Alumni Updates
Vince Smith, Environment & Community (Social Sciences), 1984
Submitted: May 3, 2021
Smith recently retired after 36 years working for a private not for profit organization caring for and assisting individuals with intellectual disabilities. He and his wife, Deb, left Northern California in 1984 and settled in New Mexico. He credits HSU’s professors with steering him on a life journey of compassion and care for others.
Ryan Bieker, Politics, 2012
Submitted: December 8, 2020
Ryan Bieker utilizes data to examine and interpret changes in California retirement law and how it will affect CalPERS' actuarial responsibility to the State of California. Bieker is married to Rita Dunn (HSU politics 2013) who is in her final year of Law School and is currently clerking with U.S. Magistrate Judge Allison Claire.
Robert Deane, History, 2007
Submitted: December 5, 2020
Robert Deane currently works in the Public Services Department of the Oregon Tech Library, in Klamath Falls, Oregon. He graduated with his MA Ed. in Social Studies from Western Governors University in 2019 and is nearing completion of his Masters in Library Science: Children & Youth Services from St. John's University.
Karleigh Shepard, English, 2019
Submitted: November 18, 2020
Karleigh Shepard is a Master of Public Policy candidate at UCLA's Luskin School of Public Affairs. She has been appointed to the Executive Board of the Association of Master of Public Policy Students as Engagement Chair.
Trever McSwain, Politics, 2012
Submitted: October 27, 2020
Trever McSwain has been practicing law in Indiana since 2016, he is a captain in the Indiana National Guard JAG Corps and a legal aid attorney for Indiana Legal Services Military Assistance Project where he assists low income Veterans.
Daniel Mandell, History, 1979
Submitted: October 11, 2020
Prof. Daniel Mandell's (History, 1979) book The Lost Tradition of Economic Equality in America, 1600-1880, was published by Johns Hopkins University Press in April 2020. He used that work to write commentaries on current issues for the Washington Post, Time, and The Conversation, which was then republished in various newspapers.
Matthew Woodman, English, 1998
Submitted: October 6, 2020
Matthew Woodman, English, 1998, was named the 2019-2020 Kern County Poet Laureate.
Mariko-(Jade) Takimoto, International Studies, 2016
Submitted: September 15, 2020
After graduation, Mariko-(Jade) Takimoto, International Studies, 2016, was fortunate enough to teach a year abroad in Seville, Spain. Once she returned to the states, she worked as an advisor for entertainment-art students at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. Now she is a Recruiter/Sourcer for Sony PlayStation - Santa Monica Studio, God of War team. Takimoto says, "none of this would have been possible if not for the support of the HSU staff & faculty, especially those in the World Languages & Cultures Dept., International Studies Dept., and Center for International Programs. Thank you all for the support you have shown me and your willingness to continue to inspire students to be the very best version of themselves. Thank you HSU! <3"
Kristin Klamm-Doneen, Philosophy, 1992
Submitted: September 12, 2020
Kristin Klamm-Doneen, Philosophy, 1992, serves as the Chair of our Philosophy & Humanities Department at Anoka Ramsey Community College in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, just outside Minneapolis. She obtained her Ph.D. in Practical Philosophy from Stockholm University, her M.A. in Individual Studies: Comparative Philosophy & Religion from Central Washington University and a M.A. in Practical Philosophy. When pursuing one of her advanced degrees she was so pleased to take a distance learning class in advanced logic from her Humboldt State University advisor, Michael Goodwin. She absolutely loves her job here in Minnesota, where she has taught full-time in Philosophy for the past 15 years. "Thank you HSU, for the great start!"
Emilie Uemura, Anthropology, 2015
Submitted: August 11, 2020
Since graduating from HSU, Emilie Uemura, Anthropology, 2015, worked as an archaeological technician for the Six Rivers National Forest, the Pike National Forest, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Lassen National Park, and DZC Archaeology. Working closely with natural resource and land managers, her interests grew to include sustainable communities, climate resiliency, environmental protection, and GIS. She is now pursuing a Master of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) degree at Eastern Washington University.
