Have you recently celebrated a wedding, baby, new job, promotion, or honor? Been published, moved into a new home, or welcomed a grandchild? Share your news with the CSU alumni family by submitting a class note. Approved class notes will be published here and in CSU Magazine.
1970s
Barbara Burgess (M.S., ’73) retired as a Connecticut State Public Health Inspector/Nutritionist due to a recent bout with breast cancer. Now a three-year survivor, Barbara has turned her experience into a children’s book entitled My Horse with a Pink Bow. The book was inspired by her grandkids who were worried if her hair would grow back after experiencing hair loss due to chemotherapy treatments. Known as Nana B to her grandkids, Barbara used to give them horse rides, but her one year of treatments impacted their energetic routine time together. The book is colorfully illustrated by her son Joel, and has a happy ending! Barbara is marketing the book to help stimulate discussion among kids and to give hope that things can be fun again.
Jeanne Darneille (M.Ed. ’75) is currently the Assistant Secretary for Women’s Prisons in the Washington Department of Corrections. She had previously served as a Washington State Senator for the 27th district, and on June 10, 2022, Jeanne was awarded the Champion for Justice Award to honor her work towards reforming the juvenile justice system and address the conditions of incarceration and reentry for individuals affected by the adult justice system.
Phil Bayly (B.A., ’76) published Witch Window, his latest Murder on Skis mystery. It follows television reporter JC Snow from Colorado to the Green Mountains of Vermont. The story incorporates skiing, snowboarding, and some spooky Vermont legends. This is Bayly’s fourth novel in his Murder on Skis Mystery series. Prior to his newest release, he wrote Back Dirt (2021), which takes place in the Adirondacks of New York. He also wrote Loving Lucy (2020), which unfolds in Colorado. His first MOS novel, titled Murder on Skis (2019), is a chiller situated in Montana.
1980s
Millicent Eidson (D.V.M., ’83) shares her veterinary training at CSU and a career in public health through an alphabetical microbial mystery series. Anthracis (2021) is the first novel in the series, with alternating POV chapters to immerse readers in the dueling dance of a polygamist-sect boy and CDC veterinarian Maya Maguire. In the second novel in the series, Borrelia, Dr. Maya Maguire investigates zoonotic and vector-borne diseases.
Anita Tjan (B.S., ’86) was recently selected by the U.S. Department of State for a 10-month fellowship project training teachers and teaching English in Erzurum, Turkey at Atatürk University. She is one of 200 U.S. citizens selected for the 2022-23 English Language Fellow Program, a public diplomacy and cultural exchange. She is excited to practice the CSU value of giving back to the world.
1990s
Michael Ortmeier (B.A., ’93) started a new position as a Broadcast Director with TeamPeople at Volant Media, Washington, D.C. He directs live news bulletins for the D.C. bureau of Afghanistan International and Iran International. He’s excited to be working at an international broadcaster in the nation’s capital, and he and his wife are “looking forward to exploring the Eastern Seaboard and doing some deep historical dives.” Their youngest son starts at CSU pursuing a degree in physics this fall.
Michael McNeal (B.A., ’95) recently published their third scholarly anthology, Joy and Laughter in Nietzsche’s Philosophy: Alternative Liberatory Politics. (Bloomsbury Academic, July 2022)
2000s
Robert B. Richardson (Ph.D., ’02) has been appointed Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of the Interior. He is currently a professor at Michigan State University.
2010s
Jack Muth (D.V.M., Ph.D., ’12) is the new Public Medical and Education Director for Dakin’s Pet Health Center (PHC). His responsibilities include setting up and helping to run the PHC as well as seeing its dog and cat patients. Dr. Muth most recently served as an associate veterinarian at Hampden Veterinary Clinic, Belchertown Veterinary Hospital, and Canterbury Tails Veterinary Clinic in western Massachusetts, and a number of hospitals and clinics in Michigan and New York.
Gracie Swanberg (B.S. ’14) received her degree in Health and Exercise Science from CSU. She has since completed medical school at Rocky Vista University and has entered residency at the University of Kansas School of Medicine – Wichita Family Medicine Residency Program at Ascension Via Christi in Wichita, Kansas.
In Memoriam
1950s
Gene Gingery (B.S, ’52)
Herman Wingerter (B.S., ’53)
Carol Lewis (B.S., ’54)
1960s
Walter Myers (B.S., ’60; M.Ed., ’65)
Victor Barnes Jr. (B.S., ’65; M.S., ’67)
William Dickinson (Ph.D., ’67)
Lillian Spangenberg (M.A., ’69)
1970s
Earlie Thomas (B.S., ’70; M.S., ’75)
Richard Groth (B.S., ’72)
Linda Hill (B.A., ’72)
Johnnie Samber (B.S., ’72)
Rosie Bonan (M.Ed., ’73)
Dave Sievers (B.S., ’73; D.V.M., ’75)
Robert Caskey (B.S., ’74)
Scott Boyd (B.S., ’76)
1980s
Kevin Viveiros (B.S., ’88)
1990s
Daniel Dow (B.S., ’98)
2000s
Joy Stephens (M.B.A., ’04)
Friends
Sandra Ackerman
Janice Denoyer
Charles Everett
Richard Finnin
Bonnie Kumer
James Skog
Attended
David Zekman
