News, by Graduating Year

Mildred (Haworth) Minthorne (G46) and Roger Minthorne (G47) were among eight George Fox alumni highlighted with photos and comments in the December issue of the Twin Rocks Friends Camp Sandpiper newsletter. The issue celebrated the centennial of the camp’s founding in 1918. Also featured were former campers and camp leaders Gene Mulkey (G53), Verne Martin (G54) and Ellen (Haines) Martin (n56), Herb Sargent (G58, MDiv66) and Betty Lou (Walls) Sargent (n58), and Alice (Hampton) Maurer (G65, MA97).

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Ray Warner (G50) received full-page attention in November, as Pamplin Media Group publications highlighted military veterans in a “Salute to Veterans” tabloid released in 29 cities. The feature told of his service in World War II as a Navy radio operator who never left the mainland because the war ended before he was shipped overseas. He later became a personnel records keeper for prisoners sent to a former boot camp near Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho. Previously, he enrolled at Pacific College (now George Fox University) to become a teacher. He was a teacher, principal and superintendent in Oregon and California for 30 years before operating a roofing business for 25 years. He is now retired and living at Friendsview Retirement Community in Newberg.

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Richard Foster (G64) celebrated the 40th anniversary of his best-selling book, Celebration of Discipline, with a conference on campus in mid-June. Titled “Celebrating 40 Years of Celebration of Discipline: Empowering Spiritual Transformation in the Local Church,” the event was designed to help pastors and church leaders dive deeper into spiritual disciplines. The book, written in Newberg, has sold more than 2 million copies and was named “one of the top 10 religious books of the 20th century” by Christianity Today magazine. It has been translated into more than 25 languages. He is the author of seven books and founder of Renovaré, a nonprofit that specializes in helping individuals and churches grow in Christ through the practice of classical spiritual disciplines.

Jon Bishop (G67), who has worked as a medical doctor and missionary for more than four decades, was the speaker at George Fox’s midyear commencement ceremony in December. For 35 years he was a physician with Snohomish (Washington) Family Medical Center, a group of Christian family physicians who offer medical care to underserved areas around the globe. He has served in nine countries and in rural America. Since retiring, he has volunteered in Central Asia and is presently general director of a three-year program that trains doctors in the region to be specialists in family medicine. He and Marita (Cammack) Bishop (G67) continue to reside in Snohomish.

Merlin Glanzman (G68) and his wife, Wendy, are founders/owners of Westland Jewelry Shop, selling their one-of-a-kind items on Etsy and at Oregon Coast Glassworks in Newport, Oregon. Their pieces feature agate, glass and driftwood they have found on the beach, combined with blown glass to create necklaces and earrings. Now calling Newport their home, they continue to use plume agate from the Owyhee Mountains in Idaho, nearer their first home in Homedale, Idaho, where he owned an insurance agency.

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Ken Carsley (n74) is chair of Newberg High School’s Golden Gathering Committee, which plans and produces an annual reunion of NHS graduates from more than 50 years ago. The annual September event drew more than 300 last year, and the organization annually awards two $1,000 college scholarships to the most recent year’s graduates. He retired in 2002 as principal of Cloverdale (Oregon) Elementary School after a career as a teacher in Oregon and Germany.

Bob Wright (G76), after more than 25 years of private study, is being called the American “cancer whisperer” by his cancer patients, whom he sees free of charge as director of the American Anti-Cancer Institute. He founded the institute, an educational venture he plans to develop into an American Anti-Cancer Center. Plans call for it to be a 100-acre cancer-healing complex in Snohomish, Washington, with a wellness center, university and hotel. Fundraising for its construction is in process. Treatment at the proposed center will depart from conventional cancer care, relying on alternative medicine rather than surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. He also authored Killing Cancer – Not People, a 380-page book now in its third edition since first being published in 2010, with more than 100,000 copies sold. In his professional career, Wright, who lives in Everett, Washington, was vice president of sales for the Pacific Aerospace & Electronics Company in Wenatchee, Washington.

Clair Thomas (G78) in September received the Jim Mundell Stewardship Award from the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership, a nonprofit organization working to protect and restore the health of bays and watersheds in Tillamook County, Oregon. He was cited for creating “a whole generation of young adults who share his love and excitement for learning and his appreciation for the environment that surrounds us.” Thomas is a natural resources education coordinator and science research coach for the Tillamook School District, in that position since 2005 after 20 years as a science teacher at Lakeview (Oregon) High School. He helps educate 675 high school students and more than 2,250 total students in the district. He also is a board member with the Tillamook Watershed Council; the Friends of Netarts Bay, Watershed, Estuary, Beach and Sea; and the Garibaldi Cultural Heritage Initiative.

