Alumni Spotlight: Reba Stier

Reba Stier (’91, education) is celebrating twenty-four years of teaching. She currently teaches the fourth grade at Numa Elementary School in Fallon, NV, and has also taught second and fifth grade students during the course of her career.

“I enjoy watching my students learn. The best moments of teaching are when you’ve watched a student struggle, and then they finally ‘get it’ … knowing I helped them learn and prepare for future education is such a feeling of accomplishment for me,” said Stier.

Her education courses at SUU prepared her for becoming a teacher. Through the example of her education professors she learned the importance of students, how enjoyable learning can be and what type of a teacher she aspired to be.

“It’s so rewarding when one of my students writes me a note thanking me for teaching them to read,” says Stier. “It’s those moments that make teaching worth it!”

Stier met some of her dearest friends during her educational experience at SUU. She fondly recalls laughing with friends while sitting in her elementary education block, walking the campus and feeling a sense of belonging, and all the fun she had at the spring fling activity on the upper quad.

“I was the first in my extended family to attend SUU, now it’s become a tradition in my immediate family,” said Stier.

She and her husband Michael have two children who both attend SUU. Joshua is a junior, majoring in psychology and Jessica is a sophomore, majoring in psychology with a minor in photography.

Stier feels a personal sense of accomplishment in raising her two children to be close to God, considerate of others and to value education. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her family and their five dogs, reading and tying blankets.

Mitsuyo Miyazaki - Homecoming Outstanding Alumnus

As a young girl in Osaka, Japan’s second-largest city, Mitsuyo Miyazaki often worked in her grandparents’ factory fabricating small metal parts for various uses. While finding diversion with 1950s American rock and roll, she dreamed of a life not so confining and colorless. And, she thought, wouldn’t it be nice to use the arts to escape any tedium that might creep into her world? Fortunately, she was blessed with a sparkling talent for performing, a fertile imagination, a strong work ethic, and an adventurous and indefatigable spirit. It is that combination that has led her to a well-founded education, a stellar career, and recognition as SUU’s 2015 Outstanding Alumnus.

As soloist for a youth chorus in her hometown, she expanded her horizons on the stage, and she starred in a variety of musicals and operas from the age of 10. Her dream, however, was to come to America, and upon a prestigious selection to study for a year in the United States, had her pick of many destinations. Utah was suggested and her puzzled response was “What’s Utah?” When she learned there were ski slopes, she agreed and found herself at Jordan High School in Sandy. Later, she was happy to return to the Beehive State, accepted into SUU’s vaunted theatre arts and dance program. In her first semester in 1995, she was cast as part of the ensemble in Fred Adams’ Jane Eyre: The Musical, and thus set off on an arduous but satisfying four-year journey through SUU’s cross-disciplinary approach.

She acted in a variety of plays, created costumes and learned all aspects of theatre, while diving fearlessly into the art department as well. She performed at her 1999 Commencement, had her paintings exhibited, and was named the outstanding senior in the theatre arts and dance department. She then headed for Hollywood and soon found herself cast in national commercials while also earning an exciting living as a photographer of actors and musicians. However, as an actress, the repetitiveness of auditioning wore on her and she sought more vibrant vistas, enrolling in the University of Southern California graduate school of cinematic arts. She was immediately grateful, she says, for the first-rate preparation of an SUU education.

Her first movie credit came as a production associate for the film Nanking, directed by double Oscar winner Bill Guttentag, and she earned a dizzying array of awards while at USC. Her thesis film Tsuyako, among more than a dozen of her productions thus far, visited more than 100 festivals worldwide, picking up 45 awards, and helped solidify her as one of the brightest young filmmakers in the country and indeed, the world. She quickly became busy as a cinematographer, scriptwriter and director of web content, commercials, and films and continues to earn awards.

A deeply personal film, Where We Begin, is her latest award-winning offering, included in the highly prestigious Tribeca Film Festival. The 19-minute dance performance drama was filmed in our surrounding spectacular scenery with largely local personnel added to Hollywood actors. SUU’s head of theatre arts and dance, Kay Andersen, choreographed and appeared in the film, and has the highest praise for Mitsuyo’s work. “She created a real community in the work,” he says. “She is a fine director. She was able to make her vision so clear that it was easy for all involved to understand exactly what she wanted. The work is stunning. She is a Renaissance woman, and brilliant.”

