Alumni Profiles - Y Magazine
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Alumni Profiles


— 1930s —

Carleton Rogers, ’38 (Betty), was made an honorary brigadier general in the Second United States Mormon Battalion. He was cited for a 30-year military career, which began during World War II and continued with service in the Pentagon and as base commander in England, Germany, Georgia, and California. After retiring as a colonel in 1969, he taught for 10 years at Penn Military School and Apple Valley High School. Rogers, who was BYU student body president from 1937 to 1938, is the first recipient of the Mormon Battalion award.

— 1940s —

Robert A. Price, ’41 (Dorothy Daynes, ’42), Phoenix, AZ, was named Physician of the Year by the Arizona Academy of Family Physicians. He served as chief of the medical staff at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center and as medical director of the Family Practice Residency Program.

A. Kimball Romney, ’47, Irvine, CA, currently a research professor of social sciences and anthropology at the University of California, Irvine, has been elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

— 1950s —

Owen E. Heninger, ’53 (Audrey), Whittier, CA, closed his private practice after 30 years to become chief of Psychiatric Service at Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center in Downey, Calif.

Beverly Ethel Orrock Tadehara, ’53 (Yoshio, ’53), Sandy, UT, has retired after teaching elementary school for 43 years.

Melvin D. Close Jr., ’56, Las Vegas, NV, was recently inducted into the Nevada Senate Hall of Fame. He is presently senior partner of the law firm Jones, Jones, Close, and Brown.

— 1960s —

Harold M. Koenig, ’62, MD Baylor University College of Medicine ’66 (Deena), Rockwell, MD, a rear admiral in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps, has been awarded the 1995 Federal Health Care Executive Award for Excellence by the American Hospital Association.

William J. Layne, ’65, Morehead, KY, associate professor of theater at Morehead State University, has earned the 1994–95 Distinguished Creative Production Award.

John R. Hill, ’67, PhD University of Illinois (Marsha), Washington, D.C., has just completed a three-year assignment as the resident representative in Zambia, Africa, of the International Monetary Fund. In July he took up the post of IMF representative in Romania.

Robert Hinkle, ’67, San Mateo, CA, senior vice president and chief lending officer for Trans Pacific National Bank, has been promoted to executive vice president.

Joseph W. Mason, ’67, MA University of Oklahoma ’77 (Cherie Johnson, ’87), Colorado Springs, CO, a lieutenant colonel, was a recipient of the Secretary of the Air Force Professionalism in Contracting Award as the 1995 Outstanding Reservist in the Air Force.

William H. Nelson, ’67, MBA University of Southern California ’71, Salt Lake City, UT, senior vice president of Intermountain Health Care, has been elected national chair of the Healthcare Financial Management Association.

Mason D. Harrell Jr., ’68 (Camille Packer, ’67), Redlands, CA, formerly of the General Counsel’s Office of the U.S. Postal Service and a U.S. Administrative Law Judge since 1988, was recently appointed chief judge at the San Bernardino, Calif., Office of Hearings and Appeals of the Social Security Administration. He was also recently promoted to colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves.

Desna L. Wallin, ’68, MA Eastern Illinois University ’75, EdD Illinois State University ’84, Clinton, IA, has been appointed president of Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem, N.C. For the past five years she served as president of Clinton Community College in Clinton, Iowa.

— 1970s —

Richard H. Forsyth, ’70, Kaysville, UT, president of Westerra Realty & Management Corp., has been appointed vice president of Region 8 (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah) for 1995–96 by the Institute of Real Estate Management.

Robert M. Egan, ’71, MS ’73 (Kathy), Sandy, UT, has been promoted to vice president, area operations, for IBM’s Western Area, which consists of 11 western states. He was also recently named president-elect of the national board of directors of the BYU Cougar Club.

Paul Edwin Stott, ’71, PhD ’79, Waterbury, CT, has been appointed manager of External Technology, Uniroyal Chemical Co., which develops joint research programs and acquires technology in China, the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, India, and U.S. government laboratories.

Paul Francis, ’72, Danville, PA, has been honored by the Pennsylvania Kiwanis Foundation with a statewide award recognizing his dedication to the welfare of children. Francis is director of the Department of Pediatric Cardiology at Geisinger Medical Center and has travelled to Jamaica to organize diagnostic cardiac catheterization services at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston.

W. Ralph Peck, ’72, MS ’75 (Julie), Helena, MT, a longtime Montana Department of Agriculture official, has been named director of the department.

Kristine Apostol Cunningham, ’73 (David, ’77), Washington, UT, currently a teacher at Dixie Middle School, has been named one of Utah’s 10 Best Educators and received the 1995 Huntsman Excellence in Education Award.

