The College of Media, Communication and Information was established in 2015. The CMCI alumni community includes you, your classmates and all graduates of the Department of Communication and the former School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

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Richard Khleif (MJour; PhDMediaSt’07) has held global leadership positions in communication for various technology companies for 25 years. He has also been an adjunct professor for nearly 20 years, serves on strategic advisory boards at two universities, and is an invited speaker at home and abroad on media and communication topics. He established a CMCI scholarship in 2018 to help graduate students channel their research interests toward engaging various publics in meaningful dialogue and critical thinking about media. Richard lives with his family in northern Colorado and enjoys travel, languages and anything with an engine.

Posted Jun. 3, 2019

Since March 2017, Justin George (Jour) has been the Washington, D.C., correspondent for the Marshall Project. He previously worked at The Baltimore Sun, where he was embedded with the local police department to cover the internal investigation into the death of Freddie Gray, part of a body of work that made the Sun a Pulitzer Prize finalist.  

Posted Jun. 3, 2019

Steven Alvarez (MJour) is a former U.S. Army public affairs officer with 26 years of military service. In 2016, his book, Selling War: A Critical Look at the Military’s PR Machine, was published by Potomac Books, an imprint of the University of Nebraska Press. The book provides readers with insight into the inner workings of the military’s public relations apparatus during wartime. 

Posted Jun. 3, 2019

In 2017, Ryan Thompson (Jour) was appointed to lead Niagara University's new Office for Equity & Inclusion as the school's first full-time Title IX coordinator. Thompson previously served as NU's assistant general counsel and as an adjunct writing professor. Thompson returned home to Buffalo, New York in 2012 after working for years as a newspaper reporter and editor in New York City and Boston.

Posted Mar. 16, 2018

Dave Briggs (Jour) is currently an anchor of "Early Start" on CNN, airing 4-6 am ET. Prior to this, Dave was an NBC Sports studio host for the Rio Olympics.

Posted Oct. 24, 2017

He has called more games than any other St. Paul Saints broadcaster. He was nominated for a Regional Emmy in 2010 and was the runner-up for Broadcaster of the Year in 2013. Three years later Saints broadcaster Sean Aronson (Jour) has been recognized by Ballpark Digest as the Broadcaster of the Year in all of minor league baseball.

Posted Oct. 24, 2017

Kristin Boehm (Jour) joined NYC-based Hawkins International Public Relations as digital director in May 2017. Previously, Kristin was Director of Dan Klores Communications' digital division, Editor of People.com and Director of News and Engagement for People, where she oversaw daily digital operations and worked to integrate the print and digital teams to expand content offerings across all platforms.

Posted Oct. 24, 2017

Carrie Strom (Comm) is senior vice president, AbbVie, and president, Global Allergan Aesthetics, where she oversees a multibillion-dollar global aesthetics portfolio. Previously, she led the U.S. aesthetics business for Allergan, and spent 11 years at Pfizer, where she held roles in sales and marketing. Strom lives in Corona del Mar, California, with her husband and two children. She is also on the board of directors for Girls Inc. of Orange County.

Posted Nov. 2, 2023

In fall 2022, Kirk Siegler (Jour) was selected as an inaugural fellow with the United Nations Foundation’s Thomas Lovejoy Press Fellowship to travel to a remote research camp in the Brazilian Amazon to report on deforestation and its effects on global climate change.

Posted Nov. 2, 2023

Jennifer (Scholl) Anderson (Advert) is brand director and head of business development for KidNuz, a first-of-its-kind daily news podcast and platform for kids. She’s also a fractional creative director for startups in and beyond the Bay Area. She donates 10% of her services to women-led companies, an additional 10% to nonprofits and stays active on several boards. 

Posted Nov. 2, 2023

Jason Hoff (Jour) is a creative director and writer in advertising at Apple. Hoff began working in New York for agencies like BBDO, Cliff Freeman and R/GA, and he famously wrote the original campaign “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” for Las Vegas tourism. He lives in San Francisco.

Posted Oct. 20, 2021

For the past decade, Jamie Klausner (Comm) has worked as an account manager and digital media strategist for Hamagami/Carroll in Los Angeles. She also creates digital health and wellness content as the founder and publisher of Reformation Health, and enjoys spending time with her husband, Brian, and their fur baby, Niko. 

Posted Nov. 12, 2019

Alan Jackson (Jour) is in his 18th year at iHeartMedia as imaging director for three news, talk and sports radio stations. For the past decade, he has also been executive producer of Denver Broncos football at KOA NewsRadio.

Posted Nov. 12, 2019

After 12 years as a producer at The Oprah Winfrey Show, Lindsay Feitlinger (Jour) returned to her hometown of Madison, Wisconsin, with her husband and two sons. For the past five years, she has worked at American Girl running their creative studios and leading digital engagement.

Posted Nov. 12, 2019

Since 2012, Kirk Siegler (Jour) has been a correspondent for National Public Radio News, covering the urban-rural divide, culture and politics in America. He has recently brought listeners and readers to a timber town in Idaho that lost its last sawmill just days before the 2016 election, as well as to small rural towns in Nebraska where police are fighting an influx in recreational marijuana coming from nearby Colorado cities. When not chasing a story, Kirk lives in Los Angeles. 

Posted Jun. 3, 2019

Brendan McNicholas (Comm) is the executive director of media services for the Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club. He previously spent time with the Colorado Rockies, Denver Broncos, University of Colorado and University of Denver. Brendan lives in Lone Tree, Colorado, with his wife, Eimear, and son, Caoimhin.

Posted Jun. 3, 2019

Andy Vuong (Jour) is the senior manager of communications at Charles Schwab. He lives in Lone Tree with his wife and two children. 

Posted Nov. 15, 2018

Since graduating, Richa Giri Mitchell (Jour) has worked in various newsrooms throughout the country. She now works at a PBS affiliate in Los Angeles where she has been a news reporter/segment producer for six years. She was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2011 and has been a presenter for the Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Posted Mar. 16, 2018

Tiffany (Mathews) Cross (Advert) is working for the Kellogg Co. as the Pringles USA associate brand manager.

Posted Oct. 24, 2017

Mike Tarson (Jour) and Allyson Valentine (Advert) are married and live in Fairfield, Connecticut, with their son and twin daughters. Tarson joined NewsNation in March and is a supervising producer on Elizabeth Vargas Reports. Prior to that, he was with CNN for 15 years. After eight years of teaching in public schools, Valentine started Pop Studio, a balloon decor company, in 2020.

Posted Nov. 2, 2023

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