Staff Directory

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Kathy Adkins

Kathy Adkins
Records Supervisor

Kathy Adkins manages the alumni records of the information services (formerly records) department. She has been with the Alumni Association since 1984. Her main focus is maintaining the data integrity of more than 225,000 alumni records. Adkins was an integral part of the university-wide data conversion from Benefactor to Raiser’s Edge.

(520) 621-5514 office
kat@al.arizona.edu

Vine Avenue Annex
1125 N. Vine Ave.
Room 204

Sarah Beaudry

Sarah Beaudry
Vice President, Communications

Sarah Beaudry is the vice president of communications and executive editor of the University of Arizona Alumnus magazine. She oversees all Alumni Association communications including the Web site, online community, Alumnus magazine, and all Association communications. After earning a bachelor’s degree in communications from Cornell University, Beaudry became a coordinator of publications at the UA Department of Athletics. Her tenure at the Association began in May 2005.

520-626-7100 office
sbeaudry@al.arizona.edu

Marvin D. "Swede" Johnson Building
1111 N. Cherry Ave.
Room 202K

Dawn Bell

Dawn Bell
Executive Assistant

Dawn Bell joined the Alumni Association staff in March 2010. She is the executive assistant to the Association’s president and executive director, Melinda Burke. Bell manages Burke's calendar and supports senior staff activities including the UAAA governing board and alumni council. At the UA since 2005, Bell has worked for the College of Education, UA Faculty Center, and the College of Engineering.

520-621-9250 office
Dawn.Bell@al.arizona.edu

Marvin D. “Swede” Johnson Building 1111 N. Cherry Ave. Room 202F

Mariann Blossick

Mariann Blossick
Information Specialist

Originally from Connecticut, Mariann Blossick has lived in Arizona since 1979. She has worked at the University of Arizona since 1993. Blossick joined the Alumni Association in 1995 as an information services specialist in information services (formerly records).

520-621-9040 office
murry@al.arizona.edu

Vine Avenue Annex
1125 N. Vine Ave.
Room 210

Melinda Burke

Melinda Burke
President and Executive Director

Melinda Burke (read the full bio) leads the Alumni Association in engaging and connecting alumni to the University of Arizona and celebrates a strong community of alumni and friends. As executive director, Burke collaborates with UA colleges and campus partners to align the Alumni Association and university's mission of serving UA graduates and connecting constituents through communications, career networking, and alumni outreach. As a liaison to the association's board of directors — composed of a diverse group of alumni volunteers from around the country — she listens carefully to alumni needs and serves to strengthen alumni networks regionally and nationally.

Burke earned a bachelor's of science degree from the UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, majoring in textiles and clothing, and a master's of science degree from the UA graduate college.

520-621-9250 office
Fax number: 520-621-9030
Melinda.Burke@al.arizona.edu

Marvin D. "Swede" Johnson Building
1111 N. Cherry Ave.
Room 202E

Fabian Cordova

Fabian Cordova
CFO, Associate Director

Fabian Cordova is the chief financial officer of the Alumni Association. He oversees the accounting staff, budget and reporting processes, scholarship program, existing and new contracts, and affinity and revenue-generating programs. Cordova began his tenure at the UAAA in August 2008, after spending 12 years in both the public and private accounting sector. He completed his undergraduate work in 1994 at the University of Arizona and earned an M.B.A. from the UA in May 2009.

520-621-9025 office
fcordova@al.arizona.edu

Marvin D. "Swede" Johnson Building 1111 N. Cherry Ave. Room 214A

Lori Crouch

Lori Crouch
Administrative Associate

Lori Crouch has worked at the University of Arizona since 1993, and at the Alumni Association since 2004. Prior to coming to the UA, she owned and managed a legal secretarial-paralegal business for many years in Los Angeles. At the Association, Crouch works on a variety of programming areas including lifelong learning, college relations, and reunions; and she coordinates the Association’s Alumni Authors tent at the Tucson Festival of Books, which showcases alumni talent and the UA while raising funds for literacy programs.

520-621-5516 office
lcrouch@al.arizona.edu

Marvin D. “Swede” Johnson Building
1111 N. Cherry Ave.
Room 214C

Penny Davis

Penny Davis
Administrative Associate, Awards Coordinator

Penny Davis joined the Alumni Association in 2006. She transferred to the Association from the UA Department of Chemistry, where she had worked since 1992. Davis is the administrative associate for the alumni travel program, Homecoming, and the awards and recognition program.

