Class Notes Spring 2019

1970s

JoAnne Germani Scholes ’73 BA recently retired after 25 years as a teacher. Scholes taught at St. Leo’s Catholic School in San Antonio, Incarnate Word Special School in Victoria, Texas, and St. Thomas More Catholic School in Houston. She has been married for 42 years with two adult children and is proud to have four grandchildren.

Carol Espensen ’78 BA ’89 MA retired from teaching for over 30 years. Espensen has now launched a business focusing on providing science education tools and chemistry  supplies. Most recently, she developed an innovative new microscope slide she named The LiveSlide. She created this new product specifically for viewing microorganisms.

1980s

Sarah Benson ’83 BA has been a passionate artist since the 1970s. Her exhibition “A Retrospective Exhibition, 1978 – 2018”, was on display at the UIW Department of Art’s Semmes Gallery from Friday, Jan. 18 through Friday, Feb.22

1990s

Edward R. Leos ’93 BA is now the vice president of sales and marketing for Spectrum Advisory Group. Nancy G. West ’94 MA is the author of The Plunge, an Aggie Mundeen Lake Mystery. Wildside Press released The Plunge in October 2018, the 20th anniversary of the devastating flood in Central Texas.

2000s

Arnulfo D. Hernandez ’01 BA was named Barrister’s Best “Best Immigration Lawyer” by Law Week Colorado in 2018. Arnulfo is the managing partner of Hernandez & Associates, a bilingual immigration and criminal defense firm in Denver, Col.

Dr. Martin Noyola, Jr. ’05 BS, PT, DPT, ATC, LAT and Jennifer L. Noyola ’04 BA are celebrating the opening of Noyola’s second physical therapy clinic. Dynamic Physical Therapy is now located in Devine, TX and Pleasanton, Texas. Noyola strives to do what is right for his patients no matter their physical or financial situations. He also works in the communities as an athletic trainer for the rural school districts and volunteers on Saturday mornings at sports clinics in San Antonio.

Samantha Najera ’06 BA will serve as the keynote speaker for the Hustle + Socialize 2019 Conference, a professional development conference for women entrepreneurs. Najera is the president and CEO of HeartFire Media and co-host of the web series Bean & Chisme.

Susan T. Stewart ’07 BBA, CEO of SWBC Mortgage, was nominated to be the 2019 MBA vice chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association. She was elected by MBA members at the Association’s 105th Annual Convention in October 2018 in Washington, D.C.

Rebekah Faasau ’07 BBA has been recognized on Forbes’ 2018 “America’s Top Next-Generation Wealth Advisors” list, published on July 25. In all, 247 Merrill Lynch advisors are included on this year’s list, the most of any firm. Faasau resides in Boise, Idaho, and has been a part of Merrill Lynch’s Boise office for four years.

2010s

Juan Acuña ‘10 BS has been named the Jim Wells County Emergency Management Coordinator. Acuña will also continue his tenure as the on-air meteorologist or KRIS News, the NBC affiliate station in Corpus Christi. Jasmin Hernandez ‘11 BA ’13 MA is the co-owner and buyer for The Vintage Market, a vintage antique boutique in San Antonio. Products range from home goods, to boutique clothing, to jewelry and accessories, to antiques. The store celebrated its grand opening in Fall 2018.

Mara Young ’06 BA ’12 MA and Rob Green ’16 BS are using their degrees to co-own and manage the startup company, Texas Cultures Laboratories LLC. Texas CulturesLaboratories is a small, family owned, biotechnology company in San Antonio. They collect and cultivate wild yeast, both locally and globally, for brewery, distillery, winery and bakery applications. The co-owners fund sustainability projects with partners such as the National Parks Service at Big Thicket National Preserve and Texas Parks and Wildlife at Government Canyon State Natural area.

Corey Cooper ‘10 PharmD was named executive director for the new Atlantic Rehabilitation Institute, a state-of-the-art comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation facility set to open in 2019. Cooper will oversee the facility, which is a joint venture between Atlantic Health System and Kindred Healthcare. Cooper developed the foundation for his leadership while serving for eight years in the United States Air Force, where he was assigned to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, and Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

Dr. Christopher Alvarado ’10 PharmD has accepted an invitation to serve on the Board of Directors for the National Hispanic Pharmacists Association. He will also serve on the NHPA Corporate Advisory Board for an ideation session. The focus of the national organization is to help improve advocacy for impacting the Hispanic community, to build a talent pipeline, provide scholarships and sponsor educational campaigns targeting Hispanics.

Ann Islas ’10 BA and Elizabeth ‘Beth’ Payne (Wueste) ’07 BA ’10 MAEd spoke to second year medical students interested in pediatrics and presented the steps to take for the transition from medical school to residency. Islas is currently the manager of Academic Programs and Payne is the associate program director for academic programs for the department of pediatrics at UT Health Science Center San Antonio.

