| U-News & Views, The University of Utah Alumni Association’s Online Newsletter—August 2009 |
AM: Annual
Member of the Alumni Association |
Kim (Severson) Anderson BA’74 has been elected chair of the 28,000-member Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants (TSCPA). Anderson is currently with Jones & Company, an accounting firm in El Paso, which she joined in 2006. She previously served with firms including the Big 4 firm KPMG and also operated her own sole proprietorship in El Paso for several years. Anderson is a past president of the National Education Foundation for Women in Accounting and has served on the executive board for the American Society of Women Accountants, by whom she has been recognized as CPA of the Year. She has served the community as a member of the board for organizations including Race for the Cure, Planned Parenthood, and the West Texas Urban Forestry Council.
Paul Vincent Bernard BFA’95 currently owns his own printing studio, fishart press ,which does lithography, intaglio, relief, and monotype. ,A painter and printmaker, with his space at Poor Yorick Studios, Bernard is able to execute large-scale, experimental printmaking that has been exhibited around Utah, particularly at Tanner Frames, a solidvenue for contemporary artwork. Evan J. Braun BS’01 has opened Braun Chiropractic in Uniontown, Pa. Braun is a member of the American Chiropractic Association and a certified provider of the Graston technique, which helps remove scar tissue and adhesion formed by traumatic injury or repetitive stress trauma. The treatment is used for sports injuries, post-surgical rehabilitation, chronic pain management and physical health maintenance. Braun is a Uniontown native and completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Utah before graduating summa cum laude in 2008 from New York Chiropractic College, where he was a member of the Phi Chi Omega honor society. During his clinical rotations, he was an intern at Buffalo Veterans Hospital, the Depew Health Center, and the Buffalo Salvation Army.
Scott Christiansen BS’80, a 32-year veteran in the Utah construction industry, has been named to lead the new Salt Lake City office of McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. A community-based builder with national expertise, McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. Previously a senior project manager with Big-D Construction Corp., Christiansen is a LEED Accredited Professional, a member of the U.S. Green Building Council, and active with the Associated General Contractors. In addition to his industry-related activities, he is a supporter of the Boy Scouts of America and a member of the Eagle Scout Association. |
 Claudia Giacoma BS’72 is currently an assistant pastor at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Park City and a chaplain at St. Mark’s Hospital. Born to a Lutheran mother who was an immigrant from Finland and an inactive Mormon father who was a miner in Park City, Giacoma has been part of many churches—Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian. She has been an evangelical, a charismatic, and even helped form a new church, Ecclesia, in Boulder, Colo., in the 1970s and ’80s. Now, at a time in life when most people settle into the familiar, Giacoma is on a new spiritual path. She was ordained an Episcopal deacon in 2001 and a priest in January 2008 at age 72, the age at which the church typically requires priests to retire. An invitation led Claudia and her husband, Lou, to the Episcopal Church in the late 1980s. Claudia says it felt like home. She had trained for years to become a chaplain, and that’s a big part of her ministry. But these days, Giacoma is also interested in the intersection of art and faith and teaches a class for non-artists, Art and Soul, weekly at St. Luke’s. |
J. Brett Harvey BS’77 has been elected to the University of Pittsburgh board of trustees. Harvey is president and CEO of CONSOL Energy Inc. and chair and CEO of CNX Gas Corporation, and serves on numerous other boards, including the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America. Representing the fourth generation in a long lineage of coal miners, Harvey began his business career in 1979 with Kaiser Steel Company. He received the University of Utah Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2008, the same year that Duquesne University gave him an honorary doctorate. LM
Jeffrey D. Holt BS’83 has been appointed a commissioner-at-large with the Utah Transportation Commission. Originally from Salt Lake City, Holt now lives with his family in Huntsville, Utah. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and has worked as an investment banker for the past 30 years, specializing in transportation finance. He currently works for the Bank of Montreal as a managing director. AM
Timothy R. Hunt MBA’03 has been named a trustee of the Utah Technology Council. Hunt is starting a new venture in alternative fuel vehicles called Go Natural CNG, focusing on natural gas. He was most recently the general manager of North America for Certiport and previously founded and served as chair of the board of Lingotek. Michael M. Hunter JD’70 has been named corporate secretary for Warrior Girl Corp. (Pink Sheets: WRGL). Hunter has more than 30 years of broadly diversified public and private sector experience in corporate management, as an entrepreneur, and in the legal profession. He was a trial attorney and federal prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice and served as the acting director of Compliance and Enforcement for the Federal Energy Office (Executive Office of the President) during the 1973-74 Arab Oil Embargo. His government service also includes stints as counsel for two United States Senators and the Senate Judiciary Committee. Hunter was a senior executive with ITT Corporation and American Express and has operated several businesses in the United States and Europe. He received a juris doctorate from the University of Utah after receiving his undergraduate degree from Columbia University in New York City. |
