2022
Aaron Duncan completed a 13-week academy and was sworn in as a new officer with the Fargo (N.D.) Police Department. Originally from Deer Creek, Duncan previously worked as a public safety officer at BSU. He also previously owned a lawn care and snow removal business. Duncan’s brother, Jonas, is also a police officer in Fargo.
Jessica (Neel) Smith is a new graphic designer at Northern Wilds Media in Grand Marais. She started in October.
2021
Dan Amundson and his uncle, Bret Amundson, paired up to win 14 total awards at the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers annual conference in September. Dan works for Bret on the Sporting Journal Radio show, the Prairie Sportsman show on PBS and the Fish Hunt Forever YouTube channel.
Derek Goebel
has been hired as Altru Hospital’s new chief financial officer in Grand Forks, N.D. Goebel had been serving as the interim CFO since January. He is also a veteran of the North Dakota Army National Guard who served 13 years, including two mobilizations.
2020
Brienna Carlson recently accepted a corporate accountant position at American Crystal Sugar Company’s corporate office in Moorhead. She assists in all functions of the corporate accounting department for American Crystal, which is the nation’s largest beet sugar producer.
2019
Jess Burlingame joined the University of Wisconsin-Superior athletic department as an assistant strength and conditioning coach. Burlingame was a two-time all-NSIC selection as a player with the Bemidji State softball team and still owns program records for career at-bats (644), hits (233), runs (133) and triples (15). She also played professionally in the American Softball Association before starting various coaching roles in softball and strength and conditioning.
Olivia Schafer has been hired as the head coach of the Albert Lea girls tennis team. Schafer also served as an assistant coach in the program last season. Schafer is a fifth-grade teacher at Hawthorne Elementary School in Albert Lea, as well.
2018
Alexis Joyce, a former Bemidji State women’s hockey standout defenseman and director of hockey operations, has made her return to the Beaver bench as an assistant coach.
Joyce will assist the Beaver coaching staff in recruiting, player development and operations and will work directly with the program’s defensive group.
A native of Lakeville, Joyce played four seasons for the Beavers and is BSU’s second-highest scoring defenseman with 81 career points. Her 59 career assists are tied for fifth among all BSU skaters, as well. The All-WCHA Second and Rookie Team selection skated in all 148 games of her career and was a three-time WCHA Scholar-Athlete and WCHA All-Academic Team honoree.
2017
Megan Boser was named the Officer of the Year by the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association in June. Boser is the first woman and second Minnesota state trooper to be awarded MPPOA’s Officer of the Year. In a release, the association said that Boser “…demonstrated unwavering bravery and exceptional courage and embodies the essence of service and commitment to public safety.”
On April 28, 2022, law enforcement members of the West Central Drug Task Force tracked a vehicle to Morrison County, which was occupied by those suspected of trafficking large amounts of narcotics. Boser and several other law enforcement officers attempted to stop the vehicle by boxing it in and surrounding it. As officers worked to take the vehicle’s occupants into custody, the driver produced a weapon and Boser took action, which allowed other officers to take cover.
“Trooper Boser took decisive action and prevented potential loss of life while effectively bringing an end to a dangerous criminal operation,” MPPOA executive director Brian Peters said. “Her selfless dedication to duty and her unwavering commitment to the highest ideals of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association serve as an inspiration to us all.”
The MPPOA Officer of the Year award is based on heroics, outstanding service or distinguished community involvement in service. Recipients are selected by the MPPOA board of directors from many nominations. The award is considered a high honor, as it is from the largest association representing public safety professionals in Minnesota.
2015
Krista (Lauer) Lucken and Kyle Lucken ’11 recently welcomed their baby girl to the world. Everley Rae Lucken was born on March 14, 2023.
2013
Ben Kinne was recently named the new head coach of the Bemidji High School boys hockey team. He was a member of BSU’s 2009 Frozen Four team, was twice named team captain and finished his career with 32 goals and 44 assists. His wife, Bri (Scanlan) Kinne ’12, is the daughter of Bemidji State women’s hockey head coach Jim Scanlan.
Daniel Swenson works as a marketing analyst/consultant for Nike and T. Rowe Price after moving to the Pacific Northwest in 2020. He’s worked at Nike since 2021 and at T. Rowe Price since 2023. Swenson previously served two terms in AmeriCorps VISTA in 2015 and 2016, working at Guadalupe Clinic in Wichita, Kan. He also worked at Kansas State University in 2017 and at CivicPlus, a Kansas tech company, from 2018 to 2021.
2011
Jackie Stoffel was named Teacher of the Year at the Bemidji Education Association’s annual all-faculty event. Stoffel has taught for 11 years and currently teaches general physical education, Unified physical education and developmental adaptive physical education at Bemidji High School.
Anthony Hansen started a new position as the regional director for extension with the University of Minnesota. He is based out of the Brainerd Regional Extension Office.
2007
Jessica (Gingery) Fanberg was promoted to the role of clinical site director for the Big Lake office of Nystrom & Associates
2006
Matt Marsolek graduated with a doctorate in music education from Liberty University in the spring of 2023. He has been the director of the Bemidji MusiCamp since 2014 and currently teaches middle school band and coaches curling in Spring Lake Park. He lives in Cambridge with his wife, Jessica and two children.