520-626-3835 office
davis@al.arizona.edu

Marvin D. “Swede” Johnson Building 1111 N. Cherry Ave. Room 202B

Faye Edmundson

Faye Edmundson
Information Specialist

Faye Edmundson began working for the Alumni Association in 1988 as a data entry operator in the information services (formerly records) department. Around 1993, she moved from inputting the data to retrieving the data stored on the Association database to make lists, labels, and electronic files for transfer to university departments and mail houses. She now is a specialist in Raiser’s Edge.

520-621-9027 office
alfae@al.arizona.edu

Vine Avenue Annex
1125 N. Vine Ave.
Room 202

Jill Hall

Jill Hall
Vice President, Student and Alumni Outreach

Jill Hall joined the Alumni Association in 2008, following 10 years of employment at the UA Department of Athletics. She began her UA career working as a student trainer while she earned a bachelor’s degree in education. Hall returned to the athletics department in 1998, and worked in the development office until she was promoted to director of special events in 2000.

520-621-5233 office
ghall@al.arizona.edu

Marvin D. “Swede” Johnson Building 1111 N. Cherry Ave., Room 202D

Joyce Havenga

Joyce Havenga
Information Specialist

Joyce Havenga joined the UA Alumni Association in 1991. She is the lead information services specialist in information services (formerly records).

520-621-9038 office
joyce@al.arizona.edu

Vine Avenue Annex
1125 N. Vine Ave.
Room 210

Cindy Kaiser

Cindy Kaiser
Administrative Assistant

Cindy Kaiser came to the Alumni Association in 2006 after being employed with United Airlines Mileage for more than 10 years. She began her tenure at the Association as a data input operator in information services (formerly records) and now is the accounting department administrative assistant and the Association’s office manager.

520-626-4287 office
kaiser@al.arizona.edu

Marvin D. “Swede” Johnson Building
1111 N. Cherry Ave.
Room 202N

Oscar Luján

Oscar Luján
Program Coordinator

Oscar Luján is the program coordinator of the Alumni Association’s multicultural clubs and the Association’s scholarship program. He oversees the activities of the University of Arizona Hispanic Alumni Club, University of Arizona Black Alumni Club, American Indian Alumni Club, and the Asian American Faculty, Staff, and Alumni Association. Luján earned a bachelor’s degree from the UA in 2009.

520-626-9327 office
lujano@al.arizona.edu

Marvin D. “Swede” Johnson Building
1111 N. Cherry Ave.
Room 214B

Jeff Neff

Jeff Neff
Graphic Design Supervisor

Graphic Design Supervisor Jeff Neff has art-directed the award-winning University of Arizona Alumnus magazine since 1988. Originally from New York, Jeff was a graphic designer for major national clients on Madison Avenue. Today, Jeff puts his mark on nearly every piece that comes out of the Alumni Association — from logos and brochures to newsletters and entire marketing campaigns.

520-626-3093 office
jeff@al.arizona.edu

Marvin D. “Swede” Johnson Building
1111 N. Cherry Ave.
Room 214H

Dianah Ogden

Dianah Ogden
Information Specialist

Dianah Ogden worked for Pima County Medical Assistance for three years before joining the Alumni Association information services (formerly records) department as an information services specialist in August 2001.

520-621-9039 office
dogden@al.arizona.edu

Vine Avenue Annex
1125 N. Vine Ave.
Room 210

Nick Pierson

Nick Pierson
Director, Alumni Chapters and Advertising

Nick Pierson, director of alumni chapters, began working as an intern for the Alumni Association in 2004, during his senior year at the UA. Pierson earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a double major in marketing and management and a minor in psychology from the UA in 2005, and was hired as the Association’s director of advertising and corporate partnerships. In 2006, he was promoted to assistant director of alumni chapters and in 2009, he was promoted to director of alumni chapters. As a student, Pierson was a student manager at the Student Union Gallery and he worked on a UA Advertising Federation $10 million advertising campaign for Yahoo.

602-827-2190 office
npierson@al.arizona.edu

Phoenix Regional Office
714 E. Van Buren St.
Phoenix, AZ 85006

Maria G. Plank

Maria G. Plank
Information Specialist

A native of El Paso, Maria G. Plank moved to Tucson with her family when she was 2 years old. Plank has worked as an information services specialist in information services (formerly records) at the Alumni Association since April 2001. Prior to joining the Association, she worked for Pima County Medical Assistance for seven years.

