Northwest Alumni Magazine Fall 2017

NORTHWEST THE MAGAZINE FOR NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNI AND FRIENDS

ALUMNI MAGAZINE I FALL 2017

THE

MAMMOTH GIRL

Dr. Ashley Leger '09 p.8

2017 HOMECOMING Around the World I p.17

ALUMNI AWARDS 8 to be honored I p.18

SPRING SPORTS RECAP

'Cats earn accolades I p.27

PEOPLE JUST LIKE

YOU

It’s because of the volunteer support of countless alumni and friends – spirited people like the Black Alumni and Friends Chapter – that Northwest continues to thrive.

Northwest has prepared and inspired thousands to achieve the mainstream tenets of life – to be able to grow and prosper in one’s chosen profession, to care for and nurture a loving family, and be involved in desirable positives, social and community endeavors.

That last tenet is the broad reason we were inspired to develop and implement a Northwest Black Alumni and Friends Chapter.

What if we were exposed to a group like us during our college experiences? We believe all would have benefited immensely if we were exposed to an entity of this magnitude as we pursued our college careers.

This idea was presented to Northwest leaders, and they wholeheartedly supported the endeavor. A year later, we are furthering the mission of Northwest and its outreach to the black student community.

We are truly grateful to Northwest leadership for their commitment to this unique collaboration. The vision and interest in such an effort is remarkable. To that end, we sincerely look forward to this opportunity and encourage all alumni not engaged to consider supporting one of the many alumni chapters in your area.

Marcus E. Mack ’77, secretary

Otealet Newman ’75, president

Kelvin Parker Sr. ’76, vice president

If you are interested in volunteer opportunities at Northwest, contact the Office of University Advancement at alumni@nwmissouri.edu or 660.562.1248.

NORTHWEST

ALUMNI

N O RT H W E S T M IS S O UR I S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

NORTHWEST ALUMNI MAGAZINE Vol. 51 | Issue 1

Editor Mark Hornickel ’01, ’13 mhorn@nwmissouri.edu Designer Kim Ziegler ’16 kimz@nwmissouri.edu Design assistants Ashlee Hendrix ’08 Wes Rockwood ’14 Photographer Todd Weddle ’96 tweddle@nwmissouri.edu Photography assistant Jay Bradway Carly Hostetter Editorial assistants Mitzi Craft Marchant ’91, ’09 Teresa Darrah Gustafson ’97, ’05 Mike Johnson ’85 Laurie Drummond Long ’92 Rhonda Mannasmith Bob Machovsky ’15 Katie Machovsky ’16 Sam Mason ’88 Scott Nielson ’01 Dr. Lonelle Rathje ’97, ’03 Alexis Ryan ’17 Brandon Stanley ’01, ’16 Lori McLemore Steiner ’85 Brenda Untiedt ’00, ’09

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THE MAMMOTH GIRL

On this page, Leger, a paleontologist, opens a tray of bones in the research and collections facility at the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum in Los Angeles.

On the cover, Leger picks sediment from a mammoth skull she helped uncover last fall during an extensive excavation project in downtown Los Angeles.

Dr. Ashley Leger ’09

The Northwest Alumni Magazine is published three times a year by the Office of University Marketing and Communication, the Office of University Advancement, Northwest Missouri State University and the Northwest Foundation Inc., 800 University Dr., Maryville, MO 64468-6001.

The mission of the Northwest Alumni Magazine is to foster connections between alumni, friends and Northwest Missouri State University. The University strives to inform readers of the accomplishments of Northwest’s alumni, friends, faculty, staff and students and to positively position the University in the hearts of its many constituents to increase public and private support.

contents TRADITIONS 22

HUGHES FIELDHOUSE

GROUNDBREAKING Construction of activity center begins

35

BELIEF IN

THE BEARD Alumnus creates hair care product

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Dear Friends

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Northwest News

14 Alumni Connections 21 Advancing Northwest 26 Bearcat Sports 30 Class Notes 39 Northwest Postcard

Northwest Missouri State University is an equal-opportunity, co-educational university and does not discriminate based on race, sex, disability, age, national origin or religion. Printed in the USA.

DEAR

FRIENDS Field experiences are vital to student learning at Northwest.

That is especially true within the Earth sciences. Getting students into the field makes Earth science come alive and adds so much to the educational process.

Feedback I receive from students confirms that field work is a great benefit for a solid understanding of how the Earth works.

As a member of the geology faculty in the Department of Natural Sciences at Northwest for the past 27 years, I have had many opportunities to accompany students on field trips to a variety of locations throughout the United States. Each fall, the department offers a six-day field trip to destinations such as the Black Hills of South Dakota, mining districts in central Minnesota and the Front Range of the Rockies in Colorado.

In addition, students have opportunities to take shorter field trips as part of many of the upper division geology major courses.

During the past several years, extended two-week trips have been added to the geology curriculum to locations throughout the western United States and to the British Isles.

Our featured alumna in this issue, Dr. Ashley Leger ’09, actively participated in field trips during her time at Northwest.

It’s a great feeling to follow students like Ashley who are working in the field where they can apply the knowledge they learned in the classroom. There’s no question that our students are well-prepared for their careers, and I know that an integral part of that preparation comes from field trip experiences.

Jeff Bradley ’88 Senior instructor of geology

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NORTHWEST ALUMNI MAGAZINE I FALL 2017

Jeff Bradley snapped a selfie while visiting Great Sand Dunes National Park with Northwest students in May.

NORTHWEST FOUNDATION INC. ’17–’18 BOARD OF DIRECTORS President Arnold Johnson ’77, Houston, Texas Vice President Jennifer Dawson Nicholson ’71, Kansas City, Mo. Immediate Past President Mark Doll ’80, West Des Moines, Iowa Board Members Leisha Beckemeyer Barry ’84, Liberty, Mo. Robert Barmann ’84, Platte City, Mo. Dr. Robert Burrell ’70, Denver, Colo.

John Cline ’75, Overland Park, Kan. Karen Daniel ’80, Belton, Mo. Paula Rector Davis ’91, Lee’s Summit, Mo. Ken DeBaene ’81, Long Branch, N.J. Myra Turner Evans ’77, Tarkio, Mo. Mike Faust ’74, Omaha, Neb. Don Foley ’78, Ames, Iowa Bruce Gehrlein ’86, Wilton, Conn.

Eric Geis ’01, Shawnee Mission, Kan. Roger Hendren ’75, Melissa, Texas

Jacqueline Vincent Henningsen ’66, Arlington, Va. David Holmes ’79, Prescott, Ariz.

Carl Hughes ’76, Kansas City, Mo. Gary Hultquist ’64, Sonoma, Calif.

Paul Jennings ’75, West Des Moines, Iowa John Moore ’78, Raymore, Mo. Angela Booth Moskow, Basking Ridge, N.J. William Oellermann ’72, Mansfield, Texas Patricia Hagan Poulos ’75, Highland Village, Texas Mary Hamilton Purdy ’72, Davidsonville, Md. Thomas Sanchez ’02, Washington, D.C. Jayma Elmore Sandquist ’90, Indianola, Iowa Dennis Sapp ’68, Gig Harbor, Wash.

Ken Scribner ’87, Kansas City, Mo. Carol Blom Spradling ’88, Maryville Brad Stephens ’98, Butler, Mo. Gary Thompson ’76, Princeton, Mo.

John Teale ’73, Maryville Stan Zeamer ’70, Huntingdon, Pa.

Ex-Officio Directors Dr. Dean L. Hubbard, President Emeritus, Kansas City, Mo. Dr. John Jasinski, University President Mike Johnson ’85, Executive Director Dr. B.D. Owens ’59, President Emeritus, West Des Moines, Iowa University Advancement Mike Johnson ’85, vice president mikej@nwmissouri.edu Brooke Weldon Bowles ’02, accounting clerk and scholarship coordinator bbowles@nwmissouri.edu Mitzi Craft Marchant ’91, ’09, director of corporate and foundation relations mitzi@nwmissouri.edu Teresa Darrah Gustafson ’97, ’05, development officer teresa@nwmissouri.edu Gabrielle Hawkins ’16, annual giving and donor relations specialist ghawkins@nwmissouri.edu

Carma Greene Kinman ’85, executive assistant ckinman@nwmissouri.edu Laurie Drummond Long ’92, development officer laurie@nwmissouri.edu Bob Machovsky ’15, director of alumni relations and annual giving rmachov@nwmissouri.edu Sam Mason ’88, development officer smason@nwmissouri.edu Scott Nielson ’01, associate athletic director of development and external affairs scottn@nwmissouri.edu Dr. Lonelle Rathje ’97, ’03, executive director of development and campaign coordinator lonelle@nwmissouri.edu Lori McLemore Steiner ’85, finance officer and executive director of advancement services steiner@nwmissouri.edu Brenda Untiedt ’00, ’09, alumni relations and advancement communications specialist brenda@nwmissouri.edu

NORTHWEST NEWS

CHANGING FINANCIAL LANDSCAPE University optimizing for today, building for future through strategic planning efforts

The field of higher education, like and a nearly 10 percent appropriations other sectors, is changing rapidly, and decrease as it heads into the 2017-18 Northwest has made a fundamental fiscal year. Northwest receives about “We will remember 2016choice to embrace the change through 32 percent of its funding from state 17 for so much progress, a its strategic planning. appropriations, compared to more than 65 percent from the state in 1990.

The Northwest Leadership Team, continuing optimization along with an array of faculty and The University was intentional in staff leaders, addressed revenues, addressing the fiscal change as 75 of current operations expenses, reallocations and strategic percent of the cuts and reallocations and a focus on strategic investments in alignment with were accomplished within University mission-critical priorities aimed programming and operations and 25 investment and building at delivering high-quality learning percent through student tuition and fees. experiences, protecting access and for the future.”

Northwest announced it will close affordability, valuing faculty and staff, its Missouri Academy of Science, Dr. John Jasinski, president and preserving Northwest’s long-term Mathematics and Computing – a viability. program launched on the campus in 2000 In the past year, Northwest for high-achieving high school juniors introduced professional schools and a redesigned Northwest and seniors – in spring 2018 and expects to save about $470,000 Online. It continued embedding profession-based learning across during the coming fiscal year. The University also is closing its curricular and co-curricular programming and built a diversity, Northwest-St. Joseph location to save about $500,000 annually in equity and inclusion infrastructure. The University was named coming years. a top institution for placing students into jobs, and it won 11 Seventeen positions were reduced and an additional 25 vacant national championships in academics as well as historic football positions were eliminated through restructuring and reallocations. and basketball championships. Construction is underway on the The University also offered a voluntary retirement incentive Carl and Cheryl Hughes Fieldhouse as well as the Michael L. Faust program in the spring, in which 25 faculty and staff members Center for Alumni and Friends, and the School of Agricultural participated, allowing Northwest to realize additional savings of Sciences is moving from its longtime home in Valk Center to a about $770,000. repurposed Dean L. Hubbard Center for Innovation.

“We will carry out our core competencies of being safe, trusted, “We will remember 2016-17 for so much progress, a continuing invested and resourceful and continue to lead in challenging times optimization of current operations and a focus on strategic by optimizing today and investing for tomorrow,” Jasinski said. investment and building for the future,” Northwest President In the shadow of its budget actions, Northwest compiled and Dr. John Jasinski said. “Nonetheless, we are in a difficult period released a report showing the University has realized an estimated of enrollment per demographics and environmental trends, and $66.5 million in cost containment and efficiencies between 2012 certainly budget conditions continue to offer many opportunities, and 2016. The University realized savings through measures such forced choices and difficult decisions.” as refinancing debt, optimizing services and processes, outsourcing, Northwest trimmed approximately $6 million from its budget in refining academic programs and targeting capital light of a 7 percent appropriations decrease in January funding.

The Dean L. Hubbard Center for Innovation, which opened on the northeast edge of the campus in 2009, becomes the new home of Northwest’s School of Agricultural Sciences this fall.

NORTHWEST ALUMNI MAGAZINE I FALL 2017

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NORTHWEST NEWS

NORTHWEST, MCC CELEBRATE PARTNERSHIP TO SAVE STUDENTS TIME, MONEY TO DEGREE Metropolitan Community College (MCC) and Northwest are launching a pilot program this fall that, through a concurrent enrollment model, meets a joint goal of increasing the number of students completing associate and bachelor’s degrees in an accelerated format.

FastTracks will provide students with an opportunity to complete both an Associate of Arts and a Bachelor of Science degree in four years or less while allowing the two institutions to develop a more seamless transfer process and remove challenges that add time and cost to degree completion.

While being responsive to student needs, the program also is responsive to workforce and economic development needs, Northwest President Dr. John Jasinski said.

“This gets at the heart of Northwest and MCC as champions,” he said. “We champion student success and, by extension, drive economic development, employer growth and community growth.

Metro Community College and Northwest Missouri State University have put together a program that’s real, that we’re going to live, and it’s going to help students in the workforce.”

The institutions submitted their joint proposal for the program to the Missouri Department of Higher Education through a statewide competitive process, and the program was one of three selected by the state last spring.

Dr. Terry Barmann '77, '86 who recently retired as director of Northwest-Kansas City, looked on as, left to right, Northwest President Dr. John Jasinski, Missouri Commissioner of Higher Education Dr. Zora Mulligan and Metropolitan Community College Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Carlos Peñaloza signed a letter of intent to launch a concurrent program that supports students’ access and pathways toward associate and bachelor’s degrees.

“I was thrilled to see Northwest and MCC had come together to propose a partnership in this pilot program,” Dr. Zora Mulligan, commissioner for the Missouri Department of Higher Education, said. “MCC is an institution that I’ve known, worked with and had a tremendous amount of respect for since my days as the Missouri Community College Association executive director, and during my time as commissioner I’ve certainly come to know and love Northwest and to really respect the way both of these institutions approach their mission. They’re both mission-driven institutions and that really shows in how they approach their work.”

FastTracks aligns with completion programs at Northwest-Kansas City and builds on synergies with the Northland Innovation Center in Gladstone, Missouri, where the University will offer four programs – in education, business management, communication and public relations, and applied health science – under the pilot.

For more information about FastTracks, visit fasttrackskc.com.

WORSFOLD IS FULBRIGHT FINALIST FOR 2017-2018 Sara Worsfold ’16, ’17 is embarking overseas to begin a new teaching assignment this fall at Obchodná Akadémia in Žilina, Slovakia, as a recipient of the prestigious Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship.

Worsfold will teach English as a second language through July 2018.

Sara Worsfold taught fifth and sixth grade at Horace Mann Laboratory School last spring as a graduate student.

