Class Notes

Bob Carter ('78 const. engr.) has been named senior project manager at Kraus-Anderson Construction Company, one of the Midwest's oldest and largest commercial general contractors and construction managers. Bob has worked in the construction industry for nearly 35 years and joined K-A in 1990 as a project manager. He has been a part of the construction team on a number of K-A's largest projects, including the new Humphrey Terminal at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport and the Hilton & Towers Hotel in Minneapolis. He resides in Brooklyn Park, Minn.

Robert Segebart, '68 farm op., '73 MS & '78 Ph.D. agron., retired senior research scientist for Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business, was recently awarded the prestigious DuPont Lavoisier Medal for Technical Achievement, the highest honor for career technical accomplishment with the company. The medal recognizes individuals within DuPont for a career of outstanding contributions leading to significant business impact and enduring scientific value. Robert began his career at Pioneer in 1979, and retired in 2010. He is recognized as one of the most successful breeders in the history of Pioneer corn development over the past 32 years.

Jon Pickard, '76 architecture, principal and co-founder of Pickard Chilton, has been elected to The College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects. He has contributed to the building of contemporary high-rise and corporate architecture worldwide. His expertise in the design of large-scale buildings with their inherent architectural, urban design, technical and economic challenges is grounded in the balance of three fundamental drivers: environment, community, and workplace. Pickard Chilton is headquartered in New Haven, Conn. and is noted for its expertise in the design of large, complex buildings.

Arlene Steffen and I met thru an arranged date by a friend at a YMCA pancake supper. That was in the Spring of 1952. Arlene was a freshman and I was a junior. I graduated in 1953 and Arlene in 1951. I spent 2 years in the Air Force and she spent 6 months in Finland as an IFYE delegate following graduations, and we were married on February 12, 1956. So, next week we will be observing our 55th wedding anniversary. Gene Vincent

Paul Hegland, B.Mus. 1982, was elected in July 2010 by the triennial national convention of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod to a six-year term on the Board of Regents of Concordia Seminary - St. Louis. He joined the Board in September 2010.

Avison Young has announced that Phil Barry ('68 indus. ed.), one of Atlanta's top commercial real estate brokers, has joined its brokerage operations in Atlanta as a Principal and member of the office properties group. He will provide a wide range of real estate services, ranging from investment sales and acquisitions to build-to-suit development and landlord and tenant leasing. He has been involved in investment sales, acquisitions, tenant representation, development, and project leasing of commercial real estate in the Southeast since 1971. Avison Young is Canada's largest independently-owned commercial real estate services company and has offices in several U.S. cities.

Former Iowa Lottery CEO Dr. Ed Stanek (PhD '72) has received the highest honor given the the World Lottery Association, an industry group representing lotteries from 90 countries and five continents. Stanek, who led the Iowa Lottery from its start in 1985 until his retirement in 2007, was presented with the Guy Simonis Lifetime Achievement Award during the WLA's biennial convention in November in Brisbane, Australia. Just five other lottery leaders from around the world have ever been given the award, which was introduced in 2000 to recognize outstanding service and commitment to the lottery industry by an individual. Stanek, a co-inventor of the Powerball game, is a past president of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries, which represents lotteries in Canada, the United States, and Mexico; and the International Association of State Lotteries.

The Association of Fundraising Professionals has selected a paper written by Dee Vandeventer, partner, and Justin Tolan, chief fundraising adviser, of ME&V. The paper, "Plan for a Successful Campaign," explores essential steps an organization needs to take and questions that need to be answered in planning for a successful fundraising campaign. Elements include staff and volunteer involvement, donor education, and even guerrilla marketing. ME&V is a specialized, full-service advertising and fundraising consultancy with offices in Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, and Des Moines, Iowa.

Budget Manager of the City of Bloomington, MN since 2001. Finance Director of Patton Township, PA 1992-2001 Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau, Madison, WI 1991-1992

Sandra Trca-Black was voted “Techie of the Year” at the AssistU Community Recognition Awards held recently in Reston, Virginia. This was her third consecutive year of receiving a top honor in the organization. Sandra had nearly ten years of administrative experience before founding Alloy Virtual Assistance in 2005. Her clients have included businesses close to home as well as on both coasts. Based in her home office, she is connected to her clients by phone, fax, email, and the Internet. More information is available at www.alloyva.com.

Bradford Bittle ('91 chem.), deputy operations officer at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, received the Claud A. Jones Award for 2009 for his contributions to improving operational engineering or material readiness for maritime forces during the past three years. He was recognized for exceptional performance and achievement while serving as force modernization officer for Commander, Naval Air Force, and as chief engineer aboard USS Abraham Lincoln.

