Class Notes

1950s

Francis E. Johnston ’59

’60 AS is a biological anthropologist and professor emeritus of anthropology in the University of Pennsylvania College of Arts and Sciences in Philadelphia. He is also a Fellow in the Penn Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics.

The University of Kentucky “Marching 100” band added majorettes to its half-time football game activities in 1960. The majorettes performed for the first time during the Auburn-UK football game at Stoll Field. They are, from the left: Karen Shields, Susan Mendel, and Donna Wilson.

1960s

Phillip Taliaferro ’62 LAW

lives in Erlanger and is the founder of Taliaferro Carran & Hampton PLLC in Covington. He was inducted into the Kentucky Veterans Hall of Fame and Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame.

Marie E. Setser ’65 AS

was elected chair of the Endowment Board of the Unitarian Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The church is the oldest Unitarian church in the South.

Donald A. Vizi ’65 BE lives in McInnville, Tennessee, and is president and CEO of the McMinnville — Warren County Chamber of Commerce. He retired as a lieutenant colonel from the U.S. Air Force after a 26-year career and has been working for chambers of commerce for more than 16 years.

Bissell Roberts ’67 AS is an attorney and partner with Bardenwerper, Talbott & Roberts PLLC in Louisville, specializing in land use law, zoning, eminent domain and mediation. He was appointed to the Kentucky Crime Victims Compensation Board by Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. Roberts is also a member of the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance. He earned his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Phillip R. Patton ’68 ED,

’72 AS, ’73 LAW lives in Glasgow and is a retired Circuit Court judge for the 43rd Judicial Circuit serving Barren and Metcalfe counties. He received the 2021 Chief Justice’s Special Service Award for his work as a circuit judge and for overseeing cases in the Green River Region as a retired judge. Prior to serving on the bench, Patton was the commonwealth’s attorney for Barren and Metcalfe counties and, before that, an attorney in private practice for 19 years in Glasgow.

Fred T. Tracy ’68 AS lives in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and was inducted into the Waterways Experiment Station Gallery of Distinguished Employees. He is a retired employee of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center Information Technology Laboratory after 47 years of public service.

1970s

Patrick Fugeman ’70 DES

lives in Newark, Delaware, and retired after 27 years on the senior management team as vice president, design and construction at Christiana Care Health System in Wilmington, Delaware.

Sandra L. Helton ’71 AS

lives in Chicago and serves on the boards of directors and is chair of the Audit Committees for Principal Financial Group, Covetrus Inc., an animal health services and technology company, and OptiNose, a specialty pharmaceutical company. She was named to the National Association of Corporate Directors Directorship 100.

Pamela L. Elam ’72 AS,

’75 LAW is a retired attorney and activist. She is president of the Monumental Women Board of Directors in New York, and worked to get the Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument in New York City’s Central Park. In her career, Elam held many positions including legislative aide to the New York City Council; assistant New York City comptroller and director of Community Relations; coordinator at the Mayor’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and deputy chief of staff to the Manhattan borough president.

Marc A. Wells ’72 BE, ’75

LAW is the owner of Marc Wells Attorney at Law in Princeton. He was named a Continental Who’s Who Trusted Attorney.

Dale R. Curth ’74 DES

lives in Louisville and retired as project manager and associate at Schmidt Associates Inc., an architecture and engineering firm, after a nearly 50-year career in architecture. He had been a principal and president at Arrasmith Judd Rapp Chovan, which joined with Schmidt in 2020.

Kim Weaver Kelly ’75

NUR lives in Dimondale, Michigan, and is a retired accountant manager for the Michigan State Police Office of Highway Safety Planning. She was appointed to the Michigan Truck Safety Commission by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Carroll D. Stevens ’76

LAW is interim president of Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. He is a member of the Rhodes College Board of Trustees and had been vice president for advancement at Claremont McKenna College. Stevens previously served as associated dean of Yale University School of Law and at the UK J. David Rosenberg College of Law.

Kenneth B. Ewan ’79 BE

is an assistant professor of finance and director of the online master of business administration program at Grace College School of Business in Winona Lake, Indiana. He joined Grace College after 32 years in the private sector.

1980s

Charles W. Rice ’80 ’83

AFE lives in Manhattan, Kansas, and is the Kansas State University Distinguished Professor of Soil Microbiology. He is also a professor in the Federal University of Santa Maria Department of Soil Science in Brazil. Rice was the first recipient of the Mary L. Vanier University Professorship at Kansas State University, which honors and supports innovative faculty members.

Bryan K. Slone ’85 EN retired from Columbia Gas after serving for over 35 years in various capacities in their Engineering Department in both Columbus, Ohio, and Lexington.

