October 31, 2023
Class Notes
Find out what your Beloit friends have been doing.
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Submit your news and photos to classnotes@268297.com. Submissions will appear in Beloit College Magazine’s printed and online editions and are accepted on a rolling basis.
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1950-1959
- Jim Patterson’57, father of Andrew Patterson’97, will spend the 2023-2024 academic year in Cluj, Romania, while his wife, Jody, does research on a Fulbright grant. Between them, the couple has received six Fulbright awards.
1960-1969
- David Knottnerus’69, Emeritus Regents Professor of Sociology at Oklahoma State University, published his most recent book this year, Polar Expeditions: Discovering Rituals of Success within Hazardous Ventures (Routledge), which examines how ritual practices contribute to the social relations among crewmembers and their morale on nineteen polar expeditions over a century. His interests include ritual dynamics, social psychology, social theory, social inequality, and the sociology of knowledge
- Eileen and Mike May’69 returned to Beloit College on August 17 to celebrate the 55th year of their marriage in Eaton Chapel.
- Lee Anne Wilson’69, Cochiti Lake, Minnesota, published a poem, “A Perfect Day,” in Kaleidoscope: Exploring the Experience of Disability through Literature and the Fine Arts. She is a retired professor, art historian, and artist. Her work reflects on the roles her American Indian ancestry, adoption, and disability have played in her life.
1970-1979
Credit: Jerry S Brown
- Joy Young Brown’72 and Jerry Brown’71, Blaine, Minnesota, took a nine-day cruise of Norwegian fjords last summer. The weather was nice most of the time, but it was raining in Bergen. Fortunately, Joy had her rain poncho from last year’s Beloit Reunion and she wore it proudly.
- Tom Dickinson’73, Warrenton, Virginia, is still practicing pediatric gastroenterology with a special focus on cystic fibrosis. As he winds down his clinical involvement, he’s combining his interests in medicine and teaching into a second career teaching anatomy online.
- Stephen Hall’73, Brooklyn, New York, received an honorary doctorate degree and gave the commencement address in May for the graduate school of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island, an institution well known to biologists.
- Dr. Dominick Maino’73 is a consultant to the Old Irving Park Community Clinic that provides free medical and mental health care in Chicago.
- David Klein’74, Sheffield, Massachusetts, retired from a career in academic endocrinology and pharmaceutical drug development.
- Sandra Rushworth’76, Katy, Texas, received the 2023 Clara Barton Award for meritorious service in volunteer leadership, the highest chapter level Red Cross award given to a volunteer.
- Phil Erickson’77, Leesburg, Virginia, was appointed executive director of the American Society of Novelty Commerce, a trade association representing manufacturers of popular gag gifts such as whoopie cushions and clicking teeth. His 40-year commitment to this organization is the longest on record and will be recognized at the annual meeting in December in Lorton, Virginia.
- Steve Wingeier’78 Wing of Atlanta, published his fourth book of poems (see Books & Media). Funded by a grant from Atlanta’s Office of Cultural Affairs, Wild Atlanta: Greenspaces & Nature Preserves of ‘The City in the Forest’ is a coffee-table book chronicling 23 locations where Wing has hosted his seasonal “Earth Poetry” workshop. He is serving his third term as board president for the Lake Claire Community Land Trust, a nonprofit community greenspace. He has also launched a new website, newsletter, and blog to celebrate his recent retirement.
1980-1989
- Dr. Natasha Yates’85 of Red Wing, Minnesota, earned her Ed.D. with a focus on environmental education from Hamline University. After a career in secondary science education and a dozen years in higher education teaching pre-service and in-service teachers integrated STEM, she looks forward to focusing on environmental writing projects. She enjoys hiking with her husband of 25 years on the north shore of Lake Superior and in the many state parks in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
- After her daughter graduated from high school at the height of the pandemic, Julia Kerr’87 and her family moved from Madison to Pasadena, California. While they were waiting to move into their house, Julia lived for a month in a hotel room with her husband, daughter, a large pitbull, an elderly cat, and a bearded dragon named Spike. She’s gone back to school to study art, and enjoys Pilates and swimming. She’s happy to be living in California, having survived 18 Wisconsin winters.
- Chris Fleming’89 of Pingree Grove, Illinois, has been hosting and appearing on paranormal TV for 23 years. One of the projects he presented on, The Curse of Lizzy Borden, was awarded a Gold Telly Award for Best Television - Horror Documentary in 2023. He currently presents and produces on the Haunted Scotland and Haunted Ireland series on the Warner Brothers/Discovery Platforms. He has also worked as a spiritual consultant in private practice for over 17 years.