Appointed to serve as District Court Judge for the Fifth Judicial District of Iowa beginning October 2010

Diana "Dee" Vandeventer ('75 psych.), of ME&V, presented at the Oregon Hospice Association's Professional Practice Exchange in October, in Bend, Ore. She presented "How Do You Eat an Elephant? A Bite-sized Approach to Strategic Planning" to nearly 200 hospice and palliative care professionals from across Oregon, discussing strategic planning process, ways to engage the organization in the process, and how to measure strategic planning activities. As a well-known fundraising professional, she has presented throughout the country. Her firm, ME&V is a specialized, full-service advertising and fundraising consultancy serving clients through its Advertising + Consulting; Fundraising Advisers; Healthcare Marketing; Nonprofit Marketing; and Higher Education Marketing specialty divisions.

Frontier Communications Corp., the leading provider of communications to rural America, recently announced the appointment of John J. Lass ('80 civ. engr.) as President of the company's Central Region, comprising Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, and Wisconsin. The Central Region, Frontier's largest operation with approximately 1.1 million customers, is headquartered in Burnsville, Minn. He has held a variety of operations positions in New York and the Midwest with Frontier/Citizens Utilities, GTE, and Contel over the past 29 years.

Patricia & Keith met when they got stuck together in a seating chart on the first day of Business Writing in Ross Hall, January 1987. Over the course of the semester, they become really good friends, even walking together to their next classes in Carver Hall. That summer, Patricia lived and worked in Ames, and Keith worked in Ames while living in his hometown nearby. One friendly get-together turned into another, and before long, the two were in love. Pat graduated in December 1987 and went to work in Sioux City. Keith graduated in May 1988 and went to work in New York City. The romance survived time and distance, and the two were married in September 1989. Twenty-one years later, we are still going strong and have a beautiful daughter!

Paul G. Boynton ('86 mech. engr.) has been elected president and chief operating officer of Rayonier. He joined the company in 1999, and will now be responsible for all of Rayonier's operating businesses, including oversight for Rayonier's Forest Resources business, which sustainably manages nearly 2.5 million acres of timberland in the U.S. and New Zealand. In addition, he will oversee the Real Estate business, which manages the thousands of acres of land with potential for commercial, residential, conservation, or recreation uses. His duties also include responsibility for the Performance Fibers business, a global leader in the manufactur of high-performance specialty cellulose fibers.

Speech 311 was taught in a classroom on the third floor of Beardshear Hall during the Fall Quarter of 1946 at Iowa State College in Ames, Iowa. Professor Joe North was the instructor. Class members were a diverse lot with mature veterans from World War II and young men and women not long out of high school. This was a great time of the year for college students with Homecoming celebrations not far away and the enthusiasm generally associated with the beginning of a new school year. The Daily Student printed pictures of the various Homecoming Committee chairmen to add to the hype. It so happened that the pretty girl who sat in the back row of the Speech 311 class was the Publicity Chairman (and I sat in the front row.) Her name was Jean McDonald. During the course Professor North seemed to pick a couple of students to be the brunt of his critiques. Week after week the same two were "honored" by him to provide examples (both pro and con) of good and not-so-good speeches. Those two were Jean McDonald and Bob Lamb. It became commonplace to meet at the top of the stairs after class and commiserate with one another as we headed for our next class. This led to a traditional "coke date" at the Memorial Union where we learned that our home towns were Ames and Boone. In those days these two arch rivals in high school football were known throughout the state. Normally their annual game was played on Armistice Day (Nov. 11), but the conclusion of WWII and other social issues had changed this tradition. The big day was scheduled for November 1, a school day, and the game was to be played at Clyde Williams Field where the ISC varsity played all its games. For our first date Jean and I skipped class to attend the game and see Ames beat Boone (as it usually did), this time by the score of 19-0. We showed no partiality and spent a half in each team's cheering section. This began a relationship which developed into my giving her an engagement ring on December 1, 1947 at a "Five Pound Party" in the Kappa Delta House with my Sigma Phi Epsilon brothers in attendance. Jean had found some gift wrap paper of a baby sheep with a bell on a ribbon around it's neck; so the theme of the event was "A Lamb and His Belle." Are "Five Pound Parties" still in vogue? Jean graduated on a very cold day in June, 1947. This was extra memorable since the ceremony was held outdoors at Clyde Williams Field with the graduates wearing sweaters or jackets under their robes. Instead of teaching Home Ec. in a nearby school, Jean chose to utilize her library experience acquired while working at the Ames Public Library during her high school years. As a result she became a Reference Librarian at the Iowa State Library, and later taught the Library course which all students were required to take before graduation. It gave no credit and took one hour each week for a quarter. Is it still a part of all curricula? Our wedding took place in Ames at the First Congregational Church on September 1, 1948. We were most fortunate to obtain a lovely apartment in the second floor of a a private home at 504 Lynn. Not only was the previous year spent on wedding plans and preparations, but it also entailed a very stiff academic challenge. The junior year in Chemical Engineering had a bruising reputation - and justifiably so. I was fortunate enough to get an offer from 3M Company (known as Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company); so we moved to St. Paul in January, 1950. The first day of the month has been a key date in this story thus far, so I want to add still another instance. Our first child, Kevin, was born on October 1, 1951. Jean and I spent ten and a half years in St. Paul, two years in the Washington D.C. area and the balance of thirty eight years with 3M in Dayton, Ohio, during which time we produced five children, three boys and two girls. All are college graduates, including one M.S. and a PhD. Currently we have seven grand children and three great grand children. Except for a son (the PhD), daughter-in-law and grandson, they all live relatively close to us. My twenty five and a half years for 3M in the Dayton area was due to the fact that Wright Patterson Air Force Base was located near there. It was the focal point of most of the technical work which the Air Force funded, so it became my job to learn of the technical needs of the Air Force and help "marry" them with 3M's many technologies. In the late forties there was a custom that a girl could not be considered a coed unless she was kissed under the campanile at the stroke of midnight. If there was any merit to that tradition, Jean graduated without ever being a coed. I wonder if it's too late.