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NORTHWEST ALUMNI MAGAZINE I FALL 2017

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime oppor tunity, and I feel so grateful for it,” she said. “It will help me in all aspects of teaching. It will help me with relating to people, communicating and just being able to work with others who will have different barriers. I will learn so much about myself, the world, and I’ll be able to bring that culture back with me to include more diversity in my classroom for years to come.”

The scholarship is awarded by the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board after an extensive application and interview process.

Worsfold is one of more than 1,900 U.S. citizens who will teach, conduct research and provide expertise abroad during the upcoming academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement as well as a record of service and demonstrated leadership in their respective fields.

A native of Papillion, Nebraska, Worsfold was a member of the Bearcat soccer team while completing her bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She completed her master’s degree in education with a reading emphasis last spring while teaching fifth and sixth grade at Nor thwest’s Horace Mann Laboratory School.

Worsfold is the second Nor thwest student in as many years to receive the prestigious scholarship.

NORTHWEST NEWS

Velociti's Deryk Powell, second from right, and Jim West, right, converse with Knacktive students after revealing the results of the students' efforts to design a comprehensive marketing campaign for the company.

KNACKTIVE FINISHES CAMPAIGN FOR TECH DEPLOYMENT COMPANY The deafening cheers erupted again this spring from a room in Colden Hall when a group of Knacktive students heard their team name called out for delivering the most comprehensive campaign to a real-world client.

This time it was the students comprising Team Momentum who heard Deryk Powell ’93, the president of Velociti Inc., a Kansas City, Missouri, technology deployment and service company, announce them as the winners of the annual capstone course and competition.

“I was blown away by the quality these students put out,” Powell said. “It was super good. It was really impressive.”

Each spring, Knacktive gathers 32 motivated Northwest students to work in four competitive and interactive digital media marketing teams with the goal of producing a comprehensive campaign for a real client with real issues to address. The spring 2017 class was Knacktive’s eighth iteration.

“We knew the competition was going to be stiff,” said Mariah Jones, a junior business management and marketing major from Lebanon, Missouri, who was Momentum’s project manager. “We’re not allowed to see each other’s work through the trimester, so you’re kind of stuck on an island by yourself. You’re doing the best you can to provide for the client what they’re looking for, but ultimately you have no idea what the other teams are going to pick. Every team provided some really great solutions, so I’m just really glad that they saw some value in what we brought to the table.”

The assignment for the four teams was to design and present Velociti with a plan to get the company involved earlier with other businesses that are making technology-related decisions. Where

implementing systems is sometimes an afterthought for businesses, Velociti believes it has the knowledge and tools to help avoid breakdowns in technology.

“The challenge we gave to the Knacktive group was to figure out how to take what we do and get us further up in the decision tree,” Powell said. “Make it such that businesses see us as the constant when it comes to technology – that ‘no matter what we buy, we know that Velociti can help design it, deploy it and support it.’”

Powell said Velociti was most impressed with the clean design of advertising, web sites and other elements Knacktive students presented. He also praised them for their marketing ideas related to social media and their advertising messaging.

“From all four groups we’ll implement something,” he said. “From a couple groups we’ll probably implement a lot.”

Aside from coming away with solutions to enhance Velociti’s brand, Powell and the company sought the partnership with Knacktive to contribute to Northwest and support students’ learning.

“If I had an opportunity when I was here to go through a program like that, I’d be all over it,” Jim West ’93, Velociti’s vice president of sales operations, said. “It was definitely much more than what we expected. The hardest part out of this whole thing was making the decision at the end of which team to go with because there were so many great ideas.”

Business owners interested in learning more about working with Knacktive should contact the Northwest Foundation at 660.562.1248. To learn more about Knacktive, visit www.knacktive.com.

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By Mark Hornickel Design by Wes Rockwood Photography by Todd Weddle 8

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DR. ASHLEY LEGER IS

THE MAMMOTH GIRL There was a day last November that Dr. Ashley

Leger ’09 spent about 15 hours digging like a badger about 20 feet underground. Excavators and skid steers roared at the construction site surrounding her while cars passed on the busy streets above.

She hadn’t seen daylight and she hadn’t eaten.

She was sore and exhausted.

But Leger, a paleontologist working in tandem with the city of Los Angeles’ effort to extend its subway line, couldn’t stop smiling as she drove home that night. Nearly 24 hours earlier, she received the kind of phone call she had dreamed of since she was 7 years old.

She had just finished uncovering a nearly complete mammoth skull.

“I was covered in dirt and plaster and mud,” Leger said. “I had dirt smeared on my face, and I was so happy. It was a moment where I was like, ‘Wow, all of that work has finally come to this.’ ”

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Leger was 7 the summer her family left their home in Omaha for a vacation and took I-80 west across Nebraska before turning north to South Dakota. They decided to stop for a night in Hot Springs, where someone suggested the parents take their daughter to the Mammoth Site, an active dig site where the bones of more than 60 individual mammoths have been uncovered.

To Leger, the Mammoth Site was as magical as Disneyland.

“It was that day at that museum that I decided I wanted to be a paleontologist,” Leger said. “That is why I went to school.”

As a kid, she kept herself busy by reading and making discoveries on her own.

She enjoyed collecting rocks with her grandmother. Her parents scolded her for playing with roadkill after she learned from paleontology books that an animal’s skin disintegrated when it was buried underground.

“I’ve never lost that love,” she said. “I’m very much the little kid that never grew up. I am doing exactly what I wanted to do when I was in second grade.”

As a freshman at Northwest, Leger didn’t waiver on her dream. She boldly introduced herself to Dr. Richard Felton, an assistant professor of geology and geography at the time, on her first day of classes. Felton reacted by taking the enthusiastic freshman to see a mosasaur skeleton he was attempting to piece together and eventually involved her in his research.

Soon she was taking Felton’s graduatelevel paleontology course and working with conodont fossils, tiny eel-like creatures that lived roughly 420 million years ago. After Felton retired, she took the paleontology course again, with Dr. John Pope ’96 as the instructor, to get a different perspective.

She actively participated in field trips to Elephant Rocks State Park, Devil's Icebox and the Viburnum mines in Missouri as well as Oklahoma, South Dakota and Colorado.

They helped her develop critical thinking skills and experience analyzing minerals.

Pope recalls a field trip stop at Deadwood, South Dakota, where students were assigned to match rock layers with their proper names. Afterward, Leger was energized by how much she learned during the exercise.

“She was one of those people who could do that very easily,” Pope said. “She could learn it in the classroom and apply it and have a good understanding of what was going on. She was one of the unique students who could do that at the college level.”

She received grants to do undergraduate research with Pope, including a project to measure and compare mammoth skulls.

That work ultimately laid the foundation for her graduate studies and her doctoral dissertation at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, which took her throughout the country, from California to Washington, D.C., conducting mammoth research.

Her name remains on a handful of plaques within the geology wing of the GarrettStrong Science Building. In 2008, she received the O.R. Grawe Award from the Association of Missouri Geologists, naming her the top geology student in the state – an honor four Northwest students have received since Leger, illustrating the strength of Northwest’s geology program.

“She’s one of the top people working on mammoths today in the world,” Pope said.

“There’s few people who know anything about mammoths in the detail that she knows. She was discovering things as an undergrad and master’s student that a lot of

the professionals hadn’t discovered.”

Then there was the Chinese food station in the student union that Leger frequented.

There, she befriended a student worker, Harold, and asked him about his hometown.

The brief conversation set in motion the trajectory for her career.

“Hot Springs, South Dakota,” Harold told her.

“No way! That is my favorite place in the world!” Leger said. “I want to work at the Mammoth Site.”

“I used to work at the Mammoth Site,” Harold said. “I was the maintenance guy.”

Leger stuttered. “Do you know Dr. Agenbroad?” Dr. Larry Agenbroad, an icon in paleontology circles, was the director of the Mammoth Site.

“Oh, Larry?” Harold answered, surprising Leger that he was on a first-name basis with the scientist.

Harold shared Agenbroad’s email address with Leger, and she held on to it for months while she worked up the courage to send him an inquiry about internship opportunities at the Mammoth Site.

When Leger, then a sophomore at Northwest, finally emailed Agenbroad, he responded within a couple hours and included an application for the Mammoth Site’s internship program.

Leger earned a Young Scientist Scholarship after her sophomore year at Northwest to spend two weeks at the Mammoth Site.

She returned the next two summers as an intern, fulfilling three-month commitments that allowed her to lead tours, provide instruction, conduct research in the lab and participate in digging.

“She’s one of the top people working on mammoths today in the world, there’s few people who know anything about mammoths in the detail that she knows”

Dr. John Pope, Northwest associate professor of geology

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Top: A brush Ashley Leger uses to remove sediment from fossils lays beside the uncovered teeth of a mammoth skull.

Lower: As part of Cogstone Resource Management, a subcontractor working with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to extend its subway line, Leger has an office at the agency’s downtown L.A. headquarters. Photos of Cogstone’s fossil finds are displayed on a wall at Leger’s desk.

Leger converses with a transportation authority worker as they cross an intersection where a new subway station is being constructed. Beneath the roads, construction workers are digging a tunnel for the new subway line and Leger’s paleontology team is looking for relics of Pleistocene-era Los Angeles.

Inside a Cogstone lab, Leger picks dirt from the mammoth skull her team excavated last fall at a construction site extending Los Angeles’ subway line. The paleontologists wrapped the sediment surrounding the skull in a plaster jacket to protect the bones and keep them intact during transportation to the lab. Once it’s uncovered and repaired, the skull will likely go to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County for display.

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The skeleton of a Columbian mammoth is displayed at the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum in Los Angeles, where Ashley Leger works as a research associate.

“This is what I’ve spent my entire career training for – to be in charge of paleontological excavations, to make sure they’re done right, that they go smoothly and the resources are preserved.”

Dr. Ashley Leger

After her last summer interning at the Mammoth Site in 2009, she transitioned to graduate studies at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology but continued to work and expand her knowledge at the museum.

She did research alongside Agenbroad and soaked in all she could about paleontology work, excavation and caring for fossils.

“I’d work for eight hours and then I’d go home and, instead of wearing my blue polo and my name tag, I’d put on my dirty jeans for digging and go back to work and do research, which was so much fun,” Leger said.

Three years into her master’s program, she redirected her studies toward a Ph.D., and Agenbroad, by now, had become a close mentor, guiding her research at the Mammoth Site and elsewhere. But when Agenbroad died of kidney failure in 2014, Leger’s grieving nearly derailed her research.

Agenbroad’s peers stepped in to help ensure she completed her dissertation, including Dr. Dan Fisher, a paleontology professor at the University of Michigan, and renowned paleontologist expert Dick “Sir 12

NORTHWEST ALUMNI MAGAZINE I FALL 2017

Mammoth” Mol from the Netherlands.

Their gesture was a sign of respect for the work Leger already was doing in her young career, and her research of mammoth skulls has raised her profile as one of the world’s leading experts on the animal, earning her a nickname as “The Mammoth Girl.”

“She is very passionate,” Mol said. “I was so impressed that a student started to work on large heavy crania of mammoths. There are thousands of scientific papers on isolated mammoth molars but only a few on skulls.

She did an excellent job and showed with her work how much we can learn from the morphology of the mammoth skulls – information that is not only of interest for palaeontologists but also for archaeologists working on the interaction on mammoths and humans.”

In 2014, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority began

construction on a massive project to extend its Purple Line subway about nine miles and add seven stations.

California law requires paleontologists to monitor excavations for potential finds – “dirt watchers,” Leger calls them – and Cogstone Resource Management Inc., a small firm specializing in paleontology, archaeology and researching history, was named a subcontractor for the project.

Betting the extension could uncover a load of Pleistocene-era fossils, which was the subject of Leger’s research, Cogstone Chief Executive Officer Sherri Gust sought Leger, whom she’d met previously during Leger’s research visits to L.A. “Ashley is in the forefront of interpreting these fossils for the public,” Gust said. “She is definitely contributing to paleontology.”

Leger began work as Cogstone’s field director on June 1, 2016, less than a month after graduating from School of Mines with her Ph.D. in geology and geological engineering with an emphasis in vertebrate paleontology.

“It’s a huge undertaking for the city,” Leger said. “It didn’t take me long to figure out that it’s exactly what I need to do. This is what I’ve spent my entire career training for – to be in charge of paleontological excavations, to make sure they’re done right, that they go smoothly and the resources are preserved.”

Leger works with fossils daily, whether at construction sites along the extension or the famed La Brea Tar Pits and Museum, an active excavation site similar to The Mammoth Site, where she is a research associate.

And in November, things got really interesting when a site monitor at the Purple Line’s La Brea station site found a 3-foot section of an adult mammoth tusk.

A few days later and about 10 feet from the tusk, a monitor noticed what appeared to be a larger fossil and called Leger around 11 p.m., telling her “I don’t know what I have, but it looks big.” She was on site at 6 the next morning and confirmed the fossil was a mammoth skull with both tusks.

“It was face up, so as we exposed it, it looked like a mammoth laying in the ground,” Leger said. “It looked like something out of a movie.”

After exposing as much of the skull as they could, the paleontologists covered it with plaster and burlap and placed a jacket around the specimen that’s reinforced with rebar and 2x4s to keep the tusks from breaking away. Then, the construction crew assisted with a bulldozer and crane to lift it onto a truck bed for transportation to the Cogstone lab.

On a morning in June, Leger traveled about 58 miles east of Los Angeles to Cogstone’s lab in Riverside to study the mammoth skull further. It was the first time she had seen the creature since it was carved from its grave and she couldn’t stop smiling on that November night.

She showered it with affection as if it was an animal of her own.

“Hi, buddy, we’re going to dig you out of your dirt grave,” she said as she knelt beside the skull and began to gently pick away the dirt. “Man, these teeth are so pretty. … Oh, but you were so young. It makes me sad.”

She could barely contain her excitement as she brushed the sediment away.

“I don’t know how long this animal has been underground, but this piece of bone has never seen the light of day before,” she says. “It gets to see that light because we saved it, which is why, when you work on fossils, you can spend 15 hours underground because every moment is like that. You are constantly exposing something new, something no one’s ever seen. You don’t know what story it’s going to tell you.”

Every bone yields clues and information about the animal’s life. Leger’s assessment on this skull, measuring about 3½ feet wide and 5 feet long with its beautifully preserved teeth, is that the mammoth was about 8 to 12 years old – a young one considering the lifespan of a mammoth was about 70 years.

As work on the subway extension continues, the paleontology team’s finds have created a buzz in Los Angeles and beyond. In addition to the full tusk and skull, they found a rib in early December and continued to uncover bone fragments throughout the spring, including a camel forearm bone. The discoveries have garnered headlines in the Los Angeles Times and USA Today and a

featured segment on “CBS This Morning.”

