Notes from the Class of 1982

Former CU-Boulder Alumni Association board member Jenny Herring (Jour’82) serves as public relations director at The Creative Alliance firm in Lafayette, Colo. She lives in Longmont.

For the fifth time since 2006, Ruth Kahn (Mktg’82) was named to the Los Angeles Daily Journal’s list of Top 75 women litigators. A partner in the Los Angeles office of Steptoe & Johnson, she specializes in science-heavy toxic tort cases. Ruth lives in Pacific Palisades, Calif.

In 2000 brothers and former CU track and cross country athletes Dan King (ChemEngr’82, MBA’88) and Scott King (ElEngr’85) co-founded ReadyTalk, a Denver company that develops audio and web conferencing technology. Earning the 2011 Colorado Business Magazine’s Best Company to Work for in Colorado, the company staffers attribute their success to Dan and Scott’s focus on motivating people to be innovative and creative. Dan lives in Boulder and Scott lives in Longmont. In July Dan won the World Masters Athletics Championships in California.

Computer analyst Cynthia Wooten (Mus’82) works for Kitsap Mental Health Services and lives in Bremerton, Wash.

Architect Kat Vlahos (EnvDes’82, MA’84) is an associate professor at CU Denver in the College of Architecture and Planning and is director of the Center of Preservation Research. She is a researcher of vernacular ranch architecture and cultural landscapes. After a career of designing, she told CU Connections (CU’s faculty and staff newsletter), “I design through my students now.” The Denver resident has twin boys.

Director’s Guild of America member Matt Marshall (Comm, PolSci’82) completed The Amazing Spiderman in Los Angeles to be released this summer. He also has found success on Malcolm in the Middle, Baywatch, Perry Mason Returns, Diagnosis Murder, Air Force One and October Sky.

Colorado Super Lawyer listed James R. Christoph (Law’82) as a 2012 Super Lawyer in the field of personal injury law. This is the sixth consecutive year that James has received this recognition as one of the top personal injury lawyers in Colorado. He lives in Boulder.

For the fifth time since 2006, Ruth Kahn (Mktg’82), a partner in Steptoe & Johnson’s Los Angeles office, was named last year to the Daily Journal’s list of the Top 75 Women Litigators in California. Ruth was recognized for her toxic tort victories for Exxon Mobil and Texaco Downstream Properties, Union Oil Co. of California, Chevron Corp. and Shell Oil.

A Hutchinson Black and Cook lawyer, Brad Peterson (Law’82) was named a Colorado Super Lawyer for 2012. Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas. Brad lives in Boulder.

On July 12 Ruth Kahn (Mktg’82), a partner at Steptoe & Johnson, received Bet Tzedek’s Pro Bono Attorney of the Year award at the organization’s annual Evening of Recognition at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles. Ruth was honored for her extensive service to holocaust survivors on whose behalf she has obtained reparations from the German government for labor performed during World War II. She lives in Pacific Palisades, Calif.

At the Leeds School of Business Distinguished Alumni and Service Awards Ceremony in November Ellen Balaguer (Fin,Psych’82), George Solich* (Bus’83, MMktg’91) and Peter Burridge (Econ’85) received recognition for service to the school and exceptional achievements in business. Ellen lives in Greenwood Village, Colo., as does George. Peter lives in Boulder.

*Lifetime member

Cloud computing expert John Joyner (Bus’82) had his fourth book published, System Center 2012 Operations Manager Unleashed. It is the first comprehensive operations manager 2012 technical resource for every IT implementer and administrator. He writes a weekly technology column for CBS-Interactive in the TechRepublic Enterprise Cloud and Datacenter spaces. He also is an adjunct professor at the University of Arkansas and teaches a cloud infrastructure management course. John lives in Little Rock.

In 2012 Michael Williams (MEcon’82, PhD’83) hiked the Pacific Crest Trail from the U.S.-Mexico border beginning in Campo, Calif., to Manning Park, British Columbia. He departed April 21 from Campo and arrived in Manning Park on Sept. 20. The hike covered about 3,000 miles. While hiking Michael turned 65, became eligible for Medicare and interviewed for a job. He lives in Atlanta.

Coach Gail Hook (PE’82) has been involved in basketball every winter since the fifth grade. After taking a one-year hiatus in the 2012-13 season to spend more time with her mother, Gail announced she will return to Monarch High School as the girls’ basketball head coach. “Just not to be in that capacity this past winter was pretty unusual and pretty strange,” Gail told BoCoPreps.com. She lives in Lafayette, Colo.

On July 3 Tim Roessler (Jour’82) and his wife Tanya Roessler celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary with a trip to Paris. The couple met on a blind date at the Broker Inn. Tim is a writer and content strategist. They have two children and enjoy hiking, hunting for wild mushrooms, reading, making short films, traveling and attending their son’s concerts and their daughter’s art openings.

In 1999 Daniel Carr (MechEngr’82) designed the New York and Rhode Island state quarters for the U.S. Mint. He combined his expertise in mechanical engineering, art and coinage to form his own private mint, Moonlight Mint. Daniel does all of his own designs, sculpting and engraving work to stamp coins, tokens and medals. He restored a surplus U.S. Denver Mint coin press in 2008, which he uses. He lives in Loveland, Colo., and his website is www.moonlightmint.com.

After working in higher education for 40 years as president of Black Hills State University, Kay Schallenkamp(PhDComDisor’82) will retire in spring 2014. She led BHSU in becoming the first state university president to join the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment. Under her seven-year tenure, the university’s student union and life sciences laboratory received LEED Gold certification. Kay lives in Spearfish, S.D.

For those principals in schools all over the country who wish their staff would show up just a little more motivated every morning, Kenneth Cooper (EdD’82) has some advice. Together with his two co-authors, Nels Gustafson and Joseph G. Salah, he wrote the book Becoming a Great School: Harnessing the Powers of Quality Management and Collaborative Leadership. Cooper has 22 years of experience as the principal of the Paul F. Doyen Memorial School in Ipswich, Mass., where he lives. His secret? “Harness the intrinsic motivation of the staff,” he says. To learn how to do that, read his book, which is available on Amazon.

Fidelity Charitable, an independent public charity with a donor-advised fund program, has a new president. Amy Noonan Danforth (IntlAf’82) took the job in February after five years as senior vice president of marketing and programming. She oversees an organization that has helped donors support more than 170,000 nonprofit organizations with more than $16 billion in grants. Amy lives in Marblehead, Mass.

Author and educator Peggy Campbell-Rush (MEdu’82) has been named head of the lower school on the Ponte Vedre Beach Campus of the Bolles School in Jacksonville, Fla. Her seventh book, Ready to Write, was published by Scholastic in June.