3 minute read
Honors for Chippewas
ALUMNI NEWS
Honors for CMU Chippewas
Abby Parrill-Baker, ’92, dean of the arts & sciences at the University of Memphis, will serve as interim provost when the current provost, Tom Nenon, steps down at the end of June to return to a full-time faculty job. Parrill-Baker has been with the university since 1998. As dean, her research is primarily in computational structural biology and rational ligand design. She begins her role as interim provost on July 1. Sidd Kaza, M.S. ’03, has accepted the senior leadership position as Towson University’s associate provost for research and dean of graduate studies. Kaza will be the inaugural leader in this role, advancing the transformative influence that research will play in the lives of students, inspiring the faculty and students to engage in creating a productive research environment for the university. His appointment begins July 5. Liz Rouech, ’17, has been appointed senior account executive for Mulberry Marketing Communications Ltd., an international public relations and marketing communications consultancy firm based in London. Rouech will be based out of Mulberry’s Chicago office. Sheryl Haislet, ’11, was named to Mission Critical magazine’s 2022 Top 25 Women in Technology list. Haislet is the chief information officer for Vertiv, a provider of equipment and services for data centers around the world. She holds a graduate certificate in SAP from CMU. Caitlin McBride, ’16, was appointed Ionia County assistant prosecutor. Most recently, she spent two and a half years with the Michigan Court of Appeals in its pre-hearing division, working on cases involving crime, termination of parental rights, and abuse and neglect. Sarah Opperman, ’81, was inducted into the Junior Achievement of North Central Michigan Business Hall of Fame. She has served as a director on the Isabella Bank Corporation and Bank boards since 2012 and was elected chair in May 2021. She started her career at Dow in 1981, retiring in 2009 as vice president of global government affairs and public policy. Angella Durkin, ’01, was named chief financial officer of Forgotten Harvest, leading the finance function and strategy for the organization. Durkin was the Chief Operating Officer at NextEnergy, a Detroit-based nonprofit, prior to joining the Oak Park, Michigan, organization dedicated to fighting hunger and food waste. Dave Clark, ’96, is the new editor of the Midland Daily News. After spending more than 15 years as a reporter and editor, Clark was the director of student media and adviser for CM Life at CMU. During the nearly nine years he spent in that role, the student newspaper’s staff earned five College Media Company of the Year recognitions, seven Division 1 College Newspaper of the Year awards from the Michigan Press Association, three Pacemaker Awards from the Associated Collegiate Press, and numerous other honors. Robert Kolt, ’79, has been appointed to the Michigan Community Service Commission by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Kolt is the president and CEO of Kolt Communications, Inc. and a public relations professor at Michigan State University. He was reappointed to represent experts in promoting service and voluntarism among older adults; his term expires Oct. 1, 2024. Jacalyn Goforth, ’82, has joined Henry Ford Health System’s board of directors. Goforth, a retired CPA partner who most recently lead a team for PricewaterhouseCoopers, also serves on CMU’s Alumni Board and chairs the board of Health Alliance Plan (HAP). Kevin MacMillan, ’07, has joined the Reno (Nevada) Gazette Journal as city editor. MacMillan previously was editor of Northern Nevada Business Weekly and a reporter/sports editor, managing editor and co-general manager at Sierra Sun and North Lake Tahoe Bonanza. Mohibullah Israr, M.A. ’12, is the new Americans navigator for Capital Area Michigan Works in Lansing. Israr, who came to the U.S. in 2007, helps work-authorized new Americans access housing, health care, childcare, transportation, educational, training, employment, and legal and financial services, all while adjusting to their new community. He speaks Pashto, Dari, Persian, Urdu and English, enabling him to speak fluently with new Americans from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. •
