Alums in the News

Atkinson Graduate School of Management

• Sridhar "Sri" Krishnan MBA'94 has been promoted to Chief Financial and Risk Officer for Chelan PUD.

College of Arts & Sciences

• Galen Smith BA’06 and team are leading innovative approaches to regenerate Oregon forests destroyed by wildfires.
• Ann Schmiesing BA'89 has been appointed to the Elevations Credit Union Board of Directors.
• Jayne Downing BS'94 will retire in January after 27 years as the executive director of the Center of Hope and Safety.   
• John Waller BS'98 inspired many with his positive attitude despite his terminal cancer diagnosis. Waller climbed mountains, raised thousands of dollars, got married, and so much more. Sadly, Waller passed on December 1st. 

College of Law

• Jeff Auxier JD'06 was appointed to the Multnomah County Circuit Court by Oregon Governor Tine Kotek.

Pacific Northwest College of Art

• Joe Bun Keo MFA’23 curated two shows at the West Hartford Public Library.
• Gretchen Kent BFA’93 balances her artistic talents with her skills in fundraising and donor engagement.
• Gopika Dahanukar MFA’14 Spoke at the Jehangir Art Gallery about her mother’s, Prafulla Dahanukar, collection of medium-spanning art collection.
• Hazel Miller BFA’16 exhibited “We Will Be Fossils Someday” in Spokane at Placeholder Studios in November.

Sridhar “Sri” Krishnan MBA’94

Ann Schmiesing BA’89

Jayne Downing BS’94

John Waller BS'98

Jeff Auxier JD’06

Gretchen Kent BFA'93

Hazel Miller BFA'14

College of Arts & Sciences

• Lynn Miyahira BA’03 was named among PRNEWS' 2024 People of the Year as a Public Affairs Leader.
• Tobias Read BA'97 is named Oregon's Secretary of State after beating out opponent Dennis Linthicum. 

College of Law

• Dan Rayfield JD'06 is named Oregon's Attorney General after beating out fellow Willamette alum Will Lathrop JD' 04.
• James DeVecchio JD'17 uses his military experience to help him in the courtroom.

Pacific Northwest College of Art

• Samantha Yun Wall MFA’11 has been announced as an Outwin 2025 American Portraiture Today artist.
• James Lee Hanson BFA’50 has an official day named after him in Clark County. October 15th is the day they celebrate him for his artistic contributions.

Lynn Miyahira BA’03

Tobias Read BA'97 

Dan Rayfield JD' 04

James DeVecchio JD'17 

Atkinson Graduate School of Management

• Logan Heagerty BA'23 MBA’24, earned second place in the TiE Oregon's competition and will represent Willamette in InventOR's competition.

College of Arts & Sciences

• Jamie Arredondo BA’05, the executive director of CAPACES Leadership Institute, has created positive change by providing educational and leadership development programming to over 2,500 Latinx, immigrant, Indigene, Afrodescendiente, and frameworks in the Mid-Willamette Valley.
• Brad Lomax BA’04, MAT'08, became McNary High School's new athletic director and assistant principal. 
• Elaine Morrison BA’14, has been hired by KPS3, a full-service marketing and communications firm, and the director of growth marketing.

College of Law

• Stanton Long JD’67, served on the Lane County panel, which discussed the charter review process and four potential changes, one of which Long proposed.
• Nathanial Woodward JD’20, is making a big difference in his small town of Price, Utah.

Pacific Northwest College of Art

• Anne Crumpacker MFA’11, was featured on the cover of Western Home Journa/Sun Valley Summer magazine.
• Derek Franklin BFA’09, was featured in Nester for his residential studio, which offers out-of-town artists a space to live and show their work for two weeks. 
• Olivia Harwood's BFA’21, Huntress Collection is being featured at One Grand Gallery starting October 4, 2024.
• Brenda Mallory BFA'22, Exhibition, in Absence of Instruction, opened at the Gorman Museum of Native American Art on September 18, 2024
• Eva Wizesinski BFA'22, collaborated with author Julie Stowers to illustrate her children's book, "Toby Finds a Home."

