Welcome home!

Whether you graduated since 2004 from the newly established College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) or from one of the earlier divisions that merged to create the College, you are invited to consider  CLAS home.  Together our alumni represent the majority of GVSU's alumni and the heart of its liberal arts tradition. 

This page has been established to help you stay connected and up-to-date about the news and events of the College.

Alumni Highlights

Latest issue of CLAS Alumni News (Winter 09) 

After Grand Valley, Matthew Noykos went on to the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music for a Masters in double bass performance, studying with Albert Laszlo.  During the last year of his Masters he built a bass as a part of an independent. “I liked it so much I decided to make a career out of it and I am now at the Violin Making School of America in Salt Lake City getting my degree in lutherie,” Matthew explains.   “I will be done soon and my focus has shifted to cello making (as well as cello playing. I have been studying with Ellen Bridger, who is a former George Neikrug alumni)”.   Matthew has a job with Jerry Pasewicz in Raleigh, North Carolina doing restoration on violins, violas, cellos, and basses and their bows.  “Pasewicz is a very reputable person in the business and this is a great opportunity. While doing restoration work, I plan to make my own instruments as well,” Matthew says.

Dave Powers, class of  '82, currently serves as Principal of Baldwin Street Middle School in Hudsonville, MI. This fall he was honored by the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP) as the 2009 Middle Level Principal of the Year.   

1991 Biology graduate Rina Sala-Baker was featured in the December 14 Sunday Grand Rapids Press Feature the "Sunday Profile".  Click on the link to read the full story http://www.mlive.com/grandrapids/stories/

Graduate of Biomedical Sciences, Andrew Visser accepted a research tech job at Vanderbilt University andis working in the neuroscience lab of Dr. Pat Levitt.  “The particular project I am working on is called the Conte Center Project .  I work along-side a Frenchman; Alexandre Bonnin.  His last two papers (in the journal Nature Neuroscience) were preludes to the work we are doing now,” Andrew explains.   “I feel I have made a wise choice in coming here to start a career in this realm of science.”    

Cynthia Luxford graduated May 2008 from GVSU with a major in chemistry and minor in psychology as well as her high school teaching certification. This fall she started her Ph.D in Chemical Education at Miami University, Ohio under the direction of Dr. Stacey Lowery Bretz. She received one of seven Chemical Education Research Fellowships to pursue her degree. This fellowship provides support for 5 years, each year this includes a $30,000 stipend, tuition waiver, health insurance, a lap top, and travel to 2 national conferences.

Tara Star Johnson earned her B.A.in English Education from GVSU in 1993. Tara earned her M.A. (2001) and her Ph.D. (2005) from the University of Georgia. Dr.Johnson is now an Assistant Professor of English Education in the Department of English, and Curriculum and Instruction at Purdue. Her forthcoming book from Peter Lang is based on her dissertation which won the 2007 National Council of Teachers of English Promising Researcher Award!

Julie Jacobusse graduated from GVSU with an art education degree and Elementary minor in the Spring of 2005.  As her blog attests (http://austin-road-art.blogspot.com/ ), Julie has been busy since moving to Georgia after graduation and eventually settling into her current job at Henry School in Stockbridge, GA.  Julie writes, “I have worked very hard to make a solid art education program for my community, school and students.   I wrote an article in school arts magazine about art trading cards published  in the fall of  2006, have had many students win contests,  established framed art shows with a company called First Art Works, and teach using both discipline based art education and choice based art education  where I have mini studios set up and allow the students to create art based on their interests.  Recently our school just painted a mural for one of our school's partner's in education at an Express Oil Change in Stockbridge, GA.  Going to GVSU has taught me to go the extra mile, and not just to do what is expected but  to go above and beyond.”

Matt Nickels has been quite busy (along with his co-producer Josh Beagle) the past year or so, creating and promoting their documentary, Uncovering Potential Discovering Controversy.  The documentary discusses the science and issues of stem cell research, including the controversial, embryonic stem cell research, here in Michigan. read more

Ambassador to Russia, alumnus John Beyrle was recently profiled in the Muskegon Chronicle: http://blog.mlive.com/chronicle/2008/08/beyerle_impressed_by_russias_r.html

Alum Rick Sheehan writes:My term ran out with the US Forest Service in September of 2007.  I then spent the winter trying to find another job and along came an announcement of a forester position with NY City Parks and Recreation Department, Natural Resources Group.  I was awarded the position in July of ’08 and moved here.  I currently live in Brooklyn and my office is in Manhattan.  It is pretty wild that a graduate of GVSU is now working in New York City. more

On May 18, 2008, Patricia A. Trader (maiden name Lee) received the degree of Master of Music in Music Education from Boston University.

