Honors Alumni Board

Sarah Fischer graduated in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and English. She subsequently earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. in comparative politics from American University, where her research focused on the relationships of secularism, gender, and democratization in the Middle East. Sarah has lived in Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey. She is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Marymount University in Arlington, VA. In addition to being an FHP leader and member of the honors program while at Iowa State, Sarah also actively participated with the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics. In 2011, Fischer received the ISU Alumni Association STATEment Maker award, and in 2016, the James A. Hopson Alumni Volunteer Award.

Andy Appleton’s first Iowa State University and honors program experiences were through a degree in Agricultural Business. Following graduation, Andy worked as a loan officer in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for what is now known as U.S. Bank. After four years, Andy returned to Iowa State to obtain a degree in Agricultural Engineering, also conferred with honors. After rising to the role of Chief Engineer for a small company in northeast Iowa, Andy transferred to John Deere. He served in a design capacity, working on large tractors as a Senior Staff Engineer. He spends the majority of his time in the domain of systems engineering. Along the career path, Andy secured an advanced degree in Mechanical Engineering through Iowa State’s distance education program. After retirement from Deere, Andy devotes his time to family and involvement in the family farm, which recently achieved Heritage Farm status. He has also returned to the field of engineering on a contract basis. Andy’s most memorable moments with the University Honors Program include taking his daughter and son to the FHP orientation in the Jischke Honors Building.

Ashley Arellano is the Team Leader of Financial Reporting and Investment Operations at Wellmark, Inc. Previously, she worked for KPMG for nearly ten years, where she was a senior manager in the audit practice, auditing various public and private companies operating in insurance (life and P&C), manufacturing, life sciences, and banking industries. She is a CFA charter holder and is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Iowa. She also serves on the board of the CFA Society of Iowa. 
Ashley’s Honors Project on the financial preparedness of the millennial generation for retirement continues to be handy in her current role at Wellmark, where she is actively involved with managing the investment portfolio for the company’s pension plan. 
Outside work, Ashley stays busy raising her two daughters, is an active member of the Lutheran Church of Hope in Ankeny, and enjoys reading, swimming, cooking, and traveling. 

Eric Barsness works as an Executive Consultant and the leader of IBM i Performance Delivery Practice for IBM System Lab Services. In this role, he helps clients worldwide resolve performance problems that are affecting their businesses. Eric received his M.S. in Computer and Information Sciences from the University of Minnesota in 2000. He is an IBM Master Inventor with more than 275 patents. Eric lives in southeastern Minnesota with his wife, Tracy, whom he met at ISU. He stays connected to Iowa State by mentoring summer interns and co-op students who work for IBM.

Liz Beck touched the lives of many honors students in her role as Honors Program Coordinator. Liz has been a leader within her community and at Iowa State. She served as an active member of the YWCA in Mason City, as an officer of the Iowa Arthritis Foundation, and a member of the planning committee for the Iowa Special Olympics. Liz is currently a member of the ACCESS board and the Center for Child Care Resources board. She was the founder of the Ames Women's Deli Potluck. Liz served on the University Committee on Women and the University Child Care Committee during their formative years. She was president of the board of the ISU Memorial Union, and she is once again a member of the University Child Care Committee. Liz has served as a member of the executive committee for the Program for Women in Science and Engineering since its inception in 1986 and as the chair of the PWSE scholarship committee since 1988.

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Brent Carlson is the Senior Vice President of Technology and Operations at Nurocor, Inc., and a recognized leader in enterprise application and service-oriented architecture. Most recently, Mr. Carlson was the CTO and founder of LogicLibrary, Inc., where Mr. Carlson drove the development and delivery of LogicLibrary's products. Recently named to InfoWorld's prestigious ranking of the Top 25 CTOs in business today, Brent is a 17-year veteran of IBM, where he served as lead architect for the WebSphere Business Components project and held numerous leadership roles on the "IBM SanFrancisco Project." He co-authored two books: SanFrancisco Design Patterns: Blueprints for Business Software and Framework Process Patterns: Lessons Learned Developing Application Frameworks. Brent is a frequent presenter at industry conferences. Mr. Carlson holds 19 hardware and software patents and earned a bachelor's degree in computer engineering from Iowa State University. At SOA Software, Mr. Carlson focuses on the strategic direction and development of planning and development governance.

Nate Dobbels works for Iowa State University as an academic advisor in the Department of Agricultural Education and Studies. Nate advises students, teaches department-specific courses, and assists with teaching Honors 302. Nate believes his experiences in the University Honors Program transformed his path in life. Serving a year as an undergraduate assistant for the honors program and a summer working orientation for the office helped him realize his true passion for helping college students and working in higher education. This motivated him to obtain a Master's Degree in Higher Education-Student Affairs from the University of Northern Iowa. In his free time, Nate enjoys connecting with family and friends, traveling, cooking, coaching youth sports, and spending time with his wife, Kassie, and their two dogs and one cat.  

Stephen Ho joined as a Managing Director of DBS Investment Banking Group in Singapore in June 2001. Before joining DBS, Stephen was the Head of the Global Telecom, Media & Technology Group in Asia at JP Morgan Chase since 1998. He started his career with Chase in 1989 as an M&A generalist in New York before specializing in media and telecom sectors in New York and subsequently in Asia. Since 1994, he has led over $15 billion of bank or bond financing for more than 30 companies throughout Asia and around the world. On the M&A side, Stephen has advised corporations from North America to Asia in many cross-border transactions. Since 2003, he has completed multiple IPOs in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand. In addition to his Construction Engineering degree from Iowa State, he has an M.S. (Civil Engineering) from M.I.T. and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania. Along with Chinese and English, Stephen picked up a bit of Spanish at Iowa State in preparation for his stint as an exchange student in Mexico in the summer of 1981.

Mark Law is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Engineering at the University of Florida. He received the B.S. Cpr.E. degree from Iowa State University in 1981, the M.S.E.E. from Stanford University in 1982, and the Ph.D. degree from Stanford University in 1988. His current research interests are in integrated circuit devices and reliability. Dr. Law was named a National Science Foundation Presidential Faculty Fellow in 1992, Outstanding Young Alumni of Iowa State in 1994, College of Engineering Teacher of the Year in 1996-97, a UF Research Fellow in 1998, won the 2006 SRC Aristotle Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Advising, and an Iowa State Professional Achievement Award in 2007. Dr. Law has written over 200 papers in the area of process and device modeling and has advised 19 Ph.D. students. He has been involved in more than $20 million of funding during his career. He is an IEEE EDS distinguished lecturer. He is a member of the American Physical Society, Materials Research Society, and American Society for Engineering Education. He was named an IEEE Fellow in 1998 for his contributions to integrated circuit process modeling and simulation. He was the 2010 IEEE EDS J.J. Ebers Award winner for contributions to widely used process modeling tools.

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John Potter recently retired from his role leading John Deere’s efforts in machine cybersecurity. He worked for Deere & Company for 29 years. During that time, Potter completed three master’s degrees -- Computer Science & Engineering (Penn State), Business Administration (University of Iowa) and Information Assurance (Iowa State). In 2013, he received the John Deere President’s Award of Excellence. He has fond memories of his time in the University Honors Program, which included Liz Beck, Osborn Cottage, and having to get the key to the building at the union if you wanted to work after hours.

Katherine Rapp is an Account Director for JPA Health and a Harvard University MPH Candidate. Rapp enjoys working in public health, especially when it comes to engaging and supporting local communities. When she isn't returning to visit Ames for Honors Alumni Board meetings, Rapp participates in the Center for Health Communication at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health's board, working to define, teach, and share best practices in health and science communication. 

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