The open sky and beautiful views of northern Nevada have a special place in Rue Beyer’s heart. They’re her office. “A mine, depending on several factors, can go from five years to 30 or 50,” Beyer said. “One of the productions I’m working on started in the 1980s and is still being worked on today—and it still has another 10 years left.” When she’s not mining, Beyer uses rocks as her playground as a mountain climber. Over the past four […]
“Five, four, three. . . And here he is once again—Jimmy Fallon!” The blue curtains on the Studio 6B stage fly open as Fallon, in a futuristic race car, zooms to center stage and challenges the studio audience to a race through New York. So begins Universal Orlando’s newest attraction, which UA alumna Olivia West helped to create as an intern in 2014. “That was my first big foray into an attraction that would actually come to fruition,” West said. […]
Since she was a child, Olivia Bensinger has strived to take care of the planet through advocating and recycling. Now, her goal is to save the planet through the law. Bensinger, a UA and Harvard Law School alumna, is an associate at Hughes, Hubbard and Reed—an international law firm that has been ranked No. 1 on The American Lawyer’s “A-List” and recently won multiple honors at the 2018 Americas IP Awards. “I wanted to get my feet on the ground […]
As the director of east Oregon’s Umatilla Basin Watershed Council, alumnus Michael Ward is helping to preserve salmon species across the Pacific Northwest, and in the process he won the 2017 Water Resources Conservation Award for his work. Steelhead salmon, one of the species Ward works to protect, relies on access to mountain streams in order to spawn. The fish are born in these freshwater streams, and after they mature and travel downstream to the Pacific Ocean, they make […]
Alumnus Michael Moore is about to disrupt the world of biopsies. As the CEO and co-founder of Med Kairos, Moore and his colleagues have created an algorithm-based camera that identifies and counts cancerous cells from biopsy samples—a process that was previously done manually. The camera is expected to save hospitals and their patients both countless hours and millions of dollars. “We were cued into the need for this technology from personal experience,” Moore said. “My dad had tonsil cancer back […]
For most, being cast in a Broadway musical would be hard enough. Landing the lead? Practically impossible. But for Michael Luwoye, the star of the most-expensive and sought-after ticket in Broadway history, becoming Hamilton’s Hamilton was almost an accident. “I started out auditioning for the roles of Hercules Mulligan and James Madison,” Luwoye said. “I never thought of playing Hamilton. That was never in my mind.” Hamilton: An American Musical is a Tony Award-Winning hip-hop/rap sensation that relies on a […]
Mary Harmon Young has quickly become one of the most influential and established realtors in the nation, thanks to her creative genes and desire to help her Tuscaloosa community. Recently, she was honored with state and national awards including a spot on the National Realtors Association 30 Under 30 list, something she calls a “coveted honor.” “The best thing about this job is that I get to help people,” Young said. “It may be something as simple as helping them […]
Looking at speech pathologist Lara Dean’s schedule, you might wonder if she has any free time. Dean works full time for the Birmingham City Schools identifying children with autism, speech or language impairment, or other health impairments; she co-owns her own private practice where she conducts individual sessions with students; and she works with KultureCity to develop and roll out their Sensory Initiative Program across the country. KultureCity’s Sensory Initiative Program trains public venues such as zoos and sports arenas, […]
As a creative director and curator of her own brand, Laci Jordan is the epitome of success. The graphic design superstar originally set out to be an FBI agent—receiving her first degree in criminal justice in 2010—but now she is hailed by the likes of Essence and Forbes magazines as “the definition of black girl magic” and a dynamic woman who “has an undeniable pulse on what’s relevant for millennials.” Jordan has worked for Disney Imagineering, ABC, and as a […]
As the conversation on healthcare continues to heat up on national and local scales, innovative minds like Koushik Kasanagottu are dedicated to entering the primary care field and changing the narrative of healthcare infrastructure and availability in the United States. Kasanagottu’s medical career is dedicated to focusing on rural areas with inadequate healthcare providers, and finding innovative solutions to instill preventative healthcare and eradicate common preventable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. “The number one cause of death in the […]