Dean’s Advisory Board

Karen Alter is the CEO and Partner at Borshoff, a full-service advertising and public relations agency.

Prior to her work at Borshoff, Alter was the Director of Communications at the Kappa Alpha Theta National Headquarters, the Marketing Manager for White Industries, an Account Manager and Senior Copywriter at Marketing By Design, the Manager of Marketing Communication at Indiana University Health, and the Director of Corporate Communications at Rehabilitative Health Services. She is an Accredited Business Communicator, as conferred by the International Association of Business Communicators. She has also been recognized as one of the Indianapolis Business Journal‘s Women of Influence.

Alter graduated from Butler University with a bachelor’s degree in Public and Corporate Communications in 1985. She also earned her master’s degree in Journalism from Indiana University in 2004. While at Butler, she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta. She was also a member of Butler’s Alumni Association Board of Directors from 2004–2008. Alter has also worked as an adjunct professor at Butler. She says that the personal and professional relationships she has made at Butler are the most meaningful in her life. She remains impressed by the high-quality education and high-quality students that continue to attend and graduate from Butler.

Alter currently resides in Indianapolis, Indiana with her husband, Richard. She has a son, Matthew, and her family dog is a collie named Maddie. In her free time, she enjoys reading, writing, baking, and traveling with family and friends.

Jordan Anderson ’10 graduated from Butler University with a BA in Journalism, and was part of the Student Government Association, The Butler Collegian, and the Butler Rowing Team. He also serves as president of the Butler Young Alumni Board from 2014-2018.

Jordan is a motivated and goal-oriented marketing, corporate communications, and workplace change management professional, thriving on delivering high-quality, results-driven products and services for the companies and partners he serves. A strategist, writer and editor at heart, he specializes in branding and marketing, corporate and C-suite communications and message development, workplace strategy, change management consulting, writing and editing, social media and project management, digital and email marketing, media relations, website management, event planning, sponsorship coordination, relationship building, and more.

Nancy Blattner’s career spans 40+ years in higher education, beginning with her time at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau where she was a tenured full professor in the Department of English. During her time at Southeast, she served as the chair of the Faculty Senate, as the Director of the Writing Assessment Program, as the associate dean of the School of University Studies and as a faculty associate in the Provost’s Office.

In 2002-2003 Nancy completed an ACE Fellowship at Longwood University where and then served as the associate dean of graduate studies and the director of the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center.

In 2004, Nancy returned to Missouri, going to Fontbonne University where she assumed the role of Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty until 2009 when she left Fontbonne to move to Caldwell College (as it was known at the time) and take on the role of president. After 11 years, Nancy left Caldwell University to return to Fontbonne as its president in July 2020.

Executive VP of Marketing & Sales; Hamilton County Tourism, Inc.

Jen Christensen is a writer and producer for CNN and CNN.com, where she works in the medical unit and also covers the climate crisis, investigative stories, social justice, and LGBTQ issues. In addition to her work at CNN, she is the immediate past president of the national board for the NLGJA, the Association of LGBTQ Journalists. She currently serves as the Association’s Vice President of Print and Digital.

In previous roles at CNN, Christensen has won a Peabody Award, DuPont Award, and several Emmy’s as a CNN Documentary unit producer and as a producer in the CNN Investigative Unit. Prior to her work at CNN, she ran the investigative unit at WSOC-TV in Charlotte, North Carolina, and WTVQ-TV in Lexington, Kentucky, where she was also a show producer. While still in college, she started her career at WXIN in Indianapolis running the weekend assignment desk and working as a producer.

Christensen graduated from Butler University with a bachelor’s degree in Radio/TV and Political Science in 1994. She is currently working toward earning a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative nonfiction and expects to graduate from Bennington College in early 2023. She was on the Alumni Association board and currently serves on the LGBT Alumni Association committee at Butler. In 2016, she was awarded the Butler University Robert Todd Duncan Distinguished Alumni Award and in 2008 was given the Butler University Jordan College of Fine Arts Outstanding Alumni Award. While at Butler, she was involved with WAJC, WBTU, Demia, and the Butler Collegian. Her favorite thing about Butler is the people she has interacted with over the years.

