Class Notes: Spring 2026
Monday, April 13, 2026
1970s
Gary Semmer, ’77 BSB, was featured in an article with Insurance Business Magazine and discussed how stronger futures can be built in the construction insurance industry.
1980s
Marcia Ballinger, ’82 BSB, retired from her role as co-founder and principal at Ballinger Leafblad, Inc., after 11 years of service. Ballinger founded the executive search agency with Lars Leafblad, ’06 MBA. The two are pictured with Jamie Millard, ’09 College of Liberal Arts, a managing partner at the firm. Ballinger is also an author and speaker.
Jody Gunderson, ’86 BSB, was honored in October 2025 at the 100 Women in Finance New York Gala with the 2025 Americas Industry Leadership Award. The award recognizes an individual who demonstrates exceptional leadership in the finance industry and is a dedicated advocate for women’s advancement. She was also recently recognized with the 2025 Trailblazer Intelligence Award from With Intelligence Women’s Summits.
Daniel R. Gilbert, Jr., ’87 PhD, published a book, “A Civil Society Teaching Primer: Seeing Through Water,” with Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Moez Limayem, ’88 MBA, ’92 PhD, was appointed to a new role as president of the University of South Florida.
1990s
David Davis, ’93 MBA, started a new role as president and CEO at Spirit Airlines.
Richard Bischoff, ’95 MBA, has been appointed senior vice president of enrollment management at Chapman University.
Aaron Cherveny, ’96 BSB, co-founded The Good Day Group in September 2025.
William Haydon, ’96 MBA, has been appointed regional president (North America) at Nanosonics.
Amy College, ’97 BSB, started a new role as chief merchandising and supply chain officer at Leslie’s.
Greg Waibel, ’98 MBA, is now COO at YMCA of the USA, a promotion from CEO of the YMCA of Honolulu.
Aimee Moore, ’99 BSB, was appointed chief financial officer at VitalPath.
Erick Rowe, ’99 MBA, was appointed vice president of product management at VitalEdge Technologies.
Dawn Rasmussen, ’99 MBA, is a proud Gopher fan in California whose next-door neighbors are Wisconsin Badger alumni. Each fall, the families engage in a friendly rivalry, flying their respective team flags and even exchanging a mini Paul Bunyan’s Axe, which Rasmussen is currently the proud owner of.
Rasmussen is the chief revenue officer of Woodland Gourmet, a specialty food manufacturer. This year, she will serve as the chair of the Board of Directors of the Women’s Foodservice Forum, a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing women leaders in the food industry.
2000s
Laura Campbell, ’02 MBA, started a new role as global new product marketer at 3M.
Marc Sacco, ’02 MBA, started a new role as a banking technician of business and technology at Caixa Econômica Federal.
Amy Tills, ’02 MHRIR, started a new role as chief human resources officer at Compass Minerals.
Heather Hausmann, ’03 BSB, started a new role as chief information officer and chief information security officer at Pentair.
Melinda Pavek, ’03 MBA, retired from her role as a foreign service officer with the U.S. Department of State after over 20 years of service.
Michael Safranski, ’03 MBA, is now executive vice president of technical operations at FORTÉ, a promotion from senior vice president of operations.
Kate Vukelich, ’03 BSB, was appointed executive vice president and chief people officer at The Vitamin Shoppe.
Nobuya Kasai, ’04 MBA, is now a program manager at Delta Air Lines, a promotion from revenue management specialist.
Ming Cheng, ’04 MBA, started a new role as senior vice president and chief technology officer at A. O. Smith.
KC Glaser, ’05 BSB, ’16 MBA, is now marketing transformation lead at General Mills.
Bill Hauschen, ’05 BSB, is now director of marketing of ostomy care at Coloplast, a promotion from director of strategy.
Jill Kokkinen, ’05 BSB, is now global key account manager for general aviation at AkzoNobel Aerospace, a promotion from segment area manager (Americas Distribution).
Cass Lundgren, ’05 MBA, was appointed president and CEO of Unison Solutions, Inc.
Sean Larson, ’06 MBA, started new roles as a consultant at BData, Inc. and as a principal consultant at Oracle Analytics.
Navneet Narula, ’06 MBA, started a new role as co-founder at Stealth Company — Venture Capital.
Matthew Branson, ’08 MBA, started a new role as vice president of global corporate accounts at Ecolab.