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Randy Butler (G81, MA84, DMin07) and the Salem Evangelical Church he leads as senior pastor received statewide television and newspaper attention in February for their more than $100,000 contribution to help Oregon’s largest prison for juveniles. He spearheaded a church effort that gathered the funds to pay for gym renovations at the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn, Oregon, including a new maple hardwood floor to replace a decades-old concrete one. Butler, pastor at the church since 1985, has been visiting the Oregon Youth Authority facility weekly for years, and talks about his visits frequently in weekend sermons. His church has also helped MacLaren by hosting a monthly social night, cooking pancakes for a special breakfast during Christmas, and hosting services for Easter. Twenty-three church members have been officially trained and are now volunteering at the facility along with Butler. “It’s actually a message of hope for the kids,” he says. “I appreciate the privilege of being able to serve them.” 

Gordon Martin (G82) is in Hope, British Columbia, with Wycliffe Global Alliance (previously Wycliffe Bible Translators) as a software developer specializing in applications for language development. His programs facilitate the work of Wycliffe members in the field, helping with linguistic analysis, translation and literacy. He is currently working on Bloom, a program that allows people with minimal computer skills to create literature in their own language. It is being tested worldwide and has gained international attention through a contest by USAID to find the best, most accessible programs for generating reading materials in the mother tongue of readers. He and his wife have been with Wycliffe since 1990, and from 1994 until their move to Canada in 2005 they were with the Sokoro people of Chad, Africa, helping them create an alphabet suited to their language and starting Bible translation work with the Gospel of John, published the year they left.

Scott Ball (G86, MA06) is director of academic services and a guidance counselor at Westside Christian High School in Tigard, Oregon. He has been with the 220-student school since 1995, after serving eight years in the Hillsboro (Oregon) School District. He also is the cross country and track and field coach, and in 2016 he was selected by the Oregon Athletic Coaches Association as the Oregon nominee for the National Federation of High Schools “Coach of the Year” award for his guidance at the Class 3A West Valley League school.

Katrina (Baker) McConaughey (G88) and Shawn McConaughey (G89, MA00), beginning in April, are in Kisumu, Kenya, for a three-year term, sharing the field staff position of Africa Ministries programme officer with the Friends United Meeting. He has been with the Yearly Meeting organization in its Africa Ministries Office since October after nine years as associate superintendent of global outreach and pastoral care with the Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends in Newberg. Previously, he was a Friends pastor in Boise, Idaho. Thirty years ago, on a hilltop in Kaimosi, Kenya, the couple pledged their lives to each other and to serve God. Now, after raising three years of financial support, they are responsible for facilitating global and cross-cultural relationships, accompanying ministry partners in project implementation, helping in communications and hosting mission visitors.

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Tim Graham (G90, MEd98), a principal for 20 years and a teacher the eight years prior to that, in August became principal of Newberg Catalyst High School. He was a principal with the Oregon City School District for 11 years – at Holcomb Elementary School for four years and at Oregon City Service Learning Academy for seven years. Newberg Catalyst, with an enrollment of 160, is an alternative school for nontraditional students looking for a smaller school that offers career exploration, internships and a more relationship-based environment. Students range from high achievers with strong grades to those who struggled in a traditional high school setting.

Ted Baldwin (G91) is a chemistry professor at Olympic College, since 1996 teaching classes at the two-year community college serving Kitsap and Mason counties in Washington. He is also president of the Association of Higher Education group on campus. In February, a feature in the Kitsap Sun daily newspaper, published in Bremerton, Washington, told of Baldwin and his wife Katie’s involvement as counselors and friends of student-athletes. For more than 10 years they have hosted and supervised evening study halls they established on campus. They also attend nearly every home baseball, softball, volleyball and basketball game, along with their 4-year-old son, who has become an unofficial “mascot” for the teams. In addition, they host as many as 40 athletes monthly at their home, especially those away from their own families who want a home-cooked meal and time with a family. The article cited him as “one of the most respected voices on campus.”

David Allen (G92) is owner of Progressive Fitness in Sherwood, Oregon, where he is also a personal trainer and fitness advisor. The business, with seven trainers and a 5,000-square-foot gym, features a holistic approach to health and well-being, incorporating movement, nutrition, rest and “spirit” (morale). His business niche, he reports, is starting with functional testing and physical therapy to eliminate the usual injury pitfalls found in other exercise programs. He started the business in 1992 while teaching basic physical education classes at George Fox. The business grew to a full-time operation when the first small studio opened in 2000.

Andy Olson (ADP92), after 14 years in the Oregon State House of Representatives, announced in February he will not seek reelection for an eighth term representing District 15, which includes portions of Linn and Benton counties. It marks the end of nearly 44 years of public service. An Albany, Oregon, resident, he served 29 years with the Oregon State Police, retiring in 2007 with the rank of lieutenant after heading OSP’s Albany Patrol Office. First elected in 2004, and planning to only serve three terms, at various times Olson was the house Republican leader and co-speaker pro tempore.