The 2008 Senior Survey is now online.  Read about our most recent graduates.

The graduating class of 2007 was also surveyed about its plans for the future.  Over 125 students took a moment from their finals week to tell us about their plans.  Now we are beginning to hear reports of how these plans are coming to fruition.  For a couple samples, click here and here.

Recent Communications graduates enjoy old home week with their professors at prestigious conference in Chicago.

We'd love to feature your success story, too.  Just e-mail Dr Monica Johnstone, Dir. of Communication & Advancement for CLAS. 

CLAS News

Distinguished Alumni Award to be presented to Dr. Louisa Anne Stark, BS in Biology 1979, on April 24/25, 2009
Below is the text that was used for the Campus Leadership banner that Louisa is featured on for the 2009 school year
Grand Valley strongly influenced Ms. Stark’s career as a science educator. One of her most formative experiences was serving as a Biology Teaching Assistant in Kirkhof College for several years. In this role she assisted other students in carrying out biology labs. Ms. Stark discovered that she enjoyed facilitating learning for others.

Today, she is the Director of the Genetic Science Learning Center at the University of Utah. From her experiences at Grand Valley as a Teaching Assistant, she learned how to assist other students and is now able to effectively oversee a team of ten in her current career.  The Center where Ms. Stark directs develops interactive, online educational materials for grades 5-16 and the public. Together, the Learn.  Genetics and Teach.  Genetics websites are the most widely-disseminated genetics education sites in the world, receiving over 8 million visits per year from 175 countries. 

The Center also provides in-person professional development courses and workshops for approximately 600 teachers per year from the U.S. and other countries.   Grand Valley provided Ms. Stark the opportunity to take a leadership role in science teaching with her peers, which formed the foundation for her nationally and internationally -recognized success as a science educator.

Distinguished Alumni Award to be presented to John Beyrle, BA in French 1975, on December 11/12, 2009
Below is his official bio

Ambassador Beyrle was nominated by President George W. Bush on May 13, 2008, and confirmed by the Senate on June 27, 2008. He was sworn in as the United States Ambassador to the Russian Federation on July 2, 2008.

A career officer in the Senior Foreign Service at the rank of Minister-Counselor, Ambassador Beyrle has held policy positions and foreign assignments with an emphasis on U.S. relations with Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and the USSR since joining the State Department in 1983.

Ambassador Beyrle’s overseas service has included two previous tours at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, including as Deputy Chief of Mission. Most recently he served as Ambassador to Bulgaria 2005-08. Other overseas assignments include Counselor for Political and Economic Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in the Czech Republic, and member of the U.S. Delegation to the CFE Negotiations in Vienna. Washington assignments include Acting Special Adviser to the Secretary of State for the New Independent States, and Director for Russian, Ukrainian and Eurasian Affairs at the National Security Council. He served as a staff officer to Secretaries of State George Shultz and James Baker, and as a Pearson Fellow and foreign policy adviser to the late Senator Paul Simon.

Ambassador Beyrle is the recipient of the Presidential Meritorious Service Award, and the Baker-Wilkins Award as the State Department’s Outstanding Deputy Chief of Mission. He has been awarded the State Department’s Superior Honor Award for outstanding performance four times. In 2008 he was awarded a doctoral degree honoris causa by the American University in Bulgaria, and was presented the order of Stara Planina, Bulgaria’s highest state award.

A native of Muskegon, Michigan, Ambassador Beyrle received a B.A. degree with honors from Grand Valley State University, and an M.S. degree as a Distinguished Graduate of the National War College, where he later taught as a Visiting Professor of National Security Studies. His foreign languages are Bulgarian, Czech, French, German and Russian. He is married to Jocelyn Greene, a fellow Foreign Service Officer; they have two daughters, Alison and Caroline.