1940s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s
1940s
Jurgen Schmidt
(BE ’48), Huntington Beach, Calif., was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame (master’s level) in September 2018.
1960s
Francis Kulacki
(ME ’63, M.S. GE ’66), Wayzata, Minn., received the 2019 Donald Q. Kern Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. Kulacki is a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and serves on Illinois Tech’s Department of Mechanical, Materials, and Aerospace Engineering Board of Advisors.
Victor Yipp
(MATH ’66), Oak Park, Ill., retired from a career in IT and law. He is working on a novel about Asian immigrant soldiers in the American Civil War.
Lewis Thigpen
(M.S. MECH ’67, Ph.D. ’70), Alexandria, Va., had his autobiography, Born and Raised in Sawdust: My Journey Around the World in Eighty Years, published in 2019. The book covers his life in the Jim Crow South in the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s; his time in the United States Army; his travels on six continents; and memories of family, along with strong friendships built across countries and cultures.
Charles Fox
(BIOL ’69), Wilmette, Ill., and his wife, who have three children and six grandchildren, recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.
Robert Johnson
(CE ’69, M.S. ’71), Buffalo Grove, Ill., was a key exhibitor of hands-on structural engineering activities at the Palatine Public Library’s STEAM Fair last November. Johnson also celebrated 30 years of participation in the annual DuPage Area STEM Expo, held this year on February 22.
1970s
James Clarage
(M.S. CRP ’70), Paxton, Ill., became a municipal consultant after graduation, establishing his own firm. He is currently the assessor of Loda Township in Iroquois County, Illinois.
John Grillos
(MATH ’70), Sonoma, Calif., has developed a virtual CEO coaching business to leverage his decades of management and investment experience. This is Grillos’s fourth company.
Harry Heifetz
(BE ’71), Chicago, married Shar Sherman in January and purchased a home in suburban Northbrook.
Susan Leeb (née Resnick)
(M.S. DSGN ’72), Lake Oswego, Ore., has retired after 45 years as an art instructor, whose students ranged from kindergarteners through senior adults.
Guy Martino
(ECON ’72), West Chicago, Ill., retired in 2017 after 45 years of selling and managing sales teams and sales channels in the managed IT space. He is now in the business of importing foods and flavors, primarily from Europe, and is working to bring the products into retail and restaurant distribution channels.
Stephan Bellinger
(PSYC ’73), Chicago, released his second novel, Edge of Perception, last August. His first novel, The Chronocar: An Urban Adventure in Time, which features an Illinois Tech student as one of the main characters, won the 2019 Independent Authors Outstanding Science Fiction Award, the 2018 Best Indie Book Award for science fiction, and the 2019 Readers' Favorite Gold Medal Award for Young Adult Science Fiction. The audiobook version was published in February.
Dana Broach
(PSYC ’74), Norman, Okla., retired from the Federal Aviation Administration Civil Aerospace Medical Institute in May 2019 with 30 years of service in the FAA and 35 years total federal service. Broach has more than 120 publications and presentations to his credit on topics in aviation such as pilot and air traffic controller age and job performance, air traffic controller aptitude testing and job performance, and job analysis. He and his wife Sue continue to reside in Norman, and look forward to traveling and other post-retirement opportunities.
Keith-Michael Self
(PHYS ’75), Hillsboro, Ore., produces piano and electronic blend compositions. He has four albums and is a gentleman farmer of blueberries and Christmas trees.
Karla Von Huben
(ENGL ’76), Vancouver, Wash., wrote and published Henry, the Bookstore Cat, a book about a magical kitten and his adventures in a bookstore. The work is in the middle-grade/young adult category.
Gary Smith
(ARCH ’77), Southern Pines, N.C., and his wife, Mary, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last June in Paris and then traveled to Normandy, France.
Richard Bumstead
(CRP ’78), Albuquerque, N.M., retired from a 35-year career at the University of Chicago and moved back to the high mountain deserts of New Mexico.
Richard Shreve
(Ph.D. BE ’78), Boynton Beach, Fla., retired last May after nearly 70 years of employment. He taught at the university level for 43 years in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Florida. Shreve’s career also includes 26 years of industrial employment with companies such as Emerson Electric, Monsanto, Goodyear, and Continental Can. He splits his time between Florida and Michigan, and practices cross-country skiing with his spouse, Victoria.
