1950s
Douglas P. Starr (1950 BAJ) was honored by a scholarship created in his name by the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications at Texas A&M University. The first scholarship will be awarded in September 2016.
1970s
John Porterfield (1973) and Anita Belles Porterfield wrote "Death on Base: The Fort Hood Massacre." It is part of the North Texas Crime and Criminal Justice Series published by the University of North Texas Press.


Del Moon (1975) this summer served as communications and media director for the National Senior Games held in Minneapolis-St. Paul, a 13-day multi-sports event that attracted nearly 10,000 senior athletes.  He hired a Manship sophomore as an intern,
Mary Johns, and said she was "simply phenomenal."  

Jay Dardenne (1976; J.D. 1979) is commissioner of administration for Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, who took office on January 11, 2016.
Rachel L. Emanuel (1977 BAMC; 1990 MMC) wrote "Images of America: Scotlandville" with co-authors Rudy Jean Simms and Charles Vincent.
1980s

Inga Frederic Thrasher (1984) has been nominated for seven Emmy awards and won four in the past four years.  She was nominated for "Outstanding Hairstyling for a Multi-camera Series or Special" as a member of the hairstyling team at Saturday Night Live in New York City.  Inga resides in New Jersey with her husband Mark, who is a musician on Broadway and their two daughters
Blake Kaplan (1988) in August was named editor and vice president of the Biloxi Sun Herald, where he has worked for 21 years.
 
1990s
 
Sam Moore (1991, M.J.) is the Associated Press regional television/media sales executive for the central U.S.  He is based in Dallas.
 
Jennifer Goundas Diiullo (1998) started her own media strategy company, Big Wave Media, in San Francisco. She is also a professor at San Francisco State University.
 
2000-2009
 
Nancy Little (2001) is the membership manager for the New York City Ballet.
 
Kimberlin Butler (2002) was sworn in June 22 to an appointment in the Obama administration to assist with key White House place-based initiatives in the U.S. Department of Education.
 
Patrick McCune (2003 BAMC; 2008 MBA; 2008 JD) joined the Baton Rouge office of Adams and Reese, LLP as an associate attorney.  He was previously an associate at Jones Walker, LLP.
 
Julie Guidry Laperouse (2003) left the Baton Rouge Chamber to join Emergent Method as director of training.  Emergent is a Baton Rouge-based management and strategy consulting firm. 
 
Norisha Kirts (2003) has joined Baton Rouge-based management and strategy consulting firm Emergent Method as a senior consultant.  She is also the co-founder and president of Kirts Fremin General Contractors.
 
Kendall Hebert (2003) was named the development director for the new Cristo Rey Baton Rouge High School. This new, private, Catholic school is a college-preparatory  school for low-income students in the Baton Rouge area.
 
Tristi Bercegeay Charpentier (BAMC 2005, MMC 2007) founded Philantactics LLC, a consulting firm specializing in strategic and effective philanthropy, nonprofit management and communication tactics.


Megan Kelty (2005) won an Emmy Award on Sept. 28 in New York as part of a team for Outstanding Feature Story in a regularly scheduled newscast.  Kelty worked for CBS with correspondent Steve Hartman, and recently took a job with "60 Minutes." 

Adam Causey (2005) left the Las Vegas Review-Journal for an editing job with the Associated Press in Phoenix, where he'll be part of a team of journalists that handles news from 13 states in the West.




Kristy Davis (2006) is a media manager at UC Health in Cincinnati. She was a news reporter for WBRZ in Baton Rouge for six years and most recently reported for WLWT-TV in Cincinnati. Pictured: Dr. Andrea Miller (left) and Kristy Davis (right). 

Samuel Moore (2006) is head of global public relations for BloomReach, West Hollywood, California.
 
Shearon Roberts (MMC 2007) was selected by the United Negro College Fund as the 2015-16 Henry C. McBay Faculty Fellow.  She will receive $15,000 to fund her research in Haiti over the next academic year.
 
Cami Dinkel Geisman (2007), former deputy communications director for Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, has accepted a job in communications at the University of Lafayette System. 
 
Laura Chan (2010) is senior event coordinator at Twitter in San Francisco.
 
2010-2015
 
Chris Hagan (2011) left WAFB in September to report for WVUE and Fox 8 Sports
Team in New Orleans.
 
Miracle Johnson (2012; MBA, 2014) is an associate at KPMG US, an audit, tax and advisory firm in Houston.
 
Thomas Rodgers (2013) is head of communications at New Schools for Baton Rouge, an education nonprofit dedicated to citywide excellence in education.
 
Rhya Martin (2013) is studying law at the University of Maryland School of Law.
 
Claire Callier (2013) is a public information officer at the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance in Baton Rouge.
 
John Williams (2013) is CEO of JCW Productions in Baton Rouge.  JCW is a design/graphics agency with a staff of six (three are LSU Mass Communications alumni).
 
Rai Masuda (2013 MMC) is director of integrated marketing at Forte Interactive, Inc. in West Palm Beach, Fla.
 
