UMSL Magazine – Fall 2021

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A P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F M I S S O U R I – S T. L O U I S–

FALL 2019 SPRING 2021 SPRING 2021

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LL 2019

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LL 2021

FALL 2021 FALL 2021

Collaboration with UMSL saves Ameren six figures Page 18 Japan program builds unique community Page 20 Cross country starts its run Page 24 Building a city of gardens Page 30

In this issue

Brock Seals makes it on art PAGE 10

Running with a smile Over 200 racers participated in the inaugural UMSL Alumni 5k Run & Walk at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. Held on Oct. 16, the event, organized by the UMSL Alumni Association, brought the community to campus to showcase the university in a unique way and to build connections among alumni and friends.

Chancellor Kristin Sobolik Chief of Staff Bob Samples Assistant Vice Chancellor for Marketing and Communications Justin Roberts

translation

Director of Public Relations and Content/Writer

[flying high through the air]

Steve Walentik Editor-in-Chief/Writer Jessica Rogen Writers Joe Cavato Burk Krohe David Morrison Ben Westhoff Timothy Wombles Director of Creative Services Traci Moore Art Director/Design Wendy Allison Design

FALL 2021

5............. On Campus 28.......... A Minute With

Steven Louis Brawley, founder of the St. Louis LGBT History Project

Andrea Jackson-Jennings, managing director of the COVID-19 Regional Response Team

Ronald Jones, community builder and master gardener

Emily Blackburn, crime analysis unit manager

32.......... Class Notes

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Photographer August Jennewein Printer Walsworth Publishing Company

Flying high

Japanese program, students blossom at UMSL

10 Art is his voice Brock Seals impacts through painting

13 A balancing act Multiple responsibilities drive UMSL students' success

18 Real-world results

Brock Seals learned to paint, found mentors and discovered the business side of art while earning his BFA at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. Since graduating, he’s made it on art, selling hand-painted goods through Instagram, staging public art acts and designing the giveaway ballcap for the Cardinals’ African American Heritage Night.

Marty Baragiola

A collaboration with UMSL benefits Ameren

24 Lacing up UMSL Cross Country runs its first full season

The University of Missouri–St. Louis publishes for alumni and friends.

The magazine highlights excellence at the university.

Circulation is 108,606, and the magazine is released twice a year.

UMSL Magazine Office of Marketing and Communications 60 J.C. Penney Building 1 University Blvd.

St. Louis, MO 63121 magazine@umsl.edu umsl.edu/magazine 314-516-5851­ Address Updates Office of Alumni Engagement 414 Woods Hall 1 University Blvd.

St. Louis, MO 63121 umslalumni.org 314-516-5833

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UMSL PRIDE U.S. News & World Report rated UMSL

No. 118 among public universities and

Military Times ranked UMSL

No. 1 in Missouri

and No. 37 nationally on its “Best for Vets” colleges list.

INSIGHT Into Diversity Magazine honored UMSL with a

Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award

jumped the university 42 places in the overall rankings over the past two years.

for the fifth time.

‘Build it, they will come’: Betty Van Uum makes UMSL campus her legacy

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etty Van Uum was unsure exactly what her role would be when she started at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

It was 1983, and then-Chancellor Arnold Grobman had invited her to join his staff as assistant to the chancellor for public affairs and economic development after a storied career in politics fighting for civil rights and women’s equality.

Van Uum found her footing quickly. She recalls discovering that UMSL was poised to lose out on allocations from a $600 million Missouri bond issue Grobman hoped would fund a new science building.

“We leaped into action,” Van Uum says. “We put together some lobbying effort, and we got the building moved up the priority list. The legislature agreed to give us $26 million, which built the research wing of the science complex and library extension, which became the Mercantile Betty Van Uum’s license plate is Library. Back in those days, we thought if we build it, one of 100 so-called “governor’s they will come. And they did.” plates.” It was awarded to her fatherVan Uum’s impact on the university has only grown in the 38 years since while serving under seven permanent or interim chancellors.

in-law, State Sen. Maurice Schechter,

by Gov. Phil Donnelly in the ’50s. When he died, the plate reverted to Gov. Mel Carnahan to reassign, and he offered it to Van Uum.

In that time, she’s helped facilitate every expansion on or off campus, leading impactful initiatives such as the negotiation to bring the UMSL North, UMSL South and N. Hanley MetroLink stations to the area and the funding of the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center.

She led the reconstructions of I-70 – which helped UMSL attract Express Scripts’ headquarters to campus – and then Natural Bridge, through the East-West Gateway Council of Governments Great Streets Initiative.

“People say, ‘How long does it take?’” Van Uum says. “It takes 10 years. That’s what it takes.

You’ve got to think of it. You’ve got to plan it. You’ve got to fund it. You’ve got to build it.”

It’s safe to say that UMSL would, quite literally, not be the same place without Van Uum. “I have enjoyed my work,” she says. “I felt useful and meaningful. It is a blessing. Very few people have the opportunity to have a meaningful career in one place. It’s like watching your children grow up.”

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O Cybersecurity student Faith Clarke was selected to participate in the Diversity Cyber Academy, a joint effort from the International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals and the SANS Institute.

P Biochemistry and

UMSL STUDENTS SELECTED FOR HONORS, SCHOLARSHIPS M

Accounting and information systems student Torin Samuelson has been awarded a Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Scholarship.

The scholarship covers tuition and fees and benefits students who are likely to become auditors and to make a difference for students who might otherwise choose a different career path.

biotechnology student Keona Hughes was awarded the Rooted in Science Scholarship from Proctor & Gamble. The scholarship is given to Black women who are pursuing degrees in STEM fields at HBCUs or United Negro College Fund-member schools.

College of Nursing DNP student Ayomide Aruwajoye was named one of five inaugural recipients of the Loretta Ford Centennial Scholarship. The American Association of Nurse Practitioners established the scholarship in Zori Paul won the National December 2020 to honor Loretta Board of Certified Counselors C. Ford, who helped create the Minority Fellowship Award, which curriculum for the first nurse included a $20,000 prize to practitioner program in 1965. support her PhD research on identity affirmation of bisexual+ women of color.

DOCTOR OF NURSING PRACTICE STUDENTS tackle COVID-19 with clinical scholarship projects When it came time to pick a Doctor of Nursing Practice clinical scholarship project amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Robert Bohnert and Elise Schaller knew they wanted to do something helpful.

Neither had a clear picture of what that would look like until the St. Louis County Department of Public Health reached out to the University of Missouri–St. Louis College of Nursing inviting the DNP students to make COVID-centric projects.

“It’s exciting to be doing something so relevant and time sensitive,” says Schaller, who is also an assistant teaching professor of nursing at UMSL. The two decided to tackle COVID from an unusual angle. In conjunction with the Department of Public Health, they produced “County Youth Athletics Response to COVID-19 Pandemic,” a formative evaluation of the county’s youth sports guidelines.

Their idea was to figure out if the policy put in place was being implemented in schools, how well it was implemented and then how well it was followed.

They created an observation tool and attended 24 games, looking at differences among high schools in communities of different incomes and between high- and low-contact sports. They tracked their findings against cases published in Missouri’s Covid-19 Dashboard, looking at case rates for 15-to-19 year olds in the school districts they reviewed.

Though the dashboard data wasn’t specific enough to identify correlations, Schaller and Bohnert thought about potential barriers to compliance from their study that could, hypothetically, be used to create or revise future guidelines after further study.

“Sports are, obviously, important for your physical health, but there’s a lot of important aspects to people’s mental health that youth sports play a role in,” Bohnert says.

“There’s a lot of research that shows that it is important to be interacting with other people. But at the same time, we’re living in a pandemic, and how do you do that safely?”

Seven other UMSL projects took up the St. Louis County Department of Public Health’s call, including: Daria Kester – “Proactive Text Messaging for Public Health Surveillance” Erin Moran – “Digital Contact Tracing During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic” Michelle Arrington – “Attitudes Toward SARS-CoV-2 in Frontline Healthcare Workers and First Responders” Julie Ingle – “Mental Health Concerns of Frontline Registered Nurses Associated with the COVID-19 Pandemic” Elizabeth Kerr – “Mental Health Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Older Adults” Lindsey McIntyre – “A Telehealth Palliative Care Objective Structured Clinical Examination”

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BIRD SKINS WORKSHOP helps biology students get up-close look at feathered fliers Last summer, 16 University of Missouri– St. Louis undergraduates got an unusual look at a little-known side of biology research – taxidermizing migratory birds.

The Bird Skins Workshop was organized by Assistant Teaching Professor Meghann Humphries.

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During the annual Serendipity Sendoff, UMSL students kickedoff the year by signing the UMSL Trident, rubbing the Wayne Goode Statue book for good luck and enjoying some sweet treats.

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The University Program Board welcomed students to the new semester with a free UPB T-shirt, a tie-dye kit and boba tea.

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Students got involved, made connections and found new friends at the 2021 Fall Involvement Expo.

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“Most people don’t know what these are, but ornithologists occasionally go to natural history collections – the Field Museum in Chicago has a huge one – and there are these bird skins which have been preserved roughly in the shape of a bird,” Humphries says. “It is just the skin, and it’s stuffed with cotton. We use them for all sorts of things – body measurements but also things like ectoparasites. We can get genetic information from these, so having a good collection is really important.”

The workshop came about when Tara Hohman, a conservation science associate at the Audubon Center at Riverlands and a member of the board at the St. Louis Audubon Society, let Humphries know that the St. Louis Audubon Society was surveying birds that collided with windows in downtown St. Louis and had permits to collect the remains of those that perished.

The UMSL group, which included biology student Sarah Holder, taxidermized five dozen birds.

“It’s not the same as with a dissection where you have to open up everything,” Holder says. “You don’t want to make any holes, so you just have to be really careful. It can be tedious, trying to get everything out from inside the body cavity.”

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”UMSL has always been such a good fit.”

Chris Sullivan This is

The clinical director for UMSL Health, Counseling and Disability Access Services and campus health officer talks shop 25 years at UMSL as a student, faculty and staff member:

UMSL has always been such a good fit. I’ve identified closely with the challenges and the difficulties of those here – working professionals, people with families, with complicated life situations, trying to take big steps forward for themselves and the people they care about. We all come from very different backgrounds. It’s felt like the right place to be.

