Thomas P. Kilkelly (MEd’75) passed away on July 6. He was a passionate mathematics teacher, spending most of his career at St. Thomas Academy and Wayzata High School. After retiring from classroom teaching, Tom worked with the students and mathematics department at Cristo Rey High School, dedicating himself to the Ignation Volunteer Corps.

Alton Greenfield, PhD’78, education, passed away on June 8, 2021 at age 79. He served as the reading specialist for the state of Minnesota for 30 years before his retirement in 2002.

Congratulations to Marvin Banks, MEd’12, a recipient of the 2021 Alumni Service Award! A dedicated volunteer, Banks served on the College of Education and Human Development Alumni Society Board from 2018-21 and as president for two years. He sustained enthusiasm and commitment among the board during staff transitions and the COVID-19 pandemic. Marvin also offers career advice to students across campus and has a special commitment to supporting first-generation undergraduates. As a living example of the Alumni Society Board’s mission of “ACE” (Advocate, Create, and Enhance), he continually inspires others to reach out to fellow alumni and get them connected with CEHD in new ways. Marvin will be honored at the U of M Alumni Association’s Alumni Awards Affair event during Homecoming Week on September 23, 2021.

Oglethorpe University has named Bradley J. Blitz as the inaugural Dean of Student Success. In this new role, Blitz will provide vision and leadership to create a comprehensive advising model and strategy for student success that supports academic progress, retention, and degree completion.

Blitz, MEd ’07, has spent his academic career focused on advising strategy, strengthening student success efforts, and guiding universities through transformational and operational change. He comes to Oglethorpe from Temple University, where he has served as the director of advising in the Klein College Advising Center.

Chelsea Petree, director of the Rochester Institute of Technology’s Parent and Family Programs, has edited “College Ready,” a guide to prepare parents and families during the transition to college, from the summer through the first visit home. Topics include balancing access needs and student privacy, how to have tough conversations, preparing students for adult responsibilities, packing, and supporting students through the first semester. Petree, PhD ’13, family social science, is a 2019 CEHD Rising Alumni Award winner.

Theresa “Terry” Coble (MEd’91) passed away on September 9, 2019 at age 68. The cause of death was breast cancer. Terry was generous and had a huge, warm and kind heart. She was a feminist, believed in social, economic, and racial justice and equality, and cared deeply for the environment.

Amanda Thein, currently Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs and Professor of Literacy, Culture, and Language Education in the College of Education at the University of Iowa, has been appointed Associate Provost for Graduate and Professional Education and Dean of the Graduate College as of July 1, 2021. Thein has a PhD in English education from CEHD.

Forrest “Tiz” Lothrop (MEd ’54) passed away on May 29, 2021 in Lennox, SD. He has a long career as a coach and teacher.

Brian Lozenski was named one of the 2021 Bush Fellows, a group of visionary leaders who will each receive a $100,000 fellowship to grow their leadership capacity and skills. Lozenski earned a PhD in curriculum and instruction from CEHD in 2014.

Lozenski believes Minnesota must reimagine the fundamental assumptions of education if the state is to eliminate racial disparities and meet the needs of Minnesota’s communities of color. He seeks to bring together educators, researchers, activists, policy makers, youth and parents in a central location to share knowledge, exchange ideas, confront inequities in practices and disrupt ineffective education methods. To lead this statewide movement, he understands he must build and inspire a broad community coalition. He will study sustainable movements focused on educational justice and grow his capacity as an historian to structure an education system centered on freedom, struggle and humanity.

Salma Hussein was named one of the 2021 Bush Fellows, a group of visionary leaders who will each receive a $100,000 fellowship to grow their leadership capacity and skills. Hussein earned a master’s in social work and a disability policy services certificate from CEHD in 2013.

Hussein is a connector, educator, healer and passionate advocate for Somali women and girls. She and her sister founded Girls Initiative in Recreation and Leisurely Sport (GIRLS), a nonprofit organization that has blossomed into a cross-cultural community and safe space for women and girls to exercise and play sports. In her work with GIRLS, she sees the impact that strong relationships have on the lives of youth. Similarly, as an assistant public school principal, she understands the connection between trusted relationships between students and adults and academic success. She is determined to build a community of caring adults who can end the opportunity gap that disproportionately harms Black, Brown and Indigenous students. She wants to be at the forefront of system change in education, producing joy, healing, connection and liberation for educators and students. To be this transformative leader, she will earn her doctorate degree and pursue a coaching certification.

Jonathan Okstad (MEd’16), graduate research assistant and PhD in higher education student at Loyola University Chicago, was recently awarded the School of Education Service Leadership Excellence Award. This award recognizes a School of Education graduate student that has shown significant leadership in service to their school, university, community, and field.

Soo-yong Byun, Associate Professor of Education and Demography at Penn State University, received an Outstanding Senior Faculty Researcher Award from the Penn State College of Education. The award recognizes the overall impact of one’s research and is typically given to a faculty member who has achieved national and international recognition. Byun (PhD ’07) is affiliated with the Center on Rural Education and Communities as a research associate, with the Center for Evaluation and Educational Policy Analysis as a senior researcher, and with the Population Research Institute as a research affiliate.

Don Lifto (PhD, educational policy and administration) published his third book on planning and executing school tax elections in 2019. Lifto, a director with Baker Tilly, has 25 years of experience as a public-school superintendent and more than 13 years of experience serving primarily public-school clients.

Mitchell Rognrud (Business and Marketing Education BS’20) passed away on March 25, 2021. He died doing what he loved, rock climbing, at a place he loved, Interstate Park.

Manfred van Dulmen has accepted the position of associate provost of academic affairs and dean of the Division of Graduate Studies at Kent State University. In May 2020, he was named chair of the university’s Reopening Steering Committee, as well as leading the university’s Pandemic Leadership Committee. In his academic credentials, van Dulmen is one of the nation’s leaders in his field of adolescent and young adult romantic relationships, holding a PhD (’01) in family social science from the University of Minnesota.