2014 ALUMNI ACADEMY INDUCTEES SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION ALUMNI ACADEMY We are very pleased this year to be adding five The purpose of the Academy is to give honor and recognition outstanding alumni to our Academy. to a select group of our School’s outstanding graduate and undergraduate alumni. THE Michael Ciokajlo 2013 Inductees 2006 Inductees Greg Busch Denise Fleckenstein OURTEENTH NNUAL Larry Gelfund Michael Evans Suzanne Geha F A Ronald English Edward (Ed) Gordon, III LZ Granderson Ruth B. Heinig Bob Hercules Kate McCallum Cynthia Kay ALUMNI ACADEMY INDUCTION Dennis Martin Richard Merpi Holly Ronzi 2012 Inductees 2005 Inductees AND Nancy Burrell Susan M. Bunda Carleen Crawford John Greenhoe James Mulcrone Fourteen years ago we created the School of Communication Paul J. Klapproth RECEPTION Edd Snyder Alumni Academy and an External Advisory Board. 2011 Inductees Joseph Edward Colucci Lawrence Winston Nancy Greer-Williams 2004 Inductees The individuals recognized this evening represent Mary Jane Mapes Randy Doran T.R. Reid Todd Hufford the fourteenth group of inductees into our Gregory Taylor Tsutomu Kanayama School of Communication Alumni Academy. 2010 Inductees Brent Larson Jonathan Blakley Gregory Moorehead COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES It is with great pride and enthusiasm that John Fortino 2003 Inductees Kelly Heidbreder Roz Abrams Western Michigan University we honor them for their career accomplishments and Paul Heidbreder Kyle Caldwell community engagement. Paul Nwulu Jack Clifford Deirdre Bryant Worth Morris Davenport 2009 Inductees 2002 Inductees Angela Jacobs Carl Botan Ronald Jarvis Roger Mattens Michele Serbenski Laurie Stewart Judith Trent 2001 Inductees 2008 Inductees Kaye Bennett June Cottrell Ron Boyd PROGRAM Gary Dembs Marion Boyer Laurel Cottrell DeVarney Elizabeth Brink Patricia Dolly Mary Beauchamp Cohen Refreshments Curt Fonger Della DiPietro Claudia Marshall James Hickey Neil Smith Brian Hire Welcome Timothy Terrentine JoAnn Keyton THE OAKLANDS Shirley Woodworth Barbara McDaniel-Suggs James McHale Thursday, October 23, 2014 Introduction of Guests 2007 Inductees Barbara Mieras Michael Betz Sharon Ratliffe 5:00 to 7:30 p.m. Barbara Parham Hughey Holly Rosenhagen Presentation of Members of the Academy Anne Linsdau James Thelen Earl Washington Cheri Van Kuren-Bales Von Washington Shirley Van Hoeven Alumni Academy Induction Greta Williams www.wmich.edu/communication Michael Ciokajlo LZ Granderson Holly Ronzi B.A., Communication, 1994 B.A., Communication, 1996 B.A., Communication, 1997 Michael Ciokajlo, a.k.a Mickey, is the editor of the Kalama- LZ Granderson is a CNN contributor, a senior writer for ESPN zoo Gazette, supervising the Kalamazoo newsroom for MLive and a lecturer at Northwestern University. He is a former Hech- Holly Ronzi is the Vice President, Managing Director of the Media Group. Mickey provided key leadership in the news- inger Institute fellow and in Spring ‘15 will be a teaching fel- Agency Technology Solutions department for Leo Burnett room transformation at the Gazette, as it transitioned from a low at the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago. He USA. She has been a member of the Leo Burnett Group for over daily print newspaper to online/print combination and re- is the recipient of numerous awards for his gay rights advocacy 12 years in digital and IT project management roles. located to today’s media hub on the mall in downtown Ka- work and his commentary has been recognized by the Online lamazoo. News Association, the National Association of Black Journalists She leads the Agency Technology Solutions team in deliver- and the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. The ing and supporting fully integrated agency solutions to the Mickey is a 1994 graduate of Western Michigan University award-winning journalist is among CNN’s go-to pundits whose Leo Burnett Group business units across the US, including the where he worked at the Western Herald as a reporter and edi- commentary has included same-sex marriage, presidential poli- Chicago, Detroit, New York and San Francisco offices. Holly tor. He also holds a master’s degree from the Columbia Uni- tics, NFL scandals, education and religious faith. is a member of the Agency Leadership Team and serves on versity Graduate School of Journalism. the Agency Operations Committee. She is responsible for IT Prior to making the transition to television, Mr. Granderson project management and project delivery, IT operations, appli- Mickey worked as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, Ka- covered a wide array of topics for The Grand Rapids Press, The cation support, business