Blaine R. Worthen BS’60 MS’65 is director of the Western Institute for Research and Evaluation (WIRE), director of the evaluation training program in the College of Education at Utah State University, and professor in the Department of Psychology at USU. He has spent many years in the educational research and evaluation field and was given the Myrdal Award for Outstanding Evaluation Practitioner by the American Evaluation Association. Worthen also co-directed an evaluation that received several awards from the AERA, including “Best Evaluation Study.” He is recognized as a national and international leader in the field.
Nassos Michas BS’66 has been appointed president, chief executive officer, and chair of the executive committee of Weiss, Peck & Greer, LLC, an investment firm in New York City, following a lengthy career with Merrill Lynch and Co., Inc. Michas joined Merrill Lynch in 1974 and eventually became chair of Merrill Lynch Banks and a member of its Private Client Executive Committee. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an MS in systems theory and control from the University of California, Berkeley.
H. James Williams BA’66 MD’69, a Salt Lake City internist and subspecialist in rheumatology, was installed as governor for the Utah Chapter of the American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine. He will serve a four-year term and, among other responsibilities, will represent the Utah Chapter members on the National ACP-ASIM Board of Governors. Williams is also a professor of medicine and associate chair of the internal medicine training program at the U. He is a past recipient of The Laureate Award for the Utah Chapter. AM
Paul S. Joseph BS’68 MS’70, chief meteorologist with the Journal Broadcast Group in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, received the 2001 Award for Outstanding Service by a Broadcast Meteorologist from the American Meteorological Society (AMS), the nation’s leading professional society for scientists in the atmospheric and related sciences. This award honors his 30 years in broadcast meteorology in Milwaukee. Joseph is an AMS Fellow and holds the AMS Seal of Approval for both radio and television. He has won several awards during his career. He is also an instructor in the physics department at Marquette University. AM
George J. Van Komen BS’68 was recently installed as the 80 th president of the Federation of State Medical Boards, a national organization representing the 69 medical boards of the United States and its territories. Van Komen received his medical degree at the Bowman Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest University, North Carolina. Currently chair of the Utah Medical Association’s Committee for Controlled Substances Education and the Utah Alcohol Policy Coalition, Komen is also an assistant professor of clinical medicine at the U School of Medicine.
Hermann A. Peine BA’68 MA’70 PhD’71 was awarded a grant from the Fulbright Program to lecture on conflict resolution and conduct management for the Ministry of Education and the Turkish Cypriot Community for the 2000-01 academic year. Peine is a clinical professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the U.
Julie Smart BA’68 MA’70, professor and director of the Rehabilitation Counseling Program in the Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation at Utah State University, has published a book, Disability, Society, and the Individual. Her program at USU is the largest master’s degree program on rehabilitation in the world and is ranked 12 th in the nation in the U.S. News and World Report rating of all rehabilitation counseling programs. Smart was named the National Researcher of the Year for 2001 by the National Council on Rehabilitation Education.
Cloyd B. Gatrell BA’72 received the 2001 Excellence in Emergency Medicine Award from the Government Services Chapter, American College of Emergency Physicians. The award is given annually to one emergency physician in the Army, Navy, Air Force, or other federal agency. Gatrell is a colonel in the U.S. Army Medical Corps and received the award for his sustained specialty leadership, input on military policy, and mentoring of emergency physicians. He earned his M.D. from Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, and is currently director of Medical Services Systems on the faculty of the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He and his wife, Kathryn BSN’71, have eight children, one of whom is currently a fourth-generation U student.
Ronald Rainger MA’76, professor of history at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, was recently presented with the university’s President’s Excellence in Teaching Award for the year 2000-01.
C. Aaron Kelley MBA’76 is the new dean of the E. Craig Wall
Sr. College of Business Administration and professor of management at
Coastal Carolina University, Conway, South Carolina. He was previously
professor of management systems at Ohio University, where he also served
as dean of the College of Business for three years and as assistant vice
president of regional higher education. Kelley has held numerous management
positions in business and is a consultant in the areas of strategic management,
continuous improvement process, and multicultural diversity. He received
his Ph.D. from the University of North Texas.
George R. Flores MD’77 of San Diego, California, has been
appointed to a 16-member national panel of experts that will address the
subject, “Assuring the Health of the Public in the 21st Century.”
This study will develop a new framework to guide public health efforts
nationwide, with a particular focus on involving diverse communities.
Flores is public health officer for the county of San Diego Health and
Human Service Agency and is founder of the Latino Coalition for a Healthy
California.
