Class Notes

David Swanson, B.A., sociology, was named as a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of California Riverside. In addition to his 130 peer-reviewed journal articles, among other reasons for this recognition, ScholarGPS identified Swanson as 56th among the world’s 60 most Highly Ranked Scholars in the field of Demography.

Darrell Newcomer, B.S., geology, retired in 2024 after a 35-year career as a hydrogeologist. After completing his master's degree from Montana Tech in 1988, Darrell worked for 30 years for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland. He then spent five years working with the Central Plateau Cleanup Co. in Richland. His work has included hydrogeologic characterization, groundwater remediation research, and groundwater monitoring activities at the Hanford Site and at government sites across the country.

Jennifer Louie, B.Mus., music performance, was selected by The Recording Academy to serve as a GRAMMY U mentor for 2024-25. Her first holiday solo violin album, "Snow in Alabama," received two iTunes chart awards in Sweden. And her new album, "The Cherry Tree Carol" was released in November. 

Lainie Pennington, BFA, dance, is a dancer and collaborator with the Margaret Jenkins Dance Co. in San Francisco. 

Norihiko Shirouzu, B.A., journalism, a reporter with Reuters, worked on a team who won a Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting earlier this year for a series of stories about Elon Musk's automobile and aerospace businesses. 

Steven Millman, M.A., political science, is global head of Research and Data Science at Dynata and hit several career milestones this year. His work using AI to drive data quality in the survey industry was an Overall Winner of the I-COM Data Creativity Awards. Steven was also the recipient of the Market Research Council Hall of Fame Change Maker Award and was named chair of the Advertising Research Foundation's Workstream on Artificial Intelligence. 

Jesse Nichols, B.A, visual journalism, a video producer at Grist, recently won an American Association for the Advancement of Science Kavli Science Journalism Award. He received a Gold Award for two video stories, "This enzyme is responsible for life on Earth. It's a hot mess," an exploration of an enzyme called RuBisCO, which helps turn carbon dioxide into energy, and "The Gulf Coast is home to one of the last health coral reefs. It's surrounded by oil," which brings viewers up close with Flower Garden Banks in the Gulf of Mexico.  

Jon Sortland, B.A., business administration, recently purchased majority ownership of the Tri-City Americans, and serves as president and head of all sales, marketing, finance and business functions of the Western Hockey League franchise.  

Eric Hill, B.S., chemistry, was recently named CEO of Kwik Lock Corporation, which produces bag closures. Previously, Eric was regional vice president and general manager of Graphic Packaging International. 

Lexie Tom, B.A., anthropology, was recently appointed interim president of Northwest Indian College. She has a doctoral degree in Indigenous studies from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and a master's in public administration from Evergreen State College. Before becoming president of Northwest Indian College, she led the Lummi Nation Educational System. 

Brenda Crabtree (Xyolholemo:t), B.A., and '97, M.A., anthropology, was recently honored with the Order of British Columbia for her work and leadership in Indigenous arts and for her advocacy of Indigenous artists. Crabtree is the former director of Aboriginal Programs at Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver, 

Alex Halverson, B.A., journalism-news/editorial, recently became a business reporter for the Seattle Times. Previously he worked at the Puget Sound Business Journal and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 

Robert King, M.A., English, recently retired from the English faculty at Utah State University's Tooele campus, where he spent more than four decades teaching English and American studies. 

Paul Wickline, BAE, English and theatre, is an administrator at College of the Canyons, a community college in Santa Clarita, California, and recently became the associate vice president for the college's Canyon Country campus. 

Cameron Miller, '99, B.S., industrial technology, is the chief executive of Business Strategy and Innovation at the Non-GMO Project, which offers a verification program for foods that contain no genetically modified organisms. Nichole Oleson, B.S., PE: pre-physical therapy, is also on the non-profit's executive team as the chief executive of People and Finance.  

Cameron Miller, B.S., industrial technology, is the chief executive of Business Strategy and Innovation at the Non-GMO Project, which offers a verification program for foods that contain no genetically modified organisms. Nichole Oleson, '06, B.S., PE: pre-physical therapy, is also on the non-profit's executive team as the chief executive of People and Finance.  

Eric Lewis, B.A., psychology, was recently appointed to serve on the Blaine City Council. He is also a member of the Blaine Community Theatre and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 9474 in Custer. 

Nicholas Bley, B.S., business administration - finance, was recently selected as the new executive vice president and chief operating officer of Heritage Bank. 

Andrew Tsao, B.S., biochemistry, is the chief product and analytics officer for Audible, a global audio entertainment company. 

Paul Redekop, M.Ed., a retired elementary school teacher and administrator in the Abbotsford, British Columbia, area, celebrated his 100th birthday in September.