Through the Years

’50s

Alan Matheson BA’53 MS’57 JD’59 was honored by Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law with a diamond jubilee reception; the college is also raising $2 million to endow a chair in his name. Matheson, 75, was a founding faculty member of the college in 1967 and has served as dean, interim dean, and acting dean on five different occasions. He has also served the university as president of the faculty senate and a member of various committees; supported its Indian Legal Program; and shepherded the plan to form the school’s Center for the Study of Law, Science & Technology. Matheson was editor-in-chief of the Utah Law Review while at the U of U, then served as an associate in law at Columbia University and as assistant to the president of Utah State University before joining the ASU faculty

Milton Clegg BA’56 received the 2006 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Maryland Dental School. Ret. Rear Admiral Clegg completed 32 years in the U.S. Navy before retiring in 1992 as chief of the U.S. Navy Dental Corps. Following military retirement, he served as the associate dean for clinical affairs and professor of dentistry at the Northwestern University School of Dentistry until 1999. Clegg received his dental degree (DDS) from UM in 1960 and a master’s of science in systems management from the University of Southern California in 1986.

’60s

John C. Nelson MD’69 MPH’93, FACOG, FACPM, has been selected by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to serve as a member of the Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD). Since 1966, the ACD has advised the NIH director on policy and planning issues. A board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist from Salt Lake City, Nelson is a past president of the American Medical Association.

Sharon B. Packer BS’64 MS’93 is executive director of The American Civil Defense Association, a nonprofit organization that helps members prepare for such homeland security threats as an electromagnetic pulse (EMP)
or nuclear attack, through the quarterly Civil Defense Journal and access to reports about topics such as thermal effects and water purification. The most famous former TACDA board member was the “father of the hydrogen bomb,” Edward Teller.

Packer also manages Utah Shelter Systems, which manufactures and equips multi-hazard home and corporate shelters, with business partner Paul Seyfried. The duo also founded the nonprofit organization Civil Defense Volunteers of Utah (CDVU), which teaches the general public about nuclear weapons effects, winter survival, and many other subjects pertaining to preparedness. Long interested in emergency preparedness, Packer became an EMT in 1986. She now teaches emergency first aid as part of her preparedness instruction. She is also a ham radio operator and acts as the regional nuclear weapons effects trainer for the U.S. Air Force Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS), the Air Force arm of amateur radio.

’70s

Ross C. “Rocky” Anderson BS’73, mayor of Salt Lake City, was named amember of Newsweek magazine’s Global Environmental Leadership Advisory Committee, which helped develop ideas and perspectives for Newsweek’s April 2007 special issue on the environment. The 40-plus-member committee included numerous journalists and advocates for sustainability in government, business, and the nonprofit sector, including the superintendent of Yosemite National Park and the president of Arizona State University.

Arly Eggertsen JD’73 has been named regional attorney in the National Labor Relations Board agency’s office in Chicago (Region 13). Eggertsen has 33 years of service with the NLRB, which investigates and remedies unfair labor practices and conducts secret-ballot elections to determine whether employees desire union representation. A Utah native, Eggertsen joined the NLRB in the Chicago office as a field attorney in 1973 after receiving his juris doctorate. He was promoted to supervisory attorney in 1986, and in 1994, to deputy regional attorney. He is a member of the Utah bar.

Aaron D. Kennard BS’73 has been named executive director of the National Sheriff’s Association, based in Washington, D.C. Following 20 years with the Salt Lake City Police Department, where he achieved the rank of captain, Kennard was elected county sheriff in 1990. He held the position for four terms before losing the race in November 2006. He has also served as an adjunct professor at Weber State University and Salt Lake Community College. Kennard spent 14 years on the board of directors for the NSA, including a one-year appointment as president. He is also a past president of the Utah Sheriff’s Association and past chairman of the Utah State Peace Officers Standards and Training Council. In addition to his bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology, Kennard holds a master’s degree in public administration from Brigham Young University and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and the FBI National Executive Institute.

Warren Knowlton MBA’74 has been named chief executive officer of Graham Packaging Co., which makes plastic containers for juice drinks, condiments, and other products. (The York, Pa.-based company is the top supplier of one-quart containers for motor oil in the United States, Canada, and Brazil, and has 87 plants in operation worldwide, with facilities in 16 countries, from Argentina to Turkey.) Knowlton previously served four years as CEO and executive director of Morgan Crucible Co., which manufactures carbon and ceramic products. Prior to that, he was executive director of Pilkington Group, one of the world’s largest glassmakers.

