Alumni News

2018

Sarah Bregman, B.A. in East Asian Languages and Cultures, Korean (2013), is currently pursuing a master's degree in anthropology at Seoul National University and working as a visiting researcher at the Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts.  

2017

Zach Hill, 2017 M.A., will enter the PhD program at University of California, San Diego. 

2016

Emily Bowden, 2015 M.A., worked as an analyst for the Navy, including at the Defense Intelligence Agency as a collections manager.  After service in the Navy, she returns to the world of literature for an MFA in creative writing at Seton Hall in fall 2022.. 

Danni Campbell,  as of August 2016: working as an Assistant English Teacher in the JET Program

Kasey Considine 2016 J.D./ M.A. will serve as an attorney at the Disability Rights Center of Kansas in Topeka, KS.  

Ness, Garrett, as of August 2016: working as an Assistant English Teacher in the JET Program

Will Putzier, B.A. Chinese 2016, working at a consulting company called Protiviti, New York City.

2015

Dillon, Kaylin, 2015 M.A. serves as a financial analyst at Morgan Stanley in Lawrence, Kansas.

Emerson, James, B.A. in East Asian Languages and Culture: Korean and B.S.B. in Finance, has accepted a position as an analyst in Morgan Stanley’s Investment Banking Division. He is spending the the first half of 2015 in Harbin, China, before returning to begin this job this summer.

Moore, Angela,  as of August 2016: working as an Assistant English Teacher in the JET Program

Prenevost, Nikki 2015 working as an Assistant English Teacher with the JET program as of August 2016.

Leng, Melanie, B.A. Chinese, 2015, entering M.A. program in translation and interpretation, National Taiwan University, Taipei, R.O.C. in August 2017.

2014

Tito Huynh, B.A. in East Asian Language and Culture: Korean (2013), is a Native English Teacher (ESL Teacher), teaching English to students as well as the teachers in Korea at Cheong San Middle School. The English classes have a strong emphasis on speaking and role-play but also encompass activities from formal exercises to language driven games. 

Evan McCormick, M.A. 2014 in Chinese. Currently teaches high school and college level Chinese language and college electives in Chinese literature and Korean language at Bard Early College in Cleveland, Ohio. In addition to teaching duties, he is currently serving as Chair of the Chinese Program at 6 campuses across the Bard Early College network.

2013

Andrew Kauffmann, M.A. in Chinese and Ph.D. from Indiana University in 2020. He teaches courses in modern Chinese literature, Chinese language, and East Asian popular culture at Macalester College. His research interests include modern and contemporary Chinese literature, Chinese cinema, popular culture in modern China, and literary translation.

2010

Howe, Timothy, B.A., EALC, has been accepted into the English Program in Korea (EPIK) and will begin teaching English in a South Korean public school in August 2011.

2009

Cain, Alison, EALC B.A. Japanese (2009,) is currently an Office Claims Representative at Farmers Insurance in Olathe and specializes in conducting investigations regarding coverage for auto claims.

Cook, Geoff, M.A. East Asian Studies & MBA Marketing; BA, Japanese (2005), has worked for about one year as a CRM Application Analyst at Garmin International and about a year at Service Management Group as a Research Analyst, both in Kansas City. He uses his Japanese language skills at his current job, doing some translation checking and a bit of interpretation.  

 Miyakawa, Sachiko, B.A. Journalism, minor Chinese. Since August 2010, Sachiko has been working as a reporter for the Japanese newspaper, Mainichi Shimbun (the Mainichi Daily News). She lives in Matsue on the west coast of Honshu, where she covers local news including crime, court cases, and amateur sports.  She writes stories and takes photos.

2008

Bollig, Peter, B.A. Philosophy, minor Chinese. peter studied in K.U.’s Hong Kong study abroad program in 2006-07 and participated in K.U.’s China Direct Exchange in 2008-09 studying in Nanjing.

Knox, Jeremy, B.A., double major, history and Chinese, is an Imagery Intelligence Analyst for the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. For his work, Jeremy notes that he has to be part detective, part journalist, part historian, part analyst, and part writer. In support of national and military security goals, he analyzes military force structure, capabilities, intentions, and vulnerabilities of adversaries and potential adversaries, weapons proliferation, emerging technologies, and treaty monitoring. Jeremy went straight from K.U. Chinese to his current job.

