On the Cover

Features

Departments

Alumni in action

1970s

Jeffrey D. Brasie, ’70 MA ’76, was appointed as the executive director/CEO of The Peabody Retirement Community Board of Trustees. The Peabody Retirement Community is in Indiana. He previously served nearly seven years as president of The Clovernook Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Ohio.

Jeffrey Paul, ’70, retired after 30 years of federal service as director of recreation therapy at the Albuquerque Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Following his federal retirement, he was hired as the first inclusion manager for the Bernalillo County Parks and Recreation Department. His role is that of educator and consultant to the 190 department staff, assuring that all people with disabilities have equal access all parks and recreation programs and services.

Janice M. Fialka, ’73, was named the 2007 Social Worker of the Year by The National Association of Social Workers – Michigan Chapter. She is a national speaker and trainer on the topic of disabilities and inclusive education and has provided the keynote and training for international and national conferences in more than 25 states and in Canada. In 2006, she produced a 25-minute documentary titled Through the Same Door: Inclusion Includes College, which documents experiences of her son, Micah, who despite a cognitive disability, has a fully inclusive college life at Oakland University. It won the TASH Image Award for the Positive Portrayal of People with Disabilities. She lives with her husband, Rich Feldman,and her two children, Emma, 18, and Micah, 22.

Fred Honerkamp, MBA ’73, was awarded the Northwood University Samuel R. Marotta Faculty Ethics Award in May. The award is for a faculty member who best models integrity and high ethical standards. He and his wife, Kathy, reside in Midland.

Linda Phemister, ’73, was named one of Walker County, Georgia’s, top teachers for 2007. She teaches at Rossville Elementary School in Georgia.

Denver Betts, ’79, was appointed vice president of academic affairs at Athens State University. He lives in Huntsville, Alabama.

John Gohlke, ’79, received the Larue L. Miller Lifetime Achievement Award from the Michigan Environmental Health Association. He lives in Eaton Rapids.
1980s

Dr. Scott S. Haraburda, ’83, an Army Reserve colonel, has been appointed to the 2007 Board of Examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The award, created by public law in 1987, is the highest level of national recognition for performance excellence that a U.S. organization can receive. Haraburda is responsible for reviewing and evaluating applications submitted for the award. Haraburda works at the U.S. Army Chemical Material Agency in Newport, Indiana. He and his wife, the former Katherine M. Ten Have, reside in Clinton, Indiana. They have three children, Beverly, Jessica, and Christine.

Jill Smolinski, ’83, had her second novel, The Next Thing on my List, published by Random House. Film rights have been picked up by movie producer Wendy Finerman for New Line Cinema. The novel tells the story of a woman who tries to complete a life list for a friend who died before she could finish it herself. The book was featured in People magazine. Her first novel, Flip-Flopped, was published in 2003.

Martha Schultz, MSA ’86, was named the top chief financial officer in the nonprofit/human service category by Crain’s Detroit Business. She works for Focus: HOPE. Schultz joined Focus: HOPE in 2000 as controller and became chief financial officer in 2002. She lives in Plymouth Township.

Mark Starks, ’86, had his book, Fire Safety for Kids, featured in a 2007 edition of Fire Safety News, published by The Michigan Association of Fire Chiefs. His book, which targets children ages 10 and younger, offers lessons in home fire safety, smoke alarms, and escaping from fire.

Jennifer L. (Hoag Poyfair) McAvoy, ’88, works as a technical expert for the Social Security Administration in Indianapolis. She is married to Steven McAvoy and she has two children – Nathan, 17 and Rachel, 14 – and two stepchildren – Andrew, 14, and Emily, 13.

1990s

Anastasia Romanchuk, MA ’94, was awarded Northwood University’s Sophomore Class Faculty Excellence Award in April. The award, voted on by the sophomore class, is for a faculty member who personifies excellence in teaching. She has taught at Northwood University since 2005.

Brian C. Steinberg, ’95, moved to Ellensburg, Washington, in January to take a new job as general manager with Campus Crest Communities. He will manage a college student apartment complex, which opens in September.

Wendy Foss, ’96, was elected to the position of corporate secretary for Lear Corporation. The new position is in addition to her duties as vice president of finance and administration. She lives in Farmington Hills.