School of Computing and Information Sciences

• Colleen Smyth BA'15, MS’21, is joining the new Data Science Education K-12 Research to Practice Conference (DSE-K12) Launce Collective after she developed her school's first elective class on data science.

Logan Heagerty BA’23, MBA’24

Jamie Arredondo BA’05

Brad Lomax BA’04, MAT’08

Elaine Morrison BA’14

Nathanial Woodward JD’20

Derek Franklin BFA’09

Atkinson Graduate School of Management

• Natalie Heacock MBA’10, was appointed the new President of The Patrick Lumber Company, effective August 1, 2024.
• Jim Morrell MM’93 joined the World Council of Credit Unions board in 2024. He leads the Peninsula Community Federal Credit Union in Shelton, WA.
• Diane Taniguchi-Dennis, MBA’08, is the new President of the National Association of Clean Water Agencies

College of Arts & Sciences

• Claudine Bachelor BS’94, joined Northern Trust as a Senior Fiduciary Officer in Pasadena.
• Tony Hopson Sr. BS’77 is stepping down as leader of the Portland nonprofit Self Enhancement, Inc. after 43 years.
• Kendrick Pearson, BA’19, is one of the new members of the Greenfield police department.

College of Law

• Cierra Brown, JD’15, was sworn in as the new Municipal Court Judge in Lake Oswego on July 30, 2024.
• Mihnea Moga JD’19 was named Prosecutor of the Year for 2023 by OSP Fish and Wildlife

Pacific Northwest College of Art

• CJ Crossett, MA’16, is the new Assistant Dean of Student Affairs at the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design.
• Madoc Riseley BFA’24’s film Bipolar Moment was selected for the PDX Recovery Film Festival.
• Andrea Shonna Simon, MFA’20, recently sat down for a conversation with CanvasRebel.

School of Education

• Shelley Strong MAT’05 returns to her hometown to teach in Sweet Home School District.

Natalie Heacock MBA’10

Jim Morrell MM’93

Kendrick Pearson, BA’19

Cierra Brown, JD’15

Mihnea Moga JD’19

CJ Crossett, MA’16

Atkinson Graduate School of Management

• Joshua Perez BS’23, MBA’24 started a year-long postgraduate internship at the NCAA in their inclusion department.

College of Arts & Sciences

• Bethany Abbate BA’21 joined The Software & Information Industry Association as its brand new Manager of Artificial Intelligence Policy.
• Kyle Davey BA’13’s Salem Speed Academy was recently profiled by The Statesman Journal. 
• Scott McCormick BA’73, who won a record 748 games and two state titles in 42 seasons at McNary and South Salem, retired from coaching this July.
• Kenneth Nice BS’87 is now the Managing Director of the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. 
• Ann Schmiesing BA’89, was named interim chancellor at Colorado University Denver on July 11th. She serves as CU Boulder’s vice chancellor for academic resource management and will take on her new role starting August 26th.

Pacific Northwest College of Art

• Ximena Bedoya MFA’14 performed at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts, on July 14th.
• John Dougherty MFA ’14, is part of the “TESTBED” 2024 Faculty Artist in Residence and Exhibition at The Art Gallery at the University of West Florida.
• Laura Medina BFA’18 will show work as part of a two-person show called Tailspinner, on view at the Arts Fort Worth starting August 2nd.
• Jenna Reineking MFA’17 and Nick Patton MFA'15’s organization, Tumblewheel Studios, was featured in the Montana Arts Council’s most recent State of the Arts e-newspaper (scroll to page 22).

Joshua Perez BS'24 MBA '24

Scott McCormick BA'73

Ann Schmiesing BA'89

Jenna Reineking MFA’17 and Nick Patton MFA15

College of Arts & Sciences

• Leaseweb, a cloud services and Infrastructure as a Service provider, named John Duley BA’87 as their Managing Director for Japan on June 5th.
• Bradley Eckerson BA’12 received a Fulbright to work as an English-Teaching Assistant in Rwanda for the next year.
• The YMCA of Montclair welcomed Marques Johnson BA’03 to its Board of Directors.
• On June 11th, Washington State launched a new youth mental health helpline, thanks in large part to Connor Mertens BA’17.
• Jeremiah Paterson BA’99, MAT’00 was announced as the new Gladstone School District Superintendent.

