2015 Distinguished Alumni

May 1, 2020

Lifetime Achievement Award: Duane Anderson (’52)

Duane Anderson has been helping people hear and understand each other better for more than 50 years. From the early beginnings of creating a mobile testing service for state employees exposed to noise, to fitting young children with hearing aids, Duane’s work has changed many lives. He ensured hearing aids were provided to children whose families could not afford them. While at the Oregon State Health Division, he also licensed hearing aid dealers and ensured consumer complaints were addressed. He was appointed executive secretary to the Board of Examiners, and then went on to be appointed by the Oregon governor to two terms as president of the Oregon Health Division. Now semi-retired, he still sees patients to be fitted for hearing aids. He is also still a very active and avid skier.

Larry “Go Vikings!” Taylor Alumni Service Award: Tony (’87 & ’91) and Diana Pechthalt (’87 & ’91)

Tony and Diana met and fell in love at Western, where they both earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees. This couple not only gives generous financial support to Western through endowing scholarships for graduate students in the Communications Sciences and Disorders program, the Women’s Soccer program and providing a graduate assistantship for the Men’s Basketball Team, but they also are fans and champions for Western. Diana has devoted the past 12 years of her career to Western’s speech pathology program as a graduate supervisor. They are often spotted supporting Western with their children at WWU Basketball games.

Young Alumnus of the Year: Seth “Hoby” Darling (’97)

Hoby is originally from the small town of Cashmere, WA and graduated from Western with a degree in history in 1997. Hoby joined Skullcandy, a leading music, gaming and youth culture audio company in March 2013 as president and chief executive officer.  Prior to joining Skullcandy he served as General Manager of Nike+ Digital Sport. During his tenure with Nike he was also a member of the Nike Affiliates Global Leadership team and served as the head of strategy and planning for Nike Affiliate Brand. Prior to Nike, Hoby served as senior vice president, strategic development and general counsel at Volcom, a leading youth culture, music and actions sports company, from its initial public offering until its sale to PPR.  He was named to Sporting Goods Business' 40 Under 40 in Sports in 2010.  Mr. Darling received MBA degrees from the University of California at Berkeley Haas School of Business and Columbia University in New York, and a Juris Doctorate from Northwestern University in Chicago. He currently serves on the boards of directors of Skullcandy, Ragnar Relays (the largest relay race running company in the world), and Special Operations Forces Warrior Outdoor Leadership for the Future (WOLF), an organization that provides leadership and mentoring for kids of fallen special forces operatives.

Huxley College of the Environment: Kurt Creager (‘79)

Kurt Creager came to Western as a full-time student paying his own way through college as well as supporting his wife and 6-year-old daughter. After Western, he went on to earn professional certificates from the University of Washington’s Cascade Management Institute and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, where he was a Fannie Mae Fellow. Through a Huxley College internship his senior year at WWU, Kurt had already made a name for himself in the real-estate acquisition industry. It was in this position that Kurt helped conduct a study that led to the legal purchase of Portage Bay by the Lummi Tribal Council. Upon graduation, Kurt secured a job in the private sector and then had a long career with Metropolitan King County, where he was chief of housing and economic development. It was in this position that he created the Housing Opportunity Fund, which has invested in over 9,000 affordable housing units. Kurt spent the next 15 years as the CEO of the Vancouver Housing Authority in Vancouver, WA. He is now founder of Urbanist Solutions LLC, a sustainable housing and development consultancy. His affordable-housing projects have earned him national and international recognition. 

College of Humanities and Social Sciences: Mitchell Eggers (‘85)

Dr. Mitchell Eggers is a longtime supporter and advocate of the Humanities and Social Sciences at Western. He serves on the CHSS Advancement Council and continues to assist in outreach to fellow Western alumni and supporters. As the Chief Scientist for Global Market Insite, Mitchell created a test to ensure marketing data quality for his clients. His impressive background includes his positions as president of Island Consulting LLC, early investor and director of Intelispan Inc. and research demographer at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Geneva and Switzerland.

Woodring College of Education: Sheila Fox (‘67)

Sheila Fox dedicated 35 years to serving Woodring College of Education. Beginning as a special education lecturer and culminating as associate dean and liaison to the State. But before coming back to Bellingham and Western, Sheila was the quintessential Western grad. She began her illustrious career as a globe-trotting educator straight out of school as one of our many U.S. Peace Corps volunteers. After two years as an elementary and secondary teacher in Tonga, she moved to Australia to be a special education teacher. Not only was she a first-generation college student, but she earned both a master’s and doctorate degree in Special Education at the University of Washington, where she also taught at the Experimental Education Unit. 

College of Science and Engineering: Jim Reavis (‘87)

One of the leaders in cybersecurity internationally is Western alumnus Jim Reavis, President of Reavis Consulting Group and co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cloud Security Alliance. Jim’s career in information security has taken on many facets. From entrepreneur to writer, speaker to technologist and business strategist, Jim’s innovative thinking about emerging security trends have been published and presented widely throughout the industry and have influenced many. He has been named as one of the Top 10 cloud computing leaders by SearchCloudComputing.com and is helping shape the future of information security and related technology industries. His early identification of this niche and ability to fill the gap in the IT industry paid off as Cloud Security Alliance is the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining and raising awareness of best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment. The organization, which he co-founded, has 63,000 members and a presence in every continent except Antarctica.