In modern Los Angeles, it’s difficult to fathom the region was once a grassland where camels, mammoths and mastodons roamed tens of thousands of years ago.

“People in South Dakota are used to discoveries at the Mammoth Site,” Leger said.

“The millions of people in L.A., when you tell them you found a camel under Wilshire Boulevard, it elicits a different response.

They’re like, ‘Camels used to live here?’ Yes, before there were buildings and it was all just flat roaming plains, there were camels and mammoths and sabretooth cats. It is just a different picture you paint. Everybody here is so excited, and it’s really awesome.”

Leger sometimes thinks about returning to the Mammoth Site or transitioning to teach at a college or university. But she’s quickly adapted to life in L.A. – finding an appreciation for the weather, the people and opportunities to see live tapings of popular television shows.

For now, Leger looks forward to what her team may uncover at other station sites and publishing her research. “I want to be the best in my field,” she says. “I’m not there yet.”

“There is just something mysterious and magical about the unknown,” she added.

“We don’t know what’s in the ground. But we know these animals existed, and I get to bring them to life.”

Leger saw the mammoth skull she helped excavate in November for the first time in June when she visited one of Cogstone’s labs. “It gets to see the light of day because we saved it,” she said.

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ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

ALUMNI CHAPTER

NEWS CENTRAL IOWA ALUMNI AND FRIENDS

The Central Iowa Alumni and Friends Chapter, in March, volunteered at Meals of the Hear tland, packaging 2,808 meals with “Van and Bonnie in the Morning” of WHO Radio. In April, members attended an Iowa Barnstormers indoor football game; former Bearcat football player Bryce Enyard is a member of the Barnstormers.

In June, the chapter hosted a tailgate party prior to attending an Iowa Cubs game. The chapter also helped staff the Nor thwest booth at the Iowa State Fair and promote Nor thwest by walking in the Iowa State Fair Parade.

Join the Central Iowa Alumni and Friends Chapter the first Thursday of each month at 6 p.m. at Rookies Sports Bar and Grill in Clive. Follow the chapter on Facebook at Nor thwest Missouri State University Central Iowa Alumni and Friends Chapter or contact the chapter at IowaBearcats@ gmail.com.

Get involved today!

For more information about getting involved in a Northwest Alumni Association chapter, call 660.562.1248 or email alumni@nwmissouri.edu. Twenty-one alumni chapters comprise the Alumni Association, and more are being formed.

ST. LOUIS ALUMNI AND FRIENDS

The St. Louis Alumni and Friends Chapter hosted their Ninth Anniversary Social in May. The chapter is looking forward to attending Nor thwest athletic events at Lindenwood University during the upcoming academic year. For more information about the St. Louis Alumni and Friends Chapter, contact the Office of Alumni Relations at Nor thwest.

Members of the St. Louis Alumni and Friends Chapter met for dinner at 5 Star Burgers in Kirkwood. Pictured are (front row) Joe Bosse ’72, Brett Summa, Morgan Summa, Ann Summa, Brad Summa ’91, (back row) Mark Cromley ’94, Sue Johnson Hockensmith ’72, Valerie Byrn ’01, Kevin Terry ’73, Aaron Bunch ’04 and Thomas Bunch.

The St. Louis Alumni and Friends Chapter celebrated its ninth anniversary at Patrick’s Bar and Grill. Pictured are (front row) Brad Summa ’91, Thomas Bunch, Anne Alexander Gross ’90, Tim Parks ’82, Aimee Noble, (middle row) Ann Summa, Michelle Bunch, Deb Spencer Lehman ’79, Sue Johnson Hockensmith ’72, Valerie Byrn ’01, Brenda Untiedt ’00, ’09, Carmelita Untiedt, (back row) Tony White ’85, Melissa Koepnick Wallach ’77, Steven Wallach ’77, Dana Hockensmith, Aaron Bunch ’04.

Dennis Bunch ’69, ’76, Paula Spark, Faith Spark, WHO Radio’s Van and Bonnie, Dennis Spark ’73, Toni Parkins ’00 and Judy Bunch volunteered at Meals of the Heartland.

The Central Iowa Chapter attended an Iowa Barnstormers game and cheered on former Bearcat Bryce Enyard.

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NORTHWEST ALUMNI MAGAZINE I FALL 2017

The St. Louis Alumni and Friends Chapter hosted a watch party to cheer on the Northwest men’s basketball team in the national championship game. Pictured are (front row) Brian Curtis, Daphne Curtis, Heather HerweckLuckner ’97, Andy Luckner, Christopher Luckner, Brian Newsham, Andra Newsham, Deb Cooper ’76, Sue (Johnson) Hockensmith ’72, Laura Schlereth, (back row) Deb Spencer Lehman ’79, Jim Lehman, Don Newsham, Brian Newsham, Barney Hinkle, Dave Cooper ’81, Dana Hockensmith, Aaron Bunch ’04.

ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

KANSAS CITY ALUMNI AND FRIENDS

The Kansas City Alumni and Friends Chapter hosted Bearcat Day at the Kansas City Zoo. More than 100 alumni and friends attended.

SOUTHERN IOWA ALUMNI AND FRIENDS

The Colorado Alumni and Friends Chapter hosted Northwest students and faculty in Denver.

The Southern Iowa Alumni and Friends Chapter has announced that Zach Bar ton, a corporate finance major from Corning, Iowa, is the recipient of its Southern Iowa Alumni and Friends Chapter Scholarship for the 2017-2018 academic year. For more information about the Southern Iowa Alumni and Friends Chapter, contact the Office of Alumni Relations at Nor thwest or Joan Lynch Jackson ’65 at jwjackson165@gmail.com.

COLORADO ALUMNI AND FRIENDS

Members of the Kansas City Alumni and Friends Chapter who assisted with Bearcat Day at the Kansas City Zoo were (front) Roxanna Swaney ’84, Bob Stalder ’88, Terrance Logan ’07, ’10, (back) Paula Rector Davis ’91 and Damian Bridges ’84.

The Colorado Alumni and Friends Chapter hosted a barbecue for Nor thwest students and faculty conducting a summer field study in Colorado. The chapter hosted 15 students and Dr. Sue Myllykangas, associate professor of recreation, at the home of Bob ’77 and Seal Burrell.

Suzie Schuckman ’06 is the new president of the Colorado Alumni and Friends Chapter. A watch par ty is planned for Saturday, Sept. 30, at the Brewability Lab in Denver. For more information, contact Suzie at suzie. schuckman@gmail.com or the Office of Alumni Relations at Nor thwest.

Larry Giles ’64, ’89, Zach Barton and Joan Lynch Jackson ’65 met at the Bearcat Zone prior to a home football game at Northwest last fall. Zach is the recipient of the Southern Iowa Alumni and Friends Chapter Scholarship.

BLACK ALUMNI AND FRIENDS

The Black Alumni and Friends Chapter hosted a social May 19 at Coaches Bar and Grill in Kansas City. To learn more about the Black Alumni and Friends Chapter, contact OT Newman ’75 at ot.newman@ sbcglobal.net or the Office of Alumni Relations.

Members of the Black Alumni and Friends Chapter gathered at Coaches Bar and Grill for a social.

Pictured are (clockwise from top left) Carl Jenkins ’74, Otealet Newman ’75, Marian Jackson Mack ’77 and Jo Wright Pinkins ’76.

The Black Alumni and Friends Chapter gathered at Coaches Bar and Grill in Kansas City for a social event.

NORTHWEST ALUMNI MAGAZINE I FALL 2017

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ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

(Photo courtesy of the St. Joseph Mustangs).

St. Joseph Mustangs player and former Bearcat baseball player Nikko Pablo stands with Bobby Bearcat and Rally, the Mustangs mascot, during Northwest Night at the St. Joseph Mustangs.

NORTHWEST NIGHT AT THE ST. JOSEPH MUSTANGS Northwest alumni and friends enjoyed a funfilled evening at the ballpark June 10 during the seventh annual Northwest Night at the St. Joseph Mustangs. Fans enjoyed a tailgate outside the stadium and then watched the Mustangs take a 9-4 victory from the Joplin Outlaws at historic Phil Welch Stadium as the Mustangs switched their usual red jerseys for Northwest green to support the University. Bearcat men’s basketball coach Ben McCollum ’03 ’05 threw the ceremonial first pitch and fans were treated to a fireworks show after the game.

Travis Jaques ’99 holds a sign he made to show his pride for the Bearcats and Kansas City Royals at Northwest Night at the K.

NORTHWEST NIGHT AT THE K Northwest alumni and friends gathered June 8 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City for the second annual Northwest Night at the K, sponsored by the Northwest Alumni Association, and a game featuring the Royals and Houston Astros. Fans enjoyed a tailgate party with the Bearcats’ 2016 football and 2017 men’s basketball national championship trophies. The Royals, however, suffered a 6-1 loss to the Astros, who brought Major League Baseball’s best record to the game.

TKE ALUMNI GATHER FOR REUNION, PRESENT GIFT TO LETTUCE DREAM More than 100 Northwest alumni and members of the Delta Nu Alumni Association of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity gathered in Maryville June 1-2 for their annual golf tournament and reunion and presented a $1,000 donation to a local non-profit organization.

As part of the alumni group’s Good Neighbor program, the men donated the funding to Lettuce Dream, a social enterprise and hydroponic greenhouse in Maryville that is dedicated to teaching professional skills to young people with cognitive or developmental impairments. Diane Francis ’82 founded Lettuce Dream in 2013, and the organization’s Board includes several University alumni as well as current and retired faculty members.

Additionally, the alumni group gathered for its 22nd Annual TKE Delta Nu Memorial Golf Tournament at Mozingo Lake Golf Course and a dinner at the TKE fraternity house, where the chapter inducted five alumni into its Hall of Honor.

Inductees were Keith Jorgensen ’69, Stephen Eckard ’73, the late Bob Cotter ’65, Daniel Canchola ’84 and Brad Shelton ’77. The chapter also honored George Paul White ’59, who was inducted 16

NORTHWEST ALUMNI MAGAZINE I FALL 2017

Members of the TKE Delta Nu Alumni Association presented a $1,000 donation in June to Lettuce Dream clients as part of its Good Neighbor program.

into the Hall of Honor last year but could not attend the gathering at that time.

Inductees into the Hall of Honor are selected for contributions to the fraternity or University as alumni, for achieving high distinction in their careers, or in recognition of their military service.

HOMECOMING 2017 - OCTOBER 19-21

Events are subject to change/cancellation VARIETY SHOW • Thursday, Oct. 19, and Friday, Oct. 20, 7 p.m. (FREE) • Ron Houston Center for the Performing Arts • Tickets are free but required. Call 660.562.1212 to reserve a ticket; tickets may be acquired the night of the performance if available.

HOMECOMING GOLF CLASSIC • Friday, Oct. 20, noon ($50) • Two-person scramble • Maryville Country Club • Call 660.562.1248 or visit nwmissouri.edu/alumni/events to register FLAG-RAISING CEREMONY • Friday, Oct. 20, 2 p.m. (FREE) • Joyce and Harvey White International Flag Plaza DEDICATION OF THE MICHAEL L. FAUST CENTER FOR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS • Friday, Oct. 20, 3:30 p.m.

M-CLUB HALL OF FAME BANQUET AND INDUCTION CEREMONY • Friday, Oct. 20, 6 p.m. ($25) • J.W. Jones Student Union Ballroom • Tickets can be purchased by calling 660.562.1977 HOMECOMING WELCOME • Saturday, Oct. 21, 8 a.m. (FREE) • Faust Center, includes refreshments HOMECOMING PARADE • Saturday, Oct. 21, 9 a.m. (FREE) • The parade begins at the corner of Ray and College Avenue. It will proceed east to the main University entrance at Fourth Street and conclude at Fourth and Main streets.

HY-VEE BEARCAT ZONE PREGAME FESTIVITIES • Saturday, Oct. 21, 11:30 a.m. (FREE) • Raymond J. Courter College Park Pavilion • Tailgate meal available for purchase ($10). Menu includes smoked beef brisket, old-fashioned potato salad, brown sugar and hickory baked beans, sweet corn, potato chips, vegetable platter, banana pudding dessert and a beverage.

FOOTBALL VS. LINDENWOOD UNIVERSITY • Saturday, Oct. 21, 2 p.m.

• Bearcat Stadium • COST: $25 reserved, $14 adult general admission (standing room only), $10 K-12 standing room only or visiting students; football tickets available beginning Monday, Sept. 25, purchase tickets online via bearcatsports.com or in person at the cashiering office in the Administration Building.

PLACES TO STAY MARYVILLE America’s Best Value Inn and Suites 660.562.3111 Boulders Inn & Suites 660.224.2222 Country Hearth Inn 6 60.562.2002 Holiday Inn Express 660.562.9949 Red Roof Inn 660.582.8088

HONORING THE

CLASS OF 1967

AROUND THE

WORLD

HOMECOMING ST. JOSEPH America’s Best Value Inn Days Inn Drury Inn Hampton Inn Holiday Inn Stoney Creek Inn

2017

816.364.3031 816.279.1671 816.364.4700 816.390.9300 816.279.8000 816.901.9600

The Golden Years Society Reunion welcomes all classmates from 1967 and before to attend Homecoming. Mark your calendars for Oct 20-21 and make plans to return to campus. For more information, contact the Office of Alumni Relations at 660.562.1248 or at alumni@nwmissouri.edu.

FRIDAY, OCT. 20 9 a.m.

Welcome reception (Faust Center) 10:30 a.m. Campus bus tour 11 a.m. Reunion photo (Kissing Bridge) 11:30 a.m. Luncheon (J.W. Jones Student Union) 2 p.m.

Flag-raising ceremony 3:30 p.m. Faust Center dedication 5 p.m.

Golden Years social (Faust Center) 6:30 p.m. M-Club Hall of Fame Banquet and Induction Ceremony*

SATURDAY, OCT. 29 8 a.m.

Homecoming welcome (Faust Center) 9 a.m.

Parade with VIP seating 11:30 a.m. Hy-Vee Bearcat Zone pregame activities* 2 p.m.

Bearcat football vs. Lindenwood University*

REUNION COST: $50 PER PERSON *optional activity, additional cost Schedule is subject to change

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ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

Alumni AWARDS RECIPIENTS 2017

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD

DISTINGUISHED FACULTY AWARD

Dr. David McDaniel

Dr. Matt Symonds

McDaniel ’73 retired in July with more than 34 years of experience at GE Healthcare, where he was a principal engineer with the medical systems unit and was instrumental in the development of the global company’s PET scan machine.

