Class Notes

Fremont Insurance hired Rich Fasi (PolSci; MPubAd’81) as vice president of marketing and sales. Rich brings 28 years of insurance industry experience to his position. He previously served as vice president of personal lines marketing for Harleysville Insurance Company’s Midwest region.

Colorado Lieutenant Governor Joseph Garcia (IntlBus) was sworn in for a second term on Tuesday, Jan. 13. He previously served as president of Colorado State University-Pueblo and as president of Pikes Peak Community College, Colorado’s second-largest community college. He received his law degree from Harvard University.

The Sunlight Foundation, an organization that uses technology to enable better democratic participation, named Chris Gates (Econ) of Washington, D.C., its president. For the past three decades, Chris has been a leading voice for strengthening democratic processes and developing new approaches to decision making. He aims to help build a nation of engaged, informed and empowered citizens.

Rebecca Shockley (DMus) wrote “Dorothy Stolzenbach Payne: Remembering a Legendary Cincinnati Piano Teacher,” about her mother, for the January-February issue of Clavier Companion magazine. Rebecca traces her mother’s life and career as a teacher and pianist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and as a longtime friend of composer Percy Grainger. Rebecca has donated materials to the Dorothy Stolzenbach Payne Archives, to be housed at the University of Cincinnati.

Attorney Susan Korenvaes Robin (EPOBio) is a partner in the Akerman law firm’s real estate practice in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. She represents clients in commercial real estate transactions with a focus on advising developers, owners and operators of hotels, resorts, condominiums and mixed-use real estate projects in the U.S. and Caribbean.

Psychotherapist Lynn L. Nickens (Soc) was selected for the 2014 Best of Victorville (Calif.) Award in its counseling services category. She has been in private practice for 15 years, with offices in San Bernardino and Victorville. She also released a book last year, Breaking Free from Anxiety, and plans to release her second book, Breaking Free from Test Anxiety, this year.

Russell Lee Wehner III’s (Econ) family can now point to four generations of CU graduates: His son, Zachary Wehner (MMechEngr’14), graduated in December. They were preceded by Zachary’s grandmother, Margaret Sylvester Wehner (Edu’53), and Zachary’s great-grandmother, Anna Mary DesBrisay (Btny, Edu1914). Several other family members also attended CU. Says Margaret, “Through the years, the University of Colorado has been our stronghold and has served our family very well.”

The Best Lawyers in America recognized attorney Geoffrey Weisbart (Acct) from the Austin, Texas, firm Weisbart Springer Hayes in its 2015 edition. Geoffrey is a courtroom advocate representing clients in matters relating to substantial financial and business risks. He has represented corporations and individuals in both jury and non-jury trials.

Photographer and graphic artist Rob Decker (Comm) of Nederland, Colo., fell in love with the designs used by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the 1930s and ’40s. Combining his artistic abilities with his interests in national parks, he has begun designing graphic art posters about national parks in the WPA style. He calls it the National Park Poster Project. Search for his work on Etsy.com.

Musician Geary Larrick (DMus) of Stevens Point, Wis., wrote “Creativity and Discipline in Percussion Music” for the fall 2014 issue of the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors Journal.

After working in Japan, Hawaii and on Colorado’s western slope, Noel Ludwig (Geol) is now lead hydrologist in California for the federal Bureau of Land Management. Most of his work takes place in the desert and deals with water impacts of large-scale solar and wind energy projects. He lives in Moreno Valley, Calif.

Mark Munch (ChemEngr) of Los Altos Hills, Calif., has 23 years of experience in marketing, product development, operations and sales. He serves as the president of Bruker Nano Surfaces and Bruker MAT Group.

The University of Missouri System named Brian Burnett (Econ; Fin’93; PhDEdu’10) vice president of finance and chief financial officer. Brian previously served as senior executive vice chancellor for administration and finance at University of Colorado Colorado Springs. In his new role, he is responsible for setting strategy and long-term planning for the university’s financial functions.

Herbalist and acupuncturist David Teitler (Jour) specializes in the treatment of respiratory conditions and is the owner of Dr. Dave’s Herbal Medicine in Carbondale, Colo. His remedies are carried by more than 60 retail outlets in 15 states.

Jeff Richardson (ElEngr), director of the Ambarella Corporation, joined the board of directors and audit committee for the Lattice Semiconductor Corporation. Jeff brings the board more than 27 years of experience in the semiconductor industry.

Diablo Technologies of Ottawa, Canada, appointed David Ferretti (InfSys) senior vice president of global sales. He has more than 25 years of enterprise sales experience for disruptive data center systems, software and cloud technologies.

Shelley S. Cramm (Psych) published her first book last spring, God’s Word for Gardeners Bible. The devotional gives daily readings highlighting plants, landscapes and gardening metaphors found in the Bible. The book launched Shelley into a new career as a writer, blogger and garden speaker. She and husband Topher Cramm (Fin’86) live in Irving, Texas, with their five children.

In November Janine Davidson (ArchEngr) served as the keynote speaker for Veterans Speak, a two-week celebration of veterans in Boulder. Janine is a senior fellow for defense policy at the Council of Foreign Relations and specializes in defense strategy and policy, military operations, national security and civil-military relations. She served in the Obama Administration from 2009-12 as a deputy assistant secretary of defense. She began her career in the U.S. Air Force as an aircraft commander and senior pilot for the C-130 and C-17 cargo aircraft.

Emily Ross (Mus) of Portland, Ore., has her dream job as a music therapist for Oregon’s only year-round school for children with autism. She also runs her own business, Self Express Music Therapy Studio, and is developing another enterprise, HoofnHorn, a sensory-rich place for kids with autism and their families to enjoy horses, music and outdoor play.

Radio Systems Corporation has named Willie Wallace (MBA) of Maryville, Tenn., its chief executive officer. The company develops innovative pet product solutions and services through the PetSafe, SportDOG and Invisible Fence brands. Willie has worked for the company for 15 years and previously served as its chief operating officer.