Lindenwood Magazine - Spring 2018: Connecting to Alumni and Friends

’10s Sarah Christian (’10) and Randy Gildehaus recently acquired Ultimate Fitness Plus in Troy, Mo. Sarah has been in the fitness industry for about eight years, starting her career in nonprofit with the YMCA as a program director overseeing health and wellness and aquatics programs. She transitioned to parks and recreation as the fitness specialist for the City of Des Peres before the acquisition of Ultimate Fitness Plus. She earned her B.S. in exercise science. Jeff Wilkins (’11, ’12) and Michelle Jackson Wilkins (’13) were married in September 2015. The birth of their first daughter, Hadley Marie, was in October 2017. They purchased their second home in Ballwin, Mo., last March. Jeff is currently area manager of Enterprise-Rent- A-Car in South St. Louis, overseeing 12 locations. Michelle earned her SHRM-CP human resource certification in 2016 and is currently an immigration specialist at Perficient Information Technology and Services in St. Louis. Jeff earned his B.A. in marketing and an MBA in management. Michelle earned her B.A. in human resources management. Kinsey Nicole Bryant (’13) is engaged to Daniel John Betzinger, both of Troy, Ill. Bryant is an accountant at Agency for Community Transit. Betzinger joined the military in 2001 and is employed by the U.S. Department of Justice. Bryant has a Lindenwood bachelor’s in business administration and a master’s in business administration with an emphasis in accounting. A September wedding is planned in Aviston, Ill. Valentin Fiquet (’14) returned to France after graduation in December 2014 and was accepted in the KEDGE Business School in Marseille, France, in 2015 and studied luxury and brand management until May 2017. He secured a six-month internship within the Christian Dior Couture House to finalize his degree. In November, he was offered a position as trainee manager, which is a two-year formation to become a head manager for a flagship boutique, which he hopes to do in the U.S. Elbey Aliyev (’14) is in his third year of employment at British American Tobacco, one of the largest tobacco companies in the world, and has recently been promoted to area manager in Baku, Azerbaijan. He also recently got married. John Mertens (’14) and Megean Hubbartt recently announced their engagement. Hubbartt graduated from the University of Missouri-St. Louis with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and psychology. Mertens earned a Master of Arts degree in nonprofit administration from Lindenwood. They live in St. Charles and plan to be married Nov. 9, 2018. Katie Lynn Nadler (’15) and Levi Jerome Gildehaus were married Sept. 23, 2017, at Femme Osage United Church of Christ in Augusta, Mo. After a honeymoon in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, the couple reside in Washington, Mo. She has a B.F.A. in graphic design and is employed by Concourse Sports as lead graphic designer. Marko Cubranovic (’15) returned to Serbia after graduation and worked at several private businesses and continued coaching water polo for VK Tas. In late 2015, he went to Qatar to work for St. Regis Doha, started a water polo academy, and met his future wife, Kadia, whom he married in May 2017. In September he accepted a position to manage the club’s UAE branch in Abu Dhabi. In December 2017, his son Luka was born. Cubranovic has a B.A. in human resource management and an MBA in management from Lindenwood. McNein Hewitt (’15) has worked since graduation in advertising, overseeing mass print productions for new campaigns across the country as well as new digital projects for the client websites, web applications, and auto shows. He accepted an analyst position and has had the opportunity to work on several Tier 1 CPG companies. He is currently a senior analyst in Canada. He continues to play lacrosse in a Senior B indoor league as well as a Senior A field lacrosse league and hopes to try out for the Canadian professional Arena Lacrosse League next fall. He has an MBA with an emphasis in marketing. Priyadharshan Kannappan (’16) will graduate in May 2018 from Webster University with a master’s in management and leadership. While at Webster, he was a member of the Webster-B Chess Team, which won the Pan-American Intercollegiate Chess Championship in 2016 and the Final Four of Collegiate Chess 2017 and finished fifth rank in the 2017 Pan-American Intercollegiate Chess Championship. He has been selected as an assistant coach of the Webster University chess team for 2018 Final Four of Collegiate Chess to be held in New York in April. In September 2016 he became one of approximately 1,600 players worldwide to hold the grandmaster in chess title, and since graduating from Lindenwood in 2016, he has earned numerous championship titles. He is founder of SANGAM, the Indian student organization at Webster. He is the manager of Webster Windmills, a team comprised of players from the Webster Groves area who participate in PRO Chess League, and is the president of the Webster University Chess Club. Zach Farmer (’17) is a designer at TOC Artwork, in St. Louis, Mo., and recently purchased a home. He has also purchased an art studio with fellow Lindenwood alumnus Zach Smithey (’06), in the hopes of collaboration. Luke Pearl (’17) is a case manager at the Brain Injury Foundation of St. Louis, a startup nonprofit organization that works with individuals with brain injuries. An avid bowler, he bowls in a traveling Illinois league in Ellisville and returns to St. Charles lanes for a league. Pearl’s degree is a bachelor’s in nonprofit administration. Lindenwood University ALUMNI NEWS & NOTES 22 ALUMNI NEWS & NOTES SPRING 2018 continued