In 1989, he joined GE’s new PET division as a senior detector physicist and helped lay the foundation for the company’s original “Advance” PET scan machine.

McDaniel designed the architecture behind generations of PET scanners, contributing to electrical and software designs, algorithms, image analysis and the diagnosis of an infinite number of patients throughout the world.

Sherri Reeves

Reeves ’57, ’70 returned to Northwest in 1969 to work in the college’s advisement center. In 1972, she became an instructor in the women’s physical education department and head coach of the first Northwest women’s basketball team to be affiliated with the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women at the national level and the Missouri Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women. She served in a liaison capacity at NCAA Title IX seminars from 1972-2001 to research rules and regulations.

She was inducted into the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2013 and the M-Club Hall of Fame in 2005.

PUBLIC SERVICE AWARD

YOUNG ALUMNI AWARD

TURRET SERVICE AWARD

Leon Dixon Jr.

Sam Henson

Tim Sullivan

Dixon is a cofounder and chairman of the board of directors of the W.E.B. DuBois Learning Center in Kansas City, an organization that has offered free tutorial services and education to local residents in areas of math, reading and science. Through this program, Dixon has mentored and humbly directed young people to pursue higher education. He is retired from the Allied Signal FM&T Corporation (formally Bendix and now Honeywell Corporation), where he was a mathematician and computational scientist for 32 years. He is a member of the Kansas City Public Library Board of Trustees and the author of the book “Future In Our Hands,” which is a discourse about the DuBois Learning Center.

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Symonds ’90, ’94 is an associate professor in the School of Health Science and Wellness. He began his career at Northwest in 1996 as the athletics business manager and events coordinator for the Department of Athletics. He has served in numerous roles, including director of the fitness center, graduate programs coordinator and founding director of the School of Health Science and Wellness. He received Northwest’s Dean’s Faculty Award for service in 2009.

Symonds served as president of the Missouri Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance in 2010 and has been recognized with multiple awards presented by the organization.

DISTINGUISHED FACULTY EMERITUS AWARD

NORTHWEST ALUMNI MAGAZINE I FALL 2017

Henson ’01 is senior vice president and director of legal and regulatory affairs for Lockton Companies, where he oversees regulatory compliance and the legislative landscape for more than 50,000 Lockton clients. He spends much of his time in Washington, D.C., as an advocate of the protection of the employee benefits system for the more than 10 million participants in the plans Lockton serves. He is a nationally featured author and speaker about employee benefit topics, having appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Benefits Magazine, Plan Sponsor Magazine, Employee Benefits Advisor and Insurance News. He earned his juris doctor from the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law.

Sullivan ’75 played an instrumental role in founding the Central Iowa Alumni and Friends Chapter of the Northwest Alumni Association and served as its first president. He later joined the Alumni Association Board of Directors, serving as president from 2007-2009. He was the first Alumni Association Board president to be a voting member on the Northwest Foundation Board of Directors, a position approved in 2007. He continues to volunteer with the Central Iowa chapter and with the Alumni Association. Every August, he enjoys talking to prospective students and alumni while volunteering at Northwest’s booth at the Iowa State Fair.

Tim also travels to Bearcat athletics events and Alumni Association activities.

ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

HONORARY ALUMNI AWARD

Rich and Bernie Mendenhall

Rich and Bernie Mendenhall have supported Northwest and Bearcat Athletics for many years. Proud supporters of the Northwest basketball and football teams, the Mendenhalls can be found at most home and away games.

They are longtime season ticket holders for both football and basketball and members of the Bearcat Booster Club for more than 20 years. Rich and Bernie have been generous contributors to the University and Bearcat athletics in many ways, in particular as members of the Hughes Fieldhouse Founding 50 Team. They also volunteer their time assisting the Countryside Bistro with setup and catering of various athletics events, including postgame team meals at all away football games, as well as events hosted by the Northwest Alumni Association.

2018 ALUMNI AWARDS CALL FOR NOMINATIONS The Northwest Alumni Association announces a call for nominations for the 2018 Alumni Association Awards. The Alumni Association annually recognizes alumni, faculty, faculty emeriti and friends who have brought distinction upon themselves, their profession and Northwest Missouri State University. Your nominations are essential to the process. Individuals nominated should personify the University’s tradition of excellence through their service and achievements.

The Alumni Association Board of Directors will make the selections at their 2018 spring meeting. Nominations must be submitted on the forms provided by the Alumni Association. Nominations will not be considered unless the entire nomination form is complete. Contact the Northwest Alumni Association for a nomination form at 660.562.1248, email alumni@nwmissouri.edu or complete the appropriate form located on the alumni website at www.nwmissouri.edu/alumni/events/awards/nominations.htm.

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD

PUBLIC SERVICE AWARD

Recognizes Northwest alumni for their exceptional professional and personal achievement and extraordinary distinction in their chosen field.

Recognizes outstanding service-minded alumni or friends of Northwest who have devoted their time and energy to public service or the advancement of higher education.

DISTINGUISHED EMERITUS FACULTY AWARD

Recognizes a former faculty member for their outstanding teaching, service or research contributions at Northwest.

DISTINGUISHED FACULTY AWARD

Recognizes a present faculty member for their outstanding teaching, service or research contributions at Northwest.

HONORARY ALUMNI AWARD

Honors Northwest friends who have served, promoted and loved the University in the tradition of a loyal graduate.

NORTHWEST TURRET SERVICE AWARD

Acknowledges a graduate, former student, current or retired staff member for his or her significant contributions of time and talents on behalf of the University and the Alumni Association.

YOU’RE INVITED

Alumni 2017

awards banquet The Northwest Alumni Association annually honors individuals for accomplishments in their chosen fields, and who have given of their time, talents and services to Northwest.

All Northwest alumni and friends are invited to attend the Alumni Awards Banquet. It’s a great way to start Family Weekend and salute these deserving individuals.

SEPTEMBER 22 J.W. JONES STUDENT UNION BALLROOM 6 P.M.

SOCIAL

6:45 P.M.

DINNER

8 P.M. AWARDS PRESENTATION

$50 PER PERSON OR $350 FOR A TABLE OF EIGHT

PLEASE RSVP BY FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.nwmissouri.edu/alumni/events/ awards/registration.htm or contact the Northwest Alumni Association at 660.562.1248 or alumni@nwmissouri.edu.

YOUNG ALUMNI AWARD

Honors a graduate, 40 or younger, for exceptional Award achievements in nomination career, public service or volunteerism that deadline: bring honor to the March 1, 2018 University.

NORTHWEST

M I S S O U R I S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

ALUMNI A S S O C I A T I O N

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ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

NORTHWEST

ALUMNI

NORTHW EST M I SSOURI STATE U NIVER S IT Y

MISSION: The Northwest Alumni Association fosters lifelong relationships through initiatives and opportunities that advance the University and its alumni, future alumni and friends.

TOURIN’ BEARCATS TRAVEL TO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND CALIFORNIA Northwest alumni and friends traveled in June to the Pacific Northwest and California as part of the Tourin’ Bearcats, the Northwest Alumni Association’s travel program.

The trip started in Seattle and ended in San Francisco with stops in Portland and North Bend in Oregon and Eureka, California.

The group also visited the Mount St. Helens Visitor Center, the Columbia River Gorge, Brandon State Natural Area, Redwood National Park and the Avenue of the Giants.

For more information about the Tourin’ Bearcats travel program or for a list of upcoming trips, contact the Alumni Relations Office at 660.562.1248 or visit www.nwmissouri.edu/alumni.

2017-2018 ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS Jay Liebenguth ’80, Omaha, Nebraska Terrance Logan ’07, ’10, Blue Springs, Missouri Joyce Seals Roddy ’75, Mahtomedi, Minnesota Faith Spark, Urbandale, Iowa Bob Stalder ’88, Kansas City, Missouri Anitra Germer Svendsen ’04, ’07, St. Joseph, Missouri Rich Tohkeim ’82, Omaha, Nebraska EX-OFFICIO BOARD MEMBERS Mike Johnson ’85, Vice President of University Advancement Arne Johnson ’77, President, Northwest Foundation, Houston, Texas Lori McLemore Steiner ’85, Finance Officer and Executive Director of Advancement Services Bob Machovsky ’15, Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving Gabrielle Hawkins ’16, Annual Giving and Donor Relations Specialist Brenda Untiedt ’00, ’09, Alumni Relations and Advancement Communications Specialist

PRESIDENT Paula Rector Davis ’91, Lee’s Summit, Missouri VICE-PRESIDENT Dustin Wasson ’03, Perry, Missouri PAST-PRESIDENT Linda Nichols Place ’72, Albany, Missouri MEMBERS Katie Brown, Carlisle, Iowa Randy Cody ’99, Carson, Iowa Mark DeVore ’71, Branson, Missouri Michelle Mattson Drake ’98, Maryville Abby Stephens Elliott ’06, ’08, Mount Ayr, Iowa Sean Gundersen ’10, ’13, Omaha, Nebraska Sue Johnson Hockensmith ’72, Manchester, Missouri Allison Kahre Kreifels ’06, ’11, Plattsmouth, Nebraska Marsha Alsbury Leopard ’71, ’76, Chillicothe, Missouri

97% undergraduate

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NORTHWEST ALUMNI MAGAZINE I FALL 2017

ADVANCING NORTHWEST

LASTING

“Northwest offers an excellent value, plus scholarships and employment opportunities,” Scott said. “If they can do that, and we can help, it’s a win-win.”

Scott Richey ’83 ’86

LE GACI ES

A passion for Nor thwest and helping students graduate debt-free motivated Scott Richey ’83, ’86 and his wife, Cindy, to contribute $350,000 in deferred gifts as well as $25,000 for the Scott and Cindy Richey Powering Dreams Scholarships.

“At this stage in our lives, it’s time to pay it forward and help others find success,” said Cindy, a certified financial planner and president of Prosperity Planning in Kansas City, Missouri.

Scott grew up in Maryville, attended Horace Mann Laboratory School and earned his bachelor’s degree in broadcasting and business administration as well as his Master of Business Administration degree at Nor thwest. He built his career in the consumer products business with companies such as Quaker Oats, ColgatePalmolive and Associated Wholesale Grocers.

Both of Scott’s parents, Bur ton ’51 and Rober ta Walker ’51, ’74, Richey graduated from Nor thwest, as well as his sister, Julee Richey Sherman ’79. Bur ton worked for the University as the chairman of the health and recreation division, and was one of the original members of the Nor thwest M-Club Hall of Fame.

Scott gained profession-based experiences at KNWT, the University’s student-run television station, and radio station KZLX, and he was a member of the golf team and the Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity.

His experiences and lasting relationships at Nor thwest paved the way for his successful career. Now he believes it is his responsibility to continue the tradition of Bearcats helping Bearcats.

One of easiest planned gifts to create and implement is a bequest in your will or living trust. It allows you to give any percentage of your estate as a charitable gift when a current gift of real estate or cash might not otherwise be feasible.

CONSIDER THESE ADVANTAGES: It’s simple to set up. n You’re able to maintain control of your assets. n It provides a gift to Northwest in an amount you believe is appropriate, and you can still provide for your loved ones. n

It provides an estate tax deduction. n It provides for a cause you deem worthy at Northwest. n It includes membership in the Northwest Foundation’s James H. Lemon Heritage Society. n Leaves a lasting legacy at Northwest n

Contact the Office of University Advancement at 660.562.1248 or advance@nwmissouri.edu to find out about the many advantages of providing an estate provision.

NORTHWEST ALUMNI MAGAZINE I FALL 2017

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ADVANCING NORTHWEST

GROUNDBREAKING LAUNCHES CONSTRUCTION OF

HUGHES FIELDHOUSE

Pride swelled under a clear blue sky June 15 on the Northwest campus as faculty, staff, students and alumni gathered with representatives of the city of Maryville and local businesses to break ground for the Carl and Cheryl Hughes Fieldhouse, a 137,250 square-foot, $20 million facility designed to serve a multitude of social, recreational and economic needs for the University and region.

The project represents the single largest public-private partnership in Northwest’s 112-year history and one of the largest such projects in the region ever. University President Dr. John Jasinski called the groundbreaking a “critical juncture in the history of Northwest Missouri State University” as he welcomed the large crowd gathered in the field west of College Park where the facility is being built.

“Our students are excited when there’s something new, when there’s something happening, when there’s something being built,” Vice President of Student Affairs

Dr. Matt Baker said. “There’s a sense of growth and future. We know for the next three to five years that feeling of new and excitement will really carry us forward in our recruitment, our retention and our graduation of students.”

The University has set four goals for the Hughes Fieldhouse: promoting health, wellness and engaged programming for Northwest’s students, faculty and staff as well as the broader community; providing a competitive advantage relative to Northwest’s intercollegiate athletics teams and overall programming; enhancing Northwest’s ability to recruit, retain and engage students; and providing enhanced community partnership opportunities and economic development outcomes.

The building is expected to enhance student engagement and create more opportunities for intramurals and recreation on campus as well as large University events such as commencement

ceremonies, concerts or Career Day. Student organizations and performance groups, such as the Bearcat Marching Band, will use the facility. Bearcat athletics teams are expected to benefit from the facility’s indoor flooring system, 90-yard practice turf and 300-meter indoor competition track.

The facility will be Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) certified and designed and constructed according to modern sustainability standards. It is expected to include recreation and exhibition space, spectator seating and tiered meeting rooms.

Baker said he’s most excited about the new opportunities to connect students.

“We’re already working with our campus recreation team on expanding club sports, and students have asked for that. I think about students having something that’s open during the evenings and the weekends to engage in things that really connect them to the Northwest experience.”

While Northwest is the winner of 13 national championships since December – 11 by academic teams and two NCAA Division II titles by Bearcat athletics teams – Director of Athletics Mel Tjeerdsma ’77 emphasized that all Northwest athletics teams will benefit from the facility.

For the Bearcat baseball and softball teams, whose seasons regularly begin in early February, the indoor facility will provide them with a space to practice and simulate game situations while winter weather prevails outdoors. Women’s golf and the tennis teams, which compete during the fall and spring months, also will benefit.

Individuals representing Northwest, its Foundation Board of Directors, the city of Maryville and local businesses participated in a groundbreaking ceremony June 15 at the future location of the Hughes Fieldhouse.

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NORTHWEST ALUMNI MAGAZINE I FALL 2017

JOIN THE WINNING TEAM Northwest alumni and friends may contribute to the construction and future needs of the Carl and Cheryl Hughes Fieldhouse by purchasing commemorative bricks, pavers, trees or benches, as well as through traditional monetary donations.

