“Boise State lost one of its own today,” said President Kustra on February 3. “A former Bronco tennis player who never forgot his alma mater, Steve graduated in business and went on to lead one of the nation’s premier companies and enrich in so many ways the community he called home. He played a critical role in transforming Boise State into a research university serving the tech economy of Idaho. I valued his friendship, his generous support, and especially the advice and counsel he provided me personally as we navigated our way through the recent recession. Our thoughts and prayers are with Dalynn, his children and his family as well as his colleagues at Micron.”

Steve Appleton came to Boise State University in 1978 on a tennis scholarship. He was captain of the tennis team his senior year and won the Big Sky doubles championship. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business management in 1982. In 2001, he received the university’s prestigious Silver Medallion award for his service to the university and in May 2007 he was awarded an honorary doctorate.

Appleton served as co-chair of the university’s most recent comprehensive fundraising campaign for scholarships, programs and buildings. He also was a Boise State University Foundation board member from 1995-2002 and was a lifetime Chaffee Guild member.

He was instrumental in the development of Boise State’s College of Engineering, which offered its first classes in 1996.  His support has been invaluable to both the College of Business and Economics and the College of Engineering.

Appleton Tennis Complex on the Boise State campus is named for him. He stayed active in college tennis and was honored by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association at the Achievement Award Ceremony during the 2005 US Open.

In 1999, he established the Micron Foundation, which has led to several generous donations to Boise State programs and initiatives, including the Micron Business and Economics Building at the corner of University and Capitol, slated to open later this year, and doctoral programs in the departments of Materials Science and Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering.

The public memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 23, at Taco Bell Arena on the Boise State campus.

Memorial funds have been established in Appleton’s name with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Boise State University Foundation. The Micron Foundation has donated $25,000 to each of the funds in honor of Appleton.

For more information, visit www.micron.com.

Sympathy cards may be sent to the following address:

Micron Technology, Inc.
Attn: The Appleton Family
8000 S. Federal Way, MS 1-406
P.O. Box 6
Boise, ID 83707-0006

As part of the Mobile Learning Initiative, faculty and students will once again have an opportunity to experiment with groundbreaking uses of mobile technology as participants in the 2011-12 cohorts of mLearning Scholars. Faculty across campus submitted proposals describing specific plans to integrate mobile technology into their particular disciplines, with 13 proposals ultimately being accepted. Those accepted will experiment with integrating mobile technology into their teaching in one section of a course taught during Spring 2012.

From experimenting with how mobile devices can augment the interactions that take place in the classroom to using these devices to record and share videos, photos or other information from remote locations, the projects represent a wide variety of approaches to integrating mobile devices into the curriculum. Participants will document their experiences, which will not only build a growing community of innovators, but also directly inform decision-making and strategic planning efforts on campus.

As a part of Dr. Lincoln’s Marketing 301 Principles of Marketing  course, all students will use iPads. Dr Lincoln conducted a survey with his students during the first week of class, will do one a mid-semester and another at the end to track students’ experiences and feelings about using the iPads in the course. More details about Dr. Lincoln’s research questions are here: mLearning Scholars.

For more information, visit the Mobile Learning Initiative website at mobilelearning.boisestate.edu/mlearningscholars.

Click here for an audio slideshow about his service-learning experiences, his views on international business and his study abroad opportunity in Bilbao, Spain.

Photos by John Kelly

Cobourn also gave an invited oral presentation at the American Geophysical Union meetings in San Francisco on Dec. 7, 2011. The presentation, titled “Ecological vs. Economic Sustainability: An Integrated Analysis of Thresholds in Semi-Arid Western Rangelands,” was included as part of the session “Identifying and Quantifying Change in Ecological Systems.”

