Class Notes

Bruce Pelz (EnvSt) is co-founder and U.S president of the nonprofit Maji Safi Group, which is celebrating its five-year anniversary. The mission of the organization is to “promote health and disease prevention in underserved and impoverished areas through holistic community empowerment and by working predominantly with local women and youth.” While attending CU, Bruce studied abroad in Tanzania and wrote an honors thesis titled “The Future Environmental Views of Children across Cultures and Socioeconomic Class.” As part of his research, he surveyed students in five Tanzanian primary schools and two American elementary schools.

Brian Schroy (Jour) is regional fight manager for the nonprofit Haymakers for Hope, which empowers men and women to learn boxing as a way to raise money for cancer research. After Brian graduated from CU, he moved to New York to work for a public relations agency specializing in outdoor sports. Three years later, he opened an action sports and lifestyle PR and marketing company, B Dot Media Group. Brian lives in Boulder.

Attorney Adrienne Scheffey (PolSci) joined the Denver office of Littler, a global employment and labor law practice. She previously clerked for two years for the Hon. Rebecca Freyre of the Colorado Court of Appeals. 

On Dec. 29, 2017, Matthew Evett (Ling) and Amanda Fendrick Evett (IntlAf, PolSci’13) celebrated their second anniversary. They returned to Colorado after living in Washington, D.C., post-graduation and now live in Fort Collins. Amanda works at Colorado State University. Matthew works in Cheyenne as a speech pathologist at LifeCare. 

Last fall George Bryant (MBA) was named vice president and general manager of Colorado outdoor product company Sierra Designs. He previously served as retail and national accounts manager for Textron Specialized Vehicles. He is an active member with Colorado Trout Unlimited.  

Michael Bishof (MPhys; PhD’14) and Cynthia Pekron recently welcomed their third son, Ignatius “Indy” Charles Bishof. Indy was born in August in Elmhurst, Ill. He joins big brothers Casimir Patrick and Ronan Thomas.

Ellen Koenig (Neuro ex), a relation of CU Boulder benefactor Samuel Koenig (ElEngr1913), namesake of Koenig Alumni Center, stopped by campus in May to snap a picture with his portrait. Ellen’s great grandfather, Rudolph Koenig, was Sam Koenig’s brother and mayor of Golden, Colo. A prosecutor in the Brooklyn district attorney’s office, Ellen previously served as a law clerk for Judge John G. Koeltl of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. She and her husband live in Manhattan.

Last August Brett Miller (AeroEngr) and Megan Foster married at the Omni golf resort in Broomfield, Colo. Brett designs military jets for Boeing-Phantom Works. The couple lives in St. Louis, Mo.

Chelsea Thomas (Psych) has worked for Colorado credit unions since graduation. She handles everything from graphic design to switching online banking systems.

Maji Safi Group, co-founded in 2013 by Boulder native Bruce Maj Pelz (EnvSt), empowers local community health workers in Tanzania to fight waterborne diseases by teaching lifesaving water, sanitation and hygiene practices. Bruce works with the Boulder community and CU at a variety of levels to promote awareness of the global water sanitation crisis and social responsibility.

High Altitude Observatory scientist Nicholas Pedatella (PhDAeroEngr) is this year’s recipient of the SCOSTEP Distinguished Young Scientist Award for his groundbreaking contributions to understanding the influence of atmospheric waves. The award ceremony was held June 6-10 in Bulgaria. Nicholas lately has focused on the development of data techniques for an atmospheric climate model. He lives in Boulder.

Boulder native Kirsten Suddath (Math, Phil; MBA’16) joined millennial ad-buying platform flytedesk as director of finance and operations. In her role, she manages finance, human resources, corporate development and marketing. Throughout her career Kirsten has worked for start-ups in the clean technology and local-foods space.

Jacob Elyachar (Jour), chief content producer and writer for jakes-take.com, received the top designation in the national 2015 Small Business Influencer Awards. Jakes-take.com uses an investigative approach to covering pop culture. Jacob was nominated in the journalist category for his achievements and community support. He is also a columnist for Examiner.com and SciFi4Me.com.

Chris Hoyd (Law) is the founder and CEO of RightRaise, a free crowdfunding platform focused on legal, social and civic matters. For its first campaign, RightRaise partnered with PowerCorps PHL, a Philadelphia-based affiliate program of Ameri Corps focused on youth violence prevention and workforce. Fellow alum Gabriel Kuettel (IntlAf’14) works as a community strategist for RightRaise.

CU Anschutz medical school student Paige Bennett (IntPhys) was selected as one of six to receive the 2015 Pisacano Scholarship from the Pisacano Leadership Foundation. These awards are given to students attending U.S. medical schools who demonstrate a strong commitment to the specialty of family medicine.

Using her Fulbright-National Geographic Digital Storytelling Fellowship, Ari M. Beser (PolSci) traveled throughout Japan and produced photo essays, videos and articles to give voices to those affected by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 70 years ago and the Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown five years ago.

While a student Bryant Mason (Econ, EnvSt) founded CU Going Local, a sustainable food group. In 2010, he founded the Urban Farm Company of Colorado, which gives individuals the knowledge to start growing food in their own backyards.

A story in The Ark newspaper of Tiburon, Calif., by Matthew Davis (Jour) won second place for best sports story from the California newspaper Publishers Association. A freelancer, Matthew has also written for the George Lucas Educational Foundation, Adobe and other companies. He lives in San Francisco.