Toni Frawley, MSA ’96, was named director of corporate product development for Health Alliance Plan (HAP). She is responsible for the management, design, development, and launch of projects that support strategic corporate initiatives. She joined HAP in 1988 and previously was HAP’s market research manager. She lives in Shelby Township with her husband and their three sons, ages 18, 16, and 9.

Lori Goff, ’96, had her second book, Freefalling – Writing Without Limits, published.

Ron Riekki, ’96, will have his debut novel U.P. released in the fall 2008. U.P. is a fictional novel written about four high school teenagers growing up in Ishpeming and Negaunee. U.P. was nominated for the Sewanee Writers’ Series. Riekki was born in Marquette and raised in Negaunee. He graduated with his Ph.D. in Literature and Creative Writing from Western Michigan University in July. This summer he worked on the filming of the VH1 reality TV show I Love New York 2. In August, Riekki will teach Composition and World Literature at Auburn University in Alabama.

Heather Hall, ’97, was named the new executive director of Friends of Camp Mak-A-Dream, Michigan Chapter, a non-profit camp for children and young adults touched by cancer.

Jeff D. Laskowski, ’97, was named manager of marketing for The Original Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA) in Troy. He will oversee OESA Web site development, manage OESA publications, and assist with advertising. Laskowski previously worked for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, where he served as senior campaign manager overseeing fundraising and awareness campaigns.

Shannon Owens, ’97, was awarded a $1,000 scholarship from Evangelical Press Association, a professional association for the Christian periodical publishing industry. She will begin graduate studies in media and communication at Dallas Theological Seminary.

Jennifer Tuttle, ’97, won a national competition for the best business concept. More than 11,000 entered the contest. Her idea, called MathMosis, is a system of teaching counting through music. She is an elementary schoolteacher in New Baltimore.

Cathryn M. Grabowski, MA ’99, was appointed the Catholic Social Services Behavioral Health Program Director in Lake, Mason, and Oceana counties. In her new role, she will offer clinical and procedural oversight and supervision to staff providing behavioral health programming that includes mental health and counseling services as well as substance abuse prevention and treatment for adolescents and adults. She was previously employed by Catholic Human Services in Gaylord. She resides in Custer.

Aiesha D. Little, ’99, won first place in the arts feature category of the 2007 Ohio Excellence in Journalism awards, sponsored by the Press Club of Cleveland. Little, the associate editor for Cincinnati Magazine in Ohio, won the award for a 2,000-word profile she wrote on a local jazz promoter last July.

2000s

Kai Chung, MSA ’01, married Amber Gail Busch on April 21, 2007, in Fairfax, Virginia. He also started a new career working as a program officer in Virginia’s state department.

Andrea (Schafer) Tidwell, ’02, and her husband, Adam, announce the birth of their daughter, Allyson Marie, born April 14, 2007.

Kristin Devereaux Kovach, ’04, began working as a public relations specialist for Delta Dental of Michigan in April. She assists in public relations efforts for the organization and its philanthropic arm, the Delta Dental Foundation. Prior to joining Delta Dental, Kovach was an account executive at The Rossman Group, a Lansing-based public relations firm, and an account executive at Franco Public Relations Group in Detroit. She also is a member of the Public Relations Society of America. Kovach is a resident of Mason.

Meggan Means, ’04, received a master of divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education. Graduation took place May 26 at Reveille United Methodist Church in Richmond, Virginia. Means will serve as associate pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Chad Livengood, ’05, received an associate fellowship for The Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media’s “Covering America, Covering Community Colleges.” It is the first fellowship program to support in-depth coverage of community colleges.He will travel to New York City for two expenses-paid conferences. In October 2007, Livengood will meet with experts, discuss his projects with other journalists, conduct research, and visit local colleges. And in February 2008, he will return to New York City to discuss his findings. He has worked for the Jackson Citizen Patriot since 2005. •

Send us your news
We want to hear from alumni near and far to include your news in the Alumni in Action section of Centralight. Please write to us about job promotions, awards, marriages, births, and other noteworthy recent accomplishments or changes.

Send your news to Centralight by e-mail to alumni@cmich.edu, by fax to (989) 774-1098, or by mail to Centralight, Public Relations and Marketing, West Hall, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI 48859.
Be sure to include your graduation year and contact numbers.