John Thompson, BS ’41, is retired and lives in Milford, Ohio.

Jim Williams, BS ’48, MS ’52, Kokomo, Ind., was presented the Bread and Basin Award at the annual conference of the Lay Leadership of the North Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church. The award recognized his lifetime of service to the church and his community.

Robert Holm, BS ’62, MS ’64, PhD ’69, Holly Springs, N.C., retired in 2007 after 30 years in management positions in the crop protection industry and eight years at Rutgers University as executive director of USDA’s IR-4 Specialty Crop Program. In 2007, he received a lifetime achievement award from the British Crop Production Council.

William Hahn, BS ’69, Bloomington, Ind., retired July 1 after a 38-year career with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. He worked at the Clark, Ferdinand, Pike, Martin, and Morgan/Monroe state forests.

Larry Muller, PhD ’69, received the American Dairy Science Association Distinguished Service Award. He is a professor emeritus in the Department of Dairy and Animal Science at Penn State University.

Lee Edgerton, PhD ’70, has been named a fellow of the American Society of Animal Science in the teaching category. He is an associate professor in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences at the University of Kentucky.

John Roberts, MS ’71, PhD ’76, Young Harris, Ga., has been appointed to the Science Advisory Board of Young Harris College to provide guidance for planning the science curriculum as the college moves from a two-year to a four-year institution. Roberts also serves on the board of the Community Council at the Georgia Mountain Research and Education Center, a branch station of the University of Georgia.

Robert Parson, BS ’72, San Diego, Calif., has been named vice president for global clinical/regulatory affairs for Inverness Medical Innovations. He is responsible for the clinical and regulatory strategies for clearance of in vitro diagnostic technology.

L. Burney Baggett, MS ’73, St. Peters, Mo., is director of environmental safety and health for Lange-Stegmann Co. and Agrotain International. He formerly was corporate safety manager for ACF Industries and American Railcar Industries.

Roger Foulks, BS ’74, Ellenton, Fla., and his wife, Pamela, own Achievements UnLimited, a financial services company that assists clients in managing excessive debt. He also is a board member and membership chair of the Purdue Alumni Club of Sarasota, Fla.

Richard Liebert, BS ’77, Great Falls, Mont., is chair of Citizens for Clean Energy Inc. and owner/operator of Windwalker Ranch, Great Falls, Mont., which raises natural beef. He retired from the U.S. Army in 2005 as a lieutenant colonel; he was commissioned by Purdue Army ROTC in 1977.

Barb Ariel (Jackson) Cohen, BS ’79, Watertown, Mass., is president and co-founder of Arex Life Sciences, a biotechnology firm in Wakefield, Mass.

David Cates, BS ’82, Syracuse, Ind., has finished a two-year term as international president of Muskies Inc.

James Farris, BS ’84, Vincennes, Ind., opened Agri-Tech Seed Service Inc., a seed dealership for Pioneer Hi-Bred International, on Aug. 1. He has been an agent for Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance in Knox County for many years, and he is the treasurer of the Knox County Purdue Ag Alumni chapter.

Peter Mancuso, BS ’85, Canton, Mich., was promoted to associate professor with tenure in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Michigan.

Kevin McKee, BS ’90, Franklin Grove, Ill., was promoted to quality assurance manager for Monsanto’s North American Seed Services Lab. He joined Monsanto 18 years ago, after graduating from Purdue. He and Lora Stevens of Oregon, Ill, are engaged to be married in April.

Nicki Patti, BS ’91, Rochester, Minn., married Aaron Smith on June 27.

Mark Calhoun, BS ’92, Chicago, is deployed to Balad, Iraq, with the Indiana National Guard and was promoted to captain in June.

Colleen (Fruits) Wininger, BS ’92, New Richmond, Ind., and her husband, Jim, announce the birth of their son, James Canon Wininger, on May 18.

Julie (Welander) Walker, BS ’93, Broomfield, Colo., gave birth to a son, Jacob Michael Walker, on March 5.

