CARBONDALE, Ill. – The SIU Alumni Association has selected six alumni to join the organization’s Board of Directors after a nationwide call for all Southern Illinois University Carbondale graduates in late 2021. Each new member will serve a term of two years from July 2022, with the possibility of being re-elected for a second term.
Michael Blumhorst ’84, ’85, president-elect of the board of directors and chairman of the selection committee that selected the list of nominations, says the response the association has received from the call has been more than expected and that the quality of the candidates was excellent.
“The committee had their work cut out to review the documents that our alumni sent for review,” Blumhorst said. “Of course, we always knew there would be plenty of worthy candidates to join us on the board, and I’m confident the people we’ve selected will complement our permanent members well.”
With upcoming appointments, the association now has 25 directors. Retiring members of the association are Dorothy “Dede” Ittner ’61, Nicholas Harkovich ’76, Holly Kruep ’01, Slade O’Keefe ’91 and Charles Stewart III ’03. They were honored for their service at the spring board meeting in April.
“The association has been fortunate to have such a dedicated group of alumni, many of whom have served on the board for years,” said Jeff Gleim, executive director of the SIU Alumni Association. . “As we began to chart our future, it became clear to everyone that other alumni should be given the opportunity to serve the university. We are proud to say that the pedigree of those who come to the board is just as strong as that of those who withdraw.
The new members of the SIU Alumni Association National Board of Directors are:
Makela clay
Clay received a BA in History from SIU Carbondale in 1999 and later a Diploma in Cultural Museum Studies from Harvard University in 2003.
She lives and works in San Francisco as an operations consultant, with a focus on administrative functions. In her two decades of experience, she has gained a diverse background and proven track record in fundraising, event and project management, executive support, office management, social media strategy and customer relationship management. She has worked for companies such as Twitter, Goldman Sachs, Monitor Deloitte, Commonwealth Club of California and San Francisco Girls Chorus.
His career milestones include being part of the administrative team for Blue Apron’s IPO, being part of a fundraising team that successfully raised $5.75 million for the purchasing a building for the Commonwealth Club of California and starting the alumni relations department of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. .
Nicole Engelhardt
Engelhardt, of St. Louis, graduated from the SIU School of Law in 2020 after earning a bachelor’s degree in construction science from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.
She currently works for Brown & James in Belleville, Illinois. His legal experience includes working with the Williamson County State’s Attorney’s Office in Illinois, as well as Sam C. Mitchell & Associates in West Frankfort. She previously served as an intern in the office of U.S. Representative Mike Bost and a project engineer at Clayco in St. Louis. Her pro bono activities include her work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and as a court-appointed special advocate in Williamson County, Illinois.
Casey Hale
Hale earned a bachelor’s degree from SIU in 2004 before earning a master’s degree in Kinesiology – Sports and Business Administration in 2007.
He is a Certified Risk Architect with The Tedrick Group in Mount Vernon, Illinois. Prior to this, Hale worked with the SIU Athletic Department as a fundraiser for the Saluki Athletic Scholarship Project and Saluki Way.
Hale is a longtime resident of southern Illinois and a longtime advocate for SIU Carbondale.
He lives in Marion with his wife, Deanna, and three daughters, Elly, Lilah and Maggie. He enjoys golf, cooking and family in his spare time.
Kaliah Liggons
Liggons, of Chicago, graduated in 2013 from SIU in Carbondale, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in criminology and criminal justice as well as sociology.
In 2018, she earned a master’s degree in public administration with a major in public management from DePaul University in Chicago. She is the Community Development Program Manager at DePaul University and an Events and Marketing Specialist and Brand Ambassador for a wide range of lifestyle brands.
While at SIU, Liggons was initiated into the Delta Beta undergraduate chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. A second-generation Saluki, Liggons is a legacy member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority; his mother, who graduated from the SIU in 1986, was initiated into the same chapter. As an undergraduate, Liggons was heavily involved in campus activities as a member of several other RSOs and student groups. In Chicago, she served on the board of directors and volunteered with a national non-profit organization, Kicks 4 The City, which provided 100,000 pairs of shoes to homeless youth and adults. She also served on the board of the Nubian Connection Group, which is made up of SIU alumni with the goal of helping undergraduate students through scholarships and educational support.
Brian Munoz
Brian Munoz, of St. Louis, is a 2019 graduate of SIU and a photojournalist and multimedia reporter at St. Louis Public Radio. Prior to that, he worked at USA Today as a visual storyteller helping report national and international stories, including politics on Capitol Hill and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Munoz also worked in daily newspapers such as the Southern Illinoisan, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Arizona Republic. His work has appeared in publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, USA Today, and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Additionally, his work – both visual and written – has received honors from several regional, state and national journalism organizations. Outside of media, Munoz has worked with several nonprofit, educational, and commercial clients as a creative consultant in his role as President of Studio FiftyOne Photography and Design.
At SIU, Munoz was a proud member of the Marching Salukis, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and The Daily Egyptian. He currently resides in South St. Louis and continues to be a Saluki athletic enthusiast.
Dr. Sunil Sinha
Sinha, of St. Louis, is vice president and chief medical officer of BJC Medical Group in St. Louis. Previously, he was Chief Medical Officer for Virginia of JenCare Senior Medical Centers, a Medicare Advantage HMO joint venture between Humana and ChenMed Inc. He received an MBA from SIU Carbondale in 1998 and was inducted in 2016 into the College of Business and Analytics. Hall of fame. He also holds a graduate certificate in information systems from Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School.
Sinha also served as vice president of medical affairs at Bon Secours Memorial Regional Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia. He was director of medical and public health policy for Pfizer in New York; chief medical officer at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in Washington, DC, and director of managed care for the VA Maryland health care system.
Sinha is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review, America College of Healthcare Executives, and American College of Physician Executives. He is also a former regent of Maryland for the American College of Healthcare Executives and served for three years on the organization’s National Board of Governors. Sinha is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a Senior Fellow of the Council for Excellence in Government and the Health Research Education Trust. Sinha completed an internal medicine residency at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago, where she served as Associate Principal Residency and received the Trainee of the Year award.
