Welcome to the JMC Alumni Association

As reported in the New York Times, after leaving Goldman Sachs last year Benjamin Cox (PE/IR ’96) founded NYC-based film production company Red Square Pictures.  The film company has recently completed principal photography on several narrative short films set for film festival submission this winter, including "Betrayed," one of the first narrative films shot on a digital SLR.  The film company is also ramping up its first feature project.  To be directed by Mr. Cox, the feature film is described as a cross between "Annie Hall" and "Swingers."

Madison alumnus Thomas Boyd, chief judge of the 55th District Court in Mason, was honored October 29th as an outstanding member of the legal community for making exceptional contributions to women in the law by the Mid-Michigan Region of the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan at will its 17th annual Carolyn Stell Scholarship reception.

Madison Alumni, Megan Yonke (IR/Econ ’08) and Brett Staron (IR/PE ’08), are featured presenters at Catalyst Summit: Issues and Opportunities in a Dynamic and Ever-Changing Society, sponsored by the Global Catalyst Group, LLC and the Georgetown Entrepreneurial Organization , October 3, 2009 at Georgetown University. 

Alumnus Martin Malin (JMCD ’73) was nominated to the Federal Service Impasses Panel by President Obama.  Malin is a Professor of Law and the Director of the Institute for Law and the Workplace at Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology.  He teaches courses in labor law, collective bargaining, arbitration, public sector labor law, employment law, contracts and jurisprudence.

Madison alumna Julie Novak (IR ’85) was named Executive Director of the East Lansing-based Michigan State Medical Society (MSMS) in January 2009. 

Madison alumnus Kermitt Brooks (IR ‘86) has been named Acting Superintendent of the New York State Insurance Department by NY Governor David Paterson. 

Alumnus Tom Homan (SOCEC 81), City Manager of Delaware Ohio was featured in an article in ICM PM magazine.

Alumnus William Jefferson Black (PE 06') was presented with a Great Lakes Ally of the Year award by The Alliance for Great Lakes, the preeminent community organization working to care for the lakes through education, advocacy and clean-up efforts, for his service as an advisor to the organization. 

Adam Wright (PTCD ’01) is the assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Ohio in Cincinnati, working in the civil division.  Wright most recently worked for the law firm of Vorys, Sater, Seymoour and Pease LLP.  He is a Truman Scholar and has his J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Paul D'Anieri published “International Politics: Power and Purpose” in Global Affairs (Wadsworth, 2010).

Alumnus Dayne Walling (SR ’96) won big in a six-way primary race to be Flint's next mayor, getting 44 percent of the vote, securing a spot on the August ballot.

Alumnus Michael McConnell (JMCD ’76), a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and well-known constitutional law scholar, will step down from his role on the bench to rejoin the legal academy and direct the Stanford Constitutional Law Center at the Stanford Law School. 

Alumnus Thomas Van Hare (IR ’83), with Matt Lawrence, co-authored the book BETRAYAL, Clinton, Castro & the Cuban Five.  Van Hare is President of TF Hawk, Inc.

Ellen VanCleave Klem (PTCD 2001), staff attorney, American Bar Association’s Commission on Law and Aging, has authored a report for AARP titled, “Power of Attorney Abuse: What States Can Do About It.”

Beau Kilmer (IR ’98), associate policy researcher at the RAND Drug Policy Research Center, published “The Future of DIRECT Surveillance: Drug and alcohol use Information from Remote and Continuous Testing" in the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis: Vol. 1: Iss. 1, Article 1.

Dennis Rasmussen (PTCD '00) has published The Problems and Promise of Commercial Society:  Adam Smith's Response to Rousseau (The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2008).  Dennis is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Houston.  This past year he has been a postdoctoral research associate with the Political Theory Project at Brown University.

Carrie Booth Walling (IR/PTCD '97) has been awarded a three year postdoctoral fellowship in the Michigan Society of Fellows at the University of Michigan.  The fellowship includes an appointment as Assistant Professor in the Gerald R. Ford School of Public.  She recently successfully defended her dissertation (titled "The United Nations Security Council and Intervention: Causal Stories about Human Rights and War") and has received her Ph.D, in Political Science from the University of Minnesota. 

Richard Cordray (JMCD ’81) was nominated on June 21st by the Ohio Democratic Party as their candidate for Ohio Attorney General.  He currently serves as the Treasurer of the State of Ohio.  Cordray is a Marshall scholar, a five-time Jeopardy Champion, and a member of Madison’s Board of Visitors.

Dennis Rasmussen (PTCD '00) has published The Problems and Promise of Commercial Society:  Adam Smith's Response to Rousseau (The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2008).  He is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Houston. 

Madison alumnus, Peter Spadafore (SRP ’07) is the recipient of the prestigious political leadership fellowship awarded in February by MSU’s Michigan Political Leadership Program (MPLP). Spadafore is the Associate Director for the Michigan Elementary and Middle School Principals Association.  As a student, he served as the president of the JMC Student Senate. 