Brian Kitch, BS ’94, and his wife, Patricia (Bates) Kitch, BS ’97, Bourbon, Ind., welcomed a baby girl, Brooke Ann Kitch, on May 16. They also have a 5-year-old son, Brandon Jay. The couple own Bates Corp., a tractor parts supplier.

Jennifer (Sachs) Vonderwell, BS ’94, Thorntown, Ind., and her husband, Dan (a 1993 Purdue aeronautics grad), announce the birth of their son, Joshua Douglas, on April 29, which also is their wedding anniversary.

Kevin Cobb, BS ’96, Fowler, Ind., is a master sergeant with the Indiana Air National Guard’s 181 Intelligence Wing, based at Hulman Field, Terre Haute, Ind. He is attending signal analyst school at Goodfellow Air Force Base in Texas and expects to be home by Christmas.

Amy (Turner) Bledsoe, BS ’97, and Curt Bledsoe, BS ’97, Remington, Ind., announce the birth of their daughter, Lauren Genevieve Bledsoe, on June 8.

Javan Rad, BS ’97, Pasadena, Calif., has been listed as a Southern California Rising Star in the July 2008 issue of Los Angeles Magazine, recognizing up-and-coming attorneys. He practices in the areas of civil rights, land use and telecommunications law.

Krisanna L. Machtmes, PhD ’98, Baton Rouge, La., was promoted to associate professor of research methods with tenure in the School of Human Resource Education and Workforce Development at Louisiana State University. She also received the Gamma Sigma Delta Graduate Teaching Merit Honor Roll Award and the LSU College of Agriculture Sedberry Award in recognition of her excellence in graduate teaching.

Joe Caffee, BS ’99, Geneva, Ind., and his wife, Cheryl, welcomed a son, Trey Brian, into their home on June 28. Trey joins two sisters, Grace, 6, and Jessa, 4, at home.

Christopher Matthys, BS ’99, South Bend, Ind., and his wife, Ginny Anderson-Matthys (a 2003 Purdue management grad), announce the birth of their first child, Margaret Nicole, on May 31.

Patricia Mae Stimmel, BS ’99, Valparaiso, Ind., is the first horticulturist for Taltree Arboretum and Gardens in Valparaiso. She handles all curatorial duties in the gardens, writes newsletter articles, teaches classes and conducts outreach activities.

Kristen Dowdy, BS ’99, Indianapolis, married Anthony L. Waterbury on May 25.

Carla (Rentchler) Schenk, BS ’01, Wadesville, Ind., and her husband, Matt, announce the birth of their first child, Ciara Ann, on June 26.

Stacy Shorter, BS ’01, Indianapolis, married Austin Adams on Feb. 22 on Long Island, the Bahamas.

Janice (Loesch) Acree, BS ’02, Seymour, Ind., and her husband, Dan, announce the birth of their son, Joseph Daniel, on June 9.

Amy Eizinger, BS ’02, Indianapolis, and Eric J. Ott, BS ’03, MS ’06, were to be married on Sept. 27. He recently took a job as a field market development specialist with Valent Corp. USA working out of the office in Greenfield, Ind.

Natasha (Duke) Cox, BS ’04, Fowler, Ind., and her husband, Brent, announce the birth of their first child, Brody Steven Cox, on March 25. Natasha is a financial services officer for Farm Credit Services of Mid-America in Rensselaer, Ind., and Brent is a regional sales manager for Wilson Trailer Sales of Indiana.

Kim (Hall) Stockment, BS ’05, Brookston, Ind., and her husband, Jason, welcomed their first child, Colton Robert, on Jan. 30.

Jarrodd Case, BS ’06, Lafayette, Ind., married Ashlee Grant on May 17. He also was promoted from landscaping maintenance supervisor to operation manager at Brickman, a landscaping company.

Tristan Emery, BS ’07, Lafayette, Ind., married Travis Kirby on May 7 in Cancun, Mexico.

Francis P. Peterson of Lafayette, Ind., who earned an associate ag degree in 1988, passed away April 22 following a battle with cancer.

Lawrence Schaal, MS ’67, passed away March 19 at his retirement home in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.