Class Notes

Now available on Amazon, also Barnes & Noble, Target and other retail where books are sold. Judy Pearl Fisher's latest book, The Chipmunks Guide to Forest Bathing, about the healing power of nature. I did the digital illustrations using Adobe Illustrator software. Special thanks to Jack and Cathy Davis at Creative Publishing Partners for bringing me in on this one!

Hailie Johnson is a children's author with a newly released picture book out titled Oh Golly, Miss Trolley!

Post graduation I officially began her journey in veterinary medicine! I now attend Tuskegee University College of Veterinary Medicine! I am so grateful for my ISU education that helped me reach this next level!

I'm an Ames High grad and for almost a year, co-sponsored a naming application to name the new Ames High Auditorium for beloved long-time drama director Wayne Hansen (aka Hank), who passed in September 2020. We collected support materials from UNI, Hampton High, and from his 33 years at AHS (including 27 summer theatre seasons). We received 160+ tributes from alums and former faculty. He was not only an excellent director and teacher, but a caring mentor. Students didn't want to disappoint him. He was the reason many stayed in school. Local alumni attended the twice-monthly School Board meetings to read these tributes. An online petition collected signatures and tributes. TV, newspapers, and websites covered the campaign. It came to a vote at the 4/10 school board meeting and was passed unanimously: the Wayne Hank Hansen Performing Arts Center! The dedication is scheduled for 8/12.

Daniel J. Bergman (Ph.D., human sciences, class of 2007) released his debut book, “Teaching Is for Superheroes!” in summer 2023. Using a dynamic, comic-book-inspired layout, “Teaching Is for Superheroes!” (Jossey-Bass/Wiley) unpacks the teacher-as-superhero metaphor to help new, veteran, AND future educators analyze their purpose and pedagogy. Readers will reflect on “origin stories” and gain ideas for surviving the first year; navigating social media; interacting with students, parents, and colleagues; using “gadgets” in the classroom; harnessing teacher “superpowers;” and even dressing for teaching success. Bergman is a professor and program chair of science education at Wichita State University’s School of Education. For more details, visit www.DanielJBergman.com and www.TeachingIsForSuperheroes.com!

Mark Felderman is currently the alumni coordinator at Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny, Iowa.

Nate Clayberg, CEcD, has been hired as the newly created business and industry director for the CAPS Network, a national non-profit based in Overland Park, Kansas, that supports 100 profession-based learning programs nationwide.

Chris Vance (2000 art & design – visual studies) received the Hurd Innovator in the Arts Award from the Des Moines Arts Festival.

Akshali Gandhi ('12 community & regional planning, international studies), a transportation planner in Seattle, has received a Fulbright-Nehru Student Research Award for 2023-2024 for her project, "Safe Streets for Children in Indian Cities." She will spend eight months in Pune, India, housed at the Institute for Transportation Development and Policy India, where she will conduct research on street design and public space interventions.

Andrew Jensen ('05 community & regional planning) was named director of Engineering Ministry International (EMI) Senegal. EMI Senegal provides design services and construction management across francophone West Africa.

Sharon Miller is the new executive director of Prevent Child Abuse Iowa.

Brad Menard started a new business in Toledo, Ohio, Junk King Toledo. Over the last year, Brad has worked to start this business from the ground up while working to support local organizations through the business. This new opportunity has been great for him and his family as everyone can be involved with building this from the ground up.

Started a new job as the Marketing and Communications Specialist at the Mount St. Mary's Seminary & School of Theology in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Stephen S. Mosher received the Dean Frank W. Elliott Dean's Emeritus Award presented by the Texas A&M University School of Law in 2022 in recognition of his support of the law school. Stephen, J.D. '95, is an alumni of Texas A&M Law School.

In Summer 2022, I became the inaugural Health Literacy Librarian at the Leon Levy Library of Dental Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. https://www.library.upenn.edu/detail/person/amanpreet-aman-kaur

Megan Happe joined Whitfield & Eddy Law as an associate attorney in the firm’s litigation practice group. She works on matters involving commercial litigation, construction litigation, and labor and employment litigation. She has defended corporations, individuals, and insurance companies in areas including products liability, personal injury, corporate law, trust and estate litigation, and workers' compensation. Megan earned her juris doctor with highest honors from Drake University Law School. She earned her bachelor of arts magna cum laude from Iowa State University, where she studied Speech Rhetoric and Political Science.

Jennifer Schleining ('01 veterinary medicine, '09 veterinary clinical science) a clinical professor, large animal surgeon, and a life member of the ISU Alumni Association, has been selected to head the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences (VCLS) at the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences after previously serving as the department's interim head. She will oversee a department of 41 faculty members as well as numerous staff members, interns, and residents. "I'm looking forward to continuing in this position - we have such a great group of people here," Schleining said. "I am grateful to have administrative colleagues who are invested in our department and the faculty and staff who comprise VCLS. My goal is to establish a department that is defined by exceptional patient care, impactful research and training programs, and a culture where everyone feels valued and respected."