Alumnus Paul Stern (JMCD ‘75) published a new book, Knowledge and Politics in Plato's Theaetetus (Cambridge University Press, 2008).  Stern is professor of politics at Ursinus College.  His first book, Socratic Rationalism and Political Philosophy:  An Interpretation of Plato's Phaedo, was published in 1993.

In November, 2007 David Thompson (IR 71) of Arlington, Virginia, was elected to the Board of Directors of the MSU GLBT Alumni Association.   David was voted as a Member at Large to the recently formed association.   For additional information about the association's activities and future plans, go to their website.  David is currently employed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, Department of Health and Human Services as the Senior Public Health Advisor for the HIV/AIDS and Methamphetamine Team.

Alumnus Bob Dorigo-Jones (JMCD ’85) published a book titled: Remove Child Before Folding: The 101 Stupidest, Silliest, and Wackiest Warning Labels Ever that has been widely publicized:

Madison alumnus Mark Reading-Smith (PTCD/IR '05) is co-author of a study "False Pretenses," claiming that false statements preceded the Iraq War.  The report was posted on the Web site of the Center for Public Integrity, which worked with the Fund for Independence in Journalism and has been highlighted in various national media including MSNBC and the New York Times.

Madison alumnus Nathan Triplett (PTCD/SR ‘06) won a seat on the East Lansing City Council November 6 and will be sworn in November 14. 

Madison alumnus, Wallace Jefferson (Urban ’85), is the recipient of the MSU Distinguished Alumnus Award.  Wallace is the Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court, the first African American to be elected to that court.  The award is given annually to MSU alumni who have distinguished themselves by obtaining the highest level of professional accomplishments and who possess the highest standards of integrity and character to positively reflect and enhance the prestige of MSU.  Wallace was the recipient of the JMC Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2001. 

Alumnus, Jon Hoadley (SR ’06) was named Executive Director of the National Stonewall Democrats Board of Directors.  Jon formerly worked at Gill Action, an issue advocacy organization working to secure equal rights regardless of sexual orientation or gender expression.

Madison alumnus Alberto Nickerson (PTCD '03) has been awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student scholarship to Nicaragua in Cultural and Intellectual History, the United States Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board announced recently.   Nickerson is one of over 1,300 U.S. citizens who will travel abroad for the 2007-2008 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. 

Recent Madison grads were featured in a June 10, 2007 Grand Rapids Press article about Michigan's college grads leaving the state: 

Madison alumnus Ronald Tenpas (IR '85) will be nominated by President George W. Bush to be Assistant Attorney General (Environment and Natural Resources Division) at the Department of Justice. Tenpas currently serves as Associate Deputy Attorney General at the Department of Justice and previously served as US Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois. 

Matt Clayson (IR/PTCD) has been selected as the chairperson of a new organization called Leadership Next affiliated with United Way for Southeastern Michigan.  Clayson is a legal coordinator at ePrize L.L.C. in Pleasant Ridge. 

Ari Kohen (IR/PTCD '99) published In Defense of Human Rights: a Non-Religious Grounding in a Pluralistic World, James Madison University (2007).  Kohen is Assistant Professor in the Department of Justice Studies at James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia. For more information on the book, visit:

Tom Boyd (Metro ’85) won re-election as a 55th District Court Judge in Ingham County, Michigan.

Richard Cordray  (JMCD '81) was elected the Treasurer of the State of Ohio.  He won 57% of the vote.  Cordray, a Madison College (and University of Chicago Law School) graduate is a Democrat.  

Matthew Clayson (IR '03) was recently featured Crain's Detroit as one of the "20 in their 20's"--20 young persons who are working to make a positive change in the Detroit Region. Over 400 were nominated by business and government leaders from the region.

After serving in communications at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Madison alumnus, Michael Polyak (IR '04), is working at the State Department in Washington, DC.

Ronald Tenpas (IR '85) was appointed in October 2005 as Associate Deputy Attorney General by Acting Deputy Attorney General Robert McCallum Jr.  He most recently served as United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois .

IR alumnus Dave Schrumpf ('82), an attorney with General Motors, has been a presenter in the STEPPS class FW/MC 181, Introduction to Science, Technology, Environment and Public Policy; one of the gateway courses to STEPPS. His talk involves " Environmental Policy Making at General Motors." 

Claudena Skran (IR '83), associate professor of government at Lawrence University, has been awarded a $60,000 grant by the Fulbright Scholar Program to conduct a study on the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in refugee resettlement in post-civil-war Sierra Leone .

During the week of April 14, Madison alumnae Riina Kionka (IR/German '83 participated in a series of events hosted by International Studies and Programs and James Madison College. She was part of a panel of current and former ambassadors all with connections to MSU, celebrating the university's tradition of international engagement.