To be sure, Mitsuyo Miyazaki is well into the whirlwind of a film career and, as ever, is fully open to the inspirational possibilities of visual communication and its ability to change society and its people. As SUU’s Outstanding Alumnus, her successes truly reflect greatly upon the institution.

Mark Russell - Homecoming Distinguished Service Award

If dedication to SUU alumni and the University alone were enough cause for selection for the Distinguished Service Award of the association, perhaps no individual’s qualifications would surpass those of Mark Russell. However, when such attributes are coupled with a successful career leading others to achieve their financial goals and secure their future, Mark’s selection is truly, as they say, a no-brainer.

He was happily living in Sandy, Utah, some two decades after his 1974 graduation, when asked to be part of a new University program to help recruit students. Mark soon found himself among the school’s first admissions advisers, enthusiastically sponsoring open houses for potential students. Several years later, the University instituted the Alumni Chapters program and Mark eagerly led the first such organization in the Salt Lake Valley. His good works were recognized along with his other accomplishments by his selection as the Young Alumnus of the Year award in 2003. Then, in 2006, Mark became the National Alumni President for SUU, a position he held until this past year. Through it all, Mark has been one of the University’s greatest cheerleaders as well as a valued contributor to

myriad SUU causes. His service on the Board of Trustees was of particular importance as he relished taking part in virtually every major decision of the institution, including helping select two presidents and chairing the Board’s investments committee. Perhaps his favorite duty as alumni president, however, was delivering the welcome address to graduates each year and instructing them to flip their mortarboard tassels from right to left in a time-honored tradition.

Growing up in his birthplace of Salt Lake City, Mark had dreams of one day becoming a doctor. His life changed a bit at 12, when his father, who was in the aerospace industry, moved the family to New Jersey as the first stop on a continental odyssey. After his 1969 high school graduation in Rockford, Illinois, Mark thought he might attend Ricks College, but his grandfather back in Delta, Utah, encouraged him to try what was then SUSC. That, of course, proved to be pivotal in Mark’s life.

He originally expected to become an engineer like his father and took pre-engineering courses his first year in Cedar City. After serving an LDS mission in South Texas, he returned, but came to the conclusion that engineering wasn’t for him. Aided by SUU legend Harl Judd through aptitude testing, Mark learned that he was well suited for business. He soon found himself ensnared by the field under the direction of such stalwart faculty members as Gary Giles and Bob Moore, earning his degree in business administration, and enjoying distinction as the School’s outstanding student. He also served as the attorney general of the student body, with Ken Benson and Sterling Church as strong mentors to him. He thought about becoming a lawyer, was accepted to the University of Utah Law School, but instead earned an MBA from the U. His future wife, Jeri Schow, was at SUU at the same time as Mark, but they did not meet and marry until after both had completed their educations. The couple went on to have four children, each of whom attended SUU, as Mark proudly trumpets.

Meanwhile, Mark was building his career as a financial adviser. He spent 10 years with American Express and for the past 10 years has represented MetLife. Noting that he is thrilled that his clients are also his friends, he finds the field highly satisfying and claims that he has no desire to leave it for retirement any time soon. His pastimes include golf, scuba diving and travel.
Clearly, Mark Russell stands as the ideal model for distinguished service award recipients. SUU’s Alumni Association is proud to salute him.

Micah Paul Keith - Homecoming Young Alumnus

Micah Paul Keith is a man of exceptional energy and optimism, two traits that have served him well in his life, and which portend a continuation of soaring successes that have flowed to and from him since boyhood.

SUU’s 2015 Young Alumnus of the Year made his mark on campus powerfully en route to his 2006 graduation as he served as the student body’s vice president of student involvement and as president of the Associated Students in successive years, all the while embracing his chosen philosophy of never falling prey to a stereotype and of exceeding the expectations of others. Through an ever-positive attitude, he elected to invent a life of rich and receptive openness. In so doing, he has found himself in the most admirable of circumstances: performing a job he loves.

As the innovation marketing manager of the Nestle baking division located in Solon, Ohio, Micah has responsibility for the growth of Nestle Tollhouse, Libby’s Pumpkin and Carnation Milk. That task involves accomplishing strategic objectives and supervision of a core school recruiting team, which places him with students who see him as a mentor and allows him to extend his own rewarding educational experiences. He reached his current position—which he has held for the past year—after more than a year as marketing manager for Libby’s Pumpkin, and a stint working with the Buitoni brand of Nestle.