“Joining our winning team to support this exciting project builds on the importance of health, wellness and our competitive advantage at Northwest,” Mike Johnson, Northwest’s vice president of university advancement, said.

“The contributions of our alumni and friends to Northwest affirm their affinity to our great University, and the Hughes Fieldhouse is raising the bar.”

Donors already have committed $13 million to the project through donations and pledges secured by the Northwest Foundation, but a remaining $600,000 gap must be raised to complete the facility prior to its summer 2018 dedication.

Carl ’76 and Cheryl Deweerdt ’78 Hughes show off their shovels as they prepare to turn some dirt and commemorate the beginning of construction on a new fieldhouse bearing their family’s name.

“We have 14 schools in our conference, we are the furthest north, and in January and February the weather’s a lot different (in Maryville) than it is in Edmond, Oklahoma,” Tjeerdsma said. “This is going to give those sports an opportunity to be inside.”

Director of Athletics Bands Dr. Katy Strickland noted the facility will enhance Northwest’s recruiting and retention efforts.

“The majority of students in the BMB are not music majors,” Strickland said.

“We don’t have kids who major in baseball.

They don’t major in soccer. Those kids are coming in and filling agriculture classrooms, education classrooms, nanoscale physics classrooms, and that’s a tremendous opportunity for us.”

Donors have committed $13 million to the project so far through donations and pledges secured by the Northwest Foundation. Leading support for the project is provided by the Founding 50 – a group of donors providing gifts of $50,000 or more – with the Carl and Cheryl Hughes family, the Mel and Valorie Booth family, the city of Maryville and Nodaway Valley Bank working as “team captains” of the group.

Carl Hughes ’76 and his wife, Cheryl Deweerdt Hughes ’78, provided a significant gift through their Hughes Family Foundation that is helping Northwest realize its vision to construct the facility.

“It’s all about the kids,” Carl said. “You want to see the kids be active and try hard and try to excel and try to push themselves and grow and be ready to go out in the world and be productive.”

Maryville voters also showed their support of the project last November when they approved a transient guest tax, which will provide additional funding assistance.

“The University did a fantastic job with their campus master plan in identifying the Hughes Fieldhouse as a top priority, and it easily aligns with city of Maryville’s comprehensive plan, which is to enhance tourism and economic development in the community,” Maryville City Manager Greg McDanel ’02 said. “The partnership between the city and the University with the transient guest tax was a natural fit. (The city council) never wavered or hesitated during the course of this process.”

A grand opening of the Hughes Fieldhouse is targeted during summer 2018.

“I think when we committed to doing this project, in the back of your mind, you’re thinking ‘I wonder if we really can,’ and I can’t get over the people that have stepped up,” said Dr. Robert Burrell, a 1970 Northwest alumnus who is a member of the Northwest Foundation Board of Directors and joined the Founding 50 with his wife, Seal, to support the Hughes Fieldhouse.

“The need is so obvious, and all you have to do is come back and engage with some of the students, and it gets a lot easier to make these types of commitments.”

One of the easiest ways for donors to contribute is to purchase a brick or paver for the Walk of Champions leading to the Hughes Fieldhouse entrance. Donors may choose to have their names or organizations etched into history with the purchase of a 4-by-8-inch brick for $150 or an 8-by-8-inch paver for $300.

In alignment with the Missouri Arboretum and the campus landscape that remains a significant piece of Northwest’s heritage, donors also may purchase trees that will line the Walk of Champions and the surrounding area. Trees may be purchased for $1,500 and bear a donor’s name.

Benches to provide seating along the Walk of Champions are available for $5,000 and may include a plaque with the donor’s name.

To learn more about the Hughes Fieldhouse and ways to support the project, visit www.nwmissouri.edu/ HughesFieldhouse/.

NORTHWEST ALUMNI MAGAZINE I FALL 2017

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ADVANCING NORTHWEST

FORMER FENCING MASTER DONATES EQUIPMENT TO CLUB Nor thwest received a generous donation of fencing equipment last spring from a former stunt actor and fencing master to help students interested in learning the ancient spor t.

Don Dino, who spent six decades practicing and teaching the ar t of fencing, donated his equipment after learning about the needs of the new Nor thwest Fencing Club. Dino is the father of Dee Dino ’10, a specialist in Nor thwest’s Office of Student Involvement.

“It’s exciting for me that his legacy of teaching fencing can continue,” Dee Dino, who attended Shakespeare festivals with her father and brother every summer, said. “Anything we can do to assist clubs and organizations to be more viable for the long term. Having my dad’s name on something that helps students, that’s always been his passion.”

Don Dino began coaching fencing in 1962 and continued until his retirement in 2015. He taught at the high school, middle school and elementary school levels. He later was an instructor at Boston University, the University of Wyoming, Otero Junior College in La Junta, Colorado, and Louisiana State University. He played in numerous stage and film productions.

One of the first spor ts to be showcased at the Olympics, fencing combines mar tial arts and swordsmanship, and competitors earn points by making contact with their opponent. In a 1973 news ar ticle, Dino

Northwest student Cassandra Alfstad began fencing in seventh grade and started the Northwest Fencing Club last fall. A recent donation to Northwest includes electronic and dry foils and sabers as well as fencing attire such as helmets, jackets and gloves.

called the sport stimulating, glamourous, exciting and “similar to a game of chess on your feet.”

With all of that history, Dino hopes his donation will excite a new generation of fencers at Nor thwest like Cassandra Alfstad, who began fencing in seventh grade and star ted the Nor thwest Fencing Club last fall.

The donation includes electronic and dry

foils and sabers as well as an electronic scoring system. Dino also provided fencing attire such as helmets, jackets and gloves.

“The club is now able to provide others with the equipment needed to succeed,” Alfstad, a sophomore zoology and wildlife ecology and conservation major from Indianola, Iowa, said. “We hope this brings in more members and allows athletic diversity to expand across the campus.”

Social Media Network

/nwmissourialumni

@NorthwestAlumni

For a complete listing of all Northwest social media networks, visit www.nwmissouri.edu/media/social.htm.

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NORTHWEST ALUMNI MAGAZINE I FALL 2017

ADVANCING NORTHWEST Left to right, Rheva, Roger and Dale Blackwell. Roger recently established a scholarship for Northwest business students in his parents honor.

BUSINESS SCHOLARSHIP HONORS MEMORY OF BLACKWELLS, DEDICATION TO STUDENTS A newly established scholarship at Northwest honors the memory of a former faculty member who dedicated his life to teaching and his wife who was active in the Maryville community.

The Dr. Dale J. and Rheva A. Blackwell Business Scholarship is funded by their son, Dr. Roger Blackwell, with a gift of $100,000 to the Northwest Foundation and an additional amount bequeathed from the Roger D. Blackwell Trust.

“The dedication of my dad to his students and the friendship of my mother to everyone and everything at Northwest Missouri State was typical of many academic families that made Northwest the leadership institution that it is today,” Roger said. “My parents are both gone and, increasingly, there won’t be any students who had my dad in class, so I wanted his legacy to be passed on, partly to inspire other teachers to put students first in their career.”

Dale Blackwell taught accounting and statistics and other business courses at Northwest from 1948 to 1962. Rheva was active in Faculty Wives and the Maryville business community, working at several retail firms, including Montgomery Ward.

Both were members of First Baptist Church and they were among the original

incorporators of Maryville’s KNIM radio station, with Dale serving as treasurer during the early 1950s.

Dale began teaching students in all eight grades in a one-room school in Hickory County, Missouri, when he was just 18.

Later, after 13 years of summer school at Southwest Missouri State, known now as Missouri State, he completed his bachelor’s degree and became a high school business teacher in King City, Missouri.

“My dad was a teacher at heart. He got his first contract to teach at age 17, began teaching at 18,” Roger Blackwell said. “I heard him so many times talk about how pleased he was when a student mastered something that was difficult for the student.

I believe that kind of attitude was built early on and lasted throughout his career.”

Dale Blackwell’s dedication and teaching skills became well-known in northwest Missouri as his high school students won many business contests at Northwest. As a result, the University recruited him to its faculty after he received his master’s degree at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

At Northwest, Dale earned an additional master’s degree and his doctorate at Missouri on his way to achieving the rank of professor of business.

After 40 years of teaching in Missouri, the Blackwells retired to Columbus, Ohio, to be near their grandchildren. Dale continued teaching for several more years at Franklin University and The Ohio State University.

The Blackwells celebrated 73 years of marriage before Rheva’s passing in 2007.

Dale passed away in 2011.

Roger Blackwell graduated from Horace Mann High School in 1958 and attended Northwest for three years as a history major before transferring to the University of Missouri-Columbia, where he completed bachelor’s degrees in business and history as well as a master’s degree. After earning his Ph.D. from Northwestern University, he embarked on a long teaching career of his own at The Ohio State University.

He retired in 2005, though he continues to serve as a guest lecturer, specializing in behavioral economics, and leads executive seminars throughout the country. He also has authored 40 books, his most recent being “Saving America: How Garage Entrepreneurs Grow Small Firms into Large Fortunes.”

The scholarship is available to students declaring a major in the Melvin D. and Valorie G. Booth School of Business.

Recipients will be selected based on academic achievement and financial need.

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BEARCAT SPORTS

NORTHWEST ANNOUNCES

2017 M-CLUB HALL OF FAME CLASS Six individual student-athletes and one team will take their places as members of Northwest’s M-Club Hall of Fame when the University hosts its annual induction banquet Friday, Oct. 20, in the J.W. Jones Student Union.

Tickets are $25 each and may be purchased by contacting Kiersten Orton in the athletics office at 660.562.1977 or korton@nwmissouri.edu. Seating for the event is limited and the deadline to reserve seats is Friday, Oct. 6, or until tickets are sold out.

The 2017 class brings the total number of individual inductees to 142. The M-Club Hall of Fame was established for individuals in 1980 and teams were enshrined beginning in 1989.

JULIE HUMPHREYS ’98

Track and field, 1994–98; earned All-America honors six times in her career, including three as a senior ; among the top five on school record list in five different events

KEN ONUAGULUCHI ’91

Track and field, 1988–91; 1989 NCAA champion in discus; nine-time AllAmerica performer in three seasons; ranks third in Nor thwest history in discus (186 feet, 4 inches) and eighth in the outdoor shot put (54 feet, 9 1/2 inches)

MIKE PETERSON ’06, ’10

Football, 2004–07; multiple AllAmerica recognitions in 2006 and 2007; First Team All-MIAA in 2006 and 2007; ranks ninth all-time in receiving yards (1,987) and 10th in receptions (141) and touchdowns (17)

ABBY SUNDERMAN ’01

Volleyball, 1997–2000; First Team AllMIAA in 1999; all-time leader in kills per set (3.363) and second in career kills (1,715) and attack percentage (.296); earned All-MIAA honors all four seasons at Nor thwest 2003 WOMEN'S TENNIS TEAM ADAM BAILEY ’02

Baseball, 1998–2001; First Team AllMIAA and Second Team All-American in 2000; all-time leader in career home runs (40) and top three in batting average, hits and RBIs; single-season record holder for home runs, runs scored and total bases 26

NORTHWEST ALUMNI MAGAZINE I FALL 2017

LARON COUNCIL ’10

Football, 2006–09; multiple AllAmerica recognitions in 2008 and 2009; First Team All-MIAA in 2008 and 2009, MIAA Offensive Player of the Year in 2009; second in career rushing yards (4,044) and rushing touchdowns (59)

Advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals with tournament wins over Nor th Dakota, Washburn and Slippery Rock (Pa.); 20-6 team record, including 11-match winning streak, the four thlongest streak in program history; Won 2003 MIAA championship, the thirdstraight title for Nor thwest

Romain Boissinot and Sergi Fontcuberta

Nicole Hopkins

Track & Field

Anthony Caenepeel

2017 SPRING

SPORTS RECAP Bearcats have strong showings in MIAA competition, honor rolls Softball

For the eighth straight year, the Bearcats topped 20 wins, going 29-21. The Bearcats earned the MIAA’s No. 6 seed in the conference tournament with a 16-10 league mark. Head coach Ryan Anderson also notched his 280th victory at Northwest, moving him into the top spot in the program’s record book.

Nine student-athletes were named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll, and five garnered All-MIAA honors on the field. The team’s two seniors each left their mark in the record book as Torri Blythe finished atop the stolen base list with 68 and set the career mark with 697 at-bats. Chantel Adams knocked in a program record 145 career runs and finished second all-time with 27 home runs.

Tennis

The MIAA has sponsored a conference tournament for the last eight seasons and the Northwest men have won all of them. In addition, the Bearcats won their eighth-straight MIAA men’s regular season title, going 18-4 overall and 5-0 in conference. The men advanced to the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament for the fifth consecutive season. Five Bearcats combined to earn eight AllMIAA First-Team honors. Head Coach Mark Rosewell was named the MIAA and the ITA Central Region Coach of the Year.

The Bearcat women went 8-13 overall and earned the No. 5 seed in the MIAA tournament. Five women earned All-MIAA honors.

Combined, the men’s and women’s teams earned 13 conference academic honors including six MIAA Scholar-Athlete accolades.

The Bearcats sent five student-athletes to the NCAA Division II National Outdoor Championships in Bradenton, Florida. Senior Ryan Cox capped his Northwest career with an All-America performance in the 1,500-meter run, placing third overall. He was the MIAA champion in the same event, setting a school record at 3:44.94.

The Bearcat women had four representatives at the national meet. Sophomore Shelley Laures broke the javelin school record with a 151-foot, 9-inch mark, earning her All-America honors.

Freshman Jordan Hammond ran the field’s ninth-fastest 400-meter hurdle time and set the Northwest school record at the MIAA Championships in 59.76. Sophomore Audrey Wichmann placed 15th in the high jump and junior Nicole Hopkins finished 18th in the javelin at the national meet.

Northwest set a number of school records during the season, led by junior Sammy Laurenzo (36:55.38 in 10,000-meter run), junior Brittany Mitchell (12-feet, 3/4-inches in pole vault), sophomore Brandon Phipps (14:25.07 in 5,000-meter run) and Joe Anger (2:28.56 in 1,000-meter run).

Baseball

For the first time in more than a decade, the Northwest baseball team surpassed the 30-win mark, going 32-20. Senior pitcher Anthony Caenepeel was named the MIAA Pitcher of the Year, setting Northwest single season marks with 114 strikeouts and 106.2 innings pitched. In just three seasons, he set Bearcat career records with 267 strikeouts and 278 innings pitched.

Closer Nikko Pablo was named third-team All-MIAA, saving 11 games for Northwest and striking out 43 batters in 52 innings.

