2022

ALLISON SCHAK was introduced as a new member of the Faribault Police Department during a city council meeting. Schak is the first hire for new police chief John Sherwin, and, thanks to her holiday giving experience, she will be in charge of the department’s participation in a local holiday adopt-a-family program this winter.

WHITNEY SPEARS is a new admissions counselor for Red Lake Nation College. She works to transfer students from a tribal college – a community and cultural-based setting – into a four-year program by showing what is offered in those bigger, diverse settings and how to navigate that within their educational journey.

2020

JULIE TOUCHETT is currently a nurse in the emergency department in Wilmington, N.C. She played volleyball at BSU and owns single- game program records for solo blocks and total blocks.

2017

AUSTIN WIBERG was promoted to the position of assistant vice president, business banker at  Minnesota Lake Banks. He joined the company in 2018 and most recently served as credit analyst.

2015

MEGAN BERGESON has worked with EPIC Companies, an investment and development firm in West Fargo, N.D., since 2021. She has been promoted to director of marketing and oversees the marketing department. She also works with other departments to improve the company’s overall brand and web presence, and she works on high-level marketing material for the development team.

JAKE DALNES has been promoted to associate director at Mahoney, a full-service CPA firm known for its niches in real estate and not-for-profit organizations. Dalnes has been with Mahoney since 2015 and has experience in providing tax compliance and tax planning services to real estate businesses, individuals and trust/estates.

TYLER ORGON, a biologist with the Red Lake DNR Water Resources, recently presented early findings in his research titled “Spatial and Temporal Variability of Mercury in Upper and Lower Red Lake Walleye” at the 2023 Native American Fish and Wildlife Society national conference in Anchorage, Alaska.

2014

TYLER BROWN was promoted to sergeant with the Coon Rapids Police Department in a ceremony during a city council meeting. Brown was given the oath of office by Mayor Jerry Koch and had his new sergeant’s badge pinned by his wife. Brown is the department’s first officer promoted to sergeant within eight years of service in at least 30 years.

2013

CHARLES SANDIFORD is the director of engineering at Radiometer and recently earned a master’s degree in operations management from the University of Arkansas. He lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and three daughters.

BRADY SCOTT is the due process sergeant for the Minnesota Department of Corrections at MCF – Shakopee. He worked for Northwestern Minnesota Juvenile Center while obtaining his degree from BSU. His wife, Kelsie, is a 2014 Bemidji State graduate.

2010

SIERRA (WALTON) GILBERTSON has been teaching English at Fosston High School since 2014. She is currently serving as the executive secretary and National Council of Teachers of English liaison for the Minnesota Council of Teachers of English. In the past, she served as the Minnesota council’s president and middle level chair. In 2022, Gilbertson was elected and served on the national council’s Middle Level Section Nominating Committee.

2008

ANDRE BELL was promoted to assistant athletic director at Stephens College. Bell has also served two seasons as the women’s basketball coach, going from 8-18 in his first season to 16-11 in his second season.

2007

DENAE (FISHER) ALAMANO was named the president of the United Way of Minnesota Board of Directors. She joined the board in 2019 and also serves as the executive director of the United Way of Bemidji Area.

RYAN BAHR was recently appointed senior lead audit manager at Wells Fargo. He spent the last 12-plus years as a product director/owner BAHR and bank examiner at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. He lives in St. Michael with his wife, Sarah (Kothrade) Bahr ’07 and their three children.

2004

JASON BONDE, the head coach of the Rochester Community and Technical College women’s basketball team, led the Yellowjackets to the NJCAA Division III national championship on March 18, 2023, in Rochester.

RCTC defeated Minnesota West Community College 73-53 in the national championship game. The Yellowjackets finished the season 27-1, and Bonde was named Coach of the Tournament after leading his team on the title run. Rochester also had four players named to the All-Tournament Team, including MVP Olivia Christianson, who averaged a tournament-high 24.3 points per game and had 5.7 steals per game.

In his three seasons as RCTC’s head coach, Bonde has a record of 67-8. He has now spent 15 seasons at RCTC overall, the first 12 of which coming as an assistant under men’s basketball head coach Brian LaPlante.

Bonde’s first coaching gig came as a student assistant at Bemidji State, where the Beavers reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history in 2003–04.

JULIE (JOHNSON) SMITH now works as an early childhood special education teacher in Minnesota.

