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
Constituent Engagement and Career Services 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 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 2025 Tour Details
Ripon College will visit alumni and sights in Colorado.
Dates: Saturday, March 15, to Thursday, March 20, 2025
Cost per Student: $450* (includes airfare, lodging, most meals and ground transportation)
*Financial assistance will be available to qualified students upon request.
Alumni & Friend Visits
The following Alumni and Friends will be sharing experiences with students during the tour
Interested students should complete the application by 5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 24, 2025.
- Major: Chemistry-Biology
- Graduate School: Doctor of Pharmacy, Regis University
- Industry: Pharmaceuticals
- Position/Employer: PharmD Student and Pharmaceutical Intern, Kaiser Permanente
- Ripon Majors/Minors: History Major, Philosophy Minor
- Graduate School: MA History, Old Dominion University
- Industry: Defense, National Security
- Position/Employer: Imagery Intelligence Analyst, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
- Major: History
- Industry: Information Technology, E-Discovery, Forensically-Captured Evidence
- Position/Employer: Founder and CEO, Aspen Litigation Services
- Major: Politics and Government
- Graduate School: MA Political Science and Public Policy, University of Colorado Denver
- Industry: City Administration, Community Engagement
- Position/Employer: Town Administrator, Town of Nederland (CO)
- Major: Anthropology
- Graduate School: JD, Northern Illinois University
- Industry: Civil Law
- Position/Employer: Assistant County Attorney, Douglas County (CO)
- Majors/Minors: English Major, Sociology Minor
- Industry: Software & Technology Services
- Position/Employer: Senior Integration Analyst, Equus Software
- Ripon Majors/Minors: Biology Major, Chemistry and Spanish Minors
- Graduate School: Doctor of Medicine, Des Moines University
- Industry: Internal Medicine, General Adult Medicine
- Position/Employer: Resident Physician, Saint Joseph Hospital
- Majors/Minors: Business Management Major, Leadership Studies Minor
- Graduate School: MS Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, UW Madison
- Industry: Collegiate Athletics, Non-Profit Management
- Position/Employer: Commissioner, Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
- Majors: Economics, Business Management
- Industry: Start Ups, Entrepreneurship, Marketing
- Position/Employer: Co-Founder, Firestarter Marketing ai
- Majors: Economics, English
- Industry: Marketing, Communications and Business Development Strategy
- Position/Employer: Executive Vice President, Marketing & Sales Enablement, CCS Facility Services
- Majors/Minors: Chemistry Major, Mathematics Minor, University of Florida
- Graduate School: PhD Molecular Biology, University of Wisconsin; MS Materials Engineering, UW Madison; MD, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine; MD Emergency and Internal Medicine, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit; MD Pulmonary Medicine and Critical Care Medicine, UW Madison
- BIO : Currently a Graduate Student in Mathematics, specializing in artificial intelligence applications in medical research. Prior to graduate school, she practiced medicine in Chicago, Boston, New York, Detroit, and Madison, building extensive clinical expertise in critical care. After being recruited to the University of Colorado for diabetes research, she now focuses on developing advanced computational methods for medical diagnostics and targeted therapies. Her academic research includes numerous collaborative projects with industry partners for developing novel therapeutic approaches. Her research combines statistical analysis, deep learning, and artificial intelligence to discover novel biomarkers and create predictive models for complex diseases. She specializes in integrating multi-omics data with clinical datasets to advance personalized medicine and precision therapeutics. Her interdisciplinary background spans molecular biology, chemistry, mathematics, and extensive clinical experience in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease, Emergency Medicine, and Critical Care. This broad medical expertise, combined with her computational skills, provides a unique perspective for translating data-driven insights into meaningful clinical applications and therapeutic strategies.
- Major: Physics
- Graduate School: MA Engineering, UW Madison; MBA, Northwestern University
- Industry: Engineering, Entrepreneurship
- BIO: As an engineer, Fred has designed internal combustion engines for snowmobiles and offshore powerboat racing, marine propulsion and related accessories for boats. As a manager, Fred oversaw new product startups in medical diagnostic equipment. He was a management consultant with Price Waterhouse focused on manufacturing systems integration for client businesses both large and small. Then, he bought a small marine accessory business which he grew and subsequently sold to Mercury Marine. He became President of the Mercury Racing business unit, and simultaneously, President of Brunswick Commercial and Government Products (police, fire and military boats), and President of Mototron (mechatronics controls) – all of which he successfully managed until retirement. In retirement, Fred launched K-Lab Design Works. He is self-taught in CAD. He has designed, patented and prototyped a variable pitch surface drive for boats. Currently, on his CAD station: an ergonomic hammock.
- Majors/Minors: History and Psychology Majors, Law and Society Minor
- Graduate School: JD, Hamline University
- Industry: Family Court, Child Protective Services, Adult Protective Services
- Position/Employer: Senior County Attorney, El Paso County (CO)
- Majors/Minors: Film and Media Studies (self-design) Major, Psychology Minor
- Graduate School: MLIS Library and Information Science, University of Denver
- Industry: Archives, Collections, Research
- Position/Employer: Graduate Assistant, Morgridge College of Education, University of Denver
- Majors/Minors: Physics Major, Math Minor
- Graduate School: MS Robotics Engineering, Washington University
- Industry: Engineering, Technology, Aerospace
- Position/Employer: Systems Engineer, Boeing
- Majors/Minors: Physics Major, Math Minor
- Graduate School: MA Education, University of Colorado – Colorado Springs (UCCS)
- Industry: Higher Education
- Position/Employer: Scholarship Program Coordinator, UCCS
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.