Devon O’Brien: BA (Speech Communication with an emphasis on Small Group Communications), 1976
Devon O’Brien is a consultant/trainer/mentor/coach for a Chinese College Counseling team in Shenzhen Foreign Languages School. College counseling, as known in the West, is relatively non-existent in China, though beginning to grow. The pressure to get into a good university has fostered a less-than-savory agent system. The system, in its most negative form, is fraught with fraud from doctoring transcripts and test scores, to writing Letters of Recommendation to crafting application essays. It is estimated that 80 percent of those Chinese students seeking a Western education will use the agent system.
No two days are alike and each involves helping colleagues, students and parents learn about the admissions process:
- Developing the college vision — a reflective process unfamiliar to those in China
- Exploring colleges from 5,000 miles away
- Building English-language proficiency to assure success in a Western classroom
- Developing solid SAT scores without spending 24/7 for four months in test preparation. This is a test-oriented (and memorization-oriented) education system. Countless hours are devoted to SAT prep including taking leaves from school to prepare. The leaves are a rather shocking concept for a Westerner where grades carry equal weight to test scores.
- Interpreting essay prompts that are solidly founded in the American culture. Many concepts are quite foreign to Chinese students; the questions are not in the students’ realm of experience or thinking.
- Honoring Chinese culture, values and traditions to create a rich blend with those of the West.
She and her colleagues doing this work in China are blazing a remarkable trail for both the Chinese students and the Chinese College Counseling profession that grows in strength each day.
Lisa Oda: BA, 1987
Lisa is a Loyalty Marketing Manager at eBay.
Mark Olsen: BA, 2001
Mark is living in in Los Angeles, CA and is the West Coast Salesman for Standridge Color Corporation, which produces color concentrates for plastics. His favorite teachers were Lisa Coutu, Leah Ceccarelli and visiting professor Kimo Ah-Yun.
Lie Shia Ong: BA, 2004
Lie Shia Ong recently accepted a job at Microsoft. She leaves her early-morning fill-in producer job at KIRO Radio to be a producer for MSN.com’s TV site.
After graduating in June 2004, she attended the UNITY journalism convention in Washington, D.C. It was the largest gathering of journalists from all over the United States in U.S. history. Much to her excitement, she was able to meet and talk to Connie Chung, Lisa Ling and many other gifted journalists. She also attend the International Television and Radio Society Foundation (IRTS) Career Minority workshop in New York City. The annual workshop is held for select minority students from all across the country. Again, this opportunity gave her the opportunity to talk with many veteran reporters, including Dateline NBC’s Hoda Kotb and CNN’s Anderson Cooper. A few days after returning home to Seattle, MTV News called and was interested in hiring her for a news assistant position. After three rounds of interviews, she learned that she had not been selected for the job — the other candidates were all in New York and could begin work sooner than her.
She interviewed with a sales company in Seattle and had even accepted their job offer, when Good Morning America called her. (She interned for the TV show EXTRA during her senior year at UW, and her internship supervisor was good friends with one of the hiring managers at Good Morning America. When she was in New York City for the IRTS convention, she met with Good Morning
America and was put into the freelancer’s database). It was the Fourth of July weekend and they wanted to know if she could freelance for them. The next day, Good Morning America sent her to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho to cover the Shasta Groene story.
Her assignment in Idaho lasted two weeks and, during that time, she was able to field produce for Good Morning America. In her spare time, she lined up meetings with news directors and executive producers of the local stations in Spokane, about thirty minutes away. By the end of her assignment in Idaho, she had two job offers at two different stations in Spokane. She landed at KHQ-6 News in Spokane, Wash., working as a news producer.
Lie Shia has a message for students looking break into journalism: “To all the journalism students still at UW or those ready to graduate soon: Keep pursuing your dreams, work hard, make all the connections and take all the internships or jobs that you can. NEVER give up. It will all pay off in the end.”
Richard Ossinger: BA, 1955
Richard Ossinger is healthy, happy and semi-retired. As of 2005 he has been married 42 years, has 3 children and 10 grandchildren. He runs an Internet business and massage practice on the Southern Coast of Oregon and has a vacation home west of Marysville, WA. He does some public speaking on goals and attitudes.
Ean Paget: BA, 2005
Business Intern – Ethics & Business Conduct: The Boeing Company
Ian Palmer: BA, 1997, Communications
Palmer is a B2B marketing professional with expertise in information and high tech Industries. He is currently the Marketing Communications Program Manager at Impinj, Inc. He is working on very targeted direct marketing/PR campaigns to the world’s Top-100 semiconductor companies, and assisting in building awareness/trust in burgeoning industries (RFID) and market categories (within semiconductors). PR/Communications is particularly essential to the RFID side of the business where our strategy is to use Communications as a pull-through mechanism from end users back to our channel partners. He is also consulting to a number of companies for Mktg/Sales/PR, including to a well-known fashion/beauty magazine in NYC.
Past positions include:
- Director of Marketing at Infotrieve, Inc.
- Director of Sales & Marketing, Co-Founder, Partner at Hydra Worldwide Corporation
- Sales & Marketing Manager at Singular Publishing Group, Inc. (now owned by Thomson Delmar)
William Parmenter: Ph.D., 1979
William Parmenter as been teaching English and English as a second language for the last fifteen years at Fremont High School in the Los Angeles Unified School District. During vacations, he travels abroad to destinations such as Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia.
E. M. “Eddie” Pasatiempo: BA, 1977
2010 Department of Communication Alumni Hall of Fame
E. M. “Eddie” Pasatiempo is a partner with The Clarion Group (a management consulting firm). Pasatiempo has more than 25 years of senior leadership experience. Most recently, he was a partner with Korn/Ferry International, the world’s largest executive recruiting firm. Before that he served as
Senior Vice President of Global Sales and International Field Operations for Capartis. In this capacity, VAR Magazine recognized him as one of the “Top 75 Channel Executives in North America.” He was the Regional President for EDS. He also spent 16 years with IBM, finishing his term as the Director of Operations in the Asia Pacific Region, where he spent six years. His areas of expertise include global sales, marketing, executive coaching, management and organizational leadership. Pasatiempo has long been active in area advisory boards. He is the past president of the UW Alumni Association.
His current Board positions include the Washington Technology Industry Association as past Chairman of the Board and a current member of the Board of Directors, a member of the Executive Committee and Chair of the Nominating & Governance Committee; and a member of the Board of Directors of the Seattle Humane Society. He is an Ex-Officio of the University of Washington Regents, Foundation Board, the Tyee Board, and the College of Arts & Sciences. He is chair of the Dean’s Executive Advisory Board for the Seattle University, Albers School of Business & Economics; a member of the advisory boards of Harris Private Bank (Pacific Northwest), the Emerging ISV Ventures, and the Xconomy (aka: Xconomists); and a member of the Board of Trustees for the Washington Athletic Club.