 Bharat Jayaraman PhD’81, professor and former department chair of computer science and engineering at the State University of New York-Buffalo (UB), also teaches the Integrated Amrita Meditation (IAM) technique regularly at UB. A practitioner of meditation for 35 years and originally from Bangalore, Jayaraman learned meditation as a graduate student in India. He found that it greatly enhanced his attentiveness and concentration to his work. As he worked on his doctorate at the U of U, he says that meditation was enormously beneficial for him. “I could think more clearly and be more creative.” A UB faculty member since 1989, Jayaraman recently spent a half-year sabbatical as a visiting professor at Amrita University, the university founded by Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, creator of the IAM technique. Jayaraman is now involved in creating a new collaborative computer science program on “embedded systems” jointly with Amrita University, which he hopes to launch in the fall. |
Clark W. Johnson BA’01 MD’05 has joined the Behavioral Health Services Department at Southwest Washington Medical Center in Vancouver, Wash., as a staff psychiatrist. Johnson previously served as emergency room, inpatient, and consultation liaison at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Yonkers, N.Y., and chief resident at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York City. Johnson is fluent in Spanish and Italian, and his training includes an emphasis in addiction, geriatric, and public psychiatry. Melissa Miller Kincart BS’94 has been named Utah System of Higher Education assistant commissioner for Outreach and Access. In this newly created position, Kincart will focus specifically on working with the state’s colleges and universities in exploring ways to improve college participation rates. Kincart holds a master’s degree in higher education policy and leadership from the University of Maryland in addition to her undergraduate degree in finance. Most recently, she served as the executive director of the Utah Campus Compact, a statewide organization that promotes civic engagement on college campuses. She has also held numerous campus positions, including assistant to the vice provost for Enrollment Management at Utah State University, assistant director of Undergraduate Admissions at American University, and assistant coordinator for Programs and Training at University of Maryland.
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 Don Lind BS’53 (pictured at right in his NASA uniform of the time) was working at the flight controller at NASA’s Mission Control during the Apollo 11 moon landing, 40 years ago this past July 20. A Midvale native and a physicist, Lind was in the corps of astronauts waiting his turn to fly to the moon when he was put in charge of lunar surface operations for Apollo 11. He also helped design the two main experiments for that first moon landing, the seismometer and a foil banner that became embedded with solar particles. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in physics, Lind enlisted in the Navy, where he hoped to be (and became) among the fastest, most daring aircraft carrier pilots. As an aviator during the Korean War, Lind contacted scientists at the University of California at Berkeley and volunteered to take up photo emulsions to record cosmic rays. “I could get up to 50,000 feet!” That opened the door at Berkeley, where he went on to receive a doctorate in high-energy nuclear physics. Lind later took a job at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, where he was doing research when the nation began recruiting astronauts. Although he never flew to the moon, Lind flew on Spacelab 3 in 1985, aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger. He was in space seven days, flying nearly three million miles. When Challenger exploded on liftoff during its next mission a year later, the investigation revealed O-ring problems that had existed even on the previous mission. Thiokol scientists in Utah, where the O-rings were made, told Lind that if a ring had not slipped into place (with less than a second to spare) to block the escape of gases, he would have died. |
Adelaide Maudsley JD’00 has been promoted to partner in the bankruptcy, restructuring, and workouts department of the Salt Lake City office of Chapman and Cutler. Maudsley will focus on corporate bankruptcy and reorganization and commercial litigation. AM
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 Jenny Mueller PhD’05 was recognized with a 2009 Illinois Arts Council Literary Award for her poem “Sylvia Plath at the Aviary,” which is rooted in her time as a graduate student at the University of Utah. Mueller says her inspiration came from walking around Salt Lake City’s Tracy Aviary, “especially in the evenings when the peacocks would start roosting in the trees for the night.” A former editor of the U of U literary magazine Western Humanities Review, Mueller is an associate professor of English at McKendree University in Lebanon, Ill. Her poetry collection Bonneville was published by Elixir Press in 2007. In addition to her doctorate, she holds an MFA from the University of Iowa, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Chicago. The IAC Literary Awards recognize outstanding writing in Illinois nonprofit literary magazines. Court Green, the Columbia College Chicago poetry journal that published “Sylvia Plath at the Aviary,” was also recognized by the ILA this year, along with one other poem and the journal that published it. Each of the journals and the two winning authors receive $1,000.
