Class Notes

Janke recently accepted the role of chief financial officer at Wausau Supply Company, a manufacturing and distribution organization specializing in high-end building materials with 19 locations spanning the United States. She offers many thanks to UW–Madison for providing the excellent education that affords her opportunities such as this one! In her spare time, Janke continues to follow all things Badger.

Murray is a senior vice president and senior investment consultant for the Murray Thomson Group of Baird. He’s been a certified financial planner practitioner since 2002. Murray and his business partner, Gregory Thomson (BBA ’91), advise clients on wealth management issues and manage their investment portfolios. The practice is focused on individuals and business owners in southeast Wisconsin, but the team has clients all over the United States.

Campbell has been working for the state of California as a visual analyst on an advisory team for the Department of Technology’s broadband initiative. Before the pandemic, he worked for the state of Rhode Island as a visual analyst on an advisory board for the Public Health Office.

Liedtke presented his latest research paper, Advances in Horizontal Interaction, at the 14th annual Advanced Strategic Improvement Practices Conference in September 2022. Liedtke is the founder and president of the management consultancy Strategic Improvement Systems, LLC.

Maxwell has traded contracts in futures markets since retiring from active military duty. During his free time, he combines his mechanical engineering interests with his master woodworking skills to create one-of-a-kind, gear-operated clocks. His clocks have been featured three times in the industry trade magazine Fine Woodworking. He is happy to announce that his most recent clock was published in the January 2023 issue.

Smestad and his wife, Jodi Samuels (PhD ’01), celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary this year, which included a Polar Plunge in Vancouver, British Columbia (brrr!). They were married in the Wisconsin State Capitol after Smestad’s first semester at the Wisconsin School of Business. Samuels was his GMAT instructor who helped him get into the Grainger Center for Supply Chain Management. They returned to Madison over Thanksgiving to watch the Battle for the Axe from the comfort of the W Club. As a thanks to UW–Madison, they are endowing a scholarship to WSB. On, Wisconsin!

La Freniere co-founded the multi-strategy investment firm LAGO Asset Management in 2019 after more than 25 years working at larger financial institutions. Its series—LAGO Innovation Fund I, II, and III—provides senior debt to emerging, high-growth companies in the technology and consumer sectors. The firm also manages a growth equity fund to support similar companies. After three years, it now has 41 portfolio companies and 10 employees.

Andler is excited to help lead a new startup that helps students discover their mental health superpowers!

LaCour-Little has retired from Fannie Mae where he was senior director of economics in the Economic and Strategic Research Group. Previously, he was chair of the finance department at California State University, Fullerton, where he continues as a professor emeritus. An expert in real estate finance and related topics, LaCour-Little is available for consulting assignments including expert witness work, in which he has extensive experience. In addition, he has authored more than 40 peer-reviewed articles in academic journals.

Levenhagen was recently promoted to regional vice president, professional services sales leader – high tech at Salesforce.

Fry appeared on Morgan Stanley’s Times Square billboard in New York City in recognition of completing the Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Lab program. The lab works to accelerate growth by providing funding and guidance to technology-based companies led by underrepresented founders. Fry is also one of the founders of Gentreo, an award-winning online estate planning platform that makes estate planning affordable and accessible to all.

Moungey was promoted to lead the North American Workday Delivery Practice for Alight Solutions after working in the human resources and information technology industries for the past 25 years. Moungey will bring the same tenacity and energy that he had as a four-year member of the University of Wisconsin Marching Band! He currently resides in Carmel, Indiana, with his wife, Christina, and two boys, Miles and Oliver.

Fischer has been named assistant secretary of the state of Oklahoma Commissioners of the Land Office (CLO). The CLO manages Oklahoma’s School Land Trust, which has over $4 billion in assets and distributes over $100 million per year to public schools in the state. Fischer has been with the CLO since 2020 and most recently served as its director of commercial real estate.

Pedrelli died on January 14, 2023, at his home in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. He was an instructor for several years at the Wisconsin School of Business and the James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate, where he taught a commercial real estate development course.

Vokoun is the founder and chief executive officer of Passion Fit. Recently, she launched a new corporate wellness program through her company. The goal of this program is to elevate organizational employee health, wellness, happiness, engagement, productivity, performance, work-life balance, and retention through ongoing education, group coaching, online courses, classes, special discounts, reporting, and more.

Johnson is happy to share his move to Element Fleet Management as the vice president and deputy chief financial officer. Johnson made this transition in November 2022 and had previously spent five years with The Toro Company. He has enjoyed learning a new industry, helping to lead the vehicle-electrification journey with clients, and having the opportunity to work with colleagues throughout North America, Australia, and New Zealand. Johnson says it’s been a great way to start 2023!

“Congratulations to this year’s Executive of the Year: Renee Moe, president and CEO of United Way of Dane County!”
—In Business magazine
@ibmadison

Photo by Shawn Harper

Finkelmeyer relocated from Scottsdale, Arizona, to Carmel, Indiana, in July 2022 with his wife, Keiya Bell-Finkelmeyer (BS ’96), and their 5-year-old dog, Bascom. Finkelmeyer is now the enterprise sales director for Coretechs.ai, a leading innovator in artificial intelligence software. Recently, he has also been guest lecturing on sales and sales leadership at the University of Arizona Eller College of Management.

Walkner is one of the founding and managing partners of Walkner Condon Financial Advisors, which was rated #1 for Wisconsin in CityWire’s “50 Growers Across America” for registered investment advisor firms in 2021.

Eck recently finished his first year as head football coach for the University of Idaho. Finishing the season at 7-5, the Vandals had their first winning season since 2016 and qualified for the division’s playoffs for the first time since 1995. The team also beat the University of Montana for the first time since 1999, returning the Little Brown Stein traveling trophy to Moscow, Idaho.

London was re-elected to the New Hope, Minnesota, city council. A full-time investment advisor, he was elected in November 2022 to his third four-year term as a city council member. He credits his time at UW–Madison for his ability to bring strong governance and renewed vitality to his city, where he has resided for nearly 40 years.