Past volunteer board positions include the Board of Trustees of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, the World Trade Center of Seattle and the Columbia Tower Club. He also sat on the Board of Advisors for the University of Washington Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Pasatiempo has also become a regular visitor to the UW Department of Communication, serving in a variety of mentorship roles for Communication undergraduate students. He is a member of the Big “W” Club, the Seattle Rotary Club, and the 101 Club. He also served as an MBA Program Mentor for
the UW School of Business. Pasatiempo has a degree from the Harvard IBM Executive Program.
Read more about Edward Pasatiempo >>
Marlena Parker, BA 1994 (Speech Communication)
Parker is employed as a LIMITED PRACTICE OFFICER for Chicago Title Insurance Company. (1996-present)
Sydney Patrick: BA, 2005
Marketing Associate: Judy’s Books
Stanton Patty: BA, 1949; MA, 1958
2008 Department of Communication Alumni Hall of Fame
Stanton Patty covered the state of Alaska for most of his 57 years as a reporter. He was a former assistant travel editor of The Seattle Times and on staff at the Times from 1954 to 1988. Before that, he was a reporter for the Longview Daily News, working there from 1949 to 1954. Patty’s Alaska stories for the Times have included the fight for statehood, construction of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, the campaign for settlement of Alaska natives’ aboriginal land claims, the Good Friday earthquake of 1964, and the Exxon Valdez oil spill. He was lead reporter for coverage of the Seattle World’s Fair in 1962. Patty was twice runner-up for the Society of American Travel Writers Lowell Thomas Grand Award. He is the author of “Fearless Men And Fabulous Women: A reporter’s memoir from Alaska & the Yukon” (Epicenter Press, 2004)
Richard Pelto: BA, 1961; MC, 1968
Richard Pelto has been a reporter for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Aberdeen Daily World, and Wenatchee Daily World, as well as a wire editor. He has also been a high school and community college English teacher. Pelto edited the Washington State AFT newspaper. He is author of “Rationality, Identity, Democracy, and Unsustainability” and numerous essays. He lives in Kenmore with his wife of 44 years and is currently at work with an editor on two books: “Cold War Roots” and “Cold War Ironies.”
Manjunath Pendakur: BA, 1972 (Radio-TV); MA, 1975 (Communication)
Dr. Manjunath Pendakur is Professor & Dean at the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters at Florida Atlantic University.
Diane Peng: MCDM, 2007
Diane Peng is an Investor Relations Associate at CCG in New York, where her major responsibilities include new business development, analysis and preparation of strategic plans, coordination of press releases, client communications and administrative support to the president. Prior to joining CCG, she worked for two and a half years as a Program Manager at the Asian American Business Development Center in New York. In that role, she collaborated closely with both public and private sectors to develop and foster trade and investment ties between New York State and China. Peng also holds a Bachelor of Human Resource Management from Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing.
Mike Peringer: BA, 1957
2007 Department of Communication Alumni Hall of Fame
Mike Peringer graduated from Roosevelt High School and the University of Washington. After attending law school and graduate school, he entered the business world in Seattle and has been a successful marketing executive for more than four decades. He is currently VP-Marketing/Sale for Process Heating Company, a pioneer manufacturer in the SODO industrial area south of downtown. It was at PHCo that he founded the SODO Business Association in 1992 to represent the 2,000 businesses and 50,000 employees in SODO. It was in his capacity as president of the association that he founded ArtWorks to assist in cleaning up the area and removing graffiti. Over 5,000 at-risk and other youth have gone through the ArtWorks program since it was started in 1995. Peringer serves and has served on countless committees and councils over the years and as a result has been the recipient of numerous awards for his civic duties including the prestigious Jefferson Award, Sustainable Seattle and the Seattle Police Department’s annual Citizenship honor. Other awards resulting from his involvement with ArtWorks are: Seattle Public Utilities Anti-graffiti Award, Non-Rotarian Person of the Year, SODO Chapter, and Pemco Insurance/KOMO-TV Hometown Hero. Over the years, ArtWorks has been the recipient of awards from various civic and business organizations. He is the author of “Good Kids: The story of ArtWorks” and all proceeds from the sale of his book go to Art Works. He also published “Lifeline To The Yukon,” a history of the Yukon River, and has authored numerous articles.
Tim Pilgrim: MA, PhD; 1987, 1989
Tim Pilgrim is an associate professor of journalism at Western Washington University. He calls on much of his UW learning from professors such as Bill Ames, Don Pember, Roger Simpson, Gerald Baldasty, Tony Giffard, Richard Carter, and Richard Kielbowicz to teach the department’s introduction to mass media course, which is a popular university general education class at Western.
Read more about Tim Pilgrim >>
Steve Pool: BA, 1977 Communications
2004 Department of Communication Alumni Hall of Fame
Steve Pool is the principal weather anchor for KOMO-TV in Seattle, having joined the station as an intern while attending the UW. He joined in 1977 as KOMO’s principal science reporter, in addition to serving as weekend news anchor and weather forecaster. In 1984, he became KOMO’s primary weather forecaster. That same year, he began hosting a program on KOMO-TV titled “Front Runners” which aired every Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on KOMO. The show soon picked up nationwide syndication and featured the stories of people who beat all odds or had a unique talent, etc. “Front Runners” won many awards, including Emmys. The show ended in 1996. Pool has won seven Emmy Awards during his career to date, made more than 80 appearances as a guest weather talent on the television show Good Morning America, and appeared in the movies Vixen Highway (2001) and Life or Something Like It (2002). Additionally, he is the author of a book about weather and its forecasting, Somewhere, I Was Right. During the 1990s, Pool hosted a video series titled “I Wanna Be (astronaut, construction worker, pilot, TV news reporter, etc).” He is on the Executive Committee of the Museum of Flight Foundation trustees and supports KOMO’s annual Miracle Makers Broadcast, which raises millions of dollars for Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center. With former NFL player Warren Moon, Pool organizes the Warren Moon and Steve Pool Golf classic — a two-day event that raises money for Children’s Hospital. In 2004 the event raised more than $700,000 to benefit the Children’s Hospital uncompensated care fund, helping to ensure that all children in the community have access to medical care, regardless of their financial situation.
Cliff Porter: BA, 1969 (Speech Communication)
Since graduation, Mr. Porter has worked as a radio announcer and in retail sales. In his response to the Communication Alumni Newsletter, spring, 2006 edition, he reports that his interests are railroading, writing and art.
