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PROFILES OF PIONEERING SPIRIT

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Aditya Shah ’25

Birguj, Nepal

Adriana Roberts ’90

San Francisco, California

Amy Giannotti ’95

Winter Park, Florida

Angelique Evans ’09

Champaign, Illinois

Ashley Thomas ’14

Garfield Heights , Ohio

Darren LaShelle ’89

San Francisco, California

Don and Leslie Straub Ritter ’81

Dallas, Texas

Dr. Joseph Webb ’07

De Pere, Wisconsin

Dr. Kenneth Andrus ’70

Honolulu, Hawaii

John V. Ulakovic ’81

Oakland, California

State

California
John V. UlakovicAdriana RobertsDarren LaShelle
D.C.
Lindy Nester
Florida
Amy Giannotti
Hawaii
Dr. Kenneth Andrus
Illinois
Angelique Evans
New Jersey
Krista Tkacz
North Dakota
Rachel Baughman Bachmeier
Ohio
Ashley ThomasScott and Rachel Worthington Burnham
Pennsylvania
Megs Schreck Yunn
Texas
Sarah MayoDon and Leslie Straub Ritter
West Virginia
Leah Seaman
Wisconsin
Dr. Joseph Webb

Country

Nepal
Aditya Shah
Browse
Close
People Location
Aditya Shah ’25

Birguj, Nepal

Adriana Roberts ’90

San Francisco, California

Amy Giannotti ’95

Winter Park, Florida

Angelique Evans ’09

Champaign, Illinois

Ashley Thomas ’14

Garfield Heights , Ohio

Darren LaShelle ’89

San Francisco, California

Don and Leslie Straub Ritter ’81

Dallas, Texas

Dr. Joseph Webb ’07

De Pere, Wisconsin

Dr. Kenneth Andrus ’70

Honolulu, Hawaii

John V. Ulakovic ’81

Oakland, California

State

California
John V. UlakovicAdriana RobertsDarren LaShelle
D.C.
Lindy Nester
Florida
Amy Giannotti
Hawaii
Dr. Kenneth Andrus
Illinois
Angelique Evans
New Jersey
Krista Tkacz
North Dakota
Rachel Baughman Bachmeier
Ohio
Ashley ThomasScott and Rachel Worthington Burnham
Pennsylvania
Megs Schreck Yunn
Texas
Sarah MayoDon and Leslie Straub Ritter
West Virginia
Leah Seaman
Wisconsin
Dr. Joseph Webb

Country

Nepal
Aditya Shah

John V. Ulakovic ’81

Oakland, California

B.S. Petroleum Engineering, Marietta College

About

Graven Imaginings (Founder, Owner, Artist) • Chevron (Petroleum Engineer, retired) • Janus Company (Founder, former Owner and Artist)

Adriana Roberts ’90

San Francisco, California

B.A. Radio/Television, Minored in Art

About

Owner and CEO of Bootie Mashup • Activist for Trans Community

Darren LaShelle ’89

San Francisco, California

B.A Radio/Television, Marietta College

About

President & CEO, Northern California Public Media • Emmy award-winning Executive Producer

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John V. Ulakovic ’81

Oakland, California

B.S. Petroleum Engineering, Marietta College

About

Graven Imaginings (Founder, Owner, Artist) • Chevron (Petroleum Engineer, retired) • Janus Company (Founder, former Owner and Artist)

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Growing up in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, John V. Ulakovic ’81 had taken special art classes at Carnegie Mellon University while still in high school, but his cousin, Thomas Lugaric ’57, who worked in the field with much success, convinced him to set his sights on petroleum engineering. Applying to Colorado School of Mines, Penn State and Marietta College, John chose his cousin’s alma mater.

His mind focused on becoming an engineer, John was a recipient of the Douglas Putnam scholarship and had a successful academic career at Marietta.

“In all the time I was at Marietta, I only took one art class,” he says. “It was with Valdez Garoza. He never gave A’s at midterm, but he gave me an A. I’ll never forget this: he said, ‘John, why do you want to be a petroleum engineer when everybody knows there ain’t no oil? Drop petroleum and become an artist.’ ”

John stuck with engineering and, by the time he graduated, he had seven or eight job offers — but his artistic skills still came in handy. Before Commencement, he designed T-shirts featuring a drill bit to sell to his petroleum engineering classmates. The money he earned paid off his tuition bill at the College, so he was able to receive a real diploma when he graduated.