• Jeremy Evans- MBA
• Jared Musick- MSA
• Alex Yeggy- Accountancy
• Lauren Garrett- Economics
• Landon Barnes- Entrepreneurship Management
• Kori Gibbs- Accountancy-Finance; Finance Honoree
• Nikolina Dragicevic – Human Resource Management
• Beth Brune- General Business Management
• Susan Bogdanski- Information Technology Management
• Kylie Redkey- International Business
• Shandra Naegle- Marketing
• Joseph Dorey- Supply Chain Management

Vera Zdravkova, Bachelor of Arts in International Business, with a Minor in Entrepreneurship
Zdravkova worked a wealth of real experience into her time as an undergraduate at Boise State and that has helped her land a position with a Taiwanese manufacturing and trading company. After graduation, she will move to Taipei to work in marketing and product development. Her experience in the International Business program allowed her to complete a number of comprehensive marketing and export plans that Idaho companies used as the foundation of their marketing/exporting efforts. She also completed two internships with the Idaho Department of Commerce (one at the Idaho Trade Office in Guadalajara and one at the Idaho Trade Office in Taipei), an internship with the U.S. Department of State at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and one with the Idaho District Export Council. Zdravkova said the international business major offered her abundant opportunities to connect with the real business world.

Gracie Bingham, Honors College, Bachelor of Science in Political Science and Bachelor of Arts in History, with a Minor in French

Bingham, who is this year’s student speaker, has taken advantage of many internship opportunities while a student at Boise State. This past summer, she served as a Press Office intern with the United States Embassy in Tokyo, Japan. She also interned with the Idaho State Historical Museum, worked with the Idaho Statesman’s Intern Fellows program and spent an additional summer as an intern with the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. She has been active with ASBSU, served as a mentor and translator for the Francophone Refugee Mentoring Program and served as a teaching assistant in both history and French. “I could not have asked for better academic opportunities than I was offered during my time at Boise State,” she said. She is graduating with honors from the Honors College.

Jackie Nelson, Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Art and Art Education

As president of the Idaho Art Education Association and a cancer survivor, Nelson is a non-traditional student in the truest sense. She began her career with a cosmetology degree from a beauty school in Maine and briefly pursued a degree in human resource management and business administration at a school in New Hampshire. She then moved her family west in search of a drier climate that wouldn’t aggravate her daughter’s severe asthma. She took classes at the University of Nevada, Reno, before finally making her way to Boise State in 2006. While here, she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Determined not to miss school, Nelson scheduled all of her treatments around classes and tests. She has been on the dean’s list with honors every year since 2007 and will graduate with a degree in art education and visual arts. She is hoping to become a full-time art teacher once she completes her student teaching at a local district.

Terry Caster, Bachelor of Applied Science with a Minor in Information Technology and Supply Chain Management

Having been laid off as an engineer with a Boise company after 16 years of work, Caster knew he had to go back to school to improve upon his associate’s degree. He felt a bachelor of applied science degree would make him more competitive in the job market, but at age 50, he had some mixed emotions about going back to school with a much younger population, including his son who also is a Boise State student. After more than two years of coursework, which includes a minor in information technology, Caster is now graduating and hoping to rejoin his old employer or another firm in Boise. The bachelor of applied science degree provides students with an associate’s degree the opportunity to combine their technical course work with academic core and upper-division coursework to earn a bachelor’s degree.

Noelle Lovern, Bachelor of Arts in Communication, with a Public Relations Emphasis

Lovern, a non-traditional student, came to Boise State after escaping an abusive marriage. Her story of seeking shelter from her abuse, moving through the public relations program and going on to complete her degree is an example of the type of commitment and determination that should be emulated. Boise State became part of rebuilding Lovern’s life. She threw herself into school and committed herself to bettering both her own life and to helping others succeed. She has given back to the program through her time, becoming the Blue House Public Relations executive director, serving as a teaching assistant and spending countless hours mentoring others. Because she understands the financial struggle students can face, she helped develop the very successful $20.11 campaign to fund SSPA student scholarships.

“Lovern is not one to look around to see what she is supposed to be doing or learning simply to prepare for an exam or paper,” said Mary Frances Casper, assistant professor or communication. “Learning matters to her, not only as a student in our classes, but as a citizen and as a person.”

Craig Laudicina, Bachelor of Science in Psychology

One of the most impressive things about Laudicina is his background. He’s been a disc jockey, a nightclub manager and security head, and a graphic artist. But the thread that runs through his life, no matter what he had to do employment-wise to make ends meet, is an incredible devotion to helping others. Laudicina has volunteered with Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Boys and Girls Club, Planned Parenthood and English as a second language agencies. He has been a caregiver, a behavioral technician and a community outreach assistant.