Eileen Quiring (ADP93), a member of the Clark County (Washington) Council since Jan. 1, 2017, has announced she will run in November for the position of county chair, facing the incumbent chair. A real estate broker who grew up in the county and has lived there the last six years, she previously served in the Oregon House of Representatives from 1995 to 1997, then the Oregon Senate from 1997 to 2001. She served on the Clark County Planning Commission and Board of Equalization before resigning those positions to be sworn in to the council. Quiring, George Fox’s Distinguished Alumnus award winner in 1998, also previously was executive director of and later consultant to the Robert D. and Marcia H. Randall Charitable Trust/Randall Realty Corp in Portland.

Pete Tallmadge (n93) had the honor of cutting down the 2017 Capitol Christmas Tree displayed on the front lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. In a public ceremony Nov. 8, he was the sawyer who cut the 79-foot-tall Engelmann spruce in the Three Rivers Ranger District of the Kootenai National Forest near Yaak, Montana. The tree, the latest in a tradition started in 1964, was wrapped, boxed and trucked 3,500 miles to the Capitol Building, where it was lighted Dec. 6 by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. Tallmadge’s father started Tallmadge Logging in the 1960s.

Jamie Boutin (G94) is now with Encompass Health, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, after previously working for the HealthSouth Corporation. He’s not changed jobs, however: After 23 years, the company changed its name Jan. 2. He has been with the company, one of the nation’s largest healthcare providers specializing in rehabilitation, for six years, and last year he was promoted to associate director of physician recruitment. He manages the recruitment for more than 130 acute inpatient rehabilitation hospitals in 36 states nationwide. Previously, beginning in 2011, he was a physician and faculty recruiter for the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, after nearly six years as a physician recruiter with Providence Health & Services in Oregon.

Kelli Pellegrini (G94, MA96, PsyD99) is using her professional degree as a licensed psychologist at Cornerstone Clinical Services in Milwaukie, Oregon, as one of 22 professionals at its two sites. She is better known publicly as an artist, and recently had a two-month showing at the Chehalem Cultural Center in Newberg featuring work triggered by her fight against breast cancer, diagnosed in 2012. As a way of voicing her unspoken words about the experience, she picked up a paint brush to share her emotions. The exhibit, “No Words,” featured paintings that illustrated her thoughts going through the diagnosis, treatment and aftermath of cancer. She initially painted them for herself, not intending to share them, but they are now featured on her Lift Your Eyes Gallery website, headlined with the words “Art Speaks When There are No Words.” As a psychologist, Pellegrini has provided services since 2002, working with children, adolescents and adults in individual and family therapy, specializing in the areas of anxiety, depression, behavioral problems, post-trauma recovery, parent-child relationship issues and social/school concerns.

Frank Luzaich (MAT95) on July 1 will become the executive director of elementary programs for six elementary schools in Lake Oswego, Oregon. He was selected in March to fill the position, which calls for supervising principals and teachers who serve 2,900 students. He leaves a position as principal of the 442-student Molalla (Oregon) Elementary School, which he held for three years after 20 years with the Sherwood (Oregon) School District. While he was in Molalla, the school’s composite data measuring oral fluency increased from 36 to 60 percent.

Amy Maas (G96), after being a full-time online student, in November graduated from Northcentral University, headquartered in San Diego, with a doctor of education degree focused on special education. A Newberg resident, she previously worked for the Sherwood (Oregon) School District in its life skills program from 2008 to 2015. For 13 years she has been a foster mom to three boys with developmental disabilities.

Jen Knutson (G97) started in 2016 as a project accountant at Joseph Hughes Construction, one of 13 staff members at the Portland firm that builds offices, churches, multifamily housing, retail and light industrial structures. She assists project managers and estimators and provides accounting services throughout the duration of projects. She has more than 17 years of accounting experience and is in her seventh year in the construction industry.

Jason Ogden (G97) and Pam (Clem) Ogden (G97, MA02) in January were featured in The New Era newspaper (Sweet Home, Oregon), which told of their efforts to raise funds for the adoption of a second child to join their family, which already includes four biological children and an adopted child from South Korea. They are seeking to adopt an infant from Japan and have set a goal of raising $43,000 to fund the process. They hope royalties from Pam’s new book, He Made Me Brave, will help cover some of the expenses. The book is being published by Christian publisher Lucid Books, with preorders underway and a full release expected in June. It is based on excerpts from a journal she began keeping while in South Korea and blog posts about the adoption process of son Hudson. Jason has supplied the 60 photos to be used in the book. He is a patrol sergeant with the Sweet Home Police Department, starting in 1997, and also one of the pastors/elders of Valley Life Church in Lebanon, Oregon. She is homeschooling their children.

Chris Elston (G98), now living in Bothell, Washington, is an author writing his fourth book. His first novel, The Four Corners, has two planned sequels targeting kids in fourth grade and up. He is now writing the second in the series. His “The Gift of the Elements” series skews older, into the young-adult category, and includes The Gift of Tyler and The Gift of Rio. His writing career follows 15 years in the Los Angeles area, where he started as a production assistant, then camera operator, editor, actor and later producer and director.