Bringing the Health, Counseling and Disability Access Services together under one umbrella:

Being a place where students can get assistance on being physically and psychologically well goes together because the body and mind are not separate. Then, with Disability Access Services, we have this incredible opportunity to assist people that have identified, diagnosed disabilities. There are a lot of different concerns that we work with in HCDAS, but they’re all pointed in the same direction.

Applying his specialty of multicultural counseling:

I’ve always been interested in the mosaic of cultural backgrounds and identities. Although difficulties can arise from our life experiences, they can be a tremendous source of strategies to thrive, be successful and move forward. That’s my core vision of how I see people. I’d like to think that it’s also reflected in the way we provide services by working closely with every student who comes to us and knowing that each will have different needs. Our job is to help find out how we can be of the most assistance.

Overseeing UMSL health and safety as campus health officer during the pandemic:

I stopped looking at it as treating a specific client or patient but as the entire campus that’s made up of all these individuals. What do I need to do to support the entire campus? How can I listen to what’s happening and attempt to provide assistance or some kind of approach to treating the campus as a whole?

The evolution:

With the availability of the COVID vaccines, our entire situation is dramatically different than where we were a year ago. We’ve learned so much about the virus. We’ve developed a lot of strategies and approaches for campus, but at the same time, COVID is not done with us yet. This year will present new and different challenges, so it will be important for us to continue to be flexible and adaptable.

What’s worked:

This has been such a campus effort. We’ve worked so closely together. There were so many people involved and that’s a testament to what UMSL is really about. We look out for each other. There’s a real willingness to engage, support and assist.

Missing home-state Wisconsin flavors:

Fresh cheese curds, like so fresh they are still warm. I probably have somewhat of a reputation for only eating “healthy,” but I have a hard time turning down fried cheese curds. The pandemic would have been a bit easier on me if I’d been able to find a steady supply.

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BRIEFLY Liane Constantine was named executive director of UMSL Global after serving as interim director since April 2020. She provides leadership over international programming in the areas of recruitment and admissions, student services and study abroad, as well as international partnerships with universities, and works with endowed professors and the Global Faculty Ambassadors Network to further expand UMSL’s international mission.

D’Andre Braddix was promoted to dean of students in April after 14 years working in the Division of Student Affairs.

He has direction and oversight of students’ support services, advises the UMSL Chapter of the Associated Students of the University of Missouri and serves as Deputy Title IX Coordinator.

Reggie Hill was named associate vice chancellor for strategic enrollment in May. He leads the Office of Admissions and the Office of the Registrar while overseeing the implementation of UMSL’s first-ever strategic enrollment plan to ensure the university’s long-term sustainability through enrollment and retention growth.

Roxanne Vandermause was confirmed as the dean of the College of Nursing in July after serving as interim dean for the previous 18 months. She is focusing on enhancing already strong relationships with health care community partners and increasing enrollment so that the college can continue to produce superiorly prepared nurses and help fill the state’s nursing shortage.

Two UMSL programs win INSIGHT into Diversity Inspiring Programs in STEM Award

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NSIGHT into Diversity magazine recognized the University of Missouri–St. Louis’ commitment to promoting inclusive excellence and building a stronger St. Louis in July by awarding the Inspiring Programs in STEM Award to two UMSL programs – Eyes on Diversity and Collaborative Laboratory Internships and Mentoring Blueprint.

The award recognizes initiatives that encourage the entry of women and underrepresented students into STEM fields, and both programs are aimed at area high school students.

“It was definitely a nice surprise,” says Brittany Wright, an assistant clinical professor and coordinator of diversity, equity and inclusion for the College of Optometry.

She helped relaunch Eyes on Diversity this summer after conversations about the need to increase representation in the profession.

TWO NEW DEGREES AIM TO OFFER UMSL STUDENTS SUPERIOR JOB PREPARATION The University of Missouri–St. Louis continues to expand

its degree offerings to address its students’ ever-changing needs and aspirations. This summer, the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development approved two such offerings.

The BS in Data Science and Analysis will help students get the knowledge and skills they need to understand and analyze data. The interdisciplinary degree includes emphasis areas in biology, computer science, economics, mathematics, social science and supply chain analytics.

The MS in Applied Behavior Analysis, housed in the College of Education, addresses the growing demand for professionals trained in applied behavior analysis – a set of principles that serves as a basis for studying and managing behaviors through individualized interventions.

Both degrees are aimed at providing superior workforce preparation for UMSL students – something employers already seem to be keen to.

“It’s not a problem for students to get jobs – the jobs that they want,” ABA Graduate Program Director and Assistant Professor Andresa De Souza says.

It’s run collaboratively with the Office of Precollegiate Services and sponsored by VSP Global.

“Through this program, we want students to realize there are many options in the health care field,” Wright says. “We want students to see all that optometry can offer, beyond prescribing glasses. The different specialties and modes of practice provide a fun, diverse career option.

The other part is giving them the tools and resources and connecting them with people that are here to support and help them achieve their goals.”

E. Desmond Lee Endowed Professor in Zoological Studies Patricia Parker is of a similar mind. She launched CLIMB in 2015 in conjunction with the Jennings School District.

Even more than the short-term benefits of spending time side by side with researchers and graduate researchers, the high school students that take part benefit from the exposure to new possibilities.

“Every time we get a recognition like this, it validates our efforts that we’ve made to meet this need,” Parker says. “We’re really very proud of that, especially when you are recognized in this way, by an organization that is not local. To get this kind of recognition more broadly, that means an awful lot.”

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Artist Brock Seals’ background fuels his ascent

By Ben Westhoff

aint cans, sneakers and recording equipment saturate Brock Seals’ studio in the Grove. On a top shelf sits a Lego action figure he designed of himself. The scene feels like controlled chaos, a merging of artistic styles befitting a man who works across mediums.

The 2019 University of Missouri–St. Louis Department of Art and Design graduate is in full creative swing, no longer working a day job but instead supporting himself painting canvases, performing hip-hop and fashioning custom cleats for sports stars, such as Cardinals outfielder Harrison Bader.

Both book smart and street smart, Seals draws on a wide range of influences, from pop culture to ancient philosophy. Today wearing thin blond braids, a vintage KISS T-shirt, camo pants and sneakers running the color gamut, he’s a walking visual statement who pushes boundaries. Having painted “REPARATIONS” in huge letters on the street by City Hall – as well as created roller skates that look like ice cream cones – his art is both political and commercially viable.

“It involves a lot of reflecting on who I am, being from St. Louis and being Black, and my culture,” he says.

He’s succeeding on his own terms in the worlds of art and activism, in the process creating a body of work both unique and inspiring.

At age 28, his list of accomplishments grows weekly. He has presented at Art Basel in Miami; organized a celebrated Mad Art Gallery event, Art, Mimosas and Pancakes; and recently recorded a critically regarded album called “The Artivist.”

To call his ascent unlikely is an understatement. Coming from a hardscrabble North St. Louis County upbringing, Seals was raised without art-world role models. During part of Seals’ childhood his father was imprisoned, and his mother has long worked in food service.

“In every St. Louis high school, people had it,” Seals recalls.

He pursued fashion on scholarship at Columbia College Chicago but dropped out and returned home feeling like he’d failed. He learned to paint at St. Louis Community College - Florissant Valley and then enrolled at UMSL, where his mentors included Phil Robinson, associate professor of art, and Michael Behle, associate teaching professor of art.

“They offered resources and guidance and helped me bring my crazy ideas to life,” Seals says, adding that he’s especially thankful to Behle for teaching him the business of art, including how to get work into galleries. “He showed us all the possibilities. We took a trip to New York my senior year and saw Warhols and Basquiats.”

Before long, Seals began exhibiting paintings at venues, including St. Louis’ Contemporary Art Museum, and he’s now well-known on the local scene. A February 2021 St. Louis Magazine profile gushed about his “colorful, geometric style rooted in both Black traditions and postmodern aesthetics.”

“My mom did a good job providing for me, so I didn’t have to worry – so I could dream,” he said. “I always knew that I was different.”

His ascent to local avant-garde leader began at Jennings High School, when he and two friends produced a T-shirt line called Hello Tomorrow, a graphic-heavy lifestyle brand.

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“

I learned how I could

use my art as my voice.”

–Brock Seals

Meanwhile, he’s earning real money designing custom sneakers for his 10,000 Instagram followers. He also creates pieces for hip-hop stars and professional sports teams, including the Los Angeles Rams. For the Cardinals’ African American Heritage Night at Busch Stadium in September, he designed a special ballcap, an impressionistic spin on the team’s traditional red and white, of which 30,000 were set to be distributed.

His background growing up in an area of concentrated poverty informs his creations. He says Michael Brown’s 2014 killing in Ferguson by a white police officer inspired him to go harder in his craft, to put in more hours than ever.

“Mike’s killing led me to take my painting more serious because I realized that it could all be taken at any moment,” he says. “I learned how I could use my art as my voice.”

His protest work from a June 20, 2020, block party next to City Hall has become legend. In conjunction with the Black business network For the Culture STL, he painted the word “REPARATIONS” in giant yellow letters on Market Street, as a group of supporters locked arms in a circle, so police couldn’t disrupt him. The goal was to raise awareness about the issue, locally and nationally, and though the letters were soon scrubbed off, their impact continues to reverberate.

contemporary hip-hop, while his videos eschew genre tropes in favor of his unique dance moves and wildly ornate, selfdesigned jackets and shirts.

His advice for the sartorially challenged?

“That protest is still being talked about to this day,” he says.

“Wear what you like. Take risks! That’s how you develop your style,” he says.

As Seals’ career has progressed, he’s become increasingly comfortable in his skin, shifting away from popular styles and into his own lane. His latest rap album, recorded at his Grove studio, often sounds more like jazz than

The same wisdom informs Seals’ art, which grows increasingly impactful the more he disregards the rules.

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“

It was daunting. But

WORKING EDUCATION FOR AN

UMSL STUDENTS’ TALES OF PERSEVERANCE, SUPPORT, SACRIFICE AND SUCCESS

it was encouraging."

