Casey Burton (Chem’13, PhD Chem’17), is the Executive Director of Research and Governmental Affairs at Phelps Health and an Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at Missouri S&T. His research aims at the development and application of advanced analytical techniques for healthcare diagnostics, including early cancer detection and traumatic brain injury. He currently leads the research and governmental affairs programs at Phelps Health. He serves on a number of research and non-profit boards to strengthen the state’s research enterprise and ability to improve the health and wellness of Missourians. He was recognized as a Missouri S&T Distinguished Young Alumni in 2020. He and his wife, Hannah, have one son, Henry.

Nathan Ayres, MBA'16, is manager of marketing and communications at Brewer Science. Nathan earned bachelor of science degrees in nuclear engineering and engineering management from S&T in 2007. While at S&T, Nathan was a leader in the American Nuclear Society and Christian Campus Fellowship, as well as held a reactor operators license for the S&T nuclear research reactor on campus. Nathan currently serves on the Marketing Advisory Committee with Geared For Phelps and the Marketing Advisory Team for Rolla Technical Institute. He and his wife, Christina, who earned a masters degree in math from S&T, with their two children, Carissa and Noah, enjoy their hobby farm with their dogs, chickens, ducks, and Greta the goose. 

Hannah Frye is the Senior Policy Advisor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Washington Office, covering biomedical and biotechnology federal policy issues for the institute. In addition, Dr. Frye coordinates the MIT Washington Office’s relationships with student and alumni science policy groups. Dr. Frye earned her Bachelor of Science from Missouri S&T in chemistry with a biochemistry emphasis along with a minor in biological sciences in 2015, and her doctoral degree in neuroscience from Washington University in St. Louis in 2021. While a student at Missouri S&T, she was a leader in the International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) design team and in the campus residential life community. After defending her thesis at WashU, Dr. Frye joined the California Council of Science and Technology science policy fellowship, where she was placed in the California State Senate Committee on Business, Professions, and Economic Development to assist the State Senate in analyzing bills related to clinical laboratories, healthcare professional licensing, cannabis law, and economic development initiatives. In addition to her work for MIT, Dr. Frye also serves as Director of Programs and Events for the Journal of Science Policy and Governance and is an active volunteer with the Edgewood Community Farm in her local neighborhood. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband, Nathaniel Franklin (Missouri S&T ME’16) and cat, Felicette (named after the first cat in space).

Paula is a retired college professor and administrator who is both an alumna and a former faculty member of UMR/MO S&T.  She holds a B.S. in Chemistry with a Life Science Preference from UMR (1976) and a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from Duke University (1981) with research interests in immunochemistry, cancer immunology, and immunotoxicology.  

After post-doctoral fellowships at the University of North Carolina and Duke University, she began her academic career at the University of Missouri-Rolla.  She spent twenty years on the faculty there in Biological Sciences (1987-2007) earning the rank of full professor while winning more than a dozen outstanding teaching and faculty excellence awards.  She was the P.I. on a series of NIH RO1 grants over a fifteen year period; these collaborative, interdisciplinary projects focused on investigating the effects of lead on children’s immune systems.  Her administrative career there included Associate Dean for Graduate Affairs and Research, Chair of Biological Sciences, and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (UMR’s first woman dean).  She has had a long-standing interest in encouraging diversity in STEM disciplines; she was involved in a Women’s Leadership Institute, taught a “Women as Global Leaders” class, and helped to found UMR’s Expanding Your Horizons program. 

In 2007, she moved her family to Bozeman, MT, to take the position of Dean of the College of Letters and Science and Professor of Cell Biology and Neuroscience at Montana State University.  As dean at MSU, she maintained her interest in mentoring on their NSF ADVANCE grant advisory committee, established the New Faculty Forum for first and second year faculty members, and helped to create DEAL (Developing Excellence in Academic Leaders) for aspiring campus leaders.  While at MSU, she actively supported the recruitment and retention of Native American students, chairing the Native American Education Advisory Board (NAEAB).  She served as the P.I. on the $14.9M NIH C06 construction grant to renovate MSU’s Cooley Labs for biomedical research, and as P.I. on MSU’s NIH ‘Bridges to the Baccalaureate’ grant for Tribal College students.

In 2013, she became Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Zoology and Physiology at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, WY.  Leadership development and networking continued to be a focus for her as she participated in the 2015 Leadership Wyoming class for leaders in all fields across the state.  She developed “UW LEAD” as an internal leadership program for department heads and associate/assistant deans from all campus units as well as a New Faculty Forum in her own college.  During her time as dean, she served on the Board of the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences and on the Finance Committee for the American Association of Immunologists. 

In July of 2020, Paula and her spouse Len Lutz (B.S. and M.S. Metallurgical Engineering, 1976 and 2007) retired and moved back home to Missouri where they are enjoying retirement to the fullest!  They are the parents of two daughters—Lauren and Alyson (St. Louis and San Mateo, CA, respectively)—and two ‘furry children’.  She enjoys reading, hiking, music, photography, gardening, and vacationing on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Grace Deitzler (B.Sc. '16) is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard University's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, where she researches the efficacy and mechanisms of probiotics in a model of pediatric intestinal disease. Dr. Deitzler earned her Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences, with minors in chemistry and psychology, at Missouri S&T in 2016. While at Missouri S&T, Dr. Deitzler was the president of the Helix Life Sciences Club, a leader in the Phi Sigma Biological Honors Fraternity, the Editor in Chief of the Missouri Miner newspaper, and was involved in the Alpha Psi Omega Theater Honors Fraternity (now Miner League Theater Players.) After completing her B.S., she worked at Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis as a research technician studying the vaginal microbiome and pregnancy. She completed her PhD in Microbiology at Oregon State University in 2023, where her research focused on the relationship between the gut microbiome and health and behavior. As a graduate student, Dr. Deitzler was a recipient of the National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship. She lives in Cambridge, MA with her cat, Baby, whom she adopted from the streets of Rolla while a student at S&T.

Dr. Donald L. Packwood (Physics'63, PhD Physics 71) is retired from working at companies such as McDonnell Astronautics Corporation, National Semiconductor Corporation, and Hewlett Packard Corporation. He serves as the chair of several committees and divisions and was on the Board of Directors for the technical society, AVS. He received a Professional Degree of Physics from UMR (now Missouri S&T), a MU-A&S Distinguished Alumnus Award, and a MU Physics Department Distinguished Career Award. Don has been instrumental in supporting the University of Missouri by creating four endowed scholarships. His philanthropic giving has also led to support for his Missouri high school, establishing scholarships and granting money for vocal lessons to high school students. Don is interested in nature and has contributed several pieces of writing and photography to various organizations. He is a competitive runner, an avid hiker, and lover of classical music.

Dave Westenberg, Ph.D., is Curators Distinguished Teaching Professor of Biological Sciences. He earned his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from the University of California, Los Angeles. Westenberg has been an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow in Goettingen and Marburg, Germany and a U.S. Department of Agriculture postdoctoral fellow at Dartmouth College. He co-directed the Missouri S&T Science Education and Quantitative Literacy professional development program for K-12 teachers, and has taught teacher workshops for the BioBuilder Foundation and HHMI Biointeractive. Westenberg has received numerous awards for teaching and advising, including the Class of ’42 Alumni Excellence in Teaching Award, the Missouri S&T Alumni Association Outstanding Advisor Award, the 2017 Science Educator Award from the Academy of Sciences, St. Louis, the American Society for Microbiology Carski Award for undergraduate education, and the UM System President’s Award for Community Engagement.