Daniel Macomber, English, 1992 (BA),1997 (MA)
Submitted: August 9, 2020
Daniel Macomber, English, 1992, English, M.A.1997 is the manager of Cornerstone Sober Living at the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission in Santa Barbara, California. Macomber says "COVID-19 has presented many challenges, but they shall continue to be overcome! I am also an independent contractor in the field of educational assessment/measurement. Great memories of my years at HSU!"
Brittany Britton, Art, 2012
Submitted: July 7, 2020
Brittany Britton, Art, 2012 received her Master of Fine Arts in Craft from the Oregon College of Art and Craft in 2015. Britton moved back home to Humboldt County and worked as an Art History lecturer at College of the Redwoods at the Klamath-Trinity Instructional Site in Hoopa. From 2018 to 2020 Britton was the Curator/Registrar of the Native American Collection at the Clarke Historical Museum. In June, 2020 Britton became the Gallery Director to the Reese Bullen and Goudi'ni Native American Arts Galleries at Humboldt State University.
Laura Aguada-Hallberg, World Languages and Cultures, 1993
Submitted: July 7, 2020
After 20 years as a public school teacher and school administrator, Laura Aguada-Hallberg, World Languages and Cultures, 1993, made the move to higher education. She was hired as an assistant professor at Benerd College, University of the Pacific in 2018. She launched a new doctoral program in the fall of 2019 and in July, 2020 was appointed assistant dean of Benerd's Learning, Leadership and Change graduate programs.
Katrina S. Hagen-Radlick, Politics, 1994
Submitted: June 15, 2020
Katrina Hagen-Radlick, Politics, 1994, was recently appointed by the Governor as the Director of the Department of Industrial Relations, based in Oakland, California. The Department of Industrial Relation's core functions include: CalOSHA, Division of Workers Compensation, and the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.
Joseph E. Torr, Sociology, 1996
Submitted: June 11, 2020
Joseph Torralba, Sociology, 1996, recently retired from the Department of Justice-Bureau of Prisons after 22 years. Torralba served previously in Los Angeles and Lompoc, California. and Hazelton, West Virginia.
Cristian Martinez, English, 2020
Submitted: May 20, 2020
Cristian Martinez, English, 2020, says "the HSU English department prepared me for my next intellectual adventure, which is a Master's in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University, New York!"
Sean Berry, Native American Studies, 2014
Submitted: May 19, 2020
Sean Berry, Native American Studies, 2014, is a Legal Administrative Specialist for the Northern California Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Harry D. Bartley, History, 1966
Submitted: April 30, 2020
Harry Bartley, History, 1966, retired in 2013 after 28 years at Tektronix. His wife of 42 years died suddenly in 2014. Bartley says he is looking for any former Intercollegiate Knights. He attended the last football homecoming and would like to contact anyone from the Yurok chapter, which he was active in from 1964 to 1967.
Robert P. Robinson, English, 2004
Submitted: April 22, 2020
After teaching K-12 for 11 years, Robert Robinson, English, 2004, pursued a PhD in Urban Education with a concentration in Africana Studies at The Graduate Center, City University of New York. In March 2020, he remotely defended his dissertation with distinction. His doctoral research project, Stealin’ the Meetin’: Black Education History & the Black Panthers’ Oakland Community School, tells the story of the Panthers’ educational center as a site for understanding Black self-determination, the Black radical imagination, and the shift in mainstream curriculum.
Pam Webb, English, 1987
Submitted: March 19, 2020
Pam Webb, English, 1987, is pleased to announce the upcoming release of her book Someday We Will, published by Beaming Books. This is a book for grandparents and grandchildren who are separated by miles, and the wait until the next delightful visit can seem endless. In Someday We Will, kids and grandparents mark the time by dreaming of all the wonderful things they’ll do together someday, from bicycling down a hill to whiling away the hours on a beach. Before they know it, someday is here! illustrations by Wendy Leach. Someday We Will is perfect for grandparents and grandchildren who look at the calendar with impatience and longing for the the next fun-filled time with their loved ones.