– Staci Shelton

By Jessica Rogen

EDUCATION SHOULD BE FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS IT – and that’s how it is at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

As the only public research university within the St. Louis metropolitan area, UMSL serves all willing to work for their educations, while providing the support and services necessary to make that happen. UMSL students often balance multiple responsibilities – as parents, caretakers, employees, athletes, reservists – while striving for a college degree to kickstart careers and better lives, families and communities.

Regardless of whether they come straight from high school or transfer in, UMSL students balance seemingly impossibe loads on their paths to earn degrees.

Here are four of their stories.

‘LET’S GET THIS THING DONE’

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> > > > > > > > > Staci Shelton, Wells Fargo business liaison consultant

ince enrolling at UMSL, Staci Shelton has earned a BA in communications and a business minor in 2020, achieved four promotions at Wells Fargo and bought a house.

But Shelton didn’t have an easy path to those triumphs.

She’d enrolled in college after high school, but left after getting caught up in a party scene. She served a short stint in the military, struggling afterward until renewing her faith and her involvement with the House of Deliverance Church.

‘DO WHAT’S NECESSARY’ > > > > > > > > > Lawrence Brazil, accounting student and guard

Things changed when Shelton started volunteering with The Mission Continues, a nonprofit benefiting veterans, and helping with Wells Fargo’s Susan G. Komen efforts. That led to a job with the financial services company.

“God provided me the means to afford college by providing a job,” says Shelton, whose tuition was covered through employer reimbursement.

She earned an associate degree at St. Louis Community College – Forest Park and transferred to UMSL. “I kept saying to myself, ‘You’ve got to finish something,’” Shelton says. “It was daunting.

But it was encouraging because UMSL had a program for working adults, where you see people like you working full-time and trying to finish college. In all of my classes, we were talking about, ‘Oh, I just left my job. I’m so tired. But let’s get this thing done.’”

That camaraderie alongside support from UMSL Career Services, Assistant Teaching Professor Ryan Krull and Pastor Eric Battle helped Shelton power through days that started at 4:30 a.m. and ended studying into the early morning after evening classes.

Her key was reaching out and never giving up.

Shelton wasn’t shy about asking for help in reviewing her resume, doing mock interviews or for extensions when work sent her to India.

There were times when she ran out of tuition money before reimbursement came in, but her instructors told her to come to class, and they’d figure it out together.

“People were more than willing to help as soon as I opened my mouth and said I needed it,” she says. “Having teachers and my church family that went the extra mile encouraged me not to give up.”

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I want to live

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or Lawrence Brazil, getting though every week requires a plan.

After practice every Monday, the accounting major and guard for the men’s basketball team sits down with Assistant Director of Athletics for Academics Lindsay Pickering to schedule out the next two weeks.

“Whatever she puts that day, I try to do the day before,” Brazil says.

That’s necessary since Brazil maintains a 3.89 GPA while juggling the intense time requirements of basketball alongside a job at Academy Sports – where he works full-time during the summer and part-time in the school year to cover non-school expenses.

“It took a lot of nights staying up late,” says Brazil, a two-time academic all-conference player. “When I first came to UMSL and practices started and workouts started, it was pretty tough. I was really frustrated, and I broke down once or twice because everything was coming so fast toward me. I didn’t know how to control it. I sat down with one of my coaches, Scott Gauthier, and he was like, ‘Everything’s going to be fine. Just continue to get better at something every day.’

“No matter what it is – if it’s emailing a teacher, if it’s staying up really late to do homework, or asking my professors or Lindsay questions – I will do what’s necessary in order for me to have a better grade.”

Brazil has loved basketball and played competitively since he was a kid. Though the game led him to UMSL on a full-ride scholarship, it was touring the College of Business Administration and hearing about its nearly 100% job placement that clinched his choice.

That’s because he holds both the possibilities of playing professionally and becoming a certified CPA and earning a doctorate dear – which is why he works so hard at both.

“When I was younger, I didn’t take school as seriously,” Brazil says. “I had a coach in high school who would always say, ‘Good grades are the key to success.’ After I heard that, I pushed myself hard, studying wise. It was a wakeup call for me. I want to get a job.

I want to live a successful life – no matter if it’s in sports or if it’s not in sports.”

a successful life

no matter if it's in sports or if it's not in sports.”

– Lawrence Brazil

‘JUST A LOT OF HARD WORK’ > > > > > > > > > Morgan Heitert, Mercy Hospital South neurology nurse

M

organ Heitert hadn’t planned on college.

But getting pregnant at 18 changed things.

“I was a horrible high school student,” Heitert says. “After I had Ava, I knew I had to better myself, go get an education, make money for my daughter.”

Inspired by her delivery nurse, Heitert thought back to her childhood fascination with hospitals and realized she wanted to become a nurse. She enrolled at St. Louis Community College – Meramec, then transferred to UMSL, drawn by the College of Nursing.

She balanced school, raising Ava and work, first as a server, then at the UMSL University Child Development Center and as a student nurse tech.

“Having a little baby, studying and going to work or to school was difficult, but I found so many ways that made it easier,” she said. “Nursing school was something I looked forward to every day, and I thought I was finally making a difference in my life and my daughter’s life. It gave me a sense of confidence and pride.”

At orientation, Heitert discovered the Triton Student Parent Success resources and the Childcare Assistance Fund. That, alongside her parents, grandparents and daughter’s father helped Heitert care for Ava and balance her other responsibilities.

“

Oh, my God. Look at this. We're

making it work."

–Morgan Heitert

Finding time to study was the hardest part.

Heitert would stay up till 2 a.m. or wake up early.

Sometimes, she’d bring Ava to class or to lab during the weekends.

“I’d bring her coloring books, and I would study for a few hours in the lab,” Heitert says. “I remember being like, ‘Oh, my God. Look at this. We’re making it work.’”

Being accepted to nursing clinicals was one of her happiest moments. But that was nothing compared to graduating and getting hired full-time.

“It was amazing,” Heitert says. “It was the best feeling in the world to be done. I never thought I could be a nurse, and to find out that I had that in me was so rewarding. For anyone who has kids or wants a career, you can 100% do it. UMSL is really good at helping you succeed, no matter what. It’s just a lot of hard work.”

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‘JUST DO IT’ > > > > > > > > > Alexander Frost, political science student

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hen Alexander Frost returned to school, he supported his education through a series of temp, factory and warehouse jobs.

“I hated these jobs so much. They were brutal, boring and soul sucking,” he says. “I didn’t have a car at the time, and I was riding a bus two-and-a-half hours one way, five days a week. I would remind myself, ‘Just do it.’ It’s going come out the other side a lot better.”

Frost wrote the Nike slogan on a whiteboard in his apartment, glancing at it throughout his studies at UMSL. It reminded him not to procrastinate and to keep giving education his all.

Those efforts paid off for Frost, who is poised to finish his bachelor’s in political science this December. He’s made almost straight A’s – one A- – during his second go-round at earning an undergraduate degree.

After two years of college following high school, Frost dropped out and started working for a recycling company as a scrap buyer and account manager. When the company folded, Frost realized he wanted to finish his degree.

“I had student loan debt, and I didn’t have anything to show for that debt,” he says, explaining how he went on to enroll at St. Louis Community College, earned his associate degree, then transferred to UMSL. He resumed studies in political science. Frost immediately found himself impressed by the professors in the Department of Political Science, especially Assistant Professor Anita Manion.

“She’s one of the most effective teachers I’ve ever had,” Frost says.

Those classes have helped him improve his argumentative writing skills, which Frost believes will be key for his future aspirations – law school and consumer advocacy.

He’s balanced full-time school with a job at Lee BioSolutions. As a Pell-eligible student, Frost was able to get scholarships and grants to help out with costs but still had to take out loans.

When he leaves UMSL, he’ll have a definitive path toward a strong career.

“This right now, today, is what I was dreaming about,” Frost says.

“Being about to get my degree after all these years, being able to move forward to that next step – I’m so excited to see what comes next.”

“

This right now, today, is what I was dreaming about.”

–Alexander Frost

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SUCCESS IN SIX MONTHS

University of Missouri–St. Louis alumni have found success within six months of graduation through employment, further education, service, entrepreneurship and more.

Note: Data spans academic years 15-16, 16-17, 17-18, 18-19 and 19-20, and it was compiled by UMSL Career Services through an annual survey.

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A Powerful partnership A collaboration between UMSL and Ameren benefits St. Louis, industry

By David Morrison

WHEN A TRANSFORMER goes down, electric company customers affected by the outage don’t care how the replacement transformer gets where it needs to go in order to restore their power.

They just care that it gets there. Quickly.

St. Louis-based power company Ameren has a Supply Chain Transformation Initiative in place that’s aimed at determining the best, most efficient and cost-effective ways to distribute materials through its network when a need arises. In this effort, Ameren has enlisted the assistance of University of Missouri–St. Louis researchers to find possible solutions.

UMSL Supply Chain and Analytics Professor and Department Chair Haitao Li and Assistant Teaching Professor Mitch Millstein have worked with Ameren to develop optimization models and propose ways in which the company can streamline its massive equipment warehousing and shipping network.

“Supply chain and analytics is a field driven by real-world practice,” Li said. “The past couple of years during the midst of the pandemic have shown how important logistics and supply chain is to people’s everyday lives.

This is a perfect project. It provides an avenue for our department, faculty and students to contribute to a local business in St. Louis, helps Ameren to address their business needs and supports our faculty research as well as our PhD program.”

Ameren has nearly 100 locations throughout its network that contain thousands of items classified into nearly 40 product categories, all of them crucial to the continued operation of Ameren’s power supply for millions of customers.

From left: UMSL Supply Chain and Analytics Professor and Department Chair Haitao Li, Ameren Senior Sourcing Specialist Logan Ward and Assistant Teaching Professor Mitch Millstein.

The company employs a “hub-and-spoke” network, with two central distribution centers and numerous operating centers from which it disseminates needed materials across its 64,000-square mile service territory in Missouri and Illinois.

Logan Ward, a supply chain specialist in Ameren’s Transformation team, has brought his valuable expertise to the UMSL team on this project for the past year and a half. The UMSL team also included PhD student Juan Zhang, who graduated in May and is now an assistant professor of management and marketing at the University of WisconsinEau Claire.