“There are left-brained people and right-brained people,” John says. “I think, in the oil business, my unique ability as a right-brained artist allowed me to think three-dimensionally in my mind. So, I worked very well with seismic interpretation, geology, mapping fields, things you couldn’t see underground but have a mental image.”

His profession and his first passion for creating art continued to develop.

“In addition to being in the petroleum industry, I had been a longtime horror film fan and I had a model kit company (Janus Company) that I am also quite known for. For over 20 years, there were a ravenous group of folks who were hobbyists that liked to put together figure kits of horror/science fiction/fantasy subject matter. Through that, I became well-known. I met Michael Jackson, and sold model kits to Peter Jackson, Guillermo del Torro, and many different individuals in the motion picture special effect as well as actors.”

Related Links

gravenimaginings.com
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He created more than 20 kits and was the first person to license model kits of Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr. and Lon Chaney Sr. He licensed with Universal Studios, Sci-Fi Network, and USA Networks for these different model kits. Because of his model kits, he became friends with Ray Harryhausen, the Oscar winning stop motion animator known for such classic films as “Jason and the Argonauts”, “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” and “Clash of the Titans”. This resulted in a partnership in marketing a number of Harryhausen’s sculptures.

“That built a reputation for my being somebody who puts out quality things related to Hollywood, in general.”

His model kit company had a steady client list, but he knew he had to devote more time to his profession. He had worked a 16-year period in Angola and Nigeria, and progressing in the industry required more of his focus. He stopped making model kits, and turned to painting and bronze sculptures.

“Back in 1990, I did a 6-foot-wide oil painting of an old Texaco gas station, and ultimately it was used for United Way to generate tens of thousands of dollars in donations for United Way. And Texaco bought the original painting. Texaco was acquired by Chevron, and that’s still in their offices in Louisiana. Yes, I got a reputation as an artist in doing oilfield related artwork also over the years.”

During the pandemic, he took an incentive to retire from Chevron, and decided to devote his time to his second career: Graven Imaginings, a company that sells horror, science fiction and fantasy art created by him and other respected artists in that genre.

Unlike his model kit company, John has time to manage and grow the new company without it affecting his career in the petroleum industry.

“It was a path less taken, but I ended up having my career and enjoying art on the side. Now I can be my own boss and get to focus on art.”

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Adriana Roberts ’90

San Francisco, California

B.A. Radio/Television, Minored in Art

About

Owner and CEO of Bootie Mashup • Activist for Trans Community

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“I throw parties for a living. I jump up on stage, get everyone excited about having a good time and we have a dance party. You wonder, ‘How the hell did MC prepare me for this?’”

Though very little of it made sense at the time, Adriana Roberts’ undergraduate experience at Marietta College was a roadmap to her career as the owner and CEO of Bootie Mashup, an international company that throws nightclub and mashup dance parties.

For starters, Roberts came to Marietta determined to create her own major: creative media. She gravitated to creative projects — she wrote and created her own video and film projects, hosted a radio show and a cable-access show, and worked in the theatre. Her work study job was in the College Relations Office, where she learned graphic design. As the McDonough Leadership Program was still in its early years, she paid attention to the business and leadership tones that permeated from the newly established program into other academic programs. And, of course, at the core of her liberal arts education was a strong focus on written and oral communication.

When Roberts graduated from Marietta, she had been involved in so many different programs and extracurricular groups that she had keys to just about every academic building on campus. Though she settled into a Radio/Television major, an Art minor and a Communication Certificate, it was graphic design that would carry her through the early part of her career after she graduated.

“Everybody at MC thought I was going to move to Hollywood and become a famous director,” she says. Roberts did move to California to attend graduate school at the University of Southern California — but her time at USC was short-lived. “I’m from Ohio and there was plenty of [financial aid] for me. USC was a rich kid school and I just couldn’t afford it. I went to San Francisco to visit a friend and then eventually I moved there.”

Related Links

BootieMashup.com

Listen to a podcast with Adriana Roberts '90

https://soundcloud.com/user-475194276/episode-14-adriana-roberts-90
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Above: For nearly two decades, Adriana’s company, Bootie Mashup, has brought a special energy to San Francisco’s nightlife and beyond

For years, she worked as a graphic designer, but the pull to do something else was growing. That “something else” would require her to focus all that she learned at Marietta College and

apply it to what she was passionate about: bringing a vibrant and new experience into the nightclub scene. Roberts’ DJ skills, blended with her theatre experience, strong communication skills and marketing ability, transformed into a high-energy, entertainment company that is based in San Francisco. Bootie Mashup employs a team of DJs from around the world.

