Lauren (Giannini) Herrington-Gilmore ’08 and Andrew Herrington-Gilmore ’09 cofounded The Gilmore Family Foundation in the summer of 2022 to raise money for childhood rare disease treatment, discovery, diagnosis, awareness, and research.

“A rare disease diagnosis is devastating, and it’s the last thing any child should have to endure. Unfortunately, for our family and thousands of others, it is reality. It is also extremely hard to find doctors and care teams who have the experience, knowledge, resources and capability to provide the coordinated care each child deserves. The entire process is mind-numbingly frustrating, terrifying, and exhausting. Yet, through personal experience, we have learned what a family can do when pushed to the limits, and what children can overcome in the most difficult of circumstances. We aim to celebrate and honor what these kids can do while alleviating some of that burden on families dealing with pediatric rare diseases.”

Read more about their foundation and how you can help here.

Bryce Pierson ’09 was awarded the 2022 Legal Innovator of the Year Award from the State Bar of Wisconsin. Bryce won this award for his work on the new free all-digital jury instructions for Wisconsin. You can read more about this here. Congratulations!

Samantha (Ketchum) Schoenecke ’09 and Bryan Schoenecke welcomed their son Nehemiah Joel Schoenecke on May 3, 2022.

Kathryn (Kohles) Schmitz ‘09 and Phil Schmitz ‘09 welcomed Eleanor Mary Schmitz into the world on April 26, 2022.

Kimberly (Stabosz) Zimmerman ’09 and Dustin Zimmerman recently welcomed their new daughter, Jane Hope Zimmerman, on August 2, 2022. Congratulations to the couple!

Caroline Leighton ’09 graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in May 2022, receiving a Master of Education degree in Curriculum & Instruction, focusing on Mathematics, Science, & Engineering Education and earning Phi Kappa Phi honors in the process. Caroline continues teaching mathematics at Urbana High School, where she began her teaching career upon graduation from IWU and has served in various leadership roles over the years.

Carissa Nemmers ’09 and Maurits Olsson welcomed their new baby girl, Etta Ann, into the world on April 6th, 2022.

Kristin (Siegfried) Ballenger ’09 is a maker and restorer of violins, violas, and cellos. She has recently had instruments in the Celebrating Women Luthiers Exhibit in Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and Burlington, Vermont. In November, she will have three instruments featured at the Anaheim 2022 Competition and Convention of the Violin Society of America. As well as her new making, she does fine instrument restoration for Reuning and Son Violins in Boston.

Morris ’75 and Linda (Brown) ’76 Tammen are using their retirement years to launch a new business with two of their children, Katrina Tammen Reber ’05 and Evan Tammen ’09. Artesia Brewing, located on their farm outside of Thawville, Illinois, opened its doors last fall and features varieties of hard cider, mead, and beer made with the fruits and honey from their farm.

“Two of our bestselling beers are named after a special IWU memory that my husband and I share,” Linda recently said. “I am sure I have told customers the story at least 50 times since we opened last fall. It always gets such a great reaction.”

Learn more here.