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Class Notes 2019

1950s

Barbara Casey (BSJ, 1959) is the CEO of Casey & Sayre in Los Angeles, California. This year, she was inducted into the WVU Academy of Distinguished Alumni as a leader in homebuilding, public relations, branding and professional advancement for women.

1960s

 Nancy Jacobs

Nancy Jacobs (BSJE, 1969) retired from Maryland’s Senate in 2015, after 20 years in the state legislature. She was the first woman elected Senate Minority Leader in Maryland history. 

1970s

Ron Cutright, (BSJ, 1975) retired following an international career first with an intelligence service and then with the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy.

James Joslyn, (BSJ, 1978) is a photojournalist with WJLA-ABC7 in Arlington, Virginia.

 Gregory Matics

Gregory Matics (BSJ, 1974) retired after 33 years working as a managing editor, general manager and publisher serving Jackson County, West Virginia. He was honored with WVPA awards in the weekly newspapers divisions for news, sports and feature writing, photography, layout and design, enterprise and for his lifestyle column, “From The Hilltop.”

1990s

Neil McGlone

Neil McGlone, (BSJ, 1979) is an independent associate with LegalShield in Houston, Texas.

Valerie Nieman

Valerie Nieman, (BSJ, 1978) is a professor of English and Creative Writing at NC A&T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina. She has two books scheduled for publication this year-- “Leopard Lady: A Life in Verse,” and an Appalachian horror novel, “To the Bones.”

Melissa Kress (BSJ, 1993) was promoted to senior news editor at Convenience Store News in Jersey City, New Jersey. She joined the business-to-business magazine in November 2010 as associate editor and was previously promoted to senior editor.

Philip Maramba (MSJ, 1993) is a research and writing specialist for FEMA in Charleston, West Virginia.

John Shepard (BSJ, 1995) was promoted to vice president of Tower Operations at TelConn Inc., in Parkersburg, West Virginia.

Rick Smith (BSJ, 1990) published his first short story, “In Organ Cave Where Tina Danced,” in the Boulevard Press anthology “Warp: A Speculative Trio,” in May 2016. He also published his first novel, “Times Squared” (a licensed DOCTOR WHO spinoff in the “Lethbridge-Stewart” series from British publisher Candy Jar Books) in November 2016. He is a senior media writer, NASA Marshall for ASRC Federal in Huntsville, Alabama.

1980s

Neil McGlone

Kevin Kinder (BSJ-1984) is a reporter for Blue & Gold News in Charleston, West Virginia.

* Stanley Wearden (MSJ, 1981) has worked in higher education leadership for over 14 years, and in 2019 became the president of Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

1990s

Lisa Drobney, (BSJ, 1996) is the director of operations at Associa in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Danielle Milazzo Halloran, (BSJ, 1993) works in business development at RKL eSolutions in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She returned to WVU as a parent this year with her daughter joining the class of 2022.

2000s

Tricia Cesarino Ball, (BSJ, 2009) is the director of marketing at the Appalachian Transportation Institute and Center for Business and Economic Research in Huntington, West Virginia. She is currently working on projects with marketing students at Marshall University and economic development in southern West Virginia counties.

 Brandon Brumage

Brandon Brumage, (BSJ, 2007) is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. He has recently published a book about finances and planning on Amazon titled, “Strugglehood: A Practical Guide to Financial Situations No One Bothered Teaching Us."

 Dan Bullock

Daniel Bullock (BSJ, 2005) designs and teaches language, communications and specialized curriculum/trainings to various United Nations departments, global staff, diplomats and country delegates, both at UN headquarters and UN duty stations abroad.

David (Scott) Castleman, (BSJ, 2005) is the manager of U.S. & Mexico Gas Communications at TC Energy in Houston, Texas.

Rebecca Child, (MSJ, 2000) is the assistant copy desk chief at SmartBrief in Washington, D.C.

Alison Hill, (BSJ, 2000) is an executive producer at Wieden & Kennedy in New York, New York.

Kevin Kinkead

Kevin Kinkead, (BSJ, 2007) is the Philadelphia 76ers beat writer for Crossing Broad Sports in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Matt Masaschi

Matt Masaschi, (BSJ, 2003) is a public affairs specialist in the U.S. Coast Guard in Alameda, California.

Kodi McKinney

* Kodi McKinney, (BSJ, 2008) is a partner/co-founder of Marauder, a music-marketing firm that connects media and music industry professionals internationally. Based in New York, New York, Marauder also curates cultural exchange for music export offices and festivals from around the world.