Andy Buckneberg, ’08 BSB, is now senior director of tax at the Carlson Family Office, a promotion from director of tax.
Maggie Manteuffel, ’08 BSB, ’13 MBA, started a new role as a staff product manager at Skylight.
Kayla Rodriguez Graff, ’08 BSB, was recently interviewed by the Puget Sound Business Journal and discussed founding her biotech startup, SweetBio, and their recent launch of an FDA-cleared, Medicare-covered product.
Sam Tashima, ’09 BSB, ’17 MBA, is now a deputy managing director and actuary at Aon, a promotion from head of cyber risk and consulting analytics.
Jaime Lugo, ’09 MBA, started a new role as a business data analyst in the One Customer Master Data Management Program at Ecolab.
2010s
Edric Funk, ’10 MBA, was appointed president and COO at The Toro Company.
Robbie Kelley, ’10 BSB, was appointed managing director at Northborne Partners.
Kari Niedfeldt-Thomas, ’10 MBA, was appointed president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Minnesota & North Dakota.
Matt Stoll, ’10 MBA, is now a strategic program manager at the University of Minnesota, a promotion from adjunct instructor at the University’s Technological Leadership Institute.
Adrian Cook, ’11 MBA, is now senior director of global upstream marketing in advanced wound care at Solventum, a promotion from integration director.
Prachi Mishra, ’11 BSB, started a new role as director of product marketing at Unity.
Kristie Moon, ’11 BSB, is now a director at Global Tax Network, a promotion from senior manager.
Davis Clark, ’12 BSB, started a new role as a lead platform architect at Cadre.
Elizabeth Kibler, ’12 BSB, started a new role as an e-commerce development manager at General Mills.
David Ly, ’12 BSB, ’21 MBA, is now a business services director at ReFED, a promotion from business initiatives senior manager.
Jim Peichel, ’12 MBA, started a new role as CTO at Medtronic.
Hannah (Cairns) Francfort, ’13 BSB, started a new role as managing director at Piper Sandler.
Kari Mykerezi, ’14 BSB, started a new role as senior director, global analytics lead at Circana.
Nick Parent, ’14 MBA, was appointed chair of the board of directors of the EPDM Roofing Association.
David Strohsack, ’14 MBA, was appointed president of Power Americas at Nidec Power.
Jason Dayton, ’15 BSB, has been nominated as an Innovator by the The Bakken Museum in honor of the organization’s 50th anniversary.
Whitney Heber, ’15 MBA, started a new role as marketing director of broadline channels at Schwan’s Company.
Atiya Oberoi, ’15 BSB, started a new role as an associate attorney at Moss & Barnett.
Andrew Zinkel, ’15 MBA, was interviewed by IssueWire and discussed his leadership in the healthcare field through his entrepreneurial endeavors.
Katie Vosbeek, ’17 BSB, started a new role as director of planning at Athena Club.
Emily Trapani, ’18 MBA, started a new role as a new market lead at Valinor.
The USA women’s hockey team brought home Olympic gold with a 2-1 overtime victory over Canada, marking the USA’s first gold in the event since 2018. The team featured three Carlson alumni: Grace Zumwinkle, ’21 BSB, Lee Stecklein, ’17 BSB, and Kelly Pannek, ’19 BSB.
2020s
Bailey Bestul, ’20 BSB, published a book, “Reuse of Architectural Components,” with Routledge.
Nicole Dillard, ’20 MBA, is now a North America controller in the paper division at Ecolab, a promotion from industrial FP&A director.
Varun Agarwal, ’22 BSB, started a new role in investment banking and product development at OffDeal. He was recently featured in Business Insider for how he incorporates AI into his work.
Steven Kutz, ’22 MBA, has partnered with The Link, a Minneapolis nonprofit focused on ending youth homelessness. The Link’s Project Live Out Loud program, which helps LGBTQ+ youth, rents a building from Kutz and like-minded partners. The building provides nine housing units for program participants, as well as an office and community space.
Christopher Loken, ’23 BSB, is now a D365 CE senior associate at RSM US LLP, a promotion from D365 CE associate.
