Fall 2008
1970s
Norita Espinsoa, '79 BS Special Education, '87 MS Counseling, recently completed her 24th year with the Clark County School District. A counselor at Lyon Middle School in Overton for the past five years, she previously taught for 11 years at Cashman Middle School — seven of them in special education — and served as a counselor at Bracken Elementary School for eight years. In 2000 she won the Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award. She lives in Overton.
1980s
John Maksimik, '80 BS Hotel Administration, opened the branch office of Orgill-Singer Insurance and is the lead broker in the Northern Nevada office. He is a certified insurance counselor and certified risk manager. His hobbies include skiing, hiking, carpentry, and cruising the Seven Seas. He lives in Reno.
Russel A. Kost III, '83 BA Communication Studies, joined the Desert Research Institute on June 1 as its vice president for development. He is responsible for directing all fundraising for DRI and is a member of the president's cabinet. Previously, he spent 23 years at UNLV working in a number of fundraising roles.
Mike Masterson, '84 BS Hotel Administration, is the star of the Discovery Channel's new reality show, Verminators, which airs on Monday nights. He also is the CEO of ISOTECH Pest Management and CEO and president of 633 Envisions Inc. He has been married for 21 years and has two children, son Sean and daughter Ashtyn. His hobbies include golf and running. He lives in Covina, Calif.
Gregory M. Smith, '86 BA and '98 MA Criminal Justice, was promoted to chief of investigations for the Nevada attorney general's office in January. Previously, he served as the deputy chief of investigations for approximately seven years.
Jan Gee Volodkevich, '87 BS Hotel Administration, is the area director of human resources for Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants in Seattle. She and her husband, Bob, have two daughters, Maria and Katie. Her hobbies include serving as a USA Swimming stroke and turn official, traveling, and spending time with her family. She lives in Sammamish.
1990s
Doug Nielsen, '93 Master of Social Work, is a professional speaker, corporate trainer, and executive coach. His clients have included Fed Ex/Kinkos, Samsung, the U.S. Air Force, and the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. In June he was designated a certified speaking professional by the National Speakers Association. A married father of four, he also is a private practice psychotherapist, composer/ singer, magician, black belt martial arts instructor, and author. His hobbies include snow and water skiing, coaching soccer, and teaching karate to underprivileged youths. He lives in Ogden, Utah.
Jade Anderson, '94 BS Business Administration, was named Nevada's Small Business Person of the Year for 2008 by the U.S. Small Business Administration. He is the founder and owner of Capstone Brokerage Inc., which specializes in risk management, property and casualty insurance, and employee benefits. The company, has increased revenue more than 700 percent since 2003. He also owns Healthline Insurance Inc., a web-based company aimed at helping people find affordable insurance. He was one of 60 people selected for the Entrepreneurial Masters Program hosted by the MIT Enterprise Forum and the Entrepreneurs Organization. He serves on the board of Olive Crest Homes & Services for Abused Children. He is married and has two children.
Holly Novak, '95 MS Geoscience, works for ExxonMobil. She has worked in many oil and gas provinces around the world including South America, Europe, Norway, the U.S. and Canada. Her job has involved drilling oil wells. She lives in The Woodlands, Texas.
Eric Ortega, '97 BS Business Administration, is a network engineer for Midcontinent Communications in South Dakota. He lives in Sioux Falls.
Atsushi Nozao, '98 BS Hotel Administration, is a market manager for Travelocity in Tokyo. He lives in Kawaguchi, Japan.
2000s
Emily L. Flagg, '00 BS Civil Engineering, was recently named an associate of PBS&J, a technical engineering planning and design firm. Now serving as a project manager in the traffic division, she received her professional engineer's license in 2006. PBS&J is ranked 25th among the nation's top consulting firms by Engineering News Record.
Stephanie Liggio, '00 BA Communications Studies, is a business development manager for Judicial Title Insurance Agency and is considering enrolling in graduate school. Her hobbies include reading, attending concerts, ice skating, and going to the beach. She lives in Bronx, N.Y.
Mariko Watanabe Shotwell, '00 BS Hotel Administration, has worked at the Mauna Kea Resort on the Kolaha Coast of Hawaii for seven and a half years. She married Stephen J. Shotwell at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel on Sept. 9, 2007. They live in Waikoloa.
Karan Sarang, '00 BS Hotel Administration, is working in the financial services industry in Canada and considering returning to UNLV to pursue an MIS degree. Her hobbies include golf, tennis, and sightseeing in Vancouver. She lives in Nurnaby, British Columbia.
Christopher Dear,'02 BS Hotel Administration, '06 Master of Education, is the director of training at MGM Grand Detroit. He lives in Southfield, Mich.
Jungah Alex Han, '02 BS Hotel Administration, '05 MS Accounting, is a senior auditor for Ernst & Young, LLP in Las Vegas. She lives in Henderson.
Ilsa Schiefelbein Kerscher, '02 MS Geoscience, is a geoscientist at ExxonMobil Corp. and is deployed to the reservoir systems resource area. She works on the reservoir connectivity analysis (RCA) core team developing capabilities in and supporting the RCA technology globally. She lives in Spring, Texas.
Debbie Howarth, '03 Master of Hospitality Administration, recently was promoted to associate professor in the International Hotel School at Johnson & Wales University, Providence (R.I.) campus. She recently completed her first year as a doctoral student in the School of Education at Boston University.
Lindsay Stein,'03 BS Hotel Administration, is an event planner for Great Events in Northbrook, Ill. She lives in Chicago.