Michael J. Bertasso, ’74, MBA Carnegie-Mellon University (Kathleen), Fort Thomas, KY, has been promoted to chief cost officer of Star-Kist Foods.

D. Riches Dixon, ’74 (Debbi), Englewood, CO, owner of Equity Acceleration, is now principal and managing general agent of Traveler’s Insurance Co. He was also recently named divisional manager of Advantage Capital Corp., a broker/dealer for Traveler’s.

Winnie L. Simons-Sprague, ’74, Dana Point, CA, was named Nurse of the Year for 1995 by Hoag Memorial Hospital in Newport Beach, where she works as a charge nurse over a neonatal intensive care unit. She was selected from more than 2,000 nurses employed by the hospital.

James A. Williams, ’74, Buffalo Grove, IL, has been named director of engineering for Honeywell Inc.’s building control business.

Jeffrey F. Harvey, ’75 (Virginia Gilliland, ’73), Wilcox, AZ, recently accepted a position as executive director of Eastern Arizona College Foundation and Alumni Association.

Sterling K. Jenson, ’75, MBA ’77, Farmington, UT, has been elected president of Security Investment Management, a subsidiary of First Security Corp. He began his First Security career in 1990 as vice president and senior portfolio manager of the investment management subsidiary.

Jeffrey C. Page, ’75 (Kristy Beckstead, ’74), Clayton, CA, was appointed senior vice president and executive dean of the California College of Podiatric Medicine in San Francisco. He has been professor and associate dean for the last five years.

Irene Szinavel, ’75, Palatine, IL, was selected to be the executive director of the Des Plaines Valley Council of the Boy Scouts of America located in La Grange, Ill., and serving a youth membership of nearly 10,000 through 48 communities. She is the only female Scout executive in the United States.

Jonny Lee BearCub Stiffarm, ’76, JD University of Minnesota Law School ’90, Wolf Point, MT, is chief judge for the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes in Eagle Butte, S.D., and president of the Native American Bar Association. She serves as vice president of American Indian Affairs and of Chi Investment Corp., and as president of the consulting firm MazaSka. In addition, she has a private practice, in which she represents individuals in criminal and civil proceedings.

The mother of four children, Judge Stiffarm participated in the making of the documentary Every Thing Has a Spirit and has published numerous articles on the subject of American Indian law.

Charles L. Elliott, ’77, PhD University of Alaska–Fairbanks ’79, Richmond, KY, a professor of biological sciences at Eastern Kentucky University, has been presented with the EKU National Alumni Association’s Award for Teaching Excellence at the annual alumni awards banquet.

John Hendrix, ’77, MAcc ’77, Dalton, MA, a certified public accountant, has been named senior vice president and chief financial officer for the national chain of Kay-Bee Toys.

Elizabeth Fielding, ’79, MS ’94, Orem, UT, chair of the Vocational Department at Canyon View Junior High, Alpine School District, has been elected  Utah’s 1995 Teacher of the Year by the Utah Home Economics Association.

Steven B. Terry, ’79 (Natalei Nelson, ’77), Anchorage, AK, was recently promoted to chief marketing officer for ATU, the telecommunications-telephone utility for Anchorage, Alaska.

— 1980s —

Erven T. Nelson, ’80, JD ’83, Las Vegas, NV, an attorney and partner at the law firm of Alverson, Taylor, Mortensen, & Nelson, has been appointed to the Nevada Development Authority Board of Trustees.

Kim Walker, ’80 (Lea Ann), Gilbert, AZ, has been promoted to national sales manager for IDEXX Laboratories Food and Environmental Division.

Jolene Paramore Reif, ’81, Murray, UT, has been promoted to administrative partner in the firm of Valentiner Crane Brunjes Onyon Architects.

Joe Draper, ’82, MAcc ’85, Bountiful, UT, has joined EvansGroup, a regional marketing communications company headquartered in Salt Lake City, as corporate controller.

Greg N. Felten, ’82 (Sherri), Phoenix, AZ, a registered professional structural engineer, has been promoted to associate/partner and vice president of Bingham Engineering.

Jay M. Johnson, ’83 (Carol Johnson, ’86), Glendale, AZ, is the primary author of a new book on software development processes, methods, and tools. The book, published by McGraw-Hill, is entitled Program Smarter, Not Harder: Get Mission-Critical Projects Right the First Time.

David Larsen, ’83, MAcc ’84, Czech Republic, has been appointed a partner in KPMG, one of the leading accounting and consulting firms in the Czech Republic.

