乐播传媒

After 30 years of working for CU Presents 鈥� the home of CU Boulder performing arts 鈥� Joan McLean Beaun (Mus鈥�81; MBA鈥�93) plans to retire in June. She became the program鈥檚 executive director in 2001 and saw it grow to about 500 events a year, including concerts, operas, plays and musicals. 鈥淛oan鈥檚 efforts have been deeply appreciated and have laid the foundation for future success for CU performers, scholars and artists,鈥� said Chancellor Philip DiStefano last fall. Joan lives in Boulder.

In January,聽author and聽photographer聽Robert聽鈥淏ob鈥� Crifasi (Geol鈥�81;聽MS鈥�88; MEnvSci鈥�96)聽published聽Western聽Water A to Z: The聽History, Nature, and聽Culture of a Vanishing聽Resource. The book is聽the first field guide to聽Western water. In June,聽he hosted a Q&A about聽the book at the Boulder聽Book Store on the Pearl聽Street Mall. Bob works聽in water management聽and planning and is an聽environmental scientist聽with more than 25 years聽of experience. He has聽worked as an environmental planner with聽Denver Water and served聽as the water resources聽administrator for the City聽of Boulder鈥檚 Open Space聽and Mountain Parks聽Department.聽

Vernon Norviel聽(ChemEngr鈥�81), a partner聽at law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, is聽at the forefront of a pro聽bono initiative aimed at聽bolstering biodiversity聽and safeguarding an聽endangered species.聽His work with Revive &聽Restore provides guidance on vaccine testing聽of a synthetic alternative聽to blood cells extracted聽from endangered horseshoe crabs. Horseshoe聽crabs are often harvested for their blood, which聽contains a protein used聽in vaccines and other聽injectable pharmaceuticals. Vern has three聽decades of experience聽formulating successful聽strategies for life science聽companies and helping聽them develop intellectual聽property programs.聽

After 22 years聽of service,聽Steve Coe (Jour鈥�81)聽retired from the Human聽Rights and Special聽Prosecutions Section聽of the U.S. Department聽of Justice. Since 2005,聽Steve helped investigate聽and prosecute individuals in the U.S. who were聽suspected of committing聽human rights violations in聽1991鈥�95 in the countries聽of the former Yugoslavia.聽Previously, he worked聽as a historian in the聽Department of Justice鈥檚聽Special Investigations聽division. He studied聽Russian in the Soviet Union聽and received a master鈥檚聽degree in Russian and East聽European studies from the聽University of Michigan in聽1986 and a Ph.D. in modern Russian history in 1993.

In February, legal services firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati opened an office in downtown Boulder. Vern Norviel (ChemEngr鈥�81) and Tony Jeffries (Fin鈥�89), partners with the firm, are leading the team at the new location. Wilson Sonsini provides legal counsel regarding life sciences, technology and growth enterprises. Vern works in Wilson Sonsini鈥檚 patent and innovation group, and Tony works in the firm鈥檚 corporate practice group.

The third edition of Matthew J. Sharps鈥� (Psych鈥�81;MS鈥�84; PhD鈥�86) book Processing Under Pressure: Stress, Memory And Decision-Making in Law Enforcement was published by Looseleaf Law Publications. Matthew is a psychology professor at California State University, Fresno, researching forensic cognitive science. He lives in Coarsegold, California.

In June, Linda Villarosa鈥檚 (Jour鈥�81) book Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation Will be published. Linda works as a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine and is an associate professor at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, which she once attended. Additionally, Linda teaches reporting, Black studies and writing at the City College of New York. Linda resides in Brooklyn, New York.

Kurt Ruttum (Econ) of Portland, Oregon, was named managing partner at business and litigation law firm Tonkon Torp. Kurt specializes in mergers and acquisitions, and began his career in law at the firm in 1986. He is also on the board of directors at Parrott Creek Child and Family Services, a nonprofit that assists vulnerable youth and families.

