News Archive 2021

December 8, 2021 
Two Dominican alumnae/i have been selected to participate in Disability Lead's 2022 Fellows Institute: Delilah Orizaba ’16, MSW ’19 and David Gayes ’14. Read more.

December 2021
Brigham Avery ‘04, sports journalist and podcast host, recently debuted his newest project titled ‘Hollywood & Ivy’. A monthly, one-hour television show featuring celebrity fans of the Chicago Cubs, ‘Hollywood & Ivy’ premiered December 2 on Marquee Sports Network. Read more.

December 2021
Lubna Saleh ’12 received a scholarship from the Fore Hadley Foundation, an organization supporting people impacted by congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH), toward tuition at the University of Michigan where she is pursuing a master’s degree in public health. Read more.

November 30, 2021 
Emily Cukier MLIS ’20 is the new science librarian at Washington State University. She will give a presentation on campus titled “Data Disasters: Lessons from Notorious Mistakes in Spreadsheet History,” on December 3. Read more.

November 22, 2021 
Dr. Andrea Jamison MLIS ’08, PHLIS ’21, assistant professor in the School of Teaching and Learning, joined Illinois State University in Fall 2020. Having spent 17 years in elementary classrooms and libraries in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and the Calumet City School District, Andrea is embracing her new role at ISU. Read more.

November 21, 2021 
Marie Molde, RD, MBA ’11 was interviewed by CBS Sunday Morning correspondent Ben Tracy in a story titled “Alternatives to meat: A plant-based diet”. Marie is a food industry expert, speaker, and researcher. Read more.

November 2021 
Prior to being honored with a book award, Seth Wyatt Fallik ’08 visited his alma mater to speak to two criminology classes. As a student-athlete at Dominican, Seth served as captain of the men’s soccer team that appeared in the NCAA’s Elite Eight in 2006. Read more.

November 2021
Michael D. Ruggiero ’91, MBA ’94 has been recognized by The Wall Street Journal as one of the top wealth advisors in the country. Last year, Michael was named a Five Star Wealth Manager by Fortune magazine. Read more.

This story appeared in the Fall 2021 Dominican Magazine   
Patrick Osborne ’94, MAT ’08 emigrated from Ireland when he was 18 years old. He did so for one reason: the “plethora of opportunity” in America. Today, as President of the Technology & Manufacturing Association (TMA), Patrick says he’s training tomorrow’s “surgeons of steel.” Read more.

This story appeared in the Fall 2021 Dominican Magazine 
Last year, while on deployment on a military base in Jordan, Conrad Sewinski ’12 flew a U.S. flag over the base and dedicated it to Dominican. “The experiences I had at Dominican made me a better person. The least I could do is dedicate a flag to a school that’s done so much for me.” Read more.

This story appeared in the Fall 2021 Dominican Magazine
Elaine Low ’07 is a senior entertainment business reporter at Insider’s new Los Angeles bureau, where she covers the evolution of Hollywood in the streaming age. Read more.

This story appeared in the Fall 2021 Dominican Magazine
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL) selected Dominique Bryant ’07 as the 2020 Volunteer of the Year. She is a financial operations project specialist and has been with BCBSIL for seven years. Read more.

This story appeared in the Fall 2021 Dominican Magazine
Stephanie Kitchen MLIS ’05 purchased Chicago bookstore City Lit Books, which closed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Stephanie, a longtime resident of Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood, reopened the bookstore on June 26, 2021. Read more.

This story appeared in the Fall 2021 Dominican Magazine 
Ashley McCall MAT ’14, a third-grade teacher at Chavez Multicultural Academic Center in Chicago, was presented with the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching. Read more.

September 27, 2021 
Doug Pryor MBA ’12 has been appointed by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker to serve as a Member on the Enterprise Zone Board. Doug currently serves as the Vice President of Economic Development for the Will County Center for Economic Development. Read more.

September 15, 2021
Carlos Carrillo ’02, women’s head soccer coach at Dominican University, starred as a player from 1998-2002 before aiding the men's soccer program as an assistant coach for seven seasons. Read more.

September 13, 2021
Zach Musil MLIS ’13 has been appointed the director of the Tinley Park Public Library. He previously served as Tinley Park's assistant administrator and interim director. Read more.

August 31, 2021
Crystal Caison ’90 has been appointed by Governor J.B. Pritzker to serve as an arbitrator with the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission (IWCC). She currently serves as a senior public service administrator with the Illinois Department of Employment Security and a panel arbitrator for the State of Illinois. Read more.

August 20, 2021
PNC Bank announced the promotion of Matthew Toles ’97 to senior vice president, sales and client experience manager for PNC Retail Banking in Greater Chicago and Wisconsin. Matthew brings almost 24 years of financial services experience including retail and business banking to his new role. Read more.

July 20, 2021
Indiana University of Pennsylvania announced that Dr. Lara Luetkehans MALIS ’92, dean of IUP’s College of Education and Communications, will serve as interim provost and vice president for academic affairs. Read more.

July 15, 2021 
Virginia Picchietti ’87, PhD, was honored with the Excellence in Advancing Global Learning Award from the University of Scranton. She is a professor of Italian in the Department of World Languages and Cultures and joined the faculty at Scranton in 1995. Read more.

July 13, 2021
Jen Jazwinski MLIS ’08 is a youth services librarian for the Algonquin Area Public Library District. She recently earned over $60,000 during two victorious "Jeopardy!" appearances. Read more

July 7, 2021
Brookline Bank announced that Bryan Manandhar MBA ’06 has been named Business Banking Officer covering Newton and Chestnut Hill in Massachusetts. He has 17 years of banking and financial services experience. Read more.