1980s
Michael Crowley
(FPSE ’80), Spring, Texas, was named president of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers. The society has more than 4,600 members and 102 chapters including 21 student chapters worldwide.
Nancy Paridy
(LAW ’83), Evanston, Ill., has been named chair of the Loyola Academy Board of Trustees. She is Loyola’s first female chair and will serve for a three-year term.
Michael Sullivan
(EE ’83), Chicago, was named partner in the Wireless and Telecommunications practice group at Porter Wright Morris & Arthur.
John Swierk
(ARCH ’84), Prairie Grove, Ill., founder and president of Direct Design Ltd. Architects (now DDCA Architects) since 1989, celebrated 30 years with his company. Direct Design has expanded to include Carroll Associates Architects and provides full architectural services across the country. Swierk is licensed to practice architecture in 31 states.
Vincent Imhoff
(LAW ’89), Los Angeles, managing director of Imhoff & Associates, was selected for a Best of Los Angeles Award as one of it’s Fascinating 100. Imhoff is a member of the state bars of California, Illinois, and Pennsylvania.
Peter Roskam
(LAW ’89), Wheaton, Ill., joined the law firm Sidley Austin as a partner in its Government Strategies practice group. Prior to joining the firm, Roskam served for more than 25 years in the United States House of Representatives and the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate.
1990s
Troy Leaf
(AE ’90), Birmingham, Ala., recently retired from Exelon after 29 years and began a second career with Southern Nuclear. In his career at Exelon, Leaf served 17 years as a licensed senior reactor operator at Byron Generating Station and retired as the operations director at the Braidwood Generating Station.
Enrique Gracia
(M.P.A. ’91), Boynton Beach, Fla., retired as the chief information security officer and deputy department director for information technology at the South Florida Water Management District, where he had worked since 2004.
Robert Klaszky
(AE ’92), Chesapeake, Va., assumed duties as commodore of Coastal Riverine Group Two in April 2019. He was also selected be a professor of naval science at the NROTC Chicago Area Consortium in summer 2020.
George Schutter
(ACCT ’92), Washington, D.C., was selected as the president-elect of the National Association of State Procurement Officials. He is chief procurement officer for the District of Columbia, appointed by Mayor Muriel Bowser, and is charged with the overall leadership, implementation, and coordination of procurement activities in accordance with the laws and regulations of the district.
Junjian Tang
(M.ARCH ’93), Lisle, Ill., was featured in the July/August 2019 issue of Chicago Architect magazine. His essay focused on his life and successes from the time he emigrated from China to the United States 30 years ago.
Charles Lenzini
(ME ’95), Imperial Beach, Calif., and his son, Anthony, enjoyed the 2019 Arlington (Va.) Turkey Trot (while wearing Illinois Tech gear). Lenzini is co-chair of Illinois Tech’s San Diego alumni group and is also an admission ambassador.
Orrin Schmidt
(M.S. FMT ’96), Great Neck, N.Y., is vice president at Bank of America in New York. He is also a project manager and business analyst within the comprehensive capital analysis and the review and stress testing programs.
Krista Schwartz
(LAW ’96), Lafayette, Calif., joined the San Francisco office of Hogan Lovells as a partner in the firm's Intellectual Property, Media, and Technology practice group. Prior to her new role, she was a partner at Jones Day.
Joel Wiegert
(ME ’96), Oakland, Mich., is chief executive officer of Dayco, a global leader in the automotive parts manufacturing industry. He was also named as a member of the Dayco Board of Managers.
Carly Coulson
(ARCH ’97), Duluth, Minn., is a winner in the 2019 New York State Energy Research and Development Authority Buildings of Excellence (Round One) competition for her zero-energy, zero-water, multifamily design, the Seventy-Six, located in Albany, New York.
Razat Gaurav
(CE ’97), Ann Arbor, Mich., chief executive officer of LLamasoft, participated in a panel discussion on the use of drones as a part of logistics networks in developing and industrialized nations at the World Economic Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian, China, last year.
Rodneyse Bichotte
(M.S. EE ’98), Brooklyn, N.Y., member of the New York State Assembly, was elected chair of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, becoming the first woman and first African-American woman to lead a county party in the city of New York.
Robert Brevelle
(CS ’98, M.S. ’98), Rowlett, Texas, was named as one of the Top Angel Investors in Dallas for 2019 by the National Venture Capital Association and PeopleMaven. This is the second time Brevelle has been recognized as a top angel investor.