Pablo finished his career with 82 appearances, the most by any Bearcat pitcher in history. Northwest swept four MIAA opponents and had an eight-game win streak from the end of March to midApril. The Bearcats had 23 student-athletes named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll.

Golf

The Bearcat golf team finished sixth at the MIAA Championships, concluding its third season under head coach Andy Peterson ’07, ’08, ’10 and improving its team score in each of the three rounds.

During the second round of the University of Nebraska-Kearney Spring Invitational on March 26, the Bearcats shot 312 on the second day, leading to a fifth-place finish. The round ranks as the third lowest 18-hole total in program history. Senior Taylor Gardner, juniors Gia Zupancic and Maddie Propst, and sophomore Nikki McCurdy were named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll.

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BEARCAT SPORTS

BEARCATS, BLUE DEVILS MEETING IN PRESEASON CLASH OF CHAMPIONS The Bearcat men’s basketball team will get a test like no other this fall as it prepares to defend its NCAA Division II National Championship crown and meets the Duke Blue Devils Oct. 27 at the historic Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Duke, located in Durham, North Carolina, has annually invited the defending Division II champion to play on its home court since 2009. The contest is played as an exhibition game and will not count toward either team’s record.

“Cameron Indoor is one of the premier basketball venues of all time, and for our team, our coaches and players to get to perform in that venue and to compete against a team like Duke is a tremendous opportunity,” Northwest Director of Athletics Mel Tjeerdsma ’77 said.

“Everybody should be excited about it.”

Head Coach Ben McCollum ’03, ’05 and

The Bearcat men’s basketball, which celebrated a NCAA Division II National Championship with their families in March, will play at Duke in October.

the Bearcats went 35-1 last season en route to the program’s first national championship.

Key returners include All-MIAA selections Chris Ebou Ndow and Justin Pitts.

The Blue Devils, meanwhile, have been a dominant force in NCAA Division I basketball for decades. Legendary head coach Mike Krzyzewski enters his 38th season with 998 wins at Duke and an NCAA Division I men’s record 1,071 wins overall. He has led the U.S. Men’s Senior National Team to six gold medals in addition to his five NCAA championships with Duke.

Check bearcatsports.com for more details.

Becker, Tappmeyer elected to MIAA Hall of Fame

Steve Tappmeyer

Aaron Becker ’01

Two familiar names aligned with successful Bearcat sports teams in recent decades are now members of the MIAA Hall of Fame. Aaron Becker ’01, a former Northwest football defensive end, and Steve Tappmeyer, the head coach of men’s basketball teams between 1989 and 2009, were inducted June 5.

“The impact that Coach Tappmeyer has made on his former players goes well beyond basketball,” Ben McCollum ’03, ’05, who succeeded Tappmeyer as head coach, said. “His care and the love he has for his players is unmatched. The wins he accumulated were a result of how hard his kids would compete for him because of the love he showed them. In both my personal 28

NORTHWEST ALUMNI MAGAZINE I FALL 2017

and professional life, I use the lessons Coach taught me through basketball daily. ” Tappmeyer is Northwest’s all-time leader in wins with 408 victories and led the Bearcats to seven MIAA championships, including three regular season titles and four conference tournament titles. The Bearcats qualified for the NCAA Tournament 10 times under Tappmeyer with two appearances in the Elite Eight in 2002 and 2004. He was a four-time MIAA Coach of the Year and the 2001 South Central Region Coach of the Year.

Becker came to Northwest in 1996 and helped the Bearcats win NCAA Division II national championships in 1998 and 1999. He was twice named All-America, earned First Team All-MIAA accolades three times and was a part of four MIAA championships. He finished his career at Northwest ranked third in tackles for loss.

“Aaron was a key component of our defense on our first national championship team in 1998,” Mel Tjeerdsma ’77, former head coach of the Bearcat football team, said. “He is one of the best defensive lineman to ever play for the Bearcats.”

Zimmerman named Ken B. Jones winner

Northwest’s Kyle Zimmerman ’16 was named the MIAA’s Ken B. Jones Award winner for 2016-17. The award is given to the conference’s top male and female student athletes, with criteria including athletic, academic and community service accomplishments.

Zimmerman was the MIAA Offensive Player of the Year and earned second team All-American honors from several publications. He led the Bearcats to a perfect 15-0 record and their second straight NCAA Division II National Championship. He was named the Division II Academic All-American of the Year and is an MIAA Scholar Athlete. He was named the Kansas City Sports Commission Sportsman of the Year and finished second in the Harlon Hill voting. An active member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), he helped lead devotionals at Northwest for the past five seasons.

This marks the sixth time a Northwest football player has won the Ken B. Jones Award.

Zimmerman joins Tucker Woolsey ’01, Josh Lamberson ’05, ’07, Myles Burnsides ’09, ’10, Jake Soy ’11 and Trevor Adams ’13.

The award is named in honor of the man who served as the MIAA’s first full-time commissioner for 16 years. Jones retired in 1997 and passed away in 2004. He was inducted into the MIAA Hall of Fame with its inaugural class of 2010.

BEARCAT SPORTS

BEARCATS RETURNING TO ARROWHEAD TO FACE MULES Fans will get another chance to watch the Bearcat football team play at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, when Nor thwest meets the University of Central Missouri this fall.

Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30, at the home of the National Football League’s Kansas City Chiefs, with Nor thwest playing as the visiting team.

“The Fall Classic is a tradition that brings exciting football to a venue that has long reminded football fans of a college game day atmosphere,” Kansas City Chiefs President Mark Donovan said.

The Bearcats defeated Central Missouri, 42-17, last season at Arrowhead. Previously, the venue played host to 12 annual meetings between the Bearcats and Pittsburg State Gorillas. Nor thwest is 10-3 all time at Arrowhead, where the Bearcats have averaged more than 30 points per game and have recorded seven crowds of more than 20,000.

“When we talk about the student-athlete experience, it doesn’t get better than playing in Arrowhead Stadium,” Nor thwest football head coach Rich Wright ’96 said. “The day is special to our players, but just as impor tant is sharing the experience with many of the other students from Nor thwest.”

Tickets for the 14th edition of the Fall Classic may be ordered by calling Ticketmaster at 800.745.3000, online at www.ticketmaster.com or at the Arrowhead Stadium ticket office located between the Founder’s Plaza and the Hy-Vee Gate.

2017 BEARCAT FOOTBALL SCHEDULE (Home games in green) Aug. 31, 7 p.m.

Sept. 7, 6 p.m.

Sept. 16, 2 p.m.

Sept. 23, 1:30 p.m.

Sept. 30, 4 p.m.

Oct. 7, 1:30 p.m.

Emporia Washburn Nebraska-Kearney Missouri Southern (Family Weekend) Central Missouri (Fall Classic) Central Oklahoma

Oct. 14, 2 p.m.

Oct. 21, 2 p.m.

Oct. 28, 2 p.m.

Nov. 4, 1:30 p.m.

Nov. 11, 1 p.m.

Northeastern State Lindenwood (Homecoming) Pittsburg State Fort Hays (Senior Day) Missouri Western

Whether you’re in Omaha, Dallas, Kansas City, Phoenix or beyond...

Tune in to the Bearcat Radio Network Listen on the radio n n n n n n n

90.5 FM Maryville 88.9 FM Chillicothe 100.1 FM Cameron 102.9 FM Kansas City 104.7 FM Kansas City 1140 AM Liberty 960 AM Shenandoah

Listen on the web n n

www.kxcv.org www.bearcatsports.com

Listen on your phone or tablet Download the NPR or TuneIn Radio apps (via KXCV)

Don’t miss a single play!

KXCV 90.5 FM, the 100,000-watt public radio station that broadcasts from the Northwest campus, is entering its 19th season as the flagship station for Bearcat sports broadcasts.

An anchor of Bearcat athletics broadcasts since 1985, John Coffey ’82 returns as the “Voice of the Bearcats” and is joined by Matt Gaarder ’97 and Matt Tritten ’11 to call the action on the most powerful FM station in the region. Gaarder, who joined the broadcast team in 1999, will alternate with Tritten, who is entering his second year with the team, on home and away games.

NORTHWEST ALUMNI MAGAZINE I FALL 2017

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CLASS NOTES

CLASS NOTES

Laurie Skinner ’71 is continuing her love for gardening and helping others through her business, Gutter Gardens.

GROWING BUSINESS

‘Gutter Gardens’ help Skinner continue hobby despite illness When Laurie Skinner ’71 developed an infection in her lower spine in 2009 that prohibited her from bending over for long periods of time, she set out to develop a product that is helping her and others enjoy the fruits of gardening while standing.

Gardening was a hobby Skinner enjoyed, and she was a master gardener through the University of Illinois extension. She lives with her husband, Jim, outside of St. Louis in Maryville, Illinois, on 7 1/2 acres of land and grew a majority of the food and herbs they consumed. She was devastated by the idea that she could not physically continue gardening.

“I did not want the infection to prohibit my ability to do something I enjoyed,” Skinner said. “I was determined to develop a product that would allow me to continue my hobby.”

Skinner visited the company that installed the gutters on her home and received permission to take scrap pieces for projects.

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NORTHWEST ALUMNI MAGAZINE I FALL 2017

Her husband, who is an engineer, provided guidance on assembling and maintaining the gutter gardens.

Today, Skinner’s idea has evolved into a product that caters largely to residents of high-rise independent living facilities where living spaces often include a small balcony where gardening is more challenging.

“The gutter gardens hang on the railing and do not take any real estate on the balcony,” Skinner said. “Typically, these clients just grow flowers, not herbs.”

Skinner began Gutter Gardens because she wanted to continue growing the food she and her husband consumed, including herbs like basil, rosemary and chives.

In recent years, Skinner even helped educators develop curriculum by installing Gutter Gardens on chain link fences at elementary schools.

“Children can learn how their food comes to them,” she said. “They start planting in February, so by the time it gets warm

outside they are able to transplant their product and eat it before school is done for the summer.”

More recently, she expanded her business to include window boxes, arguing that other window boxes on the market are not durable or sturdy enough to withstand proper potting techniques and weather wear.

“People are often frustrated because wooden window boxes fall apart and the plastic ones are subject to ultra violet rays,” she said. “Mine are made out of aluminum, so they will never rust, fade, break or fall off the window.”

Skinner was determined to find a way to continue gardening in her retirement, and her Gutter Gardens have enabled her to do that.

“When you are trying to solve a problem, I think it is important to think outside the box,” she said. “If you get an idea, don’t give up on it.”

For more information, visit guttergardens.com.

CLASS NOTES

’66 ’67

’01 ’80

Soren Sorensen ’66 and Donna Foley Sorensen ’67 celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in Omaha, Nebraska. The couple resided in Nebraska for 36 years. Donna retired from the Westside School District in 2007 and Soren retired from the Federal Corps of Engineers in 2007. They have two children and three grandsons and reside in Sun City, Arizona, where they enjoy yoga, golf, line-dancing and traveling.

Scott Sollars ’01 and Lesa McCord Francis ’80 connected at a recent WP Global Partners Annual Private Capital Meeting in Arizona. Sollars is vice president and portfolio manager for FCI Advisors in Overland Park, Kansas. Francis, who was presenting at the conference, is president and chief executive officer of Park City, Utah-based, Supplemental Health Care. In March, Francis was named for the fourth time to the Staffing Industry Analysts’ annual North American Staffing 100 list of notable influencers within the industry.

1950s Barbara Robertson ’50 was an elementary school teacher in St. Joseph, Missouri, for 33 years. She taught at Edison and Eugene Field elementary schools.

Kathleen Pettepier Strube ’54 and her husband, Alfred, celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in April. Kathleen is retired from teaching in the St. Joseph (Missouri) School District, and Alfred is retired from the Quaker Oats Company.

1960s

Roger Schlegel ’67 retired after 43 years as a teacher and coach, serving the last 15 years with the Dallas Independent School District.

1970s

Larry W. Anderson ’73, ’77 recently published two books, “I, Eugenius” and “John Henry’s War,” through Amazing Things Press. Larry is a retired middle school teacher and lives in Maryville with his wife, Marcha Rankin Anderson ’74, ’87. She is a retired middle school teacher.

David Howell ’73 retired in February after 40 years with the Shelter Mutual Insurance company’s claims department. His wife, Kathy, retired in May after 10 years as a circulation specialist with Northwest’s B.D. Owens Library.

Tom Danner ’75 was selected to the Iowa Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame located in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Dr. Barbara Turner Tansey ’76 retired in June as president of Beaufort County Community College in Raleigh, North Carolina. She has relocated to St. Joseph, Missouri.

Chuck Morris ’77 recently became marketing and foundation director of the Clarinda (Iowa) Regional Health Center. Morris spent the previous 36 years of his career working in radio, including 27 with KMA Broadcasting in Shenandoah, Iowa. He also is a Page County (Iowa) supervisor.

1980s

Kayla Cummings Sierks ’85 retired in May after 32 years with the Rock Port (Missouri) R-II School District, where she taught sixth grade for 25 years and was the pre-K-12 librarian for the last seven years. She and her husband of 29 years, Chuck, have two daughters, Kari ’13 and Chloe.

Penny Ferguson DeJong ’86, ’90 was recognized with Ingram’s Magazine’s 2017 Icon of Education award. She has taught at Alvernia College in Reading, Pennsylvania; Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota, where she served as chair; St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota; and Park University, Parkville, Missouri; where she is currently associate dean of the School of Business.

’86

Tom Leith ’86 and fiancé Carrie Gautsche showed Bearcat pride while visiting the Golden Circle in Iceland. Tom is employed with the Blue Springs (Missouri) R-IV School District as a speech and theater teacher. The couple lives in Kansas City, Missouri.

Scott Giles ’87 was inducted into the Iowa High School Athletic Association Officials Hall of Fame in March. Since becoming an official in 1982, he has been selected for football postseason play 10 years with two title games, and 24 years of basketball post season tournaments including 12 state assignments with seven championships. He is a teacher at Mt. Ayr (Iowa) Community High School.

Nishi O’Dell Giefer ’88 recently published her fourth novel about ranch life on the High Plains.

She also is a veterinarian and owner of Giefer Ranch in WaKeeney, Kansas. Her books are available at Amazon.com.

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CLASS NOTES

THE MAGICAL WORLD OF DIPIETRE Alumnus mixes passion for communication, government in Disney role Strolling by the Animation Building on the Walt Disney Studios campus in Burbank, California, where Walt Disney himself supervised the production of history’s greatest animated films, Jacob DiPietre ’00 sometimes catches himself in awe of his surroundings.

“There’s all of these innovative things going on, whether it’s in parks and resorts or other parts of the company,” DiPietre said. “There are definitely those times I’m walking through the campus, and I think, ‘Wow, I just did this.’”