Sergio Manancero, ’24 MBA, won the Small Business Entrepreneur award from the Latino Chamber of Commerce Minnesota. Manancero is co-owner of La Doña Cervecería, the first Latin-owned brewery in the Twin Cities. He is pictured with Viviana Salazar, ’26 MBA, who runs local nonprofit Nuestra Lucha and is chair of the Minneapolis Human Rights Commission.
Sakthika Vijay, ’25 BSB, published her second book, “Jasmine Flowers and Pounds of Sugar,” a young adult romance novel. She promoted the novel, which was released Oct. 7, while also working full time as an operations lead analyst in Cigna Healthcare’s operations leadership development program.
MSPBJ 2025 CFO of the Year Honorees
Congrats to these alumni honored by the
Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal:
Doug Roderick, ’80 BSB, ’85 MBA, Twin Cities PBS
Timothy Durose, ’93 MBA, Minneapolis Public Housing Authority, Career Achievement Award
Mesude Cingilli, ’97 BSB, MEDA
Will Au-Yeung, ’04 MBA, APPLIED Adhesives
2026 Twin Cities Business 100 Honorees
David O’Neill, ’15 BSB, Minneapolis Cider Co. and Trail Magic
Jason Dayton, ’15 BSB, Minneapolis Cider Co. and Trail Magic
Jeff Eckerle, ’05 MBA, Parallax
Dan Mallin, ’95 MBA, Minnesota Cup
Christine (Christy) Sovereign, ’89 BSB, 2026 Special Olympics USA Games
In Memoriam
1940s
Robert Fleming, ’49 BSB, died in July 2025.
1950s
Roy Burns, ’51 BSB, died in December 2024.
Clayton Schubert, ’59 BSB, died in October 2025.
1960s
John “Jack” Rhode, ’63 PhD, died in September 2025.
Doyle Larkin, ’69 MBA, died in October 2025
1970s
Robert Blakely, ’72 BSB, died in May 2025.
James Rustad, ’72 MBA, died in September 2025.
Donald Dicklich, ’75 BSB, ’95 MBA, died in October 2025.
Scott Miller, ’77 BSB, died in September 2025.
Dr. Mildred Doering, ’78 PhD, died in November 2025.
Daniel Smith, ’79 BSB, died in March 2025.
1980s
LeRoy Sorenson, ’84 MBA, died in December 2025.
Bryce Christensen, ’85 BSB, died in May 2025.
Teri Verduyn, ’87 MBA, died in June 2025.
Charlotte Koski, ’88 MBA, died in October 2025.
1990s
Ryan Vanyo, ’98 BSB, ’04 MBA, died in September 2025.
2000s
Dianne Zak, ’01 BSB, died in November 2025.
Warren “Boz” O’Brien Bostrom, ’04 MBT, died in October 2025.
Matthew Whitemore, ’07 BSB, died in May 2025.
2020s
Margaret McMillan, ’21 BSB, died June 2025.
Professor Emeritus Frederick Beier died in November 2025. During his 40 years at the school, he served as professor of transportation and logistics and held numerous leadership roles, including department chair, director of the Logistics Management Research Center, director of the Supply Chain Initiative and associate dean of faculty. Fred was widely regarded as the glue that held the school together. His straightforward approach to difficult decisions was always balanced by genuine kindness and respect for others.
Mergers & Acquisitions
David Leibman, ’08 BSB, and his partner, Nicole Fuerst, welcomed their son, Noah, in May 2025.
Chelsea Taylor, ’11 BSB, ’19 MBA, and her husband, Mark, welcomed their daughter, Olivia, in February 2025.
Lindsey Mangan, ’15 BSB, and her husband, Paul, welcomed their son, Henry, in April 2025.
Julie Bedingfield, ’17 BSB, and her husband, Ryan, welcomed their son, Henry, in September 2025.
Matthew Connors, ’17 BSB, and his wife, Emma, welcomed their daughter, Harper, in April 2025.
Petra and Michael Jacqmein, both ’18 BSB, welcomed their daughter, Haven, in July 2025.
Kendra Wanke-Eull, ’21 BSB, and her husband, Tyler Eull, got married in September 2025, with help from their little golden retriever, Ember.
Let your classmates know what you’ve been up to since graduation.
Note: While we welcome alumni news, Minnesota Carlson does not verify Class Note submissions and is not responsible for the accuracy of the information contained in Class Notes.
Top Photo Courtsey of AP Newsroom
This article appeared in the Spring 2026 alumni magazine
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