Peter W. Mueller BS’82 has been inducted into the 2009 Officer Candidates School Hall of Fame. Induction into the OCS Hall of Fame is the single highest honor the OCS can bestow upon its past graduates. To be eligible, officers must have attained the rank of colonel, be Medal of Honor recipients, or have distinguished themselves in civilian occupations. A colonel in the U.S. Army, Mueller holds a master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, and has served in the military for 27 years. He is currently a commander and district engineer assigned to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, Md. Former Ute standout Luke Nevill BA’09 was not selected during this year’s NBA draft, but the New Orleans Hornets had their eye on the 7-foot-2-inch center and are evaluating him during play on their summer league team. Utah head coach Jim Boylen was disappointed that Nevill wasn’t drafted, but knows summer league is a good opportunity. “I think he’s an NBA player, he’s accomplished enough to be an NBA player,” Boylen says. Nevill averaged 17 points and nine rebounds per game in his final season at Utah and was named Mountain West Conference Player of the Year. The Associated Press also named him an Honorable Mention All-American. Kent Powell BA’70 MA’72 PhD’76, editor of the Utah Historical Quarterly, notes that historical research often tells us quite a bit about ourselves today. In the early 1900s, for example, homeowners debated whether to switch from gas-powered lamps to electricity. “We still ask about how much technology we should use… what was an issue 100 years ago is still an issue today,” Powell observes. Powell has worked for the Utah Historical Society since the 1970s. The Utah Historical Quarterly is a benefit of membership in the society and can also be found at city libraries and online at www.history.utah.gov/historical_society/historical_quarterly.
J.D. Rottweiler PhD’05 is the new president of Cochise College in Douglas, Ariz. Rottweiler served as the executive vice president of Central Wyoming College for the past seven years. He says he was drawn to the job at Cochise in part because he and his family want to stay in the West but also because he appreciates the mission of rural colleges such as Cochise. Rottweiler received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Wyoming before attaining a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Utah. Ronald G. Russell JD’83 has been appointed chair of the Utah Judicial Conduct Commission by the Utah Supreme Court. Russell is mayor of Centerville and an attorney with Parr Brown Gee & Loveless, specializing in commercial litigation, real estate law, title insurance, title and escrow claims, zoning and land use, construction cases, foreclosures, and lender enforcement. He also serves on several boards including the Wasatch Front Regional Council, Envision Utah’s Steering Committee, the South Davis Metro Fire Agency, and the Davis City Council of Governments. Bill Sands MS’85 PhD’87 has been named director of the Monfort Family Human Performance Laboratory at Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colo. Sands, previously head of sport biomechanics and engineering at the U.S. Olympic Committee Training Center in Colorado Springs, says he’s looking forward to the autonomy he’ll have running a lab at a smaller school. Sands has trained numerous Olympic athletes, from current gymnasts Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin to 1968 Olympic high-jump champion Dick Fosbury, but though he has run a few human-performance labs before, this is the first one he’s been able to build from scratch. The 2,800-square-foot lab is currently nearly empty except for a few cabinets and sinks. But equipment is on the way, and the lab should be functional Sept. 1. Sands hopes that someday the lab’s reputation will encourage some athletes to train there. |
Seely grew up near Salt Lake City before attending the U. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in finance, he wanted to experience more of the world, so he applied to the federal Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) program, which promptly assigned him to B.B.J. Federal Credit Union in Columbus, Ind. That experience ushered Seely into a lifelong career in credit unions. It also introduced him to his future wife, Debbie. “She was a VISTA volunteer who taught adult education,” Seely says. “She was from Los Angeles but assigned to Columbus. Basically, some bureaucrat in Washington sealed our fate.” In 1976, after leaving VISTA, the National Credit Union Administration hired Seely as an examiner in Wyoming, where he and his wife married the following year. Seely went on to receive an MBA in management from Amber University. He was recognized in 2003 with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the New Mexico committee of the Employer Support for the Guard and Reserves. A Kirtland Honorary Commander, he currently serves on several military boards and is a past chair of the Roadrunner Food Bank and past international service director of the Rotary Club of Albuquerque del Sol. For more on Seely’s story, see the New Mexico Business Weekly article here. |
