Alumni Profiles

Hilde Bjørhovde at her job Aftenposten in Norway

Hilde Bjørhovde ’80

Hilde Bjørhovde ’80 1024 427 Kari Plog '11

When Hilde Bjørhovde returned to Norway, fresh out of PLU’s journalism program, her home nation had one television station. Now, she’s a senior reporter at the country’s leading newspaper, which finds itself at the center of the digital media revolution.

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Sirine Fodstad

Sirine Fodstad ’97

Sirine Fodstad ’97 1024 427 Kari Plog '11

Sirine Fodstad spent nearly two decades traveling the world for work. But her story starts and ends in Norway, where she is a global human resources director for the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund.

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Thomas Kim ’15, speaks on behalf of the Arizona Dream Act Coalition at a press conference leading up to the Supreme Court’s June 23, 2016, ruling on Deferred Action for Parents of Americans.

Thomas Kim ’15

Thomas Kim ’15 1024 427 Genny Boots '18

Thomas Kim checks all the “American” boxes. Except for one: actually being a legal citizen. He’s an aspiring lawyer who is advocating for the roughly 800,000 young people who benefit from Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

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Frank Hewins shaking hands with a teacher

Frank Hewins ’86

Frank Hewins ’86 1024 427 Kari Plog '11

Frank Hewins, who leads Franklin Pierce Schools, was named Superintendent of the Year by the Washington Association of School Administrators. He is responsible for turning a district formerly known as a “dropout factory” into one of the top-performing districts in the country.

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Stephen Kitajo standing in front of the Puyallup Fair

Stephen Kitajo ’12

Stephen Kitajo ’12 1024 427 Kari Plog '11

Stephen Kitajo serves on the board for the Puyallup Valley Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League. He helped with a remembrance event at the Washington State Fairgrounds in the fall, after participating in a pilgrimage to a former internment camp in Idaho where his maternal grandparents were incarcerated in the 1940s.

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Carl Petersen ’04 plays a marble thief named Wolf in the short film “All the Marbles.”

Carl Petersen ’04

Carl Petersen ’04 1024 427 Brooke Thames '18

Carl Petersen wrote, produced and starred in a short film titled “All The Marbles,” which screened at the Cannes Film Festival in France as well as the Gig Harbor Film Festival. The whimsical film has garnered interest in a possible expansion to a full-length feature.

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Keven Drews '16

Keven Drews ’16

Keven Drews ’16 1024 427 Kari Plog '11

Keven Drews’ doctor told him he was out of options in his longtime fight for his life. So, he launched a crowdfunding campaign to earn $500,000 for a clinical trial at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.

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