Class Chat
Dear fellow alumni,
This year marks a monumental milestone — our University’s 150th anniversary, the sesquicentennial, which kicked off last October with the groundbreaking for the new College of Business building in the Mathewson Gateway District. We have an exciting year planned with sesquicentennial celebrations set to honor our rich history and bright future. I invite you all to partake in the array of events lined up — each weaving the past, present and future of our institution into a tapestry of pride and tradition.
One of the most common conversations I have with alumni is around the evolving landscape of our beautiful campus, which has been said to rival the best of the Ivy League. If you haven’t visited in a while, I encourage you to spend a wonderful afternoon witnessing the transformations that have taken place, from the Pennington Student Achievement Center on the site of the old Getchell Library, to the new student housing projects along Virginia Street and a new parking complex in the Gateway District, which will soon welcome not only a new business building but a hotel and conference center. You’ll come to see that it’s still the campus you remember — and its future is bright and ready for another 150 years.
In these exciting times, your engagement and presence on campus and out in our community are more valuable than ever. I look forward to seeing you around at one of our sesquicentennial celebrations. It’s our birthday after all: Let’s celebrate!
Go Pack!
Bryan McArdle ’05, ’10 MBA
N Lifetime Member N Annual Member
“The Starlight Hotel-Casino” by Distinguished Nevadan and Faculty Emeritus WILLIAM A. DOUGLASS ’61 (Spanish).
“The Big Basin Waltz: The Adventures of Hawk-eye Starbuck” by PATRICK LANDON ’75 (geography).
STEVEN ING ’77 (philosophy), ’90 M.A. (counseling & educational psychology), a community faculty member for the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, delivered a Community Grand Rounds with UNR Med’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Steven’s talk included his personal story of surviving multiple stab wounds at his clinic in 2022 and tips on how to stay safe in the workplace.
MARC PICKER ’78 (journalism) was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Nevada Attorneys for Criminal Justice. Marc has been a criminal defense attorney in Reno and throughout Nevada for 35 years. He is currently the Washoe County Alternate Public Defender.
“The Bitter Past” by BRUCE BORGOS ’82 (political science).
Maj. GEN. BRETT WYRICK ’83 (pre-medical) is currently serving as the Air National Guard Assistant to the Surgeon General for the U.S. Air Force, providing assistance for all medical matters pertaining to the Air Force and Space Force. A dual board-certified physician in general surgery and aerospace medicine, Brett holds the aeronautical rating of chief flight surgeon with 1,000-plus hours of military flying experience; including combat tours in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo, as well as numerous deployments on humanitarian missions during his 33-year career.
“The Proofs of Legendre’s Conjecture and Three Related Conjectures,” a peer-reviewed paper by WING YU ’84 (electrical engineering).
EDWARD ESTIPONA ’92 (business administration), owner and president & CEO of Estipona Group, celebrated 30 years in business. The Estipona Group is a full-service advertising agency based in Reno with clients throughout the United States.
N Former State Sen. JULIA RATTI ’92 (art) joined the Truckee Meadows Tomorrow board of directors. Julia is currently the director of programs and projects for Northern Nevada Public Health, formerly the Washoe County Health District, and brings a unique combination of public service and professional experience to the board.
N JOEY ORDUNA HASTINGS ’97 (political science), CEO of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, was named to the board of advisors for the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System at the University of Denver. During her career, Joey has held key administrative positions in Washoe County and coordinated legislation for then-Gov. BRIAN SANDOVAL ’86 (English).
LS BECKY BOSSHART ’02 (journalism) was awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of State’s Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund to help children with special educational needs displaced by the Russia-Ukraine war. After working as a journalist in Nevada, Becky volunteered at Chernivtsi National University as part of the international master’s program and was among more than 200 U.S. Peace Corps volunteers evacuated when Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014. In 2015-16, she was a member of the Fulbright Alumni Association and has been part of the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers Alliance for Ukraine.
MACHALAGH CARR ’02 (criminal justice) served as chief of staff for former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, becoming the first female chief of staff to a Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives. Machalagh is currently the chief of staff to the speaker protem in the House of Representatives.
ANN (SNELLGROVE) MORTARA ’03 (nursing) recently retired after 20 years of service as a nurse with the U.S. Navy. She continues to live and work in Reno as a civilian nurse practitioner.
ANDY WALDEN ’04 (journalism) was named partner at KPS3, a full-service marketing and digital communications firm. An instrumental member of KPS3 since 2018, Andy previously held management roles at Noble Studios and Twelve Horses, with expertise spanning from travel and tourism to health care and B2B SaaS.
KYLIE ROWE ’08 (economics), ’12 M.S. (social work), ’17 MBA joined Truckee Meadows Tomorrow as executive director — bringing experience in leadership, economic development and marketing communications to the role. Prior to TMT, Kylie launched strategy company Kylie Rowe Co. in 2019, previously worked as vice president of corporate relocation for Dickson Realty and as vice president of economic development, communications and public affairs for the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance.
SARA ROBBINS ’10 (journalism), BRITTANY RUBENAU ’10 (journalism),
DANIELLE LONGLEY ’11 (journalism and Spanish), ANNA-LEIGH FIRTH ’16 (journalism) and BROOK BENTLEY ’19 MBA were recently promoted at marketing and advertising agency KPS3. SARA, who previously served as publicist for THE ROW, was promoted to associate vice president of social. BRITTANY is now a senior account director with more than 12 years of experience in cross-functional roles. DANIELLE was named senior account director, bringing 13 years of experience from the University Studies Abroad Consortium, The Glenn Group and Noble Studios. ANNA-LEIGH, who joined the team in 2021, is now an associate account manager with past experience working at The National Judicial College and OCG Creative. With a background in journalism, media studies and business at Everything Nevada and Sierra Nevada Media Group, BROOK was promoted to associate account director.
SKYLER KACHURAK ’12 (finance) is director of flight operations for SkyDrop, formerly known as Flirtey. A pioneer in commercial drone delivery, the company made history in 2015 when it completed the first-ever FAA-approved drone delivery in the U.S. In April 2023, SkyDrop made history again as the first company approved for store-to-door deliveries in New Zealand.
SADIE FIENBERG ’16 (journalism), founder of Butterfly Creative Projects, received the Small Business Administration’s “Nevada Young Entrepreneur of the Year” award for 2023. A student-intern at the Nevada Small Business Development Center, Sadie used the center’s services to start and grow her own Reno-based boutique-style agency specializing in graphic, web and email design.
JESSICA (MEDINA) ASHTON ’17 (criminal justice) is returning to the Macon-Bibb District Attorney’s Office in Macon, Georgia, where she previously interned, as an assistant district attorney after graduating from law school and taking the bar exam.
ASHLEY CAMPAGNA ’21 (marketing) was promoted to associate account manager with KPS3 after two years as an account coordinator with the local agency. During her time as a student, Ashley worked in the fast-paced environment of the Nevada Small Business Development Center.
DELANEY URONEN ’21 (English), a writer for nonprofit news outlet Double Scoop, won first place in the profile category of the Nevada Press Association 2023 Better Newspaper Contest Awards.