Jane Shelby BS’88 MS’91 PhD’93 has been named executive director of health sciences at Montana State University. The Division of Health Sciences (DHS) serves to promote and expand the capacity at MSU to meet health-related needs for the people of Montana. In addition to providing leadership to the DHS, Shelby will also have teaching responsibilities and serve on various university committees. She was previously a tenured associate professor of surgery at the University of Utah. William Somppi JD’86 has joined the law firm Berg & Associates in Redding, Calif. At the S.J. Quinney College of Law, Somppi was a member of both the Journal of Contemporary Law and the Journal of Energy Law and Policy. He worked his way through law school with positions at Juvenile Court and the United States District Court, then worked for two years in Salt Lake City before moving to California and passing the California State Bar in 1989. Somppi worked in family law and personal injury law for Jacoby & Meyers in Oakland for two years and then in San Jose for nine years with the Law Office of Tak S. Chang, doing family law, personal injury, criminal law, and business law. After working in Sacramento for two years, Somppi moved to Redding, where he has almost exclusively focused on family law, serving as the Shasta County Family Law Bar Association president in 2006. |
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R. Scott Ward BA’80 PhD’94 was recently reelected president of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). Ward has served as APTA president since 2006. He is chair of the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Utah and is immediate past chair of the Rehabilitation Committee of the American Burn Association. He is also a member of the Burn Rehabilitation and Research Consensus Summit Group and served as a member of APTA’s Guide to Physical Therapist Practice Volume 3 Practice Panel, among many other professional activities. Paul Watanabe BS’72, Ph.D., director of the Institute for Asian American Studies and associate professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts Boston, has been selected by Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke to serve on the U.S. Census Bureau’s Advisory Committee on the Asian population. Watanabe’s principal research and teaching interests are in the areas of American political behavior, ethnic group politics, Asian-Americans, and American foreign policy. He is the author of Ethnic Groups, Congress, and American Foreign Policy: the Politics of the Turkish Arms Embargo and regularly contributes analysis and commentary to national and local television, radio, newspapers, and magazines. Watanabe was born in Murray, Utah. In addition to his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Utah, he holds master’s and doctoral degrees from Harvard University.
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U-News & Views ©2009 — An online publication by The University of Utah Alumni Association Questions? Concerns? Contact Linda Marion, editor, (801) 587-7837 or Marcia Dibble, assistant editor, (801) 581-6996 |
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Jane Appleby BS’92, J.D., an attorney with the Milwaukee office of the national law firm of Quarles & Brady, has been elected for a three-year term with the Milwaukee Bar Association’s Judicial Committee, which evaluates candidates for judicial appointments. Appleby’s practice focuses on general civil and commercial litigation. She has experience in health care litigation, actuarial malpractice defense, trusts and estates litigation, and securities arbitration. She also has experience in legal ethics and disability benefits and is an appointed member of the Wisconsin State Bar’s Standing Ethics Committee. She received her J.D. cum laude from Marquette University Law School.
Dawn Bennett BA’85, founder and chief executive officer of Bennett Group Financial Services, placed No. 5 on Barron’s magazine’s most recent list of the top women financial advisers. More than two decades ago, when a 20-something Bennett went to Wall Street, she clipped out a quote in a magazine that has become the cornerstone of her success today. John D. Rockefeller was quoted as saying: “I’ve never met a wealthy man who didn’t take it out of the middle.” Rockefeller’s quote—an admonition to not count on stocks running too high before taking profits—became a building block of her temperate investment strategy, says Bennett. It’s about not being greedy and consistently capturing returns as assets appreciate. “Wall Street brings you to your knees at a moment’s notice,” says Bennett. Her goal is to generate steady annual returns for her clients.
