Alumni Achievements
2009 |2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995 | 1994| 1993 | 1992 | 1991 | 1990 | 1989 | 1974 | 1957
Class of 2009
Natalie (Swenson) Becker is teaching English and Speech at Laurel-Concord High School. She is also the Assistant One Act Director and the Head Speech Coach.
Kori Buchholz is teaching English at Beatrice High School.
Alicia Dallman is in Spain, teaching and doing language pedagogy research, while on a Fulbright scholarship; Alicia's Fulbright was renewed for the 2010-2011 academic year.
Chelsea Dappen is an MFA student at the Iowa Writers' Workshop.
Noelle DeLaet is a Family Assistant at Owens & Associates in Omaha, doing employee and family HR services.
Katie (Hilger) Benes is working in communications at State Farm.
Lacey Johnson received a Fulbright Scholarship to teach English in Germany during the 2009-2010 academic year.
Lindsay Knox is working in Colorado and considering graduate school.
Monica Martinez is a graduate student in counseling and is working at St. Monica's.
Shayna Miller is at UNL, working toward an MBA in Accounting.
Maggie Mitteis spent 2009-2010 in Poznan, Poland on a Fulbright Scholarship. While there, she helped organize a graduate linguistics conference.
Class of 2008
Jennifer Ahlm is working for Ameritrade in Bellevue as a client representative and registered securities representative.
Lisa Beans is working on an MFA in poetry at West Virginia University.
Alan Brincks finished his Theatre BFA at NWU in May 2009. He now works as an Education Associate at the Virginia Stage Company.
Charles du Preez is working toward an MFA in clarinet performance at the California Institute for the Arts.
Christopher Dunker is putting his Journalism minor as well as his English major to good use: he is working at the Beatrice Sun.
Brianne (Ehmen) Kelly is teaching seventh-grade English at Bales Elementary in Buckeye, Arizona. She is also the Coordinator of the Gifted Student program.
Kyle Karthauser received a Fulbright scholarship and spent a year in Germany teaching English. He has also revised his senior thesis for publication in the online journal Anthropoetics.
Kristen Lange is an Evaluator for the state of Missouri, working in the juvenile justice system.
Vanessa Martinez is working on two graduate degrees at the University of Texas, Austin: an M.A in Latin American Studies and an M.S. in Community and Regional Planning.
Katie Segrist taught English in Germany 2008-2009 as the winner of a Fulbright Scholarship.
Cody Waite has joined the United States Marine Corps.
Nick Wischmeier is a medical student at UNMC.
Class of 2007
Quiller Caudill is in Lincoln working at Uppercase in web development.
Jessica Clem works as a Conference Coordinator at Kutak Rock in Omaha.
Chris Gleim is a Ph.D. student at Arizona State University in their split Rhetoric/Composition and Linguistics program. He is interested in working on Language Reclamation.
Nicole Green won Fulbright Fellowship to teach English in Germany 2007-2008. She is currently in the Rhetoric and Composition Ph.D program at TCU. She has an article forthcoming in the journal College English.
Melissa Hepburn is living in Omaha, working as a Case Manager for people with mental illnesses.
Megan Hershiser is working for International Relief and Development, a Washington, D.C. based non-profit focused on implementing development services and programs in the regions of Africa, Asia,Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Mark Larson is teaching at Lincoln High School.
Tessa Main (English/Psychology) is pursuing a Ph.D. in Psychology at Forest Institute of Psychology in Springfield, MO.
Megan Mejstrik is working on finishing up up a secondary education endorsement for English and ELL at UNL. She is also pursuing a masters in Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education at UNL.
Kurt Petska has moved back to his hometown of Ord and working as a seed sales rep for Pioneer Hybrids International.
Ben Scheyer is trying to sell a screenplay and a novel, and is working temp jobs. He is planning a move to Seattle, WA.
Maryl (Schock) Sattler is a law student at Washington and Lee University in Virginia.
Sam Segrist is pursuing a Master's Degree in English at Creighton University and substitute teaching in the Omaha area.
Dan Witte is the Youth, Teen and Family Director for the YMCA in Lincoln (a job previously held by Dan's classmate Maryl Sattler).
Class of 2006
Kari (Fisk) Lee is an attorney in Omaha, after attending law school at Creighton University. She and her husband Patrick have a daughter, Quinn.
Mike Flowers is a graphic artist at ScreenCo in Lincoln. He recently completed a photo collage in the Story Student Center as the Class of 2006 class gift to the campus. He is also showing his art around Lincoln.
Nicole Frank worked for a year as a State Scheduler for Senator Ben Nelson in Washington, D.C. After a year of working on her family's ranch in Bassett, NE, she will attend law school at the University of Virginia.
Katy Givens is in Omaha, working as an administrative assistant for AXA Advisors.