Originally from Kokomo, Indiana, Dana Scruggs (Ger) chose to attend CU Boulder so she could ride her bicycle in the mountains. She has spent most of her career as a translator, including as a patent translator for a major German automotive components manufacturer. In 2013, she returned to Boulder and won the Boulder Canyon Hill Climb Challenge in her age group, as part of the Buffalo Bicycle Classic. She lives in Indianapolis.

A third-generation pilot and aviation historian, Lt. Col. Scott Weaver (Mktg) has more than 2,600 hours of flight time. In addition to two combat tours in Iraq, Scott was also a fighter pilot in Germany and a T-38A instructor at Vance Air Force Base in Oklahoma. Scott continues to fly for American Airlines, and in 2017 published his book The Pilots of Thunderbird Field. He lives in Potomac, Maryland.聽

In January, Peter Doody (Engl) received the Defense Lawyer of the Year Award from the San Diego Defense Lawyers. In February, he became president of the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel, the largest regional civil litigation defense organization in the nation, with 1,200 attorney members from Santa Barbara to San Diego. Peter was captain of the CU rugby team.

Peggy Campbell Rush (MEdu鈥�81) was named a Fulbright specialist by the U.S. Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The appointment, which runs from 2018 to 2021, matches specialists with foreign host institutions from over 150 countries to share expertise, strengthen international collaboration and learn about other cultures. Peggy writes that her love of travel was sparked while attending CU, where she sailed around the world twice as the assistant executive dean for the Semester at Sea program. She lives in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

In January, Peter Doody (Engl鈥�81) received the Defense Lawyer of the Year Award from the San Diego Defense Lawyers organization. In February, he became president of the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel, the largest regional civil litigation defense organization in the nation, with 1,200 attorney members from Santa Barbara to San Diego. Peter specializes in cases brought against product manufacturers, transportation companies and property owners. While at CU, he was captain of the rugby team.

After working for the federal government for 32 years,聽Melissa Mansell Popp聽(IntlAf) retired in 2013. Since retiring, she has battled stage 3 breast cancer, become a court-appointed special advocate for children (CASA) and moved to Firestone, Colo., to be聽closer to her granddaughter.

Michelle聽R. Houser聽(Jour) was named chief聽operating officer of the聽Tesla Foundation, a think聽tank focused on workforce development and聽education related to autonomy and autonomous聽technology. She previously managed advanced聽transportation, aerospace,聽cybersecurity and clean聽tech economic development efforts at the Los聽Angeles County Economic聽Development Corporation聽and worked as a political聽communications consultant in Southern California.

Dawn Bjork聽(Mktg), a 15-year聽member of the National聽Speakers Association聽(NSA), was elected聽president of the Colorado聽chapter, the largest聽in the U.S. A software聽trainer who speaks on聽technology issues, Dawn聽is a Microsoft-certified聽trainer and owner of The聽Software Pro. She lives in聽Centennial, Colo.

The National Association of Corporate Directors and Puget Sound Business Journal announced Colleen Birdnow Brown (MBA) as 2017 Director of the Year.

Over Labor Day weekend, the CU Men鈥檚 Rugby Club celebrated its 50th anniversary with an alumni reunion in Boulder. The weekend鈥檚 highlight was a match pitting alumni against current CU players. About 40 alumni from all five decades played in the match, including聽Pete Doody (Engl), Rich Frankenheimer (贰肠辞苍),听Dean Niro (颁颈惫贰苍驳谤鈥�88),听Shane Brown (AeroEngr鈥�95; MS鈥�99) and Dan Hernandez (滨苍蹿辞厂测蝉鈥�98). Read more here. Planning for the next reunion, in 2018, has already begun. Email聽curugby@colorado.edu聽for details.

Director of TrueBlue Inc. and founder of Marca Global LLC Colleen Birdnow Brown (MBA) was interviewed by the National Association of Corporate Directors for its May/June 2017 magazine.

Dennis Mann (EPOBio) works as an emergency room doctor in Dayton, Ohio. He also teaches in Wright State University鈥檚 emergency medicine department.