Lowell Brown BA’80 JD’82, a partner in the Los Angeles office of Arent Fox LLP, has been named chair of the firm’s national Healthcare Law Practice Group. With Arent Fox since August 2007, Brown opened the firm’s West Coast healthcare law practice after 17 years with Foley & Lardner LLP. He has long been deeply involved in healthcare issues, serving as president of the California Society for Healthcare Attorneys and on the board of the Venice Family Clinic, the largest free health clinic in the USA. He has also served the community on the executive board of the Western Los Angeles County Council, Boy Scouts of America. LM
Tyler L. Christensen MD’04 has been hired as a full-time urologist at the Harrison Boulevard location of Ogden Clinic, a full-service, multi-specialty group practice in Northern Utah. Christensen has expertise in traditional open surgical techniques as well as proficiency in new robotic surgical techniques. His expertise will provide patients, who in the past traveled to Salt Lake for surgery, the option of staying closer to home for surgery and post-operative care. Christensen specializes in general adult and pediatric urology, endourology, reconstructive urology, and kidney stones. Following undergraduate studies at Utah State University and medical school at the U of U, Christensen completed his urology residency and surgical internship at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. He is a current member of the American Urological Association and the Endourological Association. 
Jeff Hilton BA’78, partner and co-founder of Integrated Marketing Group (IMG), returned to the annual NBJ Summit this July as a panel moderator to discuss the current Internet marketing landscape. A recognized natural products marketing expert, Hilton led the panel “Successfully Navigating the New Online Media World” at this year’s sold-old natural products industry gathering. Hilton, a former member of the University of Utah Alumni Association board of directors, who also served as board president for three years, has been recognized by Advertising Age as one of America’s Top 100 Marketers and has more than 30 years of broad-based business experience, including 18 years spent within the natural products industry. AM
Zachary Howell BS’09 has been elected chair of the College Republican National Committee (CRNC). He will lead the organization, located in Washington, D.C., for the next two years. Howell notes that he is the second U of U and Hinckley Institute alumnus to hold the position, as Karl Rove ex’71 did the job from 1973 to 1975. A native of Sandy, Utah, Howell grew up loving politics and volunteered for his first campaign at the age of 13. While still in high school, he began his involvement with College Republicans when he helped coordinate “Get out the vote” activities for a Congressional campaign. While at the U, he served as state chair of the Utah Federation of College Republicans for two years, and was named the “Best State Chairman” of the CRNC in 2006.
Kelsey Landry BA’05 recently showed her 10-minute film The Date during a “Meet the Filmmaker” event at the Salt Lake City café Diva’s. The Date is about what can happen in a relationship when communication goes horribly wrong. Landry says she has known she wanted to be a director since she made her first film in eighth grade. Her first job in the film industry was as Tara Reid’s assistant on The Crow IV. From that initial on-set experience, Landry has continued learning and developing connections in the film industry. “I thought I was going to have to move to L.A., but when I graduated I had jobs lined up here, and the longer I stay the more doable I think it is,” she says about making film in Utah.
Megan Marsden BS’84, an assistant or associate gymnastics coach at the University of Utah since 1985, has been promoted to co-head coach, sharing the title and duties with longtime head coach and husband Greg Marsden. Regarding her new title, Megan Marsden says, “Greg and I have been doing this together for a long time, and it is exciting to be accepted by the administration as an equal partner in the coaching pyramid.” Marsden, who has served as Utah’s balance beam coach for the past 25 years and also assists with the floor routines, has had gymnasts win 108 All-America honors and seven NCAA Championships on those events. The 2005 co-National Assistant Coach of the Year, she was also selected as the 2005 and 2007 NCAA North Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year. Marsden has played a major role in Utah’s success for nearly three decades—first as the nation’s best collegiate gymnast. As Megan McCunniff, she led Utah to its first four national championships from 1981-84—winning the NCAA all-around championship in 1983 and 1984, and the 1984 vault title. She finished her collegiate career as a 12-time first-team All-American and the school record-holder on the vault, beam, and floor. She joined Utah’s coaching staff immediately after the conclusion of her competitive career.
