We’d like to hear from you! Share your recent accomplishments to be added to "class notes" in the next BioNews issue.
In the meantime, check out what your fellow alums have been doing.
1960s
Herbert “Herb” Price, BA’68, Zoology, BS’69, OD’71, of Family Eye Care located in Logansport and Rochester, Ind., has been named the 2022 Optometrist of the Year by the Indiana Optometric Association. Price has been an optometrist for more than 50 years. In addition to performing thousands of vision screenings for Cass County, Ind., students, he focuses on sports vision and vision therapy. He has served as a team doctor for the Indiana Pacers, director of vision services for the Pan American Games in Indianapolis, and a member of the National Sports Festival Olympic Vision Testing Team. He has previously been honored with the Meritorious Service Award by the Indiana Optometric Association, and 20/20 magazine recognized Price as one of the top 30 optometrists in the United States.
1970s
Early in the coronavirus pandemic, Indiana State Health Commissioner Kristina (McKee) Box, BA’79, Biological Sciences with High Distinction, MD’83, was thrust into the spotlight as the state’s highest-ranking public health official. For months, she appeared daily alongside Gov. Eric Holcomb in televised press conferences to explain what was happening with the virus in the state and why certain restrictions were necessary. Though daily press conferences have ended, Box continues to lead Indiana’s COVID-19 response. In her role, Box has sweeping powers to regulate hospitals and nursing homes, inspect laboratories, oversee the health of prisoners, and protect food supplies. She oversees the state’s ninth-largest department, with 819 employees and a $336 million budget. Prior to her current role, Box spent three decades serving as an obstetrician and gynecologist. She lives in Indianapolis.
Gary M. Gaddis, BA’79, Biological Sciences and Chemistry with High Distinction, PhD’84, MD’86, has recently entered “semi-retirement” after 35 years in emergency medicine. Gaddis continues to serve the field of emergency medicine as course director for the Emergency Medicine Basic Research Skills course produced annually by the American College of Emergency Physicians. He also served as scientific co-chair of the Mediterranean Emergency Medicine Congress, held in Malta in 2022. Gaddis looks forward to spending more time with his wife of 42 years, Monica (Lyle), BS’78, MS’80, PhD’84, as well as with his two children and four grandchildren. While at IU, Gaddis was the chair of the Little 500 Riders’ Council in 1979 and was designated an All-Star Rider by his competitors during that same year. He continues to enjoy cycling and regularly participates in bike/run duathlons. Gaddis lives in St. Louis.
David H. Goldsmith, BA’78, Biological Sciences, writes, “I have a new grandchild—Evelyn ‘Evie’ Josephine Goldsmith, born in April 2022, to parents Alexander and Heidi Goldsmith of Detroit. Evie has an older sister, Esther Adelaide Goldsmith, born in May 2020.” David Goldsmith is a beverage host for the Community Meals Program in Traverse City, Mich., where he lives.
Two former IU basketball stars, Steven M. Green, BA’78, Biological Sciences, DDS’84, and Brian K. Evans, BS’96, have co-founded the Indianapolis-based Arora Specialty Sleep Clinic, which makes custom-made oral devices to treat snoring and sleep apnea. Green, of McCordsville, Ind., has operated a sleep practice focused on treating snoring and sleep apnea for more than 13 years. He is a national leader in oral device sleep treatments. Evans, of Carmel, Ind., is a medical technology executive with over 12 years of sales and marketing leadership experience.
In 2021, Jane (Morrison) Krauhs, MA’71, Zoology, PhD’75, and Stanley W. Krauhs, Jr., MS’74, MBA’75, celebrated 50 years of friendship with Elaine (Kirschensteiner) Alfonsetti, MS’72, and Louis Alfonsetti, MM’73, at Nick’s Pizza and Restaurant in Endicott, N.Y., while Jane and Stan were vacationing near Elaine and Lou’s home. Writes Jane Krauhs, “We all met in 1971 in Eigenmann Hall, where (Elaine and Jane) shared a telephone in the wall between our rooms. Elaine and Stan have degrees in chemistry, and mine is in zoology. All of us are now retired.”
1980s
Episode 40 (April 21, 2021) of the podcast Corporate Competitor: How Sports Shaped Today’s Business Icons featured IU alumnus and Walt Disney Company CEO Robert A. “Bob” Chapek, BS’81, Microbiology, LHD’22, who traced his remarkable journey, from humble roots running cross country in the smokestacks of America’s industrial heartland to running one of the world’s most iconic companies. The podcast hosted by Don Yaeger, longtime associate editor at Sports Illustrated, delves into the association between sports competition and corporate success with business leaders. “I think one of the greatest strengths in the world is willpower. Individual human willpower,” Chapek said during the podcast. In the podcast Chapek also discussed the pivotal role of storytelling in Disney’s successful effort to scale its brand from Anaheim to Shanghai; the concept of “curiosity-to-vision,” which Chapek uses to fuel Disney’s innovation pipeline; striking a “strategically consistent but tactically divergent” balance among creative and financial goal setting; and the role of recruitment in reinforcing company culture.
