Class Notes

Conom received the Annual Monarch Award in his role as senior executive territory manager at MölnlyckeHealth Care. This award recognizes the surgical sales division representative of the year for business growth.

Hart became assistant dean, Animal Law Program at Lewis & Clark Law School in January 2021, and continues to serve as executive director for the Center for Animal Law Studies. As assistant dean, Hart oversees the world-renowned animal law epicenter, with the most comprehensive animal law curriculum offered.

McGillis practices law at the firm of Fortune & McGillis, SC in Racine, Wisconsin, and was recently named Claimant’s Worker’s Compensation Lawyer of the Year for the Milwaukee area by Best Lawyers in America. The award is given to only one attorney annually.

Alexander retired from Kimberly-Clark after spending 30 years at the company, including the last 12 years as the company’s head of investor relations.

Gustafson founded Gustola Granola—an award-winning, Madison and Peace Corps-inspired, premium granola brand. It is available in more than 200 grocery locations throughout Minnesota and is sold online.

Smith serves in a volunteer capacity as Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) of Wisconsin’s executive council president. JDRF is a volunteer fundraising organization committed to improving the lives of, and ultimately curing, those with Type 1 diabetes.

Hofheimer recently started a firm that strategically advises financial cooperatives, after a 25-year career working for the credit union industry’s think tank and educational foundation, CUES. Before starting the firm, he biked more than 3,000 miles across the U.S. and raised $4.1 million to write off 3,481 consumers’ medical debt obligations.

Osthelder was named president of the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield health plan. With more than 25 years of private, public, and political experience, he most recently served as senior government relations director on Anthem’s public affairs team. Prior to his career at Anthem, Osthelder spent 15 years in Wisconsin government and politics in a variety of leadership roles.

Rolnick recently became vice president of strategy and innovation at Yaymaker (formerly Paint Nite). Yaymaker has completed more than 300,000 events in 1,500 cities and was cofounded by Dan Hermann (BA ’92). Yaymaker specializes in public events and corporate team-building experiences. They also work with speakers and celebrities.

Detert the John L. Colley Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, has authored a book, Choosing Courage, published by Harvard Business Review Press. Detert teaches, conducts research, and consults in the areas of leadership, ethics, and workplace courage. He’s pulled from two decades of experience to provide practitioner-friendly advice in this book.

Henry recently helped Couchbase go through a successful initial public offering as the startup’s chief financial officer.

Olesczuk is now the vice president of operations at Cherokee Country Club and moved back to Madison after living and running his business in Las Vegas for the last 16 years. Olesczuk has been involved in the planning and implementation of renovating Cherokee’s golf course into a Tournament Players Club (TPC) course. The $20 million project will rebrand Cherokee to TPC Wisconsin and host a PGA Tour event in 2024.

Locklear was recently appointed chief financial officer of Mercy Hospitals Bakersfield with Dignity Health. He previously served as a hospital chief financial officer with Tenet Health and at a critical access hospital in eastern Arizona. He is the proud father of two beautiful daughters, one of whom just completed her freshman year at the University of Arizona.

Lukas recently accepted a new position as senior project controller at Dematic Corp., a technology firm in Atlanta providing warehouse services to Amazon, Walmart, and online grocery stores. He will lead the company’s new center of excellence for the variable cost of productivity.

Mikulsky published the book L.O.V.E. 2 Lead: A Journey of Self-Reflection, Significance, and Servant Leadership on Amazon in Spring 2021. The book is dedicated to his mother, who died in December 2020. All proceeds from book sales go to fight cancer.

Check celebrated 21 years working in the UW–Madison Department of Horticulture in April 2021.

Stephenson recently started a new role as senior director, developer relations strategy and operations at Cisco. He previously spent 20 years at Microsoft working on developer relations and innovation strategy across all major software technologies. His roles have given him the privilege to see many countries and make friends all over the world. “People say the world is small—when you run into a former classmate by accident on a random train in Tokyo, you know it is true!”

Worachek founded Value-Based RCM in December 2020. Over the past year, the company has grown from an idea to a global health care revenue cycle company employing more than 175 people with staff across the U.S. and an office in Kolkata, India. Though COVID has been a challenge, technology has allowed the team to work remotely and continue to support clinical clients.

Howard recently joined Aspen Skiing Company as its managing director for business technology. Howard finds time to keep his Badger hockey roots (’92-’96) going in between skiing, biking, and running. In 2021, he completed his 5th Hardrock 100 ultra-distance run in Silverton, Colorado.

Kauffman is a name partner at Krauskopf Kauffman, P.C. After Madison, he went to University of Michigan Law School and worked at two large law firms before starting his own practice. He advises entrepreneurs, professionals, and privately-held businesses at every phase of the business cycle from startup to sale and succession planning. Kauffman is licensed in Illinois and Wisconsin and lives in Chicago with his wife, Laura, kids Avett and Sienna, and their dog, Cody.

Vokoun is the founder and chief executive officer of Passion Fit™. She recently published her first nonfiction book, The Wellness-Empowered Woman™. This book is part female empowerment, part professional development, and part health and wellness, as Vokoun guides the reader through a journey to personal and professional success.

Bouda was recently appointed chief accounting officer of Danaher Corporation, a global science and technology company. He previously served as Danaher’s vice president of finance. Bouda and his wife, Maureen, live in the Washington, D.C., suburbs with their three children.

Hefty is now managing partner and majority owner of Peak Asset Management, LLC, located in Colorado. Hefty has worked at Peak for 14 years, empowering families and individuals through personalized financial advice.

Huett recently accepted a position as director of marketing for Simply Automate, Inc., a startup based in Austin, Texas. Simply Automate helps companies eliminate manual, repetitive, and error-prone tasks and workflows using robotic process automation.