Previously, he was an associate brand manager for two elements of the H.J. Heinz Company. His first experience with Heinz was as an intern while studying in the Tepper School of Business of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, earning his MBA.

Micah was born and raised in Arizona locales as the third of six children of educators and considered a future as a doctor or lawyer or, as he says, a racecar driver, depending on the day. While in the 7^th grade, he read the book “The Girl Who Owned a City.” He was highly intrigued by the fictional tale of a young person who rebuilds the economic and social structure of a town amid a devastated world. Enthralled by the challenge of joining disparate components to form an effective and unique ensemble, and by the idea of creating something and deciding just how it will operate, Micah determined that the world of business was the ideal setting for such a pursuit.

By the time he entered high school, his family had relocated to another desert area, St. George, and Micah stood out as an athlete in basketball, football, and track and field at Snow Canyon High School. Again, eschewing stereotypes, he also engaged in drama, student government, and a variety of clubs before deciding to continue his education at SUU. Following his first semester, he served an LDS mission in Portland, Oregon, then after considering a career as a seminary teacher, entered his study of business, eventually majoring in finance. As he tells it, one can’t go wrong with a degree in a business field from SUU, where instruction is highly dynamic and the entire faculty is counted as mentors. He cites as another guide then-adviser to student government Mindy Benson, who, he says, enriched his collegiate life. Immediately following his graduation from SUU, he served as a consultant for two southern Utah concerns before enrolling at the Tepper School.

Married to the former Sarah Lawson, he enjoys his growing family as he enjoyed an active family life growing up. He avidly seeks out family adventures and finds pleasure playing basketball and board games as well as working in a variety of service roles. He embodies the concept of ever evolving and contributing to society and thus is an entirely fitting representative of SUU as its Young Alumnus of the Year.

Alumni Reminisce Fondly About the Adams Shakespearean Theatre

Like a great battleship, the Adams Memorial Theatre has been decommissioned following a sell-out season for the Utah Shakespeare Festival under the mighty Wooden O's night lights. It has been a season to reminisce, and we asked our alumni, via social media, to share their memories. Enjoy!

Gail Owens ('03): My husband and I went to the Adams to see A Midsummer Night's Dream on our first date waaaay back in 1999! It was his first Shakespeare play and my little test for him. I knew that if he decided USF wasn't for him, then he wasn't for me. For the record, he liked it and we've got to quite a few plays together in the 16 years we've been together.

Maren Maclean: A Midsummer Night's Dream was one of my favorite memories of the Adams! I got to play Helena in that production and just a little FYI, Ty Burrell of "Modern Family" played Oberon in that production!

Grayson Moulton ('14): I first stepped onto the Adams during High School Shakespeare Competition, and it felt magical. I felt transported back to the Globe itself. It's always been a special place for me since then. I have performed on it multiple times, and it is even where I proposed to my wife. I'm thrilled the USF has its new space, but my heart will pine for the history of the Adams.

Jessica Lang Jackson ('06): I worked there as a student custodian just after I got married. Oh, the joys of wiping down those seats with microfiber! Zap!

May M. Hunter: My memories are endless - I saw several plays there - my daughter sold tarts each summer - my granddaughter performed there while taking acting classes - seems I grew up with the Adams. Sometimes I would just go there, sit in one of the seats and fill my heart with my love for Shakespeare. It's there one could feel tragedy, love, triumph and glory. Thank you, Adams Theatre for all the memories. You are a legacy beyond measure. You will be missed and your new replacement will start its very own legacy!! Live on Adams Theatre!

Marlo Madsen Ihler ('99 & '04): Because my mom grew up in Cedar, we would come visit my grandparents here each summer. I always looked forward to it, especially when I started attending the Festival's plays as a girl. I've been coming for almost 30 years, and have worked at the Festival year-round for almost ten.

Melissa Baird Skinner ('99): Many memories of this theatre flood my mind. From being a little child and visiting The Greenshow while my mother, Marilyn Knoffsinger, worked at the USF; as a teenager visiting from Pennsylvania to see my first production, The Tempest (1989) and returning again in 1991 to see all three shows in the theatre; to working my first season (and many more) at USF as a House Manager (Summer 1995) and watching Much Ado About Nothing in the pouring rain with Christopher Ryan Hadlock; the countless night of closing the theatre down at the end of the night and visiting "Strike Night" after all the employees depart Cedar City. The many friendships with employees, volunteers and patron because I worked at the theatre. Witnessing Russ Olsen proposing to Katie Mortensen Olsen one Sunday evening (they met while working as house managers). Countless memories of spending time with my husband, Bradlee W. Skinner, taking walks around the theatre and sitting in the theatre. The list can go on and on. The Adams Theatre holds many memories for so many people. It was built because Fred C. Adams had a dream. Doug Cook and many other made that dream a reality. It is wonderful to see that the dream continues to grow. I will miss the Adams Theatre, but it is wonderful to see progress and change that is taking place.