Solomon L. Van Meter

’80 AFE is an attorney and senior project manager of energy and land services for Bowman Consulting Group Ltd., responsible for managing land acquisition and other real estate matters for renewable energy development projects. He earned his law degree at the Washington and Lee University School of Law.

Ashley W. Ward ’81 AS,

’84 LAW is a member at Stites & Harbison PLLC and is co-leader in the Torts and Insurance Service Group in the firm’s Lexington office. He was appointed to the Eastern Kentucky University Board of Regents by Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.

Vanessa Dickson ’82 LAW

is a retired District Court judge, having served the 14th Judicial District, which consists of Bourbon, Scott and Woodford counties, for 16 years. She received the 2021 Kentucky District Judges Association (KPJA) Judge Robert W. Heaton Award. Dickson was a former president of the KDJA and also a former partner at Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs LLP before becoming a judge.

James T. Pauley ’86 EN

lives in Norwood, Massachusetts, and is CEO for the National Fire Protection Association. He also serves as chairman of the board of directors of the NFPA Research Foundation. He had been senior vice president, external affairs, and government relations for Schneider Electric.

Jaleh K. Slominski ’86 AS

is an attorney and founder of Slominski Law PC, which has offices in Roanoke and Lynchburg, Virginia. She was named a Virginia Lawyers Weekly Go To Lawyer for Workers Compensation. Slominski earned her law degree from the Duquesne University School of Law.

Rafael Ocasio ’87 AS is the Charles A. Dana Professor of Spanish, the chairman of the Department of Spanish, and a faculty fellow at the Gay Johnson McDougall Center for Global Diversity at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia.

Kelly S. Tate ’87 MED

lives in Hopkinsville and is a family medicine physician at Logan Primary Care-Elkton, part of the Logan Memorial Medical Group. He was previously medical director for the Hopkinsville VA Clinic.

Martha B. Allard ’88 EN

lives in Brentwood, Tennessee, and was appointed as an administrative trademark judge for the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board by Chief Judge Gerard F. Rogers. She was previously with the firm Bass, Berry & Sims PLC.

James T. Brannon ’88 EN

lives in Florence and is the Kentucky state transportation leader for Gresham Smith, an architecture, engineering and design firm. He was selected as market vice president of the firm’s transportation market, which encompasses more than 230 professionals across seven states. He will assume the role on Jan. 1, 2022.

A group of people boarded “Old Blue,” the University of Kentucky’s double-decker English bus which was used for alumni and students for guided tours of the Lexington campus. It also provided transportation for alumni to the UK football home games.

Class Notes

Quita Beeler Highsmith

’88 CI is vice president and chief diversity officer for Genentech, a member of the Roche Group. She received the 2021 Trailblazer Award from Lead360, was recognized as one of the Diversity Global Magazine Top 15 Champions of Diversity and was named to Top 100 Diversity Officers by The National Diversity Council.

Bill C. Allen ’89 BE is CEO of Bank of the Bluegrass and Trust Co. in Lexington. He had been the bank’s president and was previously a district manager for Bank One.

Brian P. Hale ’89 AS, ’02

GS lives in Bethesda, Maryland, and is vice president for global market development and public private partnerships for QOMPLX, a global leader in cloud-native risk analytics. He was previously assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Office of Public Affairs.

Mary Beth Hudson ’89

EN is executive director of the Chattanooga, Tennessee Peak Performance Inc. Smart Factory Institute, which helps manufacturers improve its processes. She had been vice president at Wacker Polysilicon Division in the North America, Central America and Adino Nord region of South America.

Judy Jones Owens’89 AS,

’92 LAW lives in Lexington and is the Appalachian director of the Steele-Reese Foundation, a charitable trust committed to supporting rural communities and the tax-exempt entities that serve them in Idaho, Montana, in the Native nations that share the geography, and in Appalachian Kentucky. She was elected president of the Woman’s Club of Central Kentucky, a historic philanthropic organization.

Michael S. Wilkins ’89 ’91

BE is the Larry D. Horner/ KPMG Professor and doctoral program coordinator for the accounting area in the Kansas University School of Business in Lawrence. He was appointed to the Madison and Lila Self Graduate Programs Board of Trustees for the Self Graduate Fellowship.

1990s

Robert A. Hans ’90 EN

lives in Fort Thomas and is the Cincinnati office manager for engineering firm Michael Baker Intl. He was previously assistant vice president for the Cincinnati and Lexington offices for WSP USA.

