Gaining value from Successful Alumni
The Career Discovery Tour is a program committed to further expanding student-alumni career networking opportunities. In 2014, the program was recognized with the “Best Student Alumni Programming” award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
Offered annually during spring break, the tour offers 12-16 students the opportunity to travel for a week to vibrant cities across the U.S. to gain first-hand knowledge of a variety of careers directly from successful Ripon alumni and friends.
Engage Critically
Advancement and Student Life staff accompany students on the tour and help to design meeting schedules and flex time that meets the needs of most students. Previous trips have included Washington, D.C., Minneapolis, Chicago, Denver, Boston, New York, Colorado, and Texas.
This critical engagement opportunity is made possible with financial support from the Alumni Association Board and other alumni and friends of Ripon College.
Spring 2026 Tour
Career Discovery Tour Seattle
March 13-18, 2026
’26 Seattle Confirmed Hosts
Emily Cliff ’17
Ripon Major: Chemistry Ripon Minor: Biology
Graduate School: PhD Chemistry, University of Washington
Industry: Biotechnology
Position/Employer: Scientist I at Allen Institute, Seattle Hub for Synthetic Biology
BIO:
Emily’s career has been a gradual shift from traditional organic chemistry research (with Ripon’s very own Professor Willoughby!), to chemical biology (PhD in Jesse Zalatan’s Lab at UW-Seattle), and finally into the world of biotechnology and synthetic biology. Synthetic biology allows her to take nature’s blueprints and reimagine them as powerful new biological tools—whether for environmental applications like bioremediation or cutting-edge therapies such as CAR-T. On a day-to-day basis, she splits time between dreaming up clever new designs and getting hands-on in the lab to test them. The balance between mental creativity and hands-on experimentation is refreshing and grounding.
LinkedIn Profile
Kathy Graunke ’73
Ripon Majors: Chemistry, German
Graduate School: Doctor of Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Master’s of Public Health, Harvard University
Industry: Healthcare
Position/Employer: Retired Pediatrician
BIO: Retiring in 2016, Dr. Graunke spent more than 25years as a general pediatrician in the greater Seattle area. Her previous 10 years in practice were in Boston, Berkeley, CA, and Connecticut.
John Hinds ’96
Ripon Major: Music
Graduate School: Master of Arts in Organizational Systems, The Leadership Institute of Seattle; Executive MBA, Quantic School of Business & Technology.
Industry: Healthcare Leadership Consulting
Position/Employer: Talent, Learning & Capability Consultant at CommonSpirit
BIO: John is an internal organizational effectiveness consultant to 14 leadership teams at CommonSpirit, a non-profit healthcare system focused on diverse communities and eliminating barriers to healthcare.
LinkedIn Profile
Kevin Meserve ’10
Ripon Major: Psychology Ripon Minor: Business Management
Graduate School: JD, Willamette University
Industry: Family Law
Position/Employer: Attorney at Connolly, Tacon, and Meserve
BIO: Kevin’s practice focuses primarily on family law, divorce, and child custody. He is experienced in civil protection orders, including anti-harassment, domestic violence, and sexual assault. He volunteers with Thurston County Volunteer Legal Services as a mentor attorney for their family law legal clinic.
Willson “Chip” Moore ‘75
Ripon Majors: Political Science
Industry: Financial Services, Institutional Investing
Position/Employer: Retired (prior: Manulife John Hancock Investments)
BIO: With over 40 years in the financial services industry, Chip’s focus was the relational development and management of trusted consultants and advisors serving large institutional employers as well as their trustees and investment boards.
Bill Quistorf ’80
Ripon Major: Art
Wayland Baptist University ’86: Bachelor of Science in Aviation Technology
Graduate School: Master’s in Systems Management, University of Southern California
Industry: Law Enforcement, Aviation
Position/Employer: Chief Pilot, Snohomish County Sheriff’s Department (25 years)
BIO: Deputy Quistorf’s work with the Snohomish County Helicopter Search and Rescue team helps to locate and rescue victims trapped in avalanches, stranded hikers, and adventurists. In 2004, he helped establish and now chairs the Northwest Regional Aviation Group. Previously, he served 25 years in U.S. Army Aviation.