Ed Hinck BS’78 coauthored an article that received a 2006 Daniel Rohrer American Forensic Association (AFA) Research Award. The article, “Audience Perceptions of Politeness and Advocacy Skills in the 2000 and 2004 Presidential Debates” (by Ed Hinck, fellow Central Michigan University Communication & Dramatic Arts Department faculty member Shelly Hinck, and department chair Bill Dailey), appeared in the Spring 2005 edition of the AFA’s flagship publication, Argumentation and Advocacy. The AFA’s Rohrer award “recognizes outstanding scholarship in argumentation and forensics.” The three scholars are also finalizing the book Politeness and Political Debate, which analyzes the use of politeness in presidential and vice presidential debates between 1960 and 2004.

’80s

Mark E. Johannessen BS’85, CFP, has been named president-elect for the national Financial Planning Association. He will become president of the organization in 2008. Johannessen is a managing director of Sullivan, Bruyette, Speros & Blayney, Inc. in McLean, Va., a part of Harris Private Bank, headquartered in Chicago. He specializes in retirement planning and asset management, and advises individuals, businesses, and associations on a variety of financial planning issues. A past president of the FPA National Capital Area chapter, Johannessen was named its 2005 Financial Planner of the Year. In 2002, he was recognized by Financial Advisor magazine as one of the “Future Stars of Financial Planning” and was on Washingtonian magazine’s Money Matters List of Financial Professionals.

Scott Hymas MBA’86, chief executive officer of R.C. Willey Home Furnishings, has been named a director of the Salt Lake City Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s board of directors. Clark D. Ivory BA’88 (LM), CEO of Ivory Homes, has been named chairman of the branch. With branch offices in Los Angeles, Portland, Salt Lake City and Seattle, and a cash processing office in Phoenix, the bank provides wholesale banking services to financial institutions throughout the nine western states. As the nation’s central bank, the Federal Reserve System formulates monetary policy, serves as a bank regulator, administers consumer protection laws, and is fiscal agent for the U.S. Government.

’90s

Flynn Andrizzi BS’90 MPA’93 PhD’03, vice president for health sciences development with the University of Iowa Foundation since 2005, has been promoted to senior vice president for development with the foundation. In his new role, Andrizzi supervises four development vice presidents, leads the foundation’s overall fund-raising function, and directs UI’s major fund-raising campaigns. Previously, Andrizzi served as vice president for institutional advancement at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, and in top fund-raising positions at the University of Utah.

Jill M. Taylor BS’93 is the new president of KeyBank’s Utah operations. Taylor, a mother of three, is a top-level executive in an industry that continues to be led primarily by men, and at 35, is considerably younger than most of her counterparts. She worked her way up through the banking system after earning a journalism degree. Taylor began her career at Valley Bank about 17 years ago. (Valley Bank eventually merged with Bank One, which recently became Chase.) Cleveland-based KeyBank has 38 branches in Utah and ranks among the top five banks in the state.

Eric Woodward BS’96 MPA’97 has been named vice president-controller of SkyWest, Inc., the holding company for SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines, and its subsidiaries. Woodward joined SkyWest as director of financial planning and analysis in April 2004. He previously spent seven years servicing companies in the transportation, manufacturing and distribution, hospitality, and software industries. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Utah Association of Certified Public Accountants.

Catherine Wagner PhD’99, a poet, began in fall 2006 as assistant professor of English at Miami University in Ohio. Audio files of two of her 2006 readings/interviews are available at PennSound, and a videorecording of her 2005 Cork International Poetry Conference reading is posted at Meshworks. Wagner recently co-edited a poetry anthology by mothers, Not for Mothers Only, published in April of this year. She is the author of two previous books of poems, Miss America and Macular Hole.

’00s

Ehab Abdel-Rahman PhD’00 is an assistant professor at the American University in Cairo. Before moving back to Egypt in 2003, Abdel-Rahman remained three years at the U of U as a “post-doc” (in a temporary postdoctoral research appointment) after receiving his doctorate in physics.

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