Mohammad Reza Mostofi Ashtiani
(M.A.S. CHE ’98, Ph.D. ’02), Naperville, Ill., won a 2019 Shining Star Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers for his significant contributions, continuous dedication, and personal commitment as a volunteer. Mostofi’s AIChE activities include leadership roles in the Chicago Section and the Particle Technology Forum.
Courtney Rosen
(LAW ’98), Chicago, joined Jackson National Life Insurance as vice president and deputy general counsel in Investigations, Regulatory Enforcement, and Litigation. She leads litigation in arbitration defense, regulatory enforcement defense, investigations, information governance, and employment law functions.
Edward Curley
(ARCH ’99), Chicago, is the director of architecture at Epstein, where he had worked for 10 years as the associate vice president of client strategies. Curley serves as the principal-in-charge for the company’s architecturally led projects.
2000s
Jerry Hanttula
(ENVE ’00, M.S. EM ’01), Des Plaines, Ill., after a career in the United States Navy, co-founded Shaved Ice Distributors in 2012. In 2019 he began Jerry Hanttula Consulting, which focuses on process improvements in small- to medium-sized companies.
Ryan Keane
(CE ’01), Tinley Park, Ill., was promoted to vice president of McHugh Construction in Nashville, where he established a McHugh office in 2014. He has led construction of significant developments while growing the local team from three professionals to more than 25.
Youngsoo Kim
(M.S. EE ’01), is a senior electrical and communications engineer at Jacobs, ranked the 2019 Most Admired Company in the World in the engineering and construction category by Fortune magazine.
Myetie Hamilton
(M.P.A. ’03), Chicago, was named executive director of City Year Chicago, an education nonprofit devoted to developing young leaders and reducing the high school drop-out rate. She has more than 20 years of experience leading innovative change in K-12 education. Her former roles include serving as executive director of EPIC Academy and deputy chief of schools for Network 9 with Chicago Public Schools, where she managed transformation efforts for 28 schools in Chicago’s Woodlawn, Bronzeville, and Hyde Park communities.
Bryan Trtan
(ARCE ’03), Naples, Fla., was promoted to director of preconstruction at DeAngelis Diamond, an Engineering News-Record Top 400 national construction management firm specializing in commercial, multifamily, and health care construction.
Jennifer (née Susnjara) Watt
(LAW ’03), Indianapolis, was appointed and promoted to chief legal officer, secretary, and vice president of Thermwood Corporation, with oversight of all legal aspects of the company and its corporate governance. Thermwood is a United States-based, multinational, diversified CNC machinery manufacturer that markets its products and services through offices in 11 countries.
James Ciston
(AE ’04, ME ’04), Oakland, Calif., a staff scientist with the United States Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. As the lead scientist for the flagship TEAM I instrument at the National Center for Electron Microscopy facility of the lab’s Molecular Foundry, Ciston studies the role that atomic-scale defects play in the unique emergent properties of nanoscale materials.
Yesenia (née Rodriguez) Villasenor
(LAW ’05, M.S. EM ’06), Fremont, Calif., was promoted to associate general counsel for the Environmental Health and Safety team at Tesla.
Reuben “William” McCrory
(ARCH ’06), Tempe, Ariz., was promoted from senior designer to principal at SmithGroup’s Phoenix office.
Courtney Fong
(LAW ’07, M.B.A. ’07), Northbrook, Ill., was named a 2019 Notable General Counsel by Crain's Chicago Business. He is the chief legal officer and chief privacy officer at CompTIA, a trade association dedicated to advancing the global technology industry.
Adam Garber
(LAW ’07), Chicago, was named to the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin's 40 Under Forty for 2019. He is a partner in the Trusts and Estates practice group at Levenfeld Pearlstein.
Juan Morado
(LAW ’07), Chicago, president of the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois and partner at Benesch, was selected to the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin’s 40 Under Forty for 2019. He is also one of the leading Certificate of Need attorneys in Illinois, successfully working with clients to establish new hospitals, surgery centers, nursing homes, and obtain regulatory approval for complex multimillion-dollar facility changes of ownership.
Joseph Silvia
(FNS ’07, LAW ’07), Chicago, is a partner at Howard & Howard, where he advises financial institutions and corporate clients on general corporate matters, mergers, acquisitions, strategic transactions, private equity and venture capital, and banking and financial services regulation.
