Class Notes

FOR ALUMNI CLASS NOTES ’49 Bro. Harold Naudet, member of the Congregation of Holy Cross, returned to the United States to seek medical treatment after serving in the Brazilian missions from 1961 to December 2018. He is currently recovering. STAY CONNECTED ›››››››››››››››››››››››››››››››››››

’63 David Messina published How2Lead, A Practical Everyday Guide For Managers and Leaders. ’65 Sam Enna was awarded the Otto Krayer Award from the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics and in November 2019 was named a foreign honor member of the Chinese Pharmacological Society, only the second person to receive this honor. ’71 Terry Dunn, former CEO of JE Dunn Construction Co., appeared on the 435 magazine list of Kansas City’s 50 most powerful people. ’74 The Rev. William G. Hubmann recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of his ordination as a priest. He is now retired and living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. ’80 John Stephens has been named to the board of directors ofFreeport-McMoRan Inc. ’81 Linda Romey was elected to the board of directors for Communicators for Women Religious at the organization’s conference in October. ’83 Sheryl Brown has retired after 25 years of service with Hallmark. ’87 Lisa Ginter, member of the Rockhurst University Board of Trustees, was included in the Kansas City Business Journalnational list of the most influential financial executives. She also appeared on 435 magazine’s list of Kansas City’s 50 most powerful people.

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Lynnette Procopio joined the Excelsior Springs School District No. 40 as the director of technology services. She previously served as manager of enterprise systems and technology support services with the Kansas City Public Schools. ’88 Dan Charles has joined Cohen & Steers as head of global distribution. ’88, ’96 MBA Mark Carden has been named manager of continuous improvement at AT&T. ’88 MBA Kevin Barth, chairman and CEO of Commerce Bank Kansas City, appeared on 435 magazine’s list of Kansas City’s 50 most powerful people. ’90 Joseph Arnone was one of 18 men accepted as a candidate in the diaconate formation program in the Diocese of Kansas City-St Joseph. He is scheduled to be ordained a deacon in June 2022.

Paula (Laughlin) Crozier was named director of marketing for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Omaha, Nebraska. ’93 Steve Dietze has been named senior vice president, business development, at EFC Systems.

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’93 MBA George Guastello, president and CEO of Union Station, was among the leaders listed on 435 magazine’s list of Kansas City’s 50 most powerful people. ’94 Tim Bischof has been appointed chief risk officer at CNO Financial Group. ’94 MBA Cary Shippert was named director of health care and science/technology for the Southeast division ofGilbane Building Company. ’95 Emily Cisneros has been named to the ethics commission of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, and to the board of trustees for Bishop Ward High School. ’97 Keith Allen (Kotansky) was hired as an adjunct professor of MRI physics and instrumentation at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. ’98 Phil Buttell, M.H.S.A., J.D., has been named CEO of Menorah Medical Center in Overland Park, Kansas. ’00 The Rev. Luke (Jeffrey) Turner was ordained to the priesthood June 29, 2019, on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul. He is currently working as director of college ministry at Benedictine College.

’00, ’07 MBA Brenna Saunders, of Creative Planning Inc., was recently named to Barron's 2019 list of the nation's top 100 women financial advisers. ’01 Beth Copeland was added as an attorney in the litigation practice group atTaft Stettinius & Hollister in Indianapolis. ’02 MBA Richard Wallace has been named director of baccalaureate programs at Donnelly College. ’03 EMBA Craig Denson, CFO at HNTB Corp., was named CFO of the Year by the Environmental Financial Consulting Group.

Molly Rothove, of Creative Planning Inc., was recently named to Barron’s 2019 list of the nation’s top 100 women financial advisers. ’03 Vanessa Lillie was interviewed by435magazine about the cover image of her debut novel, Little Voices, appearing in an article in The New York Times.

Matt Wilson, chief investment officer at Keen Wealth Advisors, was featured in a story about the Advisor Thought Leader Summit held at Rockhurst University that appeared on Yahoo! Finance.

’04 Missouri Sen. John Rizzo was a guest on the Politically Speaking podcast where he discussed growing up in politics with St. Louis Public Radio’s Julie O’Donoghue and Jaclyn Driscoll.

The Honorable Cory L. Atkins was appointed circuit judge for the 16th Judicial Circuit by Gov. Mike Parson. ’06 MBA Nancy Keil was profiled in the Nashville Business Journal. Keil is the president and CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee.

Randy Lopez was elected to the USD 500 School Board in Kansas City, Kansas. ’07 Hannah Smith-Brown was named global project manager, customer insights and intelligence at MCM Worldwide.