Trisha Houser ('01): I saw my first play at the Adams Theatre when I was 13. It was Romeo and Juliet and I fell in love. A few years later, I got the chance to meet  Fred C. Adams and worked with him several times. He made a huge impact on my life and my husband. I love the feeling I get sitting in the outdoor theatre. The nostalgia of soooo many memories brings me the greatest joy!

Scott Hurd ('15): In 2012, my friends and I made plans to go to the Friday showing for the student production of As You Like It. I woke up Friday morning to the sounds of rain. It poured all day and never stopped. We went by the Adams fearful it would be cancelled but hoping they might move it inside. Well as they say in theater, "The show must go on." The actors did an amazing job, even though a few slipped, one even fell off the stage (though this may have been part of the act because he was twitterpated over  a young lady, but I doubt it). My favorite part was the roars of applause for the stage crew as they came out between acts to slick the water off the state. Luckily, no one actually "broke a leg."

Kevin Stevens ('03): When I was working in the Randall and had a night off, I would often crawl along the eyebrow, behind the lights, to bring the stage manager and the rest of the booth crew Ben & Jerry's. It was a mission of mercy on hot nights.

Brian Clement ('05): I used to kiss my wife goodbye there everyday as we split to go to our classes. She's a Shakespeare, lol. Does that count?

Fran Varela ('88): Participating in a haunted house for Halloween! People entered from the backstage door, went down the stairs to the haunted basement. So much fun!

JoAnn B. Topham: I remember when it was built and how excited we all were to have an authentic Shakespearean Theatre. I think my dad's company built it, but not 100% sure about that!

Emily O. Ronquillo ('14): Almost every time I see a show in the Adams Theatre it rains and now my friends refuse to go to shows with me. Update: Last night I decided to see Taming of the Shrew because there was no rain in the forecast and it still managed to rain.

Lori Beebe: Punch and Judy . . . "fetch me the baby."

Jenny Shuck Bates ('99): Directed my first full-length main stage production in the Adams! Rumors by Neil Simon.

Lorna Gower: My husband did a lot of work on this. Many memories of working on it while the actors were practicing. It feels like another little piece of me is going away.

Larry P. Parker ('95): Senior year of high school (1990), we were practicing in the Shakespeare 1-act plays. It was my first time in the Randall, and I was a little nervous. I ran onstage to introduce our scene, and one of the judges yelled from the crowd, "Wait! I'm not ready." I didn't know what to do, so I shrugged my shoulders and ran back off to a chorus of laughter.

Amy Wright ('05): As a kid, starting at about eight, I used to sneak into dress rehearsals at the Adams all the time. As a teenager, I saw almost every play every year. It's weird that something that was such a huge part of my childhood is going away.

Cameron McLean ('82): I worked for the summer with the custodial department and was assigned to the Theater Department. I had the best summer. The BBC came to film in the theatre because it was the only original Shakespearean designed theatre in the world. The Globe Theatre in England had been modified over years. Or so they told us. In any event, Jeremy Irons was the lead actor who came to do the short films. I got to know all of the tech crew and Mr. Irons. I loved going to the theater at night and hanging out with my parakeet, Casper. He would sit on my shoulder and we met all kinds of people while listening to minstrels and having baked treats. I loved SUSC - as it was then.

Amy Camp: I used to clean the Shakespearean Theatre in the mornings before school, and during the summer break from a "supplemental" job from 1990-1992. My boss, Georgia, caught me more than a few times trying on the costumes or wigs of Hamlet or The Shrew or MacBeth, testing out the makeup, and even washing my hair . . . hhaaa! I think she kept me on as an employee purely for the entertainment value!! Those were such magical, fun times . . . just having my private moments cleaning The Adams Theatre . . . Queen Bee overseeing the props, taking it all in . . . if only for a brief time. Makes me sentimental thinking of it no longer being used.