July 7, 2021
Carl Sirotzki ’76 has been named interim pastor at Family of Christ Lutheran Church in Kearney, Nebraska. Since being ordained in 2015, he has served congregations in southeast Wisconsin and northeast Nebraska. Read more.

July 1, 2021 
Margaret Burke MAT ’11 has been hired as the new assistant principal at Franklin Elementary School in Park Ridge. Margaret, a 2021 Illinois Golden Apple finalist, will begin her new position on July 27. Read more.

July 1, 2021
Gilbert Allen MSW ’17 and his brother, Michael, have released a book titled Brotherly Love, a children’s book that centers on the brothers’ story growing up as Black men in poverty with drug-addicted parents and rising up to become a school principal and social worker. Read more.

June 22, 2021
Northern Nevada Development Authority (NNDA) announced that Lynn O’Mara ’78 has been promoted to Vice President of Administration and Programs. Lynn has been with NNDA for the past four years as Director of Communications. Read more.

June 16, 2021
Dr. Maxine Davis MSW/MBA ’13 is joining the Rutgers School of Social Work as an assistant professor and Chancellor’s Scholar for Inclusive Excellence in Intimate Partner Violence Prevention and Intervention. Read more.

June 1, 2021
Rashim Lettsome ’08 is returning to McHenry County College (MCC), this time as the Scots' head men’s basketball coach. He played at MCC from 2004–2006 before transferring to Dominican. Read more.

May 25, 2021
The Evergreen Park Public Library Board of Trustees recently voted to hire Frank Murray MLIS ’10 as library director. He has served as director of Itasca Community Library for the past two years. Read more.

May 18, 2021 
Matthew Steward MBA ’07 has been elected as a Schaumburg Township Trustee. He currently works as a staff attorney at a Chicago legal malpractice insurance carrier and serves as an Adjunct Professor at Dominican University. Read more.

May 14, 2021 
Ivana Sedia (Gentile) ’11, MBA ’16 is the founder of Unida Translation, which delivers both spoken and written word translation services in over 125 languages for projects in the certified, legal, government, medical, and technical fields. Read more.

May 5, 2021 
Joanna Bertucci ’06, MLIS ’09 has been appointed as the new director of the Park Ridge Public Library effective June 1, 2021. She served as the operations manager of the River Forest Public Library since 2016. Read more.

May 4, 2021
Matt Walsh ’97, MSPED ’99 has been named head boys basketball coach at James B. Conant High School. He was previously the head coach at Schaumburg High School from 2009–2014. Read more.

April 23, 2021
Kara Brown MBA ’17, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lead Coverage, has announced that the Atlanta Business Chronicle recognized Lead Coverage as a "2021 Pacesetter". Lead Coverage landed 90th on the exclusive annual list, which represents the most comprehensive look at private business growth within the Atlanta metro area. Read more.

April 10, 2021 
Eugene Giudice MLIS ’07 was awarded the Advocate of the Year Award by the Private Law Librarians and Information Professionals Special Interest Section (PLLIP-SIS) of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL). Read more.

April 2, 2021 
A principal at Northwood for two years, Sergio Gonzalez MAT ’13, MAEA ’17 said the remodeled campus is “nothing like he’s ever experienced." The modernized school is designed to enhance student-teacher and social-emotional learning. Read more.

March 26, 2021
Gary A. Piazza ’81, PhD, a highly respected cancer investigator with more than 30 years in the field, has been named the department head and professor for the Auburn University Harrison School of Pharmacy’s Department of Drug Discovery and Development. Read more.

March 24, 2021
Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced Lauren Blanford MLIS ’13 to rethink almost every aspect of her job at Emerson Elementary School in Elmhurst. Among her colleagues, Lauren is known for her ingenuity and for finding ways to bring the world of books to children learning at home. Read more.

March 19, 2021
Schaumburg-based law firm Gardi & Haught, Ltd. announced the hiring of attorney Aaron Novasic ’14. For the last three years, Aaron has practiced law at Goldstein Bender & Romanoff in Chicago. Read more.

March 9, 2021
Stephanie Rossi Pedersen ’08 has launched Squixy, a fun learning tool to help children learn multiplication. Pedersen, who received a bachelor’s degree in American Studies and a certification in elementary education, is the chief learning officer for the product and a fifth-grade teacher for Komarek School District 94 in North Riverside. Read more.

March 8, 2021
Elizeth Arguelles ’20 has been recognized by US Congressman Danny K. Davis as one of the “Top 20 Global Women of Excellence 2021.” She is an advocate for social responsibility and a Lead Organizer with Increase the Peace, an organization that develops young community leaders and promotes peace in Chicago. Read more.

March 4, 2021
In addition to dedicating time at the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Jose Bahena ’18 helps support New Life Centers, a non-profit organization that provides mentoring, education, sports and street outreach for at-risk youths and young adults living on the west side of Chicago. Read more.

January 26, 2021 
Joyce Colander ’68, MALS ’69 retired as manager of the Beverly branch of the Chicago Public Library in November 2019. She worked at the Beverly branch for 41 years. Read more.

January 11, 2021
Joan Dixon ’73, President and CEO of Community Foundation of East Central Illinois, is retiring in June after 20 years in the role. Joan never intended to run an organization that manages and administers millions of dollars in endowed funds. Read more.

In this image from 1964, Sr. Joeann Daley, OP, ’62, MFA ’81 and Kathleen Stagney ’62 are seen creating the mosaic at Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine in Endeavor. They were teaching at Catholic schools in suburban Chicago and were recruited to spend the summer making the mosaic. Read more.

January 5, 2021 
Experienced business leader Richard Jesuit ’86 has launched a new business, Fresh Coat Painters of Plainfield. This new franchise offers residential and commercial painting services to Southwest Chicago. Read more.

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