David Nanson (ADP99) is one of three financial planners and advisors who started their own firm, Nanson, Bratt & Colvin Capital Advisors, in November. The following month it joined in a partnership with True Private Wealth Advisors, a Portland and Salem, Oregon-based independent financial advisory firm with combined assets of more than $900 million. Nanson and his partners brought about $228 million in client assets, as they left UBS Group in Lake Oswego, Oregon, to create their own firm in the Tigard, Oregon, area. He is founder and senior wealth adviser with the new group after nine years with UBS Financial Services.

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Stacy (Frazier) Pickens (G00) started in August as an English Language Learners (ELL) teacher at Desert Springs Elementary School in Nampa, Idaho. She is the sole certified teacher in the position in Idaho’s only Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) elementary school, which encourages teaching staff to promote personal stories and goals that inspire students to achieve secondary education goals. Previously, she was a first- and second-grade teacher for seven years in the Anchorage (Alaska) School District, where five separate languages were often spoken in the classroom, cementing her desire to become an advocate for children who did not begin life speaking English.

Kristopher Dunlap (ADP01) has built and opened Oregon’s first ninja gym, billing it as the Northwest’s premier indoor obstacle course and training center and modeling it after the NBC show “American Ninja Warrior.” Urban Warrior, located in the Wichita Town Center in Milwaukie, Oregon, has 38 obstacles in a three-phase course and is designed for fun and fitness. It offers individual and group training and instruction and is open for boot camps, corporate events and birthday parties. Co-owner with a friend of more than 30 years, Dunlop, with a career in corporate finance, was previously in the Oregon Army National Guard Military Police Corps for eight years and with the Portland Police Bureau as a reserve sergeant for 10 years.

Ryan Dearinger (G02) received the “Best First Book Award” from Phi Alpha Theta, the national honor society for history professors and students, with 400,000 members in 970 chapters. It recognized his book The Filth of Progress: Immigrants, Americans, and the Building of Canals and Railroads in the West, published by the University of California Press in 2016. The book explores the suffering and survival of the workers who were treated as outsiders and whose labor created the infrastructure that turned dreams of a continental empire into reality. He is associate professor of history and history department chair at Eastern Oregon State University, where he has been since 2009.

Ben Gallo (MBA02) in February was announced as the new president of Redhawk Network Security in Bend, Oregon. He was formerly vice president of sales and general manager of Atmosera, Inc., a Beaverton, Oregon-based technology services company that provides online information retrieval services. Previously, during 12 years at Sungard Availability Services, he was sales director for North America for the managed cloud services and IT disaster recovery company, helping grow the business from $30 million to $100,000 million. Redhawk Network is a cyber security firm offering information security solutions and management for financial, healthcare, government and public utility sectors in the U.S.

Andrea (Lewis) Langeliers (G02) has been named to a seat on Oregon Coast Bank’s board of directors. She is president and third-generation co-owner of Roby’s Furniture and Appliance, along with her brother Ryan Lewis (G01). Their business goes back 67 years, when their grandfather founded an appliance store in Tillamook, Oregon. Their parents took over in 1995. There are now stores in Astoria, Lincoln City, Newport, Florence and McMinnville, Oregon, which collectively employ about 75. Oregon Coast Bank, directed by a seven-member board, has assets of more than $200 million. A native of Tillamook, Langeliers now resides in Toledo, Oregon.

Chris Low (G02) is back on campus, starting in April as university photographer in the marketing communications department. He has worked in the photography industry in the Portland area since 2010 after more than three years working in Atlanta, Georgia, while attending photography school at the award-winning Portfolio Center. He has had a wide range of clients in the athletic, lifestyle and editorial fields, including Nike, Adidas, Columbia, Costco, Walgreens and Competitor magazine.

Mike True (G02), beginning this summer, is the new chief financial officer of the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust in Vancouver, Washington, leaving his position as chief executive officer of The Historic Trust of Fort Vancouver, Washington. In his new role, he oversees financial operations for one of the largest private foundations in the Pacific Northwest, assisting nonprofits in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. The two organizations have partnered on several programs and initiatives. A certified public accountant, True was with The Historic Trust of Fort Vancouver for more than a decade, first serving as chief financial officer. He began his career with Moss Adams, a financial services firm, as a member of the senior accounting staff. The Murdock Trust was founded in 1975 and since has provided more than $938 million in grants and support to more than 3,000 organizations, assisting in scientific research, education, arts and culture, and health and human services.

Kelli (York) King (G03) and Randall King (G03, EdD16) live in Clackamas, Oregon, where both are employed by the David Douglas School District. She is a second-grade teacher at the nearly 600-student Mill Park Elementary School, in her 14th year. Previously, she taught first grade for a year at Whitcomb Elementary School in the North Clackamas School District. He is in his second year at West Powellhurst Elementary as a student achievement specialist after teaching first grade at Gilbert Park Elementary School in Portland for 11 years.

