1990s

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Todd Boykin, JD ’90, of Amarillo, TX, as president of the Red River Authority of Texas Board of Directors. The Red River Authority provides for the control, conservation and development of the watershed and water of the Red River and its Texas tributaries. Boykin is a partner in the law firm of Burdett Morgan Williamson & Boykin LLP. 

Dallas-based Sumner Schick LLP hired Kara D. Grimes, BBA ’90, as a business litigator. Formerly a partner at one of Texas’ largest business firms, she has 14 years of litigation experience in financial services, real estate, trusts, contracts and other business matters. Grimes graduated cum laude from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law.

Jennifer McCumber, BA ’90, JD ’93, is executive director for the LAPS Foundation of the Los Alamos [NM] Public Schools. Most recently, she served as a school board member for District 5 (Mountain Elementary) from 2015 to 2019. She also served on the board of the LAPS Foundation for several years.

Todd, BBA ’91, and Anna Reppert, BBA ’90, of Houston created the Reppert Family Baylor Built Endowed Fund. This fund provides for career and leadership development, personal skills, social responsibility and community engagement, while integrating spiritual growth for student-athletes. 

The Terry and Cindy Syler Endowed Scholarship Fund in Business was created by Cindy and Terry Syler, BBA ’90, of Dallas to provide scholarships for students enrolled in the Hankamer School of Business.

In November 2019, the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum honored Cindy Campbell Brown, BA ’91, a member of the Secret Service and one of the 168 victims killed in the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Brown was 26 at the time of her death.

Lawrence M. “Larry” Doss, BA ’91, MA ’93, of Lubbock, TX, was appointed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to the Seventh Court of Appeals for a term set to expire Dec. 31, 2020. Doss is a partner with Mullin Hoard & Brown LLP, and is board certified in civil appellate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Keith A. Parrott, BA ’91, was named president and CEO of AMITA Health, a joint healthcare operating company of Ascension and AdventHealth, serving residents of Greater Chicago. Most recently, Parrott served as CEO of the Alabama/Tennessee Group of Tenet Healthcare after serving as CEO of Brookwood Baptist Health, a joint venture between Tenet and Baptist Health System of Alabama consisting of a five-hospital enterprise with more than 1,600 beds. Earlier, he held executive leadership positions with Baptist Health System in Alabama and Memorial Hermann Healthcare System in Houston.

Frank Shushok, BSEd ’91, Virginia Tech’s senior associate vice president, was named acting vice president of student affairs at Virginia Tech. He previously served as dean for student learning and engagement at Baylor before joining Virginia Tech in 2009.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Bart McKay, BA ’92, JD ’95, vice president and division general counsel at Carrollton, TX-based McLane Foodservice Inc., to the Business Advisory Council to the Texas Division of Emergency Management. McKay, a native of Wolfe City, TX, is a member of the State Bar of Texas and has extensive experience in commercial insurance and risk management.

Kent Borowick, MBA ’93, MA ’96, PhD ’97, was named vice president of asset optimization for Altus Equity Group Inc. in Rohnert Park, CA. Borowick is responsible for oversight of the Altus property portfolio, including operations and leasing. Borowick joins Altus Equity with more than 20 years’ experience working with both private and institutional real estate investors. He specializes in the management and repositioning of real estate assets and has experience with all major product types, including multifamily, retail, office and mixed-use properties.

Kimberly Jackson Button, BBA ’93, of Hillsborough, NC, returned to University Development at Duke University as an accounting specialist in October 2019. Contact at buttonkk@yahoo.com.

In 2017, Ann McKinley Rothpletz, BA ’93, of Louisville, KY, made a split-second decision that saved the life of a man she did not know by rescuing him from drowning. Rothpletz, a civilian, recently became the second woman ever to receive the U.S. Coast Gold Life Saving Medal for her heroism.

Carole Rogers, PsyD ’94, celebrates 20 years as director of Jewish Family Services in Fort Worth. After beginning a career in commercial underwriting after graduating from Northwestern University, Rogers decided on mental health as a career, entered Columbia University for her master’s degree in social work, then decided on a Doctor of Psychology at Baylor. Her first Texas job involved oversight of the treatment facility for the Dallas County Juvenile Department.