“Our unique strength is our two-pillar focus: the analytic side – the data-driven analytics

and methodology – as well as the domain of supply chain and logistics,” Li said. “There is no doubt that our academic field always welcomes real-world, relevant research using real data and working with real companies. In a collaborative project like this, it is important for us to deliver impactful research that goes beyond the goal of publishing in scholarly journals.”

The first phase of the project, with Millstein and Li as the lead researchers, was to identify six figures’ worth of potential cost savings for Ameren in network improvements: where materials such as poles, transformers and other hardware are stored and how they are delivered.

Phase 2, headed by Li and Zhang, involves coping with the supply-side risks and uncertainty to Ameren’s supply network. That includes modeling the uncertain lead times and the possible aftereffects of natural disasters, such as tornadoes or an earthquake, on the supply network.

“We wanted to partner with UMSL to build a model of our current environment and then optimize that,” Ward said. “They’ve shown us the most efficient way to deliver materials throughout our network to our operating centers, as well as some other benefits like business continuity planning and giving us a playbook if certain situations were to arise. We’ve had a lot of very smart people with business know-how at Ameren, but we’ve rarely been able to have this level of data-driven discussions. It has allowed us to have better data-driven decision support around our choices for potential improvements, which has been incredibly helpful.”

provides an avenue for our department, “Itfaculty and students to contribute to a local business in St. Louis, helps Ameren to address their business needs and supports our faculty –Haitao Li research as well as our PhD program.

“

The collaborative research project is just another example of the mutually beneficial relationship that UMSL and Ameren share.

Ameren holds a seat on the UMSL Department of Supply Chain and Analytics advisory board, participates in mentorship opportunities for department students and provides real-world projects for students to take on in coursework. Ameren employees are also frequent guest speakers in class sessions and participants in student supply chain club events.

UMSL, in turn, provides the academic backing and research for projects such as the Supply Chain Transformation Initiative and produces work-ready graduates that have entered Ameren’s supply chain operations. Millstein said UMSL has appreciated the support of Ameren Chief Procurement Officer Pardeep Gill, former Director of Supply Chain Operations Ty Lindhorst – who has since moved to a new position – and current department advisory board member and Ameren Director of Supplier Diversity Byron Witherspoon throughout this project.

“You can go right down the line of what we look for in an engaged industry partner to make sure our students are learning what they should be learning, interacting with industry, knowing what the work environment looks like and doing research we can publish, and that’s Ameren,” Millstein said. “They are very invested in our department, and they’re getting the payoff in terms of research output and students they’re hiring.”

19

BUILDING COMMUNITY

THROUGH LANGUAGE : Japanese flourishes at UMSL

By Burk Krohe

Molly Motes stands in the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest in Kyoto, Japan, during late December in 2020.

(Photo courtesy of Molly Motes)

Beth Eckelkamp, vice provost for student success and academic innovation, was instrumental in launching the program. Her parents were missionaries, who raised her on Japan’s northernmost island Hokkaido.

Eckelkamp’s bilingual background and an MA in Asian studies put her in an advantageous position to lead a new Japanese program at UMSL in 2000. By that time, Japan’s cultural impact on the U.S. was evident and interest in learning Japanese soared.

In its early days, the program offered lowerlevel undergraduate courses and a minor.

By 2010, there was enough demand and institutional support to create a major. Amy Michael, associate teaching professor, was the first addition to the faculty, which continued to grow in the ensuing years.

M

olly Motes had a penchant for international music as a preteen – German, French, anything she could find online. When she was 11, she stumbled across a few Japanese pop songs.

Despite not understanding a word of it, she was captivated.

With the click of a mouse, she opened a gateway to a new culture and a lifelong passion.

“It introduced me to the world of Japanese culture and language,” Motes says. “From there, I found things like manga, anime, but the whole time I was thinking, ‘I really want to try learning this.’”

It’s a familiar story.

Many University of Missouri–St. Louis students become acquainted with Japan through cultural exports, and those interests quickly evolve into a love of Japanese culture, history and language.

Over the past decade, many have found a community of likeminded and equally enthusiastic scholars in the Department of Language and Cultural Studies, which began offering a bachelor’s in Japanese in 2010.

Since that time, the program has grown considerably, adding faculty members, offering study abroad programs and exchanges and fostering an active presence on campus through the Japan-America Student Association or JASA. Many graduates have also gone on to participate in the prestigious and competitive Japan Exchange and Teaching Program.

Laura Miller, the Eiichi Shibusawa-Seigo Arai Endowed Professor of Japanese Studies and professor of history, helped the program take an important step forward by helping secure a Japan Foundation grant, tapping into her experience as a member of the advisory committee. That funded an additional faculty member – Associate Teaching Professor Keiko Ueda.

“It is truly significant that UMSL received one of these highly competitive grants,” Miller says. “It demonstrated that others believed in the potential of our Japanese language program.”

Ueda advanced the curriculum and paved the way for more progress.

“She really developed our reading classes, and she’s an amazing, amazing teacher,” Michael says. “Then, three years ago, we were able to add Hiroko Yoshii. Now that we have Hiroko on the team, we’ve been able to even better develop the final year of classes for the majors.”

High-quality instructors have been a boon to the Japanese language program’s success, but the soul of the program lies in cohort after cohort of dedicated students.

Like Motes, senior Danielle Bischoff’s path to learning Japanese began with pop culture. At a young age, Bischoff saw Hayao Miyazaki’s classic animated film, “Princess Mononoke,” which led to an interest in Pokémon. That soon turned into YouTube searches for subtitled Japanese anime. Spicy miso ramen, meanwhile, was the entry point for junior Michael Hendricks.

21

The three, like many of their classmates, also share an innate fascination with languages and the impulse to piece together linguistic puzzles.

A middle school French class awakened Bischoff’s interest in languages, while Hendricks previously took stabs at learning French, German, Russian and Spanish. Bischoff and Motes both tried to teach themselves Japanese.

“Nobody comes to it thinking it’s going to be easy,” Michael says. “Everyone knows Japanese is a challenging language for English speakers to learn. They come in with a semi-realistic understanding of what they’re getting themselves into. I think the community is the first thing that helps them stick with it, being around other students who share that curiosity and who know they need to work hard to keep walking down this path.”

The experience quickly forges strong bonds and a group identity that Miller likens to an academic guild. Motes, now a senior and president of JASA, experienced the phenomenon in her very first class.

University, Rikkyo University and Toyo University.

However, the most popular trip is the Japan Study Tour – a two-week summer session during which students visit businesses and cultural sites in Nagano, Nikko and Tokyo with faculty members.

“I try to help students maximize their opportunity to use Japanese,” Ueda says. “Sometimes, before we go to a restaurant together, I ask them to make an order for me. I might go to the restroom so when the server comes, they don’t try to talk to me.

“When they get to communicate with Japanese people, they seem so happy. I think seeing their excitement is the best part.”

Michael says students often come back with a clearer idea of how they intend to use their degrees in the future.

“ Community is the first thing that helps them

stick with it, being around other students who share that curiosity and who know they need to work hard to keep walking down this path.”

“I found that everyone else in class with me had that same level of passion,” she says. “We all immediately made a group chat, and we were messaging each other. We all had some previous interest in Japanese culture, language, music, anime – something that brought us all onto this common ground where we instantly became friends, and we stayed friends throughout the program.”

Hendricks adds that older students were always willing to provide guidance when he began the program. That dynamic is reminiscent of the concept of senpai and kōhai.

“In Japanese culture, older people are supposed to take care of the young, and the young people eventually take care of the younger,” Yoshii explains. “A pay it forward system, so eventually everyone contributes to the society.”

Students enrich their understanding of Japanese culture and history through Miller’s courses, which cover everything from Japanese art history to religion; JASA cultural events such as calligraphy lessons and Rakugo storytelling; and most of all, study abroad opportunities.

–Amy Michael

Several alumni have gone on to work for Japanese companies in the U.S. such as Mitsubishi Motors and Nidec Motor Company, where their language skills and cultural knowledge make them valuable intermediaries.

Others aspire to work in the billion-dollar video game industry or for Japanese media properties. Teaching English in Japan, through the JET program or otherwise, and translating are other popular options.

Bischoff is considering the JET program, and Hendricks is still weighing his options. Motes, who expects to graduate in December, is applying to master’s programs in Japan.

“I ended up falling in love with the idea of teaching English in Japan,” she says. “I’ve started working toward the goal of moving to Japan, ideally Tokyo, but anywhere, and teaching English as my career.”

In the past, students have taken part in semester-long or yearlong exchanges with institutions such as Kansai

Top left: Assistant Teaching Professor Hiroko Yoshii holds up calligraphy, , meaning “appreciation of once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” which is often applied to meeting new people.

Bottom left: Yoshii leads students in a Japanese calligraphy lesson.

Top right: Molly Motes visits the Kaminarimon, the thunder gate, in Asakusa, Tokyo, in January 2021. (Photo courtesy of Molly Motes) Bottom left: Every Wednesday during the school year, the Japan-American Student Association hosts a Japanese-English language exchange table in the Pilot House in the UMSL Millennium Student Center. Attendees practice both languages, play games and make connections.

22

23

X UP AND RUNNING:

C

TEAMS LAYING FOUNDATION FOR FUTURE SUCCESS

By Steve Walentik

he sun had only recently peaked over the horizon, and the campus lay quiet as members of the University of Missouri–St. Louis cross country team ran together for the first time this August.

Sophomore Sean Ede and his teammates chatted easily, no one around to interrupt them, as they moved through the humid morning air and across the rolling terrain a week before the start of the fall semester.

They had to work not to set too brisk a pace.

“We could feel the energy,” Ede says. “I had to warn everyone before we started running.

I said, ‘I don’t want this to turn into some energy-fueled run where we’re all running 6:30s for 7 miles for no reason. We’ve got to stay constant. We’re going to have workouts this week. We’ve got to make sure we’re not going crazy.’”

OUNTRY The excitement was understandable as they kicked off training for the program’s first full season of competition after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted their inaugural year, limiting them to only two races amid quarantines and cancellations.

It was not the debut Coach Steve Picucci ever envisioned, and he’d had plenty of time to dream about it since being hired in September 2019 to relaunch a men’s team that had been dormant since 1983 and establish a women’s cross country team.