520-621-7031 office
maria@al.arizona.edu

Vine Avenue Annex
1125 N. Vine Ave.
Room 210

Kelley Prust

Kelley Prust
Director of Membership and Marketing

Kelley Prust, director of membership and marketing, moved to Tucson three years ago, and joined the Alumni Association in May 2008. At the Association, she directs membership programming including member acquisition, retention, and cultivation. Before joining the Association, Prust was involved with the University of Southern California Alumni Association, both as a student and as an alumna, and was employed by Wild Oats Markets.

520-626-9337 office
prust@al.arizona.edu

Marvin D. “Swede” Johnson Building
1111 N. Cherry Ave.
Room 202M

Jennifer Rich

Jennifer Rich
Associate Editor

Before joining the Alumni Association in 2001, Jennifer Rich worked at the UA Extended University where she was involved in many aspects of lifelong education, including the Elderhostel program. She also worked for alternative transportation, a division of UA Parking and Transportation Services. Today, she is the associate editor of and a writer for the UA Alumni Association Alumnus magazine. In addition, Rich writes the Association’s award citations for colleges, departments, commencement, and the Association’s Awards and Recognition program.

520-626-7868 office
jrich@al.arizona.edu

Marvin D. “Swede” Johnson Building
1111 N. Cherry Ave.
Room 202I

Allison Riggle

Allison Riggle
Program Coordinator

Allison Riggle joined the Alumni Association staff in May 2006, and now is the program coordinator in the membership department. She works on membership programming including member acquisition, retention, and cultivation.

520-621-9026 office
riggle@al.arizona.edu

Marvin D. “Swede” Johnson Building
1111 N. Cherry Ave.
Room 202C

Rhonda Rugg

Rhonda Rugg
Senior Business Manager

Rhonda Rugg is originally from Pennsylvania and earned a degree in accounting from Grove City College. She moved to Tucson in 1991, and was the Tucson Symphony Orchestra director of finance before she joined the staff of the Alumni Association in 2005.

520-621-9032 office
rugg@al.arizona.edu

Marvin D. “Swede” Johnson Building
1111 N. Cherry Ave.
Room 202O

Mark Strickling

Mark Strickling
Regional Director, Phoenix Regional Office

As the director of the University of Arizona Alumni Association Phoenix regional office, Mark Strickling oversees five alumni chapters, four alumni clubs, and one council, while developing activities in Maricopa County and northern Arizona. As a UA student, he was an Arizona Ambassador, an Eller School of Management Student Success Committee member, and a two-year letter-winning football player. Strickling earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing at the UA in 1994, and later earned a master’s degree in business administration and completed postsecondary coursework in education at the University of Phoenix.

602-827-2189 office
strickling@al.arizona.edu

Phoenix Regional Office
714 E. Van Buren St.
Phoenix, AZ 85006

Lisa Valentine

Lisa Valentine
Director, UA Alumni Travel, Homecoming Coordinator

Lisa Valentine joined the Alumni Association in July 2005 as an administrative associate for Homecoming, special events, student relations, and young alumni. She now is the director of alumni travel, Homecoming coordinator, and career-services liaison to the university. Valentine worked at the UA Department of Athletics for nine years, with the final two as assistant director of trademarks and licensing for the university. She earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise and sports sciences and a master’s degree in sports administration at the UA, and a master’s degree in counseling from Northern Arizona University in 2002.

520-621-5333 office
lisaval@al.arizona.edu

Marvin D. “Swede” Johnson Building
1111 N. Cherry Ave.
Room 202J

Nancy Daru Yaeli

Nancy Daru Yaeli
Vice President, College and Community Relations

Nancy Daru Yaeli graduated from the UA in 1976 and holds a J.D. from Loyola Law School Los Angeles. After practicing law for eight years, she followed her heart to the Alumni Association, where she has been employed since 1989. Yaeli oversees the Association’s college, community, and UA Foundation collaborations and relations, awards and recognition program, and educational outreach opportunities including alumni group travel, lifelong learning, and class reunion programs.

520-621-9034 office
yaeli@al.arizona.edu

Marvin D. “Swede” Johnson Building 1111 N. Cherry Ave. Room 214D

Xinyu Zhang

Xinyu Zhang
Senior Graphic Designer

Xinyu Zhang has been the Alumni Association’s senior graphic designer since June 2008. After earning a master’s degree in fine arts from the UA in 2005, she became the Web and graphic designer for the UA Cooperative Extension. Before coming to the UA, Zhang earned a bachelor’s degree in law from Peking University in Beijing in 1984, and she was a designer and editor for the China Social Sciences Press in Beijing.

520-626-9051 office
zhang@al.arizona.edu

Marvin D. “Swede” Johnson Building
1111 N. Cherry Ave.
Room 202L