Category: Alumni

SOAN alum Dan Dougherty ’49, World War II veteran and one of the last surviving liberators of the Dachau Concentration Camp, traveled to France to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day. His trip was covered by CBS News for a piece titled, “WWII vet from Northern California flies to France to commemorate 80th anniversary of D-Day” and by KCRA for a piece titled, “Fairfield WWII veteran to tour France for 80th D-Day anniversary.”

SOAN alum Bonnie Pitblado ’90, a researcher at the University of Oklahoma, was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest scientific society.

SOAN and Dance alum Phil Chan ’06 was interviewed by the Star Tribune for a piece titled “‘10,000 Dreams’ at Northrop seeks to celebrate Asian choreography and end stereotypes.” The piece features Chan’s co-curated dance program 10,000 Dreams: A Celebration of Asian Choreography and his creative journey to combat Asian stereotypes in dance.

SOAN and Dance alum Phil Chan ’06 was quoted in a New York Times article titled “From Ballet to Blackjack, a Dance Pioneer’s Amazing Odyssey.” The piece features the story of George Lee, pioneering Asian American ballet and Broadway dancer, as well as the documentary being released about him.

SOAN alum Clara Lehmann ’04 and Psychology alum Jonathan Lacocque ’04 premiered their second feature documentary, O Pioneer, in August at the Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival in San Jose, Calif. The film is a documentary that celebrates three Appalachians from West Virginia as they embark upon an important journey that unfolds in the midst of a pandemic and personal heartache. Lehmann and Lacocque are partners in the creative studio Coat of Arms in Helvetia, W.Va.

Watch the documentary trailer.

SOAN alum Jim Hilbert ’89 has become the interim president and dean of Mitchell Hamline School of Law while the school undergoes a search for a new president and dean. Hilbert began his journey at Mitchell Hamline as a guest speaker and then adjunct professor, joining the school as a full-time faculty member in 2015, achieving tenure in 2019, and becoming vice dean of the school in 2020. Hilbert will not seek the job on a permanent basis, but is “grateful to be leading the school, even on a temporary basis.”

SOAN and CAMS alum Andrij Parekh ’94, who won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series in 2020 for Season 2 Episode 3 of Succession (“Hunting”), was nominated for the same Emmy Award this year for directing Season 4 Episode 8 of Succession (“America Decides”).

SOAN alum Scott Vignos ’06, who has served as Oregon State University’s interim vice president and chief diversity officer since fall 2021, has been named to the position on a permanent basis. Prior to serving as interim vice president, Vignos served as assistant vice president for strategic diversity initiatives in the Office of Institutional Diversity beginning in January 2019 and as director of strategic diversity initiatives when the office was formed in February 2016. He joined Oregon State in October 2015 as a special assistant in Oregon State’s former Office of Equity and Inclusion.

SOAN alum Anne Guttridge ’18 was featured on Current, a nonprofit news organization covering public media in the U.S.,  for being a finalist in their “Local that Works” contest. The contest is a part of Current’s collaborative project to “showcase exceptional content and engagement projects that other media can replicate or scale.” In conjunction with Twin Cities PBS, Guttridge produced a TikTok series called “MinneHistories,” which shares surprising pieces of Minnesota history with a younger, more diverse audience and highlights the undertold stories of BIPOC residents.

SOAN and Dance alum Phil Chan ’06, who is currently serving as a Benedict Distinguished Visiting Professor of Dance at Carleton, was interviewed by Carleton News in an article called “Scholarship and activism in the world of dance.” Chan discusses teaching dance history at Carleton, advancing the goals of Final Bow for Yellowface, an organization he co-founded, and writing his second book Banishing Orientalism: Dancing Between Exotic and Familiar.