“This is such an interdisciplinary career. It’s a confluence of skills that have been weirdly developed during my time at Marietta,” she says.

The pandemic has caused her to switch gears — and even change continents — until the restrictions in California are lifted and people can enjoy packed night clubs and other party venues. Roberts, who has moved to Berlin, Germany, for the foreseeable future, hosts a podcast, radio show, webcasts and virtual Twitch parties.

Flying to Germany brings up another facet of her life that has helped to make others’ lives a bit easier. Roberts, who identifies as a trans feminine woman, is a trans activist and was one of the first people in California to successfully change their gender to “non-binary.” The legislation that was passed in order to offer that identification also included the “X” option in the gender category on her driver’s license. This identification, coupled with educating Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers in airports on transgender identify awareness, allows transgender people to go through airport screenings easier.

“My career and my identity — my day-to-day life — are not wrapped up in gender politics,” she says. “I’m a DJ and an entertainer and a business owner, and I want to normalize (gender rights). Literally, we are only talking about humanizing people. … Awareness is half the battle. Most people are not aware of people other than themselves — whether that’s gender, race, religion. The way that I have chosen to live my life, I always try to lead by example. No soapboxes. I try to be as good as I can to other people.”

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Darren LaShelle ’89

San Francisco, California

B.A Radio/Television, Marietta College

About

President & CEO, Northern California Public Media • Emmy award-winning Executive Producer

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Included in the more than 250,000 acres burned during the 2019 California wildfires was Northern California Public Media’s radio transmission facility, which was set to be replaced early in 2020. But before work could begin to address the devastation the fires caused, Darren LaShelle ’89 and his team at NorCal Public Media had to switch gears to help the community prepare and deal with the figurative tsunami that was hitting the world: COVID-19.

LaShelle, who was named the President and CEO of NorCal in 2019, oversees KRCB-TV in the North Bay, KPJK-TV in the South Bay, KRCB-FM Radio 91 in Sonoma County, the website norcalpublicmedia.org, and the Northern California Public Media free digital app. While most of the staff began working remotely, those who worked directly with broadcasting quickly had to develop ways to safely deliver important news to the general public.

“Just like with all great challenges, more can be accomplished when collaborating with others who share similar goals,” LaShelle reflects. “As a member of the California Public Television Association, we were able to get at-home-learning resources onto the laptops and into the lesson plans of students and teachers. This model was adopted by PBS stations nationwide to serve schools and families. Our regional partnerships were strengthened through our participation in the North Bay Leadership Council and the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits. NorCal’s seat on the Sonoma County Vaccine Distribution and Outreach Committee enabled us to quickly get information to the public about vaccine timelines and locations.”

Related Links

norcalpublicmedia.org/

Listen to a podcast with Darren LaShelle ’89

https://soundcloud.com/user-475194276/episode-16-darren-lashelle-89
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Above: Even during a global pandemic, Darren and his team at Northern California Public Media continued to bring critical health and educational programming to the Bay area residents.

LaShelle began his career in broadcasting working for national news outlets and chose to leave the major networks behind in 1995 to follow his passion for programs and news telling that explored community issues and provided educational opportunities for viewers. The pandemic underscored the importance of providing access to the latest community-based news and trusted educational content, as many viewers and listeners had to balance what they were learning about the global pandemic with what was happening at the local level.

NorCal provided lifesaving information to the Bay-area audiences — from where families facing food insecurities could find nutritious food to delivering multi-lingual health messages from local health officials regarding COVID-19. The public media group also hosted a virtual, bilingual meeting on grief and healing to help viewers as they cope with tragedies stemming from the pandemic, from violent attacks on the local immigrant community, and massive amounts of damage caused by wildfires and floods.

Despite the pandemic, LaShelle’s team continued to provide access to educational, cultural, creative and in-depth stories that inform and celebrate the best of the San Francisco Bay area and its people. These offerings led to three Emmy nominations for the Northern California Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 2020.

“The most rewarding part of my job is the realization that people’s lives are improved by the programs we produce on public television and public radio. The information and learning we make available to people gives them the tools they need to make better and informed decisions. Our programs set people on new and interesting paths to explore subjects that are meaningful to them.”

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