Cristil (Blount) Miranda, was featured in Ingram’s magazine “Corporate Report 100” list of fast-growing Kansas City companies. The company of which she is founder and owner, Platinum Painting, was listed at No. 9. ’08 M.ED. Carmen Denvir married Brian Denvir in April 2019 in Scottsdale, Arizona. ’09 Samantha Whited Fechter was featured in the June/July issue ofCatholic St. Louismagazine, a publication of the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

ROCKHURST.EDU 27 & A Q WITH STEFANI WEEDEN-SMITH, ’93 Q: Tell us a little about your work. A: My work really is in service to students, staff and faculty — helping them think about what community engagement is. I consider myself a convener and a connector. We look at how we can funnel our resources, starting with the brainpower of our researchers, to impact regional challenges and priorities. Our students can learn by seeing their academics at play outside of the classroom. For community members, a private institution can sometimes seem elitist and our work can show them another side. Q: How did you become interested in community engagement? A: I knew I wanted to start doing this work when I was at Rockhurst, where there was a focus on doing good for all. After earning my graduate degree, I did a lot of work in New York with teenagers around HIV and AIDS prevention and positive sexual health and education. The degree in art therapy really grounded me in listening deeply and learning people’s story — how they find those places of strength and power within themselves. I became interested in supporting those innate efforts. Q: What advice do you have for someone who believes things in their own community need to change? A: What I tell students who are ready to graduate is that sometimes we think we need to do grand gestures like running for office. For me, it has been putting in the time, going to neighborhood association meetings and getting involved in things going on in my neighborhood. You may not have a ton of time or money, but what are some of the things where you can contribute your time and talent, where you think things can happen? Q: Give us an example of a project or partnership you’ve worked on that has been very meaningful to you. A: Our Civic Engagement Fund, which I oversee, funded a project led by a faculty member in our landscape architecture program to create the Enright Community Butterfly Garden. The result is a communal space for neighbors to gather created in a vacant lot. What was neat is that he really spent time communicating with neighbors about what they wanted and needed. Not only did he help build the relationships that allowed a community voice in it, he created roles for the community members to take ownership and sustain the garden going forward. Q: If you could change one thing in your community, what would it be? A: I would love to see St. Louis and many parts of our country to not be segregated, and not just by race. We as a society have so many people and stories who live side by side and we’re not building on that. Q: How did your time at Rockhurst University influence your career path? A: Learning about nonprofits and community organizing, being rooted in a Jesuit education with all of our philosophy and theology credits, made me want to be involved in giving back. I was practical in getting a business degree but wanted to use it in a different way. I wanted to be able to not just make money, but to use my skills and resources to influence community discussion. For me, Rockhurst affirmed that was a possibility. FOR ALUMNI Stefani Weeden-Smith is the assistant director for community engagement at the Washington University-St. Louis Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement. In addition to her B.S.B.A. from Rockhurst, she holds a Master of Professional Studies in creative arts therapy and creative development from the Pratt Institute.

’10 Alexandra Bashkiroff and her husband, Nathan Dunn, welcomed their second daughter, Alice Rose, on Jan. 5, 2019. Their oldest, Anne Halcombe, is 3 years old.

Jamie Bovay spoke at Hips Don’t Lie, a workshop discussing how to unlock and mobilize the hips, in Denver, Colorado.

Jesse Civello opened Precision Physical Therapy, a physical therapy practice in downtown Clayton, Missouri.

’11 MBA Eli Medina was highlighted by C You in the Major Leagues Foundation for her work on their mentoring program.

’12 Michael Purk started a new job at Salesforce.

’13 Katelin (Saalfeld) Heim was promoted to marketing director at Unboxed Training and Technology a Richmond, Virginia, based company.

’14 Josh Tols was the subject of an article in the Philadelphia Inquirerabout his path to a professional baseball career.

’14 MBA Jill McKay Wilson has been named chief operating officer at LegacyBox.

’15 Truit Gray is currently in a Ph.D. program at Oklahoma State University.

Sean Kane has started a Ph.D. program in history at Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York. ›››››››››››››››››››››››››› CONNECT WITH ROCKHURST UNIVERSITY through your favorite social networks.

’15 Taylor Skala married Chris Sares, whom she met while she was studying at Rockhurst University and living in Kansas City, at her hometown church.

’15 MBA Emily Bordner was featured in a Kansas City Business Journalarticle about her journey from Hallmark to her owning her own brick and mortar business, EB and Co. ’16 Carmelita Bahamonde was interviewed byUnivision about English Language Learner (ELL) classes at the Mid-Continent Public Library. She developed the courses and hired the instructors. In addition, she recently enrolled in the master of library science program at Emporia State University.

Adam Fatkin is working as a physical therapist in the Louisville, Kentucky, area.

’15 Shauna Krause married Rashad Krause (AlSabban), ’17 DPT, July 12, 2019, at Christ Community Church in Kansas City’s Brookside neighborhood. Several Rockhurst alumni were in attendance.