intelligence tools and reporting, and lamazoo Gazette and Grand Haven Tribune before becoming South Bend Tribune, The Atlanta Journal Constitution and was the security and infrastructure disciplines for the Agency. The an editor. He continues to write, producing editorials and col- an intern at the Kalamazoo Gazette. LZ was a reporter for The team also consults on technical initiatives for clients, such as umns for the Gazette. He also takes an active role in mentor- Western Herald and was on-air talent at WIDR. He counts these Allstate, the Altria companies, P&G and Samsung. ing Journalism interns at MLive. college experiences as instrumental in developing his voice as a journalist. Formerly, Holly managed the project management office Active in the community, Mickey serves on the boards of (PMO) for the Agency’s largest digital client, the Altria com- Volunteer Kalamazoo and the interim Student Media Board at LZ delivered this year’s Communication & Community Distin- panies. Holly is a certified Project Management Professional WMU, and is a member of the Kalamazoo Rotary Club. guished lecture and is this year’s School of Communication re- (PMP). She was also responsible for the career development for cipient of a College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Achievement over 25 project managers, including capacity planning, hiring, award. coaching, mentoring, and performance management. Previ- Larry Gelfund ously, Holly worked at Fry, Inc., managing e-commerce solu- B.A., Communication, 1980 tions for Crate & Barrel, Spiegel and Eddie Bauer. Dennis Martin Larry Gelfund is a talent management/improvement orga- B.S., Communication, 1975 In her spare time Holly attends dance classes at the Joffrey nizational development professional in the retail, customer Academy of Dance Chicago and Lou Conte Dance Studio. service, supply chain, financial services and manufacturing Dennis Martin is the National Sales Manager-Southern Michi- She is a graduate of the Second City Training Center improv industries. Currently he is the Learning and Organizational gan for Midwest Communications. Prior to joining the staff of and writing programs, and the Improv Olympic (iO) Training Development manager for EJ (formerly East Jordan Iron- WNWN-FM and Midwest Communications, Dennis had a 30- Center improv program. She has served as a PAWS Chicago works). Larry is widely recognized for his in-depth knowl- year career with Fairfield Broadcasting. He started as a staff family services lead and is currently a special events volunteer. edge and extensive expertise including: domestic and interna- member at WQLR-FM in Kalamazoo as an announcer and later Holly is an active member of the Western Michigan University tional leadership development, organizational development, became the Program Director, Account Executive and then Sales Alumni Association and volunteers as an Alumni Admissions talent management, performance management, training, hu- Manager. Ambassador. man resources, classroom instruction, motivational speaking, team building, strategic planning, staff management, opera- His first experience in radio was as a student at WMUK and he tions, video scripting, production and acting. continued as a volunteer for several years as one of the hosts of the “Crankcase” rock music program. Dennis continues to be In his over 30 years of professional management experience, involved at WMU, frequently speaking to classes about broad- Larry has held training and organizational development posi- casting careers and offering mentoring advice to WMU students. tions in a wide range of corporations including Laredo Learn- ing LLC, Rehmann, Comerica Banks, the Handlemann Com- Dennis has worked as a volunteer leader with several area non- pany, A & W Restaurants, and The Coffee Beanery Ltd. profit agencies and organizations including Gryphon Place, Ka- lamazoo Valley Trout Unlimited, Junior Achievement, the Ka- Larry has provided service to numerous professional organi- lamazoo Chamber of Commerce and Charitable Union. Dennis zations as well. He has served as the President of the Board of also served for several years on the School’s External Advisory Directors of the Greater Detroit Chapter of the Association of Board and he developed and served on the Executive Board for Talent Development and as a member of the Board of Direc- the Radio Alliance of Southwest Michigan. Today, Dennis per- tors of the Sturge-Weber Foundation and he has been a per- forms with a folk/rock music group called “Smallmouth.” They formance improvement mentor affiliated with the Mentiuum have performed at dozens of area charity events where the band organization. has helped to raise over $20,000. .