’00 Kenneth Rigdon, EdD, Winston Salem, NC, worked in Kansas, North Carolina, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kazakhstan before retiring in 2012.

’01 Jane (Wildeboer) Castings, BA, Cedar Falls, received the 2022 Gold Star Award for Outstanding Teaching. She is a media specialist at Orange Elementary in Waterloo.

’01 Jeremy Jones, BA, MA ’11, ASC ’11, Cedar Falls, was named the 2022 Iowa Middle Level Principal of the Year by the School Administrators of Iowa. He is the principal of Holmes Junior High School.

’01 Rita Koontz, MA, Wellston, OK, earned a PhD in counseling psychology from the University of Oklahoma in 2005. She is writing full time and developing a business plan for private practice.

’01 Hilary LaMasters, BA, MA ’03, Waverly, received the 2022 Gold Star Award for Outstanding Teaching. She is a Spanish teacher for Cedar Falls High School.

’01 Sammy Spann, MA, Toledo, OH, is vice president of student affairs and dean of students at the University of Toledo.

’02 Laura (Williams) Booth, BA, Cedar Rapids, was promoted to director of family philanthropy with the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation.

’02 Mark Scheffer, BM, BA ’04, Sioux City, serves as senior researcher at the Baha’i International Community United Nations Office. He has contributed to a variety of edited books, journals and other publications. He serves on delegations attending UN functional commissions.

’02 Erin (Kleis) Schmitz, BA, Jesup, was named convention director for the National Down Syndrome Congress. She is the owner of E&B Management and co founder of the FIRE Foundation of Northeast Iowa.

’03 Gregory Caldwell, BA, Clarkdale, AZ, completed medical residency training in anesthesiology and perioperative medicine and the University of Texas San Antonio. He joined Northern Arizona Healthcare as a general anesthesiologist at Verde Valley Medical Center.

’03 Melissa Matz, BA, Jacksonville, FL, was named the 2021 2022 Florida Teacher of the Year. She is a seventh grade math teacher at Lakeside Junior High.

’03 Marcus Pitts, BA, Ankeny, received the 2022 Deal of the Year Under $5 Million Award from the Iowa Commercial Real Estate Association. He is a managing director with JLL.

’03 Scott Stokes, BA, Estherville, was named president of Iowa Lakes Community College effective 7/1/2022.

’03 Trent Tillman, BA, Cedar Rapids, was named president of TrueNorth.

’04 Jason Hutcheson, BA, Mediapolis, is executive director of the Great River Health Foundation.

’04 Ashley (Atherton) Thompson, BA, Ames, was selected by the Des Moines Business Record as one of the 2022 Forty Under 40 honorees. She is director of government and external affairs with UnityPoint Health Systems.

’04 Dallas Vit, BA, MBA ’07, Dallas, TX, was named chief information officer of Fay Servicing, a mortgage servicer.

’04 Lindsay (Varcoe) Wagoner, BA, Cedar Rapids, became a shareholder in Holmes Murphy 6/21/2022.

’05 Leslie (Rash) Berckes, BA, MPP ’09, Des Moines, was selected by the Des Moines Business Record as one of the 2022 Forty Under 40 honorees. She is the director of programs with Trees Forever.

’05 Dawn Boone, BA, BA ’20, Waterloo, received the 2022 Gold Star Award for Teaching. She is a third grade teacher at Lincoln Elementary in Waterloo.

’05 Tyler Dingel, BA, Clive, received the 2022 Deal of the Year Over $5 Million Award from the Iowa Commercial Real Estate Association. He is a senior vice president with CBRE|Hubbell Commercial.

’05 Marc Engels, BA, Davenport, was named one of the Quad Cities Business Journal’s inaugural Forty Under 40. He is president of Mel Foster Insurance.

’05 Holly (Petersen) Wardlow, BA, MSW ’07, Waverly, is a licensed independent clinical social worker with Waverly Health Center.

’05 Laura (Cox) Wittnebel, BA, Bettendorf, was named one of the Quad Cities Business Journal’s inaugural Forty Under 40. She is assistant race director for TBK Bank Quad Cities Marathon and business development coordinator for Mel Foster Co.