Roger McClain ex’77 was promoted to senior associate with Stantec Consulting Inc., a firm that provides consultation to infrastructure and facilities projects in over 40 locations, primarily throughout North America. McClain has 23 years of engineering experience encompassing project management, planning, design, inspection, estimating, and construction administration.
M. Quinn Brewster BS’78 MS’79 became the first holder of the Hermia G. Soo Professorship in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the College of Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Brewster earned his doctorate at the University of California, Berkeley, and joined the faculty at Illinois in 1986. He is internationally recognized for his fundamental scientific and engineering research in radiation heat transfer, solid propellant and metal combustion, thermophysical properties of materials, and laser-aided materials processing.
Lawrence B. Dunn BS’79 PhD’93 is the meteorologist in
charge of the National Weather Service forecast office for Utah, where
he oversees an organization of 28 people, including forecasters, technicians,
electronics experts, and a hydrologist. He has published numerous articles
in scientific journals on subjects such as mountain meteorology and severe
thunderstorms over the West. He was recognized with the Department of
Commerce Gold Medal for saving the lives of two skiers who had been caught
in an avalanche, putting his own life at risk in the rescue.
E. Lee White BS’84 has become a sales associate with Ramsey
Group Real Estate in Salt Lake City. She began her real estate career
in 1989 and is licensed in Utah and California. White has earned multiple
awards for multimillion-dollar production. AM
Christian Johnson BA’84 MPrA’85 is associate professor of
law at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, teaching in the tax and
finance area. Jeanne Hayes BA’85 has joined Ramsey Group Real Estate,
bringing 15 years of experience in the industry to her new position. A
multi-million-dollar producer, she is also a member of the Utah State
Historical Society and the Salt Lake Board of Realtors Community Services
Committee.
John Youngren BA’88, former president of the Young Alumni Association at the U, has joined the staff of Love Communications, a Salt Lake City-based full-service advertising agency. He will direct the agency’s account team, supervise several key accounts, and head the public relations efforts of the agency. Youngren was previously with Harris & Love Advertising. He is a member of the Utah Advertising Federation Board of Directors. AM
Matthew M. Durham BA’89 JD’92 was recently elected to a four-year term on the 26-member board of directors of the Travelers Aid Society of Salt Lake City. This board is responsible for setting policies for the organization. Durham, a principal with Stoel Rives law firm in its employment law practice group, is vice president of the Young Alumni Association at the U. AM
Emily Swan BS’89 BS’93, professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at the U, was interviewed for the PBS program, “Reading Rockets,” a five-part literary series that aired in January 2001. Swan was selected because of her motivational work integrating science and language arts into the elementary classroom curriculum. AM
Lance Huber BS’93 has joined the Orton Group, a Salt Lake City-based advertising, public relations, and design firm, as a writer-producer, bringing 10 years of creative experience in television and radio production to his new position. His work has included advertising campaigns for local, regional, and national clients, for which Huber has received such awards as two Rocky Mountain Emmys, the International Vision Award, and the Crystal Communicator Award.
Jerolyn J.Wroble BA’93 received a promotion to public relations
counselor for Bremer Public Relations. She will manage strategic planning,
media and community relations, and event coordination for several local
and national accounts. She has been with Bremer since February 2000.
Peter Jarman BA’94 has been appointed senior director of business
development with Oculus Technologies Corporation of Boston, Massachusetts.
Jarman brings more than 10 years of experience to this position, having
previously been at Campus Pipeline and ICON Inc. and a senior manager
of product marketing for MyFamily, Inc.
David Marcey PhD’95, Fletcher Jones Professor of Developmental Biology, has been elected to tenure at the California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California.
Eleni N. Vatsis BA’95 has joined the Cincinnati office of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, LLP as an attorney in corporate practice. She previously worked in Memphis, Tennessee, and is a member of the business and health-care sections of the Tennessee Bar Association, Mississippi Bar Association, and American Bar Association. Vatsis earned her J.D. at Vanderbilt Law School in 1998.
Nicole (Nikki) Miller DeForge JD’96 is a new member of the business section at Van Cott, Bagley, Cornwall & McCarthy, where her primary practice will be in the area of intellectual property—copy-rights, trademarks, trade secrets, and licensing. Her experience is in e-commerce and Internet law, with particular emphasis on privacy issues. DeForge previously worked with the LDS Church, specializing in intellectual property issues. She is a member of the Utah State Bar. While at the U, she was managing editor of the Utah Law Review.
In 1954,
inside the old School of Medicine on lower campus, G. Julian
Maack MFA’51 began a career as medical illustrator that
ended June 29 in the new School of Medicine on upper campus. For
48 years his illustrations—“a way of putting words into
pictures”—have graced journals, textbooks, and offices.