Joseph Miller completed 15 years of service with the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office in February 2023. He’s currently assigned as an investigator in the Intelligence Unit, where he specializes in metro-wide area gangs, carjacking and motor vehicle thefts.
2005
Jill (Bina) Kandel is going into her sixth year as a special education teacher in the Cass Lake-Bena school district
2004
Wade Chiodo was promoted to team president for the Oklahoma Warriors, the defending champions of the North American Hockey League. Chiodo previously served as the team’s director of player personnel and is entering his fourth season with the Warriors organization. Chiodo will also continue to work with Oklahoma head coach and fellow BSU graduate Garrett Roth ’07.
Kate (Ocken) Lundquist was named deputy state director for Minnesota for Vote Run Lead, a non-partisan organization which trains women to run for elected office. Lundquist was born and raised in Duluth and graduated from Bemidji State University with a K-8 teaching license. She spent several years teaching middle school English in Roseau. She has also worked as a birth doula. In 2020, Kate and her family moved to the Twin Cities and, soon after, started work with several political campaigns, including: Brooklyn Park Council member Xp Lee, State Rep. Esther Agbaje and State Sen. Clare Oumou Verbeten.
2003
Rance Bahr retired as the head coach of the Bemidji High School wrestling program after 14 successful seasons. He amassed a 298-129 career record and three section championships with the Lumberjacks while guiding 71 individuals to state tournament berths. Bahr’s 298 wins are 161 more than any other BHS coach and he was also instrumental in the formation of a girls wrestling program in 2021.
2001
Rachael (Radnik) Kangesier has been appointed the chief financial officer of Alluma. Kangesier brings 16 years of leadership experience. She held various roles in operations and accounting for global and local organizations before joining Alluma in 2015. Rachael resides in Crookston with her husband and three children.
2000
Rhonda Matson has been named the new elementary and middle school principal of Riverside Christian School in East Grand Forks. Matson, who has served as a third-grade teacher at the school for 11 years, has taught in public and private schools for 23 years. In a message to the RCS community, Matson said her new role as principal affords her the opportunity to “work collaboratively with teachers daily, while also remaining connected to the students, learning and growing in the classroom.” Matson and her husband, Ben, have three children and live in Grand Forks, N.D.
1998
Randy Qual and Darcy Qual ’98 are both public educators in the Mora Public Schools. Randy is the principal at Mora Elementary, which was named a national distinguished school this year. He received the award in Indianapolis at the Elementary and Secondary Education Act conference in February. Mora Elementary was the first in Minnesota to ever receive this award. Darcy is the district assessment coordinator in Mora and also works with curriculum and technology.
1997
Justin Dworak was recently promoted to the role of president at STAR, an experiential marketing agency in Minneapolis.
1996
Dr. Joe Schaffer, president of Laramie County Community College, has been appointed to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education by Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon. The WICHE Commission oversees the development of the organization’s programs and is comprised of 48 total commissioners from the 15 western states and the U.S. Pacific Territories and Freely Associated States. WICHE was established in 1953 as one of four regional interstate higher education compacts, which help residents of their service regions address region-specific issues related to higher education and workforce development.
1995
Dr. Lila Rutten examines social and behavioral factors related to cancer prevention and control. Rutten focuses on the implementation and evaluation of evidenced-based cancer prevention and control strategies to improve health. Rutten has received multiple awards in her work with the Director’s Award for Population Science, Health Information National Trends Survey being awarded in 2023.
1991
Bonnie Wensloff recently accepted a teaching position at East Middle School in the St. Michael-Albertville school district. She was named the Roseau Teacher of the Year in 2015.
1990
Jesse Roberts was hired as the new assistant regional wildlife manager for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ Region 1 in Bemidji. Roberts has previously served in several roles with the DNR, including contract administrator, Walk-in-Access Program coordinator, consultant and, most recently, as the assistant regional wildlife manager for Region 3 in St. Paul.
1988
Marco Hunt was hired by the Central Collegiate Hockey Association in May to be the conference’s director of officiating. He joins the CCHA after spending the past seven years as the primary assistant to the supervisor of officials at the Big Ten Conference. He lives in Woodbury.
1984
Lori Lundquist was the stage manager for the recent production of “Into the Woods” at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.
1983
Dave Wicker retired from Minneapolis Public Schools after 40 years of service as a teacher, coach and athletic director. Wicker was a math teacher for more than 25 years and spent his final 12 years in the Minneapolis Public Schools offices as a district activities director.
1980
Joan Jacobson authored a newly published biography on Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon, titled Dr. Martha Cannon of Utah: The Unexpected Victorian Life of America’s First Female State Senator. Jacobson is also the author of Colorado Phantasmagorias: A mashup of biography, fantasy and travel guide, winner of the Colorado Authors League Nonfiction History book of the year for 2022; and Small Secrets, a novel set in 1970s Minnesota. All three books are available on Amazon.