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1970s
Melanie DeMore ’76 BM is a founding member of the Grammy-nominated vocal ensemble Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir, which focuses on African-American roots and folk music. DeMore has performed at Carnegie Hall, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and at folk festivals around the globe. She has shared the stage with notables, including Gloria Steinem, Odetta, Pete Seeger, Judy Collins and Ani DiFranco. She performs solo, does residencies with choirs nationwide and teaches a program called Sound Awareness to elementary school children, midlifers and senior citizens.
Maria A. Rocha ’78 BSN recently retired after 39 years in the nursing profession. Rocha started her nursing career on the Westside of San Antonio at Grace Lutheran General Hospital in 1978 as a graduate nurse and then as an RN in pediatrics. She continued at Santa Rosa General Hospital in gynecology/oncology for four years, and then transferred to Metropolitan General Hospital where she worked in postpartum care and gynecology. She later worked in triage nursing for Optum Nurseline and worked for the Armed Forces through Tricare. She has two grown children, Joel, a middle school educator, and Antoinette, an elementary school educator. She has been married to her husband, Rene, for 40 years and has a granddaughter, Natalie Rebecca.
2000s
Eddie Martinez ’01 BBA was elected the new chairman of the Corpus Christi Regional Transportation Authority Board (CCRTA). In his role, Martinez will support the mission and values of the CCRTA by developing policy, providing legal and judiciary oversight, and working with the CEO and various departments. He will focus on good financial stewardship and accountability of public funds, advocate for customer representation, and engage in strategic planning.
Allison Ramsey ’05 BS is the founder and CEO of Empire Life, a conscious tech company helping entrepreneurs launch online empires. Ramsey and her team help entrepreneurs create stellar online presences and fill live events. She is also an international speaker on women in tech, entrepreneurship and confidence. For more information, visit www.allisonramsey.co.
Joe Rocha III ’07 MAA was recently elected to the American Chamber of Commerce (Am-Cham) South China Board of Governors. Edward J. Dennis ’08 MBA has been appointed assistant vice president of the Office of Military and Veterans Affairs at Berkeley College.
2010s
Juan Jose Acuna Jr. ’10 BS completed graduate school this summer at Mississippi State University and received a Master of Science in Geosciences with an emphasis in Applied Meteorology. Acuna is a former member of the UIW Student Government Association.
Roberto Hoffman ’11 BA recently helped open Morgan’s Inspiration Island, the world’s first ultra-accessible splash park and the latest addition to the unique Morgan’s Wonderland theme park. Hoffman, who worked in the UIW grounds department from 2009 to 2013, took the lead in landscaping the tropically themed splash park, which opened June 17, 2017.
Phillip James ’11 BA works in the film and video industry. James landed an internship at FXVille. Six months later, he was offered a full-time position with the company as an FX Artist with his first full contract to help develop the video game Shadow of War. He went on to earn the opportunity to lead the development of key FX moments in the game, almost all elemental FX for various characters, fire effects for the Drakes [dragons], and a substantial majority of the FX for in-engine cinematics.
Marciel Whitehurst ’11 BBA currently serves as the student-athlete development assistant at Baylor University and recently began the Master of Arts in Christian Ministry program with a concentration in Sport Ministry at George W. Truett Theological Seminary. Previously, Whitehurst served as the student-athlete development assistant at the University of Arkansas and football academic affair graduate assistant at Louisiana State University. During the fall semester of 2016, he received a master’s in Sport Administration from Louisiana State University.
Jennifer Silva ’12 BA is certified as an elementary educator. Silva spoke to students in UIW’s undergraduate special education course on Nov. 17, 2017 and presented on gifted and talented students and programs.
Dr. Harley Seyedin ’16 HONOR recently received the 2017 Oslo Business for Peace Award, the highest recognition a global business person can receive.
Natalia Hernandez ’16 BA has been modeling with Lari Nelson Fashion Group for a year. Hernandez says it has been a great way to express herself. She turned to modeling as a way to find out who she was by doing something she has always wanted to do.
Jenness Gough ’16 MBA started a new position as the marketing and communications coordinator for VelocityTX, a sister company of the Texas Research and Technology Foundation, in September 2017. Gough is also on the board of MavPAC, Young Texans Against Cancer and Emerging Leaders of San Antonio.
SPOTLIGHTS
Dr. Christopher Alvarado ’10 PharmD received the Fall 2017 Alumni of Distinction Award. An honors graduate, Alvarado earned his Doctor of Pharmacy degree in 2010 and was presented with the inaugural Feik School of Pharmacy Dean’s Pinnacle Award for excellence in education and leadership. Currently a pharmacist at Oakdell Pharmacy in San Antonio, he has worked in the industry for more than 30 years. Throughout his career, he has worked to support future pharmacy professionals as a motivator and preceptor to select pharmacy students. As part of that mission, he founded the Alvarado Advocacy Scholarship, which grants a $1,000 scholarship to one pharmacy student annually. Alvarado has been awarded the 2013 Texas Pharmacy Association (TPA) Distinguished Young Pharmacist of the Year, 2015 TPA Pharmacist of the Year and 2017 Bowl of Hygeia. The proud alumnus also serves as president of the UIW Pharmacy Alumni Network and as a past member of the Board of Directors of the UIW Alumni Association.