Pamela Prado: BA, 2000
Pamela Prado is an anchor at KSEE-TV, the NBC affiliate in Fresno, CA. She interned at KCPQ and KOMO in Seattle while attending UW and began reporting in Yakima, WA before heading to Fresno. In 2006, she won the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award for a story about a woman who stands on an overpass above Highway 41, waving at passing cars, uplifting the spirits of people passing by.
Ruth Pumphrey: BA, 1964
Pumphrey worked for the news affiliate King TV for 20 years, moving up to the position of assignment editor before retiring in September of 2007. Since retirement Pumphrey fills her time with personal pleasures such as gardening and bird watching. She is also an avid clay sculptor, making abstract forms of art. She is one day hoping to get some of it shown in a gallery.
Read more about Ruth Pumphrey >>
Ron Pyle: MA, 1986; PhD, 1993
With a Ph.D. in speech communication and two master’s degrees, one in speech communication from the University of Washington and one in theology from Fuller Theological Seminary, Ron Pyle now teaches at Whitworth College in the departments of communication studies and theology.
Alex Quade: BA, 1992 (Communications, Speech Communication, Political Science)
Freelance War Reporter Alex Quade covers U.S. Special Operations forces. She is the recipient of a national Edward R. Murrow Award and the Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s “Tex McCreary Award for Excellence In Journalism.” Ms. Quade’s documentary on Special Operations forces and Other Government Agencies in Afghanistan, “Horse Soldiers of 9/11,” narrated by actor Gary Sinise, is currently in film festivals nationwide. She recently wrote a tribute piece to wounded soldiers summiting Mt. Rainier in the Daily Caller.
Doug Ramsey: BA, 1956
Ramsey has written about jazz for Down Beat, Jazz Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and the Dallas Morning News. He is also an author. In 2005, he released “Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond.” The book was named the Best Book About Jazz by the Jazz Journalists Association in 2006, and was the winner of a 2006 ASCAP Deems Taylor Award (Ramsey’s second such award), which recognizes outstanding print, broadcasting and new-media writing about music. Ramsey received his
first Deems award in 1997 for the essay accompanying the Bill Evans boxed CD set “The Secret Sessions.” Ramsey’s first novel, “Poodie James,” was released in 2007 and he writes a popular jazz blog titled “Rifftides: Doug Ramsey on
jazz and other matters.”
Sean Rankin: BA, 2005
Account Executive: Ricoh
Deborah Cornell Ranniger: PhD, 1988
Deborah Ranniger is the Foundation Director at Renton Technical College. Deborah is also an elected official for the City of Kent, the current President of the Kent City Council.
Additionally she currently teaches public speaking, introduction to research, interpersonal, intercultural and small group communication at Renton Technical College and University of Phoenix. She was the Public Education Specialist for the Kent Police Department for three years, where she wrote grants, coordinated volunteers and forged community connections for the department. Prior to that Ranniger held the position of Executive Director of the Marketing Commission for Recyclable Materials at King County and Public Involvement Manager for the Surface Water Management Division at King County.
Read more about Deborah Ranniger >>
Betsie Rayner: BA, 2005
Marketing & Event Director: Beacon Hill Events
Diane (Williams) Read: BA (Journalism), 1956
For over a third of her life, Read has been writing science pieces for research organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area. These pieces include grant applications, newsletters, and annual reports. In addition, Read continues her freelance work, but has devoted much of her time to
volunteering in poorer neighborhood schools in the San Francisco area, as well as dedicated her time to the San Francisco Symphony. Before living and working in San Francisco, Diane lived in Washington, D.C., and wrote for the Secretary of the Navy, as well as the Washington Post. As an undergraduate, Read was Campus Correspondent and a part-time reporter for The Seattle Times. After graduation, she was a reporter for the Bremerton Sun, then returned to the UW as assistant public information officer for the Division of Health Sciences. While living at Subic Bay, Philippines, she spearheaded a successful effort to establish a Sister City relationship with Bremerton, and wrote a series of articles for The Sun.
Jena Reid: BA, 2010
Jena Reid graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in both Communication and Psychology. She is an Assistant Producer at Eventage, a full-service event production company that creates, designs, develops and executes live events for Fortune 100 companies as well as blue-chip nonprofits.
Norman Rice: BA, 1972 Communications
2004 Department of Communication Alumni Hall of Fame
2003 Department of Communication Distinguished Alumnus
Public servant, bank president and CEO, community leader. He served 3 terms on the Seattle City Council and was Mayor of Seattle. As the mayor, he enhanced the quality of the city’s public schools, revitalized the downtown core and implemented a model welfare-to-work program. We was the President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and joined the Federal Home Loan Bank as Executive Vice President in 1998, becoming President and CEO in 1999. He sits on or has sat on numerous boards, including SAFECO, Brooking Institution’s Advisory Committee for Sustainable Communities, and the Bretton Woods Committee.
Kathleen Knutson Riley: BA, 1985 (Communications and Economics)
After graduation, Kathleen Riley worked as a farmwriter in Walla Walla for three years, then at the Tri-City Herald for 14 years as a business writer, editorial writer and editorial page editor;. She joined The Seattle Times editorial page staff in 2002 as editor, writer and columnist. She follows higher ed., energy and immigration. In the summer of 2006, she was on a three-month leave as the 2005 recipient of the Eugene C. Pulliam Fellowship for Editorial Writing. Her project related to controversies surrounding the study of the earliest Americans. In her response to the Communication Alumni Newsletter, spring, 2006 edition, she reports that she is “Interested in discussions about common ground. How do you get diabolically opposed groups to listen to each other?”
Peter Rinearson: Attended, 1976; BA, 2004
Winner of the 1984 Pulitzer Prize, Feature Writing for The Seattle Times as a result of “Making It Fly,” his account of the new Boeing 757 jetliner.
Herbert F. (Herb) Robinson: BA, 1949 (posthumous)
2010 Department of Communication Alumni Hall of Fame
Herbert F. (Herb) Robinson was an award-winning television and newspaper journalist in Seattle who served as lead editorial writer for The Seattle Times from 1977 to 1989 and as anchor, news director, and on-air host at KOMO Television in the pioneering years of 1953 to 1965. As a UW student, he was the campus correspondent for The Seattle Times. His college career was interrupted by World War II, where he saw combat in Burma. He left the service as a captain and returned to the UW to earn his degree in journalism. In 1954, television was a new medium on the scene and Robinson joined KOMO-TV to host a daily news program called Deadline. The show received a Sylvania Television Award in 1956 for outstanding local and special-events programs. Robinson left television and returned to The Seattle Times where he wrote editorials. Over 20 years, he produced thousands of pieces. The Municipal League honored him in 1983 and the Washington State School Directors Association in 1973 for his contributions to understanding public policy issues. After retiring in 1989, Robinson turned to writing novels. In 1993, he enrolled in a fiction class at the University of Washington. He became a regular at writing-practice sessions held twice weekly at Tio’s (renamed Louisa’s) Cafe on Eastlake Avenue in Seattle. He wrote there for 10 years. Robinson was in the process of seeking an agent and publishing venues for his fiction when he died in 2003.
