Notes from the Class of 1984

Rob Decker (Comm) is a photographer and graphic artist based in Longmont. After working for clients including American Express, Dell, Dick’s Sporting Goods, the National Association of Realtors, Overstock.com, Stanford University, The Washington Post and others, Rob is now focused on his National Park Posters project, creating vintage-style posters for parks around the country.

Kim Christiansen (Jour) will be the new female voice of the "Train Call" announcements at Denver International Airport after winning a statewide contest among many longtime newscasters. Kim, who grew up in Colorado, has spent her entire career at 9News working as a news writer and producer, general assignment reporter and news anchor. She has won seven Heartland regional Emmy awards for spot news, news writing and news reporting. 

Jay Rothman (Jour) is the vice president of production at ESPN, where he's the lead producer of Monday Night Football. Last fall, he invited four CMCI seniors–Changler Gould (Jour, PolSci'18), Tessa Diestel (Jour'18), Rachel Robinson (Jour'18) and Ashley Ben-Porat (Jour'18)–to Kansas City, Missouri, to go behind the scenes at a live Monday Night Football production. 

Joanne Bischmann (Comm) retired in January from Harley-Davidson after nearly three decades with the company, most recently as the company’s vice president and chief communications officer, as well as president of the Harley-Davidson Foundation. In December, she was inducted into the PRWeek Hall of Fame. Joanne lives in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, with her husband, Rob, and four sons. 

Karen Reid (Jour; MJour’90) was named chair of the 2018–19 Foundation Fundraising Committee for the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). As president and founder of Kaber Communications, she engages workforces through ambassador and volunteer programs that enrich organizational culture and maximize community impact. Karen and her husband, Charlie (PhDMechEngr’89), live in Dallas. 

Neal Scarbrough (Jour) is an award-winning journalist, content creator and multimedia executive who has delivered a diversity of revenue-generating franchises across print, digital and broadcast. He is vice president and executive editor for Fox Sports. In this capacity, Neal has editorial oversight of FS1’s studio programming and serves as the daily talent coach for Fox Sports’ on-air personalities. He and his wife, Michelle, live in Los Angeles.

Holly Gauntt (Jour) is the news director at Denver7. She started her career at KUSA in Denver and then KCNC, and spent 27 years in newsrooms in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Baltimore and Seattle before returning to Denver. She has covered the 9/11 attacks, President Bill Clinton’s impeachment, the D.C. sniper attacks and the bombing of the federal building Oklahoma City. She has won numerous Emmy and Edward R. Murrow awards, including the national award for overall excellence in Washington, D.C., and Seattle, and at Denver7.

Tracy Lehr (Jour) won a Pacific Southwest Chapter Emmy for her human interest story “ASL Interpreters Relay Crucial Information During Disasters.” Tracy has worked for KEYT-KCOY and KKFX, an ABC/CBS and Fox11 affiliate in Santa Barbara, California, for two decades. She is the evening weekend news anchor and an evening live reporter during the week. She recently won a Golden Mike for a story called “Chaplains Answer the Call.”

Van Woodcock (Advert) is the senior vice president of global sourcing, logistics and trade in the Disney Parks, Experiences and Products division of The Walt Disney Co. Van has been with the company for 17 years and lives in Pasadena, California.