Dr. Cristina Zavaleta ’01 BS joined the University of Southern California’s (USC) Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience, a newly opened research hub focusing on the intersections of technology, engineering, medicine, health and innovation via experts in different fields. Zavaleta, a Gabilan Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, is at work developing “nano-based molecular imaging strategies,” such as contrast agents. These agents can be manipulated to illuminate nano particles, which helps spotlight different cancer types in their very early stages. This technology can also help physicians see a tumor’s perimeter, which can aid in a more complete removal and offer potentially better outcomes for patients. She is a 2001 graduate of UIW’s nuclear medicine program.
Future Cardinals
Steven Burgamy ’12 BBA ’12 MS and Austyn Burgamy ’16 BA are happy to announce the birth of their daughter, Brooke Elizabeth, on Nov. 8, 2017 in San Antonio. Brooke was 7 pounds, 11 ounces and 20 inches long. She is the family’s first child.
Jennifer Willborn Torres ’12 BA and Alexander Torres ’13 BS welcomed their first child, Colton Alexander, on Nov. 9, 2017, in San Antonio. The future Cardinal was 7 pounds, 2 ounces and 20.5 inches long.
Engagements and Marriages
Betty Ferrero ’73 MA and her husband will celebrate their 53rd anniversary in August. The couple has lived in Round Rock for 32 years. A fourth generation of the family is now attending UIW. Ferrero’s mother, Myrtle Frerich Moos ’30 BA, was the first in their family to graduate from then-Incarnate Word College.
Julie Ko (Greene) ’10 BA and Kyu Ko met in Seoul, South Korea, where Julie was teaching English. After teaching for four years, the couple moved to the U.S. and now live in Dallas. They are planning their stateside wedding for December 2018 in Dallas.
Ana P. Bribiesca ’12 BA and Brandon M. Hoff announced their engagement in the summer of 2017. They will be married on June 9, 2018, in Riviera Maya, Mexico. Bribiesca is a development associate at UIW.
Alixzandra Peña ’15 BBA and Jeremy Gonzales ’16 BA were engaged Dec. 1, 2017 and plan to be married in December 2019 at the Chapel of the Incarnate Word and McCombs Center Rosenberg Sky Room. The couple met during their freshman year in 2012 and reside in the San Antonio area.
Mercedes Moreno ’13 BA ’16 MAA and Paul Villanueva Jr. were married on Nov. 18, 2017, in San Antonio at the Menger Hotel. Moreno is the assistant director of alumni relations at UIW.
Cristal Ann Gonzalez ’13 BA and Michael Mullis announced their engagement in the summer of 2017. They are planning to wed in the spring of 2018 in Magnolia, Texas. The two met in 2014 in Houston during graduate school and have two French bulldogs named Penelope and Oliver.
In Memoriam
Elsa Claire Hartman Rohrbough ’36 ALND
Hazel Nelle Astin Buchanan Nelson
Spillman ’39 BA
Virginia Helen Anderson Boeck ’42 BA
Nettie Mae Parker Wells ’42 ALSR
Margaret Elizondo Pena ’45 BS
Betty Jean Conley ’49 IWHS ’53 ALND
Charlotte Walker Jennings ’56 BA
Sr. Teresa Grabber, CCVI ’58 BA former UIW faculty
Irma Rodriguez ’62 BA
Rosalina Marroquin Ayala ’64 BS ’81 MA
Sr. Mary McGuinness, MSC ’66 MA
Karen Elizabeth Bishop ’69 BA
Margret Simon ’69 BA
Sr. Teresa Marilia Alvarez, CCVI ’71 BA
Marjorie Ann Eglsaer ’71 BSN
Rebecca Ann Madrigal Regan ’71 IWHS ’03 BBA
Bobbye Alexander Behlau ’72 ALND
Robert A. Mendenhall ’75 BA
Sr. Francis Allien, C.V.I. ’76 MA
Fima Varnas Bellos ’77 BA
Helen Marie Elder Bowen ’78 BA ’86 MA
Aida L. Guerrero ’79 MA
Sr. Jo-Michele Sierra, SSCJ ’81 MA
Patricia E. Hutcherson ’85 MBA
Jennifer Lynn Ramirez ’92 BS
David Salinas ’92 BA
Rebecca Castro Mitchell ’98 BA
Travis Lamkin ’00 BA ’04 MA UIW faculty
Natalie Diane Smith Mike ’00 BSN
Michael Mark Becerra ’14 MAA
Juan Alvarez UIW employee
Paul David Aschbacher Sr. former chair, UIW Development Board
Dr. Benjamin Lee Blanco UIW adjunct faculty
Monsignor Liam Patrick Brosnan former UIW chaplain
Roger William Clark UIW employee
Sr. Joseph Alphonsus Dederichs, CCVI former UIW faculty
Miranda Flores West current student