Class Notes

Carl Cerveny (Mktg) and his wife, former Wheat Ridge, Colo. mayor Gretchen Gasser Cerveny (PhysTher'54), report that grandson Chandler Cerveny (Fin'17) graduated from CU in December. Chandler represents the fourth generation of the family to earn a CU degree. Chandler's parents, Chris Cerveny (Fin'84) and Lori Chandler Cerveny (Fin'84), proceeded him, as did great-grandparents Albert Cerveny (CivEngr'27) and Martha Christoffers Cerveny (Art'26).

For the next 20 years, an annual award funded by William Hopkins (Soc) and life partner Richard Anderson will benefit actors and other Washington D.C. theater community members. The Anderson-Hopkins Award for Excellence in the Theater Arts was presented for the first time on Nov. 20, 2017. William lives in Arlington, Va. 

John Cernac (Pharm) and his Pueblo Blende Drug store received the Most Valuable Award last summer from the Independent Pharmacy Cooperative at their annual meeting in New Orleans. He and his wife, Charlotte, are active CU supporters and members of the Directors Club. They can be found tailgating before home games and also traveling to road games.

Writer and mediator David Evans (Phil) wrote a blog for Psychology Today called “Can’t We All Just Get Along?” He shared an Emmy Award for his contributions to the TV show The Monkees. He also won the Los Angeles Superior Court’s “Outstanding Case of the Year Award” in 2000 and 2001 for successful mediations. His website is www.HelpUsHealAmerica.com. David lives in South Pasadena, Calif.

John Herzog (Advert) retired from his third state board, the Colorado Dental Board, Jan. 1. He was appointed by Gov. John Hickenlooper. He previously served on the Colorado Securities Board and the Colorado Utility Consumer’s Board. At CU, he served on the Alumni Association’s board twice and is a CU Advocate. He lives with his wife, Leslie (Engl’62), in Colorado Springs. His daughter Dana Jussaume (Hist’94) and son-in-law Dave Eck (PolSci’84) attended CU, and his granddaughter Emily Eck (Mus’20) attends the university now. 

On Oct.14, 2017, Colorado Black Women for Political Action honored Clementine Washington Pigford (CommDisor) for her writing and research projects. She lives in Centennial, Colo.  

University of the Pacific distinguished law professor Stephen McCaffrey (A&S) is a leading world authority on international water rights. He won the 2017 Stockholm Water Prize for his exemplary work in the field. He focuses on the sustainable and peaceful management of shared waters and works with scholars, legal practitioners and policy-makers. Stephen came to CU on a football scholarship in 1963.

Colorado Springs awarded John Conway (Zool; PhDBio’75) a $30,000 grant to update and replicate part of his CU Boulder Ph.D. thesis, completed under Robert Gregg, on the biology of the honey ant, Myrmecocystus mexicanus. John will compare the location and density of ant nests in the Garden of the Gods from June to September 2018 with what he found in 1975 to see if the abundance of this ant species has increased or decreased and how to best manage the park for this unusual ant in the future. John retired from the University of Scranton in August 2016 and plans to return to Colorado and live in Durango.  

Las Vegas resident Stephen Grogan (Engl) donated 32 boxes of documents relating to his career in journalism, politics and casino gaming to the special collections and archives of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. In his current role as president of Navegante Game Technologies, he assists game developers and inventors. At CU, he was awarded the Shubert Fellowship in Playwriting and was founding editor of the campus alternative newspaper CU Perspective.  

Wiley Newbold (Fren) spent 25 years in the culinary arts, becoming a Certified Executive Chef in 1989 and a member of the American Academy of Chefs in 1994. In 1998, he received a J.D. from West Virginia University College of Law. He has since specialized in criminal defense and has served several years as an adjunct in the WVU College of Law. Nearing retirement, he is touring the National Parks and fulfilling other bucket-list items. He lives in Morgantown, W.V.  

Timm Fautsko (MSoc) was inducted into the 2017 Athletic Wall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, for meritorious service by Walsh University. Timm, a four-year varsity basketball letterman from ’63-’67, belongs to Walsh’s 30-point club, was named outstanding alumnus in 1987, and serves as a trustee at the university. 

Fremont, Calif., resident George Whaley (PhDBus) is co-editor of the Society for Case Research’s Business Case Journal. George is an emeritus professor of human resource management for San Jose State University’s management school. 

Shelley Diamond (Phil) served as artist-in-residence for the U.S. Forest Service, San Gabriel Mountains, which spans a huge region between Los Angeles and the Mojave. She wrote, “My project had to serve the community and environment I was privileged to live in. My home was a big 1920s lodge. The Forest Service was there during the daytime, I was alone at night. This lent some Shining pizazz to the week I teach at L.A.’s Juvenile Hall — the San Gabriels are visible from the yard. Students considered my lesson: Photography to prompt reflections about this ‘alien’ place. Challenged: Why would we ever go there? Eventually sugar pines and wildflowers cast their spell. They got it, and flew outside the walls.” Fremont, Calif., resident George Whaley (PhDBus) is co-editor of the Society for Case Research’s Business Case Journal. George is an emeritus professor of human resource management for San Jose State University’s management school. 

When Laura Lee Carter’s (AsianSt; MHist’88) career as an academic librarian ended in 2004, she became a freelance writer. She’s since published four books on midlife psychology. Four years ago, she and her husband moved to rural southern Colorado, where she writes a blog, “Adventures of the new old farts,” and wrote A Memoir of Retirement: From Suburbia to Solar in Southern Colorado. 

Golden, Colo., resident Gina Meagher (MCDBio) published her second book, The Nitty-Gritty of Managing Diabetes: Personalizing Your Approach through Determination, Perseverance & Balance. The book addresses how personality, attitude and self-advocation can impact Type 1 diabetes. Gina was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 17 and with celiac disease at age 32. She strives to live a life that is not defined by her conditions.

Michelle R. Houser (Jour) was named chief operating officer of the Tesla Foundation, a think tank focused on workforce development and education related to autonomy and autonomous technology. She previously managed advanced transportation, aerospace, cybersecurity and clean tech economic development efforts at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation and worked as a political communications consultant in Southern California.

Dawn Bjork (Mktg), a 15-year member of the National Speakers Association (NSA), was elected president of the Colorado chapter, the largest in the U.S. A software trainer who speaks on technology issues, Dawn is a Microsoft-certified trainer and owner of The Software Pro. She lives in Centennial, Colo.

Nathan Kipnis (EnvDes) was named co-chairman of the American Institute of Architects’ National 2030 Commitment Working Group. Its aim is for architects to design all buildings and developments as carbon-neutral by 2030. Nathan and wife Fran live in a midcentury modern home on a ravine in Highland Park, Ill. — the closest thing to the Boulder terrain in the area, he writes.

Musician Geary Larrick (DMus) wrote a review of a book about jazz flutist Herbie Mann published in the December 2017 issue of Music Educators Journal. Geary performs on solo marimba each week in Stevens Point, Wisc., where he is a retired music professor from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Denver ABC-affiliate KMGH hired Holly Gauntt (Jour) as news director. Holly has worked in newsrooms across the country, including in Seattle, Philadelphia and Baltimore. She is a regional chairperson for the Radio Television Digital News Association.