Notes from the Class of 1984

Attorney J. Christopher Kinsman (Anth; MA’87) joined the real estate group of Davis Graham & Stubbs as a partner last year. He focuses his practice on real estate development, construction, affordable housing and mortgage lending law. He lives in Denver.

Denver’s One World Labs, a cyber-threat intelligence technology provider, hired Mark Turnage (IntlAf) as CEO in February. Mark brings to the job more than 20 years of experience in the security industry. He previously served as CEO of OpSec Security Group in Denver.

After writing a paper for CU’s College of Music on Beethoven, Geary Larrick’s (DMus) piece was placed in the archive collection in the library at the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn, Germany, Beethoven’s hometown. The paper was originally published in the journal of the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors. It can also be found in the collection in the University of Colorado Music Library.

Northbrook, Ill.-based TotalLink2 Community appointed David Wolf (Hist) director of development. The nonprofit helps the developmentally disabled. In his role, David writes grants, reaches out to donors, creates and manages the organization’s donor database and secures gifts from individuals, foundations and corporations.

Wendy M. Kent (EnvCon) joined Portland, Ore., law firm Bodyfelt Mount LLP this spring as partner. Wendy’s practice emphasizes employment, professional malpractice and personal injury defense. She previously worked for nearly a decade as managing attorney and lead trial attorney for Zurich North America Insurance Company in Portland. She has more than 25 years of trial experience handling civil claims in Oregon, Utah and Washington.

In July Geary Larrick (DMus) played the piano three times at Lincoln Senior Center in his hometown, Stevens Point, Wis. He played 15 of his own compositions written between 1975 and 2013.

In April George Codding (IntlAf; Law’89), a healthcare fraud prosecutor with the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, will become president of the International Association of Arson Investigators, an 8,500-member group of fire investigators. He is also a volunteer firefighter and fire investigator with the Louisville, Colo. Fire Department. He has provided training on investigation methodology and practices in the U.S., Canada and overseas.

After working for 30 years in sales and marketing, Laurie Marschall (Mktg) is now the owner of Lakama Travel Cruises and Tours in Phoenix. Lakama Travel specializes in small ship cruises — river, ocean and adventure expeditions. Laurie lives in Phoenix but works with clients nationwide. Her website is lakamatravel.com.

In December Sam Reese (Mktg) was named CEO of San Diego-based Vistage Worldwide, a company that assembles and facilitates private advisory boards for CEOs, senior executives and business owners. Sam previously was CEO of Miller Heiman and also is the author of two books on account management.

This year, Geary Larrick (DMus) celebrates 10 years since the 2006 publication of his book, An Autobiographical Bibliography of Percussion Music. The book can be seen in libraries including those in the Juilliard School, Eastman School of Music, New York Public Library and UC Berkeley. Geary is a retired music professor at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point. In March, he performed a Women’s History Month program on solo marimba. The music included three original compositions and other works honoring through time.

Sam Reese (Mktg) was named CEO of Vistage Worldwide Inc., which offers coaching and mentorship to executives in communities. Previously Sam served as CEO and board member of the Miller Heiman business consulting organization and held senior positions at Corporate Express, Kinko’s and British Telecom.

Littleton, Colo., residents Will Sumners (MCDBio) and Penny Crump Sumners (Psych’85) celebrated the graduation of their daughter Lily Sumners (Mktg’16) this spring. They write that Lily is a fourth-generation Buff and graduated about 100 years after the first member of the family.

Erwin Tschirner (MGer), professor of linguistics at the Herder Institute for German as a Foreign Language at the University of Leipzig Germany, turns 60 this fall. He has taught at several American universities. His research on vocabulary knowledge and language testing is well known across Europe and the U.S. He is a co-author of the most widely used American textbook for German, Kontakte, and a lifetime member of the American Association of Teachers of German.

Geary Larrick (DMus) is celebrating 50 years since the 1966 publication of his first article in Percussive Notes. He now has author citations in Books in Print, Music Index, RILM Abstracts and WorldCat. Geary performs on percussion and piano in central Wisconsin, where he is a retired music professor.

In October Lockheed Martin executive Kathryn Tobey (ChemEngr; MS’94) received the George Norlin Award at the CU Boulder Alumni Association’s 87th Annual Awards Ceremony. Her husband, Brett (ArchEngr’83; MA’89), and sons Nicholas (EnvDes’16) and Samuel (MechEngr’14) are also CU alums. Her extended family has earned 13 CU degrees. Kathy lives in Littleton, Colo.

Adam Frank (Phys), who fell in love with astronomy at age 5, is now a professor of astrophysics at the University of Rochester. He also co-founded National Public Radio’s “13.7: Cosmos and Culture” blog and occasionally contributes to the New York Times. He has written two books and a textbook.

Lawyerist, an online magazine for small-firm lawyers, named the website of criminal defense attorney Patrick Mulligan (PolSci; Law’87) as a top 10 law firm website in the nation. Patrick’s son, CU junior Colin Mulligan (Econ’18), designed the site for the Denver firm, Mulligan Breit.

In August 2016, Sara Ledes Aiken (Hist) launched Eastport Pickleball, a manufacturing company located in Annapolis, Md. Her primary business is paddle production for pickleball, one of the fastest growing sports in the U.S.

Joe Bassi (MAstroPhys) published the book A Scientific Peak: How Boulder Became a World Center for Space and Atmospheric Science with American Meteorological Society Press. It explains the process from the 1930s to 1950s by which Boulder went from a small college town in the foothills of the Rockies to an international center for science.

Journalist Kim Christiansen (Jour) joined Denver’s 9News’ 10 p.m. news team. Kim, a seven-time Heartland Emmy award winner, has worked for KUSA since the beginning of her career. Kim lives in Denver with her husband, Greg, and son Tanner.