Kennedy Moore (right) pushes the pace during a practice led

by Coach Steve Picucci (left).

25

“I liked the idea of starting from the bottom and building something or helping the school build something.

I thought it was really awesome UMSL was creating this team.”

– Kennedy Moore, women's cross country

Benjamin VandenBrink (left) and Jacob Warner lead the Tritons to a fourth place finish in the Walt Crawford Panther Open, hosted

by Eastern Illinois in Charleston, Illinois, in September.

Picucci brought a track record of success, most recently at Division I Morehead State, where he guided the men’s cross country team to two runner-up finishes and a third-place showing in the Ohio Valley Conference over the previous five seasons.

He and his wife, retired elite marathoner Tina Muir of Great Britain, saw St. Louis as a good place to raise their family, and Picucci welcomed the opportunity to return to the Division II level, where he’d gotten his coaching start at his alma mater, Ferris State.

“At the Division II level, it’s more of an even playing “I thought it was an awesome opportunity,” field than in Division I, and there’s more focus on the she says. “I liked the idea of starting from student part of student-athlete,” Picucci says. “These kids the bottom and building something or need to leave here ready to join the workforce or get a helping the school build something. I master’s. They need to be ready for that next phase. I thought it was really awesome UMSL was like being able to help kids mature and prepare for life creating this team.” after college.”

The runners on the cross country teams Picucci used the year he was on staff but before he had are also competing on the track in the any runners as an opportunity to meet high school winter and spring, and as the programs coaches across the region and spread the word about get more established, Picucci will look to UMSL’s fledgling program while slowly assembling the recruit more sprinters and field athletes men’s and women’s rosters. to compete during those seasons.

“Every week, I was going to two or three cross country meets, getting out and meeting coaches and watching kids race and talking to them,” he says. “I emailed every coach in Illinois and Missouri two or three times throughout that fall and said, ‘Hey, if you don’t have anybody now, keep us in mind for the future.’”

Benjamin VandenBrink remembers Picucci being the only college coach on hand to scout him when he ran in an indoor track meet in Columbia, Missouri, during the winter of his senior year.

“I actually did not run great that day, but he was able to look past that,” says VandenBrink, who graduated from Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience in south St. Louis. “We had a conversation after the race. We talked about what it was going to be like to be on the team. It was encouraging to see somebody show interest.”

But for now, the focus remains on distance running.

Despite the ups and downs of the 2020-21 academic year, the Tritons had a chance to get acclimated to campus, college coursework and training for the longer college distances. They also got their first taste of competition, which served them well this fall when – bolstered by a second class of recruits – they completed a full schedule with some notable successes.

Sophomore Jacob Warner, a Mississippi State transfer, won the H.W. Wright Classic at Millikin University, took second at the Border War XC Championship and earned all-conference honors with a 16th-place VandenBrink paid a visit to UMSL and toured the finish at the Great Lakes Valley Conference campus and athletic facilities, and he decided to join Championship. Warner helped the men Picucci’s initial recruiting class. place second in the H.W. Wright Classic, The university and its academic programs have been and they finished 11th in the conference an asset for Picucci in attracting talent. VandenBrink championship. On the women’s side, was drawn to the strong reputation of the College of freshman Lily Wagemann showed off Business Administration. Ede, a graduate of Mascoutah her promising future with 16th-place High School in Illinois, is studying exercise science with finishes in the H.W. Wright Classic and the hope of getting into college coaching. Multiple the Border War XC Championship, and members of both the men’s and women’s teams are part she led the team to a 12th-place finish in of the Pierre Laclede Honors College, taking advantage the GLVC Championship. of some of its scholarship opportunities and benefitting “Every year, we want to build on something from its smaller class sizes. that we did the year before,” Ede says.

Women’s runner Kennedy Moore, who grew up near the “Maybe a few years from now, we’ll be UMSL campus and graduated from Parkway Central bringing a conference championship or High School, is picking between psychology or another something crazy to UMSL. That’d be really, STEM field for her major. Like so many others in the really good.” program, she was grateful for the chance to continue her athletic pursuits.

27

STEVEN LOUIS BRAWLEY preserves

and celebrates St. Louis’

LGBTQIA+ history

By Burk Krohe

Steven Louis Brawley was always wary of where he parked his car when frequenting gay bars during the ’80s. At the time, you kept a low profile.

“You would never hold hands in public,” Brawley recalls. “People still would go to Pride, yet they would be afraid to be photographed.”

The AIDS crisis was ongoing, and Brawley had recently come out. He remembers the protests, the outrage and the lost friends. Looking back, it seems like such a consequential period in LGBTQIA+ history, but in the moment, it felt like everyday life.

Even so, as a University of Missouri–St. Louis student and young professional during the ’80s and ’90s, Brawley would seek out stories about the history of St. Louis’ LGBTQIA+ scene at gay bars and clubs.

However, he never recorded those conversations.

“I regretted never recording them,” he says. “It really bothered me. It’s a shame that their amazing life stories are now lost because I never thought to pick up a tape recorder or video camera.”

It was the impetus for founding the St. Louis LGBT History Project in 2007. For more than a decade, Brawley has dedicated his free time to documenting St. Louis’ LGBTQIA+ history.

He’s authored the book “Gay and Lesbian St. Louis” and has served as a trustee for the State Historical Society of Missouri since 2020. Most recently, he launched, “In Our Voices,” a documentary video series detailing the stories of queer landmarks in the city – such as the Zebra Lounge – through informal discussions.

Brawley had an interest in history dating back to childhood but thought he would become a lawyer.

He started to waffle after serving as editor of the student newspaper at Hazelwood West High School and matriculating to UMSL. He majored in communications and joined The Current, becoming editor-in-chief in 1987. He found a mentor, and fellow lover of history, in Blanche M. Touhill, who was vice chancellor at the time.

Brawley secured internships at American Cable, Barnes Hospital and Maritz. He credits those opportunities, following his graduation in 1987, for his three-decade career, including stretches as communications director of BJC HealthCare, head of his own consulting firm and executive vice president of Area Resources for Community and Human Services.

Yet, the stories from elders in the community remained with him, and the St. Louis LGBT History Project was born with a blog post.

It resulted in a flood of support and subsequent partnerships with the Missouri History Museum, the State Historical Society of Missouri and Washington University in St. Louis.

The project has grown to include an artifact archive and oral history recordings and has allowed Brawley to champion St. Louis’ dynamic LGBTQIA+ history via museum exhibits, speaking engagements and projects such as “In Our Voices.”

“I often have exhibits at Pride festivals, and I have had great conversations with younger folks who are interested in the history and are appreciative,” he says.

“Then I have elders who are in tears going, ‘You know, back in the day, we were all hidden and now look at us. We're all walking around and out and proud.’”

ANDREA JACKSONJENNINGS

embraces lifelong learning as regional social services leader

By David Morrison

University of Missouri–St. Louis alumna Andrea Jackson-Jennings is uniquely attuned to the needs of some of the region’s most vulnerable populations.

For the past 10 years, she served as the director of the St. Louis County Department of Human Services. This September, she took on a new role as the managing director of the COVID-19 Regional Response Team, a group of local organizations that is creating and maintaining a centralized response network to help meet the social needs of residents who have been most affected by the pandemic in the St. Louis region.

In both her previous and current posts, Jackson-Jennings has played a leading role in coordinating support and community-based resources for residents who need them.

“We have been leading the humanitarian effort as it relates to the food insecurity needs, the digital divide and ensuring that seniors and homebound individuals get the medical assistance and meals that they need,” Jackson-Jennings said. “We want to make sure that residents receive the appropriate services that they need.”

Jackson-Jennings was appointed to lead the county’s Department of Human Services by then-County Executive Charlie Dooley in 2011.

Prior to that, she worked at UMSL, starting in the cashier’s office and advancing to associate director of financial aid while earning her BGS in 2004 and an MEd in 2007 from the university.

She is continuing in the College of Education as a doctoral student in educational practice with an anticipated graduation date of December 2022.

Throughout her course of study, Jackson-Jennings has been inspired by educators such as Professor E. Paulette Isaac-Savage and Theresa Coble, the E. Desmond Lee Endowed Professor of Experiential and Family Education.

“I’m a lifelong learner,” said Jackson-Jennings, who earned her master’s degree in higher education with an emphasis in adult education. “The university has provided me the analytical skills necessary to be successful beyond my chosen discipline. With UMSL being a pillar in the community, the university has been instrumental to the success of the region.

That has helped me tremendously in my career.”

Jackson-Jennings said she plans to use the knowledge gained in the pursuit of her doctorate to help deepen her understanding of the community she serves, as well as strengthen relationships with key partners.

She said she recently received a call from a former superintendent in the region seeking housing help for a family in his district. Jackson-Jennings and her Human Services team connected the family with resources for short-term housing, as well as starting on a strategy for a long-term solution.

“I truly believe in UMSL’s mission, that they transform lives,” Jackson-Jennings said. “That has been my mission in any and everything that I do: to make this place a better place than it was when I found it. I want to be in a position to influence policy through social justice and have a voice at the table for those who are voiceless.”

29

Ronald Jones’ backyard bursts with life.

Cherry, fig, mulberry and plum trees stand among the grapevines. There are blackberries and raspberries, peaches and paw paws. Flowers bloom, attracting tiny visitors that, in turn, pollinate the fruit trees.

“I work hand in hand with the bumblebees and the hummingbirds,” Jones says.

Jones’ backyard and business, called Blackberry Landscaping LLC, is part pollinator garden, fruit orchard and educational center. Located in the heart of Jeff-Vander-Lou in North St. Louis, it’s always open to the residents of the neighborhood. He traces its roots back to childhood summers in Walnut Park spent in “Fruit Alley,” which he and friends named for the tantalizing array of fruit dropping from overhanging trees planted in the backyards of neighborhood elders.

Jones started gardening in his free time in 2008. The hobby became a passion that’s grown into a dedication to help rebuild St. Louis neighborhoods, to nurture its people and plants and create a city of gardens.

By Timothy Wombles

RONALD JONES

works to nurture St. Louis into a city of gardens

Jones’ knack for cultivation led him through one of his hardest challenges, becoming a certified Master Gardener through the Missouri Botanical Garden. He used skills acquired at the University of Missouri–St. Louis to learn the Latin names of hundreds of plants.

