Choice Rawson, 2012 COBE graduate (BBA General Business and Human Resource Management), has relocated to Northern Washington, where she is a Financial Service Specialist for the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, Child Care Subsidy Program. “I have the joy in my job of helping low income families with obtaining safe, quality child care, and continue to work or attend school,” Rawson says. “I am thrilled to feel like I make a difference.”
Category Archives: Alumni Spotlights
Alumni Update: Nonprofit’s The Choice For Rawson
COBE Grads Receive Alumni Awards
Alumni Service Award – Eric Uhlenhoff 
Eric Uhlenhoff earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Boise State in 1986 and after college began a 13-year career at Micron Technology. At Micron, he worked his way from accounting to sales, took on a three-year assignment overseas as European sales manager, and became the founder of Crucial Technology in 1996.
After Micron, Uhlenhoff worked as chief operating officer for an Internet start-up company before joining Samsung Semiconductor, and later worked with Qimonda. Today Eric he is director of sales for the Americas and Europe for Western Digital’s solid-state business unit in Irvine, Calif. He and his wife Cynthia both hail from Boise but have lived in southern California (San Clemente) for nearly 12 years. They proudly serve Boise State as regional contacts and hosted the very first Boise State send-off barbecue five years ago, which they hope will be an enduring tradition for Bronco Nation for years to come.
Distinguish Alumni Award – Mark Urness 
Mark Urness came to Boise State University in 1983 to play football and finish his business degree (Marketing BBA, 1988). He was drafted by the Canadian Football League’s Saskatchewan Roughriders and spent five years in the CFL, where he was fortunate enough to be part of the 1989 Grey Cup team. He is the founder and current CEO of Mountain State Cellular Inc. (Mybullfrog.com), one of the largest Verizon Wireless dealerships in the West. Urness was honored by the Idaho Business Review as an Accomplished under 40 recipient, serves on the Bronco Athletic Association board and actively supports many groups and organizations in the community.
10 COBE Grads Make Accomplished Under 40 List
2012 Accomplished Under 40 – COBE Grads:
Cody B. Barney, D.B. Fitzpatrick and Co., Inc.
Jason Coronado, Deloitte
Lance Fenton, Cooper Norman Certified Public Accountants
Travis B. Hawkes, Sports Fan Corporation
Travis L. Higgins, UCI Wealth Advisors
Terence Alan Longhurst, Scentsy, Inc.
Bernadette Madarieta, Boise Inc.
Jarred McKenzie, Dykman Electrical, Inc.
Kristine Mitchell, Origin, Inc.
W. Ben Slaughter, Trout Jones Gledhill Fuhrman Gourley, P.A.
For 13 years Idaho Business Review has recognized 40 accomplished men and women under the age of 40.
“These talented young professionals represent a generation that is shaping our state, our image and our expectations,” said Idaho Business Review President and Publisher Sean Evans.
The young leaders are nominated and chosen by a panel of their peers. The six-member selection panel comprised past Accomplished Under 40 recipients scoring in four categories: professional accomplishments, leadership skills, community involvement and long term goals. More information.
COBE Graduate and Student Featured at Spring Commencement
Allen D. Dykman, COBE economics graduate, will be awarded an honorary doctorate at Boise State University’s spring Commencement Saturday, May 12. Dykman grew up in Pocatello and came to Boise State on a football scholarship. After earning a bachelor’s degree in 1974, he joined the family electrical supply business before founding his own company, Dykman Electric Inc., in 1981 with his wife, Dixie.
The Dykmans gift toward the Micron Business and Economics Building will be recognized in the Dykman Financial Trading Room. On the second floor overlooking the Jackson commons below, the Dykman Financial Trading Room is a technologically sophisticated lab where students manager equity and bond portfolios using real money.
Dykman has served as president of the Bronco Athletic Association, the Alumni Association and the Boise State Foundation—one of only two people in Boise State history to serve as president of all three groups. He also co-chaired the university’s first-ever comprehensive campaign and is currently working with the Alumni Association to raise funds for a new Alumni and Friends Center. In addition to continued charitable gifts to Boise State, he and Dixie have endowed scholarships at each of Idaho’s public four-year institutions of higher education.
And, this spring’s student Commencement speaker is COBE economics student George M. Fenton, from Post Falls, Idaho, who is graduating with a 4.0 cumulative grade point average, earning a bachelor of arts in economics with a minor in mathematics. Since January 2011 Fenton has served as an intern for Keynetics CEO Brad Wiskirchen, director of the Salt Lake City Federal Reserve. In 2010 he participated in a summer program at Georgetown University and fulfilled an internship at the United States Department of the Treasury in Washington, D.C.
Fenton has been a member of the Honors College since coming to Boise State in 2008 as a Brown Scholar. He also was an award-winning member of the national champion Boise State University Speech and Debate team, the “Talkin’ Broncos. He has been accepted to Oxford University and plans to pursue graduate school after serving two years at the Federal Reserve.
The Commencement ceremony will include a processional and recessional, individual recognition of graduates and the hooding of doctoral candidates. Widescreens will be set up so family and friends can see the graduates up close as they are individually recognized. Boise State will broadcast the ceremony live online for those who cannot attend.
A reception for graduates and their families will be held immediately following the ceremony on the Intramural Field adjacent to Taco Bell Arena and the Appleton Tennis Center. Each college will have a designated area where graduates can meet family after the ceremony to take photos and introduce them to faculty.
Steven R. Appleton Leaves a Visible Impact on the College of Business and Economics
“The faculty and staff in the College of Business and Economics are deeply saddened by the death of Steve Appleton, one of our most distinguished alums. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Steve’s wife, Dalynn and his four children. Steve was such a great COBE supporter, not only financially, but with his time. He loved to come out to campus to speak with students and faculty and was an inspiration to us all. I was lucky to have had Steve in class in 1979 and even then he stood out as one of those students who loved to learn and wanted to know as much about the subject as possible. He carried that love of learning throughout his business career at Micron. For example, in the early 90s when he was doing business in Japan, he hired a tutor and learned to speak Japanese so he could be more effective in negotiation with Japanese partners and customers. As CEO of Micron Technology, Steve championed the Boise State University cause through the Micron Foundation. Evidence of this is the Micron Foundation’s gift of $12.5 million which made the new Micron Business and Economics Building a reality. He was so very excited about the new building and when we had a lunch a couple of weeks before his tragic death, we made plans for him to take a tour. Steve will be missed by those of us in the College of Business and Economics for many reasons, but I will miss his friendship most of all.” –Patrick Shannon, Dean