Layne D. Westover, ’83 (Kristine Monson, ’79), Salem, OR, has been named vice president of marketing and business development for ESHA Research, maker of nutrition analysis software.

Royd Despain, ’84 (Lori Huntsman, ’84), Littleton, CO, has completed the 10-part examination series for the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriters (CPCU) designation with the Insurance Institute of America. He is a senior underwriter for SAFECO Insurance Cos. in Denver.

Tim DuMoulin, ’85, San Jose, CA, finance manager of Loral Communication Systems, has earned the Certified Management Accountant (CMA) designation.

H. Troy Romero, ’85, BA ’86 (Kimberly), Redmond, WA, with James Vance, ’82, has formed Vance & Romero, P.S., a law firm focusing on development and technology law.

Robert Salazar, ’85, MS ’90, (Julie Byers, ’81), Midway, UT, former defensive back for BYU, entered Minnesota’s John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon and finished fourth, winning the Rookie of the Year trophy. This feat qualified him to run the Iditarod, in which he finished 30th, completing the race in 13 days, 13 hours, 1 minute.

Brad Zylstra, ’85, Monrovia, CA, an accounting manager at KCAL-TV, Los Angeles, received a Certificate of Distinguished Performance for his score on the Certified Management Accountant (CMA) examination.

Stephen V. Duford, ’86 (Elizabeth), Kailua, HI, has been appointed director of Ohana Insurance Co. of Hawai‘i, which provides personal automobile insurance for the Hawai‘ian market and is owned by Progressive Insurance Co., a major national insurer on the mainland.

Mark A. Groesbeck, ’86, MBA Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, vice president of Shobe & Associates and vice president of The EDSA Group, has been authorized to use the marks CFP and Certified Financial Planner.

David M. Dayton, ’87, MS P.T. Texas Women’s University ’89 (Dorothy Seely, ’85), Kaysville, UT, is the new owner of the Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Physical Therapy Clinic in Bountiful after practicing physical therapy in Utah for four years.

Jerry D. Grover, ’87 (Miriam), Provo, UT, environmental engineer specializing in waste water and solid waste management, was recently elected Utah County commissioner. Prior to his election, he was senior environmental engineer for Geneva Steel.

Chimene McDaniel Dahl, ’88, Grand Forks, ND, was presented a doctor of medicine degree from the University of North Dakota School of Medicine. She also received the Brynhild Haugland Research Award from Trinity Medical Center of Minot, given to a senior showing research abilities in a community-based study. Dahl will begin obstetrics and gynecology residency training this summer at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C.

Tom Hooker, ’88, MS ’89, Calabasas, CA, has been named director of compliance for First Interstate Capital Management, a division of First Interstate Bancorp.

Lon Welch, ’88, Grand Forks, ND, received a doctor of medicine degree from the University of North Dakota School of Medicine. He was given the North Dakota Medical Association Award, presented to three outstanding students in each class.

— 1990s —

Jay Allen Muse, ’90, MS San Jose State University ’94 (Shana Houston, ’90), Clifton Park, NY, has joined the General Electric Research and Development Center as a mechanical engineer.

Jeffrey R. Davis, ’91 (Jennifer Athay, ’91), Houston, TX, was awarded a doctor of medicine degree from Baylor College of Medicine and has been accepted into the otolaryngology residency program at the State University of New York Health Science Center in Syracuse, N.Y.

Brad R. Holyoak, ’91, MSS Utah State University ’93 (Tina), Logan, UT, has been appointed managing director of PAQ Services, which develops, markets, services, and conducts training workshops for the Position Analysis Questionnaire, a job analysis instrument used by human resource professionals.

C.A. (Chris) Gibbons, ’92, Cumberland, MD, has been
promoted to district manager, Western Region, of Associate Brands, a division of the Kelly-Springfield Tire Co.

Michael R. Hamilton, ’92, Granby, CT, an actuarial associate with the Hartford Life Insurance Cos., has earned the designation of Associate of the Society of Actuaries (ASA).

Erik S. Schimmelbusch, ’92 (Krista), Sacramento, CA, received a law degree from McGeorge School of Law. He will remain in Sacramento, where he is an associate with Trainor, Robertson, Smits, & Wade.

Julie Fox, ’93, Sandy, UT, is a media buyer at EvansGroup. Prior to joining the firm, she was with SH Duncan & Associates and with Ballet West.

Geoffrey M. Thatcher, ’93, Mason, OH, has joined Rouse Wyatt Associates as a writer. The firm specializes in the design of theme parks, museum and corporate exhibits, and attractions.