“UMSL taught me how to really study,” he says.

“I’ve applied that to everything since.”

Jones also credits many people at UMSL, especially College of Arts and Sciences Assistant Director of Academic Advising and Student Services Sylvia Harris, for helping him acclimate to the classroom in his 30s after a while away.

to how much Jones cares about rebuilding the St. Louis community. Growing up in Walnut Park and Hyde Park, he saw firsthand the city’s housing issues. Since 2019, he’s joined AmeriCorps VISTA, the STL Vacancy Collaborative and the Community Builders Netw ork of Metro St. Louis, serving as a Community Engagement Specialist.

Through Creating Whole Communities – a collaborative among UMSL, the University of Missouri Extension and St. Louis neighborhoods focused on strengthening communities – Jones became a Neighborhood Leadership Fellow, meeting policymakers and civic leaders.

“We have a lot of great people doing some great things on the ground right now,” Jones says, rattling off names of those working hard in neighborhoods and organizations across the city. “I want to change the narrative by being an advocate of change about St. Louis.”

In September, Jones joined the 2021 cohort of the Coro Fellows, an emerging leadership program housed in the UMSL Community Innovation and Action Center. He also started his master’s in urban planning and development at Saint Louis University, but not before stopping by the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia to pick up the 2020-2021 Urban Garden of the Year Award for the City of St. Louis.

Jones thinks every neighborhood should have a community garden, a place for kids to pick fresh fruits and vegetables.

“I tell everyone looking to start a community garden to reach out to me, and I’ll teach them how for free,” Jones says. “Blackberry Landscaping will continue to do common things in gardening in an uncommon way.”

He earned his BS in media studies in 2020. Jones also picked up UMSL Chancellor’s Certificates in Fundamentals of Economic Development, Planning and Zoning, and Community Partnership and Coalition Leadership. That education speaks

30

EMILY BLACKBURN

implements advanced tools to help St. Louis police better understand crime and protect communities

By Steve Walentik

Emily Blackburn remembers what it was like when she first joined the crime analysis unit at the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department back in its infancy.

That was about 14 years ago, and before she could make heads or tails of any data on crimes committed, evidence or potential suspects, she’d have to go through an involved process to extract it from various sources, geocode it and put it on a map to begin to look for patterns.

“That process might take half an hour or so,” says Blackburn, who earned a master’s degree in criminology and criminal justice from the University of Missouri– St. Louis in 2001. “It doesn’t seem like a huge amount of time, but right now, we can do 1-2-3-4 in a row and look at different iterations almost instantaneously. That really helps our assessments.”

Blackburn, a civilian official who’s been the crime analysis unit manager since 2012, is always looking for tools that can help commanders and detectives better recognize and understand patterns in crime or connect information that will help solve their cases.

Last year, she led a team – comprised of an intelligence analyst, a systems development specialist, a programmer and an information security administrator – to build an intranet site using geospatial information system mapping software called ArcGIS Enterprise Portal, which was developed by Esri, a leading global firm in GIS, location intelligence and mapping technology. The software allowed them to create administrative, tactical, investigative and intelligence focused dashboards to help users access and easily visualize pertinent information quickly.

“We’re all used to Esri dashboards because almost all of the COVID dashboards that came out last year were Esri dashboards,” Blackburn says. “Instead of COVID case numbers by state, it’s crime by police district or city ward or that sort of thing. It’s the same principle and underlying software.”

The dashboards have helped guide decision-making in day-to-day operations.

Commanders share that intelligence with officers at the start of their patrols, so they’re prepared to recognize and solve the problems they encounter.

“We’re about at maximum capacity for doing more with less, but at least then we can focus our initiatives in the right place, in the right time,” Blackburn says. “This makes it a lot quicker. We can do multiple projects at the same time.”

Building and implementing the dashboards was a big enough undertaking that Blackburn and her team won a Special Achievement in GIS Award from Esri.

St. Louis was one of three police departments recognized among 109 total awardees nationwide.

Blackburn never expected the recognition. Had she been seeking it out, she likely never would have gotten into a career that has had her working behind the scenes to support law enforcement.

“I’m happy to do this nerdy data stuff on one end,” Blackburn says, “to help advance us in other ends and meet the changing needs of the citizens and what they want out of the police department.”

31

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Send class notes and life updates to alumni@umsl.edu.

1960s

Gwen Moore, BA 1969,

Stephen Kiger, BA 1986, was

received a Distinguished Alumni

named president of the Rotary

award from the Brown School

Club of New Albany.

of Social Work at Washington

Allison Aden, MBA 1987, was

University in St. Louis. Gwen is the

named chief financial officer of

curator of urban landscape and

Cavco Industries.

community identity at the Missouri

Marc Katz, BSBA 1987, was named

History Museum.

interim chief financial officer of

ALUMNI

Q&A

AUTHOR OF EIGHT

Tuesday Morning Corporation.

1970s

John Dohr, BSBA 1974,

Dave Reifschneider, BSBA 1988,

MBA 1982, received the Salute to

was elected second vice president

Business Achievement Award from

of the UMSL Alumni Association

the UMSL Business Alumni Chapter.

Governing Board of Directors.

John Hixson, BSBA 1976, was

Steve O’Loughlin, BSBA 1989,

elected vice president of the UMSL

received the Salute to Business

Alumni Association Governing

Achievement Award from the

Board of Directors.

UMSL Business Alumni Chapter

Cheryl Templeton, MEd 1978,

in September.

welcomed grandson Kaiden John Templeton in January. Kaiden’s

1990s

father, Spencer Templeton, is

was elected president of the UMSL

pursuing his PhD in physics

Alumni Association Governing

at UMSL.

Board of Directors.

EARL SWIFT, BA 1983, BOOKS

DRAFTS COMPELLING NARRATIVES

Toni Douaihy, BA 1991,

Jean Evans, BA 1991, has been Warner Baxter, BSBA

chosen to lead the Missouri arm

1983, was elected vice chairman

of the American Federation for

of Edison Electric Institute.

Children, a pro-school choice

Kenneth Marx, BSBA 1983,

education advocacy organization.

received the Salute to Business

Michael Aufdembrink, MS 1992,

Achievement Award from the UMSL

MBA 1992, was named chief

Business Alumni Chapter.

information officer for Summit

Rajiv Banavali, PhD 1985, received

Electric Supply in Albuquerque,

a Distinguished Alumni Award at

New Mexico.

the 2021 UMSL Founders Dinner.

Jim Wallis, BS 1992, was named

Rajiv is the senior vice president

to the board of directors at Hope

of science and innovation at

Creates in St. Louis.

WestRock Company in Atlanta.

Photos courtesy of Mark Atkinson

1980s

on topics ranging from forensic science, to the creation of America’s highway grid, to sea-level rise and to the last three Apollo missions – in “Across the Airless Wilds: The Lunar Rover and the Triumph of the Final Moon Landings,” released this past summer.

32

How did you prepare for your journalism career while at UMSL?

I arrived planning to stick around for two years, get a slew of survey courses out of the way, then transfer to journalism school. But my first day on campus, I sought out the offices of The Current, and walked out with a story assignment. By the time I got my second, I knew that I’d found my people. I got my first training as a reporter and forged lifelong friendships on the paper’s staff.

Before long, I landed a job at the St. Louis GlobeDemocrat that led to my getting the Globe’s summer reporting internship. That, in turn, convinced me that perhaps I didn’t need to go to journalism school – that the wiser course might be to learn about the world I’d be covering, rather than the mechanics of covering it. I decided to stay at UMSL and major in political science. It turned out to be a good call: when I graduated, the Globe offered me a full-time reporting job.

How do you find your inspiration and decide on a topic for a book?

My inspiration is that I like to eat. It’s unromantic to put it so plainly, but writing is a job like any other – if you require some mystical form of inspiration to do it, you’re going to go hungry. Inspiration does visit but almost always when you’re already elbows-deep in the work.

As for the topics I choose, I write the kind of stories I like to read. If I’ve thought the ideas through to the extent I should, others will want to read them, too.

Why a book about the lunar rover?

Because it’s a compelling story, with strong characters and lots of action and surprises along the way. On Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin never ventured more than 65 yards from their lunar module. Jump ahead two years to Apollo 15, you have Dave Scott and Jim Irwin climbing into the first lunar rover and driving more than 17 miles. They explored and conducted science over an area half the size of Manhattan. They climbed hundreds of feet up the side of a mountain as big as Kilimanjaro. All told, the crews of the last three missions drove more than 56 miles on the moon in what was essentially a 1969 General Motors product. The rover changed everything about Apollo.

What does UMSL mean to you?

UMSL offered whatever I asked of it – the community there gave me the room and encouragement to aim as high as I chose to, but success or failure was up to me. That was a real gift: you had to motivate yourself if you hoped to maximize your experience. I’ve worked with really smart, well-educated colleagues over the years but few who learned to work as hard as I did at UMSL. Over time, that’s proved a real advantage, a linchpin to my career. When it comes to telling you just how grateful I am to be an alum, I can’t find words big enough.

The UMSL Alumni Association 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award winners reflect the tremendous diversity and amazing abilities, talents and leadership of UMSL alumni.

The 2021 award winners are leaders in the fields of education, veterans’ health and nurse leadership, chemistry, and equity and inclusion. Their work transforms lives locally, nationally and globally as they work to change and improve the world around them.

The honorees for 2021 are: Melanie Adams, PhD 2014; Rajiv Banavali, PhD 1985; Jennifer Cobbina,

2000s

Eric Madkins, BA 2001,

was named to the board of directors at FOCUS St. Louis.

Christine Figge, BSAcc 2002, MAcc 2003, received the Salute to Business Achievement Award from the UMSL Business Alumni Chapter.

Derrell Carter, MBA 2003, was hired as vice president for strategic marketing at Stephens College.

Deitra Colquitt, BSEd 2003, MEd 2010, MEd 2019, EDSP 2020, was one of eight educators selected for EdSurge’s inaugural Voices of

MA 2006, PhD 2009; Patty Hendrickson, DNP 2018; and Amy Hunter, BA 1992. LaVell Monger,

Change Writing Fellowship. Deitra

BA 2016, received the Outstanding Young Alumni Award.

is the co-principal at Pershing

The honorees were celebrated during the Founders Celebration on Oct. 7 at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center.

