What’s new with you matters to us.
Have you been recently promoted or started a new job? Perhaps you are starting on a new educational journey. Maybe, you are newly married or recently added to your family. Let your fellow Ducks know what is happening in your life.
When you submit a class note, it will be considered for publication in the UOAA’s monthly Shout! newsletter, posted to the UOAA alumni website, or highlighted on social media.
Featured Class Notables
Rachel Cushman
Class of 2010
BS ’10 (ethnic studies), a member of the Chinook Indian Nation, was covered by High Country News in a feature about the threats facing tribal nations that don’t receive federal recognition.
Michael Blackaby
Class of 1969
BS ’69 (marketing), former Ontario school board member and third-generation owner of Blackaby Insurance, sold the agency but continues as secretary for the Old Owyhee Ditch Improvement District, which provides water for farmland.
Virginia Burdick
Class of 1973
MA ’73 (journalism), currently the Oregon Senate’s longest-serving member at 25 years, announced she will leave her post serving Portland’s District 18 this fall. She has been nominated to join the Northwest Power and Conservation Council in November.
Marilyn Smith
Class of 1975
BS ’75 (journalism), retired after 21 years as public information and communications officer for the city of Albany. She and husband STANFORD SMITH, BS ’67 (journalism), continue to travel with their yellow Labrador Retriever, May.
Denyse McGriff
Class of 1978
MS ’78 (political science), MUP ’79 (urban and regional planning), was appointed to the city commission in Oregon City in 2019 and elected to the body in 2020, becoming the first person of color to join the commission.
Craig Bow
Class of 1979
PhD ’79 (geological sciences), was appointed a technical advisor to Idaho Champion gold mines for two exploration gold projects.
Kathy Romey
Class of 1979
BA ’77 (music), received Chorus America’s 2021 Distinguished Service Award for 30 years of service at the University of Minnesota, where she is director of choral activities.
Joan Bayhack
Class of 1978
BA ’78 (journalism), a fitness advocate and instructor, and a former media executive, was featured in the "Know Your Neighbors" section of the Coachella Valley Independent, Cathedral City, California.
Kelly Zusman
Class of 1989
BA ’86 (history), JD ’89, started a scholarship fund named for Carmen Sylvester, who became the Portland Police Bureau’s first Black officer in 1974. The scholarship promotes diversity in the criminal justice field.
Michael Miller
Class of 1983
MArch ’83, retired after 19 years as a principal and owner of Bremerton, Washington-based Rice Fergus Miller, an architecture, interiors, and planning firm.
Nancy Retsinas
Class of 1991
JD ’91, was appointed to Clark County Superior Court, Washington.
Tiffany Mills
Class of 1992
Works by choreographer TIFFANY MILLS, BA ’92 (Clark Honors College, dance), were included in the 2021 dance festival, La MaMa Moves!, scheduled as a May streaming event in New York City.
Martin Moll
Class of 1985
BA ’85 (Clark Honors College, political science), and MICHELLE LOPEZ, BS ’06 (business administration), founded Tualatin-based Breakaway Bookkeeping & Advising, a network of advisors offering bookkeeping, virtual CFO and family-office services, and small-business marketing solutions.
James Coyle
Class of 1985
BS ’85 (computer and information science), was appointed sales director at Bangert, Inc., a construction software company in Olathe, Kansas.
Michael Govier
Class of 2000
MICHAEL GOVIER, BS '00 (speech: theater arts), a Los Angeles-based actor, screenwriter, and director, cowrote and codirected the animated short film If Anything Happens I Love You and entered it in the 2020 BendFilm Festival competition in Bend.
Skye Fitzgerald
Class of 1997
Skye Fitzgerald, MFA '97 (theater arts), whose short documentary Lifeboat was nominated for an Oscar, was chosen to deliver the 2019 commencement speech for Eastern Oregon University.
Joanna Kepka Fernandez
Class of 1998
MA ’98, PhD ’00 (geography), a faculty member with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, specializing in cultural-political geography in Europe and the Middle East, received the 2020—21 Alex G. and Faye Spanos Distinguished Teaching Award for excellence and innovation in teaching and mentorship.
Ammina Kothari
Class of 2008
MA ’08 (communication and society), an associate professor in the School of Communication for Rochester Institute of Technology, New York, received an Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching, the institute’s highest honor for tenured faculty.
Benjamin Bye
Class of 2014
BArch ’14, and HALEY DAVIS, BArch ’16, were promoted at Los Angeles-based CO Architects, which specializes in planning, programming, and design in the higher education, science and technology, and healthcare sectors. Bye became a senior associate, working on medical education, higher education, and healthcare projects; Davis became an associate, collaborating on projects that respond to context, climate, and culture.
Brian Erb
Class of 1985
BS ’85 (journalism), retired as a partner with the international law firm Ropes & Gray LLP, after practicing corporate transactional law for 25 years in New York City, the Silicon Valley, and San Francisco.