Megan Gibbs Talley (2014) joined NRG, a Fortune 200 energy company, as a communications specialist in June.  She and her husband live in Houston.
 
Kelci Sibley (2014 ) is a marketing assistant for Breazeale, Sachse and Wilson, L. L.P. in Baton Rouge.
 
Mallory Richardson (2014 ) is moving to Asheville, North Carolina to serve as a digital marketing coordinator for Tupelo Honey Cafe, a growing restaurant chain along the East Coast.
 
Robin Ceppos (2014) received an Iowa Caucus Fellowship from "Hillary for America." She spent the fall assisting the campaign in Iowa.
 
Kristen Higdon (MMC 2015) is teaching English at Lutcher High School in Lutcher, La.
 
Abby Winn (2015) works for communications consultants at CommCore in Washington.
 
Shaunda Johnson (2015) is an English teacher in South Korea.
 
Lauren Leist (2012; MMC 2015) is a speech writer for Gov. John Bel Edwards.

Marriages/engagements
 
Lindsay Newport ( 2008; 2010 MMC) married Ryan Jackson on October 31.  Lindsay is director of new media marketing for Sotherly Hotels in Williamsburg, Va. 

Parker Wishik (2009) married Emily Duke on August 15 in Ocean Springs, Miss. Several Manship alumni attended, and two were in the wedding party.  In August, Parker started a new job as an account supervisor for Hill+Knowlton Strategies in Washington. 

Front row- Kelli Eason Brignac, Parker Wishik, Laura Weems Ybarra, Amy Brittain and Paige Payne.
Back row- Justin Runyon and Joe Coussan

Andrew Koehler (2011 BAMC; 2013 MBA) and Alexandra Waters were married on April 24 in New Orleans, where they reside.
 
Ted Greener (2011 MMC) married Elizabeth Bender on October 31.  He recently accepted a job as director of public affairs for the Association of American Railroads in Washington.
 
John Parker Ford (2013) and Heather Lawless were engaged last November and will marry in March 2016.  John is communications director at Louisiana Association of Health Plans in Baton Rouge.
 
Garesia Shay Randle (2008) is engaged to Tony Warfield.  They live in Houston, where Shay is a teacher and hair stylist.
 
Ginger Gibson (2008) is newly engaged to Travis Burk.  She recently accepted a new position as campaign reporter with Reuters Thomson in Washington and will cover the 2016 presidential campaign.




Sarah Voelkel (2015 MMC)) is engaged to Robert Killeen.  Sarah is an account coordinator at Wright Feigley Communications and copy editor at The Water Institute of the Gulf. 

Chelsea Brasted (2012) is engaged to Luke Johnson (2012).  She is a lifestyle and culture reporter for NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune, and he is a sports writer for The Acadiana Advocate.
 
Latest additions

Lucas Lane (2007) and wife Ashley Ney Lane, welcomed their first son, Landry Michael, on April 3, 2015 in Austin, Texas.  Also, Lucas was elected to serve on the national board of directors for the American Advertising Federation. 
 
Ernie Ballard (2001 BAMC, 2003 MBA) and wife Ashley Allemand Ballard proudly announce the birth of Gloria James, born March 26, 2015.  "Glori" was welcomed by two brothers, Trace and Fisher.  Ernie is media relations director of LSU's Division of Strategic Communications.
 
Jackie Cole Wax (2005; MMC 2010) and husband Jamie welcomed a baby girl, Eloise.  




Jonathan Bhatia (1998) and his wife announce the Nov. 17 birth of their daughter, Maryam Judith Bhatia.  He is a change initiative adviser at ExxonMobil in Houston.  

In Memoriam 

Carol Gandy (Seip) Bird (1946) died Feb. 22, 2015, at the age of 89 in Baton Rouge.  She served as editor of LSU Alumni News, then worked at the Baton Rouge social magazine "In Register" for many years.  Bird ended her career as a commercial real estate agent.
 
Richard Tucker Sr. (1976) died Jan. 29, 2015 at age 67 in New Orleans.  He was a mechanical designer and later president of the family business, George Tucker and Associates.
 
Stephanie Rochon (1987) died June 3, 2015 in Richmond, Va., where she was a longtime anchor on WTVR CBS 6.  She is survived by her husband and two sons.
 
Robert J. "Bob" Neese (1975) died November 2, 2015, in Baton Rouge.  At various times during his career he worked at WJBO, WVLA, WBRZ and The Advocate.  In April, following 20 years of service, he retired from Louisiana Public Broadcasting.  He was 62.
 
Patricia Tessier (1952) died December 29, 2015, at the age of 83 in Baton Rouge.  From Feb. 1953 to July 1995, she was a reporter, writer and editor for the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, the State Times and The Advocate, retiring as editor of the People Section for the Advocate. 
Let's stay in touch!

Have you moved? Changed jobs? Updated your e-mail address or phone number? Received an award?

If there's anything you'd like us to know, send an alumni update to Linda Rewerts. We'd be happy to post internships or job openings, too.

We also encourage you to visit the Manship School website - there is so much happening, you won't want to miss a thing.