Portland State Magazine Winter 2012

ALUMNI PROFILE CHRIS KITCHEL MBA '77 Superlawyer "Growing up, the concept of a professional career was an abstract," says Chris Kitchel. And yet, she has crafted a career that is anything but an abstraction. Kitchel, a trial lawyer for the Portland-based law firm Stoel Rives, has been named a Leading Lawyer for Business in a national guide book each year since 2006. In 2010, she received the Multnomah Bar Association's Mentor of the Year Award, reflecting her dedication to assisting young women attorneys. Kitchel earned her law degree in 1981 from Lewis & Clark College. Most recently, she was named one of the top 50 Oregon Super Lawyers for 2011. She joins three other PSU alumni on the 2011 list: John E. Hart '71, Steven M. Hedberg '81, and Edward Sullivan '82. Kitchel represents employers in employment lawsuits. " I like solving problems," she says. "I like figuring out what I have to get and how to get it." She took that problem-solving expertise on a 2011 sabbatical trip to Kenya, where she worked with young, female Kenyan lawyers, focusing on crimes against women. After two months, she came home with a fresh appreciation for the U.S justice system. "On a national scale in Kenya, it's a hopeless situation. Women are still viewed as property. But it helped me realize you can change one person's life at a time." Kitchel and her husband, Jan, an attorney with Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, have three daughters, the youngest of whom is finishing her law degree. BY MEG DESCAMP 24 PORTLANO STATE MAGAZINE WINTER 2012 and Computer Science Academy of Distinguished Alumni. Andrew Asato MPA '96 is executive director of the Make– A-Wish Foundation in Oregon. He was previously in charge of development and public relations. Asato enjoys garden– ing, cooking, bodysurfing, and reading a book with his children at the end of the day. David Audley MA '97 is execu– tive director and chief executive officer for International Cellular Medicine Society, a safety advo– cacy organization for seem cell patients based in Salem. Benjamin de Haan PhD '97 is the executive director for Partners for Our Children, a chi ld welfare policy and practice collective based in Seattle. De Haan was founding president of the Children's Justice Alliance, an advocacy organization for Oregon chi ld ren whose parents are involved in the criminal justice system. He continues to serve as board chair of the Chil– dren's Trust Fund of Oregon Foundation, a private endow– ment focused on preventing child abuse. Ezekiel Ette MSW '99, PhD 'OS is a professor of social work at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho. He is the author of a new book, Nigerian Immigrants in the United States: Race, Ethnicity andAcculturation. Steve Flunker MBA '99 is director of international crans– porcacion for Abercrombie & Fitch, a clothing retailer with more than 300 locations in rhe United Scares. He lives in Blacklick, Ohio. Darcy Rocha '99 has scarred a public relations company in her homerown of Heath, Texas, specializing in encercain– ment, nonprofits, and the arcs. Rocha also is president of the Catholic Mothers Council. While at PSU, she was a srudent ambassador, peer mentor, new scudenc orientation co-coordi– nator, campus rour coordinaror, and member of che University Choir. Eli Spevak MURP '99 is developing a new housing project in Portland called Cully Grove ch rough Orange Splat, his housing development and general contracting company. He does public speaking on the opporcunicies and challenges of developing clusters of small homes and shared common spaces. He I ives in Portland with his wife, Noelle Studer– Spevak, former sustainability manager at PSU. Wu Yang MS '99 recently co-authored an article tided "Diagnosis-Driven Yield Analy– sis Improves Mature Yield," published in the fall issue of Chip Design Magazine. Yang is a technical marketing engineer at Mentor Graphics, an electronic design automation company based in Wilsonville. Yang lives in West Linn . 2000-2011 Leslee Parr PhD '00 is a pro– fessor and graduate coordinator for biological sciences at San Jose Scare University in Cali– fornia. She also is the program director of the Nationa l lnsci– cure ofHealrh's Minority Access co Research Careers, which sup– ports undergraduate srudents who are underrepresented in the biomedical and behavioral sciences with preparation for graduate training at the doctor– ate level. Paige Battle MeD '01 has received che 2011 Washington Library Media Association Outstanding Teacher Librarian of the Year award for her work at Union High School in Van– couver, Washington. Currently, Batel~ is the librarian for Granc High School in Portland.