Stay in Touch
1980s
Stephen Akers, AS’82 (Labor Studies), retired 14 years ago. Akers is currently enjoying retirement by doing yard work, reading novels, and watching the news and sports, especially the Cubs. He recently got remarried. He and his wife are looking forward to doing some traveling.
Tamara (Price) Arment, BGS’85 (General Studies), MPA’89, is on the Board of Directors of Proud Scholars and is in charge of scholarships. These scholarships are offered to the LGBT community. Arment has helped students with volunteering opportunities, mentoring, and social services that help build a sustainable future and create stability in their lives.
Corinne (Sadlin) Larson, BA’82 (English), is the principal, director of marketing and client service at Longfellow Investment Management Co., LLC. in Boston. Larson has also been named chairman of the Board of Economic Mobility Pathways (EMPath), a nonprofit organization that transforms people’s lives by helping them move out of poverty and provides other institutions with the tools to systematically do the same.
Lisa Shaffer, BA’89 (Political Science), is now the executive director of Student Administrative Systems at the Art Institute of Chicago. She started this job late November 2018 and manages software that supports student affairs and enrollment functions. Prior to her new role she was at Ivy Tech as the vice chancellor of enrollment.
1990s
Rachel Bradley, BA’96 (Speech Communication) was named the director of development and marketing at Ronald McDonald House Charities of Michiana in fall 2018.
Chad Crabtree, BA’98 (Political Science), was named director of development for Ivy Tech Community College South Bend–Elkhart campus in February 2019. He previously worked as associate director of admissions for Ivy Tech Elkhart County campus. Chad serves on the Board of Public Works and Utilities for the City of Elkhart as well as chairman of the Elkhart County Democratic Party.
Jennifer Engdahl, BA’95 (General Studies), has been named assistant vice president at 1st Source Bank. Engdahl joined the bank in 1995 as part of the Specialty Finance Group and has since worked her way up to her current role as part of the larger Loan Services Group. Also, she is a lifelong resident of the South Bend/Mishawaka community and has been involved with numerous organizations over the years, including Penn Park Baseball and Softball Association, Travel Volleyball Clubs, and with numerous booster clubs at her alma mater, Mishawaka High School.
Michelle Peters, BS’90 (Business Administration), has been named vice president of Community Health and Well-Being Northern Indiana by St. Joseph Health System. Peters will lead, develop and oversee the outreach strategies and implementation of policy, system, and environmental change strategies in communities throughout the region.
Phyllis Vos Wezeman, BA’84 (General Studies), MS’90 (Education), is the author of the recently released book, Petra’s Pier Picnic. The book is a story of birthday gifts, a fishing trip, and a family meal that addresses the complex topic of hunger. Royalties from the book will benefit Malawi Matters, a non.profit that she supports. Malawi Matters mission is to develop and facilitate HIV and AIDS education.
2000s
Sean Haas, BS’09 (Education), has filed as a Republican candidate for mayor of South Bend. Hass is a military veteran and currently a high school teacher. Hass said that some of the top priorities of his administration would be to continue building South Bend’s economy, closing the skills gap through new programs in our schools, reinvesting in public safety agencies and ensuring that city budgets move toward the city’s priorities.
Amy Hill, MPA’06, is now the general manager and CEO of the South Bend Public Transportation Corporation (Transpo). She originally joined Transpo as the director of marketing in April 2013 and was appointed as the interim general manager and CEO in December 2017.
2010s
Brian Albers, BS’18 (Computer Science), is a software developer at Orchard Software in Carmel, Ind. Albers passes on the message, “Never give up chasing the dream. I chased it from Indiana to the Gulf and back. Now I have my dream job, house, loving wife, and two kids. If I can do it, anyone can!”
Nicole (Snider) Filippone, BS’17 (Nursing), is a nurse at Memorial Hospital and also serves as a reserve officer with the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Posse. This year she witnessed a car accident where she was able to save the life of the man who was involved by providing CPR until emergency response arrived. She received praises from the St. Joseph County Police Department, as well as local media stations for her ability to quickly react to the accident.
Alexandria Hepburn, BA’17 (Psychology), has been accepted into the Masters of Clinical Mental Health Counseling program at Alder University in Chicago. She has also accepted a position in the PhD in Counseling Education and Supervision at the University of Toledo in Fall ’19.
Karlie Gibson, BS’10 (Elementary Education), was named as the 2019– 20 recipient of the Armstrong Teacher Educator Award by the Indiana University School of Education. Gibson teaches second grade at Walkerton Elementary School.
Rebecca Gibson, BA’11 (History), graduated from IU South Bend, attended Brandeis University in Massachusetts and received a joint MA in women's studies and anthropology. She then went on to American University in Washington D.C., where she earned a PhD in anthropology. Her dissertation is titled “To Mold the Wax of the Woman: An Examination of Changes in Skeletal Morphology Due to Corseting.” She has recently been given a contract by Palgrave-MacMillan to turn the dissertation into a full-length, straight-to-paperback book set to come out in late 2020 with the new title, The Corseted Skeleton: A Bioarchaeology of Binding, and she is working on another book for the same publisher on the topic of robot/human sexual interaction in science fiction titled Desire in the Age of Robots and AI: Investigations in Science Fiction and Fact, which should be out in winter of 2019. Gibson just spent a year as a visiting assistant professor of bioanthropology at Notre Dame.
Jenna Makin, BS’18 (Criminal Justice), has graduated from the Indiana State Police Recruit Academy after completing a journey that consisted of 22 weeks of intense training. She completed over 1,000 hours of academic and hands-on training in criminal and traffic law, crash investigation, emergency vehicle operations, defensive tactics, firearms, and other classes necessary for modern policing.
Asya Williams, BGS’18 (General Studies), after having her first child while she was attending IU Bloomington, believed that was the end of her college education. However, a year later she decided to attend IU South Bend and graduated in 2018. She is proud to have this accomplishment to look back on and to let her children know nothing can stop you, especially when you have the love and support of family.