2017-2018 Protégés
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Michael Andrews
Michael Andrews is a financial professional and lifelong Alaskan. He completed his Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance in 2015 through the University of Alaska Anchorage and currently works for Jacobs Technology Inc. as a Cost Analyst. His professional experience ranges from corporate, non-profit, as well as both state and federal employment. Michael is currently pursuing his Masters of Business Administration and plans on graduating Fall 2018. Being part of the Leadership Fellows Program, Michael hopes to broaden and develop his professional skills that will help him become a successful leader in his community. Michael loves exploring new places. In his spare time, he loves traveling, adventuring with his two dogs, and enjoying everything Alaska has to offer.
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Kelly Reed Burden
Kelly was born in Mountain Home, Idaho, a small town outside of Idaho’s capital of Boise. Prior to attending college, Kelly spent eight years in an operations management role for MotivePower, a Wabtec Corporation company that manufactures and repairs locomotives for customers worldwide. In his time there, Kelly taught Lean Manufacturing courses in the eastern United States, Canada, and Mexico. In 2013 Kelly left the company to further his education and pursue a degree in Business Management.
After attending Boise State University for two years, Kelly moved to Alaska and transferred to the University of Alaska Anchorage. He is currently in his senior year and will receive a BBA in the summer of 2018. Following his bachelors degree, Kelly plans to continue his education at UAA in the MBA program.
Kelly’s decision to finish his degree in Alaska was the culmination of a lifelong dream to explore the Alaskan wilderness and its rich history. When not fishing, hiking, or camping, Kelly works for the Southcentral Foundation as a process improvement manager and continues to enjoy teaching and participating in continuous improvement activities.
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Karen Denton
Karen Denton is currently in the first semester of her pursuit of double masters degrees, Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance and Accounting through the University of Alaska Anchorage and Master of Science in Accountancy through Boise State University via their online degree program. She came to UAA looking for “some skills” after a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis cut short her career in the Army at 18 years of service. After a challenging and rewarding career as a Blackhawk helicopter mechanic and crew chief, Karen was drawn to subjects which demanded attention to detail, critical thinking and reasoning skills just as in her former life. She completed an Occupational Endorsement Certificate in Pharmacy Technology in May of 2015 before embarking on an Accounting adventure, which began with an Associates Degree in Accounting awarded in December of 2016 and a Bachelors Degree in Accounting completed in December of 2017. Karen’s current plans involve testing for both a Certified Managerial Accountant license and a Certified Public Accountant license in 2018 and the searching for a job in the Auditing field of a public accounting firm.
Karen is happily married, has two grown children currently doing their best to behave as adults when necessary and one slightly crazy cat. She spends a great deal of time participating as a member of several academic honor societies as well as Student Veterans of UAA and the UAA Accounting Club. She enjoys old sci-fi and Godzilla movies and fantasy novels with leanings toward mythical creatures and magic, when there’s time for such things.
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Jennifer Gosh
Jennifer Gosh is currently pursuing her Master in Business Administration from the University of Alaska in Anchorage, with an expected graduation date of May, 2019. Jennifer graduated from UAA in 2017 with a bachelors degree in Business Administration with majors in Marketing and Management and minors in Journalism and Psychology.
Born and raised in North Carolina, Jennifer moved to Alaska in January of 2002 as a broadcast journalist in the Army. She quickly fell in love with the Alaskan lifestyle and has lived here ever since. Jennifer enjoys camping, fishing, and kayaking. She also loves volunteering with her kids sports teams and at her church as a Sunday School teacher, TeamKID leader, and Vacation Bible School Director.
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Ryan Horn
Ryan Horn was originally born in Florida, grew up in Grass Valley, CA, went to college in SoCal as a Theatre and Musical Theatre, then joined the US Air Force 2003 to be a C-17 Loadmaster. Spent 11 and a half years serving. When it was time to leave the service he was without a direction. Luckily The military has many opportunities to help figure out where to go. After taking multiple personality, aptitude, skills, and interest tests only two careers showed up in the results of each one; Actor and Marketing Manager. When He looked at the job description of Marketing Manager he realized that was what he was doing for fun while in the Air Force. He started going to the University of Alaska Anchorage shortly after leaving the military pursuing two degrees in management and marketing with a minor in communications.
He is currently the President of the Management and Marketing Club, works as an Intern for GCI, is the Marketing Coordinator for a local nonprofit called Senshi-Con, is a part of the Emerging Leaders program, and has held positions on UAA Club council and UAA student government.
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Tyler Kirn
Tyler is in his final year of his undergraduate pursuing a Bachelor's of Business Administration with a double major in Management and Global Logistics and Supply Chain Management. He is currently working as an intern at the Port of Alaska and will be working as a Logistics Coordinator for Princess Cruises this summer. Tyler would like to continue his education soon after graduating with his undergraduate by pursuing a Master's degree. He is also the current President of UAA's Global Logistics Association and strives to arrange the coolest tours ever for the club members.
Outside of school Tyler also enjoys learning new things. Tyler speaks German fluently and has made great progress in studying Russian, Spanish, and Danish. He also loves technology and likes to learn programming and graphic design skills. Although, playing with his dog is still the best part of his day.
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Tanya Lauscher
Tanya Lauscher was born and raised in Northern California. Upon graduating high school, she joined the Army as a Logistics Management Specialist. After four years in the military, Ms. Lauscher decided to pursue an Information Technology career and started working as a civilian for the federal government. She worked in the Information Technology profession until seven years ago, when she decided to change professions and became the Administrative Officer for the U.S. Marshals, where she continues to work today.
