Dane Hanawahine-Gather, '18 BA Psychology, is a bioenvironmental engineering apprentice in the U.S. Air Force and is currently assigned to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. He enjoys swimming, hiking, photography, snorkeling, kayaking, and video games.

Alex Stopa, '04 MM Percussion Performance and '13 DMA Percussion Performance, received three Emmy nominations for his original composition, Spiral, at the 49th Annual Pacific-Southwest Emmmy Awards. He won two of these in the categories of "Arts and Entertainment" and "Director – Short Form Content." Stopa says, “I’m thrilled and honored to receive these Awards. I hope that this unique project helps to showcase our local arts community, and the unique talent that we have here in Las Vegas.” Spiral is an original composition for percussion quartet that fuses classical, pop, and jazz styles. Stopa writes of the piece, “As a musician living in Las Vegas, I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to perform a broad range of musical styles. One night I might be in the Smith Center with the Philharmonic or a touring Broadway show, the next I might be in a jazz or rock club. The music that I write is inspired by this diversity.” The piece is built around a repeated rhythmic motif: a pattern of five that can be heard on the vibraphone near the beginning of the piece. “I imagined this spiraling pattern as the rhythmic DNA of the work; a musical double helix. This imagery formed the inspiration for the title.” The video was shot at the Art Square Theatre in Las Vegas by a local film crew including multiple Emmy award winning editor and director Michael Tushaus (Digisphere Productions) with cinematographer Tim Harbour and camera operator Gray Gubler. The recording engineer was Josh Connolly (Studio A) and mix engineer was Robby Wingfield. This project is supported in part by the Nevada Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. Pana Percussion Quartet members are Alex Stopa, Ryun Louie, Jeffery Crowell, and Eliseo Rael.  Stopa is a drummer, percussionist, marimba soloist, and composer based in Las Vegas who graduated from UNLV with a Doctor of Musical Arts in 2013.

Randy Gayler, '87 BA Computer Science, just published his second novel, The Neon God. The novel is a riveting story of AI gone awry. "With a degree in computer science, what else could I write about?" He says.

Becky Bosshart, '14 MFA Creative Writing, helped implement a $10,000 grant from the U.S. Department of State’s Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund to help children with special educational needs displaced from Russia’s war in Ukraine. Earlier this year, the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs invited U.S. citizen alumni of all U.S. government-sponsored exchange programs to apply for grants of up to $10,000 as part of the Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund funding opportunity. Exchange program alumni from across the U.S. submitted proposals for public service projects.Bosshart heads grant management and advocacy/outreach for the project. She is a member of Alliance for Ukraine Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and the Fulbright U.S. Alumni Association (Romania 2015-16). While volunteering at Chernivtsi National University as part of the UNLV Master’s International program, Bosshart was evacuated along with more than 200 other U.S. Peace Corps volunteers when Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014. Before moving cross country to work in Washington, D.C., she taught business writing and composition/rhetoric at UNLV. While a master's student at UNLV, she was awarded a U.S. Fulbright grant to Romania, where she completed a project to develop a series of contemporary American literature workbooks to teach English communication skills.

Kenneth W. Fong, '78 BSBA Management, was recently selected in Marquis Who's Who in America. Fong was a general partner and manager of Fong and Associates, which had owned and managed several Las Vegas shopping centers and offices. He is a certified property manager emeritus. He holds an MBA from San Francisco State University. During his property management career, Fong was awarded the 2001 Business Person of the Year by the Las Vegas Asian Chamber of Commerce, and was awarded the 2002 Certified Property Manager of the Year by the Las Vegas Chapter of the Institute of Real Estate Management. He had served as president of the Las Vegas West Rotary Club during 2000-2001, and president of the Las Vegas Chapter of the Institute of Real Estate Management in 2004. In his earlier career, Fong had worked at Bank of America as an assistant vice president and trust real estate officer. Fong has also taught part time as an adjunct instructor in finance and real estate at UNLV and the College of Southern Nevada. He is an avid smooth jazz fan of KUNV 91.5 Jazz and More. He also enjoys daily workouts at the gym.

Brett Hughett, '03 B.S. Hotel Administration, founded Carbon Valley Solar and joined the Solar Energy Partners network of independent specialists to service primarily northern Colorado homeowners with transitioning to solar. This career transition has allowed him to combine his passions for hospitality, real estate, entrepreneurship, and serving others, while helping homeowners realize the amazing benefits and abundant savings associated with going solar. Although based in Colorado, Hughett is happy to help UNLV alumni in any state learn more about whether solar makes sense for them and their home.

Thomas Cook, '85 BS Hotel Administration, lives in Honolulu, Hawaii, and is the first vice president of investments at Stifel Nicolaus. He's proud of his grandchildren, who refer to him as "Guppie."

Lisa Griffith Story, ’84 BA Communication Studies, co-authored with Carl Laurin the book, Pardon Me, Father, the mostly-true story about a con man turned holy man who used his military skills, Cold War experiences, and Catholic altar boy memories to mine for diamonds (legally) in Sierra Leone in the 1980s and smuggle them out (illegally) dressed as a priest. The authors were brought together by an adventurous man, Walt Reca, who was Story’s uncle and Laurin’s Michigan Parachute Team buddy. Pardon Me, Father is available on Amazon.com in eBook and paperback and BarnesandNoble.com in paperback.

Bonnie Taylor, '03 BA Criminal Justice and '06 MA Public Administration, works at Talent Resources, a leading full-service marketing, and creative strategy agency. The company has named Taylor partner and chief communications and strategy officer in recognition of her outstanding achievements. A former TR client on the agency side for Dunkin’, Taylor joined Talent Resources in 2020 and created the agency’s highly successful communications team, which comprises industry veterans in key locations across the country. Taylor is responsible for bringing in high-profile clients such as The Athlete’s Foot, Jordan’s Skinny Mixes, Ohza, and was instrumental in the Ben Affleck and Dunkin’ collaboration. In her new role, Taylor will continue to lead the development and execution of communications and strategic initiatives across Talent Resources’ diverse portfolio of clients including the UK expansion. Her extensive experience in public relations and marketing has been an invaluable asset in growing all divisions while elevating Talent Resources’ overall profile. Taylor currently resides outside of Boston with her husband and two sons.

Jason B. Cooper, '97 MA Anthropology, is a professional archaeologist working with the Washington State Department of Transportation. He is the cultural resources lead for WSDOT's Northwest Region based in Seattle. He was recently re-elected as president of the Association for Washington Archaeology, a non-profit organization committed to the protection of archaeological and historic resources in the state of Washington. Cooper recently co-authored an archaeological monograph, Hunters of the Mid-Holocene Forest: Old Cordilleran Cultural Sites at Granite Falls, Washington, that examined the archaeological evidence recovered from two precontact sites that were being impacted by highway construction. He is married to wife, Karin, and is father of Marlene, 21, and Caleb, 18, and lives in Seattle.  

Lisa Levy, '00 BA Interdisciplinary Studies and '04 MA Special Education, has spent 20 years as a special education teacher at two local high schools. She's worked in the Clark County School District for over 35 years. Levy loves traveling and watching NASCAR.

Maria Donnalin Maliwat, '98 Hospitality, is proud to announce her son, Brandon Bugay, '22 BS Nursing, passed his NCLEX exam and is joining his siblings to be a registered nurse.