2000s

Michael FitzGerald 
M.F.A. ’00, Missoula, is the chief executive officer of Submittable, a tech-based company in Missoula that recently raised $10 million through investor partnerships. The funding will go to developing artificial intelligence for the Submittable platform, which accepts, reviews and ranks millions of submissions and applications across multiple industries, as well as expanding its hires. FitzGerald holds an M.F.A. in creative writing from UM, and more than half of Submittable’s employees are also UM alums. Read more about him in the Spring 2013 issue of the Montanan.

Andrea Tuinstra 
M.F.A. ’00, Spokane, teaches classes at the Clay Connection and performs group art activities and demonstrations for different agencies through the Spokane area, where she has lived for 15 years. She also is active in several regional art associations and Inland Northwest Bluegrass Music Association events as a member of the traditional art and music community. 

Simeon Mills
M.F.A. ’04, Spokane, recently published his novel “The Obsoletes,” a tale of two robot twin brothers dealing with high school. Mills teaches middle school English in Spokane and drawing at Eastern Washington University. He also is a cartoonist, and his graphic novel “Butcher Paper” earned an Artist Trust grant in 2012. 

Katie E. Sullivan 
’06, J.D. ’10, Missoula, serves as a state representative for District 89 on multiple legislative committees: Energy, Telecommunications and Federal Relations; Rules; Business and Labor; and Agriculture. She practices law in Missoula, focusing on intellectual property law, business startups and privacy. Sullivan sponsored seven bills, four of which passed this legislative session, as an advocate for higher education, public lands, health care access and cost control, data privacy, pharmaceutical cost transparency and small business.

Thatcher Szalay
’05, Missoula, was inducted into the Montana Football Hall of Fame. Szalay led the Griz to their Division I-AA national championship as an offensive guard in 2001, and he played for the Cincinnati Bengals, Baltimore Ravens and Seattle Seahawks.

Brian McGrath 
’08, Missoula, recently won the World Muaythai Council Intercontinental Light Heavyweight title in Japan. For the past five years, McGrath has worked abroad in suburban Tokyo as a boxing/kickboxing instructor.  

Marylesa Marie Howard 
M.A. ’09, Ph.D. ’13, North Las Vegas, received the sole Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in the state of Nevada. The award is the highest honor granted by the government for leading scientists. Howard works at the Nevada National Security Site as a supervisor, scientist and mathematician. Her research focuses on quantitative imaging science, and she has developed methods for using satellite images to study the evolution of ecologies over time, better X-ray imaging techniques and a new approach to image segmentation. Her work has been highlighted by the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics and the American Institute of Physics.

Lauren J. Russell 
’09, Portland, received the Multnomah Bar Association’s 2019 Michael E. Haglund Pro Bono Award for her exceptional service as a young lawyer. Russell is a leader with the Legal Aid Night Clinic and co-chair of Dunn County’s Pro Bono Committee, as well as a member of Dunn Carney’s Litigation Group and the Personal and Professional Litigation Team. Her practice focuses on employment matters and commercial litigation.