moved to Silicon Valley after graduating from Iowa State. He worked with Google for several years before moving back to Iowa, where he is currently living in Elkader. He is the owner and designer of the arcade game system Deathball, which is a new coin-operated arcade console that has been selling rapidly to arcades in large metros throughout the country. The old-school game pits two wizards … essentially playing soccer. He says if you loved Mario and Donkey Kong games, you’ll love Deathball.

Perceptual Informatics, an environmental startup company formed by Bjorn “BJ” Brooks (’00 biology, PhD ’09 geology), has received Microsoft’s AI for Earth Grant to further its research on the economic effects of climate change on the agriculture industry. The company, located in Asheville, N.C., is actively developing a software platform that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and satellite imagery to identify the sustainability of short- and long-term agricultural investments and to determine costs and mitigate risks associated with climate change.

James (Jim) Redman (L)(’82 accounting) has written a book titled Ancestral Quest, a profound book that takes readers to discover their ancestry and learn its lessons. It’s also a story filled with family reminiscences and anecdotes, providing short, humorous diversions along the trail of the quest to learn more about his own Redman ancestors. Redman is a retired Ernst & Young employee.

During the summer of Sam Neumann’s (’09 journ & mass comm) junior year at Iowa State, he embarked on a trip to Alaska and subsequently wrote the non-fiction book Memoirs of a Gas Station, which made the New York Times bestseller list in 2013. Since then, Sam has authored several other works, including his most recent release titled Frost. Sam lives in Denver with his wife, Kristen, and their newborn son, Connor.

Sarah Burke (MFA ’13 creative writing & environ) published “At the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum” in the spring 2019 issue of Ploughshares. Her first poetry collection, Blueprints, won the 2018 Cider Press Review Editors’ Prize and will be published later this year. Her poetry has appeared in 32 Poems, Beloit Poetry Journal, Cimarron Review, Cincinnati Review, Mid-American Review, and Passages North. She lives in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Georgia Van Gundy ('92 finance) is leaving her post as executive director of the Iowa Business Council to become senior vice president of Hy-Vee in September 2019. She will work in administration and industry/government relations, Hy-Vee announced.

Javaune Adams-Gaston (PhD '83 psychology) has been named the seventh president of Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Virginia. She is an academic professional with more than 30 years' experience in higher education. Her most recent position was senior vice president at The Ohio State University. She also served as Ohio State's president for student life.

Lee Tesdell (A)(MA '82 English, PhD '99) was honored July 10, 2019 with the Practical Farmers of Iowa’s 2019 Farmland Owner Legacy Award. Tesdell operates Tesdell Century Farm near Slater, which has been in his family since 1884. He and his tenants, Charles and Mike Helland, work together to address soil conservation and water quality issues through a range of in-field and edge-of-field conservation practices.

Laura Hildreth (PhD '13 statistics) has joined the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) as a research staff member in IDA’s Cost Analysis and Research Division. In addition to her Ph.D. from ISU, Hildreth earned her master’s degree in applied economics from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities in 2007 and her bachelor’s degree in economics and statistics from the University of Minnesota, Morris in 2006. Hildreth is a member of the American Statistical Association. IDA is a not-for-profit corporation that operates three Federally Funded Research and Development Centers in the public interest. IDA answers the most challenging U.S. security and science policy questions with objective analysis leveraging extraordinary scientific, technical, and analytic expertise.

After six years as president/CEO, Roy Budlong ('79 an sci) of Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin stepped down from his leadership post with PremierBank and will assume the role of chairman of the board and investment officer.

Richard W. Paris (L)('78 forest mgmt) retired from a 35-year career with the U.S. federal government. He last career stop was as an electrical planner from Grand Coulee Dam, the United States' largest hydroelectric dam, but his career also included 12 years as a professional forester with the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. He is spending his retirement living in Grand Coulee, Washington, where he has been the Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department and Ambulance Service fire chief since 1996.

Robert Regenwether (L)('89 ag bus) of Hudson, Iowa, a farm manager/real estate agent with Farmers National Company, recently received the company's 25-year employment award. He was previously honored with the 2014 National Farm Manager of the Year award from the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers.

Natasha Sayles ('11 marketing) -- executive director of Winefest in Des Moines, Iowa, has been named to the Iowa Restaurant Association's first-ever "40 Women to Watch in Hospitality" list. The list is designed to showcase women in Iowa's hospitality industry who are blazing new trails, leading by example, or impressing their peers, customers, and managers daily.

Lauren Doll Sheeder (A)('12 marketing & mgmt) -- a sales and marketing specialist for Doll Distributing in Des Moines, Iowa, has been named to the Iowa Restaurant Association's first-ever "40 Women to Watch in Hospitality" list. The list is designed to showcase women in Iowa's hospitality industry who are blazing new trails, leading by example, or impressing their peers, customers, and managers daily.

Karla Walsh ('10 journalism & health) -- a freelance food and lifestyle writer based in Des Moines, Iowa, has been named to the Iowa Restaurant Association's first-ever "40 Women to Watch in Hospitality" list. The list is designed to showcase women in Iowa's hospitality industry who are blazing new trails, leading by example, or impressing their peers, customers, and managers daily.

Christina Moffatt ('02 liberal studies) -- the owner of Creme Cupcake & Dessert in Des Moines, Iowa, has been named to the Iowa Restaurant Association's first-ever "40 Women to Watch in Hospitality" list. The list is designed to showcase women in Iowa's hospitality industry who are blazing new trails, leading by example, or impressing their peers, customers, and managers daily.

Gwen Page ('99 hotel, restaurant, instit mgmt) -- the co-owner and founder of Fong's Pizza in Des Moines, Iowa, has been named to the Iowa Restaurant Association's first-ever "40 Women to Watch in Hospitality" list. The list is designed to showcase women in Iowa's hospitality industry who are blazing new trails, leading by example, or impressing their peers, customers, and managers daily.

Denise Drake ('85 psych & speech comm) has earned the Litigation Practitioner Award by Missouri Lawyers Weekly as part of their Women's Justice Awards. Drake is one of 51 female attorneys in the state of Missouri selected for the Women's Justice Awards. Currently, she is a shareholder at Polsinelli law firm, based in Kansas City, Mo. She also serves as chair of Polsinelli's employment disputes, litigation, and arbitration practice.

Lorraine Peterson Ernst (A)('62 home ec ed) is a cancer survivor-turned-author. The rural Storm Lake native turned a battle with cancer into an opportunity to spread hope. Ernst calls her book Recliner Row after the imposing line of patient chairs she found waiting when reporting for chemotherapy. "Writing was never in the plan," she says. "But then again, neither was the cancer."

Constance Lickteig (Miller) Moore ('72 history) has co-authored a book titled Maria Longworth Storer: From Music and Art to Popes and Presidents. Moore is the historian of the Army Nurse Corps Association. Her subject, Sorer, was the founder of the first female-run manufacturing company in the U.S., Rockwood Pottery. She was passionate about women's rights, her city, and issues of poverty and the arts.