2003

JOSH FRISBIE has been promoted from creative director to vice president- creative by marketing agency Hamilton. Frisbie has led Hamilton’s award-winning multidisciplinary creative team for 12 years. In addition to his creative responsibilities, Frisbie is a member of Hamilton’s leadership team.

AARON KALLHOFF joined the Brigham Young University women’s basketball program as an assistant coach. After Power 5 stops at Penn State, LSU and TCU, Kallhoff will join a Cougars program that reached the Women’s National Invitational Tournament last season. Kallhoff played for the Beavers from 2001–03 and led the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio as a senior.

BRIDGET STALBOERGER earned the Teachers of Excellence award through Sourcewell for her demonstration of professionalism, expertise and care for her students. Through the many changes COVID-19 posed to education, she managed to ride each wave, jump over every hurdle and maintain a positive persona. Throughout the year, she ensured her students felt loved, supported and engaged.

2002

TODD KNOTT, who spent the past 14 seasons as an assistant and associate head coach with the Minnesota State men’s hockey program, is joining the University of Wisconsin as associate head coach for its men’s hockey program.

NATE OLSON has been promoted to vice president of sales and service for Mid Minnesota Federal Credit Union. In this senior management role, Olson provides oversight to all areas of branch operations focusing on high levels of service. His career at the credit union began in 2003, just after he completed his bachelor’s degree at BSU.

SARAH LAURIANTI was recently promoted to commercial underwriting consultant for the West Virginia territory of Erie Insurance. She currently lives in Erie, Pa. and is also working on her master’s degree through BSU online.

TRACY LOKEN WEBER has earned a doctor of philosophy degree in Leadership for the Advancement of Learning and Service from the Kellner College of Education, Literacy and Leadership at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wis. She is currently a trainer for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a mental health advocate for the Wisconsin Office of Children’s Mental Health and an international best-selling author.

2001

PAUL PETERSON was selected for induction into the Northland Athletic Hall of Fame as a member of the 2023 class. He served as Northland’s activities coordinator from 2001-08 and as its athletic coordinator from 2008-2020. He also coached softball and women’s basketball. Peterson served in the Minnesota National Guard from 1998-2004 and was deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina from August 2003 to April 2004, as well.

1998

TORREY WESTROM was awarded the Friend of Ag Award by the Minnesota Corn Growers Association’s annual meeting for “his tenacity for rural issues” that helped secure $210 million for rural broadband in 2022. Westrum became a legislator in 1996 and is currently a Minnesota state senator.

TRAVIS HENSCH is the superintendent of Swanville Public Schools. His wife
Shana Pazdernik-Hensch is a Physician’s Assistant at Tri-County Hospital in Wadena. Together, they have three adult children: Bryce, Brandy and Breck.

1997

GERALD BURKE was named the next director of the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute at Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, Md. The institute is home to the only Department of Defense nuclear research reactor.

1994

SHERRY HOLLOWAY was selected as the 2022 George Hanson Developmental Adapted Physical Education Award winner at the Minnesota Developmental Adapted Physical Education fall conference. The award honors and recognizes outstanding services and contributions given by an elementary, secondary, higher education or other professional worker in the developmental adapted physical education profession, as exemplified by its namesake George Hanson. Holloway is a professor of human performance, sport and health at BSU.

1993

SHANNON ODELL was re-elected to serve a two-year term on the Nursing Consortium of Florida’s Board of Directors. Odell — the vice president, chief nursing officer and patient safety officer at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Coral Terrace, Fla. — has more than 25 years of experience in nursing leadership and practice. She is certified as a nursing executive, master trainer and inpatient obstetrics. Prior to joining Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, Odell served as executive director for Women’s & Children’s Nursing Services at WakeMedHealth and Hospital Systems in Raleigh, N.C. Odell is a member of the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses. She holds a master’s degree from Liberty University and a bachelor’s degree from Bemidji State University.

The Nursing Consortium of Florida strengthens relationships between nurses
in practice and academic settings and promotes and facilitates collaboration among member organizations and with others to identify and address opportunities for strengthening the nursing community and ensure adequate access to high quality ever improving nursing services throughout Florida. The consortium is a non-profit corporation founded in 1997 to serve the professional needs of Florida’s nursing community. It has more than 70 member organizations including hospitals, accredited schools of nursing, nurse staffing agencies and other providers of nursing services.

WAYNE NOMELAND has worked as a corrections agent for 24 years and has also been a Thief River Falls Fire Department volunteer for 15 years. Additionally, Nomeland is the director of the Thief River Falls School Board and is a past chairman.