Christensen currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia, with her wife, Holly Crenshaw, and her cat, Ringo Starr. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, writing, photography, and hiking.

Dan Cooreman retired in 2015 as a staff editor in the financial news department of The New York Times, where he worked for 22 years, almost all of them in the Sunday Business section. His journalism career began while he was a Butler student. He interned at The South Bend Tribune, his hometown newspaper, where he would later work as a reporter, copy editor, theater critic, and assistant managing editor/features. He also held editing positions at The Birmingham (Ala.) Post-Herald and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Cooreman is a 1976 Butler graduate, majoring in journalism. As a student, he was a staff member of The Butler Collegian, serving as editor-in-chief from 1975–1976. He was also president of the Butler student chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi. As an alumnus, he has served on the Alumni Association Board of Directors and established the August & Esther Cooreman Scholarship in Journalism, which he named in honor of his parents, who gave him the opportunity of a Butler education. He also serves on the steering committees of the Butler Greater New York Community and the LGBT Alumni Association.

During his years as a student, he loved Butler’s small class sizes, its caring faculty, its verdant campus, and its proximity to all that Indianapolis has to offer. But his fondest memories of his Butler experience were the late-night adventures of producing The Collegian, which offered a weekly crash course in meeting deadlines—and lasting lessons about the power and responsibility of journalism.

Cooreman resides in New York City with his partner, Steve Turner. In his free time, he loves to travel. He also volunteers at God’s Love We Deliver and at Big Apple Greeter, which helps introduce visitors to the city.

Amy Dichter ’98 graduated from Butler University with a BS in Telecommunication Arts (Radio/TV/Communication).

She is a Voiceover Artist in Los Angeles, and an experienced Administrator with a unique, 360-degree view of the voiceover pipeline; And, in practice, of talent procurement / voice casting. She blends a 15+ year career behind the microphone with a strong background running high-volume administrative desks, operations, and vendor relationships. Amy recently earned the ASCM Supply Chain Procurement Certificate to formalize that experience for a broader supply chain and vendor management path.

Ali Dillingham ’03 graduated from Butler with a BA in Communication Sciences and Disorders, now Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences (SLHS). She has also taught as adjunct professor at Butler within the SLHS program, providing clinical instruction in a service-learning based course, and conducted speech and hearing screenings in preschools around the Indianapolis area.

She is the founder and owner of A Yarn Market (AYM), a welcoming space in Carmel, Ind. AYM is based on the mission to make knitting and crochet accessible to all. Ali is passionate about sharing the joy and therapeutic benefits of mindful making. She often refers to knitting as her form of ‘yarn therapy.’

As a former speech-language pathologist with experience in educational settings, Ali has a deep understanding of how people learn. This background benefits her inclusive teaching style, making her a patient and effective instructor. Ali is known for her ability to empower students of all skill levels.

Read the Butler Magazine feature, Tight Knit, about Ali and her business, A Yarn Market, in Carmel, Ind. (written by Emily Schlorf ’21)

Stephen Key is the Executive Director and General Counsel for the Hoosier State Press Association, an organization that serves approximately 160 paid-subscription newspapers in Indiana. As part of his role with the HSPA, Key has also represented the organization before the Indiana General Assembly, lobbying for the public’s freedom of information rights and the interests of the Indiana newspaper industry during 26 legislative sessions. In addition to his work with the HSPA, he also serves on the boards of the Friends of Ernie Pyle and the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame.

Prior to working for the HSPA, Key enjoyed a career in newspaper writing for over 13 years. He was the Managing Editor at the Noblesville Ledger for two years and the Assistant Editor at the Daily Journal in Franklin, Indiana for three years. He has received awards from the Indiana Judges Association, Ball State University’s journalism department, and the Hoosier State Press Association.

Key graduated from Butler University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1977. He also earned a Juris Doctor from the Indiana University School of Law in 1994. While at Butler, he wrote for the Butler Collegian, where he was editor his senior year. His favorite part of his Butler experience was working late into the night putting together the student newspaper with other students who became lifelong friends, and the sense of achievement after seeing other students snapping up copies of the paper from the stacks.