Elementary School.

John McLaurin, BA 2004, has been named deputy commissioner by the Arkansas Securities Department.

Cassandra Kaufman, MSW 2005, became executive director of the

Paul Yorke, MBA 1992, retired as

Amy Hunter, BA 1994, received

Joseph Blanner, BSPA 1998,

St. Louis Mental Health Board.

pricing support manager from BP

a Distinguished Alumni Award at

became past president of

Jennifer Cobbina, MA 2006, PhD

after 35 years of service. He began

the 2021 UMSL Founders Dinner.

the UMSL Alumni Association

2009, received a Distinguished

his career in St. Louis with Amoco

Amy serves as the vice president

Governing Board of Directors.

Alumni Award at the 2021 UMSL

Petroleum Additives Company as

of diversity, equity and inclusion at

Sarajeni Hammond, BSBA 1998,

Founders Dinner. Jennifer is an

a financial analyst.

Caleres in St. Louis.

was promoted to executive director

associate professor in the School

Lorri Edinger Richardson, BSEd

Diane Brown, BSN 1995, was

of human resources at Bayer.

of Criminal Justice at Michigan

1993, MEd 1999, was honored

named director of Health Services

Keesha Strong, BA 1998, was

State University.

with the Emerson’s Excellence in

for Parkway Schools.

named a St. Louis Business Journal

Sarah Javier, MPPA 2006, was

Teaching Award. Lorri is an

Tania Farran, BSEd 1996,

2021 HR Award honoree.

named to the 2021 class of

eighth-grade U.S. history teacher

published a book on parenting,

Art McCoy, MEd 1999, PhD 2002,

St. Louis Business Journal’s Most

at Bryan Middle School.

“Raising the Well-Adjusted Child:

was named to the board of

Influential Business Women.

A Parent’s Manual.”

directors of Mental Health America.

James Young, BM 2006, was named

Dorlita Adams, MEd 1998, was

Natissia Small, MEd 1999, MEd

the 2022 Missouri Teacher of the

named principal at Barbara C.

2009, EdD 2016, is one of the

Year. James is a sixth-grade musical

Jordan Elementary School in

honorees of the St. Louis Business

theatre teacher at Johnson-Wabash

University City, Missouri.

Journal’s 2021 class of Champions

Sixth Grade Center.

for Diversity and Inclusion.

34

YOU BELONG If you’re an UMSL graduate, you’re a member of the UMSL Alumni Association – more than 105,000 alumni strong. From networking and connecting on social media to getting involved in a committee, there is something for all UMSL graduates in the Alumni Association.

Take advantage of membership benefits including: Discounted membership to the Recreation and Wellness Center • Discounts at the UMSL Eye Care center Access to the University Libraries • UMSL license plates (Missouri residents) • Much more!

the documentary, “Rural Children in Crisis: Access to Missouri Oral Care,” which highlights the dental health disparities faced by low-income children in rural Missouri. Carol works at Maryville University as an assistant professor of nursing.

Erin Brooks, BS 2007, OD 2011, MS 2013, was featured on the cover of AOA Focus, the magazine of the American Optometric Association, and in a feature story, “Optometry’s

Night at the Ballpark

5K Run/Walk

Virtual programs

Share your skills on a committee Awards and Membership, Finance, Nominating and Leadership Development, Alumni Leadership Council, Alumni Engagement, Advocacy and special committees

ATTEND AN EVENT

DNP 2012, led the creation of

VOLUNTEER

Carol Berger, BSN 2007, MSN 2009,

Salute to Business Homecoming Affinity group happy hours and trivia nghts

Reflection,” which examined racial and ethnic diversity within the

Join an affinity group

profession. Erin is an associate clinical professor at UMSL. David Gipson, MPPA 2007, was chosen as the 2021 Jay T. Bell Professional Management Award

Connect with current students with Dining with Tritons

recipient by the Missouri City/ County Management Association.

African American Alumni Chapter, Catholic Newman Center Alumni Network, Chemistry Alumni Council, Circle of Educators, College of Business Alumni Chapter, Engineering Alumni Network, HisLa Alumni Group, LGBTQ+ Alumni Group, Non-Profit Management and Leadership Alumni Network, Pierre Laclede Honors College Alumni Chapter, Political Science Alumni Group, School of Social Work Alumni network

The award recognizes outstanding commitment to the profession of local government management and is the association’s highest honor

Start an affinity group or chapter in your area

Get involved with a local chapter Kansas City, Denver, Washington, D.C., Florida, Austin, Dallas

for members.

Maggie Lauer, MBA 2008, was named vice president and chief financial officer of Switch, a

Follow us on social media @UMSLalumni

St. Louis marketing agency.

Chris Peoples, BSCIE 2008, was

Attend a class reunion

named senior project manager at Great Rivers Greenway, where he will work with other staff members, partners and communities to fulfill the agency’s mission of connecting the St. Louis region

Contact alumni@umsl.edu to connect, engage and inspire.

with greenways.

35

Clyde Bailey and Lynn Bailey, née Scott, BA 1980, met on registration day in the fall of 1972 and married later that year. Years later, their daughter Evelyn Bailey Moore, BSEE 2003, earned her degree while working full time. She is now director of engineering and chief engineer at Boeing.

"UMSL is sentimental to me because my parents met at the school, and as such, the school is at the core of my existence. Attending the university also allowed me to accomplish my childhood dream of being an engineer without having a substantial amount of student loans upon graduation that I was easily able to pay off in a few years. It was the best course of action for me and my family. I would not be where I am today without the Joint Engineering Program and my family support system."

– Evelyn Bailey Moore

Calling all UMSL legacies A look at some family legacies tells the story of the unique opportunities that UMSL provides for traditional or non-traditional students and life-long learners. It includes parents and children studying at the same time, multi-generational legacies, siblings, parents inspiring children and children inspiring parents.

Are you part of a family legacy?

Share your story with us!

Email us at alumni@umsl.edu.

Evelyn Bailey Moore, BSEE 2003, (center) with mother Lynn Bailey, BA 1980, and father Clyde Bailey. (Photo courtesy of Evelyn Bailey Moore)

Twins Luke Ledermann, BSIS 2021, (center) and Leah Ledermann, BA 2021, (left) followed in the footsteps of elder sister Rosella Ledermann, BA 2015, in choosing UMSL.

Accounting student Natalie Powers followed in the footsteps of her father, Nicholas Powers, BS 2004.

Father Kei Pang, DBA 2021, (left) and son Jo Pang, MS 2011, (right) both found academic homes in the Doctor of Business Administration program.

Three generations of the Scott family have called UMSL home.

From left: Brenda Scott, BSN 1990, her granddaughter Jessica Lake, BSW 2010, MSW 2014, MPPA 2014, and daughter Deborah Lake, BA 1989.

Paula Knight, MEd 1996, EDSP 2008, EdD 2014, (left) recalls tagging along to classes with her mother Donna Knight, who earned a BS in public administration from UMSL in 1983.

Kristen Vogt, BSN 2020, (right) followed her daughter Clare Vogt, BSN 2019, (left) to the UMSL College of Nursing.

ALUMNI

QUESTION

From the spring 2021 issue:

What was your most memorable date while in school?

Pearlina Boyd, MPPA 2008, joined the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations as early resolution human rights officer.

Erika Cameron, PhD 2009, was appointed provost and vice president for academic affairs at Palo Alto University in California.

Lauren Collins, BA 2009, joined Kraft, Bischoff, Buckley & Collins; the in-house litigation department of the Automobile Club of Missouri.

Matthew Hefti, BSAcc 2009, MAcc 2010, was promoted to partner at Rubin Brown.

2010s

“I recall my wife and I regularly attending current movie screenings on campus for just $1.00. UMSL showed some lesser-known movies, which introduced us to many films we otherwise might have never seen.

It was back in the mid-’80s when I was working on my BGS degree while working full-time. Who knew the bargain prices would provide such priceless memories!”

—Russ Sternberg Jr., BGS 1996

Elizabeth Eikmann, BA 2013, received her PhD in American studies from Saint Louis University, and accepted a postdoctoral fellowship in the study of St. Louis and the American story at Washington University in St. Louis.

Samuel Fredeking, PhD 2013, MBA 2017, has joined the UMSL Alumni Association Governing Board of Directors. Samuel also became director of Human Resources for Behavioral Health Response.

Adam Layne, MEd 2013, was appointed treasurer for the City of St. Louis.

Gary Mudd, MBA 2013, is a

Julie Hoff, MBA 2010,

recipient of the St. Louis Business

was named vice president of human resources at Sesen Bio.

Sandy Olive, BSEd 2011, BA 2012,

January Realista, MBA 2011,

Journal’s inaugural Business of

Laura Ribeiro, MSW 2010, became

MA 2014, appeared on three

received the Salute to Business

Pride Awards. Those honored are

an assistant professor of social

episodes of “Jeopardy!” in which

Achievement Award from the UMSL

outstanding LGBTQIA+ leaders

work at Missouri Baptist University.

she was a two-day champion

Business Alumni Chapter.

who are successful in their

Jeremy Brown, BSEd 2011, started

and won more than $50,000 in

Will Werner, MA 2011, is the

careers, active in their communities

as the new principal at Central High

prize money.

new director of UMSL’s National

and are advocates for inclusion

School in Springfield, Missouri.

Cordaryl Patrick, MPPA 2011,

Security and Community Policy

and equality.

Gabrielle MacAluso, BS 2011,

was elected treasurer to the UMSL

Collaborative.

Brittany Pumphrey, BA 2013,

MPPA 2013, was appointed

Alumni Association Governing

Carly Gorka, BSBA 2012, started

BS 2013, was hired as a

to assistant city manager of

Board of Directors.

as senior marketing automation

behavioral health clinician with

University City, Missouri.

Keyne Quiroga-Anania, BLS 2011,

and production associate with

HCA Healthcare.

David McGraw, BA 2011, BS 2011,

was named a recipient of the

Hinge Health.