Lisa A. Columbia ’91 CI

is president and general manager of WHAS-TV, the ABC affiliate in Louisville, responsible for overseeing all facets of the station’s operations, including content, advertising sales, marketing, and technical operations. She had been the station’s director of sales.

Carrie Wiseman Taylor ’92

BE lives in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and is senior vice president of commercial banking for German American Bank. She was named to the Bowling Green Municipal Utilities Board of Directors.

William R. Gay ’93 FA

lives in Laurinburg, North Carolina, and is dean of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke College of Arts and Sciences. He had been the college’s interim dean, and served as senior associate dean chairman of the Department of Art.

William B. Lee ’94 AS, ’98

MED lives in Atlanta and is an ophthalmologist for Eye Consultants of Atlanta, specializing in cornea, external diseases and refractive surgery. He was named an Atlanta Magazine Castle Connolly Top Doctor in the ophthalmology category.

Brenda L. Boetel ’95 GS

lives in River Falls, Wisconsin, and is a professor, extension agricultural marketing specialist and chair of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls Department Chair of Agricultural Economics. She was named the University of Wisconsin-River Falls Adviser of the Year.

Jeffrey W. Rivers ’96 EN

is special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Cincinnati Field Office. He was previously section chief and the director of the Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and assistant special agent in charge of the Norfolk Field Office in Virginia.

Jennifer S. Brannock ’97

FA, ’00 CI is professor and curator of Rare Books & Mississippiana at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. She was elected to serve a three-year term on the Local History and Genealogy Committee of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions representing the Reference and User Services Association, a division of the American Library Association.

Carrie Caldwell Masterson

’97 BE is executive vice president and chief operating officer for People’s Bank in Lebanon. She was previously executive vice president and chief operating officer for Town and Country Bank and Trust Co.

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Class Notes

Evelyn M. Parrish ’97 ’08

NUR lives in Lexington and is an associate professor of nursing instruction in the UK College of Nursing. She received the American Psychiatric Nurses Association Psychiatric Nurse of the Year for providing psychiatric-mental health nursing patient care and service in clinical leadership positions.

Laura A. Powers ’97 ’02

AFE lives in Pembroke and is an area farm agent for Kentucky Farm Business Management, which is part of the UK Cooperative Extension Service. She was named president of the board of directors of the National Association of Farm Business Analysis Specialists. She was previously an extension specialist in tobacco financial analysis and labor education in the UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment Department of Agricultural Economics.

Brandon M. Tosti ’97 ’00

ED lives in Arvada, Colorado, and is an author and manager of corporate partnerships and activations for the City and County of Denver, Arts and Venues. He founded Sports For a Cause, which started as an effort to restore playgrounds and youth athletic facilities in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, as well as in Denver.

Jeffrey K. Wethington

’97 ED is interim principal for College View Middle School in Owensboro. He had been the school’s assistant principal.

Elizabeth O’Bryan Bland-

ford ’98 ED is interim principal at Foust Elementary School in Owensboro. She was previously assistant principal, kindergarten teacher and a reading intervention specialist at the school.

Russell M. Coleman ’98

AS, ’04 LAW is a partner at Frost Brown Todd LLC in the firm’s Louisville office and practicing in the areas of government and internal investigations, white-collar criminal defense and government relations. He was named to the Kentucky State Police Foundation Board of Directors. Coleman was previously the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.

Terrell F. Johnson ’98 LAW

lives in Smyrna, Georgia, and is the owner and CEO of ASID Group Intl., which provides professional services to foreign, U.S., state, metropolitan and civil sectors. He was appointed as the District 3 commissioner on the Georgia Public Service Commission by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. Johnson also retired from the U.S. Army after a 21-year career.

Dustin Anderson ’99 AS

lives in New Port Richey, Florida, and was appointed as the Pasco County Court judge by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. He was previously an assistant state attorney for the Sixth Judicial Circuit. Anderson earned his law degree from the University of Florida Levin College of Law.

Matthew E. Baur ’99 AFE

is director of Western Integrated Pest Management Center in Davis, California. He had been the center’s associate director and was a research scientist at DuPont/Pioneer.

Ashley Fortney Point ’99

AS lives in Wilmington, North Carolina, and is president of the Koolen-de Vries Syndrome Foundation Board of Directors.

2000s

Emily W. Roark ’00 LAW

is a partner at the Bryant Law Center PSC in Paducah. She was appointed as a special justice on the Supreme Court of Kentucky by Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, representing the 1st Supreme Court District on an upcoming case. Special justices are appointed to the state Supreme Court when one or two justices decline or are unable to sit on a case, according to the state constitution.