Larry Asplund (DMin04) is an online instructor in religion for four institutions: Regent University’s School of Divinity, LaGrange College, Southeastern University and Moody Bible Institute. Previously, he was a religion instructor at Portland Bible College from 1988 to 2006. He then served as vice president for academic affairs at Beacon College in Leesburg, Florida, for three years until 2009. Earlier, he was a pastor at Grace Covenant Church in Springfield, Missouri, founding it with his father in 1972 and serving there until 1988. Most recently (2009-14), he was associate pastor/executive pastor with New Community Church in LaGrange, Georgia. He lives in Pine Mountain Valley, Georgia.

Jesse Dillow (G04) in January was promoted to grounds superintendent at George Fox, responsible for the campus’s 108 acres. He has been on the plant services staff since 2006, starting as groundskeeper. Previously, he was assistant propagation manager for Gaston, Oregon-based Fisher Farms for a year.

Kim (Dittler) Gellatly (G04), principal broker at Gellatly Properties in Lake Oswego, Oregon, received a 2017 Circle-Diamond Award for being in the top one half of one percent of the national Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices brokerage network. In 2017, she sold 110 homes with more than $44.2 million in sales, ranking near the top of 500-plus Northwest realtors. In 2010, she was recognized by the National Association of Realtors and featured in Realtor Magazine as one of its “30 Under 30” rising stars in real estate.

Mike Hillman (MEd05) in April was named interim principal at Seven Oak Middle School in Lebanon, Oregon. He had been coordinator of alternative education/hearings officer for the Lebanon Community Unit School District for nearly seven years. Previously, he was with the Oregon Department of Education as a school improvement specialist and with the Willamette Education Service District, including serving as principal of Quest School at the Oregon State Hospital. He now guides 22 teachers and 514 students in grades six through eight.

Christina (Maguire) Schiedler (G05, MAT06) in January became a mathematics teacher at the 1,700-student West Salem (Oregon) High School after a year of teaching math at Hawthorn Academy, a free charter pubic school in West Jordan, Utah. Previously, she spent two years at the American International School of Utah, where she taught math with the Utah Christian Home School Association Co-op in Draper.

Sara Johnson (EdD07), starting in July, is the new superintendent of the Crook County (Oregon) School District. She topped a list of 26 candidates when named in March. She now heads a district of seven schools with just under 3,000 students, headquartered in Prineville, Oregon. She moves from a position of director of assessment, equity and school improvement with the Klamath County (Oregon) School District. Previously, she was superintendent of the Sumner School District in Washington for three years after four years in Newport, Oregon, as assistant superintendent with the Lincoln County School District. She was named Oregon’s Elementary Principal of the Year and National Distinguished Principal in 2007 while in McMinnville, Oregon.

Jeff Lincicome (DMin07) is senior pastor of Sammamish Presbyterian Church in Northwest Washington, a position he accepted in 2008. Previously, he was associate pastor of discipleship at Crossroads Presbyterian Church in Mequon, Wisconsin.

Tim Nelson (G07) is in his second year with Delap LLP, one of Portland’s largest accounting firms, headquartered in Lake Oswego, Oregon. A certified public accountant, he is a senior tax manager, working primarily with pass-through entities, C corporations and individual tax compliance, with an emphasis on state and local tax compliance.

Gretchen (Bail) Cooper (G08) is a third-grade teacher with Northwest Christian Schools in Colbert, Washington. She has been with the 740-student kindergarten through 12th-grade two-school campus since 2013, the first year as a fifth-grade teacher. Previously, she was with Life Christian School in Hillsboro, Oregon, for three years, teaching second- through fourth-grade classes after one year at Vermont Hills Childhood Development Center in Forest Grove, Oregon. She now is also teaching an after-school class, Worship in Motion, for first- through fifth-graders, in her fourth year in that role. In addition, she is leading professional development sessions on utilizing technology in elementary classrooms.

Chad Olney (ADP09) is president and CEO of Pacific Crest Federal Credit Union, headquartered in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Founded in 1936, it has 15,000 members and more than $160 million in assets. He started in August 2016 after previously being CEO of Bi-Mart Federal Credit Union, which had 2,300 members and $6.9 million in assets when it merged in 2014 with Oregon Community Credit Union, based in Eugene, Oregon.

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Meghan Hedley (G10) is splitting her time between her art, graduate studies and teaching. She had a solo show, “(Paint) the Ten Thousand Things,” in February at the Chehalem Cultural Center in Newberg, featuring large abstract art. At the same time, she is in her third year studying for a master’s degree in Chinese medicine and acupuncture at the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine in Portland. This follows a master of fine arts degree from Washington State University in 2013. She is also teaching, working as a guest instructor in watercolor at George Fox in the fall and as an adjunct instructor of art drawing. Previously, she pursued peace and philosophy studies in Rwanda, Uganda, Northern Ireland and England, and exhibited her artwork internationally in Ireland, England and Italy.

