JMC Newsletter

Alumnus Paul J. D’Anieri (IR ‘86) has been selected as the dean of the University of Florida’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.  He was formerly the associate dean of humanities at the University of Kansas. 

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.