Alumni News
1950-1979
Rick J. Cohen, BBA ’68, MBA ’69, is retiring after 10 years operating a
retail science and nature business, preceded by 16 years as vice president
of personnel for a large food-service organization.
Armando R. Triana, MBA ’69, is now the chief planning officer for the
Teachers Academy for Math and Science, based in Chicago, Ill.
Fred Harris, Jr., MBA ’71, staff vice president for Community Affairs and
Work-force Diversity at 3M Corporation, was honored at a “Celebration of
Achievement” sponsored by the 3M African American Society. He also
received a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Consortium for Graduate
Study in Management, an organization aimed at enabling African American,
Hispanic American and Native American college graduates to pursue careers
in management.
Michael JT McMillen, BBA ’72, JD ’76, MD ’83, accepted Euromoney
magazine’s “Best Legal Advisor in Islamic Finance” award for 2003.
McMillen is a partner in the New York and London offices of the law firm of
King & Spalding, specializing in Islamic finance and global project
finance.
Kenneth Hirsig, BBA ’74, retired from the U.S. civil service after nearly
30 years with the U.S. Army, working in chemical warfare, to return to
school and pursue a second career in health information technology.
Duane E. Johnson, BBA ’76, was recently appointed president of Bread
Winners, Inc., a franchise of Breadsmith, after 22 years in the corporate
world of Procter & Gamble and the Coca-Cola Company.
1980-1989
Steven Kihm, MS ’81, MBA ’89, wrote an article titled “How Improper Risk
Assessment Leads to Overstated Required Returns for Utility Stocks” which
received first prize in a contest sponsored by the National Regulatory
Research Institute.
Bruce Scheer, BBA ’84, recently joined Sampco, Inc., an importer of canned
meats and seafood, as director of sales.
Terry Leavitt, BBA ’88, is the director of merchandise planning for the
children’s division at Stage Stores, Inc., based in Houston, Texas.
Aaron Kennedy, MBA ’89, CEO and founder of the national restaurant chain,
Noodles and Company, was the first inductee of the UW-Madison Entrepreneur
Hall of Fame, an initiative of the Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship at
the UW-Madison School of Business.
1990-1994
Gina Gaspardo, BBA ’90, has returned to Wisconsin as a services executive
for Microsoft Consulting Services.
Michael Madura, MS ’91, moved to Chicago, Ill., earlier this year to join a
real estate development, construction, property management and brokerage
firm as a partner. He is married, with two boys ages five and two.
Peter J. Abrahams, BBA ’92, oversees the development and production of
RIDE-theRAIL Entertainment and serves as producing instructor for the Los
Angeles Film School, as well as youth and teen director of the filmmaking
program for the Hollywood YMCA.
Edwin Chan, BBA ’92, was recently transferred to Houston’s at Park Avenue
South in New York, where he is serving as beverage manager.
Steve Farsht, BBA ‘92 and Stephanie Gordon Farsht, ‘92 welcomed their first
child, Samantha Gordon Farsht, in November. On the job front, Steve was
promoted to part-ner at Norwest Equity Partners. After maternity leave,
Stephanie returned to Target Corporation as a part-time finance manager.
They live in Minneapolis.
Ellyn Craine, BBA ’93, is a partner with Brogan & Partners, a
Detroit-based marketing communications firm. She, her husband, and two
children reside in Huntington Woods, Mich.
Brett Hamilton, BBA ’94, is manager of business development for Maron
Structure Technologies, based in Niles, Ill.
1995-1999
Stephen Bindl, BBA ’96, was recently promoted to marketing portfolio
manger at W.W. Grainger, Inc.
Matthew Bosely, BBA ’96, has earned the right to use the chartered
financial analyst designation by the Association for Investment
Management and Research Board of Governors.
Jeremy Graff, BBA ’97, has earned the designation of certified investment
management analyst through the Investment Management Consultants
Association. He is a financial consultant for RBC Dain Rauscher.
Eric Sampson, BBA ’97, is a managed services account executive for AT&T
based in Madison, Wis.
Susan Chapman, MBA ’98, appeared along such familiar names as Tiger Woods
and Halle Berry in Black Enterprise magazine’s list of 50 individuals
under age 40 who are emerging leaders in their fields. Chapman is director
of global real estate for Level 3 Communications in the Denver area.
Daniel A. Den Boer, MBA ’98, is a principal at Celerant Consulting,
focusing on organization restructuring and supply chain. He recently
opened a wine bar in Scottsdale, Ariz., the Armitage Wine Lounge.
2000-2004
Kendra C. M. Stensven, BBA ’00, recently began work in Boston at HallKeen,
a developer and manager of affordable housing.
Troy Blodgett, BBA ’01, is a financial advisor for Kelly Financial, Inc.,
based in Madison, Wis.
Tyler Hilsabeck, BBA ’01, is assistant vice president and client manager
for Bank of America, based in Pleasanton, Calif.
Elizabeth Dean, BBA ’02, is a compliance analyst for Washington Mutual,
based in Irvine, Calif.