Deborah Winningham, '90 Master of Social Work, is the state director for Phoenix Homes, a foster care organization in Ohio. She lives in Lewis Center.
Michael S. Gerenda, '91 BS Hotel Administration, teaches culinary arts at a high school in Bucks County, Pa. He also coaches high school soccer and lacrosse. An avid sailor and traveler, he is the owner of a small catering business that deals primarily with home parties and events.
Ki-Joon Back, '92 BS and '94 MS Hotel Administration, recently joined the University of Houston as associate professor and graduate program director in the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management. He lives in Sugar Land, Texas.
David Pokorny, '92 MBA, is the product manager of Intelligent Table Systems, a security system for casino blackjack and baccarat, for Shuffle Master Inc. Recently, he received his certification as a project management professional. A member of Sourcer- Ers Toastmasters, he married Heather Rogers last year.
Kristie Close Wakefield, '92 BS Sports Medicine, retired from her physical therapy career and is now the owner of Sunflower Kids, a children's resale boutique in Henderson. She has two children, Hannah and Cooper.
Christian E. Hardigree, '93 BS Hotel Administration, was promoted to associate professor in UNLV's College of Hotel Administration in July. She and her husband, Chris Brown, welcomed a son, Parker J. Brown, to their family on April 5.
Shellie Michael, '93 MA Communication Studies, is an associate professor in the communication and English departments at Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin, Tenn. She earned a master's degree in English at Tennessee State University in 2001. At Vol State she is speaker of the Faculty Council and in 2002 won the college's outstanding faculty award. She is married to Mark Michael, who was a member of UNLV's philosophy department faculty from 1990 until 1995 and is now a philosophy professor at Austin Peay State University. The couple has one son, Alexander. The family lives in Nashville.
Robert Davenport, '94 BS Business Administration, was recently appointed to the board of directors of UNLV's College of Business Alumni Association. He is a financial planner and partner with Partners Financial Group. He is the president of the Entrepreneurs Organization and also serves on the board of advisors for UNLV's finance department. He also is a member of the International Association of Financial Planners, the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils, the Society of Financial Planning Specialists, and the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce.
Holly Ansley Shumate, '94 BS Hotel Administration, is the general manager of the Glorietta Bay Inn, a boutique hotel on California's Coronado Island near San Diego. She previously worked five years with Grand Pacific Resorts as the general manager of Carlsbad Seapointe Resort and Coronado Beach Resort. She lives in La Mesa.
Kristine Le Blanc Duncan, '95 BS Hotel Administration, and her husband, Dan, welcomed their daughter, Lindsey Mae, into the world on Feb. 18. They live in Denver.
Alicia Jackson, '95 BA Communication Studies, '00 MA Communication Studies, works for Audatex as a field support trainer. She trains insurance clients on auto claims software. Her hobbies include listening to music, attending concerts, and surfing the Internet. She recently moved from Las Vegas to Arlington, Texas.
Alison Rossman, '95 BA English, is an associate with the law firm of Quarles & Brady Streich Lang in its Phoenix real estate practice. She focuses on representation of developers and homebuilders in the preparation and negotiation of purchase agreements, CC&R's, easements, and homeowner association documents. She received her law degree from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
Rachel Ego Conneely, '96 BS Hotel Administration, recently accepted the position of general manager for Fox Acres Country Club, located in the northern Colorado Rockies. She previously was clubhouse manager at Wyoming's Powder Horn Golf Club, where she helped open a new 30,000-squarefoot clubhouse facility, and worked in a number of management positions at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. In January 2005 she married Sean Conneely in a beach ceremony on a Caribbean island. They live in Red Feather Lakes.
Tasha Anne James, '96 BA Theatre Arts, is an actor and director who recently played Maria in Twelfth Night and also directed Wiley and the Hairyman for Las Vegas' Rainbow Company Youth Theatre. She also produces and directs trade-show presentations and events. A runner, she completed the sprint distance in the Tri for the Cure in Denver in 2005 and in the Chicago Triathlon in 2000. She expects to finish the Olympic distance in the Chicago race this year. She lives in Chicago.