Tiffany Knearem, graduated with BA East Asian Languages and Cultures - Spring, 2008. I will begin a PhD program in Human Computer Interaction at Pennsylvania State University in Fall, 2017

Shernuk, Kyle, B.A., Chinese, did his Honors Thesis under McMahon and then entered the M.A. program in East Asian Studies at the University of Oregon (beginning fall 2008).

2007

Bryant, Donna, B.A. Chinese, spent summers of 2004 and 2005 in Beijing (in the Princeton in Beijing program) and 2005-200606 in K.U.’s Nanjing Direct Exchange Program.  Donna is currently working in the Geospace Intelligence Bureau, Washington, D.C.

Falwell, Jennifer, B.A. Chinese, joined the Peace Corps and was stationed in Niger, beginning in summer 2007.

2006

Ernest Caldwell, 2006 M.A. teaches as a Lecturer in Chinese Law at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, Great Britain.

2005

Buie, Diana, B.A.: Chinese, studied in the ACC summer program in 2004. From 2006 to 2008 lived in Shenzhen, China, with her husband Herb, teaching English. Has returned to K.U. to study TESL beginning in 2009. 

Chang, Jenny, B.A.: Chinese, works as the English language secretary at the Mandarin Training Center of National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei, Taiwan. In a letter of Jan. 2009, she wrote: “ KU’s Chinese department provided a great base for my Chinese and helped me close the gap between my speaking/listening and reading/writing levels…. I am proud when people compliment my Chinese (upon learning that I grew up in Kansas), and I always mention that I studied Chinese at KU, because without it, I would not have been able to attend my current classes…. I still recall my Chinese classes at KU with fondness and a lot of appreciation.” 

Hedberg, Will, B.A.: Chinese, Ph.D. Harvard, 2012. Currently Assistant Professor of Japanese at Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona.

Wright, John, B.A. Japanese.  Currently a pilot in the Air Force, stationed at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, CA.  Married Hiroko fall 2009. 1 Apr 2011

Vierthaler, Paul, B.A. Chinese, Ph.D. Yale University.  Formerly Lecturer, University of Leiden, digital humanities and Ming and Qing dynasty Chinese literature, Leiden, The Netherlands. Currently Assistant Professor of Chinese at the College of William and Mary.

2004

Pine, Charly, M.A., Chinese, 2004, is currently in the Ph.D. program in Cultural Anthropology at Lanzhou University, Gansu Province, China.  Funded by the China Scholarship Council, he will conduct field research in Jishishan County, home of several Muslim communities, on ethnic minority education, including the impact of religion on education.

True, Megan, B.A.: Chinese, studied in Nanjing under K.U.’s China Direct Exchange Program in 2004-05. Megan has been teaching English in China, since 2007. An article of hers appeared in the Lawrence Journal World (Jan. 11, 2009, pp. D1-2) with photos of her trip to Zhongdian in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

2001

Kinsella, Steve, B.A. Chinese, worked for UPS in Kansas City, Mo. and now works for the Social Security Administration, where he is certified as a Chinese translator. Steve has completed an MBA at Edwards campus, since leaving K.U. EALC.

2000

Garcia, Rudi, B.A. Chinese, works for the United Parcel Service in Kansas City as Director of International Sales.  He and his family lived in Suzhou, China, in 2007, where he used his Chinese while conducting UPS sales training for workers there.  He now lives in Liberty, Missouri.

Horton, Chris, B.A. 2000, Journalism and Chinese. Currently lives in Taiwan as a freelance journalist, writing for publications including the New York Times and the Atlantic. Also worked for Bloomberg doing marketing research.

Monroe, Ryan, B.A. Chinese, took part in K.U.’s China Direct Exchange Program and studied for one year in Zhengzhou, China. Ryan entered Johns Hopkins Medical School in fall 2004 and spent summer 2005 in Guangzhou as a medical intern and did an internship in Kansas City in fall 2008.

Radtke, Eric, B.S. Chinese, works in Bangkok for Siemens Business Consulting doing business process engineering, process and governance controlling, and implementation based on international best practices (Sarbanes Oxley, ISO, ITIL, etc.).