Since earning his bachelor’s degree at Northwest in journalism with a minor in political science, DiPietre’s career has taken him from newspaper reporting to communicating policy for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

DiPietre joined The Walt Disney Company in 2005 and now serves as vice president of global external affairs with Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide. He plays a key role in the Disney subsidiary’s engagement with the communities it serves through its theme parks, cruises and other enterprises throughout the world.

“It’s working with all those businesses to help them create strategies for the most effective ways to give back to their local communities,” DiPietre said. “Sometimes that is a combination of providing inkind support in terms of expertise or strategic planning. Sometimes it’s just cash.

Sometimes it’s a broader campaign.”

DiPietre uses his government relations experience to understand the expectations of consumers, policy makers and advocacy groups. He leads a team that works to inform stakeholders of policies while upholding the high expectations of the Disney brand. Whether he’s dealing with the mayor of Orlando, Florida, or a prefecture in France, DiPietre is working to assure them that Disney is a trusted partner and economic catalyst committed to improving their communities.

“The exciting and challenging part about it is the markets where we have resorts vary so significantly around the world,” DiPietre said. “You can’t really make a comparison in terms of community needs between Anaheim and Shanghai, for example. There is no cookie cutter approach.”

The experiences he had at Northwest

1990s Chris Johnson ’92 is department head and professor of aerospace studies at the University of Illinois. He holds the rank of lieutenant colonel and is commander of the Air Force ROTC Detachment 190 on the campus. He and his wife, Nicky, have three children and reside in Chicago.

’96 Sharon Tamerius Kandris ’96, in May, was appointed associate director of The Polis Center at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis. The unit specializes in providing place-based research tools to transform data into usable information for more effective local decision-making. She joined The Polis Center 18 years ago, serving most recently as director of community informatics.

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Tracey Steele ’93 and his wife, Tania, were married in January 2017 in San Francisco. They live in Culver City, California. Tracey is a real estate attorney at Liner LLP in Los Angeles.

Jeremy Riedell ’97 has joined Athene USA in West Des Moines, Iowa, as a human resource information system senior analyst. Previously, he spent 19 years at DuPont Pioneer in various human resources roles. He resides in Urbandale, Iowa, with his wife, Jessica, and two kids.

Marc Vasquez ’97 was promoted to security awareness program manager at UMB Financial Corporation, overseeing the company’s internal and external security awareness efforts. He was recently elected communications director for the

imprinted a high level of responsibility that he’s carried into his career. After stints as a newspaper reporter and as press secretary for Missouri Congressman Sam Graves, DiPietre – having visited Florida only twice on family trips to Disney World – applied for a spot with Bush’s transition team after his 2002 reelection.

DiPietre held the press secretary role in the Bush administration for nearly four years and looks back on it as “a phenomenal time.”

But in 2005, with a growing family and looking for a change of pace from the long days he was logging in the governor’s office, he became a spokesman for Walt Disney Parks.

“What I love about this job is helping to set the strategy for how to deal with advocates and policy makers and consumers, and helping to enhance and protect and defend the reputation of Disney Parks and Resorts around the world,” DiPietre said. “It’s really an awesome responsibility, and one that’s a lot of fun, too.”

For more of this story, visit nwmissouri.edu/alumni/magazine

Social Media Club Global board and secretary of the International Association of Security Awareness Professionals. His wife, Kimberly Law Vasquez ’98, teaches mentally handicapped students in the eighth and ninth grades in Liberty, Missouri. The couple lives in Kansas City, Missouri.

Sharlet Bailey Dumke ’99 began in January as manager of Boulders Inn and Suites in Maryville, a new 40-room hotel at Mozingo Lake Recreation Park. Dumke worked for Northwest Campus Dining for 19 years, most recently as catering manager. Her husband, Howard ’99, is a third grade teacher at Eugene Field Elementary School in Maryville.

Steven Woolfolk ’99 received the American Library Association’s Lemony Snicket Prize for Nobel Librarians Faced with Adversity in June at the organization’s annual conference and exhibition in Chicago, Daniel Handler, who writes under the pen name of Lemony Snicket, presented Woolfolk with the prize. Woolfolk is director of programming and marketing for the Kansas City Public Library.

“There’s all of these innovative things going on, whether it’s in parks and resorts or other parts of the company.

There are definitely those times I’m walking through the campus, and I think, ‘Wow, I just did this.”

Jacob DiPietre Jacob DiPietre discusses his work as vice president of global external affairs with Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide at Disney Legends Plaza — which features bronze plaques with the hand prints of actors, animators, music composers and other groundbreaking Disney contributors — on the grounds of the company’s headquarters in Burbank, California.

2000s Toni Parkins ’00 lives in Grimes, Iowa, and is a business analyst for Voya Financial. She was recently selected by her peers to participate in Voya’s first-ever volunteer sabbatical with the non-profit Soles4Souls and traveled with four other employees and two senior leaders to San Jose, Costa Rica, where they distributed new shoes to more than 800 people in two days.

Shawn Emerson ’01 has begun working as principal Nodaway-Holt High School in Graham, Missouri.

Most recently, he was preschool through second grade principal at North Elementary School in Falls City, Nebraska.

Lee Butterfield ’04 and Janessa Reeves Butterfield ’03 welcomed Braedin Maurice on March 17. He weighed 7 pounds, 10 ounces, and was 22 inches long. Janessa is a small animal veterinarian and practices in Perry, Iowa. Lee is employed by Star Energy, Manson Iowa.

’02

’02 Todd Kenney ’02, ’03 was elected to partner at BKD National Health Care Group, where he has more than 13 years of experience performing financial statement audits for businesses and organizations throughout multiple industries, including health care, not-for-profit and professional services such as technology and software.

Troy Teague ’99, ’09 was elected in July to the Board of Trustees at Park University in Parkville, Missouri. Teague is director of recruiting at Cerner Corp., where he has been employed since 2004, and resides in Kansas City, Missouri.

NORTHWEST ALUMNI MAGAZINE I FALL 2017

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CLASS NOTES

Northwest-Kansas City has 10 completion programs and is adding to the list.

These programs include:

YOUR PLACE TO

Succeed

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Applied health science: exercise science Business management Communication: public relations Computer science: mobile computing Criminology: diversity Elementary education with language arts concentration Elementary education with early childhood minor Elementary education and special education dual major Marketing Psychology

Nicholas Triche ’08 is company commander of a 44-bed early entry hospital element of the 115th Combat Support Hospital at Fort Polk, Louisiana. This is his second command in 20 years of military service, having served in the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army.

KANSAS CITY

nwmissouri.edu/kc

Jacob Wood ’17 has joined Classic Rock QUICK 100.1 FM (KKWK) and U.S. Country 1360 AM (KMRN) as the new morning show host in Cameron, Missouri.

2010s ’05 Aaron Bailey ’05 has been accepted as a partner in the law firm of Sloan, Eisenbarth, Glassman, McEntire & Jarboe, LLC. He joined the firm as a law clerk in 2009. He is admitted to practice law before the State Courts of Kansas, the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas and the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit and engages in a general practice of law, including civil litigation, business transactions and litigation, estate planning and probate, and real estate matters. He lives in Lawrence, Kansas, where he serves on the Historic Resources Commission for the city of Lawrence and previously served on the board of directors for The Shelter, Inc. His professional associations include the American Bar Association, Kansas Bar Association, Topeka Bar Association and Douglas County Bar Association.

Jessica Humes Lee ’11 was elected in November as the DeKalb County collector and treasurer and began a four-year term in April. She had been employed as deputy collector and treasurer since 2012 before running for office. She resides in Weatherby, Missouri.

Jennifer Downing ’15 received the Outstanding New Teacher Award from the Missouri Association of Colleges for Teacher Education in March. She teaches Spanish at West Nodaway R-1 in Burlington Junction, Missouri.

Logan Kinyon ’15 is Miss Rodeo Iowa 2017 and travels the country to educate others about rodeo, agriculture and her home state of Iowa. She will compete in December in Las Vegas for the title of Miss Rodeo America.

’11 Katie Pierce and Mark Frutiger were married Oct. 22, 2016, in Kansas City, Missouri.

They reside in Overland Park, Kansas. Katie is a senior UX strategist for Intouch Solutions.

WHAT’S NEW WITH YOU? New job? New child? New spouse? New address? Send your latest news to the Northwest Alumni Association at alumni@nwmissouri.edu, use the enclosed envelope or complete the online class notes form at www.nwmissouri.edu/alumni/magazine/classnotes.htm.

You may also submit a photograph. Please include a self-addressed envelope for the photo to be returned, or email it, in high resolution, to alumni@nwmissouri.edu.

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NORTHWEST ALUMNI MAGAZINE I FALL 2017

CLASS NOTES

Corey Quinonez is photographed in Diebel's Sportsmens Gallery at Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza, one of the retail locations where his K.C. Beard Balms products are available.

TAMING THE BEARD Quinonez’s facial hair products finding following Corey Quinonez ’02 believes in the power of a beard. So much that he’s growing a business out of his desire to take care of his facial hair and help others do the same.

In 2015, he established K.C. Beard Balms, a unique line of balms, oils, wax and washes created to help control, soften, nourish, moisturize and condition beards as well as skin. “Believe in your beard” is the company’s motto. “‘Believe’ is my go-to word,” he said.

“I always tell people to believe. It’s just to help people, be themselves, believe in themselves.”

After graduating from Northwest with his bachelor’s degree in psychology, Quinonez ventured into business and found a career as a headhunter. Eventually, he was bitten by the entrepreneur bug.

He had had facial hair in some form for as long as he could grow it. Then, sometime around 2010, he decided to let it go and hasn’t shaved since.

“It just happened, and I was like, ‘OK, what am I going to do with this?’” he said.

“That’s when I got into the beard products, and next thing I know I’m making beard care products.”

Quinonez had tried all kinds of products but couldn’t find one that accomplished what he wanted.

“I wanted to make an all-in-one product so I did a lot of research,” he said. “It was a lot of hard work, a lot of trial and error.

Then I found something that I wanted, that I would use every day because I am a customer, too.”

Quinonez connected with an apiary to provide the beeswax used in his balms and established important relationships with vendors to secure other ingredients.

Quinonez’s products use a mixture of 12 ingredients and a collection of essential oils that give each balm a specific scent.

After “a lot of math and a lot of science,” Quinonez concocted “a soft, scoopable product.” He shared it with friends to test.

He launched a website. And K.C. Beard Balms was born.

In addition to selling products online

and shipping them across the globe, K.C. Beard Balms works with retailers in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Arkansas, Colorado and Idaho. The company plans to expand to additional markets this fall.

In a short time, K.C. Beard Balms has grabbed spots in British GQ, Glamour, Wired and Vogue in addition to an assortment of profiles in Kansas City area lifestyle magazines. In June, it partnered with the Big Slick Celebrity Weekend, an annual initiative of actors and Kansas City metro natives, including Rob Riggle, Paul Rudd and Jason Sudeikis, to benefit Children's Mercy Hospital. A container of a specially formulated Big Slick Beard Balm was placed in celebrity swag bags, and all proceeds from sales of the product went to Children’s Mercy.

Quinonez also has developed a tobaccoinfused balm in partnership with Diebel's Sportsmens Gallery and a hops-infused balm with Boulevard Brewing Company.

“It’s been an amazing, fun ride, from the opportunities to the collaborations,” he said.

“I don’t think we’ve scratched the surface yet of where we can take it or what we can do.”

For more information about K.C. Beard Balms, visit www.KCbeardbalms.com.

NORTHWEST ALUMNI MAGAZINE I FALL 2017

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IN MEMORIAM

IN MEMORIAM

Northwest extends its condolences to the families and friends of these individuals.

Gary Booth ’61, 81, of Georgetown, Texas, died March 25, at his home. He worked for the Internal Revenue Service for 36 years, beginning in 1962 as a revenue agent in Kansas City, Missouri. Gary served as a group manager in Jefferson City and St. Louis; as a division chief in St. Louis and Milwaukee; as district director in Fargo, North Dakota, Austin, Texas and Dallas; regional chief compliance officer of the southwest region; and he retired in 1998 as regional commissioner for the mid-states region of the IRS. He received the Commissioners Award in 1996, the Meritorious Executive Award from President George H. W. Bush in 1991 and Distinguished Executive Award from President Bill Clinton in 1996.

Dr. Harry Bowes ’57 ’59, 81, of Erie, Colorado, died June 20. He was assistant dean of men at Northwest before earning his doctoral degree at the University of Colorado. He went on to serve as president of Dakota State (South Dakota) University from 1967 to 1971 and the University of Southern Colorado (now Colorado State University-Pueblo) from 1971 to 1978. He retired in 1991 as executive director of Colorado Counties Inc.

John Brinkman ’95, 63, of Cedar Hill, Missouri, died May 7, 2016. He taught at a Catholic seminary, in public schools, a career center for adults and a junior college. He later became a computer programmer, working for Enterprise, Navisys, and for the last 16 years at Magellan Health in Maryland Heights, Missouri.

Wallace Burman (attended), 91, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, died Jan. 23, in Waterloo, Iowa. He served in the Pacific Theater on the U. S. Navy aircraft carrier U. S. S. Langley during World War II. He was president and past owner of Dalton Plumbing and Heating.

NORTHWEST ALUMNI MAGAZINE I FALL 2017

Lowell Carlson ’70, 68, died Jan. 20 in Urbandale, Iowa. He worked in the credit field in Sioux City, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska, before settling in Des Moines, Iowa.

Myrtle Lee Burns ’47, 97, of Weston, Missouri, died March 31, in St. Joseph, Missouri. She taught high school in Kansas for 39 years, retiring in 1986.

Ronald Cain ’61, 78, of Creston, Iowa, died Feb. 23, in Des Moines, Iowa. He taught mathematics for four years at Malvern High School in Malvern, Iowa, then taught mathematics at Southwestern Community College in Creston until retiring in 1998.

Richard “Dick” Buckridge ’53, 86, of Maryville, died July 22. A four-year letterman and two-year captain for the Bearcat men’s basketball team, he was a three-time all-conference selection and received its sportsmanship award.

After graduation, he spent most of his life teaching and coaching at the high school and university levels, including a tenure as Northwest men’s basketball head coach from 1964 to 1971. He then served the University as director of admissions and as assistant to the president, retiring in 1977. He was inducted into the M-Club Hall of Fame in 1985.

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Don Callow (attended), 64, of Maryville, died Feb. 25. He was farmer involved in row crop production and livestock.

Chad Chubick ’05, 33, of Maryville, died Jan. 3 in, Kansas City, Kansas. He lived all of his life in the Maryville area.

