Alumni and Friends

Lina Tormen Taskovich ’52 studied chemistry and chemical engineering at Michigan Tech almost thirty years before Sally Heidtke, and she has some words of wisdom for women students too: "Study a field you like—you have to spend all your life working in it. And go for the top degree in the field of your choice. Also, do not go for the most lucrative job, but for the job you would love to do." When Taskovich . . .

Dave Peters '87, BS, chemistry, from Dansville, Michigan, works for BASF in technical services. He chose to come to Michigan Tech because a high-school teacher told him he wouldn't succeed here. "I wanted to prove him wrong," Peters remembers. He says he proved to be "stupid but saveable." "My grades weren't great," he says. "But after being here and doing what I needed to do to get a degree, I knew I could go anywhere . . .

Born in Green Bay, Wisconsin, John Christianson grew up blocks from Lambeau Field during the Lombardi Glory Years which instilled in him a love of sports and competition. He graduated from Green Bay Southwest High School with high honors, while playing on the tennis team, participating in newspaper and forensics, and tutoring his classmates in chemistry, physics and calculus, foreshadowing his eventual career choice. . . .