College of Business and Economics: Karen L. Richards (’82 & ‘89)

When it came to submitting college applications, Karen Richards only applied to Western and her commitment to the school has continued far beyond graduation. In addition to being a role model for women in business leadership, she is a board member on the finance and audit committee for the Western Foundation and is a “founding” board member of the Student Investment Management Scholarship Fund Advisory Board. Upon completing her bachelor’s in business administration followed by an MBA at Western, Karen continued to work in business management for major grocery chains for another 10 years before realizing her dream of becoming a financial advisor. In addition to being a visible and notable role model for women in business in Whatcom County, she devotes numerous volunteer hours to Western and the community. She also wants to see more women in business leadership roles and supports three scholarships every year for Women in Business programs in CBE.

College of Fine and Performing Arts: Mark Shetabi (‘93)

Although based on the East Coast, artist Mark Shetabi maintains a strong connection to the Northwest, and in particular to Western. Mark’s work has been exhibited nationally in prestigious galleries including the Project Room, Fleisher Art Memorial, and Locks Gallery (Philadelphia), Ratio3 (San Francisco), Western Bridge (Seattle), EVO Gallery (Santa Fe), McClain Gallery (Houston), White Columns, Heckscher Museum of Art and Jeff Bailey Gallery (New York). His professional successes have been many, but he remains humble and grateful to Western. He returned to his alma mater as a keynote speaker for Western’s Scholars Week in 2003, where he concurrently gave a lecture in the Department of Art. In September 2014, Mark Shetabi became chair of Tyler School of Art’s Painting Department. Temple University’s Tyler School of Art is ranked in the top 10 painting programs in the nation.

Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies: Diane Sigel (‘77)

Diane graduated with a deep appreciation for the small class sizes and broad range of learning opportunities offered at Fairhaven. After graduation, she enjoyed a long career running her family’s business as CEO of Duffle Bag, Inc., retiring in 2008. She now spends her time traveling the world and supporting the causes she believes in, including Western. Diane remains actively involved as a mentor and inspiration to WWU students through serving on the Fairhaven College Advisory Council and various other academic advisory boards. She also supports the Fairhaven College Opportunity Fund, which provides support for first-generation students.

Campus Volunteer Recognition Award: David Hamiter (‘92) and Robert Olson

WWU alumnus David Hamiter went on to work at Microsoft after graduation, but kept Western close to his heart. He helped secure gifts to provide enough Microsoft software to cover the entire Western campus in 1994. He left Microsoft and came back to work at Western, where he developed the Student Technology Center and has been a vital resource for students on campus. David’s partner, Rob Olson, also supports Western. Rob is the assistant attorney general for the State of Washington and is a founding member of the Law, Diversity and Justice Program at Fairhaven College. Together the couple has established an endowed scholarship for the students of the Technology Center, made a 10-year commitment to help fund scholarship support for the LDJ program and have included Western in their estate plans with the intention of funding LSAT fees for pre-law students.

Community Volunteer Recognition Award: Warren Michelsen

Warren Michelsen came came to Western not as a student, but as a recruiter of engineering students for his company, Trane, Inc. Impressed with the students and the quality education WWU provides, he began to be more and more involved with the university. As a business partner in the community, Warren was included in the conversations that led to the development of the Institute for Energy Studies. He was invited to join the Founding Advisory Board and has helped the Institute raise more than $1.4 million in private funds, including $100,000 from his own company. His dedication to see this program thrive played a significant role in securing nearly $1 million per year in new state funding.

Legacy Family of the Year: The Veith Family

The Veiths are a family whose traditions encompass career commitment, humanitarian work, community support and Western. Family matriarch Barbara Veith became a single mother in the ‘60s, responsible for eight children between the ages of 17 and one, who drew on her resilience and determination. The 91-year-old matriarch didn’t merely inspire her offspring, but ensured that they all had access to higher education. No fewer than 11 members of the Veith family and extended family have experienced Western’s culture as a result and went on to be physicians, IT experts, educators and bee keepers. All are humanitarians and the family recently established a scholarship endowment in honor of their mother: Barbara Ellen Maguire. Dr. Richard Veith (’69), the current Richard D. and Bernice E. Tutt Professor in the Neurosciences at UW who also sits on Western’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences Advancement Council, accepted the Family Legacy Award and announced the endowment gift on behalf of the family. His brothers, David (’83) and Robert (’70), were present along with David’s wife and fellow alumnus, Francine (’83.)

The recipients were honored at the Distinguished Alumni Awards and Recognition Celebration dinner on Thursday, May 14. The annual event marks the kickoff to Western’s Back2Bellingham alumni and family weekend, May 15-17.