David Conklin ’88, 51, of Silver Spring, Maryland, died Jan. 18 while on vacation in Washington state.

He was employed for 27 years at Food and Drug Administration Center for Veterinary Medicine.

Marcia Reynolds Evans ’01, 63, died Feb. 8, in Maryville. She was employed as a paraprofessional in elementary schools in Chicago; Fort Worth and Dallas, Texas; and Rock Port, Hopkins and Barnard, Missouri.

Salvatore Fidone ’90, 48, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, died Jan. 24. He was working for the city of Omaha, Nebraska.

IN MEMORIAM

Todd Frohwirth (attended), 54, of Waukesha, Wisconsin, died March 26. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1984 and, after playing with other minor and major league teams, he retired from professional baseball in1996. He then coached for several years and worked as a professional scout for the Baltimore Orioles for the last 15 years. He coached middle school and high school basketball for 35 years. He was inducted into Northwest’s M-Club Hall of Fame in 2004.

Jean Brooner Garreth ’53, 89, of St. Joseph, Missouri, died Feb. 2. She was a teacher for the St. Joseph School District, retiring after teaching more than 30 years.

Madge Miller Gowing ’48, 98, formerly of Keokuk and West Branch, Iowa, died March 28.

Her teaching career began in a rural grade school in Grant City, Missouri, followed by teaching at several other small schools. Her last position was teaching home economics at Keokuk High School.

Bernard Gram (attended), 90, died March 28, in Kansas City, Missouri. He served in the U.S. Army from 1945 to 1947 as a combat engineer in Korea, earning the rank of staff sergeant. Bernard worked as an engineer for Thomas Construction Company in St. Joseph and Kansas City. He and his wife, Marjorie, were founding members of Holy Family Parish in Kansas City, Missouri, and he served on the building commission for the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph for 24 years, as chair for 13 years.

Alice McGinnis Gray (attended), 92, of Springfield, Missouri, died Feb. 28, her birthday.

Living most of her life in Maryville, she taught at Olwell School and was active in many community groups, including volunteer work with the Red Cross for more than 25 years. She was chosen Outstanding Woman of the Year in 1960.

Lewis Hansen (attended), 76, died Jan. 5, in Des Moines, Iowa. He served in the U. S. Army as a military policeman, volunteered in his community as a fireman for the cities of Clive and Waukee, Iowa, and worked as a printer for Advertiser’s Duplicating Service/ADI Group for 38 years.

Robert Hartzler ’69, 73, of Coralville, Iowa, died April 8. He was a teacher and coach in Muscatine and Maquoketa, Iowa, before becoming an administrator in Ankeny where he served as assistant superintendent from 1987 to 2004. He was honored as Teacher of the Year at Muscatine High School twice, Central Office Administrator of the Year for Iowa and Outstanding Alumnus of Drake University.

Joe Havis ’74 (master’s), 84, died April 10. He had a 20-year career in the U.S. Army as a field artillery officer, including two tours in Vietnam and earned numerous military honors. He retired from military service in 1979 and began his career with the city of Houston, serving as deputy director of Health and Human Services.

John “Jack” Heaton (attended), 93, died Feb. 12, in Bozeman, Montana. Jack’s training with the Navy V-12 Unit at Northwest and U.S. Naval Reserve Midshipman School at Columbia University led to a commission and duty in the Pacific as a damage control officer. In 1952, he joined the Oregon Fish Commission as an aquatic biologist for hatchery biology and salmon investigations. During the next 14 years he served stints as district fisheries supervisor with the Nebraska Game, Forestation and Parks Commission; as fisheries research biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Boise, Idaho; with the Montana Fish and Game Department; and as project biologist and statewide project leader at Bozeman, Montana. In 1966, he began teaching at the University of WisconsinStevens Point, retiring there in 1988. During the summers he worked as a naturalist at Yellowstone National Park and Glacier Bay, Alaska. He received a number of awards, including the Brookie Award from Trout Unlimited six times for his contributions to trout habitat in Wisconsin.

Thomas Horner ’74 (master’s), 78, of Orlando, Florida, died March 11. He enlisted in the U. S. Army National Guard in 1954, entered active duty in 1956, and was commissioned in 1959.

Col. Horner retired in 1987 after more than 30 years, including two tours in Vietnam. Following his military career, he owned Semoran Scuba and Florida Tanning with his wife, Jackie.

Robert James ’59, 79, died Feb. 15. He was a chemist and vice president at Cook Paint and Varnish Company in Kansas City where he and a co-worker received a patent for their container coatings formula. He later became chief executive officer of Cook Composite Coatings and Polymers of Port Washington, Wisconsin, and director of marketing and strategic planning for Lilly Industries in Indianapolis. In retirement, he did consulting work for Spraylat Corp. of Pelham, New York.

Kenneth Keim ’76, ’82, 65, died March 23 in San Antonio. He taught high school science for six years in Michigan before finding a career as a medical technologist in hospital and clinic laboratories in Oregon, Missouri and Texas.

Charlaine Farrow Key (attended), 74, of St. Joseph, Missouri, died March 8. She taught in the St. Joseph School District for more than 20 years at Pershing Elementary, retiring in 2004.

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IN MEMORIAM

Forrest Lowe ’51, 89, died March 19. He served in the U. S. Coast Guard from 1944 to 1945. He taught at Maryville High School, Kansas City schools, Kansas City Junior College, Longview Community College and University of MissouriKansas City and was a consultant for various companies. He also worked as a nuclear engineer at Convair Division of General Dynamics in Fort Worth, Texas, and was a member of many engineering associations.

George Maher ’58, 86, of Red Oak, Iowa, died Feb. 3. He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. He taught school for one year in Des Moines, Iowa, before returning to Red Oak, where he worked for Fifield Furniture Store. He then began his career with Houghton State Bank, where he served as president and chairman of the board and retired after 44 years. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Northwest Alumni Association in 2008. He and his wife, Patricia Adams Maher ’57, recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.

Ronald Mason Jr. ’13, 26, of Liberty, Missouri, died Jan. 28. He was beginning a career in home and commercial remodeling and repair.

Jean Doebbeling Masters ’87, 62, of Belton, Missouri, died Feb. 12. She worked with disabled and disadvantaged children, first at Nova Center, then at the Gillis Center in Kansas City.

Darlene Beck Matheny (attended), 93, of Mexico, Missouri, died March 26, in Columbia, Missouri.

She was a housewife and a school teacher.

Tom McMahon, 61, died June 5 in Maryville.

He spent 22 years working in Facility Services at Northwest before retiring this year.

Byron Miller, Jr. ’54, 84, of Ravenwood, Missouri, died March 5, in St. Joseph, Missouri. He retired as an elementary school principal at Northeast Nodaway after 30 years. He also farmed and raised cattle.

Rosa Lee Roark Mitchell ’41, 96, died April 4 in Fort Collins, Colorado. She taught music in the Monte Vista, Colorado, school system for seven years. She and her husband lived in Brush, Colorado, for 50 years where she taught piano, organ and vocal lessons in her home.

Jerald Moore ’69, 68, of Rock Port, Missouri, died June 6, 2015, in Kansas City, Missouri. He worked for Production Credit Association from 1969 to 1984, living in Chariton, Centerville, and Ottumwa, Iowa. After moving to Rock Port in 1984, he worked for Citizen’s Bank & Trust, serving as president and chief executive officer from 1988 until retiring in 2014.

Russell Morris ’57, 82, of Savannah, Missouri, died April 28. He served in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Germany. He was a driver’s examiner for the State of Missouri before joining the Missouri State Highway Patrol in 1960. He was stationed with the patrol in Grant City, Cameron and St. Joseph before retiring in 1991.

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NORTHWEST ALUMNI MAGAZINE I FALL 2017

Bette Williams Plummer (attended), 85, of St. Joseph, Missouri, died Feb. 8. Bette was the deputy recorder of deeds at the Nodaway County Courthouse in Maryville and worked for the Tootle Lacy Bank in St. Joseph.

Larry Pratt ’68, 77, died Feb. 28, in Sun Lakes, Arizona. He was a microbiologist working in the medical device industry, primarily for Becton Dickinson in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, and W. L. Gore in Flagstaff, Arizona. He retired in 2003, splitting time between Sun Lakes, Arizona and Diagonal, Iowa.

Norman Preston ’46, 96, of Liberty, Missouri, died May 2. After serving in the U.S. Army, he taught high school industrial arts for six years. He worked for the Ford Motor Company as a sheet metal instructor, then for Butler Manufacturing Company as an industrial engineer and Bendix Corporation as a sheet metal supervisor and a computer systems analyst. He was later appointed chairman of the mechanical technology department at Penn Valley Metropolitan Junior College where he taught metal fabrication, welding and drafting.

Arlen Roach (attended), 82, of Saint Joseph, Missouri, died April 26. He worked at Farmland Industries, Woodbury Chemical as an exterminator and inspector.

Burl Sandusky ’59, 83, died Dec. 28 in Lovelock, Nevada. He worked as a machinist in Coffeyville, Kansas, and for Boeing Aircraft in Wichita, Kansas.

In 1962, Burl became the industrial arts teacher for the Pershing County School District in Lovelock where he taught for 32 years before retiring.

Rick Schluter (attended), 48, of Maryville, Missouri, died Feb. 5. He had worked as a carpenter.

David Schoeneck ’71, 67, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, died April 6. He taught music and band for the DeSoto, Kansas, School District before becoming a restaurant manager in 1977 and later owning and operating a restaurant in Blue Springs, Missouri. He returned to teaching in 1996 and later became a professional delivery truck driver for companies such as Airborne, DHL and FedEx. Jean Sheridan ’78 (masters), 68, of Afton, Iowa, died Feb. 17, in Creston, Iowa. She worked for the East Union (Iowa) Community School District where she taught English, was the guidance counselor and led the drama program. She also was employed by Southwestern Community College as an adjunct professor in psychology and English.

Rusty Shipley ’86, ’15, 55 died April 20. He had been an instructor in Northwest’s School of Agricultural Sciences since 2015. Prior to that, he taught ag and business classes and was an FFA advisor for four years at South Page Community School in Iowa and spent 25 years in the accounting field.

Ronald Van Ryswyk ’51, 86, of Des Moines, Iowa, died March 4. He taught and coached at several high schools in Missouri before becoming head basketball coach at Frostburg State University

in Maryland. He established the school’s first football program and served as head football coach in addition to his duties as basketball coach and professor of education. While at the university, he authored a book for coaches, titled “Ball Control Offense and Disciplined Defense in Basketball.”

Ron later completed post-doctoral work as a Carnegie Scholar at the University of Michigan in the higher education administration program and was named dean at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He then served as dean and professor of education at Monmouth College in Illinois and was president of Marycrest College in Davenport, Iowa.

Burl Walter Jr. ’56, 83, died Dec. 5, 2016, while vacationing in Hawaii. His career as a music educator in public schools and as a professional musician spanned six decades. He taught in Hopkins, Missouri, and Macksburg and Schleswig in Iowa, before serving 35 years as music department chair and band director at Reedley (California) High School, retiring in 2000. He performed as a professional musician with Fort Smith (Arkansas) Symphony, Sioux City (Iowa) Symphony, Fresno (California) Philharmonic and the Tulare County (California) Symphony. He also served two years in the U.S. Army and was a member of the 22nd Army Band while stationed in San Francisco.

Nancy Johnson Willis ’76, 63, of King City, Missouri, died March 28. She worked as an accountant for several years, then became a full-time mother and farm wife.

Charles “Chuck” Woodworth (attended), 91, died Feb. 14, in Norfolk, Virginia. Captain Woodworth served in the U.S. Navy for 34 years. He was a cadet in officer training during World War II before being commissioned as an ensign in 1949. After flight training in Pensacola, Florida, he served as a carrierbased fighter pilot and was a flight instructor in Corpus Christi, Texas, and with the joint strategic target planning staff at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. He also served as a strike operation officer, staff nuclear weapons officer and nuclear engineer. A Korean and Vietnam War veteran, his last active duty assignment was at the Pentagon with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. During retirement, he worked for Planning Research Corporation, heading the implementation of the Saudi Naval defense system and with NASA.

LET US KNOW

If you learn of the death of a Northwest graduate, please submit in writing or via news clipping the name of the deceased (and maiden name, if appropriate), year(s) of graduation from Northwest, date of death, age, city of death, city of residence and a brief listing of career accomplishments. In addition, submit your relationship to the deceased and your daytime telephone number to the Office of University Advancement, 800 University Dr., Maryville, MO 64468-6001, fax to 660.562.1990 or email alumni@nwmissouri.edu. Submissions may be edited for length and clarity.

NORTHWEST

POSTCARD Members of Northwest's landscape services team spread mulch around a tree outside the Administration Building in anticipation of students returning for the fall trimester.

The Missouri State Legislature designated the Northwest campus as the Missouri Arboretum in 1993, and the campus is home today to more than 1,700 trees and more than 130 species cultivated from throughout the world.

NORTHWEST THE MAGAZINE FOR NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNI AND FRIENDS

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Maryville, MO Permit No. 215

ALUMNI MAGAZINE I FALL 2017

Northwest Missouri State University Office of University Advancement 800 University Drive Maryville, MO 64468-6001

Connect with us: www.nwmissouri.edu/alumni 660.562.1248 alumni@nwmissouri.edu

Join the Tourin’ Bearcats on their upcoming trip

Shades of Ireland June 11 through 20, 2018 $3,699 per person* $500 deposit due at time of reservation.

Deposit due Dec. 12.

Insurance $290 per person

Highlights: • • • • • • •

Dublin Kilkenny Waterford Blarney Castle Killarney Ring of Kerry A farm visit

• • • • • •

A jaunting car ride Limerick Cliffs of Moher Galway A castle stay Lobster Dinner

Final payment due April 12, 2018.

Includes:

• Roundtrip airfare from Kansas City, air taxes, hotel transfers • 13 meals • Transportation from Maryville to Kansas City International Airport

Make your reservation today. Limited availability. *Prices based on double occupancy and departure from Kansas City International Airport; taxes and fees/surcharges and hotel transfers; cancellation waiver and insurance available for purchase; all rates are per person and subject to change, based on air inclusive package from Kansas City International Airport.

For more information, contact the Northwest Alumni Association at alumni@nwmissouri.edu or 660.562.1248.

NORTHWEST

M I S S O U R I S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

ALUMNI A S S O C I A T I O N

For more information about this trip, visit www.nwmissouri.edu/alumni/travel or to book, call the Tourin’ Bearcats Help Desk at 800.869.6806.

Sponsored by the Northwest Alumni Association and KXCV-KRNW, Northwest’s NPR affiliate.