Calvin M. Taylor ’00 FA

lives in Bowling Green, and is a music publisher, concert pianist, recording artist and director of the Calvin Taylor Foundation, which provides musical presentations for people in various living and housing situations not normally able to sponsor or host a special musical event.

Gathan D. Borden ’01 BE

lives in Lexington and is vice president of marketing for the Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau in Lexington. He was named president for Visit Horse Country, an organization of horse farms, equine medical clinics and equine attractions dedicated to sharing the stories of Kentucky’s horse country.

Emily Custer Henderson

’01 PHA lives in Louisville and is a pharmacy consultant with the Kentucky Hospital Association (KHA). She received the Kentucky Society of Health-System Pharmacists (KSHP) President’s Award for her role in bringing KHA and KSHP together in support of two pieces of legislation. Henderson also serves on the UK Alumni Association Board of Directors.

Jed Leano ’01 CI is an immigration attorney and owner of The Law Offices of Jed Leano in Los Angeles. He is serving his first term and is mayor pro tem on the Claremont City Council. Leano earned his law degree from Rutgers Law School.

Darah Garrett Jirkovsky

’01 CI is executive director for SoutheastHEALTH Foundation in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. She had been the foundation’s development manager.

Molly S. McComas ’01 CI

is superintendent of Clark County Public Schools in Winchester. She had been director of student services for Scott County Schools and director of student services and operations for Williamstown Independent Schools.

LeKenya R. Middlebrook

’02 AS lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, and was appointed the city’s first director of community safety by Mayor Indya Kincannon. She had been the executive director of the city’s Police Advisory & Review Committee.

Marlo Edwards Rans-

dell ’02 ’04 DES is an associate professor in the Department of Interior Architecture and Design at Florida State University in Tallahassee. She received the Florida State University Department of Interior Architecture and Design 2021 Ralph Stair Prize in Innovative Education Award.

Beth Yates Shields ’02

ED, ’04 CI is city historian at the Capital City Museum in Frankfort. She was previously state archivist and records administrator, and director of the Archives Records Management Division of the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives.

Charles B. Simmons ’03 DES is an associate, client liaison for Schmidt Associates in the firm’s Louisville office. He was previously a principal at EOP Architects.

John D. McClain ’04 BE

lives in Columbus, Ohio, and is a portfolio manager and member of the fixed income team for Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC, a subsidiary of Franklin Resources, Inc. He had been a portfolio manager at Diamond Hill Capital Management.

A homecoming parade took place in downtown Lexington. The Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity participated by driving in a Corvette with “root ‘em home” references made to the football team.

Photo courtesy of ExploreUK

Robert D. Roar ’04 BE is a financial advisor and co-owner of RC Wealth Management in Grayson.

Rashada C. Alexander ’05

AS is program director for the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology Policy Fellowships, which place scientists in one- to twoyear assignments in offices across all three branches of government. She had been operations and impact director for the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research.

Ryan M. McLane ’05 AS,

’08 LAW is a partner at DBL Law in the firm’s Civil Litigation Practice Group. He was named president of the People Working Cooperative Emerging Leaders Board of Directors.

Sarah A. Short ’05 SW

lives in Bronston and is a geriatric social worker and owner of the Comfort Keepers of Somerset, a provider of in-home care for seniors and other adults.

Stephen J. Wiggins ’05 FA

is an artist living in Lexington. He was one eight artists from across Kentucky selected for Kentucky Crafted, the Kentucky Arts Council’s program that aids Kentucky visual and craft artists through marketing and promotional opportunities and arts business training. Wiggins is also eligible to exhibit at The Kentucky Crafted Market in March 2022.

Amber Valentine Forston

’06 AFE is a speech-language pathologist for Baptist Health Lexington. She was previously with Wolfson’s Children’s Hospital and Mayo Florida.

Carl Frazier-Sparks ’07

LAW is a lead counsel for class action litigation for Walmart Inc. in Bentonville, Arkansas. He was named to the Talk Business & Politics 2021 Forty Under 40. He was previously senior counsel for class action litigation for Walmart.

Samantha J. Gange ’08 AS

is the city manager for the city of Rock Island, Illinois. She was previously director of quality assurance for Arrowhead Youth and Family Services and assistant to the vice president for instruction for Black Hawk College.

Ryan J. Patrick ’08 ED is a personal trainer and the owner of Peak Fitness & Sports Training in Erlanger.

Daniel J. Brown ’09 DES

lives in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, and is a seventh- and eighth-grade English teacher for the School District of Prairie Farm.

Amanda L. Davis ’09 AFE

is the talent acquisition division lead for Vivo Growth Partners, a human resources company is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. She had been an account manager for Aerotek.