FSAA Milestone update October 2014<\/p>\n
Class of 1994<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Bill Miner<\/strong><\/p>\n Bill was recently promoted to the role of\u00a0partner-in-charge of the Portland office of Davis Wright Tremaine,\u00a0Portland\u2019s fifth largest law firm.\u00a0Bill plans to devote four to five years on expanding the firm\u2019s footprint before returning to his practice.<\/p>\n Class of 1995<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Lori\u00a0Balbi<\/strong><\/p>\n Lori retired from the Foreign Service and is back in the Pacific Northwest; however, she feels she is far too young to be retired. Once she is settled in, she will pursue part-time work and will volunteer with a variety of organizations, including the Ford Scholar Alumni Association. After spending half of her adult life abroad in seven countries and traveling in an additional 47, she\u2019s happy to be home!<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>Sarah Beth\u00a0(Smith) Byrum<\/strong><\/p>\n Sarah Beth just began her 15th year of running All That! Dance Company \u2013 a dance studio that serves the Eugene\/Springfield area with two studio locations. She recently received a Community Partnership Award given by the University of Oregon\u2019s Dance Department for her work furthering dance education. Her dancers were featured in a Register-Guard newspaper story and video for earning a national title from Spotlight Dance Cup in July. Finally, her dancers were chosen to dance during the half-time show at the nationally televised Holiday Bowl in San Diego.<\/p>\n Jeri\u00a0(Greenberg) Finn<\/strong><\/p>\n On Sept. 20, 2014, Jeri married Brendan Finn, chief of staff to Portland City Commissioner Dan Saltzman. The couple exchanged vows at the Portland Art Museum before a honeymoon in Spain. The couple looks forward to settling into their Northeast Portland home and raising Jeri’s 10-year-old son together.<\/p>\n Chris\u00a0Schulze<\/strong><\/p>\n Chris and his wife are expecting their second child, due to arrive in early January. Like with their first, Adelade, this baby \u2013 boy or girl \u2013 will be a surprise!<\/p>\n Class of 1996<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Annika (Wallace)\u00a0Mosier<\/strong><\/p>\n Annika recently started a new position as an assistant professor at the University of Colorado, Denver.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Class of 1999<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Danielle\u00a0(Quimby ) Currey<\/strong><\/p>\n This year Danielle was elected to the Ford Scholar Alumni Association Board of Directors; began her teaching career at Clackamas Community College; and has had a successful first year of medical practice after opening a new clinic in Clackamas, Ore.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>Matt Gerber<\/strong><\/p>\n Matt was recently appointed assistant director of research for gynecologic oncology at the University of Minnesota. Before coming to the division three years ago, Matt spent much of his professional career living and working abroad as he ran a humanitarian aid organization. Since coming to the University, Matt has used his patient-centered approach and project management skills to help execute clinical research studies and administer the Gyn Onc Translational Working Group. In his new role, Matt will spearhead a comprehensive fundraising and public relations strategy aimed at deepening the connection between the university\u2019s research and the philanthropic community.<\/p>\n Megan\u00a0(Johnson) Ludena<\/strong><\/p>\n In December 2013, Megan earned a Master of Nursing Degree with a Nursing Educator Certificate from Washington State University. In July 2014, she accepted a position as visiting professor of nursing at Linfield Good Samaritan School of Nursing in Portland, Ore.<\/p>\n Class of 2000<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Zach\u00a0Evenson<\/strong><\/p>\n After receiving his Ph.D. in materials science in 2012, Zach started postdoctoral research in the Institute for Materials Physics in Space at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne, Germany. As part of his research, he uses high energy X-rays or beams of neutrons to look inside of metallic liquids, which are levitated using a special apparatus. By examining the structure and atomic motions inside of certain liquid metal alloys that form special materials called bulk metallic glasses, he works to better understand the origin of their remarkable physical properties and help shed light onto some outstanding issues in condensed matter physics.<\/p>\n Class of 2003<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Ellyn\u00a0Canfield Nealon<\/strong><\/p>\n Ellyn was recently appointed director of New York City Mayor Bill de Blaso’s Office of Special Projects and Community Events.