College of Law

• Chelsea Mazza JD’14 is the new chief deputy district attorney for the Criminal Division of the Douglas County (Nevada) District Attorney’s Office.
• Northwest Nazarene University President Joel Pearsall JD’83 announced his plans to retire next summer.

Pacific Northwest College of Art

• • Rebecca Campbell BFA’94 has a new show, Young Americans, at LA Louver in Venice, California.
  •  
  The ‘Feeling Our Age’ art exhibit grand opening and book signing with

took place on June 20th at the Watermark in Portland’s Pearl District.

Bradley Eckerson BA’12

Marques Johnson BA’03

Connor Mertens BA’17

Kathleen Cosgrove BFA’03

On May 16th, The University of Oklahoma named Anna E. Carpenter BA'02 the 14th dean of its College of Law. Carpenter will begin in the position on July 15th.

Monica Dinsmore BS'92, senior director of esports brand & marketing at EA, was heavily featured in Forbes' May 3rd article on one company’s approach to building a sustainable esports ecosystem.

Pacific Power named Ryan Flynn BS'97 president of the electricity provider on May 2nd. The utility serves more than 800,000 customers across Oregon, Washington and California.

Steven Hector Gonzalez BFA'15 curated the show "Visions," which opened in Irving, Texas on May 18th.

Willamette Week recently featured Laura Halley MBA'22's new business venture, a secondhand athleisure store focused on sustainability.

The Multnomah Bar Association Young Lawyers Section recently honored Alexandra Hutchinson JD'20 with a 2024 Award of Merit for significant, recent contributions to the mission of promoting justice through service, education, or leadership.

The Seattle Seahawks announced on May 24th that Paimon Jaberi BA'17, MBA'18, has been promoted to the team's Vice President of Business Strategy & Analytics.

Zachary Lange BA'12 received the William F. Pyburn Award from the University of Texas at Arlington. This award recognizes a graduate student pursuing studies in natural history. Lange is a fourth-year biology doctoral student originally from Sisters, Oregon.

Steph Littlebird BFA'15 served on the selection committee of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art & Design and NOAA Fisheries 2024 Art + Science Fellowship.

The National Operations Center of Excellence Technical Advisory Committee recently named Galen McGill MBA'93 its vice chair. McGill is the Oregon Department of Transportation's state maintenance and operations engineer.

On May 22nd, Kellie Menghini BA'12, MAT'13, was named one of the 12 educators to receive a 2024 Crystal Apple Award. The annual event, presented by the McLaran Leadership Foundation in cooperation with Salem-Keizer Public Schools and the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce, recognizes excellence in Salem-Keizer educators.

Linda Navarro BS'90 was honored by the Oregon Bankers Association on May 2nd with a new award in her name. Navarro, the inaugural recipient of the Linda W. Navarro Trailblazer Award, will retire as president and CEO this July.

It was an exciting May for Kim Nicholls BS'87, as she made headlines twice. First, Forbes included her on a list of the best mom-made wines, and then she received a Legacy Award from the North Bay Business Journal's annual Women in Wine Awards.

Liani Reeves BA'98, JD'01, was honored with the 2024 Professionalism Award by the Multnomah Bar Association. The award is presented to lawyers who "exemplify professionalism beyond the observance of the legal profession's ethical rules, and who serve the best interests of clients and the public in general." 

Jason Rowton (aka Jackson Rayne) BA'03 showed off his Master Illusionist skills on the May 29th broadcast of AM Northwest.

On May 8th, Junior Achievement of Alaska announced Joe Schierhorn JD'85 MM'85 as one of the four members of the Alaska Business Hall of Fame's Class of 2025.

Anna Carpenter BA'02

Ryan Flynn BS'97

 
Paimon Jaberi BA'17, MBA'18

 
Steph Littlebird BFA'15

Liani Reeves BA'98, JD'01

Joe Schierhorn JD'85 MM'85