AnnMarie Rochelle, BA 2007
AnnMarie Rochelle is working for the Coast Guard
Katie Rosenthal: BA, 2004
Media Coordinator: FSA Advertising & Media, Inc.
Dena (Claudon) Rosko: BA, 2001, Communication and English
Dena Rosko begins a doctoral program at Grand Canyon University. Rosko earned her MA in Communication & Leadership Studies from Gonzaga University and her BA in English/Creative Writing and Communication from the UW.
Angela Rosette-Tavares: BA, 1994
Rosette-Tavares is the Digital Projects Designer at the University of Washington Libraries. She has worked for the University since 1993. She is married to Joseph Tavares, BS in EE 1996, MS in EE 2003.
Jennifer Russell: BA, 2005
Administrative Assistant, Restaurant Division: Nordstrom
Molly Schachter: BA, 2011
Molly Schachter supports the Associate Vice President for UW Advancement Communications. She was formerly with the Mackay Restaurant Group where she not only supported the CEO and COO but also worked with their marketing director on a variety of communications and promotional projects. She’s a proud Husky having graduated from the UW with a BA in Communications and Political Science.
Jill Schmid: MA and PhD, 1993 and 2000
Jill Schmid is a litigation (trial) consultant for Tsongas Litigation Consulting Inc. She has been working with Tsongas as a contract consultant since 2002, concentrating on pre-trial jury research and litigation strategy. She started her permanent position in January, 2005.
Prior to joining Tsongas, she was a Speech Communications professor at Willamette University for more than six years and a Communication Arts and Mass Communication professor at Linfield College for a little under three years. She focused her teaching on classes in public speaking, media, persuasion, interpersonal, political, and intercultural communication. Her research focused on areas of message framing, narrative, visual messages and attitudes.
At the University of Washington, she studied communication theories and practices, information processing with special emphasis on the role of gender and race, attitude formation and change, persuasion, media relations, and advertising/marketing.
She is also a certified mediator in general as well as domestic relations mediation. Her interest in mediation stems from a motivation to uncover why and how parties’ resolve conflicts.
She works out of Tsongas’ Seattle and Portland offices.
Elianora Scholz: BA, 2004
Sales Assistant/Administrative Manager: Petry Media Corporation
Justin Schutz: BA, 2000
Justin has recently accepted a position at the Seattle offices of Fitch, a well known global branding and design firm. In his role as Associate Brand Strategist/Copywriter, he will continue his passion for storytelling and creative concepting.
Read more about Justin Schutz >>
D. Travers Scott: MC Digital Media, 2005
After graduating UW, Travers entered into the PhD program at the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication, where he recently completed qualifying examinations and is now a PhD Candidate. He has published two book chapters based on his UW thesis research: “Tempests of the Blogosphere: Presidential Campaign Stories that Failed to Ignite Mainstream Media” in Digital Media and Democracy: Tactics in Hard Times (Megan Boler, Ed., MIT Press, 2008) and “Pundits in Muckrakers’ Clothing: Political Blogs and the 2004 Presidential Election” in Blogging, Citizenship, and the Future of Media (Mark Tremayne, Ed., Routledge, 2007). Other writing, presentations, and information are available through his main site: http://www.dtraversscott.com.
Ryan Simpson: BA, 2004
National Chill Coordinator: Burton Snowboards
Joseph Slate: BA, 1951 – Journalism
2010 Department of Communication Alumni Hall of Fame
Joseph Slate is a successful children’s-book author. His newest children’s book, I Want to be Free, with illustrations by Caldecott honoree E.B. Lewis, will be published by Putnam in 2009. Also in 2009, a musical based on Slate’s best-selling Miss Bindergarten series will tour 19 cities. The schedule is on his website: www.josephslate.com. Slate was editor of the UW Daily. Then he worked as a reporter for the Seattle Times before becoming an editor for Foreign Broadcast Information Service. It was then he decided he wanted to be a painter and went to art school. While in art school, he sold his first short story to The New Yorker.
Laurie Smith: Attended, 1994 and 1995
Winner of the 1981 Pulitzer Prize (Local General or Spot News Reporting) with fellow alumni Dan McDonough (BA, 1948) and Linda Wilson (BA, 1979) for their coverage of the Mt. St. Helens story for the Longview (Washington) Daily News.
Hope Solo: BA, 2003
Professional Athlete: US Soccer/Lyonnais
Candace Soohoo: BA, 2009
Candace Soohoo interned at Barokas Public Relations, a technology boutique PR firm, after graduation and recently accepted a permanent position on their team.
Lynn M. Spohn: BA, 1979
Lynn Spohn is co-owner of Oasis, a Seattle-based Event Marketing and Public Relations firm. Clients include Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and NASA.
Additional information about Oasis…
Helene Starks, (’82, ’04)
Helene Starks is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical History and Ethics at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She earned her BA in Communications from the UW Department of Communications, an MPH in Health Policy and Administration from the University of California at Berkeley and a PhD in Health Services Research from the UW.
Dr. Starks’ research interests include issues related to the end-of-life for patients, their family members, clinicians, and health systems. Her research also includes qualitative and mixed methods research, surrogate decision-maker and family caregiver issues, utility assessment, medical decision-making, and clinician-patient communication. Special interests include feminist and narrative approaches to bioethics, and research ethics, especially involving vulnerable human subjects in research.
For more information, visit her faculty bio page…
Susannah Stern: MA, 1997
Susannah Stern is an assistant professor at the University of San Diego. She teaches courses such as Roles and Communication, Children and the Media and Research and Writing for the Mass Media.
Stern’s research investigates how youth use media to navigate through adolescence. She is particularly concerned with the Internet as a unique space for cultural production, youth communication, self-publication, sub-culture connection and identity exploration. Currently, her key projects are related to adolescent electronic media use — primarily, but not exclusively, Internet — such as teen blogging, instant messaging and the way in which teens are represented in news media.