Valerie Kissack and Asten Rathbun (BS CprE '99) were married in Omaha on July 31st Valerie and Asten live in the Chicago suburbs. Valerie teaches 5th grade, and Asten is a Project Leader at Motorola.

Named Distinguished Alumni, 2010, Texas Wesleyan University School of Law

Christopher Larsen, JLMC '87, received his M.Ed. in Journalism Education from the University of Missouri-Columbia in December, 2007.

Suzie Berregaard graduated from the George Washington University graduate certificate program in Healthcare Corporate Compliance in May 2009 and became Certified in Healthcare Compliance in June 2009. Suzie was recently appointed to serve as a Supervisory Program Analyst, Chief of Quality Management for the Department of Defense, Veteran's Administration, Veteran's Health Administration for the Central Iowa Healthcare System.

Melissa Mundt ('97 history), Assistant City Administrator/Community Development Director of Gardner, Kan., recently received the Credentialed Manager designation from ICMA, the premier local government leadership and management organization. To receive the prestigious ICMA credential, a member must have significant experience as a senior management executive in local government, have earned a degree, preferably in public administration or a related field, and demonstrated a commitment to high standards of integrity and to lifelong learning and professional development. Melissa has nearly 12 years of professional local government executive experience and has served in her current position since 2003. She has also made significant contributions to a number of other organizations, including: Kansas Association of City/County Management, Midwest Public Rish, Gardner Rotary Club, and the Kansas City Area Iowa State Alumni Club.

Labor and employment attorney Teresa (Seavy) Maginn ('87 English, speech comm.) has joined Barnes & Thornburg LLP's South Bend, Ind. office. From 1996-2001, she was the assistant vice president and counsel for the University of Notre Dame, Office of the General Counsel, where she provided advice on employment issues and engaged in contract negotiations.

Lawrence "Larry" Gay ('57 ag. engr.) was inducted by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) as an ASABE Fellow in June, 2010. To be considered, an individual must demonstrate unusual professional distinction, with outstanding qualifications and experience in the field of agricultural engineering. A tractor historian and author, Larry was honored for his outstanding contributions to engineering management and product equipment design and for his thorough research and documentation of farm tractors and agricultural equipment industry history. He retired in 1992 after a 35-year distinguished engineering career at John Deere. At the time of his retirement, he was manager of engineering in Deere's merchandise division, where he led the surveying, selecting, and testing of farm equipment made by other manufacturers but sold by John Deere dealers. Since retirement, he has become a highly respected authority, researcher, and chronicler of farm tractor development.

Jeanne recently earned tenure and promotion to Associate Professor. Last year, the interior design program she coordinates received CIDA [Council for Interior Design Accrediation] Accreditation. In 2008, Jeanne was awarded the Outstanding Service Award for the College of Fine and Applied Arts. Much of her service has been providing and coordinating design services for non-profit organizations.