Featured Alums
News about University of Utah alumni
Joshua Burton BS’16 was awarded the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel’s Roberta S. Abruzzese Award at the panel’s 2017 biennial conference in March. The award provides travel funds to a student showing promise in the field of pressure injury research, treatment and prevention, or education. It is named for Abruzzese’s vision, leadership, and support in promoting educational endeavors in relation to pressure injury management and recognizes Burton as a leader in the wound care provider community. Burton is now completing his doctorate in biomedical engineering, tissue emphasis, at the U. He currently works at EC Service Corporation, focusing on pressure injury risk due to shear in transport, and microclimate impact on bed occupants. He also serves as a business development analyst intern for the U’s Technology & Venture Commercialization office and is an undergraduate research assistant at the Megan Williams Lab.
Royal Hansen BS’72 JD’75, a judge in Salt Lake City’s 3rd District Court, recently was recognized for a program he created for armed forces veterans who have “found themselves on the other side of the law.” Believing the vets’ problems are almost universally the result of addictions or mental health issues—and usually a combination of both—Hansen felt the best way to help them was to show them a way out of the hole they’d dug themselves into. His plan offers veterans an alternative to incarceration that includes a court-monitored commitment to report to the judge every week, stay clean and sober, see their therapists without fail, interact with mentors and course managers, and regularly provide community service. Graduation days are held twice each year. March 16 was the program’s fourth graduation day.
Jamaican poet
Ishion Hutchinson ex’12 has been awarded the National Book Critics Circle’s poetry prize for
House of Lords and Commons (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). The award was presented on March 16 at the New School, in New York. The collection traces the landscapes of memory and childhood in the author’s native Jamaica. Hutchinson was born in Port Antonio and earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of the West Indies, Mona. He moved to the U.S. in 2006 for graduate work at New York University and the University of Utah, where he studied English in the College of Humanities. His first poetry collection,
Far District, published in 2010, won the PEN/Joyce Osterweil Award for Poetry. He has said about his work, which is often political in nature, that “I just feel that my life as a poet has to do with the public and engaging history and things that have gone before.” Hutchinson currently lives in Ithaca, New York, and teaches English at Cornell University, where he is an assistant professor and contributing editor to its
Tongue: A Journal of Writing and Art. Among other awards and honors, Hutchinson received the 2013 Whiting Writers Award and the Larry Levis Prize from the Academy of American Poets.
Carl L. Laurella BS’82 was recognized as the top financial advisor in Utah by
Barron’s magazine in its annual “America's Top 1,200 Advisors: State-by-State” list, published on March 4. Of six Utah advisors selected, Laurella was ranked number one in the state. Measures used to determine the rankings include client assets, return on assets, client satisfaction/retention, compliance records, and community involvement.
Barron’s does not receive compensation from advisors, participating firms and their affiliates, or the media in exchange for rankings. Laurella currently serves on the University of Utah Humanities Partnership Board and the U’s College of Nursing Advisory Council, and is a member of the Health Sciences Benefactors. He also supports scholarships for first-generation U students in humanities, nursing, and athletics. According to Mori Paulsen, a market executive with Merrill Lynch Wealth Management in Salt Lake City, Laurella’s recognition on the list demonstrates “the high standards he upholds to ensure exceptional quality and service experience for his clients…. It’s not just about following the market and trends; it’s about following the life priorities and goals of your clients and coming up with sound financial strategies to help achieve them.” Laurella resides in Park City, Utah, and has been a part of Merrill Lynch’s Salt Lake City office for more than 30 years.
Shane Mickelsen MMU’14 has produced a CD titled Classical Hymns, featuring performances by guest artists Jon Schmidt and Grammy-nominated violinist Jenny Oaks Baker. Mickelsen is known for arranging and orchestrating works for local Utah artists. He is the owner of Mickelsen Music Services, offering a range of services from musical transcriptions to full orchestral arranging/composition. His clients have included several LDS artists, including Paul Cardall and The Piano Guys. Mickelsen’s compositional style has its roots in his love of the classics, from Bach to Stravinsky, whose harmonies he fuses with New Age styles to create emotive modern orchestral music. Mickelsen holds a bachelor’s degree in music, vocal performance, from Utah State University and a master’s of music in music composition from the University of Utah. He also spent time as a doctoral student in music composition at the U before deciding to devote himself to his freelance composing career.
To submit alumni news for consideration, email ann.floor@utah.edu.