Ben Sand (MDiv10) was the featured speaker for more than 400 undergraduates at George Fox University’s spring commencement in April. In 2008, he founded the Portland Leadership Foundation, a faith-based community-organizing venture that in 2013 established Embrace Oregon, an initiative that works with the Oregon Department of Human Services to assist local foster children. Working with 137 faith communities, more than 300 foster families have come through the program in the last 30 months. In 2005, he established the Act Six program, a leadership and scholarship initiative that trains urban leaders to be “agents of change” in their neighborhoods.

Chris Skinner (MBA10) is the new police chief for the city of Eugene, Oregon. He was chosen March 19 from a field of 33 candidates to take office April 30. He is responsible for 190 sworn officers, 140 civilian employees and an operational budget of more than $50 million for the city of 156,000, Oregon’s second largest. He had been police chief in Richland, Washington, a city of 55,000, since 2011. In his 27-year law enforcement career he also spent a decade with the Hillsboro (Oregon) Police Department, including three years as deputy chief after being police commander and lieutenant. He started his career in 1991 in Philomath, Oregon, working with the Benton County Sheriff’s Office. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy. Skinner joins another George Fox graduate police chief in the Eugene metro area: Richard Lewis (ADP91) is police chief in nearby Springfield, Oregon.

Allie Duncan (G11, MBA12) is using her MBA degree as the new MBA coordinator at George Fox. She started in January after working with Amica Mutual Insurance, where she was an account representative in Lake Oswego, Oregon, in 2016-17 and in Littleton, Colorado, in 2016.

Larry Jasper (G11, MA13, PsyD16) received regional news attention in April with the announcement by Idaho Gov. Butch Otter that he was issuing a pardon, just his third in 11 years, to Jasper, who was sentenced to prison in 2005 for methamphetamine and heroin use. Sentenced to incarceration for up to four years, he was released in 2008. Turning his life around, he enrolled at George Fox to pursue a career aiding those struggling with substance abuse and behavioral health problems. The Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole recommended Jasper for a pardon, saying “Mr. Jasper is an example of why a pardon process exists in Idaho” and adding “he demonstrates how rehabilitation can and should work.” Jasper wrote to the board that he would like to become a licensed psychologist in Oregon, but “the probability of me attaining my license with a felony record is very low.” He has been, since 2015, lead therapist and resident psychologist with Cedar Hills Hospital in Portland, an 89-bed hospital, helping people with mental illness and/or addiction to drugs and alcohol.

David Kays (G11, MA15, PsyD18), upon receiving his PsyD doctoral hood in a ceremony in April, became George Fox’s first double-legacy student to graduate from both undergraduate and graduate psychology programs. He follows his mother, Kris (Croly) Kays (G87, PsyD94), who just completed her 13th year at George Fox as professor of psychology, teaching undergraduate courses and working with PsyD students in their clinical training program. David took a class from her each of his nine semesters, but she was not his professor or supervisor for the doctoral program. He also followed in his mother’s footsteps by being an adjunct professor for both the Department of Professional Studies and the undergraduate psychology program during the last year. He will return as an adjunct DPS professor this fall while he starts his post-doctoral residency at the Hazelden Betty Ford clinic in Newberg.

Kendra Phillips (G11) is in her first year as a college and career specialist at the 1,400-student Juanita High School in Kirkland, Washington, part of the Lake Washington School District. Previously, she was a substitute teacher within the district following two years as an area coordinator at Northwest University in Kirkland, where she supervised residence hall assistants. Prior to that, she was a residence hall director at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, for two years.

Bennett Brandenburg (G12) in July passed the Washington State Bar Association exam and was sworn in as a licensed attorney. He completed his legal studies through the state’s nontraditional legal apprenticeship program, an alternative to law school in the state. He has been a legal intern, working and completing his studies at the Brandenburg Law Firm in Vancouver, Washington, established by his father in 1990. The firm serves Clark County, specializing in personal injury and criminal defense.

Amanda (Winkelman) Howard (G12) is project manager with Dunthorpe Marketing Group in Portland. Starting her new position last June, she is with a 19-employee firm that provides management consulting services, creating automation-powered marketing campaigns that generate, qualify and nurture leads. Earlier, she was with Pivot Group, a Portland marketing agency, as producer and project manager for two years after a year and a half with the Children’s Cancer Association as a database support and conversion manager. She also volunteers as a board member with the Columbia River Chapter of Gift of Adoption, an organization that specializes in raising grant funds to help families with the cost of adoption.

Serena Lee (G12) is a mechanical engineer at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility in Honolulu, starting in 2012 shortly after her graduation. She is in the Mechanical/Fluid Division - Hydraulics and Valves Branch.

Mark Smith (G13), after five years working for Friendsview Retirement Community, has moved across the street to be an electrician with George Fox’s plant services department. He started in January, leaving a position he held for two years as a maintenance technician handling requests for Friendsview’s health center and memory care units.