’06 Aaron Hyde, BA, Waukee, received the 2022 Deal of the Year Under $5 Million Award from the Iowa Commercial Real Estate Association. He is a vice president for retail with JLL.

’06 Philip Jones, BA, Waverly, was named to the 2022/2023 Leadership Iowa class. He is the president of Rada Mfg. Co.

’06 Rebecca (Wagoner) McCarty, BA, Cedar Falls, was named one of the Cedar Valley’s 20 under 40 by the Waterloo/ Cedar Falls Courier for 2022. She is the director of mission engagement with the Boys & Girls Club of the Cedar Valley.

’06 Qulishia (Taylor) Williams, BA, Waterloo, was named one of the Cedar Valley’s 20 under 40 by the Waterloo/ Cedar Falls Courier for 2022. She is a senior manager of human resources with CUNA Mutual Group in Waverly.

’07 Edita (Rizvanovic) Begic, BA, Cedar Falls, was named one of the Cedar Valley’s 20 under 40 by the Waterloo/ Cedar Falls Courier for 2022. She is the president of Vine Valley Real Estate.

’07 Tylor Burke, BA, Waverly, was named one of the Cedar Valley’s 20 under 40 by the Waterloo/ Cedar Falls Courier for 2022. He is a partner and business solutions advisor with The Accel Group.

’07 Meghan (Reynolds) Lang, BA, MA ’14, Cedar Falls, received the 2021 Dr. Robert E. and Phyllis M. Yager Exemplary Teaching Recognition Award. She is a science teacher at Cedar Falls High School.

’07 Nicholas Rhoads, BA, Cedar Falls, received the 2022 Gold Star Award for Outstanding Teaching. He is a 5th grade teacher at Southdale Elementary.

’07 Jamekia (Washington) Sanders, BA, Evansdale, was named one of the Cedar Valley’s 20 under 40 by the Waterloo/ Cedar Falls Courier for 2022. She is the residential supervisor at the Waterloo Women’s Center for Change and the First Judicial District Department of Correctional Services.

’07 Will Smith, BA, Auckland, New Zealand, is a learning and education leader for PwC New Zealand.

’07 Andrew St John, BA, Polk City, was named to the 2022- 2023 Leadership Iowa class. He is the vice president and chief financial officer with Central Iowa Power Cooperative.

’08 Dan Black, BM, MA ’17, ASC ’18, Council Bluffs, was named the 2022 Licensed Staff Member of the Year for Council Bluffs Community School District. He is the orchestra director at Abraham Lincoln High School and Kirn Middle School.

’08 James Crawford, BA, MA ’12, Washington, DC, served as a GIS Analyst for Polk County for seven years and then as a GIS Systems Administrator for the Library of Congress since 2020. He deploys, upgrades and administers ESRI Enterprise and related GIS software and contributes to GIS educational outreach for Library of Congress employees.

’09 Devin Boyer, BA, West Des Moines, was selected by the Des Moines Business Record as one of the 2022 Forty Under 40 honorees. He is vice president for commercial banking with Community State Bank.

’09 Alexis (Persson) Denton, BA, ASC ’18, Waukee, was named principal at Oak Park Elementary in the Des Moines School District effective for the 2022-2023 school year.

’09 Molly Hanson, BA, Des Moines, is a conservation and community outreach specialist with RDG. She is working on a climate action and adaptation plan for the City of Des
Moines and is co chairing the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion committee.

’09 Katie (Noonan) Hillyer, BA, Cedar Falls, is vice president/ EOS Leader at the Techworks location of Lincoln Savings Bank.

’09 Krystal (Campbell) Mikkilineni, BA, Clive, is a shareholder in the restructuring, insolvency and bankruptcy department and the mergers and acquisitions department at Dentons Davis Brown.

’09 Daniel White, BM, New York, NY, performed as keyboardist for numerous large scale touring NETWorks Presentations shows, as well as the Broadway production of “The Lion King.”