Notes from the Class of 2001

After nine years in Oregon, two-time Olympian Kara Wheeler Goucher (Psych) and husband Adam Goucher(Comm’98) decided to move back to Colorado. Kara’s running career has been complicated by injuries, and she is eager to train again under her former CU coaches, Mark Wetmore and Heather Burroughs.

Buff love was in the air when Ron Geschwer (Psych), a CU alumni chapter leader of NY Buffs, met Desiree Bandelier (Psych’08) at a NY Buffs chapter event. The couple was married last September.

The Denver-based Fruition Internet Marketing team hired Mark Kranjcec (Mktg) as director of strategic partnerships. After graduating from CU, Mark worked for the Daily Camera as retail advertising director. He also has worked at Prairie Mountain Media and is a volunteer for B Strong Ride, an annual bicycle event that honors cancer survivors.

Historic Columbia named Sean Stucker (Engl) its director of facilities. Sean, a native of Columbia, S.C., is responsible for maintaining the organization’s historic buildings and structures. He previously worked with Trinity Design & Build in North Carolina. He holds a master’s degree from the University of Georgia in historic preservation.

Dana Whitelaw (MAnth; PhD’10) has worked in wildlife conservation and education for more than 20 years. At CU, she focused on the ecological strategies of ring-tailed lemurs in southwestern Madagascar, where her work led to doubling in size of a reserve. A native Oregonian, Dana serves as executive director of the High Desert Museum in Bend, Ore.

Skoler, Abbott & Presser, a labor and employment law firm in the Springfield, Mass., area, hired Erica Flores (Bus, Jour) as an associate. Erica joined the firm after relocating to Massachusetts from Pennsylvania, where she was an associate in the employment law practice group of the firm Morgan Lewis.

After too many frustrating beer spills, aerospace engineer Joe Hackel (MAeroEngr) found a way to preserve opened bottles of beer. His invention, Pop&Stop, is a two-in-one bottle opener and re-sealer that uses 3D printing for production. Check out his product at www.popandstop.com. Joe lives in Louisville, Colo.

This spring Kristin Macdonald (IntlAf) received the M&A Advisor “40 Under 40” Emerging Leaders Award, which recognizes leading mergers and acquisitions, financing and turnaround professionals. In her role in Denver law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck’s corporate and business department, Kristin focuses on mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity financings and public and private securities offerings.

The Davidson Honors College at the University of Montana appointed Brock Tessman (MIntlAf, MPolSci; PhD’04) as dean. Previously, Brock served the University of Georgia as an associate director of the Center for the Study of Global Issues, where he won numerous awards for teaching.

After spending more than 14 years in the translation industry, Leo Durán (Fin) joined Magna Legal Services as general manager of its foreign language services department. Born in Spain and a veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard, Leo brings a multicultural viewpoint to the company and leads it into new areas such as pharmaceuticals and insurance.

Principal and head of Boulder’s Studio B Architecture and Interiors, Mike Piché (Arch) was honored with one of Colorado Homes and Lifestyles‘ Five Under 40 Awards. He also was chosen as the 2013 AIA Colorado Young Architect of the Year and has been involved with the modern design of nationally recognized projects such as Christ Episcopal Church in Aspen, Aspen Middle School and the Linear House, also in Aspen.

Patrick Christmas (CompSci), owner of the Austin Sol professional ultimate Frisbee team, saw the Sol debut in the American Ultimate Disc League in 2016. After playing ultimate at CU, Patrick moved to Austin, Texas, and continued playing competitively. He won the 2014 Master’s National Championship with the Tejas team. He writes that he is looking forward to bringing the professional game to Austin.

Senior vice president and chief nursing executive at Medical City Dallas Hospital, Zach Mueller (Span; Nurs’04; PhD’06) is responsible for patient care for the entire Medical City organization, including Medical City Children’s Hospital. He has more than 16 years of healthcare experience and has served in a variety of leadership roles.

The Douglas County Board of Education in Colorado elected Meghann Campos Silverthorn (AeroEngr, PolSci) president. First elected to the board in 2009 and reelected in 2013, she has been a supporter of the school district’s reform policies. She also has worked for the Air Force Research Laboratory as an analyst for the Department of Defense.

Littler Mendelson P.C., the largest U.S.-based law firm representing management in employment, elevated Joshua Levine (Mgmt) to shareholder. Joshua represents employers on class actions, wage and hour disputes, wrongful termination and harassment and discrimination claims. He also advises employers on issues relating to compliance with California and federal employment law. Prior, Joshua served as a judge advocate in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he worked as lead counsel for more than 70 cases and was deployed to Afghanistan as the deputy judge advocate for the 7th Marine Regiment.

Nicholas Bernstein (MAeroEngr; PhD’07) works for a company that produces anatomy teaching tools and surgical simulators for medical schools and residency programs.

David Wolf (Law, MBA) received the Kalpana Chawla Outstanding Recent Graduate Award at the CU Boulder Alumni Association’s 87th Annual Awards Ceremony. David is COO of BSW Wealth Partners, a multi-family office and wealth advisory firm with offices in Boulder and Denver. He has been an active member of the Leeds advisory board and has spoken at CU conferences, on industry panels and in classes and judged competitions. He also has mentored and hired numerous CU students. He lives in Boulder.

Adam Brammer (Mgmt) is the new general manager of GKN Aerospace Aircraft Transparency Systems, a United Kingdom-based provider of military transparency systems. Adam and his family, wife Neena and two children, live in California.

Samuel Shekanena (Geog) runs an interpreting services company and is also involved in real estate. He lives in Grand Rapids, Mich., and travels to Africa and Europe every year to refresh himself. Samuel has six children — two living in Colorado, two in college in Michigan, a highschooler and a middleschooler, both in Michigan.

Graham Frank (Fin; MBA’07) joined Breckenridge Grand Vacations as vice president of real estate development. Graham joins BGV from Vail Resorts, where he oversaw project management. He and wife Shawnna have two children.