Class Chat

1960s

RICK GARDNER ’68 M.A. (psychology), ’69 Ph.D. and  the late ELIZABETH ANN (MILLER) GARDNER ’71 M.A. (psychology) met as fellow psychology graduate students at the University in 1966. They married in 1967 and moved to southern Colorado, where Rick was professor of psychology at the University of Southern Colorado. In 1990 they moved to Denver, where Rick accepted the position of chair of the psychology department at the University of Colorado Denver. Betty Ann began law school at age 50 at University of Denver - Sturm College of Law and received her Juris Doctorate in 1995. She worked as an attorney for University of Colorado Boulder. In 2012, Rick noticed she was beginning to show signs of dementia. She eventually developed Alzheimer’s disease and died on Christmas Eve 2017. Rick has published a book entitled “Journey Through Alzheimer’s: A Psychologist Confronts his Wife’s Deadly Disease.” The book details their experiences as she progressed through the stages of dementia. It is a poignant, heartfelt telling of how they both attempted to deal with her disease.

1970s

LAUREL (SPENCER) BUSCH ’74 (journalism) published her first book, “Not Till Then Can the World Know: Replacement Companies of the Fourteenth Iowa Infantry in the Trans-Mississippi,” on March 31. Laurel transcribed her ancestor’s Civil War diary (giving him credit as co-author) and researched what his regiment did during the war.

1980s

WALTER KATZ ’89 (political science) joined the team at Arnold Ventures, a philanthropy involved in critical work in the fields of criminal justice reform, health care, education and evidence-based practices. Walter serves as the vice president of criminal justice, overseeing the policing team.

1990s

Lifetime Member

CHRISTINA STOEVER-YOUNG ’94 (marketing) currently serves as president of the Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful Board of Trustees. She also recently received a “Spirit of Giving” award nomination on National Philanthropy Day.

VINCENT ILLIA ’96 (speech communications) recently became the national account leader for Autocar. He is responsible for selling to national accounts for their terminal tractor division. Vincent resides in Las Vegas.

2000s

Annual Member

BILLIE L.M. ADDLEMAN ’00 (criminal justice) will serve as the next president of the Wyoming State Bar. He currently serves as the managing partner for Hirst Applegate, LLP in Cheyenne, Wyoming where he and his wife, Brandi Monger, have lived since 2003.

CRYSTAL (JOHNSON) EDWARDS ’04 (English), ’05 M.Ed. (educational leadership) has been named assistant principal of Reno High School beginning the 2020-21 school year. Crystal and her husband, MIKE EDWARDS ’00 (general science), are both educators for the Washoe County School District and have two children who keep them busy at home and adventuring often.

LARRY SAGE ’06 M.J.S. (trial judges) recently returned from spending a year abroad as an IGAD International Observer/Monitor for Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism, a peace-keeping organization in South Sudan, Africa. Sage and his colleagues monitored peace agreement compliance requirements and investigated hundreds of  violations, such as combat, rapes, child soldiers, humanitarian access denials and war crimes. Although they were not able to ensure full peace agreement compliance for all circumstances, Larry’s team was able to accomplish a lot of positive change.

CHAD HALLERT ’06 (human ecology) has been hired as chief digital officer at Foundry, an award-winning full-service marketing agency in Reno. Chad will oversee the digital, social and web departments and will partner directly with clients to reimagine and optimize their digital capabilities and performance. He also teaches courses on digital marketing at the University.

CYNTHIA E. TRIGUEROS ’07 (political science, women’s studies), ’13 M.A. (educational leadership) was promoted to senior management analyst in the City Manager’s Office at the City of Reno. Cynthia has spent most of her career in public service and enjoys working in local government helping create a community we’re proud to call home.

2010s

ADAEZE OKORIE ’10 (neuroscience) has joined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics as a health statistician. Prior to joining the CDC, Adaeze was an epidemiologist at West Virginia’s state health department where much of her work involved combating the opioid overdose epidemic through public health surveillance. In 2016, she received her Master of Public Health degree from the University of Cape Town.

KRYSTAL PYATT ’10 (journalism) was hired as a communications specialist at The Children’s Cabinet in March 2020. She also married her husband, Charles Driver, on Oct. 12, 2019.

WILL SITES ’10 M.A. (journalism) has been granted tenure and promotion to the rank of associate professor at Lincoln University. Will teaches reporting, media law, photojournalism and oversees a new drone journalism program at the historically Black university in Jefferson City, Missouri.

ROBYN MAITOZA ’12 Ph.D. (social psychology) was recently tenured and promoted to associate professor in the Applied Behavioral Sciences Department at York College of Pennsylvania. Robyn currently resides in York, Pennsylvania with her three kids and is actively involved in the local community.

CHRISTOPHER WARBURTON ’13 (political science, economics) has been hired as an attorney at Howard & Howard, a law firm located in Las Vegas. He works as a corporate attorney who advises businesses on transactional matters ranging from formation to acquisition.

CHANDLER
LINDSEY ’15
(political science)
and ZACKARY
FOURGIS ’13 (finance),
’16 MBA got engaged
on May 30, 2020
in Lake Tahoe.