Stephen Kenyon (G13) in May was ordained as a transitional deacon for the Archdiocese of Portland Catholic Church. Involved with the St. Peter Parish in Newberg while a George Fox student, he entered Mt. Angel (Oregon) Seminary following graduation. He has served in pastoral assignments at St. Alice Parish in Springfield, Oregon; Holy Family Parish in Southeast Portland; St. Anthony Parish in Tigard, Oregon; San Lorenzo Tezonco Parish in Mexico City; Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia, Washington; and St. Patrick Parish in Canby, Oregon. He also served a pastoral year internship at St. Joseph Parish in Salem, Oregon.

Sarah (Roberts) Lee (G13) and Craig Lee (G14) live in Newberg, where she is a nurse and he is on his way to being one. She is a registered nurse at the Providence Newberg Birth Center, guiding women through delivery and both mother and baby through postpartum. She is in her second year in the position following four years at Legacy Silverton (Oregon) Medical Center. Both an alumnus and student, he is now in his junior year in George Fox’s nursing program while also working at Jory, a restaurant at the Allison Inn and Spa in Newberg. He also serves as co-president of the university Nursing Club and as a coordinator for Red Cross blood drives in Newberg. Previously, after earning his bachelor’s degree in athletic training, he was an athletic trainer.

Kelly (James) Freire (G14) is an email deployment specialist with Salesforce in Hillsboro, Oregon, now in her second year with the national cloud computing firm. She is assigned to the Gap Inc. account, with duties that include segmenting subscriber data based on various traits, then processing emails to ensure correct messaging is sent to the correct segment of customers. She also is a member of the Junior League of Portland, currently serving as assistant chair of digital media and as the organization’s webmaster. Previously, she was a marketing communications coordinator at FranNet, a franchise consulting firm in Lake Oswego, Oregon, and a marketing coordinator at Hire Consulting Services.

Terrance Hoeft (G14) is a logistics manager for St. Johns Panel Systems in Hillsboro, Oregon. In the position since December, he is responsible for purchasing and receiving materials, working with vendors and other manufacturers, coordinating production timelines and providing job quotes. He also serves as IT systems administrator for the company, which manufactures custom-made office furniture such as desks, tables and cabinets, and works with customers to do space planning and installation. Previously, he was with Econ-O-Fab Buildings in Gaston, Oregon.

Sarah (Gilmore) Johnson (G14) in July was advanced to a billing and licensing team lead position with HawkSoft Inc. following three years as a billing and licensing specialist. Located in Canby, Oregon, HawkSoft is a family-owned business providing user-friendly management system software for insurance agencies.

Amberly (Vincent) Largusa (G14) is student affairs office manager with the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. The consortium, which awards MA, PhD and ThD degrees, has eight private independent theological schools with an established relationship with the University of California, Berkeley. Previously, she was a resident director with Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, and an administrator with the Mount Herman (California) Association.

Tiffany Rousseau (G14) in the fall became the new theatre director at C.S. Lewis Academy in Newberg. Since the private Christian school of 180 students has moved to a new campus it no longer has a dedicated theatre of its own, so productions were staged at Newberg’s Chehalem Cultural Center, in the campus chapel and at an amphitheater in Sherwood, Oregon. This year, she was also an emerging artist with Bag&Baggage Productions in Hillsboro, Oregon; taught classes for the Journey Theater Arts Group in Portland and Beaverton, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington; and produced her own play as a staged reading for the Fertile Ground Festival in Portland.

Alyssa (Lewis) Michels (G15) is an English language learners teacher at John Tuck Elementary School in Redmond, Oregon, one of 23 teachers for the 450 students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

Mackenzie Adix (G16), after a year in an internship position, in 2017 was hired as a full-time library assistant (lead staff position) at the Salem (Oregon) Public Library.

George “Hambric” Brooks (DMin16) is using his doctoral dissertation research at his First Baptist Church in Forsyth, Georgia, and it has earned headline attention in one of the state’s largest newspapers. The 66,000-circulation The Telegraph in Macon, Georgia, highlighted the church’s dramatic change in April, as the traditional 11 a.m. service was replaced by a modern, contemporary service featuring electric and acoustic guitars, drums, and modern songs and choruses. The change moved the traditional service to 9 a.m., which drew around 90. The new service drew 157, and total attendance rose more than 100 percent. Brooks’ seminary dissertation was titled “Revitalization of Moderate Baptist Churches.” He came to the church a year ago from the First Baptist Church in Griffin, Georgia, where he served 15 years, first as a student pastor and later as pastor of the church’s Connexion Service, a contemporary service format. Previously, he served in youth ministry in several southeast Georgia churches.

Zandin Burke (G16) has joined VLMK Engineering + Design as a structural engineer, working with the Portland firm’s structural team on commercial and industrial projects. He started in March after 18 months with Structural Solutions Inc. of Medford, Oregon, as a structural designer. VLMK, founded in 1971, focuses on civil and structural engineering design and planning for the development community.