Jason Reiner P’26
Education: BS, Central Washington University
Industry: Information Systems, Technology
Position/Employer: Partner Group Engineering Manager, Microsoft
BIO: Jason has over 22 years of experience leading multi-disciplinary teams that provide critical enterprise IT services and support network engineering, service and security engineering, site reliability engineering, and sourcing engineering. His background is in IT infrastructure operations, IT and business strategy alignment, and network technology.
LinkedIn Profile
Rich Rorem ’81
Ripon Majors: Economics, History
Graduate School: MBA, Seattle University
Industry: Finance, Executive Coaching
Position/Employer: Retired, Deloitte Consulting
More to come!
Sara Sisco ’11
Ripon Major: Politics and Government Ripon Minor: National Security Studies
Graduate School: Master’s in Non-Profit Leadership, Seattle University
Industry: Non-Profit Management
Position/Employer: Senior Manager – Mobility Education and Outreach, Hopelink
BIO: Sara is a nonprofit leader guiding mobility outreach programs that support equitable transportation access in King County. With a master’s in Nonprofit Leadership and a background in community engagement, she focuses on empowering staff, strengthening partnerships, and improving how communities navigate transit.
LinkedIn Profile
Frank Smoll ’63
Ripon Majors: Biology, Physical Education
Graduate School: PhD Kinesiology, University of Wisconsin – Madison
Industry: Sport Psychology
Position/Employer: Professor Emeritus, University of Washington
BIO: Dr. Smoll’s research focused on coaching behaviors and the psycho-social effects of competition on children and adolescents. He published more than 145 scientific articles and book chapters, and he is author/co-author of 25 books and manuals on youth sports. Professor Smoll made over 150 presentations at scientific/professional conferences and invited colloquia. He conducted more than 575 psychologically-oriented coaching clinics and workshops for parents of young athletes in the United States and Canada.
Laura Yuenger White ’04
Ripon Major: Psychology
Graduate School: Master’s in Industrial and Organizational Psychology, University of Tennessee Chattanooga
Industry: Commercial Real Estate
Position/Employer: Chief of Staff and Director of Business Operations, CBRE
BIO: Laura is a Swiss Army knife-type generalist who never committed to one career path, mostly because decision paralysis is her superpower. Instead, she helps people, projects, and teams get unstuck.
LinkedIn Profile
The Career Discovery Tour is a donor-funded initiative started by former President Zach Messitte and the Ripon College Alumni Board of Directors.
The program is designed to help students learn the value of the liberal arts from successful alumni and provide experiences related to living and working in a city. Student participants also gain networking skills.
More than 150 students have participated since spring 2013.
The most influential knowledge I gained during the trip was that it doesn’t matter what major you graduate with. Rather it is the skills that you hone during your college years that make an impact on your career. That for a member of civil services the best skill she learned was conduct. It really shows how most alumni use the skills they learned rather than the degree they earned.
Isaac Tomaschefsky ’24
Participant in 2023 trip to Washington, D.C.
This trip provided students with an abundant experience of professional environments while also introducing us to successful Ripon College alumni. In particular, these site visits illustrate the valuable traits and mentalities required to lead a professional career. The visits also demonstrated the power of Ripon College’s liberal arts education in developing critical-thinking skills that are applicable in the workplace and help separate Ripon College graduates from others.
Robert Rosner ’19
Participant in the 2019 trip to Texas
The Career Discovery Tour let me see a glimpse of what it is like to live in another state. We were able to experience New York traffic, Boston museums and many more unique aspects of life in different cities. We met with numerous Ripon College alumni, and it was insightful to see where they ended up in their careers. Some are in careers which were related to their majors, while some of them had careers which do not correlate specifically to what they studied in college.
Hanna Kashchei ’25
Participant in the 2024 trip to the East Coast
Engage with Ripon College
Looking to give back to Ripon? Keep in touch! We can’t wait to hear from you.