Daniel Stringfield
(LAW ’07), Oak Park, Ill., was named to the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin’s 40 Under Forty for 2019. He is a partner at Steptoe & Johnson, where he is an advocate and adviser for companies facing intellectual property and technology issues.
Harini Haran
(M.A.S. CS ’08), Cupertino, Calif., is president and chief revenue officer at Xoriant, a leading Silicon Valley-headquartered product engineering, software development, and technology services company. Haran brings 30 years of experience in IT products, software, digital transformation, networking, communications, wireless, and product engineering services.
Peter Wojtowicz
(M.A.R. ARCH ’08), Chicago, was promoted to associate at Valerio Dewalt Train Associates.
Judd Fineberg
(LAW ’09), Chicago, was named to the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin’s 40 Under Forty for 2019. He is a partner at Dussias Wittenberg Koenigsberger, where he specializes in the litigation and settlement of complex financial matters and custody disputes.
2010s
Courtney (née Bollman) Nichols
(LAW ’11), Clarkston, Mich., was named one of Super Lawyers Magazine’s 2019 Rising Stars in Michigan. She is a partner at Plunkett Cooney, and serves as co-leader of the firm’s Labor and Employment Law practice group. She focuses her litigation practice on employment law.
Lindsay Sheehan
(M.S. REHB ’11, Ph.D. PSYC ’16), Chicago, senior research associate in the Department of Psychology at Illinois Tech, was one of the honorees of the 2019 Halo Awards, which recognize 40 Chicago scientists under the age of 40. She was featured in the online publication Translation and at the award ceremony last fall at the Museum of Science and Industry. Halo is a digital platform that supports young investigators making strides in translational research.
Jingyu Lee
(ARCE ’13, ARCH ’13, CE ’13), Seattle, participated in The Forge Prize, a national design competition established by the American Institute of Steel Construction, and was selected as a Phase I winner.
Timothy Wong
(ARCH ’13) and Dolly Sehr (ARCH ’14), Vancouver, B.C., held their August 2019 wedding in Chicago at the Herbarium followed by a move to Vancouver, where they are advancing their careers in the built environment. Sehr is a master's candidate for advanced studies in architecture at the University of British Columbia, and Wong joined the structural and envelope engineering firm Entuitive.
Kelly Burgess
(AMAT ’14), Phoenix, received an Oracle Certified Programmer certificate. She is also busy planning her 2020 wedding.
Rebecca Wilson-Wernette
(ME ’14), Charlestown, Mass., was promoted from senior mechanical engineer to systems engineering manager at the Flex product innovation company.
Ceola Oware
(M.P.A. ’16), Chicago, is the recipient of the 2019 American Society for Public Administration Alumna of the Year (Illinois Institute of Technology) for her work with community organizations in Africa, specifically in Ghana and Egypt.
Omar Alhaj Ibrahim
(BME ’17), Dallas, was promoted to consultant at Microsoft, working in the areas of data, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing.
Margaret Herrmann
(LAW ’17), Palatine, Ill., is an associate at Irwin IP. She is a registered patent attorney whose intellectual property law experience includes IP litigation, patent post-issuance proceedings, patent preparation and prosecution, and clearance and legal opinions.
Marissa Ashner
(AMAT ’18), Chapel Hill, N.C., enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she is working toward a Ph.D. in biostatistics.
Jingyuan He
(M.A.S. AMAT ’18), Chicago, will begin a new position with the Bank of China in Shenzhen.
Mete Morris
(CPE ’18), San Francisco, received a master's degree from Johns Hopkins University and began a new job at Google.
Jacquelyn Newberry
(AMAT ’18), Seneca, Ill., is a commissioned United States Navy officer assigned to USS The Sullivans (DDG-68), based out of Mayport, Florida.
Dane Wilburne
(Ph.D. AMAT ’18), Lewistown, Pa., received a postdoctoral degree from Brown University.
Hiva Nasiri
(Ph.D. EE ’19), Chicago, joined the consulting firm Quanta Technology.
Felicia Thomas
(LAW ’19), Kew Gardens, N.Y., is a criminal law associate with the Queens County District Attorney's Office in New York. She served as an officer at the United States Coast Guard Academy for three years before completing her degree.
Nora Warens
(M.A.S. ITM ’19), Des Plaines, Ill., is a data quality specialist at the American Hospital Association.