Class Notes

Kyle Naye (InfoSys) is senior director of acquisitions at City view, a real estate investment management firm. He also has served as a senior associate at Clarion Partners, senior real estate analyst at Northmarq and an officer in the U.S. Navy. Kyle is the founder of the Global Real Estate Dealmakers podcast. 

Michael Hake (Mktg) of Erie, Colorado, and Gary Shirman (Soc’80) of Boulder formed Boulder Wealth Advisors, a financial planning and investment management firm. 

Holly Morphew (IntlAf) is CEO and founder of Financial Impact, a financial coaching practice, and author of Simple Wealth. Published in 2021, the book became a No. 1 bestseller in nine out of 10 categories on Amazon.

Vanessa Schatz (Comm; MA’08) managed Growing Up Boulder’s (GUB) business development. The CU affiliate program is one of the nation’s most successful child-friendly city initiatives that works with young people of all backgrounds to include their input in local government decisions, including city planning and equitable community development. In May, Congressman Joe Neguse (Econ, PolSci’05) attended the program’s youth voice celebration. Vanessa has more than 15 years of national and international experience in business and community development, including Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits and government and is a Stanford GSB LEAD (2021-2022) participant.

At CU, Jessie Stegner (Thtr) performed in big roles, acted in the Colorado Shakespeare Festival and studied in London at Shakespeare’s Globe. After performing improv in Chicago, she went to UCLA to pursue a degree in screenwriting. Now, she lives in Hollywood and performs in The Second City’s “The Really Awesome Improv Show,” intended for families.

Susan Fricke (Mktg) wrote a children’s book about compound interest, Pluter & the Spectacular Spaceship. She writes her idea for the book came when she discovered that compound interest, one key driver of wealth, was elusive to many people. She hopes the book “encourages even just a few kids to start thinking about their financial future.” She lives in New York, New York. 

At the 20th Annual APEX Awards ceremony in February, Dan Mackin (ElCompEngr) — CEO of cybersecurity and technology advisory company Rule4 — was awarded the Colorado Technology Association’s CEO of the Year. 

David Thul (Geol) is co-founder and CEO of Geolumina, which creates intuitive AI with geologic insight. His company was selected to be a part of the Equinor & Techstars Energy Accelerator program, which provides resources and mentors to support startup businesses. 

As a lead writer for Google Hardware, Julie Dyer Vree (Jour) takes on branding, content strategy and creative initiatives under the Pixel and Nest brands. She also spends her time mentoring girls interested in STEM, creative industries or both, and volunteering at hospitals with her certified therapy dog named Snax. She lives in San Francisco with her husband, daughter and beloved French bulldog.

As the leader of brand, enterprise and global social strategy at Adobe, Lauren Friedman Suits (Jour) manages social promotion and creative development. She also spends her time helping women achieve their goals through leadership and mentorship programs, exploring the Bay Area and hosting dinner parties. She lives in San Francisco with her husband, two cats and pup.

Along with two colleagues, Pania Newell (MCivEngr; PHD’11) — assistant professor in the mechanical engineering department at the University of Utah — has started a podcast called This Academic Life to support and inspire STEM educators and researchers.

Molly Rettig (MJour) is a reporter at the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. She has covered oil and gas, Native culture and 1,000-mile sled dog races. Her first book, Finding True North: Firsthand Stories of the Booms that Built Modern Alaska, explores how Alaska transformed from a land of subsistence to a gold and oil paradise. 

Jacqui Dietrich (MBA) is head of brand, sales and marketing for Startup Space, which helps economic and small business development organizations connect entrepreneurs to resources in their communities while providing data analytics and management systems.

In May, Gerardo Ortiz (Advert) delivered the CMCI commencement address virtually. For the event, he created a powerful video, ROAM., available to watch at colorado.edu/cmcinow. Gerardo is creative director at Uninterrupted, founded by Maverick Carter and LeBron James. He lives in Los Angeles.

In his graphic novella Emotional Robots: A Question of Existence, Gregory Fass (Econ) explores what the world would look like if robots competed with humans in sports, music, art and emotional intelligence.

After serving as a judicial clerk in the U.S. district court for the Southern District of New York, Samantha Smith (Psych) established her insurance recovery and commercial litigation practice at Anderson Kill. In February 2021, she joined Cohen Ziffer Frenchman & McKenna, a boutique insurance recovery law firm, as an associate.

After graduating from CU, Kimberly Bellis (CivEngr) became a special operations officer and was deployed overseas. Now, she leads the special purpose acquisition division at Academy Securities investment bank. She also volunteers to help young girls develop healthy habits for Girls on the Run and is a veteran mentor at Veterati.

In May, Callie Fiedler Higgins (ElEngr; PhD’17) was named a finalist in the 2021 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals. Callie works for the National Institute of Standards and Technology and invented a technology to detect microscopic flaws that threaten the safety and reliability of 3D-printed products, potentially revolutionizing the medical, plastics, coatings, optics and additive manufacturing fields. 

Artist Andrew Jensdotter (MFA) was featured in his first regional solo show since exhibiting at the Museum of Contemporary Art in 2019. “Road Work” opened May 15 at Denver’s K Contemporary and is the largest exhibition he has put together. The work is a result of his reflections during the pandemic.

Michael Salka (EnvDes) was awarded a Gates Cambridge Scholarship to pursue a PhD in architecture. Michael writes he has worked on a variety of design projects targeting the intersection of ecology, technology and society, as well as research initiatives regarding the circular bioeconomy and nature-based solutions for development. He hopes the PhD program will further his studies of how locally integrated processes can optimize holistic environmental, economic and social sustainability in architectural and urban production.