Seth Turner: My Grandma Banks used to give me tickets every summer when I visited Cedar as a youth. I went to every play I could, alone or with a date or friend. I miss those times.

Teresa Gibson: I saw my first play there at age 8. My Aunt Dean took me, and my love for Shakespeare and that Theatre began. Also, horehound candy and hot cross buns! I don't really like horehound but it is a cherished memory. My desire to have a summer home in Cedar began with my first play in the Adams Theatre. I have attended plays every summer and one always has to be in the Adams Theatre.

Lahoma Kee ('05): I grew up in Cedar and we spent our summers at The Greenshow! We would put on our own shows when the stage wasn't being used. I worked there when I turned 14. The Shakespeare Festival brings back more than childhood memories. It's home!!

Hailey Rushton ('09): When I cam to SUU as a freshman, I loved going to The Greenshow and being lucky to maybe go to one play. Then I was a custodian in those building for my last three years at SUU and stayed three summers to work, and we took care of all the Shakespeare buildings. It was hard work getting the theatre ready for the season, but I have many great memories of the Adams Theatre as a spectator to the plays and as someone who got to work for the Festival.

Nicole Funderburk ('00): There is nothing that can adequately describe the magical feeling of watching a play under the beautiful Cedar City sky in the Adams Theatre.

Tarri Madlung ('05): The first play I ever attended was The Taming of the Shrew 20 years ago.

Natalie Gunn-Coffman ('09): My grandfather (Richard Gunn) used to take me there each summer when I would visit as a child. We would watch The Greenshow and peer inside the theatre. It seemed so magical with all the flower baskets and ribbons! When I moved to Cedar for college, I worked in the SUU Bookstore which ran the Shakespearean gift shop right by the Adams Theatre. I was able to see all The Greenshow performers get ready and hear the plays from the gift shop. One night, one of the security guards let me crawl up the steps, just out of sight,

so that I could watch a scene from Hamlet. I had told him it was my very favorite play! I spent most of my life looking forward to the day I could attend school at such a fun place with a big, old theatre right on campus, and I was not disappointed!

David Lee Collection Finds Home at SUU

Utah’s “Pig Poet,” David Lee, has borne—and shared—a love of poetry his entire lifetime and has cemented both that commitment and his affection for Southern Utah University by donating his collection of more than 1,000 poetry books to the Gerald R. Sherratt Library.

Included in that collection are his own 22 published collections of poetry largely dealing with the more bucolic facets of our world and its people and passions. It is that subject matter that earned him the nickname of the “Pig Poet.”

He was Utah’s first poet laureate amid his 32-year career on the faculty of SUU, where he served as chair of the Department of Language, Literature, and Humanities for a quarter-century and was accorded every teaching award given by the institution, including three separate honors as Professor of the Year, before his 2003 retirement. In 2014, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters from the University to add to a wide array of plaudits from many quarters over the course of his career.

Lee said he will also continue to augment the donation, which is housed in the Sherratt Library’s Special Collections and Archives area and available to the public. It is a welcome addition to the campus, said Library Dean Richard Saunders.

“The Lee collection provides SUU students and other readers with a good cross-section of recent American poetry,” Saunders said. “It is somewhat unusual to find poetry collections this large, so acquiring David's collection creates a solid study opportunity for the writing program and for others who might want to look at the state of American poetry, especially in the final third of the 20th century and opening decade of the 21st.”

Lee, who holds a Ph.D. from the University of Utah, refers to poetry as the queen of art forms, and wholly divorced from capitalism. “Poetry has the smallest reading audience as well as the best reading audience,” he said of the medium to which he has devoted his life. “Poetry truly makes the world a better place,” Lee said.

He and his wife of 44 years, Jan, winter in Mesquite, Nev., and summer in Seaside, Ore. Dave, by his own account, scribbles, wanders available trails and byways, and continues his “intensive training regimen to become a World Class Piddler and Starer.”  He regularly performs readings of his works across the country and is currently polishing his 23^rd collection of poems.

SUU Day at Lagoon 2015

Wow! What an incredible time we had at SUU Day at Lagoon on Saturday, August 5. Nearly 400 alumni, students and prospective students, along with their family friends, came for a fun-filled day at Lagoon.

Thank you to DJ Rob Ferre ('03) for entertaining the group with music, trivia and a hula-hop contest, and to those who scooped ice cream for the crowd. Let's do it again in 2016!

