Alumni Notes

This page is updated four times annually. It was last updated Feb. 9, 2026.

• Charles Williams ’51 had a memorable 2024: celebrating 70 years of marriage with his wife, his 95th birthday and the graduation of his granddaughter Claire Williams ’24 (daughter of Michaleen ’85 and Keith Williams ’84) from Alma College. Charles keeps busy taking care of his home in Skaneateles, New York, and his cottage in Owasco Lake, New York, as well as volunteering through the Rotary Club and serving as a go-to handyman for his church’s mission.
• Robert Wagner ’56 is living in Florida and regularly gets together with classmates and members of “The 90-Year-Old Club,” Sally Posey ’56 and Betty Hahn ’56.
• Brian Hampton ’65 published his first book at the age of 81: “It’s a Great Life If You Don’t Weaken: How to Deal with the Ups and Downs in Life and the Jerks In-Between,” through Morgan James Publishing.
• Richard Douglass ’68 — with his Rural Health Group and allied with the Central Michigan University College of Medicine and Rural Health Excellence Institute — have entered into a third year of research and development of nonemergency medical transportation deficiencies in rural Michigan. Two research grants have been completed and another for the Michigan Department of Labor is underway.
• Tim Lutes ’70 would be happy to hear from his former teammates on the Scots basketball squad, from 1968–70. Contact the college alumni office for Tim’s phone number.
• Dale Nowlin ’75 hiked Maine’s 100 Mile Wilderness and Mount Katahdin in July to complete the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail over 11 years of section hiking. He currently serves on the Bartholomew Consolidated School Board in Columbus, Ind., where he served as a math teacher and administrator for 35 years.
• Robert Schultz III ’77 was one of 22 inductees in the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame this past August. Schultz works as a campaign organizer for the Active Transportation Alliance, whose mission is to advocate for walking, bicycling and public transit to create healthy, sustainable and equitable communities. He has been a leader in activist efforts in Illinois ranging from the successful effort to repeal the death penalty to marriage equality.
• Jim Daniels ’78 in August 2025 published “An Ignorance of Trees: A Memoir in Essays,” through Cornerstone Press. Following a long career of publishing poetry and fiction, “An Ignorance of Trees” is Daniels’ first published work of nonfiction. Daniels is a faculty member in the Alma College Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program and delivered the commencement speech for the Class of 2021.
• To celebrate 50 years of friendship, in August 2025, six alumni who met at Alma spent three weeks traveling around the United Kingdom together: Linda Frederick Churchill ’79, Judy Foor Howland ’79, Dawn Secor Jaramillo ’79, Cheryl Keyser Blanchard ’79, Cheryl Chapman ’79 and Brian Churchill ’80.
• Carolyn (Towar) Phillips ’81 retired in January 2025 after 15 years as a cataloger with the Grand Rapids Public Library.
• Anthony Bohac ’82 was reappointed by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in July to represent District 6 growers on the Michigan Wheat Promotion Committee. He owns Bohac Farms in Owosso, Mich.
• Judy (Daniels) Jenema ’84 retired from teaching secondary sciences for 30-plus years in 2021. She dabbled with a bookstore sales position for two years and is now teaching full-time in a boys’ home.
• Christopher M. Trebilcock ’87 was appointed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to the Michigan Court of Appeals effective May 19, 2025.
• Kelly Hall ’90 was named senior vice president regulatory and legal affairs and deputy general counsel at CNS Energy. In her new role, Hall oversees legal, regulatory and compliance organizations.
• Melissa Weber Kelley ’91 received the Career Innovator Award — a juried global award given every seven years from Career Directors International — for her work onboarding clients and writing the first draft of their resumes. The irony in this, she points out, is that her new process compensates for long-COVID-related cognitive decline.
• Brad Guigar ’91 won the Ringo Award for Best Humor Webcomic. For the second year in a row, the National Cartoonists Society nominated Guigar for a Silver Reuben Award in the Best Longform Online Comic category.
• After 33 years of church work, Tim Davenport-Herbst ’92 became CEO of Project Vida in El Paso, Texas, a 50-year-old faith-based group of nonprofits that provide health care for 15,000 people annually in five clinics and over 30 school-based sites. He also celebrated his 32nd wedding anniversary to Cynthia.
• Rachelle Jacques ’93 was named chair of the board of trustees at Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc., a clinical-stage company focused on oncology and obesity.
• Christopher Butler ’93 has been appointed as the new president/CEO of the YMCA of Muncie (Ind.). Butler most recently served with the YMCA of Greater Indianapolis, where he held multiple executive roles.
• Eunice McFarland ’93 has been appointed to serve as vice president of human resources at Fred Finch Youth and Family Services, a California-based nonprofit organization. In this role, McFarland leads all aspects of human resources strategy across the agency, including talent development, employee engagement, equity initiatives and trauma-informed employment practices.
• Enos M. Bacon III ’97 was named superintendent of East Jordan (Mich.) Public Schools. He is excited to serve the community in which he was raised.
• Christopher Girard ’97 was elected mayor of Bay City, Mich., in 2025. He looks forward to continuing his lifelong commitment to community service and leadership while representing Alma College with pride.
• Brandon Edward Miller ’98 has completed his service with the U.S. Agency for International Development. He is now senior counsel for institutional and administrative law at the Asian Development Bank in Manila, Philippines.