“I [retired] from the United States Navy after 30 years of service on April 29, 2022,” writes Rodney L. Gunning, BA’88, Biology, DDS’92. “If this is of interest, please feel free to contact me for any additional desired information. My current position is dental officer of the Marine Corps and rank of captain.”
Two newborn girls, conjoined at the abdomen and chest, were recently separated by a team of surgeons led by Holly L. Hedrick, BS’87, Biology. Hedrick, a native of Salem, Ind., earned her medical degree at Duke University School of Medicine and is an attending pediatric and fetal surgeon in the Division of Pediatric General, Thoracic, and Fetal Surgery at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She holds the Louise Schnaufer Endowed Chair in Pediatric Surgery. During her time at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Hedrick has been involved in around ten of 28 successful operations to separate conjoined twins. She lives in Devon, Pa.
Susan Kovacich Topp, BA’83, Biology, OD’87, of Bloomington, Ind., continues to serve as the southeastern trustee of the Indiana Optometric Association for 2022–23. Kovacich Topp is a clinical associate professor at the IU School of Optometry.
IU men’s football letter winner Mark A. Sutor, BA’83, Biology, was awarded the Zora G. Clevenger Award on Sept. 17, 2021. Sutor came in Bloomington in 1979 as a coveted quarterback recruit but upon his arrival at IU was moved to the defensive backfield. He was a member of IU’s 1979 Holiday Bowl team that earned the program’s first-ever bowl win. As a senior in 1982 he was named the team’s defensive MVP after recording six interceptions, a total that still ranks third on IU’s all-time single-season list. Sutor subsequently studied at both Baylor College of Dentistry in Dallas, and the College of Dentistry in Lexington, Ky. He completed his graduate work in 1991 and returned to Bloomington, where he has been a highly successful periodontist for the last 30 years. He and his wife, Theresa, live in Bloomington. He has two children, Chad and Jennie.
1990s
Andrew M. Burkhart, BA’93, Biology, OD’97, of Kokomo, Ind., continues to serve as the Wabash Valley Society President of the Indiana Optometric Association for 2022–23. Burkhart is an optometrist at Preferred Eye Care in Kokomo.
Licensed psychologist Seth J. Gillihan, BA’97, Biology, specializes in mindfulness-centered cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety, depression, insomnia, and other conditions. He is the author of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Made Simple: 10 Strategies for Managing Anxiety, Depression, Anger, Panic, and Worry, published by Althea Press in 2018. Gillihan has written and lectured nationally and internationally on CBT and how the brain is involved in regulating our moods. He hosts the weekly Think Act Be podcast and can be seen at sethgillihan.com and on his PsychologyToday.com blog, Think Act Be. He lives in Ardmore, Penn., with his wife and three children.
In April, Jeffrey E. Kirchner, BS’92, Microbiology, OD’99, of West Lafayette, Ind., became the immediate past president of the Indiana Optometric Association’s Board of Trustees. He is an active member of the American Optometric Association and the IOA’s Tecumseh Optometric Society. Kirchner is an optometrist at SureFocus Family Eye Care in West Lafayette.
In April, James S. Stickel, BS’99, Microbiology, OD’04, of Goshen, Ind, became president elect of the Indiana Optometric Association’s Board of Trustees for the 2022–23 term. He is an optometrist at Goshen Eye Care, which has locations in Goshen and Middlebury. In 2014, Stickel was named Indiana’s Young Optometrist of the Year.
2000s
Vanessa J. (Prange) Ewing, BS’03, Biology, OD’07, is an optometrist at Intermountain Eye Center in Boise, Idaho. After graduating the IU School of Optometry, she completed an intensive ocular disease residency with Bennett and Bloom Eye Centers in Louisville, Ky. Ewing joined the team shortly after as a consultative optometrist managing medical, surgical, and refractive eye care. In 2014, she left Bennett and Bloom to join Intermountain Eye Center. Ewing has given numerous continuing education lectures to her peers at the local and state levels. She is a member of the American Optometric Association and a fellow of the American Academy of Optometry. Ewing and her husband, Matthew, live in Boise.
In April, Michelle E. Egenmaier Oglesby, BS’04, Biology, OD’08, of Evansville, Ind., became the Southwestern Society President of the Indiana Optometric Association for 2022–23. She is an optometrist at Evansville Eyecare Associates in Evansville.
In April, Jeremy S. Gard, BS’07, Biology, OD’11, of Albany, Ind., became the secretary of the Indiana Optometric Association’s Board of Trustees. He has served as president of the East Central Optometric Society and as northeast trustee for the Indiana Optometric Association. Gard is an optometrist at Family Vision Care in Muncie, Ind.
In the early days of the pandemic, while people were still getting used to being in lockdown, Rajat Kapur, BS’00, Biology, MBA’06, and four fraternity brothers would occasionally get together online to hang out. “Every Thursday night after we put our kids to bed, we’d play cards online and catch up and share some laughs,” says Kapur. “The five of us have been friends since freshman year. It’s amazing how fast time has flown since we lived in Bloomington, but every time we get back together it feels like just yesterday—thanks to technology and IU.” Kapur is the founder & CEO of Marketing, based in Ambler, Pa. He has led nearly 100 high-profile marketing strategy projects for Global 100, mid-sized clients, and SMBs, plus over a decade with General Electric and General Mills. He is a sought-after advisor and facilitator, with experience across five continents.
