Points of Pride



Alumni

  • Rod Oman, ‘90 BS & ‘91 BA, owner of The Imagery Photography studio in Burnsville, was named Minnesota’s Illustrative Photographer of the Year by the Minnesota Professional Photographer’s Association (mnppa.com). The awards took place in April 2009, at the “Northern Lights” convention, which included photographers from Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. He also received two “Judge’s Choice” awards, where the judges of the competition chose his prints as their favorites out of all 308 entries received. Earlier in the year, Rod was named the Twin Cities Illustrative Photographer of the Year, and received the honor of the only photographer in the state to have the classification as “Qualified” in all three categories of wedding, portrait and commercial. Visit The Imagery for more photos of his work and information on the studio.
  • Alvaro Guel '92 was named 2008 Teacher of the Year, All District Teacher of the Year, and Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year by the United Independent School District in Laredo, Texas. He teaches at Centeno Elementary School.
  • Jean Marie Rutkowski Stephenson, an  alumnus who had been living in Paradise Cove, Calif., directed that $75,000 from her estate go to the MSUM Women’s Studies program to fund a speaker’s series and scholarships for selected students majoring or minoring in Women’s Studies. Stephenson, who died a year ago, graduated in 1945 from MSUM (then Moorhead State Teachers College) with a degree in English. 
She worked as a news commentator at WDAY in Fargo, and later for a radio station in Centralia, Ill. Following a move to California, she entered the financial services industry, and in 1958 she was recognized as the top female account executive at Merrill, Lynch. She then worked at Morgan Stanley in Studio City, Calif., where she was a senior account executive and vice-president until she retired in 2004.
  • Beth Ekre (née Keske), a 1992 elementary education graduate, was named the North Dakota 2008-09 Teacher of the Year. She teaches social studies and language arts at Carl Ben Eielson Middle, Fargo. She also co-leads the student leadership team, heads the sixth-grade language arts department, and coaches track and field.
  • Wendy Harstad, ’91, a third grade teacher at the Circle of Life School in White Earth, Minn., was awarded the Minnesota No Child Left Behind 2007 American Star of Teaching. She was selected from among 4,000 nominations for implementing teaching strategies in an environment with high rates of poverty, abuse and crime.
  • First grade teacher Verna Rasmussen, ’91, was named the 2008 North Dakota Teacher of the Year. She teaches at Westside Elementary in West Fargo.
  • She started out as a part-time student receptionist for a small Fargo company called Great Plains Software. Today, Tami Reller, ’87, is the corporate vice president and chief financial officer of Microsoft’s Platforms and Services Division, one of the three major divisions within the world’s biggest software maker.
  • Carrie Kasang’s, ’92, recipe for Oatmeal Peanut Butter Scotchies beat out more than 600 other national entries in Mrs. Fields’ 30th anniversary recipe contest. The cookies were so popular, Mrs. Fields sold out its first batch of online Scotchies within a couple of months.
  • Dale Bosch, ’80, is a producer of documentary projects for booming cable networks like Discovery, the History Channel, National Geographic, Bravo and Outdoor Life. A recent 13-part series, “MonsterQuest,” which debuted on the History Channel, takes a scientific look at “creature” sightings around the world, ranging from Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster to Swamp Beast and the Creature of Snellgrove Lake.
  • A one-time wrestling letterman and a member of the Dragon Hall of Fame, Bob Bowlsby, ’75, has been appointed to the United States Olympic Committee Board of Directors. The board is a nine-member unit that oversees all Olympic operations in the country.
  • The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics honored Douglas A. Grouws, ’64 & ’65, with the 2007 Mathematics Education Trust Lifetime Achievement Award for Distinguished Service to Mathematics Education. He was selected in recognition of a lifetime of accomplishments in leadership, teaching and service to mathematics education.
  • John R. Stone, ’68, was named president of the Minnesota Newspaper Association. He is currently the editor of the Starbuck Times and was editor of the 1966-67 Moorhead State student newspaper, then called the Mistic. His brother-in-law John Malmberg, ’72, was named president of the Wyoming Press Association. Malmberg is general manager of The Cody Enterprise.
  • Tomi Sawyer, '76, is chief scientific officer and senior vice president of Drug Discovery & Innovative Technologies at AILERON Therapeutics in Cambridge, Mass., an emerging biotechnology company that is developing a new therapeutic modality, exploiting the unique molecular properties of Nature's alpha-helix in proteins and peptides, for a wide scope of human diseases that are virtually untreatable by current medicines.
  • Janice Baldes, ’98, is the CEO of a direct selling company called Bagolitas that boasts a national network of over 100 consultants plus several in other countries. To view Bagolitas spunky handbags and accessories, go to http://www.bagolitas.com/
  • Hazel Houkom, ’83, was one of 95 teachers in the nation who received the national Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science from the National Science Foundation. She’s also received many other awards, from YWCA Woman of the Year Award in Education to National Association of Teacher Educator’s Distinguished Clinician in Teacher Education Award.
  • Brent Gale, ’99, is co-owner of Twin Six, an alternative cycling apparel business. Outdoor Magazine named the Twin Six Argyle as its #1 “Jersey of the Year” in its 2006 Buyers Guide. The magazine wrote: “Unlike most cycling gear…Twin Six’s line of high-performance, retro-hip jerseys won’t make your partner cringe.” Winter 2007 Alumnews
  • Tim Wollenzien, ’84, is the director of the International Music Camp, an acclaimed fine arts school located at the International Peace Gardens, which straddles the North Dakota/Manitoba border on the edge of the Turtle Mountains. He’s only the third person in the camp’s half-century history who’s held the position.


Alumni Authors

  • “Darkhouse Spearfishing Across North America” by Jay A. Leitch, ’75.
  • “Santa Claus Super Spy Series” by Ryan Jacobson, ‘98
  • “Progressive Painting: Your Creative Journey” and “Where’s Petunia?” by Ellen Jean Diederich, ‘83
  • “Gangsters of Harlem” and “Black Gangsters of Chicago” by Ron Chepesiuk, ‘68
  • “History in the Making” by Kyle Ward, ‘92
  • “The Power & Paradox of Physical Attractiveness” by Gordon L. Patzer, ‘73
  • “Brewed Awakenings: An Illustrated Journey to Coffeehouses in Wisconsin (and Beyond)” by Jeff Hagen, ’68. For other releases, visit www.jeffhagenart.com
  • “Hobie the Hope Bear” by Sheila Dokken, ‘90
  • “The Horizontal World: Growing Up Wild in the Middle of Nowhere” by Deb Marquart, ’84 & ‘90
  • “Career Wisdom for College Students” by Peter Vogt, ’90. For other releases, visit www.careerplanningresources.com
  • “Empty Chairs” and “War Child” by Annelee Woodstrom, ‘70
  • “Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity” by Robert Jensen, ‘81
  • “Minnesota 150: The People, Places and Things That Shaped our State” by Kate Roberts, ‘80