Kayla Long is the Marketing Manager of Digital Twin Consortium, a global not-for-profit technology consortium.
Previously, Long was the Marketing Manager of Sanctuary Wealth. She aided in the launch of Sanctuary Wealth and over 50 partner firms and corporate entities within three years through strategic marketing development and graphic design creation. She also founded and served as the president of JEM Marketing + Design.

Long graduated cum laude from Butler University with a bachelor’s degree in Critical Communication and Media Studies and Spanish with high honors in 2019. At Butler, she was a member of the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, the Black Student Union, Latinos Unidos, the Voices of Deliverance Multi-Faith Choir, the Phi Sigma Iota International Foreign Language Honor Society, and the Order of Omega Greek Honor Society. She also served on the College of Communication Dean Search Committee and the Jordan College of the Arts Student Advisory Board, and the Sexual Assault Prevention Taskforce. Her favorite thing about CCOM is the faculty and staff that had a profound impact on her development as an individual and professional. At Butler, she interacted with powerful individuals that fueled her desire to learn more and actively participated in enhancing the social environment and quality of life for others.
Long currently resides in Carmel, Indiana. In her free time, she has taught and currently dances at the Alexandra Coleman Dance Company with (Latin and afro-fusion focus).

Teresa Recinto is the Director of Media Relations for AT&T’s global diversity, equity and inclusion communications/PR team. In this role, she leads planning and strategy for how the company will communicate its priorities through relatable stories in the media. She also leads the earned media outreach for AT&T’s corporate social responsibility initiatives.

Before starting in her current role at AT&T, Recinto was the company’s regional spokesperson in Michigan, handling crisis communication and earning local, proactive coverage through TV appearances and print/online articles about AT&T’s products and services. Prior to AT&T, she was a print and online journalist. She managed teams of reporters as an editor at both the Detroit Free Press and AOL’s Patch.com. She also spent a decade as a reporter at the Daily Herald in suburban Chicago.

Recinto graduated from Butler University with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Spanish in 1993. At Butler, she was editor of the Butler Collegian and named one of the Top 10 Outstanding Students twice. As a student, she was also a resident assistant and a member of both the Black Student Union and the cross-country team. She has served on Butler’s Alumni Board of Directors and as the Communications Chair for Butler’s Detroit Alumni steering committee. She was honored with the Joseph R. Sweeny Alumni Service Award in 2001.

Patricia Mays is the incoming Executive Editor of News at The Hollywood Reporter. She will oversee the digital strategy of the award-winning publication across the brand, including its recently relaunched website.

Prior to starting at The Hollywood Reporter, Mays served as the Senior Director of Content Strategy and Distribution for ESPN’s Original Storytelling. While there, she worked directly with the Senior Vice President of Content on storytelling strategy, budget management, talent development, and synergy initiatives across the country. At ESPN, she was previously the executive editor for ESPN Digital Media, responsible for daily content planning, creation, and programming for all pro leagues, college sports, fantasy, and premium content on ESPN.com and the ESPN App. During this time, both the award-winning website and app consistently ranked as the No. 1 online sports destination based on unique users and broke many other metrics records. Prior to working at ESPN, Mays was the Sports Editor at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California and a reporter for The Associated Press for nearly 10 years.

Mays graduated from Butler University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1993. She also earned a master’s degree in public administration from the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy (State University of New York at Albany).

William Neher is Professor Emeritus of Communication Studies at Butler University. He retired in 2012 after teaching at Butler for over 42 years. During his career at Butler, he was the Dean of the University College from 1974-1982, and the first Dean of the College of Communication from 2010-2012. He also served as the Director of the Honors Program, Head of the Department of Communication Studies, and the Chair of the faculty governance.

Neher has authored eight books in a variety of topics such as organizational and professional communication, ethics, and African studies. He has also authored several public speaking and communication textbooks.

Neher graduated from Butler University with a bachelor’s degree in History in 1966. He also earned his master’s degree in Public Address from Northwestern University in 1967, and his Ph.D. in Communication Studies from Northwestern University in 1971. While at Butler, he was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity and participated in the intercollegiate debate team. His favorite things about his time at Butler are the lasting friendships he has made and the sense of community.

Neher currently resides in Greenwood, Indiana with his wife, Linda J. Neher and has nine grandchildren. In his free time, he enjoys international travel and writing.