1991

CURT ANDERSON II was recently selected as the new economic assistance division director for Beltrami County’s Health and Human Services
Department. He had previously served as the consolidated financial assistance and employment service supervisor for three years at Beltrami County.

1990

JEFF JOUETT has been appointed prototype and manufacturing manager for the Research and Innovation Division at the Institute for Integrated Innovation Research. He oversees the laboratory’s prototype development and manufacturing and works with and builds partnerships with industry throughout Arkansas, the region and beyond.

1989

KEVIN GISH was appointed as the first administrator of the new veterans’ home in Bemidji by the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs. Gish has more than 30 years of administrative and operational experience in health care. He most recently provided executive leadership of critical access hospital campuses including nursing homes, assisted living facilities and clinics. Gish has been a Minnesota Licensed Nursing Home Administrator since 2011.

BRENT HARRISON has been promoted to senior associate director for the
Department of Physical Education and Recreation at the University of Oregon in Eugene. He graduated from BSU with a bachelor’s degree in 1989 and a master’s degree in 1991, both in physical education.

1986

JOHN BOLDUC was re-appointed superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol by Governor-Elect Jim Pillen. Bolduc was first appointed to the position by Governor Pete Ricketts in 2017. Bolduc has served in a variety of law enforcement positions since 1986 with service in Minnesota, California and Nebraska.

CAMILLA (EDQUIST) LEJON has spent 10 years as the CEO of Linköping City Airport in Sweden. She has also worked for the Swedish Trade Council and the Chamber of Commerce since her days as a foreign exchange student at Bemidji State.

BRUCE SUTOR was appointed by Governor Tim Walz to the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice. He is a psychiatrist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, where he recently served a nine-year tenure as practice chair for the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology.

1982

MIKE GIBBONS 1982 announced his retirement from Bemidji State after serving as an assistant coach on the men’s hockey team for the past three seasons. Gibbons helped the Beavers to an NCAA East Regional Championship game appearance in 2020-21 and a Central Collegiate Hockey Association Championship game appearance in 2021-22. During his time as an assistant, he helped BSU to a 49-47-8 record and handled primary recruiting duties for the program.

In Gibbons’ time at Bemidji State, eight Beavers were recognized as All-Conference selections including Western Collegiate Hockey Association Defensive Player of the Year Elias Rosén. Fifty-two players were recognized as All-Academic Team selections and Zach Driscoll earned WCHA Student-Athlete of the Year recognition.

Gibbons returned to his alma mater after 14 years at St. Cloud State, where he helped lead the Huskies to four conference championships, the NCHC Frozen Faceoff title in 2016, 275 victories, eight NCAA Tournament appearances and a trip to the 2013 NCAA Frozen Four.

Gibbons’ coaching resume includes stops at all levels of the game of hockey including the professional ranks, junior hockey, college and high school.

A graduate of BSU, where he was a standout defenseman for the Beavers from 1975–79, Gibbons earned All-America honors in 1978 and 1979 and helped BSU win a national title in 1979.

He began his coaching career at BSU as an assistant coach in 1981 and later served as an interim head coach during the 1982-83 campaign. That season he led the Beavers to a 30-6-1 record, a NCHA championship and a trip to the NCAA Division II championship game. For his efforts and the team’s success, Gibbons was named the NCHA Coach of the Year and the Edward Jeremiah College Division National Coach of the Year.

Gibbons moved to Northern Michigan University in 1983 where he served as an assistant coach with the Wildcats’ hockey program until 1988. He went on to serve as an assistant coach at Colorado College (1988-90) and the University of Denver (1990-94). After leaving Denver, Gibbons worked for one year as the head coach for the Langley Thunder in the British Columbia Junior Hockey League.

From 1995 to 1997, Gibbons moved into the professional ranks as an assistant coach with the Baltimore Bandits, the Anaheim Ducks’ top affiliate in the AHL. Gibbons returned to Minnesota in 1997 to take over as head coach at Eastview High School and remained there for 10 seasons.

1978

NANCY (KELLEY) CREVIER recently published a book of poetry, “The Peach Quartet and Other CREVIER Poems.” She retired as editor of The Newtown Bee newspaper in 2021, and now lives and writes in Newtown, Conn. She finds plenty of inspiration for poems of nature, life, love and loss. A resident of Connecticut for 44 years, she and her husband Phil have two adult children, a dog and two cats.