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Alumni Spotlight Experience Design Marketing ROTC
You could say that Gerald “Jerry” Petersen earned his master’s degree in marketing from BYU because he loved to sing.
BYU Marriott alumna Krislyn Powell has a knack for creating connections, whether as a yogi, an administrator, or a volunteer.
As a student at BYU Marriott in the then-fledgling ExDM program, Breck Laing developed transferable business skills to broaden his career opportunities.
After completing his undergraduate degree in environmental science from BYU, Trenton Blair jetted from soil labs to B-52 cockpits and joined the US Air Force.
Rebecca McCarron Greenhalgh is no stranger to smart wordsmithing, so it was unusual when she was suddenly speechless during an important Zoom meeting.
Tyler Hardy was one day away from finishing his mission in Veracruz, Mexico, when he got an unexpected phone call. His older brother, Greg, had been seriously injured in a work accident.
BYU Marriott recreation management and youth leadership alumnus Brandon Gilliam can think of few things better than helping young people develop their passions.
As a teenage boy, C. Todd Linton fell in love with airplanes. This moment was the beginning of a lifelong pursuit in the field of aviation.
When marketing alumna Marinne Pearson was earning her MBA and working part-time, she was also working to rebrand a new company.
Alumna Jasmine Townsend was able to pursue her passion for teaching and the outdoors through a master's degree in youth and family recreation from BYU.
BYU Marriott recreation management alumnus Nalu Medeiros embraces opportunities that allow him to positively influence the lives of those around him.
The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, were life changing for 13-year-old Nathan Christiansen. That day would inspire Christiansen to serve his country.
When former BYU ROTC cadet Scott Lovejoy was a newly enlisted medic in the United States Army, he received a surprise visit from his father that changed his life.
Quick transitions between life events have always been part of Merle Allen’s unofficial strategy for most of his life. At BYU’s 1954 graduation dance, the marketing grad, senior class president, and former varsity football player proposed to his sweetheart, Carol Beckstrand. After the MC announced the happy news, Allen says they then rushed to Beckstrand’s parents’ home to “tell her folks so we’d get to them before somebody else did.”
After landing what she thought was her dream job, BYU Marriott recreation management alumna Miranda Oliver discovered new passions and interests and successfully pivoted to a new career.
When Stephen H. Russell reflects on his life, he is struck by the way seemingly small decisions and ordinary situations have blossomed into extraordinary opportunities. “None of this was part of a strategic plan,” he says, “and I feel grateful when I see all the times Heavenly Father has blessed me.”
Thanks to his education from BYU Marriott and the example of his father, marketing alum Carlos Valles lives his passion for business working at The Hershey Company.
BYU Marriott ExDM alumna Katie Allred isn't only providing young people in Utah with adventures to experience, but also with skills to help them overcome some of life's biggest challenges.

Born and raised in Honolulu, Thomas Y.K. Fong has long loved learning about the earth’s natural processes. He originally planned to earn a bachelor’s degree in geology at BYU and then pursue graduate studies in oceanography. But during one midwinter geology field trip to St. George, Utah, a sandstorm blew through the group’s campsite, prompting Fong to reconsider whether his studies had brought him too close to nature for comfort. “Halfway through that cold, sand-blown night, I’m thinking, ‘Is this really what I want to do for the rest of my life?’” Fong recalls.
Whether he's flying helicopters across Afghanistan and Iraq or running 100-mile ultramarathons, Jeff Timmons applies lessons that he learned at BYU Marriott.

Not many people can say that they helped build a company from the ground up within a year of graduating from college. However, BYU Marriott marketing alumna Luisa Chil can.

After BYU Marriott ExDM alumna Macie Briggs Duncan went on a trip to Disneyland, she set a goal to help create enjoyable and memorable experiences for others.

Just before heading to the University of Iowa to join the university’s swim team, John Fellows discovered a copy of the Book of Mormon on a bookshelf in his parents’ home in Boise, Idaho. He packed it in his bags, and before long he called the missionaries wanting to know more. The combination of his baptism into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a swimming-prohibitive injury led him to transfer to BYU, where he joined the Army ROTC and discovered what would become his lifelong career.
A painter, dancer, and designer, Kari Durrant describes herself as a primarily right-brained person. She intended to major in dance at BYU, but after encountering recreational therapy as part of a class assignment, Durrant eventually made the switch to recreation management. Her new major, she discovered, would enable her to use her creative side in ways she hadn’t expected.