ALUMS
ALUMNI NEWS ALYSSA HODENFIELD (B.A. ’18), video
MARGO ASHMORE (B.A. ’78) pub-
lishes a twice-monthly community newspaper, the Northeaster, serving Northeast Minneapolis, St. Anthony, Columbia Heights and Hilltop.
EMMALYNN BAUER (B.A. ’12) started
as the Director of State Agency Communications at the Office of the Governor Tim Walz and Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan.
GREGORY BORCHARD (B.A. ’99), pro-
fessor in the Journalism and Media Studies Department at the University of Nevada - Las Vegas, is editing the second edition of the Encyclopedia of Journalism for SAGE Publications. He was named the editor for Journalism History, an AEJMC Division Journal in 2018.
PHAVANNA NINA BOUPHASAVANH
(B.A. ’03) was accepted to graduate school at the Earl Bakken Center for Spirituality and Healing, and still runs her storytelling business with an emphasis in copywriting for Fortune 500 companies.
EVAN CORDES (B.A. ’07) has been
made a partner at the law firm of Hansen, Dordell, Bradt, Odlaug & Bradt where he practices in the area of workers’ compensation and employment law.
MARK ENGEBRETSON (B.A. ’89, M.A.
’09) is the director of communications for the University of Minnesota Libraries. He produced and directed “Jay’s Longhorn,” a 2019 documentary film about the origins of the Punk Rock/Alternative Rock/New Wave scene in Minneapolis. The film won Best Music in a Feature Film at the Queen City Film Festival in Maryland. 34
MURPHY REPORTER ❙ Summer 2020
MCKENNA EWEN (B.A. ’09), producer
at CNN, was named 2020 Video Editor of the Year by the White House News Photographers Association.
AMY FELEGY (B.A.’19) is a reporter
for CTV in the North Suburbs and the Chaska Herald. Her photographs were also selected to appear in a Minnesota magazine.
AMANDA FRETHEIM GATES (B.A. ’03)
received the Outstanding Service Award from the University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts in February 2020.
ANNE GREER (B.A. ’73) is program
director for the Conference Board, where her work involves designing and delivering programs for top executives of innovation and market insights from a diverse set of major companies. All of the organization’s in-person meetings since March had to be converted to web meetings with a focus on the COVID-19 situation—to provide current unbiased information and exchange ideas for dealing with the crisis.
BETTE HAMMEL (B.A. ’47), author of
six books, has a new historical fiction book coming out soon.
JESSICA HART (B.A. ’19) is a multimedia journalist at KRCG in Columbia, Mo.
MUNA HASSAN (B.A. ’11) is the CEO
and founder of Body and Mind by Muna. Seeing a major gap in content geared toward Muslim women wanting to get fitter and eat better, Hassan created an app specifically catering to this market. The app—Muslimah Fit— officially launched in the Apple Store in May.
producer at The Sacramento Bee, was named a local news finalist for the Livingston Awards for the documentary she produced, S.A.C., which explores the legacy of Stephon Clark and looks at the lasting impacts of Clark’s death on his family, the Sacramento area and the legislation and policy changes that have come since.
MARSHALL HOFFMAN (B.A. ’86) has
been the news director for the KMRS/ KKOK radio stations in Morris, Minn., for the past two years after 13 years in print journalism.
JANE E. HOSMANEK KAISER (B.A.’78, M.A. ’80), writing as Seelie Kay, released her 15th book, “The White House Wedding,” on Feb. 14. Her 16th book, “Martimus,” will be released on May 29.
JEAN NAYAR (B.A. ’80) completed
a book called “Lucky—Anil Nayar’s Story: A Portrait of a Legendary Squash Champion,” a biographical memoir on the barrier-breaking sports career of her husband, who blazed a trail to the top of the international stage in squash, was the first Indian to serve as captain of Harvard University’s squash team, and was recently inducted into the U.S. Squash Hall of Fame.
ANITA NELSON (B.A. ’90), president and owner of IN Food Marketing & Design, celebrated her company’s 25th anniversary in March 2020.
JAMES NELSON (B.A. ’83) is awaiting
publication of his fifth nonfiction book about the American military experience in World War I. The York Patrol, to be published by William Morrow in February 2021, follows his previous books The Remains of Company D, Five Lieutenants, I Will Hold—which won the 2017 Colonel Joseph Alexander Award for