More information on Susannah Stern’s work >>
Catherine Shannon Stevens: BA, 1969
Catherine graduated from the UW with a degree in Journalism/Advertising. She is married to Craig Stevens, also a 1969 UW graduate from the School of Communications. She is a principal at The Marketing Partners, Inc., a Bellevue, WA marketing, advertising and public relations agency specializing in helping regional companies effectively market their products. Catherine is the President-elect of the Seattle Professional Chapter of Association for Women in Communications.
Dolores Sibonga: BA, 1952, Journalism
Hall of Fame: 2007; Distinguished Alumnus: 2010
After graduating from the UW, Sibonga went to work in the fast-paced world of radio and television news in both Spokane and Seattle. In 1968 she and her husband purchased the Filipino Forum. Years later, facing her husband’s layoff from Boeing, Sibonga went back to school to pursue a degree in law. Sibonga became the first Filipina-American lawyer in Washington state. In 1973, the Washington State Bar admitted her, making her the first Filipina-American woman member as well. After graduating, Sibonga went to work as a public defense attorney and then worked for the King County Council as a legislative analyst, later moving to the office of civil rights. In 1978, she became the first minority woman to serve on the Seattle City Council. Sibonga was in office for 12 years, serving three terms. In 1989, she ran unsuccessfully for mayor. After leaving politics, she returned to being a lawyer. Over the years she has served on many different public commissions, notably the Horse Racing Commission for two years and the Human Rights Commission for five years. Sibonga remains an active community member, serving on the boards of the Wing Luke Asian Museum, the Art Institute, Inter*Im, Port Jobs, and the King County Board of Tax Appeals and Equalization and the Community Advocacy Outreach Committee board. She was once arrested at a Civil Rights Movement demonstration at Sea-Tac Airport, and also involved in a fight against the building of the Kingdome. She interned as public defender during her junior year of law school, then became director of the Washington State Human Rights commission.
Read more about Dolores Sibonga >>
Jon W. Stewart: BA (Journalism), 1954
Mr. Stewart retired 31 December 1988 as Senior Foreign Service Officer, United States Information Agency. Except for one four-year tour in Washington, D.C., his career was spent at posts in Arab and/or Muslim countries of the Middle East, North Africa and Southwest Asia. He currently resides in Bothell.
James W. Stewart: PhD, 2000
James W. Stewart serves as the Associate Dean in the School of Distributed Learning and as a Professor of Communications at Bethany University in California. He is responsible for all non-traditional educational delivery at the College, including an online program, cohort degree completion and an extension campus in Las Vegas, NV. In addition, James has been involved in the restructuring of the communications department at Bethany in order to offer mass communications, rhetoric and media arts. His anti-HIV/AIDS work continues through his directorship of an international non-profit organization: kaBantu/yaBatho (Zulu/Tswana: for the people), dedicated to serving Africans, in particular AIDS orphans through Foster Care for Africa and AIDS intervention through education designed by and for cultures. The first Nurturing Center now has 50 children and is located in Tlabane, South Africa.
Mitchell D. Stocks: BA, 1982
Mitchell Stocks has taken a non-traditional approach to his career. After graduating from the University of Washington, he received his MA from the University of Southern California in 1985, worked in the computer and telecommunications industry for five years and then enrolled at the Northwestern University Law School at the age of thirty. Interestingly, Stocks says, “he suspects that he will eventually do something much different than what he is doing now.
Read more about Mitchell Stocks >>
Ron Sudderth: BA, 1964
Commercial real estate brokerage and investments, Seattle and Bellevue.
Carolyn Sueno: BA, 2004
Marketing Director/Professional Relations: First Rehabilitation & Physical Therapy, Inc.
Ayumi Suzuki: BA, 2003
Ayumi Suzuki has served as an account executive of a public relations firm in Tokyo since 2004. She is currently I’m handling the publicity for various clients, such as pharmaceutical companies, manufacturer of health care products, and a watch manufacturer.
Ms. Suzuki is interested in connecting with other alumni from Japan.
Pat Tanumihardja: BA, 1995
As a freelance writer, Pat Tanumihardja writes about food, travel and lifestyle through a multicultural lens and especially enjoys covering topics that converge on food, history and culture. Talking to farmers, cooking with grandmas and seeking offbeat vegetables are some of her favorite pastimes. Her debut cookbook, “The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook: Home Cooking from Asian American Kitchens” (Sasquatch Books) is now available. Please visit: www.theasiangrandmotherscookbook.wordpress.com.Alyson M. Teeter-Baker: BA, 2002 (Communications and Political Science)
Alyson M. Teeter-Baker: BA (Communications and Political Science), 2002
Alyson Teeter-Baker is the Veterans’ Affairs Constituent Services Representative for Senator Patty Murray (D-WA). She also serves in the National Guard as the public affairs manager for the 129th Rescue Wing, California Air National Guard, Moffett Federal Airfield, Calif. Before serving in the National Guard, Alyson received her active duty commission through the Air Force ROTC program at the University of Washington. She was an active duty Air Force public affairs officer and her duty assignments included tours at Air Combat Command, Langley Air Force Base, Va., and 7th Air Force, Osan Air Base, South Korea. Alyson received her Master of Science degree in Mass Communication from San Jose State University in May 2008. She is currently pursuing an Executive MPA degree through the Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington.
John Thompson: BA (Editorial Journalism), 1973
Mr. Thompson is a copy editor at The Register-Guard in Eugene, OR.
Martin “Marty” Thompson: BA (Radio-Television), 1960
Thompson retired in 2003 after a 37-year career with The Associated Press. From 1988 until 2003, he was based in New York and served as managing editor and as the news service’s first director of state news. In the latter position, he led strengthening of state bureau news coverage through improved planning and execution and story selection to increase AP’s role in breaking original news stories. Earlier, he was chief of bureau in San Francisco and Los Angeles, after working as a reporter and editor in Seattle, Reno and San Francisco. Before joining the AP in Seattle, he was news director of KREW, Sunnyside, Wash., and a newsman at KEDO in Longview, where he was raised. Thompson and his wife, Janet, live in Santa Rosa, Calif.
Stewart Ian Thompson: BA, 1994 (Double degree in Communications and English)
Stewart worked with a marketing agency and a variety of media and entertainment companies in the U.S. and London until he entered an MBA program at USC’s Marshall School of Business. Stewart will graduate in July, 2004.
Sandy Thuntarug: BA, 2009
Sandy Thuntarug is an Enterprise Information Technology Intern at T-Mobile.
Heather Tien, BA, 2001
Heather Tien is a regional pubic relations specialist for Boost Mobile in Irvine, Calif. She joined Boost in December 2008 after working five years at various public relations agencies specializing in the food/restaurant industry.