Martell Menlove MEd’79 has been named deputy state superintendent over the 405,000 students and 41 districts of Utah’s school system. Menlove previously served 12 years as superintendent of Box Elder School District. Menlove’s father, Ralph Menlove, was superintendent of Juab School District from 1964 to 1971 before a tragic auto accident left him severely disabled due to brain trauma. At the time, Martell Menlove vowed he would carry on the Menlove education legacy. The now 57-year-old began his path of education as an elementary school teacher in Jordan School District in 1976. He has worked as a counselor in elementary and middle school and a principal in elementary and high school. Menlove was named Utah Superintendent of the Year in 2005. He has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from USU, a master’s degree in school counseling from the University of Utah, and a doctorate in special education from USU.
Andre Miller BS’98 has been signed to a multiyear contract with the Portland Trail Blazers. Miller, whose career has spanned 10 seasons with four teams, averaged 16.3 points and 6.5 assists as a starter for the Philadelphia 76ers last season. A veteran free agent guard and former University of Utah star, he has played an NBA-high 530 straight games, missing just three over the course of his career. “I hope to provide veteran leadership to a young talented nucleus and help Portland take the next step in the pursuit of a championship,” Miller said in a statement released by the Blazers. Over his career, Miller has averaged 14.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 7.4 assists. 
Havilah Mills BS’06 and Brittany Olsen BS’06 co-created and own The Green Element, a clothing line of tanks, T-shirts, hoodies, hats, and women’s underwear, all made with organic cotton and water-based inks. The label is available at local summer markets and three Utah retail stores, with plans in the works to expand to Portland, Ore., and Denver, Colo. Growing conventional cotton requires a large amount of pesticides, some of which are known carcinogens. Mills and Olsen say the goals of sustainability and ecological responsibility are at their clothing line’s core, along with being fashionable and reasonably priced (as opposed to some pricy eco-couture labels that few can afford, and other brands that they feel too literally wear their politics on their sleeves). “We want you to purchase an organic shirt and wear it just as you would purchase eco-friendly laundry detergent or organic soaps,” says Mills. Green Element is available online at 
Morris J. Robins BA’61, a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Brigham Young University, has retired from full-time teaching to pursue other interests. In an interview in the August issue of Highlights in Chemical Science, he notes, “I’m not retiring in any sense of the word, but the time has come where it’s right for me to not be teaching classes of 300 and to stop running a big group. So I bought a farm. I’m still interested in creative things and I get to figure out things like biofuels and green chemistry.” Robins, who pioneered several nucleosides as commercial drug candidates, including Didanosine, Epivir and Cladribine, credits University of Utah freshman chemistry professor Lloyd Malm with inspiring him to become a chemist. “He was very dynamic, fascinated by chemistry, and he took an interest in me. That’s why I really decided to pursue chemistry,” Robins says.
David Seely BS’74, president and CEO of Kirtland Federal Credit Union, has recently seen wide recognition for the company’s success. In May 2008, Seely won the Congressman Steve Schiff Award from the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce in honor of his advocacy for Kirtland Air Force Base. Three months later, Kirtland FCU received Pentagon-level recognition as the U.S. Air Force Credit Union of the Year. Then, in November, the credit union won the Quality New Mexico Zia Award for 2008, the highest award attainable under that program. Kirtland FCU’s board hired Seely in 1990 to overhaul its business culture. Kirtland’s now ranks in the top 2 percent of credit unions nationally in the Raddon Financial Group’s Performance Index and the top 5 percent of Callahan and Associates’ scores. 
Darin Southam BA’02 is a Top 10 finalist in a video competition to win a $10,000 scholarship to law school. Southam says, “I applied to the U law school but alas, wasn’t accepted, so I am attending Whittier Law School in California.” Winners of the 2009-10 Access Group’s “My Inspiration” law school video scholarship contest will be selected entirely on viewer votes. (Five additional Honorable Mention scholarships of $1,500 each will be awarded by a panel of Access Group judges.) At right, a screen capture of Southam’s video, which he says “should make you laugh.” Watch his video 
Nicole France Stanton BS’95, a partner in the firm’s Phoenix office of the national law firm of Quarles & Brady, has been invited to become a member of the Arizona chapter of Charter 100, a professional association for women leaders from diverse fields. Stanton practices in the area of commercial litigation with an emphasis on professional malpractice defense. She is a founding board member and past president of the Women’s Metropolitan Arts Council for the Phoenix Art Museum, a past member of the State Bar of Arizona’s Mentor Committee, and a current member of the State Bar’s Appointments Committee. She received her law degree magna cum laude from the University of Arizona. 