Mark Landis ’11 BA lives in Los Angeles where he is an entrepreneur and CEO/ Co-founder of two millennial targeted cosmetics companies with over 400 products, sold in over 20,000 stores in over 95 countries. Landis is also a national voice actor and the voice of KSAT-TV in San Antonio.

Marina Zuniga-Johnson ‘12 BA was recognized as one of Judson ISD’s 2018 Distinguished Educators from Woodlake Elementary School.

Walter Childs ’13 BA received his master’s degree in education administration and his principal certification from Houston Baptist University in August 2018. He also earned recognition from Kappa Delta Pi, an education honor society.

Yagmur Balci ’13 BBA is working for Pandora jewelry as an assistant store manager in Istanbul, Turkey.

Ashley Pugh ‘13 BA launched her custom wedding/evening gown business in the San Antonio/Boerne area, which serves customers worldwide. She was also a 2018 San Antonio Fashion Award Nominee for Womenswear Designer of the Year. Visit ACherie.com for more information.

Ellyse Sanchez ’14 BA ‘14 MA is the senior program coordinator for the Office of Student Life at UT Health Science Center San Antonio. Sanchez oversees all student organizations, new student orientations and the Student Government Association.

Sarah Friend ‘15 DPT gave a keynote address entitled “Keep an Open Mind” at the Class of  2021 Professionalism Ceremony inducting Year 1 physical therapy students into the health professions.

Austin Jordan ’15 BBA began his journey to the PGA tour fall 2018 at ArborLinks Golf Club in Nebraska City, Neb. Jordan is a four-year golf letter winner. He also qualified to play in the 2016 U.S. Open.

Justin Puente ’15 BA ’17 MBA successfully completed his first Dopey Challenge, running 48.6 miles in total through the Disney parks in Florida in January 2019. The weekend consisted of a multi-race challenge of 5Ks, 10Ks, half marathons and a full marathon.

Samuel K. Anderson ’18 MBA has authored the book God’s Audacity: The Logic of God’s Existence. The book offers an intellectual approach to the search for God, and is now available on Amazon.

Jeilyn I. Williams ’18 BA graduated from the United States Marine Corps Officers Candidate School (OCS). Williams will go on to study engineering. He also recently had a son, and future Cardinal, named King Dominic.

Future Cardinals

Noah James

Mercedes Moreno-Villanueva ’13 BA ’16 MAA and Paul Villanueva are excited to announce the birth of their son, Noah James, on May 29, 2018. The couple is very excited to share their future Cardinal experiences with Noah!

Engagements and Marriages

Rodriguez-Cruz Engagement

Heather Rodriguez ’06 BA ’11 MAA and Omar Cruz announced their engagement in the fall of 2018. They’re planning to be married in May 2019 in Islas Mujeres, Cancun, Mexico.

Mara Young ’06 BA ’13 MA and Rob Green ’16 BS were married on July 7, 2018.

Laura Pilar Herrera ’13 BSN and William Christopher Hymel, Jr. were engaged in Lake Tahoe over Thanksgiving Break. The couple is planning to be married in January 2020, as Herrera is currently in graduate school to be a pediatric nurse practitioner.

Dr. Joseph Torres ’13 PharmD and Alyssa Casas were married on September 29, 2019 in Lost Mission, Texas. The couple followed their wedding with a honeymoon in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico.

Gilbert Lopez ’14 BA and Ellyse Sanchez ’14 BA ‘14 MA were married at the beautiful CW Hill Country Ranch in San Antonio on December 1, 2018. The couple moved back from Austin in Fall 2018 to continue their careers in the UT system.

Steven Ray Puente ’15 BBA and Adriana Gutierrez ’14 BBA were married on June 30, 2018. Priscilla Aguirre ’16 BA and Chris Roundy were engaged on July 14, 2018 at the Japanese Tea Gardens in San Antonio. Aguirre was involved in the UIW Logos all four years of her college career. Roundy is a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. The two are planning a wedding for November 14, 2020.

Adrianna Ramos ’16 BS ’18 MAA and Dalton Kinard got engaged in Greece in August. They met in 2014 at UIW through a mutual friend. They currently reside in Houston with their beloved dog, Oden. They plan to marry in April of 2020 in Wimberley, Texas.

Gabriella Martinez ’17 BA and Alan Del Valle were married on September 8, 2018 in an intimate ceremony at St. Matthew’s Catholic Church, followed by the reception at the Club at Sonterra. Their 1-year-old son, Landon, made his debut as the ring bearer. Following the wedding, the couple moved to Three Rivers, Texas where Del Valle is a commissioned police officer for the local department.

Maddie Slaughter ’18 BBA and Travis Saucedo were engaged on January 12, 2019 and plan to be married in Spring 2020. The two met while attending James Madison High School in San Antonio. Slaughter is now a freshman admission counselor at UIW.