Class Notes

Below are Class Notes for this issue. To see all Class Notes, click here.

1960s

Updates

James Alexander '69

completed a 200 mile race across the state of Minnesota in fifteen consecutive days of racing. He has completed a marathon in all 50 states.

Bill Hitt '63

 is pastor at Pathway Church for a revival group in the School of Supernatural Ministry in Redding, California.

James Alexander '69

 completed a 200 mile race across the state of Minnesota in 15 consecutive days of racing. He has now completed a marathon in each of the 50 states.

1970s

Updates

Reg Ankrom '71

will have a three-volume biography about Stephen A. Douglas, who got his start in politics in Jacksonville, published in May. The work covers the politician’s greatest achievements between 1844 -1850.

1980s

Updates

Kay Rasmussen Wettlaufer ’81

retired from a 35-year teaching career at the end of May. She most recently worked as a special education teacher at Slater School District in Slater, Missouri.

Dan Carie ’82

has been named principal of Routt Catholic High School in Jacksonville, Illinois.

Cheri Callahan Bustos '83

won re-election in Illinois 17th Congressional District. 

David Beno '84

was named CEO of Xeno Biosciences. He has 35 years of experience in business and as a scientific expert. He previously worked at Abbott Laboratories in drug discovery and development. 

Dan Layzell '85

was appointed vice president, chief operating and chief financial officer/treasurer of Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, in October 2020. 

1990s

Updates

Mike Fletcher '92

was promoted to vice president of infrastructure and engineering at State Farm in December. He has worked for the company for nearly 29 years. 

Debra McCormick Drake ’92

 was recently promoted to Chief Financial Officer-Marketing at Anglo American. 

Tony Stivers '93

 was recently promoted to subject matter expert for New York Appeals and Grievances with UnitedHealth Group.

Gail Noll '94

won re-election for Circuit Court Judge for the 7th Judicial Circuit. 

Bill Stephens ’96

was hired in August of 2019 to work for the Liberty Mutual legal department’s Miami office. He still resides in Illinois.

Sarah Buck ’99

recently earned a Faculty Excellence Service Award from Chicago State University. To be considered for the award, faculty must demonstrate service at various levels at the university, as well as off-campus.

Gray Noll ’99

won re-election for Morgan County State's Attorney. 

2000s

Updates

Juletta Trokey Ellis '01

will be principal of Litchfield High School following this school year. She is currently the principal of Pana Junior High School. 

Evan Wilson ’01

was named a 2021 Molly K. Arnold President’s Service Recognition Award winner by the Illinois Association for College Admission Counseling (IACAC). This award recognizes members with more than five years’ service who have provided strong and consistent leadership to IACAC.

Dan Wright '01

won a four-year term as Sangamon County State’s Attorney. 

Lindley Hanley '02

was a recipient of the JPMorgan Chase National Achiever Award as a top producer in private banking and wealth management. She was previously honored with the award four times while working in Laguna Beach, California. 

Steven Snyder ’04

 had his first comedy book, “How to be a Miserable Failure: The Complete Guide for Destroying Your Life,” published in December 2020 . 

Julie Surratt Wilkinson ’05

 joined the leadership team at the Will County Center for Economic Development as the vice president of investor relations.

Luke ’05 and Allison McCombs Worrell ’06,

 owners of Worrell Land Services, recently celebrated the 25th Anniversary of their business. 

Kayla Bateman Arnolts '06

is office manager for the Illinois Prairie Community Foundation.

Brandon Reed '07

was promoted to partner-elect at Crowe LLP: Accounting, Consulting, & Technology.

Joseph Calmese '07

was named CEO of ADDMAN Engineering earlier this month. Based in St. Louis, the company supports manufactured products and manufacturing services. Joseph graduated Illinois College with honors in physics and was awarded the George W. Horton, Sr. Prize in Physics.

 

Chris Rourke '07

 is a commercial lines underwriter for Auto-Owners Insurance in Montgomery, Alabama. 

2010s

Updates

JJ Sadler '10

received the Joseph M. Dagnese Memorial Award for Excellence in Service to the Libraries at Purdue University.

Taylor Baucom '10

was recently named head of visual content at The Players' Tribune. She has been with the company for nearly six years and was previously deputy visual director. 

Kaitlin Salisbury ’10

joined the board of education for the city of Chicago as assistant general counsel in the federal litigation unit.

Djenan Mouna Soumahoro ’12

started a new position as senior performance assurance specialist at Argonne National Laboratory.

Jaimie R. Engle ’12

 was elected president of the Illinois Academic Advising Association and currently works at DePaul University in Chicago as assistant director of academic advising for biological sciences and neuroscience.

Willie Barefield ’13

started a new position as consulting analyst at Huron.

Cory Washington ’13

was promoted to instructor at Saint Louis University.

Kathryn Stroud ’14

was promoted to senior researcher at Impact Justice.

Elizabeth “Katie” Bernardi '14

is a senior account executive at  VMLY&R Commerce.

Josephine Oshiafi '14

recently completed the Young African Leaders Initiative through the United States Department of State. The program aims to invest in the next generation of African leaders and is sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development,  Mastercard Foundation and Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration.

Alessandra Capparelli McNamara ’15

accepted a clinical nurse position at Central Dupage Hospital in Winfield, Illinois, and recently earned her psychiatric and mental health nursing board certification. 

Ana K. Flores ’15

started a new position as research analyst at Safer Foundation.

Gabrielle Esparza '16

was promoted to associate editor and communications director of Not Even Past, a digital magazine focused on public history at the University of Texas at Austin. She is currently earning her Ph.D and is a historian of Latin America, with a focus on 20th-century Argentine history.
 

Matthew Murphy ’16

is the recipient of the Lawrence E. Schrader & Elfriede Massier Plant Physiology Fellowship at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Jacob McNamara '16

graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic in December 2020.

Samuel Welbourne ’17

started a new position as lean leader at Dot Foods.

Katie Linder '17

earned a Master of Arts degree in sociology from the University of Iowa.

Brandon Coniglio '17

started a new position as an actor at Fairytale Entertainment.

Christian Flores '18

is now a program administrator at Safer Foundation in Chicago. 

Noah Yantis ’18

started in the role of legislative director for  Representative Jim Hagedorn (MN-01) in January 2021. 

Blake Matson ’18

started a new position as missionary with Fellowship of Catholic University Students.

Grace Graunke '18

started a new position as communications analyst for the Illinois House of Representatives.  

Anjali Patel ’19

successfully defended her master’s thesis on April 1, 2021, and on May 7, 2021, she graduated from Illinois State University’s School of Communication with a master’s degree in communication. She was also selected as the winner of the Outstanding University Graduate Student Teaching Award for Level 1-Master's.

Chauntel Vance ’19

graduated with a master of science degree in counseling from Eastern Illinois University.

Allison Hewitt Pilarte '19

started a new position as after school program lead at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Illinois. 
 

Karina Donayre ’19

started a new position as director of communications at Interfaith Community for Detained Immigrants.

2020s

Updates

Tyler Kozaritz ’20

 is an engineer in training (EIT) in civil engineering. 

Madie Budd

 accepted a new role with Sunrise FS as the agronomy marketing assistant and social media coordinator. 

Grant Flynn '20

is an agronomist and sales person at AgriBio Systems.

Adrializ Acevedo ’20

was recently hired as an editorial assistant for GW Publishers in Tinley Park, Illinois.

Katelyn Tabit '21

 is an AGRIntelligence technician at Helena Agri-Enterprises, LLC.