Will Holmes is doing magazine writing as well as his own creative writing, and is applying to MFA programs.
Kaj Jorgensen is working at the Apple Store in Omaha, where he is doing sales, repair and training, and is pursuing a Master's degree in English (Composition/Rhetoric) at UNO.
Stephen Lambert is working in Lincoln and doing a Master's Degree at UNL.
Bob Ludwig is an Assistant Coach for the NWU Men's Basketball team.
Brooke Pecoraro is teaching at Millard West High School in Omaha. She was named the 2007-2008 "Rookie of the Year" by the Millard Education Association.
Justin Runge is an MFA student in creative writing (poetry) at the University of Alabama.
Phil Pelster worked as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kazakhstan, He is now a graduate student at the Thunderbird School of Global Management.
Class of 2005
Katie Caudill is a med student at Des Moines University. She plans to specialize in Osteopathic Medicine.
Jeff Gilbreath is working with Hawaiian Community Assets, writing a culturally-relevant financial education curriculum for Hawaii youth, K-12. He says "Aloha no, friends -- hope life in Nebraska is going easy."
Allison Hunzeker worked for two years as a Peace Corps volunteer, and is now teaching English in Rifle, CO.
Knox Jones graduated from Creighton Law and works at AES (Advanced Economic Solutions, a commodities risk management firm) in Omaha.
Michelle Pohl (English/Psych) is a strategist for Seesaw, a New York City-based branding studio. She was married in 2009.
Mitch Raftery is living in New York as an actor and singer.
Jessica Rivera completed her MA in English (with a concentration in the Teaching of English) at UNL. After a few years of teaching English at Lincoln Northeast High School, she has returned to UNL to get her Ph.D.
Amanda Rucker attended Boston University for a Master's degree in Public Relations.
Jeff Salem was a reporter in Kansas City for several years; he now works in marketing at Swanson Russell in Lincoln.
Carl Schneider has moved back to Buffalo, NY; after several years of working at the Violin Shop in Lincoln, he is hoping to open up his own violin shop in Buffalo.
Antonia Welsch is living and writing in Minneapolis. She works at the Guthrie Theatre.
Sarie Whitson is working as an editor at iUniverse in Lincoln.
Class of 2004
Leslie (Brittenham) Brestel is working at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church as the editor of all church publications (print and online). She also volunteers at the Cat House, a no-kill animal shelter in Lincoln.
Erika Bruening has returned to Nebraska after teaching in Ennis, Ireland. She now teaches English at Seward High School.
Jillian Craig is living in Omaha and working as a Staffing Specialist/Recruiter at Celebrity Staffing.
Amanda Frederick got married in November 2004. She is the Truancy Specialist at Cedars Youth Services.
Jennifer Myers (Poli Sci major, Journalism minor) has completed a Master's Degree in Communication at George Washington University, and now works as a research assistant at Public Opinion Strategies in Washington, D.C.
Danielle Nielsen completed a Masters degree in English at Case Western Reserve University in 2006, and is continuing her graduate studies at CWRU as she works toward a PhD.
Lindsey (Pinkerman) Buchheit received her J.D. from the University of Nebraska College of Law in 2007 .
Katie Schwenke has a Master's degree in Library and Information Science from Wayne State University, and she works as a children's librarian in the Los Angeles area.
Chris St. Pierre is using his CS minor as well as his English major as a system administrator at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.
Jamie Tallman has received an M.A. in U.S. History at UNL. He is working to expand his M.A. thesis into a book about Dr. Charles Flippin, an African-American physician in central Nebraska who was involved in some abortion trials in the early twentieth century..
Adam Vander Tuig completed a Master's Degree in English at Cambridge University in 2006. He is back in Nebraska, teaching high school at Omaha Westside, but plans to attend law school.
Natalie Wolf is teaching English at Laurel-Concord High School, where she also coaches One Acts and Speech.
Class of 2003
Alaina Bartunek is teaching English at Southeast Community College as well as doing on-line writing tutoring through SMARTHINKING. She is also teaching ballet in Lincoln.
Katie (Dangler) Brenneman works for Ameritas Life Insurance. She and her husband have a daughter, Alaina, born in May 2006..
Laura M. S. Fortney is working as an Administrative Assistant at TAG/TMI, a Lincoln company providing technical services to insurance companies.
Libby Fangmeier was married in September, 2003. She works for the Farm Bureau in Hebron, NE.
Scott Gealy is a Freelance Production Assistant in New York City.
Ben Gottschall completed his MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Idaho. He is currently working on a ranch in Missouri.
Jeff Hardy is using his communication skills in a job at Schaefer's selling electronics and appliances.
Lindy Hart was married in August, 2003 and is raising three beautiful children.
Leslie Ianno is working on a Ph.D. in English at UNL.