Terence Todd: BA Radio-TV, 1960; MA Communication, 1961
Doug Tolmie: BA, 1978
Following a 25-year career at KOMO-TV in Seattle that included 10 Emmys for producing more than 500 “Town Meeting” programs, numerous documentaries and live event specials such as the Children’s Miracle Network Telethon and the “4th of Jul-Ivar’s Fireworks Show,” and more than 500 news stories and special reports, Doug Tolmie left the station in June, 2004 to form his own consulting company. His new company, Storyteller Communications, which includes 1970 grad Michael S. Eguchi as one of the partners, is a group of broadcast and business professionals who enhance organizational performance and profitability through the art of storytelling.
Craig Tomashoff : BA, 1982
Craig Tomashoff is currently working as the West Coast Bureau Chief for TV Guide, based in Los Angeles. He has worked there since 2003. Prior to that, he was a television writer/producer for five years, working for shows such as “Behind the Music” and “The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn” and with people such as Jesse Ventura and Martin Short. And going back still further, he was associate bureau chief for People Magazine for 10 years. He also received a master’s degree in magazine journalism from Northwestern University in 1985.
Maureen Trantham: BA (Journalism), 2007
maureen@partnership4learning.org
Maureen is currently the communication manager for Partnership for Learning, a state-wide education reform nonprofit. She began her career as an international journalist and has worked at newspapers in both Thailand and China. She has traveled to over 20 countries and graduated from the University of Washington with dueling degrees in journalism and the comparative history of ideas. Never quite content at doing just one thing, Maureen has worked in communications for Starbucks Coffee, Owen Media (a Seattle-based technology agency) and the University of Washington Department of Media Relations. While working in such diverse environments, she gradually found that education policy and youth trends were what she loved to write about most.
At Partnership for Learning, Maureen serves as the organization’s voice, be it writing about education to her heart’s content on the Hall Monitor Blog, developing web strategies for education reform or drawing on her diverse print design background to create brochures and reports for parents, teachers and legislators.
Mayumi Tsutakawa: BA, 1972; MA, 1976
2008 Department of Communication Alumni Hall of Fame
A UW alumna with an undergraduate degree in East Asian Studies and a Masters in Communication. her thesis dealt with James Sakamoto and the Japanese American Courier. She credits Communication Professor Roger Simpson, her thesis advisor, for not only helping her find her topic, but for understanding and being supportive of her interest in that topic.
Read more about Mayumi Tsutakawa >>
Ted Van Dyk: BA, 1955 Communications
2006 Department of Communication Alumni Hall of Fame
Ted Van Dyk has been active in national policy and politics for over 30 years. Van Dyk received his MS from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1956. He worked as a sports reporter and editor for the Long Island (N.Y.) Daily Press and as a reporter and editor for United Press. He was most recently an opinion columnist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. In mid-1957 he began military duty as a U.S. Army intelligence analyst. Van Dyk subsequently served as a Soviet specialist and intelligence analyst at the Pentagon; as deputy and acting director of the European Communities’ (now European Union) Washington, D.C., office (1962-64); as senior assistant to Vice President Hubert Humphrey; as vice president of Columbia University (1968-69); as president of his own Washington, D.C., consulting firm (1969-76 and 1985-97); and as coordinator of foreign assistance programs in the Carter Administration’s White House and State Department. He additionally served as a vice president of the Weyerhaeuser Company, president of the Center for National Policy (1981-85), Washington, D.C., and executive vice president of The Milken Institute (1997-99), Santa Monica, CA. In national politics, Van Dyk served as a senior political and policy advisor to presidential candidates Hubert Humphrey, George McGovern, Jimmy Carter, Ted Kennedy, Walter Mondale, Gary Hart and Paul Tsongas. He has been principal author of the Democratic national platform on several occasions. Van Dyk is a board member of the Roosevelt Institute, Hyde Park, NY; the Humphrey Institute, University of Minnesota; the Jean Monnet Institute, Washington, D.C.; the Committee for Study of the American Electorate, Washington, D.C.; and is a member of the national program committee of the Council on Foreign Relations, New York, and coordinator of its Seattle book-study program. He continues to write for local and national publications.
Joel VanEtta: BA, 1985
Joel VanEtta joined Gogerty Marriott in 1987. He manages issues for such clients as Group Health Cooperative, International Speedway Corporation, Salishan-Mohegan, Davis Wright Tremaine, Glacier Northwest, Swedish Medical Center, Washington Dental Service, Virginia Mason Medical Center and Whole Foods Markets. His project management experience includes developing strategy and managing the implementation of communications plans for complex public issues with multiple objectives and modes of communication, and statewide campaigns on initiative election issues. He has also provided strategic direction and managed numerous projects involving controversial public issues; complex governmental review and approval processes; crisis communications; government, media and community relations; and grassroots organizing and communications. An award-winning reporter, photographer and editor at the Tri-City Herald for six years, VanEtta is a proficient writer and editor. He is a member of the boards of directors for the Seattle Center Foundation and a past director of the Seattle Police Foundation and Seattle City Club. He is a lifetime member of Trout Unlimited and a member of the Federation of Flyfishers and American Rivers.
Saadia Van Winkle: BA, 2003
Saadia Van Winkle could serve as a role model for any student hoping to use her UW education to break into broadcast journalism. Although she originally feared that the Journalism Program had prepared her more for a career in print than broadcast, Van Winkle soon found that a solid background in the fundamentals was more than enough preparation.
Read more about Saadia Van Winkle >>
Malia Whitney Wallick: BA, 2004
Whitney is an Account Operations Manager for Disney Interactive Media Group.
Margaret K. Walker: BA, 1974; BA, 1987
2009 Department of Communication Alumni Hall of Fame
Maggie Walker is very active in the nonprofit community. She is 2nd vice chair on the Board of Directors of The Seattle Foundation, a leading philanthropic nonprofit organization in creating positive community change. She is past president of the ARCS Foundation Seattle Chapter and board vice president of the Museum of History and Industry. She currently serves as board chair of the Bullitt Foundation an MOHAI, is co-chair of the Prosperity Partnership’s Cultural Task Force, and is president elect of the Seattle Art Museum. A strong advocate of the environment, education and the arts, Walker has led the boards of the Henry Art Gallery, the Woodland Park Zoological Society and the Washington Women’s Foundation. She is a founding member of the foundation, first chair of the board and planning committee, two-time grant committee member, and helped lead the development of the Foundation’s endowment. In addition, she is a past board vice president of Washington Audubon and Seattle Children’s Home. Walker chaired Art Fair Seattle for five years and headed up Campaign UW for the College of Arts and Sciences. She is co-founder of Social Venture Partners, a network of engaged donors and nonprofits teamed to leverage their knowledge and experiences for the good of the community.
