Notes from the Class of 2007

The Life is Beautiful festival, a TED-esque speaker series curated and produced by Erin Booth (Psych), drew more than 100,000 people over three days in October in Las Vegas. It was the festival’s second year. It focuses on music, art and food. Learn more at lifeisbeautiful.com.

Last year Ashley Wagle (Psych) completed her master’s degree in counseling from Adams State University in Alamosa, Colo. She eventually plans to pursue a PhD and would like to find herself back at CU one day.

The historical novel published by Adam Littleton (IntlAf), American Baroque, features an aging Johnny Appleseed wandering the countryside to check the fruits of his early planting. Adam, currently living in Tokyo, says the book was inspired by his travels and his education at CU. Prior to moving to Japan, Adam taught English near Moscow. He says he does not know where he will end up next.

The reality TV show The Sing-Off featured Richard Steighner’s (EnvDes, Psych) five-man vocal pop band, The Exchange. Formed in 2012, the band has traveled worldwide and has included a 32-city European stadium tour in spring 2014.

As northern division manager for the commercial contractor Douglass Colony Group, Dane Bechtholdt (Fin) is part of the construction team working on the new football operations center at Folsom Field. Dane started his construction career during college, managing a team of interns in a program that taught students how to start and operate a small business.

Global laundry product supplier Tingue, Brown & Co. named Michael Dillon (Soc) sales representative for the Pacific Northwest. Michael is a decorated veteran of the U.S. Navy and a former leader of the Navy explosive ordinance disposal program. Michael assists with laundry operations involving flatwork ironer supplies, machine parts and laundry carts that keep businesses running efficiently.

Shoshanna Howard (Comm), campaign director for Students Against Fracking with the California Student Sustainability Coalition, has been working in social and climate justice for more than five years. She spent the last year working on anti-fracking and anti-tar-sands campaigns and seeks to expand the environmental movement by inspiring and empowering student leaders.

Fox Sports named Joel Klatt (Econ) its lead college football analyst this summer. Joel had previous experience calling Thursday and Friday college football games on Fox Sports 1 and contributed to the network’s college football pregame, halftime and postgame shows.

Tara Bettale (Jour) is the communications manager for Colorado’s RTD FasTracks Eagle P3 project, the largest transit-oriented public-private project in the nation. She also is public information manager for several FasTracks light rail projects and was involved with the Denver Union Station renovation and the city’s free MetroRide project.

Bill Mark (MBA) helped launch Boulder-based food supplier LoveTheWild, which aims to help consumers get more fish into their diets by taking some of the guesswork out of sourcing and cooking different varieties of fish. Bill, who does data and analytics for LoveTheWild, writes that their products are available in Alfalfas, Sprouts and Wegmans and will be in about 200 more stores this year. Bill lives in Lafayette and “has been lucky enough to live and work in Boulder County since graduating from the Leeds MBA program in 2007.”

Colorado native and soccer star Fran Munnelly (IntPhys) will be inducted into the CU Athletic Hall of Fame on Nov. 17. Fran started all 87 games as midfielder in her Colorado soccer career and was the first player in CU’s history to earn any kind of All-America distinction. Fran lives in Denver.

Landon Mock (Psych), leader of the Washington, D.C., CU Alumni Association chapter, married Caitlin Donnelly on Sept. 24. The couple was introduced at a Buffs football watch party in D.C. a few years ago and got engaged while on a hike in spring 2015. Their wedding reception overlapped with the CU vs. Oregon football game and the CU fight song rang throughout the venue after CU won.

Ryan Connolly (PolSci) has made a living as the owner of Grassroots California, which sells hats with Jerry Garcia’s artwork, Jimi Hendrix’s face and Monarch, the California grizzly bear, depicted on the state’s flag. Ryan sells most of his hats online, but also through a store in Chicago and Denver, a popup store in Barcelona, Spain, and a warehouse in Stapleton, Colo. Ryan has 23 employees. He founded the company on the Venice Beach boardwalk.

Northwestern Mutual honored Los Angeles wealth management advisor Brandon Matloff (Fin) with membership in the company’s 2016 Forum Group for helping clients plan for and achieve financial security. This is the fifth time that he’s received the honor, which recognizes young company leaders who have eclipsed certain milestones. Brandon and wife Sarah live in California.

Sydney Bergen Hafliger (Soc) and Aaron Hafliger (Econ’05) were married in February in Mexico. The couple honeymooned in Belize. Sydney works for Realities for Children Boulder County, a nonprofit organization that partners with the CU Guardian Scholars program to provide full scholarships for former foster care youth. Aaron is a commercial real estate broker in Denver. Their wedding bands are inscribed with Buff motto “WTTF” — Welcome to the Fight.

In February, Jasmine Fry Cloud (MArtHist) lectured at Truman State University on the history of papal ceremonies. Jasmine is currently an assistant professor of art history at the University of Central Missouri. She lives in Blue Springs, Mo., with her husband, Nick, and their daughter.

Oy!Chicago and the young leadership division of the Jewish United Fund named Rob Derdiger (Econ) to the sixth annual Double Chai in the Chi: 36 Under 36 list of young impactful Jewish influencers in Chicago.

Former Marine Corps captain Siddhartha Rathod (Law), a defense attorney and founding partner of Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC in Denver, received the Alumni Association’s 2017 Kalpana Chawla Award over Homecoming Weekend. The award recognizes outstanding career achievement, as well as significant contributions to the community or the university within 15 years of graduation.

Adam Laughrey (Fin) and his wife, Kristie, started a business in Longmont, Colo., called The Hop. It is a mobile fashion boutique run out of a refurbished 1956 Mercury camper trailer selling vintage and new men’s and women’s clothing and accessories. 

Jordan Valutas (Mgmt) married Toby Jacobs Oct.7 in Bermuda. CU friend and business school study-buddy Jennifer Hessenbruch (Acct,MS’08) was a bridesmaid. Other CU alumni in attendance were Brittany Burgess Ramsey (Mktg’07), Anjuli Singhal (Psych’07), Annie Teten Behrent (Psych’07) and Noelle Wesolek Andres (Mktg’07). After honey mooning in Thailand, the couple relocated to San Diego, Calif., for Toby’s job in biomedical engineering at NuVasive.