Class Notes - 1980s

Class Notes - 1980s

1980

Thom Brown JD is director of the Multnomah Bar Foundation. He is a partner with Cosgrave Vergeer Kester and chairs the firm’s multisector litigation practice group. Kevin Coyner BA announced his candidacy for the Connecticut General Assembly’s 132nd House District seat. He is a former bond and options trader, and he now works as a firefighter in Greenwich.

Richard Yugler JD was named to Landye Bennett Blumstein’s 2012 management committee. Yugler has extensive trial experience representing clients in complex business litigation, securities, stockholder disputes, and real estate matters, as well as personal injury, insurance coverage, and professional malpractice cases.

1981

Gregory Gonzales JD has been appointed a Superior Court judge for Clark County, Washington. He began his legal career at the law firm Weber Gunn. Since 2005, Gonzales has been a municipal court judge while pursuing a general practice of law. Last year, he opened his own Vancouver firm, where he handles personal injury cases, misdemeanor criminal defense, and general litigation.

William Peniston BA translated, edited, and introduced the book Queer Lives: Men’s Autobiographies From 19th Century France, along with Nancy Erber (University
of Nebraska Press, 2007). The book has come out in a French edition as Bougres de Vies: Huit homosexuels du XIXe siècle se racontent (EroxOnyx, 2012).

1982

Cheah Chuan Lok BS, a student from Malaysia, took part in an automobile journey with a group traveling from Malaysia to England. The journey’s goals were to fundraise for native children in eastern Malaysia in collaboration with Borneo Child Aid Society Malaysia, to spread the importance of education, and to promote Malaysia to remote areas by taking the road less traveled. Adair Law BA took on the challenge and joy of performing with a group of 160 volunteer dancers in Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse Square on September 30, 2012. She was joined by Sydney Linden BA ’07; Reggie Raiford, Lewis & Clark Law School maintenance worker, and his partner, Brett Buckley; Toni Berres-Paul, professor of legal and analytic writing; and Andrea Hibbard, adjunct instructor in English. They danced in Le Grand Continental, a 30-minute work of seven different line dances by Montreal choreographer Sylvain Émard. The event marked White Bird Dance’s 15th year of presenting dance to Portland audiences.

Dana Plautz B.S. and Miles Sprietsma BA ’07 created The Martha Washington Hotel and the Women Who Built Her, an award-winning documentary about the first women’s boarding house in Portland, started in 1887. Nik Walton BA ’10 and Leslie Simmons BA ’13 also contributed to the film with music production. The documentary has been shown in numerous Portland venues.

Richard Whittemore JD was reelected to Bullivant Houser Bailey’s board of directors for a three-year term. Whittemore is a shareholder in the Portland office. He has experience practicing civil law in major exposure cases along the West Coast in both state and federal court.

1983

Arts & Sciences Reunion June 20−23, 2013

George Jugovic JD was named president and CEO of the environmental watchdog group PennFuture. Jugovic is the former southwest regional director of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

1984

Kay Abramowitz JD is on the Portland State University Foundation board of directors. Abramowitz is a partner at Ater Wynne and chairs the firm’s wealth preservation
and family business groups.

Daniel McInerny JD is on the board of directors of Progress House, which provides a long-term social model program for high-risk, predominantly homeless men who suffer from chronic alcoholism/addiction. McInerny is a partner with Bose McKinney & Evan in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Casey Mills JD joined the board of directors for Partners in Diversity, an organization that recruits and retains professionals of color in the Portland area. Mills has been with Miller Nash since 1987 and heads the firm’s bankruptcy practice. He is a member and former chair of the firm’s diversity committee and serves on the board of governors for the Pacific Northwest College of Art.

1985

Steven Dahlke B.M. received his doctor of musical arts and music education in 2008 from the University of Southern California. He and his family live in Long Island, New York, where he teaches vocal and choral studies as assistant professor of music at Queensborough Community College.

Larry Frank JD was promoted to vice president and associate counsel at Standard Insurance Company. He provides legal advice to the Insurance Services Group, as well as oversight of litigation related to the division’s insurance products and services. Paul Jorgensen BA was honored by the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities at the 27th Annual Mayor’s Arts Awards in September 2012. Jorgensen provides pro bono legal services to community groups and was honored for his service with the District of Columbia Mayor’s Arts Award in 2004. He is the area program director for Lewis & Clark’s off-campus study program in Washington, D.C., and he also serves as a volunteer with the Boy Scouts.

Alicia “Lisa” Lowe JD was honored by Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt with its client service award. Lowe focuses her practice on estate planning, business succession planning, and trust and estate administration. She is a longtime attorney within the Vancouver community, representing numerous individuals and private businesses.

1986

Jennifer Cahn BA started a one-year fellowship with the Fulbright Program as a visiting curator at the Ivan Honchar Museum and Ukrainian Centre of Folk Culture and a visiting lecturer in museum studies at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kiev. Peter Carlson CAS presented a solo exhibit, Plastic Boxes: Scenes From a Little World, which opened last fall, at the Main Street Gallery in Ketchikan, Alaska. The display included 100 sculptural dioramas of 4-by 5-inch clear plastic boxes, each with a story inside.

1987

Tom Lyden BA is a reporter whose work has led to the creation of new laws, a felon’s conviction, and a politician’s resignation. He has won regional Emmy Awards as well as awards for his investigative reporting from the Associated Press and the Minnesota Broadcasters Association.

Scott Staff BA was appointed to the Naturally Advanced Technologies board of directors. Naturally Advanced Technologies develops renewable and environmentally sustainable biomass resources from flax, hemp, and other fibers.

1988

Arts & Sciences Reunion June 20−23, 2013

Mallory C. Clark BA and her family have moved from Boise, Idaho, to Bangalore, India, where she currently works as a teacher.

Raj Mahtani BA recently translated Fujisan (Amazon-Crossing, 2012), a collection of four short stories threaded with the presence of Mount Fuji, Japan’s iconic, sacred peak, by the acclaimed Japanese author Randy Taguchi.

1989

Scott Anderson BS is president and chief executive of Vaxcom Services, an information technology company that focuses on threat management resolutions.

Emma Pawlicki BA was appointed to California’s Central Valley Flood Protection Board. She has served as an attorney in natural resources since 2007.

Heidi Van Schoonhoven BA ran as a Democrat for Oregon’s District 58 State Representative seat. She has not held office before, but served the party as a precinct committee chairperson.