Tara Wallis: BA, 1995
Tara Wallis is a Producer for NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams and KNBC TV in Los Angeles. Other production credits include Decision 2005: The Voter Forum with Governor Schwarzenegger; 2005 California Governors Summit; 2005 Los Angeles Mayoral Debate; 2005 Hurricane Katrina’s Toll: The Southland Responds to Disaster; 2004 Los Angeles Mayoral Debate (Candidates Runoff Debate); 2004 California U.S. Senate Debate; 2004 Summer Olympic Preshow; 2003 Recall Election Debate; 2003 Townhall Meeting with Governor Gray Davis. She was the Field Producer for the 2006 Golden Globe Awards Red Carpet; the 2005/2004 Academy Awards Red Carpet; and the 2005 Primetime Emmys Red Carpet.
Wallis has worked at KIRO TV in Seattle; KSL TV in Salt Lake City; KREM TV in Spokane; and she was the Bureau Coordinator for Northwest Cable News in Seattle and Spokane, after graduating from the UW.
Golden Mike Award; 2003, 2004 and 2005 Newscast Emmy Nomination, NATAS Los Angeles Chapter; 2004 Newscast, Los Angeles Press Club Awards; 2003 Breaking News Event, Producer, Golden Mike Award.
Katie Ward: BA, 2005
Field Organizer: Washington Conservation Voters
Hazel Warlaumont: PhD, 1993
Dr. Hazel Warlaumont is retired from Cal State, Fullerton where she was a full professor in the Department of Communications since 1993. She was selected as the Fulbright-Nehru Distinguished Chair to India for 2012-13.
Kiera Warren: BA, 2012
Kiera Warren is an events coordinator for Bold Hat Productions.
Alexis M. Watson: BA, 2004
Alexis M. Watson is a first year graduate student at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She is expected to earn her Master’s degree in Public Policy with a concentration in Political Advocacy and Leadership in June 2008.
Prior to enrolling at the Kennedy School, Alexis worked for 2 years as a program coordinator at the University of Washington Alumni Association. In this capacity she had the opportunity to work with campus and community members to contribute to the university’s Development and Alumni Relations (DAR) efforts-specifically through academic programming. As an undergraduate at the University of Washington (Seattle), Alexis served for 2 years as a Student Outreach Ambassador for the Office of Minority Affairs where she designed and implemented effective methods of conducting outreach and recruitment to increase educational opportunities for high school and middle school students from historically underrepresented and economically disadvantaged communities.
The eldest of two younger brothers, Alexis is a first-generation college student who earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington in 2004. She was born in Dallas, TX.
Marc Watts: BA, 1982
Marc Watts joined the executive team at Comment Communications (formerly Elevation Sports & Entertainment). Watts will lead the company’s new broadcast training division, offering a complete line of services to groom athletes who seek on-air positions in their post-athletic careers.
Danielle Weaver: BA, 2005
Account Coordinator: The Matale Line
Cecil Webb: BA (Journalism), 1950
Cecil Webb retired in 1989 after 37 years in advertising, TV and radio sales, news, and management-ownership. An active reporter for his stations, Cecil won the Associated Press Mark Twain Award for best broadcast news operation in California in 1978.
David Webb: BA, 2003
High School Communications Applications Teacher: Frisco Independent School District
Steve Weiner: BA, 1970
Steve worked for the Associated Press in Washington State and Chicago for about nine years, ending up in Chicago as deputy bureau chief and news editor. He then worked for The Wall Street Journal in Chicago, covering agriculture, the commodities markets and Midwest retailing and consumer products. After working for the Eugene Register-guard as assistant city editor and city editor, The Seattle Times as a temporary assistant city editor, and back to The Wall Street Journal in Chicago as national retail correspondent (including coverage of the consumer economy), Steve spent five years with Forbes as their Chicago bureau chief.
In 1991 he started Readmore Communications, moved over to Alliant Foodservice (formerly known as Kraft Foodservice) as vice president of communications, and is now back running Readmore – splitting his time between K-12 education at the state board of education level, and corporate and non-profit clients.
He has this to say about his education and his experience in the real world: I certainly learned the difference between good writing and weak, formulaic writing. I have a much finer appreciation of how a university can contribute to a better-honed young journalist. I realize that I made a mistake by spending all my time in the Journalism school and The Daily. I should have learned more about the world, taking economics classes to give just one example, and spent less time in the very cloistered world of college communications.
Geoffrey S. Wells: 1981, BA
Geoffrey Wells graduated from Pepperdine University School of Law and is a partner at Greene Broillett and Wheeler, LLP. Southern California Super Lawyers Magazine/Los Angeles Magazine named him Super Lawyer 2004, 2005 & 2006.
Read more about Geoffrey Wells >>
Jane Wells Elliott (graduated as Jane Wells): BA-Communications, 1986; BA Psychology, 1986
Married nearly 20 years to Doug Elliott. Proud mother of Sarah Elliott, who is off to pursue a BFA in Musical Theater in 2009. Longtime resident of Kirkland, WA.
Colleen K. West (formerly Schaller): BA, 1998
Colleen West has been working for KIRO TV in Seattle since graduation. She is a Web Content Editor for the kirotv.com Web site. Her work includes news writing, local events, email newsletters, building out new sections on the site, video, design and daily updates. About her time at the UW, Colleen says “The New Media classes I took at the UW have really helped me succeed in this position.”
Taylor Westphal: BA, 2004
Taylor Westphal is the Events Coordinator for the UW Alumni Association. She worked at 98.9 KWJZ for four years as Promotion Coordinator at KWJZA (98.9 Smooth Jazz), a Seattle radio station.
Christine C. White: BA, 1972 – Communications, Editorial Journalism
Christine White entered the UW in 1954 and left school to marry in 1955. After having five children she returned to school full time in 1970 with the help of an award from the Paul Ashley Fund and then an award from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The summer between her junior and senior years she was an intern reporter for the Tacoma News Tribune.
Her early jobs after graduation included: public information officer for Seattle Central Community College; information specialist, Health Sciences Information Services, UW; public relations specialist, Pay ‘n Save Corp.; and employee benefits communications specialist, Seattle Standard Corp. She did some freelance writing before ending 11 years with The Boeing Co. as a writer/editor.
She is active in advocating for the mentally ill, with memberships on a committee of the King County Mental Health Advisory Board, and the board of National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Greater Seattle.
Dana Whitford: BA, 1986
Dana is a Network Specialist for the Communication Technologies department at the University of Washington.
