The UNI School of Music is celebrating an important milestone, the 25th Anniversary of our Masters of Music in Music Education Distance Education program. We recently checked in with the very first graduate of the program, Ernest Reineke, who is currently in his 33rd year of teaching, and learned how the program was created and has impacted his incredible teaching career.
UNI alum and Alaskan Park Ranger Sam Braband didn’t experience the pandemic like many people. After all, when your job can range from responding to a wildfire to chasing wildlife from a campground, working from home isn’t an option.
Keyaira Miller is making her mark in the fashion world. In April, oversaw the launch of Amazon’s new Gen Y fashion brand, Wild Meadow, and this September, she will launch her own line of children’s clothes.
Michelle Hall raised four children, overcame domestic violence and first enrolled at UNI at age 41. She now works at a Waterloo nonprofit that serves people affected by homelessness, domestic violence and sexual assault.
Jym Ganahl, an Associated Press Broadcasting Hall of Famer, credits his studies at UNI for launching his career as a TV weatherman. And now the 55-year meteorological veteran is seeking the Guinness Record for longest-serving TV weatherman.
Panther alum Yulia Dannen, a Russian immigrant and single mother who has built a successful accounting business, recently won a statewide entrepreneur of the year award. “(They) said UNI’s accounting program is the best and now I know it is,” she said.
UNI alum and classically trained singer MaKayla McDonald never envisioned a place in the industry for a young, Black queer singer. Now the dynamic, up-and-coming soprano - who performs Friday through Sunday as Ida B. Wells in “The Suffragist” at the Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center - is winning lead roles in opera houses across the country.