<\/p>\n Class of 2004<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Paul Ainsworth<\/strong><\/p>\n Paul and his wife, Erin, recently celebrated their one-year wedding anniversary.<\/p>\n Tommy (Hien)\u00a0Pham<\/strong><\/p>\n Tommy founded a biotech company, Nzumbe, in June 2012 and has received more than $300,000 in funding thus far for research in the field of epigenetics. In March 2013, Tommy survived a house fire that started while he was sleeping. He escaped just in time, but lost everything \u2013 including his Ford Family Scholarship certificate! He married his high school sweetheart in September 2013 after 11 years of dating, and they purchased their first home in April. In June, he joined Nike as a patent liaison, where he helps identify and capture new innovation for Nike.<\/p>\n Class of 2006<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Robert\u00a0Russell<\/strong><\/p>\n Robert lives in Seoul, South Korea, and teaches at an international preschool. He absolutely loves his work \u2013 so much so that he recently enrolled in an online graduate program at Concordia University of Portland to earn his Master of Education in early childhood education. He continues to enjoy traveling and has planned some exciting trips. He looks forward to finishing his program and continuing to work in education.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>Jennifer\u00a0(Pust) Torres<\/strong><\/p>\n Jennifer married Matthew Torres on Sept. 14.<\/p>\n Class of 2007<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Tsegazeab\u00a0Gessese<\/strong><\/p>\n Tsegazeab has entered his first year of dental school at the University of California, San Francisco. He says he is excited! Tsegazeab would like to give a shout out to the class of 2007.<\/p>\n Class of 2008<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Whitney\u00a0(Wolfe) Stewart<\/strong><\/p>\n Whitney started medical school at the Western University of Health Sciences campus in Lebanon, Ore., and was recently elected class president. She feels like she’s living her life-long dream.<\/p>\n Class of 2010<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Michael\u00a0Leeland<\/strong><\/p>\n In 1992, Dameon had heard that his teacher, Jeff Leeland, had an infant son who was sick but couldn\u2019t afford the $200,000 transplant that would save his life. Dameon emptied his bank account and gave Jeff everything he had – $60. This act of kindness inspired the school and the community. In less than four weeks, $227,000 came in to save Michael\u2019s life. The experience inspired Jeff\u2019s founding of Sparrow Clubs USA in 1995. Michael Leeland, whose need for a lifesaving bone marrow transplant led to the act of compassion that inspired the nonprofit\u2019s model, recently became the Central Oregon regional director with Sparrow Clubs USA. The nonprofit organization of school-based\u00a0clubs\u00a0assists children in medical crisis and their families, both financially and emotionally.<\/p>\n Brianna\u00a0(Ellis) Smith<\/strong><\/p>\n Brianna was admitted to a master\u2019s program at Bastyr University in Kenmore, Wash. The three-year midwifery program involves coursework as well as multiple preceptorships with local midwives. At the end of the program, she will be a certified professional midwife.<\/p>\n Class of 2011<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Emily\u00a0White<\/strong><\/p>\n This October, Emily started a job as a research associate in Chennai, India, for a behavioral economics research nonprofit organization named Ideas42, a J-PAL\/IPA affiliate. She works on a project for Sendhil Mullainathan of Harvard and Anandi Mani of Warwick on a project intended to better quantify the impact of poverty on cognition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" FSAA Milestone update October 2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":599,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/www.fordscholaralumni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/fsaa-milestones.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8g73C-40","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fordscholaralumni.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fordscholaralumni.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fordscholaralumni.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fordscholaralumni.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fordscholaralumni.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.fordscholaralumni.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":971,"href":"http:\/\/www.fordscholaralumni.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248\/revisions\/971"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fordscholaralumni.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fordscholaralumni.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fordscholaralumni.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fordscholaralumni.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}