Marquette well represented among Milwaukee Business Journal Power Players

Marquette was well represented on the Milwaukee Business Journal's Power Players list, which "spotlights individuals who are getting things done in southeast Wisconsin - connecting people, winning deals, defining the conversation, and generally moving and shaking."

Named to the publication's 10th edition of the list were President Kimo Ah Yun; Tammy Belton-Davis, adjunct instructor of strategic communication in the Diederich College of Communication; Derek Mosley, director of the Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education; and Teig Whaley-Smith, adjunct associate professor at Marquette University Law School.

Also named to the list were trustees Nancy Hernandez, Grad '02, president of the Hispanic Collaborative, and Derek Tyus, Bus Ad '91, executive vice president and chief financial officer at Versiti; and trustee emeritus Jon Hammes, managing principal of Hammes Partners.

President Ah Yun was elected the 25th president of Marquette in November 2024. He joined Marquette in 2016 as dean of the Diederich College of Communication, was named acting provost in 2018 and then permanent provost and executive vice president for academic affairs in 2019.

President Ah Yun actively participates in the life of Milwaukee by serving on the Greater Milwaukee Committee board of directors, Seton Catholic Schools' board of directors, Children's Wisconsin board of directors, The Water Council's board of directors, and the Scaling Wellness in Milwaukee (SWIM) board of directors. He is also engaged in the American Cancer Society's CEOs Against Cancer Wisconsin Chapter, Northwestern Mutual Data Science Institute and Near West Side Partners.

Mosley has served as director of the Lubar Center since 2023. Under his leadership, the center has expanded its programming to include sessions during Black History Month and on unconscious bias, as well as Heritage Dinners in the community, offering participants and attendees an engaging perspective on a variety of issues grounded in current events. A 1995 graduate of Marquette Law School, Mosley for seven years represented the state of Wisconsin in court as an assistant district attorney in Milwaukee County and then served as a judge of the Milwaukee Municipal Court for 20 years.

Belton-Davis is the founder and CEO of Athena Communications, a brand management and government affairs firm specializing in strategic communications, equity and inclusion practices, and media engagement, with client partners engaged in transformational and systems change work.

Whaley-Smith is the chief alliance executive for the Community Development Alliance, an affiliation of community development funders and practitioners in the Milwaukee area that led Milwaukee's first Collective Affordable Housing Plan. He has taught at Marquette University Law School since 2008.

In addition to Mosley, Hernandez and Tyus, 13 other alumni were named to the list:

• Griselda Aldrete, founder and CEO of Aldrete Law and Consulting
• Danielle Bergner, real estate attorney at Michael Best & Friedrich LLP
• Meg Brzyski Nelson, president of the Children's Wisconsin Foundation and chief development officer for Children's Wisconsin
• David Caruso, president and creative director of Dynamic Events by David Caruso
• Coreen Dicus-Johnson, president and CEO of Network Health
• Kristen Hardy, assistant general counsel and assistant secretary at Rockwell Automation
• Mike Knapek, CEO of Yaskawa America
• James Madlom, co-CEO of Mueller Communications
• Lori Richards, co-CEO of Mueller Communications
• Annemarie Scobey-Polacheck, president and CEO of the United Performing Arts Fund
• Jim Villa, CEO of NAIOP Wisconsin
• Andy Wronski, managing partner at Foley & Lardner
• Scott Yauck, president and CEO of Cobalt Partners

Earlier this month, the Milwaukee Business Journal announced its Power Player Pillars, individuals who were named Power Players every year over the past decade. Among this group were Linda Gorens-Levey, executive in residence in the College of Business Administration; alumna and trustee emerita Mary Ellen Stanek, chief investment officer emeritus at Baird; and alumna and trustee emerita Anne Zizzo, founder and CEO of Zizzo Group.