Amy McConkey Robbins is a speech-language pathologist and the owner of Communication Consulting Services. She is the author of widely-used assessment procedures in the profession, including the MAIS, IT-MAIS, Common Phrases Task, Mr. Potato Head Task, Red Flags Procedure, and the Bilingual Family Interview, or BIFI.

Prior to owning Communication Consulting Services, Robbins has worked for Boys Town Research Hospital, the Indiana University School of Medicine, and 3-M International in Brussels, Belgium. She has over 100 publications in professional literature. For her work, she has been named a Distinguished Alumna of Purdue University and has received the Richard Miyamoto award for service to the profession.

Robbins graduated from Hollins College with a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1977. In the same year, she earned her diploma in linguistics from Leeds University. She graduated from Purdue University with a master’s degree in Speech and Hearing Sciences in 1979. Her family has a legacy at Butler University, where her father-in-law played for Tony Hinkle. Her favorite things about Butler are the community spirit and basketball games at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Robbins currently resides in Indianapolis with her husband, Clay. She has three sons and two grandsons and counting. In her free time, she enjoys playing the piano and traveling. She is also a member of the International Women of Indiana.

Chief of Staff & Strategy; Indiana Sports Corp

Morgan Snyder ’07 graduated from Butler University with a BA in Public Relations/Advertising.

She is the Vice President of Communications and Community Relations at Visit Indy, where she has worked and been a civic leader since 2011.

Tim Valentine is the owner of Train918, an Indianapolis-based video production company that he formed while a junior at Butler University. In addition to serving clients throughout the United States, Tim has traveled across the globe producing content for clients in Africa, China, Canada, and Vietnam. Since its formation in 2015, Tim has grown the company and its portfolio, working with a list of clients that includes Kroger, Royal Caribbean, Eli Lilly, and Amazon. Tim has also worked with other colleges such as Northwestern University, the University of Virginia, and Indiana University.

Tim graduated from Butler in 2016 with a degree in Digital Media Production and Marketing. While a student at Butler, Tim produced a video announcing Butler’s move to the Big East Conference that was shown on ESPN2. He also worked with the Butler Marketing team on commercial and social media video content to attract prospective students. His favorite thing about his Butler education is the hands-on experience he was given and the community of professors that taught him so much while also letting him learn from real life experiences. Butler provided the guidance and resources to try new ideas and capture compelling stories.

Tim currently resides in Carmel, Indiana with his wife, Hilary Curpier Valentine ’14, and their son, Andre. In his free time, you can find Tim cheering on the Butler Bulldogs and Cincinnati Bengals or playing with his son and french bulldog, Simba.

Mohsin Waraich ’20 graduated from Butler University in 2020 with majors in Sports Media, Business, and Religion.

Jim Wilgus is an alumnus of Butler University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Public & Corporate Communications in May 1987. While “on campus,” Jim was a member of the Cripe Communications Group, serving as President in 1986-1987, and a member of Sigma Chi from 1983-1987, serving as the Chapter Treasurer in his Senior year.

Embarking on his career in 1988, Jim parlayed a Communications degree from Butler into a 38-year course of work in the “Voluntary Health” industry. He joined the American Heart Association in Indianapolis in January 1988, then moved into executive management roles in 1992, taking him to Nashville TN, Columbia SC, Washington DC, back to Indianapolis, and then ultimately in 2002 to Seattle WA, where he oversaw a 10-state territory for American Heart in the Western US through 2007.

He then served as President & CEO for the American Lung Association of California, before returning to Indiana in 2010 to join the Alzheimer’s Association, based at their headquarters in Chicago. In his role in the Chapter Relations Division, Jim played a significant role in transforming the organization from a federated organization to a unified one in 2016, making the Alzheimer’s Association one of the largest non-profits in the country today. He ultimately served as the Regional Vice President and the Executive Director for the group’s Pacific Northwest territory, to which he retired from in 2026.

Jim grew up in Central Indiana, attending Hamilton Southeastern schools, and lives in Indianapolis. He has three adult sons, and is married to his husband, Lawrence. In his spare time, he continues his avid 40-year pursuit of genealogy, and also enjoys travel, both domestic and abroad, and anything related to Indiana and history.