West Des Moines, Iowa – Local 5 announced that Meteorologist Chris Kuball (' 07 meteorology) will join the weather team on June 12. Currently Chief Meteorologist at KAAL-TV in Rochester, Minnesota, Kuball brings fifteen years of meteorological experience to his home state of Iowa. Kuball is an American Meteorological Society Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and has been nominated for an Upper Midwest Emmy Award ten times. Before his long tenure at KAAL, Kuball graduated from Iowa State University with a bachelor of science degree in meteorology.

Amy Williams ('96 architecture), an experienced, award-winning architect of hospitals and medical office buildings for leading medical systems, has been named principal and Midwest Regional Health Practice Leader for Perkins&Will. A key leader for the Minneapolis and Chicago studios, Williams’ appointment reflects the continued expansion of the global architecture and design firm’s healthcare practice and commitment to delivering highly sustainable patient- and caregiver-centered design. The naming of Williams, a member of the American Institute of Architects and a LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP), is an important part of the continued growth of the regional healthcare practice.

Josh Kassing (BArch 2014 Architecture / MFA 2016 Interior Design) has been named senior vice president of Mary Cook Associates (MCA), a national, award-winning commercial interior design firm. In his expanded role, Kassing will focus on leading the firm’s continued growth, developing MCA’s design practice and cultivating new and existing client relationships across national markets. Kassing joined MCA as creative director in 2017. Originally from Eau Claire, Wisc., Kassing received his bachelor of architecture and master of fine arts in interior design from Iowa State University, where he also served as a studio instructor for the ISU College of Design. Before joining Mary Cook Associates, Kassing worked at global architecture and design firm Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill and The Gettys Group, a global design firm with a hospitality focus.

Brenda Krogh ('11 education) joined the University of Iowa College of Nursing in 2018 and has used her experience as a nurse educator to advance and improve the RN-BSN program. In addition to developing course content that is focused on student learning needs, she also helped improve learning opportunities by developing many new practicum sites for the RN-BSN Community and Public Health Practicum and the PR IV Leadership and Professional Engagement course. Krogh has also had an active role in improving both the RN-BSN and pre-licensure programs through her work in many committees, including her current role as Chair of the BSN forum and AACN New Essentials champion.

Fabian Kausche (' 89 veterinary pathology) has a long and wide spanning career in animal health research and development, as well as in human health research and development for non-prescription products. Although he "retired" in 2019, Kausche started FK Consulting, LLC, an Atlanta company specializing in supporting animal health companies and startups in product innovation strategies. He is also the 2023 recipient of the Iron Paw Award form the Animal Health Corridor given to an individual from research, academic, industry, or government who has provided a significant impact on or contribution to the global animal health industry.

The Treasure Box, a children's book illustrated by Rahele Jomepour (' 15 integrated visual arts), written by Dave Keane was named to Bank Street College of Education's Best Children's Books of the Year 2023 with a notation for "Outstanding Merit." She also illustrated the new hardcover children's book, Peaceful Me, written by Sandra V. Feder.

Joe Tedeschi began his college education at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, before initiating his army career at West Point, graduating in 1957. Eventually earning his army-sponsored Master of Science degree in physics from Iowa State University (1963), he went on to fill army assignments in nuclear, biological, and chemical operations and materiel acquisition. Joe Tedeschi's first book (titled “A Rock in the Clouds”, available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble; full details at rockintheclouds.com) recounts how his 1966 combat tour with the 1st Air Cav headquartered in An Khe, Vietnam, was cut short by a violent airplane crash, chronicles this near-death experience, then leads to reflecting for fifty-five years on the ultimate question, “Why am I (still) here?” Upon retiring from military service as a regular army colonel, he worked fourteen years in the defense industry developing a counter battery radar for three European nations. He then transitioned to a higher calling as he entered the diaconate program in his Catholic diocese of Trenton, New Jersey, where he served for eighteen years, retiring in 2020.

Colby Moorberg (environmental science, 2008), a life member of the ISU Alumni Association, was recently awarded the Kansas State University Presidential Faculty Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. This annual award recognizes outstanding teaching accomplishments and includes a $5,000 honorarium. Moorberg is an associate professor of soil science in the KSU Department of Agronomy where he teaches introductory soil science and soil and water conservation, coaches the K-State Soil Judging Team, and advises the KSU student chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society. Moorberg has published two open textbooks and eight peer-reviewed articles on the scholarship of teaching and learning. His first book, the Soils Laboratory Manual, K-State Edition is used by over 180 instructors from around the world and has saved K-State students a collective $174,000 in textbook costs.