• Carrie Rau ’00 recently moved to Pontypridd, Wales, to complete an M.Sc. course in Conservation and Wildlife Management at the University of South Wales.
• Alicia (Hegle) Zuiker ’03 has been appointed executive vice president and chief human resources officer at TransUnion, overseeing human resources and communications functions. Prior to joining TransUnion, Zuiker served as chief people officer at Lyft and Visby Medical, and held HR leadership roles at Google Cloud and GE.
• Betsy Pilon ’03 was asked to serve on the inaugural National Institute of Child Health and Human Development’s Neonatal Research Network community engagement panel for her work with Hope for HIE (Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy) and has been a co-author on several published academic journals advancing advocacy and research.
• TBA Credit Union has announced the appointment of Maxwell Janis ’04 to its board of directors. Janis also currently serves on the board of directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwestern Michigan and plays an active role in his family’s business, Maxwell Medals and Awards.
• Amber (Poulsen) Steele ’06 was recently named assistant vice president of student life at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va. Her new role encompasses supervision of Title IX, conduct, care team, disability services, counseling services, residence life and commencement. Amber and husband Joshua live in Chesapeake, Va., with their sons Noah, 17, and Sullivan, 4.
• Kellie (Nugent) Kuipers ’06 and husband Josh welcomed their first child, Gabriel, in April 2024.
• Samantha (Lyttle) Samuels ’08, a teacher at Oak Valley Middle School in Commerce Township, Mich., was awarded the title of Oakland County Middle School Teacher of the Year with a surprise announcement made before her students in March. Samuels, who has served at Oak Valley since 2019, was also the recipient of the Henry Ford Innovator Award, an accolade that highlights her innovative and creative approach to education.
• Devon Anthony ’09 graduated in May 2025 with a Master of Science in Strategy, Leadership, and Management from Michigan State University’s Eli Broad College of Business, pursuing her passion for lifelong learning and purposeful leadership.
• Carrie Commissaris ’11 and her husband recently relocated to Boston, where Carrie is assistant director of the Harvard-Affiliated Emergency Medicine residency program. The couple also recently welcomed their first child in fall 2023.
• Emily Havelka ’12 recently accepted a new role with GE Vernova as the marketing and communications leader of advanced research.
• Mabel “Bel” Martin ’12 joins Dykema, a leading national law firm, as a government policy advisor in the firm’s Lansing office. Martin joins Dykema after nearly three years with Ascension Health as state policy and advocacy manager. Prior to that, she spent five years on the staffs of various Michigan State senators and representatives.
• Ashley Yuill ’13 and Matthew (Yettaw) Yuill ’15 joyfully welcomed the birth of their first child, Bruce Paul, this summer 2024. The newly minted family of three is doing well and Bruce has graciously tolerated the Alma onesie his parents have already squeezed him into.
• Aaron Hahn ’13 won the gold medal at the United States Strongman Nationals competition in Charlotte, N.C., in July. Hahn competed in the 165-pound, open lightweight category. He works as a physical therapist at MyMichigan Health in Alma.
• Lauren Wagner ’13 recently became certified as a contract specialist at Army Contracting Command at the Detroit Arsenal.
• Ross Richard ’14 was named principal at HT Smith Elementary School in Fowlerville, Mich.
• Mary “Maggie” Chambers ’15 designed a button that was adopted by the Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau, to commemorate visitors’ first times to the island. Chambers, an artist and designer, has also illustrated two children’s books and a coloring book about the island.
• Anthony Porath ’18 graduated with his doctorate in chemistry from Wayne State University and joined AGC Automotive as a research scientist.
• Katie (Bush) Reid ’19 and Andrew Reid ’19 got married June 15, 2024, in Traverse City, Mich. Several classmates and teammates were present, including Lucas Foust ’19, Brianna Zimmer ’19, Dorothy Buening ’18, Justin Johnson ’19, Elizabeth Putti ’18, Jake Geary ’19, and David Viguilla ’20, as well as many other Alma alumni. Andrew and Katie began dating during their junior year, when Andrew studied finance and Katie studied nursing.
• In June 2024, Emily Carter ’19 became the first and only American Highland Dancer to perform in the Basel Tattoo in Basel, Switzerland. “After dancing for most of my life, becoming a Kiltie Dancer helped me realize how much I enjoy the performance part of dance and it has helped me in my success of dancing around the world,” Carter said.
• Alexandria Wentworth ’21 graduated from Clemson University (S.C.) in December with a Ph.D. in Industrial Organizational Psychology.
• Rachel (Moran) ’22 and Nick Dilly ’22 met in nursing school while attending Alma College. Since their graduation from nursing school, they have been working at Corewell Health in Grand Rapids — Rachel on the labor and delivery unit, Nick in the surgical intensive-care unit. Nick has recently graduated with his Master of Science in Nursing degree in adult gerontology acute care nurse practitioner and passed his board exams. Nick recently proposed to Rachel and they are getting married Aug. 29, 2026.
• Aubrey North ’23 has been accepted as a Fredericks-Follet-Roethke Graduate Fellow in the Arts and Humanities at Saginaw Valley State University
• Forest Oliver (MFA) ’24 has produced regular articles through Zoetic Press’s journal, NonBinary Review. As part of a 12-part series, “Zoetic Zodiac” works as a literary horoscope, collecting authors born under the same star sign and sussing out similarities between their most timeless works.