Enjoy a few pictures from the event:

Alumni Days at Shakespeare 2015

This past week, more than 100 alumni and friends joined us for the fifth year of Alumni Days at Shakespeare, held June 25-27. Alumni Days continues to grow in popularity and we are

The Adams Memorial Theatre

excited each year to offer alumni the opportunity to return to our beautiful campus, enjoy the summer season of the Utah Shakespeare Festival (at a discounted rate) and participate in unique events planned specifically for them.

This year’s Utah Shakespeare Festival (USF) plays included Amadeus, The Taming of the Shrew, Charley’s Aunt, Henry IV Part Two, South Pacific, and King Lear. All of the productions were phenomenal, but it was especially poignant to see the Shakespearean plays in the Adams Memorial Theatre for its final season as a part of the Festival. We will surely miss that wonderful theatre and all the memories we have collected during its 38 years.

At the traditional Dinner in the Pines, we heard from SUU Vice President for Alumni & Community Relations Mindy Benson, USF Associate Education Director Josh Stavros, USF Executive Director R. Scott Phillips, and SUU

A great turnout to the Dinner in the Pines

Associate Vice President for Advancement Staci Carson. In addition, SUU student Samae Allred (actor in the Greenshow and various productions) talked about her role at the Festival and told her moving story of her battle with cancer and the university’s impact on her life and love of theatre.

The heat was sweltering all throughout last week, but that didn’t stop some of our alumni and their families from visiting the Frontier Homestead Park to learn the ins and outs of life for both the indigenous people of Southern Utah and pioneer settlers. They also had the chance to cool down by participating in a backstage tour of the Randall and Adams theatres and an Ice Cream Social, where they could interact and thank the Festival’s 2015 cast and crew for their awesome performances.

Alumni Days at Shakespeare 2016 will be held around the same time, next June. Mark your calendars now (tickets will go on sale early in 2016) and plan to attend the Festival’s first year in the new Beverly Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts. You won’t be disappointed!

Alumni Days at Shakespeare can be a family affair, too!

This year's Italian Green Show is directed by
SUU Alumnus Josh Stavros

National Alumni Board VP of Programming Jessi Allen loved
mingling with the Festival cast & crew

We really appreciate the Festival actors for mingling
with us after a long day of performances

Thanks to Alumni Board VP of Programming Melissa Corry,
 her husband, and Lex Allen for scooping all of our delicious
 ice cream

Our tour guide is an SUU alumnus that is Stage Managing
for King Lear

Our alumni loved finishing the backstage tour among
the portraits of actors from all the past Festival productions

Our alumni will never starve because of the
atlatl hunting skills they learned at the Frontier Homestead Park

Alumni Spotlight: Marty Adair

Marty Adair (’03, Construction Management), is the President and Owner of Adair Homes.

“In 2006 I decided to start my own business … building semi-custom and custom homes, after pursuing a short career as a superintendent for a large Utah homebuilder and working as a project manager for another,” said Adair.

Construction Management Professor Boyd Fife was a great influence and had a strong impact on Adair during his experience at SUU.

“He seemed to take a personal interest in his students. I felt that he was interested in what I was doing and my accomplishments. He became a mentor for me … and was someone I really looked up to,” says Adair.

SUU is becoming somewhat of a tradition for the Adair family. His younger brother, who is now a lawyer, graduated from SUU a few years back. He has a niece who is currently attending, working toward acceptance to the radiology technician program; and another niece and nephew who will likely attend SUU in the coming year.

“I am kind of a throwback. I really love vintage things … like classic cars and music from the 60’s and 70’s. I collect vinyl records and own several payers,” said Adair.

Adair plays the guitar. He enjoys spending time with his family and the outdoors; including hunting, fishing, hiking and riding four-wheelers. He and his wife reside in St. George, they have a son who is four and an angel daughter who would have turned two in April.

Alumni Spotlight: Katie Duncan

Katie Duncan (’13, Spanish) works as a Foreign Language Production Coordinator for the Liahona Magazine, an international magazine produced by the LDS Church.

“I coordinate magazine proofs with translation offices for up to 42 languages … and send out smaller article proofs for around 60 other languages each month. Spanish was my major and I use it constantly,” says Duncan.

While a freshman and sophomore at SUU, she lived in Juniper and Cedar Halls. Her experiences there provided new opportunities to learn how to interact, work and accomplish great things with diverse people. A concept she’s still practicing today.