Camilla Brunold, '04 BS Hotel Administration, is part of a local television station's sales team. She has three teenage daughters: Cathy, who just graduated from high school; Tiffany; and Kristen. She enjoys spending time with her children and her boyfriend, reading, watching television, and being with friends. She lives in Pahrump.
Renato N. Estacio, '04 Bachelor of Music, '08 Master of Music, recently joined the professional services section of International Game Technology as a business consultant. Previously, he served as director of marketing and public relations for the Las Vegas Philharmonic and as assistant director of the UNLV Writing Center. He has served on the membership and marketing committee of the UNLV Alumni Association. He completed his MBA in marketing from the Keller Graduate School of Management and this fall began pursuing a doctoral degree in public affairs at UNLV.
Rebecca Jaeger-Boehmer, '04 BA Communication Studies, is a public relations account executive at ParkerWhite, a strategic branding communications agency based in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Calif. She develops strategic public relations campaigns and generates publicity for key agency clients. She previously worked for SpearHall Advertising and Public Relations in San Diego and for the Firm Public Relations and Marketing in Las Vegas. She enjoys spending time with her boyfriend and their two dogs, cooking, writing, reading, playing beach volleyball, and working out. She lives in Rancho Santa Fe.
Ernesto Moran, '04 BS Earth Science, '07 MS Geoscience, works for ExxonMobil. As part of the new hire development program, he spent his first eight months working on an exploration project searching for natural gas in south Texas. That project ended with a well being drilled and put into production. Now, he is looking for oil off the coast of California. His next assignment will involve planning, designing, and drilling wells. He lives in Cypress, Texas.
Ralph Thomas Piccirilli, '04 BA Hotel Administration, works in casino operations at Main Street Station while pursuing a degree at Concord Law School. He plans to move to California to practice law. He is the proud father of four daughters and one son. His hobbies include spending time with his family, reading, and watching movies. He lives in North Las Vegas.
Shelley Zaragoza, '04 BS Geology and '08 MS Geoscience, joined ExxonMobil's geophysical operations group in 2007. She researches optimal strategies for removing bubble energy from marine seismic data in a project that integrates geophysical acquisition, processing, and applications. The project could significantly impact the way seismic data is acquired and processed. She lives in Houston.
Casey Floyd, '05 BA Communication Studies, is vice president of central operations and project management for Nevada Commerce Bank. He is in charge of researching and identifying improvement projects. He is responsible for the security officer responsibilities, including back-up and disaster recovery, FDIC preparation, and strategic planning. Additionally, he heads the bank's marketing efforts. He has been with the bank since it opened in 2000. He was honored for his work with the bank by the Las Vegas Business Press, which named him a Rising Star of Business. He recently was elected president of the UNLV Journalism and Media Studies Alumni Association.
Jami Judge, '05 BA English, joined www.smartbrief.com as a taxonomy engineer after completing an internship with CNN in Washington, D.C. She graduated with a master's degree in library and information science from the University of North Texas in August.
Danielle Hinckley, '06 BS Recreation Management, recently launched an event planning and production company in Las Vegas. Stargazer Event Productions specializes in weddings, corporate events, and private parties.
Melissa Rothermel, '06 BA Journalism and Media Studies, has been named director of media relations for Imagine Marketing of Henderson. She writes, distributes, and coordinates public relations and marketing materials. She is a member of the Chamber of Commerce's Vegas Young Professionals and a graduate of the NEW Leadership Nevada, an annual program hosted at UNLV for the state's upcoming female leaders.
Bianca E. Taubert, '06 BA History, is working in the education department of the Flight Museum of Scotland. In December she earned a master of arts degree in museum studies from England's University of Newcastle upon Tyne. She lives in Edinburgh.
OBITUARY
Charles Adams, emeritus professor of English, died in May. A faculty member from 1960-99, he was the leading authority on the works of Southwestern novelist and nonfiction writer Frank Waters. He founded the Frank Waters Society and served as editor of its annual journal. At UNLV, he was in charge of graduate studies from 1964-71.
Donald Baepler, former UNLV president and emeritus executive director of the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Natural History, died in May. He served as acting president from 1968-69, president from 1973-78, and chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education from 1978-80. He played a key role in changing the university's name to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He also founded the Harry Reid Environmental Research Center. More recently he was acting director of the Nevada Board of Medical Examiners.
Sheilagh Brooks, emeritus distinguished professor of anthropology, died in February. She began teaching at UNLV part-time in 1961. She became the university's first full-time anthropologist in 1966 and its first distinguished professor in 1987. She retired in 1992. Although trained as a physical anthropologist, she was a proponent of the "four-field" approach in anthropology — physical anthropology, archaeology, cultural anthropology, and linguistics. She is survived by her husband, emeritus professor of anthropology Richard Brooks.
Donald Moyer, emeritus president, died in April. He was the university's first president and served in that capacity from 1964-69. He was instrumental in pushing for Nevada Southern University's autonomy from UNR. That vision was realized in a 1968 reorganization that paved the way for Nevada Southern to become UNLV. He played key roles in the construction of the campus' first residence hall and the original student union and in the creation of the hotel administration program.
Willard Rollings, professor of history, died in July. He had been on the faculty since 1989, teaching a wide range of courses, including Native American history and ethnohistory. His numerous UNLV awards included the Spanos Award for Teaching Excellence and the UNLV Alumni Association Outstanding Professor Award.
David Weide, emeritus professor of geoscience, died in June. He joined UNLV in 1973 and chaired the geoscience department from 1989-93. He retired in 2003. In 1998 he received the distinguished teacher award from the College of Sciences. For some years he was the "go-to" guy when local reporters needed an expert on earthquakes. He also created the KUNV radio show "Mostly Folk" and served as its host for 15 years.
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