1990-1999
- Dan Eck’90 is serving as the director of the Museum of Art and Archaeology, and associate professor of practice in the classics, archaeology and religion department of the University of Missouri, working on the relocation and reopening of the museum.
- Dr. Yoon-Hang “John” Kim’91 has joined the Memorial Hospital team in Carthage, Illinois, as chief wellness officer. He has been practicing integrative medicine since 1999 and specializes in integrative medicine, acupuncture for pain management, and functional medicine lab testing. He received his bachelor of science in chemistry.
- Dr. Josh Murphy’92, Molly Rose Elkins-Ryan’01, and Dr. Liz Chiquoine’13 have been colleagues for the past four years at Rush University Medical Center/Rush University Children’s Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. After three years as a pediatric resident at Rush, Liz assumed the role of chief resident for a year.
- Colleen Delaney’93 published Rancho Guadalasca: Last Ranch of California’s Central Coast, with The History Press, Charleston, South Carolina.
- Lance Randall’94 has deep roots in Beloit and still has a fondness for the Flood Arena, where he was a team captain for the Beloit College Buccaneers and started his coaching career as Bill Knapton’s assistant from 1994-97. He is in his second stint as head coach at Saint Leo University, a NCAA Division II school in Saint Leo, Florida. A two-time all-Midwest Conference selection, he earned the Johnny Orr Leadership award on a nationally ranked squad and was team MVP. He is the only coach in NCAA history to lead three different schools to their first-ever regional ranking in program history (Webster University, Saint Leo, and Lindenwood).
- Dr. Ross Alexander’96 was named president at Texas A&M University-Texarkana. He has previously served as provost and executive vice president at the University of North Alabama.
- Ben Smith’97, Karlson Hubbard’97, Lee Deines’97, Jolan Glover’97, and Tim Popp’97 got together in Arcata, California, to celebrate over 25 years since their graduation from Beloit.
- Rebecca Johnson’98, La Jolla, California, published She Bleeds Sestinas, a book of experimental poetry, under the pen name Rebecca Jane, with Atmosphere Press in August 2023.
- Andrew Jager’98 was awarded a doctorate in bioethics from Loyola University Chicago in May 2023. Andrew also holds an M.A. in Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Andrew works as senior director for population health at the American Hospital Association in Chicago.
- Marcus Hayes’99 was appointed the inaugural dean of DePauw University’s new Creative School, which will launch in fall 2024. He comes to DePauw from Austin Peay State University, where he founded a thriving dance program. He received his undergraduate degree in dance and history from Beloit College.
2000-2009
- Thom File’02 was selected as the director of aging research for the International Programs Center at the United States Census Bureau. A proud product of Beloit’s sociology department, Thom currently splits time between downtown Washington, D.C., and a cabin in the woods in West Virginia, where he lives with his wife Perrine and dog Elle.
- Jill Campioni Pearce’02, Crystal Lake, Illinois, earned a master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Principal Endorsement in December 2022. She accepted a position as assistant principal at Marlowe Middle School in Huntley, Illinois, for the 2023-24 school year.
- Bernie Witzack’02 was artist-in-residence with the Madison Public Library in Madison, Wisconsin, through October.
- Bridget Lowe’03, Leawood, Kansas, was named chief marketing officer at Multistudio, a national integrated design studio working across the practices of architecture, brand experience, city design, education design, and interiors.
- John Kato’07, Grisha Grigoriev’07, and Bryan “Alex” Gordon’07 got together to celebrate each other’s achievements and kids in Chicago, Illinois, 20 years after meeting at their first Beloit Convocation.
- Ruth Hamilton’07 and George Krebs were married Aug. 5, 2023, in Germantown, New York.
- Katrina Cook’07 was married to Devynn Galvin on May 25, 2023 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
- Heather Rockwell’08 married Nathaniel Kitchel on Aug. 13, 2022, in Danville, Vermont. Beloiters in attendance included Lucy Blackford’07, Lisa Booth’07, Karl Poetzl’96, Daniel Rockwell’01, Debbie Boisvert’72, Dick Boisvert’72, Jerry Friend’08, Robin Burke’07, and Allison “Twickers” Goodman’07. Dr. Rockwell is an assistant professor of cultural and historic preservation at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island.
2010-2019
- Tyler McGaughey’10 and his wife Sarah Lesser welcomed their second child, Amos Nika McLesser, in July 2023.
- Dr. Jeremy Drake-Cornelius’12 is visiting assistant professor in English at Bates College.
- Dr. Kidiocus Carroll’14 is assistant professor of African and African diaspora studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
2020-2029
- Amelia Nuzzo’20 was accepted into the Master of Science program at The Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts.
Losses
Recognizing members of the Beloit College community we have lost.