Ryan Kathman worked for a few years as the News Editor at the Oakdale-Lake Elmo Review in Minnesota and performed as an actor in the Twin Cities. He has since returned to Nebraska to pursue a graduate degree in Theatre at UNL.
Luke Klinker is working as an attorney at Fraser Stryker in Omaha, after completing a JD at Creighton Law School.
Eric Mittan is living in Carbondale, IL and working in video editing at a television station. He is also working with some friends to start a filmmaking group.
Heather (Petska) Zaruba taught secondary English for several years. She now lives in Ord, Nebraska, where she is working in home design.
Laura M. (Salmon) Fortney is working as an Administrative Assistant at TAG/TMI, a Lincoln company providing technical services to insurance companies. She and her husband have a son, Jack, born in 2007.
Brynley Thomas is an Account Coordinator at Wildberry Productions multimedia production company in Lincoln.
Class of 2002
Scott Farmen (English/Psychology) was accepted to UNL Law School.
Beth Haley (English/Secondary Ed) was named Future Teacher of the Year in 2002 by the Nebraska English Language Arts Council of NCTE. She teaches at Buffet Magnet Middle School in Omaha.
Beth McQueen is working for A. G. Edwards in Lincoln.
Ryan Phillips is the chief editor in the newsroom of Data Transmission Network.
Sarah Seib (English/History) is the Agency Resource Center and Training Coordinator for Northwestern Mutual Financial Network of Nebraska. She is responsible for the training and development of new representatives as well as the coordination of all Resource Center operations.
Tess Sparks (English/Spanish) is a Peace Corps volunteer.
Class of 2001
Jocelyn Fuller lives in Chicago, where she is the Production Manager of Account Services and Digital Media for Modern Luxury Media, a national publisher of lifestyle magazines, and a Marketing Consultant for Catalano Fenske and Associates.
Ken McQueen (English/Music) is married to former NWU student Leslie Pieper; in 2009 he received his Master of Music in Keyboard Performance at the University of Miami, Frost School of Music.
Sam Renken received his MFA in Poetry at the University of Wyoming and does both teaching and equestrian work as the Horse Program Coordinator at the Cathedral Home for Children in Laramie, WY.
Becky Schlake lives in Kansas City, where she works at Americo Financial Life in Kansas City, MO as a Senior Marketing Communications Specialist.
Roya Smith attended UNL to study secondary education in Spanish, English and ELL.
Tom Teachout is living in Lincoln and working at the INS.
Class of 2000
Dan Bruning received a Master's Degree in Digital Media Studies at University of Denver.
Ryan Dee (Art/English) is Art Director at Firespring, doing graphic design for web-based and print advertising.
Denette Jervey got married in 2000.
Jenn Roche pursued a Master's Degree in English at Cal State Fullerton. She was glad that her experiences in Ways of Reading prepared her for graduate level study.
Class of 1999
Faith (Beyer) Hansen taught high school Colorado before returning to Lincoln to get a Masters degree at UNL. She is currently living in Boise, ID and teaching at Boise State. She also works as the National Program Specialist for Boys Hope Girls Hope.
Scott Guenthner served as a Peace Corps volunteer and is a graduate student at Northern Arizona University, studying the rhetoric of conflict resolution.
Gannon Gillespie lives in Washington, DC, where he works as Coordinator of US Operations for Tostan, a non-profit organization based in Senegal and currently operating in 5 countries in Africa.
Jill (Hudson) Shaver has completed a Master's Degree in English at UNL and is in PhD program at George Mason University. She presented a paper based on her Master's Thesis at the 2002 International African Literature Association Conference in San Diego. She is currently teaching English at Southeast Community College.
Mark Kalvoda is teaching English at Conestoga High School.
Molly (Kidwell) Davenport is working in Lincoln at Kidwell Electric. .
Kelli Kurtenbach is working as a Public Affairs Technician at Tabitha Health Care Services.
Spencer Neill is stationed at Ft. Carson, CO with the U.S. Army.
Jennifer E. Schleuter is a Copy Editor with Sandhills Publishing.
Sandra Schmieder received her Juris Doctor from the University of Colorado School of Law and is a judicial clerk in Cheyenne, WY for Judge Wade Brorby of the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. She will be returning to the Denver area in 2004.
Laura Schnase was recently married.
Kristy Sorenson (WS/English) is working on a Master's in Library Science at the University of Texas, Austin.
Criss Taylor is using her intercultural communications skills and her French minor along with her English major as she lives and works in Switzerland.
Marcos Uzueta has worked in publishing and other areas in both Arizona and Nebraska.
Eric Wendt (Art/English) has received his MFA in creative writing from the University of Minnesota. He is currently the editor of Archways, NWU's alumni magazine.
Class of 1998
Darren Carlson (Communication Studies/Journalism) works in the Princeton, NJ office of the Gallup Organization. He writes for and manages the company's website, and produces live television segments for CNN at the Gallup offices. Darren is grateful that his journalism classes taught him the skills of using statistics in newswriting.
