Class Notes

The National Federation of Press Women named Barbara “Bobbi” Hillman Gigone (Jour) the 2015 Communicator of Achievement winner during its national conference in Anchorage, Alaska. Bobbi is a longtime supporter of CU’s host parent program for international students, and most recently hosted a female student from Iran. Bobbi was the first regular female news reporter at the Boulder Daily Camera and first public information officer for Boulder County.

Gordon D. Thayer (EngrPhys’57) published a paper in Progress in Physics, a peer-reviewed journal, called “A New Model of Black Hole Formation” in October 2013. He also has three 2014 titles for sale as trade paperbacks on Amazon.com: The Mind of Christ, which was co-authored with his late wife; His Grandson’s Tales to Beelzebub; and The Nutter Chronicles. In 1968, Gordon authored a chapter on radar visual cases for the Condon Report, a CU-based study of evidence concerning UFOs. He lives in Sarasota, Fla.

Last summer Johnson Books of Boulder released Ann Cornwall Westerberg’s (A&S’57) book Colorado Ghost Tours. Ann and her husband live in Littleton, Colo., where she is a longtime court advocate and writer.

At the United States Air Force Mission Assurance Team David Geyer (ElEngr’57) works full time developing risk assessments associated with vehicles used by the USAF/NRO to launch such payloads of national interest as the Atlas V and Delta IV. David has worked as a rocket scientist for 56 years and hopes to continue this work in the future. He has been interested in rockets since he was six years old. David and his wife live in Carlsbad, Calif.

One of five authors of 100 Years Up High: Colorado Mountains and Mountaineers (Colorado Mountain Club Press) Janet Neuhoff Robertson (A&S’57) is a writer and photographer whose best-known book is Magnificent Mountain Women: Adventures in the Colorado Rockies (University of Nebraska Press). In April she and her co-authors, including James Fell (MHist’72, PhD’75), gave a presentation and held a book signing at the Boulder Public Library. She lives in Boulder.

Engineer and architect Theodore “Ted” Gertsch (Arch ex’57) was awarded a distinguished engineer certificate by the University of Wyoming’s College of Engineering and Applied Science. He worked as a full-time instructor for four years and as an adjunct professor for three years in the department of civil and architectural engineering at the University of Wyoming. He cofounded Gertsch/Baker and Associates in Laramie where he has been actively involved for 36 years. He lives in Cheyenne, Wyo., with his longtime friend Sharon, and they are the proud grandparents of four.

Denver resident Pat Hill Pascoe (Engl’57) served in the Colorado Senate for 12 years. She published a biography of the first woman state senator in Colorado, Helen Ring Robinson: Colorado Senator and Suffragist (University Press of Colorado) in November. For more information see patpascoe.com.

Poet and author Joan Wilson Zink (A&S), of Deland, Florida, has produced a musical based on Nostradamus that will be performed locally. Joan began her creative career in the early ’70s when her poems were published in the Denver Post. Her late husband David (MEngl’57; PhD’62) helped her publish a self-help book titled You Are the Mystery. She writes, “To me CU gave the exact discipline and professional quality of teaching that enabled us to do what we have done in the world. It will always have a special place in my heart.”

Karl Gustafson (APMath, Fin) published Reverberations of a Stroke: A Memoir, a book that tells the story of his struggle to regain his life purpose after experiencing a catastrophic stroke in 2016. Since his stroke, he has returned to teaching at the University of Colorado, where he has been a faculty member in the mathematics department for more than 50 years.

John Lund (CivEngr; PhD’67) is a geothermal energy expert and a retired emeritus professor and engineering dean from the Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls, Ore. He writes, “I am currently working on gathering, editing and summarizing geothermal country update papers from all over the world for the World Geothermal Congress 2020 to be held in Reykjavik, Iceland, in April 2020.

For the past 20 years, Vikki Viskniskki Woods (Spch) has run the Iron Mountain Inn, a bed-and-breakfast that she designed and built in Butler, Tenn. “Because an innkeeper never knows who is going to come across the threshold, every time the door opens to new guests, it’s like the opening of a new show. And what fun has it been all these years!” writes Vikki. Since opening the inn, she has also opened Creekside Chalet, a cabin rental company, and built her retirement cabin by a nearby lake in Butler.

Thomas Richard (Econ) and Ann O’Malley Spoor (CommDisor) celebrated their 60th anniversary on July 5. The couple writes that they still attend many CU football and basketball games, and look forward to returning to Boulder every few years to revel in the maj- esty of the Flatirons. “Go Buffs! Thank you forever for our cherished time there,” they write.

Living in Hawaii, Tom Kurth (A&S’58) says he learned the gift of curiosity from his days at CU, which led to several fruitful careers. He says his work resulted in the removal of two known carcinogens from the food-smoking process. He also took up marine biology, spending 20 years scouring the ocean floor for sponges, which are potential sources for the development of new drugs like Penicilin-G. Remembering his days at CU, Tom says, “I wish I could have those days all over again. It was a heck of a good time.”

On Aug. 25, 2013, Duane Coleman (ChemEngr’58) and Justine Walker Coleman (Edu’58) celebrated their 55th anniversary. They have lived in El Paso, Texas, since 1962 and own the largest travel agency there. They also own two travel agencies in Montana. The couple is active in civic and church activities and has three children, 10 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Former CU regent Pete Steinhauer* (A&S’58) wrote a book Remembering Vietnam 1966-67 for those who have been in the military. Active Boulder residents Pete and his wife Julianne Mattingly Steinhauer (Mus ex’60) have been to Vietnam 24 times since 1989 for volunteer work.

*Directors Club member

“CU is considered an important part of my life,” Herb Lundin (MGeog’58) writes. Although CU did not have a doctoral program in geology at the time, he writes he was well prepared for the doctoral program at Syracuse University. “GO BUFFS!” he says. Herb lives in Waukesha, Wis.

The Iron Mountain Inn bed and breakfast run by Vikki Viskniskki Woods (Comm’58) in Butler, Tenn., was named “Best Bed and Breakfast of Johnson County.” This is Vikki’s 15th year running the inn, which she designed and built. She also built Creekside Chalet, a secluded cabin in the woods for guests who want to bring dogs or children.

The book The Crossing of Heaven: Memoirs of a Mathematician (Springer) written by Boulder resident and CU professor Karl Gustafson (ApMath, Fin’58) is a memoir that includes espionage, his early pioneering work in computing and encounters with Nobel laureates. Karl’s work in top-secret military intelligence included tracking Russian submarines, intercepting electronic intelligence and writing software for the world’s first spy satellite. He is author of six graduate-level text books and more than 270 published papers.