Class Notes

Patrick Salvi II (Mgmt’04) was named president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association. In 2007, he graduated from Notre Dame Law School and joined Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. as an attorney, where he was named managing partner of the Chicago office in 2017. Patrick concentrates his legal practice on cases involving personal injury, medical malpractice and masstorts. He also serves as a board member of Legal Aid Chicago, an organization that provides free legal services to people living in poverty. In recognition of his outstanding legal work, Patrick has been listed in Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Lawyers in America, an elite guide in the legal profession, for the past six years.

Aspen Brewing Company, founded in 2008 by Duncan Clauss (Engl’07), will celebrate 15 years in business this March. The company has two World Beer Cup gold medals.

Former director of business strategy and development for the United Launch Alliance (ULA), Chris Ellerhorst (AeroEngr’08) was named the vice president and director of the ULA’s Kuiper program office to support Amazon’s Kuiper Program. The goal of this program is to increase broadband accessibility globally by launching advanced satellites into orbit.

Judd Shader (EthnSt’10) is founder, board member and CEO of Leeds West Groups (LWG), based in Greenwood Village, Colorado. He launched the company from his apartment while a junior at CU Boulder. LWG is a management platform capitalized by family office funds that acquires, owns and manages national automotive repair franchise brands including Midas, Big O Tires and SpeeDee Oil in addition to a national real estate portfolio and other outside investments. Today, he has more than 1,000 members on his team across 117 automotive retail locations and operates in 18 states.

Michelle Tamayo (AeroEngr’10; MS’10) has worked as a dynamics engineer at United Launch Alliance (ULA) for 10 years. She worked for four years on the integration for Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which launched from ULA’s Atlas V rocket to the International Space Station in May. She also has spent seven years working on development for ULA’s Vulcan rocket.

Brothers Harrison and Matt Query (Psych, Soc’12) published their  first co-written book, Old Country. Matt, an environmental lawyer, first published the thriller as a multi-part story on Reddit’s r/NoSleep — a place where internet writers share original horror stories. After it blew up on Reddit, Matt reached out to his screenwriter brother — who also spent some time at CU — to help him develop it into a book and screenplay. The story was picked up by Netflix in a seven-figure deal the same month they landed a book deal.

CU Boulder’s track and field program had three alumni compete in July at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon. Emma Coburn (Mktg’13) placed eighth in the world for the women’s steeplechase after picking up her tenth U.S. steeplechase title in June. Joe Klecker (BioChem’20), who won his first U.S. title in the men’s 10,000 in May, finished in ninth place. Puerto Rican 400-meter dash national champion Gabby Scott (Mgmt’19) advanced to the semi-finals.

NBC News anchor and host of the network’s Stay Tuned show, Savannah Sellers (Jour’13) married Alex Yaraghi in Tuscany, Italy, on Sept. 16. The couple hosted 80 of their friends and family members at a villa for a three-day celebration. The couple met in 2017 in New York City’s West Village.

As a real estate broker for Coldwell Banker Mountain Properties, Leah Canfield (Fin’14), of Breckenridge,  Colorado, sells millions of dollars in property every month. She was named to the National Association of Realtors’ “30 Under 30” list for her work. Prior to attending CU, Leah competed as an alpine ski racer for Breckenridge’s Quantium Sports Club, and at one point was the fastest super-G skier in the country. Leah also strives to give back to her community by volunteering with Mountain Mentors and dedicating her time and financial support to the Family and Intercultural Resource Center and the Summit Foundation.

Patrick Fort (Jour’14), co-host and producer of the podcast “Dish City,” won a James Beard Award in June for a story on how American Chinese food restaurants pioneered food delivery. The show was also named one of the 50 best podcasts of 2021 by The Atlantic. Dish City wrapped its fourth season earlier this year. Patrick lives in Washington, D.C. Read more about him in our Five Questions Q&A on page 56.

The Denver City Park farmers market, owned and operated by Peter (Mktg, Mgmt’14) and Margo Wanberg (SLHSci’15), ran from May 14 through Oct. 29, 2022, for its second season. More than 90 Colorado-based farmers and agriculture-focused brands lined the City Park Esplanade to offer market attendees fresh seasonal produce, prepared foods, baked goods, beverages and more. This year, the number of participating farms grew from 12 to 16 thanks to the couple’s small farm program, which gives flexibility to small-scale farmers. The market also began accepting Colorado’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and partnering with Double Up Food Bucks to increase access to fresh Colorado-grown fruits and vegetables. Peter and Margo met at CU, and after graduation Peter founded Jubilee Roasting Co., while Margo was co-founder of 3 Sisters Honey Harvesting.

Rachel Irons (EnvSt, EPBio’15) is co-founder of Nude Foods Market, a zero-waste grocery store located off Walnut Street in Boulder. The market opened in 2021 and sources food and body care items in bulk that are packaged in reusable containers. Customers simply return their containers when they’re done, and Nude Foods Market washes and refills them. The market also sources locally as much as possible and has extremely high health and sustainability standards for its food.

On Sept. 15, the poetry collection Gash Atlas by Jessica Lawson (MFA’18) was published by Kore Press Institute, which also selected the book to receive its poetry prize. Jessica is a Pushcart-nominated writer, teacher and activist based in Denver. To learn more about Jessica, visit lawsonlit.com.

Musician and engineer Dafna Margalit (ElCompEngr’22) has been playing her original music for numerous years in and around the Boulder scene. During her time at Fairview High School, she would take any opportunity to perform, including school events, the competitive BVSD Battle of the Bands JamFest and eTown Hall’s 2016 Handmade Song Contest. Since then, Dafna has worked to open and headline shows at the Boulder Theatre, Fox Theatre and Larimer Lounge in Denver. Her bedroom-pop sound has racked up millions of streams across platforms since her first release in 2019. In addition to playing music, Dafna works as a software engineer at Rival Games.