Mike Wiegand: BA, 1976; MA, 1981
Mike Wiegand is the Executive Speechwriter and Executive Communications Director for Governor Gary Locke. He is also a freelance executive communications consultant and writer.
Linda Wilson: BA, 1979
Winner of the 1981 Pulitzer Prize (Local General or Spot News Reporting) with fellow alumni Dan McDonough (BA, 1979) and Laurie Smith (Attended, 1994 and 1995) for their coverage of the Mt. St. Helens story for the Longview (Washington) Daily News.
Sean Wilson: BA, 2010
Sean Wilson was accepted into the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. Wilson, an alum of the Communication Evening Degree program, secured one of only 220 seats in the incoming class, out of a pool of 6,500.
Wendie A. Wilson: BA, Speech Communication, 1998
Wendie A. Wilson, President of Universal City North Hollywood Jaycees, a not-for-profit organization helping young people make a difference in their community, was interviewed in the Noho Arts District on Nov. 2, 2011.
Margaret Winch: BA, 1984
Margaret is the owner of Communication Resources Northwest. Her primary clients are architects, engineers, and contractors and her main areas of focus are organizational development and research programs in employee satisfaction.
Betty Houchin Winfield: PhD, 1978
Betty Houchin Winfield recently published a new book entitled, Journalism-1908: Birth of a Profession. The book describes how journalism transformed with the establishment of journalism schools and other institutions.
Winfield is on the faculty of the University of Missouri, School of Journalism. She has been there since 1990 and is the Curators’ Professor for the school. She is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Political Science and an affiliated Professor in the Harry S. Truman School of Public Affairs. She has had post-doc fellowships at the Freedom Forum, Columbia University (1988-89) and the Shorenstein Center for Press, Politics and Public Policy, Harvard University (1991). Winfield has written three books, three monographs, and over 100 scholarly and reference articles, conference papers, and book chapters. Her interests are in the latest research in communications; mass media; and political communication. In 2005, Winfield married Barry Hyman, UW Professor, Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering and Evans School of Public Affairs.
Beth Witham: BA, 2005
Beth Witham is a producer for KOMO-TV.
Read about Witham’s visit to News Lab autumn quarter, 2006 >>
David Workman: BA, 1972
Workman graduated in 1972, and in January 1973, he was hired as the editor of a small weekly newspaper, the Snoqualmie Valley Record, where he stayed until November 1979, then was hired by Fishing & Hunting News. During part of that time, he was also a stringer for the Associated Press. For the next 21 years, he worked as the Washington editor of F&H News, rose to senior staff editor and was named managing editor of two other publications, Hunter Education Instructor and Small Craft Advisory, owned by F&H News‘ parent company, Outdoor Empire Publishing.
In November 2000, he was hired as senior editor of a nationally-circulated firearms newspaper, Gun Week.
Workman is the author of “Washington State Gun Rights and Responsibilities,” and — with Alan Gottlieb — “America Fights Back: Armed Self-Defense in a Violent Age.”
Over the years, Workman have written opinion pieces that have appeared in such newspapers as the Chicago Sun Times and Chicago Tribune, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Ft. Worth Star Telegram, Hartford Courant, Seattle Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Tacoma News Tribune, Washington Times and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
He still writes for F&H News, and his byline regularly appears in other firearms-oriented publications.
Robin Worthington: BA, 1953
During her career as a reporter, Ms. Worthington worked at various newspapers, including the San Jose Mercury News doing mostly features work. She is also an artist.
She had this to say about her 50th college reunion in 2003: “The friendships formed in J School have lasted more than half a century. That’s as important as where to put the semicolons. It’s a truth of journalism that everyone has a story. I knew my friends’ stories, but I’d forgotten many of the twists and turns, so it was touching to hear them. At the {reunion} party, people were talking about what they’d taken with them from school. Some agreed it was the ability to produce under pressure. And we all retain a lively sense of curiosity. I’d add to that the firm belief that I have a right to knowledge. Sometimes the San Jose Mercury persona kicks in when some minor bureaucrat is holding back on me.”
Anne Pressentin Young: BA, 1990
Anne Young is a Public Information Services Manager with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Fred Zandpour: PhD, 1984
Dr. Fred Zandpour holds a Ph.D. in Communication from University of Washington in Seattle and has taught marketing communication courses at Penn State University and Cal State Fullerton where he has been a professor since 1988. He has authored more than 30 convention papers and his work has appeared in top research journals in the United States and the United Kingdom, including Journal of Advertising Research, International Journal of Advertising and Mass Comm Review. His research in international advertising has been widely cited in the United Stares and abroad, and was recognized as Top-Ranked by International Communication Association in 1994 in Sydney Australia.
Read more about Fred Zandpour >>
Robb Zerr: BA, 1981
Robb Zerr began a career in public relations at Associated Grocers in 1985. He moved to Pacific First Bank in 1990 then Egghead Software in 1993, all in Corporate Communications/Employee Communications. He started CommuniCreations, Inc. in 1993 and continues to run the company, which specializes in Web and traditional communications design and consulting as well as writing.
In his response to the Communication Alumni Newsletter, spring 2006 edition, he reports that he “lives in Altamonte Springs, FL, and plays in a band, performs as a pirate around the country and the world, does a lot of community service and gets to work from home with clients all over the U.S. and abroad. Great commute!!!! And here Desktop Publishing was still theory when I graduated in 1981.
Harold (Hal) S. Zimmerman: BA, 1947
2009 Department of Communication Alumni Hall of Fame
Hal Zimmerman worked as news editor of the Sedro Woolley Courier-Times and as editor-publisher of the Cowlitz County Advocate in Castle Rock before buying the Camas Washougal Post-Record in 1957 and publishing the paper for the next 23 years. The Post-Record won first place in the nation in 1960 for community involvement and won many awards for news, editorials, advertising, and community service. He also served as president of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association. Among the many leadership roles he had were serving as president of the Lions Club and a Chamber of Commerce officer in Castle Rock and president of the Kiwanis Club and Chamber of Commerce in Camas. For his many years of community service, he was named as the “Citizen of the Century” for Camas. He served 22 years in the Washington State Legislature, had leadership roles in both the House and the Senate such as serving as Chairman of the Legislative Budget Committee in 1987 and sponsored key pieces of legislation, such as the state’s first Solid Waste Act in 1969 and its first tough oil spill bill in 1970. He resigned from the State Senate in 1988 when Gov. Booth Gardner appointed him to the state’s Pollution Control Hearings Board. As one of the three full-time hearings board members in the Environmental Hearings Office, he heard appeals on air and water pollution, shorelines appeals and helped coordinate officers of two other appeals boards.