Kyle W. King, BS’07, Biology, OD’11, of Evansville, Ind., continues to serve as the southwestern trustee of the Indiana Optometric Association for 2022–23. He is a partner of Evansville Eye Care Associates, where he has seen patients since 2011.
Jennifer L. Moses Kohn, BS’04, Biology, OD’08, of Chicago, continues to serve as the northwestern trustee of the Indiana Optometric Association for 2022–23. Kohn is an optometrist at Moses Eyecare Center, which has multiple locations throughout northwest Indiana.
Jennifer A. (Kedzie) Raff, BA’01, Biology, MA’08, PhD’08, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, is an anthropological geneticist at the University of Kansas. She studies genomes of contemporary humans and their ancestors for insights into prehistory, with a focus on the initial peopling of North America. She had a feature article in the May 2021 issue of Scientific American on how ancient peoples populated the western hemisphere. Her book Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas was published by Twelve/Hachette Book Group in February 2022. She lives in Lawrence, Kan.
Jenna C. (Poynter) Wingate, BA’09, Biology, who studied biology and animal behavior at IU, has worked at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden as a senior Africa keeper since 2014. She was part of the team that provided round-the-clock care for Fiona, “the world’s most famous baby hippo,” who was born at the zoo on Jan. 24, 2017. Fiona was six weeks premature and weighed a mere 29 pounds at birth. “Full-term hippo calves [usually] weigh between 50 and 100 pounds,” explains Wingate. She recalls a few touch-and-go moments early on, after Fiona was born. But now five years old and weighing in at more than 1,500 pounds, Fiona is thriving. “The job isn’t always glamorous and actually involves a lot of poop, heavy lifting, scrubbing, and hosing,” Wingate says.
2010s
Aisha Burton, PhD’19, Microbiology, is a postdoctoral researcher with the National Institutes of Health under the mentorship of Dr. Gisela Storz of The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in Bethesda, Md. Burton is studying the regulatory roles of small proteins on two-component systems in Escherichia coli. She is also an adjunct biology instructor and Achieving the Promise Academy coach at Montgomery College, a community college in Rockville, Md. Burton was recently awarded the NICHD Early Career Award, PRAT fellowship from NIGMS, National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Postdoctoral Research Associate Training Award, and NICHD Fellows Recruitment Incentive Award. She is listed as a Rising Star in Cell Mentor’s list of 1,000 Inspiring Black Scientists in America. Burton has been featured in an American Society for Microbiology article, "A Black Woman's Journey in Microbiology: A Spotlight on Dr. Aisha Burton."
“After working in the central lab space for five years,” writes Kevin L. Knight, BS’13, MS’16, Biotechnology, “I have transitioned to the central research organization space by accepting a job with IQVIA Biotech with a focus in renal and cardiac therapeutic areas. In this role, I will be helping emerging biotech and pharma companies bring new and exciting therapies, drugs, and biologics from bench to bedside.”
Adrian D. Land, PhD’11, Microbiology, was honored for his scientific career accomplishments and community leadership by the IU College of Arts and Sciences, selecting him as one of its 2021 "20 under 40."
In April, Joseph L. Moriarity, BS’15, Biology, OD’19, of Richmond, Ind., became the Whitewater Valley Society President of the Indiana Optometric Association for 2022–23. He is an optometrist at Whitewater Eye Centers and sees patients at the Richmond and Greenville, Ind., locations.
Nathan M. Morrow, BS’12, Biology, OD’17, of Indianapolis, is the 2022–23 Central Society President of the Indiana Optometric Association. He is an optometrist at Eye Surgeons of Indiana and sees patients at the Anderson, Greenwood, and Indianapolis locations.
Rohan Patel, BS’11, Biology, of Anderson, Ind., is working in medical and device sales with a concentration on orthobiologics, biologics, and orthopedic surgery. Patel credits IU Department of Biology, along with the IU College of Arts & Sciences and IU Hutton Honors, for the tools and knowledge to succeed in the field.
Garrett M. Zgunda, BS’14, Biology with Distinction, OD’18, an optometrist at Family Vision Care in Muncie, Ind., is the 2022–23 East Central Society President of the Indiana Optometric Association.
2020s
Justuss Boice, BS’20 Biology, MS’22 Finance, combined his eclectic educational interests in biology and finance at IU to serve as inaugural Venture Fellow for IU Ventures from September 2021–May 2022. IU Ventures assists IU students, faculty, staff, and alumni in work that advances high-potential new venture opportunities.
While studying seasonal aggression in Siberian hamsters, Kathleen “Kat” Munley, PhD’22, discovered something remarkable: her data suggested that the same behavior in males and females was caused by different neuroendocrine responses. Her paper, entitled “Sex-specific endocrine regulation of seasonal aggression in Siberian hamsters,” was recently published in the prestigious journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.This study was part of her dissertation research, which she carried out in laboratory of IU Professor of Biology Greg Demas.
The College of Arts