Activism and Public Service

Shirley Helzberg ’61: founding chairman of the Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City, former president of the Kansas City Symphony, and 2015 inductee into the Starr Women’s Hall of Fame

Erica Rounsefell ’97: foreign service officer at the U.S. Agency for International Development and author of Adventure Guide Nicaragua

Arts and Entertainment

Midge Boomgaarden McClosky ’91: executive director of the Shawnee Playhouse in PA and actress in many plays and T.V. shows, including: Law and Order, Sex and the City, Saturday Night Live, and The Three Musketeers at the Wings Theatre in NYC

Nicole Facciuto ’95: author, brand ambassador, and lifestyle and interior designer with designs featured on HGTV, CBS, Oxygen, Bravo, and the Food Network, among others

Chelsea Jones ’09: entertainment guest experience manager at Walt Disney World and 2017 recipient of the Walt Disney Legacy Award

Jen Lacker Mele ’01: product designer for Michael’s stores, including being a featured designer on Michael’s web site, and former furniture designer for Bombay Company

Carol Littleton ’62: academy award nominated film editor, 2016 recipient of the Career Achievement Award from the American Cinema Editors, recipient of an Emmy for Tuesdays with Morrie, and editor of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, What Women Want, The Big Chill, and many others

Daniela Moor ’89: costume designer for T.V. and film, including Bicentennial Man, 21 Grams, and We Are Marshall, among others

Barbara Trombley ’70: founded Art Institute Glitter in 1981, has been featured in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, and was Entrepreneur of the Year from the state of Arizona in 2003

Sandra Van Zandt ’68: her sculpture The Spirit of Aviation was unveiled at the Smithsonian and displayed at the National Museum of Naval Aviation, sculpted Muscogee Nations Women’s Veterans Memorial Monument, and the suite life sculptures on Cottey’s Campus

Darya Zhuk ’99: video artist, producer, and director with films selected to SXSW, Tarkovsky, Oaxaca, and Santa Fe Independent film festivals, among others

Business and Entrepreneurship

Kay Anderson ’87: founder of The HumanSide, a leadership development organization

Barbara Beeler ’84: established a Cottey scholarship the year she graduated, retired as a civilian from the U.S. Department of Defense where she served as an accountant and auditor for more than 30 years, achieved the American record in the 200-meter short course breaststroke for disabled swimming.

Nancy Bogart ’88: owner and C.E.O. of Jordan Essentials, a company which serves over 11,000 consultants and has won numerous awards

Jamie Eslinger ’94: director of communications for Women on Fire, won several awards for product launches for Dunkin Brands/Baskin-Robbins, Bertucci’s Italian Restaurants, and University of Michigan Athletic Department

Marsha Getto-Aikens ’62: over two decades of senior management experience in strategic planning and asset management, helped develop growth and concept strategies with Eddie Bauer/Spiegel, California Pizza Kitchen, and Starbucks, among others, principal and founder of Regroup Consulting, a real estate/brand consultancy

Belinda Hargrove ’81: co-owner and co-founder of TransSolutions, a consulting firm focused on efficiency and capacity of transportation facilities, former principal and operations research consultant for American Airlines Decision Technologies

Lael Hodges Kern ’75: VP of sourcing and marketing for Macy’s, Inc., and former director of replenishment for Mercantile Stores, Inc.

Heather Hurlbert ’91: CEO/pastry chef HH Deserts in Atlanta, GA, successful contestant on the Bravo channel T.V. show Top Chef: Just Desserts, former executive pastry chef at Cherokee Town & Country Club in Atlanta, GA

Zhena Muzyka ’95: founder of Zhena’s Gypsy Tea, author of Life by the Cup, CEO of Concordia Creative, Inc., developed the Robin Hood Laptop Project for Sri Lankan girls, recipient of many awards including Socially Responsible Business for Corporate Ethics and Enterprising Woman of the Year

Cindy Philips Acree ’77: former executive director of Havenwood Homes, former board chairman Colorado Neurological Institute, author and lecturer on organizational effectiveness, established several non-profit organizations

Morgan Shaw Parker ’96: president and COO of WNBA team the Atlanta Dream, former VP of communications and digital media for the Atlanta Falcons, former director at Nike, led 2012 media launch for Nike’s NFL partnership

Miriam Stephens Kindred ’51: first woman manager and stock broker at E.F. Hutton in 1978, had a successful career as a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and stockbroker

Julie Wilson ’82: commercial relationship manager for Wells Fargo Bank, where she manages a portfolio of business clients with sales raging from $20 million to $200 million

Government and Politics

Volha Charnysh ’07: Ph.D. student in government at Harvard University, executive editor for Belarus Digest and editorial adviser for Political Sphere, former Keenan Research Scholar

Francine Irving Neff ’46: United States Treasurer from July 1974 to September 1977, served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1972

Stacy Kerr Wooters ’97: worked under Congresswoman and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi for eight years, assistant VP for communications at Georgetown University

Elise VanPool ’03: served as legislative assistant for Maryland state senator Janet Greenip, worked four years with U.S. Army as a public affairs specialist, currently works for the VA hospital in Miami as public affairs specialist

Journalism and Media

Katie Miller ’07: desk associate in the CBS Radio News Network newsroom, interned at CBS news and was only intern of her 75-person class to be offered a position in the company

Kelly Smith Tunney ’60: named the first and only woman assistant general manager of the Associated Press, news coverage for the Associated Press on the Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis, founded the AP’s department of Corporate Communications

Nicole Vap ’89: 2015 recipient of 3 Heartland Emmy Awards, executive producer of 9News Investigative Unit in Colorado, won the Alfred I. DuPont Columbia Journalism Silver Baton Award for excellence in broadcast journalism

Law

Ruby Kless Sondock ’44: first woman justice on the Texas Supreme Court, graduated as valedictorian of the 1962 law class at University of Houston Law Center

Leadership

Jill Dillard McCardell ’75: pilot for FexEx, began flying at a time when women were limited to stewardess positions

Kim Krause Haddow ’75: head coach of Men’s & Women’s Golf at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona, NCGA/LPGA Hall of fame inductee, NCAA National Coach of the Year in 1992, coach of the USA Amateur Golf Team at the World University Games in Sun City, South Africa in 2008

Sciences

Dr. Carol Belt ’73: previous meteorologist for the U.S. Air Force, previous astronaut specialist, received Ph.D. in meteorology from St. Louis University

Julie Hunsaker Grandi ’61: 27-year career with TRW space and defense company, one of the first 35 people to witness live photos from the U.S.’s first crash landing on the moon, started an after-school Rainbow Kids Club and a domestic violence program

Aleta Jackson ’67: co-founder and manger of award-winning rocket company XCOR, first woman to fly in the rocket-powered aircraft X-Racer, electronics-packaging designer for NASA and the Gemini Project

Dr. Susan Krauter ’69: hospice and palliative care physician with Houston Hospice, voluntary faculty member of Baylor College of Medicine, participated in 28 medical missions to Guatemala

Tatum Lindsay-Albertine ’12: Science, Technology, Health and Environment Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, research affiliate at American University in Cairo, Egypt, previous stewardship consultant at the Smithsonian

Dr. Ann Marie Pendergast ’77: Anthony R. Means cancer biology professor and vice chair of pharmacology and cancer biology at Duke University School of Medicine, research lab named at Duke University School of Medicine, has won numerous awards in her field

Mary Beth Zimmerman Mathews ’62: BS in nursing from Cornell University, MS in nursing from the University of Washington, Ph.D. from the University of Ohio, appraiser with the Magnet Hospital Recognition Program of the American Nurses Credentialing Center