Class Notes

New York-based vocalist Keith Miller (Art ex’97) performed in a concert with the Longmont Symphony Orchestra. The concert, “An Evening on Broadway,” took place in May at the Vance Brand Civic auditorium. Keith lives in New York City with his wife and sings at the Metropolitan Opera in Manhattan.

Co-owner of Cocobelle sandals and accessories Lucy Peglar (Anth’98) lives in Uruguay with her husband and three daughters. Cocobelle’s sandals were featured in the Garnet Hill summer 2013 catalog. More of her collection is at cocobelledesigns.com.

Pirie Associates Architects promoted Brady Stone (EnvDes’98) from project manager to associate. Pirie Associate Architects is one of New Haven, Conn.’s, top architecture firms. Brady has been professionally designing, detailing and constructing the built environment for more than 14 years. His work includes a contemporary addition to and rigorous restoration of a 1950s modern residence designed by architect-turned-sculptor Tony Smith. Brady lives in New Haven with his wife and two boys and is always working on their mid-century modern home.

The five-time award-winning feature film Born & Raised, directed, edited and co-produced by Joshua Dragge (Film’99), played in Los Angeles in April at the United Film Festival. Joshua lives in Torrance, Calif.

With his experience practicing real estate law Sean Bahoshy (Mktg’00) has counseled clients with general corporate matters and a variety of public and corporate transactions including securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions. In April Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck announced Sean joined its real estate group as an associate. His focus is on commercial real estate transactions with an emphasis on acquisitions, disposition, financing and leasing. He lives in Denver.

Former member of CU-Boulder’s Alumni Association board of directors Paula Berg (Comm’01) finished her term in May. Her work and experience in social media were invaluable to the marketing and communications team’s effort to stay on top of an ever-changing engagement channel. Paula lives in Denver.

Iraq War veteran, paratriathlon world champion and Purple Heart recipient Melissa Hoffman Stockwell (Comm’02) spoke at the Wounded Warrior fundraiser in Denver in April. Melissa serves as a board member for Wounded Warrior. The organization provides programs and services to severely injured service members during the time between active duty and transition to civilian life. She lives in Chicago with her husband Richard Stockwell (Econ’02).

On May 30, Ryan Becker (EnvSt, Geog’03) and his wife welcomed a son, Jude Patrick Becker. Jude joins big sister Nicole. Ryan and his family live in Littleton, Colo.

After graduating from CU-Boulder, Narelle Helmer (Comm’03) served in the U.S. Marine Corps. She was featured in the Academy Award-nominated documentary The Invisible War. The documentary about rape in the military won several awards at the Sundance Film Festival. Narelle married Jonathan Woods in Boulder and the couple resides in Wilmington, N.C. Her brother Barrett Helmer (Jour’05) earned his master’s in foreign service from Georgetown University.

The five-time award-winning feature film Born & Raised written and co-produced by Nick Loritsch (Film’03) played in Los Angeles in April at the United Film Festival. Nick also stars in the film and lives in Beverly Hills, Calif.

The American Political Science Association named Erica Chenoweth (MPolSci’04, PhD’07) winner of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award as the co-author of her book Why Civil Resistance Works. The award is given annually for the best book on government, politics or international affairs. The book examines factors that enable nonviolent resistance campaigns to succeed and, sometimes, fail. Erica is an assistant professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver and an associate senior researcher at the Peace Research Institute of Oslo.

After reaching out to all 32 NFL teams, Patrick Gleason (Comm’04) landed a job as public and media relations manager for the Baltimore Ravens, the 2013 Super Bowl Champions. He covered the team’s win at the Super Bowl in Louisiana and attributes his professional successes to the education he received at CU-Boulder and to his internship with CU’s sports information director Dave Plati (Jour’82).

CU-Boulder professor emeritus of civil, environmental and architectural engineering Kenneth Strzepek (MEcon’04) has spent 30 years as a researcher and practitioner of engineering, environmental and economic systems. His research primarily relates to water resource planning and management, river basin planning and modeling of water resources systems. Ken lives in Lexington, Mass., and serves as a research scientist in the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change.

Virginia Tech engineer Chao Wang (PhDElEngr’04) received a three-year Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Program grant of up to $510,000. He will develop methods and software tools that detect security vulnerabilities in concurrent software running on a modern multi-core computer. Chao is an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Virginia Tech. The dean of the engineering college named him the “Outstanding New Assistant Professor.” Chao lives in Blacksburg, Va.

Graduate student Miles Jon McKenna (Jour, PolSci’05) had his article “Realizing Public Diplomacy Potential for Pacific Island Countries: The Case of the Commonwealth” published in USC’s biannual Public Diplomacy Magazine. The magazine is one of the world’s leading journals for diplomacy, with such contributors as Joseph Nye and top state department officials. Miles also started a nonprofit in London called Pacific Island Society dedicated to delivering programming that stimulates interest in Pacific affairs. His sister Carrie McKenna (Psych’13) worked at the Alumni Association for four years as a student, playing a critical role in assisting with e-mail marketing and statistics.

In addition to purchasing his first home last fall in Denver Adam Creapo (Jour’06) and his wife welcomed a son, Colt, into their family. Adam is an English Second Language (ESL) teacher at Northglenn Middle School and just completed his third year at Northglenn and first as an ESL teacher. He expects to graduate in the fall from CU Denver with a master’s in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in linguistically diverse education.

The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation announced Bridget (Liz) Gauthier (Aero’06) is a 2013 Woodrow Wilson Ohio Teaching Fellow. As a fellow, Bridget received a $30,000 stipend to complete a special intensive master’s program at Ohio University that will prepare her to teach math or science in a high-needs school in Ohio. Bridget lives in Athens, Ohio.

Freestyle mogul champion Jeremy Bloom (A&S ex’06) was one of six to be inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame. The induction took place at the Vail Marriott Mountain Resort in April. Jeremy lives in San Francisco.

As a CU freshman in 1989-90 Dave Upthegrove (EnvCon’07) was appointed to the board of the CU Environmental Center. He writes this helped spark his interest in environmental issues. Today he is a member of the Washington state legislature serving as chairman of the House environment committee. He lives in Des Moines, Wash.

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck announced that Kyle Blackmer (Mgmt’08, Law’11) joined its real estate group as an associate. Kyle’s focus is on commercial real estate transactions with an emphasis on acquisitions and dispositions. Previously Kyle served as a judicial clerk for the honorable Judge Lewis T. Babcock of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. At law school, he was editor-in-chief of the University of Colorado Law Review. Kyle lives in Greeley, Colo.