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. 

Diane Butrus, CSci’85, is chief operating officer of Diba Imports, a footwear distributor. She is from the St. Louis area and lives there now. A founding member of the S&T Academy of Miner Athletics, she played for the Lady Miner softball team as a student. Diane has served on the board of her condominium association for over three years, and was president for two of those years. She led the finance committee of Explore Transplant, a nonprofit organization committed to kidney transplant education. She spends most of her free time bicycling, and participates in multiple charity rides a year. She drives a Tesla Model S and says she is “thrilled to hear Rolla is getting a supercharging station!” Diane lives with her girlfriend, Me’Shel Riedel, and occasionally Me’Shel’s son Alex, who is a freshman at Washington University in St. Louis studying architecture.

Lindsay Bagnall, PsychSci’76 is retired from Missouri S&T, having begun her career there in 1985 as a computer programmer.  She later became the assistant director of alumni relations, then in 2002 became the first female and first alum executive vice president of the MSM-UMR Alumni Association (now the Miner Alumni Association).  In 2007 she shifted gears and became senior secretary in Distance and Continuing Education at S&T, retiring in 2011.  From 1985 to 2018 she was co-owner of Kent Jewelry, founded by her husband Kent Bagnall CE’76, and they currently own Eclectic Ventures LLC.  Kent and Lindsay are members of the Order of the Golden Shillelagh and are both Honorary Knights of St. Patrick.  Some of her memberships and activities are Coterie of Missouri S&T, CORE (Champions of Rolla Education), Arts Rolla!, Friends of the Rolla Public Library, Phelps County Historical Society, Club TEAC, Phi Mu Fraternity, Chapter HR of P.E.O. and the Richard III Society. She currently volunteers for Ozark Actors Theatre and the Rolla Recycling Center as well as the Route 66 Association of Missouri where she serves as treasurer.  Lindsay and Kent have two daughters by birth (Hannah Bagnall and Lydia Hardin) and another 14 young women they consider daughters either through the Rotary Youth Exchange Program, Ozark Actors Theatre, or other connections.

Casey Burton (Chem’13, PhD Chem’17), is the Director of Health Innovation & Policy 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 servs 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.

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.