Andrew Carlson (DPT16) is one of three physical therapists on the six-member team at Therapeutic Associates Ability Physical Therapy in McMinnville, Oregon. His clinical interests include neurological and balance conditions, orthopedic injuries, sports performance and post-operative rehabilitation.

Josi (O’Farrell) Hickernell (G16), Taylor Hickernell (G16), Andrew Kaye (n16) and Ella (Carver) Kaye (G17) are partners in a new retail shop that opened in April in Newberg and sold 50 percent of its inventory in the first few days. They have established Uflora Plant House, featuring handpicked houseplants, botanical wares and fresh in-season floral designs. Also planned are workshops, plant leasing services for individuals and businesses, and scheduled floral arrangement delivery. The couples raised more than $20,000 through a Kickstarter campaign 

Kurtley Knight (DMin16) and his new church plant, Epiphany Church in Lower Greenville, a neighborhood of Dallas, Texas, were the lead for a lengthy article in the Dec. 14, 2017, issue of The Dallas Morning News. Headlined “Evangelical Churches are Embracing Liturgy to Make the Megachurch More Personal,” the commentary piece cites the church as “a new kind of hybrid: an evangelical church that orders its services around liturgical practices.” Sermons and church activities are planned around the liturgical year, observing Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Easter and Pentecost. The start-up church was planted by Knight after joining with the Irving Bible Church in a church-plant residency in 2015. He and his wife moved to Texas the year before, leaving Pennsylvania, where he was pastor at Seventh-Day Adventist churches in Pittsburgh and Uniontown for four years, leaving the denomination of his birth for theological reasons.

David Linton (MBA16) has been promoted to assistant head of the structural engineering department at Mackenzie in Portland, now responsible for managing a staff of 22 engineers. With the company for six years, he was a senior associate and project engineer in the firm’s structural group, responsible for managing the structural design on assigned projects. A licensed structural engineer in both California and Oregon, he has had articles published in two publications – the Journal of Structural Engineering and the Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities – on how wood-framed structures function under the impact of a tsunami. Mackenzie provides design services including architecture, interior and landscape design; structural, civil and traffic engineering; and land use and transportation planning.

JD Shinn (ADP16) is back in his hometown, in his second year as chief executive officer of the Dallas (Oregon) Chamber of Commerce. Previously, he spent two years with the Salem (Oregon) Chamber of Commerce under a contract with Incite Inc., participating in a workforce development project called Career Achievement Network. Previously, he was a health coach with Take Shape For Life for more than five years and a personal banker and construction loan specialist with West Coast Bank for more than five years. He leads both the chamber organization and the visitor center for the city of 14,000.

Sarah (Harrison) Small (G16) left George Fox’s marketing communications department in January to work part time in Salem, Oregon, with an organization assisting Syrian refugees. She plans to continue graduate studies in the university’s master’s program in clinical mental health counseling.

Sydney West (G16) is now an undergraduate admissions counselor for her alma mater, joining the George Fox undergraduate admissions staff in January. She moved from a position as admissions counselor at Central Washington University, where she had been for a year and a half. She was a visit and events intern for the George Fox undergraduate admissions office her senior year.

Tim Loomer (EdD17) has been named interim head of school of a new school being created with the merger of two similar private institutions in Santa Barbara and Ventura, California. Now in his 23rd year as an educational leader, Loomer, in 2016, was selected interim head of El Montecito School San Roque, with 170 students in preschool through sixth grades. This summer, it will merge with Providence School of Santa Barbara, which offers preschool through high school classes. The new name will be Providence School. Loomer previously was with Providence as an academic dean, then head of upper school after a 14-year teaching and administrator career with the Ventura Unified School District.

Makenna Wimmer (G17) in April joined George Fox’s marketing communications office as a web designer. Previously, she was a graphic design coordinator for the National Psoriasis Foundation in Portland, for which she developed operation plans for projects, helped create event branding, and designed brochures, event pieces and web content.

Bob Day (ADP18) is the new No. 2 in command with the Portland Police Bureau, protecting the nation’s 26th-largest city (640,000 residents). He was appointed in April by Police Chief Danielle Outlaw to fill the new position of deputy chief, created at her request. Day has been with the Portland bureau for nearly 28 years, working his way up to the rank of assistant chief under a previous police chief. He has been serving as head of training for the bureau and as lead trainer for the bureau’s “implicit bias” curriculum that began this spring for officers. He was a patrol officer for 10 years before being promoted to sergeant in 2000, then to lieutenant in 2006. Three years later, he was promoted to captain, heading Portland’s North Precinct. This spring, Day and his wife announced the formation of a new Portland-based foundation in the name of their 15-year-old son, Sam Day, to raise money and awareness for rare pediatric cancers. Sam died in August 2016 of a rare bone cancer, Ewing sarcoma.

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