Mike Catron taught English in Japan through the JET program. He is now teaching English at Millard West High School.
Cameron Dodworth (History/English) has completed a Master's Degree in English at UNL and a second Master's Degree in Victorian Studies from the University of Leicester in England. He is working on a Ph.D. in English at UNL and teaching courses both at UNL and NWU.
Lindsey Salem is completing a clinical internship at Counseling and Psychological Services (the counseling center) at UNL. She will graduate with a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from the University of Notre Dame in August 2004.
Carolyn Nolte received her M.A. in English from U.N.L in 2002. and her Secondary Education certification in English in 2009. She teaches at NWU. Welcome back, Carolyn!
Class of 1997
Anthony W. Clark-Kaczmarek (Language Arts) is still active in theatre; he played Pseudolus in a Bellevue production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
Tammy Hronik finished her work teaching English in Japan through the JET Program, and is back in Nebraska, teaching at Blair High School.
Class of 1996
Jennifer (Gleason) Overkamp received a Ph.D. in English literature from UNL in 2008. She is now the entire English Department at St. Gregory the Seminary in Seward, NE, teaching both literature and composition to students who are planning on entering the Catholic clergy.
Jennifer Kubik, who got married in 2000, teaches at Waverly High School.
Jennifer Ropte is an Administrative Assistant with the Martin Luther Home Society, Inc.
Janelle Osborne Wallinger is happy to announce her new baby.
Class of 1995
Erik Campbell has published Arguments for Stillness, a poetry collection named one of BookSense.com's ten poetry picks for 2007. He also has a featured essay ("Sigma Tau Delta Made Me Live in the Jungle") as well as two poems ("Familiarity" and "Strongbox") in the spring 2007 Sigma Tau Delta newsletter
T. J. Hudson is an International Marketing Consultant with ACTION Direct.
Shawn Mummert is currently working for a software company.
Jane Pease is a Branch Manager for First Federal Bank.
Class of 1994
Amy Attenberger received her MBA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 2004 and has been working for Kimberly-Clark Corporation in Northeast WI since graduation. She is currently a Brand Manager for the POISE Brand.
Steve Burks is a Sports Copy Editor of the Phoenix Tribune.
Ted Genoways is the editor of Virginia Quarterly Review, and won the 2001 Samuel French Morse Poetry Prize for his first book of poems, Bullroarer, which was published by Northeastern University Press in Fall 2001.
Shelly Kidwell Theil recently had a new daughter, her third child.
Jill Lind got married in 2000. Jill works in the Community Health Development Office of Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney.
Kerri Plummer is a Physician Recruiter with Methodist Health Systems in Omaha.
Alyssa Pumphrey holds a Master's Degree in Digital Media Studies at Denver University, focusing on the technical as well as aesthetic elements of online design.
Shawna Thorp completed her Ph.D. in English at Auburn University in 2004. She is currently an Assistant Professor of English at East Tennessee State University.
Class of 1993
Sandra Cieko Carlson had a daughter in 2000.
Class of 1992
Christopher Gotschall is an independent filmmaker in Chicago. His film Caught has been shown at gay and lesbian film festivals around the country, and was a hit at its Spring 2002 showing here at NWU.
Class of 1991
Tim Brox had a son, his second child, in 2000. Tim owns and manages Gloria Deo, a Catholic bookstore in Lincoln.
Amie Carpenter Martinez had a daughter in 2000. Amie is a lawyer with Anderson, Creager, and Wittstruck in Lincoln.
Class of 1990
Timalyn O'Neil has a daughter, Greta.
Diane Wetzel, Reporter for the North Platte Telegraph was recently awarded four first place prizes in different categories of journalistic writing by the Nebraska Press Women's Association. Way to go, Diane! You can order a collection of Diane's columns at www.dianewetzel.com.
Class of 1989
Tom Heeren works as a Document Scanner for Intrust Bank in Wichita, KS. He has been taking creative writing classes at Wichita State and doing volunteer work at Via Christi Regional Center-St. Francis campus.
Class of 1974
Kevin Boatright (English/History) is the Director of Communications in the Office of Research and Graduate Studies at the University of Kansas. He continues to support the Boatright Awards for outstanding work in the Flintlock.
Class of 1957
William W. (Bill) McDermet III (English minor) earned his MDiv from Texas Christian University,and DMin from Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis; Bill served as a pastor for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for 43 years. Throughout that time, his articles, meditations, prayers and poems appeared in numerous newspapers and religious publications. He credits former English professor Harold Hall for providing inspiration, and making literature "come alive." He and his wife (Sheral Yates, class of '59) live in Chautauqua County, New York, and later this year will move to Pleasant Hill, TN, a UCC retirement village.
