Class Notes

In the midst of the Occupy Wall Street protests Sabrina Sideris (Engl’00) wrote an article published in The Michigan Citizen newspaper about her experience at the Re-Imagining Work Gathering in Detroit. She wrote that the highlight of the gathering was meeting hundreds of people doing community-based work. The Boulder resident is director of the community studies department at CU where she teaches students interested in social and environmental justice.

Last fall Rob Wilhite* (PolSci’00) was named a partner at the law firm Sawaya, Rose, McClure & Wilhite. He lives in Denver.

*Lifetime member

Future Buffalo Christian Timothy Edstrom was welcomed by parents Timothy Edstrom (PolSci’02) and Christina Zigler Edstrom (DistSt’03, MComm’06) and big sister Violette in July. The couple met in Farrand Hall in 1999 and hope their children will attend their beloved CU someday. The family lives in Longmont, Colo.

Shanghai, China, is home to Ryan McMunn (Mktg’02). He is general manager at Tricam Industries, a company his father started that manufactures household step stools as well as lawn and garden carts. The company supplies The Home Depot, Lowe’s, Menards, Walmart and Costco. Ryan writes he has designed and implemented operating procedures using the knowledge he gained at CU.

In recognition of her 15-year tenure at CU Kathleen Bollard (MBA’03) was honored by President Bruce Benson(Geol’64, HonDocSci’04) at the Office of the President and System Staff Council’s Years of Service awards reception. She works as a faculty member in the modern languages department at CU Denver.

The four-part mini-series “Making Monsters” was produced by Nathan Charlan (Jour’03) and aired on the Travel Channel’s “Weekends to Die For” in October. Nathan is director of development at the television production company Warm Springs Productions based in Missoula, Mont. He finds potential characters and television series ideas to pitch to networks, often traveling the country in search of new ideas. When not on the road, he lives in Arvada, Colo., with his wife and young son.

Denver resident and German native Matthias Edrich (InfSys’03) was elected to the German American Chamber of Commerce as secretary of the Colorado chapter. It promotes trade, commerce and investment between Germany and Colorado. Matthias has been a board member of the Colorado chapter for two years and is a governor’s appointee to the State of Colorado Private Activity Bond Allocations Committee. He is a tax attorney in the Denver office of Peck, Shaffer & Williams, a public finance law firm.

Community and environmental issues are an important aspect of Thor Erickson’s (EnvDes’03) life. He joined the Community Design Center of Pittsburgh as the community programs manager where he oversees grant-making and is involved with community outreach, educational events and civic engagement. Prior to joining the company, he worked for the Bigfoot Asia Pacific Foundation in the Philippines where he served while in the Peace Corps. He is an active member of Habitat for Humanity International.

Upon graduating Hannah Baynham (Soc’04) moved to Hong Kong to teach English for several years. She is director of a Montessori school for Tibetan refugees in Dharamsala, India, where the Dalai Lama lives. She also is in the process of starting a school in a secluded settlement of Tibetan yak herders in the Gansu province of China.

Laura Englert Eccles (Mgmt’04) found her mountain man in Erik Eccles (Fin’00). The couple married in July 2010 in Lake Tahoe, Calif. Laura has a marketing job at Apple and is completing her MBA at Berkeley. Erik followed his entrepreneurial dreams and started his own technology company in 2009, which has since been acquired by Cisco. They enjoy spending their free time in Truckee, Calif.

Baby boy Caspian Julius was born on Sept. 30 to parents Marlon Reis (Engl’04) and Jared Polis, a U.S. congressman. Marlon and baby C.J. will have videoconferences with Jared when he travels to Washington, according to a Denver Post article. The family lives in Boulder.

Chicago resident Patrick Salvi (Mgmt’04) was promoted to partner at the personal injury law firm Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard. He also was named to Law Bulletin Publishing Company’s 2011 “40 under Forty” attorney list, which recognizes Illinois’ top up-and-coming lawyers.

Freelance travel journalist Juliana Broste (Jour’05) and her mother completed a 21-day, 4,500-mile tour of the United States with Rand McNally and USA Today’s “Best of the Road” competition. While the pair didn’t win the grand prize, they became “fun experts” from their adventures in small towns across the country. Juliana works for Citizen Pictures on the Food Network show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and lives in Littleton, Colo.

In July Lucas Otten (Econ’06) married Alisa Wohlfarth in Beaver Creek, Colo. To celebrate their special day were Forever Buffs Coral Balcazar (IntlAf’04) of Dallas, Levi Pederson (Art’06) of Longmont, Colo., Adam Quanz(Mgmt’06) of Albuquerque, N.M., and Zach Mendozza (MechEngr’07) of Aurora, Colo. The couple lives in Denver.

Tracy Wright Deshmuk (Soc’06) is an English as a Second Language instructor in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. She speaks fluent Portuguese and is an avid musician.

As part of the Japanese Government Invitation Program, Benjamin Erickson (Econ’06) visited Japan last fall to raise awareness of the situation caused by the devastating earthquake. While there he went to Ninohe City where he had spent two years teaching English with the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program. He also volunteered in the disaster region and promoted tourism in the Tohoku region. Ben lives in Ellensburg, Wash.

A registered member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, Payton Batliner (Mus’07, MBA’09) pursued his MBA to equip him with the necessary means to give back to Indians. He is an economic development specialist with the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development and collaborates with the Department of Energy concerning the development of tribal energy projects. He volunteers as a board treasurer for the Denver Indian Center, a nonprofit organization focused on providing services for the American Indian population of Colorado. Payton was featured in an article called “A Sense of Belonging” in Portfolio, the CU Leeds Business School magazine.

Boulderite Katie Crenshaw (Law’07) married Giji John in August 2011 at the Denver Art Museum. The couple celebrated with a trip to Belize. Katie is an attorney.

President Obama named Sasha Reed (PhDEPOBio’08) one of 94 recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. The award is the highest honor bestowed by the government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers. Sasha is a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and lives in Moab, Utah.

Denver resident Gil Selinger (Law’08) joined the law firm Fairfield and Woods. He provides full-service advice to corporate clients and counsels clients on state and federal securities laws and raising capital for their businesses. Before studying law, Gil worked as a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs in New York and in federal politics and business management.