Dan Curtis, BBA ’95, is at the helm of BNSF Logistics, a multimodal operation that moves things by rail, truck, ocean or air, and has expanded to 865 workers and 200 agents with more than $1 billion in annual revenue. He was featured in D CEO magazine’s January-February 2020 edition. 

James Vilade, BA ’95, joined the Miami Marlins to scout North Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Vilade was a Baylor Baseball team captain and academic scholar-athlete. He was a part-time scout for the Marlins’ in North Texas from 2010 to 2011. Vilade joined the Texas Rangers as North Texas scout and Class AA coach from 2012 to 2015. He worked in collegiate baseball from 2016 to 2019 as an assistant coach at Oklahoma State University. Prior to his first stint with the Marlins, Vilade compiled a 384-117 (.748) record as a head coach at the University of Dallas (1997-2001) and the University of Texas at Tyler (2003-2010).

Greg Diamond, BBA ’96, is a teaching professional at the Lakes Tennis Academy (LTA) in Frisco, TX. LTA was recognized as the Team USA Developmental Program of the year (2018). Diamond’s primary role at the academy is helping new tournament players develop their game and achieve their maximum potential on and off the court. His travels with the high-performance state/national level juniors keeps him on the front lines of the tournament circuit. He and his wife of 20 years, Heather, have a 13-year-old daughter who is a fixture on the LTA courts.

Col. Kevin Houck, MPT ’96, was promoted to colonel. He is the U.S. Army service lead for the physical therapy assistant program at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio and the regional health command-central consultant for physical therapy. Other recent assignments have been in Texas as the chief of physical therapy service and deputy director of the department of rehabilitation medicine at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio and chief of the department of rehabilitation services at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso. He previously served in Iraq and was deputy physical therapy consultant to the Surgeon General of the Army.

Rebecca McCormick-Boyle, MHA ’96, was named chief integration officer for Catholic Health System, based in Buffalo, NY. She has nearly four decades of experience as a nurse in the U.S. Navy, retiring as a rear admiral in 2018. She began her military career as a surgical and critical care nurse before rising through the ranks as a Navy nurse executive. Most recently, she served as deputy chief of the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) and commander for Navy Medicine Education and Training.

Valorie Brown Loomer, BSEd ’97, was appointed CEO of RoboKind, a Dallas-based advanced social robotics company that helps teach social, emotional, communication, and computer science skills to students across the world. Valorie, her husband, and her two sons live in Austin, where RoboKind has various technology and design partners. She had applied what she first learned as a representative in the Baylor Student Congress to continue legislative advocacy and policy work on behalf of students with special needs. Contact at valorieloomer@gmail.com.

Bradley Hunter Welch, BM ’97, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s resident organist, was among the performers at the DSO’s “Pipedreams Live! – Organ Recital Celebration of Notre-Dame de Paris” in November 2019 at the Meyerson Symphony Center to celebrate Notre Dame Cathedral’s Grand Organ, which awaits restoration after a devastating fire in April 2019.

Ashley Buchanan, BBA ’96, MBA ’98, was named president and CEO designate and appointed to the board of directors of The Michaels Companies Inc., based in Irving, TX. He most recently served as chief merchandising and chief operating officer for Walmart U.S. eCommerce.

Elizabeth Pulley, BA ’98, executive director for Children’s Advocacy Centers (CAC) of Arkansas since 2017, was profiled as one of Arkansas’ Top Influencers of 2020 in Arkansas Money & Politics magazine (January 2020). Pulley is responsible for the organization’s 17 centers statewide, which last year served some 5,000 children.

Steve Reintjes, BA ’98, was promoted to vice president of broadcasting at the National Hot Rod Association. Reintjes continues to oversee the production of all NHRA Fox television broadcasts, as well as content created at the NHRA Wally Parks Studio, displayed at NHRA events and streamed online via NHRA.TV. Reintjes has an extensive background in live broadcasting with more than 19 years of experience in network television. He has produced more than 500 live events, covering 11 sports.

Dr. Corey Westerfeld, BA ’99, was appointed chief medical officer of Eye Health Vision Centers and Koch Eye Associates, a large multi-group, multi-specialty eye care provider with offices in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Westerfeld has been in practice since 2009, following completion of residency and fellowship training at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary/Harvard Medical School. He is a vitreoretinal surgeon specializing in the treatment of medical and surgical retina conditions. He resides in South Dartmouth, MA, with his wife Jenee and their two daughters.