During the last 25 years, Ms. Lauscher worked for the Veterans Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, Department of Defense, and the U.S. Marshals Service. The federal government provided her with the opportunity to live and work in Germany for 10 years and travel across Europe and the United States. While living in Germany, she received her Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology with a minor in Business Administration from the University of Maryland. After almost ten years of receiving her Bachelor’s degree, she decided to return to school and earn her Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) with a Public Administration emphasis through the University of Alaska Anchorage.
Ms. Lauscher loves to travel and spend time with her husband and pets. They enjoy travelling around Alaska in their RV and exploring the beautiful Alaska wilderness.
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Teresa Hyun Jung Lee
Hyun Jung Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea. She goes by Teresa, which is her Catholic given name in the United States. She moved to Anchorage, Alaska after her graduation. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Studies from Yonsei University, Seoul in 2013.
Teresa thinks living in a foreign country is fascinating. She learns new things every day. She loves the beautiful nature and diverse culture in Alaska. She likes to hike beautiful mountains, participate in local events, and practice yoga in her free time.
Moving to a new country and searching for the right career, Teresa decided to pursue an accounting degree at UAA. While working full time as an assurance intern at BDO, she will finish her final year in school. While managing her final year at UAA, she plans to obtain her CPA license within the year after her graduation. She plans to take the first out of four sections of the CPA exam in summer 2018.
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Joe McGlaughlin
Joe McGlaughlin is in his final year at the University of Alaska pursuing his degree in Accounting and Management Information Systems. During his collegiate experience at UAA, Joe has sought to immerse himself in his chosen fields by joining UAA's Accounting and Cyber Security Clubs, while seizing every opportunity to refine his leadership skills. Most recently as the team captain for the 2017 At-Large Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (ALCCDC) and previously serving as the Vice President and Treasurer for the Cyber Security Club.
Joe's dedication to creating improvement and efficiency brought him to the Tom Case Leadership Fellows Program. This program created opportunities for Joe to network with local professionals and gain valuable insight into the development of industry leaders. This program has provided the knowledgeable insight and diverse perspectives that will be valuable resources for years to come.
Joe's passion for community keeps him active in school functions but outside his school commitments, he enjoys spending time outdoors hiking, biking, off-roading and spending time with his close friends and family.
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Ashley Roylance
Ashley Roylance is a life-long Alaskan who decided to continue her post-secondary education in Alaska because of the great opportunities offered through UAA. She is expected to graduate December 2018 with a BBA in Management and Marketing with minors in Spanish and International Studies. Ashley is extremely involved on campus with various organizations such as; Alpha Sigma Alpha, the UAA Dance Ensemble, the Tom Case Leadership Fellows. During the summer months, Ashley enjoys anything the Alaskan outdoors as to offer. She also has a passion for traveling and learning about other cultures and traditions abroad. For the Spring 2017 semester she studied abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina at La Universidad de Belgrano where she improved her Spanish and was enchanted by Argentine culture.
Ashley currently works as Dr. Nelson’s, Director of Graduate Programs, student assistant at the College of Business and Public Policy. She aspires to work in upper-management so that she can find ways to empower women to take on more leadership roles in areas that have been historically dominated by men. She is thankful for her time with Dr. Nelson and her mentor, Michael Thomas, who have actively invested their time in her future and professional development.
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Nathanial Shoya Watanabe
Nathanial Shoya Watanabe is a multiple degree student majoring in finance and economics. Originally born in Chiba, Japan, he moved to America when he was 4 years old with his family – identical twin brother, Mother (American), and father (Japanese). After living in Indiana for a couple of years, the Watanabe family moved to Alaska, to be closer to relatives. Ever since then, Shoya has lived in Alaska for most of his life, and attended elementary, middle, and high school in Palmer. Once Shoya was admitted to UAA, he decided to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering. However, he soon realized that chemistry and other sciences was not his forte, but math was. He later decided to pursue economics, and later, finance. Outside of class, he is heavily involved on campus. He is a mentor for the Seawolf Success program through the Multicultural Center, the president of Finance & Investments club, and a USUAA (student government) Senator. Outside of school, he likes to hang out with friends, play basketball, swim, and snowboard.
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Svetlana Suvorova
Svetlana Suvorova was born and raised in the Far East, Russia. Last year she came to Alaska with the Sister Cities program. An interest in globalization and a dream to run international business drove her to the United States to receive undergraduate degree in Finance. She is certainly happy to be here. It took her 2 years to pass all necessary exams to be allowed to come to Alaska. She is simultaneously continuing her education in the Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service, where she will graduate with bachelor degree of Business Management this spring. She says that the biggest lesson she learned from both universities is that no amount of education can make you a good student, worker or leader unless you put forth the work on your own.
Currently, she plans events and does various activities as president of the Russian Students Community at the University of Alaska Anchorage. She is also a member of the Marketing and Management club, the Spanish club and the Sierra club. People have always been one of her biggest sources of motivation. That is why she started to learn different languages. She believes the more diverse background you have, the easier is for you to accept change. That is what she calls real business environment, when you got to be ready for anything and react as fast as you can to “live long and prosper.”
Finally, she believes that building the right connections now is the key to success in today’s business environment. Summarizing this one year experience of networking and achieving individual goals, she says: “Thank you Dr. Nelson for letting me join the best part of society I always was inspired by. I am ready to strive to become one of you.”