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