Melanie Adams, PhD 2014,

MA 2013, MEd 2016, was elected

St. Louis Business Journal’s

Jon McMiller, BSBA 2012, and

received a Distinguished Alumni

secretary of the UMSL Alumni

inaugural Business of Pride Award.

his brother, Willie, had their pilot,

Award at the 2021 UMSL Founders

Association Governing Board

Those honored are outstanding

“Flip it to the Macs,” greenlit by

Dinner. Melanie is the director

of Directors.

LGBTQIA+ leaders who are

HGTV. After years of working in

of the Smithsonian’s Anacostia

Orinthia Montague, PhD 2011,

successful in their careers, active

construction for their father, Jon

Community Museum in

was appointed president of

in their communities and are

and Willie decided to start their

Washington, D.C.

Volunteer State Community

advocates for inclusion

own real estate and renovation

Terri Austin, MEd 2014, became

College in Gallatin, Tennessee.

and equality.

business focused on transforming

a counselor for Lewis and Clark

rundown properties in their

Community College.

hometown of St. Louis.

37

DENVER

I-70 corridor al After a summer of empty ballparks due to the pandemic, baseball and the UMSL Alumni Association were back this summer!

Nick Bommarito, BS 2014, was

The Alumni Association celebrated baseball, UMSL and America with

named conservation agent for

alumni in Denver when the St. Louis Cardinals visited the Colorado Rockies

Lincoln County by the Missouri

in a Fourth of July game. Alumni, family, friends and staff enjoyed the game

Department of Conservation.

in a private suite at Coors Field. On Aug. 14, the Alumni Association tailgated

Natalie Coyne, BA 2014, started

with Kansas City-area alumni before the Cardinals and Royals game at

NatalieCoyne.com, a digital

Kauffman Stadium and wrapped up the baseball celebration along I-70 with

marketing consulting business.

Semir Vajzovic, BSEE 2014, has joined the UMSL Alumni Association Board of Directors.

the return of UMSL Night at the Ballpark on Sept. 10 with more than 500 alumni and students as the Cincinnati Reds played the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

Semir was recently promoted to manager of asset and investment management at Ameren Illinois.

Jessepreet Babbra, BSEE 2015,

Anna Lalumondier, BSBA 2017,

Aditi Tapriya, MBA 2018, started

was hired by CASCO Architecture,

became a financial analyst

new position as a demand control

Engineering & Design as an

with Ascension.

manager with Beam Suntory.

electrical designer.

Joel Richardson, BSCiE 2017,

Ehsan Davarzany, MA 2019, was

Christina Donald, BS 2015, was

accepted a civil designer position

promoted to BIM Engineer with

promoted to senior vice president

with Castle Contracting in St. Louis

Helix Electric.

of advocacy at the Wyman Center.

as part of its Design-Build team.

Jennifer Redel, BSEd 2019,

Christina Pritchard, BA 2013,

Sharon Pruitt-Young, BA 2015,

Gavin Schiffres, MEd 2017, was

became store manager at the

MSW 2017, to Ryan Kasting on

joined the NewsDesk Digital News

an honoree of the 30 under 30

Loft in West County, Missouri.

team at National Public Radio.

Changemakers Award by the

Andrew Saunders, BS 2019,

Chandler Duchaine, BSBA 2016,

National Alliance for Public

started a position as clinical

joined Klein Tools as a

Charter Schools.

research coordinator with Memorial

product manager.

Saha Cilic, BSBA 2018, became

Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Alysa Kaiser, BS 2017, MA 2019,

Christopher Imming, MBA 2016,

a senior accountant with Electro

Hannah Serafino, BM 2019, started

to Dominic Margherio, BS 2015,

was promoted to regional president

Express, LLC.

a position as a music faculty

on Sept. 25

of commercial banking at Midwest

Patty Hendrickson, DNP 2018,

member with East Central College.

Sara Kern, BSBA 2017,

BankCentre, which has locations

received a Distinguished Alumni

to Scott Plaza on July 31

throughout Missouri and Illinois.

Award at the 2021 UMSL Founders

2020s

Hannah Miller, BFA 2016, started

Dinner. Patty is the associate

2020, joined Yoh, A Day &

a position as UX designer at

director of Patient Care Services

Zimmermann Company as a

Asynchrony Labs.

and nurse executive at the

business development manager.

Morgan Heitert, BSN 2020, to

LaVell Monger, BA 2016, was

Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health

Christian Brown, BSAcc 2020,

Justin Flynn on May 2

named the 2021 Outstanding

Care System.

became a staff auditor at KEB’s

Young Alumni winner. Lavell

Logan Page, OD 2018, joined the

St. Louis office.

owns his own business, RTW

Center for Sight as an optometric

James Jordan, DBA 2020, was

Photography, and works for Peer

physician at its Siesta Drive office.

named the director of the

Forward, Inc.

Zachary Smith, BSPPA 2018, MBA

Program Assistance Division at

2020, became a customer process

Rural Development for the U.S.

coordinator with Bayer.

Department of Agriculture.

Bliss Ryan Krull, BA 2010, MFA 2014, to Jessica Rogen on June 6

Oct. 2 Bre Wexler, MA 2014, PhD 2017, to Dan Timko on Nov. 5

Chris Pohle, BSBA 2017, to Megan Cain on Oct. 2

Allison Belew, BSBA

38

KANSAS CITY

ST. LOUIS

umni connection Ruth Kvistad, BA 2020, started

McKenzie Schuessler, BA 2020,

awarded a Fulbright English

started a position as a claims

the Southern Illinois University MD/

was promoted to advancement

Teaching Assistantship in Taiwan.

specialist with Equifax.

JD dual degree program. She was

officer for the UMSL Office of

He will serve as an English teaching

JoAnna Watts, MSW 2021,

sworn into the class of 2024 by

Alumni Engagement.

assistant for a year in the capital

co-founded and now serves as

the Illinois Supreme Court justices

Delyn Stephenson, MA 2020, was

city of Taipei.

executive director of Missouri’s

in August.

named a Romare Bearden Fellow

Connor Schultz, BS 2021, began

Court Appointed Special Advocate

Rhonda Lingard, MEd 2020, was

at the Saint Louis Art Museum.

a position with Accenture Federal

office in Farmington.

named an operations manager at

Brad Cary, OD 2021, joined

Services as a software engineer.

Michaela Wells, MEd 2021,

Court Appointed Special Advocates

Family Focus Eyecare in

Rachel Thompson, BA 2021, BA

became coordinator of Student

of St. Louis.

Columbia, Missouri.

2021, accepted a position with the

Organizations and Fraternity and

Bronwyn Miller, BS 2020, began

Shreya Chand, BSIS 2021,

Teaching Assistant Program

Sorority Life at UMSL.

a new position as lifestyle

became a graduate assistant

in France.

enrichment guide with Lutheran

at UMSL.

LaShe’ Tomlin-Wilks, BSN 2021,

Senior Services.

Lauren Dermody, OD 2021, joined

became a medical-surgical nurse

Dalila Omerovic, BA 2020, began

the joint Missouri practices of

at Mercy Hospital.

her first year at Saint Louis

Cherry Hill Family Eye Care in

Phuonganh Tran, BSBA 2021,

University School of Law.

Wildwood and Sullivan Eye Care

Sarah Peskar, BA 2020, started a

in Sullivan.

position as a library associate with

Joseph Donato, BS 2021, joined

St. Louis County Library.

the Missouri Department of

Kevin Reynolds, BSEd 2020, began

Transportation as an investigator

teaching social studies at Sumner

for the St. Louis region.

High School in the St. Louis

Christine Holt, DBA 2021, was

Public Schools.

named chancellor for the University

Kevin Sansberry II, DBA 2020,

of Arkansas Community College at

launched the Toxic Leadership

Hope-Texarkana.

Podcast, about how

Kay Hood, BA 2021, was selected

leaders organizations and

to participate in the Japan

companies can improve their

Exchange and Teaching Program.

leadership and practices for

Kay will assist a Japanese teacher

organizational success.

in foreign-language classes and

Yuima Mizutani, PhD 2020,

serve as a cultural ambassador.

became an assistant teaching

Susan Marino, EdD 2021, was

professor at UMSL.

named director of the UMSL

David Schmidt, BSBA 2020, started

Charter School Office, housed in

as marketing and media support

the College of Education.

professional with Seiler Instrument .

David McFarland, BS 2021, joined Icon Mechanical as a project manager.

1960s

Kathleen Lorenz, BSEd 1967, MEd 1970, on Jan. 17

John Cleary, BSEd 1969, on June 2 Allan Schindler, MEd 1969, on May 30

1970s

Donald Leonard, Jr., BS 1971, on April 13

Thomas Hensley, MEd 1972, EdD 1999, on Jan. 29 Nancy Pasco, BA 1972, on June 10 David Hilty, MBA 1974, on June 21 Willa Furch, MEd 1976, on Feb. 7

1980s

Rhonda Drake, BS 1984, on June 13

Bruce Gamble, MEd 1984, on Mar. 4 John McDonnell, BSBA 1989, on April 15

1990s

Craig McBride, BA 1997, on April 1

2000s

Carole Crowell, MEd 2003, on June 27

In Memoriam

Jennifer Putnam, BA 2003, MEd 2020, on Feb. 4

2010s

Roseanne Williams, BA 2018, on March 4

William Pryor, MEd 2021, was

39

University of Missouri–St. Louis

nonprofit org.

U.S. postage

60 J.C. Penney Building

paid

1 University Blvd.

St. Louis, MO

St. Louis, MO 63121-4400

permit no. 3

2021140.108,606.11/21.wa/mb-walsworth­

TOO MANY STUDENTS HAVE SIGNIFICANT NEED BUT DON’T QUITE QUALIFY FOR FINANCIAL SUPPORT. They work to balance jobs, family and school and make a few too many dollars to be eligible for federal aid. They miss merit scholarships by just a thread.

The new Rise Up Scholarship works to close the gap and support these students.

Help the University of Missouri–St. Louis make higher education possible for all students. Help elevate our region. Help remove barriers for students.

Help build inclusive prosperity and growth for everyone.

Give to the Rise Up Scholarship today!

The Rise Up Scholarship is part of the UMSL Rise Up for St. Louis Initiative, a call to action to collaboratively build our region into what future generations seek and deserve.

For more information, please contact UMSL Giving.

University of Missouri–St. Louis

giving@umsl.edu

giving.umsl.edu/riseup