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.
1950s
Connie Shoemaker (B.A. ’56, M.A., ’59) was awarded the 2020 Colorado Book Award for General Nonfiction for her book Taste the Sweetness Later: Two Muslim Women in America (Amity Bridge). She and her husband, Dr. Floyd Shoemaker, editors of the Rocky Mountain Collegian in 1955 and 1956, are collaborating on a new book about their family’s four years in Cairo, Egypt.
1960s
Roger Brandt (B.S., ’62), former president of Allerderm Pharmaceutical Co., was named “Outstanding Alumnus” of Lincoln Southeast High School in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Daryl Youngstrum (B.A., ’67), a catcher on the Rams baseball team, hit two consecutive grand-slam home runs on consecutive pitches in a game against Denver University on April 9, 1966. His line score for the day read: at bats, 2; hits, 2; home runs, 2; runs batted in, 8, setting an NCAA baseball record. Dick Smelser, Rams sports athletic information director at the time, said the record was a good one to have. “It is one of those records that can be tied but never broken,” he said.
1970s
Dr. James D. Oliver (B.A., ’70; M.Ed., ’72) is associate chancellor and assistant dean of urban and metro affairs University of Illinois, Cooperative Extension Service, Chicago, Illinois.
1980s
Daniel Parliman (B.A., ’78; M.B.A., ’82) fly fishes when they can since retiring in 2012 after 29 years with NCR Corp. In January 2023, Parliman published the book, Stories of the American West, Volume 1 with material provided by their great great uncle Rich Roy Thomson (1871–1950). In the book, Daniel added a section about the Thomson family’s last camp in Western Colorado, the hunting camp of 1972, managed by R.W. Thomson ( ’41). The book is a unique western that is half fiction short stories and half nonfiction historical information. Available in paperback, Kindle, and KU. Https://www.amazon.com/dp/b0bsth3k23
1990s
Kristi Pohly (B.S., ’98) started a new business endeavor, Pohly Hat Co., in honor of her family name and her deep western roots. Pohly Hat Co. is a custom hat-design business. Each creation is a wearable tribute to a person, pet, place, or time imprinted on the wearer’s heart. The Pohly Hat Co. logo incorporates the official cattle brand her grandfather created and registered for use on his cattle ranch in Tulsa. Kristi donates 5% of every purchase to a different charity each quarter of the year in order to give back to local non-profits near and dear to her heart.
2000s
Ken Doll (Ph.D., ’03) was named the Scientific Technology Transfer Coordinator for the Midwest Area of the USDA Agricultural Research Service. Dr. Doll joined the USDA at the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, Illinois as part of the Plant Polymers Research Unit. There, he introduced technology that enabled natural carboxylic acids to be incorporated into high performance carbohydrate polymers. More recently, Ken has worked within the Bio-Oils Research Unit, leading research that transforms vegetable oils into the polymer building blocks for industrial applications and consumer products.
Emily Gaspar (M.S., ’05) graduated from Coastal Carolina University with a Ph.D. in Education specializing in Higher Education Administration. Her dissertation is titled, “Disability Justice in Higher Education: The Lived Experiences of Disabled White Women Disability Services Directors”. Gaspar serves as the Director of Accessibility and Disability Services and ADA Compliance Officer at CCU alongside her husband, Steve Harrison, who serves as Vice President for Auxiliary Enterprises and Chief Sustainability Officer.
Beki Toussaint (B.S., ’07) has been named to the Class of 2023 Top Forty Under 40 by the Alaska Journal of Commerce and the Anchorage Daily News. She works as the Education Program Director for Alaska Resource Education.
2010s
Daniel Haddad (M.S., ’14) and Madeline Haddad celebrated the birth of their second child, Amelia “Millie” Lee Haddad on Feb. 8, 2023 in Waco, Texas.
Andrew Eggleston (B.A., ’15) was awarded the Denver English-Speaking Union’s (ESU) Teach and Learn Abroad (TLab) Scholarship in March 2023, which allowed him to apply for the national ESU’s TLab program. On April 11, he was accepted into Shakespeare’s Globe’s Teaching Shakespeare Through Performance program. He will attend the program from July 17 to August 5 before returning for his 5th year as a teacher at Grandview High School in Aurora, Colorado.
Liam Aubrey (B.A., ’19) was chosen by the Colorado Springs Business Journal (sixty35Media) as a Rising Star for 2023.
Francesca Giambrone (B.S., ’19) will graduate from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine in May with a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine. She plans to move to Rhode Island to work at Ocean State Equine Associates. Giambrone is extremely excited to finally fulfill her lifelong dream to be an equine veterinarian.
2020s
Isabella Wells (B.S., ’22) finished the taught portion of her master’s degree in Applied Animal Welfare and Behavior at the University of Edinburgh. Over the course of her degree, she helped build cheetah enclosures, did behavioral research with the penguins at the Edinburgh Zoo, and gave talks about animal cognition and consciousness to a panel of experts. Over winter break, she traveled all the way to Thailand and volunteered with a program researching the behavior of rehabilitated elephants in the hills of Chiang Mai. Wells will continue onto her dissertation project over the summer.
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In Memoriam
1950s
Robert Abrams (B.S., ’52)
Donald Kerr (B.S., ’53; D.V.M., ’55)
James Weitzel (B.S., ’55)
Ronald Bjork (B.S., ’58)
Coleen Brown (B.S., ’58; M.S., ;69)
William Dishman (B.S., ’59)
Herb Lightsey (B.S., ’59; M.Ed., ’67)
1960s
Iris Kennedy (B.A., ’60)
Wenda Lloyd (B.S., ’60)
Gary Griffin (M.S., ’61; Ph.D., ’62)
Gerald Matthews (B.S., ’64)
William Sheeder, Jr. (B.S., ’64)
Marilyn Villano (B.S., ’64)
Frank McCrea (B.S., ’65)
Samuel Kunkle (M.S., ’67; Ph.D., ’67)
1970s
Paul Darcy (B.S., ’70)
Lawrence Walters (B.S., ’70)
Daniel Peterson (B.S., ’71)
Carroll Schell (B.S., ’71)
Susan Fox (B.A., ’72)
James H. Harmon (B.S., ’72)
Daniel Young (M.S., ’73)
Keith Kitzke (M.S., ’76)
Susan Justice Allen (B.S., ’77)
Larry Pottorff (B.S., ’77; M.S.W., ’89)
1980s
Adel Hanna (Ph.D., ’82)
Brian O’Hanlon (B.A., ’82)
Anthony Park (B.A., ’84; M.A., ’88; M.F.A., ’98)
Heidi Stonehocker (B.S., ’86)
Faculty and Staff
Carol Lopez
Friends
Mary Anderson
Connie Buxton
Gerald Elliott
Ted Eyl
Ginnie Gleason
Norma Krager
Ginger Osborn
