Class Notes

Susie Meade (MS '92 education, PhD '01), superintendent of the Winterset Community School District, has been named the 2018-2019 Iowa Superintendent of the Year by the School Administrators of Iowa (SAI). SAI executive director Roark Horn said, “It is an honor to celebrate Dr. Susie Meade as Iowa’s Superintendent of the Year. Her innovative leadership, wide array of accomplishments, humility and perhaps most of all her caring and compassion for others, exemplify what we all look for in our leaders.”

Corinn Dianne Hardy (L)('03 microbiology, DVM '06) was recently promoted to lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves. She also served eight years on active duty. Hardy is currently a health system specialist and veterinary preventive medicine officer at the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago, Ill.

“Adamant Aggressors exist today.” So says Bruce Thatcher (L)('59 gen sci), who has released digests about five of history’s adamant aggressors to illustrate historical lessons about how to identify and deal with them. In fewer than 70 pages, each book examines one adamant aggressor – Mehmed II, James K. Polk, Adolph Hitler, Chaim Weizmann/David Ben-Gurion, Joseph Stalin – and the moves their targets made in dealing with them. Consequences of bad choices are pointed out in four of the books, and of the effective choices in one case. Each book shows what we as a nation should be doing NOW to identify and counter adamant aggressors who threaten us. Thatcher feels strongly that even though understanding these lessons may not ensure that the best choices will be made today, understanding them will help to reject demonstrated bad choices and, thus, more likely arrive at better choices. The e-format versions are available now at Amazon.com and through Thatcher’s website, www.historyspeakstoday.com.

Stephen R. Schmidt (PhD '85 physical chemistry) has authored a chapter entitled The Raney Catalyst Legacy in Hydrogenation for S. David Jackson’s Hydogenation: Catalysts and Processes, 2018. Schmidt is a Research Fellow at W.R. Grace Co. in Columbia, Md.

Dale Gruis (’86 ag and life sci ed, MS ’00) has been named the new agri-science and technology instructor at Maquoketa Community Schools in Maquoketa, Iowa.

Alyssa (Swan) Hoke (L)(’14 an sci) has accepted a position as a tissue bank technician at Veterinary Transplant Services in Kent, Wash.

Morgan Shrader (’15 ag bus & agron) has been hired as a seed manager for the Midwest division at Helena Agri-Enterprises, LLC.

Jennifer Elliott (’16 ag and life sci ed) has accepted as position as a marketing activation specialist with Smithfield Foods in Naperville, Ill.

Amy Eaton ('02 journalism) has been named director of marketing and strategic development for Iowa Women Lead Change, the state's premier source of comprehensive leadership resources for women.

Chet Boruff (L)('76 farm op) of Moline, Ill., was one of four distinguished agricultural professionals who received the prestigious “Torch of Leadership” award from the Alumni Association of the Illinois Agricultural Leadership Foundation Aug. 25.

Capt. Raymond R. “Rich” Delgado III ('91 meteorology) retired in a traditional ceremony Sept. 21 at Stennis Space Center, Miss., after 32 years of service in the U.S. Navy, the first two as an enlisted Sailor.

Dr. Patricia Tice (L)('75 child dev, MS '83 education) was awarded an Official Proclamation from the Honorable Kim Reynolds, Governor of Iowa, proclaiming August 20-24, 2018 as “Civility and Good Manners Week”. The proclamation stated “civility and respect of all people is fundamental to the functionality, purpose, and safety of our civilized life.” Tice is the owner of Etiquette Iowa/AgriManners and is the author of AgriManners: Essential Etiquette for Professional Success.

Jennifer Zumbach (’01 animal science) is one of six national recipients of the American Jersey Cattle Association’s Young Jersey Breeder Award. The award, presented June 30 during the Young Jersey Breeders Luncheon, honors expertise in dairy farming, Jersey cattle breeding, participation in association programs and leadership in agricultural organizations. Zumbach’s farm, Kunde Jersey Farm, currently milks 240 Jerseys, 30 of which make up her herd, in addition to 35 heifers. Jennifer is involved in numerous dairy organizations, and helps her husband, Dave, on the farm he owns with his family.

Bradley Miller (L)(’00 environmental science, ’06 MS water resources and soil science) was presented with the Dan Yaalon Young Scientist Medal by the International Union of Soil Sciences at the World Congress of Soil Science in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, August 12-17. Miller researches quantitative evaluation of spatial variations in environmental processes that affect the distribution of soil properties and how it impacts environmental quality and sustainable crop production

Bruce Erickson (L)(’83 agronomy, MS ’96 crop production and physiology), agronomist for Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, received the 2018 Educator/Researcher Award of Excellence from the PrecisionAg institute.

Jill Madden (’10 genetics, PhD ’14) has accepted a position with Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard University as a research genetic counselor.

Lakeisha Perkins (’18 ag and society) has been selected as a Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellow. Her service will take place in Welch, West Virginia.

Grant Uhlir (A)(’85 architecture), managing director and principal at Gensler, has been named a fellow by the American Institute of Architects. Uhlir brings more than three decades of design experience in mixed-use developments, corporate headquarters, adaptive reuse, and repositioning projects across the globe – including the world-renowned Shanghai Tower, for which he served as senior project director. Most recently, he is leading the repositioning of the 2.8-million-square-foot redevelopment of Chicago’s Post Office.

Arlan Kay (L)(’66 architecture) has been named a fellow by the American Institute of Architects. As a young professional, Kay was inspired to volunteer his architectural service in disadvantaged neighborhoods. He created the Design Coalition, a non-profit corporation that advocates for individuals and neighborhoods in need. His ongoing pro-bono activism has helped reverse the trend of abandoning older neighborhoods and downtowns. Since 1972, Kay has dedicated 250-500 hours of unpaid community service and pro-bono work annually.

Emma Wilson (’18 ag and life sci ed), publications manager for the Iowa Corn Growers Association, received the 2018 American Agricultural Editors Association Alltech Cultivating Young Ag Journalists Award.

Sadanand D. Joshi (L)(PhD '78 mech engr) received the John Franklin Carll Award from the Society of Petroleum Engineering. The award was presented September 25 during the SPE’s Annual Awards Banquet.

Robbyn Wacker (PhD ’90 sociology) has been named president of St. Cloud State University. She is an experienced administrator and a tenured professor with a reputation for leadership of strategic initiatives, encouraging innovation, and advancing student enrollment, retention, and success. She previously served the University of Northern Colorado as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs and as senior campaign adviser in the UNC Office of Development and Alumni Relations.

Libby Crimmings (A)('04 art and design) has joined McClure, a Midwest-based engineering, surveying, and planning firm as vice principal community placemaker and community placemaker in the Clive, IowaPreviously, she served as Director of Global Programs and Partnerships at The World Food Prize Foundation, an international organization known as the “Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture,” leading efforts in 23 states in the U.S. as well as Europe, Africa and Central America. and St. Louis offices. Crimmings' role at McClure will include assisting in long-term strategic planning, visionary goals, and in maintaining the tracking of projects and placemaking staff.

Greg Nickerson (L)('81 ag journalism), the 2017 recipient of the National Agri-Marketing Association’s Marketer of the Year award, was named chairman at Bader Rutter, the country’s largest agricultural marketing agency, with offices in Milwaukee, Chicago, and Lincoln. He previously served as CEO for nearly a decade. He was also nominated to the Alpha Gamma Rho board of directors in August.

Judith K. Zimmerman (A)('86 interior design), RID, LEED AP, has been named President of RVK Architects in San Antonio, Texas. She has managed the firm's business operations for the past 13 years.