Assistant professor of Spanish, Rachel Kirk, was especially influential on Duncan. With a forthright teaching style and high expectations of her students, she taught with remarkable enthusiasm and patience.

“Dr. Kirk was the best teacher I ever had. I could feel her desire for our success. She was professional, yet always showed personality in her teaching, which made learning fun,” said Duncan.
Serving an LDS mission to Honduras was the most difficult life experience Duncan has encountered thus far. As much as she sometimes doubted her abilities, she now cherishes the memories and lessons learned.

She recently learned to play the Native American flute, and enjoys hiking and running. Duncan ran a half-marathon in Moab and plans to run another this fall.

Duncan’s father attended SUU and studied theatre. He often shared the fun times and good connections he had made, which played a part in her initial decision to attend SUU.

Her top five favorite SUU memories include: the plays and productions put on by the College of Performing and Visual Arts, doing homework in the Sherratt Library, early morning walks across campus to her custodial job after a winter snowfall, her sincere professors and living in Juniper Hall. Duncan is presently single and lives in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah.

Alumni Spotlight: Scott & Diane Hammer

Scott (Accounting, ’91) and Diane (Education, ’90) Hammer met at Southern Utah University while playing in the Scarlett & Black Ceremonial Band during the 1980’s. He played the trumpet and she the clarinet.

Today, Scott is the Owner/Agent of Andara Cruise & Travel and does some accounting and payroll for LGYC Power on the side.

“After years of working in the corporate field, I decided to start my own travel business. I help people find the perfect vacation – and live vicariously through their travel … needless to say, my bucket list is growing larger rather than smaller,” said Scott.

Scott returned home from an LDS mission unsure of what to study in college. He took Accounting 101 from David Rees and found he enjoyed working with numbers. He has since been able to apply his accounting knowledge throughout his career, but especially as a business owner and entrepreneur.

Diane returned to work in 2012, after years of being a stay-at-home-mom. She started working as a teacher’s aide, renewed her teaching certificate and began pursuing a teaching position. She has since taught Computer Technology and become a fifth grade teacher. She’ll be teaching fourth grade, at Orchard Elementary in Orem, beginning in the fall.

“I have always wanted to be a teacher. When I was taking my Elementary Block classes I thoroughly enjoyed being in the classroom teaching. These experiences helped me in many teaching positions I have had at church, at home and as a career,” said Diane.

Their daughter Kasey, and a couple of Diane’s brothers, attended SUU. Her father earned an associate’s degree from SUU when it was known as the College of Southern Utah (CSU).

Scott enjoys golfing, hiking and coin collecting. Diane enjoys reading, crafting and Dutch oven cooking. Together, they have raised six children, and were recently blessed with their first granddaughter. They enjoy traveling, teasing each other and spending time barbequing with the family. Scott and Diane have been married 28 years and presently reside in Orem, Utah.

Alumni Spotlight: Nicole Thomas

Nicole Thomas (’92, English), is a Senior Search Account Manager at Yahoo.

“I manage the paid search accounts for a number of premium agencies and direct clients,” said Thomas.

She fell into the industry in 1999, after earning a second MFA in Screenwriting, from The American Film Institute.

“It was a small start-up and then a few years later, Yahoo bought us. I’ve had the pleasure of working between two amazing companies, Yahoo and Microsoft. It’s been quite a ride!” says Thomas.

During her tenure at SUU, she took classes from many stellar professors. However, Dr. David Lee and Dr. Kay Cook in the English Department really stood out. They were mentors and friends who expected nothing less than her “A” game.

“While my profession in Online Media and my degrees don’t appear on the surface to relate, they gave me a foundation of writing, critical thinking, and communication that I lean on every day,” explains Thomas.

A fun SUU memory for Thomas was borrowing lunch trays from the cafeteria and using them to slide down little hills on the quad with friends after a snowfall.

In 1995, while attending The University of Nevada, Las Vegas earning her MFA in theatre, a play she wrote, “Color of Bruise,” was selected as part of the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s New American Playwright’s Project. It later went to the 1995 Regional American College Theatre Festival.

The experience that has shaped her life most was moving to the United Kingdom ten years ago. Thomas was once interviewed by The Guardian Newspaper about a divorce party (her own) she was planning. She loves to jive dance and has a passion for mid-century clothing and furniture. Nicole lives in London, England, with her fiancé and their cat.

Originally posted on suu.edu in June 2015