Nichole Lovely, '96 BS Accounting, was recently appointed to the board of directors of UNLV's College of Business Alumni Association. She is a senior audit manager with the Nevada practice of Deloitte & Touche. She helped establish the Greater Las Vegas chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants and currently serves as its president. She is working to establish a student chapter of the organization at UNLV. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Nevada Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Kimberley McGee, '96 BA Communication Studies, is the managing editor of three Las Vegas magazines, What's On the Las Vegas Guide, What's On Henderson, and What's On Summerlin. She worked as a reporter for the Las Vegas Sun and freelances for many national publications. She launched www. lasvegasfreelancers.com, an educational site for aspiring and published writers. She recently married Scott Schofield, who is an illustrator. Together they are writing children's books.
Kim Tun, '96 BS Hotel Administration, was recently hired as the advertising manger for Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. She advises and manages six properties' advertising departments. Pinnacle has properties in Nevada, Louisiana, Indiana, and the Bahamas.
Mark Benjamin, '97 BS Hotel Administration, is chief operations officer for flowerpetal.com, an online e-tailer of flowers and gifts. He is also director of operations for net.insights, a marketing company that provides web management and search-engine marketing services. He lives in Chicago.
Jason Cooper, '97 MA Anthropology, is a professional archaeologist with the environmental consulting firm Jones & Stokes. Based in Bellevue, Wash., he directs and manages archaeological surveys and excavations across the West. He recently returned from Egypt where he finished working on an archaeological survey near Abydos sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the University of Pennsylvania. He lives in Seattle.
Tony Llanos, '97 BS Hotel Administration, recently became the director of administrative services for Alcatraz Cruises. The company, which is affiliated with Hornblower Cruises and Events, launched its service in September. The National Park Service awarded Alcatraz Cruises an exclusive contract to transport tourists round-trip between San Francisco and Alcatraz Island. He previously spent five years as controller and human resources director of San Francisco's Orchard Hotel.
Diane I. Morris, '97 MS Civil Engineering, was profiled in Changing Our World: True Stories of Women Engineers, a book on extraordinary women engineers. An employee of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), she began her career as the first woman railroad track maintenance supervisor for Chessie System Railroad and has held a variety of engineering jobs since then. A participant in the Automated People Movers Standards Committee of the American Society of Civil Engineers, she received a distinguished service award in 2003. Engineers in Government, a practice division of the National Society of Professional Engineers, named her the engineer of the year for the FAA in 2004. She lives in Westland, Mich.
Ian M. Nixon, '97 BS Elementary Education, is beginning a doctoral program in curriculum and instruction at New Mexico State University this fall. He returned to the United States this summer after spending eight years teaching in American schools in four foreign countries. He enjoys traveling, aviation, reading, and learning. He and his wife, Siddharta, who is from Columbia, have been married three years.
Kristin Brooks Rivero, '97 BS Hotel Administration, is a customer service representative in the construction industry. Her hobbies include travel, music, cooking, dining, and reading. She lives in North Las Vegas.
Alisa Acosta, '98 MS Hotel Administration, is a consultant focusing on organizational efficiencies for her company, Alisa Acosta Business Consulting. She also is an instructor in UNLV's College of Business. Her hobbies include hiking at Red Rock and Mount Charleston, skiing, walking, reading, rollerblading, and traveling.
Roger Armstead, '98 BS Hotel Administration and '06 BS Leisure Services, works with youth enrichment for the city of Henderson's parks and recreation department. Previously, he spent 11 years working with Marriott Hotels.
Ryan P. Gullion, '98 BS Hotel Administration, is the general manager of Houston's Lancaster Hotel. Previously, he worked at the Hotel Valencia Santana Row in San Jose, Calif., as director of operations. He and his wife, Andrea, have a daughter, Caroline.
Robert Gurdison, '98 BA Architecture and '01 Master of Architecture, was the project manager for Carpenter Sellers Architects on the Center for Maternal-Fetal Medicine project. The center, a 13,000-square-foot, two-story office and retail building is located in Las Vegas' new medical district. It opened in January.
Bonnie Korkow, '99 BS Hotel Administration, recently received her teaching certificate and is working as a substitute teacher at Clark County School District elementary schools. She enjoys spending summer vacations in Vancouver, British Columbia; hiking; boating; and shopping.
George Okinaka, '99 BS Business Administration, works as the retail leasing manager for American Nevada Co., a Southern Nevada real estate developer. He handles the company's leasing portfolio, including Aliante MarketPlace and the District at Green Valley Ranch. He previously worked for the commercial real estate brokerage CB Richard Ellis Inc. and for Scenic Airlines. He enjoys fine dining, mountain biking, racquetball, travel, and yoga. He and his wife, Julie, have one son, Alexander. They live in Henderson.