Zack Miller

Zack Miller, (BSJ, 2007) is the founder of Hatch in Norfolk, Virginia. He has signed with Morgan James Publishing in New York City for the release of his book, “Anomaly: How to Finally Stand Out From The Crowd.”

Bryon Sabol, (BSJ, 2002) is an associate director of S&P Global’s Program Management Office in Charlottesville, Virginia.

2010s

Leann Arthur

Leann Arthur, (BSJ, 2010) is the regional curator for Holland America Line in Seattle, Washington where she develops onboard enrichment programming for one of the world's oldest cruise lines.

John Baldridge

John Baldridge (IMC Certificate, 2016) is the senior manager of Carnegie Mellon University’s digital marketing and communications in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Aurora Barker

Aurora Driscoll Barker (MS-IMC, 2017) is the admissions director for Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Claire Berlin, (MS-IMC, 2011) is the director of advancement communications at Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio.

Brittany Cavanaugh (BSJ, 2014) won an Emmy award for “Outstanding Studio Show – Weekly” while working as an associate producer for mixed martial arts coverage on ESPN College GameDay.

Jennifer Cooper

Jennifer Cooper (BSJ, 2012) is a digital content specialist at RevLocal in Granville, Ohio.

Nicole Curtin (BSJ, 2015) is the assistant director of athletic media relations at Towson University in Towson, Maryland.

Patrick Delaney (MS-IMC, 2013) is the communications director for the U.S. House Agriculture Committee in Washington, D.C.

Tiffany Doolittle

* Tiffany Doolittle (BSJ, 2011) works at ESPN and was nominated for Forbes 30 under 30 and Women in Cable Television Mentor Award.

Meredith Eddy

* Meredith Eddy (MS-IMC, 2018) is a digital media strategist at BlaineTurner Advertising and became a Facebook Certified Buying Professional this year after passing the Facebook Advertising Core Competencies and Facebook Certified Buying Professional exams.

Ed Frick

Ed Frick (BSJ, 2018) is a sales development representative of Logz.io in Boston, Massachusetts.

Colleen Good (MSJ, 2016) is a communications specialist for the WVU Honors College in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Hollie Greene (BSJ, 2017) is the social media specialist for The Educatius Group in Boston, Massachusetts.

Jewel Hazelton

* Jewel Hazelton (MS-IMC, 2017) was named to PRSA Georgia’s 2019 Inaugural “Forty Under 40” class.

Emma Hoff (BSJ, 2014) is the webinar producer for Shipman & Goodwin LLP in Hartford, Connecticut.

Dayna Kleinstein (BSJ, 2017) is the registration coordinator for MJH associates in Princeton, New Jersey.

Karon Leigh (MS-IMC, 2017) is the marketing and communications manager for Friends of the Verde River in Cottonwood, Arizona.

Nicole Linder (BSJ, 2014) is a student at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law in Denver, Colorado.

Claire Mangine (MS-IMC, 2017) is the marketing coordinator for the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, New York.

Ashton Marra (BSJ, 2012; MS-IMC, 2017) is a teaching assistant professor at WVU in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Ben Murray (BSJ, 2018) is the director of Mercer University’s athletics video services in Macon, Georgia.

Rachel Nieman (BSJ, 2012; MS-IMC 2015) is the director of recruitment and retention at the WVU College of Business and Economics.

Victoria Rihl

* Victoria Rihl (BSJ, 2014) is the social media manager for Sesame Street in New York, New York where she manages all viral Sesame Street accounts including Cookie Monster, Elmo and Oscar the Grouch.

Jessica Robey

Jessica Robey (BSJ, 2012) is an academic and career advancement specialist at the Caroline Center in Baltimore, Maryland. From March 2015 to June 2018, she served as a literacy volunteer with the Peace Corps in Jamaica.

Allie Smith (BSJ, 2016) is the art director for People Ideas & Culture in Brooklyn, New York.

Chrissi Steiner (MS-IMC, 2018) is a teacher at Brison Elementary School in New Bern, North Carolina.

Blaithe Tarley (BSJ, 2018) is the strategic communications coordinator for Greater Morgantown CVB in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Eric Winkfield (MS-IMC, 2016) is the public affairs manager for Pepco, an Exelon Company, in Washington, D.C.

Jennifer Yurko (MS-IMC, 2014) was promoted to director of advertising research at Comcast Spotlight where she will manage the Houston, Denver, Colorado Springs, Salt Lake City and Albuquerque markets from Denver, Colorado.